Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Leading The Inner Game - Meta Stating & Emotions

If Leadership is about anything - like Coaching, it is about pacing and leading the inner game of the individual and the collective. Dr Michael Hall below writes about the Meta Stating process that a Meta Coach uses to facilitate empowerment. We teach Leaders to do the same as part of our Leader as Coach training program. This a terrific article - Dr Hall has permitted us to reproduce here.

META-STATING AND EMOTIONS
By Dr L.Michael Hall

If the Meta-States Model offers anything, it offers some very powerful processes for detecting your emotions and managing those emotions from a higher level. When most people first experience Meta-States as a Model, the process seems counter-intuitive, it seems paradoxical, and the last thing they would have thought of or utilize for emotional mastery— yet it is the most effective method.

So what does the Meta-States Model say about “emotions?” First that there are levels of emotions; that is, emotions do not occur just at one level, but multiple levels. First there are primary emotions —direct and emotions that are in direct response to a stimulus in the world. Theorists tend to posit that there are anywhere from 7 to perhaps 20 primary emotions. I follow Robert Plutchik (The Emotions) who posited the following primary emotions: joy / sorrow; anger / fear; anticipation / surprise; acceptance / disgust; tension / relaxation; love / apathy. Then, when you begin mixing these primary emotions, you get secondary emotions — similar to how mixing primary colors gives secondary colors.

Then above and beyond primary emotions and various mixtures of those emotions, there are the meta-emotions of your meta-states. These arise due to your self-reflexive consciousness as you associate emotions to emotional states. To detect these and to flush them out, just inquire, “What do you think and feel about X state?”
What do you think and feel about anger? What emotions do you experience when you experience anger? Or fear, sadness, anxiety, guilt, tenderness, love, joy, etc.?

Now generally speaking, when you bring a negative emotion against a previous emotion, you set the second negative emotion as a frame about and over the first emotion. Now you have fear of anger; anger at your fear; shame about your guilt; fear of relaxation; anxiety about anger, and so on. Do this and you construct a “dragon state” within your mind-body system so that you are essentially in self-attack. And the energy of the meta-emotional state has no where to go except against your mind-body system. Then you will pay for this construct by experiencing mental and emotional suffering.

Yet here also begins the processes that seem paradoxical and counter-intuitive. If you bring emotional states as acceptance, observation, interest, curiosity, appreciation, learning, etc. to your negative emotions, your “negative” emotion will change. Typically the intensity level of the energy of the emotion will be reduced so that you’ll be able to handle it much better. Calm anger, acceptance of fear, curiosity about sadness, appreciation of anger, etc. transforms the primary emotional state so that it can be much more useful and resourceful.

When you meta-state your primary emotional state with resourceful emotional states, you are in a position to qualify your emotional states in ways that will transform them into allies that will support you rather than diminish you. So in Neuro-Semantics, we don’t repress emotions, nor do we suppress them as much as we meta-state them and transform them into resources. This creates a new level of emotional intelligence and effectiveness.

So when you next experience a negative state, the first thing to do is to bring a state of calmness to the experience. Step back in your mind for just a moment and appreciate that you just received a signal— a communication signal. And just observe it. What is the signal about? Something “out there” in the world? Something within your mental mapping about something? What?

Next bring states of curiosity, interest, and exploration to your primary state. Curiously explore how you just created that negative emotion. Accepting that the emotion is yours, and that you created it within your mind-body system, you now have an unprecedented opportunity for deepening your self-knowledge and self-control. Wow! And, once you discover the process, then you can meta-state yourself with a strong sense of commitment to yourself and others as you choose the best way to respond to the situation that has triggered the emotion.

This means that you are creating new adjustments to your life-coping maps, making yourself more effective, enriching your relationships, and properly using your emotions, especially your negative ones. And while doing this, meta-state yourself that it is just an emotion (not “you,” don’t identify with the emotion and personalize it). It is just an emotion— a somatic energy response giving you a signal. Now you can choose:

What would be the best response I can now make?
Act on it; explore it some more; notice and ignore it; act against it; etc.?
Is the emotion appropriate, accurate, useful?
What resource would texture and qualify it making it more ecological for me?

Emotions — we all have them, they are a vital and important part of our mind-body system, and like the rest of the system, they are fallible and can easily be mis-used, abused, and become problematic for us. Emotional mastery and intelligence requires awareness, monitoring, managing, meta-stating, and then using them effectively.

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Monday, December 6, 2010

Women in Leadership Sydney (WIL)

The Coaching Room is very proud to promote Women in Leadership in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart.

Women in Leadership (WIL) is a monthly breakfast meeting, created and sponsored by The Coaching Room.

Having coached Leaders in organisations for almost a decade, our experience of the opportunities (including support and networking opportunities) available to male and female Leaders has often seemed unfairly balanced toward the male Leaders.

It has been a concern at the forefront of The Coaching Room’s mind for quite sometime now, and so this year rather than just thinking about it, we have decided to do something about it.

