Richelle E. Goodrich shares a lovely story that illuminates the joyful spirit of giving.
May you feel enriched for having enjoyed this story today!
“What is the spirit of Christmas, you ask? Let me give you the answer in a true story… (more…)
To enjoy “being” good in all your “doing” well over the next year, the team at BIG hopes your holiday stocking bulges at the seams with these 7 C gifts!
Character…You walk the talk for being good and doing well. Your ethics and integrity are above reproach because you’re authentic, honest, transparent and have a moral center. You radiate positive energy and determination. You’re self-disciplined. You treat those with and those without power the same. You invite the elephant in the room to dance. (more…)
It’s that time of year—the holiday season—when introspection seems particularly appropriate. You know, questions like:
Why am I here?
Am I making a difference? Am I loving enough?
What kind of difference do I want to make? Do people know I care?
What will be my legacy? Will people smile or frown when they think of me when I’m gone?
Do people care about me personally or what I can do for them? (more…)
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?
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
I recently asked a male colleague for his thoughts on why so few women are included in the multitude of leadership guru/expert lists.*
Our fascinating exchange…
“Most women don’t write solely about leadership. They throw in other stuff that keeps them off those lists or doesn’t make them top of mind.”
So where do they go wrong in your view?
“I’m going to use you as an example. When you write about leadership, you throw in that phrase about using your heart to lead. That’s getting outside the parameters of leadership.”
How so?
“Leaders — and remember, Jane, this is just my opinion — set direction and define the vision. They create alignment. They play the devil’s advocate and identify problems. Leaders manage change. They motivate people and develop other leaders.”
Nothing here I disagree with except how clinical all those items are. Wouldn’t using one’s heart come into play with most or all of those items? Maybe we could show love and compassion as we set the direction?
“Not really.”
It seems to me there’s lots of room for caring, and dare I say, love, in executing those responsibilities.
“That’s where you and most of the other women, and even some men, go wrong when you write and consult about leadership. You have to leave love out of it. I know you’re not talking about romantic love, but you are talking about affection and fondness. Leadership is about business, about economics, about getting the job done. People who focus on those things are the ones who get included in the lists you asked about.”
That’s an interesting perspective. So what about kindness and compassion. Is there room for that in leadership in your view?
“You know I don’t advocate or support abusing people or being mean to them. No good leader stands for that happening.”
Of course.
“I’m just saying that no one’s performance gets evaluated on kindness or compassion.”
True, but don’t you think it’s time for some of that to change?
“Jane, I’m just telling you the way it is, which I know isn’t the way you want it to be. Enough said?”
Enough said.
Wow!
Today is Valentine’s Day, so I’m inviting all leaders — especially those with big job titles and formal organizational chart power — to bring a little kindness and compassion (and dare I say love) into your interactions today (and tomorrow). Focusing on both task and relationship, rather than focusing on one over the other, pays big dividends in lots of ways both large and small. Dare to show love to a colleague today!
Deal?
_______________________
*This list certainly isn’t scientific nor representative of scads of exhaustive research! It’s what popped out in a quick Google search:
– 1 out of 25 on World’s Top 25 Leadership Gurus.
– 4 out of 50 on October 2011 Top 50 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter.
– 18 out of 100 on NeverMind Awards 2011 – Top 100.
– 5 out of 12 pickers in selecting the top leader of 2011 on the Washington Post.
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
February is the love month – the month of St. Valentine, of cupid and perhaps of memories of Valentine’s Days past. Personally, I like it because I love the original Necco brand heart candies.
But I digress.
Why would we talk about love in an issure of a professional/business/leadership blog post?
Most people might shy away from this topic. I mean, love isn’t a business topic, is it?
If we could read the hypothetical blogs of shop and business owners and their hypothetical consultants prior to the Industrial Revolution, I believe we would have read lots about love in business and the workplace.
While businesses and professions were passed down generation to generation, I believe that most of the time for the most part, people loved their work.
They cared about their customers. They believed in the importance of what they were doing.
As technology and mechanization increased, the nature and context of work changed significantly. One natural outgrowth was the size of organizations. Now companies grew larger and more people came to work in a centralized place.
Fast forwarding to late in the 1800’s, people like Fredrick Taylor, the founder of Scientific Management, moved organizations forward through the systematic observation and understanding of working systems so they could be improved.
This was important work, and work that in many ways led to the supposed removal of emotion from the workplace.
Zoom forward again to the Quality work of pioneers like Deming, Juran, and others, and you will see the furtherance of the focus on the work output, process improvement and productivity gain (and this focus, though not the intent of these thinkers, often lead to the further reduction of the perceived value of emotion in the workplace).
Look around today and you will see that the world of work continues to evolve.
While there are still many very historically large organizations (which you may work in), organizations are generally getting smaller (and overwhelming, smaller more agile organizations have higher productivity, profitability and create more jobs).
More and more of the conversation in organizations is about the importance of things like pride, caring for customers, engaging employees and much more.
Pride, caring, and engagement. These and many other current topics are thinly veiled attempts to talk about the importance of the emotional component of the workplace.
Love. Passion. Belief.
These concepts have been important in all forms of work and commerce since the beginning of time. These aren’t “new-age” concepts, nor are they important only to the authors who write about them and the speakers who speak about them.
Organizations are made up of people.
And people, generally speaking, haven’t changed. We all have the same basic wants, needs and desires.
This isn’t a newer generation issue or a passing fad. People are people are people, and people have been around far longer than organizations.
Organizations of the size and complexity we now see are a relatively new phenomenon.
We are still learning, and recognizing that the true power of the organization is the people inside those organizations.
The lessons we are learning – the lessons we need to heed and master as leaders – are at the heart of long term organizational success.
Passion. Caring. Service. Pride. Belief. Fun. Engagement.
L-O-V-E. Don’t make that a four letter word in your organization.
Happy LOVE Month.
Today’s guest post is by Kevin Eikenberry, author, speaker, trainer, consultant, and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group . His book, co-authored with Guy Harris, From Bud to Boss – Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership launched on February 15, 2011.
