Leadership
Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday. This is an excellent opportunity to show appreciation for the men in the world who take the role of dad to the next level. Here are five leadership lessons we can learn from the endearing dads of the world.
1. Be okay with not always being in charge. Having children teaches you to let go of thinking that you’re in control. According to Freud, infants are all id. The id is the impulsive part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts. Babies demand to have their needs met, and now. They don’t care how much money you make or how many people report to you. Dads humble themselves before their newborn infants and marvel at how their new baby dominates the household. LaGuardia Cross documents this power struggle in an interview with his 3-month old daughter in New Father Chronicles.
2. Show your team what fun looks like. A 2019 study published by the University of California Riverside looked at the emotional health of 18,000 people and compared traits like well-being, happiness, episodes of depression, and stress. The conclusion? Dads, more often than moms, report playing with their children while providing care. When dads put down their work and engage with their children in play, their signaling that the world is full of adventure and work/life balance is important for mental and physical health. No one can introduce those adventures to a child better than dads like the ones in this video showing awesome dads raising awesome kids.
3. Trust your instincts. Of course, adventure comes with some inherent danger. Dads who play with their children also keep their radar open to save the day while their children explore the boundaries of their physical abilities. When kids start to take a tumble, dads are awesome at letting their amygdala take over to respond just in the nick of time. The amygdala is the part of our brains in charge of reacting to danger. Dads at play with their children instinctively save the day when there’s no time to debate.
4. Yank the tooth. Change can be scary. Whether you’re unsure that a product is ready to launch or fear the pain of losing a baby tooth, sometimes you need a push. Dads are geniuses at finding creative ways to distract kids from the fears that come with growing up. They show kids that fear and change are normal, and that you can control your fear to achieve results like this father/daughter duo who enlisted the help of a squirrel to deal with a dangling tooth.
5. Talk it out. At the end of the day, children want to know that you are interested in their thoughts. No matter how stressful your day was, your children want you to know about their day too. According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, children make 700 new connections every second until they reach the age of 3. Those connections help children to acquire the social, physical, emotional and cognitive skills needed to navigate life’s experiences. When dads sit down at the end of the day to chat about the world with their children, they acknowledge the importance of their child’s opinions, and show respect for their ideas, like in this video of a dad having a conversation with his babbling toddler.
Happy early Father’s Day to all the dads who help to grow the future leaders of the world.
Question: What leadership lessons can you draw from dads?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
People
For the past two years, a person I’ll call Andie has been working on a special project for the CEO. With a small team reporting to her, Andie opened three new offices around the world and more than doubled the company’s workforce. The work was grueling, but Andie believed that the CEO would recognize her contribution and reward her with advancement. When the project closed last month, Andie was told that she’s no longer reporting to the CEO and her staff would be reassigned. She was also told that it’s not personal, but simply a reorganization. Andie feels like she’s been benched from the “A” team. Now, she’s wondering if she should update her resume, or accept her new role.
Reassignments like Andie’s can be disheartening and even humiliating. Even if she was told that the decision to reassign herself and her staff was not personal, she certainly was personally impacted. When she turned to us for advice, our answer boiled down to one fundamental question that Andie needed to ask herself — “Am I going to let my feelings about this change poison my attitude at work, or am I going to learn from it?”
Organizations are complicated. Realistically, a CEO can effectively lead only a limited number of people. As the company grows, so will reporting structures. What’s also a reality is that the longer you work, the more likely you are to face these career-shifting situations. It won’t hurt any less, but the sooner you can pivot from the hurt to deciding how you are going to make the best of this in a way that is true to who you are, what you care about, and where you want to go, the better.
Here are three suggestions we gave Andie for how to handle her reassignment:
1. Get closure.
You stated that your role for the past two years was a special project. That implies that it was a not a full-time position, but a project with a limited life span. You also stated that you helped open three new global locations and more than doubled the workforce. If you are unclear about whether or not the project was a success, you should ask to meet with someone, if not the CEO directly, who can give you clarity and closure.
2. Get clear about your why.
Take some time to reflect on why you accepted the position with this organization in the first place. Were you excited about the mission of the company and the impact it can have on the world? If so, this could be an excellent opportunity for you to explore more ways to use your talents to help the organization achieve its mission. Every organization needs people who can be “A” team players at every level. Use this chance to gut check yourself about your values, and whether you believe the mission is more important than your position.
3. If you must exit, do it with honor.
This is not the time to turn your hurt into toxicity by complaining about being treated unfairly, or slogging into the office feeling like you’re working with less important people. If you decide to stay, then give it 110% effort. If you cannot, give it 100% while you carefully search for a position with an organization whose mission is one that you would gladly contribute to, regardless of position. Titles come and go, but purpose-driven work will give you staying power.
Question: Have you experienced a reassignment from the CEO’s team during your career? How did you handle it?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
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Uncategorized
Have you ever seen what kids can do with a box of crayons, a big, empty cardboard box and an afternoon to kill? They may build a rocket ship and explore Mars. They might build a pirate ship and bury treasure. Kids have boundless imagination. They also have a natural sense of partnering and affirming each other. They instinctively work together to explore ideas that defy time and space.
As we grow up, the time in our lives when afternoons stretched endlessly ahead fades. Play time gets interrupted with the structure of class time. Eventually, we lose even our summers to year round work. Today’s workdays come at dizzying speed and exponential complexity. Creativity is a fundamental requirement for survival. Yet, American workers are experiencing a creativity crisis. Ironically, the creativity that we naturally tapped into as children seems unnatural as adults. As Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
How can leaders help employees get back in touch with their inner kid? Many companies like Google, PepsiCo, and MetLife are turning to improv. As you may have seen on the popular show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the premise of improv is simple. Performers don’t know what will happen on stage until they’re given a prompt. They start with that prompt, making up the story as they go along. Improv draws on the time-honored principle of “yes, and.” Performers accept whatever their scene partners do or say as part of the reality of the scene and then build on it with their own contributions.
Think about our conversations with our own teams. Ever notice how often we say “but?” What happens afterward? The team stops contributing ideas, they physically pull back, the light goes out of their eyes. To truly create, our teams need a safe space where they can generate unique ideas, then combine those ideas into the best result. As soon as we say “but,” the creative process can no longer move forward. Simply put, “but” stops the bus.
Saying “yes, and” tells your team that you are doing two important things. First, you are affirming that you respect the thoughts and ideas of others. That’s big. Second, you are truly listening and are willing to build on the ideas of others. That’s huge.
The more we practice “yes, and,” the better we hone four powerful leadership skills:
1. Listen more respectfully
2. Pick up on subtle cues
3. Demonstrate trust
4. Value opinions
Let’s face it. Not every idea is going to be a home run. But, building creative, collaborative teams is a leadership imperative. Collaborative teams are focused and present in the moment. They affirm one another, think on their feet, and adapt quickly to unexpected demands.
Question: How often do you get off your but and draw out the best from your team?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
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People
Does your team trust each other? If not, what impact do you think that’s having on the bottom line?
This is a question that we have explored with teams ranging from publicly-traded companies to nonprofits. Regardless of the size of your team or the industry you work in, “trust is the foundation of real teamwork,” writes Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
In the mid-1990s, Lencioni observed a business climate that was manically focused on growth with little attention paid to the fundamentals of team alignment and organizational effectiveness. As a result, Lencioni and his colleagues developed a simple online assessment that measures team effectiveness in five key areas.
1. Trust
Think about a time when you worked with a team member who you trusted. What was that experience like? Did you freely share information with her? Did you ask her for help? Admit mistakes? Now, think about a time when you worked with a team member who you didn’t trust. What was that experience like? Did you ask him for more data? Did you question his motives? Did you try avoiding him altogether? Now multiply the results of these interactions by all of the possible team member combinations in your organization. You can quickly see how trust impacts speed, and how speed impacts results. We’re living in the age of Airbnb, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Uber – where trust is the fundamental economic driver. But, we have yet to master the ability to trust our colleagues as much as we do total strangers.
2. Conflict
Teams that do not trust one another will be reluctant to have open, constructive conflict. You’ve experienced this in the form of passive-aggressive behavior, circular conversations, veiled discussions, and guarded arguments. You’ve witnessed people nodding their head ‘yes’ in the room but shaking their head ‘no’ in the hall. Teams that trust one another freely engage in debate so that they can assess reality correctly before making a common commitment. Teams that lack trust also lack the ability to effectively uncover the root causes of issues that impact performance. Instead, they spend their time dealing with symptoms and side issues.
3. Commitment
A team that can accurately assess reality will have a better chance of making clear commitments. A note of clarity here. Team commitment is not the same as consensus. When you are encouraged and inspired to share your ideas and know that you’ve been heard, you’re more likely to agree to the final decision even if it differs from your original input. As a result, you walk away motivated and feeling valued rather than resentful. Commitment requires weigh in before buy in.
4. Accountability
If you manage a team of people, you understand that part of your role is to hold them accountable for delivering results. Holding your peers accountable, however, is harder. This is especially true when you haven’t built trust, participated in constructive debate about root causes, or felt that your opinions about what to do to move forward haven’t been heard. You’re much more likely to call your peers out when you’ve bought into the agreed upon direction to deliver results.
5. Results
“What gets measured, gets done,” is a familiar maxim. If you are measured and incentivized based on individual effort, human nature follows that you are more likely to put your individual results over collective results. High-performing teams, however, understand that if the team loses, everyone loses. When you’re held accountable for team results, you’re much more likely to make the extra effort to help team members when they need support.
Teamwork isn’t easy. But high performing teams understand that team alignment is a competitive advantage.
Question: Are you achieving results or experiencing regrets toward team goals so far this year?
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People
With the U.S. unemployment rate at the lowest point in nearly 50 years, filling open positions is becoming a serious pain point for many organizations. Talent acquisition today requires creative methods and critical thinking that goes beyond matching keywords to resumes.
Since 2013, The Honor Foundation, a San Diego-based nonprofit, has been working to help solve that problem. The 120-hour, MBA style program has helped nearly 450 Navy SEALs and members of other Special Operations forces apply their field experience to leadership positions in corporate America. These men and women enter the workforce as highly skilled problem solvers with years of experience leading teams, managing resources, and delivering results.
Thanks to The Honor Foundation, graduates of the program have the tools they need to translate their experience and enter the workforce with confidence. If your talent pipeline is running low, here are six candidates ready to join your team.
1. Mike Daley, Culturally Intelligent, Versatile, Solutions Focused Leader
What he brings to the team: Proven leader with over 20 years of experience delivering results and growing teams in Operations, Logistics, and Project Management. Meticulously driven to complete complex tasks on time and on budget while mitigating risk in situations with rapid change.
Areas of interest: To lead an Operations or Logistics team and contribute to the mentoring and development of team members. Mike wants to work with a team that is driven and fully committed to the mission and willing to put the needs of others before their own.
Education: Masters Degree, Business Administration & Management, University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
2. Andrew White, Transformational Leader, Problem Solver, Change Agent
What he brings to the team: Task and outcome oriented professional with proven ability to build trust, motivate and lead diverse teams in planning contingencies, managing risk, maintaining accountability and achieving goals.
Areas of interest: Looking for a company that has highly motivated teams that aim above the status quo. Andrew wants to be part of the projects/program management process, lead, make impactful decisions, have autonomy, and get challenged on a daily basis.
Education: Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, Associates Degree in Computer Science
3. Ashley Thompson, Servant Leader, Strategic Thinker, Problem Solver, Cross-Functional Integrator
What he brings to the team: Ashley thrives in complex, ambiguous environments. He naturally cuts through the clutter to identify and implement viable solutions to difficult problems. He is multilingual and excels at bridging cultures to create the conditions in which diverse teams can thrive.
Areas of interest: Looking for an organization that is committed to improving the world by creating opportunities for its people. His ideal role would allow him to lead multi-cultural teams in an international environment, to provide creative solutions to complex issues while challenging him to learn new things every day.
Education: Bachelor of Science, Biology, University of California Los Angeles
4. Tres Smith, Complex Problem Solver, Interpersonal Dynamics, Executive Leadership
What he brings to the team: Diverse experience in strategic and operational planning and execution, organizational management, and collaborative team building achieved through risk based critical thinking and competitive analysis.
Areas of interest: Seeking the opportunity to contribute, to be challenged, to lead and to be led, to participate in collaborative environments achieving unified objectives.
Education: BS Earth Systems, Sciences, George Mason University, MS Military Studies, USMC Command and Staff College, MS National Security and Resource Strategy, Eisenhower School, National Defense University
5. David Swartz, Strong Belief System, Stable, Clarity of Conviction to the Team
What he brings to the team: Developing, leading and leveraging his experience in a team-oriented environment. David provides a servant leadership style, and is passionate about professionally developing and teaching teams to be our future leaders.
Areas of interest: Director or Senior Leader of Operations, Leadership/Training Development, Project/Program Management, Business Development or Sales.
Education: SMU Cox School of Business Executive MBA Candidate
6. Ed Williams, Strategy and Development, Organizational Leadership, Cross-Cultural Communication, Program Management
What he brings to the team: Ed has developed a versatile, self-aware style of leadership. He brings over two decades of experience in design thinking and strategy development – figuring out what needs to happen with limited direction.
Areas of interest: Senior Strategy and Business Development, Chief of Staff, Director or Program Management for teams in the tech field or active lifestyle sector that share his future focused energy philosophy.
Education: MA from The University of Kansas; BS from The United States Military Academy
If your organization could benefit from service-minded, adaptable, problem solvers like these, there is no more elite group of talent than the graduates of The Honor Foundation. Contact The Honor Foundation here to learn more about employing, mentoring, coaching and sponsorship opportunities for this world-class program.
Question: What can you do to serve people who have dedicated their lives in service to others?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
