Professional Development Standards

Category Archives: Professional Development Standards

So What Do You Think? (1 of 2)

November 20, 2010 admin

Modified excerpts from the book, “Expected End”

“You were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the flight lead barked at me in the debriefing. Inside, I already knew this but how could I improve for the next time? Several of us had gone out on what was to have been a routine “Dart ride” where we live-fired the air-to-air gun against a towed target. My brain-fade this day was especially dangerous because of real bullets. As a new mission-ready pilot to the F-4, I was still adjusting to flying with a group of very experienced but non-instructor type of pilots. Still, by any standard, this flight had not gone well.

One of the basic skills required of a fighter pilot is to predict geometry and fly accordingly. I had calculated wrong and put myself in an unsafe position. The debriefing did not help much as it was long on my failings and short on fixes. However, what happened next was very useful.

After the debriefing, one of the experienced pilots took me aside and described what I had done, what I should have done, and, most importantly, why. The counsel of the more experienced pilot made sense although it clashed with my current mindset. I was then required to make a decision on whether or not to change how I saw the issues for improvement.

I finally decided the other pilot’s straight-forward explanation made great sense and tried it on the next Dart flight. It worked! Rather than being a hazard to the several other airplanes swirling in the sky, I was part of the team.

A few years later in an F-15, I finished a fight with a simulated tracking gun kill on the opponent. This is considered a macho way to take out a bad guy and made the many hours leading up to the moment all worthwhile. On this day in the debriefing, another experienced pilot was very complimentary of my contribution to the mission. The encouragement I received that day from the other pilot in the flight was very gratifying. I had produced a great result while honoring expectations and took a few moments to enjoy the fruits of learning.

There is a time for both counsel and encouragement. Counsel will likely produce a collision of paradigms. If the hearers are open to improvement, the counsel is put to good use to look at current mindsets and adjust as needed. If good counsel is rejected, growth will not happen.

In most learning environments, the conversations should be weighted to the counsel side but encouragement must not be neglected. Each of us has some need for recognition at least in some small way. If counsel is the main dish for improvement, encouragement is the spice that makes the meal taste so much better.

As an upgrading pilot moving from the F-4 to F-15, I had the chance to fly with an instructor who found a great balance of counsel and encouragement. He was very exacting in his expectations and there was nothing soft about his standards. On the other hand, he consistently pointed out successes in the building block flights that fueled my motivation exponentially.

One of the questions we ask in the military is, “Would I be willing to go with this person into combat?” The answer speaks volumes. In the case of this instructor, it would have been my honor to team up with him in combat.

Next time, I will suggest five concrete application steps for the leadership thinker.

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Related Articles

So What Do You Think? (2 of 2)

Asking Great Questions

Critical Thinking – Where to start? « Tim van Gelder – I was wondering if you could take a moment of your valuable time to suggest a couple of books on the subject. I would like improve my critical thinking skills so I suppose the focus sought would be adult learner skill(s) acquisition with emphasis on techniques and (lots of) practice. I have been trying to develop said skills on my own (without much success).

A Weblog · Critical Thinking Journals/Culture of Thinking – Critical Thinking Journals/Culture of Thinking. Thursday 8 March 2007 in Creativity, Critical Thinking, Education, Personal, Philosophy, Society by Josh | 2 comments. Well, last semester I kept a journal for my class CCT 602: Creative Thought. …

The Question of Critical Thinking at cac.ophony.org – In my current work as a Fellow at Baruch, I’ve been encouraging students to formulate questions as they begin to work on research papers. The idea, in part, is that it’s a whole lot easier digging through the literature on a given …

Asking Great Questions

November 06, 2010 admin

One of the keys to becoming a highly effective leader is learning to ask great questions. By most definitions, a leader will need to become comfortable with a certain amount of ambiguity or fuzziness around the edges. This is because leadership is constantly evaluating whether the current mindset is correct

Leadership thinking goes beyond simply doing a good job or working really hard (although these traits are still required). Some have described leadership development as working on the soft skills and this is true in the sense that developing a person’s character and outlook is not so concrete as teaching someone to account for company expenses or repair a power tool.

Making improvements as a leader requires learning process skills. Most of us grow up and go out into a work world where we are given tasks to carry out. Once the task is complete, we move on to the next. Workers that grow up in organizational systems like this remain dependent on being told what to do and often do not cultivate leadership thinking tools. Carrying out essential tasks at all levels of family, group or organization is not bad … it’s necessary. It is also incomplete. At some point, the person who wants to become a leader must also work on new thinking skills.

Here’s an example. Managing could be compared to doing the very best “inside the box” or existing set of rules, policies and cultural norms. The manager in the strictest use of the word does not question the box. Instead, he or she works to maximize efficiency in the box. It’s like a gardener who must use an existing mower no matter how much it degrades over time without maintenance.

Leading, however, can be compared to looking for and deciding on which box to use. Too often, poor outcomes are not the result of bad people in the system as much as the natural result of a bad system. Thinking about the overall system and suggesting or causing change is the bread-and-butter of a leader. This is like a gardener who has full authority to buy a new mower when needed rather than trying to just get along with a sub-par machine.

So let’s talk about great questions. Advancing in this skill of questioning means growing in self-awareness, maturity, systems thinking and curiosity.

Self-Awareness

A leader’s journey begins and matures from the inside out. This is because it is very difficult to question an organizational outlook without doing so inside first. Said another way, changing inside will cause the person to influence change in the external world of work and family. For example, if I think a particular food tastes bad because it looks bad, I will have a hard time persuading others to try it. If I have tried the food and found it good, it is much more convincing to encourage someone else to try too.

Lesson – I must ask great questions of myself before I can do so of others.

Maturity

One of my favorite definitions of maturity is by Stephen Covey. He defines maturity as the balance of “courage and consideration.” (Covey, 1989) This means courage to say and do the right thing combined with consideration to do it in a kind way.

Lesson – Great questions require I ask hard things in a kind way.

Systems Thinking

Dr. Deming was an insightful teacher on systems thinking. One of his teaching tools was “The Red Bead” experiment.* Deming called this a silly game but he was passionate about the profound implications for the systems thinking student. A leader in search of a “new box” must first understand the entire existing box, not just a little piece of it. Misunderstanding the current paradigm means the would-be leadership student will likely make the problem worse rather than finding real, long-term solutions.

Lesson – Great questions come out of viewing the individual trees AND the forest at large.

Curiosity

I believe all of us are naturally curious from childhood. Often this curiosity is silenced as we grow and try to become more adult-like. In reality, curiosity is a critical skill for a leader. Without this tool, leadership growth is severely stunted or non-existent.

Innocent curiosity allows the so-called sophisticated to uncover new ways of thinking which lead to new and better ways of doing. I don’t know about you but every so often my children have asked very simple yet equally profound questions because they were just curious. How about re-discovering that skill for the good of your part of the world?

Lesson – There really are no dumb questions in the leadership quest. If you think it, ask it … in a nice way of course!

Now just imagine the great questions that can come out of self-awareness, maturity, systems thinking and curiosity! Give it a try!

Reference

Covey, Stephen R. (1989). 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY. Fireside Publishers.

* www.RedBead.com

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Related Articles

So What Do You Think? (1 of 2)

So What Do You Think? (2 of 2)

How to Be Curious – Is curiosity a personality trait or can it be learned? I suspect that personality type does come into being curious. Some people seem to be naturally wired in a way where they’re doing the above things – however I also think that it is something that can be learned to some extent. Here are 12 starting points for becoming ‘more curious’:

Four Steps to Choosing Better Values

October 30, 2010 admin

Personal development requires looking for, looking at and changing mindsets as needed. However, since it makes no sense to change mindsets in a vacuum, what should a person use as a guide? Part of the answer is having an intentional values system. Here’s an exercise to get started.

In your dealings with people (in general), what do you value most from the interactions? How do you prefer others approach you from a character standpoint?
What are the top three or four most important things you want from a friend or business colleague on a relationship level?
How do you think customers should be treated? How do you think fellow team members should be treated?
What is non-negotiable?

Now, before we get too far, not all values are created equal. A value is nothing more than a basic priority on which to base decisions.

For instance, let’s say I’m a boss and I think it’s important my employees do what I say … no matter what (obedience)! This may be fine as long as I am ALWAYS right and ALWAYS have the best ideas. On the other hand, this could be disastrous if I’m not the smartest person in the room.

So here’s a two-part test before we go on.

Do you think you are the smartest person in the room?

Do you wish you were the smartest person in the room?

If you answer ‘YES’ to either question, personal development will be difficult to impossible. Why? Either of these self-centered mindsets will block learning, short-circuit relationships or both. Continual learning and relationships are at the core of personal development work.

Realistically, the value of rigid obedience held by the boss in the above setting will work some times and fail at others. The point is some values have more substance than others. So then, the ‘best’ values are those that work the most consistently, not just some times. In fact, if we could choose values that ALWAYS work, that is ideal.

The GOOD NEWS … there are values that ALWAYS work! Here’s another exercise to help.

Let’s say Entrepreneur X is starting a company and already has 10 employees. At an early team meeting, one of the first agenda items is to define ‘how we will treat customers and each other.’ What do you suppose would be on the list?

Possible answers could include the following (you can add more).

