Welcome to the Corporate Soul Movement

To join take the pledge below. If you’d like your website or blog to appear on the Corporate Soul blog roll leave a link in the comments section. Please include a short descriptive phrase of 5 words or less to appear when folks hover over your link.

I pledge

• That I’ve read Fixing the Hole in the Corporate Soul at

http://germaneconsulting.com/fixing-the-hole-in-the-corporate-soul/

• Not to leave my soul in the car (on the train, plane, bus etc) when I go to work.
• To be in the company of my own soul at all times.
• To be in the soul of my own company at all times.
• To be aware of and respect the soul of others.

For coaches and consultants:

• To courageously name the importance of soul, essence, purpose and passion as appropriate even if I feel like I’m sticking my neck out.

Charter members

Terry @tseamon

Jane Perdue @thehrgoddess

Jennifer Miller @JenniferVMiller

Ava Diamond @feistywoman

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

With twos ounces of boldness and one of anxiety I submitted a requested article to the editor of a business journal this past week. Why the anxiety? I used the word “soul” – not just once but twice. After hitting the send button I sat back and imagined many possible responses, including “This is not appropriate for a serious business journal.” After spending at least 20 hours on this piece it was not the response I most wanted to hear. But I just couldn’t stop myself from scratching this persistent itch in my own soul.

The very next day I happened upon a post in the Wall Street Journal by London Business School thought leader Gary Hamel.* “The Hole in the Soul of the Corporation.” The esteemed Mr. Hamel cites a survey indicating that only 20% of employees are truly engaged “heart and soul” in their work. He blames the almighty corporate mission, vision and goals that lack “cosmic good” and drain the life blood from the heart and soul.

I sent Hamel’s article to the editor.

The journal, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, observes strict copyrights, so I cannot share the article publicly. I am instead writing a series of posts on the Soul at Work. The series focuses on individuals who bring heart and soul to work and companies that design them into their mission and vision. I make bold claims. You are warmly invited to agree, disagree and engage in the conversation.

The terms soul and essence are used interchangeably in this post.

Companies with a Soul

In addition to engaging the heart and soul of employees and customers companies that link their purpose to essence paint on a very broad canvas that endures over time. How that essence manifests itself today may be very different from how it is expressed twenty or fifty years from now. Working from essence is a critical condition for creating longevity. Had the railroads been in the business of helping people visit new places they might have transformed themselves into airline companies and then space travel, and then who knows what.

Apple’s essence -aesthetics and ease of use are timeless and are infused throughout the company’s products and customer experience. You can hear Steve Jobs love for aesthetic beauty in his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University as he recalls a course he took after dropping out of college.

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them.

Disney used to be in the business of creating joyful experiences. Replacements Ltd “creates, honors and preserves traditions by connecting customers with their most cherished memories.” At the transactional level they buy and sell dinner ware. Dow Chemical “passionately innovates what is essential to human progress.” In each of these companies the purpose is clear not only in the products they create but in everything they do. Many Replacements Ltd employees are from other countries. Corporate policy makers don’t think it makes sense for people to save money for years in order to spend only one or two weeks in their home country. Instead Replacements works with each employee to ensure they can spend one or two months visiting home and family. Replacements “honors and preserves traditions.”

How Leaders Can Engage the Soul

1.  Understand (in brain, mind, heart, soul and gut) that leadership is moral and value laden. Simply having followers does not make anyone a leader. Leading involves the evolution of human kind. If you are not moving your company, your employees and your customers in that direction your are not leading.

2. Find your company’s essence, its soul. Simple to say and not so easy to do. This is where an outside expert can be most helpful. Soul searching goes all the way back to the founder(s). It involves exploring questions such as which of the universal values you and your company intend to advance. Beauty? Truth? Wisdom? The Search for Knowledge? Courage? Joy? Generosity? Discovery? Caring? Kindness? Then you must be Attentional and Intentional about advancing these values by infusing them into your mission, vision and the way you do business.

NASA’s vision was to put a man on the moon and bring him back safely. The essence or universal value of NASA’s mission is discovery. We are a curious species. We want to know and we want to constantly push the boundaries of our knowing.

