When organizations inform staff about massive change, transition, cut backs, re-engineering or whatever label they place on it with the assurance that "It's not personal" that they have to change how their organization operates to work within the current economic climate, keep up with competitors etc, and it's not about them, the take away is "It's about me.It's all about me."It's about how I work, the tension factor, the fear factor about "being next to get the axe" and their relevance in the organization, to mention a few of many points.
The organization is right by another definition when they say "It's not personal".Way too often leadership treats its people in an impersonal way, not taking into account the emotional energy that staff bring to the table, how loyal they are, committed, and how overall they come from a place of wanting to do great work and succeed.
People change for their own reasons not yours.If they don't see meaning in what's happening they will fight it tooth and nail.Some believe it's great to look at everything horrible that can happen, acknowledge it, embrace it and make sure you create a way forward that can bypass it.Some believe they should start from scratch, co-creating change so everyone creates meaning within the context of the change.
Change will always be a constant.For organizations to succeed and grow its people, the best thing they can do is continually reinvent whether it's radical creation or tweaking along the way.But remember, it's all about people, relationships, trust and respect.
That is a question I ask my clients and often. What do you have to let go of to succeed? People often hold on to something that no longer serves them because that's what they used to do and it used to work. Thing is, times have changed. People have changed. How people do their work, communicate and collaborate is different. So why in the world would you want to hold onto something that you know is no longer serving you just because it's 'comfortable'?
In order to be an organizational leader you have to morph with the times, look at how you can use the resources around you to meet and surpass current needs. Stay ahead of the trends and incorporating those past ways of operating that still work will keep you ahead of the curve instead of hanging on by a thread.
Helping others see that as well is a key characteristic of leadership.
Are you dealing with power junkies? Control junkies? Conflict junkies? Those hell bent on having power over people, being #1 no matter what it takes or who they have to step on?
People are becoming increasingly competitive, impatient and downright angry in the workplace.As the economy continues to struggle, people are so focused on not being terminated they come to work operating through a cloud of fear, of 'oneupmanship ' not caring who they step on 'cause this for them is survival.They'll just deal with the aftermath, well...after.They don't consider ramifications or consequences, they just want to be on top no matter what.
Then there are those who aren't leadership material but if they come out fighting and creating tugs of war all around them then no one will notice (or so they think ) that they really aren't qualified for or deserve the position they're in.
These people aren't tuned into the concept of emotional intelligence or power with people rather than over people.They can smell the scent of victory the moment you engage with them and enter into a tug of war for position, control, perspective or just because they love an argument and they do love an argument!
How do you deal with these junkies?
Don't pick up the rope. You do whatever it is you have to do to not engage.The only way someone can start a tug of war is by you picking up the rope.If you don't, or let go the moment you fell your hand wrapping around the other end, drop it like a hot potato.There's nowhere to go if you don't engage.There are always solutions to these issues if you stop and take a moment to reflect on your options and collaborate with someone else who can help you deal with this kind of attack-like behaviour.
Speak to the topic not the person.Answer with questions that show you are looking at the desired results not the person's skill set, behaviour or power trip.
Ask for clarification to see if that individual really meant what he or she said.Sometimes repeating inappropriate communication shocks the other person into reality.If nothing else, it will help you clear your head and understand that you weren't hallucinating when you heard what you heard.
Lastly, keep it short, sweet and to the point. The shorter your communication is, the less likely you're going to fall into their trap.
Executive Coaching is here to stay.There are no ifs ands or buts about it.When leaders like Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google can say the best advice he ever got was to get a coach, we know coaching isn't going anywhere any time soon. http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/06/19/f_ba_schmidt_google.fortune/
I work with global leaders in the private and public sectors and I work with them in real time as their worlds unfold.These are amazing people!My clients don't have to be fixed.They want to be better.I watch as they construct interpretations about who they are and then demonstrate that in language and behavior.People rarely see themselves as others see them.That goes for all levels, leaders included. If you assume people in positions of leadership don't need coaching then look at it from this perspective:
Leaders rarely have allies, those they can share their fears, concerns, and insecurities with and yes, they all have insecurities.It's called being human.Coaches become thought partners, those clients can bounce ideas off of, look at behavioral drivers with, innovative ways of being, how to 'dance' in the moment and not be reactive, rather be able to see things with clarity and perspective with.
One of the things I encourage all my clients to work on is to always be learners; not to learn as in memorize data but to look for what they need to know that they don't know to move forward.We look at how to immediately integrate that learning into their every day worlds, keep what's applicable and park what isn't.The second area of focus is to figure out who they need to know who they don't know to expand their circle, their network, and to work with people who have skill sets they don't have to create a strong cohesive team.Leaders don't need to know everything; they need to know who does know how to do what they can't do.The smartest leaders realize they don't have to do things alone and know who they need to know to get the answers they need then I partner with them and watch them fly!No ceiling...just sky.
