January 26, 2009
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The danger in this crisis is not that we will not solve it. The danger is that we think too small – that we do not see the extraordinary opportunity it presents.
If we spend our energy hunkering down, trying to maintain and preserve what we have, we will drop our eyes from the horizon to the ground and we will surely end with only that.
Last week I had the pleasure of working closely with Patrick Jones, Executive Director & CEO, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association. Pat is intensely focused on seizing the opportunity in today’s climate. He brought that zeal to his board’s annual meeting.
The purpose of this meeting was to develop an appropriate action plan given the changing environment: new administration in DC, and the economic pressures on the industry and his member organizations. The board would not revisit the Strategic Plan or change their Business Strategy. Instead they would operate inside it, using the pressures of the day to move their plan forward in big leaps.
First, Jones brought in his president, Kary Witt, Golden Gate Bridge Manager. The two of them started months ago planning how to find the opportunity in this crucial time. Then Jones and Witt selected an expert to address their board, helping to raise the sense of urgency and highlight the need for bold action. This is a classic technique for elevating an appropriate level of urgency.
Robert Kuttner, journalist, economist, and author of Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformational Presidency, was chosen as the opening keynote. (You can watch him on NOW on PBS talking about this work.)
Kuttner has studied transformational presidents like Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson on civil rights. He has also studied those who failed to turn a crisis into an opportunity like Hoover, Carter, and George W. Bush.
To paraphrase some of Kuttner’s remarks: The danger is not that we will not make it through this crisis. The danger is that we will think too small and not seize the immense opportunity. If we look at transformational presidents we can see that they were able to take a crisis situation and use it to move public opinion to a place that had been deemed politically impossible. When Lincoln took office, the challenge was how do we keep the union together? By 1863 he had moved it to the point where he could free the slaves.
Jones emerged from the board meeting with a powerful agenda, crafted by his most active members. It laid out a plan through 2009 that was grounded in the reality of IBTTA's financial data, and aspired to transform IBTTA's role in the sector. This included taking a proactive role in the transportation sector to be part of the country’s economic solution, seeking innovative partnerships to deliver greater value, transforming his meetings to address the hottest topics his members are facing, staying closely involved with the new administration as transportation and infrastructure legislation is introduced, and continued international expansion so IBTTA can “reap the collective intelligence of our global community and apply it on the ground wherever it is needed most.”
Difficult times demand bold leaders like Jones. People are hungry for a way through. When you pull them together and give clear instruction on how best to address a challenging situation, they will rise to the challenge and assist with their expertise, experience, know-how, and action.
Are you rising to the opportunity inherent in today’s economic crisis? Are you using the forces at play to move public opinion to do the politically impossible? Are you grabbing the reins and driving forward into the world to achieve your dreams?
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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January 20, 2009
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Perhaps one of the greatest Change Leaders of our day, Barack Hussein Obama, has spoken today as he was sworn into the US Presidency. Here are his words:
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.
They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
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President Obama's words stand as leadership in action, calling the country, the people, to rise and meet the toughest challenges of our place in history. As a witness to the inauguration, I can tell you the mood was one of expressed joy, optimism, and desire to serve.
- Seth Kahan, Visionary Leadership
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December 18, 2008
03:46 pm | 0 recommendations | 2 comments
A visionary leader perceives challenges and growth opportunities before they happen, positioning people to produce extraordinary results that make real contributions to life.
I have begun working with a select group of people around the world who are interested in fostering visionary leadership in their own lives, and will be helping me to develop audio and video materials on this topic that will be made available free through my website.
I asked them, Who comes to mind when you think of visionary leaders? Here is a compilation of their responses:
At core, everyone has a self with a capital “S.” That Self is the source of their intuition, their understanding, and their best. The core is a spiritual place. Inspiring leaders lead from that place, without apology, and importantly, without fear. When a leader speaks from that place, there is recognition from the Self of the listeners. That recognition allows the hearer to discern the message as valid, as something they can get behind. Inspiring leaders evoke an “Amen,” confidence, and hope.
