ITLP Tuesday Readings

Recently, in reading through the goals of participants in the Leaders Program, I noticed a number of goals of the form “reduce my stress,” "learn to control the stress I encounter day after day,“ ”reduce the hours I work to help control my stress,“ etc. And, then I came across a piece, ”Grownups Need Recess, Too“, in Stew Friedman’s blog which made sense for today’s Tuesday Reading. Friedman is a professor at the Wharton School and the author of the book ”Total Leadership.“

The thesis in "Grownups Need Recess, Too" is that we cannot afford to not take time out to restore and rejuvenate ourselves. Friedman goes on to say that doing so increases performance since a ”rested“ you brings a stronger, more focused effort to your work.

In the piece he provides five tips to get us started:

1. Start with a small recess.

2. Make a list of the benefits your recess will have for others.

3. Enroll someone you trust to provide support and accountability.

4. After a few weeks, get feedback from people who matter to you to see if your recess is making a difference.

5. Adjust your recess as you learn.

Friedman also provides several examples of what recess would look like. Experiment, discover, and take recesses that work for you and reduce your stress.

. . . . . jim

EXTRA: BBC News “Work stress ‘changes your body’”

“A stressful job has a direct biological impact on the body, raising the risk of heart disease, research has indicated. ... Keeping fit and active also helps to relieve stress and therefore reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Posted by Jim Hall at 10:37 AM | Permalink

Today’s Tuesday Reading is a short article -- Do You See the Gorillas? (download) -- I recently came across in Forum Insights, a publication of the FORUM Group[*].

The piece focuses on execution, that is on getting results, in the midst of change. The authors point out that “Excellence in execution demands leaders who can see through the blinders to observe:

• A lack of alignment between strategic intent and the reality of people’s behavior

• Unnecessary process complexity

• The next wave of marketplace change headed straight for their organization.”

As an example, the article points out that when we focus intently on one thing we may loose track of other contemporary events. [You can find the video that is referenced at http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/flashmovie/15.php.] The point if that while focus is extremely important, focus at the exclusion of a broader view can be deadly. And, if we're honest, we can all recall when we have done just that!

As you will see “Gorillas are those issues, surfaced or unsurfaced, ignored or unseen, that have the potential to blindside or strangle.” Don’t fall into the trap of ignoring the gorilla, assuming that its presence is benign. Deal with it so that your attention does not continue to be diverted.

So, the bottom line advice: Make a practice of removing your blinders so that you can see the "gorillas" that are in the way of you delivering results in midst of the disruptive change that is now surrounding us.

. . . . . jim

[*] One sentence in the piece talks about the way Forum enables their clients. Use of this article as a Tuesday Reading is not a recommendation of their services.

Posted by Jim Hall at 1:04 PM | Permalink

Today’s Tuesday Reading is actually a short podcast (and its transcript) -- “Be a Leader During Difficult Times” -- of an interview with Marshall Goldsmith, widely regarded as one of this country’s premier executive coaches. You can find the podcast at http://www.masieweb.com/uncertain1 and the transcript is available for downloading from this website.

Nancy Baumann, one of ITLP’s Group X alumni, recently wrote to her Group X colleagues pointing them to the podcast and suggesting that, given the clearly difficult times in which we all find ourselves, they begin to ask themselves as well as their staff six questions:

1. Where (big picture) are we going right now? Where should we be going?
2. Where are YOU (staff member) going? How can YOU add value?
3. What are you doing well?
4. Here are my (the leader’s) suggestions for your improvement. What ideas do you have for your improvement?
5. How can I help?
6. What suggestions do you have for me as a leader to help you?

Nancy also pointed to several coaching suggestions Goldsmith makes:

• Don’t hide from what is, don’t fake it! Be up front.
• Face reality
• Make peace
• Let go of the past
• Work with staff to identify and move forward in the new world as it exists NOW; it may change tomorrow.

Goldsmith’s final point is critical: Don’t get paralyzed. Focus on what you can do. What “is” is!

Take the time to listen to the podcast or to read its transcript. And, use what you learn there as you lead your group in the coming months.

Have a great week.

. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 2:19 PM | Permalink

For today's Tuesday Reading, I reached back to a 1999 piece -- Leadership: Take it Personally -- by one of my favorite authors, John Baldoni.

In this short piece, Baldoni focuses on "personal leadership" which he defines as acute self-confidence backed by conviction and understanding; knowing where you stand, where you want to go, and what you are willing to sacrifice to get there.

He goes on to say that personal leadership is CENTERED, OUTWARD, tempered by the courage of CONVICTION, and LIBERATING.

After a short example of Larry Bird's personal leadership as a Boston Celtics player and as a head coach, Baldoni encourages us to make our leadership personal because we, the people around us, and our organizations will benefit.

So, my charge to you this week is to make your leadership personal. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 2:25 PM | Permalink

For today’s Tuesday Reading, we turn to Dan and Chip Heath’s Made to Stick column in Fast Company for a piece about goals: Time to Aim Lower

In this piece the focus is on those ambitious goals that we often set for ourselves. Sometimes these goals, instead of energizing and empowering the goal-setter, do just the opposite. We dread getting started. We may feel overwhelmed. We may feel that we’ll fail or succeed (and not like the result). And, the list goes on.

The reading today argues that instead of focusing on the big, audacious goal you should divide the goal into much smaller “whisker” goals where the dread of working on the goal is much smaller than the actual work to do the “whisker” goal. The principle of “divide and conquer” is what we do when we have a large project, it’s what we do when we ask you (or asked the alumni) to develop action steps for your ITLP Goals, and its what we recommend when we suggest that when you are working on a task/priority/project over some period of time, you always end a work session by identifying the next thing to do.

The Heaths’ advice is sound even if delivered via unusual examples. Think about it.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 12:00 PM | Permalink