One of my coaching clients recently recommended that I read the 1987 classic Odessey, by John Sculley – who is famous for succeeding Steve Jobs during the first Apple turnaround. Back in 1987 Sculley implemented ideas that we’re still waking up to today. His pretext for what I call Leading from the Future (I used to have a blog by that title, and it’s also a subtext of Theory U by Otto Scharmer) is that, because the future is increasingly unpredictable, traditional ‘planning’ can turn out to be a crap shoot. Once again, the ideas on Leading from the Future are resurfacing in a new book by Douglas Rushkoff called Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now published just this year. The point of it all is (as Rushkoff’s title hints) that focus on the current moment is the best indicator we have for not only predicting the future – more important, focus on the current moment informs us of what’s possible, where we’re heading, and how to create the future we want.
Here’s a place to start NOW
Sculley is hip to the coaching mantra: Solutions are often obvious once you get the questions right.
He details how part of Apple’s strategic planning process was to ‘project ourselves out into the future and then work backwards to the present’. I’ve personally been using this same technique, in a variation called A Walk Through Time – based on NLP, since 1999 to help teams to start with the future they envision and work their way backwards in time to knit together the pieces of a more cohesive present. Since 2005, with my partner Liz Dallas, we’ve used her Visionary A to B Leadership Model to help leaders and teams work from their Now to future possibility to cohesive strategies. The trick is to shift your attention from Planning for the Future to Leading from the Future. This shift creates the opportunity for insight and the new, more relevant actions that spawn from there. Insight into now is key.
And that’s why I’m such a champion of coaching. The inquiry process that seeks to get the right questions is the mother of all inventions. We no longer have time to invest in scenario and strategic planning that looks forward. Instead, let’s invest in what we do know, our NOW, and ask the right questions…maybe even with the help of a coach?
Recently I’ve had a spate of coaching clients who are grappling with relationship issues at work. A painful condition, some of the ramifications of which are: suffering a lack of confidence, being unable to get your point across with traction, demotion or lateral transfer between departments, and feeling isolated. However, the true downside of not having satisfactory (not to mention “great”) working relationships is that my clients are unable to do their own Great Work. A common approach to dealing with this condition is looking through the lens and using the tools of Emotional Intelligence (EI): Understanding competing styles and relationship management. Lately, I’m more convinced than ever that using these tools is not enough. We can do better.
Right now, the field of Neuroscience is enlightening us as to how the brain actually works. The brain is like a machine and the more we know about how it works the better we are able to use it. In particular, the field of Social Cognitive Neuroscience (a blend of how the brain functions and psychology) is giving us information about how to have great relationships in terms of that very Emotional Intelligence popularized by Daniel Goleman in the 1990′s. Now, instead of just managing our Social Intelligence we can actually redirect our brain to function from an entirely different place, the place in the brain most suited for what we’re after.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Here we come to where East meets West. In my continuing interest in the advances of Cognitive Neuroscience, as well as research in the field of Organizational Development, I find the crossover to my studies in the Eastern studies of Advait Vedant and the Science of Yog Philosophy to be consistent.
Here is an example of how the brain works through each of the three lenses:
Organizational Development From Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey
There are three levels of mind which include Socialized mind – concern about alignment of values, beliefs, feelings (outside authority); Self-Authoring mind – able to take others’ values, beliefs and feelings into account and choose how to relate to them vs. just alignment (internal authority); and Self-transforming mind – able to create new values and beliefs (authoring our own present and future).
Neuroscience From Your Brain at Work by David Rock
Conscious information gathering which can be used for problem solving; Sub-conscious awareness – memories, conditioned responses and habits; The Director mind – the awareness to stand outside of your experience and decide where to send your attention (to which part of your brain).
Eastern Philosophy from Walk on Water by Lea Belair
Identified state – You are identified with your feelings/no choice; You can choose how to relate to your feelings/EI; You have a 360 degree view and can create something entirely new.
Do you see the crossovers?
So how does this relate to having great relationships? Re-direct your brain’s attention and energy to be the Self-authoring Director
1. Quiet the energy (take a deep breath and relax in your body first) – this is the environment that promotes insight
2. Practice watching the action that is taking place (like a Director) – this makes you faster at being able to change your conditioned response
3. Reflect on what you want instead (focus on patterns and connections, metaphors, and visualize vs. problem solving) – using the right side of your brain because having great relationships is not a problem to be solved but rather a conscious creation in the moment
4. Redirect your attention (brain power) to getting more of what you want – whatever question you ask your brain, your brain will answer it, so directing the brain’s attention is crucial!
Back in the day, I used to be a partner in a consulting company whose tagline was: Work less and accomplish more!
I’m still a firm believer in that, especially when it comes to courage.
As I say in my book, Walk on Water – How to Make Change Easier
“Conquering fear means you have a battle with fear and you win. You summon up your courage, whistle a happy tune, and you come through to the other side. My daughter once asked me, “If you are courageous does that mean you aren’t afraid?” I answered, “No, you’re afraid and you do it (whatever it is you are afraid of) anyway.” Being courageous is a wonderful trait but it takes a lot of energy to battle with fear.”
If you want to be a winner in the Work less and accomplish more game, you have to play the energy game.
The point of this game is to decide where you want to place your attention, and therefore where you want to spend your energy.
Again, from the title chapter of the book The Leap
“Walking on water means rising above your fears by not giving them attention and energy. This means you don’t have to act in the face of fear, win a battle, or make the fears go away. The fear can still be there, totally intact, but you do not identify with the fear! As the observer of the fear you are separate from the fear and you can choose to put your attention on something other than the fear. When you take action from here, the action will be more effective because you’re not using up your energy dealing with the fear.
Take the example of the way race car drivers are trained: They fear “hitting the wall” on a treacherous curve. If they focus on the wall, that’s where the race car will wind up. So they are taught to focus on a spot ahead of the curve, ahead of the wall, and that’s where the race car goes. Focus on the future you want, not the fear that is keeping you from getting there.”
Beyond courage is an evolutionary step to your own freedom. You can have more time and more energy, depending on where you decide to put your attention. Put your attention on what you want vs. what you don’t want! Create a new habit for this and you will definitely be working less and accomplishing more.
A useful distinction for you this year: Advice - When asked for, can be very helpful to those who value your experience. Coaching – When asked for, can be the vehicle for making a shift in how we look at the world and ourselves. Wisdom - Often not asked for explicitly, given as a gift when someone is ready to transcend from the ordinary to the universal.
Thanks for your support and interest this year and we look forward to engaging again in 2013!
One of the tenets I like to point out in coaching is that you are in charge/in control of one thing and one thing only. That one thing is not another person or a situation. It is, quite simply, yourself. In Emotional Intelligence training we like to say that Self Awareness is the precursor to Self Management. Therefore, one of the most powerful skills you can have as the influencer of a situation is the ability to perceive and steer your own mind.
The first awareness lesson is to know that you are not the mind.
“You” are the one who can watch the mind and direct the mind.
This knowledge, in itself, is very liberating. And it is extremely valuable if you want to be able to influence others.
It’s an ongoing study to watch how the mind works, knowing that the mind is only an instrument, and that it will do what you ask it to do.
There’s a lot of neuroscience I’m not going to get into here that plays into the subtleties of how the mind acts and reacts. For today’s post let’s just say that intentionality is a key component to success as an influencer, vs. acting from conditioned thinking or reacting without thinking.
The second awareness lesson is to know how to use the mind.
Here is an experiment you can try:
Since we know that the mind will answer any question put to it, try asking the person you want to influence the question you want their mind to work on. The key to figuring out what question is most worth answering is, “What is the key driver that is behind the presenting opportunity, urgency or challenge?” What does the person you are asking really need to move forward? If someone asks me, “Why were you late?”, they probably don’t want to know all the reasons why I was late. Instead, the better question is, “What helps you to be on time?” or even “What might make it worth it for you to be on time next time?”
Use the mind as the fine instrument it is, with intentionality. Be insightful over being clever. The mind can be used to unfold each moment like a flower, getting to the essence of what’s needed instead of moving past each moment in search of the first visible goal.
To find out more about using Awareness Techniques, read Walk on Water: How to Make Change Easier by Lea Belair, available at Amazon.com
What’s the coach approach to this state of the art training tool?
Just getting ready to deliver another ChangeCycle(tm) training, and I’m reminded how important it is to use your change tools early and often if you want to have an organization or team that is resilient in change. People usually nod their head enthusiastically when they hear that the most important part of change is to make it feel safe – but they rarely take action on that knowledge early in the process. Good example: President Obama defaulted to using the word ‘safe’ repeatedly by the time he got to the third presidential debate, and Governor Romney defaulted to playing it safe. But I digress.
The most important thing I learned, when studying to become a facilitator for the ChangeCycle(tm) training is that no matter whether a change is good or bad, the mind reacts the same way…in neuroscience layman’s terms, your lizard (primitive) brain takes over and yells STOP! In order to get to the part where you can use your reasoning skills, you first have to overcome this instinctual response. And the next most important thing I’ve learned about the process is you can’t do it too soon or too often.
So when we work with groups using this training tool, the primary thing we do is to establish rapport = real rapport, meaning trust, no matter how long it takes – maybe even half the training day! Because learning about change and practicing new change tools can be darn irritating. You can’t do it too early or too often. And seeing safety in change modeled is the best training there is to make change easier.
