Category Archives: Leadership

All of us are Smarter

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“All of us are smarter than any of us.”

-Douglas Merrill, Organizational Guru

Image from teamworkandleadership.com

Image from teamworkandleadership.com

Today’s quote got me thinking about teamwork and Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. In this leadership fable, Lencioni tells the story of an imaginary technology company struggling to grow and secure new customers.

Three key take-aways from this book will almost certainly make today’s quote true. In most cases, if the group of individuals does not demonstrate these characteristics, there may be good reason for going it alone:

  • Team members engender trust in one another by being vulnerable and open.
  • Healthy teams encourage respectful debate and dialogue to reach optimal decisions.
  • Team environments in which everyone’s ideas and thoughts are considered almost always generate heightened levels of buy-in and mutual commitment.

EXERCISE:

How and where can you foster enhanced teamwork to optimize the collective smarts of the groups with which you work?

Powerful Leadership

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“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.”

-John Wooden, late UCLA Basketball Coach

Image from en.wikipedia.org

Image from en.wikipedia.org

Would you like to be like you when you grow up? How and when do you set an excellent example for those in your personal and professional world? How happy would you be if your children turned out just like you?

John Wooden was one of the most admired basketball coaches to ever step foot on the court. The impact he had on great players and championships is legendary. Nothing he ever said to his players had more impact than the example he set for himself, as he led his daily life.

EXERCISE:

Consider your answers to the questions asked in the first paragraph. How can you set an even better example to those around you, to become the kind of person and leader you desire to be?

Raise Your Words

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“Raise your words not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers not thunder.”

-Rumi, 13th-century Persian poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic

Image from www.stuckindc.com

Image from www.stuckindc.com

A fundamental conversation I have with each new coaching client involves the qualities and characteristics of effective leaders.

The characteristics describing effective leaders include: visionary, passionate, inspiring, empowering, service-oriented, having integrity, and being approachable. The words these leaders use to speak about their views of a better future are like the rain to a flower. They help people and organizations grow.

Alternatively, we have all seen the “Thundering Taskmaster” types who repress and suppress those around them and often create environments of fear, intimidation, and retribution.

EXERCISE:

What can you do to be the kind of leader that attracts followers by raising your words rather than your voice?

“Live in such a way…”

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“Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it.”

-Author Unknown

Image from thestar.com

Image from thestar.com

During the very early stages of a new coaching relationship, I often give my clients the assignment to describe their best future self. This exercise forces each individual to look deeply at the qualities and characteristics they wish to develop and expand upon during the course of our relationship and beyond.

We employ a strategy in which they examine past and current role models they admire and respect, knowing that if others could act and achieve such remarkable things, it is possible for them as well.

EXERCISE:

Upon your passing, what would you like others in your personal and professional worlds to say about you?

What adjustment will you make in the way you live today to guarantee this as your legacy?

“Be a voice, not an echo.”

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“Be a voice, not an echo.”

-attributed to Albert Einstein

Image from Flickr by Shawn Harquail

Image from Flickr by Shawn Harquail

For many years I have been a fan of TED talks. The subtitle for these 15-20 minute presentations is “Ideas Worth Spreading.” In recent years, this format has expanded worldwide through the TEDx format. Most major cities have held numerous conferences where local leaders and influencers give voice to their best ideas.

In a world of social media and sound bites, many of us often find ourselves reposting and retweeting, echoing ideas from others that certainly inform and entertain.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways can you better capture your voice and share your best ideas with others in your professional and personal communities?

If you were asked to give your own TED talk, what topic would you choose?

“Managers light a fire…”

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“Managers light a fire under people. Leaders light a fire in people.”

—Kathy Austin, Management Consultant

Photo from freehdw.com

Photo from freehdw.com

Leadership and Management are two of the most highly valued skills necessary to be truly effective in our professional and personal lives.

I feel strongly that these skills, along with masterful communications and effective supportive coaching, are the four legs of the solid foundation of soft skills that support our success.

When asked, most professionals usually view leadership as the more “evolved” and enlightened of the two, in that leadership involves the articulation of an inspired future for an individual or group. Conversely, management—particularly old-school management—is perceived as pushy, aggressive, and often domineering, in order to achieve desired results.

I’d suggest that they can actually work together in an empowered way with inspired leadership as a foundation for effective alignment and a desirable form of self-management. This involves the individual or group sharing a strong commitment with the leaders, willingly promising to give and keep their word to take the actions necessary for eventual success.

EXERCISE:

How can you develop and master inspired leadership and empowering management capacities to move yourself and others forward, professionally and personally?

“Remember that a kick in the..”

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“Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Brittney Bush Bollay

Photo from Flickr by Brittney Bush Bollay

I use a special 360º Leadership Survey in my work with business leaders. The survey evaluates their style as a leader, and the effectiveness from their own perspective and that of their associates.

The two results-producing styles are called “team leader” and “taskmaster,” with the first being a balance between results and people, and the second being a focus exclusively on results.

Although being a “team leader” is by far the preferred style for optimal long-term results that empower people, sometime the “taskmaster” or, as in this quote, “a good kick in the ass,” may be the only way.

EXERCISE:

Examine for yourself where and when the situations you find in your professional or personal life would most benefit from a balanced team leader or a kick-in-the-ass taskmaster approach to move the issues you face forward.

“People participate in that which they create.”

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“People participate in that which they create.”
—Barry Demp

Photo from Flickr by dalioPhoto

Photo from Flickr by dalioPhoto

I’ll wager that anyone in a management or leadership position for any length of time has had the experience of bringing a new policy or program to life and finding that, despite their own enthusiasm, the rest of the team or the family are either ambivalent or outright resistant to the change.

One of the most powerful ways for business or family leaders to exact commitment from the team or family members on any project is to draw them into the plan from the start— to make it a “we” rather than “me” endeavor.

When those whose lives are impacted in some way are drawn into the development process, when they know that their insights and concerns are welcome and necessary, they participate with a sense of ownership. This is true whether they are motivated by something they want, or something they don’t want.

EXERCISE:

Consider one aspect of your professional or personal life in which you have made decisions that affect those in your department or family.  How might their participation in the decision have made a difference in the outcome?

“Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match.”

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“Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match.”

-Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Mark Tighe

Photo from Flickr by Mark Tighe

Take a moment to generate a list of great leaders you have seen and been inspired by over the course of your life.

Fundamental to all of these individuals is the passion of their beliefs and convictions – the enthusiasm that helps them ignite the flames within themselves and those they lead.

EXERCISE:

Give yourself a rating from 1 (a wet match) to 10 (a blazing bonfire of passion) for both your professional and personal worlds.

What can you do today to find the fuel that sparks your passions and enthusiastically brightens up your world, and that of others?

“The Quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

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“The Quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

– Ray Kroc, American businessman who made McDonald’s famous

Photo from Flickr by JFXie

Photo from Flickr by JFXie

Are you a leader or a follower? This is a bit of a trick question in that the answer is almost always a combination of both at different times and under different circumstances.

We are leaders when we speak of the future and inspire others through our words and actions.

We are followers, or in some cases co-leaders, when we share and act consistently with the vision and behaviors demonstrated by the people we admire and respect.

EXERCISE:

Examine the qualities, behaviors and overall standards set by those who inspire you to follow.

Map your own course toward a new level of leadership by setting, pursuing, and even exceeding your own standards or those of people you admire.