Make a Commitment to Personal Improvement

Since early January, I have been writing about lessons learned from mentors of mine over the course of my career. Today is the final one I want to share with all of you.

We were drinking coffee together and discussing the subject of retirement.

“Once I choose to retire,” I said to one of the older members of my Kitchen Table Cabinet, “I am just not sure what I am going to do with myself. For the last 30+ years, I have been running my own business, traveling, teaching consulting and coaching a wide diversity of people. I have been going, going, going and then some. As I pass the line of 65, I don’t have a clue of what a life of not working full time will be like. What are your thoughts on this subject?”

He paused, smiled and said, “You will really struggle during the early stages of retirement. The pace and scope of all you have been doing has defined your life and work on so many levels. You think that once you retire, you will just move on to the next level of doing. A matter of fact most of your career to this point has been all about doing. Doing this. Doing that. But in the end, it’s just more doing. It will be hard for you at first.

The problem is how you frame up the next step. You think about 65 as a line. Before 65, you work. After 65, you do more but different work. 

As for me, I don’t frame things up in that way. I have watched a lot of men and women retire. Most do not handle it very well but those who do, choose to move from the question ‘What will I do once I am retired?’ to a different and more interesting question, namely ‘What do I want to learn?’. In my opinion, that is the better question and the better way to frame up retirement.

So, Geery, after 65, what do you want to learn? When you retire, you will have more time to pursue this interest. Therefore, now is the time to start exploring.”

I sat there in that coffee shop not too long ago and realized I had been handed an important bit of wisdom.  While I have not found the full answer to the question, I am definitely exploring various options.

This week, I challenge you to ask yourself the question: What do I want to learn? And then, make a commitment to personal improvement. It will be good for you, your family and many others within your circle of influence.

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

The Importance of Being A Role Model and Mentor

Over the course of our lives, we as leaders will have numerous opportunities to be role models and mentors to many different people. We also will have the opportunity to engage with role models and mentors who will impact our life at work and at home. 

For me, there have been many teachers, friends and mentors who have impacted my life in a positive way. I consider these individuals to be valuable and important role models in my life journey. When I think of these people, I think of the many ways they have supported, encouraged and inspired me. And I am deeply grateful for all they have done to help me become the person I am today.

As we all enter this new year, each of us must realize that we can be that role model or mentor for someone else. Each day, we have the potential and the capacity to make a difference in the lives of others. Each day, we can role model as a parent, family member, coworker, or friend. We can be the one person who helps another person see a new perspective, come to a new understanding, or realize they have the potential and talent to rise to the challenges before them 

Over the course of this winter, I am going to share lessons and insights I have learned from the people who have mentored me in my life journey. Each individual was key to a new way of thinking and living. Each gave me something that I have carried forward to this day.

But this morning, I ask you to pause and realize that you could be that one person in someone else’s life. You could be the catalyst and source of support which completely transforms another person’s life. And remember, it is not always what you do but how you do it that is the foundation for this transformation. Sometimes it is just your presence, your showing up, listening and being attentive to another, that is the most powerful gift of all.

As Kevin Cashman wrote many years ago, “leaders get what they exhibit and what they tolerate.” My challenge to you is to be the role model you wish to see in the world. And my other challenge to you in this new year is to thank all those who have role modeled and mentored you to date. It is time we as leaders realize that a single person can make a profound and positive difference in the life of so many other people.

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

Be Curious and Keep Learning

Every once in a while, I meet a leader, who is under tons of pressure, swamped with projects, and handling endless strategic and operational challenges, and yet is not burning out in the process. Most people in situations of this nature would collapse under the strain of it all, and yet these individuals are doing just fine.

Initially, I thought they must have a very high threshold for chaos. Some would even say they thrive on it. But I don’t think this is the case anymore because having done this work for decades and having worked with these individuals over time and through multiple troughs of chaos plus a few Grand Canyons of chaos, I have discovered a small but important insight.

These unique leaders are curious. Every day they are interested in seeing what happens next. They come to work with an open mind and are very excited to see how the day will unfold.

And along with their curiosity, there is an immense desire to keep learning. At the end of a day of meetings and consultations, these unique leaders want to go out for dinner and debrief the day. It is common for them to share with me about the “lessons learned” from the day and how they will apply them in the morning. It is their curiosity in combination with this inner drive to keep learning that gives them the capacity to handle the pressures, the burdens and the many expectations of the senior position.

One other interesting fact about these leaders is that their curiosity and desire to keep learning is not limited to work. After the debriefing about the day, it is common for them to share with me about a home project that they are immersed in which gives them great joy. I have listened to people share about family genealogy, a new project in their wood working shop, or the rebuilding of an engine on an antique car. These hobbies and projects in combination with this special mindset allows them to stay balanced and focused in the midst of it all.

This week, ask yourself, what am I curious about these days? Where am I learning the most at work and at home? Then, give yourself permission to explore these new ideas, new perspectives and new projects. It is time for us to have interesting things in our life that feed us fresh insights, energy and perspectives. It will keep us young in mind, body and spirit in spite of all the challenges in the big world.

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

Lessons Learned From Countless Hours of Visiting With Great Leaders

During the last 30+ years, I have visited with thousands of people in executive, management and supervisory positions. Over a meal, a cup of hot coffee, in the midst of a training, or via the phone, together we have explored a diversity of subjects, problems and issues, both large and small. Upon reflection, I have gleaned some unique insights about what separates the good leaders from the great ones. These lessons learned are not about big things such as the importance of good public speaking skills or the ability to explore things strategically as much as small personal choices which create the capacity to handle large or small things.

Recently, I was concluding a very good breakfast meeting when I realized something interesting. This particular leader was walking his path and owning his journey. This sounds simplistic on one level, but it is actually rare,

So many times, I meet leaders who want everything to go smoothly and without problems. They want everything to be perfect and without a single interruption or point of contention. They expect the world of leadership and organizational change to be hassle free. And they complain vigorously when it is not.

On this particular morning, I realized that this individual was not expecting any of that to take place. He had come to the conclusion that there will be problems and challenges, and that he was at peace with this. He was not trying to be someone else in some other place, or trying to mimic something that he had read in a book or article. Instead, he was at peace to walk his path in the world of leadership and to own it.

When I got back to the office, I realized that this was what set him apart from others. It was his choice to be at peace with the complicated and the complex. He was not afraid of the difficulties or the problems. He was not going to run away from them. He was simply going to keep moving forward.

Walking one’s path and owning it is not an easy choice, but it is a powerful one. To grasp the notion, that “on my watch and while I am in this leadership position, these are my challenges; this is my path.” And then to own it, in the sense of not shying away from the difficulties, the challenges and the work. This is what separated him from the rest that I regularly meet.

This week, be a leader who understands that life can at times be difficult and challenging. And then, keep moving forward in spite of the difficulties and the challenges. Walk the path. Own the path. Be at peace with the journey.

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

The Map Is Not The Road - a new booklet!

Often, during a break in my teaching, someone will come up to me and say, “That was a great story. Very helpful. You should write it down.” Given all of these requests, I decided this past winter to write down nineteen of the most popular stories that I tell during my leadership trainings.

They are now published in a new booklet called The Map Is Not The Road: Lessons Learned and Lessons Shared While Helping Others Navigate the World of Leadership and Organizational Change.

After 30+ years of doing this work, I believe the reason why people remember a story more than research or statistics is because we are wired that way. We are built for remembering relationships and stories. Statistics, graphs, charts, and research help, but from my experience, a story is a long- term anchor in the midst of change. It becomes cellular and integrated more quickly than anything else. 

Therefore, the more I teach, consult, or coach, the more I find myself sharing a story. It builds perspective. It builds understanding. It builds a common ground where we realize that we are all travelers moving through a constantly changing and unfolding landscape. 

Included in this booklet are the stories I share with others to help them become better leaders in the midst of organizational change. Some are from my own personal journey. Others are stories shared with me. Whatever the source, the lessons learned are powerful. 

For more information about this new booklet, including the Table of Contents, the Introduction and an Order Form, please click on the following link:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/MapIsNotTheRoad.html

And here is the first review of this new resource:

“Geery, this is the book your readers have all been waiting for, for decades!  I cannot remember ever laughing so much in my life at any book this witty and endearing, and yet with profound and meaningful lessons-of-life that will forever reverberate in my heart and thoughts. They are especially funny to all who know, love, and appreciate you as the kind, caring, remarkably creative person and authentic teacher that you are.

I do not find many things in this fragmented world "funny" anymore. But because this book had me totally in stitches, it was a life-changing book in the way that Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn must have been in their time.

My husband and I have read all of your books, several times in fact.  I was one of those people who often commented to you how memorable your wonderful life stories are.  You said that so many others had also told you the same thing.  So, Geery, this is your gift to all of us.  

Thank you, Geery Howe, Master Storyteller, perhaps one of the best -- and certainly one of the most beloved -- of all times!” 

- Melinda and Todd Erickson, Erickson & Erickson, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Happy summer reading to all of you!

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

What Great Leaders Know And Do

For over thirty years, I have spent countless hours meeting with large and small groups of people. Some days I have keynoted conferences with over one thousand people in attendance. Other days I have visited with ten people around a conference. Often, I have been profoundly moved during a one to one executive coaching session. And in each of these large and small gatherings or during private one to one sessions, I have listened and learned a great deal.

While there are three primary ways of learning, namely doers, analyzers and watchers, I am often hired to be a watcher, someone who comes in, steps back and sees the bigger picture of what is going on. From my vantage point, I often can notice the invisible obvious and share my observations and perspectives with the CEO or other senior executives.

In this space, I am an ally and a confidant, i.e. someone who listens to understand rather than to respond. I come to each group prepared to share, but more importantly I also am prepared to learn and to relearn about what is most important. Over time, I can often see a pattern of what is getting in the way and what misalignments need to be corrected.

But along this life long journey of watching, I have been given a profound gift, namely the opportunity to witness great leaders at work. Sometimes, it has been with large groups and other days it is small groups. What ever the context, the good ones are able to do four things extremely well, namely grow their organization, help others envision a better future, steward key people and resources, and finally activate and energize key people and systems so that the organization will endure once they leave.

This winter into spring I want to share with you what I have learned from my journey of working with great leaders. Some of the lessons may seem pretty simple but I guarantee you they are not easy. Other lessons may be both complicated and complex. Still, as a whole, they are worth pursuing because in the end, everyone wants to work for a great leader and, if given the chance, to be a great leader.

This week, I want you to begin thinking about what are the characteristics of great leaders who you would be willing to follow. Write them down and we can compare lists over the course of the coming weeks.

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

One-Trial Learning

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: One-Trial Learning

Monday morning: January 11, 2010

Dear friends,

Life’s difficulties can be a powerful teacher.

Back in the early seventies, I was a young teen-ager at summer camp. Late one afternoon, I put an axe through my right ankle. It was a traumatic accident that required emergency surgery and later reconstructive surgery. Fortunately, with the help of good orthopedic surgeons, I can walk without pain or difficulty. But, never again did I touch an axe without heavy work boots on.

This past August, I picked up an axe to hang it on the wall in the basement of our home when I realized that I was not wearing boots but only sneakers. I believe it was the first time in nearly 36 years that I had changed my behavior. I also realized that a single incident had defined my behavior for quite some time.

Right now, we are experiencing major events that will impact a generation for decades if not life times. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an international investment banker and corporate strategist wrote a fascinating article called “Personal Lessons From the Financial Crisis” in the September/October 2009 issue of Chief Executive Magazine. When he reflects on all that has happened, he believes the trick is to learn from, but not overreact to this market downturn. He worries about the psychological trauma that could be ossified into “counterproductive behavioral traits.”

As he explains, “In experimental psychology, it’s called “one-trial learning.” For a rat in a maze, make the the electric shock painful enough, say along one route, and the animal, after only one such experience, will be extremely reluctant to go there again. Even if the shock is turned off, the rat will not venture to find out. Even if the route might lead to the largest reward, the rat will not seek to explore it. Whereas in normal learning situations a rat may require multiple trials to remember and work accurately, if there is deep trauma involved, one trial does it. So too, after shocking financial loss, one-trial learning could affect many of us - and this is often not for the good. Because if that happens, if our attitudes solidify and become impervious to change - for example, if we become reluctant to be adventurous - then we will have lost more than mere money. The good news is that human beings are not rats (at least most of the time), and pains of all kinds can be overcome.”

The financial meltdown of 2008 was very difficult. We are still experiencing it’s impact as we enter 2010. For many, it has been a “one-trial learning experience.” And because of the pain and trauma from this meltdown and subsequent recession, we are highly reluctant as leaders to take risks, explore new strategies, and create change. Nevertheless, we need not become victims by all that has happened . We also must not become cavalier and turn a blind eye to what has happened. Instead, we need to learn the appropriate and vital lessons from all that has happened. We need to continue to take risks, create strategy and make organizational change take place.

This week begin a strategic dialogue with your immediate team and then with a greater circle of employees about what are the lessons to be learned form the last two years. We need to learn appropriate lessons but not let them solidify into inappropriate and debilitating behaviors.

Have a great week,

Geery

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

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257