Recently I heard two different leaders commit two different small actions BIG RESULTS. Let me explain.

Two senior executives, Eric and Matt, are leading a three year initiative called Innovation through Diversity. I’ve been working with them to craft the plan for this change and as a subject matter expert who “pushes the boundaries of [their] thinking.”

Eric and Matt convened the virtual meetings to invite critical players onto the team that champions, guides, directs and executes plans to achieve the Innovation through Diversity vision. We didn’t want to pressure the eight participants into saying “Yes” on the spot, so we asked them to email their responses to me, within two weeks. Attendees were from New England, California, England, France, Germany, Japan and China. Two meetings would accommodate the range of time zones. Eric led one and Matt led the other. The content and slide sets were identical.

Why You Are Here

As Eric led the first session, he interrupted his formal presentation to address why each participant had been chosen. His statements were personal, specific, and inspiring, in that quiet sort of way. “Craig, you’ve hired the most diverse team in the U.S. The rest of us need to know why and how you do this.” When the call ended, Craig’s email popped onto my screen immediately, “I’m in.”

Why I Am Here

Matt led the second session. He too, interrupted the formal presentation, for a different reason. Matt talked about “the most profound conversation I’ve ever had with my fourteen year old daughter,” who was attending school in Europe. She told her Dad how much she and her views had changed as a result of having classmates from 40 different countries. She compared this experience to the lackluster sameness in her neighborhood school back in the states. We heard the delight, pride and respect in Matt’s voice and understood his commitment to diversity was real and personal.

When Matt’s call ended, every person emailed “I’m in” within the hour.

Tips for Leading Change (or anything else)

Reach out.

Touch people.

Tell them why they matter.

Make it personal.

Tell your story.

And Why it matters to you.

Small Actions Big Results

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Leadership: Small Actions Big Results is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Dear Billy:

With the smell of spring in the air and the Augusta National just around the corner, I am enjoying the prospect of watching this year’s competition in person. Perhaps we might spend a few minutes catching up as well. You will find me near front and center wearing a pink jacket.

In my role as CEO of IBM, I regret to inform you that we are reducing our sponsorship by 50.8 percent. This is, not coincidentally, the percentage of women in the country’s population, according to the 2010 census.

Some members of the board and the executive team pushed very hard for a complete withdrawal of sponsorship now. Out of respect for our longstanding relationship with Augusta, I decided that was too drastic a measure to take all at once and with such short notice. But it is only fair to let you IBM will most likely not be a sponsor of next year’s tournament. I trust this gives you enough time to find other sponsors. If, however, the club adopts a policy of including women members, as CEO I commit that IBM will increase our support by 101.6%, double the percentage of women in the population, and I will do so with great pleasure.

Should you find yourself in a position to answer questions about IBM’s decision, please feel free to reference the following:

Augusta exemplifies world class competition at it’s finest and it is an opportunity for IBM to associate itself with values that form the fiber of our company.  Innovation is also critical to IBM. Innovation, simply put, combines existing ideas in new and unusual ways. To foster innovation at IBM we bring together people who think differently and who see the world in different ways. For these reasons, diversity and inclusion is one of IBM’S key strategic imperatives. We have increased the number of women in senior roles by over 500% since the 1990s. We are proud of and benefit greatly from these endeavors. So, supporting an exclusive club, particularly on such a grand and visible scale as Augusta provides, is inconsistent with who we are as a company and how we choose to be seen.

As you know, I personally have no issue with you or the other members and support your right to be in the company of men only on occasion. Believe me, there are certainly times when I relish letting my hair down, so to speak, with the girls.

I hope this year’s tournament brings great weather and glory to the club. I look forward to seeing you there.

Respectfully,

Virginia Rometty,

Chief Executive Officer, International Business Machines

P.S.

Just before signing this letter I saw reference to you “lamenting the games stagnant growth” in the New York Times. Perhaps you might consider including women as a way to seed the expansion you’d like to see. If so, call me, I’d be happy to help.

From the author:

I still hold out hope that IBM’s CEO, its Board of Directors, and other Augusta members who lead corporations that wave the diversity and inclusion banner, will stand together and walk their talk.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

The Letter I Wish IBM CEO, Virginia Rometty, Had Written is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

The artist lets go the

change trapeze.

A leap of faith

grounded in years of practice,

Intense focus on what lies ahead

and

a safety net below.

Change master

Never looks back.

Learn from her.

Build supports

Envision

future.

Know

next move.

Feel Fear.

Never

Look Back.

Focus

Timing

Let go

Leap

Mid-air

No where

Focus

Next Move

Stretch

Grab

Breathe

Relief

Ease

Swing

Repeat

The Change Trapeze

Leap of Faith

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

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

One is an outstanding leader, the other a great manager. How are they different and which one is more important?

Meet Ken

The Manager

He sees himself as a coach. Ken’s mission is to help people discover hidden talents and achieve things they didn’t think were possible. He develops people. He spends a lot of time thinking about what his organization needs to achieve, the best approach to doing so, and how to develop his people to employ that approach.

Ken reads people well. He is deliberate and thoughtful (sometimes overly so) about what he says and does. He acts with utmost integrity and on the one occasion when I saw Ken catch himself not walking his talk, he suffered his own lecture and made immediate changes.

Ken coaches two children’s lacrosse teams. The players are delighted to develop skills they never knew they had. Unlike the other coaches, he does not yell at the children and doesn’t understand why anyone would do so.

Five Year Business Synopsis

Goal:  Increase sales while positioning for long term growth

Approach:  Develop entrepreneurial mindset. Position managers and front line folks to see themselves as running a new business funded by investors.  Ask them, and have them ask themselves, whether the venture firm would continue to invest baed on their short term financial performance and longer term prospects.

People development:  Identify criteria for entrepreneurial mindset. Assess each manager against these criteria. Coach/develop as needed. Invest time in people.

Results:  Ken has turned even poor performers into winners. His territory exceeded revenue goals and expectations. Ken is promoted.

Meet Paul

The Leader

He is highly competitive and emits the scent  of determination. In response to the question, “What is the worst thing anyone could say about you as a manager or a leader?” he responds, “That I don’t care and don’t have integrity.” He is personable and people want to follow him.

Paul has a quick sharp mind. He scans the environment, constantly. I imagine that he developed this habit and skill while playing high school football, scanning for the opening.

Paul is unclear on behalf of what he most wants to use his mind, his determination, his ability to garner followers. We talk. His purpose shows up. Here’s the bumper sticker version:  “Innovation for better living.” He wants to change the way we think about, source and use energy. Think green.

Paul, like Ken, coaches children’s sports teams, but Paul wants to change the very nature of coaching. The chidlren he’s coaching are having the time of their lives. They win, but more importantly for Paul, they celebrate passing the ball to each other. He talks to the other coaches about change. Ken has a vision for improving just about everything in which he’s involved. He can’t seem to help himself. Innovate, change, improve.

Which One is Needed?

Two people.

One extraordinary leader – a visionary, determined to win. People follow.

On great manager – develops the troops to make the vision a concrete reality.

The business and the vision need both.

They need each other.

Sometimes the great manager and extraordinary leader come in one package.

Sometimes, not so much.

Have both… will travel…far… successfully.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Manager or Leader – Which One is More Important? is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Recently I asked a client to rate her level of motivation to making a specific change. She replied “Seven,” (on a ten point scale) with a fair degree of hesitation and lacking a strong sense of conviction.

I then asked, “What would cause your level of motivation to go up?”

She suggested, “If you’re asking me how motivated I am, it’s a seven. If you’re asking about my level of commitment, it’s a ten.”

Lesson learned….by me.

Commitment trumps motivation.

At this point in time, she is less motivated to change her behavior than she is committed to do so.

Big Duh Madam psychologist.

If the old  behavior served no positive function she would change in a heartbeat and our conversation would be moot. In fact, there would likely be no coaching engagement. So, no, she is not highly motivated to give it up and change something she finds rewarding, but she is committed to doing something different.  I trust that when she reaps the rewards of this change, her motivation to continue the new behaviors will increase.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Motivation or Commitment – Which Matters Most? is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Preamble: As you read this post, please be mindful that I believe both men and women, The Masculine and The Feminine, are required to lead for and into a future we need and one we must pursue. This post, and many others, emphasize The Feminine and women, because it and we have been missing from the leadership equation in business. Had men been missing, I hope and trust I would advocate for The Masculine. Why business? In developed countries business is a tremendous lever for change. For profit enterprises have both a sense of urgency and the resources to lead a paradigm shift, not to the exclusion, however, of government, not for profits, and other organized communities.

The Sign Reads

Point 1.

Emerging global conditions are like a neon sign flashing warnings of what’s required on the road ahead. It reads PARADIGM SHIFT.

What are the conditions behind this sign?

• Failing governments
• Failing economies that don’t respond to methods previously used to “fix” such problems
• Extreme weather conditions (This one is just beginning.)
• Out of control U.S. health care costs that we cannot fix
• Extinction/depletion of species and natural resources that will not and cannot be restored (Been fishing lately? Catch much?)

What’s called for is a BIG SHIFT – not a small adjustment, or a tweak, or a stronger pull of some previously used lever. These moves are akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Paradigm Shift

The shift involves our assumption that

Growth is good.

Bigger is better.

More is desirous.

A bigger house. A bigger car. A bigger business. A bigger economy. Bigger breasts. Erection doesn’t last long enough? (Longer is the time version of bigger.) We can fix that too. Caution though – 3 days is too much. See your doctor.

Grow the economy. Grow your business. If your children aren’t tall enough give them growth hormones. And have you seen the growing girth of the population? Bigger portions please.

Because, after all, bigger is better. Growth is good. It’s the natural way of things, or is it?

To get bigger we are borrowing against a future that won’t exist, at least not in the way we picture it, because of the very fact that we are borrowing against it.

If we don’t make the shift voluntarily, and we may not, IT will make us. Nature has a way of balancing herself.

Why the Shift Isn’t Happening

Point 2.

People who come to power in the current paradigm are least likely to see the assumptions underlying said paradigm. They are not bad people, just fish swimming in the water. They are unlikely to see that their assumptions, around which they build their lives and the systems that govern their lives, are not givens or natural laws, such as gravity, but conditions they have created. They don’t see that these created assumptions build a story. It is a story those in power, the ones who get to create the prevailing belief systems, tell themselves about the world, that results in a world about which they tell themselves that story. For the story creators to see these assumptions would be like fish seeing the water in which they swim. They don’t. It simply was, is and always will be. They know nothing else.

Why Women Can Create the Shift

Point 3.

Women are not currently the driving power in business. It is not our story, so we have a vantage point to see the assumptions on which the story is built. Some of us see other plausible assumptions and the stories they can create. We’d like to change things. How do I know? We asked. (Jane Perdue is my partner in seeking answers from women.) We did the research. We surveyed over 200 professional business women, most of whom work in large national or multinational corporations, to find out why they aspire to positions of power – to what end? Their top two priorities are “financial security for my family” not financial growth or riches, and “to lead change and make the world a better place.”

The Paradox of Power

Paradox

Point 4.

It’s tricky. Women have to come into power in a system that does not reflect the way we think about or use power, and simultaneously we have to create the shift to a new way of thinking about and using power. We have to know how to push from both sides, as pictured in the broom with two handles. Then there is the question of whether we will use our power to change the game, the rules and the desired outcomes or whether we will we be co-opted along the way? The story that holds the answer to this question has yet to be told.

Here are my recommendations for creating a story we will be proud of and in which future generations will live enriched (not by dollars) lives.

1. Replace BIGGER. Make a shift.

I like fulfilling.

Is your life fulfilling?

Are you fulfilling your purpose for being here?

Are you full yet? Yes? Good, time to stop eating.

You may choose a different concept. That’s fine.

The first order of business is to understand and stay true to WHY we want power. On behalf of what are we called to lead?

What is the story you want to tell about the world you helped to create?

2. Dress ourselves up in suits of power and get in the game, but never forget the purpose for which we donned those suits.

Understand the current rules.

Once there, and that means all along the way, create the shift.

Start pushing the broom from the other side.

3. Nelson Mandela this thing.

We are not better than men.

We simply have something different to offer, and it is needed now.

We also need men and women working together to make this new paradigm work.

Without men we will simply become fish in a different pond that cannot see the water in which they swim.

Here’s a sample of what could be.

It is new story two women have already created. Enjoy.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

PARADIGM SHIFT and THE PARADOX of POWER is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Visualizing the speed of change requires multidimensional thinking.

You and Them  - dimension 1

Physical, Cognitive, Emotional – dimensions 3, 4, and 5

You and Them

You’ve been imagining, thinking about, researching and planning the change for months. You review your ideas with and get input from colleagues and key stakeholders. You’re excited. This is really going to change things around here, for the better. You prepare your presentation, get ready for the announcement. You know you’ve got it nailed. You’re covering the basics.

Why change?

Why THIS change?

What’s the future state – the vision?

What are the gaps between where we are today and the future state?

How will we get there? What’s the plan?

How will we learn what we need to know to operate in the future state?

What’s changing? What’s staying the same?

People file into the room. Your excitement builds. This is going to be great.

Lights. Camera. Action.

Ten minutes into the presentation you notice blank stares.

Where is their excitement? What’s happening here, or not happening here?

My friend and colleague, Laura Goodrich explain it well in her book Seeing Red Cars.

Jerry makes a big company wide presentation with hopes that everyone will see the light… grab hold of the new direction, and life will be sweet. People listen as long as they hear something that has the potential to really have an impact on their world. As soon as something is said that has direct personal implications, they redirect their attention inward and begin focusing on IT…They don’t hear anything else Jerry says.

Warp Speed

So there is Your Speed and Their Speed.

Slow down.

You had a head start.

Give them time to catch up and on.

Physical Time, Cognitive Time, Emotional Time

Physical change is fastest. Cognitive is second, and Emotional typically comes in last.

First day, new job, new company. Physical change.

Second day. You drive on automatic pilot to your old office. Failure of cognitive change to settle in.

Third day. You drive with intention, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. Cognitive change. Until the next slip up.

Third month. You stop missing the coffee shop and all the characters you saw daily on you way to work at the old job. Emotional change.

This example involves a change you made voluntarily, I hope. The less voluntary the change, the longer it takes.

Speed it Up

To increase the speed of change, slow down… long enough… to involve people. You don’t have to involve every one in every aspect of the change.

Here’s an example.

You’re announcing the adoption of new software systems that will dramatically change the way people do their work. Keep it short and simple. Remember they will stop listening when attention shifts to “How will this affect me?” Go with it. Pose a question. “How do you think this change will affect you, and what do you want most for yourself?” Break into small discussion groups. Listen to and hear the summaries of their discussions. Watch as the fog dissipates and the glazed looks come back into focus. They are engaged. And please do commit to get back to them with answers to the questions they’ve raised. You are also  one move ahead of yourself as the agenda for your next meeting is now in place.

“Now that you’ve slowed down, you will get there faster,” said the tortoise to the hare. If only the hare had listened.

This post is part 3 of Leading Change: The Playbook. Each post in the series identifies one or two principles for leading change and provides relevant examples.

Part 1 – Empathy and Involvement  click here

Part 2 – Fingerprints: A word or two about change click here

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

The Pace of Change: Not a Speeding Bullet is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

NOW Leadership is Both/And & Both Hands

This month we asked men we respect who are leaders and early adopters of NOWLeadership (although they may name it differently) to talk about why they believe integrating feminine and masculine is the way forward and why we need women to lead along with men. Every month we think our contributors have created the best-yet issue of NOW. This month it’s really true.

Enjoy. Learn. Grow, and Challenge Yourself. We invite you to contribute your own comments. In fact, we cherish the fact that you do so. The conversation makes a difference.

For NOW and until next time…

Anne and Marion

Leading with Paradox: Notes from a Feminist’s Son

Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review writer as well as President and CEO of The Energy Project, talks about how his mother, Felice Schwartz, founder of Catalyst; and his father, the least macho man you could imagine, influenced Tony to lead with and through paradox.

Why we asked, “Why women?”

Bruce Watluck, @complexified, recently asked, “How do you work with men are not convinced women can and should play a role as leaders?”

Anne’s answer: “Mostly I don’t. I work with early adopters as an intentional change strategy.” I choose this route because working against or even with resistance, you end up using a lot of energy to achieve very little gain and sometimes you get a bucket full of exhaustion and two full buckets of despair.

And then I had a big “DUH” moment. Why wasn’t I and why wasn’t Marion, my partner in NOWLeadership, asking the men who are early adopters to speak up?

So I did.

Here’s what they said:

Why Women? by Adam Quinton

Adam says “Most guys don’t get it so it has to be framed not as a moral or a fairness issue, but as…

Why Women? by Lee J. Carey

Twitter and a mirror opened Lee’s eyes about the dearth of women leaders in his own backyard and in the larger world. He is now an avid supporter.

Why Women? by Eric Peterson

Eric cannot remember a time when he didn’t advocate for women leaders and thinks perhaps it’s because he is gay, grew up in Japan and simply wired that way.

Brand Masculine: Leadership, Perceptions, and the Future

Dale Lawrence responded to a different request by Marion last month about the new masculinity, but tornadoes and resulting flight delays as well as crashing computers prevented Dale’s response from arriving on time for April’s edition. No worries. NOW can wait. Dale has included some puzzling research findings that state people have greater trust in women leaders but when it comes to naming them to these roles..well that’s a different story.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

NOWLeadership May Edition: “Why Women?” What He Says is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Why I Advocate for Women

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t an advocate for women leaders and encouraging traditionally feminine leadership attributes. This may be related to my tendency towards styles that favor the feminine over the masculine as indicated by every personality assessment I’ve taken, from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the Predictive Index to the Enneagram to the FIRO-B. I focus on people before tasks, values-based decisions before decisions based on logic, “heart” before “head” or “gut,” and belonging before dominance.

Because I’m Gay, Grew Up in Japan, and Wired That Way

Some might think that as a gay man I’m naturally more in touch with my “feminine side” than heterosexual men.  I don’t necessarily disagree, but I think it’s just as likely that spending five years of my childhood in Japan had a profound impact on my values as they relate to community vs. the individual, and it’s just as likely that I’m just wired this way.

Throughout my career, I’ve been coached (by men and women alike) to adopt a more masculine style.  Of course, no one ever used those exact words, but that’s the crux of their argument.  And they were (and are) probably right.  Inching toward a style that strikes a better balance between masculine and feminine might very well be valuable to me, as it would be for anyone else.  At the same time, I am what I am.  You are who you are, he is who he is, and she is who she is.  If organizations are to reap the maximum benefits of both leadership styles, the best and easiest way to do that is to value both, encourage both, and promote both – so that those who typify both are present when important decisions are being made, and neither group sacrifices their authenticity.

Because There Are No Organizations Where Sexism Does Not Exist

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered organizations that claim there is no sexism in their culture.  As proof, they usually offer up one or two out of hundreds who have risen to senior leadership.  If these women can do it, they reason, there’s absolutely no reason why others can’t.  I have met these women. Without fail they are textbook examples of masculine leadership styles: focus on task, logical decision-making, unafraid to ruffle feathers in order to make their case.  In most cases, the women also made a conscious decision not to have children, which left them unencumbered by work-life considerations that most women (and an increasing number of men) in today’s workforce are focused on.  These organizations were not only rife with sexism, and treating the vast majority of their female employees very poorly, they were missing out on what half the population had to offer.  Women and men with more traditionally feminine leadership styles were unseen and unheard in these organizations, and the decisions made by the senior leadership teams were made quickly and without a lot of conflict – but they were the same decisions that any one of those senior leaders could have made on their own.  Which begs the question: why have a team, when everyone at the table is the same?

Eric Peterson

In addition to being a major mensch, Eric Peterson is also Manager, Diversity & Inclusion, Society for Human Resource Management.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Why Women by Eric Peterson is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Most Guys Don’t See It

Guys generally do not “get it”.  Indeed on a whole host of questions, for example “Is there discrimination in the workplace?” the answers by gender are very different. Men see no problem at all or much less of a problem than women do. Therefor an appeal to advance more women based on a moral perspective will likely be pretty ineffective. But a “hard nosed” business argument supporting diversity in general is crucial to progress especially in the US where quotas are simply not going to happen.

So in my view as long as advancing women in leadership is seen as a “women’s issue”  progress will be slow. It needs to be seen as

1. A Diversity Issue

It has to be framed as broader than women, otherwise it gets discounted as special pleading. This is especially true as many attempts at corporate fixes are delegated to HR which is typically disproportionately female.

2. A Crucial Business Issue

Those Who See It

As to the personal reasons, this might be of interest. A former colleague of mine, now Chief Diversity Officer at a major corporation, did a survey of what she called her “male allies” – senior men, not in HR, who were supporters of the firm’s efforts to advance women into more leadership positions. She thought there might be common factors such as having daughters or strong mothers who had been powerful influences. Based on an admittedly small sample and anecdotal discussions she concluded these men indeed shared one common trait – a strong sense of “fairness.” They could all see that something was “wrong” and that an important group of colleagues was not progressing as they should.

Adam Quinton

Adam is Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Why Women by Adam Quinton is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology