Leadership Challenge

Stories: Seeds for the leader's garden

The value of stories has been popping up on my radar recently, so here's the first in a series of posts on the topic. I want to start by exploring the potential that stories hold for nourishing leaders as well as those who chose to follow them.

This post focuses on one leaders use of a story to establish playing field for leadership excellence.

I have been fortunate to work with Western Union over this past year. The company embarked on a leadership adventure last winter using the Leadership Challenge to drive and support their business strategy. Grover Wray is the Executive Vice-President of Human Resources. He is the champion of this plan for success and has worked hard to bring it to life. He expresses clear determination to "Model the Way". Toward that end, Grover relayed a personal story to his team and in the process established a new recognition system he hopes will become tradition.

It seems Grover and his father took an annual fishing trip. The trips provided great opportunities for Grover to share time with his father and learn from him. Grover has continued the tradition with his son. He told us the increase in fishing skills has been negligible, but the value of the trips immeasurable. He drew on the spirit of those trips to create a new slant on the old expression "Feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The new version goes something like this: Lead someone for a day and you have provided direction. Inspire them to lead and you have helped create a culture where leadership is abundant and success abounds.

He finished the story by distributing fishing reels to his team, symbols of the leadership culture he hoped to inspire. He then presented beautiful fishing lures as recognition of individual leadership excellence.

When I met with his team the next day they were clearly moved. But after speaking to Grover I realized how much the story provided for him as well. It enabled him to speak from his values and bring those out for the team to see. It enabled him to honor his father in the work he is doing now. It enabled him to encourage excellence within his team in a personal and therefore meaningful way. It also provided a great symbol to use in recognizing excellence and still tie to the values he espoused in his story. I suspect it may also have created a connection to his team he might not even fully recognize. It most certainly helped define how his team views him as a leader.

We all know the power that stories can have. They fill our hearts and minds; lifting us up, guiding us, giving voice to our values. Stories help create cultures, and then sustain them. Telling a great story is an art form. As leaders, we rely on stories to inspire and encourage others. But stories also help us define who we are as leaders. The stories we chose to relay help define our individual leadership style.

What stories do you tell? What do they reveal about the leader you are?
Submitted by
Beth High

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Leaders Make Great Decisions

One of the most important jobs of a leader is that of making complex decisions. Making good decisions is an attribute of a leader that is under appreciated by many who study leadership. Researchers have been marginally successful in understanding how people form the ability to make good decisions. Some research has developed complex models for understanding decision-making processes, but they have yet to map the decision- making process in such a way that those looking to develop the skill of making good decisions can learn this process. The reason is that good decisions are unique and vary for every circumstance. In all situations, there are hundreds of thousands of variables that impact whether or not a leader uses good discretion to make a good decision. How a leader interprets these variables, and the weight the leader assigns to each variable when making a decision, is 90% a subconscious process. Because this process is so subconscious, developing the attribute of using good discretion is often dismissed as innate talent and not learned behavior.

A great ecclesiastical leader has been quoted as saying “we are a walking bundle of habits.” The behaviors that we observe in our lives from those who are closest to us in our formative years, have the most impact on the behavior habits we form.  There is mounting research to show that we develop the ability to make good decisions early on in life. The bad news is that for those looking to develop the skill of making good decisions later in life, the cards are stacked against them. This is not to say that one can’t develop this skill later in life, but it does mean that the most important period of our lives for developing the skills to make good decisions is when we are young.

If you are older in years and looking to develop this skill, the first place to start is by developing a keen understanding of yourself. Be clear about who you are, your beliefs, your values, your purpose, your focus, etc.

Over the past three years, I have observed many people who have been looking to acquire leadership skills, and many who are teaching leadership skills. I have noticed a trend in those who possess the ability to make good decisions. The best decision-makers, who are subsequently the best leaders, are those who know themselves. As the first commandment of leadership goes: “know thy self and be true to your core.” Once you have defined your core, have the mental fortitude to remain true to it.

Finding your core and staying true to it is the foundation to all great decisions. Great leaders make great decisions, one decision at a time.

Posted by Daren Blonski

Thought Grenade: Sounds of Sunday Silence

Friday the 13th was a sad day. I lost a friend. No, not a personal one. A political buddy. A colleague. Someone I could count on every Sunday to grill and drill the politicos and power brokers until many of them shrank in fear. Tim Russert of Meet the Press died unexpectantly on Friday.

Each Sunday, his voice, now suddenly silent, shook the walls of Washington and sent shockwaves throughout the world. His was the voice of the common man, yours and mine. It will be impossible to replace him.

With all of his co-workers and friends offering their immediate eulogies over the weekend, it was impossible not to find a positive story about Tim from someone. It turns out that his credibility that poured through the airwaves was real. He was authentic. He showed up. He cherished his family and loved his work. He was passionate about both and it sparkled in his ever-present smile.

Some friend I am. I didn't even know that he was not a trained journalist, but rather a lawyer, turned politico, turned broadcaster, turned tenacious journalist. He will be remembered as one of the best ever no matter the medium.

As an educated journalist and former newspaper publisher, I am always on the lookout for someone in the media to step up and speak truth to power. That is what is necessary when it comes to shining a light on darkness and the survival of the Fourth Estate as a viable alternative to a closed government. Truth tellers are not easy to find. And these days, my favorite truth teller may be viewed as someone else's liar and vice versa.

Tim, rightfully, dealt with facts and probing questions that most often had a follow-up illuminating someone's past quote that was a blatant contradiction. He was always a gentleman (even when I didn't want him to be) but his steely eyes made the liars twitch. It made my Sundays.

Real investigative journalism is an art form. From my view there are not many practicing today. With hubris comes decline. I used to think that the Watergate boys were the best. But since those turbulent times, they and others like them seem to have bought into their own press clippings. Their credibility with me shrinks as their fame rises.

Tim did not seem to allow ambition to cloud his view. He took over a stale program in 1991 and transformed it, allowing MTP to be relevant once again. He prepared for each Sunday as if going into battle. Even though he knew the guests well, he did not shrink from his duty to extricate the truth and tell America what was really happening. Unfortunately, even he was tricked a few times.

If you have read my book The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, you know that I feel leadership is a way of life. It is a moment-to-moment choice about creating open, honest and authentic relationships that urge others to want to discover their power and focus on what matters to them and their community.

Leaders are credible, visionary and challenging. They welcome learning and teaching moments with others. And they celebrate individual and group success. Hey, they're like Tim!

Goodbye, my friend.

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

Adversity Introduces Us to Ourselves

The economy is in a foul mood, and it's not being nice to anyone. You can be an eighty-year old banking icon or high-tech startup with ink still wet on the incorporation papers, and this market is going to mess with you. In my last three phone calls with clients, I have heard stories about layoffs of hundreds of middle managers, declining sales in retail stores, and no upward mobility in the firm "for the first time in our history." And on all these calls I have been asked if I might share some thoughts about what leaders can do to keep people engaged and inspired in times like these.

The calls bring to mind a comment made by John McDonnell, former CEO of McDonnell Douglas, when that company was going through its struggles before eventually merging with Boeing. "Adversity introduces you to yourself," he said, reflecting upon what that struggle had brought for him. And another thought from Randy Melville whom we interviewed when he was with Pepsi. Quoting his Princeton University basketball coach, Pete Carril, Randy said, "Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it." Challenges, difficulties, setbacks, adversities…they are all familiar sights on the leadership landscape. And one of the things that they cause us to do is to come face-to-face with ourselves. They are a rather harsh way of reminding us of what's important, what we value, and where we want to go.

Leaders are no strangers to challenges. In fact, exemplary leaders thrive on them. Here are a few tips on what you can do as a leader to enable others to learn to thrive as well. Many are drawn from our own research, but another important resource is Resilience at Work by Salvatore R. Maddi and Deborah M. Khoshaba.

1. Clarify what you value most. Randy Pausch, the professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University who is dying of pancreatic cancer and whose The Last Lecture video (and now #1 bestselling book) struck a chord with millions around the world, has perhaps the best mantra for times like these. "The brick walls are there for a reason," he says. "They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." It's important for leaders to always be clear about values and visions, beliefs and aspirations, but challenging times require being especially clear. Take the time to reassess what's important, where you are headed, and "how badly you want something."

