Team Leadership Culture
  • Team
  • Leadership
  • Culture
  • Myers-Briggs
  • Trust Me
  • Short Book Reviews
Top Posts
Obituary
REPOST: Four Functions, Three Rules
ROUNDUP: The Rise of AI
REPOST: Facing Adversity Series
ROUNDUP: Curiousity
ROUNDUP: Deep Work
REPOST: Character vs. Competence
REPOST: Opposite of Victim
REPOST: Listening With the Intent to Understand
REPOST: Performance vs Trust
  • About
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Trust Me
    • Short Book Reviews
  • Contact

Team Leadership Culture

  • Team
  • Leadership
  • Culture
  • Myers-Briggs
  • Trust Me
  • Short Book Reviews
Search results for

"perspective"

BlogLeadership

Perspective

by Ron Potter September 3, 2020

We’ve talked a lot about perspective lately.  Then I saw a short video by Barry Hall II.  I thought it was great and decided to make this a short blog by sharing.

Barry started with a video of a person spray painting some graffiti on a building that said

http://www.teamleadershipculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Perspective-1.mp4

 

Just Do Nothing

That’s often a perspective that people take.  They think “If I ignore it, it will go away.  Just do nothing.”

Problems don’t go away.  Innovation doesn’t happen.  Nothing good comes from a perspective of “Just do nothing.”

His next frame was another person painting more graffiti on the wall around the corner that says

http://www.teamleadershipculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Perspective-2.mp4

 

It is Impossible

Of all the possible perspectives, I may have seen this one the most often.  It’s just not possible.  If this is your perspective than there is no reason to try.  There is no reason to search for alternative perspectives.  Innovation will never happen.  It’s more than being difficult, it’s the belief that it’s impossible.

His final frame steps back at an angle so that both walls can be seen at the same time (an entirely new perspective).  Now the viewer sees a much different message than was provided by the first two sketches.

http://www.teamleadershipculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Perspective-3.mp4

 

 

Just Do It, Nothing is Impossible

Step back, take a look at your situation from a different perspective and new possibilities might be seen.

The next time you’re faced with a difficult situation, listen.  What are you hearing?

  • Just Do Nothing
  • It is Impossible

More importantly, don’t just listen to voices outside your own head.  Pay attention to what you’re saying to yourself.  Do you start with Do Nothing or It’s Impossible?  It’s OK that we start there.  I think it’s part of our human nature.  But don’t leave it there!

Start thinking about how you could do things differently.  What perspective would be entirely new?

There are a few books that can help on this front.

  • A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger
  • Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get out of Your Own Way by Steven Pressfield
  • Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent Keith

Just do it, nothing is impossible.

 

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogTeamTeam Series

Team Elements – Truth: Perspective and Memory

by Ron Potter February 7, 2019

We’ve been introducing and preparing ourselves to walk through the elements that make great teams. The first of these is Truth. Great teams can tell each other the truth. But truth needs some special understanding.

Memory

How well do you remember that event? Is it seared into your memory? If so, brain science tells us that it’s very likely wrong. The more intensely we remember something, the more the memory has been modified by our brain to align with our beliefs and assumptions and therefore the “surer” we are of its accuracy.

The day after the shuttle Challenger blew up, a professor in Florida asked his class to write down everything they remembered about the moment and following hours of the Challenger explosion. The accident had happened only 24 hours before the class. The professor gave them some guidelines to write about:

  • What were their emotions at the moment they saw or heard about the explosion?
  • Who were they with? How did the other people react?
  • Where were they at the moment of the explosion and for the rest of the evening?
  • How did their emotions shift over that time? What was the focus of the conversations they had with others?

The students spent a couple of hours of class writing about these questions and other thoughts.

A few years later, the professor tracked down as many members of that class that he could find. In each case, they were handed their hand-written papers and asked how it fit with the memory they have of the explosion.

In all of the cases, their memories were different from what they had written that day. In some cases, the students rejected what they had written and told the “truth” about what happened that day. Their memories had been modified over time and solidified about the “story” they would tell of the events they “had experienced” on that fatal day.

Because computer hard drives and “memories” have been around for over four decades now, we have this belief that just like computer hard drives, we put things in our memory and then when we retrieve them, they are exactly what was put into our memory the moment the memory was created. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Our memory is modified from the moment it is created by events and experiences along the way. We are constantly modifying our memory.

Perspective

Perspective changes everything, even the things we’re observing at the moment. Again, brain science has shed a great deal of light on how we observe the world around us and “remember” events.

I’ve written other blogs on this topic, but the essence of the matter is that we assume what we are observing is the “truth” while everyone who has a different conclusion is simply expressing their “perspective.”

Science tells us the once an image enters our eye, the image itself is broken into at least 127 million bits of information and run through several processing centers of our brain. These centers include (but are not limited to) values, emotions, goals, ideas, memories, stress, pain, experiences, etc.

It’s easy to understand that each of us has different values, emotions, goals, ideas, memories, stress, pain, experiences. It should then be easy to understand the each of us will have a different view of what the “truth” is, based on what we just observed.

Realize that your perspective may be one of many. Each perspective is valid based on the persons processing centers.

Truth

Being part of a team means that we respect each other’s perspective of a given situation and work hard at reaching a collective perspective that will help us move forward and stay united and committed to an action plan.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogTeam

Idiots and Nobodies: Gaining New Perspective

by Ron Potter May 7, 2015

“I’ve learned more from idiots and nobodies than from professionals of this or that.”
–Henry Miller from his book, On Turning 80

Photo Credit: Matthew Hoelscher, Creative Commons

Photo Credit: Matthew Hoelscher, Creative Commons

I certainly don’t work with idiots or nobodies. The people who are successful at the top of corporations where I work are energetic, and highly motivated. But I find something very interesting about Millers quote.

The etymology of the word “idiot” says: “From Ancient Greek’s idites, a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman.”

If we put Miller’s quote together with the etymology, it suggests that we learn more from the non-professional non-expert than we will from the pro.

Now on the surface that’s ridiculous. Our experts and pros spend years and careers understanding aspects of our business world. There are times when I feel like I need every brain cell I can muster just to hang on to a casual conversation between two experts on a given topic.

But here’s the kicker: our world is changing, shifting, and evolving rapidly. The things that I was an “expert” in 20 years ago in the computer industry are essentially worthless and meaningless today. Now, that’s not to say that our experts and pros don’t grow and develop and evolve as well. They do. But by becoming experts we’ve seen it all; We know what to expect; We know how things work. And therein lies the problem.

We may need Innovation more than Experts

When we need innovation or change or we’re facing a disruptive event in our industry, we often have to take new perspectives or think about our business in totally new ways. Experts become victims of their own knowledge. When our brain has an expectation of what we’re going to see, we miss all kinds of interesting things going on around us.

There’s a wonderful experiment where the participants are asked to view a video of two teams in a gym bouncing and passing a basketball. The participants are given the assignment of counting how many passes are made by one of the teams. While watching the video and accomplishing their task, the majority of participants miss the fact (completely don’t see it) that a man in a gorilla suit walks right through the middle of gym. They were too focused to see the bigger picture.

To see things differently and gain new perspective, bring in some idiots (not professional knowledge) and nobodies and listen to them. They’ll see the gorilla in the room when the pros won’t.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogLeadership

Perspective Changes

by Ron Potter January 22, 2015

In my executive coaching work, both with individuals and teams, one of the most useful techniques is bringing alternate or multiple perspectives. We so easily get entrenched in our own perspective, it can be difficult to see solutions or other possibilities.

I recently experienced heart bypass surgery. During one session in the post op process, I was lying in the hospital bed with the doctor on my right, his physician’s assistant on my left with my two nurses at the foot of the bed, and my wife over my shoulder.

At one point when the pain was severe, even the nurses had to look away. I thought, “I’m not sure how much the human body and psyche could stand more pain than this.”

But my mind immediately shifted to my father, lying in a muddy field hospital, (I’ve seen some of the hospital photos.) 4,500 miles away from home with no family around, with doctors and nurses who I’m sure cared very much, but had no time to spend comforting a patient, having his leg amputated.

Image Source: Ulf Klose, Creative Commons

Image Source: Ulf Klose, Creative Commons

My conditions, while seeming extreme, were nothing compared to what my father had experienced during WWII. My change in attitude and experience at that moment were such that even the doctor noticed and later asked me about what happened.

Nothing really, just a change in perspective. Perspective is very powerful. It can even change the level of pain we’re experiencing.

The next time you’re in that extremely “painful” corporate situation, see if you can help yourself and your team gain a different perspective. It often takes a jarring experience or question. “What would this look like to a chimpanzee? How would this be viewed from a four person jazz band? How about a 100 person symphony orchestra?” None of these questions make sense or they certainly are all out of context. But that’s the point! Get out of your context. Look at this from a new perspective, not just a different point of view from the same context; “How would our competitor view this issue?” Shake it up! Gain a new perspective.

Tell us about the last time that four year old child asked you a question that shook your perspective? Share with us a story or two.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
REPOST

ROUNDUP: Curiousity

by Ron Potter July 6, 2023
A Note From the Editor:
As we recently mentioned, we are reposting popular blog posts while Ron is recovering from some health issues. Are you curious about curiosity?

Ron’s Short Review: I just love the idea of curiosity and use it often to help myself and clients learn to listen better.  Brian Grazer (Ron Howard’s movie producing partner) makes a great case for how intentional curiosity has helped him live a richer life.  I did take a few notes but I think the book could have been written with at least one third fewer pages.  I think the books “A More Beautiful Question” and “Learn or Die” have a little more meat on the topic.


Ron’s Short Review: This one really convinces you that managers have answers, true leaders have questions, provoke questions and teach their teams to constantly question.


Ron’s Short Review: Many organizations rely on getting better, faster, and cheaper, others rely on innovation to drive growth. Both require learning.


Are You Curious?

Be careful how you answer, it may define your chances of success!

Source: Beverly & Pack, Creative Commons

Source: Beverly & Pack, Creative Commons

I’ve been reading A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer.  Most of us know Brian because of his movie making partnership with Ron Howard.  Look at their film biography sometime.  All great films.

But the reason I started reading the book was not because of who Brain was but because of the title, A Curious Mind.  For much of my consulting career, the word curious has been an important concept in my work.  One issue that I seem to be working on with many leaders and in fact the one that seems to gain them the most traction in becoming better leaders is listening.  I try to help them grasp the concept and practice of listening with an intention to understand rather than listening with the intention to respond.  It really makes a difference in people’s lives and in our learning ability if we can make this shift to listening to the other person to completely understand what they’re saying and what’s behind or driving what they’re saying.  Stop trying to figure out how you’re going to respond to the person and just listen to understand them.

When my clients ask for help at getting better at listening to understand I talk to them about curiosity.  Everyone seems to be curious about something.  Everyone seems to have at least one topic that they enjoy, are passionate about, never tire of learning about, and are tremendously curious about.

What happens to your mind when you’re pursuing that curiosity?

  • How are you thinking about the topic?
  • Why do you want to learn more about the topic?
  • What happens when you learn a whole new aspect of the topic?
  • What happens when you learn something that seems to be counter to what you’ve learned in the past or thought you already knew or understood?

What’s happening is that you’re unleashing your curiosity.

Humble leaders listen to others with curiosity.  They want to learn.  They want their beliefs challenged and upset.  They’re gaining new perspectives.  Warren Berger really fleshes this out in his book A More Beautiful Question.

A few of the quotes that caught my eye from Brian included:

  • “Life isn’t about finding the answers, it’s about asking the questions.”
  • “I’ve discovered that even when you’re in charge, you are often much more effective asking questions than giving orders.”
  • “I’m a boss—Ron Howard and I run Imagine together—but I’m not much of an order giver. My management style is to ask questions. If someone’s doing something I don’t understand, or don’t like, if someone who works for me is doing something unexpected, I start out asking questions. Being curious.”

Are you curious?  Are you a leader?  You won’t be good at leading if you’re not good with curiosity!


This post was originally posted here on September 24, 2015. These reviews were originally posted here, here, and here on September 26, 2015, January 25, 2014, and May 24, 2014.
0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogLeadership

CEO Quotes

by Ron Potter May 26, 2022

I came across an interesting article the other day that talked about the important work of a CEO.

This particular CEO wanted to develop a particular type of platform and started the development in his living room.  Today, over 830 million people from around the world are members and use the platform regularly.

In the article, this CEO states that he could not have had success without the help of his friends.  He says that “friends will be absolutely central to your sense of happiness, connection and meaning.”

Most people would assume he experiences happiness through his success in business.  He says happiness comes from the connection of friends, regardless of financial success.  Following are four lessons he learned from his friends.

Appreciate Other Perspectives

Early in his career, one of his colleagues stated that he seem to know nothing about how women thought and acted.  He realized there was an entire perspective of the world around him that he knew nothing about.  He asked his colleague to help him out.  His reaction was, “When there’s something important you don’t know, real friends will tell you about it.”

Realizing Your Purpose

Soon after leaving college, he was grappling with the question of “What do I want to do with my life?”  Again, another friend said, “Don’t sit there feeling like you don’t know what to do.  Go do something.”

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that many people don’t do anything because they don’t feel qualified.  Notice the quote above.  It doesn’t say go get qualified to do something, but go do something!  I had three major careers in my 40 years of business.  I didn’t feel qualified to do any of them, I just started.  If I had waited or worked at becoming qualified, it’s likely I wouldn’t have accomplished any of the three.

Saying “No” to Yes Men

Here is what the CEO is quoted saying: “We all seek validation or approval in one way or another.  While it’s good to have friends that support what you do, it’s more important to have friends that can tell you the truth, even if it may hurt.”  He also says, “Friends will tell you not what you want to hear, but that you need to hear.”