OK, you're a leader of an organization, group, department, team...doesn't matter. You're inundated. You don't know what to look at first, and then there's voice mail on top of it all.
How are you supposed to lead when you're bombarded with all this stuff?
In today's Management tip from Harvard Business Publishing, Peter Bregman talks about two lists you should look at every morning. There is some great stuff in this article but there are other things to keep in mind...
People look at priorities and goals. There is a third category that might not fit into the first two and that's pressures. If there's a pressure that's not an organizational priority or a goal it still has to be dealt with and quickly. It's the last minute emergency, the hot issue or the glitch in a system. They aren't categorized but happen every day.
Yes, as Peter Bregman states we are inundated with electronic information. Our inboxes are overflowing, many try to keep up with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn not to mention other social media that is vying for your attention. As someone who wears many hats, Executive Coach, Advisor, Board VP, Teacher, Author and Writer, let me tell you I am not only inundated but had to make some key decisions as to what I needed to stay on top of.
First choice was to get off Twitter and fast. Within 2 days I had over 2,500 people following me and emailing me. Why exactly? And why did I want to wade through all that email it generated? so I'm off. Facebook and LinkedIn were the two I chose to keep current with as it gave me and my clients through me, value. That's what it's all about. If I have to take 2 hours to wade through Tweets by who knows who, that is not the best use of my time. Leaders now have staffers monitoring social media. Decide what you need to be on top of and what you need to drop and now. If it doesn't serve you, your organization, staff or clients then drop it. The value has to outweigh the time spent on these services. Then see how they tie in with your four levels of categories 1) Pressures & Priorities 2) Pressures 3) Priorities 4) Goals
In a perfect world whatever you're doing will be all 4. So make it as perfect as you can, schedule in your emergencies and evolve through time spent. Leaders make choices that serve themselves and others. Just because things are popular, doesn't mean they're relevant.
Donna Karlin, President and Founder A Better Perspective, Executive and Political Leadership Coaching
We look at language as "a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition".
We can be fluent in a language and yet fail to communicate clearly and concisely or tie the listener in knots by speaking around a topic and not saying anything of relevance.
As the younger generations come into the workplace and often communicate through text messaging rather than speech, the term 'sound bites' come into play as they speak almost in code. Yet do they know how to communicate at all levels, especially in the workplace when leadership tends to think and speak in complete sentences? How can we expect people to understand what we're doing and how we're doing it if we abbreviate to the point of ambiguity?
Enter the world of Twitter, for example, where you can only communicate with a maximum of 140 characters, forcing one to use coded language, misspelled words and pieces of thought sequences. Is that really serving us or forcing us into the world of "explaining what we meant"? Does this help evolve us or hold us back? Is the time one spends on Twitter or similar services time well spent or just "busymaking"?
These questions are on the table in more organizations than I can count. Where is the line crossed between using technology to simplify our lives and just filling it with chatter?
As I coach Executive Committee teams I now have systems set up where Blackberries are parked and turned off. "Isn't there pushback?" you ask. No. Because ultimately if these leaders are to do their jobs and use their time to create strong cohesive organizations, they have to be totally present and that means little or no distractions. What do I do? I have runners in an anti-room who field incoming calls from headquarters and come find the person needed to put out fires or field crises that come up. If it's neither of the two, the runners take messages for the team to get to after the meeting is over. They get ten times the work done, and honour their colleagues by listening and participating.
At a recent conference one of my colleagues was continually Twittering through the event. A few people complained about the distraction and the clattering of the keys. All I asked her was "How present were you, how participatory and engaged and how much did you miss by needing to be visible to your online world?"
She missed half that question as her fingers flew across her iPhone keypad. Then asked me to repeat it as I walked away.
People never have time to do things right but they always seem to have time to do them over. Is it by choice? No! They want to be able to do great work but unreasonable demands result in making promises staff just can't keep.
One of the things I'm noticing more of is how people are making promises about deadlines while having no idea whether or not they can keep them. They make these decisions for many reasons, a few of them being 1) because they think it'll get others off their backs, 2) it's an answer that they just might miraculously be able to meet with no data to back it up...i.e. wishful thinking, or 3) they don't pay attention to all the other deadline promises they've made and all of a sudden find themselves way over their head. They don't know how to own up to the fact they're totally inefficient with their time to turn around and give an excuse akin to "the dog ate my homework" and 4) way too often because of the unreasonable demands made upon them re volume of work compounded by the fear of being fired if they don't keep up and produce more than is humanly possible and/or sustainable.
There are many possible answers to this however the bottom line is people are making promises about deadlines without much conscious thought or integrity whatsoever. They don't realize the implications of that and how it puts a wrench in the mechanics and workflow of a whole team, making everyone else late with their deliverables as well.