Treat each other with respect
Value everyone’s ideas equally
Go the extra mile with customers and each other (consideration/patience)
Promote creative solutions that are good for us and the customer (everybody wins)
Do business with vendors who share our quality commitment

Notice the underlined words and how universal each sounds? It doesn’t matter if you are in the military, government, non-profit, for-profit or some other organization; any healthy person could buy into the list. Why? Regardless of the organization, “people are people.”

Here’s another great exercise created by a consultant friend of mine to help build or refine a stand-out values system.

Using one or two-word descriptors, what traits are required from a husband and wife to have a happy, life-long marriage? The results of this exercise are amazingly similar with widely different groups. Here are a few traits to get the brain juices flowing.

Love
Courage
Honesty
Humor
Fidelity
… and many more!

Notice how these traits really are values? Please also notice how these traits work in professional relationships. So here’s a 4-part test for ‘good’ values.

Is it timeless? (It would work centuries ago and will work centuries into the future.)
Is it universal (works for most anybody across cultures and religions)?
Is it obvious and certain if stated out loud?
Does it ALWAYS meet the needs … long-term?

Any value that fits these four pieces is an excellent candidate for your personal values list.

To develop a list of closely held values, do this …

STEP 1: Brainstorm a list of values. Write as many as possible. (Don’t worry yet if they pass the above values test.)

STEP 2: Now test each value based on the criteria above and drop those that do not pass the test. Rank order the remaining items.

STEP 3: Set the list aside and then revisit in a few days.

STEP 4: Boil the list down until you are rock solid with the top few. It’s not that the others don’t matter, it is just important to know your top three or four to make consistent, good decisions on mindsets.

When decisions are most difficult, you may bump into what we call “values conflict” where you must decide which value is of higher priority. The person who has defined the top three or four values will do better with difficult decisions.

Once you have a good values framework in place, looking for, looking at and changing mindsets becomes MUCH more meaningful, useful and satisfying.

Coming Back Stronger | Drew Brees (2 of 2)

October 23, 2010 admin

Let’s continue from last time by looking at a book by New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees titled, “Coming Back Stronger.” (If you are challenged with your present circumstances, let me recommend Drew’s book to you.) You may recall that in this book, Drew talks about the mysterious value of adversity and how, “that which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” (Brees, 2010) He draws from his real life examples and suggests ways of finding the good in bad things that may come from just living life.

One of the intriguing concepts in the book relates to Drew’s acrostic on faith. ‘Keeping the faith’ so to speak is one of the required mental processes to excel in adversity. From a team perspective, Drew breaks down faith into five pieces so here is the diagram.

Fortitude

Attitude

Integrity

Trust

Humility

We will look at the final parts this time by combining thoughts from the book with my editorial comments.

Trust

Trust (or the lack thereof) is the natural outcome of integrity. If you want more trust in a relationship – be it personal or professional – work on integrity first. Don’t just try to force trust (it doesn’t work anyway). Trust is the glue that holds any group or organization together. Without trust, any team or family will fall apart because each member becomes an island.

In the book, “Expected End,” I call trust as one of the two super-principles. (Friesen, 2008) Any successful group excels because of cultivated trust. At the most basic level, I have to believe in you to some degree (and vice versa) in order for us to perform our respective team tasks together with excellence.

I can think of no better example than formation flying. The flight lead (#1 airplane) has certain duties and responsibilities as does the wingman (#2 airplane). Over time, as pilots fly with other pilots, they develop different amounts of trust based on how each performs their respective duties. In the fighter world, a high-trust formation is an incredible weapon. The opposite is true as well.

Ideas – How much do others trust me? Do I hang out with people I trust? What one relationship can I work on this week to improve trust by being a person of better integrity?

Humility

The second of two ‘super-principles’ is humility. (Friesen, 2008) Humility is so very powerful because is allows learning to happen. After all, as one great coach said (can’t remember his name), “None of us knows everything about anything.”

Let’s get one thing straight … humility is not weak! Humility is a practical view of life and does not over-value self. Yes, self-esteem is important and humility does not harm self-esteem. Humility keeps that big ego in check.

You may argue that you have not ego but I think most of us do to some extent. Ego is not bad as long as it is kept in check by humility. Ego can help people do great things. Ego can help a person persist in spite of adversity. Mis-guided ego can destroy relationships, however.

Humility recognizes I do not have all the best ideas or infallible perspective. Humility looks for insight from others and then genuinely considers this advice. The beauty of humility is it helps any willing participant gain mindsets that are closer to reality and isn’t that what we really all aspire to? Don’t we just want to right in the most objective way?

Ideas – With whom should I suspend judgment the next time this person gives an opinion on something I care about? What could I learn? By the way … humility builds trust at an incredible rate … try it!

Working through and benefiting from adversity is a tall order. I am not pretending it’s easy to push through. No matter how many times a person faces difficult things, it does not necessarily make future problems easier. However, the committed learner will pick up tools each time adversity rears its ugly head to be better equipped for life and to help others along the way.

