Great Leadership - Carnival

Check out the Great Leadership Carnival currently being hosted by Dan McCarthy.

I particularly like the following insights (the bold emphasis is mine) - but there are many more lessons to be taken from the rest of the content !]:

"When leaders infuse the organizational culture with the element of human value, it has a ripple effect. First, it helps leaders form an emotional connection with the people they lead.  Second, it strengthens the emotional connection among the people they lead as employees adopt the leaders’ values in their interactions with one another. Third, the sense of connection reaches out to customers (or patients, in New York-Presbyterian’s case) when frontline employees become intentional about demonstrating human value"  [Michael Lee Stallard]

-----------------------------------------

To manage well requires that you recognize the subtle, but important, differences between people and that you know how to put those differences to work for your organization. Great managers thrive on helping people experience incremental growth. The dynamic creativity of figuring out how to move from the player to the plays is the real genius of a great manager.

Leadership isn’t about that at all. Leadership is about finding the words, stories, and images that bring great clarity to people. And that’s just different from being a good manager. You could have both talents, but good managers don’t necessarily make good leaders.

So when you actually "learn" leadership - you actually make a great shift in your worldview. You cannot build a new worldview on top of your existing ones. You have to let them go. [Gautam Gosh - citing Marcus Buckingham]

-------------------------------------------------

6 Unwritten Rules to Advancement in the Workplace (aka - Professional Networking 2.0)

• Network and build relationships both within and outside your organization.
• Find ways to become visible in your team and organization, e.g., seek out important assignments. 
• Lobby for yourself and your work, do not be afraid to “brag” about your accomplishments.
• Communicate effectively and ask for feedback.
• Find a mentor, coach, sponsor; developmental relationships not only provide knowledge and experience, but can help expand your professional network. 
• Develop a good career plan; prepare for each step, learn the right skills.  

[Britannica Blog]

-------------------------------------------------

You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.

The message here is that we can learn from every experience, and that in fact every experience can be regarded as a gift. This, perhaps, is a hard thing for us to hear - we have been conditioned to think of illness and pain  in a negative way and we try to avoid suffering at all costs. But all growth involves pain and so perhaps we should be less eager to shy away from it, learning instead to welcome it and take something of value from these experiences. [Michael Miles on 'the wisdom of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross]

Leaders in London 2007 - now on YouTube

Leaders in London features worldclass speakers - but finding the time & money to attend is not always easy !

Fortunately, the conference organisers are very generous with the quality and depth of information provided free !

The current 2008 brochure provides valuable insights ahead of the conference.

Perhaps more valuable are the bite-size video clips from 2007 - recently posted here on YouTube

As to be expected - Marcus Buckingham is on top form ... I've yet to watch others

Leadership is above all, courageous

For all those involved in training Leaders here is further 'Leadership Gold' (via Leadership Now )

• Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.
• Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others.
• Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality.
• Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.
• Leadership is seeing the possibilities in a situation while others are seeing the limitations.
• Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.
• Leadership is an open mind and an open heart.
• Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of what is best.
• Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.
• Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute.
• Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.
• Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others.
• Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul.
• Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy, and capacities of others.
• Leadership is the dream made reality.
• Leadership is above all, courageous

Also see my previous post on this book

Leadership Gold

Here is the Table of Contents from Leadership Gold the latest book from 'leadership guru' John C. Maxwell.


Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Searching for Gold

1. If It's Lonely at the Top, You're Not Doing Something Right
2. The Toughest Person to Lead Is Always Yourself
3. Defining Moments Define Your Leadership
4. When You Get Kicked in the Rear, You Know You're out in Front
5. Never Work a Day in Your Life
6. The Best Leaders Are Listeners
7. Get in the Zone and Stay There
8. A Leader's First Responsibility Is to Define Reality
9. To See How the Leader Is Doing, Look at the People
10. Don't Send Your Ducks to Eagle School
11. Keep Your Mind on the Main Thing
12. Your Biggest Mistake Is Not Asking What Mistake You're Making
13. Don't Manage Your Time-Manage Your Life
14. Keep Learning to Keep Leading
15. Leaders Distinguish Themselves During Tough Times
16. People Quit People, Not Companies
17. Experience Is Not the Best Teacher
18. The Secret to a Good Meeting Is the Meeting Before the Meeting
19. Be a Connector, Not Just a Climber
20. The Choices You Make, Make You
21. Influence Should Be Loaned but Never Given
22. For Everything You Gain, You Give Up Something
23. Those Who Start theJourney with You Seldom Finish with You
24. Few Leaders Are Successful Unless a Lot of People Want Them to Be
25. You Only Get Answers to the Questions You Ask
26. People Will Summarize Your Life in One Sentence-Pick It Now

Conclusion
Notes


With the clarity of the titles to each chapter - and the powerful insights they convey - I wonder if there is any need to read the rest of the book !

Leaders in London

I recently received a summary of 'sound-bites' from some of the high-profile presenters at this year's Leaders in London conference

These are the ones that particularly caught my attention:


RENÉ CARAYOL: Management vs Leadership

"If management is what we do, leadership is how we feel."

"Managers talk strategy. Leaders tell stories."



EDWARD DE BONO: On which comes first, ideas or data?

"I was in the desert and our guide was explaining the spikes on the local cacti. 'It's so they don't get eaten,' he said. 'No, it's not,' I said. 'The spikes help keep the air around the plant still, to minimise evaporation.' Everyone thinks it's to stop animals eating them. They looked at the data and came up with the idea. And that became the received wisdom. In fact, it's the wrong idea. Many organizations believe that if they collect enough data in their computers that will set their strategy for them. In fact, unless you see the data in different ways, you will be stuck with the same old notions."



MARCUS BUCKINGHAM: There's no such thing as corporate culture

"There is no great company culture, so stop looking for it. The best you can say about a great company is that it is the accumulation of lots of great teams. Culture varies enormously within large organizations."

Another 'First 90 Days' Text

Peter Fischer has recently written a book called The New Boss

Why is this of interest ? - well many L&D Curriculum focus on providing support at 'transition' points (building from the framework of The Leadership Pipeline by Charan et al).

For me (and others) the key text for building further on the work of Charan is The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. Hence, it is interesting to reflect on whether this new book offers further insights (for future inclusion into Leadership training courses).


According to Fischer, there are seven building blocks to creating a successful leadership change:

• Managing Expectations Proactively
• Developing Key Relationships
• Constructively Analysing the Initial Situation
• Establishing a Set of Motivating Goals
• Fostering a Positive Climate for Change
• Initiating Changes Effectively, &
• Using Symbols & Rituals

Clearly there are significant overlaps with the ideas of Watkins - a rough (and simplistic) mapping could be:

• Managing Expectations Proactively = Negotiate Success
• Developing Key Relationships = Create Coalitions
• Constructively Analysing the Initial Situation = Match Strategy to Situation
• Establishing a Set of Motivating Goals = Build Your Team
• Fostering a Positive Climate for Change = Secure Early Wins
• Initiating Changes Effectively, = Expedite Everyone
• Using Symbols & Rituals = Achieve Alignment

Hence, at least in these simplistics terms of comparision - Watkins apears to place more emphasis on self - with advice such as 'promote yourself', 'accelerate your learning' & 'keep your balance'.

Equally, Fischer helpfully provides a richer focus on communications - specifically highlighting the 'use of symbols and rituals'.

Symbolic management is the skillful and consistent combination of symbols and rituals into a convincing message. This is why it is important to ensure that what you say is consistent with how you behave. It is a symbolic expression of a different management style

..... an area worthy of further discussion within a 'new leader' training class ?!

'Excellence in HR 2007'

The following link: http://www.business100.tv/ provides some interesting links to videoclips exploring the subject of Excellence in HR

I've yet to view them all - but Peter Cook of Hyman Dynamics does a great job in showcasing themes from his recent book 'Sex, Leadership & Rock'n'Roll'

Peter draws on the metaphors of:

• Sex = focus on relationships [e.g. Collaboration Skills, Communication Skills]
• Drugs = motivation [e.g. Colleague Engagement Skills, Change Management]
• Rock'n'Roll = performance & delivery [e.g. Performance Management Skills, Innovation]

not a bad starting point for a robust leadership training curriculum !

NB: if you get time to explore other clips - please add comments here on their key take-home messages

The Leadership Pipeline - Further reflections

The Leadership Pipeline (Charan, Drotter & Noel) describes a very linear process of a 'straight' pipe from 'Managing Self' to 'Enterprise Manager'

So can this book help guide L&D professional supporting:

* Player Coaches
* Managers who both 'Manage Manager' and are 'Functional Manager'
* Manager who are 'Functional Managers' but through large spans of control are not 'Managers of Managers'

I think the short answer to this is Yes, however it misses an opportunity to explore the implications in any depth.


So for example - if someone is promoted to a 'Functional Manager' role, what is specific to this role is a significant jump in requiring to demonstrate 'Business Acumen' and expertise in 'Executing Business Strategy'

This promotion may also be associated with introducing at least two layers of management betwwen the post holder and 'individual contributors' .. or if a very flat organisation, there may only be one layer.

Hence: I believe there could be merit in separating out any training and coaching on new 'Communication' skills that are key for 'Managers of Managers' - this part of the menu being added only if the two transitions coincide.

Put simply - I feel there could be merit in mapping transitions based on business role (individual, manager, leader, executive etc); and overlaying a parallel pipeline based on layers of the organisation (individual, manager, manager of managers, leaders of managers-of-managers etc).

Each transition will be a blend of the two pathways - but without the assumptions that every organisation fits (GEs) 7 layers.

The Leadership Pipeline - Reflections on a classic text

I recently re-read The Leadership Pipeline (from Charan, Drotter & Noel)

In my view this is still a classic roadmap for L&D professionals designing a curriculum. Each transition point represents an opportunity to target training towards accelerating performance in the new & different role.

What struck me most was a phrase (page 18) relating to the first transition from 'Managing Self' to Managing Others' which states:

'The most difficult change for managers to make at Passage One, however, involves values. Specifically, they need to learn to value managerial work, rather than just tolerate it. They must believe that making time for others, planning, coaching and the like are necessary tasks and are their responsibility'

Hence:

I wonder if we do enough to test values - either to help tailor training, or to assess changes in behaviours.

Maybe pre-work for delegates for a people-manager training course should test whether the individual already values the future role of being a supervisor ...since training of tools & coaching on conversations are likely to be ineffective if the passion for getting results from others has not been generated.