Leadership Challenge

Twitter About Leadership!

I was recently discussing with a colleague the value of Twitter. Although we agreed their was little value in updating the world on our daily nonsense, she pointed out that Twitter could be an excellent tool for blogging. How many of us have created a blog with the intention of updating it frequently and find a year later, when visiting the blog, that it has been a year since we have updated it? I have done this a few times.

But Twitter might be just the solution I am looking for to blog. Blogging takes time. Twittering does not. Twittering is one of those things you can do on the go, at the doctors, eating lunch, watching TV, etc. If you are like me, time is life's greatest commodity. I have found that although I think often about the nuances of leadership, I rarely have the time to articulate them. Additionally, I find it even harder to sit down and complete and string together thoughts about leadership. What I find in abundance are principles of leadership. So for the past few weeks I have been Twittering my thoughts on leadership.

Twittering is quite simple. Sign-up. Save Twitter in your address book on your phone. Make sure you are signed up for unlimited text messaging with your service provider and Twitter away. Soon you will be competing with your son or daughter for the most text messages in a month.

Seriously though, Jim and Barry have been talking a lot lately about practicing leadership. What a better way to keep leadership on your mind than journaling about it all day everyday. I look forward to seeing you on Twitter. Check me out on Twitter - leadership101.

Daren Blonski

Are We Becoming Pancake Leaders?

"Is Google making us stupid?" That's the provocative question Nicholas Carr asks in his article by that title in the July/August 2008 of The Atlantic.com. Lisa Shannon, our senior editor at Pfeiffer, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, referred me to this piece, and it's a must-read for anyone even the least bit concerned about what the affect that the World Wide Web might be having on our capacity to think.

Carr writes, "Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable feeling that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory." And it's not been for the better. That someone, or something, is the Web. Carr is not alone in his feelings. University of Michigan professor and pathologist Bruce Friedman, for example, comments that "I have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print." Maryanne Wolf, developmental psychologist at Tufts University, observers that "We are not only what we read. We are how we read." Reading a book has a different effect on us than reading a blog. A personal history of reading books will wire our brains differently than one of reading only blogs.

The problem is that we may be reading more on the Web than we did in print, but we are really only skimming the surface. We land on a page, read a bit, and then move on. We don't dive as deep. We don't reflect. In an evocative metaphor about the eventual impact of our point-and-click habits, playwright Richard Foreman wonders if we are all becoming "'pancake people' — spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button."

So, what's this got to do with leadership? Two thoughts: First, our Google culture is a reflection of the reality that leaders confront every day. A reality full of constant interruption. A reality of jumping from one thing to another, one person to another. "We don’t have work days – we have work minutes that last all day," observes UC Irvine computer science professor Gloria Mark. She and her team shadowed information workers – managers are included in this group – and timed every event. What they found is that the "average amount of time that people spent on any single event before being interrupted or before switching was … three minutes and five seconds, on average." (That does not include formal meetings where people are captive, though having attended thousands of meetings in my life, I would guess the attention-interruption ratio is about the same.)

The life of a leader is not one where we attend to any one thing for very long. It's just the nature of our work. Leaders have to learn how to influence others in brief moments. They just don't have people's attention for very long. Our Googling habits are just another indication of how "we work minutes that last all day."

But my second reaction is one of great concern. That's because the one thing that differentiates leaders from other credible people is being forward-looking. It's a leadership prerequisite. The capacity to envision an uplifting and ennobling future and enlist others in a shared vision — what we refer to as Inspire a Shared Vision — is the practice that sets leaders apart. If leaders can't do that, they aren't going to be able to take people to places they've never been before. Well, envisioning the future takes reflection and deep thought, and that requires time and attention. There's just no way we can imagine an exciting and meaningful future in three minutes and five seconds. There's just no way we can find a common purpose while constantly being interrupted. There's just no way we can spread ourselves wide and thin like a pancake and expect to create innovative new products and services and build a world-class organization. There are no three-minute visions.

Leaders who read more deeply, and read more broadly, studies show, are better able to look farther ahead than those who read narrowly and thinly. The Internet can certainly help us in our search for breadth, but it apparently isn't aiding us with depth or attention. Full disclosure requires that I tell you I did a lot of Googling for this blog….and I Google daily. I'm not a Luddite, and neither is Nicholas Carr. It's just that informing ourselves about the future will require us to do a lot less Googling and a lot more thinking. So, pack a few books and journals, grab that pen and paper, leave your Internet connection at home, and head for the beach, the mountains, or the lake. Take your mind for a walk and wander without a watch. The interruptions will return soon enough.

Posted by Jim Kouzes

Are your mirror neurons and ocillators functioning properly?

