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This
month's issue contains more stories on courageous leadership. I am very
grateful for the many insights and experiences contributed by such a
diverse group of readers. The continuing response to this key
organization and life issue has given me further inspiration, ideas,
and insights for the business fable I am currently writing.
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| A Kid Gives a Lesson in Courageous Leadership |
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I
have known John for nearly twenty years. Our relationship started
before he retired from his previous company and delivered his
experience and wisdom to the larger world through consulting. He was an
excellent coach and trainer with a strong internal reputation in the
large Canadian bank where he worked. And his storytelling skills were
always a key part of his communication effectiveness.
Hi Jim and greetings. Really enjoyed as always your newsletter and wanted to add a little story on courage for your files.
Years
ago, I was a coach for a little league baseball team. One of the boys
on that team was a catcher named David. He was a quiet leader of sorts,
never one to brag about his accomplishments on the field but rather all
too eager to add encouragement to others and help them with aspects of
their game. One day during a routine visit to his doctor, a small lump
was detected on the back of his skull. Tests determined that an
operation at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto was necessary. It turned out
that the lump was cancerous and a good portion of his skull had to be
removed. Months of chemotherapy and radiation would be necessary and
then, if all went well, reconstructive surgery to repair the skull
itself. I was with David at the hospital shortly after he woke up from
the surgery and was told about the ordeal that lay before him. It was
undoubtedly one of the hardest moments in my life watching this ten
year old facing such a tremendous ordeal. I looked at him and said
"David, Coach would do anything to be able to switch places with you if
he could." David replied, "That's OK Dad, I'll deal with this, don't
you worry."
That was close to 20
years ago, and today, my son David is doing great and is a successful
film production coordinator here in Toronto having just finished his
latest film with Russell Crowe entitled, "Cinderella Man"... another
true story of courage and determination.
What
David taught me, however, was that courage means a lot of things but
probably most of all, it means taking ownership of both your wins and
losses in life.
During my career
of over 35 years in banking, and when I look back now at the leaders
who inspired me, they were the ones who had that same type of
ownership. Never ones to shirk from the fallout of a negative
situation, but rather taking ownership and not casting blame onto
others.
When we think of courage
Jim, we can come up with several adjectives that fit. I just thought
you might enjoy my perspective on this wonderful topic.
Keep up the great work and providing us with much needed inspiration.
John Chisholm, Burlington, ON
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| Only a Few Seats Left for My Only Public Workshop in 2005 |
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 Leading @ the Speed of Change
We
are very close to reaching the capacity of our meeting facilities for
my upcoming two-day session, right here in the center of the universe -
my hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, May 31 - June 1, 2005.
This latest version of our Leading @ the Speed of Change
workshop is the evolution of my work with thousands of managers and
team leaders over the past few decades. It is built around my two most
recent books, The Leader's Digest and Growing the Distance. We will use their new Practical Application Planner and Personal Implementation Guide
to provide lots of practical 'how to' steps that dramatically boost
personal, team, and organization results. Check out details here:
www.clemmer.net/events/lsc/lsc.shtml
It is the only open enrollment or public workshop I'll be offering this year.
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| Reflections in Our Courage Mirror |
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Tom's
response below raises two important points on leadership courage. The
first point is about having the courage as a leader to make it easy for
people in your organization to speak up. Most managers dump out
information (mainly through e-mail) and call it "communication." Strong
leaders develop multiple forums, processes, channels, and opportunities
to foster genuine conversations – real communication – up, down, and
across their organization.
I am
starting to define courage as doing what our heart tells us needs to be
done despite our fear. Tom's second point is the tough question of
whether we have the courage to speak up or get out of work situations
that are dripping acid on our self-esteem, diminishing our happiness,
and even jeopardizing our health. What price are we paying for "going
along to get along?" This is the central issue of the main character in
the business fable I am currently writing.
Just read the stories in your latest Leader Letter. I can relate to the older gentleman who had decided to begin speaking up [click here to read this].
Funny,
but I almost find myself at the opposite end of the spectrum. In my
younger years, I found myself resisting a movement which I saw as
totally foolish (Total Quality Management being implemented in our
company). I'm convinced that because of my attitude, I was tagged as
one who was laid off when the company began hitting the skids in the
early 1990s. In hindsight, I realize that it may have been more my
passive-aggressive approach, then my actual resistance in that
situation as well as others, which has hurt me.
Still,
I think this is something which companies need to recognize from the
top down. There needs to be a culture which allows people to voice
their objections, AND to have those objections objectively considered.
Also, companies need to provide avenues for those who are not as
comfortable sharing their concerns in public forums like meetings. Some
of us need to weigh our thoughts on a matter before we can raise a
question or objection. Or, we may need to put our thoughts down in
writing. Today, it seems leaders are swayed more by people like
themselves, who can think quickly on their feet, and voice themselves
in a meeting forum, where the decisions get made, while others are
still analyzing their reactions.
