TheLeadershipNotebook

Your Performance “Re-View”

 

“Appreciative Inquiry is more than a focus on the positive.

It is the creation of conditions that tap the generative potential of people and organizations.”

~Gervase Bushe

 

CPAs across the country have put the finishing touches on their “busy season” and there is a collective sigh of relief. But you’re not really done yet. Now, is a great time, while the memories are still fresh, to reflect and “re-view” your performance over the last six months.

What went well? What should I do more of? Less of? How can I use the best parts of my performance to learn and take my performance to the next level?

Taking this “appreciative approach” helps you manage your change and development through the identification of what works and analysis of how to do MORE of that.

This is an alternative to the typical view of “what did I do wrong?” or “what are my weaknesses?” We identify a problem, analyze the cause and generate solutions all through the lens of fixing or avoiding problems. That approach works in some cases but it encourages us to focus on the negative rather than the energy and sense of possibility that comes from envisioning what’s possible.

To illustrate an appreciative approach to “re-viewing” your performance, think about your responses to the following questions suggested in the Appreciative Inquiry mindset:

1.  Considering all of your objectives for your role, what are you proud of?  What have you accomplished and what are you doing that works?

Give yourself credit for every little thing you do that brings you a feeling or demonstration of success, to even the smallest degree, in any work situation.  Be specific.   

2.  What contributed to those successes? What caused those things to work? What or who has allowed you to do your best work? (Consider your team leader, team, firm overall, clients, circumstances, physical situation, and opportunities.)

3. How have you changed?  Think about yourself at the beginning of the year and the person you are today. How have you changed? Again, give yourself credit for every little improvement in your professional competencies or personal effectiveness. What did you do that helped you improve? The activities may have occurred at work, home or in the community.

4. Going beyond your given objectives...  In your work at your firm and as a member of a greater community, what achievements, accomplishments, or activities are you proud of?

5. Becoming even more effective….   To make yourself even more effective in the future, what do you want to continue to do, do more of, do better, or do differently? Of all the items listed and described above, which are the ones you are inspired to act on. (This is where your team leader can help prioritize your objectives.)

6.  What support within the firm do you have to do the things you identified in #5? (Money, time, training, access to subject matter experts and support staff, equipment, materials, etc.)  What resources do you have outside the company?  This is where your team leader can help in making sure you have what you need to succeed.)

Appreciative Inquiry as a model for change has been around awhile and its applications to individuals, teams and organizations are far and wide. It is a different approach to viewing your situation today that helps shape your vision for tomorrow.

What do you think? Have you used this approach in your firm’s change initiatives? I welcome your comments and input. I’d love to hear from you.

To your success,

Mary

 

The Brave New World of “Teaming”

 

“…successful teaming begins with an embrace of the unknown

and a commitment to learning that drives employees to absorb,

and sometimes create, new knowledge while executing.”

 

~Amy C. Edmondson

Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management

Harvard Business School

 

 

What is “teaming”? In her recent HBR article titled, Teamwork On the Fly, Professor Amy Edmondson describes her research and experience with a new form of team, a new way to get work accomplished in our fast paced, global business environment. 

 

Flexible teamwork, or “teaming,” gathers experts from wide ranging divisions and disciplines into temporary groups to tackle projects or problems and accelerate reaction to new opportunities. Imagine a team where:

 

• Multiple functions/disciplines work together
• Relationships are temporary
• People are geographically dispersed
• Each project uses new and evolving individual skill sets
• Work can be uncertain and chaotic

 

Sounds like fun. But building a solid base of soft skills is critical to  successful “teaming.“

 

You may think this type of team arrangement would never apply to your circumstances.…but think again. In recent months, I’ve had several of my coaching clients and one family member participate in this type of team format.

 

A Case in Point

Yesterday, IBM launched PureSystems which IBM describes as  “a new, simpler era of computing.” I’m not a techie but it’s a big deal and as the company shared during its launch event, “it’s the result of $2 billion in R&D and acquisitions over the past four years.”

