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Posts tagged ‘Leadership’

Sep 5

Sobering thoughts on happiness


I continue to ponder my experience at the Osa and Martin Johnson Museum. They found happiness and connection with people around the world through their years of exploration. Their passion shows in their research work, continuous learning, and the relationships they built over the years. But, they were self-employed. What about people who work for others?

This Labor Day, I almost passed over an article on employee engagement. “Employee engagement” seemed like a worn out buzz phrase. But a quick glance reminded me of the research showing that low job satisfaction shows up in lower productivity, quality, and – ultimately – profits. Estimates are that low employee satisfaction costs the U.S. economy $300 billion per year.

The good news is that managers can make a difference. What are the catalysts?

  • Support progress in meaningful work by providing resources and giving autonomy.
  • Honor small wins each day way with genuine, positive feedback.
  • Build mutual respect and trust among team members.
  • Learn from problems without blaming others.

The article concludes, “Working adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else. … If those who lead organizations … believe their mission is, in part, to support workers’ everyday progress, we could end the disengagement crisis and, in the process, lift our work force’s well-being and our economy’s productivity.”

The courage to end management as we know it
How to Stay Engaged (and Employed?) in a Downturn

Aug 25

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A vision is not a destination

Last weekend, Jon and I visited the Osa and Martin Johnson Museum in Chanute, Kansas. They were explorers who used photography and early video equipment as a part of their experiences. They were not photographers and videographers who went exploring.

The difference? My observation is that too often organizations overlay a vision on what they are already doing. The vision is seen as defining the straight line from the present to a desire future. It assumes that managers can outline a strategy and action steps to reach the future. The vision is held up as a map for certainty and survival. The vision is the destination, the promised land.

For Osa and Martin Johnson, the vision was exploring – having adventures. As they encountered people and cultures, they wrote, photographed, and filmed. But above all they explored and interacted, often immersing themselves in cultures for years at a time. From the vision and intention to adventure, relationships and business opportunities emerged. From the intention to adventure, supporting methods and processes emerged. The vision was about a life-long intention, not the details of the next destination.

What is your vision, your life-long intention? What is the vision and intention of your organization?

Jul 20

Questions for leaders

Jim Collins wrote about the need for leaders to look in the mirror, holding themselves accountable for the direction and culture of their organization. Robert Kaplan’s newest book, What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, lists questions for leaders to ask:

  • Why did you choose this job?
  • Does the way you spend your time match your key priorities?
  • Do you coach and also solicit feedback from your key subordinates?
  • Do you have a succession-planning process in place?
  • If you had to design your company today with a clean sheet of paper, what would you change?
  • Do you act as a role model?
  • Are you reaching your potential and being true to yourself?

 

What other questions would you ask leaders? What other questions would you ask yourself?

Read an interview with Kaplan and book excerpt.

Avoiding questions

Jul 13

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Resource: 40 Lessons to Learn from Southwest

I discovered this list of lessons from Southwest Airlines while reading Bill Taylor’s post on the HBR blogs: How do you know a great person when you see one? Both are worth a read.

One of my favorite Southwest lessons is #32 – set and renew noble expectations, which has me thinking about adding to my allowed list.

40 Lessons to Learn from Southwest

Resource: Oblique Strategies

May 9

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Idea for reflection – 31

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.
   – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Through the window
Idea for reflection – 30

May 6

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Meep, meep …!

Growing up, I liked to get up before 7 a.m. on Saturday morning to watch the Bugs Bunny Road Runner hour. Every cartoon followed the same plot with the Road Runner constantly outwitting Wile E. Coyote and his unlimited supply of tricks purchased from Acme Corporation. The cartoon had its own law of gravity – Mr. Coyote could not fall until he looked down. And, no matter what he tried or how he planned, the Road Runner would shout, “Meep, meep!” as he zipped away into the sunset.

How often do our organizations run off a cliff and just keep going? The reports that no one has read for the last five years, the processes that are 90% workarounds of the original checklist, the employee that stopped contributing to the team two years ago – all things that are easier to ignore. We continue on as if we were standing on solid ground.

How often do we keep looking outside of our organization for the answers? Or look for quick fixes like the newest technology or the latest business fad. We continue on as if buying the same solutions will create a different outcome.

Looking down and falling leads to pain. Ending the ordering of new quick tricks from Acme requires change. We prefer to avoid pain and change. But the good news is that like Wile E. Coyote, we will live to fight another day. The only question is whether we will keep doing the same thing over and over again, or do the work of drawing a new cartoon.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Jul 9

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Idea for reflection – 15

Black Bird and Thunderheads at Sunset

 

Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people all remark
We have done it ourselves
– Lao-tzu

Idea for reflection – 14

A story about this lesson

Jul 8

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A different angle

Back in 1989, before I’d ever heard about the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry or Good Boss, Bad Boss, I had an experience that began to change my ideas about management.

I knew a manager of a local division of AlliedSignal who wanted to improve the warehouse space in order to increase efficiency. He began by redesigning a part of the space with new lighting, shelving, inventory tags, and order pulling carts. It looked not only well-organized, but appeared beautiful in the midst of a dusty warehouse. He excitedly explained the new system to the employees and returned to his office.

About a week later, the manager called an informal meeting near the redesigned space. He was eager to hear employees report so that he could complete the redesign throughout the facility. He asked, “How do you like it?” He was dismayed to hear multiple people say things like, “It looks nice, but …. It makes it harder to pull orders. We don’t like it. It slows down our work.” He stopped and decided to listen. He asked them to walk him through the processes they used every day: receiving, shelving, pulling orders, and shipping. They showed him how the redesigned space negatively impacted their productivity.

Instead of shrugging and suggesting they “get used to it”, the manager stayed to listen – an unusual behavior at that time and place. Implementing the ideas of those who used the area daily changed not only their productivity, but it began a culture change that lasted throughout the manager’s tenure. By implementing employee ideas, trust was established in a new way. The manager shifted from being the chief in charge to leading by facilitating. And I learned that organizational power sometimes comes not by force, but by actively listening, supporting, and providing resources.

Now, more than 20 years later, there is evidence to support his method and behavior. Opening a space where people can engage their best ideas and discover what works well is still a breath of fresh air. And often the unexpected, the surprise, shows up too.

Jul 6

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Reflections on the World Cup

At our house these days, everyone is enjoying watching and talking about the World Cup Soccer tournament. This afternoon finds four teenage boys gathered around the TV and computer, eating pizza, watching the semi-final game, and throwing a miniature ball around the room. Even Ted, our Manx cat, enjoys getting in on the action.

Some random Organization Development observations about the World Cup:

  • Communication. Whether arranging a semi-final game party via text messaging or moving the ball down the field effectively, it won’t happen without engaging each other verbally and non-verbally.
  • Social and emotional intelligence. Being attuned and aware of those around you, building pride in accomplishments, sharing a common goal, coaching others – all come into play during a soccer match.
  • Preparation followed with flexibility and adaptability. Vince Lombardi said, “Only perfect practice makes perfect.” Yet, even with perfect practice, once on the field of play, flexibility and adaptability are what winning teams use to find a way to win.
  • Motivation. It’s not enough for the coach to want to win, each player has to want to win too. I witnessed some of the games where star players clearly weren’t finding the passion within themselves while the lower ranked team had members who gave their best energy and won the game.
  • Celebration. Cheering, shouting, and wearing the team colors are all ways of demonstrating support and providing instant feedback on how things are going. And yes, it’s more fun when you win!

Rosabeth Moss Kanter adds some thoughts on World Cup Leadership Lessons at her HBR blog. Her conclusion:

The lessons for leaders: Your job is to provide resources and support that build the confidence of players in themselves, each other, the team, and the excellence of the surrounding system. Ethics, fair play, mentoring, smooth transitions, continuity, and collaboration should not be luxuries or lip service; they create the margin of victory.

What organization development lessons have you discovered from the World Cup or other sports?

Jun 28

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Waiting for feedback?

Over the last 2 or 3 months, I’ve written about the importance of leaders and managers giving feedback and the ongoing need to reinvent management as we know it.

So, it’s time to turn the tables and ask all employees to look in the mirror: Am I waiting for feedback? Why am I waiting for someone else to approve my work, to make a suggestion for improvement, or to give permission for a next step?

While no one wants to step over boundaries, the boundary line is more elastic than most of us think it is. And, I would argue that most bosses don’t want to spend all of their time supervising, let alone micromanaging. What many of them want is for people to be self-motivated and self-starting – to be self-employed at work:

Here are some of the unwritten attributes that define the self-employed at work phenomenon, which I’ve written about before from the boss’ perspective:

  • Be creative and inventive – see your work as owned by yourself, not by your employer or supervisor.
  • Be self-initiating and self-evaluating – identify problems and issues and evaluate what is working and what isn’t, suggest and initiate potential solutions. Don’t wait for others to do it for you.
  • Take responsibility – see yourself as an actor that participates in creating the internal and external work environment, you are as responsible for what happens in the organization as the next person, including your supervisor.
  • Be professional – master and author your work role and career. Don’t be an apprentice forever, continually imitate others, or only mimic the company line.
  • See the system as a whole – look beyond your own role and part to see the whole, your relationship to the whole, and how the parts work together.

In the end, each of us has to value and find meaning in what we do each day. So, let’s stop waiting for the person in the next cubicle, across the hall, or in the corner office to provide feedback, give approval, or check the “completed” box. It’s up to each of us to try out new ideas, move existing balls down the field, and be responsible for just getting it done. And, yes, we are capable of doing it – without waiting for feedback.

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