Letter To A Leader Who Wants To Be A Better Leader

Introduction

“Everything is just so messy these days,” she shared with me during a recent coaching session. “I just feel overwhelmed and lost by it all. I know we can do better and I know as a leader that I can do better, but messy is just so frustrating.”

When we choose to lead people through the world of organizational change, be it continual improvement or innovation, things and people get messy. This is normal. But often, leaders feel it is some form of strategic or operational failure. They expect change to happen, but without it disrupting daily order and predictability. 

When messy happens, I just smile and remind people that if you want to make something better, like people, teams, systems or the company as a whole, messy is part of the process. It is just a reflection of being caught between what was and what will be. 

At the same time, it is normal for leaders to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. This does not mean something has gone wrong. It is just an indication that we have to do better as leaders and we may need to change our way of leading. 

Still, many leaders do not like messy, do not do messy, and really can not tolerate messy. So, they hit the proverbial “power through button,” referencing the work of Brene’ Brown. I believe this happens because we fear the judgement of others that often comes with messy, and we fear the loss of control and ultimately the unknown nature of messy. Thus, we power through it all and reassert control, order, and predictability in the hopes that messy will disappear and change will be over quickly. 

Not long ago, I talked with my Kitchen Table Cabinet, who are a collection of individuals who I turn to for greater insights and understanding, about messy and powering through it. The collective wisdom of this special group was best summed up by one wise elder who told me that powering through messy will always result in “many broken ends.” In particular, there was a collective agreement from this group that powering through messy will result in broken people, broken systems, and even a broken culture. 

Recognizing that there is a better way to move in forward in situations of this nature, I always advise leaders, who are worn and overwhelmed with messy change, to start first by focusing on becoming a better leader. It is not the easiest path, but I have learned that is the right choice each time, and it makes a major difference over time.  

Be A Positive Presence And Be Present

I had been invited to speak about leadership and organizational change at a large corporation’s leadership institute designed to prepare key people for future upper level management positions. Together, the group and I explored what are the characteristics of people worth following and what are the normal stages that people go through in the world of change. 

At around 11:30 am, the CEO and the COO both walked in, and sat down. There was an audible gasp from the participants as they reacted to the top two people showing up to engage in a discussion about the two articles that I had assigned as pre-readings before I came to teach. I even overheard one person say “What are they doing here? Someone must be in trouble.”

My response to the whole situation was just to smile. I had invited both of these people to come if they had the time. I also was their executive coach and wanted them to role model the importance of listening, sharing, and engaging with this group. I knew that what they had to share would create a great deal of clarity about the core mission of the company and its strategy given the current challenges within the market place. 

So, many times when coaching people in leadership positions who want to get better at what they do, I have to remind them that being a positive presence in the company and being present are two different things. The former recognizes that where ever you go as a leader you are sending a message about what is important and who is important. Your physical presence in a meeting will always change the meeting and influence the meeting. The key is to be a positive presence and to role model integrity, respect and kindness. 

The later recognizes that people in leadership positions are always busy. There are endless inputs and uncontrollable situations that arise. Rather than presenting yourself as a highly distracted individual who can not focus, we as leaders instead need to stay present to the people and the problems before us. By being present and by giving someone our undivided attention, we show that we care and respect their time and efforts. 

For many decades, I have asked people about the leaders and managers who have influenced them in their career. And I have asked them about what these people actually did that was so influential. Time and time again, I have heard people share about how, when visiting with these individuals, they felt these individuals were 100% present and focused just on them, even if it was for just a couple of minutes. The outcome of this moment of connection was that they felt respected and valued. I know this same feeling when I have visited with great leaders. I also know that people notice and appreciate this action. Being a positive presence and being fully present is a valuable first step to becoming a better leader.

Speak and Role Model The Language of Kindness And Respect

Long ago, when I was much younger, I was a maintenance man. It was hard work and, at times, dirty and unappreciated work. When ever I am in a company and I cross paths with a janitor or a maintenance man, I always pause and thank them for the work they are doing. I know from experience how their work and they themselves often go unnoticed and unappreciated. 

