Monday, December 26, 2016

Preparing For The New Year

As we come to the end of 2016 and begin to actively focus on 2017, I want to share with you these comments by Elaine Brown who gave the Alumni Lecture on May 13, 1988 at Westminster Choir College. As she shared:

“What we fear in the world is not the evil in it, nor even the evil in ourselves; far more fearful is the good in ourselves, that good being so demanding that we are scared to dare our full capacity. 

We are afraid of our potential vulnerability. 

We very often forget that if our being is right, our doing will take care of itself. 

It is always easier to pull in our horns; to play it safe. In other words, not to climb out on a limb. It is always easier to stay where we are, to bury ourselves in our ongoing lives. 

We know better, but we forget to remember that life needs to expand over and over.” 

I hope that during the coming new year that each of us will be willing to embrace the good in ourselves and to share it with others. At this time period, we need people who are willing to climb out on the limb and risk doing good in a world that favors doing nothing or maintaining the status quo.

Life needs to expand and we need to be the leaders who support this expansion and embrace the opportunities that come with it. We need to be leaders, who by embracing the good, can then role model and assist others to experience and embrace the joy of living each day in a meaningful way within the context of a supportive and loving community.

I look forward to working with each of you in the new year, and am profoundly grateful for the opportunities to be of service and support this past year.

Thank-you, and see you next year!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Monday, December 19, 2016

A Time To Remember & To Celebrate

With the arrival of the Winter Solstice on Wednesday, and Christmas this coming weekend, I step away from work and think about my late father-in-law, a man who was born on the farm where he lived for 94 years before his passing away earlier this year. Often, when we would visit around the holidays, he would share with me that on the morning of the Spring or Winter Solstice, he liked to go outside and watch the sunrise and later the sun set. He knew exactly where to look for each event given his deep connection to living on the same piece of land his entire life. Trees would grow and some would fall. Barns would be built and others would be taken down. Horses transitioned to tractors. The party line phone in the house transitioned to cell phones. But through it all, each winter and spring the sun would rise and the sun would set in the exact same pot.

He and I often talked about finding continuity in the midst of all the changes that happens in one’s life. And I realized recently, that for him and for my mother-in-law, the most powerful line of continuity was the creation of a loving family environment where everyone was welcomed and everyone was accepted just as they were. No judgements, no criticism - just unconditional love.

My hope for you and your family is that you can find or build that this week and for years to come. The sun will rise and the sun will set each day, but the love of family and community has the potential to transform the world.

During this holiday season, I hope you can discover in your heart the peace and love that transcends all things and embraces all things.

Many blessings to you and yours this week.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Monday, December 12, 2016

How do leaders cope with prolonged uncertainty and having too much to do? - part #2

When working through prolonged uncertainty and having way to much to do given the time before you, it is important surround yourself with the right people. I wrote earlier this fall about the importance of having the right people on the right seats on the bus. To build on that line of thought, I believe it is time we stop retaining people who routinely mess things up. These individuals consistently take your time and focus away from the right things, operationally and strategically. Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great notes that having the right people in the right places reduces distractions and increases engagement.

On a parallel track, having the right people around you creates the conditions for right action. I have learned over the course of my life that action is commonplace, and right action is not. We as leaders want people to do the right thing at the right time with the right information for the right reasons. What I have learned is that the right people bring something unique to the right action equation, namely more allies who role model the core philosophy of the company, and more people who offer a collective commitment to always doing things better.

Finally, we need allies and mentors in our lives who will help us rediscover our internal strength. At the Spring 2016 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, I talked about the importance of separating role from self. Many commented to me that this was a helpful reminder. Today, I want to go further than that.

Now, I believe we need to further develop our non-work identities, because more and more people in leadership positions are becoming solely identified by their work. As Erin Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan write in their article “Managing The High Intensity Workplace,” Harvard Business Review, June 2016, we need to develop our “civic self, an athletic self, a family-oriented self.” With this level of wholeness, we gain greater perspective and capacity to handle life’s challenges.

This week, remember the advice of  Gary Keller with Jay Papasan in his book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Bard Press, 2012: “What you build today will either empower or restrict you tomorrow.” It is time to build for a better tomorrow.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Monday, December 5, 2016

How do leaders cope with prolonged uncertainty and having too much to do? - part #1

One big problem that is stretching leaders all across the country is that they are constantly on call. With the arrival of the smart phone, there is an expectation that people in leadership and management positions are 100% available, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and 100% committed to work above all else.

With this as the back drop to today’s work environment, and a major source of our uncertainty and stress, Wendy K. Smith, Marianne W. Lewis, and Michael L. Tushman in their article called “Both/And Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, May 2016, suggests we explore the following three questions:

- Are we managing for today or for tomorrow?

- Do we adhere to boundaries or cross them?

- Do we focus on creating value for our shareholders and investors or for a broader set of stakeholders?

What I find interesting given the above three questions is that while each of them are unique to the industry where one works, our responses are all the same, namely feeling overwhelmed, fear, frustration, confusion, helplessness, depression, and anger.

What is missing is a fresh perspective. Therefore, I suggest we embrace dynamic equilibrium, where we understand that our strategic paradoxes will always be present and changing, and that it is our job to find the place of balance within the motion.

To start this process, I suggest we check our perception of the world around us. There are two ways to “see” the world , according to Ryan Holiday in his book.  The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Penguin, 2014. The first is “The Observing Eye,” where we see what is actually there. The other is “The Perceiving Eye,” where we see more than what is there. As leaders, our goal is to see these things as they really are, without any of the ornamentation. The most dangerous perspective or perception to hold is one where we think we can change something that is not ours to change. 

This week, embrace your challenges and practice seeing with your Observing Eye rather than just your Perceiving Eye.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257