I have taken part in two annual meetings for boards I belong to in the past week.  It has given me a sharper sense of what counts in terms of leadership in organizations. 

First, a lot of what goes into “leadership” arises from a person simply being willing to take action, to be used for a specific purpose.  Leaders are NOT born for greatness; most are simply willing to step forward when many others are not.  As I look at those who assume leadership roles in groups, a large part of leadership is simply being willing to lead and following that up with action.

Second, good leadership makes a lot of difference in setting a particular tone for a group that they lead.  Whether people are energized, depressed, confused, enthusiastic–a lot of it has to do with the quality of leadership that is being exercised in the group.  

Third, from what I’ve observed a board’s effectiveness is directly related to two things:  how much time they spend reacting to what has already happened or is imminent, and planning what they want to happen or anticipating changes that are yet to come.   The most effective boards focus their energies on proactively planning for the future.

One of those board meetings I was part of required preparatory work and we met three long hours, but we focused on strategic planning and everyone afterwards acknowledged this was one of our best meetings in recent memory.  The other meeting was fairly short, reactive in focus and unfocused.  What a difference leadership makes in helping people focus strategically!

If you want to create change, one of the better strategies you can adopt is to get an accurate instrument and place it (along with some training on how to use it) in a prominent location where you (and other people) can’t miss it.  Real-time feedback allows you to make small changes and fine-tune your results.

MPG Instrument

I recently bought a new car and it has a sensitive gauge that tells you how many miles-per-gallon you are getting at the present time.  I’m already paying more attention to this gauge and it has helped me in changing my driving habits for the better (to be more fuel-efficient).

Apply this to people in an organization–even a small one–and it becomes obvious that equipping people with a new tool is much more likely to yield change than talking about change, management lectures or internal communication initiatiaves.  These other activities are useful too, but I’ve seen too many leaders and companies rely on them and end up with very little meaningful change.

Like any new tool, you have to learn to use it properly.  When I took training to be a pilot, I initially spent too much time looking at the instruments-I assumed that’s how you fly the plane.  My instructor had to emphasize to get my head up and look outside the airplane.  The great majority of pilots of small planes fly visually by looking out the window 90% of the time.  Only instrument-rated pilots and airline captains fly solely by reference to the instruments, which is a much more mentally taxing activity that requires extra training, practice and licensing.  So here’s my caveat: when you get an instrument for measuring real-time performance, beware the tendency to stare at it and miss the other information and contextual clues about what is going on around you.  If you can learn to do that (and it is possible), you will be much better positioned to build a high-performing organization and drive results and accountability further down to the individuals that actually do the work.

I’ve been in Cuernavaca the last few days.  Today I went to the gravesite of Robert S. Hartman.

Bob Hartman split his time in the 1960’s between his villa in Cuernavaca and his academic home at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  When he passed away unexpectedly in September 1973, he was buried here in Cuernavaca.  He used to consult with other thinkers like Abraham Maslow, Erich Fromm and others in summer seminars down here.

I only learned about Hartman five years ago, but I have grown a lot in my esteem and admiration for what he was about during those years.  In Mexico they remember those we admire or love who have passed on Dia de Muertos (Nov 1-2).  I’m a few weeks early, but I’m writing this in honor of Robert S. Hartman, father of formal axiology and value science as a larger movement.

I’m writing this from Mexico City.  It’s been 21 years since my last trip here when I was a university student. 

mexico_mural

 It seems that a lot has changed (and some things have), but I also know that I have changed.  The pollution is not bad today–I can actually see the mountains surrounding the Valley of Mexico from downtown.  The city doesn’t seem so dirty (I’ve seen worse in Bangkok and Jakarta).

When I came as a student, I was leading a group of friends to do some community service and also some sightseeing on our spring break.  This time, I’m sharing the experience with my wife and two young boys, and I’m enjoying seeing the city through their fresh young eyes.

mexico-city-october2008

It helps to get out of my familiar place and routine; I notice more and see things with a new perspective.  I notice talent around me and I’m more appreciative of people who try extra hard.  Just today I’ve had three experiences of top notch service.  I attribute this to two elements:  there has been good training on how to deliver great service, and there is a supporting culture that reinforces this standard.  I’m not talking about the Mexican national culture, but the specific sub-cultures that the individuals I’ve encountered are a part of.  I can see the contrast, because today I also experienced some horrendous service by someone of the same national culture.  In fact, the individual himself tried hard and did a fairly good job, but the environment he works in is definitely not a culture that trains and delivers top talent service, and I was one of many unhappy customers.

I recommend you get away from the familiar if you haven’t seen many examples of top talent lately.  You don’t have to travel out of the country or go on vacation.  Just go someplace that is different or out of the ordinary for you, and take time to notice the talent of the people you are interacting with.  What do you see?  What can you learn from this?

Okay, shush may not be a word, but the alternatives like “silencing” or “ignoring” or others don’t cut it either. 

I joined my wife Angela on a walk this morning and she asked me a question about meditating.  Did I find it easy to quiet my thoughts and focus on my breathing?

My answer:  Sometimes it seems easy, and other times it’s impossible.  But keep sitting and return to what is basic–your breathing. 

Meditating is not a spiritual practice for the mystics or a nice extra for those with the luxury of time and afreedom from everyday concerns.  Quite the opposite.  I consider it an essential life skill and a powerful tool on the path of development and mastery.  The more you think you don’t need it or can’t practice it, the more likely that you do.

So, let’s just assume that you are sitting while reading this (perhaps a reasonable assumption).  Take a moment to pay attention to your breathing.  Once you notice your breathing, it’s bound to happen–you’ll also notice your first thought.  All you need to do is to shush  the thought.  Do it gently, while you breathe a little fuller or longer (but still keep your breathing natural).  The shush is more like how you would calm a baby rather than reprimanding an unruly child or someone being loud inappropriately.  And whether you pay attention to your breathing for less than a minute or much longer, you’re meditating.  It’s simple, uncomplicated and it can be a powerful practice in anyone’s ongoing development.

You read the title right–I found a surprising and incongruous agreement between Friedrick Nietzche, the 19th century philosopher who rejected Christianity, and a lesser-known contemporary Christian author named Eugene Peterson.  Peterson is known today for his contemporary translation of the Bible called The Message, but back in 1980 he came out with a book called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. 

The title comes from a quotation by Nietzche which is quite remarkable:

The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is…that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

Friedrich Nietzche,  Beyond Good and Evil

Peterson uses Nietzche’s quote and the sentiment behind it as inspiration for his writings about discipleship in an instant society.  The consumer mindset militates against sacrifice, postponing gratification, and long dedication to a single practice without evidence of an immediate payoff.  I would echo this and say the same thing applies to the practice of self development and talent management in business.  There are precious few genuine shortcuts to developing top talent.

The third point of agreement in this triad is George Leonard, the American aikido teacher and an early leader in the human potential movement.  Notice what he has to say:

How do you best move toward mastery?  To put it simply, you practice diligently, but you practice primarily for the sake of the practice itself.  Rather than being frustrated while on the plateau, you learn to appreciate and enjoy it just as much as you do the upward surges.

George Leonard, Mastery, 1991

There you  have it–three different teachers from very different worldviews who find agreement and articulate a rare wisdom that few will champion today.  Real development and growth is found in a consistent, patient obedience, a rigorous dedication to mastery and excellence in a larger society that settles for shallow half-measures and ineffective quick fixes.

I notice that we too often equate learning with schooling or good teaching.  This is unfortunate, because it limits us to thinking about learning during the few years that we spend in school when we’re mostly young.  In the business world, we sometimes think of training and development as what happens in the training classroom, and we miss all the opportunities for development that happen other places and in fact is going on all the time around us.

I’ve noticed that we often learn the most by doing, not be being taught or instructed.  I see it in the aikido dojo where I practice and in the classes for kids that I help instruct.  When I’m telling kids how to practice a technique, the results aren’t usually great, but it’s a necessary start.  Real learning happens by doing, and it’s exciting to watch those aha moments when someone sees for themself what the lesson is. 

Here’s the takeaway:  if you want to learn something, plunge in and learn by doing.  It will get you going, it will make the learning real, and it will usually feed your motivation.  I have found that learning and development arise out of practice, discipline and consistency over time.

Here’s my model of Leadership Levels or what I call “Fields of Leadership.” I still need to show examples of these and work them out in more detail, but here they are in outline form. Leadership Fields are the primary domains where one exercises leadership. Leadership in one area can help one develop leadership in another domain, but it doesn’t guarantee that this will happen. Each field has its own set of skills, competencies and mindsets that go along with it. High levels of Thought Leadership don’t automatically make one gifted in Interpersonal Leadership. My thinking is still developing on this topic; I’ll post more here so stay tuned.

Leadership can be expressed on many different levels, and each field of leadership has its requisite skills and competencies.  The five fields of leadership are:

1. Personal Mastery:  Self-Awareness, Vision, Integrity and Self-Control

2. Interpersonal Skill:  Empathy, Influence, Communication, and Contribution

3. Thought Leadership: Observation, Analysis, Learning/Integration, and Sharing

4. Group Endeavor: Organization, Meeting Discipline, Execution, Collaboration and Teambuilding

5. Systemic Leadership: Vision for Future, Organizational Design, Culture and Values, Strategy and Transformation

The 2008 Summer Olympic games opened yesterday.  I was able to see a good part of the opening ceremony and the spirit of the Olympics came through to me: the youth and energy of the athletes, the meeting of nations and laying aside of differences, and the courage to strive and endeavor against the top athletic talent in the world.

Do you have Olympic-caliber talent in your organization?  What values or aspirational goals are found in your company?  The talent we see on display in the Olympics is a product of both individual aspiration and the broader culture of world athletics.  How could you build your culture to attract more top talent?  It is a possible goal to attain.

I’m often asked this question.  My answer often surprises the leader who asks it. 

If you want to develop people better, you will first have to look at your own leadership.  My friends Steve and Jill Morris make a distinction between lead management and boss management (the type of authoritarian/power-based leadership that is all too common).  Lead management is about leading people to lead themselves, to develop their own skills and abilities, to be self-evaluating.

This notion of lead management is based on Choice Theory and the work of William Glasser.  It is spelled out in a short but powerful book called “Leadership Simple” that was one of the most impactful books I read last year.  I encourage all leaders to take a look at this.  

A true leader makes choices deliberately after doing a careful self-evaluation.  They define what they want, they own their perceptions of what seems to be happening (without projecting that on others), and they lead others to do the same. 

It should be a relief to leaders that you don’t have to figure out how to develop each one of your people (they are all unique, afterall).  You do need to be deliberate and aware of what you want, what they want, and know how to lead people through a process of change that is of their own choosing.