Developing My Leadership Capabilities

Finding the Roselinde Torres TED talk on leadership was an extremely powerful experience for me and it reinforced where I want to go next with my leadership development. I am a committed life-long learner which is what led me back to graduate school over 30 years after I graduated from college. I realized after watching the Roselinde Torres talk how simple yet impactful it would be if I just focused on her three points: 

1. Where are you looking to anticipate change? 

• I will continue my graduate work in OD and Change Leadership
• I have started a Grand Rounds leadership group with three OD colleagues outside of my workplace. We have agreed to meet once a month and have an open and sharing dialogue about the work we are each engaged in, what we see coming and how we can help each other
• I will continue to attend the monthly MNODN meetings and network to develop more contacts and relationships

2. What is the diversity measure of your network? 

• Low. I can expand it initially by developing more connections with the business leaders I work with vs. just focusing on HR relationships. 
• I have a diverse network available to me through some of the outside organizations I belong to and I will focus on engaging with those networks as well

3. A practice to abandon

• A practice I want to abandon is to being a people pleaser. I have had the word "self-authoring" written on my white board at work for most of this semester and it has had a great impact on me. When I find myself reacting to what others do or what my company views as success I stop and focus on what it means to be self-authoring and I am able to reframe the situation and let go of the behaviors that have not served me well. 

These focuses will have a positive and lasting impact on my career and my personal development and they will be the focus of my energy going forward. 

Leadership Philosophy

I have had many conversations over the years about my leadership philosophy. I ground it first in who I am and what lens I experience the world through. I am an ENFP, (MBTI), an iS (DiSC), a Helper (Enneagram) and I lead Yellow and Green energy (Insights.) These are all heart centered/feeling based types so it is not unexpected that leading with the heart is at the center of my leadership philosophy. As Kouzes and Posner state in The Leadership Challenge, "The best-kept leadership secret may be love: love of product, love of service, love of customers and love of employees." This is at the heart (no pun intended) of my leadership philosophy. Over the course of my career I have had only a handful of leaders who demonstrated this type of leadership. For those that did, it was a fantastic experience working for them full of productivity, growth, learning, success and engagement.

The second piece component of my leadership philosophy is self-awareness and emotional intelligence. No one can be effective as a leader without a healthy does of self-awareness. A deep awareness of who you are, what motivates you, what fears you work to avoid, your towering strengths and your deep valleys. A self-aware leader has the strength and self-assurance to lead effectively. A leader who lacks self-awareness is a danger to themselves, their employees and the company. Hand in hand with self-awareness is emotional intelligence. The ability to not be "hijacked" by your emotions but to be constantly aware of your emotions and to remain focused and calm despite what is happening around and to you. I have seen leaders across this full spectrum from limited and no emotional intelligence to highly emotionally intelligent and the difference is stark.

If you can lead with the heart and are grounded in self-awareness and emotional intelligence then I believe you will be effective as a leader. You can draw on leadership tools and techniques such as competency models, leadership strategies such as Situational Leadership, performance management approaches, etc. but without self-awareness and a focus on the heart you will not succeed in the way I define success.

I have seen many leaders move to positions authority without these skills but it is arguable in my mind if they were ultimately "successful." Leaving people stressed, diminished, and angry do not qualify as successful leadership outcomes in my mind despite whatever financial and business success the individual leader might drive.

There are many, man other leadership qualities but I believe these are the key - at least they have been for me and I strive to remain grounded in them as I continue to develop my own leadership and I remain committed to them as I continue to seek leaders I want to work for.

Challenge the Process

This challenge has been more difficult for me. My organization is a very large and complex one that has many different and complex businesses within it. We are a very risk adverse organization with low turnover so many people have been in place for a long time and can be resistant to doing things differently. In addition, our industry is heavily regulated so some communication tools such as Google Drive and comments live during a web-ex session are banned.

One area that my colleague Gina and I decided to pursue in effective communications across geographies. The company is based in Minneapolis with large centers in Boston, New York, Green Bay, Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix, London and Mumbai. Gina works out of the Las Vegas office and if often the one struggling with bad phone based approaches for meetings across geographies. Despite having an international and disperse workforce our communication tools across these geographies lag way behind other organizations. Most meetings are held with basic conference call technology which creates a very sub-standard experience for those joining on the phone. The phones do no have powerful microphones so conversations are very hard to follow with 6-10 people (or more) in a conference room and others joining by phone. The people on the phone often cannot hear over the rustling of paper, typing on keyboards and people talking over each other. Over 80% of the meeting rooms have only basic conference call capabilities.

Gina has complimented me several times (including sending me formal recognition notes) on my conference call management. I enforce one person speaking at a time and require any comments to be made directly into the microphone so all meeting participants can hear the conversation. I require that facilitators repeat questions to ensure those on the phone can hear them clearly and I purposefully call on the phone based participants to play an active role in the discussion.

Gina and I have introduced Adobe Connect and Web-ex with video to further improve the communications between locations. We have set up large video conferences with web-ex for file sharing and separate breakout phone lines for phone based participants to participate in small group work. These are behind the times basics that we are barely effective at using currently.

The resistance we receive to even these basic approaches to improving the communications experience across geographies is profound. People in the meeting in person don't want to be bothered with having to accomodate those on the phone and are not appreciative of the cost of not effectively engaging others.

We experimented with using FaceTime with iPads to include people in meetings and that was effective for those willing to try it. People had to be willing to use their personal iPad initially but with some success more people are having work acquire their's for them. This brings the person in to the room and allows them to more fully participate at the table with others. We have also looked into "robot" technologies that allow you to mount an iPad on a robot type of thing so that you can have mobility to move around the workplace. We have only read about this but we are eager to move forward and bring forward ideas that will measurably improve our engagement across geographies.

The organization is now piloting Skype for Business which will greatly improve our ability to communicate effectively with other locations and should improve communications immediately. We will continue to research and understand improved communications approaches and bring them forward. And in the meantime Gina and I will continue to force people to talk into the microphone, speak on person at a time and we will occasionally bring in an iPad to see each other during a meeting. And we will continue to research options and best practices to "innovate" which for us means catching up to what everyone else was doing 5 years ago!

Enable Others to Act

My former colleague Mary left a position in our company over two years ago and she has struggled finding her way since that time. She is an excellent professional but she lacks confidence. She left her position in our company following a difficult year of reporting to a new leader who she did not get along with. Her leader was very dominant and overbearing and that was not a good match for Jenny's very quiet and gentle style. Rather than be terminated she choose to leave the company thus negating her chance to receive unemployment benefits.

Her next position was not a good fit for her either and she ended up leaving that role after just a few months. The position was focused on web based training design and her process and skills did not match up to what the company owner wanted her to be able to provide. Following this her confidence was as low as it could get and she could not see a way for her to grow and find ongoing employment again.

We discussed several options and strategies for her moving forward including career counseling/coaching, looking for full-time permanent work and spending a few months or years working as a consultant. Consulting really seemed like the best option to me - she could target positions that would specifically update her skill set and not have to invest herself as fully as she had done as a full time employee.

We made a list of what she needed to have in a consulting role - the experiences that would update her skills, the type of culture and leadership she knew she could thrive in and what type of business sector she was interested in working within.

She took this list of criteria and she was able to find a consulting role that was a great fit. It was a long commute but when she came back to what she needed to update her skills she decided this position offered her the right opportunity. She performed very well in the role and ended up being extended two times over the course of her contract there.

She now has updated experiences to include on her resume and she has improved her skills in the area of web-based training design and she has a positive reference now as well.

Encourage the Heart

I make a regular practice of encouraging the heart. In the Enneagram I am a #2 - Helper which is from the heart center which aligns me with regular feedback on work well done. My workplace has a formal recognition program that provides each of us with the opportunity to recognize a co-worker formally.

I had the chance to send a thank you to someone who spoke at a Peer Learning Group I was facilitating. He was a co-facilitator for a session on leading through ambiguity and he did an outstanding job of leading a meaningful discussion with the group. My thank you to him very specifically called out the things I thought he had done very well with the group and the reaction the group had to him. It was very energizing to send it to him because it was heartfelt and specific. This individual is an executive VP and I have not sent many thank you notes like this to someone at his level but I really felt he did a great job so I sent it. He appreciated the recognition. I did this another time with a different VP guest speaker at another Peer Learning Group with very specific feedback and the VP was so excited to receive the thank you that she asked me to forward it on to her leader as well. That showed me that no matter what level you are in a company people appreciate a sincere thank you.

I also took the time to say thank you to my leader for her support last week before and after the election. I work with a group of like-minded individuals (on my small team) so there is a common set of values across our group. The day of the election she made it very easy for us to leave to vote. I was very upset and concerned by the results of the election and so was she. We spent an hour together talking about the election, our reactions and how we could support each other and some of our colleagues who were really having a difficult time. She even gave someone who was distraught he day off on Wednesday. On Friday I talked with my leader again and told her face to face how much I appreciated her support and her willingness to create some room for those of us who needed some time to adjust to the news. I felt good letting her know how much I appreciated her support in that moment and I know she was grateful for the recognition. It actually smoothed over some rough patches on our team - a common threat can do that for a group. And I think she is more likely to repeat the kind of one on one support again knowing it meant alot to the team.

I also took the time last week to think a line leader who volunteered some of his time to be interviewed for an article promoting use of our team development tools. We have struggled with how to promote the tools and get the word out about the tools. This leader volunteered to give us some quotes about how the team site has helped him and his group and he was very candid in his interview. I thanked him for his time and told him how much hearing his ideas had helped me think about some improvements for the site. He was complimented that his experience would be valuable enough to share it with others.

In all three of these examples I have seen the positive impact proving some heart encouragement to others can have. I felt better all week having engaged genuinely and positively with my colleagues and I think they felt appreciated as well. We don't do enough of that for each other.

Modeling the Way

 My father  modeled how to lead a reflective, connected and meaningful life for me.  He passed away over seven years ago and following his death he was still modeling the way for me through the 70+ letters he wrote to me over the course of my life. I find myself reading and re-reading these letters in the years since he died.  They are filled with the wisdom he modeled when he was alive and, just like the wisdom he shared with me in person, the wisdom in his letters guide me today as a parent, worker, spouse and community member.

My father once told me the only question you need to ask yourself is "how do I want to spend my time?" Its not about how much money you want to make, what kind of a title you aspire to have, what kind of a degree you want to earn, but rather, it is about how you want to use the one precious thing that is common to all of us - time. What do you want to be doing with your time? That should guide your decisions. I have used that question throughout my life and told it to my children and countless friends and colleagues. It fundamentally changes the way you approach living your life. Focusing on how I wanted to spend my time led me to work part-time for eighteen years of my professional life, it led me to turn down jobs that would take me away from my family at a time when I wanted to be able to go home to them every evening. It led my husband and I to buy a small home so that our mortgage would never rule our lives and employment choices.

My father told me years ago that one of the most important things to be able to do in your professional life is to put yourself in the other person's shoes. Take the time to understand someone else's perspective in a situation before you react. He modeled this himself in his work as a psychiatrist and I have done that throughout my career.

My father modeled for me how to love, to really, really love someone and let them know in no uncertain terms. He used to look me in the eye and say to me - "Do you know what it really means when I say I love you to you?  I really, really mean it. I. Love.You." Wow. Words matter. I have never hesitated to verbalize my love for the people I love. I pause and say the words and look right at them so I know they understand the depth of my love for them.

Moments matter too. After dad became ill with the Alzheimer's disease that took his life, he would say to me, "Stop. Experience this moment with me. Life is precious, this is previous." I think of that when I am with my own kids and husband and in all the random moments in my life. Waiting for the bus on a beautiful morning, enjoying a project I am working on and even feeling down - it shows me I am alive and being in the world.

