The Enlightened Manager

Looking for Leverage Points

A leverage point is a place where you can provide a small amount of focused energy and get an even bigger and better result in return.  Have you identified the leverage points in your sphere of influence?

I'm delivering a presentation next week on "Coaching Skills" for a local HR association.  The reason for this is that HR coaching managers represents a giant leverage point in organizations.  If one talented HR manager can help make one manager more effective, that HR manager has in fact reached not only the manager but every employee he or she works with.  It's about leverage.

A great tip about leverage points (I believe it comes from Donetta Meadows) is that usually everyone knows where they leverage points are in an organization, except that they are trying to push them very hard in the opposite direction they need to go!   

A good example of this is an overly strong focus on corporate policies and heirarchical control.  I've known CEOs who try to build organizational excellence by clamping down so tightly on rules and regulations that people need three signatures to purchase a box of paper clips.   (OK, a slight exaggeration).  Rather than building excellence, this kind of tight control tends to lead to less accountable workforces, people who say "no" to customers because of "rules" and inflexible approaches.  (Not to mention it also makes managers feel like they're being treated like five year olds - which is never good for retention.)

Where are the leverage points in your work?  Where can you expend focused effort to get a bigger payoff than many might expect?   Food for thought today.

Constructive Criticism: Keep the Gift, Throw away the Wrapping

Today I'm going to write about one of the topics that I discuss in my teambuilding program.  I think of all of the things I talk about over that seven week program, this is probably one of the most powerful concepts and yet the one that people have the hardest time with.   It's not difficult conceptually, people understand what I mean, but it's one of those things that tends to butt up against preconceived belief systems.  So here it is.

Imagine that you have received some constructive feedback from someone.  Perhaps they pointed out an error that you made, but they yelled at you while they were telling you.  Constructive feedback is difficult enough without being yelled at, demeaned, or talked down to.  And yet there are many cases in our lives when the feedback we receive is delivered poorly and without consideration.

One of the concepts I talk about in teambuilding is this notion of feedback as a gift.  If we can always view feedback as a gift, even when the package (the delivery) is shabby, we have more control over our own lives, and our ability to accept feedback from just about anyone without being hurt or upset will send a signal to everyone around us - here is someone I can trust.

So let's go back to that poorly delivered feedback. You made a mistake, and someone is telling you about it while yelling in a most disrespectful way.  What is the gift in there?

1.  This person is pointing out a mistake - and now I can fix it.
2.  Apparently something made this person angry, perhaps I pushed their buttons, and this is helpful to know.

This is information you can use, that you can work with.  Embracing it and being grateful for the information can set you free.

Now what about the "wrapping"?  Should you simply ignore the fact that the person was yelling at you and being completely inappropriate?  Well, that is where you have a choice.  You can do any of the following:

1.  You can think:  "The wrapping on that gift was shabby - ugly in fact, but that is not my problem, that is theirs.  I'll leave them with their own issues without needing to feel responsible for them."

2.  You can return to them and give them feedback on how they gave you feedback, and ask for a different tone next time.

3.  You can feel upset about it and let it ruin your day.

I think the biggest "errors" that people make when receiving badly delivered constructive criticism is that they assume that if the delivery stinks that they should just throw the whole message into the trash.   They let the bad behavior of others rule over how they feel and think, and what they do.

I prefer to have power over my own life and choices.  To do this, I view all feedback as a gift, and I recognize there are times when I may need to ignore or discard the package it came in.  The message and the delivery are not the same thing.  Separate the two, and watch your effectiveness go through the roof.

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  If you have anything to add, please leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of us!

The Search for Inspiration

How do you find inspiration?  Do you listen to uplifting music, look to a particular inspirational leader, or think aspirationally about the future?   

Inspiration is that little emotional "charge" that can give us a kick in the pants to help us thrive at work and in life.  Inspiration tells us "Yes, this is something to reach for."  Painters often find inspiration in nature or in a particular beautiful human being, their muse.  Can we have a muse for leadership? 

