Monthly Archives: February 2018

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Working in Front/Leading from Behind

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Wayne Gretsky, the hockey player known as “the great one” coupled two key leadership atrributes.  The concept of working in front and leading from behind.

These practices are available to anyone.  The behavioural concept is not skill based, in and of itself, although ultimately skill will be need to execute at the level of greatness.

Work in Front

Wayne used to say he anticipated where the puck was going to be, got there first and thus was able to work the puck very efficiently.  In the context of leadership this equates to anticipating the need and acting.

Think of the individual who has twelve strategic requests put before him by his boss and every one was anticipated (like the puck) and completed before being asked.

This is a form of leadership by example.

Leading from behind

Sticking with Gretsky, while he was known for his play out front he was equaly admired for inspiring his teammates.  This is leading from behind.

Combining leading by example together with leading from behind is a key catalyst to development of a high performing team.  The Edmonton Oilers are surely a good example of a high performing team.

Doing the work of others , directly leading them may be effictive to some extent but combing an example of high performance coupled with inspiring, motovating and encouraging greatness in others is a very powerful path to exceptional results.

Leaders can inspire greatness but a great team is needed to achieve it.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Figure it Out

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One of the things that makes life great is that we both have to figure stuff out and that we can.  Life without challenge or change would probably be boring but the real loss is the pleasure we all feel without accomplishment.

Enjoying the moment of achievement is only possible when you succeed.  Success comes when you address a challenge, figure out how to overcome it, and then do.

Coasting through

The unexpected, uncertain, disappointing, frustrating, saddening are all characteristics of events many think they would like to avoid.  In reality  these occurances are really opportunities and something to embrace.

You will figure it out, we always do.  When you run up against things you need to figure and resolve, remember,  the  satisfaction and pleasure you will feel when the tough stuff is overcome makes it well worth it.

It is trite to say so, but life without things to figure out is not really a life well lived.  I have often commented how my basic personal philosophy is to seek maximum pleasure for myself.

I consider tough events, death, loss, mistakes, unexpected and tough things you need to work hard to get through are a real part of my pleasure seeking.

A life you don’t need to step up and live hard, facing, embracing and overcoming the tough challenges misses out on a lot of pleasure opportunities.

So when the tough stuff happens, go with it, figure it out.  Ultimately you will be glad you did.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Uncertainty

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My crystal ball is a lttle opaque.  I cannot see future events with great certainty.  I can speculate, interpret the data I have available and then predict the most likely result.

Bottom line though is whatever the topic, sports event outcomes, horse racing (a sports event of sorts), my next big success or failure, it is all mostly surrounded by uncertanty.

Navigating the Uncertain

Uncertainty is common and how we manage it is a key skill both for our own personal well being and the well being of those we interract with.

Most importantly do not allow uncertainty to color your emotions.  Fear, anxiety, panic,  and the list goes on, can often be associated with uncertainty.

Unlike the fight or flight reaction initiated by an adrenaline surge, these negative emotions are more likely to lead to a negative outcome.  All of them mask both your ability to analyze the circumstances carefully as well as clouding your judgement.

Uncertainty is best managed through a conscious appraisal of the circumstance.  What you do, first is to think it through.  Reacting without a plan makes it impossible to measure success or failure.

Without knowing whether your approach to uncertain situations is working or not it is not possible to adjust (change course) through anything other than guessing (which is just additional uncertainty).

It is not always easy to pause,  reflect and most importantly plan.   It most certainly requires a strong concious effort to do these things, but it can be done.  The results make it well worth your while.

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Embracing Change

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Yesterdays post laid a foundation for a bit of a continued discussion about change.  Given that change is inevitable, the question arises, how can you leverage change to your benefit?

Time proceeds and change occurs whether you acknowlege its happening or accept the results.  A reactive or passive stance basically yields the default results.

By default, whatever the change is aimed at will occur unless you embrace the change, making it your own and thus shaping the results, most likely in a way pleasurable for you.

It is what it is, it just is!

An example of a response to changes response to changes percieved to be outside your control is evidenced by the mantra “it is what it is”.  In essence this is a way of accepting the change by acknowledging its qualities.

