All posts by Dorothy Nesbit

Essential resources for leaders: leadership as a way of being

All articles,

The style or styles we adopt as leaders reflect a wide range of factors and influences including our experience of being led (the examples we have followed) and our own values and beliefs. Moving from an approach which is both unconscious and incompetent to an approach which is thoughtfully chosen and effective requires deep self awareness. For this reason, leadership is about who we are as well as what we do. This diverse selection reflects the inner journey of a leader.

The Secret: Unlocking the Source of Joy and Fulfilment
Michael Berg

This tiny book is an introduction to the spiritual practice of Kabbalah. Whether or not Kabbalah interests you, The Secret opens up the possibility of living a life of joy and fulfilment in an age when many people hold the untested belief that we are not meant to live in joy.

The Power of Myth
Joseph Campbell

Campbell’s studies of many myths have opened up our understanding of key stages in the ‘hero’s journey’. It is essentially this journey that differentiates the leader from the manager. Reading Campbell’s book gives new insight into what it means to be a leader.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People & The 8th Habit
Steven Covey

Covey’s Seven Habits and his more recent 8th Habit have become classics in the field of self management – if you like, the leadership of the self.

The Inner Game of Tennis
W. Timothy Gallwey

Gallwey’s book became an immediate hit amongst business men and women when it was first published because of its insights into our inner dialogue and the role this dialogue can play in the game we play. Although subsequent books have addressed the inner game in specific areas, including work, I still return to my battered second-hand copy of this book.

Born To Win: Transactional Analysis With Gestalt Experiments
Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward

If you want to understand how Douglas McGregor’s ‘X’ and ‘Y’ leaders think about people, including themselves, you need look no further than the initial chapter of this book. This will help you to test your own way of thinking about people and work.

Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership
Joseph Jaworski

Jaworski’s book is rooted in his own experience and describes two quite different ways of being in his life as a leader.

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Stephen Pinker

We are at our most effective as leaders when our leadership is rooted in an understanding and acceptance of human nature. For this reason I include Pinker’s book.

On Becoming a Person
Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers is often seen as the father of both therapy and coaching, offering a compassionate approach, in line with the essential findings of leadership theory.

The Road Less Travelled
M. Scott Peck

Scott Peck’s book has become a classic in the field of personal development and offers insights into the path we choose when we become a leader.

A Simpler Way
Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner Rogers

When we understand the way nature works we have the opportunity to live our lives with ease. A Simpler Way offers a way to preserve the colour and texture of a vital individual life whilst coming together to work with others.

Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy
Irvin Yalom

Yalom’s books – from textbooks for psychotherapists to novels rooted in his practice and experience as a therapist – offer insights into what it means to accept oneself and others. Yalom offers a way of being which is both delightful and profound.

Essential resources for leaders: understanding the theory

Developing as a leader, ,

What does the theory tell us about leadership? At least some of the research suggests that people are most motivated when they draw on their inner resources and that the best leaders understand this. The following recommendations provide more information about the research, together with a DVD to illustrate what this looks like in practice.

The Human Side of Enterprise
Douglas McGregor

McGregor’s XY Theory addresses one the most fundamental question leaders have to answer: are people self-motivated or do they need to be incentivised with “carrot and stick”? And what outcomes accrue from either approach?

The New Leaders: Transforming the Art of Leadership
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee

The New Leaders is also rooted in research, describing a range of leadership styles which are used by the most effective leaders and highlighting those styles that are most likely to predict outstanding performance. Whilst this research is quite distinct (as far as I know) from McGregor’s own theory its findings are consistent with the XY Theory.

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes
Alfie Kohn

If you want to understand why the XY Theory works you need look no further than Alfie Kohn’s comprehensive review of research into human motivation. This highlights the fundamental truth that people are intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated and describes the impact – as demonstrated by science – of seeking to use the carrot or stick to motivate.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Daniel H. Pink

The question of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation has also been reprised by Daniel Pink in this book. You can also see Pink talking on this subject at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html.

Twelve O’Clock High (film)

If you can get past the war-time subject matter and the grainy black and white film, Twelve O’Clock High illustrates the predictive power of leadership – for better or for worse. If you like, this is what McGregor’s XY Theory looks like in practice.

Leadership: taking stock of your approach as a leader

Developing as a leader

As I write I am dotting ‘i’s’ and crossing ‘t’s’ before sending out my newsletter with its main article Leadership: more than skin deep.

In this posting I offer some questions for individual leaders who want to take stock of their leadership approach. These questions mirror the questions I have shared for CEOs and HR professionals who are taking a whole organisation view of leadership development. They reflect beliefs I share below:

  • The quality of leadership you display is a significant factor in your effectiveness and contributes to the effectiveness of your staff. To what extent do you have clear and concrete aspirations as a leader? To what extent do you understand the values, beliefs, thoughts and behaviours that characterise your desired approach to leadership? To what extent are you ready to see your leadership style(s) as a matter of choice?
  • If you want to be effective as a leader you need to understand how different approaches work in practice. If you like, you need to understand the difference between your intentions as a leader and how people respond in practice. To what extent have you tested your aspirations against leadership research? What books have you read, for example, and how many of them are rooted in academic research? What courses and other events have you participated in and what are their underpinning foundations?
  • Developing your leadership requires you both to develop clear aspirations and to know where you are starting from at any particular point in time. What means do you have of assessing your current approach? When did you last go through a 360 degree assessment, for example? What means do you have of getting clear, specific and honest feedback from those you lead?
  • The effectiveness of your leadership reflects multiple factors. These include the fit between you and your job and the culture and climate you work in, as well as your own effectiveness as a leader. To what extent are you taking account of all the factors that effect you as you shape your leadership approach? To what extent are you able to adapt your leadership approach to meet the needs of your current situation? To what extent are you able to differentiate between what you bring and what is beyond your control?
  • Learning is deeply personal, requiring a willingness on your part to reflect on your leadership practice, to gain new insights and to adjust your approach. This learning can stimulate deep emotions and leave you feeling deeply vulnerable. To what extent are you willing to embrace the personal nature of this learning in order to develop as a leader? To what extent are you willing to “go deep”?
  • Leadership development requires skilled partners. What support do you need (and to what extent do you have it) at this current stage in your learning and development? What additional support do you need at this time?

I wonder, what additional questions would you add to this list? And if you would like to learn more about my own work with leaders, have a browse on this blog or contact me directly (at dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk) to arrange to meet.

Leadership: questions for you and your organisation

Developing as a leader

As I write I am putting the finishing touches to my newsletter, with its main article Leadership: more than skin deep. I wrote about this article yesterday on my blog.

It occurs to me to offer some questions for readers who are taking a whole organisation view of leadership development – you are the CEOs and HR Directors of the corporate world. These questions reflect beliefs which I share below:

  • The quality of leadership in your organisation is critical to its success. To what extent do you have clear and concrete aspirations for leadership in your organisation? To what extent do you understand the values, beliefs, thoughts and behaviours that characterise your desired approach to leadership?
  • It makes sense to invest in approaches to leadership which have been proven elsewhere. To what extent have your aspirations been tested against leadership research? Have you, for example, reviewed leadership research findings so that you can reliably predict the outcomes from your chosen approach? Have you conducted research in your own organisation to determine what leads to success?
  • Effective approaches to leadership development take account of where you are starting from. What investment have you made in assessing the size and nature of the gap(s) between your current and desired leadership approach? How do your resource commitments (time, money etc.) stack up against your findings?
  • A well-planned leadership development approach recognises that the quality of leadership in your organisation reflects multiple inputs, including organisational and job design, leadership recruitment, performance management and training and development. To what extent do your plans for leadership development reflect all the areas that contribute to leadership effectiveness? To what extent do your plans reflect a true understanding of where your organisation is starting from and what initiatives will best support your progress?
  • Learning to lead is deeply personal, requiring a willingness on the part of the individual to reflect on his or her practice, to gain new insights and to adjust his or her approach. This learning can stimulate deep emotions and leave leaders feeling deeply vulnerable. To what extent have you taken account of the nature of learning in designing approaches to leadership development? To what extent does your organisational culture and climate support leaders in their learning?
  • Leadership development requires skilled partners. How are you choosing your partners (recruitment consultants, trainers, consultants etc.) as an organisation to support you in making progress towards your aspirations as an organisation? How are you assessing their ‘fit’ to the values, beliefs, thoughts and behaviours to which you aspire? To what extent does your way of working with them reflect and embody your deepest aspirations as an organisation?