I am greatly inspired by the stories of leaders and entrepreneurs who have climbed from obscurity to greatness.  At the moment I'm reading "Pour Your Heart Into It" by Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee.  Reading about his early struggles which include taking huge personal risks, his hopes and fears clashing on a regular basis, and his many small successes all make me feel charged up to work harder and better than before.  I think there is something in me which looks at those huge success stories in the business world and says "Ah, they were human too.  They struggled too.  They went through much of what I am experiencing now.  So why can't I be just as successful?"

A leader doesn't have to be the CEO of Starbucks to impress me however.  I also look to my friends and mentors in the local consulting community, those who have been in the business for 10 or 20 or even 30 years, and I smile to see at how far they've come.  They also inspire me.

And my family, especially my husband, also inspire me.  His support of me is consistent and unconditional, and I want to knock his socks off by surpassing the world's expectations for what one emerging consultant-entrepreneur can do.

So my friends - what inspires you?  The next time you come up against a barrier or feel too tired to go on, what is going to give you strength to push on to your next success point?  Think it over.  Make a list.  And then keep that list close to your heart.  There is good stuff in there.

Snapshots from Week in the Life....

I've been thinking about what to write for today's post, and I decided I'd like to share a few amusing and/or illustrative moments from my recent consulting activities.  Little snapshots of organizational life.

Welcome to our Organization...

When I walk into a law firm, I am offered a cup of tea and seated on an expensive leather couch.  When I walk into health care organizations, I am offered water and seated in a hard chair purchased for economy rather than comfort.  Then why was I surprised last week when I was waiting for a meeting at a comedy/entertainment organization and the "host" turned to me and said "If you'd like to read I have some comic books..."

Body Language Doesn't Lie....

I have this exercise I sometimes use with groups where they discuss team challenges in small groups and then we take a "tally" of what items they are most concerned about.  Usually people are very willing to pony up with what ails them, but in one group every time I asked for "votes" on an item a couple people would jerk like they had been struck with a rock, but no one raised their hands.  Instead of counting hands, I counted twitches.  A reminder to me that not every group is ready for public disclosure.

The Irony Is...

Why do people who have a love of group development and organizational behavior tend to go out and work as solo consultants?  This week I spent a few hours at the Essential Baking Company in Seattle with a friend and fellow consultant working out the details of a leadership development program.  Surrounded by stacks of scribbled notes, listening the clank and whirr of the espresso machine, enjoying a mocha, I was reminded of the joys and challenges of working with others.  It is good not to be alone in all my professional endeavors.

Enjoy your Monday everyone.

   

The Creativity-Emotion Link

I'm on a few listservs, and while I often chortle at the language used on these groups (the jargon can be absolutely stifling) they also have some great information.  On the Positive Psychology listserv today there was an article that describes a recent study which looked at the connection between emotion and creative capacity.

The authors of this study argue that "excited" emotional states, including enthusiasm, joy, and anger can all improve one's creative capacity.  Being calm and relaxed seems to lead to less creative thinking when those emotional states are present.  Interesting eh?

Given the negative effects of being angry on relationships and the human body, I think I'll take elation over anger when it comes to driving creativity, but it's just more fuel on the idea that how we feel influences how we work.

Here is the reference to the study for those who enjoy such reading.

2008  Volume 94, Issue 5 (May)
Hedonic tone and activation level in the mood-creativity link: Toward a dual pathway to creativity model.
Pages 739-756
De Dreu, Carsten K. W.; Baas, Matthijs; Nijstad, Bernard A.

 

Five Followership Tips

I'm sitting at Uptown Espresso in Seattle catching a breath between meetings and playing catch up on my weekly blog posts.  Today I'm going to write on Followership, which is the flipside of Leadership.  In the situations when we are not the recognized leader in a situation, how can we contribute to the effectiveness of our teams?  Here are five quick tips to consider.

1.  Balance out the leader's strengths.   If you work for a highly directive leader, one way to balance their strengths would be to ask good questions and strive to create a balance of advocacy and inquiry in the group.  Or if your leader is a big picture thinker, you might contribute some of the detail-oriented bits that the team needs, to create a well rounded approach to issues.

