It takes guts to bring a drama to Broadway these days without a megastar playing the lead. To top it off, the producers of the show Lombardi promise to reveal why the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers football team was so successful. Lots of luck with that, I thought, when I first read about the show. My curiosity got the best of me, however, once I learned that Lombardi was based on one of my favorite sports biographies, David Maraniss’ When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.
Tag Archives: team building
Do Women Bring More Happiness to Families, Greater Effectiveness to Organizations?
A participant in a recent session Jason Pankau and I were teaching on Connection Cultures and employee engagement shared that she connects with her sons by talking about sports. She follows sports, not out of a love for it, but because it gives her a language to connect with her boys. By contrast, her conversations with women tend to be about what happens in their day-to-day lives.
Her comments reminded me of a recent article in The New York Times entitled “Why Sisterly Chats Make People Happier.” The article noted research has concluded families with sisters are happier. The article’s author believes this is true because women initiate and sustain conversations more than men.
This is consistent with my own personal observations.
Servant Leaders Outperform Because They Connect
Servant leaders connect with the people they lead and create Connection Cultures that are essential to achieve sustainable superior performance. Connection is defined as a bond that exists among a group of people based on shared identity, empathy and understanding that moves self–centered individuals toward group-centered membership. Here’s an example of a servant leader that brings the force of connection to life.
Retired CNO Admiral Vern Clark was formerly the chief of the U.S. Navy from 2000 until 2005. When Admiral Clark became the chief, first term re-enlistment didn’t meet the Navy’s goal of 38 percent. Within a little more than a year, it soared from under 38 percent to 56.7 percent and the Navy had more sailors that it needed. Although I don’t have space in this article to tell you all of what Admiral Clark did, his actions can be summarized in three words: Vision, Value and Voice.
The Pride Paradox
Michael Lee Stallard and Jason Pankau
In a recent post, I (Michael) wrote about a leader who imparted his values to the people he was responsible for leading at work and to his children. In this post, we’ll address the “pride paradox” that relates to values.
Imparting one’s values to others and judging them based on their values has the potential to create a culture of self-righteousness and legalism. Mark Twain alluded to this when he described some people as “good in the worst sense of the word.”
Don’t get us wrong, great leaders impart their values to others and judge others by their values. Herein lies the paradox. Some leaders who do this fail to develop what is arguably the most important character value: humility.
Leadership, Employee Engagement and Innovation at BIF-6 Summit
Last week I attended the 2010 Business Innovation Factory Collaborative Innovation Summit in Providence, Rhode Island (referred to as BIF-6). There were so many thoughtful presentations that I hesitate to merely highlight a few. After taking a couple days to mull it over I’ve decided to select a few presentations that will be most relevant to the themes I typically write and speak about i.e. leadership, connection, employee engagement, productivity and innovation. Below are brief descriptions of several presentations from the conference. For those who want to hear these or other presentations, you can access them at this link.
To Impart Your Values
How do you impart values to the people you are responsible for leading, including your children? Recently I had the opportunity to watch a leader who does this well. I’d like to share three critical actions that I believe are necessary to impart your values and I think you will be inspired by and learn from his example.
1. Communicate Your Values, Upfront and Often
Leaders need to lead courageously by telling people what they believe. Ted (not his real name) has developed a small, pocket-sized, laminated card that describes his values and has given the card to all of the employees of his company. The contents on the card define what behavior Ted expects of himself and of the people he is responsible for leading. Each morning a one-page sheet entitled “Connect” is circulated throughout Ted’s company that includes a story about employees living out one of the values. Work groups meet briefly each morning to review the Connect sheet.
One morning I attended a session that Ted holds each week with his leadership team and a select number of potential leaders. There were about 30 people in attendance. Ted stood upfront where he spoke and facilitated the session. During the time the group discussed one chapter in a leadership book they were reading together. About one-third of the 60-90 minutes session is set aside for small group deliberations. The material they covered the day of my visit was on the value that is most important to Ted: caring about people. Studying great books is an ideal way to learn and grow, and to bring the team together. This shared practice also helps maintain awareness of and reinforce the importance of Ted’s values.
2. Live Your Values Daily
It is said that values are caught not taught. I don’t agree. Values are taught and caught. Both are critical.
Real Dysfunction Today, Hidden in Plain Sight
Many individuals and organizations today are in a funk.
