the art of leading

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This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day. The purpose of this initiative is to get thousands of bloggers talking about one topic. This Blog Action Day’s topic is the environment.

The environmental issue is a leadership issue. It involves persuasion, negotiation, inspiration, motivation, and all those other “-asions” and “-ations” that leadership is supposed to address. Therefore, leadership should play a central role in this discussion.

These days, the environment is on everybody’s minds. Obviously, Al Gore has been partly responsible for such attention, with his Nobel Peace Prize and all. Scientist, politicians, economists argue over the actual existence of global warming, its cause, whether it is human-caused or natural, and so on. But hey, let all the science to, umm…the scientists. For the purposes of this article, I’ll take the sensible premise that global warming is a reality and that humans have a significant role in it.

So what role can, and should, leadership play?

It has been drilled into everybody’s mind that one of the most important functions of leaders is to persuade people to adopt a stance and take action. The discussion of environmental issues has a huge need of effective persuasion.

Granted, I don’t believe that it is still a great necessity to persuade people that global warming exists. Even severe critics of global warming discussions admit that it is a reality.

What is more important than that is to persuade people that they can do something to improve what the future holds for our planet. In other words, we need leaders to persuade people to practice what I call personal leadership.

Why?

Put simply, this cause is not one which will advance with a big social movement led by a central leader. It’s too big of a deal for a small group of people In my opinion, the mission of curbing global warming and environmental pollution will be achieved through micro-collaboration. People will have to contribute whatever initiative, however big or small, that is possible.

What kind of initiative?

A classic simple action that may contribute greatly, from lessening dependence on oil to helping the economy, is to use FC light bulbs instead of standard light bulbs. Or perhaps you can use the train instead of the car. In fact, you can use the train instead of the car just one day of the week, and still generate some impact. Using this personal leadership, you can serve as an example to whoever you may influence. You have to urge this micro-collaboration. That is leadership in practice. And that is what will be necessary to change the course of our planet.

And what about the bigger-than-life leaders who will single-handedly change the world?

Occasionally some great individual leader will emerge as a motivating presence. Al Gore has taken a role, regardless of what people think of him, of proactivity. Nevertheless, he nor any other individual will be a savior, regardless of how many awards he wins. In this age of tipping points, long tails, and wikinomics, social micro-collaboration will be the key to reversing the damage that humans have caused to the environment.

Explore Blog Action Day!

Categories : Action, Blog Action Day, Change, Environment, Persuasion, Proactivity // Add Comment »

It’s nice to meet people who get the job done. You can rely on them for many things. But don’t count on ‘responsible’ people when you need true change. People who are merely ‘responsible’ strive to maintain the status quo.

Granted, they do it in the best way possible, and run the present state of affairs in a reasonably effective manner. But they won’t be too enthused about jumping out of that ever-comfortable box. When faced with opportunities to do so, they’ll resist change. Their maxim is Minimum Effort.

Leadership entails another layer above the responsibility level. That layer is proactivity. Yes, I know it may be an overly used word. But it involves qualities that are important for leadership and change.

Proactive people are the ones who see things based on their potential instead of their present state. When faced with a challenge, they will think about what step they could take to overcome it, instead of putting it off.

Most importantly, they won’t stop at “getting things done”. They’ll go above the threshold of minimum effort, since it’s obvious to them that change requires maximum effort and creative thinking. It requires initiative.

As a leader, make sure that you’re proactive and not just responsible. Develop the mindset that is necessary for change and improvement instead of the one that’s enough for comfort. Seek to attract people of that same mentality into your team. They’ll not only get things done, but contribute to the evolution and realization of your vision as a leader.

Categories : Proactivity, Responsibility // 2 Comments »

Brains, Guts, and the Capacity to Act

By Stephen H. Baum

author of What Made jack welch Jack Welch

What allows a leader to take the steps needed to solve a problem or master a
difficult situation? What keeps the desire to act from being impetuous and
uninformed, as in “ready, fire, aim” behavior? The answer is that the
capacity to act effectively and decisively is a complex mixture of brain and
gut, a combination I call threads in thinking. It includes these qualities:

* An ability to distill a situation to its simplest dynamics; to
understand the issues and the consequences of doing nothing; and to
formulate a specific plan.

