I really enjoy watching football, and with the NFL Playoffs nearing their climactic end, I've been struck with the results that the New York Jets have had.
The New York Times published an article describing how the Jets, with a first-year head coach and a rookie quarterback, are making a case for the championship, and much of the talk is about the effect that the coach, Rex Ryan, has had on the culture of the organization.
Organizational culture is difficult to change--largely because culture is made up of all of the unwritten rules. Yet Ryan, with a colorful personality and consistent demonstrations of trust and belief in his team, is doing just that.
Dave Anderson, the reporter on this story, says, "With never a negative thought, he has made every Jets player better."
Ryan distributed the schedule of events for the month to his players and coaches which included the Super Bowl and a victory parade.
"It's like a proud parent who believes in you...to do the right thing to get the job done," said All-Pro center Nick Mangold.
Ryan backs up his words with actions--in a crucial situation during the game with San Diego, he trusted his offense to gain a single critical yard--cementing the game for the Jets.
Energizers believe in us. They aren't always colorful, like Coach Ryan, but they consistently make us feel trusted and capable, and we respond by first feeling motivated and empowered, and then acting on those feelings.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Big Impact, Little Footprint
My wife is involved in organizing events for our church, and in this capacity, she arranges for teachers/speakers who present on a variety of topics.
We happen to have in our area some individuals who are academic "stars." They teach at high-profile institutions, publish many books, and are highly sought-after presenters for conferences and corporations.
You guessed it...she invited a star to come speak about building mission statements for individuals and organizations. His response was surprising in this era of public and private behavior being so paradoxical. I can paraphrase the response this way: "I would be honored--when can we visit about the specific needs of your group and how I can help?"
The presentation was unpaid, and the presentation/discussion was masterful and inspiring, with a unique feature that those in attendance came away not so impressed with the presenter, but by the learning experience itself.
He demonstrated a unique ability to use his presentation to deflect attention away from himself, and towards the ideas he was teaching as well as the others in the room. Some research has suggested that there is a Self/Others ratio that is ideal for contributing to productive group work. It turns out that when we invoke others in our speech and actions more often than ourselves, we tend to contribute to positive group outcomes.
There are many things about this experience that taught me, such as the generosity of being willing to serve, the humility to ask how to best serve, and the graciousness to treat it as an honor, but the biggest impression I have right now is of the capacity to direct attention away from the leader/teacher and to the work and people at hand.
Last thought: The end of such a meeting is often a good time for a speaker to receive individual congratulations and thanks.
He ducked out the back door, having had a huge impact, but leaving almost no footprint.
We happen to have in our area some individuals who are academic "stars." They teach at high-profile institutions, publish many books, and are highly sought-after presenters for conferences and corporations.
You guessed it...she invited a star to come speak about building mission statements for individuals and organizations. His response was surprising in this era of public and private behavior being so paradoxical. I can paraphrase the response this way: "I would be honored--when can we visit about the specific needs of your group and how I can help?"
The presentation was unpaid, and the presentation/discussion was masterful and inspiring, with a unique feature that those in attendance came away not so impressed with the presenter, but by the learning experience itself.
He demonstrated a unique ability to use his presentation to deflect attention away from himself, and towards the ideas he was teaching as well as the others in the room. Some research has suggested that there is a Self/Others ratio that is ideal for contributing to productive group work. It turns out that when we invoke others in our speech and actions more often than ourselves, we tend to contribute to positive group outcomes.
There are many things about this experience that taught me, such as the generosity of being willing to serve, the humility to ask how to best serve, and the graciousness to treat it as an honor, but the biggest impression I have right now is of the capacity to direct attention away from the leader/teacher and to the work and people at hand.
Last thought: The end of such a meeting is often a good time for a speaker to receive individual congratulations and thanks.
He ducked out the back door, having had a huge impact, but leaving almost no footprint.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The Energizing Power of Gratitude
I read this Thanksgiving post on CNN, which points to several university psychologists and a couple of popular authors in describing the power of gratitude. I had an experience with it a couple of weeks ago, too.
"I think I'm going to drop out of school," began the conversation with one of our students--a scholarship student with great creativity, an engaging personality, and a curious mind. "I just don't think I can continue. When I think of doing this for the rest of my career, I don't think it's for me. I used to wake up excited to go to classes, and now I wake up, and I don't even want to come."
As I pressed for more detail, it became clear that she had a number of concerns about how things were going in her classes, with classmates, and with faculty members.
"What is the most recent thing you can remember about college that you really enjoyed?" I asked.
As she answered, I transcribed her words on a piece of stationery. I handed her the sheet of paper.
"Your assignment," I said, "is to fill this sheet with statements of gratitude over the next week."
The details of the assignment were to write at least once a day, more if desired, and to express gratitude for specific things, events, and people. Additionally, she was to write at least two thank-you notes to members of the department--students or faculty, and give them.
One week later, the same student walked into my office again--burst in.
"It's working!" she exclaimed. "For three days now, I've woken up before my alarm, just excited to come learn and be with these people that I love so much. I just wanted to thank you for the assignment."
We visited for a few minutes more about the details, and I encouraged her to continue her gratitude journaling. As she was leaving, she said, "One more thing...can I do more than two thank-you notes?"
"I think I'm going to drop out of school," began the conversation with one of our students--a scholarship student with great creativity, an engaging personality, and a curious mind. "I just don't think I can continue. When I think of doing this for the rest of my career, I don't think it's for me. I used to wake up excited to go to classes, and now I wake up, and I don't even want to come."
As I pressed for more detail, it became clear that she had a number of concerns about how things were going in her classes, with classmates, and with faculty members.
"What is the most recent thing you can remember about college that you really enjoyed?" I asked.
As she answered, I transcribed her words on a piece of stationery. I handed her the sheet of paper.
"Your assignment," I said, "is to fill this sheet with statements of gratitude over the next week."
The details of the assignment were to write at least once a day, more if desired, and to express gratitude for specific things, events, and people. Additionally, she was to write at least two thank-you notes to members of the department--students or faculty, and give them.
One week later, the same student walked into my office again--burst in.
"It's working!" she exclaimed. "For three days now, I've woken up before my alarm, just excited to come learn and be with these people that I love so much. I just wanted to thank you for the assignment."
We visited for a few minutes more about the details, and I encouraged her to continue her gratitude journaling. As she was leaving, she said, "One more thing...can I do more than two thank-you notes?"
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Taking the Fall
NFL organizations receive nearly constant scrutiny and media coverage, and I thought the developments for the New York Football Giants recently have been particularly interesting. The team has been for the past couple of years a league powerhouse, but has lost the last four games in a row, leading to much finger pointing and speculation about who is responsible and what should happen next.
When things go wrong, it is difficult to generate positive energy and be productive, perhaps one of the reasons that losing sometimes comes in bunches (the nice thing is that winning can, too). I imagine what it might be like to be a player, hearing all of the rumors, the blame, and then wondering if my teammates or coaches place responsibility on me. Then consider that there are 53 players and a handful of coaches that each may begin to feel that fear, and you can imagine what the climate of the office is. What can be done to diffuse the pressure, to create space for positive, creative, productive action?
Here is what the head coach said, as reported by Don Banks of Sports Illustrated:
"I thought it was perfectly clear, but let me express it so no longer does anyone else receive any type of blame,'' Coughlin said on Monday. "Let me start out by saying that I'm responsible for all of the decisions that are made with our football team. "The [red] zone decisions are my responsibility. They are nobody else's. No one else made a mistake. The quarterback did not make a mistake. The decision was mine.''
By taking the responsibility publicly and clearly, Coughlin is creating space for his players and coaches to work on things that will prepare them for the next games.
This kind of leadership really costs very little, but it may pay big dividends. Have you been in organizations during challenging times? How to people respond to them with regard to taking responsibility openly, and what were the effects on the group? On the outcomes?
When things go wrong, it is difficult to generate positive energy and be productive, perhaps one of the reasons that losing sometimes comes in bunches (the nice thing is that winning can, too). I imagine what it might be like to be a player, hearing all of the rumors, the blame, and then wondering if my teammates or coaches place responsibility on me. Then consider that there are 53 players and a handful of coaches that each may begin to feel that fear, and you can imagine what the climate of the office is. What can be done to diffuse the pressure, to create space for positive, creative, productive action?
Here is what the head coach said, as reported by Don Banks of Sports Illustrated:
"I thought it was perfectly clear, but let me express it so no longer does anyone else receive any type of blame,'' Coughlin said on Monday. "Let me start out by saying that I'm responsible for all of the decisions that are made with our football team. "The [red] zone decisions are my responsibility. They are nobody else's. No one else made a mistake. The quarterback did not make a mistake. The decision was mine.''
By taking the responsibility publicly and clearly, Coughlin is creating space for his players and coaches to work on things that will prepare them for the next games.
This kind of leadership really costs very little, but it may pay big dividends. Have you been in organizations during challenging times? How to people respond to them with regard to taking responsibility openly, and what were the effects on the group? On the outcomes?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Face-to-Face Leadership
Imagine that you go to a meeting with your colleagues and supervisor. You and your colleagues, in a small meeting room, sit around one end of a rectangular table. Your supervisor comes in, sits down near the other end of the table, and as he speaks, he kicks his legs up on the table, thus occupying most of the workspace.
Would you anticipate coming out of this meeting enthusiastic, empowered to do your best work, likely to spend extra time solving work problems?
Curtis LeBaron spends his time poring over videotapes of leadership interactions, and talked to BYU students about the impact of relationships. Fascinating to consider things that when pointed out make so much sense, but are not always explicitly understood.
Check it out here--you can watch, listen to, or read it.
Would you anticipate coming out of this meeting enthusiastic, empowered to do your best work, likely to spend extra time solving work problems?
Curtis LeBaron spends his time poring over videotapes of leadership interactions, and talked to BYU students about the impact of relationships. Fascinating to consider things that when pointed out make so much sense, but are not always explicitly understood.
Check it out here--you can watch, listen to, or read it.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Draining the Room
I watched the leader of a large group give a keynote address--kind of a "State of..." speech. The speech was informative, clear, and accurate. The floor was then opened for questions and concerns. This is where things became interesting.
One member of the group shared a concern about employee access to tools required for effective work. The question raised, and many in the room nodded their heads. This leader took the question, and said, "I don't know...I won't be coming down over your supervisors' heads...you might be interested to know that you don't have it so bad--other areas have it much worse than you."
When further questions were solicited, none came. Surprised?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Back to work
It has been some time--I've been with my family in Illinois, working on a large outdoor theatrical production for my church. The experience was richly rewarding for each member of the family--hard work, and wonderful friends.
As we were in Nauvoo, I tried to keep observing the many people we worked with. All of them are good people, working hard to become better.
As I observed various interactions between individuals, it seems that a pattern of true caring may be one way to understand the mechanism of energizing others.
When someone really demonstrates a desire to understand another individual, both are ultimately energized.
This post is more clearly to announce that I'll be back building this blog and other materials.
Please send any suggestions, thoughts, etc. What kinds of postings would make something like this really interesting to you?
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