Employee engagement is at a low point and the slide down began long before the Great Recession. Research generally shows that 90 percent of employees don’t feel connected to their supervisor or colleagues at work and are either not engaged and giving their best efforts or not aligning their behavior with organizational goals. Is it any wonder that our economy is struggling?
Research shows that many individuals today are lonely, anxious and depressed. Depression medication is now a 10 billion dollar business. Even more children report feeling anxious and depressed. They sense that something is wrong although though they don’t understand why.
The problem today is hidden in plain sight. We are sorely deficient of what I refer to as connection (also known as community, social capital, belonging or meaningful relationships). How did we get to this state? Over the last century we grew myopic and obsessed with increasing efficiency and productivity and forgot that human beings need time for relationships too.
If you’re skeptical, I invite you to take a look at The Connection Culture Manifesto, the Hardwired to Connect report by the Committee for Children at Risk, and The Lonely Society report by the Mental Health Foundation in the UK. Several excellent books also address the issue of declining connection in society including Bowling Alone, The American Paradox and The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies.
What can you do? Although it’s simple, it isn’t easy. Take time to connect. Reach out to the people in your life, set up times to meet for coffee a walk or a meal and then slow down and focus on being present with those you spend time with. Find out what’s going on in their lives at work and outside of work. Do this daily, if at all possible.
It used to be said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away but research from a variety of fields makes it clear that connection with others and with meaning in life is the real daily requirement that helps human beings survive and thrive.
So what are you waiting for? Just connect.
The Need to Respect Legitimate Authority and One’s Colleagues
With the recent firing of General McChrystal as commander of American forces in Afghanistan over his insubordination, I thought it would be an ideal time to reproduce here what I wrote in Fired Up or Burned Out about one of the greatest military leaders in history, America’s Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall.
Marshall created a culture that stands in stark contrast to the culture created by General McChrystal as reported in a Rolling Stone magazine article entitled “The Runaway General.” Defenders of McChrystal argue he was speaking truth to power. General Marshall was known for speaking truth to power but, unlike McChrystal, he recognized the need to respect legitimate authority and to always be respectful in dealing with the people he interacted with whether they were fellow soldiers, diplomats or representatives of foreign governments.
Because Marshall possessed humility of character, he knew that he was not always right and had to defer to the decisions of his superior in the chain-of-command then put extra effort into executing such decisions. As a result, Marshall had the complete confidence of the leaders he reported to such as General John “Blackjack” Pershing and President Franklin Deleno Roosevelt.
Marshall should be one of the role models all leaders strive to emulate. The title of the chapter I wrote about General Marshall was “Soldier of Peace.” You can read it below.
Obama’s Good Call: Replacing Disrespectful Leader with One Known for Competence and Character
We teach leaders to hold “Knowledge Flow Sessions” to hear the opinions and ideas of others; doing so will help leaders make optimal decisions. We also teach leaders that disrespectful behavior is intolerable because it reduces “Human Value” in a culture, and leaders and/or individual contributors who exhibit disrespectful behavior need to be removed from the organization if they fail to change.
President Obama’s recent action to replace General Stanley McChrystal is an excellent example. Here is an article about President Obama’s decision-making process and here is the Rolling Stone magazine article entitled “The Runaway General” that brings General McChrystal’s character into question. Replacing McChrystal with General David Patraeus was also wise. Whereas McChrystal’s leadership style brought compliance out of fear, General Patraeus by all accounts appears to have the competence and character necessary to inspire the best efforts and aligned behavior of the soldiers he now leads.
If you are a leader or aspire to be one, ask yourself if you have developed the competence and character necessary to inspire others to follow you? In terms of character, you should reflect on whether or not your behavior reflects the following character strengths:
- Persistence
- Perspective/Wisdom
- Purpose
- Work Ethic
- Hope/Optimism
- Citizenship
- Love of Learning
- Bravery/Courage
- Integrity
- Prudence
- Curiosity
- Open Mindedness
- Kindness
- Love of People
- Fairness
- Self-Control
- Forgiveness/Mercy
- Gratitude
- Humor
- Humility/Modesty
- Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence.
Which of these character strengths are most important to your success? Which character strengths need more focus? Now take action by finding a mentor or coach you respect and who will help you develop these character strengths.
For more on Knowledge Flow and Human Value see articles we published entitled “Encouraging Knowledge Flow” and “Strengthening Human Value in Organizational Cultures.”