The Enlightened Manager

End of Month Reflections - What I'm Learning Now

Hey Enlightened Managers,

It's been fun writing the blog series on Accountability this month!  Especially as it's a topic that so many of my clients are passionate about, and working hard to embrace.  I think we can all relate to the struggle of meeting our commitments in environments that demand too much of us.

The things I'm trying to learn/embrace:

1.  Passion Matters - The more I care about something, the easier it is to be accountable.  So it helps me to remember why the outcomes are so important.

2.  Negativity Hurts -  It's very easy for Accountability to slide into a negative concept.  We can bash people with demands to "be accountable" or we can affirm them when they have integrity.  Why is it that I am so negative towards myself sometimes, when I know that doesn't work for others? I should offer myself the same good advice I give others.

3. Prioritize -  This is a concept we throw around like it's easy.  It's *really* not.  The reality is that we can't "prioritize" our way out of an unreasonable amount of work, unless we cut some things out.  I'm working hard to trim away my "nice to have" projects, goals, and dreams, to make room for the "must have" equivalents.  This is tough, emotionally, when it feels like letting go of something important.

Sometimes I have to learn things over and over before they'll really stick.  So I'll keep trying. :)

PS: Our next blog series is going to be about Coaching Skills!

A Trip to Ireland, and a Return to the Beginning.

Five years ago, I did something scary.  It also ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made.  I left a job I loved to take a risk on starting my consulting business.  I had a lot of ideas, very little experience, and more than a little naivete.

Right after leaving my "going away party" at my employer, I took a trip to Ireland with my husband.  We spent a couple weeks hiking through the breathtaking scenery, and I came back with six months to finish my masters thesis and build a business plan before opening shop.

Well, here I am five years later and we are going to Ireland again. The timing is coincidental, but I can't help but feel that I've come full circle.  Time for the next adventure!

I left for Ireland last time with an empty email inbox, an empty client list, and a sense of great possibility. 

I'm leaving this time with an overflowing inbox, turning business away because I'm booked, and an even greater sense of possibility.

All this year, I've had a feeling that some thing's been missing.  I think perhaps it is that feeling of unquenchable energy I had during my first year of business.  I had a million ideas, a ton of energy, I was unstoppable.  I felt like a flame that was ready to go out and light up the world.

The flame never went out, but as I got busier and more tired, the light definitely dimmed. I have been doing good work, but I didn't feel as alive and vital as I did during that first year. When you are in the throes of delivering service and doing the unglamorous work of accounts payable, it's hard to find the time to dream.

That's why I'm so glad to be going back to Ireland and to be celebrating my five years of consulting.  I can't wait to go and spend time in that lovely green country and come back refreshed and renewed.

I want to get my brilliant and unstoppable fire back.  I want to light up the world.  Don't you? :)

If You Want to Be a Consultant.... Some Advice to Consider

Many times per year I get inquiries through my professional network from people who are interested in becoming consultants to talk to me about what it's been like.  The say "You seem successful Cheri, so how does one become a consultant?"

Anyone can become a consultant by printing out business cards and getting a business license.  Building a successful practice requires a lot more.  Here are a few of the things I'd suggest if you are considering a transition into consulting:

1) Financial Reality Check - It took me 7 months to get my first client, and three years to get to the point where I was earning steady income. A lot of my early income was spent on developing my business, including trademark registrations, legal fees, website development, and professional education.  Are you prepared to survive your 2-5 year "lean times" as you build your practice? 

2) Business Savvy Reality Check -  Do you know how to build a business plan, market your services, manage your business finances, and develop a professional network?   If not, learning these things should be high on your list.

3) Confidence Reality Check - Are you confident and ready to advocate for the value you offer?  Are you prepared to tell a CEO why you're a good investment?  Confidence will develop with time, but it's hard to get very far without it.

4) Value Reality Check - Are you clear on how specifically you will improve your client's condition?  (If not, go immediately to Alan Weiss's book Million Dollar Consulting.  Required reading for all consultants as far as I'm concerned.)

5) Talent Reality Check- Successful consultants are multi-talented.  They not only consult, but they write, they speak in front of groups, and they develop their own content.  I had to get over my fear of public speaking.  What hurdles will you have to overcome?

6) Network Reality Check- Do you know people who need what you offer, and who are able to pay for or recommend your services?  The stronger your network is at the start, the faster you will find clients.  My network was nonexistent, so I had to build it from scratch.

7) Personality Reality Check - No one reminds me to do my job.  No one manages me.  I am surrounded by potential distractions.  Are you the kind of person who can sit down at home with your computer and put in a solid 8 (or 12) hour day to develop your business, even when you don't have clients yet?  Self motivation is essential.

You don't need to have absolutely everything figured out from the get-go, but remember that any education you can get BEFORE opening your doors will shorten your time to that first client. 

I love consulting, but there are easier ways of making a living.  I think that for most people, the answer to "should I be a consultant?" is "no."  If you read this and it sounds more exciting than it does scary, perhaps you're one of the few who will be poised for success.

Other consultants... feel free to chime in!

Facilitating with Your Tail on Fire - Reflections from the Field

After a summer full of interesting projects, one of the things I've been reflecting on is the art of facilitation, and what it takes to be a great facilitator of processes and people.

Facilitation is an odd thing, because it requires you to balance the extremes:

Clarity..... and Ambiguity
Planning....and Spontaneity
Uncomfortable Truths... and Finding Comfort
Facts.... and Feelings
The Past... and the Future

One of my biggest challenges this summer was working with a team of people who were having a lot of interpersonal conflicts.  That in itself is not unusual, but what was unusual was the incredible degree of fear they felt.  This was a group that was terrified if they said what they really thought, they'd be fired or penalized for it.

And as horrible as it may sound, there was a tiny bit of truth to that fear.

Tough, eh?

So what is a facilitator to do when walking into this situation?  I structured the heck out of it.  I built a ladder of mini-conversations, each designed to probe an issue gently and encourage some reflection and perhaps even action.  I worked hard to make sure that the conversation would be honest without making anyone feel personally exposed.

So what happened?

I walked in the room and it was clear that my carefully laid plans were not going to be very useful!  The group was honest, bold, even searing in their conversation.  They were not going to tiptoe around the issues.  They were going to tell the truth gosh-darn-it, plain and unadorned.

So what is a facilitator to do?  I tossed aside "the plan" and facilitated them through the discussions they needed to have.  THEY knew what needed to be said.  I knew I was there to give shape to it and keep things respectful and move them towards action and accountability.

It was a great meeting.  Courageous conversation lead to some real changes in that team, despite the challenges they face.  I honor them for that.

It seems to me that the art of facilitation is about being careful, meticulous, and planful to design a series of conversations that really matter.  THEN - when you walk in the door, the art of facilitation requires that you be willing to throw all that careful work out the window, because sometimes (most of the time?) the group has it's own wisdom, and you are just the conduit.

It's risky, challenging, ambiguous, and beautiful.  That's facilitation!

Cheri Baker is a facilitator and consultant and the owner of Emergence Consulting.  You can read more about her services and download free resources on her website.

Odds and Ends from the Consulting Life

One of the things that has crossed my mind lately is how hard it can be to reflect upon your growth and development when life is busy.  That holds true for me too, and it's been a while since I reflected on some of the things that I've been learning about being a consultant.

I'm in my fourth year of running Emergence Consulting, and it's been my first experience working through a recession.  Interesting times. :) 

Here are some of the things I am learning:

1) The Importance of Systems - When I started, I flew by the seat of my pants.  Who needed processes, when you are a company of one person?  Gradually I've begun seeing the value of processes and systems.  I have a system for my business development and a process for turning around dysfunctional teams; I am currently building systems and processes for curriculum development, creative thinking, and other aspects of my business.  As my colleague the talented Elizabeth Bowman says, there is no excuse for behaving like a "small business" even if you don't have a large staff.

2) The Value of Teaching - I've always loved to train and coach, and now I'm also teaching college courses.  Originally this was a way of supplementing my income when the worst of the recession hit, but I've discovered that teaching college makes me a better consultant, and being a consultant makes me a better teacher.  Even though I have no shortage of work right now, I am retaining my teaching position. 

3) Making Peace with E-Learning- After years of resisting it, I'm finding some surprising success with e-learning platforms.  My first Webinar was informative and interactive, and the online courses I teach also have good outcomes.  I may love that "vibe in the room" with a live group, but I am finding the value in E-Learning as well.

4) The Challenge of Distributed Teams- What happens when a team is located in two cities?  How do you manage a coaching relationship with a three-hour time difference?  What do you do when your webcam freezes, leaving your video frozen with your mouth hanging open?  These are some of the challenges I'm working on with my remote and distributed clients.

Hint: Skype works well for one-on-one coaching across the time zones!

5) The Complexity of Coaching - Coaching continues to surprise me with both its power and its complexity.  I am heartened by the power of coaching to help people make positive change in their lives, and occasionally taken aback at the nuances of what works well and what can backfire.  The coach's relationship with the client's boss remains one of the most important pieces of a complex puzzle.

6) The Differences between OD Consulting and Training - I continue to struggle with putting the label of "training" on my work.  There is a disconnect between what I do (customized sessions geared towards specific goals and specific teams) versus the industry standard "training" (cookie cutter sessions that provide information without context). 

7) An Appreciation for my Strengths - I've been playing in the consulting sandbox long enough that I know what I'm good at.  I know that I'm good at making complex concepts simple and easy to apply, that I am a strong and supportive listener, and that I have a knack for designing programs that create sustainable change.  I am more confident than I used to be.

8) The Power of Appreciative Inquiry -  Positive feedback creates more change than constructive feedback.  Love trumps money.  My business is more successful when I focus on "How can I make a positive difference for my clients and community?" rather than "How can I build revenue?"  This one is obvious perhaps, but it's one of those lessons I need to keep learning.

What are you learning lately? :)

Management Coaching: The Art of Bringing People Together

Hello Enlightened Managers,

Here is another one of those consulting "aha!" moments.  When you have one, it seems so obvious in retrospect, but sometimes you need to experience the truth in order to accept it deep down in your bones. 

When I coach a manager, my focus is on helping them improve towards the goals we have set together.  To use a boating metaphor, it is as if I am the rudder, providing a little direction, while my client does the hard work of managing the sails.  They have to do the hard work, I can only be a guide.

Then of course there is something else, a factor that will make or break the success of any coaching effort.

The support and involvement of the client's boss.

You see, when I coach a manager, it's not a two person relationship.  At a minimum, we have three people.  Me, providing some direction, the client, laboring at the helm, and the client's boss, providing continual feedback from the crow's nest.  Is the journey on track?  We need that feedback.  We can't succeed without it.

When I first began coaching managers years ago, I had the idea that I was helping a manager step up to a higher level of performance.  Nowadays, I feel more like my job is taking a manager and their boss and bringing them together.  Less a "pushing forward" motion, and more a "drawing together" of two fractured viewpoints.

Coaching is bringing people together.  Not just adding skills and changing perspectives, but helping people move that boat in the same direction.

Not always an easy job, but one worth doing, don't you think?

Cheri Baker is the owner of Emergence Consulting and a management coach.  For more information on coaching and leadership development, visit her website.

The Courage to Talk about Trust

Have you ever noticed that it can be hard to talk about trust problems when trust is low?  Talk about a catch-22; when you don't trust your boss or coworker to listen to you, it's difficult to open up a dialog about it.

My clients frequently find themselves in this position.  They say "Yes, I don't trust my boss, but I am not willing to talk to him about it, because I don't trust him."  Then the cycle just continues round and round.

I suppose the hard thing, both for people in this situation and the coaches like me who work on it, is that the work of restoring trust always requires an initial act of courage.  Someone has to be the one to say "This is hard to do, but I'm going to give them an opportunity to make it right, and I'm going to open the door for those hard conversations."

Courage involves risk, it involves uncertainty, and once in a while, it involves the ability to set your fears aside and do what seems really really hard.

The hardest thing as a consultant is that you can't make that decision for your client.  You can provide support and assistance, but you can't make that crucial decision FOR them.  When trust is so low that there is no willingness to heal it, no willingness to open that dialog, there is little that a coach or adviser can do.