* Being extro-spective: seeing the business in the larger context of
the industry and in the marketplace; seeing a situation from a high-altitude
view and making sense of it on the ground.

* For opportunities, an ability to see the true benefits and risks,
which are not always obvious.

* Possession of a mental library of truly relevant analogies and other
mental models that can be applied to characterize the situation in a way
helpful for making a choice.

* An ability to identify valuable sources of advice, experience, and
wisdom (inside the company and out); to elicit information and know when to
do so.

* An instinct for calibrating the value of and motive for facts and
information people are giving you, the subtext of real agendas.

* An ability to discern both financial and nonfinancial impacts and
include them in the calculus (company reputation, morale, future business
options), then weigh the risks.

* An ability to anticipate issues and define a point of view so you
don’t have to do it for the first time under crisis.

* Being able to think a couple of moves ahead, as in chess, or as
Steve Kaufman put it: “the ability to look around the corner and see what’s
coming.” This ability and most of the others can be tested and developed.

It’s a tall order, but remember that no one starts out with all of these
abilities. You develop these threads and judgment only with experience. This
is done mainly through on-the-job training. Just remember how many of the
leaders we’ve been discussing failed in school, how many were far from the
top of their class, how none were rocket scientists. Only by working through
major challenges in the first place do you develop and nurture these
abilities until they become part of you and part of your instinct.

In the Eye of the Storm

Deciding that you must act, and then acting, is not as straightforward as it
seems. Circumstances will often make your decision to take action in the
first place very challenging. Remember [Read more →]

Categories : Action, Communication, Confidence, General Leadership, Loyalty, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships, Responsibility // Add Comment »

Just as imperfection makes us human, so does logical reasoning. When humans screw up, they normally look for whatever caused that screw-up, fix it, and try not to repeat it. That is what I consider a very elemental level of intelligence. That “mistake-recognition” skill also shows what many call adaptive capacity.

Other species in the animal kingdom, like ants and lizards, don’t have the capacity to go through this marvelous process. These other animals don’t learn from their mistakes; they just endlessly repeat them. They don’t recognize mistakes, and they aren’t able to adapt in the same logical way that human beings do.

Stupid people are very much like ants and lizards. But ants and lizards can be forgiven. Stupid people cannot. They’re human, and they’re supposed to have intelligence and adaptive capacity. They obviously make mistakes, as does everyone else. That makes everyone human, so that doesn’t make them particularly stupid.

What sets them apart from smart people is the fact that they don’t know if and when they have made a mistake. Furthermore, they don’t know what to do when they do make them. They deny their faults even when they know they are at fault.

They lack what ants and lizards lack too, which is logical reasoning. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you’ll keep screwing up over and over again. That is called being a stupid person.

Categories : Failure, Personal Development, Proactivity // 1 Comment »

Amiable people are the so-called “nice guys”. Women like them as husbands, not one-night stands. That’s not bad, mind me. I’m a “nice guy” myself. But there are ways to be more effective with them:

1. Focus on people’s feelings - They want to make people happy. They base many of their decisions on the impact they will have on people, not necessarily on the bottom line as drivers do. Emphasize, then, how your proposal will make that happen.

2. Give them one option - Amiable people need to find consensus. It follows that if they need to find consensus on more than one option, they’ll take more time and feel more confused doing so. By narrowing down the options, they don’t need to balance so many people’s feelings.

3. Give them time - Amiable people want to be liked by everyone. Therefore, they want to find common ground between everyone who is involved in the decision, so that most are happy. This translates into their need to find consensus, and consensus takes time.

Categories : Communication, Goals, Negotiation, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships // Add Comment »

They want to dominate. They want to control. They are the “drivers”. You’ll have to deal with them in the most effective manner if you want to be the outstanding leader you strive to be. There are four tactics you should employ when dealing with them:

1. Concentrate on the bottom line - When trying to persuade them, emphasize the concrete details. How much money will it cost? How many widgets will be manufactured? These people aren’t all that interested in mushy feelings and about the opinions of others. They may sometimes be tactless, but you’ll just have to brush it off and learn how to confront them.

