There and Back

Hi Keith

It’s been a while since we last talked. 12 months to be exact. It’s been a busy year for me. And that has much to do with our discussion around leadership. As we talk about leadership one of the biggest potholes to effective leadership has to be busy-ness. I’ve had 12 months full of busy. And it’s been enough to keep me from this journey we embarked on in Honolulu during September 2004.

Our last conversation ended up with you asking how leaders know when they’ve done enough leading? How do leaders know when to step down? I’d like to relfect on a process I recently innitiated to add to the body that makes up some of the answer to your question.

Toward the end of the second half of this year I sent out an e-mail asking for feedback from those people I work with, live with and am supplied by. It amounted to around 20 people. (I even included my wife) I did this because I work in a very decentralised and virtual organisation. My assumption was that when you’re regularily in the physical space of people, feedback can more easily be found. Not necesarily in a formal process, but certainly through regular interaction, facial gestures, brief conversations, etc.

Here’s a copy of the request I sent out…

“I’d like to ask for a little of your time.

Intro
~~~~
Its getting to the end of another very busy year, and as Ive been reflecting on our business during these last few weeks, Ive realised that one of the downsides of working in a virtual environment, is that feedback can be lacking.

So I picked 20 people that I have had a fair amount (quality and/or quantity) of interaction with this year, from both within TomorrowToday.biz and outside of the business. Youre one of those people, and Id like to ask that you help me to improve myself as I end off 2005 and prepare for an amazing 2006?

What Im asking for
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I figure I can only make adjustments in a few areas next year, and so Im not looking to create an elaborate list of strengths and weaknesses. Id simply like you to think about me and what it is that I do in my life within TomorrowToday.biz, and then send me one or two areas you think I must work on during 2006 in order to exit it as a better human being within the context of the business.

Extra Thoughts
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please dont think in the traditional strengths and weakness space. Id like to end this process with areas I can improve on that will have a large impact on my contribution within TomorrowToday.biz. That could mean developing something Im really good at that may sort out a whole heap of weakness. It may also mean focusing on an area of weakness that will have a knock on effect in improving where Im really good.
I dont need paragraphs of stuff here (unless youd like to offer that up), but Id also like more than a few words, if you have the time.

Thank you
~~~~~~~~~
I know this is an unusual request, and I do appreciate any time youre able to spend on thinking about me and areas I should work on. Id be happy to interact with you on anything that you submit (if you want to) and ask you to be as honest as you need to be. Im not doing this for a bunch of warm fuzzies, but I do know that 2006 is going to be a monstrous year, and its going to require that I lift my game all over the place if Im going to be in a position to add value to the people we connect with to achieve the goals were setting.

Thanks again for any time youre able to give to this

Barrie”

I then booked off one morning to sit and go through the feedback. I figured that dealing with individual feedback as it arrived, bit by bit, could be a difficult task. One that would be easier to handle in one swell foop (yes I know). When the day arrived I found a quietish coffee shop to sit and go through what people had said.

It was an extremely valuable process. One that I’d like to put myself through each year. Outside of the reflections from those who know me, taking a morning out to think about myself and what it is I do had a larger impact on me than I anticipated.

Here are some of my reflections:

* I got less than 50% response to my request. Remember these were carefully invited people. Most indicated they were grateful that I had asked them, and would definately participate, but then never did. I know one or two were really busy, but on talking to those that didn’t it seemed it was difficult for them to put their thoughts onto paper. Funny thing that? I thought it would be difficult getting feedback. It seems it may be harder for some people to give it.

* Almost everyone gave me the same feedback in two main areas, except for three people who probably know me better than anyone else I asked. They didn’t say anything close to what the others had said. I was surprised at how similar the feedback was and yet those who knew me spoke to me on a very different level.

* Feedback is critical. I didn’t hear anything I didn’t know, but hearing it the way I did, helped me to realise how important it was to focus in the areas I got feedback on. I knew the areas, I just didn’t know how important they were to those who I interact with.

I ended the morning by taking a friend and colleague to lunch to provide an objective voice to my reflections and the work I had done that morning with the feedback and my planning for the year ahead. I will complete the process by writting some of my thoughts and actions planned to those who participated. Both those that responded and those that didn’t. Not getting feedback is in fact feedback in and of itself.

I’ve written about my feedback process because a large part of the answer to your question, ‘how do leaders know when it’s time to stop leading?’ must include feedback. Certainly one of the difficulties has to be working out which voices you need to be listening to? People give feedback out of who they are. It’s very difficult to get truely objective feedback. Even feedback from those who really know you well is not necesarily helpful because they see a very different part of you. And what about those that don’t and who probably should? The best feedback may sit with people who don’t give it because of how difficult it might be to trust you with their true thoughts.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt these past few months is that while feedback is fraught with all sorts of inconsistancies and isn’t as straight forward as many would have us beleive, it can only improve with practice. I’ve resolved to add ‘feedback’ to the few disciplines I have time for in the busy-ness of what is my life.

