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

Welcome to Germane’s content rich web site. I believe in generously sharing experiences, ideas, insight and wisdom that make the world of work a better place – one in which people discover and use their greatest gifts and best self. I have, therefore, intentionally included a variety of substantive articles for leaders about the human/psychological aspects of their roles. I hope you gain insight from what you read and generously pay it forward.

Germane’s coaching practice is based on the belief that crucible identity stories lie at the core of what causes you and those around you to succeed and at times to stumble in professional roles. Difficulties at work are often related to behaviors that emerge from collisions between hidden stories of two or more individuals. Leaders are especially vulnerable to such collisions because people have so many real or imagined beliefs about who the leader is.

This blog is a reflection of my years of experience and expertise in organization development, leadership coaching and psychotherapy, providing insights that can help business leaders address the challenges their companies may face. We look forward to hearing from you, getting to know you, your story, and your organizational dilemmas. We are committed to helping you become the best leader and self you can be while those around you follow suit.

With Warm Regards,

Dr. Anne Perschel

Successful & Outstanding Blogger Award

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

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

For mother’s day Germane Insights celebrates two wise women who taught their not-yet-president sons important lessons on leadership. The first young man, Abraham Lincoln, grew up to become one of the country’s greatest leaders, and many believe the second, Barack Obama, will be similarly recognized for his ability to lead and transform the country. (Don’t miss the trivia question embedded in this article.  Send your replies. The answer appears in next week’s post)

Like other transformational leaders Lincoln and Obama blend masculine and feminine strengths.  Both men credit success to their respective mothers who like many women excel at both the soft side and hard side of leading.   In his book on leadership Pulitzer Prize winning presidential biographer and leadership scholar James McGregor Burns wrote, “As leadership becomes more properly to be seen as a process of leaders engaging and mobilizing the human needs and aspirations of followers, women will be more readily recognized as leaders and men will change their own leadership styles.”  Lincoln and Obama learned to be such leaders from their mothers and trusted guides who taught their sons to be self-confident yet humble; to be empathic; and to manage their own egos in order to uplift and engage others in pursuit of honorable goals.    

Nancy H. Lincoln

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”    Abraham Lincoln

Nancy H. Lincoln taught her son to be a self-disciplined student and to value learning.  She encouraged his empathic nature and simultaneously fostered young Abe’s humility and self-confidence.  These two qualities were evident as Lincoln announced his run for state legislature. “Every man has his particular ambition. I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.”

Helen Nicolay, daughter of Lincoln’s private secretary, referred to the president’s empathy as “His crowning gift of political diagnosis …which gave him the power to forecast with uncanny accuracy what his opponents were likely to do.” In one such situation Lincoln sat quietly through a formal discussion among fellow Republicans until near the end when he stood dramatically, threw of his shawl and outlined the next several moves of both parties. When he was done it all seemed so obvious that his peers wondered how they had missed it. Lincoln also employed empathy in his appeal for understanding between north and south – bridging the gap between the two sides by illuminating their shared humanity. “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.’” 

Nancy Hanks Lincoln taught her son to read and to use books as his classroom.  During the war as one of his generals was failing, Lincoln, who never served in the military, read up on military strategy while still mourning the death of his son several weeks prior.  Within days the president began directing the armed forces. 

S. Anne Soetoro and Grandmother Toots

“[My mother] was the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known, and that what is best in me I owe to her.”    Barack Obama

Barack Obama’s mother S. Anne Soetoro was an anthropologist who pursued life in foreign cultures.  She was known for gathering “unlikely conversation partners” in her home. Like his mother, the president is inclusive and crosses – perhaps transcends – ethnic and racial divides.  Her influence is visible in the diversity of the president’s cabinet choices and close advisers, his inclusion of a broad array of perspectives -inviting even those who oppose his views, his ability to speak to the universal hopes of a diverse base, and in the mix of people from around the world who welcome his presidency. 

Anne, like Lincoln’s mother, valued learning and self-discipline.  When the family lived overseas she would wake young Barack at 4:30 in the morning to study in preparation for returning to school in the U.S.  If he complained she was quick to remind him that this was no more pleasant for her than it was for him. 

Grandmother Toot, formally known as Madelyn Dunham, was another of Obama’s role models. “She was the cornerstone of our family and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength and humility…Her impact on all of us is meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.”  When her daughter became pregnant unexpectedly Toot found a job as a bank secretary to help with expenses. For many years she tolerated blatant sexism without complaint. Additionally handicapped by the lack of a college education she rose nevertheless to become the first female vice president of the bank. To stay focused on the goal in light of such difficulties requires management of one’s own ego. President Obama has also endured much without complaint while maintaining focus on the goal – as was evident during the presidential campaign. After the election he further proved the ability to manage his ego by appointing former opponent Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State.  Trivia – What actor is a 3^rd cousin 4 times removed to Abraham Lincoln?  Post your replies.  The answer will appear in next week’s blog post.

