Leadership Challenge

Leadership Lessons On-The-Go? We Have an App for That!

Piano players with a desire to improve their skills must practice. Actors who aspire to reach a higher level of performance must rehearse. Basketball players hoping to play in the state championship spend hours in the gym.

What about leaders? We’ve been espousing the merits of practice for years – the notion that it takes 10 years and 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert. If you strive to be a better leader, it’s critical that you find ways to work leadership practice into your daily lives.

 In our years of research and data-gathering through the Leadership Practices Inventory®, there is one specific behavioral statement that consistently ranks as the lowest behavior overall:  statement #16 – “I ask for feedback on how my actions affect other people’s performance.”

 THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE MOBILE LEADER TOOL, a new mobile app available for $4.99 through CNET or in the App Store for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, offers a feedback request function to help leaders monitor the frequency of this and 29 other leadership behaviors. Enter your Leadership Practices Inventory® (LPI) scores, request regular feedback from your observers, and track the increased frequency of behaviors consistent with The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®.   

Whether you’ve studied the book, or are just becoming introduced to The Leadership Challenge®, the app offers practical features that get you started on becoming a better leader. Leaders at all levels benefit from ways to integrate deliberate practice routines into your daily work, be inspired by quotes of the day, and stay current on the latest news feed from The Leadership Challenge®.

 “I was very excited to learn about TLC Mobile Leader Tool, and my expectations were high,” says Kyle Taylor, Center for American Indians at Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. “I was pleasantly surprised to find the tool very beneficial to research and writing in my graduate work in leadership."

"Because the sharing of knowledge is crucial to any leader and learner, the app allows me to quickly refresh my mind with specific knowledge I can use immediately. In my work with college students, we have implemented the app in our dining and discussion times as the learning component in our program. I have not been disappointed!”

 

Credibility: It Still Matters

"You cannot follow someone who isn't credible, who doesn't truly believe in what they're doing -- and how they're doing it." - Gayle Hamilton, chief of staff for the senior vice president at Pacific Gas & Electric

Indulge us as we go back to one of our fundamental beliefs about leadership: leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. As we took a deeper dive into the research we've conducted over the past 30 
years, we found the same crucial attributes year after year that people seek in leaders whom they would willingly follow: honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent. And these results hold true around the world. 

As we examine these characteristics one by one, each is a realistic attribute for a leader to possess. When viewed through a broader lens, the four descriptors combine to create a richer meaning as the foundation for leadership. 

Credit and credibility come from the same root word: credo, meaning "I trust or believe." In whom do you trust or believe? Who has earned credibility in your perspective, and why?

Credibility is not universally inherent; it must be earned over time. Some leaders earn it sooner than others based upon the quality of their relationships. Others must prove their worthiness to be deemed credible, perhaps based on previously broken promises or a lack of honesty, inspiration, or competence. Ultimately, credibility is determined by those who surround a leader. A leader who lacks the aforementioned crucial ingredients is one people are less likely to follow.

Credible leaders possess the ability to leave a long-lasting, postive impact on people's lives. Consider your answers to the questions above. Did the person who came to mind as a credible leader make an imprint on you? Have you made an imprint on others?

We cannot address credibility without referring to what we heard from Irwin Federman, venture capitalist and former CFO and CEO, when speaking to students at Santa Clara University:

"You don't love someone because of who they are, you love them because of the way they make you feel. This axiom applies equally to a company setting. It may seem inappropriate to use words such as love and affection in relation to business. Conventional wisdom has it that management is not a popularity contest... I contend, however, that all things being equal, we will work harder and more effectively for people we like. And we will like them in direct proportion to how they make us feel."

And just how do credible leaders make people feel? Our research of over a thousand case studies shows 10 descriptors used most often:

• Valued
• Motivated
• Enthusiastic
• Challenged
• Inspired
• Capable
• Supported
• Powerful
• Respected
• Proud

We leave you with this final thought: put yourself in the shoes of those you lead. How many of them would use these descriptors when sharing how you make them feel? What can you do to increase the frequency of leaving people feeling this way as a result of your leadership?

We'll have more to share about Credibility at The Leadership Challenge Forum, July 28-29 in Chicago. Hope to see you there. 

Until then, love 'em and lead 'em. 

The Heart of the Matter

It's a time of year with many reasons to celebrate and numerous opportunities to Encourage the Heart of special people in your life. Graduates and students are continuing their lifelong leadership and learning journeys - journeys filled with lessons that extend beyond classroom walls. Today's graduates are positioned to lead us into the next chapter, the next stop on our neverending quest for exemplary leadership.

The practice of Encouraging the Heart is aligned with two commitments:

• recognizing contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence
• celebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Yet why don't we do it more often?

Of all The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, Encourage the Heart is a practice important enough to warrant its own book, workshop and training materials, and part of our The Challenge Continues collection. And for good reasons.

First is practicality. There are many resources and publications on motivating and recognizing others, but we couldn't find enough resources on Encouraging the Heart to share with our students and practicing managers attending our classes and workshops.

The second reason is principle. Some bosses might say simply paying their employees is enough. Managers may wonder why they need to go beyond routine pats on the back. Even using the word "heart" could turn off some supervisors who may think business is not about the warm-and-fuzzy stuff. Our research, and that of many others, shows that if you're after profits, you'd better pay attention to encouraging the hearts of your people.

Third, we were curious.  Have you ever heard someone say, "You know, you really could stop motivating me so much." Zig Ziglar once said, "Motivation is like bathing. That's why it's recommended daily." Encouraging the heart is a leadership practice and behavior with multiple benefits that ripple beyond a single act of kindness.

Encouraging the Heart matters. People matter. Our research and work with leaders around the globe shows that of all The Five Practices - Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart - Encourage the Heart has more variability in application than most of the other practices. For some leaders, Encouraging the Heart comes naturally. For others, the behaviors related to this practice are harder to execute.

Our research on the importance of encouraging the heart is backed up by other researchers who say that about one-third of North American workers say they never are recognized for a job well done. Slightly more (44 percent) report they receive little recognition for a job well done. Only 50 percent of managers say they give recognition for high performance.

Encourage the Heart is a core leadership skill. When striving to get extraordinary things done -- raise quality, recover from disaster, start up a new business, or make dramatic change of any kind -- leaders must make sure that people experience in their hearts that what they do matters.

For the next week, conduct a self-audit of your leadership actions related to Encouraging the Heart. Let's learn from each other: Share comments with a few ways you've seen, heard, or experienced the practice of Encourage the Heart. 

The Best Leaders are the Best Learners

Leadership is not a one-time event, it's an ongoing process of growing, evolving and developing. One of the fundamental truths in The Truth About Leadership: "The Best Leaders are the Best Learners." We believe that we (and others) can learn to lead, and that we can become better leaders tomorrow, than we are today.

This statement seems fairly straightforward; and may be easier said than done. Many leadership development facilitators and coaches focus on developing and strengthening the leadership behaviors of others; it can be easy to lose sight of focusing on ourselves and our ongoing leadership learning.

In their Harvard Business Review article, "The Making of an Expert," K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula and Edward T. Cokely say it takes 2.7 hours of practice per day to improve at a skill - whether playing tennis, honing your golf swing or learning keys on the piano. And not just routine practice - the article says "...you will need to invest that time wisely, by engaging in deliberate practice."

We found in our research that those leaders who engage more in learning are more effective as leaders. That is, their constituents see them as more effective. What does this look like?

• They spend more time in learning activities. Literally, they engage in learning by reading, talking with others, experimenting with new ways of doing things or reflecting on their own leadership behaviors.
• They ask more questions.
• They don't assume they know everything.
• They aren't afraid to admit mistakes.
• They ask for feedback, and when they get it they say "thank you" and accept it as a gift by taking it seriously, whether the feedback is positive or negative.
• They encourage others to experiment, take risks and accept failure by asking "What can we learn?"

How do you fit 2.7 hours of deliberate practice on your leadership skills every day? It's likely we do many of these learning activities already, yet we don't transfer learning from the activity into deliberate practice on leadership.

We invite and encourage you to invest in your leadership learning. Join us at The Leadership Challenge Forum, July 28-29 in Chicago, where we will explore "The Anatomy of a Leader."

Joining us as speakers will be Steven J. Stein on emotional intelligence, Ann Herrmann-Nehdi on the whole brain advantage, and The Chicago Comedy Company on creativity. In addition to learning from the line-up of speakers, you will learn by engaging in experiential activities with fellow members in The Leadership Challenge community. Take advantage of early-bird registration rates through April 30.

In what ways are you learning to lead? What activities do you do regularly to deliberately practice and improve your leadership skills?

 

The Leadership Challenge Coaching Workshop?

We are currently hard at work with Elaine Biech on book entitled The Coach's Guide to Developing Exemplary Leaders, due to release in Summer 2010. In conjunction with the release of the book, we are considering a TLC Coaching Workshop. Please let us know your thoughts on this exciting idea!

C.A.K.E.

I love cake.  No, really, give me a large piece of double chocolate cake smothered with dark chocolate gelato and cover it with melted, dark chocolate syrup and I’m in seventh heaven, as they say.

Just don’t give me that often.  It’s about the waistline.

Although there are probably dozens of ways to do so, I don’t usually combine my love of chocolate cake with messages about leadership.

However, I was having a discussion the other day with a client who operates a restaurant chain and the two words mingled.

The client, knowing my affinity for using acronyms to anchor a point, challenged me to create a way to use the word “cake” in a leadership lesson.

Challenge accepted.

You may be familiar with my mantra: “leadership is a moment-to-moment choice.”  Well, that’s our starting point.  Let’s grab a fork and dig in to our C.A.K.E.

C= Choice…Real leaders know it’s all about the choices they make each day.  Leadership takes Courage to be yourself and allow others to do the same.  Clarity of purpose and how your values affect the world you walk in is instrumental.  Creativity is essential.  Real leaders love to stretch their thinking and create new avenues for success.  And, of course, Commitment is crucial for yourself and others. Without commitment, nothing changes. Not you. Not them. Nothing.

A=Action… Real leaders don’t sit around and wait for the action to come to them. They go after what they want with Audacity. They use the Law of Attraction to Ask, Act and Accept that the outcome they desire is only a matter of time. They have the Ability to see the perspective of others and inspire them. They see Adversity as a challenge to their vision only to be overcome.

K=Kindness…Real leaders lead with grace. They are Kind to themselves and others. They offer Keys to success to those who join with them.

E=Energy…Real leaders derive their energy from their passion. They jump into each morning with childlike wonder knowing they create that day with their attitude. They offer Encouragement to others and Enable them to aspire to great heights. Real leaders are always learners. Whether each action creates success or not, they learn from every outcome and Evolve.

That was a piece of cake. (He said tongue in cheek.) Next up? C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E.

Robert H. Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. You can reach him and subscribe to his Leadership Path newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com

The Origins of Leadership

A client recently asked me how I would explain the difference between "management" and "leadership."  It's a question that Barry Posner and I are frequently asked, and it may also be a topic of conversation in organizations in which you work. My client found the following observations useful. I hope you do, too.

1. When you look up ‘manage’ and ‘lead’ in the etymological dictionary, you’ll note that the words have very different root origins. Manage, as well as management and manager, derive from the root word ‘manus,’ meaning ‘the hand.’  (Interestingly, the words ‘command’ and ‘demand’ also come from that same root.)  There is a clear connection between managing and handling or controlling things. The words ‘lead,’ ‘leader,’ and ‘leadership,’ on the other hand, share as their common root the word ‘to go.’ Leading, at its roots, is about going places, about movement, and about guiding. I especially like the second definition in Merriam-Webster Unabridged which reads, "to guide on a way: show by going with or in advance of."  I often ask people to reflect on the differences between the two concepts by thinking about the differences between handling things and going places.  People get the distinction pretty quickly. 
2. In the classic management literature, the functions of management are frequently described as ‘plan, organize, staff, direct, and control.’  Contrast these with our Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership described in our book, The Leadership Challenge—Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. (Other leadership models may use other terms, but the descriptions are quite similar.)  Management is much more about the practices that get existing things to run efficiently and effectively. Leadership practices are about changing the way things are and creating new futures.
3. All managers must be leaders, but not all leaders must be managers. There are a lot of leaders — scout leaders, community leaders, teachers, coaches, parents, athletic team leaders, club leaders, etc. — who aren’t in managerial positions. Most universities, for example, now offer a number of student leadership development programs, but they don’t offer management development programs to those same students.

There may be other distinctions that come to mind for you.  Please let us know what you think.

One note of caution: While it's useful for a number of reasons to illustrate the differences between leading and managing, we also need to stress that both are important.  Organizations need managers, and they need them to be the best they can be at the fundamentals of "handling" things. We need both exemplary managers and exemplary leaders.  The importance of making the distinction is to draw attention to the fact that there are a lot more people who can exercise leadership than those in formal management positions. In fact, we'd maintain that the very best organizations liberate the leader in everyone.

Posted by: Jim Kouzes

Pirates and Popcorn

If you subscribe to my Leadership Path newsletter, you know that I just moved from one abode to another and that I was without television/internet connection for four days. Imagine the horror!

Once I got used to the idea of being in the dark, so to speak, I had time to catch up on reading and browsing through my DVD collection. Like you, I have an assortment of movies and music in a variety of formats. I even have a few 16-RPM records hanging around with no way to play them. But that’s a different story for a different day.

With all of the stress associated with moving, I was settling down one evening looking for a few laughs. One of the old movies I selected was Down Periscope. If you have not seen it, I encourage you to do so.  It is very relevant from a leadership training perspective. I use segments from this comedy in some of my presentations.

The screenwriters, Hugh Wilson, Andrew Kurtzman, and Eliot Wald are brilliant. You could almost swear they were trying to share the principles of The Leadership Challenge under the guise of a Hollywood script. It is very funny at least for my funny bone.

The premise plots a veteran skipper played by Kelsey Grammer, who is everything but a textbook officer, against Bruce Dern, the agitated admiral. Grammer is given a promotion test and command of a diesel-powered WWII sub crewed by a collection of maladjusted, mistake-prone misfits. He is then ordered to take on the U.S.Navy’s best in a crucial war game…belching diesel versus nuclear sub.
Not close to Oscar material of course, but along with Grammer, the key actors Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Bruce Dern, William H. Macy and Rip Torn are supported by a superb cast of rebel oddballs.

Rob Schneider is the obnoxious first officer who challenges Grammer’s credibility with the team to his own downfall. He is forced to walk the plank blindfolded while the crew don’s pirate costumes straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Argh Matey! One can’t help but think of the precepts of Model the Way as he falls into a nearby fishing boat and is returned to base unharmed except for his fragile ego.

Bruce Dern plays everyone’s worst nightmare as a boss. When boarding Macy’s ship, Macy welcomes him aboard and Dern responds, “Just what is that suppose to mean.” If you ever wanted to see the ill effects of the reverse of Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart, Dern’s character is a great example.

Lauren Holly beautifully portrays the first woman officer on a submarine. She is the object of much desire and derision early on but becomes the hero with Grammer’s help as you see a great illustration of Enabling Others to Act.

Rip Torn, as the good admiral, sets up the test as a means of Challenging the Process for Grammer’s promotion opportunity. He seems to get just as much enjoyment from Grammer’s success as Dern’s failure.

Grammer plays his role as easy as Frasier Crane. He masterfully goes outside the box while Inspiring a Shared Vision and Challenges the Process with artful innovation and with a bit of a scary (only in the movies) situation.

Of course, unlike your workplace, this is Hollywood and so it all comes out perfectly (except for Dern).

One of the best ways to use films like this is to share it with your team during a half-day gathering. Then use the time immediately after to discuss their observations and how it might relate to your workplace.

Don’t forget the popcorn.

- Posted by Robert Thomson, author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable and The Leadership Challenge Workshop Master Facilitator.

Jim Kouzes on Between the Lines with Barry Kibrick

View Part 2

View Part 3

Twitter About Leadership!

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

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

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

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

Daren Blonski