We have created something that will provide Women in Leadership with a real and genuine space to develop deep and accelerated relationships with other like-minded women (also in Leadership positions), as well as the opportunity to grow, feel supported, learn, make friends and have fun, whilst making a difference for other Women in Leadership.

Add to this the support of our world-class Leadership coaches, and you have a very powerful opportunity for sustained Leadership growth.

Our next WIL breakfast program to be held in Sydney - will be this Friday the 10th of December. We will be releasing the 2011 calendar in the next 2 weeks.

We will be restarting WIL in Hobart next year - and hope to kick off WIL
in Melbourne in February 2011.

If you are in a leadership role and would
like to join one of our Women in Leadership Group - contact
jay@thecoachingroom.com.au

SOME OF THE INTENTIONS OF THIS GROUP AND BREAKFAST ARE:

• To provide a confidential and safe environment to be ourselves
• To recognise and have a voice for our Leadership opinion
• To gain vitality in our way of being as Leaders
• For everyone invited to connect, develop their Leadership capabilities, authenticity and friendship with other female CEOs and senior leaders in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney (We will also be expanding to Brisbane over the coming months)
• For each of us to give of ourselves to those at the breakfast, in support of our Leadership growth, understanding and challenges
• For each of us to bring our challenges and successes - to share, so that others in the breakfast may celebrate with us and support us
• To have some timeout with like minded people in similar professional situations
• To make a stand for women in Leadership in what is a top heavy male dominated Leadership environment
• To connect us all in pursuit of Leadership excellence

For more information or to join one of our WIL programs, contact jay@thecoachingroom.com.au or call 1300 858 089

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

5 Principles For Unlimited Motivation in 2013

By Joseph Scott & Jay Hedley of The Coaching Room

In life we need energy to live, to exist and to do things (with our life and with others). Yet sometimes we can miss life by simply talking ourselves out of it. Just like this:
• I just can’t be bothered…
• It’s just too much effort, I’m tired…
• It’s not worth it, who cares?
• Sure, one of these days…
• Yes, I know that I should, but…

Sound familiar?

If this sounds like you, and you are saying this to yourself and or to others, you are lacking one of the key ingredients in the recipe of life; motivation:
MOTIVATION; a psychological process that arouses the individual into action, toward a desired outcome or goal; the reason for the action.
So, we can define motivation but does that help? Usually not enough! What is this thing called ‘motivation’? Where do you find it? How can we take responsibility for our own motivation?

The 1st Principle is ‘motivation is not a thing, it’s a process’
, it is not a real noun. You will never trip over a hunk of motivation that someone has left in the bathroom, nor will you find a chunk of it in the fridge! Has anyone ever bought a kilo of motivation from the shop? I think not!

If that is the case, then what is motivation, how can we be motivated and more importantly how can we motivate ourselves?

Would you like unlimited motivation, does this interest you? If so, read on because that is the design of this article.

Motivation is a set of thinking strategies or processes that we run for ourselves... Did you notice what you just read? ‘...That we run ourselves!

What does this mean? It means that we are responsible for how motivated or not we are in every moment of every day! It means there is no point looking to someone outside of ourselves to provide motivation for us; in fact it is impossible for another person to motivate us, only we can decide what is or is not motivational to us.

Principle No.2 to unlimited motivation is that ‘we are responsible for the amount of motivation we have’. Can you start to sense the power you have over yourself when you take responsibility for you?

You are responsible for yourself—what you say and do, what you think and feel, the way you structure and frame what you want.

Have you ever felt empowered? On top of your game? When and where? In what context?
How empowered did you feel? So now, as you remember that state, allow yourself to become aware of your two private inner powers of:
• Thinking: representing, believing, valuing, understanding, reasoning
• Emoting: feeling, somatising, emoting, valuing


In the context of that experience of empowerment, also notice your two public or outer powers by which you can influence yourself and the world:
• Speaking: languaging, using symbols, asserting
• Behaving: acting, responding, relating, etc.


How does it feel as you just notice and enjoy these powers? How fully do you feel them now? Access them so that you begin to feel these powers. What do you need to do to amplify them? Do you appreciate these powers?

What else is it that drives us to feel motivated? What drives motivation? Further, how does motivation drive us toward what we want, need or believe? What is this fuel?

The answer brings us to Principle No. 3, ‘emotions are the fuel of motivation’ and ultimately are what drive us! Let us take a look at how emotions ‘drive or move us to action; the best place to start may be with the word ‘emotion’.

E-motion, as we look more closely at this word we can see its structure.

‘E-nergy in motion’;(e motion). Our emotions are our energy. Typically we can put emotions’ into three distinctive categories:
• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative


As we can define our emotions into these three simple types, then what does that also say about our energy? Well, we can make the same distinctions for our types of energy; positive, neutral and negative energy.

This leads us to Principle No.4, that ‘People are motivated and can motivate themselves using these 3 different types of energy’.

The affect of positive emotion often gives us the energy to move toward what we want or need, we somehow feel pulled or drawn (motivated). As we experience neutral emotions we can ‘take it or leave it’ and with negative emotions we experience discomfort, a form of pain and we (are motivated) try to get or move away from the cause of such. We can represent this with a diagram:

The Axis of Motivation

Whether we move away from the pain and consequences or toward the good feelings or outcomes in our life, both create energy that we put into motion to do something. This is motivation (propulsion). Now what this gives us is a strategy for developing unlimited motivation for anything we want to do or have in life.

Typically, human beings have a preference to which end of the motivational axis they become or get motivated by. We can ask ourselves some questions to identify our own preference for getting motivated. Ask yourself the following questions and notice if you are motivated toward what you want or away from what you don’t want:

I get out of bed in the morning
Because I have to (away from)
• Because I want to start the day (toward)


I take my eat well and regularly
Because I want to be well and live life as fully as I can (toward)
• Because if I don’t I will become unhealthy or possibly ill (away from)


When asked I will go out and socialise with others
Because I like to meet and be with other people (toward)
• Because it is rude not too and I don’t want to upset anyone (away from)


I keep my home clean
Because I like it like that (toward)
• Because I get moaned at if I don’t, or someone unexpected may come round (away from)


I go to the gym/exercise
Because I want to get the health benefits from it (toward)
• Because if I don’t my health may get worse (away from)


I do generally things
• Because I can
• Because I have to


How many ‘towards’ or ‘away from’ did you identify with? Most people will find themselves using motivation at just one end of the axis, either mainly toward or mainly away from.

Now that you have this understanding on how YOU are typically motivated, we can move to Principle No.5. This final principle is the one that brings all the other principles together, and will show you how to get unlimited amounts of motivation for the rest of your life!
Principle No.5 is ‘Combine both away from and toward energies at the same time, and you will create a personal motivation system that propels you into action!’

By becoming more aware of the other energy available to you, at the other end of the motivation axis, you can ramp up the emotional motivation to get you to take action, to feel motivated and finally in control of you!

Either now or later, take 5 minutes to take yourself through the unlimited motivation pattern below. These 5 simple questions can be applied to anything that you need more motivation for, any time, anywhere. After you have used this pattern a couple of times you will be motivating yourself and possibly other like an expert!

THE UNLIMITED MOTIVATION PATTERN

Identify something in your life you want to have or be more motivated about (this can be anything, getting out more, going to the gym, or doing the housework, anything...)
Once you have identified something, write it down so you have a record to remind you of what you are working on.

Notice your current motivation style associated with this activity. Are you motivated away from or toward? If you are away from read and ask yourself part A, if you are toward, read and ask yourself part B (below).

Part A. You are moving away from the pain or consequences, but you can put up with it for a while. First notice how real the discomfort is, what else could be a problem or even more painful if you don’t take action on this. To add even more energy to your motivation notice what you will get that is good or pleasurable once you have taken the action or started the activity. Notice how good it feels and how good it will feel when you have completed this activity... So as you experience all of this about that activity, notice just how much energy you have for taking the step to be doing it... Go do it then!

Part B. You are moving toward the activity, but it doesn’t pull on you enough to take any action. First notice just what attracts or pulls you toward it in the first place, that’s right, now as you think about that, ask yourself, what is important to me about this... What does the importance of this mean to you, how do you feel about it now, knowing this? Just imagine what it would mean if you never did this, you would never realise this meaning and its importance. It could be the start of procrastinating on other important and meaningful things in life, you wouldn’t want that to be true, would you? Be with this awareness, notice the heightened pleasure and possible pain if you don’t act on this as soon as you can... Just now, notice HOW much energy and motivation you know have for this... Get on with it then!

Congratulate yourself on doing or starting the activity, notice how well you can motivate yourself to take the actions that are important to you. Notice the sense of independence and pride you have for yourself as you read this and start to take the first steps to becoming expert at developing your own motivation, imagine the possibilities you now have for your life...now.

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Executive Coaching - The Sum of Us - A brief look at the ‘Lines of Development’ lens in Coaching

By Pete Holliday - Executive Integral Coach

“In Coaching, the value of having a developmental lines lens is that it helps us appreciate where we excel and where we do not, where our greatest potentials are evidenced, and where our weaknesses may need some attention” Laura Divine, Co-Creator of Integral Coaching®

Most forms of coaching suffer from two major inadequacies: a lack of structure in the form of coaching methodology, and a general and non-specific approach to development. This article addresses the latter of these two issues - a more holistic approach to development through the use of specific developmental lines or forms of intelligence.

As both Coach and Client, development is one of the main subjects of all our discussions, because at any given point of a coaching program we are either engaged in it or against it (in the form of resistance). The purpose of this article is to explore how a more accurate and specific map of development in human beings could be used to benefit client growth in specific developmental areas, namely individual lines of intelligence. I also want to draw attention to how these individual lines of intelligence could support a more fully integrated approach to a client obtaining - and sustaining - their coaching goals and outcomes.

Many, if not all coaching approaches focus on some form of development (whether they know it or not). Very few however, really get specific and precise about exactly what they are developing, apart from the result or outcome desired by the client. This can mean it takes longer to achieve than it could in many instances.