Leading Transformation

Lincoln preserved the union while transforming important aspects of culture and morality. Many hope Obama will realize a similar magnitude of change.  To do so requires engaging people in ways that raise both leader and followers to higher levels of aspiration, motivation and morality. This calls for strong relational skills, the ability to manage ones own ego and to make difficult sometimes unpopular decisions on behalf of a greater vision. 

The persisting leadership crisis in the U.S. suggests that the time is long overdue for trading in the prevailing command and control style for a model that incorporates what Lincoln and Obama learned from their mothers and what many women do so well – to be humble, to empathize, to collaborate, to build bridges and to put one’s ego in service of a greater good.  These attributes are crucial for leaders across all sectors if we are to restore the economy and the stature of the U.S. at home and around the world.  Perhaps with a president who models these qualities the culture of leadership in the U.S. will finally achieve these much needed changes.  To that end women as mothers, advisers, role models, and leaders have much to offer.

Happy mothers day to all women for we are all mothers – nurturing something or someone.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Celebrating Mothers Day – Leadership Lessons from Mothers of Presidents is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, an enormously readable biography of Abraham Lincoln, is also a seminal treatise on leadership and a must-read for all who lead or aspire to do so.  By way of numerous examples the book highlights four essential leadership characteristics: a balance of confidence and humility; a CEO for the ego; an intuitive and intimate understanding of others; and the ability to engage people emotionally in order to influence them.   

The title references Lincoln’s cabinet, a team of men who are rivals to each other and to the president himself.  This assembly is no accident on Lincoln’s part and speaks to his confidence, humility and intuitive sense of what needs to be done.  These same qualities underlie his ambition to lead and his ability to be granted the opportunity to do.  As he announces his candidacy for state legislature Lincoln declares, ” ‘Every man has his particular ambition. I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.’ “  Lincoln is confident in his abilities and knows he must use them wisely to earn the right, privilege and responsibility to lead.    

What enables Lincoln to envision and create a team from a collection of rivals each one of whom is more educated, more experienced, and more well known than the president? His psychological structure includes a chief executive officer of sorts who keeps the vision in mind and oversees all the parts of Lincoln’s personality, conducting them to do what is called for at all times.  This CEO manages Lincoln’s ego such that his talents serve something far greater than his Self and enables far reaching achievements.  This is likely the most highly evolved of Lincoln’s personal attributes, and in too short supply among leaders across all sectors in the current era as illustrated by the often heard phrase, ”His ego gets in the way.”      

Lincoln intuits an intimate knowledge of others such that he understands how to influence them to do what is needed, but how? This master chess player of human psychology is equipped with extraordinary empathy.  Goodwin describes Lincoln’s capacity to put himself in an-other’s shoes, to feel what they are feeling and thereby to understand their motives and desires as an ”enormous asset to his political career. ”  Helen Nicolay, whose father was Lincoln’s private secretary refers to this asset as ” ‘His crowning gift of political diagnosis …which gave him the power to forecast with uncanny accuracy what his opponents were likely to do.’ “  She recalls a caucus during which Lincoln listens to his colleagues at length, then rises up, throws off his shawl and pronounces, ” ‘From your talk, I gather the Democrats will do so and so’ “ [therefor] ” ‘I should do so and so to checkmate them,’ and then proceeded to outline all the moves for days ahead; making them so plain that his listeners wondered why they had not seen it that way themselves.”   

Goodwin quotes Lincoln’s thoughts on influence ” ‘Penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye straw.   Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who lead him.’ In order to ‘win a man to your cause’ you must first reach his heart, ‘the great high road to his reason.’ ” Lincoln understands he must engage people emotionally.  His ability to do so rests once again in his profound sense of empathy along with his gift for story-telling.  Through empathy Lincoln intuits others’ emotional landscape and by appealing to this inner world moves them to do what is called for.  He is also a captivating story teller who creates emotional partnerships by drawing people into his world or a vision for a change he seeks to create.  Kearns references one of Lincoln’s colleagues who describes this magical appeal. ” ‘Several wrinkles would diverge from the inner corners of his eyes, and extend down and diagonally across his nose, his eyes would Sparkle, all terminating in an unrestrained Laugh in which every one present wiling or unwilling were compelled to take part.’  This rapid illumination of Lincoln’s features in conversation would be observed by countless others throughout his entire life, drawing many into his orbit.”

