Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – the essential role of feedback for the Leader

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” So goes the question embedded in the fanciful world of a children’s tale and a question that hauntingly stalks most of us for the remainder of our adult journey. Not that we would admit to such for over the years, not only have we learnt how to conceal and disguise the question, we have learnt to train the mirror into giving us the answer we wish to hear.  Hearing the truth? Now that is real fantasy!

For those in leadership it is a question that provides the yardstick of measurement, recognition and reputation. With so much at stake, it is the question that demands the answer, “why of course, you are”- be that true or not.

The real problem is not the question but rather the expectation surrounding the answer.  … Continue Reading

Are you wasting your money on leadership development?

Behaviourist B.F. Skinner maintained that education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten. There has been much written about the need to create learning organisations and more resources than fleas on a stray dog have been spent on leadership formation (learning) within organisations. The fact that leadership formation assumes such a high priority within most organisations is fully justified but in terms of how it is done, is it money well spent?

In the face of this learning avalanche, a nagging question persists: Is the effort surrounding leadership formation producing learning or education (as per Skinner’s definition)?  In other words, are organisations and the individuals within them, better off for all the attention on leadership development? Are our leadership programmes really making a significant impact on the way we think, do business, and live our lives? … Continue Reading

Eyes Wide Shut: A Story for Leaders

“Its your turn” accompanied by a rib-breaking jab to my side proved to be a sure antidote to any further sleep and left me in no doubt that to protest would be about as successful as Custer’s last stand. Arising from the fog of coma-like slumber when all the sane world is sleeping is never easy but doing so was aided by the knowledge that unless rapid progress in this direction was made, further collateral damage could be expected. As my mind and body desperately tried to find each other I locked onto the source of this intrusion into my sleep: Keegan’s cries of “Daddy, Daddy” were unmistakable as they were persistent. As I made my way to his room I wondered just how to ensure that in the future night calls could be rewired to “Mommy, Mommy” and “Daddy, Daddy” reserved for daylight saving only. Programming this kind of software into kids could make me a hero, a rich hero to millions of fathers all around the world I thought to myself; I would become a legend amongst men. Arrival at my destination curtailed any further development in this line of thought but I did undertake to return to this potentially ingenious plan.

“Daddy, there’s a lion in my room” was what I was greeted with as I popped my head around the door and instantly I understood why it was me that had been called to duty. Lion-tamer, Superdad, a life-threatening situation that required only the bravest of the brave…a job for Dad! A exhaustive search ensued, one that I might add Keegan watched wide-eyed from the safety of his bed interrupted only by him offering some suggestions that had me looking in places that no self-respecting man-eater would choose to hide – a pencil case for one.

Eventually, the search concluded I submitted my report: no lion, to a clearly doubtful client and turned to leave the room and return to the sleep that I had left there. It was as I turned off the light that I heard Keegan mutter to himself, “Of course there is a lion here, I see him every time I close my eyes”

Seeing what others see when they close their eyes is something leaders who know how to inspire vision and nurture dreamers need to be able to do.

Organizations need the dreamers, the fringe thinkers, the people who see things others don’t. It is often the case that these people are not an easy fit in organizations and one is tempted to wish life without them. Ricardo Semler in his book Maverick writes that every company should be paying someone to be looking out the window. To be taking in the big picture, to be surveying the landscape, to be dreaming as to what could be. Often leaders are under pressure to be this person, the person with their eyes wide shut. However this isn’t necessarily the best place for leaders but you do need to ensure someone is doing this and when their report is given and the lion spotted, the leader needs to be the one who declares loudly and clearly, “well why not!”

Such leaders are often known as visionaries.

Savvy Leadership: Leading in the Connection Economy

Challenged recently to ‘frame’ a leadership development process has led me to set out the following offering. Having had the opportunity to participate in several international leadership formation programmes I am, for the most part, left with a disquiet that is hard to articulate.

For one thing much of leadership formation is seen as a progamme rather than a process. Now, some might howl indignantly at this accusation and accuse me of splitting hairs or just playing with words. Perhaps they are right but let me give you an example of what I am getting at and you can make-up your own mind.

The ‘progamme mentality’ drives towards an end result. ‘Complete the programme and you have a leader’ is basically how it goes. Not too dissimilar I might add to a recipe which instructs the user to simply add some water, shake well and presto…you have the finished product.  Most programmes end with some or other certificate just to prove the point. As a consequence of this programme-obsessive approach is a surplus of leadership formation programmes but a dearth of leaders equipped to lead in an unforgiving and bewilderingly complex world. One of the more tangible outcomes of this approach is leaders who understand leadership as a qualification and a position rather than a process and about character. It has tended to produced a generation of leaders who emerge from such programmes with only answers and tragically few questions; leaders who now ‘know how to lead’ rather than inquiring leaders who realize that they are only at the beginning of the process in what will be a life-long pursuit.

… Continue Reading

Bacon or Pork: Either Way the Piggy Bank is Toast

Commitment to breakfast means different things to the chicken and the pig. Well unless that is, you’re inclined to favour KFC for breakfast!

Nowhere has the shock to perspective that the global recession emitted been more keenly felt than in the banking / financial sector. The collapse in asset prices, a surge in distressed debt and a looming threat of deflation have all threatened systemic financial meltdowns.  At the start of 2010, for the first time in 40 years there are a billion hungry people on our planet. That said, towards the end of 2009 there was widespread evidence of healthy recovery which, following the tumultuous events of the last three months of 2008, seemed unlikely. The world’s economies, big and small, are taking stock and whilst the recovery is not evenly distributed and counting one’s blessings is a selective exercise, we do need to understand some of the deeper social shifts that have happened as a result of the past 18 months.

It has been a troubled and confusing time to the ‘man on the street’ – a term that for many has gone from mere analogy to the frighteningly literal. What once was is no more and a ‘new normal’ is emerging. The rules of the game have changed and this impacts on all the players. There are three things that we need to note as we take stock of the situation. It is not about ‘finding our way back’ and rebuilding but more about understanding what has changed and the new opportunities provided by such changes.

… Continue Reading

Leadership Thought: Ordering Steak Whilst Working With Vegetables

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britain, made no secret of her contempt for those who couldn’t keep pace with her legendary endurance and appetite for hard work. This was especially poignant given that those who surrounded her were men. There is a joke about her going out to dinner with her cabinet. “Steak or fish” inquires the waiter. “Steak of course,” she replies. “And for your vegetables?” “They’ll have steak as well” came the snappy reply. Many leaders pride themselves on their toughness and ability to get satisfactory performance from the vegetables that surround them. With this goes a silent self-congratulatory pat on the back on their tolerance for the vegetable stew that surrounds them.

Invitational Leadership invites leaders to believe the best in others and then create an environment that is able to invite this potential out into the open. It takes hard work and an unshakable belief that others have a worthwhile contribution to make. Without this starting point, Invitational Leadership cannot be practiced.  New frameworks are needed from which to explore what it will take to lead successfully in the new world of work. Invitational leadership offers one such framework.

How’s That! 4 Leadership Tips for Leaders Everywhere from Gary Kirsten

In the February edition of Sports Illustrated, Gary Kirsten was asked what leadership lessons he had learnt whilst being in what has been described as the ‘toughest job in cricket, managing the Indian team (and the entire Nation’s expectations). Kirsten listed four things. They make for interesting reading and are applicable to leadership everywhere.

Firstly, he spoke the importance of building and nurturing relationships and trust with the players. Trust is the currency of any relationship and when leaders lose the trust of those they lead, the ability to truly lead is lost. Authentic leadership is always conferred, never claimed. Mutual trust is what makes this possible.

Secondly, Kirsten listed the focus on strengths rather than weaknesses. A strengths based approach to personal development is not new but is seldom practiced in the corporate environment. Here the emphasis is usually on improving and correcting weakness.

Thirdly, he mentioned the need to focus on solutions not problems. I have an associate who used to work at Proctor & Gamble where he had a boss who would insist that any problem presented to him, was accompanied by three solutions. Arriving with merely one solution was simply punting the ‘opposite’ to the stated problem and so wasn’t good enough. Having a second solution demonstrated a measure of creative thinking and arriving with three possible solutions demonstrated the ability to think more strategically. This solution would also most likely be one that considered all of the other stakeholders.

Lastly, Kirsten spoke of encouraging individuals to think for themselves and express themselves more fully. “Can’t have that…will be bloody chaos” echoes the barely muted refrain from the corner office. Wrong! Done appropriately and correctly, freedom of expression allows for greater accountability, ownership and participation. It can be done – it has been done. As for allowing staff to ‘think for themselves’ – well there is a new concept for many a leader! Anyone who has had to deal with a typical customer service department would know this only to well.

Now Gary, please hold off on the application of all this until after the series against your fellow nationals. Either that, or come and apply them at home!

Redundant: The School Reunion: A Reminder to Leaders Everywhere

It was one of those father / son conversations that fathers are inclined to indulge in from time to time and that are usually invoked by some or other important milestone or ritual.

The ritual in question? My youngest son beginning his University career. Well let’s hope it isn’t a ‘career’ but rather a short stopover on the way to bigger things!

The parental wisdom I was freely dispensing had to do with the fact that at University he would make new friends and it was most likely that these newly acquired friends, would be the ones that would last a lifetime…unlike his school friends. “Why’s that?” he asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Well” I said, “once you exit school your generation tends to funnel into society at large and you will end up losing contact with them,” before going on to add some personal experience to the wisdom.

“But of course we’ll stay in touch…we’ve got Facebook” came the instantaneous retort in which I sensed a thinly masked tone of exasperation, maybe tolerance.

Immediately I realize the error of my ‘wisdom’ and the pitfall that had been my ‘experience’.  He’s right. His generation will stay in touch effortlessly and so, in one small matter, technology has again changed the way things will be.

How could I have been so stupid? Oh, and one last thing: be aware of ‘your experience’. In a world changing at the pace it is, experience is not all it’s made up to be.

Learners with Disabilities

It was an interesting sign to have on the school bus I thought – ‘Learners with Disabilities’. Soon the school bus was to take another route to that of mine and then it was gone. The bus was no longer in sight but the bold sign emblazed across the back of the bus stuck with me as I continued on.

Learners with disabilities. What a pity contemporary corporate leaders don’t have that signage on their office door or perhaps on their desks: ‘CEO / Learner with Disabilities’. It wouldn’t be for a lack of space on their desk for we both know that isn’t the problem.  The real problem is, that no leader would come close to admitting a learning disability, much less advertize it. The system that has seen them make it to the corner office has long since squeezed out any doubt, questioning or openness to new learnings. Leaders aren’t expected to be ‘learners’ – they’re expected to know; they know what is best, they know what is needed and they know because, well because they have the track record to prove they know it. It is referred to as ‘experience’. As Mark twain so eloquently put it: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.  It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so”

If we’re honest, often times we also want them to know for it relieves us of taking responsibility – and gives us someone to blame.  So we need to acknowledge that in part, the leader’s knowing is fueled by the expectations of others who look for certainty, answers and direction. After all, isn’t that all part of leadership?

Well this is how it works for the most part and I suspect you know this to be the case. Why just today I learnt of a CEO who used his authority to ensure that a key facilitator in a vital and delicate process concerning his executive team, would no longer be part of the process. The reason…the real reason? Well the Facilitator in question was simply too perceptive and not afraid to share her insights. Way too threatening for him is my guess. Leaders with disabilities: we meet them every day but unlike those school children, they refuse to acknowledge it.

Learning is not easy. For one thing it requires that the Learner is open to new information. Information about themselves, how they do – or don’t do things, about how things work or about alternative opinions and realities that differ from their own. Hearing such things is never easy and taking further steps toward understanding such things requires courage and conviction. It is the way of the Learner. Don’t ever be fooled into believing that the leader’s learning is inhibited by the lack of teachers – the teachers are all around him or her; rather it is the leader’s inability to recognize the teachers that surround them that is the chief inhibitor to the learning process.

This is a problem. Now more than ever we need learner leaders. In a world where the rules of the game are changing as they are; where things will not go ‘back to the way they were’; where a ‘new normal’ is emerging – in such a world, more than ever, we need leaders who are willing to learn.

And the first step? Simply admit to your learning disability. Sounds simple but it’s not. And without that first step, you’ll never get on the bus!

Knowing What You Don’t Know is Important

Yes it’s true. I’m getting coached in ‘Social Media’. “About time” some might say but it’s not just about how to engage in the various kinds of social media available – it’s about learning how to, ‘connect the dots’. It is about understanding how to work with all the options in an integrated manner that makes professional and personal sense. I suspect many more of my ilk could do with some time with my Coach and the reality is that knowing this stuff simply isn’t optional – it’s an imperative.

W. C. Howell is credited with the model with which most of us are familiar when it comes to acquiring a skill. The model moves from a level of ‘unconscious incompetence’ to ‘conscious incompetence’ to ‘conscious competence’ to ultimately, ‘unconscious competence’.  So what does this look like when applied to my development path in the area of social media education?

Unconscious incompetence: A what? ‘c-o-m-p-u-t-e-r. Don’t only major international companies and governments have access to this kind of thing?  I’m not sure I’ll need one, but thanks anyway. The future? Yes, yes…(late 1980’s – early 1990’s)

Conscious incompetence: Wow…how do you switch this thing on? It sure takes up a lot of desk space but looks important, even impressive…where did you say I turn it on? How come there is this blue screen…and what’s that noise? Show me how you did that…that’s really cool, I need to be able to do that stuff. Hold on, not so fast…I just need to make a note of that. (mid 1990’s – early 2000’s)

Conscious competence: Sure I’m on Facebook and I even know that ‘Twitter’ isn’t a term of insult nor is it some sort of birdcall heard only in the mating season. Sure I know how to access that information, open multiple windows and load useful software. How did I ever survive without email?  I know how to solve that problem…just reboot…there see, anything else I can help you with? With some concentration and focus I can link some of my technology gadgets and to really impress fellow travelers, even produce my iPod on flights whilst banging away on my laptop keyboard. Laptop? Apple of course.  Check out that cool little Apple logo that lights up on the lid! (mid – late 2000’s)

Unconscious competence: My tweet directs people to my latest blog which drives folk to the article and website resulting in conversations, connections and further helpful information, relationships and opportunities. There, dots connected and a seamless integration of knowing the why and how behind it all. By catching up I’ve actually been able to slow down and I feel an intricate part of an amazing reality that is unfolding all around me…connections, information and well, relevance. (the future)

Knowing what you don’t know is important. It is your learning pathway into Tomorrow, and it is a journey that shouldn’t be delayed. Let me know and I will put you onto a great social media Coach…

Lost in Translation: The Essential Guide to Understanding the Male Species

Of course much has been said about the translation gap between the male and female of our species, why it is and what it is – including the theory that we each originate from different parts of the Universe.This is maybe so. However, bringing it all down to earth, here are some helpful translations that may assist either side, although I suspect that it will help those tasked with ‘looking after their boss’ when that means crossing this particular gender border.

Male: “Yes okay”…Translation: Absolutely nothing. It’s just a conditioned response

Male: “It would take too long to explain”…Translation: I have no idea

Male: :That’s interesting”…Translation: Why are you still talking?

Male: “It’s a guy thing”…Translation: There is no rational thought pattern evident

Male: “I can’t find the report”…Translation: It didn’t fall into my hands

Male: “Can I help with that?”…Translation: Why isn’t it already done

Hope to have helped you make better sense of it all. Lost in translation…it plagues us all both at work and at home.

Once Upon a Time: The Power of Story to Connect

I find myself at a large hospitality group’s General Managers Conference. The group has seen a lot of change over the past tumultuous year and as a result, about 40% of those attending the conference are here for the first time. That’s a significant percentage. The exercise I have facilitated to help people connect and get to know each other is currently in full swing and is working a treat! The exercise? A basic methodology for facilitating what the Hawaiians term, ‘talk story’.

Talk Story, as its name implies, is sitting together and sharing one’s story. In this case the process is helped by the participants drawing a ‘river of life’ depicting their own journey. Magazines, glue, paper, crayons, scissors, ribbon and ‘other stuff’ are all part of the mix. It hasn’t taken long for the staid conference room to be transformed into a kindergarten type mess…along with the expected laughter, banter and general feeling of ‘having fun’.

Soon the delegates will get to share their ‘river’ and the mood will change. I know that as I have done this exercise often enough to know that when it gets to the telling, the mood gets somber. The simple reason is that for most of us, telling our story allows us to share things that we are often reluctant to share, things that don’t usually ‘come up in normal conversation’. Therein is the power of the story and it never ceases to amaze me. I have seen people get to change their perception of others based on ‘listening to their story’. I have seen attitudes soften and change; I have seen previously unlikely connections being made; I have seen understanding develop and I have witnessed both tears and laughter.

Most group start with a, ‘this will only take a few minutes’ mentality only to be surprised by how caught-up they become in their own – as well as other’s story. Every group is different but it is a wonderful way to deepen relationships, build understanding around diversity and difference and – well, do something that gives authenticity to the ‘values’ we usually have placed on the office walls. It is fun, constructive and taps into a root within all of us…the love of story.

You really need to try it sometime…and I’d be happy to assist you for each time I participate in the exercise, I leave with greater clarity about what it is our workspace is meant to be.

A Note to CEO’s…everywhere.

Guiseppe Garibaldi, the old soldier-patriot who unified Italy in the mid-nineteenth century, following his military campaign was quoted as saying, “We have made Italy, now we must make Italians”

In South Africa the ‘Proudly South African’ campaign is widely known and I recall my colleague, Barrie once saying something along the lines of, “They’ve missed the point on this…’proudly South African’ should not refer to a ‘product’ but rather be a set of behaviors…behaviors that, if lived, could then make anyone, anywhere ‘South African”. Both Garibaldi and Barrie make sense. What they are pointing towards is the realization of an authentic living of a particular culture, or set of values. They are pointing to something deeper, more elusive but ultimately, more desirable and transferable than what we tend to focus on.

Now think about the culture within your company. How do you get to an authentic realization of people living your desired culture much like there was once the renown, ‘IBM Man’? Your culture, and there always is ‘a culture’, is a vital part of any organisation. The culture is essentially ‘how things get done’ and reveals attitudes, displays behaviors and determines the ‘climate’ within your environment. If we’re to be honest, this reality seldom reflects what is written on the corporate walls by way of mission statements, values etc…

Your organisational culture will benchmark your company’s learning mentality; the ability to bounce back or adapt to change; the ability to innovate or tough it out. It shapes important organisational elements such as a sense of belonging, motivation and accountability. Essentially it is the very oxygen, the quality of air that will either allow you to thrive or deprive you of the needed resources to ‘live’. It is that important.

But most leaders don’t do enough work to fully understand ‘organisational culture’ and how they influence it, for good or for bad.  There is no shortage of resources on the subject but not all of it helpful and invariably the resources point to quick fixes and band-aid approachs that often only mask the real problems.

So where to start? Well for one, how about having some real conversations with people within your organisation about how they experience things? If they do talk freely, or don’t talk freely will in itself be a strong indicator of the quality of ‘your air’. How about walking the floor and learning to observe, to ‘listen with your eyes’ as Malcolm Gladwell calls it in his book, Blink? How about sitting down with a cultural anthropologist and getting some basic frameworks for an expert in the field and could then be applied to your organisation? How about dropping in to select meetings as an observer and see how things are being done?

How about doing some thinking on the matter? The source of organisational culture starts with you, the CEO. It may just be the most important part of your leadership responsibilities – I’m prepared to bet, it may also be the most neglected?

Change is Changing

It was Machiavelli who wrote that, ‘Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times’. That of course is easier said than done! However is also a non-negotiable part of contemporary leadership. Perhaps the best way to describe what is needed here is one word: Unlearning. Today experienced leaders paradoxically need to be able to unlearn things before they can learn what is required for leading in the new world of work. What, you may ask, is the best way to ‘unlearn’? Well, a good starting point is to be intentionally open to feedback from others and, when coupled with a willingness to act on the feedback, the first steps in the unlearning process have been taken. Cultivating a different view from the one entrenched – or the one that has ‘worked for you’  is difficult. It starts with openness (to different viewpoints, ways of thinking and acting) but is helped by making the time to think things through. Bill Lucas in his excellent book, ‘rEvolution’ suggests that two key questions in the process of thinking about things are: (1) What is going on here? and (2) What do you see that makes you say so? His point is that such questions lead to a ‘process of thinking’ necessary to change habits of the mind.

No longer do leaders have the luxury of ‘gradual change’. Leaders need different mindware if they are to keep pace with a world in which change itself has changed. It is fast, furious and constant. And so, the old wisdom of Reinhold Niebuhr is a good reminder to those tasked with leading in such a context: ‘God give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other’. Amen.

The Anatomy of Strategy – 3 Simple Questions to Test Your Strategy

Strategy formation has been elevated to the realm of the MBA. Curriculum is developed, courses are taught and only the chosen few get to play in this elite playground. Here the air is thin and we have come to accept that only those accustomed to flying at high altitude are entitled to be the ones to formulate the strategy. That is just the way it is and so our strategy descends from above, from the gods on high, and our gratitude is mixed with awe as we get to implement what has been commanded.

However, the widespread problem is that some 90% of strategy fails to get implemented within our organizations and so we are forced to ask, ‘why is this the case’?

There may be a host of complex explanations as to why this is the case but here are three simple questions that need to be asked and engaged if strategy is to be successfully implemented. … Continue Reading

Back to the Future: Rethinking Strategy

How do you speak in a new way about strategy when an old language dominates the topic? This is a major obstacle standing in the way of thinking about strategy in a new way for a new world.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase was quoted in Fortune (January 26, 2009) as saying, “I am shocked at the number of people who are still worrying about their strategic plan for 2009. We cancelled all that stuff – all of it”. That this is precisely the problem with strategic planning – due to the investment, in every sense, to the plan, we are reluctant to jettison it when required to do so.  The response to situations that cry out for the abandonment of ‘the plan’ is to tweak, adjust and double our efforts. Invariably this merely results in digger our hole deeper and faster than ever. The global economic meltdown demanded a rethink of how we go about securing a competitive advantage, how we measure ourselves, what it is we need to be doing and why. Overnight the old rules of the game simply imploded and many were left clinging the ‘plan’, formulated in the context of the ‘old rules’ but now rendered as helpful as a toothpick in a gun fight.

The problem is, we have forgotten how to think. Reliance on our ability to plan, and specifically on Porter’s conventional wisdom as to how best to go about the formulation of that plan, has produced ‘lazy thinking’ habits within executive teams and amongst leaders.  We have been so used to marching to a known tune, that when the tune changes, or the music stops altogether, we simply keep on marching in-step.  The signs have been there for some time we merely ignored them: Inquisitiveness, questioning, learning, experimenting, reflecting, embracing diversity and paradox and conversations have all been neglected or worst still, intentionally sacrificed on the alter of expediency, efficiency, standard practice, tradition, conventional wisdom and known methodology.

… Continue Reading

The Hand of God – Part 2.

I watched in horror last night has one of the world’s finest footballers, Thierry Henry cheated in order to secure his country’s participation in FIFA’s World Cup next year. His blatant handball allowed France to score the goal that broke Irish hearts and shattered the potential upset that would have dumped the previous finalist out next year’s showpiece. Simply stated: France don’t deserve to be making the trip to South Africa!

Something is wrong when this kind of act is allowed to go unpunished and the stain that it will surely be on Henry’s otherwise great career will be something he will have to live with for the rest of his days.

While his is a massive moral failure, there is another equally damning failure in this sad scenario: That of the beautiful game’s powers that be. Their obstinate refusal to allow the use of technology that would all but eliminate such unfairness and ensure that we all can sleep easy, is stupidity at best and plain arrogance at worse. Whilst other sporting codes have found ways to ensure greater fairness through employing technology, football stubbornly remains in the Dark Ages by denying what we all know could not only ensure the right decisions are made but that everyone is left in a better place for it.

If Henry gets what he deserves as a result of his indiscretion, no let’s call it what it is, his cheating, he might live to wish there had been technology available that could have ensured immediate justice was done.

Where is he now? Most likely having a consoling drink with one Diego Maradona. They deserve each other.

Help! Linking Theory & Practice

I am attending a leadership symposium titled, Indigenous Knowledge and Leadership in Africa Colloquium: Leading in Africa hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Leadership Centre and Africa Ignite. Gathered here are some of the Continent’s most impressive minds when it comes to the subject of African leadership.  Academics are a strange lot. They are a unique species with their own norms and ways of interacting and engagement. They have a hard language to understand, one they use effortlessly but one that can be somewhat exclusive and act as an intimidating ‘barrier to entry’. If you want to enter, to engage…you best learn the language. Speaking simply comes a distant second to complex terminology. Perhaps this is true of all knowledge enclaves be that accountants, lawyers, the medical fraternity and yes, consultants.

The challenge is that theory needs to inform practice and one without the other creates problems. As I listen to what can only be described as ‘deep knowledge’ I am challenged by how best to ensure this is translated, applied and expressed in ‘mainline’ leadership streams. This wisdom seldom impacts the corporate reality where it is so needed. Responsibility for this failure rests with both ‘sides’ and this ‘failure’ creates a new opportunity.

On the side of academia, there is the need to work harder to connect their knowledge by way of application to ‘the real world’ from which they extract their knowledge in the first place. They need to find ways to invite greater diversity into their discourses and deliberations. They need to open the greenhouse door to others who would benefit from witnessing firsthand the growth in knowledge as it occurs. They need to work harder at the ‘so what?’ question and look to connect their deep knowledge to a pragmatic context. They need to ‘interrogate’ (a popular academic word) the process whereby their own insights and understanding finds practical expressions. And just to answer the anticipated answer already forming on the lips of academics: Publishing journals isn’t the answer. Such publications serve to fuel internal debate and form part of the peer review knowledge process but, for the most part, remain secret code hidden and inaccessible to those who need it most.

On the other side, executive leaders need to do more to become learners and to engage in a learning process through which current assumptions and paradigms can be challenged and informed. All too often corporate leaders are seduced by the operational demands they face and so choose what they know (and the area in which they feel competent) over the opportunity to learn and explore unknown terrain. The learning journey is all too threatening to many senior leaders who for the most part give lip service to the need to learn.

And so the gulf widens. The two sides view each other with suspicion and an initial sense of helplessness as to how to embrace the value and lessons embedded within each reality, gives way to a denial that one has anything worthwhile to learn from the other.

This gives rise to the ‘opportunity’ that this divide creates. The opportunity is for bridge-builders, for interpreters to step into the gap: Those capable of translating the best of both sides for the benefit of both sides. Who are these people? I am not sure but one challenge they will face is how to develop and maintain credibility with both sides. Some attempts at translation have met with distain by academia, viewed as a type of ‘commercial sell-out’. ‘ In the same way, anything ‘theoretical’ carries little weighting in the fast paced and measured pragmatic world of the corporate.

So, fancy yourself as a ‘bridge-builder’? A start might be to attend some relevant symposium should you have a large desk and corner office; on the other hand, if your office is filled with strange trinkets and ‘stuff’ – as well as piles of papers, journals and books, best try to get into a board room sometime soo

The Challenge for New Leaders

Before a new era can come into being, there must be a ‘new story’. Playwright Arthur Miller noted that we know an era has ended when its basic illusions have been exhausted. The challenge for emerging leaders within any organization is to be the standard bearers for the ‘new story’. How to be this; how to do this, is no easy matter. Challenging entrenched stories with their well worn and at times, well loved scripts, calls for courage, clarity and integrity of intent.

I know this because I am working in a leadership development programme where emerging leaders are beginning to understand and own the responsibility that they have  – the responsibility to, ‘write the new story’. It is a daunting task and yet one that is unavoidable as they assume the mantel of leadership and take the organization into the future. Just one of the things that has to change is entrenched gender discrimination. It is not malicious or even intentional, is usually wrapped in humour and falls completely into the blind spot of those for whom it has become ingrained behaviour. But it is there, and those who feel the sharp end of its destructive impact, know it has to change.

