Leadership is not rocket science

Great video showing the root of today's situation

Rick Wagoner Leaving - Bad move or sign of new times?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Many people are surprised today by Rick Wagoners 'firing' by President Obama.  However, I see this is the most prominent concrete sign that things are really changing - that the 'old rules' (which created much of the ka-ka we see in today's economic uncertainty) no longer apply.

GM is certainly a poster-child of the way things were run in the latter half of the 1900s, and today it shows the ROI of that style of management.  As Rosabeth Moss Kanter says, the plans that they submitted to Congress were nothing new - doing the same old thing the same old way, just more cost-effectively.

Those plans did not go deeply into what has caused the problems GM and so many other corporations are facing today - how things are done, how things are led.  We've talked a lot about leadership over the past several decades, but if you look at the research that's been conducted, overall leadership has not shifted that much.  It's been just that - talk.

One of the key pillars of effective leadership is challenging the way everything is being done - including your own leadership - and that's something that GM just did not do.  It's like that old definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  Their new plan - we'll just do the same things more cost-effectively.

This economic uncertainty is forcing us to look at how we do things - it is creating a an opportunity for those who are ready to truly transform themselves and their businesses, and I applaud the fact that Obama and his team recognize real change from moving deck chairs on the Titanic.

Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity in these times?

What are your 2 cents?

"This has happened before and it will happen again"

In reading a post in Jim Clemmer's blog, I was reminded of this saying from one of my favourite shows.

As Jim outlines with 4 key quotes, The turbulence and uncertainty the world is experiencing is not new.  It happens in times of significant change.

When complex systems (such as our society) evolve, they don't do it in a progressive or linear fashion.  The buzzword for the evolution that these systems undergo is bifurcation.

When the system is in chaos, two distinct ‘paths’ of evolution appear.  One leads to the breakdown of the system, and the other to ‘breakthrough’ into a new state that is resistant to the chaos that began this rapid phase of evolution.

So many of our current systems are breaking down and are unsustainable - businesses, our health care systems, our education systems, how we treat the planet, you name it.  The way that we behaved before led to this chaos.  What is starting to emerge are new ways of being and doing, as I discussed in my last posting.

Right now, both the 'old' way and the emerging way are all around us, creating even more confusion.  Our desire to 'hang on' to the familiar and our uncertainty about what is emerging to take its place are keeping us from letting go of what we know. And that's part of the journey.

Yesterday I was on a call as part of a hosting team for an Art of Presence retreat we're holding in Greece in May.  We were discussing the difficulty people are having in committing to this work because it is so leading edge.

Because of the economic uncertainty, they're being held accountable for more results.  They also know that they need to engage people in new ways, and many are stretching themselves with development opportunities like training in the Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations.

However, it's harder for some to justify a retreat where you're investing time to be still enough to clear the clutter outside to better tap into the deeper wisdom you have  within you.  And yet, the cause of much of the ka-ka we're experiencing - the heart of the 'old' way - is just 'doing' without taking time to connect to our inner wisdom, without tapping the wisdom of all those around you.

It takes courage to go to the edge, and that's fine. Everyone has to go when they're ready.  The Art of Hosting - the 'DNA of the learning organization - was way out there not long ago.  And the people who need to be there will be there.

And the fact that more and more people and organizations are understanding that they need to deepen their skills in areas such as the Art of Hosting gives me great hope.  That's part of slowing down, engaging others, finding new ways.  That's what will let us choose the right path through this time of chaos and bifurcation.

Because "this has happened before and it will happen again."

That's my 2 cents. What do you think?

The opportunity of today's ecoomic uncertainty

The economic turbulence of today is not the whole picture.  It is just one part of a far greater ‘sea change’ that we are experiencing on a global scale.  And this time of transformation brings with it incredible opportunities for those who are ready to take the leap.

 

As shown in this Business Week article, We have moved into times where the old rules don’t work anymore.  In the ‘old world’ of business, you weren’t supported to be authentic.  You were often supposed to put on masks that hid your true face and feelings, and play your role. 

 

Look at the auto industry. The old ‘role’ was that union and management were supposed to be at loggerheads, never working hand-in-hand.  Each viewed the other as their opponent.  Today, they’re working hand-in-hand in a way they never would have imagined a few short months ago.  There is no time for playing the old roles.  This is a new ball-game, and if you play by the old rules, you’re toast.

 

At times of radical social evolutionary change like this, society goes through what’s called bifurcation.  Simply put, two modes of being/thinking/doing come into being.  One, often the ‘old way’, leads to extinction.  The other leads to a new social order.

 

What’s scary to many people is that, while the world has changed under us, nobody really knows the new rules.  And what we’re learning is that, in this brave new world, there’s no time for the old rules, for the masks we wore, for all the rhetoric that passed for communication.  All those things that supported success in the old world will now lead to our downfall.  In a way, we’re left naked and vulnerable with no clear sense of what to do and where to go.

 

And that’s the opportunity.

 

I firmly believe that this time is an opportunity for us to shed our old roles, our old masks, our old hyperbole, and step forward as who we authentically are to work with others to co-discover the way forward.

 

The good news is that this is not an entirely new way forward.  Even in the old world, there were, of course, authentic individuals and organizations that allowed people to be authentic in their work.  And those organizations started with one or a few individuals who modeled the way.

 

And that’s where it begins.  Authentic leadership starts from within.  Only by mastering personal leadership can you realize your full potential as a leader. 

 

How well do you know yourself?  What are the core values that drive and motivate you?  What are your priorities, in each aspect of your life (social, physical, spiritual and intellectual, as well as career and financial/material goals)?  What is your personal vision for all of your life?

 

Only by knowing yourself, and understanding your personal vision, values and priorities can you connect those to what you do in the outside world.  And only by knowing yourself can you tap your internal compass to make the right decisions for you in this fast-changing world.  And it is this mastery that will build your resistance if ka-ka comes your way.

 

The knee jerk reaction to the economy – as well as to the deeper, broader sea change we are experiencing – is to recoil in fear and hunker down.  And that leads only to a downward spiral.

 

This is the time for courage.  This is the time to step forward and master your personal leadership – to deepen your understanding of your authentic self.

 

Are you ready to step forward?