Do You Reward Failure?

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2011

Do You Reward FailUre?

Get used to it: Failure is part of innovation!

Although failing isn't comfortable,

 it can be one of the smartest team dynamics for any leader's portfolio.

(If your team never fails, U Fail as a leader...)

A team without ideas - and failures - ends up working in a "factory" of mundane and predictable results.

In his excellent book, The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson says:

Reward Failure:

• make sure people are aware that failure to execute ideas is the greatest failure, and will be punished
• make sure everyone learns from past failures; do not reward the same mistakes over and over again
• If people show low failure rates, be suspicious.  Maybe they are not taking enough risks, or maybe they are hiding their mistakes, rather than allowing others in the organization to learn from them
• Hire people who have had intelligent failures and let others in the organization know that's one reason they were hired.

Ideas happen at "intersections" - generated through the explosion of concept combinations.  Some of those ideas will fail - others won't!

Find a frozen seat by the shores of the Lake, take 5 to appreciate nature's creative "mistakes" (and your leadership style!).

PS:  Did you read last week's 2 part long blog yet?

Storytelling Part 3: Spartacus @ LTB

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2010: "Vision is the detail in the big picture"

 

LEADERSHIP THUNDER BAY GUEST BLOG

THE SPARTACUS REVOLT

Background

Maggie was kind enough a short while ago to invite Joe and I to be Guest Bloggers for XOWhat (not to worry everyone will get their chance!) The topic for the Blog would be leadership. Topics could range from our thoughts on the LTB experience so far, a book review, a bio of a leader you admire, a funny story or expand on a quote or two.

How Spartacus Turned Up Here

After thinking long and hard about the subject of my Blog, I finally  decided on the bio of a leader that I admire, and that leader would have to be Spartacus.  He  led a 3 year revolt of gladiators and slaves against the tyranny of the Roman Empire in 70BC.

I learned about Spartacus and his revolt from my mother Wilda.  She is a remarkable woman  who is now 81 years old, an Aboriginal woman, a Residential School survivor, and who as a young woman, refused to take the advice of my grandfather and paid her own way through nursing school at Cook County Hospital.  This facility  is located in one of the most poverty ridden sections of Chicago, Illinois. She still has great memories of the people there, and her experiences only made her more passionate when it came for her to be involved in her ‘causes’ (as she would call them).

My mother loves the epic movies made in the ‘40’s, ‘50’s, and ‘60’s. 

 Her favourite of all of them is Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas.

In our family, all of the members -  

with the exception of my mother and I  -

are left brain thinkers (I didn’t realize this until LTB) . 

I think this is the reason that the two of us would watch the movie numerous times together from the time I was very young to the present.

Although the movie is 3 hours long we are riveted to the screen.  

We are horrified at the treatment of the slaves, and

the inhumanity of the Roman Empire.   

We cheer when Spartacus and the slave gladiators start their revolt and escape from the gladiator school, gather an army and fight the Roman Empire in their bid for freedom, and then together we are heartbroken when the revolt is crushed by the Roman Empire and Spartacus and his followers are executed by crucifixion and are lined up along the road leading to Rome so that surviving slaves and any citizen of Rome would see the fate of those willing to oppose the might of the Roman Empire.

As I grew older my mother would explain to me how important it was to be passionate about causes  - how many important ideas and beliefs spring from the vision of one person  - 

and how that vision could evolve into a movement that could either make an impact,

on a small scale (our community) or a large one (the world).

She always said that Spartacus was a good example of this.

 She pointed out that the Romans believed that by putting Spartacus and his followers to death they were killing their dream of freedom.

 She told me that that decision by the Roman Empire only ensured that Spartacus’ dream of freedom would survive for a lot longer than the Roman Empire would.

The Spartacus Revolt and the movie Spartacus itself is

a subject of controversy amongst historians themselves.  

They all agree that the revolt is a real historical event, but there is controversy and speculation regarding Spartacus’ motivation for the revolt: 

his leadership abilities,

his strategic planning,

and if the revolt actually accomplished the goals that Spartacus was attempting to attain.

I believe that if Spartacus did not have the leadership abilities that some say he possessed that his revolt would have been a failure from the start.

It is said that at the height of Spartacus’ revolt  his followers numbered at least 125,000

To successfully lead a group or organization of that size you have to be some kind of leader!

Believe it or not, the lessons that we are learning at LTB

are actually portrayed in the movie Spartacus:

Leadership and Vision,

 The Tenacity To Follow Through On What Others Consider To Be Impossible Goals, Leadership Through Example,

The Follower As Leader,

The First Follower,

Leadership That Inspires Other Leaders and

The Enduring Legacy Of Great Leaders And Their Messages.

How Spartacus Helped Me On The Job

In conclusion I would like to share a story which I think really made me think about the impact that my mother and her “Spartacus School of Leadership and Values” had on me.

 I was at work last summer, (if someone new to the Blog doesn’t know it I’m a Constable and Acting Sergeant with the Thunder Bay Police Service), and I had a call for service.   

A  local businessman was harassing another man over the fact that this man had a past addiction that he was successfully dealing with in treatment.

The man’s employer knew about his addiction and was fully supportive of his efforts,

but the harassing businessman was contacting the man’s employer as he felt it was something that the employer needed to know. For an unknown reason, he wasn’t going to stop the harassment because he felt duty bound to “do the right thing”.

When I contacted the harassing business man he informed me that as far as he was concerned I was a “small man with a small badge”

and that I had no idea who I was dealing with.

I made arrangements for the harassing business man to attend the station and resolve the situation by meeting with the man’s employer and then caution him regarding further harassing behaviour towards the man and his employer.

While we were alone, prior to the meeting, the harassing business man apologized to me saying that he didn’t mean what he had said earlier.

 I told the harassing business man that as far as I was concerned, that  

"I am proud to be a small man and

that my small badge protects small people from people like him."

 After the successful conclusion of this matter I thought about what had happened and thanked my mother and father (yes they both have to take credit for the child they created!) and gave a silent thanks to Spartacus too!

- John  Walmark, Class of 2010 - 2011

***

Introducing the NEW LTB Logo

 

FYI:  I'm in Montreal at the moment, attending the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers' Convention.  

Best!

Maggie

What Did He Say?

Vice President and Alumnus Stewart Kallio’s notes from June 10, 2010 - Graduation Day and HOT SEAT prelude.

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2010

Kallio’s 3 Points:
Personal Perspective on Leadership


1. Leadership with a healthy dose of scepticism and caution


2. Leadership of self


3. Action



1. Leadership with a healthy dose of scepticism and caution

I`m sceptical about leadership

As a concept, the word, ‘leadership’, did not appear until the early 19th century (Bass, 1981), but now that it does exists in the language, further attempts to define leadership have resulted in “almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (p.7)

Leadership Theories (Bass)

• Great Person Theory

• Trait Theory

• Humanistic Theories

• Situational Leadership Theory

• Contingency Theory

• Path-Goal Theory

• Leader-Member Exchange

• Psychological Approaches

Concepts

• Transactional/Transformational (Burns)

• Charismatic

• Servant

• Authentic

• Fundamental State of Leadership

WHEW!


Cult of exceptionality - Leaders as heroes (An American construction)

One particularly strong dimension of the leadership discourse is the notion of the leader-as-hero. Gronn (1995), an Australian leadership researcher, notes a “persistent undercurrent of individualism lying at the heart of American social and management theory” (p. 10). Bennis (1985) observes that business in the 1980’s was in need of great change and heroes were needed to save things (p.70). The result was a rise in idolatry, celebrity and believing one’s own press.


The discourse, for example, perpetuates a “cult of exceptionality” (Gronn, 2003) or the “promotion of the superhero”, leaders as organizational soloists who act as if the organization has a singular identity in which every participant sublimates his or personal values and vision to the good of the whole (Hay & Hodgkinson, 2006). The message is leaders are exceptional people and not everyone can be a leader. The condition of exceptionality, moreover, causes some to abandon the notion of leadership (Gronn); it serves to exclude “leader candidates who do not fit the images”…and to marginalize “writers who do not use the same language” (Amey & Twombly, 1993, p. 539).


Gronn goes further, noting that a recent move to introduce leadership standards - he calls it “designer leadership” (p. 283) – represents an insidious move towards privileging certain forms and models of knowledge that can be read as a “means of subjugating bodies in the interests of docility and utility” (p. 283).

It’s tough to join the club without playing by the rules!

Covey – 8th Habit – Find you own voice and help others find theirs


2. Leadership of Self

Dump the ego (Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul, Deepak Chopra)

Fire my ghosts, prophets and gurus (I ‘hired’ them and I kept them in work; time to let them go)

My fears are my friends (face, accept and embrace what it is that most challenges or frightens you)

Wake up

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see”. John Lennon

Mitchell (1990)

``Perhaps the most misunderstood principle in any kind of leadership is the fact that leaders do not change others, nor do they cause others to follow them. All a leader can do is to change his or her own attitudes, values, perceptions, and actions so that others will desire and will choose voluntarily to follow him or her.`` (p. 184)


(Lennon song)


I don`t believe in yoga


I don`t believe in kings


I don`t believe in Elvis


I don`t believe in Zimmerman


I don`t believe in Beatles


I just believe in me

....

Yesterday I was the dreamweaver


But now I`m reborn


I was the walrus


But now I`m John



Care is the fundamental dimension of being human. Care for self; care for others.

Appearances matter (Mandela). Beware of how you present to your public.

Quinn says you need to reach a Fundamental state of leadership – an ever increasing level of integrity.

From the Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz, 1997)


Agreement 1

Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Bob Dylan ... “But I'll know my song well before I start singin’” – song is a metaphor – power of the word, but you have to have something to say and you need to know how it may be received.

OR

Words (re: Joey Gallo) -

“They got him on conspiracy, they were never sure who with.

What time is it? said the judge to Joey when they met

Five to ten," said Joey. The judge says, that's exactly what you get." (Dylan)



3. Action

Accept that you have a choice (remember Mulroney’s winning response to Turner!)

Respect your choices. Intention and reality
I think...We`re pretty well calibrated to deliver on what we believe
Chopra – at some level we`re simply energy. Thought directs energy.
Busy or productive? Strategic. Invest time and energy well (my journey – reinventing myself. Making choices about what I will do/be.)
When we do something with a quite simple, clear mind, we have no notions of shadows, and our activity is strong and straightforward. When we do something with a complicated mind, in relation to other things or people or society, our activity becomes very complex.

Ian pointed to this idea in his post 15 year plan:

The field of awareness organizes around our intentions. Knowledge and intention are forces. What you intend changes the field in your favor. Intentions compressed into words enfold magical power.

Shunryu Suzuki

Power to play safe or go for it!

Cornish (2002) suggests that being a ‘model’ leader represents an act of organizational docility in the face of power because to really practice leadership means actually deviating from organizational norms (p. 125).

Being a leader means creating conditions for “engaging…people with ‘institutional memories’” (Terenzini, 1999, p. 28) and challenging organizational inertia to “create communities of difference” (Tierney, 1994, p. 144)….that allow for “dangerous memory” that invites the organizational dialogue with the voices “that have been silent or subjugated” (p. 147). Organizational power maintains norms (docility) or drives change (deviation) (Cornish, 2002; Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997).
Tipping points – Maggie`s blogs http://www.xowhat.blogspot.com/
Structure (how you place yourself in experience)(boundaries that shape you and others)
Why does poetry, for example, require structure?

``Form imposes a certain opportunity to get deeper than your first thought…something happens and you’re invited to dig deeper into the language and to discard the slogans by which you live – the easy alibis of language and opinion.”  (Leonard Cohen speaking with Shelagh Rogers, CBC Radio, February 7, 2006)

Genius is in the doing!

Charlie Wilkins –. Rowing the Atlantic. Walk to New York. Sign on with the circus

Quinn, 2004 - Building the Bridge as You Walk on It

“You can hang back or fight your best on the front line”  (Dylan, Workingman`s Blues #2, Modern Times)
(Castaneda, 1968) A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance…when a man has fulfilled these four requisites there are no mistakes for which he will have to account; under such conditions his acts lose the blundering quality of a fool’s acts. If a man fails, or suffers a defeat, he will have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that” (pp. 167, 43)

Finally........“The only thing that really matters is that you become yourself” 
(Glenn Gould to Timothy Findley, CBC Radio 1, June 23, 2002)

Four Agreements ( Don Miguel Ruiz, 1997 )

Agreement 1

Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Agreement 2

Don’t take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Agreement 3

Don’t make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Agreement 4

Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.





Personal leadership/learning metaphors

Dr. K

Dr. K is a personal metaphor representing accomplishment and completion.

It represents a commitment to my friends and family. A friend introduced the phrase when I completed my Masters program. He used it facetiously, but he also used it as sign of respect for what I was doing. He acknowledged, in his own way, that he knows how much I value this goal.

The term feels right for reasons that I cannot quite explain. I do know that it acts as a reference when I become discouraged or tired or frustrated.

a. Fire my ghosts, prophets and gurus

Leadership is leading without being led or being consumed by it. Independent, but not isolated, thinking is required. My ghosts, prophets and gurus become my resources and guides. When I reach this goal, I will let go of doubts, old baggage, and heroes (even teachers) cluttering my thoughts and my actions. Reflecting my personal values, I will balance inquiry with action.


b. My fears are my friends

My personal journal suggests that fear is a large part of who I am. I have dreams that present themselves with both annoying regularity and thematic consistency. I remember them because I am always present, aware of, and watching the dream. I am a dream participant capable of willful action. Typically, I experience intense feelings of inertia and resistance to easy movement; embarrassing public exposure; curiosity and terror of deep, underwater regions; wildly exciting public performances; and unrestricted flights (literally) of imagination.