3. Communicate the essence. All human action is a communication. So “communicate” refers to more than what you say. It is in the design of your buildings and offices, how they look and feel, who parks where in the parking lot, the food in the cafeteria, company policies, how you treat employees, customers and the communities where you do business. EVERYTHING.

4. Hire employees who are passionate about and aligned with this essence, your mission, vision and corporate values. Then support them in bringing mind, heart and soul to work each and every day.

Future post in this series feature:

• A man who makes his living removing underground oil tanks, and does it with heart, soul and joy.
• A lingerie sales woman who is partnering with G-d
• A bread baker who is part scientist part artist.

*The Wall Street Journal recently ranked Gary Hamel as the world’s most influential business thinker, and Fortune magazine has called him “the world’s leading expert on business strategy.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Ingredients

1 thank you note with matching envelope

1 pen

1 stamp

Cup of gratitude

Bowl of appreciative expressions

2-3 tablespoons of deed – the spice that led to gratitude

Substitutions: typed note on plain paper can be substituted for pen in cases of illegible handwriting or need for spell check

Pour cup of gratitude into bowl of appreciative expressions. Mix well. Sprinkle deed (event that created gratitude) into mixture as needed. Let stand until words form. Using pen, place words on card ensuring correct order. When dry (2 minutes) fold card, place in envelope and write address on front. Put stamp on upper right corner – front of envelope. Deliver to mail box or post office.

ENJOY the taste of Thank You.

Note: I encourage executives to send hand written notes to employees, peers, managers, vendors and customers who have done something, regardless of how small or large, that deserves a “thank you.” The other day a client turned the tables and sent one to me. Ironically, he was a thanking me for for helping him thank others, something that is making a tremendous difference in relationships at work.  I am amazed at how much it means in this day of instant communication via email, text message, voice mail, twitter, face book, e-cards etc. that someone took the time to write and send a note via snail mail.

Please feel free to give a piece of gratitude cake to someone by commenting below. Please follow the recipe and be sure to identify what they did to win your appreciation and the cake.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

See this awe inspiring show of women around the globe doing what we do.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Watch the world’s business leaders make the case for more women in leadership roles. It will take a few seconds for the debate to begin.

SHARE YOUR VIEWS

Who was most convincing? Why?

How do conversations and decisions change with more women in the room?

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

This post is dedicated to Lolly Daskal who inspired the words below. Thank you for being in the world, for sharing your story, your heart and your inspiration.

All the energy that ever was, is, and will be exists now.

All matter is energy. You are energy. You are matter. You matter.

You mattered long before your soul and body met.

You matter now and into eternity.

What we do matters. Every day we have opportunities to make a difference in the world, to put a smile on some-one’s face, to be kind, to shed light on a different perspective, to help someone who will in turn help someone else.  These moments go by quickly. Some seem small, others profound. Don’t let them pass you by. Create the story of the kind of person you want to be in every one of these moments. Be that person and you are leading. You are being the best version of yourself, and by doing so you inspire others to do likewise. Leadership, your leadership, can be viral.

True Story #1 Why Are You Being Mean? Tiny Change

Several years ago I was perusing the titles in a used book store. After ten minutes I asked a question of the only other person in the store, the sales clerk behind the register. Without making eye contact she muttered something rude and dismissive. I was a minuscule interruption in whatever very important task she was completing. Out of sheer surprise and because I have moments of idealism coupled with naiveté I asked, “Why are you being mean to me?” Instant change. She guided me to the book I asked for and could not have been more attentive for the rest of my visit.

I stood outside the bookstore for 10 minutes and watched the next few customers go inside. Madam sales clerk was gracious and attentive to all. They even struck up conversations with each other. Leadership can be viral.

True Story #2 Strangers on the Train – Big Change

They were strangers on a train when Sasha Chanoff sat next to Kristi Maynard. The two struck up a conversation, and soon Mr. Chanoff shared the story of Mapendo International, the humanitarian organization he founded  to aid rescue efforts for African refugees. Mrs. Maynard took an immediate interest and stayed in touch with Mr. Chanoff. Since then Kristi has held fundraisers at her home and recently visited the Mapendo camp in Kenya. She is having another fund raiser this summer. Kristi, emailed photos and comments about her visit. I replied with an offer to help spread the word. Kristi asked that I follow her on twitter and facebook as well as attend this summers fundraiser. The word is spreading and others are now following Mapendo and Kristi on twitter. Leadership can be viral.