What questions would you add? And if you would like to learn more about how I work with client organisations to support their leadership development, please go to my website at http://www.learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk/ or contact me directly (at dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk) to arrange to meet.

Leadership: more than skin deep

Developing as a leader

Today I am putting the finishing touches to my newsletter which will go out next week. The main article focuses on leadership development, exploring what it might take to close the gap between theory and practice in the field of leadership: with so much research to tell us what differentiates outstanding leaders, why is this gap so wide?

Taking a moment away from the final edits I consider the depth of reflection and self mastery that characterises the most committed leaders. This gives me the title of my article: Leadership: more than skin deep. One the key questions I reflect on is this: to what extent do organisations recognise what it requires of individual leaders to learn and grow when they comission leadership development events?

I welcome your comments: please add them to my blog. To readers of my newsletter I ask, what does this article evoke for you? To readers of my blog I ask, what are your thoughts on this subject?

It’s my aim this year to make my newsletter more accessible by using a third party platform. You can be sure I’ll let you know when the time comes. Meantime, if you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, you can contact me directly at mailto:dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.ukm for more information.

Your story in 2010

All articles,

It’s not the first time that I have asked my friend and fellow coach, Len Williamson, for his permission to share one of the brief writings he shares from time to time. Len has a particular gift for hitting the spot with just a few words. With his permission I share this example. It speaks for itself:

January and February are now written and the year’s themes are taking shape. Like any good novel now is a good time to take stock. Are you still holding the pen writing your story and do you like what is being written? Often by March the pen has slipped across our desk or been taken from our hands by someone else. In a trance we watch the pen write, live the story it tells and wonder why we are not where we want to be. If it is firmly in your hand or the hand of a friend and the story reads well then let the pen’s prose flow. If it is not then take it back, fill it with your ink and write the story you want to tell.

You can reach Len via his website at http://www.theowlpartnership.com. You can also read about Len’s efforts to raise awareness and funds for sufferers of multiple sclerosis at http://www.1000miles4hope.com/.

From bright future to glittering present: Robin Ticciati

About Dorothy

Sometimes, I have reasons to remember a concert long after it has passed so that a light touch in the present evokes my memories of years gone by.

One concert that remains vivid in my memory is a performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony in which I sang as a member of the London Symphony Chorus in 2001 – or thereabouts. We sang in the Birmingham Symphony Hall under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle and alongside the National Youth Orchestra.

It was a special occasion for me because my nephew, Edward Nesbit, was a young composer that year with the National Youth Orchestra, a sign that his early interest in composing held some promise and (I confess) a matter of auntly pride. It was also a pleasure, as always, to have the opportunity to catch up with Paul Keene, who is Director of Programming and Projects at Symphony Hall. I sang under Paul’s baton as a member of the Peterhouse Chapel Choir during my days at Cambridge.

There is another memory that is vivid in my mind from that day. I suspect that other members of the chorus will remember it, too. In the midst of our tutti rehearsal, Sir Simon Rattle asked a member of the orchestra to take his place at the podium so that he could step back and listen to the orchestra. As Rattle walked back into the depths of the hall the young timpanist, Robin Ticciati, took up the baton and conducted. Even as I write I feel the goosebumps that I felt then at the realisation that this was a young man whose bright future was already visible – something to be nurtured and celebrated.

Times move on. My nephew, Edward, has continued the courageous and uncertain path of a composer and is currently studying at Kings College, London. You can read about him and hear some of his music at www.edwardnesbit.com. And on Thursday 25th March, Robin Ticciati will be making his LSO debut at the Barbican, conducting Sibelius, Lindberg and Grieg.

I’ll be there.

To niche or not to niche?

Coaching,

Frankly, my journey as a coach has been one of deep personal exploration for me, as well as for my clients, so that my first eight years as Director of Learning for Life (Consulting) has been as much about my own journey as it has been about the lives and work of my clients. It has been a time of examining my values and making adjustments to increasingly live and work in line with my values. It has been a time of examining old beliefs, letting go of some in favour of new beliefs which support me as someone who is authentic, resourceful and whole. Many times it has brought me to new thresholds which are waiting to be crossed if I am to be true to myself and to make my contribution in the world.

This year, a few well-targeted questions from the wonderful coach Hilary Cochrane made me put aside plans I had made and to reconfigure the year ahead, signing up with Kathy Mallary in the US to examine my marketing at the same time as signing up with Carolyn Free Pearce as my coaching supervisor and continuing my work with my coach of five years, Lynne Fairchild. What a great team!

Even with this superb team, the work that awaits me is well and truly my own and I have quickly started to bump up against and explore some of my own limitations as I examine the mother of all marketing questions: what is my niche? It’s one thing, for example, to say working with senior leaders and I say it with ease. At the same time, which leaders? And what is it about those leaders that marks me out as a coach (and which, come to speak of it, attracts people who are not leaders to seek me out)?

In recent days I have reached out to others to invite them to share their own experiences of identifying their own niche, sharing my question (‘to niche, or not to niche?’) with a number of groups to which I belong. I have been grateful for the depth and variety of answers which help me to test my own thinking.

At the same time, questions from each member of my team are bringing me right back home. What if, asked Kathy last week, your true genius is in the area of wholeness and integration? I recognise this immediately, recognising how much I have sought in my own life to reconcile the irreconcilable and how often I work with clients to go beyond inner conflict to help them understand and respond to underlying needs. Today, Carolyn has thrown in the question of authenticity and integrity and this, too, resonates with me, recognising as I do my own path to authentic self-expression as well as my conviction that my clients will give their best performance as well as achieve their deepest satisfaction when they are able to be themselves. As a coach I enjoy working in deep partnership with my clients and over long periods in ways which many coaches are not.

Somehow, none of this is new and all of this is new. As I wonder what it means to have these themes of wholeness, integration and authenticity as a point of departure for my niche (rather than leadership and emotional intelligence) I recognise both that I am coming home and that I am treading a new and uncertain path. It is a path which requires faith – the trust and conviction that if I share my strengths my true clients will find me.

To write this posting is to step over the threshold and go public, even whilst recognising that I am only just beginning to answer the question: what is my niche? In my own way and in my own professional sphere, this is my ‘coming out’.

The life and death implications of unilateral control

Developing as a leader,

Today, I opened my intray to the monthly newsletter of Roger Schwarz and the heading: How Unilateral Control Can Kill You. Whatever your setting, this brief article highlights the life and death implications of unilateral control and I am glad to take Roger up on his permission to reproduce his article:

This is not a headline from the sensationalist tabloid National Enquirer. It is the conclusion of Dr. Peter Pronovost, an MD and a Ph.D. in hospital safety, who is medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Pronovost’s group is responsible for increasing safety and reducing iatrogenic illness and death – those caused inadvertently by physicians, surgeons or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures.

Each year, a lot of people become ill or die in hospitals not despite health care, but because of it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in American hospitals alone, healthcare-associated infections account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year.

So, what does this have to do with unilateral control? It turns out that some of these infections and deaths can easily be prevented, but unilateral control takes over. Pronovost says, “As at many hospitals, we had dysfunctional teamwork because of an exceedingly hierarchal culture. When confrontations occurred, the problem was rarely framed in terms of what was best for the patient. It was: ‘I’m right. I’m more senior than you. Don’t tell me what to do.’” This is the classic “I understand, you don’t; I’m right, you’re wrong” unilateral control mindset. The impact in healthcare is the same as it is anywhere: many, many people stop sharing relevant information when they are treated this way. The difference? If a nurse clams up you may die.

Take the case of doctors washing their hands. According to Pronovost, even with improving safety records, 30% of the time, doctors in hospitals were not washing their hands prior to surgery. So, at Johns Hopkins hospital, they made a number of changes, including empowering nurses to make sure the doctors washed their hands. If the doctors did not, the nurses were empowered to prevent a procedure from beginning. Initially the nurses said it wasn’t their job to monitor doctors; the doctors said that they would not allow nurses to prevent a procedure from moving forward. Yet, over four years, the hospital got their ICU infection rates down to nearly zero. What Pronovost doesn’t say is whether these medical teams changed their mindsets about hierarchy and unilateral control or used checklists and other simple structures that treated the symptoms but bypassed the fundamental causes of unilateral control.

As Pronovost points out, unilateral control also exists between doctors. Once, during a surgery, he was administering anesthesia and saw that the patient was developing the classic signs of a life threatening allergic reaction. He told the surgeon, “I think this is a latex allergy, please go change your gloves.” “It’s not!” the surgeon insisted, refusing. Pronovost responded, “Help me understand how you’re seeing this. If I’m wrong, all I am is wrong. But if you’re wrong, you’ll kill the patient.” When communication between the surgeon and him broke down, he asked the scrub nurse to phone the dean of the medical school, believing that the dean would support him. As the nurse was about to call, the surgeon cursed Pronovost and finally pulled off the latex gloves.

For most of us in organizations, the costs of unilateral control can be difficult to pinpoint. We lose time, our commitment, innovative ideas, the organization’s money, our faith in leaders, and some of our mental health. Pronovost’s work reminds us that when the stakes are high, unilateral control can cost people their lives.Click here to read the New York Times interview with Dr. Peter Prosnovost, on which my article is based.

This article is written and edited by Roger Schwarz, copyright Roger Schwarz & Associates, 2010 and all rights are reserved. You can learn more about Roger and his work and also sign up to his monthly newsletter at http://www.schwarzassociates.com/ .

The globalisation of empathy

Emotional Intelligence,

In recent decades scientists have been studying the role that empathy plays, work that is increasingly known and understood thanks to a range of authors including ’emotional intelligence (EI) guru’ Daniel Goleman. In my own work I have engaged deeply with emotional intelligence, conducting large-scale research projects in corporations to understand what differentiates their most outstanding leaders (without fail, aspects of their EI abilities), assessing leaders for senior roles, and working in deep coaching partnership with leaders and other individuals who want to develop their emotional intelligence in order fully to step into their capabilities and make a difference in the world.

But what difference? On Monday I heard a new and challenging take on the role of empathy when I listened to Jeremy Rifkin speak at the RSA about his new book The Empathic Civilization.

As I begin to write, let it be said that Rifkin is an exciting and fascinating speaker. At the beginning of his hour-long lecture he took out his glasses and his (is it me, or were they a little scruffy-looking?) notes and began to take his audience on an exciting, stimulating and deeply thought-provoking journey. I was struck by his combination of sharp mind, warmth and empathy. Not once did I see him look at his notes.

What did I take from his talk? His central thesis, supported by all sorts of facts, figures and academic research, is that we have entered the Age of Empathy just as we are heading towards global disaster as a result of our disproportionate and unsustainable use of the planet’s natural resources. The question is, shall we reach a point of developing the depth of empathy for populations around the world that it will take to avert disaster? And shall we reach this point in time? These are compelling questions to which we do not yet have answers.

I was also interested in some of the ground Rifkin covered along the way, including his response to questions at the end of his talk. He cited the internet as a model for the kind of world we need to create if we are going to avert this crisis, because of its open and collaborative qualities. What if, for example, instead of building centralised energy sources, we were to harness local energy sources (sun, wind, rain etc.) and share any energy we don’t need ourselves via some kind of distributive network? This is particularly important since building has the highest carbon footprint (followed by beef production, and only then traffic).

Now, in writing this brief posting I have a fear of totally butchering Rifkin’s thinking. So as well as directing you to Amazon (via the link above) in case you want to read a copy of his book, I also invite you to have a root around the RSA’s website where a recording of his presentation as well as brief video extracts will be posted some time very soon.