 

My daughter Sarah, an “IBMer” and a member of the marketing launch team, has lived and breathed the project since she joined the company last year. It was top secret and she could not share what she was working on but I do know that her team could be described with the “teaming” characteristics described above.

 

In another case, one of my coaching clients, a CPA formerly with a Big4 firm and now with General Motors, was tapped to lead a project with team members who span the globe and possess variety of skills and disciplines. He had not previously met any of his team members.

 

You don’t have to work for mega companies like IBM or GM to experience this teaming concept. This type of flexible team work is happening at large and small firms alike.

 

Required Skill Sets

 

Technical skills are expected of course. But to achieve and excel in this new form of team environment, soft skills in emotional intelligence (EQ) are imperative. And the good news is that these skills can be learned and developed.

 

Witnessing teaming in action through my clients and daughter and reading Edmondson’s descriptions of successful teams, I believe the following are key EQ skills that can make all the difference:

 

• Flexibility: Not surprising, your ability to adapt your emotions, thoughts and behaviors to unfamiliar, unpredictable and dynamic circumstances or ideas is critical to survival in this type of team environment. Change is here to stay and being adaptable and flexible in team circumstances has never been more important.

 

• Problem Solving: How do you find solutions to problems in situations where emotions are involved? Deadlines are a way of life and especially in teaming circumstances, complete information is just not available.

 

• Interpersonal Relationships: Developing and maintaining great relationships is a skill set that is easier when teams are based on longstanding, mutual experiences and geographic proximity. But in teaming, relationships must build quickly without the benefit of trust building as a foundation.  

 

• Empathy: Differences in cultural norms, values and perspectives are natural in a teaming situation. Empathy built on listening to others opinions and ideas is critical to successful decision making and project completion.

 

• Assertiveness: In a teaming situation, team members must speak up and offer their perspective and ideas. They must be able to communicate honestly and directly, raise issues and acknowledge when errors are made.

 

• Stress Management: This form of team is not for the faint of heart. Being able to cope with stressful, rapidly changing circumstances, different personalities and functional skill sets  is a requirement of leaders at all levels. And I would argue, even more so in a teaming situation.

 

 

As Edmondson says in her article, “teaming” is here to stay. This form of flexible team is challenging for sure, yet as Edmondson describes in her article, there are great rewards for both the individual and the organization.

 

Are you ready for this brave new world?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Doing the Work, Part 2

 

“Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them of a treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him, crying and asking, “Where, Where?” but it’s too late…

The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out into the fields with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and, bitterly disappointed, abandon the search.

The next season, the farm has its best harvest ever.”

~ Story as told by Ben and Rosamund Zander in their book, The Art of Possibility

 

Exactly one year ago this week, I wrote a blog post titled “Doing the Work,” reminding all of us that the fruits of our labors will come, but we have to “till the soil.” We have to do the often hard and sometimes painful work that it takes to achieve our goals.

Last evening, like clockwork, I heard the farmer on the working farm next door, go to work on getting his soil ready for spring planting. Ironically, I had just had a “crucial conversation” with one of my coaching clients regarding her resistance and inactivity in doing her own work. She wondered why she wasn’t seeing her desired results.

Blame and excuses were sprinkled all around but she refused to take responsibility for her own poor results.

As I said last year, it’s hard to “do the work.” It takes effort, commitment, and an openness to change. But there is support and encouragement along the way. And remember that it’s also true that the “harvest” can be so rich.

So again, I challenge you to think about what you want to be different in your life.  And then ask yourself: What effort am I willing to commit to “doing the work?” What digging do I need to do that will help me succeed at the goals and results that I long to achieve?

It’ spring. Time to prepare the soil. Time to do the work. The rewards are waiting for you.

To your success,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time To Play Offense?

 

“We must look for ways to be an active force in our own lives.

We must take charge of our own destinies, design a life of substance

and truly begin to live our dreams.”