References

Brees, Drew (2010). Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the hidden power of adversity. Carol Stream, IL. Tyndale House Publishers.

Friesen, Mike (2008). Expected End: What Culture Is, Why It Matters and How to Improve It. Adna, WA. Lulu Press.

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October 16, 2010 admin

I am reading a great book by New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees titled, “Coming Back Stronger.” (If you are challenged with your present circumstances, let me recommend Drew’s book to you.) In this book, Drew talks about the mysterious value of adversity and how, “that which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” (Brees, 2010) He draws from his real life examples and suggests ways of finding the good in bad things that may come from just living life.

Fortitude

Attitude

Integrity

Trust

Humility

Let’s look at each piece in more detail. (Please understand my thoughts below are mixed with Drew’s views from his book.)

Fortitude

One part of getting through difficult things is simple grit. There is more to it than this but a ‘never say die’ outlook makes a huge difference. Think about most anybody who succeeds whether in business, sports, school, etc. Having a great heart that keeps going is important. At times, pushing ahead seems to take sheer will and a mindset that will not give up or give in.

Many years ago when I was in Air Force Pilot Training, there were days when I just wasn’t having fun. Once the romance of flying jets disappeared, becoming qualified was a lot of work (just like anything else worth achieving). There were days where other more qualified, more talented student pilots washed out of the program for a variety of reasons and I often wondered if I would be next. It was during these hard times that a simple determination carried me. Graduation day was sweet indeed!

Ideas – What area of your life could use more fortitude? Is there something that looks tough where a better mindset of fortitude will help you push through to achievement or success? Are you taking responsibility in all ways so fortitude is just the natural outcome?

Attitude

It is one thing to persist in the face of difficulty but it’s quite another to do so with a positive attitude. While a positive attitude alone is not enough, a super attitude combined with other important pieces (such as fortitude) is a remarkable combination.

I believe it’s General Colin Powell who says, “Optimism is a force multiplier.” I take his quote to mean there is energy and motivation with optimism. A positive attitude linked with a clear-headed view of reality is powerful and contagious.

Ideas – What area in your life could use a boost from optimism? Are you persevering in something but doing so with a lousy attitude? How will an attitude improvement strengthen your resolve to succeed in spite of obstacles?

Integrity

Being and acting as an integrated, whole person is one key part of happiness. It is also the pre-work to having great personal and professional relationships. If I look good on the surface but have problems with my integrity, I will never enjoy relationships as I otherwise might.

An important concept in reaching higher to personal success is first doing the inner work. This is all about integrity. Over time, I cannot have one area of my life where I do right and another where I do wrong. I can’t compartmentalize my character. You and I are whole people. Think about this …

Let’s say a hypothetical person named Joe wakes up in the morning. He remembers how badly he treated one of his family members over the weekend and is holding a grudge. Further, as he gets ready for work, he has a nasty argument with his wife due to selfishness and ego. How do you think Joe’s day will go at work? Will he be able to completely wall off his work life from his personal life day after day? Nobody is strong enough to compartmentalize this well.

This is why integrity is so important. If any of us wants a good life in one area, we must work to have a good life in all areas. This about living by timeless values and conscience. It’s about life-long satisfaction across the board. Working through adversity while improving integrity is a sure recipe for long-term success.

Ideas – How am I doing when nobody else is around? What areas could I improve by listening to my conscience more? What integrity advice would I receive from those I respect or love most?

Next time, we’ll look at adversity related to the last two areas of trust and humility.

Reference

Brees, Drew (2010). Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the hidden power of adversity. Carol Stream, IL. Tyndale House Publishers.

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4 Powerful Communication Strategies (2 of 2)

October 08, 2010 admin

Last time we looked at the first two of four effective strategies for effective communication. We defined effective strategy as an engaged, useful exchange of information. ‘Engaged’ is where two or more people are actively participating in the conversation through any means. ‘Useful’ is decided by the communicators, not by any observers.

We then went on to look at the first two of four key strategies. Here are the four.

Engage …

Compassionately
Logically
With Presence
Systematically

Now, let’s cover the last two strategies in detail along with some closing thoughts on methods and further application.

Engage With Presence

For more effective communication, here are two words of advice: ‘Be There.’ It is possible to be compassionate and logical and still miss the point. What is the meaning behind the meaning? What is the big picture? This is not trying to be deeply philosophical but about stand-out communication.

It is possible to care about the conversation and even have logical questions to ask and still have a wandering mind. It can be hard depending on what else is happening but effective communication demands … engagement! Engagement at its core is about being 100% in the discussion. Anything less needs work.

It can be harder to stay focused when the conversation is more important to the other person than to me so here is the pivotal question: Is this relationship important enough that I must genuinely engage even on a topic that is not as interesting to me as another? Think deeply about this from a values standpoint. Trust is never as good as when you need something from someone … later.

Engaging with presence includes the following.

Think ‘bigger’ than the conversation. What would a fly-on-the-wall view say about the exchange?
What are the hidden or implied meanings? What is unsaid but plain to a good observer?
Why are the other conversation participants discussing as they are and what do they need from me? How can I serve them?
How important is the relationship? If it’s important enough, banish all other brain-meanderings and focus on the topic at hand. If not, politely disengage for more pressing business.

Engage Systematically

One of the obstacles to effective communication is consistency. Most of us instinctively know how to communicate well in a one-time conversation but doing this day after day in good times and in bad is more difficult. What about the day you don’t feel so good? What about when you feel over-pressed with deadlines?

The intent of this section on engaging systematically is not to pretend any of us is perfect. Hopefully, the next several thoughts will encourage you to become even more effective in communication in a more consistent way.

Most of us already have the right intent; it’s just a matter of putting more effort in. We want to understand when we talk. We hope to have professional and personal relationships built on trust. (When I was a CFO several years ago, I would tell my staff that our most important commodity was credibility. That is another word for trust. This need is true regardless of the enterprise.)

The difficulty is life – whether at work or home – is not academic. It can be busy, chaotic, fluid, hard, confusing … and the list goes on. In short, there are many distractions to effective communication. (For example, a parent can understand how difficult it is to have an uninterrupted conversation with a spouse.)

The good news is it doesn’t take a lot of change to make a big difference in the consistency department. Engaging systematically requires a certain amount of discipline or – as the name implies – a system.

Here are few simple steps to application and you can think of more.

Send yourself a blind copy of an e-mail needing follow-up. Use a flagging system in Outlook or other software to revisit e-mails and follow-up. It is amazing how something as simple as, “Just checking in,” builds trust.
Have a way to write things down for follow-up. Always carry a small notebook or smart phone for notes.
Look at your list of key contacts and decide on an ideal schedule to visit in person or via video-teleconference (it’s free so no excuses). Schedule the visits. Keep the schedule at all costs!
Send someone a physical ‘Thank You’ card for an important contribution to a problem. This old method is new again.

Methods of Delivery

Before closing, let me focus a moment on methods of communication delivery. While the four strategies above are the foundation of great communication, the method of communication will definitely impact the effectiveness as well. Please factor this in when engaging compassionately, logically, with presence, and systematically.

There are certain types of communication that do just fine with e-mail (routine notes from a staff meeting for instance). There are others that will fail miserably (performance review – don’t laugh, it happens). A letter may work better for a resignation because it gives the sender a chance to refine thoughts and say everything just so. On the other hand, a letter is a lousy way to teach a new employee (don’t laugh, this gets done too).

There are certain places that work better for different types of in-person conversations. A public hallway might work fine for routine exchanges or planning. It’s a terrible place for talking about sensitive people issues. The corporate washroom might or might not be an OK place depending on its acoustics, ventilation ducts (someone hears in another room), and, most of all, the topic of conversation.

Here are questions to wrap up this article.

Engage compassionately: If I care, will I hold the conversation in this place and with this method?
Engage logically: How can I make our solution stronger?
Engage with presence: What is the whole message and what can I learn from the larger environment?
Engage systematically: How consistently am I applying the first three keys?

Effective communication is not only essential, it is critical for a group of any size to work well. Further, the business imperatives should be obvious that effective communication will help an organization learn, grow and thrive.

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4 Powerful Communication Strategies (1 of 2)

October 01, 2010 admin

Communication is a topic with many writers and speakers. Most people probably have at least one opinion on what matters most with communication. Perhaps that is because communication is a necessary skill for anyone wanting positive relationships or to get something done with others. Often, problems of many varieties boil down to nothing more complicated than a lack of effective communication.

Effective Communication

What is effective communication? For our purposes, let’s define this concept as an engaged, useful exchange of information. ‘Engaged’ is where two or more people are actively participating in the conversation through any means. ‘Useful’ is decided by the communicators, not by any observers.

Communicating is as old as time itself. Because people are very complex, just words alone are only a part of any message. This is why in-person, verbal communication is the best setting and method for truly understanding the whole message. Because circumstances vary, the communication environments and methods of delivery directly impact the effectiveness of the message. More on that later.

If you want to excel in communication, here are four keys to success.

Engage …

Compassionately
Logically
With Presence
Systematically

Let’s explore each area in turn.

Engage Compassionately

Some might scoff at compassion in business but I would argue there are practical reasons for engaging with compassion – even in a business setting. This is not about being overly emotional. Effective communication by its very definition requires a certain level of care. Whether an organization is engaged in offering a product or service, great business results come from great communication.