In his attempts to bridge the gap between those on opposing sides of an issue, Lincoln again employs an empathic stance.  Rather than disparage either side he senses and articulates their humanity. This is how he crosses the divide between north and south regarding slavery.  “ ’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 does not further polarize the sides by identifying one as good and the other as evil.  Instead he brings them together by illuminating the humanity common to both.   

Few leaders are called upon to achieve the enormity of what Lincoln accomplished in such difficult circumstances and with so much at stake.  But all can learn more about true leadership by reading this compelling and insightful book.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

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

Published in Harvard Business Review

In Feb. 2008 Harvard Business Review  published my response to the September 2007 article, Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership.  Excerpts from this response appear below.

Most legendary tales that serve as guides for leadership are male oriented.  Women and their mentors need to find or create, and then use, success stories that feature the feminine archetype. Without that guidance, women either will fail to rise to leadership roles at all or will ascend at the expense of the feminine, the essence of their strength.

Consider the heroine of The Wizard of Oz, for example. Dorothy is an emotionally connected transformational leader: She discovers the hidden talents of the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion, and then encourages and challenges them to draw on their own potential. As a result, the characters become better versions of themselves; the team overcomes the obstacles along the way; and, ultimately, they all realize their destinies. Under Dorothy’s leadership, they create a vision together in which each member benefits from and contributes to the overall journey.

Dorothy, for her own part, spends most of the time looking for a wizard who she believes has the power to send her home. But when she finds him, he can offer nothing extraordinary. It is Glinda, a feminine presence, who shows Dorothy that she can find everything she needs within herself. Glinda helps Dorothy the same way Dorothy helped the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion—by identifying and revealing their internal strengths. Like Dorothy, women on the leadership journey already have what they need to succeed. And, like Glinda, mentors should help them access and integrate the feminine into leadership practices.

Eagly and Carli respond: We welcome these thoughtful responses to our article. Anne Perschel is right in recognizing the importance of female role models—from myths, stories, and real life. Feminine archetypes of success can inspire women and help them navigate the labyrinth.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Dorothy of Oz as the Quintessential Transformational Leader is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Regardless of how they name it, leadership experts are calling for transformational leadership -”the ability to engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality”  (Burns, 1978).  Few, however, directly identify the cornerstone of transformational leadership – ego development.  

In recent years we have seen a variety of labels and models: Leadership Agility (Joiner and Joseph); Integral Leadership (Wilbur); Seven Transformations (Torbert).  Some, including Daniel Goleman write about specific competencies such as emotional intelligence.   All share the central idea that the era of the heroic leader acting on his own has long since gone.  The world changes too fast; the issues are too complex and multi-faceted; the expertise required is too varied and deep.  Problems are messy and complicated.  People must work collaboratively and tap the collective intelligence of the larger whole.  We must be invested in finding solutions that exceed individual needs and work on behalf of our higher interests. 

Here is what  Linda Hill professor of business administration and faculty chair of the High Potential Leadership Program at Harvard University says about what leaders need to be and do.

  “Leaders need to adapt a more inclusive, collaborative style [because] today’s complex environment often demands a team approach to problem solving. This requires a leader, who among other things is comfortable sharing power and generous in doing so, is able to see extraordinary potential in ordinary people…Leadership is a collective activity in which different people at different times – depending on their strengths, or ‘nimbleness’ – come forward to move the group in the direction it needs to go. [The group] doesn’t have to wait for and then respond to a command from the front.  That kind of agility is more likely when a leader conceives her role as creating the opportunity for collective leadership, as opposed to merely setting a direction.”

Experts are clear about what is needed but less so about how we can identify leaders who have these attributes or how to develop them.  It seems to me that ego development is the cornerstone of transformational leadership.  To create an environment where the collective intelligence of the group emerges, where power is shared and collaboration is key requires a leader who does not need first and foremost to gratify his ego.  He does not need to be seen as the one with the answers, the expert, or even the leader.  He does not need to be admired.  While many of those who write about transformational leadership hint at this aspect, few name it outright, but I think it is important to do so.  Why?  Once we identify ego development as a core feature of transformational leadership, leaders and those who coach and develop them can work on it together.  Without this, we are often teaching skills to people who will ultimately fail to use them to effect the kind of change that is needed.  People know when leaders are feeding their own ego, and this is the greatest trust breaker of all, but like the emperor’s new clothes, the ego rarely gets named. 

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

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