New Year's Resolution: Get Into Better Shape

Happy New Year, everyone! This is the week we start acting on all those resolutions we made on New Year's Eve, right?  You know, the one's about getting into better shape. Make sure that you include on that list getting into better shape as a leader.

And that means practice, practice, and more practice. I've written about practice five times in the last three months, and I can't resist beginning the new year with yet another reminder about its importance. 

I'm delighted that this topic is finally getting some attention. Two new books that address the subject—ones I have recommended previously—Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, are both on the Wall Street Journal's bestsellers list.  Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company, wrote a blog about it for Harvard Business Online calling deliberate practice "The Secret to Success in a Failing Economy." 

I also want to thank readers of LeaderTalk for engaging me in conversation about the issue. I've received more comments about deliberate practice than about any other topic. In response to a couple of our readers I attempted to clarify how we can build deliberate practice into our daily schedule.

Deliberate practice is not the same thing as daily execution. It's not about what we do routinely during the 8, 10 or 12 hours we're at work. Deliberate practice, as the phrase implies, is about intentionally engaging in an activity that will improve how we execute and how we lead.  (See my November 12 blog for more on the elements of deliberate practice.)

Let's say you get feedback that you're not listening attentively to others and that you'd be much more effective if you'd do a better job at really paying attention to what people are saying. How, then, can you "deliberately practice" listening without having to add another 2 to 3 hours onto your already full and busy workday? What can you do to intentionally improve your listening skills using a designed learning activity while you are at work?

It might look something like this.

1. Set a purposeful stretch goal. The goal of any practice is to improve performance. It's about learning something new or fine-tuning an existing skill. And, it should push you to the next level, not just be something that repeats over and over what you do well. For example, you might set a goal to always clarify your understanding of what others are saying before you respond to them.
   
2. Design or select a method for improvement. You need a process for improving— steps that you will repeat in order make sure that you do something correctly. You could, for instance, devote 30 minutes of a regular daily meeting to practicing my listening skills. You could use the technique of "active listening" during the meeting. (Active Listening is a structured way of responding that requires you to briefly restate the key points the speaker makes and to check with the speaker to ensure that you are hearing her/him accurately.)
   
3. Get immediate feedback. You need to get feedback on how well you execute on the method and how close you get to your goal. In a meeting that feedback can come from the other attendees in the meeting—you can ask them, "Am I hearing you correctly?"—you can get it from a coach or someone else you've asked to observe you, or you can video tape the meeting and watch it afterwards.
   
4. Focus. To benefit from practice, you have to pay attention to what you are doing. You should not be on autopilot during practice. You need to concentrate. Stay focused and use this technique for the entire 30 minutes. While it might feel a little awkward, the point is to stick with the routine until it becomes second nature. As a practice aide, for example, you could have a card in front of you as a reminder of the correct steps in the process.
   
5. Get support. Studies of top performers strongly suggest that a supportive environment is critical to developing expertise. Engage a coach from HR, OD, or even another line manager who is accomplished in this skill and ask her/him to observe you in the meeting. After the meeting, s/he can give you feedback and tips on listening. Also, let other people in the meeting know what you are doing. They can help you stay focused, give you feedback, and offer their encouragement. Generally, people like to help others improve, so enlist their support.
   

This is just one example of how we can take a routine activity— a meeting — and turn it into a "practice field" for leadership. There are many, many other ways you can bring "deliberate practice" into the workplace. Case studies, for instance, are a terrific way to safely practice how to respond to critical incidents. Role plays are another methodology that can be more effectively utilized at work.

The best leaders are the best learners.  They are curious about what is going on around them, always seeking to better understand how things work, how they are leading, and how they can improve their own behavior and the functioning of the organizations. A learning mindset is critical to becoming the best in any field.

I'd love to hear more from you about ways in which leaders can deliberately practice during the available hours at work. Please share with your practice routines with us.

I wish you all a year of continuous leadership improvement.

Posted by Jim Kouzes

Comments

[Wally Bock]

I absolutely agree, Jim that "the best leaders are the best learners." And I believe that feedback is truly the breakfast of champions. But I also believe that we're beginning to take a good, but limited-purpose tool, deliberate practice and elevate it to the status of "magic stone of development."

[Jim Kouzes]

Wally, thanks for continuing to challenge our thinking about how we develop leaders. Your skepticism gets us to think more deeply about the subject. You're wise to be concerned when anyone might be suggesting that there is a magic stone—or potion or pill or process — that will turn us into champions. It sure is a lot more complicated than that. In this case my blog was a response to a specific request to offer a specific example of how we can apply the construct of deliberate practice in the workplace, and I hope I did that.

At the same time, I stand firm on the importance of daily deliberate practice. If any of us deliberately practice anything for two hours a day, every day of every year — whether it's a musical instrument, an athletic sport, a medical specialty, chess, or leadership — we are going to improve our performance. Those who make it to the pinnacle in their fields are always engaged in continuous learning.

Of course, you have to love leadership to dedicate that much energy to it, and that may just be the X factor in greatness. I remember very well Major General John Stanford's answer to a question I posed to him over 25 years ago. In an interview I asked, "How do you develop leaders for the future?" He responded, "Whenever anyone asks me that question, I tell them I have the secret to success in life. The secret to success is...stay in love."

Love 'em and lead 'em!

[Ray Chang]

Responding to Wally Bock's comment. In my experience, when it comes to anything in life that will increase our capacities for leadership or expertise in anything, we need to elevate it's importance in order for us to actually take the "good, limited purpose tool" and apply it. Otherwise, it becomes a technique that we once heard of and let pass us by. By emphasizing, or overemphasizing, I think that we develop a degree of appreciation for it that is almost necessary to the learning and adoption process.

But of the list, I still feel like something is missing. How about...

Get into a ready mode.

Before people go on stage or athletes hit the field, they have a pump up or a focus facilitating ritual that almost becomes a trigger for them to zone in. I think a lot of us don't prepare to hit the ground running and with such a difficult task as deliberate practice, we must stay engaged.

Before I am about to sit down to reflect here in Panama (a part of my own deliberate practice agenda in the Peace Corps), I either look up at the clouds or watch the rain fall for about 3 minutes. Then I pull out my pen and paper and start scribbling down my thoughts (my lap top is not a good place to take notes - too many distractions). It helps me focus and having a set of questions out to guide my reflection time has done wonders.

What do you think?

[Greg Basham]

The well known adage that perfect practice makes perfect is at the heart of learning to lead.

As a successful men's senior soccer coach I learned from a former pro another saying that we made part of our team's shared vision and that was: our off field performance mirrors on our on field play.

When I put this to work as corporate VP responsible for strategy and alternate business models we had to work cross-divisional and directly with the CEO and also the Chair of the board. We followed a simple but leadership building and learning process:

1. We'd get a draft proposal together and this team or the key people would meet with the CEO and/or Chair for input.
2. The presentation to the executive and then the board would be led by me (board rule) and the key issues addressed by the key person on that senior team. I'd then quarterback the questions and discussion and policy issues leaving the CEO free to listen to the discussion and then help get us to closure as time with a board is always a huge issue.
3. We'd debrief with the team and the CEO.

Although I am now doing a new job here in Hong Kong, everyone of those who were in those teams is doing well career-wise including several holding key exec posts in that same organization or elsewhere.

To me, it developed leaders and our briefing and de-briefing process worked to build a cohesive and co-ordinate approach across the major divisions. The old model would be a group developing a presentation for the VP to deliver personally and that model was ineffective and did not always lead to cross-divisional initiatives being brought in as it was silo-focused.