Introducing NOW
Welcome to the NOW Leadership carnival. This short story describes the carnival’s intent as well as the kind of posts you will find and can submit here.
For many years a renowned pianist played only the white keys because that is the way he was taught. And that is the way his teacher was taught. One day our accomplished pianist accidentally struck a black key. The sound was sour to his ear. He reverted to playing the white keys, but his curiosity was piqued and he returned to strike the black keys more and more frequently. He grew to like the sound, and over time began to play music using only the black keys. But soon with another slip of the fingers he hit a black key and a white key at the same time and an entirely new sound emerged. He called it hermony. It was neither the sound of the white key, nor the sound of the black key but a unique sound created when the vibrations from each co-mingled in a previously unoccupied space.
The music of 21st century leader is neither feminine or masculine. It is a third sound created in the previously unoccupied space where feminine and masculine attributes meet. We call it NOW Leadership.
NOW leaders work collaboratively. They know success comes through relationships. They are emotionally savvy, think intuitively and build communities involving workers, customers, vendors and other stakeholders. They are logical and make tough decisions. They take difficult even unpopular stands when called for. But they do so while caring for and about people. In fact, they often involve those most affected by the problem in creating solutions. They support others and deliver tough messages with the utmost respect. They care for individuals but not at the expense of the overall good. They focus on people, knowing the results will follow. Whereas others focus on results thinking that people will follow. Their businesses do well by doing good. NOW leaders think with their brains, their minds and their hearts.
Our goal is to further the adoption and the adaptation of NOW leadership. Please join us by reading, forwarding and submitting you ideas for consideration. We don’t promise to post everything we receive. At least not for NOW as we are limiting the Carnival to include up to 10 posts that advance the agenda of leadership for NOW. And if you’d like include what you think the acronym N.O.W. does or should stand for. We look forward to seeing you again in mid-October.
Most Sincerely,
Marion Chapsal and Anne Perschel
September’s Articles
Marica Reynolds, author of Wander Woman, says her male friends have convinced her that she’s wrong for praising the differences between women and men. Marcia’s article includes a link to evidence from brain research supporting the view that behaviors related to gender differences are learned. She concludes that these same behaviors can be unlearned or never learned in the first place. Brain Tip #97: Stop Praising the Differences in Men and Women
Steve Blank, Vietnam veteran, serial entrepreneur and professor of entrepreneurship at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program, is not as hopeful as Marcia. He shares lessons to his daughters about the game of business. “Office politics is just an older version of boys with sticks. There is testosterone. There is a hierarchy. It is competitive. [When] I win you lose.” Steve’s cites many examples of the different rules by which boys and girls – men and women – play. Boys Rules, Girls Lose – Women at Work
Marion Chapsal, Gernimo Leadership Coaching, is burning with indignation, passion and clear determination to offer a new vision, one that does not rely on men for advice on how women should be. She is not soft, quiet or gentle but rebellious, daring and revolutionary when she asks the question “Should Mad Men Give Career Advice to Women?” and then answers, “No, Thanks!“ Read more here
Speaking of revolutions, Tim Hurson advises business leaders and experts to reconsider their love affair with results and achievement. He claims these masculine concepts lead to the economic meltdown. Tim suggests that instead we should focus on the emotional reward of performing well and working for meaning – more feminine oriented ideas. Read Our Love Affair with Results Reconsidered.
In contrast to Tim’s view of male and female concepts, Jennifer V. Miller of the People Equation claims that the popular media presents false images of effective leadership as being either masculine or feminine. She believes effectiveness is dictated by the situation not by gender. Read Leadership Integrates Both Genders
Cherry Woodburn at Borderless Thinking takes issue, to put it mildly, against Washington Post Kathleen Parker’s depiction of President Obama as displaying feminine, and clearly less than desirable, leadership traits. Cherry’s post reminds me of Madeline Albright’s statement, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Spot on Ms. Cherry. Read Cherry’s most clever retort to Ms. Parker
What’s Missing from the Halls of Power, my contribution, argues that half of humanity does not, cannot and should not be expected to have all the talent needed to lead all of humanity. The Rule of 3 demonstrates how to make the needed changes so the full range of human talents are part of your company’s portfolio. Read What’s Missing in the Halls of Power.