For two-way communication, I must care about the message you are sending or I must put value on your advice on a common concern. Either way, I must care about what you bring to the conversation. This is compassion.

In a more practical way, how is this done? Here is an example.

A parent of a small toddler must care to communicate with this child. Often, a two or three-year old is not completely articulate. If that child starts feeling ill, it can be challenging to specifically discover what is wrong. If we look at this communication process as an observer, notice how the parent will ask several questions and perhaps even repeat some to fully understand the problem. The healthy parent doesn’t give up until there is an answer.

Now, take this same intent to the workplace or with personal relationships. The compassion that says I must ‘get’ your message and must be sure of it before we move forward is critical to effectiveness.

Here are concrete ways for engaging compassionately.

Ask as many questions as needed to understand. Do not put an artificial limit on the number of questions.
Check if this is the right time to engage on this particular topic. Based on the environment, would there be a better time or place? Depending on all the pressures in the setting, will this conversation likely move forward? It is better to delay than do a mediocre job of communicating.
Use active listening in a common sense way (no parroting). At reasonable points in the discussion, check understanding … in your own words. It is amazing how often two or more people can think they are communicating and they are unknowingly defining words differently.

Engage Logically

Oh, to have piercing logic that never wavers and makes even the most difficult decisions easy. Most of us do not suffer from such a problem but engaging logically helps improve communication. Just as it is essential to engage with compassion, it is just as important to engage logically. Why? The one-word answer is ‘DATA.’

I can feel a certain way about any topic but there is something uncompromising about having evidence. If I am discussing something at work or home and we are genuinely trying to find a solution, engaging logically will help. Logic will ask the hard questions. (Logic with compassion will ask them in a nice way.) Logic will probe and be curious.

Because we have already explored compassion, logic in this case is looking for the weakness in an argument to either strengthen the shortfall or find a better solution. In short, this is about effectiveness!

Here is the summary for engaging logically.

Be curious (not obnoxious).
In your own words, ask things like, ‘How is that statement possible? What sources support your solution or point of view?’
Question your own assumptions to see if they stand up.
Go wherever the questions lead. In other words, ask a logical question and then ask a logical follow-up question and so on. Think of this as scientific exploration.
If you think it, ask it!

Next time we will finish with engaging with presence, systematically and a few last thoughts on methods of communication. Take care!

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Conflict Resolution Activities

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Characteristics of Personal Mastery (2 of 2)

September 25, 2010 admin

Last week we began exploring personal mastery. You may recall, we divided this into five areas.

Heart
Legacy
Mind
Action
Treating others well

We looked at heart and legacy last time so let’s continue with the last three areas and a few last thoughts on possible application.

Mind

Definition: Creativity, logic, imagination, and possibilities.

In our society, being logical is considered a strength. In reality, being logical is just a tool (like the other areas) and can be good or bad depending on its use. To be coldly logical about what brand of toothpaste to buy is perfectly fine. To be calculating and strictly logical with people will not build relationships like they could be otherwise.

Logic is powerful though. Logic helps explore, create, and refine. Logic builds great things! Mastering the mind is, in some ways, rediscovering the inner child. Please stay with me.

Who are the most creative among us? A child often does better in this category. Why? Creativity is not rewarded in many environments because it can be disruptive with questions. And yet, being loyal to the organization’s purpose will ensure the organization survives long-term. This will require some imaginative engagement and exploration.

In some cases, gain in mind mastery is like taking a cork out of a bottle … let the naturally creative and imaginative child partner with the wise adult in you. For example, when facing a challenging decision, in addition to thinking through the issues logically, give place to the dreamer as well.

In an ‘adult setting,’ you can do this by simply telling someone who is demanding a decision, ‘Let me think about it and get back to you.’ Then walk down the hall or look at another priority while your sub-conscious chews on the problem. It is amazing how an unleashed imagination linked with mature logic can find a new solution to a difficult problem. Try it!

Action

Definition: Decisive, measured, rational, bold, courageous, and considerate.

It’s one thing to make a decision and it can be quite another to act upon the decision. Some could argue a decision without action is not a decision but let’s not go there …

Several years ago, I was faced with a difficult personnel problem. As I talked with the supervisor team and pondered on the facts over a few weeks, I started to realize in my ‘gut’ what I needed to do. The fact was, what I perceived as the right thing was going to be very hard.

As I cast about in my mind for another (easier) solution, I was blank. Finally, what broke the logjam was when I put myself in the position of a front-line employee and asked myself, ‘What would I expect the boss to do?’ Difficult or not, it was time to do the right thing.

Achieving some level of personal mastery in the heart, mind and legacy areas will not matter without mastery in the area of action. Theory is easy; action can be quite hard to do. A partial solution in motion is infinitely better than a perfect plan that stays on the shelf.

There comes a point where ‘just do it’ is the best advice. If you or I listen to conscience, we know when this point is. The fascinating thing is mastery in the other areas help mastery in the category of action. In other words, it is important to work all the areas together.

Treat Others Well

Time to stick my neck out … if more people used this section title as a mantra, we would not need the variety of government-imposed mandates for hiring and promotions. Treating other people consistently well regardless of who they might be is a powerful tool for good.

One of the lessons I learned while serving in the military was to give feedback based on BEHAVIOR. On any military team, it didn’t matter what you looked like, where you came from, how you talked, your education, and so on. What mattered was behavior. What you did was what mattered … and that is as it should be. This taught me the importance of focusing on the output and to coach based on the actions and results.

Treating others well means I ‘assume’ everyone else has equal potential of achieving success in whatever area. It is still essential to hire smart and realize everyone is completely unique. However, once someone is on the team, treat them well and let them rise to the challenge. In most cases, they will! If not, they simply may be in the wrong seat on the bus.

Summary

Here are application thoughts to get you started.

Heart – Mastery is about using emotional data in a healthy perspective.

During the next few days, notice when you are angry. Being mad is often a secondary emotion – meaning there is another emotion underneath.
Try to discover what is underneath your anger.
Next, ask ‘why.’
Once you understand the driver, use this emotional data in the same context for decision making. What is the emotion telling you? Why, for example, are you afraid in this situation? Use this to learn about yourself and the setting.
Do not let others decide your emotional state. (‘He makes me so mad. She makes me sad.’) Make the choice yourself and then own it.

Legacy – Moving toward mastery in this area requires balancing the long-term against the present.

Let the long-term decide your purpose. Let purposes and values dictate your actions in the present.
Work to discover both your long-term purpose (why are you here?) and life-long values (how will you decide and treat others?).

Mind – Mind mastery comes from using both cold, hard logic AND creative imagination.

Select a problem that needs solving. Pick it apart with logic. Next, throw it over to your sub-conscious and let the issue ‘marinate’ for a while. What dreamy solutions come to mind? Now COMBINE the two approaches into one. What great options do you find?
Read books or listen to books on CD or watch educational videos to exercise your mind.

Action – Becoming a master in this category means doing well in the other areas and then stepping out decisively.

Choose one decision you have procrastinated on and do something about it … this week … by Friday! If necessary, commit to someone about your intent so that person will hold you accountable.
Do something physical this week at least three days for 30 minutes (not necessarily just jogging or working out but most any activity beyond sitting at the computer).

Treat Others Well – If you want friends, be friendly.

Work on treating others well this week regardless of how you feel. None of us is perfect but we can all improve on consistency.
Make one new friend this week.
Work on using first names more with everyone from acquaintances to close friends.

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The Performance Review

September 23, 2010 admin

Samuel Culbert posted an outstanding Harvard Business Review blog entry on September 21 titled, Why Corporate Leaders Won’t Abolish Performance Reviews. Several years ago, I would have scoffed at Mr. Culbert’s points on the weaknesses of performance reviews. No longer!

Diagnosis

As Dr. Deming said , ‘best efforts aren’t good enough.’ Working really hard in a mediocre system (i.e., organization) can only produce mediocre results. Most performance review processes honor the time-tattered status quo that completely ignore the common cause problems in stable – albeit dysfunctional – systems.

This is not to put people down in general. Most folks wake up in the morning determined to do their best and make a small difference wherever they are. The sad fact is many for-profit and non-profit corporate structures, policies and rules slow these well-intended efforts to a crawl. Almost without thinking, people organize themselves into personal pecking orders instead of looking out for the well-being of the organization.

Now, I am not down on corporate America (or on organizations in general). There are tremendous opportunities even now. The exciting news is, with courage, these problems described above are fixable! Here are some thoughts.

Prescription

Great Solution – Scrap the performance review for genuine, honest discussion … everyday! Managers should continually engage with their team members from a coaching frame of reference with the give and take of continuous feedback. Imagine that!

Lest you think I’m soft, companies should still measure things related to performance, it just should be different things. As Mr. Culbert suggests with the ‘performance preview,’ measure the results and hold BOTH the boss and employees accountable. The manager mostly creates the environment the employees work in. This collective output from ONE culture is responsible for the organizational results. With real enough discussion, system changes will start to happen.

As a former CFO, I remember being routinely surprised at things I would uncover simply by talking regularly with my team members. It was also rewarding to brainstorm and carry out solutions on the fly. As someone once said, “Nobody knows everything about anything.” Any manager who thinks system changes are for sissies (in this current economy especially) is very wrong.

OK Solution – Have employees complete a performance review on the boss … with similar authority as a top-down review. At least this would level the playing field somewhat. Obviously, this could foster adversarial relations but that is a natural byproduct in a just-OK environment.