The Coaching Room’s approach to Integral Coaching® , based on the pioneering work of Ken Wilber and his AQAL Integral model (Wilber, 2006), uses six fundamental lines of development to help obtain a more specific and sustainable approach to human development. Through the use of these six individual, and inter/independent lines (Somatic, Spiritual, Emotional, Cognitive, Moral and Interpersonal) a coach can more fully assess exactly what is both needed and lacking in the client in order to bring about their co-created and specific outcomes or coaching goals.(Divine, 2009)

Metaphorically, I like to think about using lines of development like trying to find a destination while driving. You can have the directions and the destination planned out, and even the map showing you how to get there; but without the capability to read that map and understand how to use the directions, both are almost useless. Using individual lines of intelligence provides us with a more accurate idea of what is specifically needed in order to support the client towards their outcome. What does this person need on the inside as a capacity to in order to help them read that map? Do they need to learn how to drive, or do they actually know right from left, in order to take the correct turn?

Very little of what coaching is today involves looking at what the client needs to achieve as an outcome from the inside. At this point it is appropriate to explore these individual lines (intelligences) in more detail in order to see how coaches and clients could more fully benefit from their use in both coaching sessions and program outcome and design. In the area below you will find a brief description of each of the six fundamental lines of development we use in Integral Coaching®.

COGNITIVE
Awareness of what is. The ability to see from different perspectives, the value synergies and implications of those perspectives.

EMOTIONAL
The spectrum of emotions. The capacity to access, communicate, discriminate, and skilfully present to the emotional field of self and others

SOMATIC
Body/mind awareness. The capacity to access, include, and skilfully draw upon the energies of gross, subtle, and causal realms of sensation

INTERPERSONAL
How do I socially relate to others. The ability to relate and communicate with others in a way that all perspectives ( I< We, It and Thou) are attended to at the appropriate level

SPIRITUAL
What is of ultimate concern/intention. The ability to explore issues of ultimate concern – “ who am I?” “ Where do I go from here?”

MORAL
Awareness of what to do. The ability to reach a moral decision involving both moral judgement and care
(Divine, 2009)

It is worth noting that ALL of the individual lines mentioned above go through individual stages of development or capability. Each Line shifts its focus through three main stages, from that of the self (egocentric- what I want or need), to that of the group (Socio/Ethnocentric- what we, or my group, need or want), to finally that of everyone (World-Centric- what the entire world needs or wants) (Cook-Greuter, 2005).

From the brief introduction above you can see how a human being could quite easily be developed in one line, for example the cognitive, yet be underdeveloped in the moral line. In this particular instance you come across the mad scientist, extremely smart, yet with little care or ethical concern for those people his experiments impact. This is of course an extreme example, and in general, most clients present with much more subtle differentials between their lines of development. But it is no less important to how it affects their developmental outcomes.

With an expanded appreciation for how complex the human being can be in regards to individual capacity . It is interesting to now take into account how we see and connect to a client as a coach, and how we see ourselves in reflection to these lines of development. In other words, what do both the client, and myself as a coach, need to develop or honour more to be more effective at what we do?

Reflections - Looking in the mirror:

Taking into consideration what you have now read, how would you assess yourself in each of these capacities?

What could you use more of from the list above to help you get what you want out of life?

Maybe, just maybe, it’s worth taking the time to ask both yourself and your coach these exact questions?

For more information about Line of Development in Coaching or to engage or talk with Peter Holliday and The Coaching Room, call us on 1300 858 089

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Bibliography
Cook-Greuter, S. (2005). Ego Development - The Nine Stages of Increasing Embrace .
Divine, L. (2009). A Unique View Into You - Working with a clients AQAL constellation. (K. Wilber, Ed.) Journal of Integral Theory and Practice , 45-46.
Wilber, K. (2006). Integral Sprituality. Boston : Shambhala.

Integral Coaching® is a registered trademark of Integral Coaching Canada.

It is worthy of mention that Wilber himself has indentified up to twenty-four individual lines of development. The six represented here are the six that I have found provide the most relevance and developmental traction for clients in coaching.

Emerging studies suggest that there is in fact a forth stage that is possible, and is referred to as Kosmo-centric. As the name implies this stage is still boarder yet, and transcends and includes the considerations of all sentient and non-sentient life in the Cosmos.

In integral coaching the use of the lines of development lens is just one of six that we use on EACH client before designing and co creating a developmental path to reach their outcomes? The full Integral Coaching® methodology includes all of Ken Wilber’s Integral model and all six lenses, those being : Quadrants, Levels, Lines, States, and two forms of typology or types lens – The Enneagram and Gender.

Friday, November 5, 2010

The Coaching Relationship

The Executive Coaching Relationship

By Joseph Scott of The Coaching Room

Coaching is often misunderstood, most often! To this end, I am aiming to give a rambling, yet comprehensive, overview of the coaching relationship (between coach and coachee), its functionality and purpose.

The coaching relationship is designed to be an intimate one, based on trust, honesty, equality and love, though for some, you may prefer the label, unconditional positive regard.

The coaching relationship is about the coachee, it is also about the coach and it is also about the organisation that the coachee works for. All of this sounds fundamental as I write this - yet it is most often overlooked.

Coaching is a mutual commitment to the coaching process in service of the coachee. Coaching is a safe space where coach and coachee share together, individual and collective interiors. From here coach and coachee co-create, share and explore the coaching needs and objectives as they hold a rare and authentic ‘we’ space, in service of the coachee's desired outcomes and their New Way of Being (NWOB).

Next, we'll look at the functionality of the coaching relationship.

There are several functions for coaching; the primary one is having conversations that enables coach and coachee to meet each other at the very heart of the coachee's Current Way of Being (CWOB) and doing. We explore their thinking, feeling, understandings and perspectives; We call this your way of ‘seeing’. Of yourself, others and the world.

The functionality of coaching is also about looking at the coachee's current behaviours and communicating around specific or general experiences (out there); their way of ‘going’ through the world.

Thirdly, the functionality of coaching is about how the coachee shows up with ‘others’ and their ‘environments’ physically and emotionally. It is about their shared actual interactions and collective connections. We call this your way of ‘checking’ - how you check out yourself and your results.

This enables us to fully understand the coachee's integrated current way of dealing (or thinking/feeling, interacting and moving) with and through their personal and professional life. (yes, we get personal!)

Along with the functionality of coaching, are the types of conversations that are available to you to help you actualise the very best 'you' - in your chosen coaching topic.

There are numerous contexts or coaching conversations that you can have, we’d like to share just six of the most utilised conversations from our experience.

We can have a coaching conversation for the exploration of clarity. To explore, discover, causes, drivers, symptoms etc.(that arise internally) with regards to an external event. This allows you time to think out loud, to help you really see the reality of your situation.

We can have a coaching conversation for making decisions and or commitments. This conversation is about exploring the pros and cons with a focus on motivation and usually leads to some form of decision and commitment being realised.

We can have a coaching conversation about planning and implementation, to help you co-create and take effective action on a strategy or game plan, in line with your desired way of being and doing, seeing and checking.

We can have a conversation that helps you to embody, feel and incorporate into your neurology a new skill or role. We can have a conversation that helps you translate the knowing into your body - this is called a mind to muscle conversation for accelerated ‘doing’.

We can have a coaching conversation about transformation. This is an extremely powerful conversation, one that can alter, add or eliminate toxic and unhealthy thinking and doing, it can also change and empower your thinking, beliefs and even your sense of identity.

The last (sixth type of conversation) type of conversation we can have is the confrontation for accountability conversation, which offers a space to address an unpleasant or challenging issue. This tuype of conversation will enable you to be held accountable for doing what you say you are going to do, or to enable you to hold others in this space. It is about resolving conflict internally or out there, with others.

Finally, the purpose of coaching.

There is a widely held corporate theory (or unspoken assumption) that if you are in coaching, then you need fixing, you are falling behind or not good enough.

The actual truth of it is the exact opposite. Coaching is for health people that are not broken! Coaching is premium octane fuel for a high performance output.

Coaching is about unleashing and actualising your greatest and highest potentials, it is about supporting you as you reach further and father than you have ever reached before.

So, if coaching is for you, make sure you hold your coach accountable to being clear about the coaching relationship (between coach and coachee), its functionality and purpose.

Radiantly, Joseph

Monday, April 5, 2010

Do you need a Leadership or Executive Coach?

Do you really need a coach?

By Joseph Scott of The Coaching Room

The 'why work with a coach?' question is most often (in my view) driven by the frame of reference of 'what can a coach do that I can’t do by myself?'.

Well, my view is this, if you can be and do the following 7 things with and by yourself, you don't need a coach.

However, if you cannot do all of the following, and you want to ‘be or do’ things differently, be better, move to a higher place or move faster etc. Then I suggest you get yourself a coach. Take a look!

The 7 things a coach can facilitate that you my not currently be able to do, be or see. Can you:

1. Hear and detect your own limiting beliefs? These are the beliefs that hold you back from achieving your potential. Can you hear and understand the distortions in your own self talk that leash you to your current reality?

2. See and understand your own (self-reflexive) consciousness as you create (positive and) toxic frames of mind from which you deal with reality? Can you master them so that you can self-author your own life story, over the one you’ve inherited from others?

3. Apply actual change to your life that is systemic and lasting?

4. Hold yourself fully accountable to empirical benchmarks of performance and development?

5. Engage yourself in actualising your own development, across recognised psychological aspects of self, to live and operate at better states and stages of being?

6. Perform your meanings and mean your performances, as you realise and release your innate propulsion (motivation) system toward achieving your fullest potentials?

7. Ask yourself a range of simple questions that allow you to live beyond scarcity & deficiency, into a place of giving and abundance?

If you can say yes to the above, YOU DON’T NEED A COACH.

If you cannot say yes to all the above, and self development, transformation and performance both personally and professionally are important to you and you intend this… Then my advice is to GET A COACH!.

If you already have a coach and with your coach, you are not experiencing the above, GET A DIFFERENT COACH.

For more information on how The Coaching Room can help you, your team or your organisation, call us on 1300 858 089 or use our handy contact form. We’ll call you back quickly, listen to your needs and together work through what we can do to help you get what you need or want.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Leadership, Corporate Culture and Paradox

Leadership, Corporate Culture, and Paradox
by Dr. Mike Armour

One of the most unheralded roles of leadership is paradox management. Odds are, you've never heard this term before. Few texts on leadership even mention it.

Nevertheless, paradox is at the heart of every dynamic organization. Not just a single paradox. But a set of them. And each paradox creates tension (and frequently conflict) in corporate culture.

The tension arises from the very nature of paradox. Paradoxes center on a quandary that defies solution. The quandary presents itself as though we must choose between path A and path B (or between truth A and truth B). However, reality dictates that we must choose both A and B simultaneously.
The Structure of Paradoxes
Viewed another way, all paradoxes have three qualities:

1. A paradox pairs two elements, expressed in the form or statements, principles, or values.

2. The two elements seem to exclude one another. They appear contradictory.

3. Yet, in spite of the apparent contradiction, neither element may be excluded. We must embrace both of them.

Paradoxes are commonplace in business. Here are some familiar examples:

Our customers demand products of high quality and detailed craftsmanship.
To remain competitive, we must minimize production costs.
Under our labor contract, we assure workers of exceptional benefits and job security.
Payroll expenses are squeezing our margins and leaving us unprofitable.
Our culture is built around collaborative decision-making.
Fast-changing markets demand swift, almost instantaneous responses.
Non-profit organizations face paradoxes of their own.
To make the wisest use of our funds, we need a quality management team.
High management salaries threaten the loss of donor support.
Our founder's passion is what drives this organization's growth.
Our organization's growth is limited by the founder's management skills.
New realities are forcing us to change our mission.
Our donor support was built around excitement for our mission.

Balance Points

Each of these paradoxes presents two forces that contend with each other. And both elements of the paradox raise concerns about near-term or long-term survival. As a result, leadership cannot afford to ignore or dismiss either element. To do so is to court calamity. Instead, leadership must maintain a balancing act between the two.

Whatever the balance point, someone is likely to second-guess it. Since both elements of the paradox represent legitimate concerns, each element is likely to attract ardent advocates who view their concerns as paramount. To these partisans the chosen balance point may not adequately accommodate their concerns. If not, they will press and politick to relocate the balance point and give their concerns more leverage.

To illustrate, let's look at a widespread paradox at the moment. Due to the prolonged economic downturn, businesses need to preserve capital. On the other hand, they need to invest strategically to position themselves for an eventual turnaround.

Which is the proper thing to do? Conserve resources? Or invest strategically? The answer, of course, is that leadership must do both. But to the degree that we spend money we cannot conserve it. So what is the proper balance point between maximizing reserves and investing strategically?

Those with a more cautious nature will press hard for conserving cash. Those of a more entrepreneurial bent will argue for the opposite priority. And both sides will stake out their position with conviction. Hence the prospect for conflict.

Harnessing Tension

This is why paradox management is vital to successful leadership. Not only does paradox management address survival issues, it also forestalls unhealthy conflict. Proper paradox management maintains creative tension between contending concerns, rather than allowing the tension to degenerate into destructive conflict.

About 15 years ago I came across a thought-provoking book by Charles M. Hampden-Turner entitled Creating Corporate Culture: From Discord to Harmony. He argued that the role of leadership is to identify the most critical paradoxes at work within their organization, then manage these paradoxes adroitly and artfully.

I think his counsel is spot on. And his counsel is just as valid for non-profits, churches, government agencies, educational institutions, and military organizations as it is for companies in the for-profit sector.

Nor is paradox management a challenge merely for managers at the top of an organization. Sub-units of the organization contend with their own set of paradoxes.

Here are some examples:
IT departments struggle with the balance between maximizing network security and optimizing employee access to needed data.
Sales departments struggle between stroking current customers to keep them happy and expanding into new markets.
HR departments struggle between standardizing personnel practices and giving managers latitude over personnel matters.

Priorities for Leadership
So let me conclude with a suggested exercise. Take some time to identify the paradoxes that run through your organization. You might do this by yourself, or as a team exercise with your colleagues, peers, or direct reports.

If you discover more than five paradoxes, highlight the five that you consider most critical. (You don't want to ignore any paradox, of course. But in terms of focused management, it's difficult to concentrate on more than a handful of corporate paradoxes at the same time.)

As a leader, no priority is more important than attending to the critical paradoxes you've identified. What are you doing on a consistent basis to manage the natural tension within the paradox? Is the balance point slipping (through inattention) so that it is no longer where it needs to be? If so, what can you do to nudge things back toward a more appropriate balance point? How do you keep your team's priorities aligned properly to sustain this balance point? These are all essential questions for paradox management.

And just a couple of thoughts in closing. We have centered this discussion on paradoxes which pose threats to survival. There can also be paradoxes of opportunity, i.e., two wonderful prospects which, at first glance, look mutually exclusive. But with creativity, imagination, and innovation, perhaps both are possibilities. As you look for paradoxes in your organization, don't overlook paradoxes of opportunity that may be there.