Pragmatically,  this can be a good way of moving through difficult changes (e.g., the death of someone close) for which you probably   had no control.  Acknowledging and accepting the event allows you to continue on the path toward future events without getting bogged down or trapped within the changing circumstances.

This is one example of embracing a change, that is practicing a particular  personal behaviour to enable you to work through a change without being overcome.

The practice of recognizing significant impactful changes when you encounter them is a practical way to use the enevitable to your benefit.

The example of using the “it is what it is” is just one behavioural attribute you can leverage, there are many.  The real point of this post is conciously and proactively recognize and deal with the impactful changes that will continue to confront you as you move through your life.

Don’t be complacent, the results can be deadly.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Constant Change

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When things are made different whether a behaviour, an object or a physical transformation,  a  change has occured.  Of course change can range from small to radical and every measure in between.

Both small and major changes occur around you every day from the instant you are born until death.  Given all the possibilities for things to alter, from the color and make of the car you own to the way you think both conciously and unconsciously (e.g. a bias) change is inevitable.

Pace and Value

Change will occur, but how much, how fast and what order of magnitude will the impact be?  Will the change result in immediate satisfaction, dissatisfaction or will it be neutral.

Alternatively the impact of change may take some time to become apparent.  The future result of a change could be both unexpected and surprising (unexpected is usually a surprise but not necessarily).

What you can do about the pace and impat of change varies and certainly you can embrace changes, resist or ignore them.

Things are changing, so I can do what I want

Whatever change is, one thing it is not; an excuse to behave any way you want.  To say, I behaved badly because things are changing does not fly.

Whatever motivated a particular behaviour,  future change is only valid as a motivation if the possibilities, impacts and rationale are at a minimum communicated inadvancd.

For example to say I acted this way because things are changing is a pretty lame excuse.  If things are changing why not indicate what the anticipated change will be, why it will impact the way you behave  and then act?

Seems like a reasonable and effective sequence to me.  If you behave badly because you are arrogant and self centered, blaming bad behaviour on the fact things are changing is pretty weak.  After all things are changing all the time.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Leading through Ambiguity

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Sometimes things are not clear and can be open to more than one interpretation.  These situations are ambiguous and the resulting confusion can be challenging to work through.

I often comment about leaders as facilitators and being a catalyst to group success rather than directive; however, ambiguity is a circumstance where effective leadership can make a real difference (and lack thereof a real detriment).

Leading from the bottom of the pyramid

I strongly believe, as a broad practice, leaders should not be in front most of the time.  I subscribe to  the inverted pyramid, where the tip of the pyramid, representing the heads of a organization, is at the bottom .

This concept focuses on releasing the power and capabilities of everyone in an organization (represented by the pyramid) rather than focusing on the few so called leaders.

Leading from front

That being said there are times when  leaders should live up to their title and lead, that is get out in front (i.e., flip the pyramid).  When an ambiguous situation needs to be addressed, typically confusion reigns.

By definition ambiguity includes  multiple views and perspectives largely leading to analysis paralysis.  If no one takes charge, successfully achieving the intended goal will probably only result by accident.

Leading directly, providing clarification and defining the course of action is sometimes the best approach.  This behaviour should be used sparingly, the power of the group should be leveraged most of the time, but when the group is in dissarry, the leader must guide.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Delegating Upwards

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A very common, albeit often unconcious, human behaviour is tossing the ball.  Also known as releasing the hot potato, back at you or in the case of organizational behaviour – delegating upwards.

I see this behaviour in many forms, for some people it is a habitual behaviour while for others it is just a natural sub-concious reaction like flight or flight.

A strong leader with a solid foundational understanding of management (getting things down through others) typically has the skills to prevent this type of behaviour (and uses them).

I am amazed

It never ceases to surprise me how many persons in position of granted authority do not have the ability to counter the passing of the ball back to them (maybe an okay practice in rugby or international football, but organizationally, I wonder!)

More suprising still, is how many jobs are advertised for with the need for a “self starter” or “evidence of strong personal initiative”,  yet settle for less.  It is clearly recognized these beviours form the underpinning of a high performing team yet somehow accepted they are rarely found so settling for the best available is okay.

As I have noted in the past, an exceptional leader does not actually lead from the front in the traditional sense, but rather guides and facilitates the team to act for themselves.

A highly motivated team enables the leader to guide, adjust and support while enabling the most qualified to actually complete the work.

So take a look at yourself, do you toss back at your leader/manager or steam ahead with confidence and belief that you can do it better? It can be a very satisfying approach ( or you can just say “ not my job” and relax.  .

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Who are you?

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To truly understand who you are,  you must first understand how others see you.

This is not a riddle but rather intended to highlight the fact that whatever you think about your own personality, maturity or behaviour what really matters is the perspective of other people.

Knowing Yourself

Being aware of your habitual behaviours (your personality) can be valuable when your perspective on these behaviours matches that of the general population.

Simply put, how you perceive yourself is how you are perceived, ergo behavioural decisions you make are founded on an accurate base.

Unfortunately, the opposite can apply as well.  If your own behavioural assessment does not match that of those receiving the effects of your behaviour, adjustments you make to improve and thus enhance the way others view you, are based on false assumptions

In this case the impacts of your behaviours, and the changes you made to ensure positive impacts, most likely won’t lead to the results you expect/ hope for.

Validation

One of the most difficult things to achieve is an objective validation that your perception about what others think of you is accurate.  Anonymous web  surveys hosted by a disinterested third party can be very useful in this regard but this is not always a feasible option.

For me, this is where the skill of self awareness is really useful.  How you are perceived by others is telegraphed in hundreds of ways from body language, verbal retorts to just basic behaviours ( i.e., what others do or the absense of what they do)

Being sensitive to these signs and consciously analysing them all the time may require a little more effort than reviewing the results of an independent and anonymous survey, but it works.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Personality and Maturity

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Your personality, basically a word to describe your habitual behaviours, is believed to be formed as a result of both nature (neurological development) and nature ( the environment you grew up in)

In general the foundation of your personality, based on nature and nurture, is believed to be set by your early teens.  Your habitual behaviours can change over time but like habits in general, it is usually slow and difficult to do.

Maturity

Maturity decribes growth and advancement in your behaviour.  This is largely based on experience.  The behavioural changes you make as time goes by and you gain maturity can include impacts to your habitual behaviours (personality).

The way a person might typically behave in given situations have been studied and labled as personality types.  The level of conformity, efficiency and effectiveness of overall behaviour is typically used to gauge ones maturity.

While typically personality is considered set at a young age, as you grow older and mature in other behaviors so can your personality mellow and mature.  Personality and maturity can combine to create change.

Continuous Improvement

The point is, although your personality can be an underlying defining aspect of your core behaviour, as you mature it can and will change.  Continuous improvement of your overall behaviour is not only possible, it is desirable.

To coin an old television conmercial for a ladies cosmetic product, your not getting older, your getting better.  Don’t ever give up improving your behaviors, both those you interact with and those you will be interacting with, salute you for continual striving to behave better.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Using your power

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Sometimes you feel strongly about something.  It is as if a message is being transmitted to you.   I used consider these occurences coincidence , as time passed by I have come to believe such occurances may not be random and should not be easily dismissed.

Hot off the press example

I had a doctors appointment today and as I was preparing to leave I had a strong belief it was going to be cancelled.  I checked my email for a cancellation notice.  At that point there was none.

Later, at the doctors office I found my doctor had called in sick and my appointment was cancelled.  I should have gone with my feeling and called the doctors office before I left, would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

A higher power

Shortly after my Dad died a pigeon took roost in the decorative gable of our house.  Both my wife and I felt strongly this was my Dad’s spirit come to watch over us and provide a calming influence.

We have never had a pigeon visit before or after (they are a rare bird in Edmonton, Canada).  The cold eventually got to the pigeon, it died and we gave it a small plot inour back yard.

To this day I know this was my Dad’s spirit and it’s visit has been comforting.

Do I believe in the occult, a higher power, extrasensory perception, I have not been able to proof any of these concepts to my absolute satisfaction, but certainly it is possible even probable that some guiding force is present all around us.