Tag: authentic leadership

Totara

There’s a large Totara in the forest that we visit during the Authentic Leadership Course. It’s been there for longer than any human being and will probably be there for much longer than any of us. It feeds the smaller trees, provides shelter, oxygen for all of us and not to forget, a great leadership conversation. The AUT Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack has described the death of our Chancellor Sir Paul Reeves as a mighty Totara fallen (if you’re not a Kiwi and aren’t sure check this out for what a Totara is).

A friend and former colleague visited me yesterday to talk about his new business venture that we might be able to connect together on. We caught up on events of the last year or so including a story he had of a client, who imagining that my friend was talking bad of him, demanded that the business conducted with the firm be handled by others, or else! Knowing all those involved as we both do, we laughed at the absurdity and paranoia displayed.

There couldn’t be a more stark contrast in events from a fallen Totara, to, well how do you similarly describe a small-minded petty person without offending any plant life?! Sometimes these comparisons are helpful to recognise that not everyone is suited to leadership and the big-mindedness that goes with it. I met Paul Reeves last at the opening of the AUT Manukau Campus and I know him by reputation within AUT to have been a mentor, friend and true leader for the institution.

This Friday I’m going to talk to 300 school prefects. That feels good, not only  because I never was a prefect (!), but because as young leaders, the opportunities are endless and I find the hope and energy of youth refreshing and energy-giving. I find inspiration in the success of younger people  – my son Tim was never a prefect either, in fact school wasn’t always the best time for him but now, studying a topic he’s passionate about his success is inspirational to me and makes me very proud too. I hope that the prefects are inspired by the mighty Totara Sir Paul, and that they carve their way in the world as leaders, not copying Sir Paul, but through their own authenticity and innovation making a difference in their own way.  They’ll take from Sir Paul a life of service which is a word often forgotten in leadership.  I’m not sure what I’ll say but it’ll be something alone those lines and I hope that in my 30 minutes we hear from some of them too. Afterall, if you’re a leader, you need to be seen with head held high.

Stephen

Slipping up for good

It’s the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Freud Museum in London this week. Freud is famous for his study of Psychoanalysis and the Freudian Slip is a principle he came up with that says that when you slip up and say the opposite of what you meant to say or contrary, to what you meant to say, it’s because it’s what you really meant to say.

Has this ever happened to you? It’s not very authentic is it? Saying the opposite of what you actually mean to say. But then again like Jim Carey in the movie Liar Liar, you probably don’t want to walk around saying every thought you have. Or would you? Perhaps if you only had good thoughts then it would be okay, but inside me I humour myself with irony and absurdity that I see wherever I go. You don’t want to hear all that!

But sometimes slipping up with the truth is the right thing to do. Actually I’m not happy that this is not been attended to, rather than okay, let’s get onto this tomorrow.

After being away in Martinborough for most of the week last week running a leadership programme, I turned up to a mountain of stuff to be done. I worked rapidly and with intent. I said exactly what needed to be done and when it needed to be done. Someone said they hadn’t seen me like that before.

Authenticity is about your strengths and where you come from. Empathy is about seeing others’ perspectives. Can they co-exist? Yes, but sometimes you need to let Freud take over and say it as you authentically mean it. Others might need to see you perspectives very clearly!

Stephen

It’s the weekend (nearly)

I’m back at the specialist at Milford this morning to complete my testing. I was already awake at 6.00am when Mum emailed to say they had another wake-up call in Canterbury this morning registering 5.1. People probably didn’t even need to check on-line, they’ve had so many they can tell the force instantly within two or three points. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers talks about 10,000 hours of experience to become truly expert at something. I wonder if 7,500 earthquakes in 10 months is getting close to qualifying for expert status. I have a sense that after this series of tests I’m going to become expert at something to do with my diet. It looks like I might be Fructose intolerant and this morning’s testing is about Lactose. The friendly man next to me is also on his third testing and we agreed that being intolerant to Lactose, living in dairy-loving NZ, wouldn’t be ideal. I’m tolerant to most things in life, except intolerance.

Sitting here for a morning is very productive and quite reflective too. I’ve one more week of a very intensive work period and I’m taking a few days off the following week to rebalance myself. So I have a sense of anticipation looking forward to some refresh time. Which is a a bit like the staff who have been arriving at the specialist rooms this morning with TGIF said in many different ways!

We like the weekend, or more particularly, we like some time away from our usual routine to recharge.  But if we’ve done the 10,000 hours there’s a good chance we’ve had more than our fair share of wake-up calls on the way through, but those experiences will have given us the resilience and experience to keep going. As we gain expertise in our area we also become more tolerant of those around us as it’s less about proving yourself, but rather enjoying the strength that comes from experience and, for leaders I hope, growing others.

So enjoy the weekend, make it a time to refresh and enjoy why we exist. To be happy. Monday will be work, but if it’s work you are passionate about, not only is that a happy place, it’s a chance to grow some more.

Stephen

Rich

No not me! I was at a TransTasman lunch yesterday at Vodafone where Russell Stanners, local CEO and Juan-Jose Juan, Global Head of Innovation Enterprise both spoke. We heard of an integrated world where our various devices knew where to connect to and what we needed at that moment,  because they knew where we were going. In fact, they were telling us how to get there too. I wondered as we heard from Juan-Jose (who said best to call him JJ) what it was like to have a global role. Not that I haven’t encountered such a title before. But talking to him prior to the talk I got the sense of a truly global ambassador for the company who lived, worked and engaged where he happened to be.

We heard about a world where work happens where ever you happen to be, in a manner that suits your needs. No such thing as a desk, desktop or the other symbols of a traditional work environment. Hearing this was like hearing confirmation for how I often work and the tension between this and what some people feel is the real work environment. If I’m honest I think there’s a tension within myself between the flexibility of working wherever I am (like right now at a specialists rooms having some tests!) and only doing work in the allocated place.

There’s a richness for me in working in different and stimulating environments and the delineation between work and home is often blurred. I don’t really mind that and find my creativity enhanced by new places, new people and new contexts. On the Centre for Innovative Leadership’s Innovative Leaders GM Programme we’re off to Whakatane this week. We’ll learn some strategic accounting and finance, but our context will be the case-study. I am sure it will be easier to be present while present!

JJ spoke without notes or looking at the few powerpoint slides he displayed. It’s a given that a leader can talk to his or her topic from the heart. You don’t get heart sitting in your office with the pictures, certificates and files. It’s about being in amongst it. Whatever “it” might be. Makes you rich. Yes I decided I am rich. But there’ll be no capital gains tax on this wealth!

Stephen