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Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations
Word count this issue: 391
Estimated reading time: 2.15 minutes
On a coaching call with a client recently, I asked her to tell me about a time where she was the leader she knew she could be. It was a wonderful conversation. As she spoke about this time in her career, she said, very clearly and confidently, “I felt in charge of me.”
I had shivers when she said it. We explored her statement some more, and she spoke of how she was aware of her strengths, as well as her weaknesses. She was confident in her strengths and skills, and had put people around her, with complimentary strengths and skills. And she was giving responsibility to others and they developed themselves. She said, “it was a good time.”
I was reminded of an old Rabbinic story that I might have mentioned before, but like any good story, always bears repeating.
The Czar’s army is being reviewed by the Czar himself, prior to going into battle. They have surrounded an enemy stronghold and the Czar on his horse is trotting down the front line. A soldier in his army sees an enemy archer on the ramparts of the stronghold, take aim and release his arrow. It is heading straight for the Czar. The soldier breaks out of his rank and jumps in front of the Czar’s horse, which rears up. The arrow then misses the Czar and lodges itself, ‘thrump’ harmlessly into the ground.
The Czar immediately recognizes what the soldier has done and thanking him says, “ask for whatever you would like, and it shall be yours.”
The soldier thinks for a moment and says, “I would like a new sergeant. The one we have is mean, bad and we have no respect for him.”
The Czar looks down at the soldier and says, “Why not be your own sergeant?”
Why not indeed? The power inherent in being in charge of ourselves, being our own sergeant is a deep foundation of great leadership. The ability to know oneself, to have confidence in one’s own strengths and the humility to know one’s challenges. To empower others to be the best they can be. That is the kind of leadership we can all have and be in our organizations.
Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations
Word count this issue: 510
Estimated reading time: 3.0 minutes
Good morning from a grey Vancouver. The snowdrops are coming out of the ground, so spring is coming, rest assured.
Last week i was moving a small piece of furniture to make room for my morning yoga practice and heard a small pop in my back. Thus began 4 days of forced quiet. I couldn’t write because I couldn’t sit up, I couldn’t find a comfortable way to lie down to read. The stabbing pain in my lower back precluded concentration. Netflix movies were about all I could handle.
I have learned over the years that our bodies will tell us what we need. We may not listen to them, but they eventually will tell us. I liken it to a parent saying no repeatedly to a child, increasing their volume a little bit as the child continues to behave inappropriately, until the parent uses the voice that the child knows is ‘the voice’, and they stop their behaviour. The ‘pop’ in my back was ‘the voice’ telling me now, it is time to stop, I need to rest.
We fall into these non-stop behaviours largely unconsciously I think, but they are dangerous. There is an old rabbinic adage that says ‘a person who does not have a single hour to themselves each day is a slave.’ I find myself working, working, working, and telling myself that it is good. It is good in moderation; I need to house, feed and clothe myself. I might even be able to put away a little for a rainy day, make a contribution to my community and have some fun with friends and family. But if all my waking hours are about work, if all I do is work, then I become a ‘slave.’
Our bodies seem not only to know, but to be able to tell us, slow down, rest, stop. And if we don’t they will stop us.
Three small ways of slowing down:
- Go for a walk at lunch time, and if you go with others, don’t talk about work
- Take a weekly art/dance/drama/yoga class; something that gets you out of your comfort zone
- Have a weekly games/family/story/book evening with friends or family. Notice I did not say movie night, this evening should be about connecting with family/friends, and not sitting passively in front of a screen.
Finally, I have always loved the late Stephen Covey’s word play with the word recreation. Say it aloud by making the first syllable a longer ‘e’, rhyming with ‘see’, and then do the same with the second syllable, again rhyming with ‘see’. The word becomes re-creation. By taking time to rest, to be with ourselves and with family and friends we move from being human doings, to human beings and thus the amazing creative beings we all are.
May this week be one where we start to find some time for ourselves.
Good afternoon from an overcast Vancouver. Friends and relations are digging out after storms in other parts of the continent.
I'm thinking about the expression 'digging out', and am reminded of a Buddhist Parable...
4 monks are walking to a town some distance away. As they approach a river they need to ford, they see that not only is the river raging, but their are people drowning. Lots of people. True to their vows they dive into the torrent and start hauling people out one by one. ! hour, 2 hours, 3, 4, then 8 hours have gone by and the four monks work tirelessly hauling the drowning people out, one by one. As they approached 9 hour of this, one of their number pulled out another person, but instead of diving back into the torrent, he began to trudge up river.
His companions called out after him, "Hey, where are you going? We still have work here! We have many more people to pull from the river!"
The monk turned back towards them and said, "I'm going to go and see who is throwing them into the river in the first place."
As we think about digging out after storms, we might ask ourselves where are we digging out in our workplaces and might there be some work we need to do 'up stream'? Remember too that up stream work may be more difficult because it might ask us to change our own behaviour and assumptions. As good as we may feel about pulling people out of the torrent, we might find that up stream it is another part of our own organization throwing them in.
May this week be one of trudging up stream a bit.
Good morning from a grey and rainy Vancouver. I am haunted by the murders last week in Paris, first at the offices of Charlie Hebedo and then at the Kosher market. One of the many questions that passed through my head and heart was, what are some leadership lessons we might learn here?
One jumped out immediately; respond, don't react. Many years ago, when I was first learning about training and facilitating I taught a lot of 'customer service" courses. One module in one of these courses explored the difference between reacting and responding. Reacting is our first 'lizard brain' response; fight, flight or freeze. We saw and heard lots of those in the early hours of both tragic events, for example some of the anti-Islamic language from some American and British news sources. Responding is action or behaviour that arises out of reflection. Nuanced responses we saw arise were comments like those of the my friend and sometime colleague, Rabbi Dr. Robert Daum as we both spoke at a rally honouring the lives of those killed in Paris last week, here in Vancouver. http://globalnews.ca/news/1767538/hundreds-gather-in-vancouver-to-honour-the-victims-of-paris-shootings/?hootPostID=816593bc7c2e2cffd0ebf54eb6fbbb92
"I am proud to say JeSuisCharlie. Not because I support all of the editorial content, or all of the cartoon images, published within Charlie Hebdo. Some I appreciate, others I do not. That is the point of freedom of expression. But out of deep respect for the incommensurable value of the lives destroyed last week by the murderers in Paris, and out of deep appreciation for the privileges and responsibilities of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including freedom of expression, I proclaim unequivocally: JeSuisCharlie.
Today I am proud to say, with deep humility and gratitude, JeSuisAhmed. Not because I am a Muslim or a police officer. I am neither. I am a Jew, who works all year round with Muslim leaders and colleagues to contribute to our shared Canada. But out of deep respect for the courageous sacrifice, and the humane French and Muslim values that put Officer Ahmed Merabet in a position of being executed while he was in the process of trying to save the victims of Charlie Hebdo, I proclaim gratefully: JeSuisAhmed.
Today I am proud to say, as a Canadian citizen and as an American citizen, JeSuisJuif. I say this not because I share every view held by every Jew in Vancouver or the world. I do not. I say it out of respect for the victims of the kosher supermarket, who were executed simply because they were Jews, while in the process of trying to buy food to welcome the Sabbath with their loved ones at the end of an ordinary work week. And as a Jewish Canadian, I also express on behalf of my community the deepest respect and gratitude to Lassana Bathily, a Muslim employee at that supermarket, who bravely saved several people from being gunned down on Friday. Out of respect for the memories of those killed in the market and for the humanity of Lassana Bathily, I proclaim: JeSuisJuif."
That is a response, not a reaction. As leaders we are called to respond not react. To respond requires time, yes, but even more importantly, it requires self-knowledge. The self-awareness to be able manage one's own triggers, and to be able to move beyond the selfishness of ego, fear and towards the strength and courage of integration, possibility and hope. As a leader, your organization is actually counting on you to be the foundation of the future. Running around reacting will guarantee a disastrous future. Digging deeper inside of yourself so that you can more effectively respond, builds a healthy and prosperous future.
Let this week be a week of responses.
Good morning from a stunning Vancouver morning.
Brene Brown and the Harvard Business Review are two perspectives that at first might appear disconnected, but I hope you'll see the connection in a couple of minutes.
In her wonderful book, Daring Greatly, that we've been reading together when we get a chance at home, Brown speaks eloquently about connection and belonging. Connection she writes "is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement." Belonging she writes "is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us." http://brenebrown.com
And then, last week, a friend sent me this piece from HBR knowing I would be interested. https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-capabilities-your-organization-needs-to-sustain-innovation The capabilities your organization needs to sustain innovation are, according to the research described here, are:
"Creative abrasion. New and useful ideas emerge as people with diverse expertise, experience, or points of view thrash out their differences. The kind of collaboration that produces innovation is more than simple “get-along” cooperation. It involves and should involve passionate discussion and disagreement."
"Creative agility. Almost by definition, a truly creative solution is something that cannot be foreseen or planned. Thus, innovation is a problem-solving process that proceeds by trial-and-error. A portfolio of ideas is generated and tested, then revised and retested, in an often lengthy process of repeated experimentation. Hence Edison’s famous definition of genius: “1 percent inspiration; 99 percent perspiration.” Instead of following some linear process that can be carefully planned in advance, it’s messy and unpredictable."
"Creative resolution. Integrating ideas – incorporating the best of option A and option B to create something new, option C, that’s better than A or B – often produces the most innovative solution. However, the process of integration can be inherently discomforting, emotionally and intellectually."
These capabilities make good sense, but underneath them are two deeper capabilities; connection and belonging.
The HBR article gives Thomas Edison as an example. “...he didn’t work alone. As many have observed, perhaps Edison’s greatest contribution was not one single invention, but rather his artisan-oriented shops – a new way of organizing for innovation that has evolved into today’s R&D laboratory with its team-based approach [Like Pixar]. Edison may get the credit for “his” inventions – it was his laboratory, of course – but each typically arose from years of effort that included many others."
In fact, connection and belonging are likely precursors of innovation. "Innovations most often arise from the interplay of ideas that occur during the interactions of people with diverse expertise, experience, or points of view. Flashes of insight may play a role but most often they simply build on and contribute to the collaborative work of others."
If you are seeking a more innovative culture for your team or organization; you will need to be confident that creative abrasion can happen. It will only happen when people are connected and belong. You will need to be confident that creative agility is possible. "Messy and unpredictable" is only safe if people are connected and feel a sense of belonging to a greater good. You will need to be confident that creative resolution is possible, and it will be "discomforting, emotionally and intellectually." Moving through such discomfort is only possible when people are connected and feel as though they belong.
In the end, you cannot force people to be innovative; as a leader you can only create an environment where the organizational capabilities of abrasion, agility and resolution are seeded and nurtured. And such an environment requires that people are connected with each other and belong to something larger than anyone individual.
May this week seed connection and belonging for each and every one of us.
Good afternoon and welcome to a brand new year, and a brand new look to Leadership Notes. Thank you for joining us.
I hope the holiday season was filled with joy and health for you and yours. And if not, I hope that you are finding strength and courage in the midst of any challenges you might be facing.
I've come across a great tool to use with yourself when you're faced with uncertainties. It reminds me of the great "Red Pill/Blue Pill" scene from The Matrix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE7PKRjrid4
Say you have to make a decision about a change in your life or work. Find yourself sitting in a comfortable chair, both feet on the ground, and take a couple of deep breaths. Imagine that in the arms of your chair, are two buttons. A red one and a green one. Pressing the red button leaves everything the same; the status quo. Nothing changes in your life. Nothing changes in your work. Nothing changes within you. Pressing the green button means that the change sequence is initiated, what ever that means for you.
And the choice is entirely yours. No judgement required, no regrets, the choice is yours.
I've been using this exercise for about a week, and I've found it quite profound and frankly freeing. It's helped me see my accountability, my responsibility for the choices I make and have made. It also feels somewhat like the starting gate of a ride; I'm not sure exactly what the outcome will be, but I am having a great time. And what ever happens, I was the one who pressed the button.
May this year be one of making choices and accountability.