True Story #3 Oprah Lights a Spark – Very Big Change

Oprah is a leader. She inspires many including Lisa Shannon who has also become a leader. Lisa learned from Oprah’s TV show about the savage treatment of women in the eastern Congo. Lisa became involved – first by reading more about women in the Congo, then by running a 30 mile race to raise money. After that Lisa established Run for Congo Women which raises funds in 10 states and 3 foreign countries. The money supports the organization Women for Women International. She is now writing  A Thousand Sisters a book that telsl the stories of these brave women of the Congo. Nicholas Kristoff published an Op Ed about Lisa and her Congolese sisters. I tweeted the story. People re-tweeted it.  Who knows what they might be doing to help. This is viral leadership.

You do not need a title, an organization, an office or a special parking place to lead. You  just need a listening ear, a caring heart, a voice and the drive to act. Be the kind of person you want to be in your story about yourself in every moment of every day.

You are a leader. You can be a viral leader. You matter.

Have a viral leadership story? Please share it and spread the virus. If you would like the story to be considered for a follow up post, please contact me by email.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

What Makes Twitter Successful?

The beauty and success of twitter is built on 3 steadfast psychological principles – the same ones casinos bet on. Companies might consider how a twitter-like tool can increase employee engagement, desired behaviors and business performance.

Principle 1

Intermittent rewards are most effective for getting people to repeat a desired behavior.

When we are rewarded each and every time, we get bored and stop. Chimps do too. If we are never rewarded, we give up and stop the behavior. Chimps do too.

Principle 2

Immediate feedback keeps us engaged in and repeating the target behaviors. True for chimps too.

Principle 3

Each of us has an ego. We like feedback that others value us. Not sure if chimps do too.

How Twitter Applies These Principles

If  you have a “mentions” or “direct messages” column on your tweet deck or hoote suite site, continue. If not, you are rather unusual and might want to stop reading here.

Here’s how it rolls.

Step 1. I tweet something.

Step 2. I return later to see whether anyone has retweeted. If yes, bingo – reward. I check later to see if there are more retweets. If there are no retweets, I check again later. (intermittent rewards, immediate feedback)

Step 3a. If my tweet is not retweeted, I try again. Repeat step 1.

Step 3b. If my tweet is retweeted I am rewarded and repeat step 1.

Step 4.   If over a period of time none of my tweets are retweeted, I either change my behavior (Step 5) or stop tweeting (end here).

Step 5.   I study how to get retweeted. Repeat Step 1.

There it is. Simple psychological principles. Ego. Intermittent rewards. Immediate feedback. I return to twitter over and over again.

There are other benefits of course – frequent updates on topics of interest, the 24 hour cocktail party, the ability to communicate what I ate for breakfast to 1,438 “friends” etc., but I’m convinced without the principles outlined above, twitter would not be a leading social media hot spot.

What If Companies Catch On?

It might go like this.

Company XYZ establishes an internal twitter site. (Yes, I’m in conversations wtih twitter founders about this idea, so don’t even think about it.)

Step 1. Sharon, who works in customer service at XYZ, tweets “Responded w/empathy 2 irate customer. He calmed down & rescinded threat 2 cancel account.”

Step 2. Sharon gets a retweet. She repeats the empathic behavior the next time.

Step 3. Others, along with their egos, are reading Sharon’s tweets and observing all the retweets.

Step 4. They respond to irate customers with more empathy, resulting in fewer cancelled accounts.

Step 5. More employees tweet about what happens when they respond empathically to customers.

Step 6. They are retweeted.

“Every one’s doin’ it, doin’ it, doin it.”

Soon it’s an empathy movement.

I have gr8 fun thinking and writing about all things at the intersection of psychology, business and leadership.

You are invited to agree, disagree, share a story or a unique point of view.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Harvard Business Review is catching on. A recent article on the female economy declares that women present a marketing opportunity more than twice the size of China and India combined. Yet most companies fail to see or capture this prize. Those that do are winning even in the down economy. How? They are listening to smart women in their own companies.

At H&M, a Swedish clothing company, the formula for success includes a board and management structure where women are in the majority. This strategy has produced a

• 34% increase in profits during a sluggish economy when retailers around the world reported lackluster results
• Doubling of stock value over four years
• P/E of 21.47, ROI 44.11 and ROE 46.82 compared to respective industry figures of 5.28, 5.07, and 5.

The Rule of 3 – A Strategy for Capturing and Retaining this Market

Employing the advice of women in your own company to capture this market makes sense. Consultants can help in the short term and it may be wise to call one now. But as the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Savvy women in your own company will advise you that women decide to buy based on the relationship as well as the product or service. They will teach you how to use social media to engage women in meaningful conversations that deliver business results. They will make sure you understand that women want to be smart consumers so educating your buyers is important work. They would have told the powers that be at Dell that matching a computer to her outfit is not a priority for women and the reference recalls an outdated stereotype that insults current and potential customers. Dell would have been spared the negative press and other costs of this error.

In order to get and benefit from the advice of women many companies must first change a culture that worked when business was a man’s world.

The Rule of 3 will help you make the culture change and win the market.

What is the Rule of 3 and How Does it Work?

Three members of a minority group, in this case women, are typically required for individual members to speak up, be heard and have influence. The Rule of 3 is based in social science research on the influence of minority groups – defined as those who do not determine the mainstream culture. It has been confirmed by the observations of colleagues who are experts in the field of diversity.

Test the rule. Ask any woman who has worked in or with a company for the past 10 years whether she’s ever had the experience of speaking at a meeting and being ignored, discounted or told why her idea won’t work. Then within minutes a man in the group shares the same idea and suddenly it’s a good one. You will see her nod of recognition before you complete your question. The Rule of 3 changes this dynamic, especially if the women agree to intervene with and for each other. The rule works even better if a member of the mainstream group – such as the leader – intervenes, “Didn’t Margaret just say that same thing a few minutes ago?”

How to Apply the Rule of 3

First, as you charter groups to capture women customers, make sure there are at least 3 women in each of these groups. More is better.

Second, start now to ensure that over time there are at least three women on senior leadership teams that make critical and strategic decisions at your company. Ask and listen to what they say about how the culture needs to change so you can hire, retain, and maximize the contributions of savvy business women to gain even more market share.

Results from the Rule of 3

Read what happened at Deloitte and Best Buy when they employed the rule.

Over 15 years ago Deloitte chartered WIN an initiative led by women. Why? Deloitte recognized the increasing financial wealth of women and the implications for their business. In a recent conversation Barbara Adachi,* WIN’s National Managing Principal, stated when WIN began the company had a “7% gender gap in turnover rates and a small representation of women at the partner, principal and director levels. Today at Deloitte, the gender gap is less than 1% and approximately 22% of the partner, principals and directors (PPDs) are women, in fact, they just reached a notable milestone of surpassing 1,000 women PPDs in the U.S. firm.” (Barbara also manages Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Human Capital Practice, U.S. Western Region.)

At Deloitte, the benefits of WIN have accrued to the entire organization regardless of gender. The recent implementation of Mass Career Customization, initiated by WIN, applies to all professionals at Deloitte. It also resulted in a book published  by Harvard Business School Press. The “Women as Buyers” program is a more recent innovation to help the 91% of Deloitte’s partners and senior managers who are pitching to women clients and need to understand how women think and make decisions about financial matters. One male attendee remarked, “Women as Buyers is a great program. It provides insights into the things you need to know but were afraid to ask.”

At Best Buy regional WOLF packs (Women’s Leadership Forums) develop ideas to attract more women customers. Why? Ninety percent of home electronic purchase decisions are made or influenced by women. The packs have implemented small changes that produce big results, such as carrying designer cases for PDAs and changing signs designating washing machine capacity from cubic feet to number of loads. Like Deloitte, Best Buy measures results – increase in women customers – and by this measure the program is a success. Best Buy has also succeeded in hiring more women sales managers and lowering the turnover rate.

If You Think This Doesn’t Apply to Your Company, You May Want to Think Again

“We are a military supplier, so the growing women’s market doesn’t apply to us.” In 2008, General Ann Dunwood was named the military’s first woman four star general. We are in all branches of the military, and some of us love shopping with other people’s money. (Apologies for the stereotype.)

“We supply technology companies and sell to engineers.” Women currently hold over 40% of lower level management positions in science, engineering and technology companies. These women and those who come after them will be movers and shakers in your customer base before you can implement the Rule of 3.

A company that designs and manufactures surgical instruments failed to make the devices small enough to be held by women who are a growing proportion medical school graduates. Makers of dental equipment are also taking note of the growing number of women enrolled in dental schools.

Summary

The Rule of 3 – start now before it’s too late.

*Barbara Adachi serves on the National Board of the Girl Scouts of America and has been repeatedly named one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Business” by San Francisco Business Times (2003-2009).

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Are You Smarter Than a Fish?

Fish don’t see the water that they swim in. It is an invisible part of their world. Likewise, we do not see our see-ing, the lenses or meaning-making systems through which we perceive, interpret and act on the world around us. Unlike fish, however, occasionally we have an opportunity to see and change our lens.

Twenty years ago I was fortunate to experience a lens changing event. Instantaneously everything changed, yet nothing about the situation was different except for the way I was seeing it.

Unfamiliar Waters

Visiting a country for the first time requires adjusting our lenses. We are unfamiliar with the symbols, customs, culture and rituals, so we become keenly aware of and sensitive to our surroundings. Such was the case when my husband Bob and I went to Jamaica twenty years ago.

In the evenings we walk to town. We are at first taken aback when drivers pull up next to us, roll down the window and yell “Taxi?” After all there is no light on the top or advertising on the door to indicate this beat up Volkswagen is a legitimate taxi. After a few days we understand this as part of an informal system in a poor country where the economy relies on tourism. Owning a car is an opportunity to be an entrepreneur. On the way home from work or a trip to the store a Jamaican man with a car becomes a taxi driver or a tour guide.

On day three we suspend the notions born of a different context and embrace the culture. When a Volkswagen beetle pulls up and the driver yells “Taxi” we climb into his cab and delight in our new found sense of adventure. We strike up a conversation and within minutes Mike offers to be our tour guide. We rendezvous the next morning at 10:00 greatly anticipating the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of local culture we will explore with Mike as our guide. We stop first at the plantation where we sample raw sugarcane. Then it’s off to the caves Mike described the night before as a little-known but fascinating place to visit. He purposely revealed only that information in order to maintain an element of surprise.

The Cave of Excitement: The Cave of Fear

When we arrive a dozen or so adolescent males seem to emerge from nowhere and surround the car. Mike tells us to stay put. He gets out and engages a rapid-fire exchange in Pidgin English with the group. I understand every fifth word, and to my foreigner’s ears the dialogue sounds angry. My amygdala raises its warning flags. Mike hands a wad of bills to the young man who must be the group’s leader. My explorer mind is excited about the adventure. My fearful mind wonders if I should consider the possibility that this is a gang and that we are in harm’s way. Mike signals us to get out of the car. We do as he says.Amygdala wildly waves red flags. Explorer can’t wait to see what’s next.

We are escorted to the mouth of a nearby cave. Each young man raises an empty glass bottle high above his head. We walk into the cave. The bottles are topped with kerosene soaked rags. In unison, the boys light their torches. One man-child walks a bit too close and the smell of my singed hair fills that air. Amygdala now screaming, “RUN!” I don’t, not because I am brave but because I’m curious, because there is a small steady voice inside that says,”This is okay,” and perhaps because there is nowhere to run to. I recall a friend and recent law school graduate defending gang members who put an inner tube around a man and then set it and him on fire. We walk through several chambers inside the cave surrounded by a dozen young black men carrying fire. Suddenly the boys disappear, their torches gone with them. We are standing in the pitch black darkness. Heart pounding, blood rushing. Amygdala preps my body - fight or flight.

Then a great transformation occurs.

Beautiful harmonious rhythms fill the air. The torches become stage lights, the gang an orchestra. Each musician is seated at his own stalactite or stalagmite and plays with a simple set of drumsticks. The music echoes through the rooms of the cave. We hear it once and then again as it bounces back. The a cappella singers chime in. The bottle players blow their tunes. In the blink of an eye and the change of a lens, we have gone from kidnapped hostages to privileged audience at a private concert.

The problem has become a miraculous event.

Changing the Lens

In this story of our trip to Jamaica I am at worst a racist because of my inability to shift lenses when faced with a new context. This is true until the experience allows me to see the current lens in action. Then I have a choice. I change the lens through which I perceive and make meaning of what is happening with the people around me, in this place, at this moment.

Categorizing, framing and adopting a lens is necessary to understand, decide and act in a timely manner to the variety of situations we encounter daily.

Categorizing, framing and adopting a lens is not bad, except when it prevents us from seeing or causes us to misinterpret the world around us. Categorizing, framing and adopting a lens is not bad, except when it becomes stereotyping and prevents us seeing people as they are.

Change the lens and the problem you’ve been seeing  just might become a miraculous opportunity.

Lens Changing Tips for Leaders

1. Ask outsiders

Outsiders, like tourists, see the organization and its culture through new eyes. This allows them to frame problems and solutions on a different set of assumptions.

2. Solve a puzzle or word problem that requires changing lenses

Choose something unrelated to the problem at hand before starting or to take a break from solving a work related problem.

Choose one like the 9 dot puzzle that is solved only by changing our hidden rules and assumptions. These activities force us to see these assumptions. They rattle our brains and move us outside our typical ways of thinking.

Instructions: Without lifting your pencil from the paper, draw a line that connects all 9 dots.

For the solution click here.

3. Utilize external consultants

Consultants are trained to see you, the organization and the problem through a broader frame of reference. They also bring experience from other companies that can influence and shift the frame.

Because the question you ask determines the solution you get, engage outsiders and consultants to reconsider and possibly to reframe the question to be solved.

4. Know and use the frame changers in your own organization

Some people have a tendency to think outside the box. They see their own and others thinking. Know who these people are and call on them.

5. Walk away

Getting stuck and walking away from the problem often results in an aha moment. You’ve had these while running, walking or during a morning shower. Suddenly the solution comes to you.

6. Assume a different perspective so people can see what they are currently not seeing.

During a Strategic Thinking seminar we developed for Intel’s high potential leaders, Robert Burgelman, Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management, Standford Graduate School of Business, shared a story about how Intel’s COO Andy Grove created a dramatic shift in technology and saved the company.  DRAM (Direct Random Access Memory) was know as the product that made Intel, and many of the top executives were emotionally attached to it. DRAM was also the company’s core expertise but in the mid 1980’s demand was declining.  Andy Grove, COO at the time, saw the need for change and the resistance by top executives including Intel’s co-founder Gordon Moore. Grove recalls visiting Moore to ask the question”What would new management do if we were replaced?” Moore replied immediately “Get out of DRAM.” Grove then suggested that “We go through the revolving door, come back in, and do it ourselves.” 1 While the ensuing shift was difficult and painful, the rest, as they say, is history.

Footnotes:

1.Burgelman, R.A.(2002)  Strategy is Destiny: How Strategy-Making Shapes a Company’s Future. The Free Press.

Thanks to my esteemed colleagues, cherished friends and two very bright women Susan Mazza and Carrie Johnson for their feedback and editing advice. I value your generosity, support, and wisdom.

If you are interested in reading more about seeing your see-ing I recommend Presence by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers and Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Leading Like Lincoln showcases vignettes from the 16th president to exemplify emotionally intelligent leadership.

Abraham Lincoln employs empathy, understanding, reason and a dash of humility to bridge the gap between northerner and southerner. By steering clear of moralizing and judging, he eases the battle ground on which each side’s views are firmly planted and moves the opposing forces to a field of deeper understanding.

They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist amongst them, they would not introduce it.  If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up…I surely will not blame them for not doing what I should not know how to do myself.

Lincoln heightens the effectiveness of this approach with humility by using himself as an example.

In a world where we often cast one side as good and the other as evil, Lincoln offers a different approach.

If you’ve seen empathy result in change please share your story so others might learn, and in advance thanks for taking the time to do so.

©2010 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.