In the recent Harvard Business Review article by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis discus the neuroscience behind leadership.  They point out that great leaders are socially intelligent.  Social intelligence is fundamentally "a set of interpersonal competencies built on specific neural circuits (and related endocrine systems) that inspire others to be effective."

Recent research has identified "mirror neurons in widely dispersed areas of the brain. " These cells  are peppered throughout the brain and are programed to mimic the emotions of others.  Followers look for cues from their leaders and not only mimic their behaviors consciously, but also subconsciously.   The discovery of mirror neurons further confirms the importance of maintaining a positive outlook as a leader.   Model the Way, people are watching. 

When interacting with others little neurons called Oscillators are guiding our physical interactions.  Oscillators "coordinate people physically by regulating how and when their bodies move together." Leaders need to understand that upwards of 90% of communication is done so non-verbally.  Not only should leaders be looking ways to align the words they say, but they should be finding ways to align their non-verbal communication with those who have chosen to follow them.

Leadership is not only a set of conscious behaviors but it is also based on a series of neural, bio-chemical, interactions in each of our brains.

Posted by Daren Blonski

Are You Being Managed or Led?

For many years, I have enjoyed helping others understand the difference between leadership and management by defining the terms and then opening up a dialogue around individual perspectives. Although eye opening for those who think of them as the same, it is still very cerebral and certainly not enough.

Since my book, The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, hit the bookshelves I have been using its key characters to deepen the dialogue and help others understand why they feel the way they do about the two terms. My efforts are aimed at helping them also understand why they feel the way they do about those workplace warriors they “must follow” or “willingly join with to fight the good fight.”

Joe, a key character in the book, is a good example of the tough guy “bosses” who “manage” us. As the chief know-it-all, he sees himself as the decider of all things. He tries to pass himself off as an “agent of change”, but just like real Joe’s he is only an “agent of chains”. You have probably worked “for” a Joe during your career because you don’t work “with” the Joe’s. Hopefully, you have not been a Joe for others. By the way, Joe’s can be “Josephine’s” too.

Joe is the kind of manager who uses fear to get what he needs. Sound familiar? The Joe’s of the world obsess with obedience and they demand results from everyone around them except themselves. When it comes to them, they are non-committal to you and take credit for the good stuff while blaming others for their own poor judgment and outcomes. They simply burn you out.

How did the Joe’s become Joe’s? That’s a great question and one that is nearly impossible to answer with individual certainty. But, my experience tells me that most Joe’s become Joe’s from watching and being impacted by other Joe’s. It’s the negative side of modeling the way.

How do they shift their behavior? Unfortunately, many don’t. Since a lot of the Joe’s have read all of the “management” books, they usually are very good at bluffing their way through conversations and interviews. With that skill, they just move from organization to organization inflicting their pain until it’s time to move again. If they are the CEO of a company…watch out below. The values that are pasted to the walls are only window dressing for the halls.

For those who do shift behavior it usually comes from a humbling event or perhaps two or three. They finally hit bottom as Joe does in my book and see the error of their ways. It’s usually a long road, but with proper coaching and an instrument such as the Leadership Practices Inventory it’s possible to resuscitate an ailing Joe career. I have been fortunate to be a part of that success from time-to-time.

If they are lucky enough to find themselves being coached or lead by a Sam, the guru in The Offsite, the world becomes a friendlier place. Sam teaches all of us the difference between “managing” people and “leading” people. While the Joe’s burn us out, the Sam’s fuel our fire. They collaborate with us; engage us with questions that result in learning; express confidence in our abilities; give credit where credit is due and get the best from us by offering commitment to our growth.

The Sam’s teach us that management is about things and that leadership is about people. They want people to join with us not joke about us. The Sam’s share with us that leadership is a choice we all can make. It’s about closing the gap between our beliefs and our behaviors. Real leadership is a way of life and it begins with discovering who you are and what matters to you.

Whether you are “managed” by a Joe or “lead” by a Sam tell me your story so I can share it with my readers.

Posted by Robert Thompson, The Leadership Challenge Workshop Master Facilitator

Beth High's Podcast from The Leadership Challenge Forum 2008

Beth High, a Leadership Challenge Workshop Master Facilitator, reflects on being both a presenter and attendee at The Leadership Challenge Forum 2008.

Beth was interviewed after her presentation, "Workshop's Over . . . What Next? Ideas for Building Ongoing Leadership Practice."

Listen now:

Michelle Obama on Values

Did you catch Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention this evening? I'm thinking that one of The Leadership Challenge Forum attendees accidently left copies of The Leadership Challenge and the LPI in Denver. Ms. Obama's speech writer must have picked up those forgotten copies and borrowed a few of the ideas. When recalling her and her husband's common values Michelle words echoed those of The Leadership Challenge:

"you do what you say you're going to do"

and that all important item #14:

"you treat people with dignity and respect."

