How do leaders be both bold and brave during difficult times? - part #1

When working in these unique times, we need to be bold and brave in spite of all that is happening around us. Boldness requires us to not be afraid of the difficult situations before us. Brave requires us to have the courage to face the challenges of this time. Bold and brave leaders are transformational leaders.

When I think of transformational leaders, I think of the work of Bennis and Nanus who say that these kinds of leaders are managers of meaning, attention, trust, and self. 

But, when I reflect on the transformational leaders I have met and worked with, I have observed that they role model executive presence and compassion on a daily basis. Executive presence begins with self awareness about one’s appearance, words, physical health, and body language. However, it is greater than just self-awareness

Leading with executive presence means being confident and calm in spite of external circumstances. Having inner clarity creates confidence in others to follow. It also means leading with inner clarity rather than external ego.

Leading with executive presence starts with showing up and being clear on the inside. It requires us as leaders to give our complete attention to others and being mentally present when we do it. It also means understanding that others read our reactions and actions very carefully, not just our words. In essence, executive presence is that rare combination of being confident and calm plus being present and attentive. 

Upon further reflection, I believe there is a relationship between executive presence and compassion. Compassion from Latin means “to suffer with.” It is an emotional response of sympathy and a feeling and desire to want to help. Compassion arises from an open heart. It requires us to show up and pay attention to all that is needed.

Executive presence also requires us to understand the difference between self-help and self-knowledge. Self-help is being able to achieve something on one’s own. Self-knowledge is understanding oneself or one’s own motive or character. For us to stay humble and role model executive presence as leaders, we need to know the limits of our knowledge and to realize we can become misguided by incomplete information.

It also requires us to recognize that there are always two models at work in the world of leadership. The mechanical model sees everything as systems and replaceable parts. The gardening model focuses on the culture/environment around those serving and tries to create a more favorable environment for proactive growth. From my perspective, leadership and management based on a mechanical model has the potential to result in leadership and management without a soul. There is the potential for no presence, attention, kindness, or compassion.

When leaders embrace the gardening model, then leadership becomes a craft from German word, kraft, which means “the power that comes from knowing.” Here, leaders learn to be leaders not only by being taught, but by doing it, and by being mentored. This is where you have to get “a feel” for it.

Furthermore, this kind of leadership requires people to be a part of a community, namely a group of knowers who pass along their knowledge in a step by step way from simple to complex.

Finally, leadership also is an art, because like true art it is based on the interaction between the artist and the subject/object, i.e. the follower. It is learned by knowing when to speak up and when to be quiet, and by knowing where to look and what to avoid.

This week, reflect on executive presence, compassion and the gardening model of leadership. Find your community of fellow leaders and embrace the journey of sharing, listening and reflecting. It will make a world of difference.

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

How Do Leaders Consolidate Initial Improvements And Continue To Produce More Change? Part #1

Many companies right now want to create positive and sustainable, forward momentum. They want to have a regular string of short term wins that are always producing more positive changes. However, after the first or second short term win, many start to fade and loose momentum. 

John P. Kotter in his book, The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) reminds us that after a short term win, effective leaders do the following:

- use increased credibility to change systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit the vision.

- hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision.

- reinvigorate the process with new projects, themes and change agents.

But when we dig deeper into his writing, we discover some important clues about how to continue moving forward. First, reinvigorating the process means reinvigorating the leaders involved in the process. We forget that the credibility of the leaders during change is interconnected with the credibility of the process. They are interrelated and symbiotic. Each one helps the other. Yet some times after the initial short term win, leaders burn out and then push in unproductive ways to get things done. They default to “poor behavior,” e.g. command and control with the emphasis on control.

Therefore, we must separate role from self. We need to not work so hard that we physically and emotionally collapse, or sacrifice your off-the-job life. Instead, we need to focus on only doing what we can do best, and aggressively rid ourself of work that wears us down. For example, tasks that were relevant in the past may not be now. Therefore, we need to focus on what you can delegate so you can focus on what you do best. 

