Tag: Leadership Insights

Let the search stop

In my massage therapist rooms there is a sign “cherish yesterday, dream tomorrow, enjoy today”. If you believe the police then we all drove a little slower over the weekend. Look around as you drive to work. There’s some pretty serious people heading someone in one hell of a rush doing this, doing that. Sometimes I wonder if I had such an important job as these people have, whether I’d be up for it. I’m not sure I’d ever find what I was supposed to be searching for – or that’s what it looks like.

It’s not just at work either – with tweeting, I’m learning that there’s some manic activity to be completed at home too (I’m guilty of cleaning the fish tank at midnight occasionally, because, well I dunno, it just had to be done then!).

Leadership is about results right? So that means doing lots of stuff, now? What stuff? Are you filling your morning, your day, your week, your month, your year and your life with activity to complete something? What thing? Is anybody really noticing?

I reflected over the weekend about having held my driving licence for 32 years and realised I’m driving slower lately. Not ‘cos the cops have told me (okay, a little bit, I really don’t want a speeding ticket) but because I can. I’m enjoying the moment. That moment of leadership which inspires someone to excel, to grow, to challenge their team can happen today. In fact it will if you’re there. Do you find yourself thinking “on reflection that was an amazing development back there in June 2010”? Being there now might be pretty special. In fact you might need to be there for it to actually happen.

Where is the leader? Searching forward, occasionally looking back at something missed or…pause… looking around….. now?

Don’t just have a full mind, make yours a mindful one too.

Stephen

ps a massage is great for resilience and mindfulness – I go here

The building blocks of leadership

Jonathan Ling, managing director and chief executive officer of Fletcher Building spoke on Friday.  He was asked by our leadership coach Jasbindar Singh “What makes a great leader?”

Modestly, he said he could only talk about business leadership.  Three things:

  1. Make money.  Without money we can’t do all the things we want to do.
  2. Manage and grow people.
  3. Be innovative – continuous improvement, step changes and paradigm shifts were three measures of innovation Fletcher Building looks for in its leaders.

Fletcher Building is a stunning success in business and has a great reputation for leadership, both as a commercial enterprise and as a place that grows leaders. Jonathan spoke of empowering business general managers so that decisions are made as close to the customer as possible.

The other side of this is that the core head office is 12 people. That’s New Zealand’s largest listed company. That’s leadership.

Thanks to TransTasman Business Circle for making it possible for us to co-partner this outstanding event on Friday along with Colliers International and Vodafone. The team from the Centre for Innovative Leadership felt very proud to be in such good company.

Stephen

Hey Mr Tiger, what do you bring to the table this year?

The Auckland Lantern Festival is a feast for the eyes and the mouth.  Inside the entrance to Albert Park is a brightly lit glass tiger, representing the animal that Chinese mythology prescribes for this year – the year of the tiger. So if are born in 2010 or going back, in multiples of 12 then the year of the tiger is your year. Like me!

Strolling around the Festival last night sporting the AUTCIL’s trademark “What makes you a leader?” T-shirt a group of teenagers called out “hey what makes you a leader”.  “What do you think?” I responded. “Oh this beautiful face” responded a girl.  “What is it?” said another.  “It’s what you have inside that makes you a leader” I said.  Still enthusiastic, Ms self-proclaimed Beautiful Face declared “It’s what you bring to the table”.

Well said.

What will you bring to the table during this year of the tiger?


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Are you faking it?

We want something that’s going to inspire – you know something on leadership that’s going to hit them, jolt them and make them sit up.  They don’t need any of this soft self or team building stuff – they can get that anywhere.  This is big and gutsy get-up big leader talk we’re after.

And you have been told! Or I should say I had been – so went the briefing for some work with a potential client.  It makes you think, well it did me.

So do people like me and the team at the Centre for Innovative Leadership need to refocus sometimes. Do we need maybe to tell more about being a big leader – some good theories on leader types – charismatic, command etc.  After all why pay for someone to have you learn about yourself.  As my client said – they can get that anywhere. 

I have been doing some work recently with the fantastic Mr Fox (sorry that just slipped out – that was a funny movie and strange how word associations can derail me – been on a train lately?), no I mean Vikram Murthy on leadership and problem solving. I give him credit for helping me to clarify the above situation for me. Thanks Vikram.

For some people emotional intelligence is one of those yeah yeah things, but actually it’s not. It’s real and provable. Just like the universe (I’ll look at this later and wonder, but I’ve only had juice tonight honestly).

Back to leadership:  that might be about team, about relationships, about change, about vision, about problem solving, about using energy and emotion and you can think of a few more things too I’m sure.  But there’s a good start, or is it?

It’s the end.  The end result of something much more complex from a journey of discovery – self awareness, then self management, then social awareness and then you’ll get to leadership.

So you’re the leader now: Are you starting with self?  Of do you reckon you can cut all that stuff out and start with the leader duties? Watch out! Especially if you’re the big and gutsy out-there leader. Is that real? Or are you faking it?  You might not realise it but the team will notice it.

Really Mr Fox, what is that suit all about – you’re a fox for god’s sake! Get real! The dogs can tell.


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