Canadian Leadership Eh?

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2008

Are Canadian Leaders Really Invisible?


“From teaching leadership in Canada, I am almost always disappointed that most Canadians have such a hard time identifying Canadian leaders they admire.

I invite you to try the following test. Test yourself first and then try it with your friends and colleagues. List 10 well-known Canadian recording artists, 10 well-known Canadian athletes, and 10 well-known Canadian leaders you admire. Time yourself or ask someone to time you. You have one minute for each list.

Almost all of the people who take this test do a significantly better job of identifying Canadian recording artists and athletes than identifying Canadian leaders they admire. This reinforces my premise that Canadians under-acknowledge, under-appreciate and under-recognize our home-grown leaders.” – Dr. Brad McRae, CSP, ALDI

You’ve just been introduced to “The 7 Strategies of Master Leaders” by Dr. Brad McRae, Director of the Atlantic Leadership Development Institute. In this text, Dr. McRae presents interviews with significant Canadian leaders ranging from corporations to government agencies and community organizations. The stories punctuate 7 key strategies for leveraging leadership skills. Surprisingly, even the crustiest and most experienced can learn from this book. For new leaders, this should become their “bible” for the journey. Finally, a current, Canadian context for learning to lead will be available in 2009.

Before you click over to try to purchase the 7 Strategies, let me warn you that Dr. McRae continues to edit the material, and has confidentially released it into the hands of Leadership Thunder Bay’s class of 2008 – 2009. This is an organization which promises an “immersion” into community leadership over 10 months, and which has already graduated over 100 alumni from the corporate, governmental and volunteer sectors.

Why did Dr. McRae let the cat out of the bag?

Leadership theory refers to transparency and trust. What better way to know if his Canadian work on leadership stands the scrutiny of 23 curious and ambitious participants? With their input, editing and keen attitudes toward life long learning, 7 Strategies is being molded by the very people it aims to support. In the process, they are learning about themselves and more importantly, discovering role models which have been invisible on the Canadian landscape.

So here’s the invitation.

Spend an evening with Dr. Brad McRae on Thursday January 15 2009 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His topic, based on the book, is “Live Your Legacy”, don’t just Leave Your Legacy.

Registration is open on line now at http://www.leadershiptb.com/.

________________________________________

Note to LTB Participants: Please forward this post to your colleagues and contacts! We'd love to fill the room, just by word of mouth...contact Kari at kari@leadershiptb about tables of 8.

- Maggie

PS I'm in Toronto this week. I will return phone calls and emails next week Wednesday.

This XOWHAT post is early. Please check the XOWhat Blog for this month's readings. Methinks Feedblitz was lazy or out shopping, and didn't send the automatic e-feed.

Open Doors & Open Minds

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2008




Opening Doors (of Our Minds)

“How do we frame what we are doing in a way that makes it easy for people to do the right thing?” - Al Etmansky, Plan It


Following up on November 20, 2008:


A. Our Economic Renewal and Change learning day at Bombardier was a great experience. The presentations gave us a new way to frame our vision of the potential of our City.



Michael Mehagan comments:
“Since returning to Thunder Bay about three and a half year's ago, my outlook for the city future has gone from pessimistic (glass is half empty) to realistic (glass is two times too large) to optimistic (glass is half full and filling), with yesterday's session being the final tipping point from realistic to optimistic.”

B. Kristen Oliver submitted the Mayor’s Opening Remarks and they are now posted on http://www.leadershiptb.com/ e-Board. Take 10 to read the speech. Go back and review the City’s Strategic Plan on line. Life and Business IS better here!

The Mayor mentioned Dr. Dekker, the newly arrived researcher who is all excited about the fungus in Centennial Park. We’ll ask him to be one of our presenters in the spring, because many of us are curious about the how we transform our city into a research and knowledge based industry.

C. John Hatton, from Confederation College recommended two books. John Kotter’s, Leading Change is about “crisis” as a propellant of change. Harvard Business Professor Kotter advises those who would implement change to foster a sense of urgency within the organization. "A higher rate of urgency does not imply ever present panic, anxiety, or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent."



Did you notice that the word “complacency” does not belong in Bombardier’s vocabulary? What does that tell you about higher order leadership skills?

The other reading recommendation was “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Tom Friedman. The significance of the title is:


HOT - Global warming, the climate system is sensitive. There is only 6 degrees celsius between the ice age and today.
FLAT - The rise of the middle class all over the world
CROWDED - Population growth. 2.6B people in 1953 when Friedman was born. 9.2B people in 2053 when he reaches 100 years old. Fuels that we are using today are expensive, exhaustible, and toxic.

• According to Friedman, the 5 Megaproblems our world has:
  Energy and Natural Resources Running Out
  Petrodictatorship
  Climate Change
  Energy Poverty
  Biodiversity Loss

John also recommended the CEDC website for data, statistics and economic information about Thunder Bay. Data is powerful. You can find it on the City’s website at http://www.thunderbay.ca/index.cfm?fuse=html&pg=5485

From one of John’s Power Points (see the full presentation on the LTB E-Board):
The Role of a Leader – Appreciative Inquiry…

What If?
What are the Priority Actions?
What are the Best Practices?
Who owns the Problem?

D. Johnny (Rocket) Blackburn told us about BOS: Bombardier’s Operating System. It is remarkable. Go back to last week’s blog and re-read the Bombardier article by Dr. Brad.

Everything at Bombardier is designed and measured in 4 categories. Remember this billboard during your tour? Did you notice the Green Red and Yellow Flags which are visible standards of progress (or not and why not)?

People 1st.
Quality.
Responsiveness.
Cost.


E. Speaking of “required reading”, let’s clear the confusion about important resources for each Community Learning Day and your Community Action Project background.

1. The Whole Brain Business Book - ongoing, 1 Chapter recommended monthly

2. 7 Strategies of Master Leaders, 1 chapter emailed to you monthly

3. Resources for the CLD at the top right corner of the blog. "Read this by...". This list changes monthly.

4. The XOWhat Blog, http://xowhat.blogspot.com/ lists links or suggestions you may want to check out. The blog is posted every Tuesday, every week, and includes resources which are applicable to either the CLD or your leadership journey. Please subscribe - it's easier to keep up.

If it’s posted on the “TOP RIGHT CORNER of the XOWHATBLOG”, there’s relevant background information for you. I do my best to find appropriate, up to date and intriguing articles for you. Read as much as you can if you want to grow your knowledge base about: Community / Servant Leadership; Personal Leadership Development; the history/background/politics and current events and issues of Thunder Bay and the North. (No one will ask you what you have read. There's no test. It's up to you.)

Readings cover information and research that we just can’t fit into one learning day. Readings are posted every Tuesday so that you’re not hit with a huge amount of background info like a ton of bricks landing in your inbox just before CLD’s.

If you can’t open a link, then tell either Kari or myself…or google the topic. You can click on “comments” at the end of each week's posting, right beside the “date” and tell us all what you’re thinking. Anything controversial? Total agreement? Make a comment...

This month, for example, spend some time at the Tamarack* Community Engagement site, because December’s topic is The Voluntary Sector. Read the excellent "The Story of Somewhere" and join in the teleconference on Wednesday. See below for free registration.

I’m also recommending the introduction to Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets," by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. Your next community learning day takes the theory of “community assets” and makes it come “alive”! Go to the blog site: check out the top right corner "Read This" for the links.

F. B O N U S* - FREE TELESEMINAR!
Wednesday November 26: Register and Meet Us There for Lunch.
This free seminar is part of Tamarack’s* Practical Visionaries series. Presenters not only envision a better future for communities, but also create the means to help us to get there.

The Story of Somewhere
Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Time: 12:00pm Eastern
Speaker: Author Eric Young
Description: We need a new narrative about community, says Eric Young. Stories have the power to give shape to our lives and our futures. And we have the power to create a new story for our communities, one that creates hope and inspires change. Register at http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g1_events_LCtele.html

G. A Request on behalf of Alumni and the Northern Women's Leadership Forum: Please invite a spouse, colleague, your boss or your CAP group organization’s host to join us on January 15 for “An Evening With Dr. Brad”. Please help us to fill the room and sell out this event. (Did you know that everyone working on this event is a volunteer?)


Enjoy your week! Questions? Call me or Kari… doors and minds are open…

- Maggie

807 939 3000

Yogi Says

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2008

Community…Economy…Change

“We’re lost but we’re making good time.” Yogi Berra

How lost do you think we are? It's time to think seriously about our local economy...and the global crisis.

Vision and passion are two contributing factors in our decision making process. Our values set the pace for our long term plan. We will hear about the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario, and other economic insights about our city, from Mayor Lynn Peterson, who will kick off our Community Learning Day at Bombardier.

Remember to wear your safety shoes for the Bombardier tour, pack your questions and collaborate with your CAP group for your 15 minute presentation at the end of the day.

In the meantime, you might find the online version of the Chronicle Journal interesting. Our local economy - from forestry to mining to shipping and shopping - check out the newspaper on line every day for the headlines, and send letters to the editor on occasion. Speak up about issues – a good first step in community leadership.

From http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

LocalGrowth Plan for Northern Ontario Begins

By JIM KELLY, The Chronicle-Journal

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The first session in an ambitious initiative to explore key areas of potential future growth in Northern Ontario kicked off in Thunder Bay on Friday. The Growth Plan for Northern Ontario is a blueprint “for a co-ordinated, long-term approach to support a more globally competitive region,” said Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle, who presented an update on the long-term strategic plan with Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman.

The first of 10 technical discussions at the Prince Arthur Hotel focused on health care. “I can see there are some great opportunities that have been identified in terms of innovations in the health care field,” Gravelle said. “We certainly know that in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario some extraordinary investments have come to the North, so I think we have an opportunity today with the technical table on health to try to focus on the key issues that we can take advantage of and melt it into the Growth Plan for our future discussion with the public,” he said.

Smitherman said some of the participants in the health care session are associated with research. “This is one of those areas where we‘ve seen quite a lot of growth, but there is potential,” he said. Both Gravelle and Smitherman said the plan will focus on the following: strengthening the resource industries, advancing research and innovation, ensuring a skilled work force through education and training, and making strategic use of infrastructure to support sustainable growth.

“The Growth Plan will bring a co-ordinated focus and align the right resources to build on the North‘s tremendous strengths and talents for a sustainable economy, a clean environment and a vibrant quality of life for northern families,” Smitherman said.

Between today and Jan. 28, one-day technical sessions will be held in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay and Timmins on a variety of topics from health care to aboriginal economic development.

Two sessions in Thunder Bay on Jan. 7 and 8 will deal with value-added forestry and bio-economy. Early in 2009, Thunder Bay will host a major think tank featuring national and international experts who will share their knowledge with participants in the Growth Plan. Gravelle said the experts coming from other jurisdictions will make observations outside the context of Northern Ontario. “It‘s going to be a very positive process.”

Smitherman said when the economy is uncertain and people have challenges associated with that, “I think it‘s really, really important that you bring in perspectives that can help to unlock the opportunities. “I think the think tank will reach to provide and stimulate the nature of the discussions and hopefully enhance the kind of vision that we can come up with,” he said. Smitherman said with the current economic downturn, some people may want solutions now. “It‘s designed to be a long-term blueprint that helps to give reinforcement to a broad array of government decisions,” he said.

The Growth Plan is backed by the province‘s Places to Grow legislation and supported by a special committee of 16 cabinet ministers. That caught the eye of Mayor Lynn Peterson. “This is the first time ever that we have legislation behind it,” she said. “This is not a report that will go away. There‘s a legislative requirement to implement it. “We have to take the time to get it right and then implement it,” Peterson said.

Gravelle said over the spring and summer, the province held 13 discussion sessions across Northern Ontario as well as meetings with federal and provincial government officials in the North. To date, more than 500 northerners have provided input into the plan. Gravelle said First Nation peoples are important partners in the Growth Plan. He said the government will release a draft growth plan next spring from which northerners will start putting together a final strategy for prosperity and growth that will guide them over the next 25 years.

Copyright © Monday, November 17, 2008 All material contained herein is copyrighted by
The Chronicle Journal, a division of Continental Newspapers Canada Ltd.
All Rights Reserved.

See you for coffee at 8:45...Lots to Think About!

- Maggie

Morale By Message Board

Photo Credit: Floating Window by Richard Chicoine. iCopyright 2008

Morale by Message Board !

11. 11. What does it take to put ourselves in combat boots for a few extra moments?



The men and women of the Canadian Forces have demonstrated time and again that they will rise to any challenge. Let your Canadian Forces members know you appreciate their service by sending a message using this monitored message board.



http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Community/Messageboard/index_e.asp



Canada Post will continue program of free delivery to deployed troops. Christmas Mailing Guidelines: Mail intended for Christmas delivery to Canadian Forces personnel serving overseas and using the Belleville address must arrive at Belleville by 24 November 2008.

PO BOX 5210 STN FORCES BELLEVILLE ON K8N 5W6



Christmas Shopping? Support Our Troops Merchandise here:


https://www3.cfpsa.com/wyn2/en/sot/shoplist.aspx




We’re On Our Way to BOMBARDIER Next - November 20
An Excerpt from
Strategy 6: Build A Culture of Excellence



By Dr. Brad McRae, “The Seven Strategies of Master Leaders”

Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter is one of the most respected experts on leadership and organizations. In her book, Confidence: How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin & End, she states, “getting good habits in place takes a lot longer than eliminating bad practices; it takes the long march of culture change in which many individuals change their behavior in order to head in the same direction.”

Just as the Michelin Manufacturing Way has contributed to Michelin being a world class tire manufacturing company, the Bombardier Manufacturing System has contributed to Bombardier being a world class recreational vehicle, train and plane manufacturing organization.


Bombardier Manufacturing System


Like the Michelin Manufacturing Way, the Bombardier Manufacturing System is not just a way to doing things; it is a way of thinking that has become part of Bombardier’s culture.


BMS is based on Kaizen or continuous quality improvement, total quality management, and just-in-time-delivery. At Bombardier, these things are not fads ─ they are a fact of everyday life. Another part of the BMS is that different departments don’t engage in tribal warfare because they are jointly accountable for the success of their product lines. An example of tribal warfare is the sales department calling the credit department ─ “the non sales department”. However, if the credit department ceased to exist ─ the company would cease to exist because there would not be a department to process and collect outstanding bills. Without proper funding, sales would have nothing to sell.


Therefore, when Bombardier decided to develop a new product ─ like the C Series jetliner ─ they made sure that design, manufacturing, marketing and procurement work closely together from the initial starting phases of design to ensure that Bombardier can produce the right plane at the right cost and at the right time.


One of the best practices that Bombardier uses is Six Sigma. Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in 1986. The goal of Six Sigma is to improve both customer satisfaction and profitability by using advanced measuring and statistical analyses to reduce and eliminate defects. Every aspect of the product cycle from design, procurement, manufacturing costs, product quality, defect rates and scheduling are measured and benchmarked. Six Sigma stands for six standard deviations from the mean. Therefore reducing defects by six standard deviations mean 3.4 or fewer defective parts per million. As of 2006, it is estimated, that since its inception, Six Sigma has saved Motorola $17 billion.



[Six Sigma’s] ultimate performance target is virtually defect-free processes and products… The Six Sigma methodology, consisting of the steps “Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control,” is the roadmap to achieving this goal. Within this improvement framework, it is the responsibility of the improvement team to identify the process, the definition of defect, and the corresponding measurements.Using Six Sigma also resulted in large savings at Bombardier.


Six Sigma shaved $242 million off costs in fiscal 2001. One example of the successful application of Six Sigma techniques involved the paint shop in the aerospace group. After five years of trying to solve a problem with paint peeling off freshly minted regional jets, a Six Sigma team was asked to take a look. It was a knotty conundrum because there were at least 10 possible causes, all interacting with each other. Within five months, however, the group discovered that the solution laid in changing the thickness of the undercoat.


How They Do It at Bombardier:
Commitment Management

McClelland’s research on the psychology of high achievers demonstrated that high achievers :

Want more,
Expect more,
Do more, and
Get more.

An example of true commitment is Bombardier’s July 2008 decision to produce the new C Series regional jet. At the time this decision was made, almost all of the world’s airlines were losing massive amounts of money because the price of jet fuel doubled. On the surface this would seem to be the worst time to invest in building a new multi-million dollar plane. Bombardier, on the contrary, thought it was the best time because they would build the new C Series with lighter composite materials and with a newly designed more fuel efficient jet engine that will lower fuel consumption by 20%.

Not only is this a very difficult time for the airlines, there is intense competition from Bombardier’s fierce rival Embraer of Brazil, and the Chinese and Japanese also have their eyes on this market as well. In fact, this could be a make or break the company decision according to Bombardier’s president, Pierre Beaudoin.


And a BIG PS Announcement:


Mark January 15 on your calendar for Dr. Brad's session with the current class AND an alumni organized public event in the evening. An Executive level breakfast presentation is already almost sold out for the morning of January 16. All sessions are at the Airlane Travelodge.


Watch your email for more info and the poster. We need your help in finding sponsors and filling the Airlane Travelodge for these events.


Most of all, since Brad has promised customized sessions - no duplication of stories - I encourage each of you to attend. What about purchasing a table of 8 for your CAP team, and inviting leaders from the host organization to join you at your table? Bring your spouse to meet your LTB colleagues... heck, bring your mom!



1. Brad's Class Presentation: The 7 Strategies of Master Leaders - Lifelong Learning free for our class on January 15.





2. Evening Public/Alumni: "Living Your Legacy". $ 50.00 with dinner. Register with Kari asap.





3. Executive Breakfast: "The Three Circles: Where leadership, negotiation and presentation skills intersect". $ 100.00 with breakfast. Maximum 25. Register with Kari asap.




This week...

Let us pray for peace....take a moment on Remembrance Day to write our troops...support one another in our leadership learning...





Maggie

Parking Lot Musings

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” - James Dean

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine. All Rights Reserved 2008

Technology of Agreements for Leaders
Glenn Allison,
Graduate, Leadership Waterloo

Thoughts while walking through the parking lot...

* as fish are to water, and birds are to air, human beings live in language * we speak our world into being (MLK: I have a dream......)

* so too, our world speaks us if we let it *

Leaders know the personal and collective power of the given word. (Marriage is essentially the community called together to witness the word...)

* being one with our word is how we remain whole and healthy: (I am who I say I am, I have what is mine, and I will do what I promise)

* when we break our word, we are no longer who we have said ourselves to be: we are no longer integral with our word - we have absolutely no place to take a stand, the world is quicksand.

* if you break your word, the only way you can regain integration is to acknowledge that to the appropriate listener (the one who knows your word is broken).

The trick here is being responsible, without burden, fault, praise, blame, credit, shame or guilt.

* recommit by giving your word, perhaps suitably adjusted and both parties concur.

* if for some reason you know that you cannot keep your word, renegotiate terms (deadlines, commitments, etc) with the appropriate listener, so that you can again be your word.

* make sure that you communicate that you are and will continue be your word once given, and be so. Then, you will have for your self the space to stand, you will be grounded.

As Leaders:

* what are our collective as opposed to personal agreements: in family, in group, in society, etc.?

* what the world might be like if we were all whole, if we all kept our word?

The Buddhists have an expression that when paraphrased, goes like this: When you keep a promise, you are profoundly human, when you don't, you are a** wipe.

And who needs... that?

_________________________________________

Community Action Projects: Heads Up!

For our November 20 day at Bombardier... It's your turn on the Agenda. Remember to plan your 15 minute CAP presentation which includes:

- an overview of your progress to date
- a brief recap of your host organization’s mandate and the goals of your project
- a story about the “vision and passion” of your host organization
- some insights about your group dynamics, and what you are learning about organizational/team structures and systems (reference HBDI)

It is important that everyone in your group plays a role in this presentation.

PS: RSVP the LTB AGM November 6. See you there,

Maggie