The Practice of Leadership » Reflection

Learning to Think Like a Leader

George Ambler — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:32:29 +0000

@N00/273141586/" target="_blank">Photo by erix!

I came across an interesting Harvard Business Review article “How Successful Leaders Think” which really resonated with me. The author Roger Martin makes the following point concerning leadership:

“But this focus on what a leader does is misplaced. That’s because moves that work in one context often make no sense in another, even at the same company or within the same experience of a single leader….. Trying to learn from what Jack Welch did invites confusion and incoherence, because he pursued – wisely, I might add – diametrically opposed courses at different points in his career and in GE’s history… So where do we look for lessons? A more productive, though more difficult approach is to focus on how a leader thinks – that is, to examine the antecedent of doing, or the way in which leaders’ cognitive processes produce their actions.”

The point made my Roger really hit me between the eyes. Leadership starts with how we think and ends in the actions which arise from those thoughts. We need to learn the principles and attitudes from other successful leaders, rather than blindly copying their actions and behaviours.

Learn the Principles: Copying the ten quick steps to casting vision by following the action of a successful leader does not work. Gaining insight into the thinking and principles that underpins a leaders actions is what’s most important. Leadership principles can be understood and adapted and used to guide effective action to meet the local situation.
Learn the Attitudes: Leadership begins with the decision to lead, it’s a choice we make…. or fail to make. Once we’ve make the decision to lead, we need to start developing the attitudes and thinking that define leaders. The decision to create a meaningful purpose and vision, decisions motivated by a passion and energy to be the change you wish to see in the world, and the decision to be committed and to persevere to see it through.

Could it be that leadership is lacking because we fail to do the hard work of learning to think? With limited time for meaningful reflection and deep thinking, it’s no wonder we are increasingly finding a lack of leadership. How about in your personal life? Do you set aside sufficient time to think? How is this affecting your leadership? Are you learning the principles and attitude of other successful leaders? Are you learning to think like a leader?

Landmarks for Leaders in Times of Uncertainty….

George Ambler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:03:29 +0000

Rapid change whilst facing uncertainty, requires great courage. I found the article in the Pegasus newsletter titles “Landmarks for Leaders in Times of Uncertainty and Chaos” by Bob Stilger very insightful. The article discusses how community leaders are creating change inspite of the uncertainty around them.

“All around the world, people are stepping forward in new ways to provide leadership. In many cases, they are not the people in positions of power in organizations or communities; they are simply those who see what must be done and are willing to speak and then to act. Often, as they begin to step forward, their hearts are pounding with fear, but they believe the time has come to offer a new possibility for the future.
Where do these leaders come from? What gives them the courage to speak up? What capacities and practices, if cultivated, support people in developing their own leadership?”

In the article the author has identified six key landmarks of these enspirited leaders…..

A Sense of True Calling: “Each of these pioneering leaders has stepped into his or her work because of a strong sense of calling, rather than through a methodical, strategic decision-making process. In many ways, life leads them to their work. And, of course, their work then leads them to their life….. What stands out to me from many conversations is that these leaders follow deep gut instincts that tell them where to place their attention and where to create their intentions for action. Their actions are conceived in a place of spirit, not in a place of thought.”
In the Company of Others: “Part of the answer is that they don’t do their work alone. Close friends and family who share deep bonds of trust, love, and respect are essential for finding the courage to follow the inner voice….. There may be some who believe they can make these journeys alone, as rugged individuals. But why? Why wouldn’t we all want to find close companions to share our journey? Why wouldn’t we seek others excited by the same possibilities and the same questions? Where would we find nourishment if we traveled alone? ”
A Spiritual Center: “What do leaders need to have in order to stand with confidence in a complex, changing, and unpredictable world? A partial answer, I suspect, is that holding an encompassing view requires, at least from time to time, a higher level of consciousness. The evolution of such consciousness seems to require a spiritual practice…… The presence of a spiritual center is what allows these leaders to hear and trust their inner voices and follow their calls. They also move, with that spirit, into a place of reflective learning that acts as a compass to guide their action.”
A Demand for Diversity: “When these young leaders look at a given situation, they look for the surrounding web of relationships and systems. They look for the whole picture….. The capacity to understand that the way we view our lives is a construct our minds have created makes it easier to let go of false certainties….. The presence of others whose ideas and experiences differ greatly from our own invites us to let go of our limited view of what’s needed and what can happen. Diversity is a key to open exploration and inquiry. It is what helps us let go of old ideas and solutions and search for what else might be possible.”
Reflective Learning as a Guide: “For these leaders, the search for spiritual grounding is accompanied by a continuous process of surfacing facts and impressions, revealing patterns and assumptions, examining actions and behaviors, and affirming or changing the course of action. This continuous process makes up reflective learning….. These reflections are alive. They hold a sense of genuine curiosity. This kind of reflective learning affirms life and invites inquiry into the uncertain path of transformation. The process of making such reflections explicit is as ordinary for these leaders as their spirituality is. They have a capacity to move easily from the realm of spirit to the realm of thought, and this motion gives them balance.”
Ambiguity and Uncertainty: “Ambiguity and uncertainty are befriended in this work. To follow a sense of calling, in the company of others, aware of a diverse world, from a spiritual center, and with an awareness of assumptions is to let go of control. There is simply no other way. Doing all of those things throws the doors of ambiguity and uncertainty wide open….. A choice each of us can make is whether ambiguity and uncertainty open a pathway to fear or a pathway to balance. When we think we are supposed to be in charge, when our self-confidence is based on being able to predict what will happen and how things will turn out, then ambiguity and uncertainty usually invite our fear to rise up and bite us… When we are able to release ourselves into the uncertainty, we are invited to become explorers, to discover what lies ahead as we work with others to create that future.”

Community leadership is one of the most demanding leadership environment from which to lead. It requires great courage and commitment. These six “landmarks” provide an excellent foundation for community leadership practices.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Community, Calling, Purpose, Uncertainty, Spiritual, Learning, Relationships

The Best Times to Be Creative

Are you investing in your personal leadership?

George Ambler — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:26:27 +0000

The "Integer Leadership Consulting" blog has a great post "Thinking about Self-Leadership: A brief reflection" which builds on what Greg Thomas describes as personal leadership which is..

“the desire of an individual to take charge of his or her own life. Personal leaders realize that leadership is not a position or title, but an outlook on life and their role in the world…..If personal leadership had a motto it would be this, ‘Before I seek to change or motivate others I must first learn to change and motivate myself. I must first become the change I wish to see in others.’”

and Jeffrey calls personal leadership his post self-leadership and defines it as:

"…the ongoing discipline of cultivating inner personal meaning, constructing an engaging personal vision and assessing personal impact."

In our rushed and busy life we often neglect taking the time out to strengthen our personal leadership practice. How often do you take time out to focus on the development of your personal meaning and purpose, the pursuit of a your personal vision and taking the time to reflect on the personal impact that you’re making on the world around you. And, the consequences of not strengthening your personal leadership? I think Jeffery puts it best….

Unfortunately, leader’s who disregard the practice and discipline of self-leadership can eventually pay a steep price on the personal and professional level. When leaders become detached from their inner moorings and abandon the work of maintaining inner congruence due to the “tyranny of the urgent,” their integrity, moral compass and external performance is in danger of eventual collapse. This slow-burn or incremental deterioration resulting from the ongoing (and often unconscious) neglect of one’s sense of self, sense of rootedness and personal vision is more often than not realized only after there has been damage to self, others as well as to one’s professional standing and trajectory. The cumulative effect of ignoring the work of self-leadership is not unlike the metaphor of the “Frog in the Kettle.”

This is a really challenging leadership practice, one we usually neglect and fail to invest in meaningfully. What’s the state of your inner life? How effective is your personal leadership?

Posts that may be of help in developing your personal leadership include:

Technorati Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership, Management, Practice, Business, Purpose, Reflection, Growth, Vision

Are You Taking Enough Time Out to Think?

George Ambler — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 17:49:13 +0000

@N02/4616554802/" target="_blank">Photo by Sebastian Fritzon

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.” – Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne, 1926

When last did you really took the time out to stop and think? We often get lost in the day to day noise of work and life. Taking the time to stop and reflect is a critical leadership practice. Without reflection it’s difficult to keep our life and work in it’s right perspective. Without reflection we forget who we are, why we’re here and what we stand for. Without reflection we forget what matters! Without reflection we fail to learn from our experiences and are doomed to repeat our mistakes. Without reflection we remain helpless, falling victim to life’s circumstances.

Reflection is a powerful tool to help us notice, to make us aware of our thinking and the results of our actions. Reflection is a relatively easy exercise. To reflect stop, and consider a difficult situation you’re facing and take some time to consider the following questions….

What happened?
What results are you getting?
How’s this working for you?
What could be done differently?
What assumptions are you making?
What role are you playing or not playing that brings about these results?
What 3 things can you do to change the situation?

Schedule regular time every week to reflect….

“‘The world we have created is a product of our way of thinking,’ said Einstein. Nothing will change in the future without fundamentally new ways of thinking. This is the real work of leadership.” – Peter Senge

…..and a change in thinking requires time alone to reconsider ones purpose and goals.

Ideas: The Foundation of Leadership

George Ambler — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:53:23 +0000

@N00/2064467066/" target="_blank">Photo by danbruell

Ideas form the basis of leadership! Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, describes an ‘idea‘ as being:

“the result of thinking.”

Thinking and leadership go hand-in-hand, primarily because:

“Great leaders lead by ideas” – Rudolph W. Giuliani

Great leaders lead through ideas, not through positional power and authority. Good examples of great leaders who use ideas, rather than authority to lead are: Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi and more recently Nelson Mandela. A leader’s ideas guide their actions, a leader’s ideas aligns their team and a leader’s ideas inspire their organisation towards a common goal. Dave Pollard is also convinced in the power of ideas in his post he states that:

“Ideas have enormous power, since they form the frame of our understanding of the world, inform our beliefs and drive our behaviours. Great ideas are so profound and frame-shaking that they quickly topple many of the things we believe, and transform our worldviews, our values and hence our actions. We need more great ideas, and a deeper understanding of how and when they transform our understanding, our culture, what we do and who we are.” – Dave Pollard

Ideas are an extremely powerful force, ideas engage people’s minds and help them see new possibilities and new opportunities. Strong and evocative ideas energize people and incite action. As leaders, our ideas are important. Leaders need clear ideas and philosophies about how to win in the marketplace, how their organisation should operate and how to develop their people.

A Leadership Philosophy = A Network of Ideas

A leadership philosophy is an inter-connected network of ideas that constitute an internal model of leadership. A personal philosophy is about knowing what you believe and why you believe it, involving a personal learning process, deliberate and continuous. In this sense ideas form the basis of a personal leader philosophy.

This process of developing a personal leadership philosophy is, the process of systematically reflecting on oneself and the world around oneself to build and develop a set of beliefs, principles and values with which to guide ones actions.

Leaders are always on the lookout for new ideas, always learning and constantly embracing higher more empowering ideas. These ideas they incorporate into their leadership philosophy on an ongoing basis.

Your Leadership Philosophy Should be Unique

Leadership books, training and workshops teach similar leadership “methods” and “principles”. This is creating a generation of leaders who all think alike. Clones of the latest leadership ideas and trends! Leaders end up on “automatic pilot” never stopping to examine what they have been taught contrasting this with their life experiences. Great leaders spend time in introspection gaining an understanding of their strengths and weakness, they are also are students of life. They know what they want and why they want it, having invested time in reflecting on their approach to leadership. In this sense these leaders are self-made, rather than a product of their genetic make-up or their social environments.

Questions to ponder:

How do you go about building your leadership philosophy?
What ideas make up your UNIQUE leadership philosophy?

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust