by Jane Perdue | Leadership
I‘m a snappy driver (translation: no stranger to speeding tickets).
I’m traveling down a winding two-lane highway and have caught up with the vehicle in front of me—which is going less than the speed limit!
I’m trapped—a most unpleasant feeling for someone who drives as if the traffic light will always be green.
*Hmmmmm*
That’s an interesting thought to noodle on while driving a winding road.
Is your leadership speed:
-
-
- Red
- Yellow
- Green
- Some combo of all three?
Thinking about RED light leadership speed:
- there’s a comfort level with the tried and true
- rules, regulations, policies, etc. would be clearly defined, enforced and communicated
- boundaries would be set – no coloring outside the lines
- change and innovation might take a back seat to “what we know”
Thinking about YELLOW light leadership speed:
- one eye would be in the rear view mirror and the other peering out the windshield, assessing whether movement or halting is next
- there would be a greater acceptance of incremental innovation rather than full-scale change
- the decision-making process probably includes lots of analysis to make sure all the bases have been covered
- the work environment probably feels safe and secure, maybe creating impatience in some
Thinking about GREEN light leadership speed:
- there’s most likely lots of blue-sky thinking and visioning, probably in a go-for-it environment that might feel uncomfortable to some
- boundaries would be written with pencil, if at all, leaving room for initiative and exploration
- there might be chaos, a concern for security and perhaps a desire for some stated protocols
- risk-taking would most likely be encouraged with bouncing back from failure just another normal part of doing business
Ah, the road widens…off to pass and head for home, hoping for green lights all the way!
What other actions and/or behaviors would you add to the red/yellow/green leadership speed list?
Image source: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Women
“It’s a dirty little secret among women that we don’t support one another,” says Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Tripping the Prom Queen: The Truth About Women and Rivalry and professor of gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College.
The sweeping generality of Ms. Barash’s comment perturbed me, yet the core of truth in her assertion unfortunately resonated. (more…)
by Jane Perdue | Character
Conversation over-heard at local coffee shop:
“Look at that sorry dude out there, holding that big sign pointing to the new grocery store. What a pathetic way to earn a living.”
“Hey, I think you’re off the mark thinking he’s pathetic. He looks like he’s having a ball out to me. Look at that little dance he’s doing when the cars are stopped at the red light. How fun!.”
Pathetic versus fun. It’s these widely divergent points of view that make life challenging…and fun…and stressful…and fascinating…and rich with opportunity. The key to personal growth in these situations is awareness coupled with tolerance.
Neither of the two participants in the above conversation were wrong in their assessment of the situation. We all see the world through our own filters. Where they could easily go wrong would be in becoming judgmental of the other’s point of view.
Diversity of thought brings good complexity
My grandfather’s work philosophy — if I have two people who think alike on my team, I don’t need one of them — may be a touch extreme but underscores the value of respecting, and encouraging, multiple approaches.
Try looking at the issues through a different lenses, valuing dissimilar principles and drawing diverse conclusions. This open 360 view can yield a beautiful “crazy quilt” solution that incorporates this diversity of thought.
Diversity trumps ability. ~Scott E. Page, professor of complex systems, political science and economics
Moving from diversity to inclusion can be a leader’s energy drink.
Who has all the answers? I know I don’t!
By incorporating other’s viewpoints (those insights and connections that would never have occurred to us) into our personal data banks gives us a richer cache of thoughts and experiences with which to frame our future actions and behaviors. Put out your “personal solar panels” and start collecting new experiences. Seek out the lessons to be learned from divergent approaches.
Keep yourself under your own tolerance microscope
No call here for being a narcissist just an earnest plea for self-awareness.
Ask yourself: am I automatically rejecting someone’s point of view simply because it’s different from mine?
You don’t have to agree, just appreciate their viewpoint and do so without judgment.
What other advice would you offer?
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Character
Willing to give your risk muscle a workout and take on the elephant in the room?
Recently I facilitated a workshop on power and influence for a group of high potential women and minorities working for a Fortune 500 firm. During a discussion about the push/pull polarities of influence, a participant commented that the core issue for her was the willingness to influence.
Do you do it or not?
How much do you use your influence for change when what needs changing is the long-cherished yet out-of-touch-with-reality status quo?
Her courageous workshop take-away was to take the risk and use her thought leader status to begin influencing new directions. She said she believed she owed it to her colleagues, the organization and herself to do so. What a powerful moment.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. ~Leo F. Buscaglia
Round peg in the proverbial square hole
The risk is being the square peg in the round hole, wearing kelly green when colleagues are wearing charcoal grey, daring — albeit politely — to be the corporate contrarian.
