Sunday 24 June 2007

Mapping the way: leadership learning with Crayolas

I don't know about you, but I have always loved Crayolas, felt tips and colour pencils. I've even tried to eat wax crayons once! Please don't give up on your art skills as yet! In case, you don't like the flavour, you could use those crayolas for idea mapping. Ideas are the stuff that leaders eat for breakfast and dinner. Well, for lunch we just chew idea cuds and call it innovation! That's how purple cows are born! As leaders, we are traders and sellers of ideas. Learning to connect them and integrate them is a work of art (pun unintended).

A few years ago, Tony Buzan, the British genius, grabbed my attention. When I first read his work on what he called mindmapping, I was hooked. That's how my mind worked! My own training in Western science and rationality in Jesuit and Protestant private schools/universities had embedded in my mind, the need for structure and linearity. Now for those postmodernists who feel sad for me - don't! - I sing, dance and tell stories, too!! Yet in graduate school, pictures and doodling were often seen as activities für die kinder! Black words on bond paper in Harvard Style outlines in MS Word seemed more suited to the explaining of a thought.

Buzan's software, Novamind , MindjetManager and a host of others, offer quick and easy ways to mind map without being a consummate artist. Although I am a die hard Macintosh user , I am happy that mind mapping is available for both the Macintosh and Windows.

Since Buzan, others have also written and furthered the discussion on this creative way of thinking. Let me introduce you today to Jamie Nast (fanfare plays here!) who has written a handy and practical introduction to get the scoop on Idea Mapping. Jamie is a wonderful and gracious person and I am a fan. She teaches and trains many in a wide variety of areas, but is exceptionally qualified to write on Idea Mapping. I am sure that her book will be a handy resource around the globe for people who truly think differently! Of course, I am working on Jamie to really be different and get a Mac!

Jamie is coming soon to the city of Vancouver. If you live in the area, consider standing in line for Jamie's seminar. No, I don't sell tickets!! Contact Jamie's organization for the details. Her clients include The Ford Motor Co., GM, General Physics, Institute of Management Accountants, L.L.Bean, Macomb Intermediate School District, MARC Advertising, Matrix Imaging, Mayo Clinic! Don't you think you should be there?

No, Jamie is not related, nor does she bribe me with Lattes! The issue is that if you lead or coach or even have the most prestigious title of being a teacher, her work may be useful to brainstorming and visioning with your clients/kiddos! (same thing!) Think without the box,
just use the crayolas! Throw the box away! It's recyclable, I think!

As you can see I am a fan of Jamie Nast, but that does not allow you to call me a NASTie! Have fun with the Crayolas!


Ta!

BE prepared to hear about the secrets of balloons for leadership and strategic planning
soon!


Friday 22 June 2007

Therapist or Coach!

Today some of us at a CTI workshop on coaching in Vancouver stopped to discuss coaching and therapy. I was reminded of an article on this touchy subject by Ron Crossland. Ron loves to challenge assumptions and take on taboos!

He is the consummate researcher and communicator. His experience and expertise at the Tom Peters Company and presently as Vice-Chair of Bluepoint Leadership Development, based in Cincinnati, Ohio has earned him the place to speak on this issue. When the Tom Peters Company re-imagined itself - Tom Peters, Boyd Clarke, Ron Crossland, and Gregg Thompson re-invented their company to better serve the corporate market for training and consulting services. The re-invention saw the launch of Bluepoint Leadership Development, a spin-off entity that focused purely on leadership development and communications. I highly recommend their newsletter that you can subscribe to when you click here.

Other coaches have let Ron know what they think! You can find those responses here.

If you found this article helpful let me know. Thanks!

Wednesday 6 June 2007

The Greatest Roadblock to Leadership Greatness

I don't have a choice. I am stuck. There is nothing I can do!
http://www.wildoats.com/content/WhiteWine_CheeseApple.jpg

Have you ever tasted that whine? It does not go well with this any kind of cheese! The cheese starts to smell too! As a leadership coach, it's amazing how often I hear these words: "I don't have a choice!"

One of the most important attributes of humanity is the power of choice. Let me quote one of my favorites: “Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.” - Stephen R. Covey

We are choosers and we choose our way through life. Most of us have realized that we are not in control of everything that happens. Welcome to the world.

People are always, always, always able to choose their attitude no matter what the situation. It's the key characteristic that divides people who are victims and people who are triumphing. Whether you are Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Anwar Sadat in Prison or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi against the power of Britain, or whether you are at Starbucks trying to decide between a cappuccino and a mocha, you encounter choices everyday.

Sue Kenny, one of my Chutzpah advisors in Entrepreneurial School, told me the other day that this is the biggest roadblock to people moving forward in life. They are not aware that they have choices!

You are right, Sue Kenny... for awareness and especially "self-awareness is the breakfast of champions."

So what choices are there before you? For some, too many. Take the road less travelled!

Explore your choices, ask dangerous questions, engage in fierce conversations, investigate unknown territory, and tell yourself the truth. It is dangerous, but liberating!

Monday 4 June 2007

Unleashing the troops

Recently my friend Gregg Thompson along with Susanne Biro wrote a book on coaching called Unleashed:Expecting Greatness and other secrets of coaching for exceptional performance.

You can find an excerpt here and read the first chapter. Gregg is an amazing facilitator and coach. I have watched him hold audiences spell bound while he engages people in what he calls dangerous conversations. Suzanne is also a great coach and leader in her own right. They model great leadership and coaching in all that they do.

If you read the excerpt, I would love to hear your response to its principles!

Sunday 3 June 2007

The Platinum Rule on people

You have heard of the golden rule " Do unto others what you would have them do to you" That's good! Here is another one that is like it but different! Have you heard of the Platinum rule?

It is a rule that comes out of Dr. Roger Birkman's famed
The Birkman Method®. For over 50 years, corporate human resources professionals, independent consultants, executive coaches, educational institutions and other not-for-profit organizations have used The Birkman Method® with over 2.5 million individuals. The Birkman Method® accurately measures productive behaviors, stress behaviors, underlying needs, motivations and organizational orientation. An important part of the The Birkman Method® method is measuring what people need compared to their usual socialized behaviour that does not reveal their needs. Roger Birkman's concept of needs and its importance to each one of us sets The Birkman Method® apart from all other assessment instruments! Here is the Platinum rule. Tell me what you think about it!

"Do unto others as they need to have done unto them"

It means we make it a priority to understand individuals, their deeper motivations and the way they prefer to be treated and not the way we assume they want to be treated based on their usual behavior. Both my sons are totally different and they don't receive direction in the same way nor are they motivated by the same rewards. "How we perceive ourselves and others will motivate how we act and behave" says Dr. Roger Birkman.

Remember - "Don't assume that what motivates you is the same internal motivator for others!"


What if we all made a concerted effort to understand the way people like to be treated. Some people like you to be frank and unevasive while others prefer you to be diplomatic with them even though their usual style of communication is opposite to what they need!

Pick a person. Do some research by asking them what they need and what motivates them and also observing them carefully. We have got two eyes, two ears and one mouth for a reason. Hint - use the eyes and ears a lot!

Then, start treating them the way they need to be treated. Let me know about the results.

Let's see what happens when we engage the platinum rule!

Getting - the results of Seeing and Doing!

The ancient saying says, "You reap what you sow." Stephen Covey calls it The Law of the Farm. The concept behind The Law of the Farm is simple: A farm is a natural system. It requires diligence in planning, working the ground, sowing the seed at the right time and caring for the crop until harvest. One cannot cram on the farm. If you do not cooperate and act on the natural principles of farming, they bite you in a tender location. What you sow you reap!

In the movie The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. deMille points out that " It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law."

So (w) what are you reaping these days? What does your harvest look like? If you have a lot of wonderful friends it may be because you are intentionally cultivating them and keeping in touch. Satisfied customers? I trust you are doing your follow through and service. Do people not trust you anymore? Maybe it's because you have been breaking a few promises or telling white lies! Is your car constantly breaking down? How is your regular maintenance schedule? (Might be time to trade in the old junker, too!)

Now one thing to remember on the farm that Covey does not mention is natural disasters. Sometimes you do your diligent working and sowing and a tornado or hailstorm comes and destroys your crop. Life happens! Sometimes we reap what others have sown and where it is not our fault. Depending on your worldview, you may call it providence, luck, bad karma or acts of God. It's life! Accept it and move on! Focus on the circle of your influence. Scott M. Peck says "Life is hard." He points out that once you accept this fact, you can stop feeling sorry for yourself and start working positively to make the best of what you have.

Yet, many times we do reap what we sow. We can whine about our harvest in the last little season or we can do some analysis on what we have been getting and make some changes. Those changes may be painful, but if we want to get different results, we may need to have different paradigms and behaviors. One wise person has said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

What behaviors are contributing to your success and what behaviors are contributing to your loss? Pick a behavior that works for you and keep doing it. Alternatively, pick a behavior or paradigm that does not serve you and abandon it systematically.

Let me know what happens! Happy Harvest Season!

Friday 1 June 2007

Getting going on DO..ing

Do is the proactive, action oriented, follow through that comes from seeing (perceiving) correctly. Covey's idea of see, do and get may sound simplistic to some, but it's a good model to start with when you are trying to get things done that truly matter.

  • See (Understanding the issue and living by design)
  • Do (Acting on the basis of your knowledge and commitments)
  • Get (Receiving the result of your actions - What goes around comes around)

Yesterday I wrote about seeing, today we are into doing!

As the popular saying goes: The road to hell is paved with many good intentions.

The "Do" part is where many of us get stuck. Here is what I have found helpful to get things done.

  1. Write it down and schedule it (the act of writing is a form of commitment)
  2. Tell someone what you are going to do! (Make yourself accountable to somebody). This is where so much of the power of leadership coaching is - the accountability!
  3. Reward yourself for work that is done (everything from a piece of dark chocolate to a fountain pen)
There is great joy when we do that nagging thing that we have neglected, procrastinated about and generally avoided like the plague. Which one of us has not been guilty of this one! Remember do only what you have chosen to do. If you are in a situation that you feel you don't have choices, remember you can always choose your attitude. You always have a choice. We often have more choices than we are willing to admit!

Attitude is everything! Pick a good one! Today mine is compassion!

And plan it, act upon it and let's see what we get!

See, Do and Get - Covey Style

One of the most influential books I have read in my life is Stephen R. Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Personally, I found that the version, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by his son - Sean Covey, is even better. It's more visually engaging and learner friendly. I have passed this book on to so many people I mentor and coach. Though it was written for Teens, its really a Cliff's notes version of his Dad's book with inspiring stories, quotes, diagrams and cartoons. Most of us are kids anyway. (I am ..but that will be another post on being childlike in leadership!)

A vital cornerstone of Covey's understanding of effectiveness is the continuum of See, Do and Get. Seeing has to do with having a good understanding of the issue or problem. The idea of a paradigm shift is part and parcel of Covey's philosophy. In The Co-active Coaching Model, we name this Perspectives and we work hard with our clients to help them see different perspectives especially if they are at a sticking point. Training ourselves to consider different perspectives is vital to us understanding an issue. Many times our perspective can block us from accessing new truth or solutions to the issue at hand. Do you see what I see? Can you step out of your normal perspective and look at the problem from a different angle? Community and playfulness can contribute to this. Listening to others and learning from others is a vital way of looking at things differently. My friend, Gregg Thompson of Bluepoint Leadership calls this "looking at things and people with a new pair of eyes." A new pair of eyes can shift our paradigms. It's like wearing a new pair of glasses. Changing your perspective can result in a mind blowing paradigm shift!

Is there something in your life that you are stuck on? Have you been stuck on this for a while? Try a new perspective on this issue. Tap into your creativity and imagination! Today!

Get a whack on the side of the head!

Tomorrow I am going to write a bit about Do...ing ! So until then I See you as intelligent, resourceful and creative!