I remember one evening I was teaching a nursing CEU class on leadership at a small community college when I saw a janitor mopping the hall outside the classroom. I could not stop at the point to thank him for the work he was doing but I did acknowledge him before turning back to the class. 

After 40 minutes of speaking, I gave those gathered a small group exercise and headed out to the bathroom. On my way, I met the janitor who was still mopping the hall and I thanked him for his good work. He paused and said to me, “I like what you shared about being respectful and thanking people. I got a card once from my supervisor about how clean the place looked when I was done cleaning. It made a world of difference and it made me proud of what I do. I even still have the card.” 

I smiled and nodded in agreement. “It does make a difference when we treat each other well.”

“However,” he continued, “you missed something in your presentation.”

I was surprised by his comment and said “Oh, what did I miss?”

“Well, I had to mop the entire hall twice but once you were done, I realized that you did not tell them how often they should give positive feedback. My card is ten years old this month. Don’t you think people in leadership positions should show appreciation more than once every ten years?”

I agreed whole heartedly, and thanked him for his feedback. Once back from the bathroom, I shared the entire experience with the class before they went on their break. On the way out, numerous people paused and thanked the janitor for his work and for being such a good teacher. He just beamed and later give me a wink as he passed by my classroom door. Role modeling and speaking the language of kindness and respect is so powerful and so important. 

Watch Out For Default Patterns

“When confronted with the unknown,” writes Margaret Wheatley, “we default to the known.” This single sentence is mission critical to becoming a better leader. All of us, myself include, have default patterns for dealing with the unknown. Be they problems or people, we often choose known strategies and known forms of communication to handle complexity, difficulties or challenges. Sometimes, we do this consciously and some times we do this unconsciously. But in the end, a default choice is a default choice. 

Recognizing this natural tendency, many leaders seek to improve their awareness and understanding of their default tendencies. And I fully approve this rise in consciousness to make better choices and better decisions. But over time, I have come to realize that awareness and understanding does not always translate into real and sustainable, behavioral change. This only happens when we invest the time and energy to explore our defaults with mentors and coaches. These individuals can be a mirror and a a window into our choices, referencing the work of Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001). They help us to better understand our leadership choices and help us to more clearly see the world around us. 

And the best of these coaches and mentors do one more thing. They help us build a support system of allies and confidants who will assist us in our own personal and professional change process. They recognize that this support group will help people make better choices on a daily basis. 

Defaulting to the known happens because leader often have to deal with adaptive problems on a regular basis. Still with the right infrastructure of support and perspective, these default choices can change over time. We can become better leaders when we surround ourselves the the right people. Experience and support do make a big difference in this level of work. 

Be Open To New Relationships And New Experiences

“When was the last time you made a new friend?” I ask this question often when coaching people who want to become a better leader. The question often surprises people. Many have to think about it. Most come to the conclusion that it has been a long time since that happened. 

Many years ago, I realized that most of my friends were people I had met through my wife. A matter of fact many of our friends were clearly my wife’s friends. This stunned me. It had been a long time since I had made a new friend. While I knew many people through work, I realized that I did not have a lot of friends. 

I told my wife about this realization, and we began to brainstorm about how I could change this situation. Over numerous conversations, I came to understand that there were two people in particular that I admired in our faith community, and would enjoy visiting with at a greater level and depth. However, I was uncomfortable about how to approach them and start the process. 

“Just ask one of them out for coffee,” said my wife. 

“I don’t really like coffee,” I replied. 

“Try something new and invite them out for coffee. It’s only coffee.”

With a great deal of nervousness, I asked one of them named George out for coffee at a local coffee shop. While I am comfortable standing up in front over a thousand people to speak, I was really worried about visiting with one person over a cup of coffee. 

When we got to the actual coffee house, I realized two things. First, since I did not like coffee, I did not know how to order it in a real coffee shop. Second, I had no idea what we were going to talk about during our time together. So, I took the first step and said to George, “I don’t really know how to order coffee, and I really never have had coffee that I liked. What do you recommend?”

He looked at me for a moment and said “Let me order for you.” And he did. 

Once it was ready, we found a small table, sat down and I had a sip of the coffee he ordered. I was surprised. I liked it. And I told him, “This is delicious. Thanks for ordering it for me.”

He smiled and replied, “Your welcome. I think you have spent a lot of time drinking bad and/or cheap coffee. There is a difference between the good stuff that is brewed correctly and the bad stuff that mostly ends up tasting bitter and very burned.” I smiled and nodded my head. Then, we just started talking about good food and life. A new friendship had begun. 

Upon reflection, I realized that being open to new experiences and creating new relationships goes hand in hand. Furthermore, there is a difference between having the knowledge of something and having the knowledge plus the experience of something. If we seek to become a better leader, then we need to be open to both new experiences and new relationships. We have to create the time for this to happen, and then invest the time to make it happen. 

As Margaret Wheatley wrote years ago, “In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” The essence of becoming a better leader is to create better and more meaningful relationships. And this begins when we are open to having new experiences on a regular basis. 

Seek Continual Progress Over Perfection

“Perfectionism is a defensive move,” writes Brene Brown in her book, Dare To Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts (Random House, 2018). “Perfectionism is not about self-improvement. Perfectionism is, at its core, about trying to earn approval. Perfectionism is a self-destructive and addictive belief system.” 

So many times, we define getting better at something as getting it right or doing it perfectly. We think the solution is all about working hard and working longer. However, the harder we push forward in this manner, the more we feel worn, hurried, and overwhelmed. We also do not achieve the desired end result of getting better. We just get more stressed, and over time unable to function very well.  

Still, the desire to get better is a worthwhile goal. It can result in a meaningful and fulfilling life as a leader. The goal is to begin by being a positive presence and to be present to yourself and others. Next, it is to speak and role model the language of kindness and respect, plus watch out for your default patterns. Finally, the goal is to be open to new relationships and new experiences. All of these done together over time can create a new beginning of you live and work in the land of leadership. 

And an outcome of doing this level of work is best summed up by Margaret Wheatley when she wrote, "If we as leaders can ensure that our organization knows itself, that it's clear at its core, we must tolerate unprecedented levels of 'messiness' at the edges." The same goes for us as people. When we know ourselves and are clear at our own core, then we can tolerate the messiness at both personal and professional levels of life. We can move forward together and make this world a better place to live and work for all people, including ourselves and our families. 

© Geery Howe 2022

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

What Drives Business Success?

After a great amount reflection, I believe we are missing something. I am convinced that we don’t have a clear understanding of what creates and drives business success. And, in particular, what role systems play in the creation of business success.

Many years ago, I was working with a non-profit serving people with disabilities and mental health issues. They had been focused on the importance of accurate and timely documentation, but it was not making a difference. People were just not that concerned about sloppy or late documentation.

So, the head of the business office came and drew out the system for getting paid once the documentation has been completed. She explained it within the context of how much time it took to submit the paperwork for getting paid once the documentation was entered. She also explained how much they got paid per hour for services rendered. Next, she showed what happened if she submitted the documentation to get paid and it got rejected for being incomplete due to poor documentation. She explained it in regards to time and cost. In essence, she showed that when inaccurate documentation was submitted, the company actually lost time and money when it had to be resubmitted. The middle managers were stunned. They had no idea. It was a perfect example of spatial blindness.

Listening to this entire presentation and subsequent dialogue, it was  clear that awareness was not understanding. It also was clear that spatial blindness is caused by an under communication problem. To build a resilient system requires quite a bit of thought and effort.

One other thing that was interesting about this whole experience was that the senior manager who sat in on this meeting was stunned that middle managers did not understand the interconnection between documentation and payment. He also was stunned with the lack of resilience within the system.

As I have explained before, resilience is a combination of keeping errors small and of improving workarounds that allow the system to keep functioning. In this particular situation, the work around was cumbersome and there were no quality checks before documentation was submitted. As for me, I found it interesting that no one was collecting the data on how many documentation errors were happening within the system. And no one was using the aforementioned data to make better decisions.

This week, reflect on this story and focus on eliminating spatial blindness. I also encourage you to use more data to make better decisions.

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

There Are No Perfect Systems

When discussing the subject of leaders and systems, the new idea is to make them more resilient. As I noted at the on-line, Winter ‘21 Roundtable, “resiliency is the new efficiency.” The big question is “Why?” 