Maya Angelou, for her consistent, inclusive outreach through writing on tough and challenging topics, and for being willing to consistently stand up and lead as an African-American woman beginning in the 1950s.
As a poet, she taps into her core and exposes it in a way that inspires us.
Jeff Ashe of Oxfam for his devotion and hard work to developing micro-finance and woman’s savings groups.
Barbara Brennan for her ability to clarify and communicate her gifts in order to empower others to achieve their greatest potential as humans and healers.
Barbara Jordan, African American congresswoman from Texas for her clarity, brilliance and understanding of justice.
The Dalai Lama, for his ability to incorporate new ideas into his traditional framework while being a messenger for peace and enlightenment for the world
Max DePree. He was the first person in my personal experience that was willing to be explicit about the importance of God— a Higher Power—in his life and therefore in his role as a CEO of Herman Miller. He said, unabashedly, that before every decision he and his Board [Max was the Chairman] had to make, he would ask for a moment of silence so he could check in with his “Chairman” above. The rest could use that moment as they wished. And if Max did not get a clear signal from his “CEO”, the decision either required more dialogue and or needed to be revisited. Spiritual development and leadership development are synonymous.
Millard Fuller, founder and former president of Habitat for Humanity, for making millions by 29 and then creating a nonprofit that builds homes for those in need for the price materials and with the labor of volunteers.
Hildy Gottlieb for her insight and commitment to helping people realize that it is often our thinking that prevents us from realizing our goals of effective change in the world. She is president of Help 4 NonProfits and the Community Driven Institute.
Michelle James for her commitment to bring creative expression into the work environment in a very deep and meaningful way. And her ability to create safe spaces so people can express their own uniqueness without judgment and in collaboration with others.
Joanna Macy, for (a) her courage in uniting faith and development, (b) her creativity as demonstrated by creating participatory rituals for people to heal their anxieties over disturbing social issues, like nuclear waste disposal, and (c) her ability to help people find practicable and actionable ways for people to constructively and collectively take responsible action.
Nelson Mandela for his courage and conviction and perseverance against all odds to free and unite people for justice.
Tom Munekke of the Uplift Network for his unswerving devotion to finding and enhancing the good.
Karel Murray – Karel has overcome some adversity in her life and has created her own vision. She shares that vision with others and helps them find their own vision through her book, her website, her training engagements and her e-zine. Her message is sincere and she helps individuals reach their aspirations.
Barak Obama for (a) his ability to galvanize and inspire people with the vision that we can transform our consciousness & world. Nothing seems hurried, good decisions are made at the right time. (b) his inspirational messages were trounced early on as giving us false hope, false expectations, yet his response was that “in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.” That spoke to people’s inner Amen, and what they want to believe deep down about the stories of their country and themselves. (c) for his ability to inspire a country and implement a grassroots organization of massive scale which gave people the tools and opportunity to truly participate in shaping change.
Bill Strickland – His work with inner city youth in Pittsburgh just screams visionary leader. He created the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and another entity. I worked with him when I was staff for the Pennsylvania Arts Alliance and Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania. He was a board member then. Bill has gained significant national prominence over the years.
Kirk Weisler the Help Desk Institute’s “Chief Morale Officer” comes to mind because he’s not afraid to use the L word – Love. He speaks to the innocent and good in us. He can take a whole room full of IT professionals and have them in rapt attention by reading them stories. Goofy, unabashedly loving and leading is what he does for a living. He inspires people.
Meg Wheately and Debbie Frieze for their work with the Berkana institute. I am inspired by the way they honor and bring forth the wisdom from people wherever they go and that they work hard to go to places that ‘need going to.’
Jim Wolfensohn, for his successful, humanitarian efforts to link social criteria to measuring the success of international development work, asking economists and politicians to include the value of a "child's smile" along with financial metrics.