Being a leader who understands that the story has to change requires vision and intelligence. Cultural change within an organization is the responsibility of leadership and bringing about change at this level often leaves leaders with feelings of inadequacy and can prove to be exhausting. The response is often to ‘leave it to the experts’, to outsource the responsibility or to devise a ‘programme’ that includes all but the leaders themselves. Such responses are doomed to failure. Re-scripting the story, bringing about cultural change is a leadership responsibility. It happens because the leaders themselves recognize the shortcomings of their own attitudes and behavior and set about changing themselves.  For leaders this is hardest work of all and yet, in a context of change, it is the essential work of leaders.

A Sandpit to Entice

Just been part of a conversation that happens all too infrequently. You know, one of those conversations that leave you buzzing, unable to sleep or concentrate on the ‘next thing to be done’. A conversation that ‘gets the juices going’ – a conversation in which you suspect the seeds of greatness sit; A conversation in which you see and sense the future. Around the table sat a person with years of experience of managing the Comrades Marathon, an Everest of event management if ever there was one. The other place at the table was taken by one of the most respected Educators in South Africa, a man who has presided over some of the best that SA schools have to offer. The subject? The need to rethink…to seriously rethink, how we go about leadership education.

The current models of leadership education are tired; they are not doing the job. There is lots of effort and endeavor but nothing much is changing. Imagination has given way to efficiency; conversation given way to curriculum; thinking given way to planning. Something is wrong but leadership education is big business and we all know that rethinking current ‘successful’ business models is not something we like to do.

This conversation will see other voices drawn into the mix. It will see a leadership ‘sandbox’ being build and just wait and watch what emerges from such a playground! The genie is out the lamp…it is going to be magic!

Fly Me To The Moon

I love travel. The last 21 days has seen me board 12 flights, spend 83 hours in planes (plus 20 hours in nine different airports) and visit five countries on three Continents. That is a fair amount of travel by anyone’s standards.

The most common question: “You must be so tired?” and when it emerges that the two primary destinations were Hawaii and Rio, any trace of sympathy evaporates quicker than one can say, ‘Aloha’.

We live in a small world. One made accessible through the speed of connection, be that electronic or through travel. This can only increase with the passing of time and with it a new understanding of  ‘global citizenship’.  One of the research findings of the Education 2020 Conference (initiated and hosted by the East West Center in Honolulu) reveals societies of increasing complexity and a world where, in spite of increasing homogenization, difference matters.

Leaders and organizations that understand these emerging realities and how the rules of the game are constantly changing will be the ones that survive. Building adaptive character traits into organizations will become a primary focus for leaders and this will necessitate a shift in not only how we understand leadership, but also how we build organizations.

Leading adaptive change will demand of leaders an ability to hold lightly to past success as well as necessitate a need to be able to be comfortable with paradox. Less and less will appear to be ‘black and white’ and leading diversity in interconnected enterprises will evoke a whole new agenda for the Leader of tomorrow. It is an exciting prospect and the new agenda will challenge much of our conventional wisdom. The models of how we ‘learn leadership’ will have to change to keep pace with this new agenda and some of the current leadership educational giants in this area will be hard pressed to keep up with the change that is required.

Tired from the travel? Not at all! I have had the wonderful opportunity to see and experience different places; to engage in conversations with many smart people from all over Asia Pacific and to learn, unlearn and relearn. What a privilege, what a responsibility!

Tomorrow I will be delivering a key note address at a large conference at Sun City, South Africa  - presenting on,‘9 Global Trends Changing the Face of Business & Leadership’.  Can’t wait! This is the crux of the new agenda, a balcony view that will allow leaders to see the emerging patterns and then adapt accordingly.

There needs to be boldness in proclaiming and revealing this emerging brave new world. Some will embrace it; others will resist it; and many will remain uncertain.  As a Leader you have no choice: engagement is your only option. So what are the questions you are asking? What are you unlearning, relearning and learning? What are you reading and with whom are you conversing? What is your balcony and what is it you are seeing from this vantage point? These are just some of the important questions!

Please put your seat upright, ensure your seatbelt is fastened and tray table is stowed away…we are ready for take-off.

From Hawaii: Four Things About Globalization

The stated goal of the East-West Center’s International Forum for Education 2020 is, ”to address the need for new paradigms in higher education that will respond to transforming economic, social and cultural changes”. The belief is that the capacity to address these dramatic changes lies in the educational system. The challenge of course is the realization that in the face on unrelenting globalization and uneven change, the response needed goes beyond simply reforming existing institutions. A deeper level of transformation is required.

Naturally, much the same could be said of business and the challenges facing big business are no less daunting. However, what got my attention in the work being done by the 2020 Forum was the identification of four characteristics of a globalized world. As much as these four characteristics are occupying some of the best educational minds in Asia Pacific, I believe they are relevant to business leaders everywhere.

… Continue Reading

From Hawaii: The Real Learning for Teams

Had an insightful conversation today.

As with any education programme orientated around leadership, standard practice is to have participants work in groups, teams or in business-speak, cohorts. Where do they come up with this terminology, some of which is part of the problem but that is another subject!

There are always two main arteries to such group work: The end product (usually some sort of plenary presentation) and then the process itself – the journey towards realizing ‘the end product’.  What happens in a performance driven culture is that the end product – the presentation, becomes the total focus. The pressure to perform, to impress one’s colleagues in many cases becomes a major source of stress. While this is an important aspect to the purpose of the group work, I suspect the ‘real learning’ gets missed.