I make sure that his lessons are passed on to my own children. I often tell them what grandpa Doug would have said to them in a situation or at an important time in their lives. I have read his letters and shared the wisdom in them through my own letters to my kids in college. It takes time and patience to adjust to your new life in college. I have told my nieces and nephews his wisdom about the college experience - "The purpose of the adventure is to find your way." I tell that to myself all the time now as I enter a new phase of my adventure and go back to graduate school and become an empty nester.

My dad modeled the way for me in more ways than I can say. He is a powerful force in my life and one that continues to guide me even now that he is gone.

The final verses of the song Wanting Memories by Ysaye M. Barnwell describe this very well:

I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me

to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.

I thought that you were gone, but now I know you're with me.

You are the voice that whispers all I need to hear.

I know a "Please", a "Thank you", and a smile will take me far.

I know that I am you and you are me, and we are one.

I know that who I am is numbered in each grain of sand.

I know that I am blessed,

again, and again, and again, and again,

and, again.

I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me

to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.

I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me

To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.

Inspiring a Shared Vision

 I am currently leading a group in forming a shared vision for a position at my place of worship. I was asked to lead a group working to bring two ministries together - children's ministries and adult education. Both have been strong and separate ministries for many, many years led by two different pastors so bringing these two together under one newly created director position will be difficult. The positions are coming together due to retirements that provided the chance to rethink how this work can be accomplished in the church.

In thinking about this post this situation came immediately to mind for me. I thought there was a shared vision when I was asked to lead the team. They had met several times over the summer to discuss the new position and how to bring the two groups together. When I asked what the vision for the position was I was told it was in development. I was shocked during my first meeting with the team to see open arguments break out between the two groups with "them" vs. "us" language and everyone trying to protect what was (and is no more) vs. creating an inspired shared vision for the future.

The culture within this community of faith is one of collaborative leadership. While this new position will report to one designated leader, it is the work of this team of church members (volunteers) to come together and define the vision vs. having one leader create it and inspire others.

In our case it was clear that the group had to back up to find common ground for building their shared vision. As this is a religious organization the most effective way to do this was to find common ground through our shared faith. Each person was asked to find a biblical text that represented the foundation of the work they had been involved in - children's ministry or adult education. Each person cares deeply about the work they are involved in and this was a good way to tap into that passion. The group has eight team members (nine including the facilitator) and each was able to bring a passage that held meaning for them to the next discussion. It was clear there was a shared vision buried in the foundation of each of these separate ministries - the desire for growth in faith whether you were a child or an adult. Once the group started to see that they opened up to each other and were willing to work together.

The group was able to start a conversation about what a shared vision of educational ministry across their two areas could look like. This work is happening real time with the team working to finalize their shared vision so they can move forward to find someone to bring the vision to life. A working version of the shared vision is included below:

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XYZ's vision for faith formation is grounded in our baptismal promise to love, encourage, and support all people as beloved children of God, no matter their age or stage in their faith journey. The goodness of God is at the heart of our shared lives together, and we work together to build a multigenerational community in which all are welcome and loved. We strive to create a community of learners and leaders where all are encouraged to listen and seek, be challenged in their walk with God and one another, and where all may find belonging.

The Spirit is calling this congregation, in this place and at this time, to reimagine our telling presence in the city so that children and adults alike will experience encouragement and creativity in their spiritual and intellectual development.

The group is slowly moving toward deeper and deeper acceptance and buy-in of this vision. They have dropped the "them" vs. "us" language and have started to focus on the collaborative space they are in to built this multigenerational community that can learn together throughout their lives. I  see how powerful and necessary it is for the full team to share in this vision and how important it is to inspire them to work toward it together.

When the group started their work by focusing on the tactical vs. the vision they came into conflict and ground to a halt. But once the focus shifted to inspiring a shared vision they could all support, the doors opened up and the collaboration began.

For me this has been a timely and relevant example of how crucial it is to inspire a shared vision for any leader or leadership team. It is vital to the work.

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