by Jane Perdue | Paradox
There’s something, isn’t there, about the ambiance of a little coffee shop that spurs how-we’re-going-to-change-the-world discussions?
The topic at hand was a rich and challenging one: reinventing leadership so it’s inspired and inspiring.
People want to produce value and feel valued…that’s a must do.
Places where employees are just-a-cog-in-the-wheel…well, those environments must go.
Ethics and integrity being tossed aside for economics and delivering, at any cost, perpetually better bottom line results is wrong, wrong, wrong.
We talked about what in leadership needs to change.
Rich stuff, intriguing, too. Addictive!
As you might imagine, there was immediate consensus on the need for a new leadership paradigm and no shortage of ideas for what it should be. Here’s the caffeine-stimulated change ingredient list we compiled:
-
- No more singular focus on just the bottom line as a measure of success. Somewhere along the line, Drucker’s observation that “what gets measured gets managed” was corrupted. Hard and fast metrics make management easier, but that isn’t the point.
- There must be a moral center. Ethics and integrity matter. End the Murdoch mentality of “get the story no matter what.”
- Leaders apply confidence and humility in equal measure; both are used appropriately. Laughter and tears are welcome in the work place.
- Contrarian points of view (albeit presented professionally and without haughty condescension) are encouraged. Brown-nosing is no longer a required promotional competency.
- Power is used appropriately. If it’s a truly command-and-control scenario (crises), directives are OK. Otherwise, power is used with others and to produce win-win outcomes. Leaders know when to flex between styles and are held accountable for doing so.
- Gender, race and ethnicity are irrelevant to effective leadership.
- Pronouns reflect inclusion (we, not me) and courage (it was my decision…)
- There’s a team-oriented approach to achieving results coupled with a spirit of “we’re all in this together.” No more “me-centered” spotlights.
- Tough empathy rules. A job well-done is recognized and rewarded. Less-than-stellar performance is addressed immediately via thoughtful, continued coaching; follow-up required.
- Serious thought goes into perks. Pooh-bahs don’t continue to fly in corporate jets while clerks and assistants have to pay for their morning cup of coffee.
- Diversity goes beyond lip service and really means something. Inclusion is valued.
- It’s OK, expected even, to go home while it’s still daylight and/or not come into the office on the weekend. Seeing your kid in a play or a soccer game matters.
- Vacations are for renewal, really. Clear your head. Come back renewed not current with your email.
- The squeaky wheel doesn’t get all the attention. People talk, share, engage. Political correctness in agreeing with the guy with the loudest voice isn’t politically correct anymore.
Given the breadth, depth and complexity of leadership, this new paradigm list is a work in progress.
What elements would you add?
Image source: morgueFile
by Jane Perdue | Power
Like love, power is one of those words that is rarely spoken in the workplace.
And, when it is, those conversations usually happen in whispered tones and follow a flagrant example of power gone wrong like when:
– A CEO believes he or she is above the law, an attitude that leadership ethicist Terry Price defines as “something that’s wrong for others but OK for me.”
– A newly promoted manager is intoxicated with their authority and bosses everyone about.
– A quiet someone who has a dissenting view refrains from speaking up because they believe they lack sufficient influence to affect outcomes.
Power gets a bad rap. It’s misunderstood or used improperly. Some say it corrupts. Others believe it to be evil and self-serving. Truth is, in and of itself, power is none of these things. It’s simply the neutral capacity to deploy resources to generate change and achieve results. It’s only in how one chooses to use, or not use, power that it becomes good or bad.
Looking back, no one ever taught me about power: what it was or how to use it effectively. No college class curriculum or leadership workshop addressed it. Bosses didn’t bring it up in performance reviews or staff meetings. As with many things that exist in the shadows, incorrect assumptions loom large.
3 incorrect notions about power
1) Because I am the boss, I am all powerful.
It’s not quite true that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That only happens if you let it happen. Research shows that people who believe they have power become less compassionate, less connected, and see others as a means to an end. They view themselves as above the law and adopt an all wise mentality.
Rather than embrace such a kingly position, it’s best to remember that all work gets done by and through people, so staying connected and open to the input of others should remain high on a leader’s priority list. Resist the siren song of believing you’re above the law and better than others simply because you have a high responsibility, high authority position. Stay self-aware.
2) Because I’m not a boss, I don’t have any power.
Au contraire! Just as one can be a leader even if one isn’t the leader, the same holds true for power. Power is readily available from a multitude of sources provided you have the courage and foresight to take it and use it.
You don’t have to sit in the corner office job or even supervise others to have power. Power can flow from your expertise, connections, access to information and strong interpersonal communication skills. Personal power is a state of mind in which you confidently believe in your own strength and competence.
Character-based leaders walk the talk as defined by Rosabeth Moss Kanter when she writes “powerful leaders rely more on personal power than job title, or credentials, to mobilize their resources, inspire creativity, and instill confidence among subordinates.”
3) I don’t want power because it will corrupt me.
Power will corrupt you only if you let it. Formal and informal leaders influence others. Influence goes hand-in-hand with power (whether one wants to admit it or not). Shying away from any position or personal power leaves you powerless, without the ability to shape outcomes or make a positive difference.
“Power is required if one wants to get anything done in any large organization,” says Stanford University professor Jeffery Pfeffer. “Unfortunately, power doesn’t just fall into one’s lap: one will have to go after it and learn how to use it.” Positive use of personal power helps a business effectively realize its mission and goals.
What other notions about power have you seen where you work?
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Book Review
Review of Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right by Thomas H. Davenport (holds President’s Chair in Information Technology and Management at Babson College) and Brook Manville (consultant and author), Harvard Business Review Press, 2012.
If your organization is mired in a command-and-control hierarchy, this book isn’t for you. However, if you and/or your organization are self-aware and want to tap into the power of effective organizational decision making, there’s much to learn in this book.
The backdrop of the ongoing global economic calamity and the BP oil platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico prompted the authors to ask why is it “so hard for organizations to do the right thing?”
Their search for answers led them to “organizational judgment—the collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceeds the scope of any single leader’s direct control.”
Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of the Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right, contains twelve stories, cutting across a multitude of organizational types and industry sectors (McKinsey & Company, WGB Homes, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, NASA, Partners Healthcare Systems, The Vanguard Group, Media General, The Wallace Foundation, Tweezerman and even ancient Athens), that detail “how particular decisions were made and improved through activities designed to build organizational judgment.”
5 reasons you’ll enjoy this book
1) Focus on capability and possibility.
Each of the twelve stories are success stories. There’s no rehashing of failed efforts. Learnings flow from positive efforts rather than sifting through gloomy accounts of leaders and organizations gone wrong.
2) A “work within your culture orientation” rather than proscriptive solutions.
As close as the authors get to offering definitive insights is the four-part framework they believe defines “the new paradigm for organizational judgment:”
-
- decision making as a participative problem-solving process
- the opportunity of new technology and analytics
- the power of culture, and
- leaders doing the right thing and establishing the right context.
3) Strong emphasis on both-and thinking.
Good decision making practices go far beyond either-or thinking to embrace both information and instinct, stability and change, people and process, and what you do and how you do it. The NASA STS-119 story is an insightful look into how an organization rebounded from tragedy, learning how to balance “openness to discussion and debate” with keeping an eye on finding the best outcome.
4) Thorough debunking of the “great man” approach to leadership decision making and an embrace of collaboration.
The beauty and power of organizational judgment stems from tapping into collective wisdom: employees at all levels within the organization as well as informed outsiders. The diversity of thought yields far better solutions than what most “great men” can generate on their own. Dal LaMagna’s use of “community thinking” and open book management contributed to the success at Tweezerman.
5) Sharing through storytelling.
While rich with information, Judgment Calls is an enjoyable read. There’s no textbook or academic feel to the content. The stories pull the self-aware reader into possibilities. There’s no pushing to right or wrong conclusions.
We were guided by the belief that the traditional paradigm of decision making—where an all-seeing and wise CEO “makes the call” alone—is being superseded by more participative and data-intensive approaches, and therefore that this concept and capability is something every leader today can benefit from. ~Davenport and Manville
Book image courtesy of authors
by Jane Perdue | Kindness
Barry was speechless, first with shock and then with anger, as he read the email from his boss. He never expected his boss to give that kind of feedback in an email.
“Here’s some input from Kevin on how you handled the last project team meeting. Get it fixed. Fast.”
Kevin and Barry were peers, both managers but in different departments. Both assigned to a cross-functional project team tasked with improving productivity. They’d joined the company on the same day, went through the same onboarding classes, had attended several leadership development offsites together, and occasionally met for lunch. They weren’t best buddies nor were they total strangers.
“Bill, I thought it would be helpful for you to know my reactions to the last productivity project team meeting. Barry led the meeting. He appeared disorganized and unprepared. His answers to questions from the finance department totally missed the mark. Given this was my meeting, it seemed prudent to share my observations.”
On his way into the meeting in question, Barry had received a call from the project team lead. The lead told Barry he had gotten ill and had gone home. He asked Barry to take his place in facilitating the meeting. Barry knew he hadn’t done his best work in leading that meeting yet was caught off-guard by what Kevin had reported to his boss.
Barry wished Kevin had had the professional courtesy to tip him off to the problems before going right to Barry’s boss. It felt like grade school, when someone ratted you out to whole the school.
Ever been in Kevin’s situation?
3 tips for giving feedback to a peer
1) Talk-one-on-one before taking the issue further up the food chain.
Peer-to-peer feedback is a valuable tool for supporting and helping fellow leaders grow into their potential. Leadership isn’t a duel to the finish with one person taking home the spoils. (Or shouldn’t be!) It’s a collaborative endeavor focused on delivering company objectives.
2) Sharing doesn’t mean conflict.
Offering up well-framed observations and/or asking clarifying questions – “today’s meeting felt disjointed to me. Is there a reason for that?” – sets the foundation, not for conflict, but for performance improvement.
3) Frame without judging.
“Man, you totally blew it today. There goes your promotion.” Hey, who isn’t going to get defensive when someone lobs a grenade like that your way?
“I” statements deflect blame, “I got a little lost in the meeting when you were going over the balance sheet. Did I miss something?” They also advance the conversation. When people feel attacked, they may stop the conversation altogether or negatively escalate it.
Peers tactfully providing input on areas of improvement as well as kudos for success to one another is a powerful way to change the stories of leadership and build a culture of collaboration and camaraderie.
“Peer coaching can make a real difference in helping people change.” ~Stewart D. Friedman, Practice Professor of Management at Wharton
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Leadership
Starting his own cheese, wine and charcuterie shop had been a dream of Steve’s ever since his early college days in northern California.
His happiest career day was leaving his “big boy” accounting manager job to open his shop.
Steve’s saddest day was hanging the “going out of business” sign on his shop door.
The day that happened, Steve froze, personally and professionally, doing nothing for several months except looking back, wondering what he could have done differently to save his dream.
Steve believed he was a failure.
He wasn’t.
He was simply failing at dealing with hitting one of life’s unexpected speed bumps.
Hitting those life change obstacles hurts, just like it did when you fell off a skateboard when you were eight years old. And, just like you did way back then, the key is picking yourself up and getting back in the game. Work to see what happened to you as a “teachable moment” for exploring, growing and learning instead of allowing yourself to withdraw.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” ~Albert Einstein
7 tips to maintain positive momentum
If you identify with what happened to Steve, use these seven tips to get—and keep—moving:
1) Find the lesson(s). Work with a trusted confidante to explore your thoughts and feelings about what happened. There’s something positive to be learned from nearly every situation. These learnings will make you better next time around.
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ~Bernice Johnson Reagon
2) Pursue understanding. Ignoring what happened or looking to find fault won’t make the situation go away or change the outcome. Focus instead on what you do well and look for opportunities where you can apply your strengths.
“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” ~Carlos Castaneda
3) Seek self-awareness. Take a long hard look at your reactions so you can better understand your motivation. Connect to what makes you tick and use that wisdom to connect with others. Determine if your strengths have been over-used to the point of becoming weaknesses.
“Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
4) Take wise risks. Expand your comfort zone – that’s where life and learning really begins. Learn and grow by trying something new. Expect bumps, bruises and failures along the way.
“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” ~Aldous Huxley
5) Build bridges to the future; don’t burn those to the past. You never know when a past boss or colleague may become a future boss or hold the key to a job or assignment you want, so maintain constructive relationships.
“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.” ~Abraham Lincoln
6) Remain optimistic. Analyze the situation. Then move beyond those “what if” thoughts or “maybe I should have” worries. Saying I should have, I could have, I wish I did is living your life in the rear view mirror — all looking back and no forward movement.
“The difference between can and cannot is only three letters. Three letters that can shape your life’s direction.” ~Remez Sasson
7) Grow, learn, connect. Volunteer, take a class, connect, share, work out, be a mentor, network, read, write, love, laugh, learn. Use the past as a springboard for energetically moving on.
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” ~Brian Tracy
The next time you’re cruising down the highway and see the road sign that reads “keep moving, change lanes later” – smile and follow the good advice.
Image source: morguefile