2. Observe and learn.  Learning from your own mistakes and triumphs is powerful.  Learning from the mistakes and triumphs of others can be even better.  Rather than sitting and making judgments of the leader, use your follower time to make observations about the whole team.  "Whenever Jane says "As you all well know..." she shuts down the conversation" is one example observation.  Be a keen observer of human nature - an organizational anthropologist!

3. Boost your Leader Up.  Leading teams can be tough, so when you see your leader making a good point or trying to lead a necessary but difficult conversation, offer your support both verbally and with your body language.  "As much as I hate to have more meetings, Joe is right.  We really do need to figure this thing out.  I'll bring coffee."  Your validation isn't sucking up to your boss unless it is effusive or inappropriate.

4. Practice your Challenging Skills.  Challenging the group might include sentences that start "I'd like us to look at this from another angle..."  or "I think there is something we are overlooking...." or even "I'm worried that we're making a mistake."  When something is not going right in your eyes, you can still challenge the team as a non-leader, and doing this with style will take some practice.

5. Relax a little.  For those of you in leadership roles, it can be draining at times.  When you are in situations when you are a regular-ole-participant, kick your feet up a bit (at least mentally) and enjoy a brief respite from the demands of leadership.  Strive to be the employee that you would like to have on your team. 

I hope you enjoyed these tips.  More and more, the concept of leadership is being redefined from a specific "role" to a set of behaviors anyone can and should use.  Even when you are part of the pack, you still have a great deal to offer.

Do you have tips to add?  Leave a comment!

On "Making It" in Consulting and Life

A pretty incredible thing has happened this week.  I've been sitting here in my office just turning it over in my mind.  It's about consulting, being a business owner, and the way that realizations can just sneak up on you.  It's about this whole notion of "making it" in life.

I'm not entirely sure how much of my own experience of being a consultant I've shared on the blog.  Yes, I've shared some of the interesting case studies and experiences I've had, but I've talked less about the inner roller coaster that goes along with being unconnected with a larger organization.  I'm going to talk about it today, in part because I think you'll find it interesting, but even more so because it's just something I need to get off my chest.

Consulting is hard work, but even that idea is misleading.  It's not the actual work of consulting that is so difficult, the client engagements and team sessions and training and coaching.  That part for me at least has been pretty easy and enjoyable, although not simple.  The hard thing is that once you become a consultant what you are really "selling" is yourself; your perspectives, ideas, skills, capacities and your time.  Really it's all about value, about improving the client's condition, but there is no longer a "thing" that you do, there is the person you are, and how you want to bring who you are to what the client needs.  This takes a tremendous amount of courage, even for a natural extrovert like myself.  Even when you have years of experience and a lot to offer, the whole thing takes a lot of guts.

And the hardest thing about it all is that no matter how hard you work and how smart you are, there is this whole matter of time and patience. It takes YEARS to get established, and this is no exaggeration.  One of the consultants I look up to, a talented veteran of 30 years in the business, told me point blank one day "Cheri, it took me fourteen months to get my first client."  He wasn't kidding.

So in a year and a half of consulting, I've been working my tail off.  I've been writing.  I've been speaking in front of ever larger crowds of people.  I've been building relationships with wonderful business and HR leaders every week.  I've been developing curriculum, building teams, coaching leaders, and working to the tune of twelve hour days much of the time.  And not once in this time have I felt secure that this was going to work.  Not once have I relaxed inwardly, knowing for certain I could make this business the work of my lifetime.

Until this week, when things changed.

It's been a hard road, but I've been blessed.  I've been fortunate to have found some incredible organizations to work with.  Blessed to have a spouse who has supported me (emotionally and financially) through this career transition.   Grateful to have a network of friends and colleagues who are unstinting with their support and respect.  Thankful to have a growing group of blog readers who hear me out, offer their own wise ideas, and give me a reason to write about my experiences.

I wish I could tell you what made me wake up and suddenly realize that things were going to be O.K.  Certainly my friends have been telling me that since the beginning, but isn't that what friends are supposed to say?

It's tempting to boil it down to the fact that I have an excellent set of projects underway and another batch on the horizon.  I could point at my active invoices, and say that they are the reason I feel confident.  I don't think it is that though.  It's probably the fact that I can look at my current success and see how it can be replicated and multiplied.  It's probably the fact that after almost two years of toil I'm still left standing, and often smiling.  Perhaps it's none of those things.  But in any case, I feel like I'm actually going to "make it" in this biz.  And that is a pretty wonderful thing.

So Enlightened Managers, if you've followed me through this excessively long post, let me summarize some points here so that you have something to walk away with. 

Cheri's Rules for Success in Consulting and Life

1.  Surround yourself with good people, and try to be one of the "good people" in their lives too.
2.  It's OK to be afraid or intimidated, so long as you keep going. 
3.  Remember that the most successful people are often the ones who have persevered through hard times, there is no "magic" to this - you just need to keep at it.
4.  If you can find where YOUR talents and YOUR interests and the needs of OTHERS intersect, you have a career worth striving for.
5.  The best way to learn how to do something is to do it.  If you wait until conditions are perfect, you'll wait forever.
6.  Take time each week to reflect on your experiences.  Writing is great for this, because you'll create a record you can refer back to.
7.  Learn something new every day.  If you can take one good idea from a book, speech, or podcast and really apply it, it is time well spent. 
8.  Experiment regularly.  If you can try out a new idea cheaply and with a minimum of time investment, why wouldn't you?  You only need a couple of them to pay off.
9.  Stress, fear, and worry are bad in quantity, but a little bit of these things is a sign that you're pushing yourself.  That is a good thing.
10.  Cherish your mistakes, they are your best teachers.
11.  If the movie stinks, walk out of the theater.  You only get so many hours in life.  Why waste them on bad movies, poorly written books, or insincere relationships?
12.  Don't let anyone else define "success" for you.  What your neighbor defines as success (big money, fancy car, fame) may not be what you value (family time, flexible schedule, can pay the bills).
13.  Remember that life is fleeting.  Squeeze every bit of happiness, meaning, and laughter you can out of each day.  If you're going to get hit by a bus tomorrow, try to make your last thought "At least I have no regrets."
 

When Accountability Goes Too Far

As leaders, our accountability is a core strength.  Saying what we are going to do, and then doing it, is what builds trust and confidence in our teams.  Our integrity, perhaps even our sense of honor is tied up in delivering upon what we say we will.

But I think that accountability has a dark side.  For some of us (and I put myself in this category), accountability means feeling responsible for things which are really outside of our control.  This kind of thinking can lead to a lot of stress, not to mention the irrational feeling that every bump in the road is somehow our fault.

I have a tendency to feel accountable for too many things in my life.   When my husband is annoyed for example, I want to immediately jump to a feeling of "how can I fix this" even when the annoyance has nothing to do with me or what I can do.  Over time I've gradually let this crazy-making behavior go, but I still find myself being accountable for things that are outside my sphere of influence when it comes to work.

A lot of the work that I do has to do with behavior change.  Managers wanting to change employee behavior.   Teams want to change the work climate. And when I walk into these situations I always make it clear that while I can provide tools and practice, ultimately each individual will take up the call or not.  People will begin giving feedback directly or not.  People will listen before jumping to conclusions or not. 

This is difficult for me.  When I walk into a client organization and they trust me with their time and resources, I want to offer them guarantees.  I want to erase those lines of worry off of corporate foreheads.  I want to be fully accountable for those outcomes.  I can't be.

Here is the trick though.  Such thinking is unreasonable.  When I see a manager get frustrated with the pace of change, my role is to acknowledge the reality of that frustration and to encourage the ongoing behaviors that will gradually make change reality.   I need to know that when I've done my part as best as it can be done, I am free to walk away with my head up, even leaving those struggles behind.  You can give people tools to forge a difficult path, but ultimately you can't walk that path for them.  Nor should you!

It is one thing to say this.  It is an entirely different thing to feel it.  I'm still working on the latter.

Thoughts?

Reflections on the Dalai Lama's Visit Part II

In today's post, I wanted to share some observations about the Dalai Lama himself that I made during his visit here.  If we were to look at the Dalai Lama not as the spiritual leader of Tibet, but instead as a leader, what characteristics were readily apparent?

