Archive for May, 2010
Feeling the Listening Love May 28 2010 no responses
One of the highlights of the week for me came yesterday when I led a day long workshop on leadership coaching for a group of candidates for the Federal Senior Executive Service. We talked a lot about how important it is for leaders to know how to coach and worked on different skills and models for coaching.
Of course, a core skill for any coach is listening. We worked on that skill by grouping up in threes with one person talking about something that mattered to them, another person listening and asking questions and the third person observing the listener. After three or four minutes of conversation between the first two people, the observer offered a minute or two of feedback to the listener. The feedback consisted of two or three things the observer appreciated about how the listener listened and one suggestion for how to be an even more effective listener. We did three rounds of this so everyone could be in each of the three roles.
As the second round ended, I asked the group to bring their attention back to me for a second so I could ask them if they were feeling what I was noticing watching them. What I was noticing was the love in the room. Here’s what I mean by that and what it might mean to you.
Five Ways to Survive an Impossible Job May 26 2010 no responses
Late last week, the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, resigned from his job after a little more than a year in the job. As reporting in the Washington Post points out, Blair’s replacement will be the fourth person to hold the DNI job in just over five years. In legislation passed after 9/11, the DNI’s charge is to coordinate the collaborative work of 16 different intelligence agencies including the CIA. Just about every informed observer believes that it’s an extremely difficult job, maybe even impossible.
In some ways (and obviously not in others), the DNI role is like a lot of other leadership roles in a matrixed organizational structure. More and more these days, leaders find themselves in jobs with a lot of responsibility but not a lot of direct authority. With a mixture of dotted lines, solid lines and no lines at all in the org chart, leaders in a matrixed environment have the unenviable task of herding the cats.
What can you do to survive one of these jobs? It seems pretty clear that you can’t act as if you have a lot of authority to command things get done when, practically speaking, there are all kinds of ways for others to avoid or ignore doing what you want them to do. Especially in the first year or so, surviving in a matrixed leadership role depends a lot on effective change management. With that idea in mind, here are five strategies to increase the chance of survival in one of these roles:
Video Book Club: FYI – For Your Improvement May 25 2010 one response
In this week’s installment of the VBC, I’m featuring what I think is an indispensable part of a leadership coach’s (and most leaders for that matter) tool kit. It’s a book called FYI – For Your Improvement
FYI is the fruit of years and years of research by Lombardo and Eichinger on leadership competencies and skills. The book is basically a one stop shop for practical, simple descriptions of specific skills with actionable suggestions on how to improve. It’s the kind of book you’ll use again and again.
In this clip, I share a bit more info on FYI, how it’s organized and how to use it.
Predicting the Future by Reading the Present May 24 2010 no responses
Thirty years ago, John Naisbitt took the publishing world by storm with his book, Megatrends
Naisbitt came to mind a few days ago when I was reading a column in the Financial Times titled, “Rising Powers Do Not Want to Play by the West’s Rules.” In writing about Brazil’s and Turkey’s efforts to resolve the concern over Iran’s development of enriched uranium, the author, Phillip Stevens, cited a report from the U.S. National Intelligence Council called Global Trends 2025. I had not heard of the report, so I looked it up and downloaded it (that information-based, technology pull economy that Naisbitt predicted at work). If for no other reason than it’s a great example of outside-in thinking and analysis, I encourage you to download the report and take a look.
The executive summary begins with a table of “Relative Certainties” and their “Likely Impact.” For instance, the emergence of a global multipolar system likely means that “a single international community of nation-states will no longer exist” and new players will bring new rules. Or, for example, absent a dramatic change in employment conditions, the increase in the youth population in countries such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen will lead to continued instability.
The process outlined in Global Trends 2025 raises some interesting opportunities and questions for leaders. When you step up to the balcony and look at your organization and its operating environment with a broader lens, what relevant certainties do you see? What are the likely impacts of those relative certainties? What are your options for responding? Who else needs to be involved in the conversation and what role should they play in shaping the future?
Why We Need An MBA Oath May 21 2010 3 responses
You may have heard about The MBA Oath
You can read the entire oath at mbaoath.org. For now, here are some selected excerpts:
My decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and tomorrow.
Therefore, I promise that:
- I will manage my enterprise with loyalty and care, and will not advance my personal interests at the expense of my enterprise or society.
- I will understand and uphold, in letter and spirit, the laws and contracts governing my conduct and that of my enterprise.
- I will protect the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a healthy planet.
- I will report the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.
So, is it pointless or cheesy for future business leaders (or leaders in any sector for that matter) to take such an oath? Watch this report from 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley about the connection between management decisions and the oil rig blowout that led to the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico and then see what you think. What difference might it have made if the leaders of BP started their meetings by standing up and repeating The MBA Oath
One thing I do know, however, is (as I wrote here a few weeks ago) what doesn’t get said, doesn’t get heard. If the MBA Oath causes even a few leaders to stand up and say out loud how they intend to conduct themselves then it was worth the effort of writing and promoting it.
That’s what I think. What do you think?
Lessons in Confidence from American Idol May 19 2010 no responses
About this time last year, I wrote a post called “Feedback Do’s and Don’ts from American Idol.” In the belief that everything you need to learn about leadership you can learn from American Idol, I thought I’d do another Idol post this year. (Before you fire off an angry comment, that was irony at work.) All kidding aside, if you put a leadership lens on, there are occasionally some interesting things to see in the show. Over the past couple of weeks, my takeaway has been about the importance of showing up with the right amount of confidence. It can make or break your effectiveness as a performer and a leader. Of course, a lot of the time there’s not a lot of difference between performance and leadership.
As a long time Idol watcher, I still think last season was the best in the history of the show. This year has had far fewer “wow” moments but there was one last night when one of the final three contestants, Lee DeWyze, sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah for his second song. It was a spirited performance made all the more dramatic because when Idol started several months ago, Lee came across as shy, uptight and not really believing that he should be on the show. If he wins this season, he should take Harry Connick Jr. out to dinner because it looks like the mentoring Connick gave Lee on the show a few weeks ago is what got him to believe in himself. Since then, his confidence level has gone through the roof and his natural talent and energy is coming through.
Video Book Club (iPad Edition): Open May 18 2010 no responses
I’m taking a couple of different directions in this week’s Video Book Club. One is that the book is a sports biography, Andre Agassi’s Open. The other is that I read the book on an iPad. That was a first for me and I think I’m a convert.
You might be wondering what a book by the “Image is Everything” tennis player has to do with leadership. Well, one thing that comes to mind is that Agassi would be the first to admit that he’s far from perfect. That’s something that just about every leader (and person) for that matter should be able to relate to. Things get interesting when we try to move past our imperfections. That’s what Agassi talks about in this book. That’s one of the reasons I think it’s an interesting read for leaders (especially if you’re a tennis fan).
I talk about other reasons to read Open
Three Things You Should and Shouldn’t Expect From Your Coach May 17 2010 no responses
The Sports section of this morning’s New York Times featured an article titled, “To Top Golfers, A Trusted Coach Is Invaluable, But Expendable.” Prompted by Tiger Woods’ breakup with Hank Haney, his swing coach for the past six years, the article shared the perspectives of a number of top golfers and coaches about what they expect from such a relationship. The expectations ran the gamut. On one end of the spectrum, Hank Haney reported that he spent 110 days a year with Woods and stayed over at his house 50 nights a year. Doesn’t sound like much of a life.
On the other end, coaching this year’s Masters champ, Phil Mickelson, sounds like a better gig for a couple of reasons. First, Mickelson seems pretty clear about his goals for working with a coach. When he hired short game coach Dave Pelz in 2003, Pelz asked him, “Phil, what in the world do you need me for?” Mickelson told him that he had a very clear goal of a one stroke improvement in the major tournaments. A year later, he won his first Masters by one stroke.
Mickelson also, I think, has the right expectations for working with a coach. He says, “What has been important to me in working with my coaches… is that they give me all the information and advice from their years of experience and then help me blend it into my approach and the way I’ve been doing things. And that’s what makes it work, because it is collaborative.”
Since I’ve been coaching executive leaders for the past 10 years, the article got me thinking about what prospective clients should and shouldn’t expect from their coach. Here are three things I would put on each of those lists:
Asking, Guessing and Leadership May 14 2010 no responses
I don’t remember who it was that first told me this, but somewhere along the way when I was growing up someone gave me some pretty powerful advice. They said, “If you want something, ask for it. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? They just say no. You’re no worse off than you were before you asked.”
So, right now, many of you are thinking, “Yeah, that makes sense.” And, there are also a lot of you who are thinking, “That’s a really rude and pushy approach to life.”
That, in a nutshell, sums up the point of an interesting column that Oliver Burkeman wrote for the Guardian recently. His core question is are you asker or a guesser? Askers ask directly for what they want. Guessers only make a request when they’re pretty sure they’re going to get it. As Burkeman points out, the awkward and weird moments come when Askers and Guessers mix. (Which, of course, happens all the time in real life. That’s why real life can be so awkward.) Askers will usually settle for a clear no and move on. Guessers often have problems giving a clear no. Awkwardness and hilarity ensue.
So, since this is a blog about leadership, how do you think the Asker and Guesser profiles affect the practice of leadership? Is one approach better than another for leaders? What have you learned about dealing with Askers? What about dealing with Guessers? Which one are you and is that working for you?
Your Leadership Role Will End May 12 2010 one response
One thing you can count on if you’re in a leadership role is that it’s going to end someday. If you’re lucky, you’ll leave the role with tributes and parties in your honor. If you’re not so lucky, you may not have much time to make the transition from leader to follower.
Such was the case this week with former British prime minister Gordon Brown. With not a lot of notice on Tuesday, he stepped in front of the cameras in front of 10 Downing Street to announce that, following the results of last week’s election, he was resigning and heading immediately to Buckingham Palace to recommend to the Queen that she ask David Cameron to be the new prime minister. Within a couple of hours, David Cameron was in and Gordon Brown was out.
You don’t have to be the head of a government to experience the phenomenon of losing power. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I had lunch with a former client who had announced a few weeks earlier that he was leaving his company at the end of the month to take a higher level position with a growing firm. He told me that he was surprised how much time he had on his hands once he announced that he was leaving. The meeting invitations stopped coming, the e-mail traffic slowed to a trickle and he wasn’t asked into conversations about the future. I told him not to take it personally; the same thing happened to me back in 2000 when I announced I was leaving a corporate VP job to start my coaching business a month later. Suddenly, I had plenty of time for long lunches and morning workouts. People move on.
So, with the truth in mind that there will come a day when you have to turn over the reins to someone else, here are a few thoughts to keep you grounded in the meantime:
- You are not your job. Your identity and worth extend far beyond whatever leadership role you’re temporarily playing.
- Remember that everything changes. Nothing is permanent.
- Do as much good as you can while you can.
What have you learned so far about keeping your perspective around the impermanence of leadership?
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
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