Helping Your Friends Help You

The CEO says that the most important lesson is that “Your friends help you the most by letting you help them.”

That CEO is Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.  I don’t know Reed and I have never worked for Linkedin, but I’m going to trust that Reed not only believes but lives these lessons.

I did consult for a multi-billion dollar firm several years back.  The CEO used much of that same language.  However, he thought of himself as a teacher.  He didn’t need to learn these things, he needed to teach others.  I watched as he would meet with people below his direct reports to impart these wisdoms.  However, with his direct reports, he acted as if he knew it all and didn’t need that “friend” described above.  His direct reports never cared for him and his tenure with that company was short-lived.

These are great quotes from Reid.  Just make sure they apply to everyone in your life.  You may have worked for three or four decades but that brand new employee is capable of asking the question that helps you.  Apply it to friends, family, and others that you encounter along the way.  You’ll learn and grow from each encounter.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogIn-Depth Book Reviews

Management of the Absurd

by Ron Potter May 5, 2022

As I continue the review of some of the books I’ve read through the years, next up is Management of the Absurd by Richard Farson.

Management of the Absurd

A dictionary definition of the word absurd calls it “wildly unreasonable or illogical.”  I consider myself both highly reasonable and logical so this definition didn’t make sense to me.  Which may be why I read it.  My notes alone for the book totaled up to 15 pages so I guess it caught my interest.

This book is written by Richard Farson.  In the book, he lays out eight parts.

  1. A Different Way of Thinking
  2. The “Technology of” Human Relations
  3. The Paradoxes of Communication
  4. The Politics of Management
  5. Organizational Predicaments
  6. Dilemmas of Change
  7. The Aesthetics of Leadership
  8. Avoiding the Future

I’ll quickly touch on each of the eight parts but I think you’ll notice the absurdity in the titles themselves.

A Different Way of Thinking

The most important discoveries come from taking a fresh look at what people take for granted.  They cannot see it because it is too “obvious” or is what they expect to see or not seen.  Farson calls this the invisible obvious.  I’ve often seen when the “expert” doesn’t pay any attention to the new person on the team or someone who doesn’t have the same “expertise” they do on a particular topic.  The absurdity comes from the fact that the best new creative ideas come from the person who is taking a fresh look at a topic.  This can come from the new person or, if you train yourself well, you can provide that fresh look no matter how much of an “expert” you are on a topic.

The “Technology of” Human Relations

Farson says that “The more important a relationship, the less skill matters.”  In both parenthood and management, it’s not so much what we do as what we are that counts.  It is the ability to meet each situation armed not with a battery of techniques but with an openness that permits a genuine response.

Effective leaders and managers do not regard control as the main concern.  Instead, they approach situations as learners or teachers or sometimes both.

My take from this section is the openness and genuine response that people respect and will be motivated by.  Trying to control or dictate situations will not motivate people.

The Paradoxes of Communication

Paradox is another one of those interesting words.  Webster says that it is “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.”

Listening can also be a disturbing experience.  All of us have strong needs to see the world in certain ways, and when we really listen, so that we understand the other person’s perspective, we risk being changed ourselves.

The best kind of listening comes not from technique but from being genuinely interested in what really matters to the other person.

This is what I have come to think of as listening to understand rather than listening to respond.  Often when we’re listening to the other person, we’re building a list in our head about how were are going to respond.  That’s easier and takes less energy than listening to truly understand what the other person is saying and the belief system they are basing their statement upon.  Listening to understand creates a different set of questions, often forcing the other person to expose their own belief system.

The Politics of Management

Fighting for the rights of special groups has contributed to an erosion of civility.  When people are treated as representatives of special groups, society is fragmented.  The achievement and preservation of the community must become our top priority.  Otherwise, the concept of rights has no meaning.

Organizational Predicaments

Organizations that need help most will benefit from it least.

I experienced this with one client I worked with many years ago.  The head of HR knew that the team needed help and convinced them to employ my services.  After talking with the head of HR, I decided to highly discount my services because I didn’t believe that would have been willing to pay my going fee.  In their mind, they just weren’t in that bad of shape.  After working with the team for almost a year I believed we had learned a lot and gotten much better.  If we were climbing a ten-step ladder, we had just successfully made it up to step one.  However, to the team this was seen as such great strides—they felt like they had reached the top of the ladder.  Because they were so much better than they had been a year ago they no longer had a need for my services.  In their mind, they had achieved everything they could have.

Dilemmas of Change

I’ve talked about the word “dilemma” before.  The foundation is “dilaminent” which meant horns.  Being on the horns of a bull put you in a dilemma.  You’re going to get gored either way.

Our author Farson makes the point that creative ideas are relatively easy to elicit.   Implementing them is a much tougher task.

Farson says that it’s important that we fail.  We need to fail ofter.  If we don’t, it means we’re not testing our limits.

The Aesthetics of Leadership

Farson says, “There are no leaders, there is only leadership.”

One of the great enemies of organizational effectiveness is our stereotypical image of a leader.  We imagine a commanding figure perhaps standing in front of an audience, talking, not listening.  The real strength of a leader is the ability to elicit the strength of the group.  Leadership is less the property of a person than the property of a group.

Avoiding the Future

Farson closes with “If absurdity is ubiquitous, if the most important goals are lost causes, why do we keep playing this absurd game?  We play it because it is the only game in town.  Of course, it is absurd.  Of course, it is only a game.  But it is a game well worth playing and worth playing well.”

Management of the Absurd is a long thought-provoking book.  I have not done it justice in the blog so I suggest you find a copy, read it, and underline it so that you come away with the greatest learnings for you.

0 comments
2 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogCulture

Belonging

by Ron Potter November 11, 2021

A recent EY study looked at the power of belonging at work.  Human beings have a great need to be part of a group.  We can look all the way back to ancient tribes to see this need to belong.  We all want to belong to a family, a community, a place of worship, a team.

Whatever the group is, we want to belong and be accepted.

Virtual World

In today’s virtual world, this has become more difficult.  Almost every client I’m working with is asking about how we feel more connected in this virtual world.  Our virtual meetings tend to be focused on the task at hand with little time for socializing or getting to know each other on a personal level.

One of my clients was recently struggling with this issue because he was part of a global team that had no opportunity to be together face-to-face.  In fact, he was gaining the reputation of being a hard charger who needed to be in control of the situation and the project.

Then recently the global team had the opportunity to be personally together at a team meeting in Europe.  He was thrilled with the opportunity and the outcome.  Because they were all face-to-face he had the opportunity to shake hands, look others in the eye, and socialize after work getting to know each other personally.

When the meeting was over he felt much more connected and had an increased sense of belonging that he had not experienced during the virtual meetings over the last year or two.

The Art of the Check-in

The EY study suggested several tips for building relationships regularly.

  • Seize the small opportunities to connect
  • Check bias at the door
  • Assume positive intent
  • It’s OK to be vulnerable
  • Be consistent and accountable

Seize the Small Opportunities to Connect

Connection is much more difficult in the virtual world so it must be accomplished intentionally.  It’s really impossible to accomplish this during team meetings. I have found that you must be intentional about expecting people to get together one-on-one (even virtually) and spend the time getting to know each other as human beings.  These meetings are not intended to work on tasks but simply to build relationships.

Ask questions like:

  • How are you doing?
  • How can I support you?”

You must genuinely be interested in their answers which means that you must listen with the intent to understand.  Truly understand.  Ask clarifying questions that help you understand where the other person is coming from and the perspective they’re using to view the world.

Years ago there was an elderly woman in our church.  If you asked her how she was doing her answer was “I’m doing fine unless you’re really interested”.

Be Interested!  Get to know who they are and what makes them tick.  No judgment.  Just understanding.

Check Bias at the Door

We each carry our own biases.  We just don’t always see them.

By listening to the other person we can often discover our own biases.  It’s natural.  We all have biases.  But the more you are aware of what they are, the easier it is to understand the other person.

Assume Positive Intent

This one is more difficult than it sounds.  Even though we have biases, we tend to accept them as natural and overlook their impact.  But we often assume that the other person is speaking from their own bias and because it’s different than our own, we can easily fall into the trap of assuming they are not speaking with positive intent.

Again, the best way to overcome this issue is to listen with the intent to understand.  When the other person assumes we are truly trying to understand them and where they are coming from, they’ll begin to drop or admit their own biases and start speaking with positive intent.

It’s OK to be Vulnerable

It’s not just OK to be vulnerable, it’s a must.  If we are not vulnerable with the other person, our biases begin to take over and we are not speaking with positive intent.

If we want the other person to take on a positive intent role, we must do it first.  Be vulnerable.

Be Consistent and Accountable

We’ve all heard the old saying “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Once again it becomes a “you first” approach.

We must first be consistent.  People should see a consistent approach and demeanor no matter what the circumstances or who we are talking with.

Then be accountable.  People are often looking to shift the blame to another person or circumstance.  Don’t be that person.  Admit where you failed or made the wrong decision and be accountable for the results.  It’s the only way to be a great leader or a great teammate.

People Want to Belong

Every human being has the built-in desire to belong.  Belong to a tribe.  Belong to a community.  Belong to a team.

Humans without these positive options for belonging turn to belonging to a gang or a cult or a social media crowd.  None of these are positive in the long run and will eventually lead to destructive behavior for either the person themselves or society in general.

Help people belong.

Help them be welcome.

Help them feel listened to and understood.

It will be the best thing you can do for yourself, the other person, society as a whole.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogCulture

Are You a Hedgehog or a Fox?

by Ron Potter October 14, 2021

Years ago I was working with a client in Scotland.  It was mid-June so the days were very long.  Because Scotland is so far north the sun rises at about 4:30 in the morning.  This allowed me to play nine holes of golf before my meetings started.  While I was on one hole a small hedgehog came walking out from a nearby woodpile.  He seemed oblivious to my presence and walked right into the line of my pending putt.  I reached out with my putter and “patted” him on the rear end assuming he would scamper off the green.  Instead, he curled tightly up into a ball and held his defensive position.  I watched him for a few minutes but he never came out of his defensive ball.  I then took my putter, treated him like a golf ball, and putted him off the green.  After a few minutes, he got up a scampered off.

So when I saw the Wall Street Journal titled, “The Hedgehogs of Critical Race Theory”, I was intrigued.

Archilochus

Archilocus was a Greek poet and philosopher who said, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”. The WSJ article says that the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin wrote an essay in 1953 suggesting that the world was divided between hedgehogs and foxes.  He identified Karl Marx as a supreme hedgehog and Franklin Roosevelt as a restlessly improvising fox.

The WSJ article expresses that the world’s hedgehog population tends to expand in times of stress and change.  Lately, it has exploded in the U.S. with all of them advancing One Big Thing or another, each peering through the lens of a particular obsession. (Italics are mine)

The theologian Richard Niebuhr, explained it this way: “There is no greater barrier to understanding than the assumption that the standpoint which we happen to occupy is a universal one.”

Barrier to Understanding

Do you want to understand or would you rather stick with your hedgehog approach to one big standpoint?  This is the difference between normal teams and great teams.

In great teams, everyone suspends their opinions and standpoints for a moment while they attempt to completely understand each members’ viewpoints.  This requires that we listen to understand rather than listening to respond.

It’s a natural human trait to keep score in our head of the issues that we agree with and disagrees with while another person is explaining their viewpoint.  STOP IT!  It does take a great deal of energy and discipline to fully listen with the intent to understand where the other person is coming from and what is forming their opinion.  It takes hard work.

Work at it!  It will make you a better person and a better team.

Koosh Ball

A colleague called me the other day and asked if I had ever dealt with someone that was so convinced that their opinion and perspective was right that they never stopped talking or interrupting.  And if so, how did I deal with it? My answer was a Koosh ball.

  

It was an exercise I often used when we had a “talker” on the team.  The rules were simple:

  • Only the person who was in the possession of the Koosh ball could speak.
  • When that person was done expressing their opinion and perspective they would then decide who the Koosh ball was tossed to next.

Two things I often observed was the the “talker” still needed a signal to stop talking even though they knew the rules.  I often had to put my hand up to cut them off and remind them that their job was to fully understand the perspective of the talking person.  They still seemed to have a difficult time.  It took hard work on everyone’s part.

The other thing I often observed was that the team was so tired of constantly hearing the talker, they would toss to anyone other than the talker.  It became obvious that we were hearing the other’s perspective for the first time.  Very refreshing and very empowering to everyone.

Opinion and Perspective

It’s OK to have clear and powerful opinions and perspectives.  However, don’t assume that each person sees that same universe.  Every person is unique and comes from individual experiences and understandings.  Just look at your own family.  I have three siblings.  We grew up in the same household with the same parents and were only a few years apart.  And yet, each of us had very unique experiences and developed a unique set of values.

That is why great teams outperform average teams and individuals.  Pulling all of those experiences and unique views of the world together into a team decision is very powerful.  If you haven’t experienced that, I hope you do someday.

It’s incredibly satisfying.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogTeam

Is Criticism Slowing You Down?

by Ron Potter October 7, 2021

As you’ve probably noticed in my blogs, I’m a fan of Aristotle’s philosophy.  One of his quotes makes a great point about criticism:

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”

I have seen and met those people.  They are so afraid of what others think that they tend to not do anything in fear of criticism.  Therefore they say nothing that could be constructed as critical or even innovative.  In doing so they become nothing.  They become invisible.  They are never considered for promotion.  They are never considered to lead a team.  Their thoughts are never considered when looking for innovative ideas.  They are nothing.

Criticism Happens

If we think about Aristotle’s quote in reverse:

  • Do something
  • Say what’s on your mind (in a constructive way)
  • Be something.

You are a unique human being.  You bring something unique and different from every other person.  Recognize the value in that uniqueness.

Do Something

Doing nothing can be the result of a boss who is all-controlling.  If that’s the case, look for another position, look for another job, look to a new company.  Being in a position of never doing anything other than what you’re told and how to do it, will suck the life out of you!  You will find yourself a greatly diminished human being that will destroy your self-esteem and it will be noticed by your loved ones.

But doing something will almost always bring criticism.  If you step back and view the situation almost from a third-party position, you’ll often see that the criticism comes from people who themselves have low self-esteem.  The criticism comes in an effort to make themselves look better or feel better about themselves.  It never works.  Healthy people see right through that maneuver and discount the other person, not you.

Say What’s on Your Mind

This one must be accomplished with good self-esteem.  When you’re in that state of mind, you’re not criticizing, you’re just trying to look at things from a different perspective.   Remember that we are all unique.  We all see things from a different perspective.

Teams that can listen and respect each other’s points of view are the healthiest and strongest teams. 

Always stay in a respectful position.  Acknowledge that everyone has a unique perspective and it’s best if we all hear and understand that perspective.  Great teams are not “group think” teams.  We’re not lemmings blindly following the herd off the cliff.  Someone needs to say “I see us heading for a cliff and the results aren’t good”.  Just that simple statement will often get others sharing “you know, I’ve been wondering the same thing.  This just doesn’t feel right”.

Be open, honest, and respectful.  Understand what’s on everyone’s mind.  It can save the team

Be Something

What do you want to be known for?

  • The one who gets the team thinking?
  • The respectful one who always brings the best out in others?
  • The Jerk?
  • The non-existent, silent one in the room?

This is your choice.  Get to know the other team members as human beings.  Help them get to know you as a human being.  We are all unique.  We become the best team when we understand, respect, and use that uniqueness to build a great teams and reach great team decisions.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogLeadership

The World’s Top Executive Coach?

by Ron Potter July 1, 2021

I spent much of my career being an executive coach, so I was very interested to see who the Wall Street Journal had named the World’s Top Executive Coach.

So who did the Wall Street Journal identify?  Queen Elizabeth!

My wife and I have been big fans of the TV drama The Crown.  Several times in the series The Queen met with the then-current Prime Minister.   Her very first such meeting was with Winston Churchill in 1952 when she was 26 years old.  That sounds like a pretty intimating start to me!

Giving Orders

British law forbids the queen from giving orders or publicly taking sides on matters of state. Her only constitutional right is to be kept informed.  However, she is free to ask questions and offer her point of view.  It’s amazing how powerful genuine questions can be.

As Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth views herself as an impartial advocate for the people. But her primary motive, it seems, is to be helpful. She often ministers to her ministers.

Broader Perspective

The article says that “One of her greatest assets is an unrivaled wealth of historical perspective.  I have found this broader perspective to be useful in many settings.  Sometimes I will hear my grandchildren (becoming young adults now) say things because they’ve heard some of our misguided public officials say so.  I’m sure I sound like an old man to them much of the time but I simply try to help them see a subject from a much broader perspective.  Even if I restrict that perspective to my own lifetime, it covers over 50 years more than theirs.  I watched socialism form, turn to dictatorships, and collapse.  They have none of that experience when they seem to talk fondly of a more socialistic government.

Safe and Secure Place to Talk

The article talks about how The Queen gives the prime ministers a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

I used to meet with one CEO an afternoon every month.  I would show up after lunch and we would talk about anything on his mind sometimes running well past the 5:00 quitting time.  Leaving the meeting late one evening his personal assistant asked me (a little too seriously I might add) if I was selling drugs.  My response was of course not but why would she ask me such a thing.  She said that the CEO never gave anyone more than an hour of his calendar.  I would show up and we would spend several hours talking and laughing.

The Queen also provides prime ministers with something few world leaders ever get— a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

Queen Elizabeth’s role isn’t vastly different from that of a traditional executive coach. Most business leaders who employ coaches tend to swear by them. One recent study found that 71% believed coaching improved the performance of their companies, while 69% reported making better decisions.

Truly great coaches are a rare breed. It’s hard to find someone who possesses both vast experience and a keen sense of the present. But Queen Elizabeth’s approach to the job suggests that great coaches need something else, too— a deep reservoir of restraint.

Most great mentors will often have a better grasp on a tricky situation than the person they’re advising. But they’ll resist the urge to be a helicopter coach. The only way to help leaders learn and grow is to allow them to make their own mistakes.
The only responsible method is to let them speak openly, guard their secrets and, once in a while, try to redirect their thinking incrementally. Doing that requires humility—and lots of practice.

Good at powerful questions

This is something everyone should understand.  If you look at that heading again you’ll notice that coaches (I suggest this applies to everyone though) are good at using powerful questions.  If said another way, good questions are powerful!

One source you can turn to is the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger.  The subtitle is “The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.”  In his book, Berger refers to a recent research study of thousands of top business executives which found that the most creative, successful business leaders have tended to be expert questioners.

Berger is a source I’ve mentioned many times in this blog.  Listen with the intent to understand, don’t listen with the intent to respond.  Also in his book, Berger says “throughout his life Einstein saw curiosity as something holy.  To see curiosity as holy, you must ask questions with the intent to understand.  Be Curious!

Leaders and Coaches

I don’t care if you’re a leader, a team member, or a coach.  Being good at any role requires—

  • A broad perspective
  • The integrity required to make conversations safe and secure
  • The curiosity to listen and learn.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
BlogLeadership

Know or Didn’t Know

by Ron Potter April 29, 2021

In an earlier blog, I was wondering about why we didn’t have the philosophers today like the ones who were around thousands of years ago.  Then I came to the conclusion that many of today’s philosophers were songwriters and singers.  I zeroed in on Billy Joel in particular as a philosopher of our day.

Modern Day Philosophers

Two songwriters/singers caught my attention the other day because they seemed to be thinking about and signing about an idea from entirely different directions.

One was Rod Stewart and the group, Faces. The song is “Ooh La La”:

I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger

The other was Bob Seger in his song, “Against the Wind”:

Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then

I don’t know if they are on opposite ends of the same scale or just asking different questions.  But if you think about these lyrics, it can create some deep thoughts.

Knew More?

Do you wish that you knew more in your youth? (When I was younger, I wished that I knew what I know now.)

On the one hand, I would say no, I don’t wish that.  I believe the sense of curiosity and adventure is formed and honed when you’re young.  If you were fortunate enough to have mentors that encouraged those traits, they likely served you well and created a lifelong habit of wanting to know and understand things as well as a desire to try things.  When I meet people who are lacking one or both of those traits, it seems to me that they are falling short of living their life to the fullest.

On the other hand, knowing more may have helped you understand people and circumstances better.  As I age, there are often times when my thoughts say, “Boy, I didn’t see that coming!”

But in general, I think that knowing more when you are younger probably feeds your ego more than your curiosity and that’s not a good thing.

Didn’t Know

Seger talks about being as naive and innocent now as when he was younger.

Again, on the one hand, it might be easier to be living the kind of life that you were when you were younger.  I grew up in what I considered almost an idyllic setting.  We had a small piece of property that had a stream running through it.  Every time I would leave the house my mother would say “don’t get wet.”  I, of course, “fell” into the stream every day.  Even during Michigan winters.  I also lived in a rural area and it was a three-mile bike ride to town.  My biggest worry during those days was a flat tire on my bike.

On the other hand, it would almost require seclusion from the world to avoid the bigger problems of an adult.  We do run into those people who have protected themselves so much from the world.  They assume their experience and life is the only one or certainly, the only right one that exists.  I think of those people as having and knowing a very small world.

Perspective

People with a “large world” perspective see things differently.   Even if their world is physically small, they look at the bigger picture and try to understand what others are thinking from a different perspective than their own.

My father ventured beyond his physical boundaries once when he served in WWII.  After the war that he had spent in North Africa and Italy, he came back to Michigan.  I only remember leaving the state once during the rest of his life, but he seemed to have a big world perspective.  During my college years in the Engineering School of the University of Michigan, I would learn something new about the engineering world and couldn’t wait to share it with my dad.  I assumed that I would finally know something beyond his high school education in the same small town that he raised me.  But it seems that whatever the topic, he would say something like “I’ve been reading a lot about that topic.  What do you think this aspect means?”  Of course, I didn’t know the answer because he knew more about the topic than I did.  He was a very “large world” thinker.  I have one cherished possession left from my father.  Here is a picture of his dictionary.

Living Around the World

All four of my grandchildren have lived in different parts of the world.  But just being physically worldly, doesn’t make you worldly in your thoughts or attitudes.  They all see the world as large, expansive, and varied.  It will serve them well.

Examine Your World View

How large is your world?  Think about it!  You’ll never know it all but expanding your world through curiosity, learning, and gaining understanding will keep you in a “growth mindset” which is essential for great leaders.

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterThreadsBlueskyEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Rss
  • About This Site
  • About
    • Clients
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Trust Me
    • Short Book Reviews
  • Contact

About this Site | © 2024 Team Leadership Culture | platform by Apricot Services


Back To Top
Team Leadership Culture
  • Team
  • Leadership
  • Culture
  • Myers-Briggs
  • Trust Me
  • Short Book Reviews
 

Loading Comments...