This is happening more and more in an organizational context as people are taught it's not acceptable to say "no" or "I can't do it in that time period" so they lie and then make excuses as to why they're late.
In a time when there are cutbacks, layoffs and reduced staff, leadership has to recognize they cannot get the same volume of work done without killing their staff. Most want to do a good job in a timely manner. They just can't figure out how to tell their bosses there are limitations without the fear of being fired and replaced with someone else who won't say no.
Leaders need to rethink, work smarter, and prioritize and that means doing less, choosing the most important and impactful stuff and doing it better. It also means leaders need to create a 'safe' and accepting environment for their staff to say "I can't do all this. What do you need right now so I can do it right?"
The moment we allow someone else to make a decision for us, we're giving away our personal power. That goes for remaining silent when you know you need to speak up or not making a decision at all so someone or circumstances make it for you.
That's where the our personal foundation starts to crack. Cracks turn into craters when one decision or lack of starts a ripple effect which impacts our worlds.
How are you going to take your personal power back? Leaders are expected to make decisions that move people and organizations forward, however on a daily basis as I Shadow Coach them, I see them make decisions based on emotion, assumptions and expectations. When things and relationships start breaking down, they go into 'fix mode' rather than 'build mode' and that's where cracks turn into crevices.
We are creatures of habit so how do you break down those habits that no longer serve you and make decisions based on the future you want to build?
Are you so wrapped up in the day to day stuff, you forget to pay attention to the impact of your decisions? What do you need to do so slow down to the speed of conscious thought? In doing that you will respond to whatever comes your way instead of react.
Perspective is both the angle you see yourself and your life from as well as the viewing height. The higher the perspective, the clearer the view. How can you position yourself to increase your perspective there by helping you see what you're not paying attention to? How are you questioning what doesn't make sense, introduce paradoxes, and create stimulating arenas and environments that will expand your thinking as your world unfolds? That's where you start dancing in the moment, making the decisions you need to make now to build 'later'.
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.” - Rainer Maria Rilke.
As a coach I ask my clients to live in the questions.As leaders they are looked at for the answers.They almost automatically try to process things at the speed of light and do something with what’s thrown in front of them because that’s what their world has trained them to do for so long.
But to live in the questions at least long enough for an insight, a paradigm shift or a newfound awareness, how they do the rest will shift and they will look at themselves and others through those insights.
So I ask you to live in some of the questions and see what unfolds, though perhaps not at this moment in time.Then ask yourself “What will your life look like if you took some space in time to just be, not solve, not try to have that magic wand but to see a question for what it is…something to be curious about and let grow within you.Leading from curiosity brings a depth and breadth to your world and those within it through conversation, discovery and growth.
We don't live in an all or nothing world, even though many of our choices are black or white.
We do that often and we're not even aware that we're doing it.
That came to light for me this morning when I was waffling between diving into a piece of work I had scheduled in or diving into the TED.com website. I admit it. I'm a TED addict and because of that I had eliminated it out of my day as I would get lost in the videos and thoughts they inspired and forget about the rest of my work. Not a great thing. So, like many do who are looking at being effective, I cut it out.
This morning I gave myself a 'what for ' when (being a coach here) I had a discussion with myself, silently of course asking "What did I have to gain by cutting out TED?" Time? Yes. More focus on my work? Definitely.
But what was I missing?
Amazing stories. Innovative ideas, information I would have never known otherwise. So I made a conscious decision not to live in an all or nothing world and instead, perhaps limit the amount of time I spend per day getting lost (and found ) in TED.
I see leaders live a black and white day every day. They call it prioritisation. They choose the top three, four or five things to get done in a day and everything else goes by the wayside. They pat themselves on the backs when they can actually accomplish more than two and their days aren't taken over by other stuff. What are they missing?
Yesterday I posed a question to my network of professionals. It went something like "Is there a cost to increased productivity? What might we be missing when it comes to learning curve, collaboration, less research or is there anything else that comes to mind for you in answering this question? Sometimes we strive to do things better, smarter, faster but what might we miss along the way?"
In this ever faster, fast paced world it's increasingly harder for organizational leaders to take the time they want to grow personally and grow rising stars because of the demands on their time, feeling the need to be more productive especially during a period of a depressed economy.
While becoming 'more productive' from an organizational perspective, in the midst of all this, they're killing their people. They feel they have to be better, faster, smarter, deeper, more intuitive, less intuitive (follow orders) until they go on auto pilot, lose a great deal of their innovative spirit and creativity but meet all the criteria of effectiveness measurements.
A black and white or all or nothing world.....before they know it, the day is over and they pause until they do the same scrambling tomorrow. What do we lose along the way in an all or nothing world? We lose impact, personal learning, the ability to grow people from an emotionally intelligent perspective.