The defining characteristic of our reality today is the need for speed and adaptability within change. We need to come up with realistic solutions to problems and inputs that we have no ability to control or influence. As John Kotter wrote in his book, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility For A Faster-Moving World (HarvardBusiness Review Press, 2014): “The world is now changing at a rate at which the basic systems, structures, and cultures built over the past century cannot keep up with the demands being placed on them. Incremental adjustments to how you manage and strategize, no matter how clever, are not up to the job.”

This perspective is based on three important points. First, the unpredictability and the complexity of the future is not going away. There will be no new normal, just a series of “not normal” times. Second, efficiency often is about making sure everyone does things the same way each time. The problem with systems is that they depersonalize and standardize everything. And people do not, on one level, like to be standardized. Each person is unique. Third, as Robert Quinn wrote years ago, “Excellence is a form of deviance. If you perform beyond the norms, you disrupt all the existing control systems. Those systems will then alter and begin to work to routinize your efforts. That is, the systems will adjust to try to make you normal.” We forget as leaders that there is no perfect systems.

Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe in their book,  Managing The Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007) write: “The essence of resilience is therefore the intrinsic ability of an organization (or system) to maintain or regain a dynamically stable state, which allows it to continue operations after a major mishap and/or in the presence of a continuous stress.” The hallmark of a resilient system is not that it is error-free, but that errors don’t disable it. Resilience is a combination of keeping errors small and of improving workarounds that allow the system to keep functioning. This is the point that people are missing this fall when they talk about systems and resiliency.

This week, explore this perspective and discuss it with your team. It is time we hold a strategic dialogue about systems, efficiency, and resilience.

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

Letter To A Retiring Leader

Introduction

“How did you know it was time?”, I asked.

We were sitting quietly in his office after he had just announced his retirement to the senior management team. Given his position, this news would travel very quickly throughout the company. 

“There came a day,” he replied, “when I realized that things outside my office window were becoming more interesting than what was happening within my office and on my computer screen. Once I realized this, I knew it was time for me to move on.”

We both knew that his phone would be ringing off the hook soon with people congratulating him on his retirement. They also would be asking a thousand questions about what will happen next. Some questions he could answer and others he knew he would have no idea how to answer. Still, he would faithfully keep moving forward until his last day in the office.

There will be a point in every leader’s career when the decision about retirement will surface. Sometimes, it is the result of significant planning and forethought. Other times, people just wake up one day, and realize that now is the time to step aside. Either way, they know that transitioning out of their current position is the right choice.

Recognizing that retirement is a normal part of life’s journey, I want to share with you some insights I have gleaned from decades of helping people go through this transition.

Respect The Ending

Saying good-bye to a job, a team, and a career is a complex process. It is both an ending and a new beginning all at the same time. Clearly, it is an ending for those who are left behind, and it is an ending for someone who is retiring. It also is a new beginning for all involved. They will move forward without you, and you will move forward without them.

First, we need to respect this ending. It will come with all the normal stages of grief, which may include anger, bargaining, anxiety, sadness, disorientation, and depression. It will be an in-depth, emotional process, not just an intellectual exercise. So, be prepared for the emotions that will surface whether you like them or not.

Second, your work at the office will end one day and your official retirement will start the next day. Recognize that within the span of 24 hours a lot will take place on the outside, but the internal process of making such a transition will take much longer. In particular, you will have to learn how to let go of certain old ways of working, and let go of your definition of self that has been defined by work. This will again involve issues related to loss and grieving.

Third, when respecting this level of ending, it is important to define what is and what is not ending in your life. Treat the past with respect and be kind to yourself as you move through your first days, weeks, and months. Focus on the people and things that ensure continuity of what really matters in your life. Stay in touch with individuals and those networks of friends and family which have helped you stay balanced through previous major life transitions.

In short, when we choose to respect endings, we understand that we will be caught between what was and what will be. With adequate preparation, regular support, and inner clarity about your personal priorities, we can discover, over time, a new sense of purpose for our lives. 

Receive Their Gratitude With Kindness

One of the challenges of retiring is that people want to thank-you and they want to say good-bye. The difficulty is that many people who are retiring do not want this level of attention. It makes them uncomfortable and it makes them have to confront how they feel, and how others feel about the whole thing.

While you may not need this, you have to recognize that it is important to those who will be left behind once you are gone. It is their form of closure. As we know, the funeral is not for the dead; it is for the living. It is the same with retirement parties, speeches, and gifts.

At this stage of the process, think through how you would like this time to be. Then, talk directly with your peers so it is a win/win experience rather than an uncomfortable experience. Most colleagues want to celebrate you in a positive manner and some thoughtful suggestions from you can help them as they plan.

Prepare Your Final Comments In Advance

I have been to many retirement parties in my career. Some are over the top and some are done quite tastefully. The ones that I appreciate the most include one important element, namely that the person retiring gives a short and well thought out speech. 

This is not an Academy awards speech of thanking everyone and their mother and brother. Instead, the best retirement speeches focus on three important messages. First, the work we having been doing all these years together matters. Do not loose focus or hope about this. Second, what we accomplished reflected our ability to work well together as a team. Keep being a strong and healthy team no matter what the challenges are before the organization. And third, always help and support those who are at the beginning of their careers. Someone did this for you so you could get to the place of being the leader you are today. Help others reach their full potential.

Many of these speeches are 3-5 minutes in length and they are a powerful reminder to all present about what matters most in life and work. I strongly encourage you to think this through and prepare your thoughts in advance.

The Big Question

The most common question I get when coaching someone through the retirement process is the following: “What’s next? What am I going to do with myself the morning after I retire?” Some think the answer is to play more golf, travel to more places, spend more time with family, or even fish more. But at the end of the day, most leaders who are retiring don’t have a clue about what the next stage of life is going to be like. They are stumped, and thus the question, “What am I going to do with myself?”, is such an important one to answer.

I, myself, have struggled with this question. So, I sought out a friend and mentor of mine, who is in his mid-80’s, to get some fresh perspective on this whole thing.

After listening to my concerns, he shared the following: “It is a good question,  but it is the wrong question because you can not answer the question until you have experienced retirement. I think the better question to start off with when you retire is “What do you want to learn?” For your entire career, your learning has mostly focused on work and work related projects. It has been time consuming and important. And the expectation from all of this learning was to generate an outcome. However, once you are retired, you can learn about anything that interests you and there does not need to be an outcome. You can just learn for the sake of learning. No deliverables and no measurement of progress or success. Now you can just be creative and learn for the joy of learning.”

It was a marvelous insight and extremely helpful. And now I am exploring all sorts of different subjects that interest me. Along the way, I am learning a lot about myself, and I am slowly figuring out what I will do with the newly opened time and space in my life and in my daily schedule.

Finding A New Definition Of Self

One of our challenges in retirement is to find a new definition of self. For so long, we have defined our life by our job title. When asked what we do, we answer, I am a CEO. I am an Executive Director. I am Senior Vice President. I am a Chief Financial Officer. I am Division Manager. All of these titles have been important to our definition of self. We worked hard to get to this level in the company. It reflects a lot of effort, commitment, and focus.

And on the morning after we retire, we are confronted by a new and more complex question: Who am I now? We could just say, I am a retired CEO, but this is a definition of self based on the past, not on today or moving forward into the future.

I have struggled with this until I realized that I could create a new definition. Now, when asked what I do, I respond with the following: I am a husband to my best friend. I am a father of two wonderful young men. I am a father-in-law to two amazing young women. I am a grandfather to two miraculous little grandchildren who I deeply love. And, on occasion, I still do some executive coaching for a small group of people who are making the world a better place.

When we focus on self-definition based on our relationships with family and friends, we build a new foundation for the rest of our lives. We come to realize that our connections with others is the legacy we will leave behind us. The new memories we co-create with others will carry us all through the coming decades post retirement.

Choose To Be A Mentor and A Wise Elder

As you transition from what you have been doing to what you will be doing, I have one final charge for you, namely keep mentoring young leaders. In a world filled with 24/7 hype plus countless other inputs that prevent people from actually doing deep work in comparison to shallow and reactionary cycles of living and working, there is a large problem right now which retiring leaders such as yourself can help solve. We lack people who are willing to mentor young leaders. We need more people who are willing to be wise elders for these important people.

Over the course of your personal journey through the land of leadership, I suspect that there were 1- 3 people who helped you and supported you through challenging times. They were present when you struggled and they listened thoughtfully and carefully to what you shared. While they may not always have had the solution to your problem, they did provide you with safe space to share and to be heard. 

Furthermore, many of these same people asked you important and thought-provoking questions where upon you discovered the answers for yourself. In our society today, there are many young leaders who are hungry for this level of connection and to learn the wisdom you have gleaned from your own journey. While it may not be the same as their journey, there are times when the lessons learned from others can give us fresh perspective and new insights just like those who helped you when you were younger. Again, while you may not be a positional leader with a title and all the privileges that come with that position, you can still be a leader, guiding and supporting a wide diversity of young leaders. 

As the late Stephen Covey wrote, “Principled-centered living is not an end in itself.  It’s the means and the end. It’s the quality of our travel along life’s road.  It’s the power of peace we experience each day as we accomplish what matters most.  In a principle-centered life, the journey and the destination are one.” Now is the time, as you move into retirement, to become a role model for principal-centered living. 

Remember: You still matter, and you can still make a big difference in the world.

© Geery Howe 2022

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

Leaders and Systems

The subject of leaders and systems is huge. We could spend hours just exploring the difference between systems and processes. Or we could spend hours exploring the subject of spatial blindness as defined by Barry Oshry in his book, Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life (Berrett-Koehler, 1995). He says spatial blindness happens when “we see parts of the system but not the whole system.”

Now, some will say that the root of the problem when it comes to leaders and systems is our failure to grasp "big picture" connections, i.e. macro-myopia. On any given day, most of us are almost totally unaware of what is happening elsewhere that can indirectly but powerfully affect our lives. Often, we are like the legendary blind people describing an elephant as each of us grasp a different part of its anatomy. When we mistake the parts for the whole, we lose perspective and miss the context in which seemingly isolated events occur. 

I have worked with leaders and teams on the subject of systems for many decades. I have learned two things about this subject and this work. First, asking a smart person to work with a dumb system has never resulted in a positive outcome. Second, creating a smart system and handing it over to a person who has not been adequately trained on how to use it also has never resulted in a positive outcome. 

To help leaders get their heads around the subject of systems and system improvement, I focus on the following. First, we need a framework for discussing this subject, e.g. inputs -> processes -> outcomes. Which part or parts are we changing within this framework? Next, which part or parts are we focusing on improving?

Second, we need to be clear about what we are doing. Are we seeking continuity, evolution, or revolution/innovation? 

Part of the problem around this subject is that the word “change” and the word “system” mean different things to different people. For example, change can mean doing something better or doing something different. 

Furthermore, the dictionary defines the word, system, in the following three ways:

-“a regularly interaction or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole.”

- “an organized or establish procedure.”

- a “harmonious arrangement or pattern.”

So, which definition are we using? Most of the time when I got called in as a consultant to solve a problem related to leaders and systems, I needed a universal translator to following the conversation. And still, I often am confused.

It is time we define the aforementioned words before we use them. This will impact the capacity to plan and the capacity to execute. As I have mentioned in this blog earlier this fall, words matter.

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

The Picture In People’s Head

Years ago, William Bridges wrote: “The picture in people’s head is the reality they live in.” This is a powerful insight. The picture inside people’s head matters. Our job as leaders is to understand the picture they carry inside their head, and then, if necessary, paint a better picture.

I think the problem is that we often paint the picture of “here is you doing the work.” We don’t paint the picture of “here are the outcomes that happen while you are doing the work.” Most of the time, we focus on getting the work done and do not articulate, let alone pay attention to, what the desired outcomes look like and feel like when someone accomplishes the work. 

As Willian Bridges reminds us, “Do not “overwhelm people with a picture that is so hard for them to identify with that they become intimidated rather than excited by it.” I believe this happens on a regular basis. We are destination focused and do not comprehend the journey people are on at this time period.

We also become so goal oriented that we forget that work matters to people. Making a difference matters to people. Making progress matters to people. And how they do this is all connected to the picture in their head.

This week, paint a better picture that results in people living meaningful lives at work and at home.

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