Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Pack Your Bags And Go - part #2

How Should I Travel?


I think the answer to the question, How should I travel?, is pretty straight forward. We need to travel thoughtfully, carefully, and mindfully. The difficulty is that what seems so simple and straight forward is actually quite hard to do. It requires us to work on two different levels, namely our mindset and our behavioral choices. And we rarely stop and examine both components in our lives. 


The movement from an operational and reactionary crisis manager to a strategic leader means that we have to shift our way of thinking. One normal outcome of this shift is that we may need to question some of our fundamental assumptions about people, and the world of organizational change. We also may need to change our priorities, and habits, too. 


For example, many people who travel to the edge and seek to be a better strategic leaders often talk with me about the importance of strategic planning and strategic plans. And this is one critical level of work that strategic leaders do. However, many leaders try to create a strategic plan that no one can successfully criticize or undermine. They start from a defensive position during the planning process. They want a document that keeps things under control, orderly, and predictable. This works if we are maintaining status quo. 


Nevertheless, there is another pathway based on a different mindset. These kinds of strategic leaders focus on questions more than definitive answers. They try to discover a few strategic questions that no one has thought to ask. Then, upon asking them, they focus on discovering truly original answers to these important questions. The goal is not to create control as much as thoughtful action, careful collaboration, and mindful ownership of the plan and the planning process. 


But, in the beginning, this starts with an understanding that “we only increase self-knowledge in the process of making changes,” writes Hermina Ibarra in her book, Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015). As Richard Pascale further explains, “Adults are more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking than to think their way into a new way of acting.” Ibarra builds on this perspective noting, “When challenged to think beyond their functional speciality and to concern themselves with strategic issues to support the overall business, many managers do not immediately grasp that these are also relational - not just analytical - tasks.”


So, when we travel to the edge and seek to learn along the way, we need to understand that we will be changing the way we think about our work, the way we actually do our work, and expanding our network of relationships to actually do the work. Thus, the choice to travel thoughtfully, carefully, and mindfully is an elegant and challenging choice, all at the same time. 


The Center And The Edge Are Connected


Having spent a career visiting with numerous leaders who have packed their bags and gone to the edge of their understanding, I have learned one important thing, namely that the center and the edge are connected. This is because at the center of successful company is the mission, vision and core values, which offers stability and continuity to the progress and continual innovation that is taking place at the edge. Each, the center and the edge, need the other to be successful. Without stewardship of the center, or as some like to call it the core, the capacity to innovate is diminished by lack of clarity about what should not change and what can be changed. Innovation without stewardship also has the danger of resulting in strategic and operational misalignments at the cultural or systems levels. 


Furthermore, leaders who move to the edge in order to become more strategic need to recognize that endings and new beginnings are interconnected. The best leaders understand that every new beginning, i.e. innovation, starts with an ending. As William Bridges in his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, (Perseuss Books, 1991), wrote, “Transition is different. The starting point for transition is not the outcome but the ending that you will have to make to leave the old situation behind….”. When we focus on endings, which often included letting go of old ways of working, identity and role clarity plus the subsequents losses and grief that comes with this, it is always good to know what is and what is not changing. This will help us as leaders to show how the endings ensure there is continuity of what really matters, and help all involved remember the importance of the original mission of the company. 


The center and the edge need to be connected and in successful companies, they are connected. Through sharing of information, involvement, and, at times, intervention to correct misalignments, we generate the capacity of more people to utilize their strengths and talents, plus imagination and innovation, to better serve the customer. In short, by having a holistic understanding of this critical idea, an individual can move from a reactionary, crisis oriented form of operational leadership, and, slowly over time, become a better strategic and operational leader. 


Be Open To Transformation


As we wrapped up our dinner together and finished off the bottle of very nice wine, I paused and said to him, “If you pack your bag and go to the edge to learn and understand more things about the company, strategy, and your self, you need to be open to being transformed.”


He looked and me and replied, “Really?”


“Yes. Transformation is critical to your success. Let me explain. The word transformation is an interesting word. The word is made up of three words - trans-form-ation. The last part references “action". The first part references “going beyond”. And there in the middle is the word form. So, in essence, transformation is the action of going beyond the present form.


And when we create a new form, we have endings and new beginnings all taking place at the same time. We are caught between what was, the old form, and what will be, the new form. However, when we go beyond the current form, we can carry certain things with us that are essential and truthful. The key is to find them, steward them, and recognize that they are the seeds, for lack of a better metaphor, for this new beginning, this transformation. 


So, the journey of transformation is big work. You will be doing it, hour by hour, and day by day. As Father Richard Rohr reminds us, “Transformed people transform people.” And that is all part of the journey when we pack our bag and go to the edge.”


He smiled, and nodded his head. We paid the bill and headed toward the parking lot. He stopped once we were outside, and then turned and hugged me. “Thanks. I needed that, Geery. I needed to see more clearly the path before me.”


I smiled and replied, “That’s why we visit.”


As he turned toward his car, I heard him say to himself, “Transformation. Really? That’s ought be interesting.”


I smiled, nodded my head, and said, “It will be an amazing adventure. Happy packing!”


He gave me a thumbs up as he got in his car and headed out. 


And as I got in my car, I thought to myself, “Exploring the edge of our faith and our understanding is always a transformational experience.”


© Geery Howe 2024


Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Monday, March 18, 2024

Pack Your Bags And Go - part #1

Introduction


We were discussing the intersection of productivity, strategic planning, and leadership over a very nice dinner at a chef driven restaurant. I had just explained that when productivity is only defined by key performance indicators and does not include fulfilling the mission, then individual employees and those who they serve are reduced to function and outcomes more than people serving people. He put his fork down, paused, and said, “That makes sense. The difficulty for me is that I need to be a more strategic leader rather than just being a reactionary operational crisis manager. And you know what? I haven’t a clue about how to do that.” He took a sip of wine, paused again, and said, “So, Geery, how do I do this? Where do I begin?”


His thoughtful realization and the subsequent discussion reminded me of something Barbara Brown Taylor pointed out in her book, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others (HarperCollins, 2019). As she explained, “John Philip Newell [internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher and author] offers a different way of thinking about how to navigate the distance between the center and the edge of faith. Sometimes you just have to pack your bag and go.” I like this metaphor, and shared it with this individual. What followed was an important discussion, because some days you have to just pack your bag and go. Some days you have to move from your center to the edge of your understanding, and keep learning. 


What Do I Pack?


When packing to go to the edge of your understanding in order to shift from being a crisis manager to a more strategic leader, the first two things to pack are character and integrity. We don’t talk much about these words any more. They seem like they are from a different century, a simpler and less complex time period. Still, the wisdom and the words from the past, such as character and integrity, can be applicable and helpful to us in the present.


A while back I read the following quote by Pastor A.R. Bernard: “Without character, talent will only take you so far.” The word character is defined as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” Upon reflection, I believe we need to talk more about character and character development. We also need to focus more on character rather than just talent development. For when we fully comprehend the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, we begin to realize that compassion, courage, and commitment all have their beginning in the world of character and character development. 


One of the best ways to do this is reflect on the following questions:


- Who are the people of “character” that I know in my life?

- What separates them from others?

- How do they engage with people in group settings that is unique?

- How do they role model?


Self-reflection is vital to character development. 


The second item to pack is your integrity. Again, another word from the last century. The word integrity comes from the Latin word integer, which simply means “intact.” Martha Beck in her book, The Way of Integrity: Finding The Path To Your True Self (The Open Field/A Penguin Life Book, 2021), writes “To be in integrity is to be one thing, whole and undivided.” It reflects a “complete alignment of body, mind, heart, and soul.”


I believe one of the challenges of packing the bag to go is that we have lost the memory and the feeling of a complete alignment of body, mind, heart, and soul. This is in part because we have abandoned our own inner truth, and instead chosen to conform to external expectations. As Beck explains, “In this rush to conform, we often end up ignoring or overruling our genuine feelings - even intense ones, like longing or anguish to please our cultures. At that point, we’re divided against ourselves. We aren’t in integrity (one thing) but in duplicity (two things). Or we may try to fit in with a number of different groups, living in multiplicity (many things).” 


When we seek alignment and oneness, referencing Beck’s insight, we need to reclaim our ability to choose, own, and stand up for our values and beliefs, the foundation of our inner truth, in spite of the external pressures we are experiencing. I like how Rabbi Jonathon Omer-Man explains this: “Integrity is the ability to listen to a place inside oneself that doesn’t change, even though the life that carries it may change.” And it is that place inside us, the sum of character and integrity, that we need as we move from the center to the edge where we will keep learning. 


What Direction Should I Go?


Once our bag is packed for the journey from our center to the edge of our understanding, the big question is What direction should I go? The answer is simple and complicated all at the same time. For the direction we need to take to become a better strategic leader is to move toward the people who are doing the work. They are the ones who are doing the work on a day to day basis. They are the ones who are making the mission come alive. They are the ones who are generating the outcomes that we measure. 


At the same time, we need to zoom out to see the big picture in order to gain perspective about how everything is working. From this vantage point, we will grasp something the late priest and poet, John O’Donohue pointed out. As he explained, “… those of us who work are often caught within a grid of predictability and repetition. It is the same every day. There is such an anonymous side to work. All that is demanded of us is the input of our energy. We move through the workplace, and as soon as we are gone in the evening, we are forgotten. We often feel that our contribution, while it is required and demanded, is merely functional and in reality hardly appreciated. Work should not be like that at all; it should be an arena of possibility and real expression.”


In order to create a work place that is “an arena of possibility and real expression,” a leader needs to be both strategic and operational. In particular, they need to be able to switch back and forth, seeing the macro and seeing the micro, the big picture and the day to day operations. The key is to see the same thing from two different angles, and to grasp that a well built strategy creates culture. Furthermore, a strategic leader understands that the culture is the strategy, because it is the place which can support strategic change or stymie it. 


Jason Jennings in his book, Less is More: How Great Companies Use Productivity as a Competitive Tool in Business (Penguin Putnam, 2002), wrote, “In productive companies, the culture is the strategy…. Unlike other companies, productive companies know the difference between tactics and strategy… The difference is the foundation that allows them to stay focused and build remarkable companies. They have institutionalized their strategy.” 


This powerful insight is built on an understanding that productive and successful companies consciously institutionalize their culture. In particular, these companies grasp that a culture is the sum of behavioral norms that are agreed upon by those who work there. Furthermore, the leaders of these companies know that on any given day 80% of the staff report to a front line supervisor while working side by side with a small group of co-workers. For these people, their front line supervisor and their co-workers, not the senior leadership, are their world. For them, these relationships are “the company culture.”


So, with this in mind, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture, understanding that the strategy creates the company culture, and that the culture needs to be institutionalized across the entire company. And at the exact same time period, we need to step forward to the front line of the company to observe first hand how the desired culture is actually taking place. We need to see and understand if the kind of culture we aspire to, in pursuit of the strategy we have chosen, is actually creating the right kind of behaviors we want and the right kinds of outcomes between the people serving the customer, and the people who are working together to serve the customer. Therefore, moving to the living edge of the company is a wise and important choice. 


To be continued on Tuesday. 


Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Direction and Connections - part #3

Keep An Open Heart


“The most difficult work of leadership involves learning to experience distress without numbing yourself,” write Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky. I think this is not isolated just to people in leadership and management positions. I believe that the difficulty of living in chaotic times is to experience the feelings of chaos and the desire for order, and not to become numb from the combination of the two. 


While “innocence, curiosity and compassion [are] virtues of an open heart,” note Heifetz and Linsky, I believe the first step is to keep an open heart. As the I-Ching, an ancient Chinese book on change, notes, “No revolution in outer things is possible without prior revolution in one’s inner way of being. Whatever change you aspire to . . . must be preceded by a change in heart.” And for this change of heart to take place, we need to be open to being changed. We need to be open to receiving guidance, insights and wisdom. We need to be open to personal development, which may come in the form of questions, coaching, or encouragement. It also may come in the form of reflection, allowing us to step back from the day to day, and to consider new directions, new patterns of living, and new ways of being present to the feeling of chaos and the desire to want to create order. 


Mark Sappenfield, the Editor of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly, wrote: “What we choose to let into our hearts reshapes us, becomes a part of us in a way becomes home. If the snail carries its home on its back, we humans carry home in our hearts.” When we grasp the significance of carrying our home in our hearts, we understand that by letting new ideas, perspectives, insights, and people into our hearts, we are expanding our capacity to live more authentically and realistically. As poet Mark Nepo reminds us, “… when one heart speaks, all hearts fly.” And the goal is for all hearts to speak and to fly. 


A Sense of Wonder


“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children,” writes Rachel Carson, “I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.” When we feel like the entire world is going chaotically crazy, we can loose our sense of wonder. We can struggle with how to proceed. 


Still, we can take small steps that over time can add up and make a difference. First, we need to clarify our intentions and build a life of choice rather than defaults. Next, we need to create three different networks and focus on proactive and healthy social engagement with these three networks. Then, we need to recognize that small gestures make a difference, and we need to make them on a regular basis. Finally, we need to keep our hearts open and reclaim a sense of wonder and gratitude in the midst of these actions. 


As English poet and playwright, Joseph Addison wrote, “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” All three of these elements will become clear when we do the inner work and choose to create a life of integrity, honor and respect. While the times we live in may be wildly turbulent and unpredictable, we, on the other hand, do not have to be this way. With clarity of direction and a healthy network of connections, we can move forward through these difficulties and be true to what we believe and how we want to live. As the poet Mark Nepo reminds us, “We are born with only one obligation - to be completely who we are.” And when we do this, we are transforming ourself, the ones we love, the communities within which we live, plus the rest of the world, too. 


© Geery Howe 2024


Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Direction and Connections - part #2

Focus on Social Engagement


Herminia Ibarra in her book, Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015), writes that everyone who is a leader should have three different kinds of networks in order to be successful. The different kinds of networks are an operational network, a personal network, and a strategic networks. As she explains, “The first [the operational network] helps you manage current internal responsibilities [related to work], the second [the personal network] boosts personal development, and the third [the strategic network] focuses on new business directions and the stakeholders you must get on board to pursue these directions.” She continues, “your strategic network is made up of relationships that help you to envision the future, sell your ideas, and get the information and resources you need to exploit these ideas…. A good strategic network gives you connective advantage: the ability to marshal information, support, or other resources from one of your networks to obtain results in another.”


When I consider what she proposes, I think everyone should have three different networks in their life, whether or not they are a leader, a manager, or a senior executive. One network should helps us get better at our job. Another network should help us become a better person. And the last network should help us see the bigger picture in life. Collectively, each one is interrelated to the other. Each one impacts the other. 


The challenge in life is that when the world becomes turbulent and unpredictable, and we attempt to create order out of chaos, we often do not engage with any of our networks. We believe we have to change everything all by ourselves. And the outcome of this choice is that we end up with a diversity of low-trust relationships just at the moment in life when we need high-trust relationships in order to cope, and find a better way of moving through the feelings of chaos. 


Greg McKeown, author and public speaker on the topics of leadership and business strategy, notes that “… low-trust relationship structures generally happen by default rather than by design.” And time and time again, I have witnessed the impact of these default choices and the long term impact of low-trust relationships. In order to move from these defaults to relationships by design, we need to do three things. 


First, we must remember something that Aristotle wrote a long time ago: “Our feelings toward our friends reflect our feelings toward ourselves.”  We need to stop and re-engage with our internal feelings. As I mentioned early, self-inquiry is a critical first step. 


As we walk this pathway of generating internal clarity, I am remind of the advice that Rabbi Jonathon Omer-Man shared: “Integrity is the ability to listen to a place inside oneself that doesn’t change, even though the life that carries it may change.” Finding this place of integrity in combination with self-inquiry is a pathway to generating a greater degree of social engagement by design rather than by default


Second, we need to be trustworthy. As Stephen M.R. Covey pointed out, “In the same way you can either diminish or lose trust through your behavior, you can also consciously create it, grow it, extend it, and in some cases, restore it through your behavior.” Being trustworthy is a powerful behavioral choice. 


As Covey notes, trust has two dimensions, namely “character and competence.” I agree and we can work on both levels. But we must not forget something that Father Richard Rohr wrote, “You cannot get there; you can only be there.” He recognizes that the starting place is to work on trust is with our being, more than our doing. It is the development of character skills, e.g. being a person integrity, more than the action of integrity. 


Third, we must return again to the work of Heifetz and Linsky. They tell us to “keep confidants, and don't confuse them with allies.” This takes me back to Ibarra’s three networks. While the operational network and the personal network can be made up of allies, I believe the strategic network, the one that gives you connective advantage must be built around a collection of confidants, who will listen deeply and, at the same time, challenge you thoughtfully. These are the people who will encourage you to look at the inner landscape and your choices, and then be present in a nonjudgmental manner as you do this work. 


When we create three networks by design, engage in thoughtful self-inquiry, and understand the importance and difference between allies and confidants, we will create a new and better social engagement system that will generate, perspective, capacity, and resilience in the midst of wildly turbulent and unpredictable times. 


Small Gestures Make All The Difference


I was visiting with a friend recently and we began talking about how certain people and their choices can make a big difference when change gets messy. As we explored this notion, he focused on the importance of small gestures, because they reflect the integrity of that particular person. His comment instantly made total sense to me. I also realized that it is in the small acts of kindness and respect, connection and thoughtfulness that the character of a person is revealed. 


Having traveled widely for 36+ years while teaching and consulting, I have taken many tours of many different sized organizations. I also have been introduced and shook the hands of thousands of people during these introductions to a new company and/or a new team. During these many walk throughs and introductions, I have spent a lot of time with leaders, watching how they engage with others. In particular, I find it very interesting in how well they connect, listen, and are present to another person. 


After one long tour, I remember going out to lunch with a divisional leader who was struggling with a few key managers in his area of responsibility. In particular, he could not comprehend why these individuals were not being respectful of key front line staff. Over the course of the meal, we talked about different forms of trust, communication, and how someone’s behavior is the first form of communication before the spoken word has even taken place, i.e. actions speak louder than words. 


As we concluded this in-depth discussion and the various ways he could coach people to raise their level of awareness and understanding, we left the table and started walking out of the restaurant. When we passed a table of older men, he reached over, touched my arm and said, “Hold on a minute. I have to do something.” 


Then, he walked back to the table, bent down on one knee, and spoke to one particular gentleman in a quiet and deeply personal way. The older gentleman nodded, and they shook hands. Then, he stood up, and returned to where I was standing.  


He paused for a moment, and then said to me, “I suspect you are wondering about all of that. When I passed him on the way out, I noticed the ball cap of that particular gentleman. He was a veteran of WWII, and his platoon was listed on his ball cap. I went back to thank him for his service and his sacrifices for our country.  I lost my dad last year. He was a veteran of the war, too. He served in the European theater of operations. Every time, I see a vet I think of my dad, and how I did not thank him enough for all he did and all the sacrifices he made. So, every time I see a vet, I go out of my way to thank them. It means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to them, too.”


I paused and looked back at the older gentleman who was seated around a table with his friends. It made me think of my own dad who had served in WWII in the Pacific theater of operations. It made me want to pick up my phone right then and there, and call him to thank him for his service and his sacrifices. 


Instead, I turned to the divisional leader and said, “The few key managers, who you are struggling with, only see people as employees. They do not see them as fathers or mothers, brothers or sisters, grandparents or members of a family. The relationship is transactional. The focus is on functionality. Until they can see their people as whole people, and make authentic, small gestures of connection like you just did, coaching will only get you so far. Maybe in your next team meeting, you need to share why you did what you just did and what difference it makes in you and in them. This whole leadership and management thing is really all about connections.”


He smiled, nodded in agreement, and later told me that this one sharing with his team and these key managers began to change everything. And to this day, whenever I meet a veteran or see a veteran, I always pause and thank them for their service and their sacrifices. I do it to honor my dad who has passed away, and to honor them for their choice to preserve and protect our country. 


To be continued on Wednesday. 


Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change