TheLeadershipNotebook

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

“The soul never thinks without a picture.”

~Aristotle

 

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the first stage of a strategic planning workshop for a community organization where I volunteer. The session was facilitated by Jim Haudan, CEO of Root, a company that specializes in strategy planning, execution and employee engagement.

Jim is also the author of an excellent book, The Art of Engagement, an extremely useful resource to organizations and leaders looking to take their strategy process from paper to action with employees engaged along the journey.

I’ve participated in many strategic planning sessions over my career and facilitated some as well. But the unique aspect of Root’s process (I’ve participated in more than a few that Jim has facilitated) is its emphasis on the power of a picture in each phase of the process.

An example of the impact of an image in the process is in building shared meaning among the group. Words like “excellence,” “vision” or even “strategy” mean different things to different people.

Look at these two pictures:

 

 

When you say the word “bear” two very different images can come to mind. Expanding the concept further, a bottle of aspirin (Bayer) or a baby’s “bare” bottom can be conjured up. Without clarity or shared meaning, one concept of “excellence” can mean different things to different people.

Root’s “Learning Maps,” focus on pictures, and the premise of creating shared meaning among participants, has transformed strategy and culture from large multi-national corporations to small not-for profits across the globe. 

I’m looking forward to continuing the process.

What do you think? Do you have a clear picture of where your strategy is taking you?

To your success,

Mary

 

 

Your First and Simplest Emotion

 

“The first and simplest emotion that we discover in the human mind is curiosity.”

~Edmund Burke

 

Remember when you were 6 and you drove your Mom crazy asking questions that began with words like: Why? Who? When? Where? How? and my personal favorite, What? Endless curiosity ruled your world. Until, as one of my coaching clients lamented, your parents or teacher or babysitter cried out in exasperation: No More Questions!

 

Curiosity inadvertently squashed.

 

Another lesson some are taught as kids is that it’s rude to ask questions or worse, that asking questions somehow conveys your ignorance. Curious George always got into trouble for being curious. And we might even have been warned that “Curiosity killed the cat!”

 

For many, curiosity got a bad rap.

 

The truth is that curiosity is one of the most vital and life-affirming qualities you can bring to your work life AND your personal life.

 

Curiosity at Work

It is so easy to blame others (or ourselves) when things go wrong. Consider being curious about your experiences rather than critical. For example, instead of beating yourself up, or blaming someone else, for not reaching your performance goals—again—try asking yourself what is going on for you that keeps your performance below your expectations?

 

You can ask questions like:

• What could have done differently?
• What can I learn from this performance?
• What will be my next step?

 

With an attitude of genuine curiosity in coming to understand the current reality, you are more likely to help yourself find new and more creative solutions to achieving your goals or helping others achieve their goals.

Cultivating a curious mind also improves your ability to think more strategically. Asking questions like:

• What’s possible for my department to achieve in the coming year?
• Where is the next wave of opportunity in my client base?
• What if I looked at our challenges from a different perspective?

 

Questions like these coming from a curious mind, shift your perspective from the here and now to points in the future and help you begin the process of building your strategic roadmap.

 

Curiosity in Life

Helen Keller said, “Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all!” When you foster an attitude of curiosity, doors open and adventures begin; questions lead to new possibilities. For example, asking yourself “What do I want to learn now and where might that lead me?” can set you on a journey of exciting exploration that moves you forward.

If, instead, you come from the place of “I already know what I need to know,” you shut off the possibility of discovering something new that could rock your world.

 

So shake off those old, outdated beliefs you have about being curious. Walt Disney, friend of 6 year olds everywhere, said: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

 

If you truly want to expand your excitement, joy and fulfillment in your work and your personal life, keep those Why? Who? When? Where? How? and What? questions coming.

 

What do you think? How has being curious benefitted you in your career or in your personal life?  What have you learned about being curious?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

The Dangers of the Jungle

Recently, I had a coaching call with a client, an internal audit leader of a Fortune 500 Company. (We’ll call him George.)  George’s performance was solid but his 360 results indicated a need for more strategic thinking and less time operating “in the weeds.”

George’s previous roles and background supported his habit and comfort with the details. However, as he took on additional leadership responsibilities, he knew he needed to shift his focus to a more big picture and strategic mindset.

George genuinely wanted to learn new skills, to grow in his role and to move up in the company, but he was struggling to make the shift.

Once we uncovered George’s beliefs (many of them false) about what kept him in the details, I asked George for a visual that would describe what it would feel like if he remained there.

“Like I’m lost in a jungle,” he said. “I want to get out. I need to get out. It would be great to get out. And the longer I stay here, the more it will negatively impact my career.” (Just let your mind wander about the long term dangers of being lost in a jungle.)

The Jungle. For George, it was a powerful visual.

So how could he get out? During our call, we worked to identify strategies or “tools” he could use to exit the jungle. A helicopter (his direct reports) and a machete (increased self-awareness to know when he was getting pulled in) were just two of the tools he identified.

Once his limiting beliefs were identified and strategies for action were developed, coaching then focused on building new habits and behaviors to keep him out of “the jungle.”

Fast forward to today. The visual of the jungle and the personal and professional dangers it held for George were strong enough to lead him out. With his awareness raised and his team solidly behind him, George is now more effective at operating at the strategic level that his role requires.

What about you? How often to you get stuck in The Jungle? Is there a good visual that describes a shift you need to make to take your performance to the next level?

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

Executing Strategy: We Want the "Pitbulls"

 

 

“If you want “management pygmies,” restrict your people to “small conversations.” On the other hand, if you want them to do extraordinary things – and if you want to raise your organization’s “strategic IQ,” invite them into the “big conversations.”

They’ll grow faster than you imagine – and they’ll contribute more than you expect!”

~Tony Manning

 

In last week’s blog post, I mentioned that I was facilitating a CPA Firm’s upcoming strategic planning Summit. During the Summit, members will be crafting the goals, priorities and activities that the Firm should focus on over the next 3 years to achieve their shared vision.

 

In preparation for the Summit, I’ve been gathering data, reviewing employee survey results and learning key insights from members of the Firm’s management team. The firm has many strengths. And it also faces some real tough challenges.

 

Crafting a solid strategy to capitalize on Firm strengths and opportunities and address Firm weaknesses and threats will be our priority. Focusing on putting action steps, timelines and accountability in place to execute the strategy will also be key.

 

But do the members of the Firm have “the winning spirit,” a critical element of strategy execution that Tony Manning describes in his great book, Making Sense of Strategy?

 

Great Strategy + Winning Spirit = Pitbulls

In fact, Manning sets up a wonderful visual description for the results that can occur when great strategy and a winning spirit combine or when one or both are missing. As you read these descriptions, imagine where your firm members fall:

 

No-Hopers: They either have no strategy or it’s not a great one and their spirit is weak.

Nerds: They apply their minds to creating a precise and detailed strategy but they don’t have the spirit to drive it. The lack of spirit shows up in a plan that fails to be executed.

Partygoers: They have lots of spirit but lack the solid strategy. They’re very busy but directionless, flapping around, going nowhere.

Pitbulls: They’re working with a solid strategy. They’re clear about where they’re headed and ferocious about getting there. They fix on the target identified in the strategy and go for it!

 

Manning states: “Competitiveness demands both a clear strategy and a winning spirit. You should naturally strive for a strategy that’s superior to anything your competitors may dream up. But even the best strategy in the world will have a short shelf life if it’s not driven by extraordinary human spirit. If your people aren’t passionate about your corporate quest, you’re unlikely to either get ahead or stay there.”

 

In short, we want a firm full of lots of "Pitbulls!"

 

Leadership is Key

The real measure of the Firm’s leadership will be in executing the solid strategy with a winning spirit. Firm leadership must harness the “Pitbulls” to relentlessly focus on the desired strategic objectives. Involving team members in developing the strategy is the first step.

 

In addition, Firm leaders must inspire and motivate members to stretch when they need to and to bounce back when they have a setback. They must share information, responsibility, power and accountability. Successful execution will come when members embrace the strategy and are totally committed to achieving the results.

 

What about your firm? When it comes to strategy execution, who dominates the attitude and culture of your firm? What do you do to unleash that “winning spirit” in your firm?

 

To your success,

 

Mary