by Doug Gray | Mar 28, 2016 | Coaching, exercise, Leadership, Personal Development, Success, talent
When 5” of powder blessed Breckenridge, CO, yesterday, I took this stunning video and wrote these thoughts. Here are three short perspectives on skiing above treeline, and strategic leadership.
- Flow is designed. Flow can be defined as that timeless psychological state when challenge and skill are in balance. Most people cannot imagine skiing double-black diamond runs down 1,500’. Most people should never try extreme skiing. Skiing above treeline, like any hobby, is an opportunity to experience ekstasis, that state of being literally outside of time and space. Flow occurs when we take one turn at a time. We live in the moment. We proceed to a new place. Yes, you can design flow into your life. There are seven contributing variables for designing flow. Contact me for details or read this book or this book.
2. Leaders are creators. Leaders build products or services. Doubt me? Then read any biography. Only those extraordinary leaders with an obsessive focus make the history books. Average leaders do not warrant attention in the history books or the biographies. How about you? By definition, leaders create value for their followers. And all significant leaders create great teams. If you were to say “yes” to that idea, or create something new, or delight a client, today, then you would see for yourself. One example of a significant leadership event in Nashville, TN is here.
3. Technology follows goals. Many years ago I climbed this mountain using backcountry ski mountaineering gear. It took all day. My goal was to experience grandeur. The adventure was exhausting but wonderful. Two years ago new lift lines made it possible to ascend to the same elevation without sweating. The technology followed my goals. Ironically, those ski trails are now called “Wonderland”, “Bliss” and “Euphoria.” Get the point? There is plenty of grandeur to be found when we ski above treeline.
March is a great season for strategic thinking.
March is the season of heavy snowfalls, springtime flowers, new birth, opportunity, and clear intentions.
You may never ski above treeline. But you can certainly make smarter decisions about your professional and personal goals.
Some coaching questions include: (1) How can you design flow in your life or business? (2) What can you create today? (3) What goals will inspire grandeur?
Then let me know your answers. May you excel!
Doug Gray, PCC, CEO/Founder of Action learning Associates, Inc, www.action-learning.com today at 615.905.1892
by Doug Gray | Jan 19, 2016 | Business, Coaching, Leadership, Managers
Systems Thinking is a process that describes complexity and builds learning organizations. The five disciplines of learning organizations are:
1) Personal mastery
2) Mental model
3) Building a shared vision
4) Team Learning
5) Systems Thinking (Senge, 2006).
This morning I explained Systems Thinking to a client who owns a small leadership development business using professional actors. This CEO was struggling to articulate the unique value of his company. And he needed to prepare for a big meeting with a prospective buyer tomorrow that could lead to 10x his previous revenue for 2016. I mentioned leverage, and the idea from Archimedes that “with a big enough lever one could change the world.” When he wanted examples, I described the applied systems thinking that Macdonald, Burk and Stewart (2006) implemented at entrenched mining companies in Australia. He remained confused. He needed to see a model. He wanted to find simple words to describe the cascading effects of organizational change, so I drew a model with concentric circles like a bulls-eye. The smallest ring was unlabeled, to represent the chaotic core of deep change, the next ring was individual, then team, then organizational, then societal. That model helped him to describe the levels of systems thinking at the prospect’s organization. He has the words and a model. He met the prospect and wrote an excellent proposal that solves their problems. Now I am looking forward to hearing if he closed the business.
This afternoon I met with a fellow board member of the Nashville, TN Association of Talent Development (ATD) chapter to plan 2016 activities. She leads Learning and Development at Bridgestone and I discussed Systems Thinking with her. She needs to replace an aging workforce, and has developed programs with the largest university in the state, MTSU, using values from their company and partnering with the US Naval Academy and the US Army at West Point. In short, they desire to teach essential leadership skills using their company values at a public university. Concurrently, Bridgestone needs to relocate 30-50% of their senior leaders from two other states to their new corporate headquarters in Nashville, without losing significant intellectual capital. She is excited and overwhelmed about the changes ahead for Bridgestone. We discussed ways to apply Senge’s (2996) model of a learning organization to those changes. She has the right words. And a mental model. But I do not know if she can develop a learning organization.
Notice the pattern? We can have ready examples and academic references to share with others. But ideas are worthless without action.
How about your organization?
Does your business need to improve by applying systems thinking? If so call Doug Gray, PCC, today at 615.905.1892 or Contact Us Today!
What are you waiting for?
Download this list of services and investment levels now:
References
MacDonald, I., Burke, C., & Stewart, K. (2006). Systems Leadership: Creating Positive Organizations. Hampshire, England: Gower.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Random House/Currency.
by Doug Gray | Dec 19, 2015 | Business, change, Coaching, Leadership, Managers, published articles, talent
In a recent article published by Forbes, Verne Harnish sloppily predicts that in 2016 the term “manager” should be discarded. All companies should replace the role of manager with the role of “coach.” What rubbish. As evidence he cites only one example- that Zappos does so. Ignore this article because it is sloppy and inaccurate. Why confuse the marketplace or denigrate both roles?
Managers should manage; coaches should coach.
We need consistent terms for “managers” and “coaches” for at least these 3 reasons.
- Managers by definition need to maximize the productivity of others. Some hierarchy is mandatory, because the manager’s job requires writing a performance review and determining compensation. Read Peter Drucker, called the father of organizational development, on this point. The idea of maximizing productivity is as old as Diomedes. And as new as Marcus Buckingham. The role requires that managers work in private to coach others, but that skill of coaching should never replace the role of coaching. Perhaps the best model for describing the complex role of managers is Henry Mintzberg’s Managing (2011), which should be required reading for any serious managers, or any student of management theory and practice.
- Coaches, by definition, support others to achieve their personal and professional goals. The agenda is defined by the client/leader, not by a coach or anyone else. The process of coaching varies, from a competency approach defined by the International Coaching Federation to a theoretical construct such as positive psychology (the best example is here). In executive coaching, there is a validated need for both internal coaches who expedite the careers of HiPos, and external coaches who provide customized leadership development for senior leaders. None of these coaches are managers. However, managers are often tasked with coaching their direct reports. See point 1.
- Confusion abounds in many learning organizations, especially those that are dominated by fear. We do not need any sloppy terminology. Coaching was once an activity designed to remediate some undesirable behavior. Not any more. Coaching now is a targeted behavioral investment. For instance, I collaborate with internal leaders who provide succession planning data, performance reviews, 360 or personality assessments. As an external coach, my role is to accelerate the agenda of senior leaders. There is no better investment in top talent. Retention increases 18 months on average. For an example of the largest global provider of executive coaching, visit CoachSource. We provide scale for any-sized organization, in 45 countries, with over 1,000 expert executive coaches. Results should define your investments, not any silly claims.
Bottom line: Avoid sloppy terms. Call managers what they are. Call coaches what they are. Invest in talent development.
To learn more, call Doug Gray, PCC, at 615-905-1892 or schedule your complimentary, confidential session here .
What are you waiting for?
by Doug Gray | Aug 10, 2015 | book review, change, Coaching, Leadership, money, Personal Development, talent
(Disclosure: I am a fan of Marshall Goldsmith because he is an enthusiastic role model for countless executive coaches. When I shook his hand at an event hosted by the Center for Creative Leadership, I told him so. And when I was given four copies of this book to distribute to our largest CoachSource clients, I told them something favorable. Marshall Goldsmith has celebratory cachet as a thinker and a champion.)
I wanted to love this book, but it fell short.
Triggers can be defined as “any stimulus that defines our behavior.” That broad definition enables Goldsmith to go beyond Skinnerian behaviorism, or beyond antecedent-behavior-consequence, or Duhigg’s cue-routine-reward model. The “Circle of Engagement” model includes five steps: trigger-impulse-awareness-choice-behavior. The primary focus of the book is to “help others achieve lasting positive change.”
Structures help us define individual behavioral change. Goldsmith defines three structures: the AIWATT question, the “Six Engaging Questions” and the “Wheel of Change.”
- The AIWATT question can increase engagement. Ask yourself, “Am I willing, at this time, to make the investment required, to make a positive difference on this topic?” Am I willing at this time… is the short version.
- The six “Engaging Questions” can be useful early in a coaching engagement, and when measuring behavioral trends. The questions are: 1. Did I do my best to set clear goals? 2. Did I do my best to make progress toward my goals? 3. Did I do my best to find meaning? 4. Did I do my best to build positive relationships? 6. Did I do my best to be fully engaged?
- The Wheel of Change can be described using two axis or four spokes on a wheel. One axis is the Positive to Negative axis, which “tracks the elements that either help us or hold us back.” The second axis is the Change or Keep axis, which “tracks the elements that we determine to change or keep in the future.” This descriptive model encourages clients to explore what they may need to create, eliminate, accept or preserve in order to achieve their desired behavior change.
The remaining content includes anecdotes from Goldsmith’s broad client base. His charming, self-effacing style often made me smile. The inclusion of the Buddhist anecdote reminding us that anger is always directed at “an empty boat” is a perfect reminder to stay focused on our internal locus of control in the moment. The resounding feeling I had is that the book made me feel good, consider using some of these structures, and then wonder “Now what?”