2. Fully commit to what's important. This change warrants your full attention, imagination and effort. There's no holding back when the situation is dire. Elaine Fortier, at the time vice president of HR at New Focus, when talking about the downturn in her industry, “We all have to ask ourselves, ‘How do I go to work today and do something that will move the enterprise forward
and at the same time move myself forward?'" What important shared values and beliefs can you emphasize to keep people engaged? Keep reminding folks of what makes this work meaningful and significant, of the exciting future you can all aspire to achieving together.

3. Embrace the challenge. Exemplary leaders view challenge as opportunity and not as threat. Change always opens up all kinds of new and exciting possibilities for the future. What are those exciting possibilities? What are some innovative solutions that you can explore? How can we go about searching for new and innovative solutions that might lead us out of this situation? How can we make this an engaging learning experience?

4. Paint the big picture. This adverse situation is taking place in a larger context. What's the bigger picture here? How can you help others to understand what's happening in the environment and how it is affecting your business? How can I educate others about the broader context?

5. Engage others. There are others who are being affected by this; it's not just you and your group. You're all in this together. Who else is being impacted? How can you and others engage with them? And also remember that even just having one supportive, stable relationship is a crucial condition for transcending adversity. Social connection and social intimacy are necessary for a joyful life at home and at work. How can you use this opportunity to strengthen relationships with others? Who can you turn to for caring support and wise counsel?

6. Control what you can. You obviously don't control all of what is happening in the broader environment, but you are still in charge of your own lives! What decisions and actions do you and others control? How can you, and others, positively influence the outcome? What factors are in your control, and how can you all stay focused on them?

7. Take charge. People who are proactive are healthier and more successful. Leaders with high hope are not Pollyannas. They acknowledge reality, but they also move quickly to mobilize personal and group resources to deal with the problems. To be sure leaders must analyze and strategize, but they must also make something happen. What actions can I/we do to create forward momentum? What little things can we do to get moving in the right direction? The late Norman Cousins, former editor of Saturday Review and author of 20 books, put it this way when talking about people with serious illnesses who beat the medical odds: "They responded with a fierce determination to overcome. They didn't deny the diagnosis. They denied the verdict that is usually associated with it."

8. Tell positive stories. Looking at the future through a positive lens is characteristic of people exemplary. Optimism is essential I tough times. Having a belief that the future will work out for the best is essential to being upbeat and positive about the outcome. They can always find reasons for hope. What positive steps have we already taken and how can I communicate those to others? What can I do daily to demonstrate a positive and hopeful outlook? What can I do to recognize those who are making a positive contribution? How do I keep myself, and others, enthused about the work that we're doing?

It all boils down to this: Keep hope alive!

"Keep hope alive" is much more than a slogan. Keeping hope alive is essential to energetically achieving the highest levels of performance. People with high hope, compared to people with low hope, have a greater number of goals across various arenas of life, select more difficult goals, see their goals in a more challenging and positive manner, and attain higher grades in school. Keeping hope alive is also essential to an active and healthy life.

Hope is an attitude in action. Hope enables people to mobilize their healing powers and their achieving powers. Hope enables them to transcend the difficulties of today and envision the potentialities of tomorrow. Hope enables people to bounce back even after being bent, stretched, and depressed. Hope enables people to find the will and the way to aspire to greatness. Hope is testimony to the power of the human spirit.

Poste by
Jim Kouzes

Don't Just "Go Green"…"Lead Green"

Today is Earth Day. A day when we acknowledge the fragile nature of this incredible gift we have: Mother Earth. It seems a shame we need a day to reinforce the notion that this planet sustains and nurtures us in so many ways, but it does provide a platform for reflection. It also raises the awareness that these gifts we receive so freely, could be quietly slipping away forever. I found myself thinking today about the things I could do to "step it up a notch". I've switched the lightbulbs, we compost, and I happily use "TerraPass" when I travel. So, I'm doing something, right? Then I started thinking about posting today and how the topic of leadership connected to Earth Day. If I tap into my deepest values and dream of a future that includes the best this planet has to offer my children and theirs, I am not doing nearly enough. I am following the suggestions of others, but I am not taking the lead. I got online and googled Earth Day leadership and came across this article from Wisconsin. I was impressed and inspired. Acknowledging the principle of "Leadership is Everyone's Business", we all need to be taking the lead in creating a healthier planet, from whatever corner of the globe we occupy. Going green is good. Leading green is better. If you have ideas on ways to "lead green", please share them here. We are a community that embraces leadership. Let's use that focus provide vision and opportunity for those who share the planet.   
posted by
Beth High

Leadership Is Not a Popularity Contest. Or Is It?

After a lunch meting last Wednesday, April 9, I was driving east on Sutter Street in San Francisco when all three lanes of one-way traffic unexpectedly came to a complete halt. As I looked three blocks ahead to Van Ness Street, I could see police cars and motorcycles, officers in uniform, and several large vehicles in the middle of the street, making it impossible for me— and the hundreds of others— to cross Van Ness. What was going on?

I knew it was the day of the Olympic Torch run along the streets of San Francisco, but I was a couple miles from the designated route. Why was Van Ness closed off? Had a protest moved to another part of town? Was there a riot? What was it? I turned on the car radio and tuned in to a local station carrying the live broadcast. The on-air reporters seemed to be confused at first. No one knew exactly what had happened. Was it a ruse to draw attention away from the real route? Had the torch already left town? Or, was this actually a new route for the torch run? The latter turned out to be the case, and for the rest of the day and night and the next day it was the talk of the town…maybe even the nation.

What fascinated me most about this day – more than seeing the torch itself or the protestors on the Embarcadero -- was the reaction to the decision made by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong to change the route. Here's how the Mayor saw it: "We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route. I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch." Chief Fong was quoted as saying, "When you are standing there, trying to make a decision, when the knot in your stomach is, 'What are we going to do here? How are we going to resolve this?' it's not an easy decision. But you sit there and you sweat about it, and you make a decision, and that's what we did."

But their perspective seemed to be in the minority when you listened to the nightly news and read the papers the next day. The San Francisco Chronicle called it an "Olympic-size fake-out" and said, "Complaints about the bait-and-switch rang long and loud from many among the estimated 10,000 people milling along the original route all morning." The ACLU filed for release of documents on the decision, saying it violated the free speech rights of the protestors. Other human rights groups were mad as hell. Local citizens just out to see the festivities, and with no political agenda, were also very upset. As one said, "There were lots of people here with their kids. They had to wait for four or five hours, and it's very disappointing." Peter Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, however, had a different opinion: "The city of San Francisco, from a global perspective, will be applauded," he commented. And those who were completely surprised to find themselves suddenly in the middle of a phalanx of police, blue and white clad runners and their body guards, news trucks, helicopters flying overhead, and hundreds dashing from nearby buildings to catch a glimpse were downright gleeful.

Many leaders, regardless of level, will recognize the dilemma in which the Mayor and Police Chief found themselves. You may feel it right now in your own organization. Caught between competing interests and competing values – each of which is legitimate – you have to make choices about which right is right. And when you make choices some – maybe even the majority -- are not going to like the choice you make. That is a price leaders pay for the role they play. As author Garry Wills put it in Certain Trumpets, "Leadership is always a struggle, often a feud."

All leaders are biased—biased about the future, biased about core values, and biased about the mission. We expect them to be that way. We want leaders, our data tells us, who are clear about their beliefs and who have a compelling vision about things to come. But—ironic as it might seem—because of the very expectations we have of them—to be clear about their enduring beliefs and to proclaim their view of the future—leaders will always become vulnerable to having their credibility questioned, especially by those who hold different beliefs. Once a leader takes strong stands on matters of principle, he or she is going to excite some and irritate others.

What does this mean for leaders? First, understand that even the most authentic, genuine, and credible leader is going to find himself or herself criticized and questioned. It just goes with the territory. You must learn how to manage the tension between your own desire to be true to yourself and your constituents' desire to do the same. Leaders have to learn to listen respectfully to their own callings and to the voices of the people. Leaders have to learn to thrive in an arena where there will always be conflicts and disagreements over matters of principle.

Second, because leaders are so often choosing between right and right, they must be ever diligent in guarding their credibility. Their ability to take strong stands—to challenge the status quo, to point us in new directions—depends upon their being perceived as highly credible. And because all leaders are going to have to take controversial positions every now and then, it's essential that their constituents believe in them. We call it The First Law of Leadership: "If you don't believe in the messenger, you won't believe the message." Even those who disagree with a particular decision, should at least be able to say they believe in the honesty and competence of the person making it.

Third, leaders should never be dismissive of those who disagree. Others have legitimate views, and people want to know that their views are respected, even if they don’t prevail. Not listening to others, and not acknowledging their deeply held beliefs on matters of principle, is a sure way to permanently lose their support.

This is not to suggest that leadership is simply a popularity contest in which leaders feign a desire to please everyone so they can win people over to their side. It is totally unrealistic for any leader to expect that one hundred percent of potential constituents will voluntarily enlist in a cause. No matter how skilled, powerful, or attractive someone may be, there has never been a leader in history who has ever garnered that level of support. And, we should all be thankful for that!

But never, ever forget this. Followership is a choice, and that choice is made daily. Leaders at all levels are only able to get extraordinary things done when they have the enthusiastic support of their constituents. So maybe, just maybe, leadership is a popularity contest after all.

Posted by
Jim Kouzes

Selecting the Next President

My good friend and colleague, Dan Mulhern, the First Gentleman of the State of Michigan, asked me in November 2007 as the presidential election campaign was getting under way to respond on his blog to the following question: Given the needs of America at this unique moment in history, what does it especially need in a leader? Are there particular attributes, characteristics or practices that would especially serve our country?

The presidential campaign has heated up considerably since I responded to Dan's question. Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are slugging it out for every single delegate, while John McCain is flying solo as the winner on the Republican side. It seems certain that the remaining Democratic primaries will be hard-fought and nasty, and the summer convention may become one for the history books. The Fall contest will be as intense, fierce, and entertaining as any we've seen in years. But despite all the twists and turns of the campaign melodrama, I would still respond to Dan with the same advice I offered five months ago.

Here is what I said:

For the last twenty-five years my coauthor, Barry Posner, and I have been asking working people around the world to answer the following question: “What do you look for and admire in a leader, someone whose direction you would willingly follow?” The results have been striking in their regularity over the years, and they do not significantly vary by demographical, organizational, or cultural differences.

What is most striking and most evident in our research is that only four qualities, over time, have always received over 60 percent of the votes. Mind you that this research spans 25 years, so this is not some fad. The data tell us that there are a few essential “character tests” someone must pass before others are willing to grant the designation "leader." These are the basics, and they are fundamental to what people expect of any leader in our country, no matter what the times. So, what are they?

For people to follow someone willingly, the majority of constituents believe the leader must be

• Honest
• Forward-looking
• Inspiring
• Competent

Taken by themselves, these four characteristics are useful. Write them down and take them into the polling booth with you. Put them next to the names and then vote. But what is more significant is what these qualities mean when taken as a whole. Three of these four key characteristics—honest, competent, and inspiring—make up what communications experts refer to as “source credibility.” More than anything, people want leaders in whom they can believe. Credibility is the foundation of leadership. Period. Full stop. Put another way, if you don’t believe in the messenger, you won’t believe the message.

The fourth universal quality of being forward-looking is the attribute that differentiates leaders from other credible people. People expect their leaders to have a point of view about the future. They want to be confident that their leaders know where they’re going.

Now if this is what people most look for and admire in their leaders, then it seems to me that we, the voters, ought to include these four criteria among those we use in deciding who we want as our next President. When you walk into that voting booth, and before you pull that lever, here are a few basic questions you should ask yourself:

• To what extent has this person been honest with the people? How open are they about their beliefs? How much do I trust this person?
• How clear and compelling is this person's vision of the future for this country and this world? How consistent is this vision with the kind of future that the constituents want? How well are my own aspirations represented in this image of tomorrow?
• To what extent does this person convey hope and optimism about the future? How upbeat is this person? When I listen to and watch this person, how positive and uplifted do I feel?
• How capable is this person in leading others? What’s been this person’s track record of accomplishments? How successful has this person been in getting things done? Regardless of the years of experience this person has had, to what extent does this person demonstrate the capacity to learn and grow?
• And finally, here's the big one: Does this person keep promises, follow through on commitments, practice what he/she preaches, and walk the talk? Does this person do what he/she says?

While there is more to a president than credibility and vision, this is where it all starts. After all the fog of rhetoric has cleared and the day comes when one person takes that oath of office and then grabs the helm of the ship of state, we all want to feel confident that our leader will keep the promises made during the campaign.

Posted by Jim Kouzes

Leadership is in the Moment

In The Leadership Challenge, 4^th edition, we tell the story of the time in 2006 when Michele Goins, chief information officer for Hewlett-Packard’s Imaging and Printing Group, spoke to our Executive MBA students in Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. What she said resonated very loudly with the group. “Leadership opportunities are presented to everyone,” she observed. “What makes the difference between being a leader or not is how you respond in the moment. ” One student commented to us that he had not realized until her heard Michele “how defining a single moment can be.” Michele’s observation and her own experiences of leadership in the moment are testimony to how important it is to approach every interaction and every situation as an opportunity to lead. Sometimes we imagine leadership to be something majestic—about grand visions, about world-changing initiatives, about transforming the lives of millions. While all are noble possibilities, real leadership is in the daily moments.

I became even more intrigued by Michele’s comment when I read an interview with Gloria Mark, associate professor at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, and a leading expert on the nature of work.  In that interview professor Mark said, 'What we found is that the average amount of time that people spent on any single event before being interrupted or before switching was about three minutes. Actually, three minutes and five seconds, on average.” Three minutes and five seconds! Wow. It seems all of us suffer from ADD. But here’s the strange part. I was in San Diego last week speaking to some alumni and friends of the Center for Creative Leadership as we celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the opening of their San Diego campus.  I shared Michele’s “in the moment” comment and Gloria’s “three minutes and five seconds” research with audience and then offered the observation that leaders clearly have only moments in every day to influence others around critical matters such as vision and values.  If you do the math and divide 480 minutes in an eight–hour day, there’re are 160 of these moments.  At the break a participant came up to me and asked me if I had heard the Billy Joel song “The Entertainer.”  I said yes, and then she asked if I remembered the words.  I confessed that I didn’t, and then she recited this line: “It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long. If you’re gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05.” “No way,” I said and we both laughed.

You know, maybe leaders need to take a cue from songwriters. If we want to make an impression on our audiences, we need to focus and keep our messages succinct.

Posted by Jim Kouzes

Leadership and Power: Making distinctions

I’ve been reading the Oct 15th issue of Newsweek whose feature story was on Women&Power. The first article has these headings:

Women & Leadership | Women & Power
In All Their Glory
Americans could elect our first female president in 2008.
What the most powerful women of the past can teach us about how the rule in the future.

What follows is a series of stories of women who have risen to leadership positions and roles. Underscored are common traits of having big dreams and facing obstacles, as well as their biggest fears. The stories are compelling, as good stories most often are, but I kept going back to the headline. I was stuck on the easy exchange of the words “power” and “leadership” as though they were one and the same. To me this indicates an understanding of the term leadership that is limiting, not to mention dangerous. I was also uncomfortable with the word “rule”. “Rule” implies command and control. Is that what we want from our leaders? If you think of a leader as one you would willingly follow or one who mobilizes you to want to struggle for shared aspirations, as authors Kouzes and Posner define it, then “rule” has no place in leadership. It undermines the essential ingredients of collaboration and trust. “Rule” is about power, “Leadership” is about service. So let’s leave the word “rule” out of conversations about leadership and focus on the power of vision, compassion, and courage. Then when we have conversations about women who lead, the role of power will refer to their ability to inspire and influence.

posted by Beth High