“Embracing the Leadership Challenge”

1. “Embracing the Leadership Challenge” An interactive seminar Barry Wright, Goodman School

2. My Background

3. Agenda: Developing your Leadership Skills • Thinking / Reflecting about Leadership • Five Fundamental Practices • Focus on Change

4. Leadership Lessons Learned • Who are you now? • Objective for today: Three LLLs

5. Task Individual - Pick a leader that you admire Small Group - Discuss why Group - Common threads?

6. Traits“Leaders are born not made” • Intelligent • EQ • Initiative • Self-assured • Good health • Above/below average height • Upper Socio-economic level

7. Traits - Problems • Implied - elite officer corps who have inherited characteristics • Ideal is impossible • Traits so ill-defined that they are almost useless • So many exceptions to the rule

8. Task:Where does leadership reside?Position or Person • Individual Reflection • Small Group Discussion • Group - Common threads?

9. Power (leadership) • Personal Leadership • Expert • Referent (influence) • Positional Leadership • Legitimate (formal) • Reward / Coercive (carrots / sticks)

10. Leadership is a process (practice), not a position Leadership Leader Followers Situation

11. Kouzes & Posner Define Leadership • “The art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.” • Task: What do these words mean to you?

12. Fundamental practices • Model the Way • Inspire a Shared Vision • Challenge the Process • Enable others to Act • Encourage the heart CEI – ME lead

13. Leadership Lesson 1Model the Way “I would never ask anyone else to do anything that I was unwilling to do first.” Gayle Hamilton – Director, Pacific Gas and Electric Company People first follow the person Then, they follow the plan Credibility is key

14. The Credibility Factor: What do followers want? • Honest - consistency • Forward Looking - vision • Inspiring - cheerleader, excited, passion • Competent- record of achievement • Credible - trustworthy

15. Credibility Insight First Law of Leadership “If we don’t believe in the messenger, we won’t believe the message • Task: What does this mean to you? • Personal experience?

16. How do you know when you see a credible leader? • They practice what they preach • They walk the talk • They put their money where their mouth is • They follow through on their promises • Their actions are consistent with their words LLL - They do what they say they will do

17. Leadership Development • Task: Opportunity for working as a team. • Practice the new “handclap” • Do it all at the same time • What was this about!?

18. Model the Way Be Honest, Forward Thinking, Inspiring, Competent DWYSYWD Titles are given but what you do wins respect. Words and deeds must be consistent Leaders go first

19. Task: Reflection Time • You are driving and as you turn the corner you drive into fog – what do you do?

20. Leadership Lesson 2Inspire a Shared Vision • You first need to develop a clear vision of the future • Then share it with others to “enlist them”

21. Vision – on a clear day you can see forever • Visions are about possibilities, about desired futures. • Learning Points • Discover the Theme – what are you passionate about? • Imagine the ideal – what is the best that could happen • Janusian Thinking – examine the past / future • “Tactical vs. Strategic” – short and long term • “Intuition” – trust yourself

22. Cheering About …Visions and Values • Aircraft Carrier • “the lost wrench” • What did the Captain do? • What does this story reinforce?

23. Strategic Visioning • Henry Mintzberg (1994) strategy should involve intuitive glimpses of possibility: The anticipatory principle -ongoing projection of a future image (vision) • What are we doing? Where are we going? • Saving lives – today and tomorrow (Niagara Regional Health) • Making life-long customers (Canadian Tire Financial) • Taking back theRED by doing the right things (RCMP) by: • Building the Right atmosphere • Putting the Right people in the Right jobs • Providing the Right recognition and training

24. Enlist OthersDevelop a shared sense of destiny • Listen deeply to others- what excites them? • Find the common ground • Discover and appeal to a common purpose • A chance to be tested, take part in a social experiment, to do something well, do something positive, a chance to change the way things are • Give life to vision by communicating expressively • Use powerful language – use the three peat, speak from the heart, image-analogy-feel,

25. Dr. King • Let’s read (out loud) the “I have a Dream” speech • Then we will deconstruct it

26. Language of Leadership Jay Conger • How things are framed makes a difference • Focus on intrinsically appealing goals and values • Accent the positive • Highlight the significance of the project • Who are the key antagonists • Highlight why it will succeed • Use analogies, stories, metaphors to make your point • Allow your own emotions to surface when you speak

27. Inspire a Shared Vision • Develop a vision of the future (shared) • Enlist others

28. Step 3 - Challenge the Process Picasso Manet Pollock VVG

29. Treat every job as an adventure (Paul House) Question the status quo Search for Opportunities Make something happen (be proactive) Balancing Routines – routine work drives out non-routine Using Outsight/ Insight – look outside for ideas but take time to think Add fun Challenge the Process Nouveux realism

30. To Challenge the ProcessExperiment and Take Risks Set up little experiments • Make it safe for others to experiment • Accept that failure will happen – learn from it • Eliminate firehosing • Work with ideas that sound strange • Encourage possibility thinking

31. 3) Challenge the Process • Do things differently (better) • Experiment (take risks)

32. CommercialLeadership Wisdom Covey – Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) • Be proactive – make things happen • Begin with the end in mind – know where you are going. • Put first things first – urgent and important • Think “win-win” – mutual benefits • Seek to understand , and then to be understood – listen first and often • Synergize – value and exploit differences • Sharpen the Saw – physical, mental, social, spiritual

33. Lesson 4: Enable Others to Act Smaller themes: • Foster Collaboration a) Develop cooperative goals b) Seek integrative solutions c) Build trusting relationships • Strengthen Others d) Small Wins

34. Competition Positive points Greater heights Increased productivity (sometimes) Negative points Frustrated Hostile Poor productivity (sometimes) Cooperation / Collaboration Positive points Friendliness Cohesion Good Morale Negative Points Too comfortable Non productive (sometimes) Competition vs Collaboration

35. Collaboration Secrets • a) Develop cooperative goals • Win / Win / Win • Mary Parker Follet

36. Collaboration Secrets a) Develop cooperative goals b) Seek integrative solutions 1) Focus on Gainsvs Losses 2) Share information and resources 3) Enlarge people’s sphere of influence 4) Assign critical jobs c) Build trusting relationships d) Small Wins

37. c) Build trusting relationships • Words of Warren Bennis on TRUST What makes you trust others … 1) Competence - good 2) Constancy - principled 3) Caring - compassionate 4) Candor - speak the truth 5) Character - “backbone”

38. Task: Exercise Time • Partner up • Male/Male • Female/Female

39. Knight - Show something is happening (Ravenswood School District) One hop at a time d. Seek Small Wins Melissa Poe AA Wt Watchers - Incremental Change (but visible to others)

40. Small Wins Kids F.A.C.E. started in 1989, in Nashville by Melissa Poe a fourth grader. The first club had six members. 2000 clubs in 15 countries. 300,000 members; planted 1 M trees.

41. 4) Enable Others to Act (summary) • Foster Collaboration a) Develop cooperative goals (WWW) b) Seek integrative solutions (gains) c) Build trusting relationships (CCCCC) • Strengthen Others d) Small Wins (one hop at a time)

42. Commercial • Leadership Niagara • http://www.leadershipniagara.ca/ • Next Niagara • http://www.greaterniagarachamber.com/COUNCILS/NEXTNiagara/

43. 5 - Encourage the Heart • Recognize Contributions • Build Self-confidence through high expectations • Coach for Performance • Make Ceremonies Public • Celebrate Accomplishments

44. Reflective Process • Task: Think about a time where your contributions were recognized. • How did it make you feel? • Share those experiences with your colleagues. • Were there some commonalties?

45. Build Self-confidence through high expectations • Self-fulfilling prophecy • The “exceptional” class

46. Build Self-confidence through high expectations • The judgement we pass on ourselves is the most important • Example - the movie “A wonderful life” • With belief all things are possible

47. Making Ceremonies Public • Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization • What does this do for the organization? goals and priorities

48. Celebrating Accomplishments • Valuing the Victories • Think back to some good celebrations you have had ...

49. The secret to success is … Love • General John Stanford • Vince Lombardi • Leadership is an affair of the heart, not the head.

50. Fundamental practices • Model the Way • Inspire a Shared Vision • Challenge the Process • Enable others to Act • Encourage the Heart CEI – ME lead