There are no citations of published works in this book. However, an emerging body of academic research does exist. Positive psychology provides the theoretical construct that the profession of executive coaching sorely needs. There is abundant research in well-being. Seminal leaders include Richard Boyatzis’ Intentional Change Model and studies using neurobiology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow and optimal experience research, and Martin Seligman’s work in PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment.) These are evidence-based thought leaders, with broad following, who are not referenced by Marshall Goldsmith. That fact makes me wonder, why not?
According to the International Coaching Federation, there are now some 50,000 professional coaches in a $7 billion industry with little consistency. (Disclosure: I have been certified at the ICF-PCC level since 2006.) The Conference Board 2014 survey, from 142 companies, defines external executive coaches compensation ranging from $600-200/ hour depending upon the size of the company, developmental needs of the leader, and seniority. The average investment for 6 months and 40-45 hours is $25,000. The 2014 ICF survey states that the average salary is $214/hour. The market realities and financial value of executive coaching are significant.
My experience of countless “coaches” is that the profession sorely needs a) a scientific evidence-based backbone and b) a theoretical backbone. Without such theory, science, and applications, the profession of executive coaching is at risk.
In hindsight, I realize that I wanted Marshall Goldsmith to provide some leadership or insight into these aspects of executive coaching. Marshall Goldsmith’s book Triggers does not address any of these academic, social and market realities. Hence it fell short of what I had expected. I can imagine him chuckling and retorting, “OK, so what are you going to do that would make you happier?”
Perhaps that is the subject for a different blog.
Call me if you’d like to discuss this book?
by Doug Gray | Aug 3, 2015 | change, Coaching, Success
Thankfully, as a species and as individuals, we know that humans adapt to environmental stimuli.
Behavior changes when we (1) modify the cues (e.g. positive or negative triggers), then
(2) we change the routine (e.g. gestalt, patterns) and
(3) we include regular rewards (e.g. self-care, executive coaching and consulting)
As an example, when you (1) place a white placement at a table, and sit down to eat no more than three times a day (cue), and (2) use a 5” diameter plate that has a smaller serving size than most American restaurants, and refuse to snack (routine), then (3) your reward will be weight loss or weight management.
Same with any behavior change.
Imagine that you are stuck in an undesirable habit, and that you “know you need” some behavior change. For instance, imagine that you desire to build resilience.
Resilience can be defined as “the capacity to adapt successfully in the presence of risk and adversity.”
As a second example, when you pause for 5 seconds before saying or doing your response (cue), using a physical trigger or new activity to anchor the new routine, such as using one hand to pull on each finger of your other hand (routine), then your reward may be guidance from your prefrontal cortex that informs you to reply in some career-enhancing manner. You adapt successfully and build more resilience. Get the idea?
Individual behavior changes faster when others reward us. Find a coach or an accountability partner. You do not need to hire an executive coach or consultant to practice behavior change.
Call Doug Gray, PCC, today at 615.905.1892.
What are you waiting for?
by Doug Gray | Aug 1, 2015 | change, Coaching, healthcare, Leadership, Managers, talent
Physicians with resilience have:
- Increased career satisfaction
- Higher personal life satisfaction
- Enhanced performance and efficacy
- Engagement with lifelong learning
- Skills that may be modeled and directly transferable to patients (e.g., CBT)
Thankfully, resilience can be taught and developed.
Resiliency can be defined as “the capacity to adapt successfully in the presence of risk and adversity.”
Take this quick self diagnosis for burnout and resiliency:
Take a moment to write down where you think you are on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) on these two measures. Note that burnout and resiliency are directly related and inversely related. Like any coin with two sides…
A self-diagnostic question is “How do you know if you are avoiding burnout behaviors?”
An organizational-diagnostic question is to ask your team if they have noticed you being less compassionate, hopeful and caring lately?
Or if you are daring, ask your team if they have noticed you being more abrupt, judgmental, or impatient lately?
(We are often hired to assess the degree of burnout or resiliency in a practice group.)
My experience is that these bullets are 5 reasons for you to do some work. “Physician heal thyself” is axiomatic. As a species, we need to make more anabolic choices than catabolic choices.
CBT is cognitive behavioral therapy, a psychological process that recognizes choice, personal strengths, and includes reqular behavioral feedback.
I hire a dentist when I need dental work; why wouldn’t you hire a psychologist when you need to develop resilience for your self or your team?
Recent Comments