Having
said all that, I know that personally, I'd rather be like the first
story you related, about the man who stood up for what he thought, and
accepted the consequences. I just don't know if I'm courageous enough
to put my career and my family's well being on the line again -
especially in today's environment where companies seem so unwilling to
care for their employees.
Tom Turton, Grapevine, TX
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| Retaining Top Talent and Our Self-Worth |
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Grant's
experience below underlines the need for manager's having authentic
conversations during performance discussions. His is a vivid example of
how people join an organization and quit their boss. Retention is going
to become a critical issue in the next few years in many organizations
as baby boomers retire in much larger numbers than new people coming
into the workforce. Research on attracting and retaining top talent
shows that 70% of the reason people quit is because of their immediate
boss. What does your turnover rate say about your leadership? How about
any supervisors or managers you may be leading?
Grant
also provides an excellent example of having the courage to leave if
you feel victimized by a bad boss. How much job pain our we willing to
accept for the security of a paycheck? What's the price of our
self-worth?
I am about half-way through reading The Leader's Digest
and had to write you to say how wonderful I'm finding your book. It has
been re-affirming my leadership passion and stoking me with confidence.
You see, I had a bad experience in my last job (where I was a software
team leader) and was wondering why I was so upset and unhappy at work.
I
thought lots of things were going wrong (and so did many of those I was
leading), but my managers thought the project was doing great. Now I
realize my leadership intuition was right on the money! My decision to
leave was the correct one -- I had no leaders to support or motivate
me; time to move on and find some.
What
motivated me to write was a section I just read on "The Power of One"
explaining that a key leadership word is "care" (page 126). On my last
performance review, I made the following comment about my own job
satisfaction:
"I
care about my job. I care about quality. I care that customers are
happy. I care that we do a good job. But if my job satisfaction doesn't
improve, then I will stop caring."
During
my performance review, my managers didn't care enough to dig into this
issue! Here was an employee crying out for help, but their inaction to
understand my concerns was flabbergasting. To make matters worse, one
of the managers took the concerns and issues that I raised as a
personal attack on him and the company. He then went on the offensive
and started to attack me in an attempt to 'put me back in my place.' He
told me the project will not change the way it is being run, and don't
expect everyone to change to suit me! After he ranted at me for a few
minutes, I calmly looked him squarely in the eye and told him I would
no longer commit to his project. His chin dropped. I smiled.
I
had realized at that instant he was no longer the leader that I could
follow. He was the root cause of my low job satisfaction. Too bad for
them, as I was considered one of the better team leads and despite my
low job satisfaction rating (3 out of 10), I still had a strong review
from my peers. So they lost a good employee that day - but some other
company out there will gain one! One that knows the value of leadership.
Grant Edwards, Delta, BC
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from the Leader Letter in your own print publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph:
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"Reprinted with permission from the Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. For over 25 years Jim Clemmer's
practical leadership approaches have been inspiring action and
achieving results. His 2,000+ presentations and workshops/retreats,
five bestselling books, columns, and newsletters are helping hundreds
of thousands of managers worldwide because they are inspiring,
instructive, and refreshingly fun. And best of all, they work! His web
site is www.clemmer.net."
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| How Team Building Exercises Can Be Harmful |
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I am an ardent reader of your articles. The latest improvement point article on Team Development is indeed good [go to http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/leaders_harness.shtml to read it].
The only point where I disagree is where you have brushed aside the
adventure games as just "fun," nothing more. This is not true.
I
would like to point out that these - the games or the wilderness
experiences - are the means of educating people on how effective the
team work will be. Of course, the teams have to apply what they have
learned in their workplace. Nature teaches us best, like the penguin
story you narrated.
I
am sure that some teams get value from those activities. I am not a fan
of these approaches because I have spent so much time with teams who
have tried these techniques and not received much value from them. It
might be argued that those same teams likely wouldn't get much value
from any team development activity because they aren't open to learning
or don't diligently apply the lessons that are available for them.
But
what most teams really need are practical approaches they can apply to
real issues now. Perhaps some of these games and exercises obliquely do
that. But many have a high play or entertainment value and a very low
relevancy or application value. Participants see only theoretical
connections between this make-believe world and their real world
issues. The team games or 'experiential learning' I have seen or heard
lots about over the years don't get very practical. They can be fun and
energizing. But if they aren't helping the team address real-time
problems and opportunities, they ultimately frustrate participants.
They can raise dissatisfaction and decrease teamwork because team
members contrast the theories and team ideals they are learning with
what they're experiencing every day in the team, and feel an even
bigger disconnect.
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| Living in the Leadership Gray Zone |
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Recently
my name was a part of the typical corporate "talent review." When my
boss returned he informed me that I am too black and white and need to
work on being grayer. My current position is managing an operation
department in banking. I was promoted from a front-line employee to
manager. I have been in the work force for many years and I am working
on my bachelor's in business finance.
How
do you feel about gray versus black and white? Should I really focus on
changing my ways and becoming grayer? Would you have any
recommendations for a person to become less black and white?
It
sounds like your boss is suggesting that you need to get more
comfortable with paradox and ambiguity. This has been a favorite theme
of mine since I began studying and writing about leadership over twenty
years ago.
Your inquiry is well
timed. Recently our son, Chris, was home from university to celebrate
his 22nd birthday. During the weekend, he and I had a conversation
about how much more complex, nuanced, and interesting the world has
become for him than when he was a teenager. During his teenage years
the world, and most of the people he encountered in it, could be easily
divided into right and wrong, stupid and smart, good and bad, cool and
not cool, and so on. With his interest in politics we had many
ideological debates about the social and political issues of the day.
He had strong beliefs and clear answers for just about every situation.
I often argued both sides of an issue – even the side I didn't believe
in – to try to help him understand that it wasn't that black and white.
Since he was studying politics in high school and "political science"
was his first year major in university, he failed to see the humor in
me calling "political science" an oxymoron. Now in his third year, he's
had to write papers arguing both sides of issues or even presenting the
opposite side of an issue to his own belief. He's becoming more
tolerant and understanding of many social and political issues today.
In other words, he's growing up.
There
are clearly times when we need to take a stand and draw a firm line
between what we see as right and wrong or moral and immoral.
Continually hiding behind ambiguity and waffling on our position is a
sign of weakness and a real lack of leadership. But I have also long
believed that the capacity to live in the gray zone between black and
white is a sign of maturity. A great deal of destruction and disaster
in organizations, relationships, families, religions, and throughout
societies comes from the intolerance and inflexibility of immature
"leaders" who believe there are clear right and wrong answers to just
about every situation. Their harsh and judgmental position usually
comes from a base of fear. Mature leaders can live with not having
clear answers or letting situations unfold. They seek to understand
with a more accepting position that comes from a base of love.
There
are dozens of my articles on our web site that provide perspectives and
examples of leadership, team, and organizational paradoxes. Click on
the "Search" button second from the bottom on the left navigation bar
of our web site and enter the word "paradox" if you'd like a list of
those articles and columns that you can skim through or read.
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Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmm...
on Paradox and Ambiguity |
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"Now,
more than ever, management is a balancing act -- the juggling of
contradictions to try to get the best of attractive but opposing
alternatives. Order is a temporary illusion, strategy a moving target.
Leaders cannot impose authority on a world of constant motion; they can
only hope to steer some of that action toward productive ends."
- Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author and Harvard Business School professor
"True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information."
- Winston Churchill
"The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold their powers."
- Erich Fromm, author, psychoanalyst, and social theorist
"An
old Hasidic story says we should wear a coat with two pockets in order
to receive God's message. In one pocket, the message is: 'You are
nothing but one of billions of grains of sand in the universe.' In the
other, the message is: 'I made the universe just for you.' Sufi masters
offer a corollary: 'Wisdom tells me I am nothing; love tells me I am
everything. Between the two, my life flows.'"
- Mark Albion, author
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| Re-Discovering the Management-Leadership Balance |
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Participants
in my sessions or readers of my books know that I build all my
personal, team, and organization effectiveness work on the foundation
of balancing management and leadership. I have developed various
charts, diagrams, and analogies over the years to sharpen the
distinctions and interdependencies of these two vital areas. You can
review my attempts to outline the management-leadership balance at http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/m_leadership.shtml.
Tom's succinct e-mail message provides a great reminder from his experiences.
It's
been some time since I sat in on one of your courses. I've been in a
major change management position for the past couple of years. With the
help of some very good people we are taking a 'Mom and Pop shop' to the
next level. It's been very hard changing the mindset of the 'old
regime' but we have finally turned the corner. I've self-discovered the
difference between leadership and management. You lead people and
manage a process. One is flesh and blood, the other tends to be bits
and bytes and paper.
Tom McBride, Calgary, AB
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| Customers Make "Clever" Companies Pay for Deceptions |
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Jim,
I enjoy your material, perhaps because one of my sons, Grant, is also a fan.
Perhaps that is why the letter from a Toronto subscriber about her own dad rang a bell [click here to read the story]. It also reminded me of a situation that arose while I was CEO of Swift's in Canada.
One
of the top guys in the US was from a consumer products company, and he
liked to tell anyone who would listen how smart he was by instigating a
small increase in the diameter of the hole out of the toothpaste tube,
thus increasing usage because of the millions of consumers squeezing
more than they realized (or needed) every brushing.