~Les Brown

 

“No.  I’m not going play that way. I want to win.”

 

My tennis team member was firm. She was not going to practice our doubles drill as designed.

 

Hearing this resistance, our tennis coach calmly explained that the drill was supposed to help us think and play more offensively, to be the first to come to the net, taking balls out of the air and putting them away. In the long run, we’d learn a new skill that would definitely give us a better chance to win.

 

My tennis colleague would have none of it. She wanted to play back, preferring to hit from the baseline with a strong, consistent ground stroke.

 

Our coach said “Fine. We’ll see who wins.”  

 

Over the next hour, rotating partners, we played the drill, keeping track of the points and how they were won.

 

You guessed it. Our stubborn team member lost each point when she stayed back, preferring to play it “her” way.

 

I smiled when I thought of how this same stubbornness plays out in the world of work. How often do we resist change, preferring to do things the way we’ve always done? How often do we let short term “win’s” get in the way of learning new skills that would actually benefit us in the long run?

 

What would be possible if we began to play offense?

To your success,

 

Mary

What's Your Reputation?

 

“Your chances of success in any undertaking

can always be measured by your belief in yourself.”

~Robert Collier

 

You work hard to build an excellent reputation in your firm, among your client base and in your community.  Because you need a good external reputation to build trust with others, garner respect and enhance your influence.

But what about your internal reputation? By that I mean the reputation you have with yourself, your overall self-esteem.

I’ve had some high-achieving clients who, despite their success and evidence to the contrary, don’t think much of themselves. They are highly self-critical and demand perfection in everything they do.  In their minds, they challenge their competence and their ability to learn new skills. They say things to themselves that they would never say to others. They set such high expectations for themselves, how could they possibly measure up? 

So, why do they do it? They mistakenly believe that this overly harsh, self-critical approach generates better results.

Quite the contrary. Their lack of self-esteem is actually a barrier to outstanding leadership and performance.  Here's why.

Self-acceptance is one of the six pillars of self-esteem (i.e. our reputation with ourselves) that author Nathaniel Branden identifies in his book Self Esteem at Work: How Confident People Make Powerful Companies.

According to Branden’s research, if you accept yourself as you are at work:

• You are more accepting of others.
• You are calmer.
• Not everything is such a big deal.
• You are more open to hearing other points of view.
• You are less defensive.
• You handle critical feedback well.

 

Can you see how the above behaviors can enhance your leadership effectiveness and performance? If you believe in you, others will believe in you, too.

 

So ask yourself: What can I do today to begin building my reputation with myself? How can I take an honest look at my strengths and weaknesses and accept myself just the way I am? Because in the end, that self - acceptance is the foundation for successful change.

To your success,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living Your Life vs. Living "Out" Your Life

 

“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

~William Ross Wallace

 

On the plane home from my “mini vacation” in Florida yesterday, I sat next to an "old" man. He was quiet for most of the trip but every now and then, he’d ask me a question or engage me in conversation.

 

When I asked him about his trip, he shared that he had been in Florida for seven weeks, visiting his younger sister while recuperating from a recent knee surgery. I followed it up with an inquiry about how he liked Florida in general.

 

“Well,” he said, “it’s filled with lots of old people.” (I guessed his age at about 85…) He went on. “Actually, most of the people I met were not living life; they were just living out their life. I much prefer my neighborhood at home where there are young families and life is happening all around me.”  “I’m not that old.”

 

With an attitude like his, he could live to be 100!

 

Over the years, I’ve known people who, much younger than 85, are merely living out their life. They’re comfortable on “auto pilot,” going through the motions of daily living, settling for the status quo.

 

 Could this be you? Remember, “If you’re coasting, you’re either losing momentum or else you’re headed  downhill.” Is it time to step on the gas?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Another Look At How We Project Ourselves

 

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking.

It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

~Albert Einstein

 

Last fall I wrote an article on Executive Presence and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) for my monthly newsletter, spare change. I’ve received great feedback on the article as a useful tool to share with professionals who are looking to enhance how they “show up” in a leadership setting.

 

The premise of the article is that our emotional intelligence, (in essence how “smart” we are about using our emotions), directly impacts our executive presence. In other words, how we “show up” can be enhanced by developing various aspects of our EQ.

 

Recently, I ran across a great visual, articulated by Coach Michael Neill, which paints a vivid picture of what I’m talking about.

 

Imagine that what you display to others, your “executive presence,” is like a movie, all happening on a movie screen in front of you. In executive presence terms, the movie might portray you as confident, assertive and empathic or timid, passive and unconnected.

But what’s really occurring is not happening on the screen at all. It’s inside the movie projector that shines a light on your “video tape reel”. Your thoughts, beliefs and emotions are illuminated by the bright light of the projector and playing outside on the movie screen.

 

When looking at improving our executive presence, many look to change what’s happening on the movie screen, outside of the projector (think new clothes or other outward trappings of success). But as you know from the movies, changing what’s on the screen doesn’t work.

 

The change you seek must happen on the inside of the projector, by changing the thoughts, beliefs and emotions that run though your "projector." If you want to change how you show up, the change must happen on the inside first.

 

What do you think? Does this visual resonate with you? What is the image you project? What are the thoughts, beliefs and emotions running through your “projector” that impact how you are perceived by others?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

Leading Change: Part 2

 

“You go first and lead the way.”

~Tom Flick

 

I spent the last couple days attending the annual Winning Is Everything Conference out in Las Vegas. The event gathers CPA leaders from a wide variety of firms across the country. The focus is on sharing current practice management challenges and opportunities impacting the CPA profession.

 

For me, a former practicing CPA firm partner and executive coach for many CPA leaders, it’s a great opportunity to keep a pulse on what’s happening in firms across the country.

 

This year, from the opening presentation on, I sensed a definite shift in focus and perspective in firm leaders. Now, more than ever, they shared, outstanding leadership is imperative. The consistent message came from keynote speakers, panel participants and leading consultants to the profession. And great leadership is not just critical at the Managing Partner level. It’s throughout the firm, regardless of your title or role.

 

Amen.

 

Tom Flick, former pro football quarterback, was a highlight. He gave a rousing keynote address, focusing on many of the transformational change imperatives espoused by John Kotter in his book, Leading Change. Creating a sense of urgency, instilling a vision and strategy and empowering others were just a few of the leadership “musts” that Flick touched on. I smiled as I listened to Flick’s presentation, remembering a blog post I authored on the topic a couple of years ago. These CPAs were listening.

 

Flick’s reminder is timely. The profession is in full blown merger mania, with combinations happening in large and small firms across the country. We all know that there’s more to mergers than dollars and cents. They impact people. (Full disclosure, my former firm was merged into Plante Moran in the late 1990s.)

 

As firms continue to combine, strong, transformational leadership is needed to create a positive and productive surviving culture. To make sure that 1+1 is way more than 2.

 

The published theme of the conference was BE A HERO: Think Outside of the Box. And that’s exactly what great leaders do.

To your success,

 

Mary

 

What Are You Missing?

 

“The beauty of a person, or a flower, or a poem lies in seeing all of it.”

~ Peter Senge

 

 

 

The 360º feedback was clear. Although Pam*, (*not her real name) excelled in many of the leadership skills required by her organization, she lacked a critical skill set for her future progress: an ability to think strategically. According to the individuals I interviewed, Pam lacked the perspective required to pull together various aspects of her role into a coherent, strategic view.

 

Pam, a CPA and a senior leader in a fortune 500 company, did not disagree with the results. “I’m so focused on the details and the “here and now” that I don’t make the time to look up and think about the bigger picture,” she shared.

 

Pam’s focus and comfort with the technical and tactical aspects of her role has served her well in her progression with her company. But as a newly named head of a major corporate project, she will be required to stretch out of her comfort zone and into a new and different way of thinking.

 

How can Pam learn to build a strategic mindset?

Of course, building this skill will be one of the primary focuses of our coaching work together. We’ll work to broaden her perspective of her company’s business, not just focusing on the narrow, financial aspects, but also exposing her to other information and data that will help her understand how what she does, impacts the overall results.

 

Peter Senge, in his book The Fifth Discipline, describes systems thinking as “a discipline for seeing wholes.”  It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” Much of strategy and systems thinking comes from having a curious mind and some imagination. Learning to ask questions and exploring “what ifs”. We’ll focus on building those muscles and mindset in Pam.

 

Pam will also need to delegate more of her day to day and tactical responsibilities to her team so that her time will free up for more planning and thinking about what’s next and how the project she’s leading fits into the bigger picture.

 

In the end, while Pam knows that strategic thinking is not one of her natural preferences, she knows it’s a skill set she can build. She also knows that this skill is required for future progress with the company. She’s committed to her leadership development and is definitely interested in seeing the big picture. After all, look what she’s missing.

 

 

 

What about you? How do you apply a systems perspective in your work? What are the strategies you use to broaden your perspective, to leave the tactical and shift to a strategic perspective?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

A Growth Mindset For 2012

 

“…decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people

reach their goals not simply because of who they are,

but more often because of what they do.”

~Heidi Grant Halvorson

 

It’s the end of 2011. And with 2012 just around the corner, it’s time to reflect on the year that’s passed and chart some new (or re-commit to current) goals for the coming year. It’s time to craft your goals for success (however you define it.)

 

But for my coaching clients and I’m sure many of you, goal setting and achievement is not just an end of the year thing. It’s an ongoing focus on our continuous improvement and development.

 

So just what do successful people do differently in order to reach their goals? Researcher, Heidi Grant Halvorson identifies nine things in her incredibly popular HBR blog post from February 2011.

 

Here they are in summary form:

1. Get specific.
2. Seize the moment to act on your goals. (decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance.)
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go.
4. Be a realistic optimist.
5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good. (Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability.)
6. Have grit. Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.
7. Build your willpower muscle. Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
8. Don't tempt fate. No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do. 

 

Several of the actions Halvorson identifies are consistent with goal setting best practices outlined in the SMART goals approach. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound is the standard for goal setting.

 

But #5, “focus on getting better, rather than being good” requires a shift in perspective for many

 

 Your Mindset

Researcher, Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success identifies two different mindsets, the growth mindset (getting better) and the fixed mindset (being good). One perspective can positively impact the achievement of your goals and the other will keep you stuck in your ways.

 

The fixed mindset creates an internal monologue that is focused on judging: “Are you sure you can do it? Maybe you don’t have the talent?” “This means I’m a better/smarter/richer person than they are.” Worse yet, this mindset provides no solution or options to overcome your challenge.

 

People with a growth mindset are also constantly monitoring what’s going on, but their internal monologue is not about judging themselves and others in this way. They are attuned to the situation’s implications for learning and constructive action. They ask themselves questions like: “What can I learn from this? How can I improve? How can I help my coworker do this better?”

 

So in the context of Halvorson’s suggestions, #5 and embracing the growth mindset is critical for success and your goal achievement.

 

For 2012

As you establish your goals for 2012, evaluate them in terms of Halverson’s research and your own view of your current mindset. If you happen to already possess a growth mindset, that’s great news. If yours is fixed, however, Dweck identifies a few steps to help you make the shift:

1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
2. Recognize that you have a choice.
3. Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
4. Take the growth mindset action: i.e take on the challenge whole heartedly, learn from the setbacks and try again or hear the criticism and act on it.

 

Goal setting, progress and achievement are integral to my work as a coach. Combining the proven research on successful change with practical approaches and support is the foundation for my work.

 

I’d love to hear some of your best practices on goal setting and achievement. What works best for you? How will you achieve your goals in 2012?

 

To your success,

Mary