The best leaders create an environment in which people feel the confidence to speak their minds about problems and issues.
People don’t speak up about problems unless they feel safe doing so, and inadequate psychological safety has led to airline crashes, massive business calamities, surgical errors, military defeats, and at least one naked emperor.
The best leaders create an environment in which people feel the confidence to speak their minds about problems and issues. Toyota was famous for encouraging employees to stop the production line when they believed something was going wrong. After taking over as Ford’s CEO, Alan Mullaly noticed that every stoplight briefing chart was green even though the company had a series of production disasters. His subordinates were afraid to tell the truth, and it cost millions.
Psychological safety is not as easy as telling people to let it rip. Bullies speak their minds to intimidate others or shut down debate. They might call it radical candor or another euphemism, but they create a toxic environment that discourages other points of view.
People who believe they can speak their minds without retribution but are certain their views fall on deaf ears will soon decide not to waste their energy and breath.
The best leaders I’ve studied employ a common approach to psychological safety
I just finished reading, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, Jon Meacham’s recent biography of the 16th President. Lincoln surrounded himself with people who saw the world differently than he did and encouraged them to convey their ideas and perspectives.
Meacham’s telling of Lincoln’s meetings with Black leaders, political allies, and opponents about Emancipation and ending slavery is a study in psychological safety. Lincoln encouraged people to share their views, demanded mutual respect during debates, and showed that he took new ideas seriously.
General Dwight Eisenhower used the same approach. He cultivated cognitive and experiential diversity and used clarifying questions to encourage people to speak their minds. He fired staff officers (primarily American) who could not work with allies and carefully considered opposing views and new ideas. Success at Normandy and in Western Europe followed.
He also had his share of hiccups giving Montgomery the green light for the overly-optimistic Operation Market Garden and accepting groupthink from his intelligence chiefs who missed the Nazi build-up before the Battle of the Bulge.
Psychological safety does not ensure perfection, nor does it mean the leader always makes the right decision among competing options. However, it gives you the best chance to prevent problems, encourage innovation, and shape the future.
Dr. Mark Goulston and I created the Net Psychological Safety Score so you can assess your organization. Contact Chris at chris@strategicleadersacademy.com if you want to use the assessment for your organization.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Mental-cover.png430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2023-01-09 06:52:092023-04-10 13:54:02How the Best Leaders create Psychological Safety
How often have high-performing employees left your company? How many current employees are complaining of burnout?
Turnover, absenteeism, and presentism are companies’ most significant costs.
Employee turnover costs 50% – 200% of an employee’s annual salary. An 8% turnover is healthy – you need new blood. Above that, you are throwing money down the drain because you are hiring the wrong people or putting them in the wrong roles.
The Carbon Fiber Principle
I rode the carbon fiber Specialized Aethos during the 1700-mile Fallen Hero Honor Ride. Last week, I got to see how the bicycle was made.
Alex at the composite’s lab explained the jigsaw-like puzzle he needed to assemble to ensure the bike met the highest performance standards. Some carbon fiber pieces were for strength, others for stability. You cannot bend a strength piece, but you can twist it. The opposite goes for stability pieces.
Alex had the jigsaw-like puzzle arranged on a lay-up, the product of careful testing so that he had the right pieces in the right places.
Swap a strength for stability or vice versa, and the bicycle will underperform and might even break apart.
The precision with which Alex and his team assemble the pieces results in Specialized producing the world’s best bicycles.
Most organizations aim to get the best from their materials.
Why should you do anything less with your people?
Like carbon fiber, employee performance is a composite of affinities and skills that require a custom fit.
You need to put people in a position where their skills can amplify their natural strengths.
Imagine a double-axis chart with “Love it” on the vertical and “Good at it” on the horizontal. Love it means you are using a natural talent. Being good at it means you are using an acquired skill.
The bottom left quadrant – Hate it and Suck at it – is the dropout zone; it’s a complete mismatch.
The bottom right quadrant – Hate it and Good at it – is where you lose your best employees because they burn their energy faster than they can replenish. Their performance is excellent, but they are dying inside.
The upper right – Love it but not yet good at it – is where you want to cultivate the necessary skills to thrive. Steve Jobs, for example, had an inspiring vision for Apple but did not know how to treat people. His board fired him. Jobs learned from the experience and developed sufficient people skills to make Apple one of the world’s best companies.