It
seemed to me that this was bone-headed, as well as deceitful. One thing
I learned during the heyday of consumerist activism was that the
average grocery shopper needed the protection of the activists about as
much as Rocky Marciano needed protection. These sweet and lovely
shoppers put more companies out of business in an average year than
Elliot Spitzer can in a dozen. So beware of customers -- assume that
they are a whole lot smarter as buyers than I am as a seller!
John F. Heggie, Newmarket, ON
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| The Big Question: What's it all About? |
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Hi Jim,
I really appreciated your April newsletter, it's my first and I found the discussions very thought-provoking.
The
courageous leadership issue touched on some things I've been thinking
about given all the current discussions out there regarding ethics in
business. For example, there was a recent discussion in the Harvard
Business School newsletter 'Working Knowledge' about whether or not it
would help reduce ethical violations like we saw with Enron and
WorldCom (and now AIG) if 'business managers' were required to be
professionally licensed the way that doctors and lawyers are. I
personally don't think that would do much good (look at all the ethical
violations from those two groups) but it was an interesting debate.
One
of the angles I've been thinking about is values - it seems logical to
me that given the values of corporate-level capitalism, such as
privileging short-term return and winning the game over other
considerations, that of course we would wind up with these kinds of
leaders. Now I'm not a communist or anything, and perhaps the American
brand of corporate capitalism is worse than elsewhere, but these kinds
of violations seem to me the logical behavioral consequences of such
values.
No one is ever happy
with mere profitability, it has to be MORE profit than last quarter or
the shareholders aren't happy. Surely I am not the only one who sees
what this kind of thinking naturally leads to? Surely "more" is not
infinite? And if you can't deliver "more," might as well cash in and
make sure your own bottom is covered, right? People like to apply
Darwin's "survival of the fittest" to the business world and society in
general. But what about the theories of symbiosis and cooperation as
driving evolutionary and cultural forces? It seems to me that you guys
in Canada have a much better grasp of this than we do! But then again I
live in the state that other people in my country like to call "The
Socialist Republic of California."
Forgive the politics, but it's been on my mind, and after reading your newsletter I just wanted to share my thoughts. Thanks.
Lorri Leon, California Human Resource Management Institute, A Division of Northern California Human Resources Association
Hi Lorri,
You
raise very good points. I don't know if Canadians have a better grasp
of these issues than Americans. My work in your country, Canada, and
Europe shows me that many organizations and the leaders within them are
struggling with the "what's it all about" questions that you raise.
The
ethics issues and high profile disasters like Enron and WorldCom are
causing us all to shake off a bit of lethargy and ask ourselves what's
really important. If we add the environment, international security,
wealth disparities, pandemics, and other big issues like those to the
discussion, we start getting deep into the spiritual realm of purpose,
meaning, and our obligations and connections to each other.
Jim
Hi Jim,
It's
good to know that I'm not alone in some of these thoughts. I am
encouraged that in your experience some people in the business world
are taking these questions seriously. I hope so, because I genuinely
fear the long-term consequences of not doing so. I am not religious,
but I am spiritual, and I think everything we do and are connects to
that spiritual realm you mention. It is my hope that the more people
come to understand this, the more things will change. You are welcome
to include this in a future newsletter, and thanks for the great
discussions!
Lorri
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| Top Improvement Points from April |
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Of the short quotes with links to full articles that were e-mailed out as complimentary Improvement Points last month, the most popular with subscribers were:
"Where
there's a will there's a way. A leader who really values the people in
his or her organization will be constantly showing it through some
formal programs and lots of informal gestures."
- from Ways to Show Meaningful Appreciation
www.clemmer.net/excerpts/ways_show.shtml
"Studies
show that in many organizations a majority of frontline people are
afraid to speak up. That's why leaders spend huge amounts of time with
people throughout their organization. They're busy listening at
breakfasts, lunches, barbecues, and town hall meetings. They're
conducting surveys, participating in cafeteria conversations, working
together with people on the frontlines, and attending celebration
events."
- from Bridging We-They Gaps
www.clemmer.net/excerpts/bridging_gaps.shtml
"If
no one receives what a manager transmits, does that communication
exist? The answer depends upon a definition – this time, of the term
"communication." If the receiver does not listen to the sender and
respond in some way, then, as in the example above, there is no
communication. There is only noise."
- from Speaking Of Success: Informing versus Communicating
www.clemmer.net/excerpts/speaking_success.shtml
Subscribe or view the archives by topic area here:
www.clemmer.net/improvement.shtml.
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| Feedback and Follow-Up |
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I am always delighted to hear from readers of The Leader Letter with feedback, reflections, suggestions, or differing points of view. Nobody is ever identified in The Leader Letter without their permission.
I
am also happy to explore customized, in-house adaptations of any of my
material for your team or organization, drop me an e-mail at [email protected].
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I hope to connect with you again next month!
Jim
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| Copyright 2005, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |
