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Ron Potter

BlogMyers-BriggsYou Might Be Surprised

You Might Be Surprised: Extravert or Introvert – Part II

by Ron Potter

Is Tom the talker an Extravert or Introvert?

Spoiler alert!!!  To fully appreciate this blog take just a minute and read our last post that sets the stage for understanding Tom.

You Might Be Suprised

As we closed our last look at Tom we had just spent the day walking around one of Tom’s plants listening to him tell stories and respond quickly to problems presented to him.  After all, Tom was the president, who else to better solve the problems that had been presented?  But then we were headed to the next plant visit.

So we buckled in and I remained quiet for a good half hour of our drive.  At about that point in time Tom would get on his phone, give the plant manager a call and reverse about 70% of the decisions he had made on the spot while we had walked around the plant that day.  Satisfied that the plant manager and he were now on the same page Tom would hang up.

I had to ask Tom what had just transpired.  Tom’s response, “Well now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I believe the latest decisions are the best in the end.”  When I asked him what was now going on back at the plant, his response was “Ron, I trust that team.  I know that after they had time to think about it they probably came to the same conclusion that I did and I was just confirming with them that we were on the same page.”  No Tom, they’ve been telling me how disruptive your visits are because they’ve been carrying out the decisions that were “made” during the walk around and now they’re trying to figure out how to reverse all those actions.

Tom was an Introvert.  Tom needed some quiet time to think about and process decisions.  Tom was also a talker.  Don’t assume that talkers are Extraverts.  It may surprise you.

We changed Tom’s whole routine.  We still did the plant walkabout but when people tossed him an issue to solve he would say, “Give me some details and then let’s talk about it at the staff meeting later this afternoon.”  Tom now had the time to think about the issues and speak more intelligently with his team about it “now that he’s had a chance to think about it.”  Tom was an Introvert.  It might surprise you.

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BlogMyers-BriggsYou Might Be Surprised

You Might Be Surprised: Extravert or Introvert – Part I

by Ron Potter

You Might Be Suprised

Tom is a real talker.  A Scotsman by heritage he has that wonderful Scottish brogue which makes the stories even more enjoyable.  Tom will tell stories almost all the time.  They are humorous, often heartwarming, sometimes tragic but almost always educational.  It seems like each time you hear one of Tom’s stories it penetrates your thinking almost instantly or sometimes even over a few days.  But in the end, you always seem to learn something from Tom.  You always come away with the impression that Tom is very wise, knows what is going on around him, a great teacher and most of all, a real talker.

Tom was a client of mine and the president of a manufacturing company.  During one great experience I had the opportunity to ride with Tom as we went on a little road trip to visit a few of his manufacturing plants.

As we entered each plant you could see the reaction in almost everyone’s eyes as they saw Tom walk in the front door.  Tom was in the building!  We’ll be able to talk with Tom and his wisdom and answers will help solve many of the nagging issues of the day.

Off on our plant walk we would go, Tom out in front, leading the way, greeting people as he went and telling stories.  Always telling stories.  Then I saw the problem-solving discussions begin.

“Tom, we’ve been having a lot of poor quality parts delivered by that new vendor we started with a year ago.”  Tom would listen to the tale which included numbers, dollars and timing and finally he would say “I believe it’s time we shifted back to our old vendor.  Give this one notice and make the shift ASAP.”

“Tom, really great to see you.  I’ve been wanting to talk with you about the poor productivity that we’ve been getting from the third shift.  They just don’t seem to be interested in putting in the effort to keep productivity up.”  Again, Tom would listen to the numbers, dollars and timing issues and then proclaim his edict “It’s time to get the union leaders in here and read them the riot act.”

“Tom, I’m so glad you’re here.  That new piece of equipment that we ordered from German last year and waited so long to be installed is just not giving us the productivity they promised us.  What should we do?”  Tom would almost instantly respond with “Let’s get that sales guy in here and let him know that we’re done ordering equipment from his company if he doesn’t get this thing up to speed.”

And so it went.  Walking, storytelling, quick conversations, problems solved.  Then we got in Tom’s car and headed off to another plant to repeat the scene the next day.

What do you think?  Is Tom the talker an Extravert or Introvert?

Myers-Briggs would offer these quick sketches for each type:

  • Extravert
    • Communicate energy and enthusiasm
    • Respond quickly without long pauses to think
    • Focus of talk is on people and things in the external environment
  • Introvert
    • Keep energy and enthusiasm inside
    • Like to think before responding
    • Focus is on internal ideas and thoughts

So, what do you think?  Extravert or Introvert?

In our next Myers-Briggs based blog we’ll continue the story of Tom the talker.  Please join us.  You might be surprised.

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Absurd!BlogIn-Depth Book Reviews

Absurd!: Relationship Over Skill

by Ron Potter

photo-1448749927985-5565d99c10aeI’m continuing my series on an in-depth look at a wonderful little book that’s twenty years old this year.  The title is Management of the Absurd by Richard Farson.  You may want to consider dropping back and reading the previous blogs about ABSURD!  I think it would put each one in great context.

Chapter 3 is titled “The More Important a Relationship, the Less Skill Matters”.

I often start many of my team consulting assignments with a session called “Human Beings vs Human Doings.”  The point is we do most of our relating to each other at work based on what we do or in some cases by what we are not doing.  In either case we tend to relate to each other as Human Doings.

But we’re not human doings, we human beings!  Who you are not what you do is what really makes the difference.  I never know where these sessions will lead because it’s often one of the first things I do with a team and I haven’t had the opportunity to get to know them as individuals yet.  But in every case some of the most profound stories about human lives have come out.  There have been tears, roaring laughter, broken hearts and considerable pride as we listen to each other’s stories.

What strikes me is there are often certain story lines that seem to repeat themselves on certain teams.  I remember one team several years ago where three of the team members had grown up in families with severely handicapped siblings.  Even though they had worked with each other for a few years they didn’t know about the shared experiences.  Even when there is complete dedication and love, families with handicapped children share a great deal of stress and pressure together.  Knowing there were other members of the team that had shared similar experiences created a bond and a determination to help and support each other (all members, not just the ones with the handicapped siblings) that was far beyond anything that could have been created through your normal corporate team building exercises.  We began to form true bonds.  The more important the relationship, the less skill matters.

The author shares a couple of stories in the book when talking about what people remembered about their boss.

“They tended to be moments that the bosses were not likely to remember and would probably think were insignificant, yet often revealed something of their humanity.”

He also goes on to say “In both parenthood and management, it’s not so much what we do as what we are that counts.”

Have you established some real human bonds with your team?  People want to know who you are, not just what you do.  Being real human beings, not just corporate facades creates the bonds that we need to build real team, overcome the challenges of live and work, and allow for the patience that it takes to make mistakes and grow together.

Being genuine and being vulnerable are two of the phrases I’m hearing a lot lately in corporate consulting circles.  Being genuine and vulnerable makes you real.  People want to work with and for real people.

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BlogMyers-Briggs

The Only Team I Ever Recommended Be Split Up

by Ron Potter

Diversity

The best teams I’ve ever worked with have had a great deal of diversity of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) preferences on the team.  However, diversity alone is not enough to ensure a high performance team.  But, it is a great foundation.

photo-1453474473052-08cd150dfe87 (1)There has only been one time in my twenty-five plus years of Team and Leadership Consulting that I’ve recommended a team be split up and given other assignments.  That team of seven people were all resident in one particular Myers-Briggs Type Preference.  And while MBTI is certainly not the end-all measurement of team diversity, it produced a very discernable pattern.

THE answer to the question

I would find myself asking a question of one member of the team.  That member often would give me a very complete and articulate answer.  But then I would ask each of the other members if they agreed with the answer and the response was:

  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup!

All of the other six members responding with a pleasant smile and a subtle nod of the head!

OK, let’s ask a different question: “Could we look at this question from a different perspective and maybe come up with a different answer?”

  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,

All of the other six members responding with a pleasant smile and a subtle twist of the head!

Different Perspectives

Even when I tried some of the more off-the-wall approaches to perspective shifts:

“How would a gorilla solve this problem?

  • He would grab it by the head and beat it to death!
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup,
  • Yup!

“How would a giraffe solve this problem?

  • He couldn’t. He’s not strong enough to beat it to death!
  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,
  • Nope,

Change of Scenery

After a few more tries at this I was finally convinced that the members of this team needed to be split up and combined with other people with different perspectives.  My assumption is that didn’t go well.  This team had been together for a long time and in the early days had been extremely productive at getting projects completed.  But the environment had changed and they not only needed to be good project managers, they needed to adapt to changing environments.  Most of them probably had a difficult time blending into teams that didn’t all think alike and in particular didn’t think like they did.

Diversity

Knowing your Myers-Briggs type is not about (or should not be about) what type preference you have and if that’s the “right” way to view the world or not.  The point is that there are 16 healthy type preferences that will each view the world slightly differently.  The point is to use the diversity for the betterment of the team.  You accomplish that be showing respect for and learning from each view point and then determining together the best route for the team to pursue.  Together!

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Absurd!BlogIn-Depth Book Reviews

Absurd!: Exploring Management of the Absurd

by Ron Potter

lIZrwvbeRuuzqOoWJUEn_Photoaday_CSD (1 of 1)-5I picked up small book off my bookshelf this week that is twenty years old.  When I say it’s small I mean in size (small format and just 172 pages) not stature or content.  It is a profound book and should not be forgotten.  I don’t know if it every achieved numerical success but the forward was written by Michael Crichton (the late author who wrote books such as The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park and others). That should have gotten the attention of a lot of people.

The title of the book is Management of the Absurd: Pardoxes in Leadership by Richard Farson.  You’ll find it on my Reading List but as I said, it’s twenty years old so you may not have spotted it.  But this book is timeless.

Just look at a few of these chapter titles:

  • Nothing is as invisible as the Obvious
  • Effective Managers Are Not in Control
  • Most Problems That People Have are Not Problems
  • Technology Creates the Opposite of Its Intended Purpose

If you’re like me these titles grab you before you’ve read one word in the chapter.  I wish I was as good at creating grabbing titles as this.

I haven’t done this before but I’m going to spend some time going through Management of the Absurd with you.  I’ll capture a few thoughts and lines from various chapters and talk about the timeless nature of the principle.  I believe you’ll begin to see that the truths that guide good management and leadership are ageless and should frequently remind us of the seemingly absurd nature of good leadership.

Chapter one is titled “The Opposite of a Profound Truth is Also True.”  And in the first few paragraphs Farson reminds us that:

“We have been taught that a thing cannot be what it is and also its opposite.”

This belief that if my position or perspective is true than yours must be false leads to an incredible amount of conflict, strife and division within organizations.

F. Scott Fitzgearld reminds us:

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

Now I think having a first-rate intelligence would be a great starting point for a good leader but notice that I don’t say a high IQ.  There has never been any correlation found between IQ and success and one measure of a great leader is achieving success.  So it’s not IQ, its intelligence.  Don’t believe that the opposite of a profound truth, your truth, is not also true.

In his book The Primes, Chris McGoff points out that often when teams don’t seem to be able to reach a decision it’s because they are assuming they’re in a right vs wrong argument when in reality they’re in a right vs right argument.  The opposite of a profound truth is also true.  Great leaders realize that they are often choosing between right vs right, not right vs wrong.  Assuming everything is a right vs wrong argument is childish.  Great leaders are also mature.

Don’t let your leadership or management style look like it has the maturity of a teenager.  Realize that even though you may hold the truth on a topic, others on your team also hold the truth.  Bring all the truth’s out together and then decide which direction the team should take.

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BlogQualities of a Caring LeaderTrust Me

Qualities of a Caring Leader: Spontaneous Compassion

by Ron Potter

photo-1447619297994-b829cc1ab44aOver the next few weeks, our Trust Me posts will explore the qualities of a caring leader. We explored the first quality – Understanding here. Then we took a look at the second quality – Concern. Communication was the third quality. Then we discussed Confrontation. Today we look at Compassion.

I observed a wonderful incident of compassion once while preparing a webcast for a client. The man helping set up the equipment and handling the technical details received a telephone call from one of his employees who was troubleshooting at another location. My writing partner Wayne and I learned that this employee was working on a crisis situation of great importance to her company.

Hearing just half of his conversation, we picked up that she was reporting on her progress in solving the problem. Later, when our technical helper gave us the details of the conversation, we learned that almost in passing she mentioned, “I have to check on my father. I think he had a heart attack or stroke or something.”

Our man interrupted the conversation right then and said bluntly, “You need to go to your father.” He didn’t even ask, “Do you need to go to your father?” He just said, “You need to go to your father.”

The employee protested, “No, I’m not going to go until this is fixed.” Her boss just kept saying, “Get off the phone, get on a plane, and go to your father.”

We knew that this man might get into trouble for making that kind of decision; his employee was trying to solve a serious problem. But he insisted, and she went home.

We reach several conclusions from this leader’s act of spontaneous compassion: First, this woman will be one of his most loyal and productive employees from now on. Second, he did the right thing even though painful consequences might follow. A trusted leader acts like that. Finally, he showed a true heart of compassion. He decided to care for the person. In that moment when he had to make a choice, he understood and responded to the needs of the person, not just a valued cog in the company machine.

That’s what compassion is all about.

Compassion is a compelling conviction to care enough to become involved and help others by taking some action that will improve their lives or set them on a fresh course.

Team Leadership Culture Meme 6

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BlogQualities of a Caring LeaderTrust Me

Qualities of a Caring Leader: Confrontation

by Ron Potter

photo-1414058862086-136de6c98e99Over the next few weeks, our Trust Me posts will explore the qualities of a caring leader. We explored the first quality – Understanding here. Then we took a look at the second quality – Concern. Communication was the third quality. And today we discuss Confrontation.

Part of leading is confronting people and urging them toward better performance.
Confrontation does not involve giving a report on another person’s behavior. It means offering feedback on the other’s role or response. Its goal, in the business environment, is to bring the employee, boss, or peer face to face with issues (behavior, emotions, achievement) that are being avoided.
For us to be effective in confrontation, we need to focus on four things:

Balanced truth

You cannot confront someone on hearsay alone. Get the facts. Investigate the matter; check it out. There are always two sides to every story. What are they? Neither one is likely to be the “complete” truth. Look for the balanced story.

Right timing

We recently witnessed a near catastrophe. A client of ours was going to confront a customer. The customer had called the day before and verbally leveled several people on our friend’s staff. Our client was going to call the customer and confront him with some brutal truth: “Everyone in the office is afraid of you and doesn’t want to talk to you because of your aggressive style and attitude.” Just before our client was to make the call, someone in the office discovered that the customer’s wife had colon cancer and possibly multiple sclerosis. The customer was suffering right along with his wife, in addition to trying to be both Dad and Mom to the kids, coaching a sports team, and running a tough business. Instead of calling to confront the customer with the brutal facts, our client decided to confront him with care and sympathy.
Many situations will not be this clear-cut. The right timing may be harder to gauge. For sure, though, it is best to deal with a situation when the heat of the moment has passed. Having the courage and taking the time to come back to it after emotions have subsided is actually quite difficult. There never seems to be the same urgency later, but good leaders force themselves to pick up the issue at a better moment. When it is the right time to confront, the green lights will be flashing. Until then, hold on.

Wise wording

We suggest that you carefully plan what you will say when you confront someone. A proverb says, “Timely advice is as lovely as golden apples in a silver basket. Valid criticism is as treasured by the one who heeds it as jewelry made from finest gold.” Words have the power to destroy or heal. Choose them carefully when entering in to confrontation.

Fearless courage

Don’t fall back in fear when you need to confront someone. If you have assembled the truth, believe it is the right moment, and have carefully prepared what you will say, move forward and confront. As Roger Clemens did with Curt Schilling, press on: “How can I help this person be better, regardless of how I feel?” It may mean finding a more productive or satisfying place for the person—even if it’s with another company. In the end this option is better for the organization and, in most cases, for the other person. What is worse is allowing a person to continue in a harmful behavior or self-destructive attitude.

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BlogLeadership

Decoding Leadership: What Really Matters

by Ron Potter

photo-1452573992436-6d508f200b30

That’s the title of a recent McKinsey Quarterly Report.  Great stuff.  What does really matter?

In typical McKinsey style they described their survey approach:

  • We started with our own list and relevant literature list of 20 traits.
  • We surveyed a large number of people
  • In a large number of organizations
  • Compared it to our healthy organization index
  • Boiled it down to 4 traits that explained 89% of the differences between strong and weak organizations in terms of leadership effectiveness.

Big organizations like McKinsey are really good at doing these large scale analysis projects and I really appreciate their ability to do it and their willingness to share it.

4 Traits explained nearly 90% of the difference between good and bad leadership effectiveness.  What were the four (you should be asking at this point)?

  • Being supportive
  • Operate with strong results orientation
  • Seek different perspectives
  • Solve problems effectively

The article doesn’t indicate that these are in any particular order so for our evaluation let’s separate out the 2nd one, Operate with strong results orientation.  People want to accomplish things.  People want to build, create, produce, provide goods and services that other people value.  Without both sides of that equation: people wanting valuable products and people wanted to produce value, there would be no commerce at all.  Yes, we all want results.  All too often leaders assume that people don’t want to produce and don’t realize that it’s the culture and structure that they’ve created that prevents them from doing so.

The other three require a humility and openness to accomplish.

Being supportive requires that I’m interested in who you are, how you think and what you want to create and accomplish.

Being open to your perspectives requires that I’m interested in who you are, how you think and what you want to create and accomplish.

Being good at solving problems effectively requires that I’m interested in who you are, how you think and what you want to create and accomplish.

Being supportive, open and a good problem solver requires humility!

Every piece of valid research on leadership effectiveness you find will somehow have its foundation based on humility.  Ego and hubris reflect the needs of the person in the leadership position.  Humility starts with the needs of the people being led.

 

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BlogQualities of a Caring LeaderTrust Me

Qualities of a Caring Leader: Communication

by Ron Potter

photo-1429623077761-9635d93ddd02Over the next few weeks, our Trust Me posts will explore the qualities of a caring leader. We explored the first quality – Understanding here. Then we took a look at the second quality – Concern. Today, we discuss the third quality of a caring leader – Communication.

 

The groundbreaking book In Search of Excellence stressed the concept known as MBWA, “management by walking around.” The concept is taken further in the book A Passion for Excellence:

How good are you? No better than your people and their commitment and participation in the business as full partners, and as business people. The fact that you get them all together to share whatever—results, experiences, recent small successes and the like—at least once every couple of weeks seems to us to be a small price indeed to pay for that commitment and sense of teamwork and family. The “return on investment” is probably far and away the best of any program in the organization.

MBWA stresses getting out of our individual comfort zones and getting to know other people. Whether you attend company-wide meetings or individual private sessions, the lesson is clear: Get out of your office and communicate with your people.

We tend to assume that communication is merely the process of delivering information from one person to another. However, it is much more than just good delivery. Pat Williams writes:

“Communication is a process by which we build relationships and trust, share meaning and values and feelings, and transcend the aloneness and isolation of being distinct, individual souls. Communication is not just a data dump. Communication is connection.”

Communication means being connected with your people. It means getting out of your office into their offices and workspaces. Go.

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