Creativity and Steve Jobs

I saw a quote today that made me further reflect on creativity and vision – which I believe are the most difficult competencies to master as a leader - and the ones that Steve Jobs probably most excelled in.

The quote was:

“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, nineteenth-century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging, and hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later or six months, or six years down the road. But he has faith that it will happen." — Carl Ally

In my mind, very few leaders are that creative or that visionary. Most deal with the day-to-day grind and use people competencies and decision-making competencies and do fairly well. But the sad thing is they really do not generate new notions and concepts. We often hear the phrase, “same-old, same-old.” I think that is descriptive of many leaders. 

The answer to me is found in the quote – those who strive to be “liberal arts” oriented and are seekers of expansive and wide-ranging information will boost their creativity.

Steve Jobs - That's Leadership Also

I would be remiss if I did not have something to say about Steve Jobs - quite a loss to our country and to the tech industry. Despite his reputed mercurial personality and his driving qualities, he does exemplify several very important aspects of positive leadership – particularly when it comes to creativity and vision. Leadership is not just about interpersonal skills – it is much more and Jobs showed this quite vividly.

A speaker I heard this morning suggested that we look at the amazing Apple growth, innovation, and profitability record under Jobs. When Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985 (which was fortunate for many of us because Jobs bought the amazing company Pixar and made it very successful during that time period - and his company NeXT formed the foundational software that became the Mac OS X operating system), Apple floundered.  But in 1997, following Apple's acquisition of NeXT, the next several years brought tremendous growth and profitability for Apple and also brought the amazing changes to our world that are being touted now at the time of his death.  iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad – these things are ubiquitous!

Merci beaucoup Steve.

Leadership In Disruption? - MetaMovements?

I am increasingly alarmed by the protests of 2011 and their impact upon the practice of leadership. Now, to be clear, I am not saying that I am against the protests. In fact, the Arab Spring has likely had some very positive consequences. But as I ponder the techniques of the Arab Spring, the London Riots, the demonstrations in Israel, and the current "Occupy Wall Street," I see significant challenges for leadership. 

The Harvard Business Review Blog today called this the "MetaMovement" - defined by them as a "movement of movements." My take is that this new approach to dissent is aimed in great part at the misunderstanding (in some cases right, and in some cases, wrong) of leadership. Essentially, this is a challenge of organizations and rules and bureaucracy (some bureaucracy is good). It is a challenge to how our organizations function. To be sure, we have our great problems. Government, especially the federal government, is quite broken. No matter who the occupant of the US presidency, there is very little truth that is told from that direction. Many corporations care nothing for the “little guy,” and some leadership training amounts to not much more than pure manipulation.

But I hold faith in the belief that most leaders are somewhat pure and have the right values. Will these be shaken by this strong counter cultural revolution that seems to be taking place?

Why Is It So Hard to Give Praise?

When I think about feedback, I often think “negative.” Yet this is not all there is about feedback that is important. I thought last night about the power of praise and how so few leaders give much of it. I went back to my leadership competency book I wrote with Dr. Andy Garman and found this -

Leadership roles tend to focus on fixing things, and it is easy to forget to notice what is going well.  Most good leaders will acknowledge extraordinary performance, but in these circumstances the praise is typically expected anyway, and thus tends to have less of an emotional impact on the recipient than receiving praise for more routine successful performance.  Highly effective leaders challenge themselves to keep a healthy dose of praise in their feedback mix; for some this means “hard wiring” the process into their daily routine.

From Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives - Carson F. Dye, & Andrew N. Garman, Health Administration Press, 2006

Why Is It So Hard to Give Feedback?

One of the tougher parts of feedback is giving negative feedback –

Why is it so difficult? A few thoughts –

We are not willing to be blunt. We “dance” around the issue. There is little clarity in what we say.

We often “hamburger” it – meaning we start with something that is soft and gentle (the bottom part of the bun), then hit them with the hard news (the meat), and then close with something soft and gentle (the top bun). What a mixed message!

We wait until “the straw breaks the camel’s back.” Things build up and then we finally burst with the message. Often, the person is quite shocked that we have exploded.

We do not close with a specific plan. We are so relieved that we got the tough message out that we do not sustain the focus to close on specific next steps.

We think they heard and understood us.  This is why it can be so helpful to follow up these types of conversations with a written note containing a reiteration of what was said.

Giving Feedback - Repeat Back What You Heard

The past few posts have caused me to think a great deal about listening and feedback.  Listening seems to be the "life blood" of feedback. And feedback requires both giving and receiving. One of the more important aspects of feedback is dealing with problems. When someone is complaining to you or telling you a problem, to what extent do you truly HEAR (and understand and empathize) what that person is saying?

I recall hearing a speaker long ago who suggested one way to increase understanding is to repeat back as specifically as possible what was said.  In essence, it was, "Let me make sure I understand you." Then proceed to articulate back what was said. Not only does this ensure that you truly hear what was said, but it also provides a psychological endorsement of the message.  Some would say that it means that you are agreeing with the message but I would argue that you have the opportunity to either answer at that time or to clearly state that you will need to investigate further and then get back to the person.

Clearly this is beginning to explore the mechanical aspects of complex communications. But I know that practically all people indicate that communications is the most significant concern in organizational dynamics.

Try this approach out next time.

Gen Y and Feedback

I received a couple of interesting comments on the last couple of posts. I also was sent the following from another website (sorry I do not have it – it was just pasted in and sent in an email to me -- if you find it, send it to me- I would like to read the entire post) –

“Gen Y employees want feedback “on-demand” — they want to know how they’re doing after virtually every meeting, presentation, report, project or any other demonstration of their skills.

Most Gen Ys don’t dispute this fact at all. Almost every young employee I’ve questioned about this stereotype has agreed that it’s true: they can’t get enough feedback at work.  This may be because Millennials grew up receiving endless feedback from their performance on video games. Or it may be because they received constant attention and encouragement from their helicopter parents. Or, as digital natives, Gen Ys are used to comparing themselves to the rest of the world with a single click.”

I really liked this and thought about the two-way nature of feedback. The more I ponder the concept of feedback, the more critical I think it is to the nature of communication.

Listening Like You Mean It

Feedback – I received some interesting comments on the post on self-reflection. Exactly how do leaders get feedback?

Well, the standard answers range from setting up hotlines to having lunches/breakfasts with employees to employee satisfaction/engagement surveys.  To me though, these are organizational in nature. I am more interested in exactly what highly effective leaders do as individuals to get good feedback. My feeling is that the real key is how those leaders listen. Here are some thoughts that I borrow from my book Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies (Health Administration Press, 2006) –

"Listening like you mean it means you maintain a calm, easy-to-approach demeanor; are patient, open minded, and willing to hear people out; understand others and pick up the meaning of their messages; are warm, gracious, and inviting; build strong rapport; see through the words that others express to the real meaning (i.e., cut to the heart of the issue); maintain formal and informal channels of communication." (Chapter Six)

Self Reflection

I am teaching and on-line course and currently we are focusing on the importance of self-reflection. Part of this involves your ability to understand how you are viewed as a leader.

Do you truly know what others think of you?

What are the specific mechanisms that you use to get feedback from others?

How do you know this feedback is not "filtered," and not softened?

Leadership and 9-11 - Caring

As we approach the tenth anniversary of 9-11 tomorrow, I have thought about the many examples of excellent leadership that must have occurred that day (certainly many that followed that day as well). One thing stands out as a common thread as I ponder those examples - caring. Thus I conclude that while we often think of leadership in terms of competencies, or in terms of results, or in terms of the process, it does seem clear to me that highly effective leadership requires caring at its core.

I work in the health care field where caring serves as the foundation of much of what is done.

As you pause and reflect tomorrow - on September 11 - think of all those that gave so much in acts of caring. They are great leadership role models.