2. Get to the point - This is sort of an extension of #1: Forget about trying to persuade drivers by first covering irrelevant touchy-feely stuff. Just approach them straight out about what you want to talk about without too much of an introduction.

3. Give them options - First clarify what YOU want. Then formulate options which all cater to what you want, and present them. This way they’ll feel like they’re being given the power to have the last word. This leads us to #4:

4. Let them decide - Drivers want to feel powerful. Letting them decide makes them feel that way. The catch is, you need to make them decide what you want them to decide. That’s what persuasion is all about. You do that by applying #3: giving different options that are all O.K. with you.

Categories : Communication, Negotiation, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships // Add Comment »

Analytical people are those that need to think long and hard about every decision they make before they finally make it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but as a true leader you need to know how to get to them if you want to influence them.

They want four main things to make them feel O.K. about making the right decision:
1. Answers - These people are great questioners, so you need to be prepared to answer.

2. Facts - Their analytical minds want to base their decisions on facts, not mushy emotional stuff. Give them what they want.

3. Options - By nature, an analytical process frequently contains more than one option so that a comparison can be done. Giving them multiple options assures this process.

4. Time - This is perhaps the most important. They need time to make the decisions that they’ll be confident about. Obviously time may be tight, but try to grant them this space so that they’re able to complete their mental process.

Categories : Communication, Confidence, Mentorship, Negotiation, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships // 1 Comment »

Everyone commits mistakes everyday. True leaders pride themselves on their capacity to learn out of them. But not everyone has the same attitude when faced with this situation. I believe there are three basic ways to respond to your own mistakes:

1. Deny, repeat - Many people are conditioned to automatically deny any wrongdoing. They think that if they admit to it, somehow their dignity and reputation will diminish. Consequently, they are bound to endlessly repeat the same mistake over and over again, since there won’t be a chance to extract any lesson out of it.

2. Admit, blame, repeat - Some people actually admit that a mistake has taken place. The actual act of recognition may be somewhat positive. The problem is, being aware of a problem won’t make it more valuable than denying it. After recognizing the mistake, these people usually just find someone to blame for it, feeling that perhaps they have done something of value. Then they just go right into repeating it, since they still haven’t learned anything.

3. Admit, learn, act - This is the spot where true leaders need to be in. Bad things happen. You may try to prevent them, as well you should, but some mistakes are bound to occur. The difference lies in the attitude toward them. As a leader you must first be aware that you have committed a mistake. Then you must create an opportunity for learning out of it. No true leader lets a mistake go by without extracting something of value. Finally, that lesson must be put into action. This will make you less prone to letting the same thing happen again. And that is a mark of the true leader.

Categories : Failure, General Leadership, Proactivity // 2 Comments »

It’s nice to meet people who get the job done. You can rely on them for many things. But don’t count on ‘responsible’ people when you need true change. People who are merely ‘responsible’ strive to maintain the status quo. Granted, they do it in the best way possible, and run the present state of affairs in a reasonably effective manner. But they will not be too enthused about jumping out of that ever-comfortable box. When faced with opportunities to do so, they will resist change. “Minimum effort” is their maxim. You might spot them because they’re usually the ones who say, “Change isn’t worth it, we’re O.K. as it is”.

Leadership entails another layer above the “responsibility” level. That layer is “proactivity”. Yes, I know it may be an overly used word. But it involves qualities that are important for leadership and change. Proactive people are the ones who will see things based on their potential instead of their present. When faced with a challenge, they will think about what step they might take to overcome it, instead of putting it off. Most importantly, they will not stop at “getting things done”. They will go above the threshold of minimum effort, since it’s obvious to them that change requires maximum effort and creative thinking. It requires initiative.

As a leader, make sure that you are proactive and not just a responsible guy or gal. Develop the mindset that is necessary for change and improvement instead of comfort. Also seek to attract people of that same mentality into your team. They will not only get things done, but contribute to the evolution and realization of your vision as a leader.

Categories : Change, Confidence, General Leadership, Goals, Proactivity, Relationships, Responsibility // Add Comment »