Except the usual.  Listen.  Be there for the person.  Offer another viewpoint.  Be pointedly honest.  Be kind.

I can't help every client make the choice to restore and repair trust.  But I can be sure that when they are ready, I'm there to help provide a few stepping stones to close what seems like an impossible gap.

It's good work, hard work, and most days it is an absolute joy.

Have you ever found it hard to be willing to trust a coworker or boss again?  If so, was there anything that someone could have done to help you in that situation?

On the importance of Vulnerability

How often do you get naked with your clients or team?  Not literally of course, but in the sense of being vulnerable?

That's the subject of Patrick Lenconi's latest book "Getting Naked."   I enjoyed Lenconi's other books, particularly "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and "Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars." 

As I read his latest fable - which talks about the importance of vulnerability and brazen honesty in consulting - I found myself thinking back to the moments when I had been brazen and/or vulnerable.

- The time I decided to take a risk by eschewing the "sales process" and simply walk in to a new client meeting cold - ready to begin consulting on the spot and give us a chance to feel each other out - without any masks.

- The time I turned to a coaching client, three sessions in, and acknowledged "this isn't working well - is it?" giving us an opportunity to change the way we worked together. (Which we did.)

- The team building session where I made a mistake, and then chose to point it out - using it as a teaching opportunity rather than glossing over it.

I enjoyed "Getting Naked" because after reading it, I realized the best moments in my own consulting have been those where I followed the principles that Lenconi described.

Perhaps another way of putting it is "Getting Courageous."  In order to do our best by the people we serve, sometimes we need to take risks.

If you'd like to check out the book - here is the link.

The Joy of Getting Whupped

Postcard from the Consulting Life....

I was competing for a project this week and completely got my tail kicked by another professional speaker.  It was for a keynote speaking engagement, and I got a chance to review the information of the speaker they selected.

His proposal was more detailed, better written, cleverly packaged, and expressed his personality better than mine did.  I looked at it, and I said to myself "Yes, this is why I lost this one."  Consultants typically worry about losing on cost, but the winner was more expensive than me too.

So I find myself completely motivated to learn from this and be the kicker, not the kickee next time.  Nothing like having your you-know-what handed to you to get jazzed about getting better, right?

So Enlightened Managers - have you been outsmarted or outcompeted recently?  Good!  Add that fuel to your fire and be ready to take on the world next time.

I know I am. :)

Reflections on Love and Money

It's a deep dark night here in Woodinville.  It's pitch black outside, dead silent except for the clicking of my keyboard and the faint jangle of the cat's collar as he rolls around on the new carpet.  I need to remember to do more blogging at night.  Whenever I try to write in the middle of a hectic day, it's harder to let the words flow. 

Tonight I wanted to share a little lesson I've learned, and one that took me a long time to really understand.  It's about this idea of love and money.  Which comes first?  I used to think that money would allow me to feel free and happy, but what I'm figuring out is that wealth (emotional and financial) is a byproduct of freedom and happiness.  It comes second, not first.

Here is an example.  Just now, before I began typing this, I finished preparing for a meeting I'm having tomorrow with a local CEO.  I've admired his company for some time, but this will be our first meeting.  So I spent some time perusing the net to learn more about him and the company.  Going into meetings prepared is one way to demonstrate your respect for the person you are meeting.

Back when I first started consulting, I would have walked into this meeting all twisted up about this idea of "getting" a client and "finding" a project.  If you've already clued in to the fact that this is a selfish idea, you're onto something.   When I focus on "getting" and "wanting" it prevents me from being in a place to focus on "serving" and "listening" which is frankly my real job, right?

So my plan tomorrow is to meet this person as one human being to another, to listen, learn, and take his measure.  I hope he'll do the same for me, and at the end of the day we'll be two people who know each other better, and perhaps even know if our values and visions are in alignment. Perhaps work will spring from that new relationship, perhaps not.  That's part of the mystery, right?

In short, when I focus on service (which is a form of love) I am an open container.  When I focus on wanting (a form of fear or greed) I am closed off.

Yes, money does come.  But it's a byproduct of the service.  It's one of those things you can read about all your life, but then once you've lived it for a while, something inside you clicks and you feel free.

Have you felt the click yet?