I am looking at my dreams as internal mirrors reflecting unresolved issues. It is interesting, too, that I dream most richly during periods when I am most off balance; my best work as an artist, whether I am painting, drawing or writing, happens when I am comfortably unsettled. I try to sustain a sense of imbalance that I believe is healthy – it gives me energy. Eventually, my fears become my friends, maybe even my allies.


c. Searching for Truffles…Look ‘em in the eye

Truffles are rare, difficult to find mushrooms enjoyed by both humans and pigs. Humans use pigs to locate the truffles because pigs have a well-developed sense of smell that detects where and when truffles are ready to emerge.


I do a lot of running, and I meet a lot of dogs. Occasionally, I meet one that seriously considers my running a chase situation – something that I cannot possibly win. My strategy is to face the danger. First, I yell sharply to break them from their attack mode. Then I remain still, looking them squarely in the eyes. Once I am in control, I walk from the situation while keeping the dog locked in visually. Facing the danger is my only real option, but I learn from it.


My goal is to develop a highly tuned sense of my environment. I need to find the educational ‘truffles’ by seeing the subtle but significant signals emerging from my environment. Michael Gelb describes this quality as ‘sensazione’: the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as a means to clarify experience (How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day). I need to anticipate and recognize emerging forces, assess their impact, and intervene to transform them as necessary.


d. Education – not another brick in the wall

The Pink Floyd song, The Wall, describes learners’ potential slowly being smothered, controlled, and dimmed one brick at a time. It is a metaphor for the architecture that both O’Banion and Saint-Onge said we must redesign.


e. There’s a crack in everything; that’s where the light gets in

Leonard Cohen suggests a ray of hope when faced with overwhelming feelings of helplessness. There is a crack in everything. It is where the light gets in. He reminds us to step aside from our usual patterns of thinking and look around for the clues that point to other options.

My goal statement represents the promise of illumination. Seeking cracks in the architecture between the bricks in the wall is a powerful reminder that intransigence and inertia are not permanent conditions. It reminds me that change is the only constant and that I must use my leadership skills as a change agent. It assures me that environments are created and then recreated. It tells me that leverage points are where I find them and have a strategic advantage because of it.


f. Mr. Fixit – Building my leadership toolbox

The doctoral program gives me the tools to work effectively in the organization. When systems break down, I tackle organizational concerns by diagnosing current realities, identifying symptoms of dis-ease or misalignment, prescribing solutions, and developing on-going, organizational well-being. To be effective, I require the broad range of skills and knowledge this program helps me develop.

g. Share Mona’s smile

Gelb refers to the expression, sfumato: a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty. The expression was originally used to describe a painting technique Leonardo developed to create a mysterious glowing sense of light, and life, in his work. Sfumato gives a magical quality to the Mona Lisa, and it is captured metaphorically in the smile.
Mona knows. Leonardo knows. And a person who knows is a person without need for ghosts, prophets or gurus. A person who knows is fully alive to being human. The secret is not out there - it is much closer to home that that

Who's Your Tug Boat?

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2010

Who Is YOUR Tugboat?

OK: You've set your goals, figured out your direction, set your course.  Off you go... and then the winds change, the waves sweep your lunch overboard or maybe the ice cramps your style.

Think you can do it all on your own?

That is one of the biggest leadership myths around.

Every one of us needs our tug boat pals to help us navigate...plow through the thick ice...guide us to the safe harbour.

In the case of LTB, you may be the "captain" of your leadership/ship;  and as lead facilitator, label me "your tug boat".  My job is to serve.

As Yolibeth mentioned in her presentation about balance,

we all need our networks... setting your compass isn't supposed to be a personal secret exercise.  Checking in with your colleagues, mentors, friends and family will support you in making sure that you don't head out for sea with a storm about to fuddle your plans.  They too, are you tugs.

Tracy Buckler stated: "It's easy to lead if nothing's happening." 

Let's take that one step further:

it's easy to set goals if nothing is happening.

Take advantage of the wealth of experience around you... make this network a priority for you, now and in the future.

Set your goals high; ask questions that will scare you;

shake up your future.

Complacency is the most dangerous spot to be found asleep.

Mediocrity runs a close second.

Here's a thought:

Even though you haven't graduated yet, consider your role with LTB...

you might be the candidate to step into a committee, the board...

the national network. 

Yes, YOU.

Dream big.  Listen well. 

Wishing you...

Smooth waters, fresh winds, blue skies and

just enough turbulence to keep you sharp at the captain's wheel.

Call on the tugs before you need them!

Start Your 100 Day Leadership Plan!

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

100 Day Plan for Leaders: Duck!

Background: How The 100 Day Plan Evolved

Photographer notices "the usual" and snaps the unusual. Sends image to creative writer. Writer's imagination stirred up - weekly.

Result? The innovative intersection which results in:
This blog.

My husband Richard is the photographer who inspires my writing. I never know what he's going to send as this week's theme.

My challenge: allow the story to unfold from the image.

As the lead facilitator for Leadership Thunder Bay - and in my "other practice" as a professional speaker and master coach, I need to keep my mind sharp and my brain flexible. Coherent.

Leaders expect me to guide them to the place where "they get it". Most of the leaders I work with, aren't familiar with the intimate details of how their brains get locked into familiar patterns and expectations. They need to experience as well as learn the theory.

My weekly musings and writings based on pictures, are just one example of how creative thought works in real life. I simulate and stimulate my own thinking style weekly. How could I expect others to do the same, if I don't take the lead? Let me share how this all happens. (And then we'll get to the 100 Day Plan: Duck!)

The Process (in short form)

• Image received... "Duck enjoying shower on a hot day"
• Research (what do I know about ducks?)
• Reflect (what do ducks and leaders have in common)
• Intersection of multiple ideas (key question: what else happens in 100 days)
• Hatch: 100 Day Plan Duck! for Leaders?
• Experiment: Draft 1 or 2 or 3...
• Laugh! (if it's not amusing or titillating, start again...)
• Action Plan: Write, edit, write, edit
• Remarks - comments - thanks!

That was the process. Now, for the real point of this column:

The 100 Day Plan for Leaders: Duck!
The intersection of Duck Maturity & Innovative Leadership Thinking

The research says:

Ducks incubate for up to 30 days. Hatch.

Ducks mature - reach that independent stage - in another 70 days or so.

Total? 100 Days...

Here's the bottom line:

The 100 Day Duck Growing Up Plan also applies to Leaders who want to grow.

If you, as LEADERS, could strategically incubate an idea or two - reflect - for 30 days and then move to action for another 70 days...

In 100 days, the changes you want to happen - your "tipping point HOT Seat GOALS - could begin, and also be measured.

* Always think in 100 day blocks of time.

(a) What is the concept you would like to take forward?

Take the time to reflect. Incubate. Don't rush.

Then hatch the central core of the plan.

(Let the duckling of an idea emerge slowly from its shell...first glimpse of surroundings, new environment...

(b) Work on the action plan - who else, what else, how. Research. Make intersections of ideas. Write it all down.

(c) Set up the standards and measurements, loosely at first

(d) Be aware of the "red flag" moments - do not discard what is niggling...find the texture and context of the part that doesn't seem to fit. Source the danger - get out of the nest. This could be the best part!

(e) Look ahead to the 100 day deadline (duck line) and back to measure your growth as you go. Allow natural growth. Do This Daily. Take notes.

(f) Start the next 100 days.

If Canada Day (July 1) marks Day 1, then Canadian Thanksgiving could be the 100 Day closure point.

What could you and your team accomplish during this 100 point continuum of thinking and actions?

If ducks can fly in 100 days......what about what you want to do?

Let me know!
***

Maggie Chicoine is Leadership Thunder Bay's Lead Facilitator for 2009 -2010 and a professional speaker, master coach and professional writer. She specializes in "Strategies to Think Ahead". Her experience speaks...with a twist of ingenuity.

807 939 3000 maggiechicoine@gmail.com

Ripple Effect

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009






Dream...Believe...Achieve

How does a leader move from “intention” to “achievement”?

Our graduates vocalized 23 different versions, all incredibly powerful and from the heart. I’d like to share six randomly chosen comments from...

Your Hot Seat Moments

“I needed to see through the tunnel or barrel, rise out of my comfort zone. I am LEARNING that nothing is really that scary.

(Except maybe the monsters that still live under the bed and in the closet.....and we all have those)”

These challenges have changed me.
Stop, look, listen, inquire, be calm and stop blaming.”

“I’m quiet, and I’m comfortable with that.
If I don’t understand you, you’ll hear from me.
If I don’t agree with you, you’ll hear from me.
If I have something to say, I will add value.
Or if I’ve had too many drinks...”

“It’s about being able to give them permission.
It’s a relationship, a delicate process.
As a leader I may have to ask friends to do things they don’t like.
I don’t go out for coffee with them as often as I used to, because they need time to bitch about management,
and that used to be one our (and my) favourite topics.
I have to hold back.”


"I'm now a better public speaker, and I accept the person that I am, not who I should be. I spent so much time looking inward, not so much on community. This forced me to take the time to reflect."

“I had some things written down, but now I’m going to wing it,
talk from the heart because that’s what I do.
LTB has opened my eyes so wide; I came out of my box totally, doing things like chairing meetings, helping with the food bank now instead of waiting for Christmas and even got my husband involved.
I’ve loved this year, meeting everyone.
I was so nervous at first in going to Sibley.
My level of confidence has gone through the roof.”

“I was surprised at how painful it was, internally.
I felt like I wanted to be a leader, and then, no I don’t. I would feel this conflict, learn about myself.
I misunderstood what a leader is.
I can be a leader with my kids.
Leadership means self care and integrity. That’s a priority.”

“I’ve heard over and over again, that leadership is
to become the person you want to be.
But pull it back from there: be who you are, look in the mirror.
A better expression by Glenn Gould is
the only thing that matters is the person you are.
It really comes back to being honest with who you are.
It’s a process of working and then stepping back: what’s my part in it?"


Kudos to Curriculum Committee member, Glenn Allison for suggesting the Hot Seat! based on his vibrant experience with the Leadership Waterloo program.

As we’ve heard from numerous presenters, stating goals verbally and publicly, concisely, articulately, helps them - and their teams - move from intention to positive action.

Here is Glenn Allison’s Hot Seat message to the class:

The Nature of Promise

I’d like to send a brief comment to our graduates on the Space of Possibility and Commitments as Who We Say We Are.

......forgive the ramblings of an old man, but I recalled something from my past at Leadership Waterloo that might prove helpful, and would connect.

In my day we used to speak of the Technology of Agreements.
Basically, it was about keeping your word and it went something like this:

* as fish are to water, and birds are to air, human beings live in language

* we speak our world into being (One of the most memorable is Martin Luther King’s: 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. (For example, marriage is essentially the community called together to witness the word of relationship...)

* being one with our word is how we remain whole and healthy: in other words, (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.

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

As you walk your leadership journey,
* make sure that you communicate that you are and
will continue be - your word once given, and always be so.

Then, you will have for your self - the space to stand.

You will be grounded.

* what are our collective agreements as opposed to personal agreements? How do find out space in family, in group, in society?

* what might the world 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 ass wipe. And who needs a room full of that?

So I ask, in a magical counter-cultural way,
that you consider yourself as space.

You are, after all, the space in which your own life happens.

In all probability, after LTB, you are in
an inspired space of community wellbeing.

You were the space of inquiry, curiosity, wonderment and growth as you entered the programme.

As you leave it, you are being asked to consider what that space now looks like.

What do you find arising in that space?

What kinds of commitments do you sense are developing in the space that you now are.

How do you regard your own leadership space?
Cheers and I look forward to your successes. - Glenn Allison


May your lives be rich and rewarding. May your efforts - large or small - ripple into our communities - large or small.
May you always remember this experience in leadership and your colleagues who have had a hand in your journey.

- Maggie

PS: Now that you've finished your official program and you have time to reflect...these XOWhat blog archives may be interesting reading... and may even make more sense!
Your comments always appreciated.

This blog is officially taking a break...until next August, when the class of 2009-2010 checks in...Your subscription never ends...
Please feel free to contribute to these resources.

Do Be

Remember? Opening Retreat 2008
Tipping Point Hot Seat LineUp - see below:)

DO Leadership & BE Leadership

It’s been quite the year!

We’ve done our best to grow your leadership style and strengths - in both DOING leadership and BEING leadership. There’s a difference.

Anyone can talk the talk. Walking and talking leadership requires vision, purpose, skills and to top off the equation - passion!

At our final learning day, it's all about you.

You will be presenting your

“Tipping Point Leadership Goals” on the Hot Seat.

Stating your intentions out loud, to a collection of your colleagues is one way to move out of good intention into action.

In case you’re wondering how to hone your message into a two minute timeslot, here’s a quick template that may help you (get some sleep!).

_________________
V.P. + V.P. + C

Vision + Purpose + Values + Passion + Commitment
_________________

V = What’s the Vision or big picture? What are you stretching toward?

P = What’s the Purpose? What is at the core of your goal?

V = What Values keep you on track? What do you really believe in?

P = Passion, passion and more passion.

What can’t you live without?

What makes this goal a burning issue for you?

C = What do you Commit to?

How will you know that you’re making progress?

What are your standards and how will you measure?

_________________

Here's an example:

I thought I’d share my personal thoughts on this as well, as an example and FYI

(in case you’re interested. If not, skip ahead to the day’s Hot Seat Line Up).

Maggie's Tipping Point Goal:
to be recognized as an innovative and respected leader of leaders.

Vision = to role model leadership for others
(experienced and at "first exposure" levels); to be the leader of leaders
in the community as well as through my business

Purpose = being the role model means that I have to practice what I preach daily.

This keeps me transparent, and on top of new information, and creates connections with other leaders and their teams.

Values = I believe in congruent, innovative and engagement centred leadership,

where the best of the best happens because of connection and dialogue.

I also believe that when you mess up, you fess up.

Passion = Simplify! Make it Sweet! Keep it spirit centred.

I know what’s not passion - and I let go of those activities or relationships.

Commit = I keep my word and go beyond expectations consistently.

I keep my promise to my mentor, Ernie Checkeris: “Stay humble”.

If you need help with your 2 minute chat, just ask!

The Hot Seat Line-up

Remember the photo on the dock at Silver Islet? That’s the order for speaking about your Tipping Point on the Hot Seat.

Starting at the back row: (L-R)

Jacki Alto, Tammy Orr, Sylvia Renaud, Brad Bonazzo,

Sarah Kerton, Robert Berardi, Kristen Oliver, Mika Lees, Peter Evans, Catherine Hilgers, Cathy Matthews, Paul Wolfe, Michael Mehagan,

Margie MacDonald, Kathleen Eaton, Nicole Landgraff, Stewart Kallio

Front Row: ( L-R)

Tammy Chiodo, Rosanna Scaffeo, Nancy Kos, Kelly Litt, Tracy Puurunen, Nicole Maillette-Seller

Jacki - you're first!

Nicole - you're the finale!

Format:

You speak for 2 minutes about your tipping point leadership goals.

Whatever you’d like to say ... is totally up to you.

You respond to your colleagues’ questions and comments for 4 minutes. How you use your time is up to you.

You are in control of these interactions.

Total time = 6 minutes per person. I will signal the 6 minute mark.

Comments and questions should support you in your goal - and possibly spark someone else’s thinking and planning for their own leadership quest.

It's about DOING leadership and BEING leadership.

And then....it’s GRAD! You deserve a first class celebration!

Thanks for a great year!

- Maggie

Go With The Flow

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

Overprepare & Then, Go With The Flow

Look up....waay up....

What does it take to go fly a kite?

Let me take that one step further: what does it take to lead?

The answers are similar...

"Over-prepare and go with the flow"

Kites, as you may know, were a Chinese invention more than 2500 years ago. Silk sails, resilient bamboo frames and strong silk flying line were the ideal materials to constuct art works, displaying mythological characters. Ingenious tails kept the kites flying forward. Not just entertainment, warrior kites were designed as a sky-field battleground, with opponents cutting each others lines to show dominance.

Much like leadership.

How resilient are you? How sturdy and how flexible your frame?

What is your visible shape and form?

What colours do you fly?

How do you manage tension?

What's your Plan B when the wind disappears, storms hover and environmental conditions are not ideal?

Who is the enemy who cuts your line?

When did you last check the condition of your kite, your tieline?

Who is helping you to fly?

How do you celebrate a perfect flight?

How much joy results from your leadership? Is it work and play in harmony?

And finally, what is your purpose?

Child's play? Not so. Learning to fly a kite can teach all of us about the balance required in leadership. Something to think about.... as you move toward "graduation" this month.

Enjoy!

PS: If you're wanting to chat about your "Tipping Point Goal", just ask! Email or phone: I'll help you fly.
- Maggie

About Community Leadership

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

Leadership Horizons

"Soft focus is an important skill that can affect us metaphorically.

In other words, the way we see the future has everything to do with how well we can look up and see the expanded horizon before us." - Peter Kline

Tipping Point Goals for Leaders

At this past CLD, John DeGiacomo quoted from a document prepared by Leadership Victoria. You will be receiving the full report via email. Here are some exerpts which you may find useful as you think about your leadership and your tipping point goals:

The Case for Community Leadership

Some years back, a book of stories appeared with the catchy title

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.

The title is effective — and affecting — because, though "love" is a charged word we all use, and though people will claim to know love when they see or feel it, most struggle to define it. The title is memorable because, with quirky good humour, it touches on a contradictory human truth.

As with love, so with community leadership, and not only because capable community leaders are often passionate and sometimes quirky. Like love, community leadership is much talked about — cited as a solution for daunting community challenges, invoked as the cure for the loss of community cohesion and identity, sought by community boards to rescue organizations adrift.

In Canada’s community leadership network, volunteers in twenty-two communities have devoted their time, attention, and labour, probably their money, and no doubt their hearts to building and running community leadership development organizations.

And yet, what we talk about when we talk about community leadership remains elusive. Opinions diverge even among those in community leadership organizations, though a shared anxiety infuses the differing views. At one extreme are those who suspect, echoing Gertrude Stein, that "leadership is leadership is leadership."

The dark secret of the movement, they say, is that its matter is no different from that taught in other programs. A perceived leadership deficit crossing social, political, and economic sectors has spawned a global cottage industry of sorts, with consultants, business schools, specialized institutes, and personal development experts widely offering leadership training. According to this view, what community leadership programs provide simply mirrors the training provided in good leadership programs everywhere.

Those with the opposite view suspect that though community leadership possesses a distinct character, it is a mere junior version of "real" leadership — that being leadership in business.

For many people, leadership currently is exemplified by leaders like Jack Welch, Carly Fiorina, Richard Branson, or Steve Jobs — the figuratively broad-shouldered, square-jawed, decisive heroes of the business press.

Ubiquitously profiled in popular management literature, business leadership has become for many the paragon of leadership everywhere, overshadowing even political, religious, and military leadership as an aspirational ideal. And according to this view, all that community leadership can ever hope to do, really, is aspire.

What are we talking about when we talk about community leadership?

A more pointed question to have asked is, how do different organizational and social circumstances make different demands on and elicit different practices from leaders?

As noted, it is the character of the led that drives the character of leadership in particular contexts. People act and are motivated differently in the community at large and in community organizations than they do and are in businesses. It is not necessarily the case that the people are different people. More often than not they are the same people in a different situation, both the leaders and others. It is telling in this regard that, very often, community leaders are also business leaders.

We often hear it stated that community organizations ought to become more businesslike, usually meaning that they need to be managed in a more orderly and structured fashion and led with a kind of abrupt decisiveness that some people seem to imagine is typical of business.

It’s true enough that many community organizations could be managed better. Particularly as community organizations grow and become more complex and highly structured, the genius of business leadership in maintaining large-scale, distributed task focus becomes more relevant, to take just one example.

But by the same token we could say that business ought to become more community-like. It is easy to think of situations in which the experience of effective community leaders is directly relevant to challenges faced
by business — in the leadership of change, for example, in which the risk of job loss or transformation injects huge emotion into employees’ relationships with the organization; or in the leadership of the millennial generation, who, as HR departments are learning, are demanding a healthy dose of meaning in their jobs; or in the leadership of innovation teams or groups of knowledge workers, which are often structured almost as flat coalitions of professional equals; or in brand development based on community values; or in the leadership of community relations, in which businesses aim to engage the public and its concerns.

In many ways, the lessons of community leadership are as relevant to business as those of business leadership are to communities.

It is not case then that "leadership is leadership is leadership,"

but rather that

"leaders are leaders are leaders"

and that those with the inclination, training, experience, and skills to exercise leadership will probably do so capably, wherever they find themselves — in communities, in business, in government, or in the military, rising to the demands as occasion and context dictate. We should expect therefore that the experience they garner in one sector not only adds to their depth as leaders, but is transferable to any other context in which they have the opportunity to exert their skills.

How individual leaders typically draw on the fundamental behavioural skillset to exercise leadership in various situations is what we call their "leadership style."

Community leadership starts with the creation of a passionate consensus for action. Through social entrepreneurship it builds the necessary organizational vehicles and programs. In articulating a vision of public good, it generates the broad support for issues that makes progress possible. In collaborative endeavour, it moves the agenda forward. And no doubt in engaging the public with a vision of innovative, collaborative purpose, it sets the stage for yet another small group of people to sit up, take notice, and decide to act together on a matter of shared concern that they feel is important.

That’s what we talk about when we talk about community leadership.

Reprinted with permission
Prepared for Leadership Victoria
by
Mitchell Temkin
Principal, Associatus Consulting
mtemkin@associatus.ca