Lessons Learned and Joy Gained While Writing 500 Posts on Leadership and Management
Filed under: Career, Fresh Voices, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Management Education, Middle Management, Organizational Transformation, Performance, Professional Growth, Values
Several years ago, I set out to ride 1,000 miles in my limited spare time during a hot Chicago summer. It took me until October to complete the deal, and the sheer anticipation of the accomplishment served as a powerful driver. Of course, all along I had visions of that final leg including the cheering crowds and the glass of champagne, much like the final ride down the Champs Elysees at the end of the Tour De France.
What, No Champagne?
Needless to say, there was no Champagne, and the only cheers that I received were from my wife and my one son who I convinced to ride with me on the last mile. We counted down the blocks on the odometer and stopped to commemorate the spot where my goal was achieved. And then we rode home and I cut the lawn.
The reality of that endeavor was that it helped me get in great shape, provided a remarkable outlet for stress and became a core part of my life during that one season. The last mile was never the real driver…it was of course the journey and the effort and sweat and adventure of getting there and the satisfaction of completing the journey.
Much like that season of bike riding, for some time now, I noticed my blog post counter moving ever closer towards the 500 mark recently, and this post is in fact number 500 for me at this site.
While I never set out to blog with any numeric goal in mind, somewhere during the past three years, what started as an experiment has become a part of me; an involuntary reflex, much like breathing. When I started this management and leadership writing odyssey, I had no idea what a profound impact it would have on me as a person and as a professional.
Treasures Gained Along the Way to 500 Posts:
- The new friends and colleagues I’ve met during the journey are priceless to me. I am truly honored to have met and to regularly carry on discussions with some remarkably intelligent, kind and passionate leadership and management thinkers and writers. I learn from you every day. Thank you!
- The act of writing is no longer something that is discretionary in my life. I’m incapable of reading or talking or listening and observing without wanting to translate ideas and insights into words here on the blog. Many of my friends are familiar with my frequent interjection into conversations, “That would make a great post. May I write about it?” Hey, I cannot help it if I see and hear blog posts in just about every conversation.
- The personal/professional development benefits have been tremendous. In order to write, one has to study, learn, reflect and synthesize ideas and alternative viewpoints. While I cannot quantify the impact that this effort has had on me intellectually or practically, I perceive that I’ve worked hard to develop myself, and the discipline of writing fueled the development.
- My learning style has changed…or, perhaps emerged. As Drucker highlighted, some individuals learn by reading, some by writing, some by talking, some by listening. I most definitely learn through the act of writing.
- I now recognize that writing is darned hard work. I recognize how difficult it truly is to develop competence as a writer. I also recognize how far I have to go in this area. I’m well on my way to my 10,000 hours of deliberate practice and hopefully, some modicum of confidence. Now for the editing and proofing part!
- Making even a small difference in someone’s life makes this worthwhile. The ultimate reward for this type of lonely effort comes in the many, many notes that I’ve received over time from individuals offering that something in a post made a difference for them, either at work or in their personal lives. The occasional impact…helping someone along the way is why we do this.
Renewal of My Blogging Vows:
I’ve been consistent in describing my intentions with this work from day one, and I’m comfortable that they are still relevant and important…at least for me. My vows include:
- Strive to offer ideas and insights that promote effective, ethical and values-based leadership practices.
- Push the envelope on management practices and management thinking. In my own small way, I want to help find the way forward for leaders and for organizations, in what is a fascinating and complex new world.
- Contribute to the development of a new generation of effective leaders.
- Plant seeds of ideas to foster change and improvement and to help people realize that they can be the difference makers in their organizations.
- Have a lot of fun during this journey.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Unlike my bike-riding endeavor, I have no preconceived idea on how many posts I will write. It may be five more or five thousand more. We’ll have to see how long it takes me to run out of ideas.
Thanks for your readership and for keeping me honest and true to my blogging vows!
Yours most sincerely in leadership and management innovation,
Art
Leadership 2009 Style-What We Learned
Filed under: Crisis Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leading Change, Life and Business, Organizational Transformation, Performance, Professional Growth, Strategy, Talent Management
Mix one part global economic crisis with ample quantities of uncertainty and ambiguity. Stir in two-parts ever-changing global competition and a dash of geopolitical instability and you’ll end up with something that looks and feels a lot like the world of today, complete with the mild aftertaste of fear.
You’ll also end up with a remarkable living leadership laboratory, where the best leaders are rediscovering the importance of leadership blocking and tackling while simultaneously developing the new skills and approaches required in this complex environment.
The basics of effective leadership never go out of style. Articulating a compelling vision, backing words with actions and support, offering coaching and feedback and driving strategy are all table-stakes for good leaders and effective leadership in any era.
However, this is no ordinary era, and what worked during the last boom or even the last recession almost a decade ago, no longer fits and certainly doesn’t match or meet the needs of organizations and workers today.
The variables are different, the risks higher and the way forward for many firms in many industries masked by the fog of complexity and ambiguity.
Welcome to leadership circa 2009!
This high-anxiety environment that we’re all living in and working through has catalyzed an accelerated evolution in leadership practices, and while the period is painful for many, I truly like where this is taking us on the leadership front.
We’re learning to build the new airplane while flying the old one, and this balancing act requires remarkable leadership agility and creativity.
Consider:
- Practices that reflect transparency, honesty, accountability and straight-talk on the tough issues are increasingly de rigueur.
- Effective leaders are spending less time in boardrooms and behind closed doors and more time out where the work gets done, particularly in the factories and stores of their customers.
- Employee involvement is popular again with the smartest leaders recognizing the need to enlist front-line employees in identifying and sharing customer insights and to challenge everyone else to turn those insights into improvements and value creating services, products and systems.
- There is no “rising tide” effect lifting industries and companies. Leadership is on display and under a magnifying glass, and the collective good results of prior years have unmasked the ineffective and in some cases, corrupt leadership practices that were glossed over when the numbers rose in defiance of poor leadership approaches and lousy leaders.
What a great time to be a leader!
Critical Leadership Lessons of 2009:
The best leaders are heeding Deming’s advice to work on eliminating fear in the workplace. Fear is an organization killer, and the cure for this cancer is for leaders to attack it with transparency and visibility. Those comfortable with leading from the rear have learned the necessity of moving to the front and leading the charge with a constant flow of unvarnished information on the real issues.
Leading has always been about coping with ambiguity, but in today’s fog enshrouded world leaders are learning to reshape their cultures and their operating approaches to facilitate fast recognition and response to emerging opportunities and threats. Easy words to write…hard culture to realize, but the best leaders are working tirelessly to breed the right people, systems and behaviors to produce this sense and respond culture.
Good crisis leaders are capable of admitting, “I don’t know,” in answer to some of the most complex issues, as long as the admission is backed and packed with action. Few crisis leaders understand the details of the path to prosperity, but the good ones recognize the power in Drucker’s comment, “Actions in the present are the one and only way to create the future.” Good leaders mobilize teams, choose a direction and go based on their best intelligence and gut hunches. If the course turns out to be wrong, they correct without looking back and keep moving.
Organizations and leaders that recognize the complexity of this new world have jettisoned traditional planning models and approaches in favor of dynamic, fast-moving methods that facilitate market monitoring and organizational learning and place a premium on acting. These approaches require experimentation and embracing frequent small failures on the path to success.
The foundation of any successful business is talent and while much lip service is paid to this topic, and the smartest leaders are carefully navigating the most remarkable talent pool in many generations for those anxious and motivated to contribute and prove their former employers wrong. While it is too soon to see if talent management and leadership development will become part of the DNA of tomorrow’s organizations, the need has never been more apparent.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
The leadership observations and trends above might seem like the domain of jumbo-sized global firms with deep pockets and robust talent systems. And while some firms of this ilk do have natural advantages and are pushing the envelope on breaking down walls and experimenting with new approaches to leadership and management (think Cisco), I’m seeing these practices in small start-ups, old-line manufacturers and innovative retail and service establishments on Main Street.
I have every reason to believe that the way forward is filled with obstacles that rival the labors of Hercules. There are no silver bullets, no easy answers and no magical leadership or management fads that offer miracles cures.
I do however believe that necessity is pushing us to innovate in management and operating approaches, and that a new style of leader must emerge to help firms cope with the modern day Herculean labors of ambiguity, fear, complexity, speed, ever-changing adversaries and a capable but shell-shocked talent pool. For right now however, the leader circa 2009 is busy mucking today’s equivalent of the Augean stables. Grab a shovel and we’ll finish this together.
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