Jobs moved into the upper right – Love it and Good at it. This quadrant is where people thrive, set new standards, and operate in a natural state of flow.
Imagine the impact if all of your employees were there.
People’s job skills are easy enough to identify; learning their natural talents is harder, and many people cannot identify them easily for you. They know what feels right and what burns them out, but most do not have a language to describe their natural superpowers, let alone figure them out in others.
A great place to start is with my PROM Archetypes ® assessment. In 8 questions, you will find out if you are a Pioneer, Reconciler, Operator, or Maverick, be able to identify your natural superpowers, and what kinds of roles are likely to put you in a natural state of flow.
You’re right back on track with:
“As an Operator, what are your superpowers, Jim? Do you feel like you are using them every day?”
“In what ways could you use your superpowers to even greater effect for the company, Lisa? What new skills do you need to make the most of them?”
“I know you are in a situation that burns your energy faster, Jeff. Let’s make sure you get enough recharge time between these events.
Getting Good at Getting Better Reply to me with the program(s) that interest you.
Becoming a WHY Leader ™. You will build the habits that inspire your employees to contribute their best to your organization’s success. You will come away with behaviors that increase engagement, improve communications, and create productive accountability. You’ll gain the ability to lead organizations of increasing complexity because you have grown from a HOW to a WHY leader. I have five places remaining. The program begins on Dec 19; the fee is $4500 before December 7 and $5500 after that.
Building an Inspiring Culture ™ results in your employees doing what’s right, the right way, without constant supervision so that you can focus on strategy and growth. You’ll develop the habits that create and sustain an inspiring culture that adds unique value to your employees, customers, communities, and investors. You will gain action steps that make giving feedback joyful and tough conversations easier and more impactful. The program begins on March 6. The fee is $4500 before January 1 and $5500 after that. Six seats remain.
Sign up for both programs by Dec 7 for only $7500.
Expert Consulting Mastery takes you step-by-step to soar your consulting practice to new heights. Your consulting business thrives when you are successful at 1) creating a mission and value proposition, 2) organizing your time, talent, and energy, 3) developing a business model that matches passion, skill, and market need, 4) identifying and marketing to their ideal buyer, 5) having joyful sales conversations, and 6) possessing the self-awareness to know how to get good at getting better. You will come away with the skills to master all six. This program begins on January 17. The fee is $5500 by December 31 and $6500 after that. Seven seats remain.
Significant Lives (April 25-28). This experience focuses on how George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant built powerful legacies that won great victories and made America a better place. You and seven others will examine how these two historical figures led, built winning cultures, made decisions, and bounced forward from failures and setbacks. They were very different leaders – one was a detail-oriented driver of results, the other a visionary strategist. Each of them had to win the most important battle of all – the battle with themselves. We’ll stay in Richmond and visit the Yorktown and Appomattox battlefields to bring the history to life. You’ll apply the insights we develop into action steps that advance your legacy and the value you provide to loved ones, employees, customers, communities, and the causes you want to advance. The fee is $5500 by January 31 and $6500 after that. Spouses or significant others are welcome for an additional fee. Six seats remain.
Bicycles and Battlefields at Antietam and Gettysburg (June 6-9). In this unique experience, you will join seven peers and me to advance your skills, experience American history, and get fitter as your get better. You will come away with the new abilities to inspire people to great performance, hold people accountable without feeling awkward, build cognitive diversity, and make impactful decisions that take your business to new heights. You’ll gain more stories, analogies, and examples that boost your thought leadership and make you an object of interest. Experiencing the battlefields by bicycle provides a powerful perspective. It’s an event you’ll remember for the rest of your life. No bicycle? No problem. We’ll arrange for an excellent bicycle or e-bicycle so that you can experience this joyful and impactful event. This extraordinary event goes June 6-9; the fee is $8500 before March 1 and $9500 after that. Spouses are welcome for an additional fee.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/footprint-g0ce3038fc_1280.jpg8531280Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-11-21 14:14:352023-01-26 16:00:42The Carbon Fiber Principle: Reveal Skills with Affinities to Retain your Top Talent.
Character, Aristotle said some 2300 years ago, is a habit. It’s the sum total of our daily choices of right versus wrong, responsibility versus convenience, virtue versus selfishness.
He’s a jerk, but he’s our jerk.
She’s a bully, but she gets results.
Character, Aristotle said some 2300 years ago, is a habit. It’s the sum total of our daily choices of right versus wrong, responsibility versus convenience, virtue versus selfishness.
Your character, forged in those daily choices, is revealed in a crisis
It’s no wonder jerks, bullies, creeps, and goofballs never surprise us when the shit hits the fan. You always do you, and they always do them. The habits you form every hour of every day determine your responses long before the moment of truth.
It’s hard to believe that people still fall for the fantasy that you can co-opt a predator, contain a jerk, and reform a bully. That people still wish away a person’s history of disgusting, belligerent, or bigoted behavior simply because they agree with you on something is what keeps petty tyrants in business.
A group of executives from a company approached me about doing leadership training. Their CEO engaged in toxic behavior, and they were looking for a solution. “Have you confronted the CEO about his behavior?” “No,” they replied, “We hope the leadership training will show him the error of his ways.”
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way and never has. Most people want to do well and will change their practices when confronted constructively about off-putting behavior. Addressing the problem right away is always easier than letting it fester. The longer it goes on, the more ingrained it becomes.
Early on, you would only need a minute to address the problem. You do it, and it’s over, or you move on. Letting it fester is more challenging because the longer you avoid the situation, the more you have to face it at work, and every time you look in the mirror. You wake up, and there it is. You go to work, and there it is. You check your phone, and there it is. You get ready for bed, and there it is.
I tried ignoring, accommodating, befriending, and outmaneuvering. I lost every time and even more in anxiety, frustration, and lunch money.
Enabling a bully with power is like boosting the raging river running through a canyon. The grooves don’t become more shallow; they grow deeper.
What are you doing to keep the bullies and jerks from ruining your life and business?
Strategic Leaders Academy (SLA) helps former senior military leaders, combat veterans, and public servants build joyful, meaningful, and profitable consulting businesses that delight their clients.
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We work with your organization and leader teams to help you develop your leaders, build a healthy culture, and create a winning strategy. The results include higher employee engagement and ownership in success, reduced employee stress, burnout and turnover, fewer expensive mistakes, and better and more effective execution of your strategy and resilience plans. You get the highest payoff when you have consistent, dedicated support over one year or longer.
Here’s a thought I want to leave you leader’s with:
Describe The Why to your team; Delegate The How- Describe what to do and what outcomes you want to achieve.
Let your subordinates figure out how to do it so they have ownership.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cover.jpg430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-06-20 09:25:522022-07-26 12:31:21January 6 Investigation Reveals that Character is a Habit; What Habits are you Building?
Leadership can make all the difference when it comes to workplace change
Chances are, if you feel like your organization is saturated with change, your Team may be experiencing change fatigue.
Change fatigue is a Team’s resistance, passive resignation, apathy, or feelings of being overwhelming when it comes to organizational change.
We’ve all been there; change fatigue sets in and our Team gets resentful. I’ve seen it in every line of work. Leadership, however, can make all the difference when it comes to workplace change.
Identifying change fatigue is the first step a leader needs to take.
What does change fatigue look like? Complaints increase in frequency, exhaustion, loss of passion, stress, more sick days, cynicism, and lack of trust in leadership. This impacts the organization on so many levels–less productivity, greater turnover, and more missed days. The culture tanks and trust erodes.
According to a recent HBR article, “too often, organizations simply encourage their employees to be resilient, placing the burden of finding ways to feel better solely on individuals. Leaders need to recognize that change exhaustion is not an individual issue, but a collective one that needs to be addressed at the team and organizational level.”
Action Steps to mitigate change fatigue:
Control what you can control: Fear and discontent crop up when we feel like we have lost control of our current situation. When changes in our workplace occur, we need to encourage our Team to highlight what is within their control and influence. Instead of thinking of change as something happening to you, think of it as you having control over your new learning and this new growth opportunity. Perspective can make a huge difference when change occurs. The Center for Creative Leadership’s David Altman describes change as continual evolution with no endpoint. He goes on to say that we need to think of “change fatigue” as “change energy.”
Communicate early and often: Bring key stakeholders to the table to discuss upcoming changes and ask for their perspectives and advice. Roll out the change in small, digestible bites. Acknowledge that what you thought was “best” isn’t anymore. Offer validation to the prior initiative and explain the “why” with the new one. There isn’t a “best” in business anyways; we should always be learning and growing. The moment a company settles, they have already slid behind the competition.
Trust: Change cannot occur until your Team trusts their leadership and understands the “why” behind the change. That’s the first move. Once the change is in action, give brief surveys and check in often. Be sure toprioritize the changes. Ask your Team to collectively decide which one is the most important and focus on that one. They will have more buy-in if they can help make decisions. Allow for errors. Mistakes will happen. Your team needs to know that you have their back and they are allowed to experiment and make mistakes. Before implementing any change, make sure that your Team has all the resources needed; this includes training, time, and material resources.
Team-focused: Collective routines have a way of calming your Team as they forge into the unknown. This could be morning coffee, happy hours, consistent meeting times, etc. Routines cultivate a sense of community and foster a sense of organizational buy-in.
The Trusted Advisor Program is my most intensive 1-on-1 program. Within 90 days, you’ll gain habits that create breakthrough success. You get personalized coaching and support, relentless accountability, and commonsense action steps that get results.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/LC-scaled.jpg17282560Laura ColbertLaura Colbert2022-06-09 09:49:472022-06-09 09:49:49How to Continue to Innovate and Combat Change Fatigue 2022
How can I better integrate cognitive diversity in business and in life
Affinity bias is the subconscious tendency to favor people who look, think, and act as we do. Attitudinal bias, on the other hand, is conscious bigotry.
I find that most people, outside of traditional bigots and woke bigots, recognize the benefits of diversity and take steps to reduce the impact of affinity bias.
The CEOs and leaders in this community (I admit there’s a selection bias of good people here) want a physically diverse workforce, so that race, gender, and other demographics reflect the community they are serving. The differences tend to be whether you hire to a particular outcome or look at representation and broaden your inputs as necessary.
Correcting for biological diversity is relatively straightforward, and decent people don’t need punitive and demeaning programming to figure it out.
Cognitive diversity (bringing together people who think differently) is a more daunting challenge because it’s difficult to see and recognize. A subconscious disdain toward people who think differently is commonplace because there’s comfort in the status quo, and leaders tend not to like boat-rockers.
Leaders such as Abraham Lincoln valued cognitive diversity. His so-called team of rivals was a cognitively diverse crew. George Washington built his cabinet the same way, and Dwight Eisenhower picked people of varied observable contributions to be on his staff. Cognitive diversity plus buy-in for the common good made the whole more significant than the sum of its parts.
OK. I get why cognitive diversity is essential. How do I make it happen?
We created the PROM Archetypes TM to give you a helpful framework. Pioneers, Reconcilers, Operators, and Mavericks have distinct and observable contributions when using their natural talents. Representation from all four provides you with powerful advantages over organizations where everyone thinks alike. Google, Facebook, Apple, and others have cultivated cognitive diversity alongside other forms.
The PROM Archetypes TM gives you ways to recognize these distinct and observable contributions and help people be their best selves. Leaders not attuned to cognitive diversity will tend to select and promote people who think and act as they do — the mini-me syndrome (as my mentor Michele Flournoy calls it). This affinity bias turns off people who aren’t like you, and before long, they vote with their feet, and only the clones remain.
You can start building cognitive diversity by taking our PROM Archetypes TM quiz and having your team do the same. SLA’s content will help you make the best use of this information, and I or any SLA team member will be delighted to help you gain the cognitive diversity that’s right for you.
What action steps are you taking to promote cognitive diversity?
Building your Chest
Growth Programs
The Trusted Adviser Program is my most intensive 1-on-1 program. Within 90 days, you’ll gain sustainable habits that create breakthrough success. You get personalized coaching and support, strict accountability, and commonsense action steps that get results so that you reach your goals more quickly and consistently. Soar to new heights here. CEO Mastermind group is for Milwaukee-area small business leaders and consultants who want to accelerate their growth in 2022. We meet monthly for lunch, and you get unlimited access to me for coaching and advising. I’m limiting the group to 8. Four places are remaining. Reply to me for more details.
The Global CEO Mastermind is for CEOs and senior leaders who want to surround themselves with people united in the common purpose of being the best they can possibly be, learning from each other, avoiding drift and complacency, and soaring to new heights. We meet monthly via zoom, plus you get unlimited access to me. I’m limiting the group to 8. Reply to me for more details.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WP-845-x-430.png430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-04-18 14:20:362022-07-26 12:32:03We have a Cognitive Diversity Problem
Only one type of leader creates sustainable growth and inspires people to contribute their best to the team’s success.
The WHAT Leader
WHATs do what the boss tells them to do. They get a task or mission from the boss, organize their team, and get the job done according to the company’s standard operating procedures. WHATs tend to be good first-line leaders — they execute specific tasks and come back for more.
The boss is the hero. The boss makes it rain and tells the WHATs how to do the job.
WHATs do not innovate and tend not to think for themselves outside the confines of carefully delineated boundaries. The best ones take care of their people, ensuring they have the tools and skills to do the job safely and to standard.
WHATs succeed as long as the boss is present to explain what and how to do it. Promote them into a position where they have to develop the plans, and WHATs will struggle.
The HOW Leader
HOWs have the answers and the secret sauce. Their employees look to them for the master plan. HOWs are comfortable with autonomy and don’t like being told how to do their jobs. HOWs can be effective department heads and CEOs as long as the task is within their realm of expertise.
The HOWs set themselves up to be heroes because they have the solutions and plans. They tell people what to do and how to do it. As long as you comply with the HOWs, you are good to go. HOWs tend to strike down innovation because it threatens their hero status.
HOWs succeed as long as they are in their comfort zone but struggle in environments that exceed their expertise.
Some of them will try to be the hero anyway and fail miserably, like J.C. Penny’s Ron Johnson, who brought his HOW from Apple and nearly destroyed the aging retailer. The volcanic rise and meteoric crash of Adam Neumann’s WeWork became the subject of We Crashed, a docu-drama. Some HOWs get consumed by imposter syndrome when they recognize the impossibility of being the hero in a new context.
HOWs fail in a competitive marketplace because they cannot keep pace with innovation. The playbook works well in a static environment but not in a dynamic one. Because the HOW must be the hero, there can be only one authoritative source of ideas. Everyone else gets thrown under the bus. Blockbuster could not adapt when Netflix changed the game. Sony believed its hype about the digital walkman and got trounced by the iPod.
WHY Leaders
WHY leaders are the ones with the questions, they provide guidance and purpose and let their subordinates figure out the how. WHYs have elasticity; they grow into new jobs and environments because growth and innovation are not dependent upon them having the answers.
Their subordinates are the heroes. By inspiring people to contribute their best to the team’s success, WHYs can serve in various contexts. WHYs do not tie their ego to their own particular plans, systems, or ideas.
WHYs are comfortable in their own skin, so they can pass the credit for success to their subordinates and take the heat when something goes wrong. Having everyone’s back encourages risk-taking and innovation. Clarity about the purpose and direction of the organization reduces the likelihood that people will go 100-miles-per-hour in the wrong direction. They practice empathy and use trusted advisors to avoid getting high from their own fumes. WHYs habitually grow their imaginations and develop their subordinates.
In his initial run at Apple, Steve Jobs was a HOW, and the board ousted him as the CEO. He learned from those and subsequent experiences and became a WHY leader, making Apple one of the world’s most successful companies. Jobs prepared his successor, Tim Cook, to take the company to new heights.
Eisenhower was criticized by HOW leader contemporaries for not being more like them. British Field Marshall Montgomery dismissed him as a “Nice chap, no soldier.” Patton and Bradley criticized him for being too lenient on the British. Eisenhower’s WHY leadership promoted the innovation, teamwork, and strategic thinking needed to win the war in Europe.
1. Be true to yourself. Authenticity is the opposite of selfishness. Impulse is not a permission slip (ask the former Uber CEO). Since there’s no single leadership ideal, be your best you.
2. Trust Principles Over Rules. Trustworthiness, Respect, and Stewardship point out true north involatility and uncertainty.
3. Practice Empathy, Not Sympathy. Pity is demeaning. Seeing and feeling an issue from someone else’s point of view is your bridge to cooperation.
4. Pass the Credit, Take the Hit. Throw people under the spotlight, not under the bus, so that you empower people to innovate and take risks.
5. Describe The Why; Delegate The How. Describe what to do and the outcomes you want to achieve. Let your subordinates figure out how to do it, so they have ownership.
6. Multiply Your Experiences. You don’t create new wins with status quo thinking. To think outside the box, you must expand your box.
What action steps are you taking to build WHY leaders in your company? Please share in the comments below.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WP-845-x-430-4.png430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-04-11 06:08:282022-07-26 12:32:123 Types of Leaders you need to know: Are you a WHAT, HOW, or WHY leader?
You need better practices, and these come with innovation which is only possible in an Inspiring Culture.
Alan Weiss is right — it’s time to ditch best practices. You need better practices, and these come with innovation which is only possible in an Inspiring Culture.
Best practices are seductive. After all, who doesn’t want the best for your business? Once you adopt a best practice, no improvement is necessary — it’s the best.
This mentality leads to complacency: doing the same things over and over and expecting the same results. When someone comes up with better practices, you get left behind.
I’m sure that companies like Sears, Toys R US, Blockbuster, and the like employed best practices as they maintained a comfortable status quo. They’re out of business, eclipsed by innovations that led to better practices, ideas, and products. The military schoolhouses issue best practices at a cyclic rate of fire. None of them helped to defeat a rag-tag militant group like the Afghan Taliban. The California DMV’s so-called Strategic Plan implores the organization to “Apply best practices in the hiring and selection process.”
Being a “Hands-on” leader was once a best practice, prompting its advocates to micromanage their employees, stifle initiative, and reduce innovation. Annual performance reviews tend to heighten workplace tensions and reduce vital one-on-one leader-to-subordinate conversations that should be happening weekly, thus lowering performance. People still believe the nonsense that focusing on your weaknesses, rather than playing to strengths, leads to better outcomes. HR departments continue hiring based on skills while ignoring natural affinities. The Great Escape from bad bosses, rotten workplaces, and ill-fitting jobs continues at an alarming rate.
I’m all for learning from what others do well. If it’s a better practice than what you are using and fits well, then go for it. Don’t rest on your laurels, though. Keep promoting better practices.
Building an Inspiring Culture (TM) that promotes innovation requires clarity and alignment on your organization’s common good, authority at first-line levels and above to solve problems and experiment with new ideas, and top cover from you that includes guidance, resources, and willingness to underwrite honest mistakes and shortfalls.
Without clarity and buy-in on the common good, people will move in unproductive directions. If people do not believe they have agency, they won’t make decisions. Unless you provide top cover, people will be afraid that you’ll throw them under the bus.
What action steps are you taking to promote better practices?
Building your Chest
Growth Programs
The Innovation Mindset. Predictable unpredictability is a new reality. We’re in a period of persistent a-Normal volatility and uncertainty. How will you help your clients thrive? The Innovation Mindset is an 8-week mastermind that begins in early April. I’ll train you on the use of my powerful visual models, which we will use to examine the most important 2022 trends so that you can provide clear and compelling thought leadership to frame issues and improve decision-making.
Each week, the group meets for 90-minutes to develop unique intellectual property that sets you apart from the pack (who’s always swinging behind the pitch) and gives you significant competitive advantages in serving your clients. Your investment will pay for itself in a single sale. I’m limiting the group to 8; the fee is $5500. Reply to this email to see if the program is a good fit for you.
The Trusted Adviser Program is my most intensive 1-on-1 program. Within 90 days, you’ll gain sustainable habits that create breakthrough success. You get personalized coaching and support, strict accountability, and commonsense action steps that get results so that you reach your goals more quickly and consistently. Soar to new heights here. CEO Mastermind group is for Milwaukee-area small business leaders and consultants who want to accelerate their growth in 2022. We meet monthly for lunch, and you get unlimited access to me for coaching and advising. I’m limiting the group to 8. Four places are remaining. Reply to me for more details.