Thanks go to Naava Frank, Inge Hafkemeyer, Carrie Heiman, Przemek Lada, Adrienne Nichols, Irv Rubin, and Debra Witt for their contributions to the list above.
Please respond to this post by adding your own choices for visionary leaders. It will make the conversation richer and broader.
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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November 20, 2008
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Most of my work is with senior managers and executives, helping them to implement large-scale change using participation and engagement to create buy-in and support.
There are three conditions that require change leaders to shift from mandate (command & control) to authentic enthusiasm (connect & collaborate) to generate the results they are looking for:
1. Complex work environment - Work units, work programs, politics, budgets, and sponsors/customers/members do not have discrete, linear relationships. They behave like a multi-variable equation, influencing and overlapping each other. In a complex work environment you cannot rely on a simple, cause-and-effect chain of events to produce the results you are looking for. Instead, you need each participant in the value chain to be alert and working to create outcomes consistent with a clearly articulated vision.
2. Distributed workforce - Whether they are across the globe from each other or down the hall but isolated, people must be personally motivated to be take a proactive approach. Without this, they will simply work independently.
3. Multi-cultural or multi-disciplinary workers - When people come from different points-of-view, they see the world in fundamentally different ways. They may read the same words, but their minds process the information in different ways. If you can help them make the transition from "what I have to do" to "what I want to do," you can rely on their best efforts to "walk a mile in each others' shoes."
What tools are available to spark and grow the enthusiasm of professionals? Here are three:
1. Story - Narrative has the power to reach deeply into the human psyche, motivate people, and provide memorable messages. Read this from a 2006 conversation I had with John Kotter, Harvard Business Professor and expert on change leadership:
"Five or six years ago I started thinking more consciously about my primary goal: helping people change what they do and get better results. I have spoken at hundreds of meetings. Increasingly it is clear to me that people have trouble remembering what they hear at these meetings. This means it isn’t having an impact on their decisions, their actions, and hence, results on the job.
"As I explored, I became very interested in the brain. I learned about neurology, and emerging fields like medical anthropology and the study of the brain’s evolution. I began to wonder how people learned 500,000 years ago. They didn’t have PowerPoint slides. It was from direct experience and stories of direct experience.
"Stories stick in the brain in a holistic way, better than charts, numbers and concepts. As a result the probability that the message will have an impact on behavior goes up.
"I am often approached by former students or people who have seen me speak. When this happens I make a habit of asking, “What do you remember about that session?” It’s amazing how often it is a story as opposed to anything that is conceptual or numerical."
2. Community - We need each other to test and apply what we know, surface new ideas, transfer our experience to current circumstance. We are social creatures at our core, and rely on the connections and synergies that arise in community to make sense of life, survive, and thrive. Community is the fundamental human learning system. Change leaders that make use of community in their work not only distribute leadership, they draw on people's shared passion to inform the work. I was recently interviewed on the link between community and brand - there is quite a bit in this article that is relevant.
3. Special Events - Bringing people together face-to-face for a shared experience can move progress forward in dramatic surges. It requires a skilled choreographer to create gatherings that are both professionally appealing and achieve extraordinary impact. Change leaders that master this form have a powerful tool to engage the authentic ardor of their constituents.
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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November 16, 2008
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Change leadership starts within, requiring a commitment to self-transformation. Are there conditions that make this kind of inner work especially effective? What activities are most powerful for genuine inner transformation? Is this something that happens alone, isolated in the interior of one’s private world, or is it best done in a community? If so, what kind of community? Is there a template?
To better understand I spoke recently with Michael Mervosh, a licensed psychologist who provides supportive, transformational experiences for those seeking inner change. His program, called the Hero’s Journey, assists people in altering the course of their lives. His work is about leading change within. Here is some of what he said when we spoke:
“I began offering The Hero’s Journey to help people experience a transition in their interior world. You can use your will and desire to try and make real change happen inside, but I have found that it is more effective to do this work in an environment that awakens the powerful positive forces we all have inside. In the Hero’s Journey, we work in an atmosphere that rouses these constructive states.
“Several important elements create this environment. First, there is nature, a wonderful reflecting mirror. The vast beauty of the wilderness has tremendous power to awaken an awareness of the vast, beautiful interior of the soul. What people see in the natural world is a reflection of what is inside them.
“Second, to have this kind of experience you must be in the company of others who are on a similar journey. This includes not only the other participants in the Hero’s Journey, but in the presence of embodied and enlivened facilitators as well.
“As leaders or guides we focus on the present moment as it arises in a participant’s experience, so that our attention can be of service to them as a galvanizing force for their interior worlds. This is very different than telling somebody what to do and giving advice, even it if is very good advice.
“It requires a meaningful framework for change that acknowledges that there is inherent in every person an existing healthy process of growth, waiting to be unfolded. I see myself as an advocate for this health-producing process, working to help people follow their own path and reach beyond limiting points-of-view and behaviors. I experience this as a palpable ‘felt-sense’ of another’s true nature.
“The center of the Hero’s Journey, the central influence is the work of Joseph Campbell. He spoke of the archetypal mythic dimension. It provides a universal framework for understanding human development and meaning-making. Campbell’s work is drawn from studying all religions and cultures across the span of time. It is my experience that the mythic dimension is a real state of awareness, something palpable, felt, and not some abstract concept.
“We are here on this earth to be alive, enlivened, to have a spiritual life, to be fully engaged. Self-directed inner change is about tapping into what you love and developing a practice that centers on this. It is best done in community, with others who value you and can understand the struggles required to achieve real breakthroughs.
“Inner transformation is not trivial. It is an awesome experience that changes lives. The outer effect is often dramatic, helping people to navigate especially trying circumstances, overwhelming challenges, and significant changes in circumstance. It is a way for people who are leaders of their own lives to stay on the growing edge of what they are becoming."
Michael Mervosh and the Hero’s Journey can be reached online at Hero’s Journey Programs.
Joseph Campbell's work can be accessed through the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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November 9, 2008
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Dr. Irv Rubin has been leading change in the healthcare industry for 35 years. I spoke with Irv recently to learn more about his approach, and in particular why he chose to write the novel, Dying for Compassion. Here is what he said:
“I work with professionals to help them understand the fundamental correlation between quality of relationships and quality of care. I do this through workshops, consulting, and writing. My novel takes place in a hospital. I want to educate people about what I call managerial malpractice which can result in the death of patients.
“In the book, an attorney in a court of law holds the protagonist, a CEO, Joshua, accountable for the death of a patient he never touched. The attorney has no difficulty proving through outside, empirical data that the toxicity Joshua helped stir, foster, and tolerate around the boardroom table trickled down to the culture. Ultimately it manifested at the patient interface where a nurse was fearful of giving feedback to a doctor in the same way that Joshua’s own board was fearful of giving feedback to him.
“For me, Dying for Compassion is about taking leaders to the edge of their own growth. It reminds them that they have a non-negotiable responsibility because of the power of their position to delve into those weaknesses and shortcomings which are hidden from their view – what psychologist Carl Jung called the shadow. They must work to understand the impact of this shadow on their day-to-day behavior and decision-making. This is not something that can be avoided. Everyone has a shadow side.
“Leaders must take responsible for transforming their hubris into humility. It is absolutely critical for leaders to do whatever can be done to create a fear-free feedback environment. This creates a triple-win. (1) The leaders themselves profit from the feedback so they can take corrective action. (2) The senior team also profits from the fear-free environment, and as a result increases the quality of their collective impact. (3) A fear-free feedback environment is a critical element for achieving what Peter Senge called a learning organization. Peter was a former student of mine at MIT; his work is a world treasure.