Great or OK … the choice is ours. All the best!

Characteristics of Personal Mastery (1 of 2)

September 18, 2010 admin

Personal mastery is a tall order. To the one who thinks of personal mastery as a one-time destination, this goal is all but impossible. To the one who values the ongoing process of lifetime improvement, personal mastery is possible each day. Why? It’s a question of perfection versus excellence.

Personal Mastery as a Destination (perfection) – In this case, mastery means ALWAYS doing the right action at the right time in the right order. No mistakes! In some cases, this standard is necessary. When I used to fly fighters, perfection was the expectation because any less could have killed me or my buddies.

Often a technical skill requires at least some perfection. Nobody wants to hire an electrician who consistently gets the wiring right 80% of the time. You get the idea.

Personal Mastery as a Process (excellence) – For leadership, personal mastery must consider the long-term. Because leadership is a hybrid of art and science, perfection is less relevant because there is more than one right answer to most of the questions. Said another way, acting in an excellent way comes in different shapes, colors and sizes.

Think about your two or three favorite people. Their styles probably differ and yet they all could be considered excellent. That is one of the hallmarks of leadership thinking … there is usually more than one honorable method.

Now let’s talk about success in a personal mastery frame. There are five key parts to success for the person who wants to live in excellence.

Heart
Legacy
Mind
Action
Treating others well

Before we explore the five ideas, here is one other important concept. In each category, there are seemingly opposed ideas. The person who embraces mastery will make measurable progress at not only balancing the competing demands but at combining the opposing forces for great solutions. In short, think balance plus AND-solutions.

Heart

Definition: Emotions, feeling, moods, passions, and desires.

We are all creatures of emotion … whether we show it or not. It feels good to have somebody like us. It’s not fun when someone treats us like dirt. Work can be frustrating, exhilarating, mundane, or fulfilling. Notice how those are all emotions. Even the most macho guy in the audience will experience emotions. He will at least let you know when he’s mad.

If you’re still skeptical, have you ever acted on ‘gut-instinct’? Have you ever said, ‘something just doesn’t feel right.’ Even the most logical among us have emotional responses to life.

So here’s the challenge. How does one not be rash or overly emotional in decision-making but still honor the very real data that comes in by way of emotions? Think I’m still stretching this? Here’s an example.

If I plan to hire someone for childcare and that person’s record and credentials check out fine but I am uneasy about the person for some unknown reason, what will I do? Unless I can find more facts to disprove my ‘feeling,’ I will likely not hire this person. The risk is just too high. And yet look how I used emotion to make the decision.

On the other hand, if I need to face a subordinate over an ethical issue at work, my gut is probably unhappy. My emotion might say this isn’t the greatest or most fun thing to do. In my heart-of-hearts though, I know I must stand up for what is right and go ahead with the confrontation. Why did I disregard the emotion in this case?

Mastery of the heart is becoming self-aware enough to recognize all the different emotions in any given situation and assigning meaning to this emotional data. The emotion is valid but cannot be the end-all. Emotional or heart mastery means I will not allow one emotion to over-shadow the others or overwhelm pure logic without a very good reason.

Legacy

Definition: Thinking long-term, focused on outcomes and consequences, and law of the harvest.

I suspect most of us want to leave the world a little better than the way we found it. That is a natural instinct. It is important to think long-term and consider consequences. All choices have consequences. At times the results may be so very small, we hardly notice. Other times, the outcomes are significant and make us pause at the decision point.

While thinking of the long-term is important, it can also cause an otherwise reasonable person to freeze in the face of difficult decisions. Whoever coined the phrase, ‘analysis paralysis’ understood this. Sometimes, activity is an excuse to avoid making a decision.

There must be a balance all along the timeline. I need to think short-term to be decisive in the moment. I need to consider the medium and long-term for consequences of choices made today. Too much time in the present causes me to ignore the natural results but too much time thinking on the future may cause indecision or no decision now.

At times, we will hear of a public servant who begins to over-focus on his or her legacy. Invariably, this leads to bad decisions. The reason is, thinking about legacy too much means becoming too concerned about what other people think. Legacy has its place but just as all the other areas, it must stay in its place.

The other extreme is just as damaging. Giving no thought for tomorrow makes a terrible landing place when tomorrow arrives in all its disastrous glory! A young child, for instance, gives little or no thought to consequences. It is common for this little one to be very self-centered and thinking only about the present.

The person of mastery understands the extremes and middle ground of legacy. Those who would master legacy take all parts of this area into intentional account but do not over-focus on any single piece. Mastery is being good at living in the here-and-now AND consistently thinking about consequences.

Next week we will explore the remaining three areas of personal mastery. All the best to you!

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