The Global CEO Mastermind is for CEOs and senior leaders who want to surround themselves with people united in the common purpose of being the best they can possibly be, learning from each other, avoiding drift and complacency, and soaring to new heights. We meet monthly via zoom, plus you get unlimited access to me. I’m limiting the group to 8. Reply to me for more details.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WP-845-x-430-5.jpg430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-04-04 11:48:032022-07-26 12:32:14It’s time to ditch best practices: When someone comes up with better practices, you get left behind.
Personal climate change subtly undermines your decision-making, sending you into drift as you inhale your own fumes and enjoy the aroma.
Personal climate change subtly undermines your decision-making, sending you into drift as you inhale your own fumes and enjoy the aroma. Until you allow in the fresh air, you will think the increasingly toxic fumes are normal.
Decision-making was a hot conversation topic during last week’s leadership event at Antietam and Gettysburg. Union General McClellan habitually inflated confederate strength, which caused him to move with an abundance of caution and attack in the most risk-averse manner he could conceive. He lost an opportunity to win the war in September 1862, instead of presiding over the bloodiest day in American history.
Less than a year later, confederate general Lee invaded the Union again hoping to win a big victory and force the Union to sue for peace. The strategy relied on assumptions so flawed that even a big victory would have been inconsequential. Lee believe his army was invincible and attacked a larger Union force that occupied better terrain. After two days of bloody and inconclusive fighting, Lee ignored sensible advice from one of his subordinates and ordered the disastrous Pickett’s charge. The picture below is from the High Water Mark.
The high-water mark of the Confederacy or high tide of the Confederacy refers to an area on Cemetery Ridge near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, marking the farthest point reached by Confederate forces during Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863.
We see the consequences of people becoming accustomed to their own fumes. People shout at one another from ideological silos. We elect idiots to Congress. Putin surrounds himself with sycophants who have a vested interest in pleasing the boss. He gets a green light from China, which is interested in seeing how the West reacts to the invasion of Ukraine as China set its crosshairs on Taiwan.
Former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani continued to believe that America would leave troops in the country until the final moments. When the scales finally fell from his eyes, he fled and left people to fend for themselves (Ukraine’s Zelensky is a welcome distinction). President Lincoln, by contrast, surrounded himself with people who thought differently than he did and would provide alternative views. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in July 1862 as part of his effort to reframe the war from preserving the Union to freedom versus slavery.
Secretary of State Seward counseled waiting. Union forces had suffered recent setbacks, and European powers considered recognizing the confederacy. Issuing the Proclamation in the wake of defeats would be seen as desperation at home and abroad. Lincoln accepted the logic and waited until after Lee’s invasion of Maryland had failed. The Emancipation Proclamation gained sufficient support at home and ended European considerations of confederacy recognition.
Action steps:
1. Get outside points of view from people who are willing to tell you hard truths. You might not always take their advice, but they will keep you breathing the fresh air.
2. Test your assumptions by asking yourself: “what must be true for this plan to work.” You’ll reveal implicit assumptions that you can evaluate for validity.
3. Participate in mastermind groups of like-minded people who help you stay true to your purpose, push you to be your best self, and remind you when your fumes start smelling too good.
Also – I invite you to join my online forum Chris Kolenda’s Sustainable Growth Mindset ®. I post unique thought leadership there nearly every day, using historical and world events to boost your imagination about growth and innovation. It’s free for you and you can sign up here.
https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/WP-845-x-430-2.jpg430845Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-03-22 07:11:372022-03-22 07:11:39How Inhaling your own Fumes Damages your Decision Making: Plus ways to Bring in the Fresh Air
Just because you built buy-in doesn’t mean it will stick around. It needs cultivation and invested time.
So often, we feel as though we have to keep our cards close to our chests as leaders. We don’t want scrutiny. We worry that the plan has to be perfect—which doesn’t exist—before we reveal it. Maybe there’s a lack of trust within our Team. Perhaps we think our Team isn’t capable of thinking at our level. Or, we’re worried that our Team is not ready for change so we prolong telling them about it until the plan is done and it needs to be executed immediately.
The best way to gain buy-in? Put your people first and treat them as professionals. How do you do that? You bring them to the table. You give them the confidence to provide valuable feedback. When you have time to do so, getting people to contribute their ideas before you make a decision allows you to adopt some or all of them and increase buy-in. Gaining their ideas in advance is more plausible than gaining feedback from them after you’ve made a decision. When you make this practice a habit, then people will better understand the times when you need to make an immediate decision.
How to gain organizational buy-in:
Trust – Be authentic and vulnerable. Your Team is better together. One-on-one meetings and small team meetings are great ways to foster this trust.
Psychologically safe environment – practice empathy and compassion and create a space where everyone can have a voice.
Request input and feedback – Ask specific questions and really address your Team’s concerns—allow everyone to speak. Don’t be overly attached to ideas.
How to get buy-in for an idea:
The “WOW” factor – Let your Team know how this is going to positively impact them and the organization.
Share your journey on developing this plan – Tell them why you think this is the best one. Bring data to the table for your operational thinkers. Share examples of success. Use storytelling. Use “what if we did nothing?” or “what else could we do?” scenarios so that your team can see why this is the best way forward.
Ask for input and feedback early and often – Tell your Team that you’re still in the brainstorming stages and you want them to poke holes in the current plan.
Once you have buy-in, how do you keep it?
Communicate often – Clarify timelines, keep your direct reports and the Team updated on the progress. Document your various steps along the way on an open forum.
Establish ownership – Use “we” and “us” when discussing the Team and the plan. These simple words will spread buy-in and a sense of belonging.
Celebrate wins – Give credit to others when things go well. Take ownership of pitfalls.
What happens when you get crickets in a meeting? It could be one of three things.
Processing time – Make sure you are speaking at the speed of trust. Sometimes too much information can be overwhelming and people shut down.
Fear – They don’t want to pop your balloon, they don’t want to look stupid, they may have been burned in the past, or they are afraid of speaking up. You can eliminate most of the fear by developing trust and psychological safety.
Indifference – They may be thinking, why fix it if it isn’t broken, we’ve always done it this way, we’ve tried that before, what can I do anyways, or glad I’m not at the helm! These statements are in contrast with continuous improvement. Don’t let your Team drift with these negative mind frames.
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” ~ Steve Jobs
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00Laura ColbertLaura Colbert2022-01-27 09:22:332022-01-27 12:00:14How to Gain and Sustain Buy-In
What insanity, wishful thinking, and complacency have in common is the belief that doing the same things over and over will create success.
Einstein famously remarked that a definition of insanity was doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. Presumably, he meant better rather than worse results. We won’t get healthier, for instance, by practicing the same habits that created our current condition.
Einstein’s definition is closely related to wishful thinking — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting BETTER results. Americans saw that problem play out in places like Afghanistan. With minor variations, the U.S. government did the same things repeatedly and expected things to improve rather than continue their downward spiral.
On the other hand, complacency is doing the same things repeatedly and expecting the SAME results. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is fine for mechanical devices and rote tasks but shortens your path to ruin on almost everything else. Sears expected their catalog-based shopping and mall-centered stores would continue delivering profits. They made only minor adjustments when the digital age arrived. Today, Sears is out of business while Amazon thrives. Blockbuster expected people to keep on coming to stores for movie rentals. Netflix crushed them. Toys R US face-planted. IBM saved a few bucks by renting instead of buying MS-DOS and went from the undisputed leader in the PC business to a humiliating exit from it.
Innovation is your complacency-vaccine. New practices and habits are the best ways to leap plateaus, shatter artificial barriers, and remove arbitrary finish lines. The best athletes vary their workouts. Military units alter the conditions under which they perform battle drills. The most agile thinkers read a variety of disciplines and views. Innovation keeps you out of comforting ruts.
The comfort zone for owners, consultants, and experts is a powerful intoxicant.
You’ve been successful, and there’s no reason, you believe, for future success to look much different than present success. This common condition is called presentism. Business failure begins with a lack of imagination.
What are you doing to boost innovation? Who are the mentors and advisers who will bring in the fresh air? What events will you attend that expand your perspective and help you see your future from new points of view?
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https://chriskolenda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brain-g5277770fc_1920-1.jpg8671920Christopher KolendaChristopher Kolenda2022-01-24 06:36:402022-01-24 06:36:40It’s a Thin Line Between Insanity, Wishfulness, and Complacency; Don’t Cross Either 1
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