Monthly Archives: May 2013

Five Key Thoughts and Principles of Leadership (Part 3 of 5)

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(Note-you can find the first post that outlines the background of this series here and here. This is the third in the series.

3-COURAGE AND ATTITUDE- Let me share something with you. Almost every leader likes people to be happy. I want everybody to be happy.  That is a positive and a detriment. But sometimes, you have to have the moral courage to make a decision that will disappoint and upset people.  If you are going to be a leader, you have to step up and put up.  You have to make the call.  There will be a percentage who will hate the decision and will try to mitigate, resist, or sabotage the decision.  It’s hard work and not easy to do.  I screw it up all the time because of blow back.

Remembering Our Fallen

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For many of us, next Monday signals the beginning of summer. Grilling outdoors, camping, vacation plans, lounging by the pool, final exams, graduations, and new beginnings. Yet, I urge all  of us to pause for a long moment to remember those brave men and women, who throughout our Nation’s history, have willingly stood in harm’s way, fought, and died in support of our country’s freedoms, ideals, and values.

We owe an immense and growing debt to these heroes and their families for their sacrifice.

Five Key Thoughts and Principles of a Leader (Part 2 of 5)

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I shared the background of these thoughts in on the 5/10/13 post. Here is the second key thought of a leader.

2.BE A LISTENER/LISTEN BROADLY:     There is a difference between hearing and listening. People size you up.  Be a good broad listener. You can do this by listening to people who have a radically different point of view.  The key is not to necessarily agree with them, but to understand what is important to them and what they value.  There will come a time when you will need to work with them on something that is important to you.  Understanding what is important to you helps you frame the discussion. You don’t have to agree with what they say, but listen broadly.

LISTEN DEEPLY: When people come to you or bring you something for your attention or you ask for information, listen deeply.  Take the two words-“listen” and “silent”.  I’m not sure there is a coincidence that both of them have the exact same letters. Speak little and do much.  It is your job to create a safe haven for them to share what is on their heart as well as what is on their mind.You want to invite (not pull) their concerns, thoughts and feelings.

I’ve learned that the bigger the title, the less people will tell you.  It’s not that people are lying to you but everybody has a nuance to the story.  You get the truth but not the whole truth. You have to find what is not being said.  Listening for what is not said, looking at body language. Hear what is not said, pick up on it and we ultimately get to the crux of the matter. That’s why the more important the conversation, the more important it is to look at the person. You learn more on the nonverbal communication by meeting face to face.  The more detached the communication, such as instant messaging or texting, the less you get of the story. Think of it as a continuum. The more important the conversation, the more personal it needs to be.

Practice muzzle spasm- If you have to do most of the talking, it’s bad, they have to search for the nugget.  Iv’e been told “we need you to speak up quicker and say more.”  I get it. I know that this can drive people crazy.  But you need to know that I try to listen first then give my input. I don’t want to stifle the conversation or perspectives from others.

 

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Five Key Thoughts and Principles of Leadership (Part 1 of 5)

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During a recent executive education program we led, the CEO of the organization came to have an informal discussion with the participants.  The focus of the executive education program was to build additional perspectives and capabilities as the organization was preparing itself to continue to lead in a highly volatile market.  The CEO started off by noting that nothing that the CEO was about to say was new, because they had heard these five key thoughts and principles from previous town hall meetings. I asked if I was able to take notes and share the nuggets, which was granted.  I’ll outline these five key thoughts and insights in a series of posts, starting with the first thought from the CEO.

1-KNOW WHO YOU ARE- You need to know what you believe, your sense of right and wrong, what makes your heart sing, what depresses you, what makes you angry, and what makes you happy.  If you don’t have personal clarity in your own mind, it will be more difficult for you to be a leader and have others follow you.  If you don’t know where you are, its hard for you to know where you are going.

How do you do that? Start with your personal belief set-spiritual, political and everything in between.  Nothing is necessaily right or wrong. But it is VERY important for you to clearly think this through.  You might be asked to articulate this. What are your underpinnings?  If you get fog or vagueness, you are missing the boat and you are less effective as a leader.

You’re NOT selling your point of view but you may be forced to look at right and wrong (ethics).  You must be prepared to articulate what the red lines are for you.  This is the foundation-immutable, anchors, immutable principles for integrity.  Finally, be careful how you deploy your beliefs but do not depart from them.

 

How We Make (un)wise decisions?

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Last month, during an executive education session, we were discussing how very smart people can make decisions that, upon the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, seem boneheaded.  In fact, when we analyzed a situation, the most common response was “What were they thinking?”  We humans pride ourselves on being good thinkers and decision makers.  We talk about how we go through a rational decision making process, and indeed, the heart of any executive’s role is that of making good decisions.

In many cases, we think we go through a very rational decision making process: We look at the problem, we gather facts about the problem, we look at alternatives and options,we weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each option, and we make a decision based upon the “best” option available.  In fact, the more experienced we become, we then   think through a mental chess match of the impact of that decision in multiple layers of the organization, our partners, our competitors, and then create a second level of rational decisions based upon what we anticipate are the most likely decisions of the other party.  Rodin’s sculpture, “The Thinker”,  and Descartes, “I think, therefore, I am”  are shining examples of this rational decision making model.  This is the basis of the scientific method. Milton Friedman won a Nobel Prize for his model of rational decision making and the concept of “satisficing” decisions.   The most common of decisions focuses upon receiving a recommendation or series of recommendations from another member of the team.  Usually, the decision is whether to accept a recommendation, reject or modify the recommendation, and then either make the decision or refer it to a more senior level.

Yet recent research in behavioral economics, led by recent Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman, outlines a series of biases that can distort the thinking and reasoning of even the most senior of executives.  In an article in HBR, he and his colleagues, Lovallo, and Sibony, outline a series of tactics that you and I can use to reduce our biases and make better decisions.

Kahneman, et. al,  note that we have two types of thinking-intuitive and reflective. Intuitive thinking is almost like autopilot-we walk, drive, brush our teeth, prepare coffee, and engage in everyday conversation.  Intuitive thinking is strongly linked with our senses and creates context for different words, phrases, and helps us make quick links between seemingly unrelated ideas.  For those who have “seen this before”, this intuitive thinking can help rapidly make sense of new situations.

Yet, in the background is reflective thinking, ready to engage when we do something new, important, or takes a great deal of concentration.  Unfortunately, unless we intentionally engage reflective thinking, we can be led astray.  If we don’t have experience with a new situation and rely on our gut or hunch, we may get entirely different (and boneheaded) solutions.  For example, take the word, “shot”. For a basketball fan, especially here in ACC country, shot means something completely different than for someone who is an Olympic track and field fan.

Kahneman and his colleagues note that simply knowing that you and I have these two types of thinking and their accompanying biases is necessary, yet insufficient.  In future posts, I’ll outline some of their major points and some ways to dramatically improve your team’s decision-making processes and results.

Source: “Before You Make That Big Decision”, Kahneman, Lovallo, and Sibony, Harvard Business Review, June 2011.