The ‘real’ learning is embedded in how the group got to the delivery point. It is in the team dynamics, the process of reaching the end goal. Questions that explore this journey seldom get asked and because of that, the very real dynamics of teamwork get ignored. For instance, questions pertaining to leadership in the group and how that evolved, participation, getting stuck and making progress, negotiating differences, handling conflict etc…provide the courageous conversations of real learning in this example.  These tough conversations and analysis this is dependent on the ability to give and receive authentic feedback, and therein sits another problem for without the anonymous forms and HR methodologies to hide behind, many simply do not know how to do this in a constructive, mature way.

My insightful conversation involved an individual who felt excluded from participating in the group process. Repeated efforts to be heard failed, resulting in the individual simply ‘going along’ in silent ‘agreement’.  The group was the poorer for this omission.

The chances of this type of exclusion occurring are significantly increased when working in a diverse or cross-cultural group. The barriers represented by generational difference, cultural differences and personal differences, to name but a few, mean that inclusive cooperation in not easily achieved.

Naturally the APLP programme cannot prevent the difficulties that emerge in doing such group work. However, unlike most executive leadership type programmes, the learning emphasis sits not in the presentation but in the process. Today, having done the presentations, we will be allowing time for unpacking how the respective groups traveled the road towards that goal. It will provide some insightful learning and certainly tee up the opportunity for the teams and individuals to grasp some deep learning. With responsibility for learning resting with the Learner, that will be their responsibility to realize.

I look forward to the session!

From Hawaii: What Survives?

Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten (Skinner). The real test of any educational programme can only be truly tested after a significant period of time. This makes a mockery of the way in which the majority of executive educational programmes are currently measured.  The measures are usually immediate and because there is a ‘programme’ mentality towards education in this context, there is seldom a process in place that would allow a more authentic measure, one that stands the test of time.

The implications of this are significant given the investment involved in such programmes coupled with the gaping need to develop adaptive leaders capable of effective leadership into the future. The heart of the issue is one of transferability: How to transfer knowledge from the classroom / learning environment to operational leadership. Whilst leadership pedagogy has shifted somewhat in recent decades from didactic teaching to highly experiential methodologies, nagging questions linger as to whether or not the shift has been sufficient and how best to measure the change. Applying the old measures to new methodologies is clearly problematic.

Three important questions posed to the Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP) fellows at the outset by Professor Nick Barker include:

• What do you think I want you to remember 10 years from now?
• What do you think you will actually remember 10 years from now? (Regardless of what I hope you remember). What will actually survive?
• Most important, how will you ensure that you remember a combination of what you want to remember and what I hope you remember?

Responsibility for learning rests with the Learner; Responsibility to provide a structure that develops a learning process rests with the organization; Responsibility to provide the material and learning stepping-stones on the learning journey rests with the Educators.

Certainly, if companies investing in executive leadership education are concerned about achieving greater, ‘bang for their buck’…some urgent questions need to be asked.

Complex Diversity even in Paradise

My current visit to the Asia Pacific Leadership Program is the eighth time I have had the privilege to visit Hawaii and experience the ‘aloha’ spirit. The traditional aloha greeting, goes far beyond the simple ‘hello’. The traditional greeting would involve a touching of foreheads in the course of greeting and aloha literally means exchanging breath (alo – the shape of face; ha – breath). It is a deep way of welcome, of union, and here it is not a greeting but rather a spirit. Those who get to experience the aloha spirit will be impacted for life.

But as with most parts of a connected world Hawaii has a complex and mixed background which for some, continues to be the source of anger and resentment. On Oahu where I am currently, the West side of the island is where one will encounter ‘authentic Hawaii’. I am currently reading Stu Coleman’s book, ‘Fierce Heart: The Story of Makaha and the soul of Hawaiian surfing’ which tells of life on the west side and some of the memorable characters that have left an indelible mark on Hawaiian culture.

The story of Makaha reveals a complex and often uneasy relationship with the rest of Oahu as the latter  has become increasing under the influence of what is viewed as an intrusive, and at times disrespectful cultural invasion from the mainland and beyond. When many think of Hawaii they conjure up images of Waikiki but the ‘true’ Hawaii is not to be found in such places. The diversity issues and tensions here are not uncommon to those found elsewhere. They invoke emotion and resentment and have no easy solutions. Change continues to happen regardless of the impact on those who see it as a bad thing as well as those would welcome it as a gateway to the future.

Today in the classroom of the Leadership Program I will get to discuss the future of leadership with a class that represents over 20 Asia Pacific countries. The world in a classroom…almost. It is a place of rich learning and one where I (the ‘teacher’) usually emerges having learnt the most.

Aloha

Pursuing the ‘Better Way’

There is always a ‘better way’ to do things. It is a mindset. What often serves as a roadblock in pursuing a ‘better way’ are the default setting within our organisations. Default settings dictate how we operate as a system and are learnt behaviours to secure reward, avoid conflict, create efficiencies, acknowledge status, maintain comfort, secure favour…in other words those things that shape the over-riding reality within the organisation.

The problem is that it is our default settings that inhibit or constrain an organisation’s ability to innovate and therefore adapt to changing realities. This can and usually does prove fatal. Developing the capacity to override the default settings becomes a necessary focus for leadership in times of change. Leaders need to create both the space and permission for their people to, ’see a better way’ and then develop supporting structures and processes that explore, nurture and grow alternative ways of doing things.

Following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon the American Jewish community responded to the crisis by raising $300 million to help rebuild the northern part of Israel. A normal reaction one might reason. A default reaction is what it was in the circumstances. One senior person in the Jewish network proposed a ‘better way’ to the challenge than the default setting that had been engaged. he proposed that the money raised should also be used to help rebuild southern Lebanon which had also been devastated in the conflict. His proposal recieved no support and a fair amount of push-back. In the end, much of the help given to restore southern Lebanon came from Hezbollah and so they were able to solidify its patron-client relationship with the Lebanese in this situation.

‘Better ways’ are often unpopular as they go against the grain, the status quo; they often create discomfort and challenge the conventional wisdom. That is exactly why we need them. Smart Leaders encourage ‘better way’ thinking and practice at both an individual and organisation level and in doing so invite feedback, reflection and experimentation.

It is an essential element in becoming an adaptive organisation. It could well determine whether or not you survive the future. And of course, today’s ‘better way’ becomes tomorrow’s default setting. Such is the nature of life!

“People Resist Change” – Not So!

The well worn adage that, ‘people resist change’ is not quite true it would seem. In fact, what people fear is the real or perceived loss that might occur as a result of the change: loss of status, reward, position, identity, function, loyalty, belonging, relevance… to name but a few common areas of loss. The reality is that people love and embrace change when the change is seen as a good thing.

This poses a specific challenge to leaders in any change process. The key insight and skill that leaders require in such a change context is one of diagnostics: the ability or capacity to identify the real or imaginary losses that those being led feel. Nature teaches us that a successful adaption process is one where the best from the past is preserved: the best traditions, history and identity become the very building blocks for the future – for the adaption needed in order for an individual, community or organisation to thrive in the emerging future. This means that leaders in any such process need to keep an eye not just on the future, but the past as well. Knowing what to preserve and guard is no easy task as all too often the specifics of such become entangled in personal agendas, biases and prejudices.

A change process is essentially the writing of a ‘new story’ – or perhaps more accurately, ‘a new chapter to the old story’. It is hard work because it challenges not merely intellectually but potentially at the very core identity of the organisation, relationships and competencies. This becomes the terrain of those who lead, those who understand that leadership is an action, not a position; that it is about influence not authority. It is the territory that Ron Heifetz refers to as ‘adaptive leadership’. To understand more of what it means for leaders to provide effective leadership in a constantly changing world then I would point you to Heifetz’s latest book (a collaborative effort with Alexander Grashow & Marty Linsky) titled, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (Harvard Business Press).

The Proof is in the People

We in TomorrowToday have been saying for a long time that the biggest global strategic challenge is what has been called the, ‘war for talent’ – or what is essentially the attraction and retention of talent. There has been some earlier research on this but a recent global research done by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled, ‘Creating People Advantage; How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide Through 2015′ confirms it. The scope of the BCG’s research included 83 countries and markets, capturing along the way some 4,700 executive interviews on 17 topics in human resources management. The research outlines some 194 specific action steps associated with these topics and also included more than 200 follow-up interviews with senior executives worldwide.

Three strategic categories were identified concerning critical challenges facing HR into the future: Developing and Retaining the Best Employees; Anticipating Change and finally, Enabling the Organization.

Managing Talent is at the top or very near the top of the agenda in every region and every industry. Linked to this is the critical challenge of improving leadership development as well as managing life-work balance. Our approach in TomorrowToday has always been to see these as inter-dependent and integrated areas of concern – together with understanding global change and how to build adaptive organizations. The research makes the point that, ‘change should be hard-wired into an organization in a tangible and measurable way’. Of course this is easier said than done but this is exactly what we in TorrowToday are about and love to do. Get hold of the BCG research. It is well presented as it is divided into global regions and for HR Directors and Managers, it will prove to be a valuable resource when arguing your point…be that for budget allocation or the need to try new things!

Be the Change You Want to See

Watching last night’s Champions League play-offs proved to be a disheartening experience for one particular incident I witnessed. It was in the game between an impressive young Arsenal side and that of Celtic. The game loaded in Arsenal’s favour following their 2-0 away win, then tilted completely to Arsenal’s favour through a piece of prime play-acting…or for want of a better term, ‘cheating’. Eduardo,  the unfortunate player who had his leg shattered in a sickening tackle, contrived to win the Gunners a penalty that wasn’t. This kind of thing happens all the time in top flight football you might argue. And of course you would be right. However that doesn’t excuse the practice. In Eduardo’s case it took the con to new levels and whilst arguing that it was the referee who should have picked it up and it was the ref who gave the penalty, that is to miss the point.

The only way this practice can be stamped out is for managers to come out and condemn not just the practice (as most do) but to shame their own players who engage in it. Arsenal manager Wenger’s response didn’t go far enough in this regard. be sure that at some point in the long season ahead his side will be the victim of such unfair practice and when that occurs, best not cry or moan Mr. Wenger, as you are so apt to do.

Such play-acting and conning the officials has no place in football. Post match citing might be one answer but it has gone unchecked for too long and discredits the Beautiful Game. As Rugby Union has found out, cheating cannot be tolerated and what makes what Eduardo did any different from the infamous blood capsules episode in recent rugby history?

What makes for good learning?

We have all been in ‘the classroom’. For some a refuge and brief respite from the turmoil of the office; for others a world they have never left for the reality of the outside world; and then for many, a world escaped and to which they have no intention of very revisiting.

But we have all been in the classroom and so the question, ‘what then constitutes good learning?’ or to put it another way, ‘how best do we learn?’ – is an important question. Never before has so much been invested in executive education, yet it seems, if we are honest, much of it is a waste of both time and money.  A ton of information,  detailed curriculum and notes…but real learning? I think not.

The problem is we – those responsible for the education, have opted for the safe, the broad road, the one more traveled. We have pandered to the stated measures of the client, measures that somehow do not, or perhaps cannot, measure effective learning.

What if effective learning is like disciplining a child. Parents, have you ever had this experience: At the point of disciplining your child, however you choose to exercise that discipline, your child turns to you and says something like: “Mom / Dad, thanks for that – I know it was for my own good and I know it hurt you more that it did me…thanks-you!”.

It is time for the classroom to become an experience, a laboratory, a playground. We need to be doing things differently. We need to learn, really learn – and ask some hard questions as just to what that will take.