Second, we need to understand that with the “power of the chair” needs to come an awareness of the importance of “respecting for the chair.” Quoting the Spider Man movie with great power comes great responsibility, we need to remember the difference between executive power and legislative power. With the former comes positional power but at times we also need to use the later, i.e. build a collation of people to move a solution forward. But there is a deeper understanding to this concept that highly effective leaders and experienced leaders understand and demonstrate.

First, in the world of leadership, there is the acquisition of knowledge to do one’s job. Here, the learning focuses on the gaining of knowledge, facts, material, content and meaning. This learning can be seen as a “possession,” i.e. knowledge as property. For many leaders, being in their positions means that they have control over doing something. Therefore, their learning has a clear end point and their competency is based on being able to repeat something.

Nevertheless, there is a second level of leadership which relates to the execution of knowledge. The critical depth of this learning comes through participation. Here the focus is on the learning to become something, i.e. a member of the community of those in the position, profession and/or practice. With it comes an understanding that we as leaders are part of a larger community of leaders. In this circle, competency is relational rather than intellectual. In short, we become part of the “community” with other leaders.

This is why respecting the chair becomes so important. You and your chair are part of a community of chairs. You do not own it. You are a care taker of it. And you will pass it on to another in due time.  

This week, ask yourself the following two questions: 

- What do you want to be known for as a leader?

- What do you want the position to be known for?

These answers will help you personally move forward and produce sustainable changes.

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

Live Your Core Values

We were discussing trust, change, and strategic development, when I noticed a gold ring, tastefully mounted on a beautiful piece of wood. When I asked the person about it, his response surprised me: "It belonged to my father. Last winter, he was coming off the highway onto an icy exit when the back tires of his 18 wheeler started sliding on the ice. He was killed in the accident. I grieved long and hard. It happened during his last remaining weeks at work before he retired.

"Still, in the midst of all my sadness, I feel okay, in part because a week before the accident I had gotten up early, picked up a box of donuts, and had driven over to have breakfast with him. At the time, I didn't really have time to go. I was swamped with meetings and appointments, and we had an evaluation coming up that everyone was working hard on. Still, I had a gut feeling that it was important to do, so I went.

"We talked about the weather, trucking, and my work. I encouraged him to skip the last couple of weeks before retiring and take some of the vacation time that he had been saving. I told him I loved him, that I appreciated him and was proud of him. We aren't normally very demonstrative, but I'm so glad now that I went out of my way to see him.

"And all I have now is this gold ring to remind me of our time together. This gold ring reminds me to create those kinds of connections here at work. It makes all the difference, really. This ring reminds me of the power of taking time, and to not neglect the things that really matter in the heat of the hectic pace."

Every day at work, connections are waiting to happen - opportunities to take core values and turn them into living experiences. Don’t waste these opportunities for genuine sharing and role modeling. As Bill Byrne has stated, “Choice, not chance, determines destiny."

Remember: Make time on a regular basis to live your core values and to build the community you seek. It will be the foundation for today and tomorrow.

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

Dealing With Constant Interruptions - part #1

During recent executive coaching sessions, I have been asked the following question: How do leaders keep operating successfully when their time is constantly being interrupted by everyone else?

In the past, I have referenced the work of the late Stephen Covey on time management who noted that we need to define our roles and then manage our time. As often commented, “Always put the big rocks in first.”

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, authors of The Power of Full Engagement tell us to “manage your energy, not your time.” And to make sure you have time to work and time to recover from work.

And I forget the name of the author who told us to never do e-mail first thing in the morning. I would add from experience to also never do it late at night before you go to bed. It will ramp some of us up, or end up distracting us from what is most important, namely the need for sleep.

While all of the above helps to a degree, I think we need to look at the bigger picture. Here are my latest observations about leaders who do well even though they are routinely interrupted:

First, these leaders have a sense of place. They feel like they belong with the company, and can put down roots. This changes the kind of connections they have with people. In short, this sense of place gives them a feeling that they are making a difference. 

Second, this sense of place is directly connected to their sense of community. Those who have a sense of place describe their work place as a “community” where all involved come to unity around a common focus and perspective rather than just a job. 

Third, no matter what their age, these leaders routinely spend time listening to young people talk about the leaders who are making a difference in their lives and their work. This listening helps them keep things in perspective.

With the above as a framework, leaders who handle interruptions well do something most unique. They don’t just focus on being better leaders. Instead, they focus on being better people. As the late Warren Bennis wrote: “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It’s precisely that simple, and it’s also that difficult.” The first step is to make sure you have allies and confidants in your life. Allies are those who work with you and support you. Confidants are those who can listen and provide perspective, insights and fresh thinking. They are rarely the same people.

The second step is to ponder the following quote by Dzigar Kongtrul, namely “Don’t believe everything you think.” As a leader, recognize that not everyone thinks like you. This is a big step in your development as a leader. And furthermore, recognize that you may not be thinking clearly about everything, too. The hardest part about dealing with leadership and time issues is that many leaders forget what they do not know.

This week, check to make sure you have the right number of allies and confidants in your life. Then, visit with them on a routine basis to make sure your thinking is not becoming misaligned with your desired results.

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

Lessons Learned in the World of Leadership and Strategic Change

During the course of our lives, each of us has a meet brilliant leader and an extremely poor leader. We have meet people with egos so big it was hard to stand next to them and people who were so humble they must have been blessed by an angel. We also have meet people who have struggled valiantly and lost to circumstances beyond their control, and we have meet people, who despite the odds, transformed themselves and their organizations into incredible places of service, excellence and caring. And through these individual and collective journeys, each of us have discovered a few insights and truths. Here are some lessons I have learned from my journey through the world of leadership and strategic change.

First: People do care. Unfortunately, all too often people's capacity to care is buried under layers of cynicism resulting from negative experiences with work or life. But this doesn't change the reality that fundamental to human nature is the capacity to care, and to care deeply. The desire for our lives to make a difference is intrinsic.

Second: People want to engage in meaningful work. Yet, some are taught at an early age that it isn't wise to dream big, and many end up selling themselves short. We all need to meet financial commitments and to create a life for ourselves and our families. But ultimately, people prefer work that is meaningful and compatible with their talents, personalities, and values.

Third: People need community and want community. We have a fundamental human need for the support of others. Every person needs to know there is someone who can offer support when they fail, when illness strikes, or a child is struggling -- and, more importantly, who will take the time to listen. We need community within which to share, to tell our stories, and to test our dreams.

Fourth: It is fundamental to human nature to learn throughout the life-cycle. We exercise this capacity every day. No matter what our educational background, or our intellectual or developmental capacity, we learn every day in formal and informal contexts.

In short, it is people who are our primary resource during change, and successful individuals and companies understand this. People run the world: people in positions of greater and lesser power, people from various backgrounds and experiences. People bring the sum total of who they are to their work -- their experience, their creativity and ideas, and their tapped and untapped potential. And if we are to capture this vast potential and utilize it for the greater good, then we as leaders, managers, and supervisors must remember these lessons learned and share them with others. For it is in the sharing that a deeper level of awareness and understanding transforms us and those who listen.

This week we live in a world where monumental struggles are taking place. I think daily about the people of Libya seeking freedom, the people of Christchurch, NZ seeking solace and hope in the aftermath of Tuesday’s earthquake, and the people of Tucson who are still recovering from the events that took place earlier this winter in their community. What matters the most is that people all over the globe seek to live a life that is meaningful. They seek the opportunity to care and be caring, to learn and in turn teach, to live and in turn create community. When we embrace these truths, we transform ourselves and the journey of change.

