The juxtaposition of these two concepts derives from a great post on Tanveer Naseer’s blog “Is Leadership an Art or a Science?” Generally speaking most of us admit that leadership is both.  But I became interested in another comparison after seeing some terrific discussions on this month’s Think Big regarding women and economic power.  I am borrowing the term “labyrinth” from Alice Eagly, professor of sociology at Northwestern University. I first came across Eagly’s argument that women face a labyrinth more than the glass ceiling in a HBR Article from September 2007. A wonderful update can be found at Big Think “The “Glass Ceiling” Is Actually a Labyrinth ”

I designed a (tongue in cheek) chart below that outlines my views on the differences between an obstacle course and a labyrinth.  I think it is pretty easy to see how typically identified male skills better fit the obstacle course while the more often identified female skills fit the labyrinth.

Besides the alliteration, I think that the metaphor of labyrinth is fitting to all aspects of leaders and leadership. Surprisingly the two concepts of Leadership and the Labyrinth have only been joined when talking about women and the ministry. I suspect there is some additional insight here but I am not sure what it is.

But what about the future – will it be the obstacle course of the past?  I think not. With increasing complexity comes uncertainty, ambiguity and the need for new systems.  It there by seems pretty obvious who might be better suited to the new demands of leadership.   Different skills will be needed and women have one asttribute or competency that it appears most men refuse to develop. When all is said and done, it really boils down to one thing:

Women will make the better leaders of tomorrow because they are willing to ask for directions.

For a more validated analysis based on good research, the clip below may serve you best. It goes beyond the issues of challenges of women reaching the top but goes deeper into the value and ROI when industries embrace diversity. Eagly also points out how complexity has had an impact on leadership.

Last September, France Télécom SA announced it would train all of its 22,000 managers to identify staffers showing signs of depression or erratic behavior after unions blamed a recent spate of suicides among workers on the company’s recent restructuring efforts.  By October, the situation had worsened and a France Télécom executive resigned after the employee suicide tally had risen to 24.  One resignation?  A good analysis can be found by Gill Corkindale on the HBR Blog at that same time:  Why Are France Telecom Workers Committing Suicide?

In the 1980s, the notoriously hard-working Japanese coined a term to describe workers who die suddenly after putting in extremely long hours. The word is karoshi, or death from overwork.  Japan created a new word for the ’90s–karojisatsu, suicides from overwork. In 1997, that total was 22. In less than two years in one company the figure had passed this figure.

It has been six months since the public fully became aware of this situation.  And what has occurred?  A study!  A recent article in the New York Times was entitled “France Télécom Needs ‘Radical Change’ After Suicides, Report Says“. When is a study needed? Why would it be necessary to conduct 500 interviews. Can you see a problem already when a company commissions a study to address the “problem”.  Then announces it will take a few weeks to to install a new style of leadership to address the crisis.  This isn’t a crisis – it is a catastrophe.

When a friend first told me about the suicides at the French Télécom, I thought it was the start of a a bad joke. It was incredulous to me that any organizational culture could be so toxic that 43 suicides among employees since January 2008 could occur without immediate and serious action.  Can you imagine in the aftermath of 911, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 or the quake that recently hit Haiti – our  first activities would be leadership training and then a study? Yes, infrastructures have a great impact on the ability to respond. But let’s save as many people as possible.  The search for the root cause can come after one stops the “bleeding.”

I don’t know enough about the situation at France Télécom to suggest a solution but I am pretty sure that holding those at the very top accountable is a good first step.  Perhaps the Executive Leadership (and this might include the Board, middle managers and some officials) may not have anticipated or been deliberately negligent but once it came to the attention of those in charge everyone became responsible. Allowing things to happen or sitting quietly aside does not make one immune to the consequences.

Let’s not fall into the trap of saying the surgery was successful but the patient died.

Change, even radical change, is all around us.  Some of us are better equipped to manage and deal with these changes.  Training isn’t the answer.  It requires a number of things including extensive, consistent and cascading communications. It means involving employees at all levels to become engaged, contributing and advising on the choices that are being made.  And sometimes, it means cutting out that which is bad so that the rest can heal.  This is not about punishment but survival.

If you are coach or a facilitator, then maybe you should limit the use of these words but leaders – it is about time you reclaimed them. Leaders need to be using the word “I” when it comes to expressing how they feel regarding something and certainly to take responsibility.  Stop passing the buck by disappearing into that innocuous and vague collective “WE”.

When did the word “I” become all about me.  There is no “I” in team.  Spare me.  As Peter Jager would say “Just as ‘there’s no I in TEAM’ there’s no meaning in such sayings”  (via @pdejager)  Clearly, the leader isn’t announcing that he or she did it all himself or herself. Even dictators recognize the need to create devoted followers if at all possible. What I see happening more is the “leader” today is hiding behind this facade of collaboration and engagement to avoid accountability. Of course, one big group hug is not what either collaboration or engagement is about – but that is for other posts.

When did the question “Why?” become so accusatory?  So you think that asking someone why is attacking and guaranteed to put a person on the defensive? It is the intention behind the question and the state of mind of the listener. All the 5 question types can sound challenging:

• Why did you do that?
• What where you thinking?
• Where do you think you are going?
• How dare you?
• Who do you think you are?

Why is the verbal manifestation of curiosity in children. Why is the stuff that dreams are made of.  “Some look at things that are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not?” (George Bernard Shaw not JFK)  How can we possibly address the issues of strategy, vision and purpose if we don’t ask the question “Why”?

You want a little more credibility as a leader?  Start using the first person when you should and remain open to possibilities by asking first yourself the hard questions.  Practice the  5 Whys, a question-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem.  Begin in your mind  . . . Why is this so?

Around the time that I was designing and contemplating this new blog, I ended up watching “Mary Poppins” with my family one weekend.  I had forgotten how entertaining it is regardless of one’s age.  I had also forgotten how many years it has been since its first release.  Besides feeling nostalgically old, I began to look at it in a new light.*

While the protagonist is Mary Poppins herself, I began to see that she represented not the new leadership of the 21st century as one might imagine but was a typical icon of the old 20th century – charismatic but distant; visionary but manipulative; change oriented but no plan for sustainability.

One might even question her ethics.  Poppins resorts to magic or song on order to convince the children to do what she requests.  There is a tendency to mistake “a spoonful of sugar” as a way to encourage engagement when in reality is is the modern take carrot on a stick. While in the movie it is Mary Poppins who is credited with bringing the father, Mr. Banks, back into the family fold, she simply forced him into taking the children to work. After all it was her day off.  The ensuing events took place without her presence.

Bert, on the other hand, is much more than a side kick enamoured with Poppins.  Events happen and change occurs as a direct result of his interventions; entering the picture, laughing over tea and dancing on roof tops. It is Bert who is there to “rescue” the children. It is Bert who has a talk with Mr. Banks.  It is Bert that is the change agent not Mary Poppins.

Here are 5 skills that Bert and all eclectic change agents have and how to develop these abilities:

1. Unbridled Optimism – Seems Bert is always smiling and sees the positive side of things.  He see the possibilities in everything.  The new focus and interest in positive psychology is relevant today. Good news – it can be learned.  See Dr. Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness. You can track your own progress at the Positivity Ratio website.

2. Curiosity – Unlike good old Mary Poppins herself, one doesn’t get the impression that Bert has a set answer or way for everything.  He takes each moment not only for the joy of the experience but maintains that sense of awe and curiosity we often loose as adults.  That isn’t to say he doesn’t have his own views.  He is quite clear about trying to influence Poppins to participate in fun activities.  There are many ways to tap into your own curiosity but one of the best is to spend time with children under the age of 8.  Don’t be afraid of the question “Why” — at least ask it of yourself internally.  There are a number of businesses that focus on bringing in the element of play into organizations.  Please share your favourite.

3. Adaptability – Bert understood what he could and could not influence and he accepted this.  He remained both flexible in the outcomes and adaptable to new situations.  It is necessary in order to keep pace with the ongoing change in our lives and our world.  While curiosity is the first element to be creative, it is adaptability that turns that creativity into innovation.  On the surface this seemed to me to be a harder skill to acquire as it appears quite linked to our acquired traits.  A good starting point is self awareness.  Look at your natural tendencies and identify how you might like to shift.  This is where both behavioural style assessments with the support of a good coach can be extremely helpful.  Start saying “Yes” to things and opportunities that come your way.  What have you found to be a useful strategy?

4. Jack of All Trades - Like my blog title – change requires a lot of eclectic skills which may or may not be related. Bert was not only a chimney sweep but a painter and a salesman.  He was able to draw on his many experiences.  Change agents don’t have one tool or process that they use – they are able to identify from a variety of interventions that best meet the needs of the other person or system. Suggestions: study in your field of expertise, read a variety of information, volunteer, travel, hobbies etc. . .

5. Extensive Networks – Bert knows everyone and is quite comfortable talking with them all as his peers. Thus he not only is able access critical information quickly but he is able engage the support of others. While some of us may think this comes more naturally to those of us who are extroverted, this is not the case.  Connections with others is a basic need and requirement of living. Social networks as well as traditional networking are only as good as your deliberate and selected use of them.  Often it is quality not quantity that matters. What are you doing to nurture those important relationships?

6. Luck? - There is one more element of successful change agents – a little bit of luck.  Seems Bert has a lot of this.  Growing up, I remember that my mother told me that one always had a chimney sweep in the wedding pictures for good luck.   In my humble opinion, it is penguins which bring good fortune but Bert has that too.  Good fortune is not just about luck’ what you think about is what you draw to yourself.  This is called the Law of Attraction.  What are your intentions? What are you attracting in your life?

* Disclaimer: These observations are based on the Disney movies and not the books by P. L. Travers.  A rather interesting analysis can be found at Just a Spoonful of Sugar?: Anxieties of Gender and Class in “Mary Poppins” “Indeed, one could argue that Mr. Banks is the protagonist of the film: he is the only character who experiences significant external resistance, self-questioning, and personal change.”

Eclectic thinkers like their counter parts eclectic philosophers and deep thinkers are bright and inquisitive.  While they tend to be introspective it doesn’t appear to be a necessity.  Why is being an eclectic thinker and important skill for leadership (or at least having access to one)?  Eclectic thinkers are the “mavens” who not only have valuable information at their fingertips, they possess the ability to filter through today’s noise and create meaning from that data.  While eclectic thinkers may have an agenda and strive to influence the thinking of others, it is not about right or wrong.  The ultimate objective is to stretch our thinking to consider broader possibilities.

The 5 core skills to develop your eclectic thinking are:

1. Stay ahead of the curve (continually evolve and reinvent yourself)
2. Honor your core expertise (listen to your own heart)
3. Read veraciously (particularly the classics)
4. Investigate all sources (challenge everything especially yourself)
5. Establish context and meaning  (to begin the process of dialogue and not debate)

Example - Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter would  not have been my first choice to use as an Eclectic Thinker – Charles Handy and Margaret Wheatley come to mind more readily.  However, Kanter has popped up on my radar screen twice in the last couple of weeks.  She wrote an excellent blog post for the Harvard Business Review entitled:  Tiger Woods and the Coming Decline of Celebrity Endorsements.  What is interesting about this post is that it is not about Tiger Woods or marketing ploys but about the values dimension that a corporation has decided to represent.  Kanter goes through a number of organizations and shows how consistency in their values is now a public necessity.

I have always enjoyed reading the work of Rosabeth Moss Kanter  I first knew of her when around 1982 I read Men and Women of the Corporation (1977).   With over 18 books to her credit she constantly reinvents herself in order to stay ahead of the curve while (I believe) being consistent in her views.  By her own admission, she researches extensively and I can only assume she is a constant reader.  She remains true to her core  as indicated by the tags on the HBR blog: Innovation, CSR and Leadership.  Through her work and writings she has opened up the discussion on these topics.

Oh, the other Kanter piece that came across my desk is this two minute video of Kanter discussing what it takes to be a vanguard company.

Finally, someone has captured the full scope of the sustainability issue and resolved some of the inner conflict I have been experiencing lately.  Protecting the natural environment isn’t the whole story: companies must consider their social, economic, and cultural impact as well.  Sustainability is good business and therefore corporate social responsibility makes good sense to businesses and all of us. Intuitively I knew this but try to explain the logic in a ROI sense and it sometimes takes a leap of faith.  It is sort of like trying to convince people that “motivated” employees are more productive.  One doesn’t necessarily focus on just motivation.  Similarly, the focus isn’t just on sustainability but on a broader vision and (North Star) goal that is more holistic and longer term.  Adam Werback brings the issues together in a straight forward and simple way that is compelling.

The McKinsey article, When sustainability means more than ‘green’, is adapted from Adam Werback’s new book, Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto and  reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Press. Copyright © 2009.  Adam Werbach is the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, a former president of the Sierra Club (at age 23 in 1996), and the author of many works on sustainability, including the 1997 book Act Now, Apologize Later. I strongly encourage you to view this accompanying video interview, and then read the article.

True sustainability has four equal components:

• social, to address conditions that affect us all, including poverty, violence, injustice, education, public health, and labor and human rights
• economic, to help people and businesses meet their economic needs—for people: securing food, water, shelter, and creature comforts; for businesses: turning a profit
• environmental, to protect and restore the Earth—for example, by controlling climate change, preserving natural resources, and preventing waste
• cultural, to protect and value the diversity through which communities manifest their identity and cultivate traditions across generations

Kay Cannon interviews Pam Boney about Wisdom Quadrant of the Transcendent Leadership Model of Tilt.

What struck me most about the interview of CEO Richard Anderson was his answer to the first question.

Q. What was the most important leadership lesson you learned?

A. I’ve learned to be patient and not lose my temper.

Patience I have learned over the past five years is my biggest developmental need.  (Such a nice way of putting that I too impatient and easily I loose my temper at my children.)

A colleague, CJ got around to blogging about this this interview and it is always interesting to see the different points that strike us differently.  Patience stood out for me but we did share some other similarities.

I don’t think PowerPoints help people think as clearly as they should because you don’t have to put a complete thought in place.  You can just put a phrase with a bullet in front of it. And it doesn’t have a subject, a verb and an object, so you aren’t expressing complete thoughts.

The higher someone rises in an organization, the more important their intangible qualities become, suggests Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson in an in-depth interview (by Adam Bryant of the New York Times) on the unquantifiable aspects of human capital. How Anderson conducts interviews and what he is looking for is particularly insightful.  While his approach is different, for him some of the key elements he is striving to elicit are:

• a really strong set of values
• a really good work ethic
• adaptability to change
• ability to get along well with people
• a team player
• ability to motivate people

Wednesday April 22nd was Earth Day and to be honest, I didn’t do anything particular to celebrate or honour it. I was too busy blogging, driving kids from activities, fixing meals, doing laundry, changing light bulbs and arranging my next trip to Canada. So when this video crossed my desk this morning via Twitter, I thought it was a great way to both acknowledge the importance of Earth Day – everyday AND a good follow-up to my post from yesterday about personal safety and change.

Although the environmental and human rights movements are sometimes perceived as two different things – especially in many developed countries like the United States – in much of the world they are closely intertwined.

As part of their 30th-anniversary issue, Inc. asked Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last, what we might expect in the next 30 years. His answer: uncertainty, chaos, turbulence, and risk.

In the end, I think we need to have absolute faith in our ability to deal with whatever is thrown at us. And we need to have a complete, realistic paranoia that a lot can be thrown at us. It’s our ability to put those two contradictory ideas together: We need to be prepared for what we can’t predict and, at the same time, have this total, unwavering faith that we will find a way to deal with all of it. And I believe we will.

You have to have a strong ego to write blog posts that are well read by others (who have their own opinions) and then read all the comments.  Two days ago, I took exception to the term “uncoachable” that Marshall Goldsmith used in a recent in his “Ask the Coach” segment in HRB: “How to Spot the “Uncoachables“.  To his credit, Marshall responded and qualified the terms he was using. I encourage you to read the post and the comments (including mine and his responses).

Earlier today, I put up a video of Jacqueline Novogratz where she discusses the importance of learning humility.  I thought it would be interesting to tie the behaviors of self assurance and humility into the Tilt Leadership Model.*  The Tilt 360 looks takes one’s personality to the next step . . . as we are aware of our tendencies how do we manage them. As mature individuals how balanced are we in the character traits needed to be a Transcendent Leader?  An overuse of the strength of confidence (ego) can result in arrogance or being smug. What is needed to balance this is a focus on trust: humble, authentic, respectful.

I have noticed over the past few years a new sense of awareness with the “old timers” of organization development like Peter Block and W. Warner Burke. This is from hearing them speak and interact with them in person.  Marshall Goldsmith falls into this group.  He won’t remember, but I last saw him at the ICF Conference in Brussels in 2006 and I felt the shift.   I am going to go out on a limb here and say that is seems that these “old white men of privilege” finally “get it” and understand at a more fundamental level the position of power they have had over the years.  This shows up in greater humanity and an even greater sense of the whole. They are able to take their creativity and influence to a new level by balancing this ego with greater perspective and humanity.

You might well ask who am I to make such sweeping generalizations. Nobody, but I have had my own humbling experience over the past few years and I must say I have not handled it as graciously as Marshall.

Kudos to him!

Roberta

* Roberta Hill is a fellow with Tilt Inc and primary trainer and supplier in Europe.