Ready for Something Old, That's New

Words from a friend, memories of our past; a change that is familiar.  This is where this short story begins- at the end.

Yesterday I tracked down an old friend.  Curious as to whether the effort to do so even made sense, while going through the hoops of making phone call after phone call, through the city's resources.  Are my expectations too high; are we even in the same place-- in terms of our thinking.

No this isn't about Love, but I have a strong belief that good friendships form when the elements in the Universe are aligned, and the path of two individuals or more cross.  Something amazing happens; it could be that each person just needed to hang out and have a beer; it could be that each person was growing past where they were and evolving into someone/ something new; it could be that it was just the right place and the right time to connect.

These types of events have occurred at different times in my, Guatemala once when I encountered a mixture of international Spanish studying students from Germany, USA, Sweeden and Switzerland all converged in a small town Antigua among the hills in Central America.  One of the best chance encounter experiences of my life.  Interestingly enough, I always associated these encounters with meeting new people, never friends from the past.

We often make the mistake that these events only happen when we fall in Love or get romantic; I am here to tell you some of the most amazing friends I have ever met had nothing to do with romance, but more the right place at the right time.  These are friends for life; these relationships bare the gift of being able to pick up where they left off.

That is where my story picks up.  After calling several city departments, fire stations, and waiting for an emergency to complete it's cycle, etc. I caught up with my friend.  The best thing I could have expected that day was his reaction to my call.

His words were simple "I'm ready for something old, that's new".  This was his response after inquiring about his well being, his family and life in general.  I was glad to hear that he was doing well and even more glad that an old friend, despite the decades that had passed, that the friendship and memories we had as children was strong enough to withstand the test of time.  If nothing else occurred and we never met again, those few words held a lifetime of meaning.  That statement said it all.  There is no substitute for the strength of friendship that has stood the test of time.

If you have this friend, go out and find them.  It will be worth the effort.

Defining Our Selves

How?  One of the simplest yet most important approaches to questioning any topic that requires solid reasoning.  How do you define yourself?  A look at one of the subsets of how.

Rest assured that if your career defines you, you have not truly defined yourself.  In fact, if you define yourself through superficial or proper nouns, your self definition likely lacks depth and meaning.  And yes this is a very subjective article.

We are who we are because of all the little pieces, that we have accumulated over the years.  Look back in your personal journals (written or mental records) and you will find a more significant meaning to that self definition.  Our childhood activities, our struggles, endeavors, and successes have helped us to arrive at where we are today.  More over the relationships that we have formed over the years also plays a significant role in our personal identity.  There are those relationships we cherish and others that have taught us the lesson of who we do not want to be- often these gains result from the people we care for and trust the most.

So where do you begin if you do not have the answer; when do you decide to reassess if you already had a definition but find it is time to reinvent yourself?  Two great place to begin.

Approach number one suggests if you have not yet taken time to define yourself, look at what you do best.  This is a valuable place to begin because it takes stock in your personal capacities.  By looking at how you invest your energies you can begin to examine why you think what you do best is a reasonable approach to assessing how you would like to define yourself.  Not to be confused with defining yourself by your career (i.e. if you are a stock broker, or writer, you do not necessarily have to define yourself as such); because you  write does not mean you define yourself that way.  What you might want to do is think of your your self definition as a personal mission or purpose statement.  Why? because defining yourself as a writer also come with parameters that can restrict your personal development.  And while you might want to fully develop as a writer, you can also become defined by others expectations of you as a writer resulting in a personal type-cast, perception-- you become who others see you as.  The same argument can be made for the stock broker example.  There is a type of distention resulting from the exertion of external forces leads to a misaligned self definition.

To truly define ones self, time, experience (of life), and solitude are necessary.  Time is a luxury we are rarely find in the world today.  I intentionally use refer to world because in a global society, we also have a global obligation in many instances.  Without discovering where you can find time to examine yourself, a clearer understanding of the how, will be tremendously difficult to achieve.  Reason being is defining yourself should be a journey, a deeper look at who you do and do not like about your self.  Do not allow yourself to disguise the don't likes, with every step you take towards acknowledging who you approve of, you get closer to answering the how, of defining yourself more accurately- thereby becoming a more effective you.  Time alone is a requisite to answering any critical questions; believe me when I say, there is nothing more critical than you.  You are the nucleus to all of the intricate activity in the web that surrounds you.  Time to write in a journal (which I highly recommend), time to reflect on decision, time to reflect on your actions.  When reflecting on your actions go back in time.  Look at the kids in school who you (even at the youthful age of ten, eleven, twelve...) you might have mistreated.  Consider misdeeds and consider when the decisions you made, made you feel your best.  Understand why. apply those characteristics to the attributes you would like to incorporate column.  Time as a human concept, allows us to truly take advantage of it, past or present.  Our higher order of thinking allows us to make different decisions based on what consequences we see that may have affected us adversely.  We don't have to live with regret, rather we can adapt to move forward differently.

Having looked at time and where to begin (though only scraping the surface), let's take a look at when to begin.

It Is Never Too Late.  Even though we think that there is nothing like being a teenager, then there is nothing like your sixteenth birthday, oh nothing like being twenty-one, thirty, oh shit...I'm about to be forty, you see where we are going with this.  And if you are offended by reading this then you probably should not follow my blog- we are all adults here- right?  Aging is not that serious.  Every day I get older, experience I have (positive or negative) I embrace fully as part of an opportunity to enjoy the human experience overall.  More knowledge about the world, myself, and how I want to define myself.

One recommendation I make to clients (when coaching), is to set a time line to assess the big questions about defining yourself.  If you want to go deeply twenty one consecutive days of planned introspection is a good time frame (this is more like a crash course); it requires great discipline.  Keep in mind this is total immersion.  Not in the sense that you do nothing else during this time but dedicate a significant amount of time to answering important questions.  This time also allows you to integrate what you learn about yourself and internalize it.  If you have a sabbatical coming up, that is a great time to explore this self discovery.  Sabbaticals should not solely be used to get better at your work; by being a better you, you by default will improve your work environment.  I have seen where such self understanding resulted in individuals leaving their existing job.  The when really requires you to take stock of your self and your available time.  Use a weekend, decompress and recalibrate with the intention of determining your when.  By making a schedule with the goal of committing time to this endeavor, you will get significantly closer to success.

The next article will address the steps in defining your self.  There is simply no way to describe it in one article which you will want to read in its entirety.  This article is meant to provide some starting points.  In essence this will be a mini series of perhaps three articles that will provide enough of a frame work for you to get started.

If you have direct question please feel free to comment.  I will respond to any questions submitted.  I want to leave with why defining yourself is important.  Truly knowing how you define yourself will open doors in and out of your life.  You will have different expectations for yourself resulting in you moving through life differently; others will observe, interact and develop different expectation when engaging with you.  A clear self definition can be transformative.

Leaders, Leading and Leadership

by Scotland Willis

Merriam Webster's definition of the word "lead" is to a: guide on a way especially by going in advance b: to direct on a course or in a direction c: to serve as a channel for.  Derived from Old English visa vi Old German.

Google does a search of 285,000,000 subjects on "lead" in .19 seconds; there are probably as many books written on the subject (though not likely produced in .19 seconds); and just this morning I was watching a woman and her one year old child carrying the keys to reenact his ,mothers actions of opening the door- following her lead.  This is all to say that there are countless facets to leadership, and how people approach the matter, however there are also some expectations that come along with leaders, leading and leadership that are worth of conversation.  And there there are simply times when we forget to remind ourselves of the dynamics of leadership resulting in a misstep.

We will start with what is the most important component that deserves honorable mention, but not spend too much time on.  The reason is because it is all consuming and can easily become a more extensive conversation.

Communication is the portal to all other decisions being made or initiatives being undertaken.  Lets see if we can sum this up in a truncated paragraph.  Effectively communicating what leaders are attempting to accomplish, how things will proceed (intentionally not stating how they will proceed), proper channels for communication, time-lines for execution(when part of a project begins)/ implementation(when a project is fully utilized), and an input/ feedback mechanism, that allow all levels of the organization to be active participants-- are all a priority.  Communication sets the tone for involvement; it either pulls people and turns them on or creates barriers and turns them off.  It is important that leadership thinks through and decides how the initiative or project will roll out.  This process should not occur alone by a single individual; it is in fact important to have dissenting opinions on your team of leaders, to ensure nearly all avenues have been considered. (Recommended reading Time article / book The Presidents Club)

I cannot emphasize enough making an organizational chart relative to the proper channels, available to anyone involved so that everyone is clear about the protocol for feedback and response- it will eliminate wires getting crossed.  This does not mean that every concern or interest will be implemented; nor does it mean leaders will not ultimately make different decisions, but it is more inclusive.  In the long run, it means greater retention of key talent, less investment in training and development and and maintaining institutional and intellectual capital.

Leading is not all together a different matter leadership, but should be thought of differently.  Leading occurs once the well thought out plan begins.  Leading allows point people to be established in the eyes of others and sets the course of their role as liaisons, to open up channels to the broader audience of management and staffers.  Initially an announcement would have gone out about an initiative for larger project under way and the broader audience is prepared to engage and listen.  That should be followed up with an input / feedback session that occurs between the point people and everyone below that chain of command.  References if discovered for interested individuals should also be provided.

Leaders and followers
Critical thinking is indisputably one of the most important skills a person can have.  It prevents errors from occurring, improves productivity and allows disruptive innovation to occur.  But critical thinking takes place in different stratospheres.  Critical thinkers in the lower level of the organization and then critical thinking as leaders.  Critical thinking as leaders (relative to the project) are occupied with what might be red flags that come up in a project and possibly derail the work; they are thinking about existing resources and models that may or may not be applicable; and they are reading all the necessary material so that they can have prepared and valid responses to questions that may arise, which instills a sense of confidence among the remaining members of the institution that the plan is well thought out.  Additionally it reflects that in making adaptations to their own organization(especially true if you are utilizing existing models and references) that the leaders are cognizant of the differences that exist between other organizations or institutions that used the model and their own.  Be confident as a leader about point out that differences were observed and you will gain support.  This also requires that leaders at all levels of an organization are in touch with systems that are in place and whether they are functional or dysfunctional- only then can you make valid call about the accuracy of your assessments.  For your observations and assertions to be both valid and accurate is of the highest regard.

Not everyone is meant to be leader but what is often overlooked is that not everyone is meant to be a follower.  Individuals who feel stymied in their role as an employee will, rest assured, be leaving soon- a significant loss for any organization.  We are not talking about people who are not productive, complain, or require attention for no apparent reason; here we are talking about the employee who is a highly valued contributor to the overall efforts of the organization, its vision and potential.  These people are consistently striving to exceed benchmarks, vested because they are personally driven- these are the high achievers.  If these individuals exist in your organization find a way to make them leaders and put their assets to work more effectively.  Ask yourself what is the organization missing that this person sees;  does the organization have the capacity to utilize their potential.  People who are critical thinkers at a the sublevels of the organization are such in order to ensure that errors don't occur at their level, that the tools they have work effectively and properly, and that the community being served is being serviced in the best possibly way.  In a leadership capacity, you must have your eye on the organization, looking at systems, tools and mechanisms that allow for consistently improved/ functional operations.

Some people will choose to engage in various project or initiatives and others will not.  Those who do not engage, well, that is their problem.  If you choose to be in any role at any workplace, you also choose the responsibilities that go along with that role you fulfill-- not withstanding various emergencies in ones personal life.  Nonetheless, one is obligated to fulfill their responsibilities.  If one chooses to use their voice, they should understand and have a vehicle for when, why and how it can be used-- this will come across in the initial communication from leadership.  Chances are that the high performers will be more actively engaged and have done their research about critical aspects of the project.  If this is true, be mindful of how they can be utilized-- you as a leader may have overlooked something crucial to success.  Others are comfortable in their existing role and will be good or great listeners.

Capacity is the never ending concern for an organization.  You either need more of it or you need more of it.  Organizational capacity in terms of personnel is a priority especially if significant changes are occurring upward because you are working to increase the organizational capacity.  One of the most effective approaches is to always have a mentor/ mentee program in place.  No individual should have dominion in their department in such a way that succession planning is not occurring.  This is not a threat to an individual but a value to the organization.  If only one person has the ability to fully manage any particular division, its projects, etc. replacing that individual in the event of a crisis or lifestyle change for that person, represents  significant risk to the organization leaving it crippled of valuable intellectual capital.
   
Great leaders are also great listeners, they can clearly identify the culture of the organization.  Having a relationship with all levels of the organization is crucial.  It is one of the reasons why the reality television programs have CEO's taking on staff roles to capture a better understanding of what is really happening at levels other than their own.  Operating while only looking at the bottom line (dollars), prevents leaders from being effective- leave that work to comptrollers, finance and others (though those relationship is equally important).  Your point people(identified lower level leaders, including executive teams), should be able to accurately convey the sentiments of voices throughout and enable leaders to be better decision-maker-- this will also come across in the form of gratitude to employees.

 There is no exact science to being a great leader, knowing how to lead and exhibiting superb leadership skills- it is a process.  Great leaders will always be in the learning groove, listening along the way, working to achieve the right balance so that their operations run smoothly.  Great leadership is bold and often bucks the trend when necessary.  U.S. President Barack Obama attempts this within the context of his philosophy about the presidency; Jack Welch did this with General Electric, and Steve Jobs with Apple Inc. was also very successful in this respect.  Great leaders will always ask questions of their organization, others and go to a great length to ask questions of themselves.

* Scotland Willis is a management consultant in Boston focusing on large scale change, strategic planning and professional coaching.  If you have questions or would like to consider his consulting services, you can contact him at 617-283-2755 or via email at scoctlandwillis@gmail.com.

An Authority in the Field

Being an authority in sustainability is not as important as being able to lead others to walk a sustainable path.  For example, there are 831 scientist appointed to the 5th climate assessment panel for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  While that sounds rather impressive, and it is, it does not make the knowledge sharer impressive- this is more to the point.

There is a certain benevolence among the community truly committed to growing the number of people actively participating in climate initiatives and efforts.  It seems sometimes that the real expertise manifests in behavior; it is not necessarily the expert that convinces people, but the persuader that is most successful.  Think about advertising, the woman in the skimpy shirt and panties, the man with the low cut jeans; they are no expert in manufacturing jeans or even health and fitness, but you listen to their message- buy these jeans dammit and you will look good like me.  And what happens, millions of people go out and make their purchase on a most unreliable source.

So with 831 experts in their field, why is it so difficult to move a society closer to climate consciousness?  We are creatures of habit and comfort.  This may be one of the human conditions that plagues us the worst, certainly among the top ten.  In fact when is the last time you watch or responded to the stock market rising or falling.  Heck we have so much belief in the stock market, not a day goes by where we are persuaded to believe that our day is not complete without us determine based on some"one", else's opinion, that the world economy is going to collapse because the some country's market dropped 1%.

Now imagine if we gave that much weight to the environment.  What would happen if we responded to a 1% change in the ecosystem, the way we do when the financial markets shift.  We might think very differently about the Amazon Rain Forest.  Such a shift in our behavior might result in a cataclysmic shift in our decision making.

In a recent article in Time Magazine, Ecuador want to be paid not to destroy the rain forest in their geographic area.  It is a very interesting article, but more importantly it is forces us to take a real hard look at externalities (assessing a value to attributes we over look). I would say that the world could probably come up with $3.6 billion dollars to protect the rain forest for 13 years- seems like a pretty good value.  As a matter of fact, I think I going to reach into my pocket right now and that spare $3 billion I have just sitting around.  All joking aside, why is it we have hordes of people telling us the significance of climate issues and our response is less than admirable?  Comfort is a likely answer.

We have got to work harder to do more to persuade others to act more responsibly.  Maybe it is more time out of our day, more money, better yet, more individual innovation that will help move people's stale thinking about climate extremes.  And whatever you do, don't try to scare people into being more responsible, they will just shut down and that won't do anyone or anything any good.  Let's go back to the sexy women and men of advertising; it is not often that you feel threatened by their ads, they can be down right persuasive.  Employ similar techniques, at least in principle.  No need to start stripping down, though some women in the Ukraine, have been known to take advocacy to such a level somewhat successfully.  Hmmm, perhaps the tides are changing.

Good fortune to all!