“When leaders build their capacity to constructively examine their own behavior, they are providing invaluable gifts to themselves, their people, their organization, and their beneficiaries. This work saves lives. This type of healing is the basis of all effective growth. We need this today more than ever. We are suffering a crisis of leadership. It is imperative that our leaders have the opportunity to reflect on their behavior in constructive ways.
"This is why I named my organization, Temenos. It is a Greek term suggesting a sacred grove, a place where people are free to create and learn spontaneouslywithout criticism or judgment. Creating such an environment is essential to the success of all our leaders and our world.”
You can reach Dr. Irv Rubin through his website, www.TemenosInc.com
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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October 27, 2008
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While working at the World Bank as a Knowledge Analyst in the late 90s I witnessed a significant change in how knowledge was amassed and applied for greatest impact. Previously, the emphasis had been on certain individuals, those remarkable people recognized for their exceptional experience and acumen. However, aided by collaborative technology, communities of professionals brought their collective know-how to bear on difficult issues and they achieved extraordinary results. Etienne Wenger called these Communities of Practice. At the Bank, we called them Thematic Groups.
This happened not only inside the organization, but also across the planet. The boundaries of community are different than the borders of organizations. Many of our Thematic Groups included people outside the organization.
What the World Bank had to offer was not only the knowledge of our staff, but the ability to convene those who were most knowledgeable anywhere around the world in a powerfully meaningful context.
The power to convene and the power of setting the right context are value generators. Together they are often far more powerful than the influence one person can exert. The robustness of multiple points-of-view is generally greater than what an individual can wield. And the field of impact grows much larger through the resulting expansion of the social network.
For dealing with the most complex problems, we must involve stakeholders from every critical point in the system. Solutions, the good ones, are multi-dimensional. Therefore, we must bring together the most valuable players, helping them to work collaboratively – i.e., lend their enthusiastic engagement – using a framework that embraces their differing needs and unique perspectives. This is what the power to convene and the power of setting the context is all about.
Case in point: Today we are in a complex mess with the national and global economies, energy, healthcare, and the environment. The Wall Street Journal is convening a CEO Council to shape the agenda for the new president.
This is an example of the power to convene: the WSJ has a unique vantage point from which to summon core players. They define them as “The CEOs who have committed to participate in this meeting lead companies that employ 5.9 million people, generate more than $2.2 trillion in annual revenues, and represent a diverse cross section of industries.”
The WSJ has chosen a context that is constructive to our predicament: “focusing on the key priorities facing the next U.S. President and the new Congress as they take office during tumultuous economic times.”
I applaud the context as having the right scope, providing guidance to our incoming leaders. But, I ask, are these the right people to convene? If the WSJ had a magic wand, is this the best possible set of people they could bring together for optimum results? I think the guest list is incomplete. These are certainly some of the most powerful people as measured by traditional standards, and they appear uniquely representative of a WSJ call to action. But, are there others the WSJ could also rally?
What about Warren Buffet (one of the world’s most successful investors) on the national economy, Jim Wolfensohn (former President, World Bank and continuing activist on global issues) on global interdependence, Thomas Friedman (Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author of just released, Hot, Flat, and Crowded) on environment and energy, or David Cutler (Obama health care advisor) and John Goodman (McCain health care advisor)? These five are not going to make it onto the list of corporate leaders, and that is my point.
To keep the conversation most effective, practical, and focused on generating powerful breakthroughs, you must bring in other points-of-view, not to dominate the conversation, but to challenge it.
There are other stakeholders missing. For example, the public at large: mortgage-holders, people caught in the healthcare system, children, business owners pinched by rising fuel costs, and so on. You get the idea. For effective change in a complex system, you need to find ways to constructively involve everyone who is impacted. This is because in a complex environment if you are impacted, you exert influence.
Nonetheless, I am optimistic about the WSJ’s effort and look forward to their results. I applaud them for exercising their power to convene and set context.