I look forward to hearing from you after 12 months of thinking about leadership. You must have some interesting reflection to share with me. Don’t rush them. We have another 12 months to be a little more regular in our correspondance. There will be time to fit them all in.

Barrie,

The least said about your ‘affection’ (or addiction?) to the ‘home shoppers network’ the better!

You raise a valid point about the need for authentic leadership to have a built-in detector for the ‘time-up’ call. I also like your reference to the ‘privilege’ of leadership. It seems that so many regard it as their ‘right’ or even reward. When this is the case, problems are sure to follow. This brings me to the first of two thoughts in response to your last email.

I think authentic leadership is something that is conferred and not something that is claimed. Of course it can be ‘claimed’ and often is which is exactly what the problem is! However I believe that leadership, authentic leadership at least, is something that others confer on one (or a group). Whilst I can’t claim to be the originator of this idea it was one, when first encountered, made a strong impression on me. Let me share the story with you: I was attending a leadership seminar for educators (I know…how I got to be there remains a mystery!) at which the British author John Adair was the presenter. Adair, as you know, has had much to say on the subjects such as leadership, teamwork and organizations. Anyway, during the course of the seminar, one of the delegates raises his hand to ask a question. Having been acknowledged by Adair, the individual begins his question with, “Dr Adair, as leaders…�? at which point Adair interrupted him. The jarring interruption (something most educators are unaccustomed too – in this country at least!) is something I will never forget. Adair said something like, “That is some assumption you have just made – ‘as leaders’: Leadership cannot be claimed; leadership is conferred�? I don’t recall the question which followed, or even if there was a question! But the notion of leadership as being conferred has never left me.

Of course you could say that this is exactly the enshrined principle of true democracy and perhaps you would be right. However in today’s media driven frenzy that surrounds western democracy where spin-doctoring is an art form, I am not sure it is as simple as all that! Furthermore, what conferred leadership looks like in a corporate setting I too am not sure, but it is something I would like to give more thought too – especially the more practical aspects of how it is established and what it might look like. In terms of your question of where authentic leadership’s starting point is, I guess the exploration of conferred leadership represents some sort of staring place.

This brings me to another thought that your email sparked. Concerning authentic leadership, you asked about the starting point but I immediately thought about the end point. Let me explain. You make the valid, but somewhat idealistic, point of leaders knowing when to step aside and allow others to lead. I agree that this would represent smart and very self-aware leadership, but just how often have you seen this type of leadership modeled in the corporate world? Somehow leadership has become about power, position, entitlement, prestige and no small amount of effort to cling to these once they have been secured! So, how do leaders recognize, accept and transfer leadership before it becomes ugly? In other words how does one know when it is not time to lead?

Keith,

Whilst I agree with you about how many books are sold on leadership, and the fact that many of them seem to take a ’short-cut’ approach, I find myself attracted to the latest and newest leadership books with a similar attraction to the ‘home shopping network’ on Television. Perhaps it’s a hope, or even a fear, that someone might just find that elusive ‘leadership how-to holy grail’ and I might miss out on it?

For me though, leadership is not a constant state that one finds themselves in. While we might be given the title, or thrust into a position marked ‘leader’, my own feeling is that we move in and out of leadership moments/opportunities like you walk in and out of the the shade. I say this because the source of leadership is not predictable, it is held by different people depending on the situation or environment. Even the president of a country cedes his/her leadership to their head bodygaurd when a sniper starts firing.

And that, for me Keith, is where I would start my definition of ‘authentic leadership’. It’s a knowledge that when you get the priveledge to lead, it is finite. It has a begining and an end point. And as quickly as you get the responsibility, it can be taken away. There is very little that is predictable about it. That point on it’s own illustrates why writting definitive ’step type’ books is, on one level, fairly superficial. This puts it into it’s proper perspective and begins to define clearly the respect we should have when leading.

I’ve made a start Keith. It’s not a full definition of ‘authentic leadership’ but it’s my begining. I’d be interested to know from you, where you make a start when discussing ‘authentic leadership’? Assuming however, that we’re begining in a similar space (and I take nothing for granted) what for you is the next logical point of discussion?

Barrie,

Thanks for getting onto this so quickly Barrie…and that is something I have come to expect from you! The project is an exciting one and I am not sure that I have ever come across a ‘conversation’ on leadership as we are suggesting. I think it is a great concept and look forward to the process.

I guess as I think about ‘leadership’ – which was one of your suggested launch pads, it has to be something that is personal, something that is lived rather than acted. Character rather than a set of skills and this approach means that a conversation is a great place to learn rather than be proposing a set of ‘21 irrefutable laws’ or the ‘9easy steps’ as has invaded our bookstands under the leadership sign.

In fact I don’t know how you feel about it, but for the most part I am seriously disappointed by what is being written on the subject. More disturbing is how much this line of stuff sells! When I think about authentic leadership there can be no shortcuts, no instant recipes and no A,B,C type formulae. That in itself is perhaps disheartening in an instant-programmed culture.

So I was wondering…what does ‘authentic leadership’ look like for you?