Second, great spiritual teachers and philosophers often use paradoxical statements to convey key concepts. The very tension within the paradox forces the listener to reflect deeply on the teacher's words. In the same way, simply spending time to reflect unhurriedly on the paradoxes within your corporate culture can yield invigorating perspectives and insights.

Identify corporate paradoxes. Reflect on them. Tackle them. That's your task as a leader.

Used with permission of Dr. Mike Armour
Copyright 2010
MCA Professional Services Group, LLC

The Coaching Room
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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

How New Leaders Build Trust

How New Leaders Build Trust - A Leadership Coaching article
by Dr. Mike Armour


In 2007 I was introduced to an informal initiative at Microsoft called 42Projects. Formed largely by word-of-mouth, 42Projects is a grassroots community with a singular purpose: to find practical ways to increase innovation by enhancing team trust.

The group is coordinated by Ross Smith, an imaginative leader and a master of collaboration. Since I first addressed the 42Projects team two years ago, they have launched Trust 2.0, an experiment in using wikis, blogs, and productivity games to expand trust within an organization.

Trust-Building Priorities
This month I was back in Redmond to speak to them again. We met at noon over pizza in a spacious multi-media center, with others around Microsoft joining through a video feed. The topic, as you might expect, was trust-building. In particular, we talked about building trust when you move into new management or leadership positions.

During the question-and-answer period, one person observed, "When you step into a new position like this, it's vital to become trusted by both your team and by those above you. Which of these should be your priority in the first months on a job?"

That's an intriguing question. No one had ever put it to me quite that way before. Yet the question is universally relevant to managers and leaders. How would you answer?

Some might argue that you should build trust first and foremost with those above you. After all, they control your funding. And need we mention their clout in making or breaking your career?

But I took the opposite stance. I argued that your first priority as a new manager or leader is to build your team's trust in you and to strengthen trust within the team itself.

Here's my rationale. Those above you already have a certain degree of trust in you. Otherwise they would have never placed you in this new role. The team you are leading, however, probably had little or no voice in your selection. They might not even know you, especially if you were hired from the outside.

Yet your success in the eyes of those above you will largely be measured by how well your team performs. And every study on the subject shows that teams perform at their best in settings of high, mutual trust. To the degree that you build productive, high-trust relationships with your team and within your team, you make their success all the more likely. And in the process, you gain greater trust from those to whom you report.

Engendering Trust
Someone then followed up with a second question: what should I do in the first months on a job to engender trust within the team? This was a more familiar question for me. It comes up frequently in Q&A sessions or radio interviews. And I've boiled my response down to a simple three-point approach.

First, you use your initial weeks in a new leadership or management role to establish your "likeability." I'm not talking about launching a charm offensive. Or setting out to win a popularity contest. But your new team is watching from day one to see if you are truly a likeable person.

Are you approachable?
Are you friendly?
Are you courteous and well-mannered?
Are you thoughtful and considerate of others?
If your team quickly decides that you are likeable, it becomes easier for them to trust you. Or to put it another way, we don't readily trust unlikeable people.

But it's vital to keep a key distinction in mind here. Being "likeable" and having people like all of your decisions are two entirely different matters. People want leaders whom they like. But they also want leaders who can make tough, timely decisions. If you become known for putting off critical decisions, hoping to find a solution to everyone's liking, you will soon lose your team's respect.

Which leads us to the second point. We tend to withhold trust from people whom we don't respect. Therefore, in the opening weeks of your new role, you must work daily to build respect for yourself. Here I'm not talking so much about respect for your authority. I'm talking about respect for you, personally.

This is not to downplay the importance of respect for authority. It's clearly important. And in military-type organizations it's paramount. For them success in the thick of battle depends on respect for authority, whether you happen to like the person in authority or not.

Outside of military-type organizations, however, effective leaders today rely far more on personal influence than on command and control. And personal influence depends directly on the level of respect that others have for you as a person.

How, then, do you gain people's respect? You begin by respecting them. When someone treats us with respect, we find it easy to reciprocate in kind.
Building Respect
In your opening weeks in a new leadership or management role, therefore, you must work daily to show your team – collectively and individually – that you respect them.

Do you seem genuinely interested in their ideas?
Are you responsive to their emails and inquiries?
Do you openly commend them for a job well done?
Do you share the credit for success with them?
Do you actively discourage jokes, sarcasm, or derisive statements that demean people or treat them dismissively?

Treating your team with respect, however, is merely the first step in gaining their respect. Equally important is acting in ways that merit respect.

Are you truthful?
Do you keep promises?
Do you meet deadlines?
Do you refrain from vulgarities and off-color jokes?
Do you avoid favoritism?
Do you hold yourself to the same standards that you expect of others?
If not, the team may appreciate you for respecting them, but they will not give you their full respect.

Consistency
The third key in transitioning to a new position of leadership or management is consistency. The team will be watching to see if you are consistently trustworthy. Absolute perfection is not necessary. Slip-ups now and then are to be expected. But overall the team is looking for consistent, trustworthy behavior over the long haul.

In the sequence of three priorities, I purposefully put respect ahead of consistency. Once the team genuinely respects you, they will be more willing to overlook an occasional lapse in consistency. Because of their respect for you, slip-ups now and then are not as likely to cost you their overall trust. But if they neither like you nor respect you, even the slightest inconsistency will serve to jeopardize trust.

Used with Permission of Dr. Mike Armour - Leader Perfect.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Women in Leadership Breakfasts - WIL You Lead

Hey Jay here,

Recently I took on a new partner in The Coaching Room business. I did this because I realised some time ago that I couldn't build a world class business on my own. I would, will and do need help from others. I found a meeting of the minds when I met Joseph Scott years ago and after working together for the past 6 months, over the recent Xmas break, we decided to take The Coaching Room to next Level.

In our conversations (during that time) we discussed who we would 'love' to work with going forward as we built the business. What came out of our conversation was the birth of an idea, of a passion, that resides deep within both of us. We love working with Women Leaders!

70% of our preferred clients are women. Women make more personable, powerful, insightful and elegant leaders.

There is an imbalance of women to men in the role of Leader in the business world.

So from those thoughts and buoyed on by our existing clients, we developed the WIL breakfasts - in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart (and soon to be Brisbane).

If this excites you too - read on!

WIL YOU LEAD

Women in Leadership Breakfasts (Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart)

Women in Leadership (WIL) is a monthly breakfast meeting in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart created and sponsored by The Coaching Room.

Having coached Leaders in organisations for almost a decade, our experience of the opportunities (including support and networking opportunities) available to male and female Leaders has often seemed unfairly balanced toward the male Leaders.

It has been a concern at the forefront of The Coaching Room’s mind for quite sometime now, and so this year rather than just thinking about it, we have decided to do something about it.

We have created something that will provide Women in Leadership with a real and genuine space to develop deep and accelerated relationships with other like-minded women (also in Leadership positions), as well as the opportunity to grow, feel supported, learn, make friends and have fun, whilst making a difference for other Women in Leadership.

Add to this the support of our world-class Leadership coaches, and you have a very powerful opportunity for sustained Leadership growth.

Some of the intentions of the breakfast are:

· To provide a confidential and safe environment to be ourselves

· To recognise and have a voice for our Leadership opinion

· To gain vitality in our way of being as Leaders

· For everyone invited to connect, develop their Leadership capabilities, authenticity and friendship with other female CEOs and senior leaders in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney (We will also be expanding to Brisbane over the coming months)

· For each of us to give of ourselves to those at the breakfast, in support of our Leadership growth, understanding and challenges

· For each of us to bring our challenges and successes - to share, so that others in the breakfast may celebrate with us and support us

· To have some timeout with like minded people in similar professional situations

· To make a stand for women in Leadership in what is a top heavy male dominated Leadership environment

· To connect us all in pursuit of Leadership excellence

This means:

· An opportunity to grow, to learn, share, smile and have fun in knowing and growing each other

· A sense of shared order and structure in our Leading

· That you will have the opportunity to actualize your leadership value as a human being

· That you get time in an informal setting with world-class leadership coaches aiming to give and add value to you

· You will learn from each other and we from you

· It will ultimately mean you will have a space in which to give and receive honour and dignity with leading colleagues

Timing and place:

· The breakfast will run once per month (on or close to) the same day each month

· Our first breakfast meeting in Sydney will be at 9:30 - 11am on Friday the 5th of March, 2010 at our offices at MLC - Level 57, MLC Centre, 19-29 Martin Place, Sydney.

· Our first breakfast meeting in Melbourne will be at 9:30 - 11am on Friday the 19th of February, 2010 at our offices in Collins St – Level 27, 101 Collins St Melbourne.

· Our second breakfast meeting in Hobart will be at 9:30 - 11am on the 17th February, at T42, Elizabeth Street Pier, Hobart Tasmania.

· This is a breakfast exclusively for Women in Leadership positions, those invited or that join us in the future will be mainly in the role of CEO of their company, in the process of becoming a CEO, or are in an explicit Leadership role within their organisation.

Energy:

Does the opportunity to be apart of this growing and exclusive group generate energy, motivation and intention within you?

If it does, and you are prepared to commit to being apart of this monthly breakfast meeting, we would love to have you join us. Our vision is to have 24 of us in the breakfast by mid 2010 (or sooner) and for those in the 'Women in Leadership' breakfast to significantly grow and show, develop and demonstrate what world-class Leading can achieve!

The Cost:

Your time and your commitment to 'give and to take' from this group.

The Coaching Room will be picking up the bill for your breakfast!

Next Steps:

The first WIL session will be intentionally small. We are doing this so that we can successfully set a positive framework to help us move forward more effectively.

To be part of this exclusive group, please reply by email to Jay Hedley (jay@thecoachingroom.com.au) or Joseph Scott (joseph.scott@thecoachingroom.com.au

Thanks, Jay