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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October 13, 2008
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Most people would be amazed at how much we can really do ourselves if we only take the opportunities in front of us. You don’t have to know all the answers, but if you keep asking the questions, you will get closer.
This is Ross Wirth speaking, Program Chair of Business Administration at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio.
I had a chance to speak with Ross last week. It got me thinking.
I started my career at The World Bank in 1989 as an IT trainer and by the time I concluded in 2002, I was creating institution-wide events and working closely with then-President Jim Wolfensohn. In my last six years, I played a significant role in two major change initiatives with global impact. Yet, many of my colleagues complained of being disempowered. In the same environment, why was it I moved from the bottom of the organization to the top, enjoying so much engagement and influence? Ross' comments offered some insight.
People expect others to lead them, they are willing followers and do not realize how much power they have to influence others. It is a matter of positional control vs personal power of influence. Traditional thought says that nothing happens without top management approval.
Change need not be something that is ‘done to you.’ You have a great deal more influence than you know. The choice is whether to use the positional power you have acquired and how you do so within the framework of the organization. Traditionally people think of empowerment as being delegated downward, but that is only one of two ways of thinking about empowerment.
Here is another way to think of it, empowerment is something you grasp until you find its limits. I tell people that they can constantly test the limits of their empowerment, carefully reading internal politics to see when they are pushing up against a boundary. This adds a lot more power to them in their situation because they are now taking personal control of their life vs being dependent upon others. Too many people think they are not empowered, but they have failed to actually test their limits.
Ross experienced this in his former role in Citgo Petroleum Group, where he held a multitude of positions across the organization over a 32-year career. He used this opportunity of perspective to look at what makes people successful in their personal lives as well as in organizational change.
His insights match my experience. Most managers and leaders in organizations are eager for progress wherever it comes from. When you demonstrate your ability to contribute, they embrace your participation.
But what happens when hard times hit: economic downturns, down-sizing, mergers and acquisitions, difficult external circumstances?
Ross: Throughout my career, I have witnessed many business cycles where many were fearful of losing their job. Putting things in perspective, there are three likely outcomes.
First, nothing bad happens and life goes on. In this case, the best current action is to do your job well and position yourself for future opportunity. Another possibility is that your company is acquired by another, in which case you would be best positioned with a solid track record of accomplishment to compete with others in the acquiring company. The third possibility is not pleasant, the loss of a job through no fault of your own, a victim of ruthless expense cutting in desperate times. In this case you will want the strongest resume possible so you can successfully compete against others for another position. The worst possible action is to be seen as a complainer and wait on others to direct your future.
Examining the present situation within the context of possible futures, many will find that the best action to take is to identify opportunities where they can make a positive impact on their organization either for internal recognition or resume strengthening. This requires empowering yourself and making a difference. This is a choice for personal empowerment.
- Seth Kahan, VisionaryLeadership.com
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September 25, 2008
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Rod Collins is the former Chief Operating Executive of Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program, the largest private health insurance account in the United States, a $20billion business.Today Rod works with organizations that want to transform their management model from traditional directive command-and-control to a more collaborative approach. I spoke to him this week. Here is what he has to say:
We are experiencing the most dramatic shift in the nature of business and work since the industrial revolution. The traditional management model is based on the premise that large organizations are about bringing together large numbers of people in central locations and then organizing their work. In the last 15 years with the rise of the Internet and electronic technology we are seeing the rise of mass collaboration and globalization. The premise that large numbers of people are gathered in one place is no longer true.
The challenge now is how to organize large numbers of people who are not centralized or operating in the context of one enterprise. More and more managers are facing situations where they are responsible for the work of people who do not report to them and may not even be in their organizations. So, management models based on central planning and hierarchical organization are no longer working.
Mass collaboration is making decentralization efficient. We have the examples of the Wikipedia and the operating program, Linux. 20 years ago nobody would have thought that those two products, which are not centrally planned and where nobody is organizing the work, could ever be done. This may be the model for how organizations work.
Collective learning needs to replace central planning as the foundation of strategy, and self-organization of knowledge workers needs to replace the hierarchical organization of workers. This requires new management models.In my work today I am a management-team coach and a facilitator. These two roles are fundamental enablers to make this shift successfully. In order to make this change, we have to change the fundamental protocols and processes of how we work on a day-to-day basis. Two things have to happen.
One, meetings have to change. Organizations typically engage in one style of meeting format: the committee style meeting. It is based on the premise that a good debate will lead to a good solution. All too often it leads to least-common-denominator solutions and in fast-changing times we need the best solutions. Organizations need other options for how to get together. We often need a meeting in which dialogue rather than debate is the foundation. This requires that executives learn to become skilled facilitators to ensure conversation happens at a different level.
Organizations need to tap into their collective learning. When organizations do this, they can move far faster than through traditional debate-style meetings. The most untapped resource in America today is the collective knowledge of its workers. It’s all fully paid for. What organizations lack are processes to tap into it. A hierarchical organization is a tremendous obstacle.
The second change organizations have to make is the switch from traditional management to learn-and-collaborate management. This is a radical change in the role of the leader. Leaders are more important than ever, but they are no longer bosses.The idea that we can entrust a tremendous amount of authority to give orders to workers and then construct compliance procedures to ensure those orders are carried out is becoming dysfunctional because no one individual can process what is happening out there in this fast changing market.
Organizations are going to learn that if they don't have quick access to their collective knowledge, they are not going to be able to keep up with the market, the competition. This is another reason that we cannot rely on the smarts of the bosses. The smartest organizations are not those with the smartest people, but those with the quickest access to their collective knowledge. Bosses no longer have to be concerned about looking smart or being the most intelligent in the room. Leaders will quickly realize their role is to quickly get access to the know-how of their highly knowledgeable workers.
Rod can be reached at rodcollins@yahoo.com
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September 17, 2008
07:42 pm | 0 recommendations | 3 comments
Steve Denning is the world leader in organizational storytelling. He has written five books on the subject. The Financial Times chose his book, The Secret Language of Leadership, as one of the best business books of 2007, and wrote: "If leaders do not immediately implement the findings of this book, both they and their organizations are doomed."
April 16-18, 2009, the 8th annual Organizational Storytelling Workshop will take place in Washington, DC, and Steve will, of course, be there.
I asked Steve today to tell me why storytelling is so important to leading change. Here is what he said:
Smart managers have been asking themselves: "Do we need people who can communicate compellingly and engagingly and inspire staff and clients to embrace change with enduring enthusiasm?" And the answer is: "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do."
Then the next question is: "How many of those people do we need?" And in many firms, particularly firms offering high-end professional services, the answer is: "Everyone! We need everyone in the whole organization to have that capability."
And there's a hard financial reason behind the answer: for firms, in a world of deep, rapid and pervasive change, it's tough to think of anything that could have a bigger, immediate impact on a firm's bottom line than a capacity to communicate difficult change messages compellingly to staff and to clients.
Then the discussion moves on to: "Well, if the capacity to communicate compellingly is so important to our bottom line, what are we doing about it? Why aren't we approaching this systematically? What would be involved in creating this capacity?"
So, I often see the following:
- In some cases, firms start with the CEO and the senior leadership team and begin to establish a basic competence in leadership storytelling in this group, before working systematically down through the rest of the organization.
- In other cases, the firm starts with the formal leadership program and introduces storytelling as a basic component for all the up-and-coming leaders.
- Still other firms take the people involved in grappling with some intractable business challenge where the stakes are very high and train them on leadership storytelling.
- And some firms are doing "all of the above."
As a result, leadership storytelling has moved out of the shadows and into the mainstream of business management today, making a significant contribution to change leadership.
If you're interested in learning more about organizational storytelling, hearing from practitioners from a wide variety of organizations and Steve, plan to attend the Organizational Storytelling Workshop this spring. I'll see you there.
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