A lot has happened since then. I enrolled in a coaching program at Fielding Graduate School to test how well my coaching skills fared against a formal program and I am happy to say while it has helped me i am pretty good at this coaching thing. I say this not to boast but rather to let you know that I have been increasing my client load the past few weeks and and interested to hear from you  and whether you want to be coached.

Its one thing to read the thoughts and comments of a leader and trainer, its wholly another to engage in the process of leadership development. Real leaders develop by rubbing elbows with other leaders, getting in the game and leading something.

So if you want to learn more about how you can take your leadership capacity to the next level get in touch with me.The best way is to email me directly at ronn dot hurst at gmail dot com. Sorry for the phonetics but too much spam has been finding me lately.

Lead well

Ron

As the site grows we are finding that people searching for answers to some pretty practical questions are finding us here at develop a leader dot com. For instance as we were analyzing web traffic we found the following key word phrase and noticed that Google ranked Developing Leaders as result number 8.

What can human resource management do to develop leaders and managers?

This may seem like a “so what” moment but seriously this is not a question we have addressed in any way here on the site. So what the heck lets take it on shall we…

One of the challenges with HR management is that they tend to be on the sidelines in many organizations. They simply are not treated as equal partners in the organizational value chain. As a result many HR departments are treated as service providers instead of partners. How can HR managers develop leaders? Well first they need to look in the mirror and overcome the inherent disadvantage.

I have met many HR professionals. Some were excellent administrators, others fantastic empathizers, others strict policy makers and yet others create geniuses. What I did not see many of were those with substantial leadership ability, business acumen and technical HR skill. Many were simply not multi-dimensional enough to hold their own with other business leaders. This is a clear generalization I know yet there is an opportunity here. This is the point I wish to make, not the criticism but the opportunity.

Each business leader must bring their technical expertise; this is part of the price of admission. To gain the influence to develop the next generation of organizational leaders, you need to bring more. You must demonstrate through your capability and experience the ability to be an equal partner in the business enterprise. So learn to read a balance sheet, interpret a cash flow statement, cast a compelling vision, lead a team through a substantial change. You cannot settle for the opportunity to become an in-sourced training department. What will this lead to outsourcing of you and your department of course. Have you not heard of the trend of outsourcing the HR function?

Develop solid results in your area of expertise, and make valued contributions outside of it where possible. Volunteer to be a part of cross functional project teams and help bring in significant performances. Challenge the status quo by seeking out and changing tired old practices in collaboration with those in the organization you can count as allies. Most of all develop yourself into an expert leader with a reputation for delivering results. This is your best shot at a seat at the table where you can influence the development of other organizational leaders.

Lead well

I want to talk about the response from Anand Vidwansa a software engineer from India. What struck me about Anand’s response was the simplicity of it. No simplicity as in simple but rather as in elegant. Anand is a firm believer in the power of experience to learn.

Put yourself in trouble and try to come up with a solution. Experience is the best teacher that can not be earned by reading books.

Personally I don’t go out of my way to find trouble but I definitely do not shy away from it either. I think Anand is on to something very important with this concept… Experience is the best teacher.

I particularly liked the way Anand laid out his learning process.

I step up and take new challenges. I prefer to be more flexible and not bind to a certain set of rules. I have evolved through my experience and not by any mentor/leader. This has taught me so many things that I don’t think I would be able to learn otherwise.

The only addition I would make to his comments is the importance of reflection and adjustment. Remember the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Consciousness is a necessary element of experiential learning that most people overlook.

So as much as I loved Anand’s response for the elegant simplicity it represented it was missing some key aspects of development (reflection and adjustment) . I also felt troubled by the lack of new ideas or thoughts being injected into the learning system. Again we must learn to continue to be effective and learning the same things over and over again is not learning it is insanity. Anand did not claim this was the case for him, and I doubt it was. I make the point to say how critical it is to have multiple inputs into your learning process

Lead and learn well

Ron

Questions like these are critical ones certainly. They need to be answered, the learning leader does need to master these competencies. Leadership like integrity is a holistic activity. To pick out one area of leadership to develop in may provide short term benefit but really a balanced approach is critical. To communicate, lead change, cast a vision etc. etc requires many things but always relates back to a confident leader who consistently walks their integrity each day. They know who they are, they know what stresses them, what they are afraid of, what angers them, what gives them joy. Leadership is a journey of meaning and discovery.

Today lets talk about the world around us and the impact of financial matters, in particular the $5.00 gallon of gasoline on the world of a leader.

So how are you doing? Is this new economic reality hitting you, your business? Have you considered trading in your big beast for an econo-box, a hybrid or perhaps a bicycle? Have you discussed commuting, ride sharing? How are you doing?

Dealing with unexpected change such as this never ending spiral of inflation can be particularly destructive if you allow it. The stress and worry of financial matters can be corrosive to your health and your relationships, if you allow it.

How do you approach change, particularly adverse change? One of the concepts I love when discussing leadership is that of resilience. Resilience is the thing that gets you back up after you get knocked down. It is the thing that tells the worry in your head to shut up and starts you down a more constructive path toward solution.

It is important to step back and put adverse change into perspective. Consider what level of control you have in the situation. If you have none what good does it do to allow yourself to worry senselessly? Better to focus constructively on those things you have some control over. If you are stuck in a situation where there is no obvious answers or solutions it is helpful to find a way to think beyond the obvious.

Our emotions can deceive us. They can trick us into believing we are stranded, helpless out of options. Yet the reality can be different. We need to consider that we are just too close to our emotional state and cannot pull out of the nosedive we are in on our own.

No I am not talking about therapy! I am talking about gaining perspective from a trusted friend who is not up to their neck in your situation. The view can be a lot clearer when you are able to detach yourself from the crisis.

Phone a Friend?

So as Regis would say do you want to phone a friend?

Take the time to seek wise counsel. Recognize that the lie most of us live is to believe that our problem is so unique, so complex, so embarrassing that we cannot share it with any one. The opposite is true. Count on a trusted friend to share your frustrations with and see if it does not change your perspective. Please use common sense here! Try this technique out on small crises first. Tact and discretion are not to be thrown out the window they are a wise guide to use in approaching this situation.

Remember that like all the people you lead you too are human. You too are subject to the same emotions that all of us are. The challenge is not in experiencing them but rather the level of grace and patience with which you carry them.

Not up to disclosure?

Another useful technique is to write yourself a letter. Capture all of the emotion you are experiencing lace into the letter the logic as you see it of the situation. As you write see if the stress does not slowly slip away. Again common sense alert this is not the kind of letter to leave on the coffee table for others to find. Either store it in a secure place or get rid of (destroy) it when finished.
Not an Author?

Okay another strategy to deal with apparently hopeless situations is to exercise. Yes this is a not so cleverly disguised stress management technique…AND?!

Have you tried it? It works.

The bottom line for leaders is this in order for your team to be confident following you; you have to be confident leading yourself. This my friends means having a healthy self image and projecting a healthy self image. This is remarkably difficult in the midst of an overwhelming crisis.

I was sitting with my wife today discussing a story of a monumental mix up of a process and this thought came to me.

People will disappoint you.

It will happen, unfortunately it will happen often. People you count on to get a job done will not do so. People who agree to take responsibility for a task will beg off and not do so. People you count on to show up will find mysterious reasons not to. Yes it will happen. What though do you do about it?

This is a tough question.

Start with this, don’t get discouraged. Accepting the fact that people will let you down lessens the sting of the event ever so slightly. We leaders can often tie our personality and very being so closely to our role that it almost seems personal when we are let down. Trust me it usually is not.

People, most of us, walk around looking at the world through “me” colored glasses.  (Think the seagulls in Finding Nemo; mine! mine!) They filter events based on their best interest. It takes effort to look beyond the selfishness and put others needs ahead of our own. While this realization helps the leader to understand why this happens, I recognize it also reinforces the bitterness of the disappointment. The ability to put others needs ahead of our own is one of the hallmarks of the leader in the first place.

Folks we got to love them anyway, accept them for what and who they are and forge ahead despite the setbacks.

One of my favorite strategies is to count ever more on those who can be counted on. Often I will demonstrate more care and attention on the trustworthy team member than their fickle counterpart. Why? Simple I want to always invest in those people who can be counted on but I also want to open a line of communication with the under performer. Why don’t you treat me the way you treat Jane, she always seems to be getting the good projects they will complain. Well Bobby I would love to give you those same opportunities. Can I give you some feedback though? The last project I asked you to help out on you decided not to take the critical piece causing the team to pick up the slack. Look I have an idea let’s start off with this other project (read smaller, less risk, little exposure) and see how you do with that. When you complete that successfully we will discuss larger projects.

Ultimately though it is the leaders role to discover the potential of each member of their team. There is talent in everyone; it’s a matter of finding it. We need to see the transformational ability that lies within each human soul. The leader will see this first and convey to their team member the conviction and confidence they have in that individual to see it as well. When they see it for themselves they have the chance of achieving greatness. This transformation is only possible through a clear and deep trust based relationship

This is the challenge of a leader.

Yes people will disappoint you and yes we lead on anyway looking to grow our people.

Lead well

Ron

This is a real danger for a leader. When we allow this process to occur naturally without challenge we will enter into a space where we will force a solution onto a problem that simply does not fit. Alternatively we may use a problem solving method that just will not work for the issue in question. The danger is we will not necessarily even know that what we are doing is wrong.

How can we combat this tendency?

There are several methods to fight it.

• Mental Model busting
• Learn always and everywhere
• Feedback
• Think through a different construct.

Mental Models

We all have them, we just are not aware of most of them. Our social conditioning provides us with a stable environment in which only a portion of the stimuli around us actually enter our brain. These filters are both a sanity saver and risky filter at the same time. Coupled with our minds filtering ability is its judgment processes or mental models. We have a tendency to reject data that does not support an assumption we have made to a point where we are not aware of the input. (we only see Toyota Prius’s and not any other car) We may go even further where we consider a small amount of the sensory input make up our mind then cop an attitude about the situation complete with negative emotions and closed off perspective.

We need to discover what our internal assumptions are. What are these things that hold us back, make us emotionally stunted for periods of time. Once we identify them we can challenge them and eventually change them. Look for negative emotions that inhibit your ability to embrace certain situations and ask why I am feeling acting this way. I have successfully identified and eliminated several negative mental models this way.

Learn

The beauty of learning is that you must first unlearn what you think you know. This process of deconstruction continually amazes me. So often I become aware of the limitations of my own thought processes through the threat of learning. You see my brain does not want to learn. It wants to stay static. I see my brain as any other muscle in my body (only with far greater importance) so I exercise it regularly. I believe that learning exercises the brain and definitely breaks down the negative mental models that exist there.

Feedback

We talk about this so often most of you could write it yourself. Feedback is the best external gut check on how realistic your actions and by extension thoughts are.

Constructs

I love this word, sorry. When I get that old sensation that once again I am analyzing a challenging situation from a leadership lens, I often ask myself how else could you look a this challenge. Could this be a systems challenge, a management challenge, a learning challenge, or a communication breakdown. Any other construct that could explain the challenge will do as long as it gets you looking at it from a different point of view.

So that is it four ways to challenge your mental models and hopefully identify new ways of looking at an old problem.

There is an old saying that is very much on point here.

If the only tool in your tool belt is a hammer,

then every problem tends to look like a nail.

Lead well…with a chisel ;-)

The next participant in our discussion on how leaders develop themselves is Yves Hanoulle. Yves is actually a leadership coach based in Belgium.

How does Yves develop himself as a leader? Well his advice is very straight forward. He recommends reading from good leadership books every day and taking training courses from reputable sources. In addition to this Yves mentions the importance of learning how to listen effectively.

Follow a four year training on learning to better listen to people

Now as I mentioned Yves is a coach who develops leaders his ability to center on this critical aspect of leadership serves as verification that his approach is similar to ours here at develop a leader dot com. If you want to find out more about Yves coaching program you can check it out here at Pair Coaching.

It seems that here at developing leaders we are always talking about the absolute critical nature of leadership communications in leadership development. This is no surprise, we simply must be able to convey our vision and our passion for the cause, we must be able to provide both encouraging and correcting feedback, we must be able to influence others both in and out of our organization.

Let me end this post with some of Yves advice to the developing leaders out there…

“Find good coaches”

Cool advice!

Lead well

Leadership coach Ron ;-)

Our next guest to the Linked In sales question is Christopher Sorge. Christopher is a banking professional from Pennsylvania. Christopher’s answer focused more on where leadership and sales diverge. He expanded on the differences between the roles rather than the similarities.

In my opinion, the two roles are very dynamic but their end goals maybe entirely divergent. What I mean by this is a sales person is driven to make sales and pursue relationships. While a manager is driven on the bottom line.

He does see some similarities as well

They are similar in that they involve the use of organizational skills, interpersonal skills, & the implementation of sociology & psychology

I think what Christopher is saying is that the influence exerted by a leader within an organization is similar to the persuasion exerted by a sales professional with his customer.

Managers are most often influenced more so by their respective organizations and sales professionals are most influenced by their customers.

So another perspective comes in demonstrating similarity and differences. Good well it was the influence thing we were interested in investigating anyway.

Sell well

Plan… plan your long term goals and short term goals…concentrate on short term goals…which should be 100% in-line with the long term goal

The problem is in this immediate gratification world planning takes time and energy. Time and energy that would be better spent in a drive through getting a heart attack on a bun cheeseburger in 2 minutes or less. Right?

Leaders plan, leaders strategize. This is what often separates us from everyone else. We have a clear sense of where we are going because in our mind we are already there.

How can you plan for your development?

Ask questions, first of yourself then of others. You want to know where you have strengths that can be improved and liabilities that need to be managed. The answer to this will form a basis for where you should consider developing yourself. Now do not forget if you work in an organization you will inevitably be told to fix your weaknesses. People who think this way are average. How could they be anything else? If they follow their own advice the best they can hope for is to bring up their deficits to the average. They are not improving their strengths so…they are average.

I don’t know about you but I am not about to follow the advice of an average person (unless what they have to say makes sense). Fixing your weaknesses as a development strategy falls into my favorite technical classification of STUPID.

Back to Sudarshan…

Well talking about planning on its own as a leadership development strategy is kind of like staring at a measuring cup when you want to bake a cake. You have to have something in the plan. Sudarshan believes in a diverse approach trying a number of different techniques to develop his leadership skill.

Given an opportunity, I will try to involve myself in all the available methods… online, offline, classroom, instructor lead, books, professional network, forums, job experience, mentorship, distance education… every method that is available…

This is good advice. Perhaps a little unfocused but as long as he finds the techniques that work best for him and then leverages these he will do well. This plays into the different learning styles of leaders. When you know how you learn best you can deepen your learning even further and affect personal change far easier.

So get out there and discover what works best for you. Try courses, coaching (hint, hint), volunteer roles, get a mentor, try stuff and see what works.

Lead well

Ron

I think the method that works best for becoming a leader is very simple–put yourself in situations where you must be one.

This is very important advice and dovetails nicely with much of the feedback we have received thus far. By positioning yourself to lead you have a sort of trial by fire opportunity to learn how to do so. What I love about this advice is that for those of us still searching for what we want to be when we grow up, this is as extreme as test driving. Taking on a role that allows us to get first hand experience in something we think we may like will provide invaluable input into career decisions later on. Ultimately this will provide an avenue for a potential leader to connect with their passions.

Amanda followed this point up with another great piece of advice learn from others then practice, practice, practice.

I think a lot can be learned from observing others you consider to be good leaders, reading books/blogs/websites, attending courses, etc, but it all comes to nil if you don’t give yourself an opportunity to practice what you are learning.

So a very practical approach to leadership training and development from Amanda, thank you. Remember that learning is a core skill of an effective leader and was one of our seven tops for leadership effectiveness.

How are you learning how to lead today?

Post a comment on the blog, enter into the discussion. Most importantly remember the advice of those who get things done…

Ready… Fire… Aim

Lead well

Ron