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

THEME: Some Thoughts On Current and Emerging Trends

FOCUS: The Intersection of the iPad, Community, and Social Intelligence

Monday morning: August 16, 2010

Dear friends,

With the introduction of the iPad this year and it’s projected 2010 sales being close to 10 million, Steve Jobs noted earlier in the summer that a new iPad is bought at a global level every 3 seconds. With such rapid acceptance, we are witnessing an amazing transformation in technology. This in combination with Goggle’s decision to not utilize Windows due to on-going security problems means the way we work is changing faster than in the past. While I do not think it completely signals the decline of the PC market as Steve Jobs suggested might happen back in June at the D Conference, it clearly signals the start of a whole new way of thinking about the speed of acquisition and the utilization of technology.

First, we need to recognize that software and hardware are skipping past the lap top platform and moving straight to slate based computer systems and smart phones. With texting as the new e-mail system and social media like Facebook topping half a billion users this summer and becoming the new foundation for creating and maintaining relationships, we enter a world were fragmentation is no longer acceptable and seamless integration is the new goal.

It is interesting to note a generational difference rising in the midst of this transformation, particularly between Baby Boomers and Gen Y’s or Millennials. For Baby Boomers, the expectation is that when a light switch goes up, the electricity will always be on. For Gen Xers and Millenials, when a computer or cell phone is on, then the expectation is that there will be 100% connectivity to the internet. The internet is their new electricity.

For generations before the Baby Boomers, there was a gratefulness for just having electricity. For the Baby Boomers, there was an expectation that it should be on and perfect all the time. Now that the internet is the new electricity, the expectation is the same for younger generations. They have an expectation for “electricity level” connectivity and delivery of internet content, and they expect it to move as fast as an electric light switch when turned on.

There is another recent generational difference noted by British neuroscientist Susan Greenfield. We could potentially end up living in a two class society with mostly the younger generation being “the people of the screen” who quick skim and scan the web which lodges in the brian’s short-term memory and is quickly lost, and a mostly older generation who are “people of the book,” who through slow reading experiences generate long term memories. The result is a very different level of understanding and interacting with the world between the generations.

Yet in the midst of these differences and the ongoing desire for more speed and simplicity in technology plus the growth of digital life experiences, there continues to be a growing desire for more real and authentic sense of community. John Naisbitt in his books, Megatrends and Megatrends 2000, wrote that we enter a dualistic world of high tech and high touch. While I recognize that Facebook is being utilized by many if not most of the affluent people in society, the result of this choice is the development of some very unique relationships. For example, people on Facebook may have 1,000 “friends” but only know and communicate with a handful well on a face to face level. Some would argue that young people may not understand that real relationships are first built off-line before going on-line.

Furthermore, we now have entering and influencing the workforce a younger generation that knows how to connect electronically and at the same time chooses different pathways to building relationships than Baby Boomers. For example, it is recognized that most Millennials are good at working on teams and with teams, multi-tasking and utilizing technology to increase productivity. Still, we have to recognize that people who work on successful teams are born from a healthy work place community. And when a team completes it’s work, it, namely the members of the team, will return to the work place community. In short, the source of healthy teams can not be replaced by electronic apps on iPads, or digital, Facebook level only connections.

During the coming years, our work as senior executives will require us to invest in new technology and to learn to interface with the rapidly changing and accelerating global technology platform. Nevertheless as high tech speeds up, we must also come to value high touch, i.e. slower face to face connections that require a degree of social intelligence. In a world that can access more information faster than ever before, we are discovering that more and more people are connected and at the same time feeling disconnected. With so many families scattered across the nation and the globe, and so many traditional social networks like churches and civic groups struggling to maintain membership, we must come to recognize that the building of community within the work place is more important and valuable than ever.

This week understand that the pace of change will continue to accelerate, and that the need to build social intelligence will be as important as digital and technological intelligence.

Have a marvelous week,

Geery

P.S. For those of you who are looking for a good article, I suggest you read “Powerlessness Corrupts” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter in the July-August 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review. This is a short but very thoughtful essay about how powerlessness, particularly in the middle ranks, can fuel resentment, infighting and intergroup conflicts over resources. If you are looking to find a thoughtful way to start a team meeting, this single page essay with good observations and perspective is a good place to begin.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257