Risking your secure place in the corporate food chain by questioning new practices that run contrary to stated values is a high stake gamble. Will you be rewarded, take a small hit or lose it all?
According to Julie J. McGowan, professor at Indiana University,
Risk taking is hard to adopt among leaders, because recognized leaders have the most to lose and aspiring leaders may be discounted as lacking in knowledge or common sense.
Risk-taking can yield both great rewards and create possibilities for growth provided you do your homework ahead of time.
Assessing your tolerance for workplace risk-taking requires you to know yourself and understand the work environment.
Do your elephant homework
To get yourself grounded and prepared to take a risk, consider:
- Historically, how has your corporate culture reacted to those who challenged the status quo?
- Are you prepared to accept the possible outcomes? Are you willing to have your credibility eroded? Are you equipped to lose your job?
- Is this an issue that’s important to you alone, or do others share similar concerns?
- Will others who think/feel/believe the same speak up after you’ve led the charge, or will your voice be the only one that’s speaking? Are you ready to forge ahead regardless?
- Are you willing to be the center of attention if your topic goes viral within the company?
- Are you primed to be emulated and/or attacked?
- Do you have solid solutions and/or alternatives to offer?
- Are you disposed to collaborate with others and devise a solution that integrates the views of many?
- Have you brainstormed possible unintended consequences, both positive and negative, of the stand you’re championing?
- Are you OK, mentally and emotionally, with the possibility of failure?
- Will your self-esteem survive the hit? Can your ego resist the adulation of success?
- Do you have the will to see it through?
- Do you have a support system that will nurture you throughout, regardless of the outcome?
Taking on the elephant in the room is a personal choice. Only you can decide if high risk/high reward is your métier or if low risk/low reward represents the boundaries of your comfort zone.
Be prepared. Be thoughtful. Do what’s right.
What’s been your experience in taking on the elephant in the room?
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Kindness
Today’s Valentine post is a mash-up: part love letter, part rant!
While doing research, I discovered a 2009 study done by the HEC School of Management, Paris and the CEMS (Community of European Management Schools). Both institutions were selected by the editors at the Harvard Business Review to study Managing Talent in Troubled Times with a group of 200 CEOs.
A survey on topics discussed at the CEO forum was opened for general feedback. That’s the source for that disturbing statistic:
*3 out of 5 people trust a stranger more than they trust their own boss*
Across my corporate career, I’ve spent time in organizations where trust was low and where trust and love were high.
On the low trust/no love side
I worked for a firm that was acquired by a larger organization. The new company’s CEO and his senior staff flew out on their corporate jet to meet us, the senior leadership team. The meeting was perfectly lovely — all the right words were spoken, bread was broken, and commitments to integrity and collaboration were made.
I needed to be at the corporate headquarters of the acquiring company the next day, so the CEO invited me to fly back with them and avoid the hassle of a commercial flight. More loveliness, or so I thought.
The loveliness evaporated at about 20,000 feet as the CEO and his team verbally disemboweled nearly everyone they had met. They didn’t seem to care that those people were my trusted colleagues nor that their mid-air comments were quite at odds with the genial words spoken over dinner. As it turned out, the culture of the new firm was to “smile-pretty-and-then-back-stab.”
I didn’t stay there long.
When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home. ~Betty Bender
On the high trust/high love side
I feel fortunate to have experienced the six years I worked for Lyle. Lyle was the senior vice president for a region with nearly 3000 employees. Under his leadership, employee morale was off the charts high, so was productivity.
And, drum roll please: the profit margin was 60%, plus or minus a point or two, every single year.
Lyle’s standards and expectations were high. He offered praise. He regularly treated at lunch (especially on the days when the little diner around the corner served liver and onions). He knew when to push and when to pull. He defined the results he expected you to produce and challenged you to do even better.
Lyle didn’t hesitate to kick butt. He kicked butt because he cared about the organization AND about us. We all knew he had our best interests at heart. He candidly told us–right to our face–how to be better people and leaders face. And, most critically, he left our self-esteem intact. Lyle wanted his employees to do, and be, their best. We would have followed him off the cliff.
The big firm with the corporate jet had no trust, no love and 10% profit margins.
Lyle built trust, wasn’t afraid to love and delivered 60% profit margins.
That kinda says it all, doesn’t it?
Image source before quote: Gratisography