He Facilitated, Rather than Directing -  From the start, the Dalai Lama said to the audience that he "was here to learn."  He asked two or three questions for every statement he made.  (Inquiry rather than Advocacy)  In today's paper, it was reported that he answered some of the questions from schoolchildren by reminding them that "I am not an expert."

He used Humor -  People in leadership positions can be intimidating, but one of the things that has shaped the Dalai Lama into a beloved figure even outside of his country and religion is his humility.  During the discussion on science and compassion, the conversation turned to biological factors.  The Dalai Lama joked that if he were reborn as a sea turtle, he would have little use for compassion. 

He Encouraged People to Find Their Own Answers -  When asked by a panelist how to cultivate compassion, he remarked that he cultivates compassion through Buddhism, but that this "needs belief" and so secular training and education are important.  "Some people say it comes through God, some people say that is Nonsense - Scientists have a greater responsibility than a religious person like me."

He Didn't Assume that He was Right -  "Might be right, Might be wrong.  Please make correction!" was his statement to scientists when talking about how the intellect can strengthen our natural capacity for compassion.

You don't need to be a spiritual person to benefit from the example of transformational leaders.  You might wonder why over a hundred thousand people would gather to hear someone who doesn't advocate a rigid point of view, or who won't even insist that he has the answers.  I think that the truth is hidden in that statement.  Most of us know that no one has all of the answers.  This kind of authenticity is attractive because it is something which is largely missing in our global leadership.

I'm not a Buddhist, but I think we can all learn from those who are different from us.  And perhaps even come to a point where our differences become less important than the things we want to create together.   Do you have any comments on today's post?  Leave a comment and share your wit with the world.

Reflections on the Dalai Lama's Visit

On Friday of last week I joined a hundred and sixty thousand other people in coming to hear the Dalai Lama speak in Seattle on the topics of compassion, learning, and science.  To be more accurate, the Dalai Lama was a participant in these discussions, which included an impressive array of neuroscientists, educators, and leaders.   The following observations come after seeing the talk on "The Scientific Basis of Compassion."  You can view this talk (and the many others that happened over the weekend) by clicking here. 

Here were some of what I found to be the most interesting points as they apply to leadership:

There is a link between our emotional states and our ability to learn.  Studies in infants demonstrate that when they are engaged and happy, that they are better able to learn.  I suspect, although I don't know if it has been studied, that this holds true for adult learners as well.

The heart sends more information to the brain than vice versa.  The old poetic notion that emotions "live in the heart" does have a biological basis. 

Kindness, Compassion, and Problem Solving are all abilities that are developed within the structure of the brain.  When children have their emotional needs met, they are better able to develop the brain in these ways.  Thus, children who have emotionally aware parents have a better shot at growing up to be good problem solvers.

Fear and Anxiety can decrease learning.  Audio/Video learning methods are far less effective than human interaction.  Again, these studies were in the very young, but I am curious about the workplace implications.

Children can learn to use their emotions like tools.  One researcher gave the example of telling a child that his ability to focus was "like a flashlight."  Thus the child was able to remember to "use his flashlight" when focus was important.

Children (and later as Adults) view the world through the lens of the way they were treated by their parents.  Thus when we witness employee behavior in the workplace, much of what we see is influenced by the way our employees were raised as children.  This isn't startling news, and the brain is capable of change even in adulthood, but this idea of people being "stuck in the patterns of their childhoods" may give us some perspective (and even empathy) when we struggle with difficult employees.

In children, the brain doesn't strongly distinguish between people who are "like me" and people who are "not like me."  Thus empathy and caring for others is a natural reaction in children.  As we grow older, our brains make a stronger distinction between those who are "like us" and "not like us" and when our brain identifies someone who is "not like us" the area of the brain that generates kindness and compassion tends to shut down. 

Thus, one way to improve our compassionate treatment of others is to begin seeing people as "the same as us" even when there are external differences.  Of course the Psychologist Carl Rogers talked about this when he discussed "Unconditional Positive Regard."  Gradually, neuroscience is supporting many of the points that scholars have suspected about the human mind all along.

I hope you enjoyed these tidbits from a great day of science and learning.  More to come.