In Search of NOWLeaders…NOW

Labor Day.

A time to brush off the lethargy brought on by the heat of summer.

A time to start new things, to expand and shift perspectives, to explore new places.

That’s what this post is about.

We are looking for leadership in places and by people we may not have considered before.

We call them NOWLeaders.

Who is We? You may ask…

Dale Lawrence, Gwyn Teatro and I, Anne Perschel, form the core team with Tanya Odom, Global Diversity expert at Future Work Institute; Eric Peterson, Strategic Human Resources Management, Diversity and Inclusion Manager;  Marion Chapsal of France at Geronimo Consulting; and Joe Gerstandt, Diversity expert, as our advisory team.

Why? You may ask…

Well, we believe that the variety of lists representing the epitome of leadership, while impressive, is missing a whole population of talented leaders and leadership thinkers. We want to find them. We want to build a rich, diverse portfolio of them. And, we want to shine a spotlight on them.

Why shine a light on them? You may ask…

This 21^st Century asks something different of us than what was called for in the Industrial age. The pace of change is dizzying. The world, through technology, gets smaller and smaller while at the same time more complex. We have messy problems to solve that don’t lend themselves to the same kind of thinking we’ve employed in the past. To be successful in any endeavor, we must find ways to cut through traditional bureaucracies and structures while optimizing our collective and diverse brainpower. The day of the singular leader-hero has passed. As such, there is a need to shift and expand our perspectives about who and what makes for effective leadership in this new age. These new leaders, NOWLeaders, work in accordance with a different set of paradigms from those that got us to and through the industrial age.

We must grow our capacity for great leadership and our understanding of what it takes to engage more brains and hearts in doing great work and accomplishing great things…together. We may even redefine the meaning of “accomplishing great things.” To do all this we need ALL the talent at the table.

In short, we need and seek NowLeaders.

NOWLeaders

What is a NOWLeader? You may ask…

NOWLeaders are highly accomplished global citizens. They achieve results through and alongside people, rather than from above, around, over or in spite of them.They gather multiple perspectives to deal with complex problems. At the same time, they are not afraid to make tough decisions and they do so with consideration about the effect on individuals and communities. They know and feel an obligation that extends well beyond corporate profits.

NOWLeaders are business leaders.They are thought leaders.They are military leaders. They lead non-profit organizations, educational institutions, small organizations and large ones.

NOWLeaders navigate the rapids of this past paced century. They lead change. They are diverse in thought, experience, culture, nationality and ethnicity. They are women. They are men. They are young…and old.  They are everywhere.

And NOW we ask Will you help us find them?

Yes? Terrific. We hoped you would.

Here’s what you can do.

Begin by nominating someone who you believe exhibits the attributes of a NOWLeader and demonstrates the skills associated with the development of inclusive, collaborative organizations, someone who is highly accomplished yet prefers to share recognition and reward with others.

How do I nominate someone? You may ask…

Well, you go directly to Now-leadership.com, where you will find all the information and instruction you need to nominate your NOWLeader, including a list of the attributes NOWLeaders demonstrate. Please join us in being the change we, and you, seek to create…and thank you for doing so.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Leadership that is the Change We Seek to Create is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

BE IN SILENCE

Allow White Space

I am Listening

For What Emerges

Poem?

Prose?

Questions?

Feelings?

Or Something Entirely Different?

What Comes Up?

Together

From Silence

We Created

This

The sight of the stars makes me

Reflect, sleep, dream 

and

Be still

Be Not swept away in the fear

Be Not afraid of Profound Silence

Where thoughts slow

and enjoyment is now.

It is In the space between 

Where redemption song sings

In the deep of the soul,

that truth lies,

and cannot be known,

Until the body falls away

and truth flies joyously

in freedom

into the light.

Where the Heart sheds tears

Where Being smiles

Meaning arises

in the value of non-action.

Teaching without words,

performing without actions:

that is the Master’s way.

The gentlest thing in the world
overcomes the hardest thing in the world.
That which has no substance
enters where there is no space.

____________________________________________________________________

I promised “Together, from what emerges, as a community, we will write the next post.”

I am honored and deeply touched by what you have created in this space.

Thank you Joe, Gwyn, Alex Marion and Dale, with a little help from Van Gogh, Einstsein, the Tao Te Ching, and an anonymous Chinese friend.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Silence is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

According to leadership and organizational experts Jeffrey Pfeffer and Margaret Wheatley, fear is both pervasive and detrimental in the workplace.

Organizations… are cluttered with control mechanisms that paralyze employees and leaders alike. These mechanisms seem to derive from our fear — our fear of one another, of a harsh competitive world, and of the natural processes of growth and change that confront us daily. Years of such fear have resulted in these byzantine systems. We never effectively control people with these systems, but we certainly stop a lot of good work from getting done.

~ Margaret Wheatlely

 

One of the most pervasive emotions in the workplace today is fear…
One of the side effects of fear is that it absolutely retards the flow of information inside a company. …Because nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news, nobody inside those companies knows what is going on..Yet another side effect is that fear causes individuals to focus only on the short term and on their own survival.

~Jeffrey Pfeffer

Why build on a foundation of fear when fear itself is detrimental to what we are here to do?

Fear.

Fear of losing control. Fear of not achieving goals. Fear of succeeding and then losing it all.

Fear.

Overcoming Fear

Quotes about overcoming fear abound.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”                                                                                                                   ~Ambrose Redmoon

~ Marianne Williamson

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

~ Bill Cosby

Quotes, like poetry, load a simple sentence with paragraphs of meaning, wisdom and feeling, but they don’t change the drivers of behavior.

So, let’s consider something different.

The Shaman’s Way

The Shaman's Way

According to shamanistic beliefs, parts of the self (or parts of the soul) flee when physical or psychological trauma occurs. Trauma is simply a real or perceived threat that overcomes our abilities to cope. This process, in which parts of ourselves flee the scene, begins when we are young. These parts are fragile. When they leave guards come into place and hold the parts in protective custody to ensure no further harm befalls them. In later years, when our capabilities are more developed, we no longer need the guards, but they don’t know this and remain in place.

In western cultures we attempt to regain our fearlessness by way of demands or insults, as in “Just buck up,” or “Don’t be such a baby.” These methods fail to convince the guards, who are also insulted by the lack of respect for the very fine job they’ve done over the years. As a result, the guards stand stronger and protect with greater ferocity.

What to Do

Step 1.

Find the part of yourself hidden in the cave, the castle, underground or far into the desert. What happened? Why did she leave? How old was she? What is she wearing?

Step 2.

Notice the guards. Address them respectfully. Recognize and appreciate the protection they’ve offered. Thank them. Then let them know you need to have that part of yourself once again and that you are capable of ensuring she will not be hurt.

Step. 3

Ask the guards if they are willing to step aside. When they do welcome home the missing part. Bring her into your heart. Make room for her in your soul. Watch her as she returns.

Step 4.

Attend to her during the following week. Do something age appropriate together. Take her for a walk. Read her a book. Ask how she’s doing. Recovered parts of the self are at first fragile and can easily disappear again, so take care.

You are building a muscle called courage.

Keep up the workouts.

The more you do, the stronger the muscle becomes.

And then, when she is fully back, integrated once again, and your muscles are strong, fly with her into the face of what you used to fear and whatever you might fear in the future.

As a leader, know when your actions are based in fear.

Find the courage muscle.

And now, do something different.

Instead of closing down in fear, open up to possibility.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Corporate Fear is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Willfully Blind

Willful Blindness is anything but. Margaret Heffernan, with eyes wide open, tells us the more we are willing to see, the more we become. In fact, long term health of the organizational is directly related to the leaders’ willingness to see what’s in their blind spot.

A few words of caution before you buy the book. Willful Blindness may bring about changes in the way think. It may explain phenomenon you’ve pondered, such as why we bury our heads in the sand. Reading it may reverse blindness and enable you to see what you have always known. If you read this book you may become more of who you are and, as a result, feel more fulfilled

In Willful Blindness Margaret Heffernan tackles a meta-problem – our innate tendency to see the clues and to simultaneously become blind to the pattern and meaningful story they present. The mere thought of ending this blindness leaves us in what seems a double bind but no longer feels like one once we have crossed over and choose to see. Seeing brings both an enormous sense of freedom and a tremendous sense of accountability for resolving conditions that plague individuals, families, corporations, countries and our peaceful existence on the planet. We can no longer ignore a brother’s drug use, products known to fail and render harm, corporate lies, risk-laden investments, ponzi schemes, genocide, global warming, and our own shadows. Seeing requires a choice to do something or to admit that we will do nothing, but we can no longer claim, “I did not know.”

