Complexification

We are WHOLE beings, not machines. 

Not only are we a complex mixture of structural stuff (like bones and muscles and skin and hair and...), we are also made up of tiny little things like cells and mitochondria and neural networks and.... And, then there's the chemical potions that flow through us constantly, relentlessly varying their "mixtures" to ensure (sometimes destroy) our health.

But wait! We also host a bazillion critters that aren't even human. Our gut flora is a community of "foreigners" (non-human life forms) that help us digest food and perform other functions. Health researchers conclude that we have at least 400 different kinds of "bugs" that live in our mouths, helping us function as human beings.

We haven't even touched on the different kinds of ways our minds work (see Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intellengences explained). 

Finally, we also have a spiritual or socio-emotional dimension to us. That part has been relentlessly studied through the millennia; we still seem less than certain about how that spiritual element works.

We are walking, talking complexities of "stuff," while also serving as the apartment complex for who knows how many other species. 

We are at once Nouns and Verbs.

As a lifelong learner and educator, I often wonder why we try to define (and measure) children by such narrow metrics as their prowess in math and English and science. Seems far too reductionist for such complex beings.

Dr. Dylan Wiliam is fond of saying that "a lifetime is not long enough to learn the craft of teaching." Nor is it long enough to learn the craft of LEARNING.

But today................we can start anew.

ServantLeadershipAtWork

 I recently read Servant Leadership at Work: Caring About People and Getting Extraordinary Results by Kent Keith (2024). 

 My top takeaways:

• A Servant Leader’s mindset centers on ethical, practical, and meaningful.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Get to Know Each Other as People.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Understand Colleagues’ Life at Work.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Are Ethical – They Treat People Right.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Create Strong Communities at Work.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Help Colleagues Grow.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Help Colleagues Find Meaning at Work.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Help Colleagues Beyond the Workplace.
• Impactful Servant Leaders… Care About Everyone the Organization Touches.
• Find the potential – in people and processes – then optimize that potential.
• Humans are one of 50 million known species. We are part of (not apart from) nature.  

 

My favorite quotes:

 

Per Robert Greenleaf: “Love is an undefinable term, and its manifestations are both subtle and infinite. But it begins, I believe with one absolute condition: unlimited liability! As soon as one’s liability for another is qualified to any degree, love is diminished by that much.” (p. 2)

 

Winston Churchill is quoted as saying that ‘courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.’” (p. 51)

 

“Simon Sinek says that as the leader, “you’re not in charge, you are responsible for those in your charge.’” (p. 95)  

 

This book was an excellent read. Well worth the time for any who choose to be more effective Servant Leaders. 

Malcontents

Malcontents....

Every organization and every team has to put up with the Malcontents (at least, for a little while). 

Malcontents practice one or more of the following disruptive strategies:

• Complain - about everything or anything: schedules, workload, unfairness, millennials, pay,  customers, systems, the weather....
• Resist - anything that represents a change in the status quo (which they seem to hate so much).
• Evade - efforts at improvement or innovation.
• Disengage - when it's time to craft solutions or have consequential dialogue.

How can we deal with Malcontents?

• Ignore them when we can.
• Marginalize them if possible.
• Disinvite them to trouble-shooting or strategy-crafting meetings.
• Give them minimal time and platform.
• Help them find another place to be.

If the Malcontents are only happy when they make us unhappy, perhaps we should flip the script.

Dysfunctionacity

Organizational dysfunction is a tenacious beast. 

Here are some of the culprits:

• Lack of Transparency - Healthy organizations, on the other hand, make a habit of full disclosure, honesty, and transparency with ALL stakeholders.
• Pretending - Healthy organizations, on the other hand, look the "elephant in the room" squarely in the eye, and name it openly. Then, they deal with it.
• Pettiness - Healthy organizations, on the other hand, have a persistent habit/norm of NOT letting the business become "personal." Wearing feelings on sleeves is no way to accomplishment great things. 
• Comms Voids - Healthy organizations, on the other hand, have systems in place to keep information, decisions, and expectations flowing like a steady stream. Brevity, precision in language, and consistency in communications rules! Informed teams are teams that have and feel the freedom to attend to the work.
• Freedomlessness - Empowered and healthy teams, on the other hand, feel the freedom to troubleshoot problems, innovate, dissent, and dialogue. Backroom politics are marginalized and disincentivized. 

Looks like a wish list, huh? Wishing won't make it happen... 

Tame the beast!

CompassionVitamin

When we practice Compassion, it sorta serves as a multivitamin in our interactions with others. Compassion provides a boost to us and those with whom we engage by ...

• Bringing positive energy to the situation
• Cleansing and clarifying the circumstances
• Feeding us and our interactions at a deep level
• Pulling service to others to the front of our minds
• Supplementing the strengths we bring to the table
• Brightening the prospects for impactful and collective action

Bringing Compassion to our engagements is a powerful stimulant.

Had your vitamins today?

ManagingUP!

Management is just that....managing. 

While managing is the necessary and parallel task to that of leading, it encompasses the "grunt work" of logistical and technical supplementals that allow an organization to move efficiently and effectively toward its espoused Vision.

The best leaders I know put an array of deployment strategies in place to "manage" the organization:

• They hire and empower people that understand the desired outcomes and have the skills to make those outcomes a reality.
• They coordinate the team in constant evaluation and modification of the systems that allow for smooth, consistent, and efficacious interface with the "customers," always with the Vision as the backdrop of the work.
• They constantly seek and adopt technical tools that serve the customer well, and that serve those who are serving the customer well.
• They constantly hammer away at the Vision through all kinds of messaging mechanisms so that every stakeholder -- internal and external -- understands clearly WHY the organization exists and WHAT outcomes it is pursuing.

These wise leaders understand that meaningless, redundant, non-purposeful work is............de-energizing work. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Manage UP!

Ignition&Liftoff

Some of the most impactful and insightful leaders I know have figured out a pretty simple recipe to ignite the energy and effort of those they work with. 

Here's what those exemplary leaders do to ignite their team...

• They make a point of knowing the story of each team member. Those stories are deeply personal, and have everything to do with how those folks see the world.
• They observe and discern the strengths of each of those team members and work diligently to craft a role for them that highly aligns to those strengths.
• They collaborate with the team and other stakeholders to craft a Big and Bold VISION of how they can work together to make a better future.
• They "chunk" the pursuit of that VISION into practical and doable actions such that each team member can see exactly how they can contribute to it. The abstract is made concrete, and personal.

LIFTOFF!

Harmony

 In music, harmony is the combining of notes that creates a pleasing sound. That combining happens both in simultaneous fashion (at any single moment) and in progressive fashion (as the song flows). There are numerous ways to affect harmony, but the result is that it pleases the ear and brain of the listener(s).

Harmony also occurs in personal, interpersonal and communal environments. We can "feel" it when our body/spirit is "in harmony." Same goes for our relationships. And, we sense that same "vibe" in the organizations we are members of. It just feels right when we're in harmony. It is noticeably unpleasing when we are not.

As one of my mentors says, "We are clearly singing the same song, but the notes don't seem to be in harmony."

The best leaders I know are superb at getting us to sing the same song, in harmony.

(un)Distracted

We pay a pretty high price for the constant distractions that crowd into our days. These distractions cost us both in personal and professional ways.

An example: Why is the person pinging us via text message more important than the person with whom we are currently having a conversation? 

Allowing ourselves to be constantly distracted is a habit.

NOT allowing ourselves to be constantly distracted is also a habit. 

It's significantly more difficult to embed the habit of "distraction interdiction" into our current lifestyles. That makes it like most other good habits.