Archive for April, 2009

Wednesday evening, at President Obama’s press conference, Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times, asked the President (I’m paraphrasing a bit); “What, during your first 100 days in office most surprised, troubled, enchanted, and humbled you?”

The President had to stop and write down the question (the question was lengthy. Writing it down also provided him time to think about his answers). You can see a very short video of this here.

It took a lot of courage for Zeleny to ask this question, and a lot of thought for the President to answer it. It was pretty close to the kind of question that leaders who are responsible to develop other people should learn to ask. These are the kinds of questions that help others learn how to learn. What made it so:

• It was open ended: Beginning a question with “what” is a great strategy for asking a question that is thoughtful and open-ended, inviting the respondent to really think about an answer.
• The person asking didn’t know the answer to the question: it wasn’t a “leading” question or a question that Zeleny knew the answer to. I’m guessing that the President hadn’t seen the question before the press conference either since there appeared to be a fleeting moment of surprise (and humor) cross his face – thus the question had the effect of helping the President to really think about some things that mattered to him.

• It was personal: the question was one that meant something to the President personally. Due to the personal nature of the question, he seemed quite engaged in providing the answer; this had the consequence of giving all of us a glimpse of the President as an individual.

Leaders must learn to ask these kinds of questions. Many journalists are very good at it (just listen to the kinds of questions Barbara Walters and Diane Rehm ask), and we can learn from them.

You know how to tell people what to do. But do you have the courage to ask the kind of questions that will help your people learn how to learn?

I find the simplicity of Patrick’s Lencioni’s “Five Dysfunctions of a Team” to be magical. The process that is outlined can be used by anyone – whether an internal organizational manager, or an external coach and consultant. In our fast paced world, Lencioni’s insights force a team to slow down, look at themselves and how they are functioning (or not), and make the adjustments needed to become high functioning.

The book is a start for those who may want to use the process outlined with a team. Five Dysfunctions became a NY Times bestseller several years ago, and the author saw the need to create additional material that can assist in delivering the program. Even though the book might be considered “dated” (copyright 2002), the model and material are timeless. The model encourages us to look at the five dysfunctions described briefly as follows:

1. Absence of Trust: Members of great teams trust one another on a basic emotional level, and are willing to be vulnerable to other team members about their weaknesses, mistakes, fears, and behaviors.
2. Fear of Conflict: Great teams are not afraid to engage in conflict through dialog around issues and decisions that are key to the organization’s success.
3. Lack of Commitment: Buy-in around important decisions can be achieved by great teams, even when they disagree initially, through assuring that everyone is heard.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: The standards of performance agreed to by the team allow them to hold one another accountable for adherence to those standards.
5. Inattention to Results: Great teams can set aside individual needs and agendas in order to focus on what is best for the organization.

Somehow, I ended up with an extra copy of the book, written in “fable” format. If you haven’t read it, it will provide you with a basic idea of the simple process Lencioni advocates. If you really like it, you’ll want to use it with your own team and possibly purchase ancillary materials (workbook, facilitator’s guide, video, etc.). Or – just maybe – you’d like to bring me in to facilitate the process for you and your team!

In any event, respond here by May 8 and you’ll be registered to recieve my extra copy of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” based on my purely subjective decision about who leaves the most interesting comment about Great Teams they’ve known or participated in.

There is a fair amount of “buzz” in blogs and articles on the internet about whether the research in Jim Collins’ huge bestseller, Good to Great, is valid. Take a look at this interesting article called “Luck, Inc.” from the the Boston Globe, for example.

As a person who was educated in “scientific method” (my career began as a laboratory biologist), I suppose I’ll sound a bit smug when I say that when I read the book oh-so-many years ago, I questioned the research methodology in this book and the myriad of others that followed.

However, this book and others of it’s kind still have value, as in this quote from Bob Sutton from the Globe article:

“If Jim Collins’s impact is to get people to do stuff that they know they should do already – facing the hard truths or being selfless or whatever – I certainly don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

Leaders need to contine to read these books and trust their instincts about what will work for them in the context of the organizations they are in right now. Good leaders will know what it will take for them and their organizations to become great.

My advice: keep reading (or start reading) those business and/or leadership books. If you can take away one or two good ideas that will help you to be a better leader, then it’s all worth it. Even if the research isn’t scientific.

A favorite childhood fairy tale is Hans Christian Andersen`s “The Emperor`s New Clothes.” I still chuckle when I think of the emperor being duped into wearing a new suit of invisible cloth in an attempt not to appear stupid.

The emperor`s followers went along with the guise during a royal procession to show off his new clothes until a child pointed out that he was, indeed, naked. The audience watching the procession caught on and the emperor was found out. The author of this tale was brilliant. A children`s story written in 1837 has become an enduring tale of clueless leadership and less-than-truthful followers.

Just like the emperor, there are leaders who will do everything possible to avoid appearing stupid. The problem is that they are often clueless about themselves. One of the ways leaders can avoid being caught clueless is to obtain pure, unadulterated feedback about how those in their circle of influence perceive them. A 360-degree assessment is the best way I know of to get this kind of feedback.

I encourage my clients to continually ask for specific feedback from their peers, their manager or their employees. This kind of feedback can be quite useful. However, like the audience passively viewing the naked emperor, followers will not necessarily provide honest feedback. A leader should not be misled into believing that the feedback he receives is entirely truthful. All kinds of human dynamics in the workplace will prevent others from being completely honest when asked for feedback.

This is where a 360-degree feedback tool is useful. This tool, whether electronic, hand written or an interview, is administered by an outside party on behalf of an individual (generally regarding facets of an individual`s leadership). Multiple sources are used: the person`s manager; direct reports; peers; and sometimes others such as customers, clients or vendors. The information is gathered in a way that maintains confidentiality. A report is then provided to the leader about her patterns, including areas of strengths and opportunities for growth.

The feedback from this tool is intended to be developmental, not disciplinary. The information gathered is meant only for the eyes of the individual for whom it was gathered.

The information obtained must be treated with great respect. A skilled professional who is familiar with providing this kind of feedback can offer interpretation, put it into perspective, and give support around the results obtained. This support could include assistance in setting goals and developing an action plan, as well as ongoing coaching to achieve the goals.

In my experience, 360s are invaluable tools to provide a reality check and a way to avoid being caught naked. Because your followers, like those watching the emperor`s procession, will rarely tell the truth to your face.

Spring is a time of renewal, of looking ahead. If you are a gardener, you may enjoy watching the small green things poking up in the soil, knowing that they will grow, blossom, and fruit into something magnificent and useful. It’s a time of anticipating what can be.

However, we often dwell in the past. And more often than not, the past we dwell can be the less-than-pleasant experiences we’ve had. Knowing that, as a leader, you have a desire to move forward, the past is not the place to start. It’s too draining to keep rehashing the bad stuff.

We Need Optimism and a Future to Look Toward

Now, more than ever, your team, organization and peers need you to be positive and forward-looking. The best way to begin looking ahead is to begin with yourself.

So, start fresh – with today. Consider where you are at in your leadership journey at this moment with the following questions:

Consider Now

- What are you doing well in your leadership?

- What can you improve in your leadership?

Consider Your Future:

- If things were as great as you’d like them to be, what would they look and feel like?

- What is your role in creating this great future? What are others saying about you in the future?

- What immediate action can you take to move toward this great future?

Do you feel a positive shift in energy when you start “living toward the future” and stop “dwelling in the past”?

Sometimes, all the things you`ve heard and learned about “effective communication” just don`t work. You can use the tips and techniques you`ve read about in those books about tough conversations, do the things you`ve learned in that leadership class on effective communication ?€“ and yet, it just doesn`t work the way you thought it would.

Perhaps your expectations are too high. People aren`t like machines, where you can tighten a loose screw and voila! Everything is fixed. The human machine is much too complex for our communications to have a predictable effect. However, you may be able to increase your odds of having a great conversation (if not predictable) by examining your intent before starting the conversation.

With practice, this will assist in aligning your intent with what comes out of your mouth.

Here`s one way to begin:

Find five minutes of quiet, uninterrupted space. Sit down, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths. With your eyes closed, ask yourself:

• What is my commitment to this relationship?
• What outcome from this communication might best serve myself and the individual (employee, manager, peer) I need to have a dialog with?
• What do I need to do or say to make sure that my words are aligned with my commitment to the relationship?

Open your eyes, take a few more deep breaths and take some notes. This could be the beginning of a great conversation!

Steve Roesler has published a post I wrote called “When Silence Can be Golden at Work” on his wonderful All Things Workplace site.

I enjoy making new friends – especially when they are smart, funny, dedicated, and write great stuff. Steve is just that. His site is interesting and provocative; I’m sure you’ll want to subscribe so that you are privy to his wisdom on a regular basis.

Steve Roesler, a kindred spirit over at All Things Workplace will be posting a guest piece I wrote called “When Silence Is Golden” Thursday – watch for it.

My clients occasionally ask why their teams aren`t speaking up at meetings, providing their thoughts and new ideas. First I ask my clients what they might be doing to stifle discussion. Usually, they haven`t a clue.

I then ask if I can observe these clients as they interact with their teams. Most of the time, I discover that these leaders are unintentionally shutting down the very dialog they desperately seek.

Perhaps you, too would like to stifle ideas. If so, here are some great ways to do so:

1. Don`t ask for input: Make the decisions, call the shots, and let everyone know that`s the way it is.

2. Promote only your ideas: Why not? You`re the smartest person in the room. You know what`s right.

3. Ask for input but don`t wait for others to provide their ideas: Put your ideas out there and keep talking in hopes that you don`t have to respond to any bad ideas.

4. Ask for input then don`t acknowledge or act on the ideas: You heard that you need to seek input from your team, so you did. Nobody said you needed to do something about their bad ideas.

5. Take personal credit for all of the ideas, including those that weren`t yours: It`s only fair. You are the boss, after all.

6. Become defensive or angry when you ask your team what they think of your ideas and they are critical of them: Your ideas are good. Why can`t they see that?

7. Be critical of all ideas other than your own: See explanation for #2 above.

The problem is, you no longer have the franchise on ideas. How can you? The world of work is way too complex now and there are so many things to consider. Ideas and innovation are the keys to survival, and making decisions based solely on what you know is no longer enough. The tactics above will catch up with you.

What other tactics have you seen leaders use that successfully shut down new ideas?

When I end a coaching engagement with a client, I make a point of following up a few months later to find out:

• what they’ve learned sice we stopped working together. Retrospect is such a great thing, and I am generally amazed at the new things that unfold for these amazing leaders once we’re done working together.
• if the changes they made while we worked together are “sustainable”; do they continue to do the things they committed to?
• what I can learn. Selfishly, the time period between our last meeting and this “check up” can bring my former clients new insights that are good for me to pass along to other clients in similar situations.

Last year, I had begun working with a highly successful scientist and director of a medical laboratory in a large health care organization. He had a big job ahead of him: in a lab with long-service technicians, he was charged with modernizing the lab with new, and more efficient, equipment. He was faced with a huge change management challenge.

Interviews with his manager and those around him indicated that he was not connecting with the people in the lab, and they were resisting the changes that needed to be made. It became obvious that he was working much too hard to implement the changes. So we set about to create a plan to make it easier.

Some of the strategies outlined in his action plan seemed to be very simple. He made a plan to set aside time to regularly walk through the labs, while stopping and talking to people, asking open-ended questions, and listening deeply. Indeed, this man found what he called “small talk” to be a powerful tool in getting to know others and allowing them to get to know him. As an introvert, small talk was not his strength, yet he was courageously willing to try it in service to the large and highly visible project his organization needed to implement.

He also engaged the staff in implementation solutions, regularly asking for (and adopting) their opinions. He set up project teams to work on the major parts of the implementation.

Success! Several months after our work together is completed, I heard him tell that the changes went relatively smoothly thanks to his reaching out and improving the relationships he had with the individuals in the labs. When asked what he would do differently next time when there is a project in his area of this magnitude, he said “I will make it a priority to develop great relationships with the people who do the work”.

I have no doubt that he will be successful with that next, even more significant project, whatever it may be.

What are you doing to intentionally improve your work relationships?