As she lays out the factors contributing to blindness and those needed to cure it Heffernan leads us on a trail traversing the fields of law, social science, neuroscience, psychology, economics, literature and philosophy.  Seeing through varied lenses of multiple disciplines is one of Heffernan’s suggested cures for willful blindness and she walks that talk in her book. She also reveals personal aspects of her own story, sharing the consequences of falling into blinding love, then choosing to stay there, when seeing would have better prepared her for the future.

If an author’s ability to engage the reader in conversation is the mark of a good book, Margaret Heffernan has written one. While reading I held imaginary discussions with Ms H. I posed questions instigated by her writing, suggested a different perspective, and asked why she let hubris off the hook so easily. I discussed the lack of strong identity formation in turning a blind eye. With excitement, I told her that just prior to receiving her copy of Willful Blindness I read Sarah’s Key. It is a novelized account of actual events during World War II when the French government ordered police to round up and deliver Jewish families to the Nazis. Officials and police knew all the while that these Jewish mothers, fathers and their children would be tortured and murdered. It all took place in plain view of people who chose to be willfully blind. What if they had instead made the choice to see?

Heffernan points the reader to cures for blindness. Turning a blind eye is inherently human she claims, but leaders can institute practices, call on outsiders, and continuously increase the field of vision. She explores the attributes of those who choose to see – empathy and a genuine desire to see life through the eyes of the less privileged and more vulnerable. One of Heffernan’s characters realizes as a child that people don’t truly see his sister, who happens to have spina bifida. He wonders if they are missing her, what might “I be missing when I see them?” He sees his own seeing and his blindness. See-ers seek to see more. They are guided by questions such as “What am I missing?” as they assume there is always something just outside their view.

Hope lies within the pages of Willful Blindness if you are willing to see.

This book is on the short list of recommended reading for Germane’s clients and members of the NOW Leadership tribe.

You can order your copy by clicking the link below.

Germane Consulting is an Amazon associate and realizes a small profit when you order Willful Blindness by way of this link. Fifty percent of all profits from Willful Blindness are donated to the United Nation’s Foundation, Fund for UN Women.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Book Review: Willful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

curiousity saves the cat

The Problem

“How do I get the people who work for me to be more curious?” asks Karen, CEO of a dental insurance company. “We need to constantly innovate, to be creative, to come up with new products new services and new ways to engage customers. For this to happen people have to be curious about a wide array of issues”

“They have  to look across a broad horizon then connect the dots in new and unusual ways.” I respond.

Karen picks up the thread. “Yes. Here’s an example. People, the general public, are not as aware as they should be about oral health. We need to educate them. Teeth are critical to overall health, a sense of well-being and good performance, Did you know that one of nine children have a tooth ache so bad they can’t concentrate at school? Our mission and these messages are important. To reach people we need to be more aware. We need to look beyond the tunnel of our expertise and our business. If as CEO I’m the only one who is curious and connecting the dots, we will not succeed in the way we can and should.”

The solutions

• Appoint a Chief Curiosity Officer responsible for leading the effort.
  • Naming an office with a seat at the leadership table signifies that curiosity is a critical function, equal to customer service, finance, and other company treasures.
• Establish a weekly “Be curious” topic and post it on the company blog. Make the topic of the week highly visible elsewhere as well. Set aside time and a curiosity room for employees to read articles, watch videos, view pictures, and engage in small group discussions. Encourage employees to engage in the blog post on-line discussion.  If the idea takes off, you may want to consider engaging customers as well.

What would you recommend to the CEO? To her employees?

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Nine Lives of the Curious Business Cat is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

“Who among us will lead the way in taking less so that together we can be more?”

The rest of this article appears as a guest post on Dr. Jack King’s Servant Heart blog. To read it click here

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

What Would Sargent Shriver Ask of Us? is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Mentor – Greek mythological figure, tutor to Telemachus. Faithful and wise advisor.

Athena, goddess of wisdom, assumed Mentor’s form to advise Telemachus. She warned him about the future then sent him on a journey that taught him how to win it.

Mentor to the Famous

Maya Angelou - Mentor

Maya Angelou

As a child Maya Angelou had a stark realization about the power of words. She had testified in open court against a local man who abused her. He was found guilty then later shot and killed himself. Following his death, the young Ms. Angelou remained mute for six years.

Enter Ms. Flowers who accepted Maya’s silence and at the same time saw that she loved the very thing she feared. Ms. Flowers introduced Maya to books and assigned her to read every volume in the library. Ms. Flowers also read aloud to young Maya who fell in love with poetry. In this love Ms. Flowers found a door and opened it. She told Maya to truly know a poem one must hear it in one’s own voice. And the rest as they say – is history.

Mentor – one who sees the child’s gifts then guides her on the journey to teach her how to use them.

As an adult Ms. Angelou became a mentor to Oprah Winfrey.

What the Mentor Sees

The mentor sees the acorn and envisions the tree. She sees into the heart and mind and nurtures what may not be visible even to the mentee.

What the Mentor Does

Like Glynda, the good witch who guides Dorothy along the yellow brick road, the mentor offers encouragement and instruction as the mentee meets a challenge that builds her strengths. The mentor may point out the road sign where the journey begins, reveal a hidden secret or warn of what is to come.

How the Mentor Is

The mentor cares that the acorn grows into the tree it is meant to be. She is nurturing or tough and everything in between as needed. As she chooses what is called for, it is always with the best interest of the mentee in mind. She asks for nothing in return except to be watch the acorn become the tree.

Finding a Mentor

While one or the other initiates, ultimately they find each other and in so doing find parts of themselves.

Mary Jo Asmus provides useful tips for mentors.Click here to read more.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Mentor – What She Sees, What She Does, How She Is is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

To Copy the Cat or Not to Copy the Cat?

Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos is a business rock star as well he should be. He is changing the meaning and experience of work. Kudos. Along with others I have been shouting his praises over the past several months. But we are all missing the point if we attempt to copy Zappos. After all a copy cat is at best an imperfect replica of the original.

When Intel builds a first of it’s kind state of the art semiconductor plant they “copy exact” successive plants. When Japanese automakers began their rise, many U.S. companies studied the new competitors’ manufacturing processes and copied exact. Copy exact may work for manufacturing plants. It didn’t work for the auto industry and it won’t work for business leaders who should know the unique character and added value of their company, then play it to the max.

To Be Original Be True to Essence

Zappos is what it is because Tony Hsieh is who he is. His essence (described in chapter 1, part 1 of the Corporate Soul series) is the parent gene that gave birth to the Zappos culture. Tony builds social groups. He plays. He defies conventional wisdom. It’s what he does. And then he engages the community in building the community, playfully. So building the Zappos culture is now a community affair. Every employee contributes to defining the culture. And they do so as they play together.

No company will ever be exactly like Zappos, nor should they strive to be. Tony and Zappos Deliver Happiness.

What does your company deliver? And how do you discover what it is?

How to Uncover Essence

The essence of the founder(s) or early influencer(s) is the parent gene. The company culture grows, intentionally or unintentionally, from this DNA. Here are a few examples of company founders and how their essence infuses the culture.

Founder/Influencer               Company               Essence

Steve Jobs                     Apple                      Innovator, aesthetic beauty

Andy Grove                    Intel                        Fierce survivor, competition

Walt Disney                    Disney                    Creator, imagination

Yvon Chouinard             Patagonia               Lover of outdoors, adventure

Aligning with Essence

Essence, like the acorn, is present from the beginning, even before the tree is visible. In fact, it IS the beginning. But just as we no longer see the acorn in the tree, essence can also become invisible. At the individual level essence is found in what we have always loved, what we are drawn to like a magnet. It is an itch that won’t go away. It is what we return to over and over again. At the organizational level essence is heard in the founding stories and tales of the early years. It is the badge of honor pinned on company heroes. When companies intentionally align with essence as they grow, all is well. When they don’t a crooked tree grows in Brooklyn.

The right outsider, the one who listens and sees below the surface is well-positioned to uncover essence when insiders have lived with it so long that they no longer see it. So leaders be advised to invite a visitor, a deep listener, an anthropologist of sorts, to the corporate table every now and then.

Click here to view the fate of the copy cat.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

What NOT to Learn from Zappos is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Leadership Leap Frog is a game for leaders of the informal or formal variety. It requires multiple players but is more fun and progressive when an entire organization gets involved. The formal leader, the one with the title, goes first by jumping beyond where he was standing and the way he was thinking and behaving. This move is called a trans-form-ation as it involves changing the boundaries of one’s form. It inspires Follower A to stand on the leader’s shoulders and leap beyond him. With this move A becomes the informal leader.

Follower B, inspired by both the formal and informal leader, but she must jump twice, first standing on the formal leader’s shoulders, then standing on the shoulders of the informal leader. Follower B is now leading the pack.

More importantly the whole group has moved ahead. It has been trans-formed. Inspired by A & B, the formal leader performs a double leap.

And so it goes. Each and every player participates in the continuous transformation of the game’s boundaries, advancing himself and the organization as they all leap for joy.

Player Requirements

In order to play the leader must be self confident and humble. She leaves her ego at the door. She must be willing to surround herself with players who will at times surpass her. She must also obey the principle that leadership is proven by concrete achievements as well as the continuous expansion and realization of human aspirations.

Leadership Leap Frog at Zappos

Tony Hsieh who appeared as an otter in Chapter 1 of the Zappos series has been transformed into a frog, not by the kiss of a princess but by my imagination. The play by play of his leadership leap frog game is reported below.

Announcer: Hiseh starts the game with a giant leap of faith in the possibility that work can be fun. In this one leap he accepts an offer to sell LinkExchange a company he co-founded. He leaps because he now dreads going to work. The company got too big too fast. The lesson? Stop chasing money. Start chasing passion. Pay attention to culture.

In Tony’s next few jumps he and some friends create a venture fund that invests in Zappos and a few other start ups. Eventually he accepts an offer to become CEO of Zappos. He leaps again, committing to Culture as Job 1. And #1 on the list of cultural attributes – have fun – which means build a community of people who enjoy being together.

Now Keith, Follower A and a Zappos employee, leaps over Tony’s shoulders to the head of the pack. After an urgent call from Tony and no time to go home to pack, he boards a plane from Sacramento to Kentucky. Zappos had outsourced logistics and shipping, it’s core expertise, to a company that was really botching things up. Keith is tasked with straightening things out. He expects to be there for a week. Eight weeks later he is still living in a hotel and has purchased a new wardrobe.

At the same time Zappos is running out of cash. Tony thinks about Keith’s commitment, about how he left home on an hour’s notice to save the company. What a leap.

At the moment, standing on Keith’s shoulders, Tony decides to make the next big leadership leap. He invests the rest of his savings, the hundreds of millions he earned from the sale of LinkExchange, in Zappos. If Keith could leave home with an hour of notice and give his life to Zappos for eight weeks, Tony would do the same.

The game goes on. Zappos is an extraordinary company making extraordinary leaps in bringing soul and meaning to work.

Click here to read more about Collaborative Transformational Leadership also known as Leadership Leap Frog.

To return to the first chapter in this Corporate Soul series, click here.

The final chapter – What Not to Learn from Zappos. One reader said it may be the most important one in the series.

I usually post only one picture but I really liked both of these and couldn’t decide, so I used my rule of shopping. When you can’t decide, get both.

I have really enjoyed your comments, as have other readers, so please continue to voice in. If you know of any corporate souls worth a post, please mention them and I’ll be in touch with you.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Leadership Leap Frog is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Click here to listen to a recording of my conversation with Elese Coit about fixing the hole in the corporate soul and learn how to bring your essence to work.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

My Radio Interview on Corporate Soul and Work-Life-Flow is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology