Category Archives: Leadership

No more personal leadership

Up until a recent moment of epiphany, I would often use the phrase “personal leadership” to describe my type of leadership.  The intent was to distinguish it from organizational leadership.  Then one day I realized it was inappropriate for me to use the phrase, for a couple reasons.

First of all, using “personal leadership” and “organizational leadership” is counter to my vision.  When people refer to organizational leadership what they are typically referring to is management.  Key to my vision is universal recognition that leadership is leadership and management is management, and while the two are closely related they are distinct concepts. If leadership happens within an established organization, it’s leadership. If leadership happens outside an organization, it’s leadership. If a leader is a manager, it’s leadership. If the leader is not a manager, it’s leadership. Let’s just call leadership leadership.

Secondly, to say “personal leadership” is redundant.  If it’s not personal, it’s not leadership.  All leadership begins with leading oneself, is built on trust and relationship, and is brought about through influence.  That’s personal.

On the about page for this blog there is still a reference to “personal leadership.”  I will be changing that soon.  What this blog is about, what I am about is – leadership.

“The place to improve the world is first
in one’s own heart and head and hands.”
Robert M. Pirsig

Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography

Leaners, Leaders and Suckers

Leaners.  Leaders.  Suckers.  In the summers that I worked on a tree farm those were the three things we looked for as we walked up and down the rows of young trees.

If a tree was leaning it needed to be straightened so that the trunk would grow straight.  This was done by strategic tugging and stomping the dirt around the tree.

A leader in tree terms is at the very top.  There needs to be one strong point growing upward.  If there are two branches at the top it creates a fork which weakens and shortens the tree.  One branch has to be clipped back and the other tied over to direct it upwards.

And we would rub our hands up and down the trunk to remove the suckers, the little lower branches that only take nourishment away from the important upper branches.

For leaders, in people terms, there are lessons in the trees.

Straighten the leaners: If the team or individual is leaning off course, the leader needs to use some strategic tugging to get everyone back on track.  Readjust the foundation to keep everything headed in the right direction.

Set the leaders (trees): The leader (people) needs to make sure the team has at some point a singular focus.  If there is a divided sense of purpose one needs to be pruned back and the other strengthened.

Remove the suckers: All those little tasks that keep us busy and take time away from us and the team need to be brought to attention and kept in check.

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“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Abraham Lincoln

Image via nvtrees.com

Bonus quotation:

“As the poet said, “Only God can make a tree” – probably because it’s so hard to figure out how to get the bark on”
Woody Allen

This is my Kala Patthar

This is my Everest (T.I.M.E.).  That slogan has provided me inspiration when facing large challenges in my life.  More importantly it serves as a reminder to fully experience the journey.  It is particularly meaningful to me this time of year.  The inspiration comes from my cousin, Lute, who was part of the first American expedition to climb Mount Everest, reaching the summit himself on May 22nd, 1963.  In the talks he gave later he would tell people that everyone has their own Everest.

When it comes to leadership, however, I have a slightly different perspective, and the mountain that comes to mind is Kala Patthar.  It is not the height of Kala Patthar that earns the mountain its distinction.  While the summit is a lofty 18,192’ (5545m) it is overshadowed in the Himilayas where it stands.   What is notable about Kala Patthar is the excellent view it provides of Mount Everest, which stands at 29,029’ (8848m).

The leadership vision I hold for the world is grand in scope and ambition, and is not a vision I expect to ever see come to reality, not in my lifetime.  I cannot even fully imagine what the world would be like if these principles became the norm and not the exception.  And there is so much I need to learn about leadership.  My hope is that in my lifetime I will at the least come to a point where I can fully envision and articulate what the reality would look like.

This is my Kala Patthar.  To fully experience my own leadership journey.  And then to some day stand and look off to the lofty heights and see the possibilities for a world that universally embraces principles such as these:

  • Leadership and management are seen as unique concepts, distinct from each other, to the benefit of both.
  • Leadership is on PAR – each and every person has the Permission, Ability and Responsibility to lead when a situation calls upon them to do so.
  • Managers are not seen as the victors, the ones who achieved their prestigious post as a reward for being the best at what the organization does. They are not seen as leaders simply because they are ahead in the race up the ladder. Managers are managers because they are the best at managing. Leaders are leaders because others have chosen to follow and they have accepted their responsibility to lead.
  • A person’s value to an organization is assessed only in the context of their intrinsic worth.
  • Being and becoming precede doing and achieving.
  • The primary intent of doing and achieving is to become more from it.
  • Doing and achieving produce results never before imagined when based on a foundation of being and becoming.
  • Leadership is primarily a matter of the heart, based on compassion for another as they are, and passion for what we can be.

What is your Everest? What is your Kala Patthar?

Image: www.yatlik.com/34525/index.html

Red Wings, Whitethroats and purpose

When the male Red-Winged Blackbirds first arrive in spring they are relatively relaxed, and even gregarious at times.  But when the females arrive a couple weeks later suddenly the males are aggressive and their KonKaRee call becomes raucous.  You can tell when the ladies are back in town just by observing the change in behavior of the guys.

When the White Throated Sparrows come through in the spring they sing “Old Sam Peabody” with pure tone and precise pitch.  In the fall when they come back through they sing the same song, but the pitch is all over the place, and they put no effort into it.  The song that’s so beautiful in the spring is hilarious in the fall.

What makes the difference?  Purpose.  The analogy may be obvious but I will state it anyway, birds and people are alike in this regard.  A clear task spells out exactly what to do.  A clear goal gives direction.  A clear purpose bolsters tasks and goals to the Why power.  Purpose shows why to do that task and why to take that direction.  When people have a clear task with a clear purpose towards a clear goal they sing a different tune.

“Purpose is what gives life a meaning.” Charles H. Perkhurst

Image: Vail Daily, Preston Utley / AP Photo

What a leader is not

OppositesWhat is the opposite of a leader? What word comes to your mind in response to that question? Pondering what something is not can help one better understand what it is.

Would the opposite of ‘leader’ be ‘subordinate’? ‘Direct report’? No. Leadership is not found on an org chart.

Is it ‘follower’? I say no. Many of the qualities of a good leader are also qualities of a good follower. And both are moving together towards a vision.

Is it ‘victim’? Not in terms of someone who gets knocked down, but if they stay down and take a victim mentality then they are the opposite of a leader. A leader steps forward to make a difference in life. A person who plays the victim sees life as something that happens to them.

Is it ‘bystander’? If not the opposite of a leader it at least describes one who is the opposite of a leader. A bystander isn’t even following, they’re drifting through life. They’re on the sidelines at the end of the bench with their earbuds in. Leadership is not passive. A leader is in the game.

What it comes down to is that I can’t think of a single word that fits perfectly as the opposite of ‘leader’.  But then I’m not seeking a word as much as an understanding. That’s why I would love to hear what you think. Can you think of a word that’s the opposite of ‘leader’?

“Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of circumstances
but participate in creating new circumstances.”
Joseph Jaworski

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Future leaders? Today’s leaders!

In the summer between his Junior and Senior years of high school our youngest son kept talking about how excited he was to be captain of the school’s Ultimate Frisbee team in his Senior year.  I finally said to him one day, “You know, you haven’t officially been named captain yet.  What happens if you aren’t named captain?”  Without any hesitation or concern he replied, “That’s ok.  I can still be a leader.”

He said it knowing full well what that meant.  Leadership is about passion, not position.

That next school year he was named co-captain along with two others and they were all great captains and great leaders on the team.  It was awesome to see the team finish fifth in state that year.  It was even more awesome to see everyone on the team grow and develop as players and as people.

Whenever young people step forward to make a difference in their world it is a beautiful thing.  It’s reassuring and inspires hope.  But to hear them referred to as “future leaders” or “leaders of tomorrow” causes me to bristle a bit.  Yes, I expect they will be leaders in the future.  But they are also leaders today, here and now.  Whether or not they will be managers some day is irrelevant.  To refer to them simply as future leaders discounts their present leadership.  They may still have a lot to learn about leadership.  Don’t we all?  So instead of calling them future leaders, let’s just call them leaders.

Photo courtesy of my youngest son
at AESThetic Photography

What’s better than engagement?

Employee engagement is held up as a key element to corporate success. It is important that employees have a sense of connection with the organization. But what about connecting the organization to the employee? What about the rapidly changing work environment, is employee engagement still enough? Or is it time to focus on something more?

While the general concept of engagement is a wonderful thing, unfortunately it is often regarded in a mechanical view of the corporate world: The Do loop of sacrifice & compensation. In this context the very word “engagement” takes on its mechanical connotation. A clutch is something you engage. Employee engagement seeks to make sure that each individual gear is meshed smoothly with the corporate cogs.

With a line drawn between work and life there is no real balance to be found between the two. How can an employee be engaged at work when they are forced to leave life at the door? What does it matter when what matters doesn’t matter?

And the situation degrades further when economic conditions worsen. The work side gets jammed with more pressure to Do, and employees are just thankful to have the problem and not the less fortunate alternative. Too often employees are thought to be engaged in their work when all they are is married to their job.

It’s important that employees are personally connected with the organization. But if people aren’t able to fully be who they are in their work, the most that engagement will ever produce is mediocrity. Real success is not found in connecting the individual to the organization.

The key is in making sure that within the organization
each individual remains connected to who they are.

So, what goes beyond employee engagement?

It’s not just about engagement; it’s about expression & enrichment: The Be-Do loop. Is an individual able to work in a way that builds upon and expresses who they are? Are individuals enriched by their work, do they become more from what they do?

“The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets out of it
but what he becomes by it.”  John Ruskin

This isn’t a management issue. It’s not an HR issue. This is a leadership issue, and that means it’s the responsibility of each individual who comprises the organization. In the network of relationships and interactions each person must be wholly regarded and respected for who they are, not just perceived as the piece of them that shows up for work.

What are your suggestions? How do we go beyond engagement to create a more fulfilling workplace? Are you engaged in your work? Is your work an expression of who you are? Are you enriched by your work? Are you there to make a living or to make a difference? How does an organization create a corporate culture that recognizes each individual for their intrinsic worth and not just their value to the corporation? What’s better than employee engagement?

Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography

Dooby Dooby – Be Do Be Do

Rivers and RoadsBE  Set aside the to-do list for a moment.  All those tasks waiting for you, they can wait a bit longer.  Any concerns you may have about the perceived importance of the work you do, let it go.  Pause and ask yourself a couple questions – Who am I?  Who do I want to be?

Dig a little deeper: What are my values? Beliefs? My vision? My perspective on the world around me? My gifts and talents? What are the key experiences and memories that have shaped me? In what areas am I particularly knowledgeable? What relationships are most important to me?

While the world focuses on what we do, as discussed in the previous post, everything really hinges on who we are. This is the starting point. Before you can effectively assess what you want to do, you need to have a clear understanding of who you are and who you want to be.

The doing is indeed important, of course. If we didn’t do anything the world would quickly come to a screeching halt and we would be rather bored. However, what we do needs to flow from who we are. Doing needs to spring from being. Our actions should build on our gifts and talents. Our decisions need to be in alignment with our beliefs and our values.

What we do should also be an expression of who we are. What we do does not define us, but it should reveal us. If what we do does not paint an accurate picture of who we are then we are not being authentic. It’s an indication that our doing is not in alignment with our being. This is not sustainable, and it will eventually reveal something else about who we are.

Connecting this all together in a powerful way, what we do should in turn enrich who we are. What we do should reinforce or refine our values, increase our knowledge, improve our abilities. The primary purpose of doing is that we become more from it. When all this is in place it creates a cycle of growth.

Unfortunately, this can also become a cycle of decline. When what we do is not true to our values, or when our doing only drains us and pulls us away from what is important to us, then it becomes a downward spiral. We become less from it, and in turn are able to do less. We don’t become all that we are meant to be.

Once you have a clear understanding of who you are and who you can be, then pick up that task list again. For each item on the list ask yourself, is what I’m doing and how I do it true to who I am? Is it in alignment with who I am and express who I am? Does what I do and how I do it enrich who I am? Does it affirm my values and lead me towards my vision? Do I learn from it? Does it challenge me to become even more than I am now?

I am not who I am because of what I do.
I do what I do because of who I am.

Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography

Do

DO  The world pivots on that little world.  Days are structured around to-do lists, lives lived with dreams of what we want to do.  We are defined, categorized and ranked by what we do.  You meet someone new and one of the first questions you will ask each other is, “So, what do you do?”  Ads remind us to “Just Do It.”

To make our doing more efficient the Industrial Age grouped individuals into organizations, each individual plugged into their part of the machine.  The engine that drives the machine is the premise that the individual will sacrifice their time and energy for the organization.  In turn the organization will compensate the individual.  Ever wonder why it’s called compensation?

Do Loop

Fueling the engine is the concept that the more an individual sacrifices for the organization, the more they will be compensated. And from the other side, the more the organization compensates the individual, the more they will sacrifice. Trouble is,

Employees are people.
And so are organizations.

What also gets sacrificed in this model is each person’s full individuality. So much of the stuff of life just doesn’t fit into the organizational machine.  We draw lines at the beginning and end of the day, and at the end of the week, with ‘life’ on this side and ‘work’ on the other.  And employees put up pictures at work to remind them of their real lives.

Unless your goal is to be the biggest gear in the corporate machine, dreams of what you really want to be doing, of what really matters to you, get thrown off to the side into a bucket labeled “Someday.”  Someday I’ll take up that hobby.  Someday I’ll spend more time with my family.  Someday I’ll take that trip.

Isn’t there a better way?

What if there was no such thing as work-life balance,
but rather work was just part of the richness of life? 

Isn’t there some way we can get done what needs to be done without dehumanizing people?  I believe there is.  Beginning with the next post we will begin exploring the Be-Do model, another way to look at how the world works.

RICH goals

Did you set goals for 2012?  If so, did you use the SMART criteria?

Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Reasonable – Time-based

The good thing about using the SMART criteria is that it gives some traction to our goals.  The down side is that they are focused on our actions, and the outcome of those actions.  To put real power into our goals we need to look first at who we are and who we want to be.  From there then we can align our actions to our being, and build what we do from who we are.  Realizing the full potential comes when we take it the next step and complete the cycle by assessing whether our actions enrich who we are.

Before you evaluate your goals to see if they’re SMART, first consider whether your goals are RICH.

R – Right
Is what I’m doing and how I do it consistent with my values?

I – Influential
Does what I’m doing and how I do it have a positive impact not only on myself but on others as well?

C – Challenging
Does what I’m doing and how I do it challenge not only my abilities but also my way of thinking?

H – Heart thumping
Does what I’m doing and how I do it make me alive? Do I approach my work with the attitude, “Let me at it! This isn’t just about making a living, this is about living! Bring it on!”

Here’s to a RICH and SMART 2012!

“You may say, ‘I’ve tried so many times before, but nothing seems to happen.’ That’s what the mountain climber could have said after three failed attempts to reach the top of Mount Everest. Instead, he looked up at the summit and announced, ‘You defeated me once. You defeated me twice. You defeated me three times. But mountain, I will someday conquer you, because you cannot get any bigger, and I can.’ ”

Neil Eskelin