Whether you support Barack Obama or John McCain or haven't yet decided who will benefit from the vote you cast in November, viewing the U.S. Presidential candidates though the lens of The Five Practices makes for an interesting leadership exercise. And while we all get tired of campaigns' spin and hype, trying to imagine how each candidate might fair when faced with a dose of LPI feedback makes even the most monotonous campaign ads almost bearable.

Posted by Lisa Shannon

Dave Roberts and Charles St. John's Western Union Podcast

Podcast Following the Western Union Presentation at The Leadership Challenge Forum 2008

After our presentation at The Leadership Challenge Forum, Dave Roberts (Vice President Talent Management, Western Union) and I sat down with Lori Clevenger from Wiley to record a podcast about:

• How Western Union is linking leadership development to their corporate strategy
• Western Union's leadership vision
• Why Western Union chose The Leadership Challenge to be the centerpiece of their leadership development process

Listen now:

-- Charles St. John - Master Facilitator, The Leadership Challenge Workshop

Are you bothered by the Millennial sterotypes?

I have been bothered more and more lately by the gross generalizations many business leaders especially HR/TD/OD professionals are making about the Millennial generation.

If there is one thing that we know for sure, Millennials are more diverse than any other generation previous. I can accept that as a fair generalization.

As a result any attempt by our profession to fit the Millennials into a box should be disregarded as an exercise in futility.

I have yet to see anyone effectively articulate a decent description of the Millennials. 

Barry Posner presented some fascinating research recently at the 2008 Leadership Challenge Forum that essentially concluded that when it comes to work all generations want the same thing.

Most workers in their right mind want the same things...they want to come to work and contribute to something meaningful, be compensated fairly so they can pay the bills and enjoy life, enjoy the people they are working with, and be appreciated for their contributions at work.

This should not be considered rocket science.

The interesting thing about generational research is that it all focuses on the differences between generations rather than the similarities.

For every one difference one finds between  the generations their are two similarities.

The generational discussion is in my mind not much more than a office fad.

As Barry Posner said during his talk at The Leadership Challenge Forum 2008, "every generation has wondered and worried about whether or not the next generation will be ready and able to handle the demands, challenges, and opportunities they will be leaving behind."

Stop the fad at your desk.

The good news is that every generation will rise to the occasion.

Not to worry. When the opportunity presents itself ordinary people will step forward and rise to the challenge to become leaders. Regardless of the generation

A few months back I was talking to Carolyn Lawson, the Chief Information Officer for the California Public Utilities Commission, we were discussing the Millennials and stereotypes.

Carolyn's Key Point:

Millions of Millennials are now coming to work for you. Rather than spending your time trying to figure out why they are so different, spend time empowering them to utilize their many talents.

Your organization will live or die by it.

Daren Blonski, Sonoma Learning Systems

Gold Medals and Role Models

Along with millions of others, I followed Michael Phelps' golden moments at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His individual quests and the United States men's team efforts were inspirational. It's just a joy to watch people accomplish something that no one has previously achieved. In fact, the 1982 Winter Olympic games inspired the central methodology for collecting the cases that informed the development of our Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model. Prior to the 1982 games, I was listening to a radio talk show discussion of athletes' "personal bests," and the conversation caused me to wonder what it would be like if we studied Personal Best Leadership Experiences. That insight eventually led to Barry Posner's and my first book, The Leadership Challenge. Needless to say, I have been an Olympics' fan ever since. But I digress. Back to Michael Phelps.

After the 4x100 medley relay, Bob Costas interviewed Phelps, and near the end Costas pointed out to Phelps that he now had more fans on facebook than Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, and Michael Jordan. (I checked. Costas is correct. Right now as I write this Phelps has 1,173,231 fans compared to Cyrus' 217,018. If you check, you will find there will be more.) Phelps replied that he had heard that he had around 33,000 posts on The Wall, and that he wasn't sure how he was going to respond to them all. (There are 54,516 as I write.)

This interview peaked my curiosity, so I went to Phelps' page and read a few of the posts. There was a collection of the usual fan stuff – 'u are freaking awesome,' 'I am a Phelpsaholic!!,' 'You rock to the Max!' – but there were others that reinforced a very important leadership lesson. One high school student wrote, "Michael man, you are the greatest role model. I don't swim, but you inspire me to go harder and do better…" Another mom said that her young son was afraid to go into the water, but after watching Phelps win those gold medals her son was begging her to take him to swimming lessons.

The Phelps' phenomenon illustrates how someone's extraordinary performance is often more than just entertainment for the fans. It can also be a model of excellence that others want to emulate. Exemplary performance very often inspires others to take a shot at greatness. While you and I are not Michael Phelps, and we may never win Olympic gold, the same principle applies to each of us. We, too, can be role models. Our extraordinary achievements can set a positive example for our constituents.

Does setting a good example really makes that much of a difference? You bet it does. Barry Posner, has just finished an analysis of over 950,000 Leadership Practices Inventories—our leadership assessment survey—and he did a separate impact study involving 25% of the total sample. In presenting the data at The Leadership Challenge Forum 2008 in Denver, Barry revealed that of all The Five Practices in The Leadership Challenge framework, the practice of Model the Way accounts for the most variance in a leader's impact on the engagement and performance of constituents. Model the Way—defined as clarifying your values and aligning actions with shared values—contributes more to getting extraordinary things done than anything else a leader does.

Your example matters. You matter. Next time you begin to wonder if it's really worth it to be the best you can be, just remember what that young mom and that high school student said about Michael Phelps. Just remember that you can make a difference by your positive example.

Posted by Jim Kouzes

First Forum Fantastic, by Robert H. Thompson

Talent is overrated.  The Millennium Generation is over analyzed. That’s my quick take on the recent research revealed by Kouzes and Posner at their first annual The Leadership Challenge Forum held in Denver August 7-9.

Attended by more than 200 leadership education focused professionals, the event was busy with learning opportunities from Kouzes and Posner as well as a distinguished list of experts in their field sharing their thoughts in a variety of roundtable discussions. They even allowed me to share an insight or two as well.

Roundtable discussions included topics such as: Measuring the Impact of Leadership Development; Higher Education and Leadership Development; Making Good Ideas Work; Leading Teams; Coaching; Transformative Change and Recovering from Leadership Missteps.

Jim Kouzes was first out of the chute with a topic centered on “The Great Talent Myth.”  I have been previously exposed to this issue, so nothing shocked me. However, for those of you who have found yourself sucked into this myth, let me share some of the highlights.

“Talent is highly overrated and does not equal expertise, according to Kouzes.  “Even experience does not equal expertise. It takes practice and practice takes time.”

How much time does it take to become an expert at something?  “Two hours per day if you want to stay the same. More if you want to get better,” Kouzes quoted Glenn Michibata, head coach of Princeton’s men’s tennis team.

With that in mind, most leaders are amateurs, according to Kouzes. Most people do not consciously practice leadership let alone more than two hours per day. Athletes practice. Soldiers practice. Even doctors “practice”. (I would submit that most people don’t even think about leadership for 20 minutes per day, let alone consciously practice. Please tell me I’m wrong here.)

To practice takes effort and support. Support from teachers/coaches (executive) and definitely from family. You must be intensive with your practice and understand that quality and quantity are essential. In other words, “to be a great leader is not for the fainthearted”, Kouzes says.

Kouzes wrapped up his talk by underscoring the fact that leadership is in the moment.  “In each moment of each day, you have the opportunity (to practice) to make a positive difference in the lives of those around you, he says. “The secret to success is to love what you do so you make the effort to practice and love those you work with so you can help them develop into the leaders they wish to be.”

Since I am also researching the Millennium Generation for my next book, I was pleased to see the latest research from Barry Posner in regard to the myths of leadership surrounding our latest group to enter the workforce.

Posner’s premise is that “every generation has wondered and worried abut whether or not the next generation will be ready and able to handle the demands, challenges and opportunities they will be leaving behind.”  His research shows us not to be too concerned.

Posner’s theme centered around the question of whether or not the leadership behaviors of today’s generations compare favorably with the other generations such as Traditionalists (1900-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980) and The Millennials (1981-1999).

The observations from the data showed that age doesn’t explain much about leadership practices/behaviors and it makes very little difference in assessing the impact of leadership. And most importantly underscores the facts that young people can learn to lead just like everyone else if they are given the correct coaching.

“So what does all this mean for leadership development and leaders,” Posner asked.

Millennials want what we all want, but were afraid to ask for. They prefer to work with positive people; they want to learn new skills; they expect flexibility in their schedules; they enjoy a friendly environment; and they learn best through teamwork, technology, structure and experiential learning.

Essentially, if you follow The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership as shared in The Leadership Challenge or The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, you should be good to go with this group. They want you to Model, Inspire, Challenge, Enable and Encourage them.

Posner finished his conversation with us by sharing what leadership educators and leaders need to focus on when working with Millennials: Focus on finding their voice; Focus on the Future; Focus on relationships; Focus on credibility and Focus on Learning.

Sounds simple enough. Where do I sign up?

Robert H. Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. You can reach him at www.leaderinsideout.com.