MOR Leadership Workshop · Understanding Workplace Culture The Three Lenses: Strategic, ... Lisa...

MOR Leadership Workshop

Leadership can be learned; in fact, it has to be learned. There are very few born leaders.

Peter Drucker

Learning is defined as a change in behavior. You haven’t learned a thing until you take action and use it.

Don Shula and Ken Blanchard

The proof you have learned something is in your ability to do something at an increased capability.

Brian McDonald

MOR Associates, Inc.462 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472tel. 617.924.4501 fax. 617.924.8070www.morassociates.com

Brian McDonald, [email protected]

MOR (Maximizing Organizational Resources) provides:

customized leadership development programs,

data analysis in support of evidence based decision-making,

strategic consulting,

partnering with clients to bring about sustainable improvements.

Since our inception in 1983, MOR has supported, advised, coached, and inspired leaders as they develop strategies designed to enhance their individual and organization’s success. MOR focuses on helping leaders position their organizations and their people to deliver increasing value in the future.

MOR AssociatesBrian McDonald President

Sean McDonald Vice President

Jim BruceSenior Fellow and Coach Former Faculty Member and CIO, MIT

Jack WolfeSenior Consultant, Executive Coach

Lori GreenProgram Leader, Leadership Coach

Rick FredericksSenior Consultant, Program Leader,Leadership Coach

Annie StundenLeadership Coach Former CIO, University of Wisconsin

Gary AugustsonLeadership Coach Former CIO, Penn State University

Greg AndersonSenior Consultant, Leadership Coach

Susan Washburn Program Leader, Leadership Coach

Curtis Odom Program Leader, Leadership Coach

Leslie Alger Leadership Coach

Chris PaquetteSenior Survey Consultant

Harold PakulatSenior Survey ConsultantLeadership Coach

Rob SmyserSurvey Services Manager

Dan McDonaldOffice Manager

Maria CorsoFinance Manager

Caitlin WardExecutive Assistant

[ CLIENTS ] Stanford University | Hewlett Foundation | MIT | Berkeley Lab | GE Capital | NYU | MA-Com | TYCO | Columbia University | New England Business Services | Northeastern University | Indiana University | Stanford Linear Accelerator | Lincoln Lab | US Postal Service | The University of Pennsylvania | UC Berkeley | Penn State University | University of Wisconsin | University of Southern California | University of Washington | University of Illinois

462 Main Street, Suite 300Watertown, MA 02472

p: 617-924-4501

f: 617-924-8070e: [email protected]

About

Strategic Consulting

Leaders need to develop a compelling vision for a desired future state that engages and enlists people in moving toward a vision. It is critical to encourage strategic thinking at all levels of the organization. MOR consultants partner with clients who are engaged in strategic thinking, business process improvement and similar initiatives.

Survey Services

Leaders need to develop strategies and make decisions based on evi-dence supported by analysis. MOR Surveys offers tailored services de-signed to gather, analyze, and report useful information. MOR offers customer satisfaction surveys, employee engagement surveys, and 360 multi-rater feedback surveys. Our survey services are virtually turnkey and we provide expert assistance in survey design, methodology, admin-istration, analysis, reporting, and communication.

Customized Leadership Development

The MOR Leadership Institute offers an intense and distinctive devel-opmental experience that results in increased individual effectiveness and a shared language that a community of leaders can use to collabo-rate. The design involves three tracks: workshops focused on concepts and competencies, an applied learning approach emphasizing putting the frameworks into practice, and an individual track that is devoted to “work on self.”

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This program provides numerous opportunities.

It’s a place to take risks, to test out your ideas, to test out new behaviors, and to

solicit feedback.

Sustainable behavior changes take place when

individuals adopt new practices, and as a result,

develop new habits.

Dialogue and real-time feedback are great sources

of insight, though they require us to acclimate to

being vulnerable.

You haven’t learned anything unless you have demonstrated your ability

to do something at an increased capability.

Each workshop is a learning lab. This is

a practice field. Stepping up or stepping out of the

familiar requires us to operate outside our

comfort zones.

Premises Underlying This Leadership Program

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Contents MOR Leaders Program Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Session One Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Program Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Presence and Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Leading – Managing – Doing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Your Leadership Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Feedback Is a Gift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

A Practical Guide for Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Leaders Are Strategic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Leaving Your Comfort Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Focus On the Important . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Your Development Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

The Immediate versus the Important . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

The Applied Learning Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Insights from Session One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

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MOR Leaders Program Themes

Session One | February 25-27 | University of Texas - AustinDefining Leadership and Management

Presence and PresentationDefining Leadership and ManagementYour Leadership JourneyIntroduction to Strategic ThinkingThe Strategic Planning Process

Balancing the Important with the ImmediateDelegationCreating an Individual Development PlanCoaching for Commitment

Session Two | April 16-18 | University of California at BerkeleyLeading Change and Exercising Influence

Leading Change, Evolution Is ContinualUnderstanding Workplace CultureThe Three Lenses: Strategic, Political, Cultural Consulting on a Change ProcessExercising Influence

Building Relationships: The Four I’sCreating a Vision for this Learning CommunityNeuroscience and Developing PracticesCoaching for Results

Session Three | June 17-19 | Boston CollegeDeveloping Your Interpersonal Skills

Developing Interpersonal Skills, Emotional IntelligenceBuilding Relationships: Mapping Your NetworkThe Leader’s Role as CommunicatorStakeholder Mapping

Presenting for Impact Using SUCCES Leadership as Performance ArtFocusing on Your Development Goals

Session Four | September 16-18 | New York UniversityDeveloping People and Delivering Results

Developing People Having Difficult Conversations The Leader’s Role in Delivering ResultsContinuing Your Leadership Journey

Improv as a Leadership Skill Coaching for a Breakthrough Peer Coaching

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Session One: Defining Leadership and Management

Day One: Defining Leadership

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 • University of Texas - Austin

FAC Building, Third Floor, Room #328

Continental Breakfast 8:00 am

I Opening Comments 8:30 am

Overview on the Agenda

Welcome to Washington University

Participant Go-Around: What Do You Want to Get Out of this Experience?

First Impressions Exercise

II Presence and Presentation

Leaders Need to Have Presence

Be Intentional

III Perspectives on Leadership

Participants Compare and Contrast Thought Leaders

Small Groups Present from Advance Readings

Guidelines for Giving Feedback

What Makes for an Effective Presentation?

Lunch

IV Balancing Your Roles – Leading, Managing, and Doing

How Do You Use Your Time and Your Talent?

Introduction to Coaching Skills

Listening Is a Leadership Attribute

Thinking about Your Goals for the Program

V Your Leadership Journey

Discussion: What Are the Lessons You’ve Learned in Regard to Leadership?

VI Wrap Up 5:00 pm

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Day Two: Strategic Thinking

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 • University of Texas - Austin





Reflections on Yesterday’s Session

Leadership Journeys:

Understanding Group Process and Group Dynamics

II Leaders Focus on the Strategic

What Are the Forces and Trends Shaping the External Environment?

Facilitating an Environmental Scan for Higher Education

What Are the Major Strategic Issues Facing Higher Education?

Lunch

III Strategic Thinking Tools

Scenario Planning

Train Your Brain to Think in Scenarios, So What If?

Conducting a SWOT Analysis for Your Organization

IV Applied Strategic Thinking

What Is One Strategic Goal for Your Area?

What Is the Desired Future State for Your Work Group?

What Is a Possible Strategy for How You Can Accomplish this End?

V Wrap Up 5:00 pm

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Day Three: Balancing the Important with the Immediate

Thursday, February 27, 2014 • University of Texas - Austin







II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic

Leading – Managing – Doing; Finding a Balance

Does the Immediate Preempt the Important?

Focusing on the Big Picture and Priorities Requires Certain Skill Sets:

§ Setting Priorities; Capacity Planning

§ Being Decisive: What Decisions Should You Own?

§ Delegation Is a Process, Not a Single Act

§ Selecting and Developing Your People

III Creating Your Development Plan

Revisit the 360˚ Survey

Share Examples of Goals Appropriate to this Opportunity

Participants Work on Shaping Their Development Plans

Peer-to-Peer Coaching Conversations to Refine Goals

Next Steps for Completing Your Development Plan

§ Finalize and Submit Your Goals

The Power of Habit

Working Lunch

IV Coaching on Your Development

V Wrap Up 2:00 pm

Outline Action Items

Applied Learning

Feedback on the Session

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Program Roster

Boston College

Brian Bernier [email protected]

Mary Durr [email protected]

David Escalante [email protected]

Joseph Harrington [email protected]

Linda McCarthy [email protected]

Eileen Shepard [email protected]

Clemson University

Brian Becknell [email protected]

Debra Charles [email protected]

Billy Cook [email protected]

Daniel Schmiedt [email protected]

Randall Martin [email protected]

Barrett Kendjoria [email protected]

Barr Von Oehsen [email protected]

Kevin McKenzie [email protected]

Minnesota State Colleges & Universities

Philip Thorson [email protected]

Mitchell Wallerstedt [email protected]

Matthew Clay [email protected]

Montana

John Greer [email protected]

Jesse Neidigh [email protected]

John Thunstrom [email protected]

Pat Widhalm [email protected]

Mike Wright [email protected]

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New York University

Steve Adler [email protected]

Chris Agnelli [email protected]

Vincent Hou [email protected]

Andy Maliszewski [email protected]

Michael McClintick [email protected]

Peggy McCready [email protected]

Brenda Mitchell [email protected]

Syed Raza [email protected]

John Stucki [email protected]

University of California - Berkeley

Walt Hagmaier [email protected]

Jennifer Hopkins [email protected]

Devin Jones [email protected]

John Lin [email protected]

Lisa Martin [email protected]

Owen McGrath [email protected]

University of Texas - Austin

Noemi Nieto [email protected]

David Pavkovic [email protected]

Scott Richardson [email protected]

Charlie Scott [email protected]

Jason Wang [email protected]

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

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First Impressions Exercise

KEY QUESTION: What impression do you make?

Based on your limited exposure and observations, please write down three to five phrases or

words to characterize each individual in your group. At least one must be a “critical” observation.

When you’re done, complete the question further below.

Name:

Descriptive words or phrases:

Name:


Name:


Name:


What phrases or words might others use to describe their first impressions of you?

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4 E’s Worksheet

KEY QUESTION: How would you describe your presence?

Think for a few moments about your “presence” and how you normally interact with others in

the workplace and answer the questions below.

How do you Enter a new situation?

What Energy do you bring into the room?

How do you choose to Engage?

How do people assess the Ethos of your character?

If you were to work on enhancing your presence, what would you do differently?

Be intentional about your presence.

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS

Presence. You have it. In fact, everyone has it. But not everyone is aware of it. And very few people take full advantage of its power. For starters, it’s one of those intangibles that’s eas-ier to recognize than describe. We see it when some people enter a room and seem to create a magnetic field. Without even appearing to try, they capture everyone’s attention.

We encounter individuals with presence in just about every kind of situation. When people say, “Did you notice how she held everyone’s atten-tion?” or “He seems larger than life,” they’re de-scribing presence.

Take Colin Powell. When he walks into a room, he seems to fill it. Some of that may be attrib-uted to his reputation as a military leader, his position as former U.S. Secretary of State, and his influence on the world stage. But it also flows from his ability to project an understated, but nevertheless commanding, presence that inspires confidence.

The Dalai Lama offers an intriguing contrast. Although he enters a room in a swirl of color that instantly attracts attention, his bearing and his body language project humility. But for this Nobel Peace Prize recipient, humility is a sign of strength, not weakness. Even though he’s been an exile from his native Tibet since 1959, people are eager to hear his message.

Both the Dalai Lama and Colin Powell have what we call ‘presence.’ And for leaders, this

is a valuable commodity. When people observe a leader, they form an impression. The lead-er may, through his or her presence, convey a sense of competence, confidence, humility, or any number of other qualities. Leaders who are intentional about the presence they project are able to get people’s attention. They real-ize that people have a choice about whether or not to tune in and pay attention. They know that when they create a positive first impres-sion, they open the door and create the condi-tions that enable them to influence the people whom they lead.

Though quite different, each possesses striking, considerable presence.

Since everyone has presence—good, bad, or indifferent—it’s helpful to take a look at how first impressions are created. For instance, when a new person joins a group, those already there instantly, and often unconsciously, form an impression. Sometimes this impression is positive. At other times, it’s negative. If the newcomer appears to be at ease and generates positive energy, the group often grows larger as people are attracted to the upbeat environment.

morassociates.com 462 Main Street, Suite 300 Watertown, MA 02472 t:617-924-4501 f:617-924-8070 e:[email protected]

The Power of PresenceHow leaders can use this powerful intangible to maximize their influence and achieve their goals

by Brian McDonald, MOR Associates

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But if he or she gives off negative vibes, people tend to break away from a situation where they feel drained of vitality. These scenarios offer valuable insights into the power of first impres-sions—and in a larger sense, of presence. Peo-ple who generate negative energy often have a difficult time fulfilling their goals. It isn’t un-usual in organizations to have some individu-als with a cynical view. These people typically criticize any new idea. Conversely, leaders who project positive energy seem to have the wind at their backs when it comes to achieving their leadership goals.

Just how important are first impressions? Their significance was brought home a while back when a major university launched a search for a new senior officer. Eventually, the search com-mittee narrowed the field to two finalists. Both were from outside the university. Both had im-pressive backgrounds. But in the final round of interviews, one candidate offered a limp hand-shake to members of the selection committee. “A weak handshake will never make it here,” one interviewer observed. And immediately, the scales tipped in favor of the other candi-date. Fair? Maybe not. Perhaps the runner-up would have been a strong leader. But we’ll never know because he never got the proverbial second chance to make a good first impression.

Presence is more than first impressions, but a powerful first impression goes a long way to-ward projecting a positive professional image and creating a positive presence. Presence is what you generate when you show up. Presence is a combination of your physical characteris-tics, the energy you generate, the attitude you demonstrate, and the way in which you conduct yourself.

Or, as the dictionary suggests in regard to stage presence: “The quality of self-assurance and ef-fectiveness that permits a performer to achieve a rapport with the audience.”

How can you use first impressions to build your leadership presence?

§ Be mindful. Realize that you are not only creat-

ing a first impression, but also projecting a pro-

fessional image. That professional image, en-

compassing everything from your bearing to your

body language to the way you speak and make

eye contact, should project a self-assurance that

inspires others to have confidence in you.

§ Be intentional. Have a clear understanding of

the image you want to project and how to con-

vey it through your presence. You may want to

reflect on the way you hold yourself, your choice

in attire, the way you greet others, and the voice

or tone you use when you first speak.

§ Engage others. Extend yourself by reaching out

to others when you enter a room or join a group.

This may come more naturally to extroverts, but

introverts can also learn to greet others warmly,

remember names, ask questions that show their

interest in the other person, listening attentively to

the answers, and make positive connections.

§ Be authentic. We’ve all heard the advice: be

yourself. Trying to be someone or something you

aren’t simply doesn’t work. So let others know

who you are. When your words and actions reflect

your values and beliefs and are genuine, people

respond positively. This creates the credibility you

need to lead.

§ Be credible. As a leader it’s essential that people

believe in you, trust you, and want to engage with

you. Leaders use their presence to project a cred-

ible image when they speak the truth, do what they

say they will do, know what they’re talking about,

know what they don’t know, and walk the talk.

These qualities not only make a strong first impres-

sion, they also enable leaders to earn the respect

and trust of the people over the long term.

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Used together, these approaches enable leaders to create a first impression that enhances their influence, whether they’re part of an informal group, engaged in discussion around a confer-ence table, or walking onto a platform to make a presentation.

Effective leaders realize that creating a posi-tive first impression is only the first step—one that is necessary but not sufficient. They un-derstand that the real work of leadership is to enroll people in the initiatives they are champi-oning, persuade others to tackle daunting chal-lenges, create enthusiasm for innovation and change, and build a culture that will be success-ful in a changing world. And they know that presence invests those who possess it with pow-er as others assess their authenticity, credibil-ity, and competence in real-life situations and conclude that they measure up to those positive first impressions.

Leaders operate in a competitive universe. Those who understand the power of presence, and who learn how to create and use it, enjoy significant advantages in their efforts to maxi-mize their influence and achieve their goals.

_______________________________________

For further reading on this topic:

Put Your Best Foot Forward: Make a Great

Impression by Taking Control of How Others See You

by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, Mark Mazzarella, Simon & Schuster

How to Play to Your Strengths

by Laura Morgan Roberts, Harvard Business Review

NOTES

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Managing Your Presence and Contribution • • • Practices Worksheet

Being intentional about how you present yourself and contribute at meetings is an excellent prac-

tice. Doing this will increase your self-awareness and make you a more effective contributor.

This worksheet will guide you to be more purposeful.

Purpose(s) of the meeting

Desired outcome(s)

What is your role?

What contribution(s) will you make?

What “characters” will you need to bring to this interaction? (facilitator, cheerleader, etc.)

What is important for you to draw out of others? What process/tool will you use to engage others?

Indicate below how you think the meeting should play out if your plans work out. You can add

your own measures at the bottom. After the meeting, mark how the meeting actually went.

<< More Accurate More Accurate >>

Others did all the talking ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I did all the talking

I let others manage the meeting ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I actively facilitated the meeting

I didn’t contribute effectively ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I contributed effectively

I didn’t advocate a particular view

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I advocated a particular view

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

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KEY QUESTIONS

What is leadership?

How is leadership different from managing?

? Leading Versus Managing

Leaders ManagersProvide direction

§ Establish the vision

§ Develop the strategies

§ Cope with change

Plan

§ Set goals and targets

§ Establish goals to achieve the plan

§ Allocate resources

Align people

§ Communicate the direction

§ Engage people in implementation

§ Build commitment

Organize

§ Create structure

§ Develop staffing

§ Communicate the plan

Motivate

§ Hold up the banner

§ Coach and empower

§ Recognize and reward success

Coordinate and control

§ Identify deviations

§ Solve problems

§ Measures results against plans

Adapted from What Leaders Really Do,

John Kotter, Harvard Business Review

KEY IDEAS

Leadership is about doing the right things. Management is about doing those things right.

Peter Drucker

The only true leader is someone who has followers. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone who has followers who do the right things. Popularity is not leader-ship. Results are. Leaders are highly vis-ible. They, therefore, set examples. Leader-ship is not rank, privileges, titles or money. It is responsibility.

Peter Drucker

The essence of leadership is found in the ability to transform vision into significant actions. The two dimensions are vision and the ability to implement. To this end, the leader’s chief resource is power: the capability to get things done.

William Hitt

I’m talking about leadership as the de-velopment of vision and strategies, the alignment of relevant people behind those strategies, and the empowerment of indi-viduals to make the vision happen despite obstacles.

John Kotter

LEADING

MA

NA

GIN

G

DO

ING

100% •

90% •

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20% •

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0% •

100%

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90%

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80%

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70%

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60%

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50%

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40%

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30%

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20%

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10%

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0%

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100% •

90% •

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DOERSDo the task

MANAGERSFacilitate

operational excellence

LEADERSCreate future viability

AGENDA FOCUS

Personal producer

§ focus on operational tasks

§ get core work done

§ do high risk, high visibility items

Planning and budgeting

§ draft goals and operational plans

§ allocate resources

§ submit budgets

Establishing direction

§ track external trends

§ anticipate future needs

§ develop vision and strategies to achieve goals

PEOPLE FOCUS

Self and boss

§ high ownership for the work

§ want to succeed, please the boss

§ personal statistics

Organizing and staffing

§ individuals, teams

§ establish structure to accomplish plan

§ assign responsibilities

§ develop policies and procedures

§ develop systems to monitor implementation

Inspiring commitment and aligning people

§ communicate direction

§ engage others in formu-lating and undertaking strategic pursuits

§ work on raising people’s commitment levels

§ role model leadership

PROCESS FOCUS

Being the best player

§ do it myself

§ whatever it takes

§ do it right

Controlling and problem-solving

§ monitor results vs. plan

§ identify deviations, variances

§ facilitate problem-solving

§ develop systems for repetitive processes

Developing capability needed for the future

§ build organizational capability required to accomplish strategic goals

§ oversee high-potential leader development

§ challenge and coach

§ recognize and reward

RESULTSFOCUS

Individual results

§ produce outcomes

§ produce high quality individual contributions

§ role model style to others

Operational results

§ produce stakeholder outcomes: quality, service, cost, on budget

§ produce degree of pre-dictability and order via systems and processes

Strategic results

§ position the organization to add value in the future

§ new business direction and strategies

§ new processes, products

§ new organizational capabilities

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Leading-Managing-Doing Worksheet

How do you think you currently divide your time between activities related to leading, managing, and

doing?

Would you change this distribution in any way?

Where are there opportunities for you to play more of a leadership role?

What do you need to do to enhance

your ability to act in leaderly ways?

lead•ernoun

what one is being when one exercises leadership; not a formal position, but a func-tion that anyone can do irre-spective of title or status

Ronald Heifetz, Riley Sinder,

and Dean Williams

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Leading-Managing-Doing Worksheet

The immediate is always threatening to preempt the important, and people who are looked to

for leadership are often too busy with current priorities to deliver it. Complete the first two tallies

and pie charts today and fill in the last one at a future date to check in on how you fared.

Today, , what percent of your time do you spend on each of the following activities?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

What percent of your time would be desirable for you to spend in each of the following activities?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

It’s months later, how are you dividing your time now?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

10%

10%

10%

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Components To Consider When Selecting Goals

Leadership Development

On becoming a leader, who you are, how you show up, and what you do, are there developmental

opportunities that pertain to your evolution as a leader?

Strengths

What did the 360° survey tell you about your strengths?

What are your primary strengths? Are there strengths you want to build on?

Growth Areas

Are there aspirations you have that this leadership program would support your pursuing in the year

ahead? Are there gaps in your knowledge or exposure to the organization that you would like to fill?

Are there opportunities you are aware of that are important for you to tackle this year?

360° Feedback

What areas from your survey stand out as improvement opportunities?

23

NOTES

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Your Leadership Journey Worksheet

Everyone has a learned point of view on leadership that comes from the sum of their life ex-

periences. Think over the leadership experiences you have had in your life. Think of the most

important lessons you have learned about leadership from your life experiences, parents, teach-

ers, schools, mentors, work, etc. Think about how you learned these lessons. Identify the lessons

learned or the values that influence your leadership story.

Event

Event

Event

Leadership Lesson or Value



Presenting Your Leadership Journey?

• Who is the audience? Where are they listening from?

• What is the key message you want to convey? How can you convey it compellingly?

• What’s the opening, the content, the close? How can you use the room?

• Be creative. Change up the medium periodically.

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Your Leadership Timeline

Construct a drawing similar to the one below on a flipchart or use the blank timeline on the following

page. Plot the ups and downs of your development as a leader. Label the critical events and lessons learned

from each event. Add any major life events that have had a big impact on what you believe about leader-

ship. The chart should represent positive, negative, and even neutral events that have shaped your point

of view on your leadership. This exercise will help you define and articulate your personal “teachable points of

view” on leadership.

Brian’s Leadership Timeline

8th GradeAlliancesFrontal assaultson the castle arerarely successful

UMassIdeasInitiatives

MRCVisionStakeholdersSocial change

H2OChange agendaBridge builderCapital

Deputy to Gov.• Balance policy and politics • Influence • Ethics matter

ElectionMomentum is hugeExtend the circleTake risks

Post El.Self-discoverySystemsNew arena

New ChapterSelf-discoveryMindful of selfOD

DIVChangeChoiceShape it

Desired future stateEnergizing

RenewalReinvent

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LEADERSHIP LESSONS

One of the initial surprises in session one of the leadership programs is the culture of feedback that gets established on day one. As groups fin-ish presenting the various leadership theories, they are asked, “would you like some feedback on the presentation aspects of what your team just did?” In almost every case the presenters respond cautiously with “yes” or “sure, why not.”

There is considerable apprehension about what will follow when the feedback is shared. Yet, by the end of day one, one of the early ah ha’s par-ticipants have is discovering that feedback can be considered a gift.

Learning to listen, while people share their view of what you could do to enhance your pre-sentation or your effectiveness, takes practice. Our tendency is to get defensive and put up a shield to protect ourselves. Learning to divert these old automatic responses to feedback takes a little time. Yet, participants invariably see the benefits to being more open and as a result ask for feedback more often.

Most participants grow more comfortable with the idea of feedback, asking in earnest, “what could I do to improve?” The other individuals in their cohorts almost always respond in a sup-portive way, sharing their perceptions openly.

Participants are encouraged to go back to the workplace and start asking for feedback on a consistent basis. They’re encouraged to respond

with a simple, “thank you for sharing that.” De-veloping this habit can be challenging but es-sential. Learning to taking a deep breath and say “thank you for sharing that” can help to cre-ate a climate where open feedback is the norm. And that can be quite powerful.

I recently received a gift from a recent graduat-ing class of cohorts. The participants were kind enough to give me a book, wrapped in a bow, that was entitled “Feedback.” They took the time to write me personal notes sharing their feedback on the program. It was quite touching and as I read their notes in the days following the graduation, it allowed me to savor the ex-perience.

Learning about how others experience your be-havior or hearing how you come across to oth-ers is incredibly illuminating. These are not in-sights you could arrive at on your own. Keep in mind, feedback will be more readily received if we can follow these guidelines:


Feedback Is a GiftCreating a climate where open feedback is the norm.by Brian McDonald, MOR Associates

28

1. Feedback Needs to Be Specific, Not General

General statements, such as, “You’re meetings aren’t productive” or “That was a good report” lack spec-ificity. Neither statement lets you know what it is that made the meeting seem unproductive or made

the report a “good one.” Specifics let you hone in on certain behaviors or actions to work on or repeat.

Too General: Specific Feedback:

“Nice job, impressive...” “You handled that customer in a professional way, kept your calm

and got to the root of the problem. Hence, the solution was on

point.”

“Good meeting.” “That meeting went well because you were willing to listen, build

on others ideas and we came up with some agreements.”

“That presentation was well

done.”

“You opened that session with a story that pulled everyone in so

you had their full engagement. Your slides had simple visuals to

back up your key points and the examples hit home. You also kept

it moving so the pacing was a plus.”

2. Feedback Needs to Be Descriptive, Not Evaluative

Describe the facts, behavior, or action and avoid evaluative language. Feedback is a way to share your perception of how the other person affected you or how the person came across to you. The examples “Good report” or “that was unproductive” are evaluative statements and leave people feeling judged. It is helpful if we can avoid value-laden words and instead describe the behavior we want to highlight.

Instead of: Try this:

“That was a lousy write up.” “I found the draft report you sent me to be missing some

important data about the cost implications. It also would have

been helpful to have made the business case in a concise, factual

manner....”

“That meeting was a waste of

time.”

“That meeting went around in circles. It would have been helpful

to have an agenda, a clear outcome, and a simple way to capture

people’s ideas, so we could develop a course of action.”

“Thanks for going above and

beyond.”

“I know you could have done enough to get by and gone home.

I appreciated your willingness to stay and make sure the job got

completed, and it was ready for delivery first thing today.”

29

3. Own Your Feedback

Use “I” statements to give the feedback. You are letting them know how you perceive the situation.

Instead of: Try this:

“You messed that up real

good...”

“Given where I was listening from during that meeting, I felt you

didn’t answer the question, and as a result, I could see the staff

pull back...”

“Your group couldn’t get their

act together if they had all day.”

“From my perspective, we could give that group a lot of time and I

still don’t think they would be properly prepared.”

4. Feedback Needs to Be Well Timed

The feedback needs to be shared sooner rather than later in most cases. The more time passes, the less relevance the feedback may have. On the other hand, if you can share your comments in proxim-ity to the event, it is usually better. Waiting till the end of the workshop to share that the facilitator repeatedly cut participants off by interrupting them does little good. Sharing the perception during the session would allow for some mid-course corrections.

30

A Practical Guide for Leading

by Brian McDonald

Focus at the strategic level to ensure the organization is doing the right things.

§ A leader’s most important responsibility is to determine the overall strategic direction for the enterprise.

§ A strategic focus requires the leader to be at times externally focused on the trends shaping the future while understanding the strengths, weaknesses and core capabilities of the organization.

§ Charting the strategic path for the organization will have enormous consequences for the ultimate suc-cess or failure.

Focus on the results; go for the goals.

§ Organizations exist to fulfill certain needs.

§ Needs are better defined in specific, outcome oriented goals.

§ Goals can then be measured to assess progress and allow for adjustments.

§ At the end of the day results do matter.

Don’t let the immediate preempt the important.

§ Too many leaders are constrained in their efforts to move the enterprise forward by the compelling ten-dency of many people to pull the leader into the immediate issue or day to day concerns.

§ Identify the top five areas critical to your success and select the three you personally will champion.

§ Block out time, schedule events to focus, focus, and focus on the priorities you believe are critical to your success.

Develop the discipline, build the practices.

§ “Best Practices” companies got that way for a reason.

§ Select the practices you believe will make excellence a habit not a chance act.

§ Practices can sustain the desired changes if they are incorporated into the rhythm of the business.

Having passion for what you do will make an incredible difference.

§ If you care intensely about what you are doing, this will influence those you lead in a positive way.

§ Having passion behind what you are doing means you genuinely believe this effort has value and this conveys sincerity to others.

§ You bring the energy to your role that will help build the support you will need to succeed.

31

Understand the environment, the politics, and the world around you.

§ Where there are people there are politics, issues of influence, and power.

§ You don’t need to play the political game but you don’t want to be blind-sided.

§ Build the alliances needed to get support for the initiatives you are sponsoring that are key to success.

Be self aware, know your own strengths and shortcomings.

§ Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

§ Make the best of what you have to work with and develop yourself where gains are likely.

§ Ask others to give you feedback and coaching.

§ Recognize your shortcomings, where you aren’t likely to be able to develop and figure out how to com-pensate or complement yourself with others.

§ Draw on your experiences to develop yourself.

Surround yourself with absolutely the best people.

§ Finding the best talent will make an incredible difference.

§ Select the best people you can find, don’t compromise on quality.

§ Develop people, don’t settle for less or you’ll continually pay the price.

Being decisive is a requirement for most leaders.

§ It helps to be able to sort through considerable information and cut to the chase with some dispatch.

§ It is important to have the ability to move expeditiously and to have the courage of your convictions.

§ Moving sooner is usually better than moving later, few leaders ever look back and wish they went slower.

Know where the money is.

§ Understand the financials, don’t delegate the balance sheet.

§ Analyze what the prime contributors to improved performance are and track cause and effect relation-ships.

§ Target a few strategies directly at the financials.

32


Day Two: Strategic Thinking

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 • University of Texas - Austin







Understanding Group Process and Group Dynamics

II Leaders Focus on the Strategic

What Are the Forces and Trends Shaping the External Environment?

Facilitating an Environmental Scan for Higher Education

What Are the Major Strategic Issues Facing Higher Education?

Lunch

III Strategic Thinking Tools

Scenario Planning

Train Your Brain to Think in Scenarios, So What If?

Conducting a SWOT Analysis for Your Organization

IV Applied Strategic Thinking

What Is One Strategic Goal for Your Area?

What Is the Desired Future State for Your Work Group?

What Is a Possible Strategy for How You Can Accomplish this End?

V Wrap Up 5:00 pm

33

Reflections...Practices Worksheet

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

What insight or “aha moment(s)” would you share with the larger group?

Describe one possible on-the-job-application of what you learned.

34

Defining Leadership

Leadership is the overarching theme for the learning experience ahead. So, what exactly is meant when the word “leadership” is used?

Early on in the program, your answer would likely depend on the leadership author(s) you were assigned for your Session One presenta-tion. As you prepare for Session One, you will discover that Warren Bennis focuses on charac-ter as a key leadership trait. He professes that leaders need to be people who can be trusted. John Kotter suggests leadership has to do with what the formal leader focuses on: vision, strat-egy, and engaging people in moving toward a de-sired future state. Ronald Heifetz, like Kotter, talks about leaders as individuals who step up, take initiative and are catalysts for addressing adaptive change. In his parlance, these individ-uals are behaving in “leaderly” ways. But, un-like Kotter, Heifetz proposes that leadership is not automatically attached to formal positions; it is really about how one behaves – regardless of title or role. We will use the term “leaderly” during the program to refer to how you or oth-ers are behaving.

Joseph Raelin and Useem take Heifetz’s lead-ership concept even further and raise the possi-bility that we can tap into the leadership capac-ity many people possess. They boldly advance the notion that we can create more leaderful organizations, or communities, in which lead-ership can be exhibited at any level of the orga-nization. This allows us to coin a new phrase, “leaderful community”– a very different mental image than the popular view of strong lead-ers presiding over organizations, such as Jack Welch, former GE CEO and author of Winning.

One oft-repeated definition of leadership refers to “doing the right thing” both strategically and ethically. Leaders have paramount responsibil-

ity to set the strategic direction for the orga-nization or unit and deliver on that direction. In contrast, managers organize people and pro-cesses to produce services and products. Or as Drucker said, “leaders do the right things while managers do those things right.”

While the intent of the program’s design is not to create a single definition of leadership, we do agree with the concept of building leaderful communities. An underlying principle threaded throughout the program is the development of participants’ leadership capability and their ability to develop the leadership capability of others.

During Session One you will be encouraged to reflect on your own leadership journey and the people, events, and experiences that comprise your journey. Connecting the dots between these elements can help you draw out the les-sons you have already learned and illuminate what informs your current point of view on leadership.

You will also be asked to begin keeping a jour-nal in which to record your thoughts and obser-vations about leadership. This tool will provide you with a means to explore behaviors you see being exhibited by yourself and others and it will allow you to observe how your own think-ing on leadership evolves over the course of the program. This practice of recording your thoughts on leadership will also train your mind to sharpen your “leadership lens,” thus enabling you to see this facet of organizational life more clearly.

We look forward to working with you in the months to come as we provide the learning lab and the coaching that will allow you to do the all important “work on self” that will enable you to become a more effective leader.

35

Leaders Are Strategic

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as what direc-tion we are moving: to reach the port… we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it … but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

A vision is just a vision if it’s in your head...if no one gets to hear it, its as good as dead. It has to come to life! Having the vision’s no solution, everything de-pends on execution, putting it together, that’s what counts. Bit by bit, link by link, piece by piece, part by part.

Stephen Sondheim

36

Astute leaders need to:

§ Draw on a broad range of inputs to maneuver in a world that rewards speed and adaptability.

§ Call on the collective intelligence of their people to enhance the quality of their strategic choices.

§ Engage numerous employees to enhance the flow of ideas and the implementation of the desired direction.

Strategic Planning Involves

§ Understanding and accurately predicting the future impact of trends

§ Mentally operating in the future, putting current concerns on hold

§ Generating innovative and unique ideas

§ Developing and communicating future related scenarios

§ Anticipating the consequences of proposed courses of action

§ Pursuing strategies that create future viability

KEY QUESTIONS

What is strategic thinking?

What will it look like when you are acting strategically?

?

KEY IDEAS

Developing a strategic direction in a rap-idly changing world has become an in-creasing challenge as the pace accelerates. Establishing a direction and selecting the strategies designed to achieve the desired results needs to be an ongoing process rather than an annual event.

Leadership is about doing the right things.

Management is about doing those things right.

Peter Drucker

Eighty percent of organizations are overmanaged and underled.

Warren Bennis

MAXIMYou can never make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.

37

Glossary of Terms

Strategic direction is designed to position your organization to be successful in an ever changing world.

Strategic thinking is intended to strengthen peoples strategic lens so they can analyze an issue and see the possibilities and consequences when the choice is important to the success of the enterprise.

Vision is a statement that creates a picture of the desired future state that is better in some important way than the current state.

A vision statement usually addresses:

§ What kind of organization do we want to be?

§ What will it be like for our customers and other stakeholders when we achieve the vision?

§ What values are most important?

Mission refers to the business purpose of an organization.

Mission statements usually answer three questions:

§ What purpose does the organization serve? What products or services do we offer?

§ Who are the customers we intend to serve?

§ How do we go about serving these customers? What activities, technology, etc., do we provide?

Goal is an outcome that is measurable and achievable within a specific time frame. One which is subordinate to the mission yet supports the overall business purpose by addressing an aspect of it. Most organizations need to successfully accomplish many goals to achieve their mission.

Strategy is a plan, method or series of maneuvers or strategies for obtaining a specific goal or result.

Scenario is an imagined or projected sequence of events, any of several detailed plans or possibilities.

38

Strategic Planning Scorecard

KEY QUESTION: How easy is it for you to get up on the balcony?

This self-assessment will give you an indication of how predisposed you are to strategic thinking. If

you score on the lower side for any of these questions, you will want to ensure there are people on

the team who have higher scores or strengths in these competencies.

Rare

ly

Som

etim

es

Oft

en

Very

Oft

en

Alm

ost

Alw

ays

Not

App

licab

le

1 2 3 4 5 NA

I identify the important trends that will be critical to the organization in the future.

c c c c c c

I accurately outline the implications of the most important trends.

c c c c c c

I stay focused on the future, putting current concerns on hold.

c c c c c c

I develop future-related scenarios highlighting strategic choices.

c c c c c c

I generate innovative ideas. c c c c c c

I work well with the ambiguity inherent in future-related planning.

c c c c c c

I anticipate the consequences of proposed courses of action.

c c c c c c

I translate strategic direction into realistic business plans.

c c c c c c

I take action in the short term to realize necessary changes in direction.

c c c c c c

39

Strategic Planning Model

Scan the environment

What forces or trends will influence your future?

Determine the critical implications

What is going to shape our future?

Develop the desired future state

What is our vision for where we want to be?

Formulate or update our mission.What service and/or products are we providing to

whom and what is distinctive about how we do this?

Assess the current state

Identify our strengths, values, opportunities, weaknesses and threats.

Do a gap analysis

What are the major gaps?

Develop the strategic goals

What will move us to the desired state?What strategies will we use to achieve the progress needed?

Outline implementation

Outline the action plan, milestones and accountabilities.

It is important in most organizations to engage and communicate

with various constituencies during the different phases of the process.

Analyze yourcustomers’ needs

Analyze yourcompetition

40

Scanning the External World Worksheet

KEY QUESTION: What are the trends and forces likely to be shaping the future context for your organization?

Economy

Technology

Government

Demographics

Customers/Stakeholders

Other

41

Key Trends and Implications

Select the top three trends and identify the implications.

1.

2.

3.

Select one and identify the implications.

42

KEY IDEAS

Scenarios allow people to play out various alternative futures in a way that creates a picture or pictures of what might happen should the path ahead unfold in one way versus another.

Scenario planning in its simplest form hap-pens when someone says, “What if …?”

Scenarios enable new ideas about the future to

take root and spread across an organization, helping to overcome the inertia and denial that can so easily make the future a dangerous place.

Eamonn Kelly

Scenario Planning

Scenario planning is a helpful strategic thinking tool. It can be used at any time.

Scenario planning in its simplest form happens when someone says, “What if …?” This provocative ques-tion invites us to entertain variations on the possibilities before us.

In the early stages of a strategic planning effort, when groups are identifying the forces and trends shaping the future, developing competing scenarios is one way to en-vision what may or may not happen depending on how a trend develops and how the organization decides to act.

The mental exercise of entertaining scenarios can actu-ally uncover trends that may impact the future and thus help prevent the organization from getting blindsided by external events or developments.

Scenario planning can actually shape the desired future state of the organization, and inviting people to ex-change their views can help them arrive at a common vision that they are invested in bringing about.

Beyond it’s many uses in the course of a deliberative strategic planning effort, scenario planning is also useful for addressing a pressing external threat or a potential disruption.

[Scenario planning is] a discipline for encouraging

creative and entrepreneurial thinking and action in contexts of change, complexity and un-certainty.

Peter Schwartz

43

Scenario Planning Approaches

Common approaches that can elicit different vantage points on the future include the following:

Preferred Future involves sketching out a desired future state and how people would like things to evolve if they could bring it about.

Best Case versus Worst Case Scenarios

Winners and Losers is another familiar plot line that gets played out with different situations. It is useful to ask, who is likely to come out ahead? Who or what groups are likely to come up short?

Evolutionary Change versus the Quantum Leap invites people to imagine what an incremental ap-proach to a pending change would look like and to also look at what a major jump forward would look like. Comparisons between these two approaches can provoke people to tease out choices that may not otherwise be recognized by some.

Crisis and Response is another method for considering incremental versus dramatic movement and is frequently used to anticipate what will be needed if an event turns out to be a “category 3” or a “category 5” development. In analyzing the weather, it is important to anticipate the strength of the hurricane and to plan accordingly. Here, we ask what would we need to do if this turns out to be a category 3 or category 5 situation?

Multiple Perspectives looks at different perspectives on how things may develop. For example, John Van Maanen’s Three Lenses work allows a group to think about how a change may play out when viewed from a strategic perspective or a political perspective or a cultural perspective.

The Desired Future Statewhere we want to be

What can we do to close the gap?

The Current Statewhere we are now

44

Identifying the Current State with a SWOT Analysis

KEY QUESTION: What is the current state?

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT analysis looks at an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This is one means for sketching out the current state of an organization, a group, a project or a particular effort. The outcomes from SWOT analyses enable people and organizations to focus on leveraging strengths, minimiz-ing weaknesses, addressing real or potential threats, and taking the greatest possible advantage of op-portunities. If conducted as an interactive forum, SWOTs can also help build cohesion within a group or an organization as people share and develop a collective perspective.

The SWOT analysis tool is a useful methodology for constructively identifying the upside (strengths and opportunities) and the downside (weaknesses and threats) of an organization. Because participants are ex-plicitly invited to offer feedback, this allows individuals to avoid being seen as too critical; they are also less likely to withhold concerns that might be politically incorrect to state under different circumstances.

Why Is It Useful?

SWOT analyses are often employed as part of more extensive strategic planning processes, but they can also be used independently as a way of gathering what might best be described as an organizational inven-tory. For this reason, engaging in this process can be particularly beneficial for a leader or manager who is facilitating a strategic process or when someone is taking on a new position or role. By their nature, SWOT analyses actively engage people in strategic thinking—a plus for all and a necessity for leaders and manag-ers.

What Next?

Once you have the results of the SWOT, then in a subsequent meeting or even in advance of the next ses-sion, consider asking subgroups to work on the following:

1. Prioritize the issues in each topic area so you identify the top 3 to 5 strengths, weaknesses, opportuni-ties and threats.

2. Have the subgroups then come up with straw proposals to:

§ Leverage the top strengths

§ Minimize the impact of the top weaknesses

§ Capitalize on the top opportunities

§ Minimize the threats from materializing

3. Encourage staff to look at these proposals in an integrated way and then put the emphasis on what is actionable.

45

SWOT Analysis Worksheet

What strengths do you associate with your organization? (Internally focused)

What weaknesses or challenges do you believe are major ones for your organization? (Internally focused)

What are some opportunities you believe your organization can pursue? (Externally focused)

What are some threats you see on the horizon for your organization? (Externally focused)

46

Strategy Matters. What Is Yours?

For this section, the word “strategy” is intended to mean how to accomplish an identified strategic goal. It assumes the end state is clear.

There are numerous ways to approach strategy. In the well regarded book The Discipline of Market Leaders, the authors describe organizations that excel at one or more of three primary strategies: operational excel-lence, product leadership, and customer intimacy.

Operational Excellence

These organizations execute extraordinarily well with guaranteed low price and hassle-free service. Opera-tions are standardized, simplified, tightly controlled and centrally planned, leaving few decisions to the discretion of localized rank-and-file employees

Product Leadership

These organizations offer the best products and continuously innovate. This strategy concentrates on of-fering customers products or services that expand existing performance boundaries. A product leader’s key proposition to its customers is: We have the BEST product - period.

Customer Intimacy

These organizations focus on specific customer needs, cultivate relationships, satisfy unique needs and have the best solutions. This business structure and strategy must delegate decision-making to employees who are close to the customer. Its focus is to create positive results for a carefully selected and nurtured group of customers.

47

Three Strategies for Your Environment

There are a variety of strategies available to select from as you plan to accomplish identified goals. In some cases the intent is to simplify, while in other cases automating or innovating may be a better strategy for achieving the goal.

Strategic Design

Strategic design is the application of future oriented design principles targeted at increasing the organiza-tion’s innovative approaches and its competitive position. It may be advantageous to deploy strategic de-sign when you believe the best strategy is to innovate or reinvent or leapfrog. If the goal is to deliver better service or create a new service or product then strategic design can serve as a means to the ends.

Business Process Improvement

Business Process Improvement is a systematic approach an organization can use to optimize the “pro-cesses” and develop more efficient and effective ways to provide whatever the output is. Business process improvement focuses on redesigning the fulfillment process. How can the process steps be simplified or automated or re-engineered to make the process more efficient, more consistent while improving the cycle time/ quality of the output?

Organization Practices

Developing Organizational Practices is another approach a leader can use to achieve a goal focused on how people contribute or how the organization could function more effectively. Adopting specifically targeted organizational practices can influence the norms or current way things are done or the behaviors exhibited in an organization. Conducting a simple employee huddle on Monday morning can improve communica-tions and highlight the deliverables for the week.

Strategic Design Steps

1. Focus externally on the customer experience or the identified need. Get out and see what is going on when you observe directly the transaction or the product or when you interact with the people using the product or service.

2. Create a design team composed of inquisitive people who bring a combined set of lenses to the situation.

3. Develop a prototype, experiment with different models

4. The prototype can be used to demonstrate, evaluate and iterate the next version.

5. Design is never done, keep iterating improvements or next generation models.

48

4 STRATEGIES

The Desired Future State Worksheet

DESIRED FUTURE1

2 NOW GAPS 3

The Desired Future Statewhere we want to be

What can we do to close the gap?

The Current Statewhere we are now

49

NOTES

50


Day Three: Balancing the Important with the Immediate

Thursday, February 27, 2014 • University of Texas - Austin







II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic

Leading – Managing – Doing; Finding a Balance

Does the Immediate Preempt the Important?

Focusing on the Big Picture and Priorities Requires Certain Skill Sets:

§ Setting Priorities; Capacity Planning

§ Being Decisive: What Decisions Should You Own?

§ Delegation Is a Process, Not a Single Act

§ Selecting and Developing Your People

III Creating Your Development Plan

Revisit the 360˚ Survey

Share Examples of Goals Appropriate to this Opportunity

Participants Work on Shaping Their Development Plans

Peer-to-Peer Coaching Conversations to Refine Goals

Next Steps for Completing Your Development Plan

§ Finalize and Submit Your Goals

The Power of Habit

Working Lunch

IV Coaching on Your Development

V Wrap Up 2:00 pm

Outline Action Items

Applied Learning

Feedback on the Session

51

Reflections...Practices Worksheet

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

What insight or “aha moment(s)” would you share with the larger group?

Describe one possible on-the-job-application of what you learned.

52

LEADERSHIP LESSONS

The relief is palpable when we stand on the other side knowing, that we did something even though it was hard or we didn’t want to do it. On the other hand, when we cling to our comfort zone, never ad-dressing the things we don’t know or are reluctant to face, we cut ourselves off from flow and growth.

Learning new skills, adopting new practices or ex-perimenting with new behaviors requires us to let go of our current way of doing things. Yet, we tend to find comfort in the predictability of the habits and routines we develop. In some cases these hab-its or routines are the function of conscious choices we have made, in other cases simply the result of repeated behaviors. Our brain assimilates these habits and routines into patterns that influence its functioning, simplifying daily decisions and behavior.

Hence, when you get up in the morning, you need not spend mental energy working through deci-sions about whether to brush your teeth first or wash your face. You can get through the first hour of the day in many cases on autopilot. You can drive to work some days, and notice you arrived at the parking lot wondering exactly how you got there, given you were thinking about something else during the drive.

These long-standing patterns sometimes serve us well while other times they can be described as “falling into a rut.”

When you sign up to embark on a new venture, you usually recognize the initiative may require

you to change some routines or possibly require you to cover some unfamiliar ground. Other times you may be on the brink of making some funda-mental changes. At these times, some level of ap-prehension is usually present. After all, you will be leaving the comfort of the familiar.

Learning new behaviors requires us to get used to being outside our “comfort zone.” The old routines and predictable behaviors that served us well for so long may now actually hinder our ability to be-have in new ways. Our brain may resist moving away from these familiar patterns that guide our daily actions. These “familiar ways” have become scripts that can be followed with minimal mental effort being expended by our brain.

Writing new scripts and having these inform our behavior will take practice. To grow, no matter the context, you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone, to approach the future with a sense of adventure and anticipation about the discov-eries you can make. If you stay in your comfort zone, it is unlikely you will try out new behaviors. So, step out, experiment with new practices. Who knows what kind of leader you are capable of be-ing? What tools you will learn to use in your daily life? How much you will add to your repertoire this year?

Get used to being uncomfortable and you will open up the path toward becoming a continuous learner.


Leaving Your Comfort ZoneOpen up the path toward becoming a continuous learner.by Brian McDonald, MOR Associates

53

NOTES

54

NOTES

55

Focus On the Important

Nobel laureate James Franck has said he always recognizes a moment of discovery by “the feeling of terror that seizes me... I felt a trace of it that morning. My discovery was this: I had become the victim of a vast, amorphous, unwitting, unconscious conspiracy to prevent me from doing anything whatever to change the university’s status quo. Even those of my associates who fully shared my hopes to set new goals, new directions, and to work toward creative change were unconsciously often doing the most to make sure I would never find the time to begin.

Warren Bennis, Why Leaders Can’t Lead, The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues

Put first things first. Begin with the end in mind. Be proactive.

Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

George Marshall understood that leaders must spend the time to recruit the right people for the job and then support them completely, so that they can do the job. The exceptional leader sees his or her job as enabling people to do their jobs.

Peter Drucker

56

The Immediate versus the Important

Tension Exists Between

the Immediate and the Important

Immediate and Less/Not Important

Immediate and Very Important

Not Immediate and Not Important

Not Immediate and Very Important

Immediate

EmailMeetingsCrisis of the dayInterruptions

Important

Strategic prioritiesPlanning for the futureCritical business projectsDeveloping talent

KEY QUESTIONS

What do you need to do to balance the immediate and the important?

Your calendar is a strategic asset. How do you spend your time and talent?

?

KEY IDEAS

Providing Leadership...

• Means focusing on the strategic.

• Requires us to spend our time on the important.

• Requires most of us to create capacity.

Strategies for Focusing On the Important

§ Identify the top five areas critical to your success and select the three you will personally champion.

§ Block out time; schedule events to focus on the priorities you believe are critical to success. Plan to spend time on the important. Manage your calendar, don’t let it manage you.

§ Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

§ Delegate to others in ways that provide people with the chance to take ownership for the decisions and actions needed.

§ Develop the people who work with you. Give yourself an unfair advantage.

57

Providing Leadership

Means focusing on the strategic

Requires us to balance our time on immediate demands with the important priorities

Requires most of us to create capacity

Strategies to Consider

Establish clear priorities.

Create a capacity planning practice.

Take command of your calendar.

Become more decisive.

Become a more effective communicator.

Refine your delegation process.

Develop your people via exposure, experience, and stretch assignments.

MAXIMYou can never make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.

58

Mapping Your Priorities Over the Next Six Months

What are your highest priorities?

What actions, meetings or tasks do you need to take to move the top two priorities forward?

Priority Action Needed Who Else?

What entries do you need to make in your calendar to advance these initiatives?

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Capacity Planning

KEY QUESTION: How much capacity do you and your team have?

Conduct a one month audit. What do the results tell you?

How can you gauge your work group’s capacity to get things done?

By estimating time, hours, and days

By determining level of effort required

Projecting forward, how could you better manage supply (time and energy) with the demand?

What strategies or practices might enable you and your group to open some capacity to devote to the

important priorities?

Spend the first 30

minutes on Monday or the last 30 minutes on Friday set-

ting your three to five priorities for the week, then review your calendar and place them on your schedule.

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Capacity Management...Practices Worksheet

Maintain a concise list of the things that are consuming your and your group’s capacity.

Project Pipeline

Rough Order of Magnitude

Lead and/or Key Resource

Key Milestones

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The Decision Making Continuum

There is a range of decision making styles available to you. It is important to think about what decision making mode is most appropriate to each situation.

Directing Selling Consulting Participating Delegating

Make a decision and inform people

You or someone above you makes a decision, then you sell the direction

You ask for input and then make a decision

Is used when you ask and want a consensus

You hand off to someone else

“How will we do this?”

“I’ll take into con-sideration what I’ve heard and then decide.”

“Let’s decide.” “You decide.”

Despite a cultural tendency toward consensus building, it is helpful to remember that the participating ap-proach is most useful when you want to get input or increase ownership. In some instances, there is little benefit to working for a consensus, yet managers default to this approach and defer to the group. This can be an inefficient way to make decisions. Oftentimes, simply asking for input (consulting) will provide people with a sufficient opportunity to be heard and lessen the time required to work the decision. In any case, it is helpful if you, as a leader, are clear on what approach is best suited to the issue being addressed and that you are intentional about your decision making style. You want to create expectations with your staff that are in alignment with what you will be doing.

KEY QUESTIONS

What decision making styles are most appropriate for the different situations you encounter?

How do you differentiate between them?

?

62

NOTES

63

Defining Delegation

Delegation Is:

§ Assigning specific tasks to others, along with clear criteria for success, and the au-thority to complete those tasks

Delegation Is Not:

§ Abdicating responsibility for a task

§ Dumping work on the unprepared or unwilling

§ A new and fun way to micromanage your staff

The Benefits of Delegation

§ Frees up the manager’s time to focus on the important

§ Draws on the strengths and expertise

› Develops your staff

› Provides exposure to wider experiences

› Creates opportunities

Effectively delegating to others is perhaps the single

most powerful high-leverage activity there is.

Steven Covey,

Seven Habits of Highly

Effective People

Delegation Strategies

What to Take “Off Your Plate”

§ The routine and the necessary

§ Tasks that don’t contribute to group goals

§ “Occupational hobbies”

§ Developmental opportunities

§ Consider succession

§ Over-delegating is rarely a problem

What Should Stay “Yours”

§ Tasks which require a level of authority

§ Policy/direction setting tasks; strategic

§ Personnel/confidential matters

§ Crisis management

§ Internal group communication strategy

Your Responsibilities

§ Willingness to delegate

§ Select the right task(s) to delegate

§ Select the right person to delegate to; assess competence, commitment, time

§ Ensure the delegate:

› Knows what you want, clear expectations

› Has the authority to achieve it

› Knows how to do it or how to find out

› Has access to necessary, relevant information

§ Delegate not only tasks, but decisions

§ Evaluate the risk

§ Focus on results, not how it’s done

§ Do not solve problems for the delegate

§ Monitor progress along the way

§ Be prepared to thank and reward

KEY IDEAS

The object of delegation is to successfully transfer ownership.

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Delegation Inventory...Practices Worksheet

What tasks can only you do?

What tasks could you teach others to do?

What tasks should you not be doing that people can do already?

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Delegation Prework...Practices Worksheet

With the exception of your perception of the individual’s competence and commitment, all of the

items on this page can and should be shared with your delegate(s).

Task/project

To whom might you delegate?

What, exactly, is it you expect this individual to do? What will success look like?

When does this need to be completed? Are there other milestones?

What authority will this person have?

Where is this person on the competency and commitment scale?

What do you hope this person will learn through this work?

What information will this person need?

What resources will this person need?

How will you follow up?

66

INTE

RNALIZATION DISCOVERY

AH

AS APPLICATION

ACCU

MU

LATI

ON

Feedback and Self-AssessmentSelf-Assessment

Input from Manager and Others360° Feedback

Leadership CapabilityLeadership Opportunities

StrengthsStepping Up as a Leader

Growth AreasPresence and Presentation

Establishing GoalsOutline Possibilities

Work with CoachFocus On Initial Goals

Identify Additional Opportunities Throughout Program

Learning in ActionApply Learnings in Current Role

Use Change Initiatives to ExperimentExplore Additional Practice FieldsSolicit Feedback, Use Re�ection

Inputs to Your Development Plan

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Components To Consider When Selecting Goals

Leadership Development

On becoming a leader: who you are, how you show up, and what you do.

Are there developmental opportunities that pertain to your evolution as a leader?

Strengths

What are your primary strengths? Are there strengths you want to build on?

What did the 360° survey tell you about your strengths?

Growth Areas

Are there aspirations you have that this leadership program would support your pursuing in the year

ahead? Are there gaps in your knowledge or exposure to the organization that you would like to fill?

Are there opportunities you are aware of that are important for you to tackle this year?

360° Feedback

What areas from your survey stand out as improvement opportunities?

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Initial Development Goals

Please select up to four goals. Areas you might consider when setting goals are: building relationships, net-working, strategic planning, developing people or self, communication skills, organizational skills, creating a leaderful environment, etc.

We encourage you to make your goals “SMART” goals:

Specific

The more specific a goal is the greater the chance that it will be accomplished. Include in your goal statement:

What: Clearly define the outcome you want to create. Be very specific.

Why: Why is it important to you? What is the benefit to accomplishing this goal?

Measurable

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. What are the specific criteria you will use to measure your progress towards accomplishing your goal? How will you know when you have reached your goal? Mea-surable include time, frequency or duration and measure the process of your performance.

Attainable

Your goals should require a commitment on your part and stretch you slightly, yet are attainable. Once a goal is identified you might see opportunities that were previously missed.

Realistic

Is this goal really doable? Set the bar high and devise a plan to achieve your goal, but make sure that it is realistic and achievable. This does not mean “easy”!

Timely and Tangible

A time frame gives you a clear target to work towards and cre-ates accountability. When you can experience it with one of your senses (tangible) you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable.

The following page shows an example of a goal that fol-lows these precepts.

Only 3% of people in the United States have written

goals, and according to research, these people accomplish 80% more than those that don’t.

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Sample Goal Statements

§ To be more deliberate in setting priorities and delegating work so others get to step up thus allowing me time to focus on the more important goals.

§ To become a more effective coach so that I can develop the capability of my staff to a greater extent.

§ To be proactive by setting aside time on Monday mornings to write out my priori-ties for the week, to review my calendar, to prepare for upcoming meetings so that I can be more purposeful.

§ To be more intentional with my presence & in my interactions with others so that I be-come more effective at exercising influence.

§ To focus on building relationships so that I can extend my network and enhance my ability to get things done.

§ To develop a more strategic perspective so that there is better balance between short and long term priorities.

§ To work on leading and managing more and doing less of the immediate tasks so that I use my time and my talent to add more value.

§ To become a more effective listener so that others recognize my interest and respect for what they have to offer.

§ To get better at making presentations and communicating with others so that I can have more impact.

§ To step up more readily and take the initiative so that I help move needed changes forward.

§ To focus on my ability to deliver results (rated as a strength) and add to this the ability to collaborate across organizations so that it will be possible to have an impact on broader outcomes.

Potential Goals

Goal:

Actions:

Goal:

Actions:

Goal:

Actions:

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The Coaching Conversation

An effective, highly focused coaching session follows a process:

1. Set the right context – Remind the partner why you are getting together and emphasis the track that a coaching conversation follows.

2. Converge on actions – A lot of ground can be covered in a coaching conversation. A good coach can help narrow the conversation to a few key topics.

3. Seek commitments – A good coach draws out promise phrases such as “I will …,” and avoids poten-tial phrases such as “I’ll try …” Without commitment to action, you have just had a chat.

4. Create a plan for continuity – Intentions are more like to form into results when follow-up milestones are agreed upon. Setting a timeline and planning the next coaching session creates accountability.

Listening With Care

Listening requires you to actively manage your mental processes

Concentrate

§ Eliminate noise and distractions

§ Decide to listen

§ Stay tuned in

Ask questions

§ Inquire

§ Draw out

Recap

§ Paraphrase

§ Gather information

Express interest

§ Non-verbal body language and gestures

Anticipatebreakdowns

Askquestionsto create

possible practices

Determine thecommitment

Askopen-endedquestions

Presentingtopic

Summarize

Follow up

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Good Coaches Ask Good Questions

A good coach seeks to understand the partner’s challenges to form a context for the conversation.

“Tell me what’s going on…”

“Why is this important to you?”

A good coach builds clarity so the conversation can converge on specific themes and ideas that can become actionable.

“How might this look if you are successful?”

“What else might you try?”

“Have you thought about…..?”

“What might stand in the way?”

“What has changed to cause this to happen?”

A good coach enables commitments to take place so the partner is willing to act.

“So, what might you be willing to do?”

“When might you start?”

“Have you thought about the resources you will need?”

“Tell me again what you are committing to.”

A good coach creates continuity so that follow-up is planned and forward progress is maintained.

“When do you want to meet to review how you have done?”

“How do we want to check in case of a breakdown?”

Coaching is the universal lan-guage of change and learning.

Tom Peters

Sentence Stems

Open

It seems to me ...

Another way of ...

If you play this out ...

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Practicing Coaching Worksheet

With a peer coach you will practice the skills of purposeful listening, managing the conversation

and asking open-ended questions. First, meet with your partner and exchange one goal.

My partner’s goal is:

Now spend two or three minutes of I-time to write down a few questions that you might ask.

Have a coaching conversation. If necessary, jot a few notes so that you can capture your partner’s

thoughts without bogging down.

Debrief. List two or three things that you did well (pluses) and two or three opportunities (deltas).

Pluses Deltas

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

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prac·ticeto study, exercise one’s skill regularly or frequently so as to win greater command (e.g., to practice with a musical instrument before a performance or to practice one’s tennis serve)

a customary action or customary code of behavior

“it is their custom to dine early; it is their custom to defer to the authority figure, it is their custom to meet each morning as a team”

observable and actionable steps that can be repeated for the purpose of learning or acquiring proficiency

best prac·ticea deliberate pattern of activity that accomplishes its objective with outstanding efficiency and effectiveness, contributing to exceptional performance

If I miss one day’s practice, I notice it. If I miss two days,

the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.

Ignacy Paderewski, concert pianist

KEY IDEAS

Practices Facilitate Learning

If an individual has a commitment to devel-op a new competence, then practices can facilitate the learning needed to achieve the desired proficiency.

Coaches Need to be Competent At Designing Practices

Managers, who often fulfill the role of coach in team-based work systems, need to become competent in designing practices. It is also important that coaches make sure the practices are implemented. Dur-ing the early stages, teams may need some reinforcement for carrying through on the practices.

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Action Items...Practices Worksheet

Bring a copy this to meetings. Make it a practice to capture key meeting agreements.

WHAT will be done?

WHO will do it?

WHEN will it be done?

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Practices

If you look in the dictionary, you will find prac-tices defined as:

§ Performing an act or exercising a skill repeat-edly in order to achieve greater command

§ A customary act or code of behavior

§ A repeated performance or systematic exer-cise for the purpose of learning or acquiring proficiency

All of these are accurate of course, but in the work environments that many of us find ourselves in today, how can practices actually be used to im-prove individual and team performance?

Anyone who has ever attempted to acquire or develop a particular skill knows that it is not what you intend to do but what you actually do that makes the difference. Practices are the specific means that turn intention into action. A person can intend to become a better listener, but unless he or she develops a practice, such as asking more questions, the old habit pattern will prevail. The person who dominates meet-ings needs to develop a practice regarding the frequency and duration of their participation. Developing practices are critical to any im-provement effort because, in most instances, people are trying to overcome long-term pat-terns of behavior that are difficult to change.

A recommended practice in the leadership pro-gram is to spend 30 minutes first thing Mon-day morning identifying your 3 to 5 priorities for the week. Review your calendar, schedule times for those priorities during the week. Look at the meetings coming up. Can someone else attend any? What prep do you need to do? How can you make the best use of your time this week? Review your development plan, what goals will you work on this week? Get in the habit of planning your week, as this is a key-

stone habit! This practice will enable a leader to focus more effort on the important priorities rather than firefighting.

Step 1 - Awareness

The first step to change is awareness. People first need to be aware that change is needed or could be a benefit. This can happen ei-ther through self-reflection or more typically through feedback from others. At this point the person chooses to accept this feedback and the reason for change or to reject it, in which case nothing happens. If the person accepts the need or rationale for change and sees the benefits of making this change, then he or she can iden-tify specific actions or results s/he intends to achieve. For these intended actions to become an actuality, practices need to be developed that will drive the intended changes.

Awareness of the need for change from fire-fighting can be raised by noting that specific goals set each week are not being achieved.

Step 2 - Acceptance

Acceptance of the need to change must happen next. While one might think this would be a foregone conclusion in this situation, this may not be the case. Many managers see problem solving and the crisis management associated with the firefighting role as having value. The recognition associated with solving problems and helping others deal with crisis situations is rewarding for many and in some organizations has led to promotional opportunities.

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Step 3 - Action To Change

At this point the leader identifies the actions s/he intends to take that will address and im-prove the situation, in this case, to focus more attention and time on the important issues and for staff to take more responsibility for resolving their own issues. But will this actually happen? Not unless practices are implemented that are designed to create more constructive habits.

Step 4 - Build Practices

Practices that would support the commitments identified at Step 3 could include:

§ Block out time in the calendar dedicated to the most important priorities

§ Identify important tasks and goals for each week, set priorities and allocate 50% of time to these issues, and delegate tasks that can and should be performed by others

§ Monthly skills assessments of staff to ensure their ability to resolve issues

§ Create individual action plans to address gaps in abilities & review quarterly

§ Schedule “office hours” each day for staff issues

§ Use a coaching approach to help staff resolve issues, ask questions to encourage staff to de-velop solutions

Designing Practices

Be creative in looking at alternatives to cus-tomize your approach to a given situation. A practice needs to meet two criteria: first, it is a specific action one takes, and second, it is tan-gible. For example, it would not be a practice to “spend less time on firefighting” unless you specified a percentage of time and tracked this over weeks. It is not a practice to be “less argu-mentative with others,” but it is a practice to “acknowledge the benefits of another’s point of view by paraphrasing before raising any con-cerns.” In both examples, the first statement is not a specific action one would take that could be observed by someone else but rather it is more the intended result one hopes to achieve. The practice is what makes the intention come to fruition.

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Post-Session One Commitments and Next Steps

Capture what you’re agreeing to between now and Session Two.

WHAT will be done?

Submit development plan to my coach.

Three applied learnings to implement:

1.

2.

3.

Two practices to adopt

1.

2.

Confer with my peer coach.

Meet with my campus cohort.

Confer with my MOR coach.

Send a reflection email to the group.

WHO will do it?

Me

Me

Me

Me

Me

My peer coach and me

My campus cohort and me

My peer coach and me

Me

WHEN will it be done?

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The Applied Learning Track...Practices Worksheet

KEY QUESTION: What will you do when you go back to the workplace?

Remember for the purposes of your development, you haven’t learned anything until you can demonstrate a new level of capability. Opportunities in this track:

§ Applying what you’ve learned to your current work

§ Using small experiments to test out new approaches

§ Taking on a strategic project at some point in the program

In this component of your leadership program you are encouraged to apply what you are learning back in your workplace. You may have a number of ideas about how you could fulfill your role as a leader to a greater extent, or how you could sharpen your strategic lens, or focus more on the important items versus the immediate or anyone of a number of ways you could enhance your effectiveness. Getting into action and trying out new behaviors is essential to this track. Once engaged in applying the new approaches you may find it helpful to ask someone to coach you who can give you feedback on the new behaviors you are testing. Being outside your comfort zone is a necessity, get used to it.

What will you do when you go back to your workplace?

1. Be Intentional About Your Presence

§ What presence would you like to have?

§ Would it be useful to consider how you dress?

§ Or maybe you are looking so stressed others aren’t sure you are approachable?

§ Or maybe you may want to speak up earlier or find your voice so you speak with more confidence?

What impression would you like to make? Be intentional.

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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What works to your advantage when it comes to establishing the presence you would like to achieve?

What are a couple aspects of your presence that you would like to enhance? Will it be sufficient to be more intentional or do you need to work on improving in specific areas?

Things to Remember:

Are you bringing energy into the room?

Are you conveying the image you want people to perceive?

Are you interacting in ways that will create the impression you’d like?

Are you contributing?

Is your voice, projection, tone, use of language all consistent with the impression you want to make?

2. Extend Your Network by Building Relationships

§ Make a point to connect with people

§ Show up a few minutes early at meetings, walk out with someone different, engage with others more readily.

§ Ask people how they are doing and listen.

§ Have a cup of coffee with someone or go to lunch.

§ Take your employee to breakfast on his or her anniversary.

Are there individuals within this group with whom you would like to make more of a connection? Are you

going to take any steps toward making this happen?

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Are there particular people in your work environment with whom you could benefit from building a better relationship?

Are there individuals outside the work setting with whom you would like to catch up, reconnect, or devel-op more of a relationship?

How will you experiment in regard to relationship building?

What actions will you take? How can you be deliberate in expanding your network?

Things to Remember:

§ Get in the habit of building relationships.

§ Leaders who add to their networks are better able to exercise influence when the situation requires it.

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3. Log Your Observations on Leadership

During this leadership program you will have between 100 to 1,000 insights, ideas and real aha’s in regard to leadership. Might you make some notes about these observations.

You will enhance your evolution as a leader by writing down some of these thoughts, start a log so you can capture these fleeting perspectives. As the months progress you will be able to read over your reflections and see the evolution of your thinking.

Session One

Insights from the workshop themes:

Points that hit home from the CIO’s you meet:

Observations about leaders you see in other contexts:

Thoughts in regard to your own beliefs on leadership and your own evolution as a leader:

Things to Remember:

§ It is most beneficial to make these entries as they occur. When that is not convenient make a notation to remind yourself of the point later.

§ Make it a practice to write some reflections at least once a week.

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4. Record How You Spend Your Time Between Leading-Managing-Doing

Every role provides an opportunity to spend time Leading, Managing, and Doing. What is the best balance for you given your role?

For the next 4 weeks do an experiment: code your calendar (L-M-D) and add up the % of time spent on each.

Week 1

Leading % Predominant Tasks+

Managing %+

Doing % =100%

Week 2


Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

Week 3


Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

Week 4


Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

Things to Remember:

§ Schedule blocks of time for what is important.

§ Practice delegating some of the doing tasks.

10%

10%

10%

10%

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5. Weekly Planning Sheet - Balancing the Important with the Immediate

Immediate and Less/Not Important

Immediate and Very Important

Not Immediate and Not Important

Not Immediate and Very Important

What are the most important priorities for the week ahead?

Priorities Action Needed Timeslot/When

6. Practice Stepping Up

§ Be willing to step out of your comfort zone, take some action every week

§ Take on something your haven’t done before

§ Use the leadership template

§ Take the initiative when an opening shows up

7. Work on Your Development- It Is a Priority Worthy of Your Time

§ Submit your development plan within the next few weeks to your coach

§ Put time on your calendar to work on these goals/changes

§ Ask for feedback from people with whom you interact

§ Develop more coaching relationships

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Insights from Session One

1. First impressions matter. Why not make the best one?

2. Presence can help or hinder your ability to influence.

3. If you look confident, you appear competent.

4. Leadership is a behavior, not a title or position.

5. You have many lessons from your life that inform your views on leadership.

6. Striking the right balance between leading, managing and doing requires discipline.

7. In order to learn, you need to experiment, to try new approaches. This requires you to leave your comfort zone.

8. Leaders focus on the strategic.

9. You can’t make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.

10. Coaching involves listening and asking open-ended questions.

11. Taking a strength from good to great is a game changer.

12. Balancing the important and containing the immediate is the first order of business. Spend the first 30 minutes on Monday mornings prioritizing, delegating, and doing defensive calendaring.

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NOTES

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NOTES

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NOTES

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