Archive for May, 2010
Video Book Club: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team May 11 2010 no responses
This week’s VBC features a modern day classic, Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team . In this video clip, I give a quick overview of each of the five dysfunctions and share my secret theory about why Pat’s book has been so darned successful.
How to Share Power May 10 2010 2 responses
The most interesting political story this week is the negotiation among David Cameron of the U.K.'s Conservative Party and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats to reach a power sharing agreement to establish a coalition government following last week's elections in the U.K. Of course, the current prime minister, Gordon Brown is in the mix as well but, according to the Financial Times, it seems the smart money is on Cameron and Clegg working out a deal.
Leaders everywhere should be paying attention to this case study in the making because, in a matrixed world, power sharing among leaders is more and more common. It's a good idea to learn how to do it. Effective power sharing starts with establishing some clear agreements. It seems that's what Cameron and Clegg are doing now. I don't have any idea what process they're using for doing that, but here's a simple framework for establishing clear up front agreements when you need to share power with one or more leaders.
Quote of the Week Award Winner May 7 2010 no responses
There was an interesting article in the Washington Post this week about an invention developed by a United Methodist pastor in Salem, VA named Ken Dupin. After thinking about the dilemma of seniors who need extended care but don’t want to move to a nursing home, Dupin has come up with a prototype for a 300 square foot technology equipped home that can be set up in a backyard. He calls his invention the MEDcottage. (You can see a graphic of the structure here.) It’s pretty amazing what Dupin has done with his imagination and limited resources. He’s put a team together to build the prototypes, gotten funding to start a company to build the cottages and gotten the Virginia state legislature to approve a bill that allows the structures to be placed in back yards under certain conditions.
And here is where the quote of the week award winner comes into the picture. As you might imagine, public officials in high population density areas like Northern Virginia are concerned about cottages springing up in the back yards of quarter acre lots and turning zoning laws upside down. They’re also concerned about the misuse of the cottages. Here’s how the quote of the week award winner, Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay sums up his concerns:
“Is it a good idea to throw people into a storage container and put them in your back yard? This is the granny pod. What’s next? The college dropout pod?”
Even though I can see both sides of the MEDCottage issue, I have to confess that I laughed out loud when I read McKay’s quote. It’s a classic in terms of framing an issue in a punchy, memorable, definable way. If you’re a leader who needs to communicate your points clearly (and are there any leaders who don’t?), there are a few things you can learn from McKay’s quote:
Pavlov Didn’t Train Leaders May 5 2010 4 responses
Anyone who had Intro to Psychology in school knows the story of Pavlov’s dog. The Russian psychologist is best known today for his research in conditioned response. In his most famous experiment, he would ring a bell every time he gave his dog a tasty treat. The dog learned to associate the sound of the bell with food and, pretty soon, was salivating at the sound of the bell even when Pavlov wasn’t throwing a kibble his way.
I’ve read a couple of articles lately that have really made me think about the way we train leaders today. In their own way, they both reminded me of Pavlov. The articles point out the paths of least resistance that can condition society’s most promising young leaders into salivating when the bell is rung.
Video Book Club: The Trusted Advisor May 4 2010 one response
This week’s Video Book Club is a flat out recommendation for the classic book, The Trusted Advisor
I’ve got more to say about The Trusted Advisor
Perfect or Good Enough? May 3 2010 4 responses
One of the issues that a lot of my high potential leader clients find challenging is summed up in this item from the list of leadership behaviors in our Next Level 360 degree survey:
- Effectively differentiates between efforts that require perfection and those for which “good enough” is sufficient.
It’s easy to understand why that one is a challenge to get right. As the oil rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico shows, there are some things that absolutely have to be perfect. Good enough isn’t in those cases.
Still, not everything that we as leaders or our team does has to be perfect. In fact, the urge to always have the optimal solution in every circumstance can almost ensure that we won’t get perfection when we need it. There’s simply too much to do to optimize everything. How do you know, though, when going for the “good enough” solution is the right way to go?
I’ve been talking with my clients about that question and here are some criteria we’ve come up on how to decide between going for the perfect solution or embracing the good enough solution:
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
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