If your succession plan is just a ‘replacement’ regime vs. a result of building your leadership pool, you’re not prepared for the massive change and increasing complexity of future growth. So how can you build your company culture and team capacity to leverage the kind of leadership that is embedded and self-sustaining?
We have a model we use at the Coaching Center, developed by Liz Dallas – founder and Executive Director, that we are currently calling the A to B model. We have been using this model at Vital Business since 2005, because it works. A simple explanation of the basis of this model is available in Liz’s chapter in the book Roadmap to Success. What’s germane here, is that the A to B model intentionally creates space for the question mark, “?”, a place holder for the unknown – for the sake of building employee engagement and a strong leadership culture. The ? is a place where your talent* has the ability to leverage its strengths, be flexible in change, and lead.
Read Liz Dallas’ chapter on Creative Visualization: Disciplined Thinking for Leadership Success
Here are a couple of quick tips on building a strong leadership plan:
1. Embed a language that attracts and reflects talent
Now that most people are familiar with the drawbacks of top-down leadership they are ready for something else, but many are not sure what that something else looks like, sounds like, and feels like. At Vital Business we have seen the benefit of inspiring and engaging as the modus operandi for creating a talent driven leadership culture. The old operational and strategic models are not enough. There needs to be a more flexible underpinning that pulls your talent forward, into leadership vs. pushing them into overwhelm and burnout. Language can go a long way to making that real/demonstrative so that your leadership initiative won’t come off as another ‘flavor of the week’ new idea.
2. Have a talent plan
In addition to valuing and leaving a place holder for the unknown, another key to succeeding in growing your leadership is a company culture that has a clear vision of success, beyond strategy. When you have that, the vision is one that is energized, “caught” and “carried” like a virus, and it naturally spreads throughout the organization. It’s tricky to identify what is ‘strategy’ and what is ‘pull’ vision. You’ll know you are successful when your leadership has both a natural path forward in strategy and the emotional intelligence and communication skills they need for succession that is inspired and talent driven.
*There has been debate on the difference between talent and strengths. I like the definition given by the Gallup organization: “talents are innate and cannot be acquired, unlike skills and knowledge”.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting and mingling with members of the OIWC (Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition), as one of their speakers in their year long series on Change – an event hosted by REI in Berkeley CA. I was struck by how much fun it is to be with a group of aspiring and inspiring women leaders.
Last night, I had the added pleasure of attending their Burlington event, hosted by Terry Bicycles, full of more inspiring and aspiring women leaders, our treasures in Northern Vermont. Liz Robert, CEO of Terry Bicycles, was the speaker for this event, and a big draw that got me in my car in the midst of the drumbeat of business. Liz’s message of paying attention to opportunity – no matter how it presents itself, is one every leader and aspiring leader needs to keep top of mind in these times of change.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, we shared some common themes in both our talks. One of which, and I’ll steal a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt to capture it, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do”, is key to seeing and taking the opportunities that open unexpected doors for women who aspire to inspire. As a leadership and change coach, I’m often asked to share tips and techniques in achieving success in change. Here’s the one that goes along with Eleanor’s quote, and which Liz described as ‘taking the quantum leap’ – Pay attention to what you want, without knowing how you are going to get there. It’s about taking action, one action, and then – of course – it leads what’s next.
This way of focusing and taking action is especially important for women because often women have a less direct path to walk through life and work. We’re more apt to have our attention and energy diverted by childbearing, family, and a different set of expectations as we set out to navigate life’s changes. You must do the thing you cannot do to take the quantum leap.
Both Liz and I shared stories at OIWC of taking jobs for which we weren’t sure we had the right experience, without clear expectations of what they would entail – whether it’s the risk taking of the entrepreneur or working within the biz/corporation.
Doing the thing you think you cannot do, taking the quantum leap, means being open to what is needed/offered and knowing you can provide value – even though you’re not sure how it will play out.
Many of life’s greatest gifts are surprises. If you navigate change like riding a bike, you’ll make the most of the opportunities along the way!
What’s the most important characteristic for success in a company that is in a high growth phase?
Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power – and a personal leadership role model of mine, talks about her company’s journey from a traditional utility to a cost effective and innovative growth company with the help of the Coaching Center of Vermont in this video clip (one of a series to come).
Following up on my last post about ‘taking the leap’, Mary focuses on the value of creating a high growth team. She defines that team as one where everyone is aligned and team effort and success trumps individual contribution. Learn more and get inspired. Watch the video!
I’ve been fond of “taking the leap” even before I started my first coaching business, Leap Coaching in 1999.
And I still hold the website leapcoaching.com.
So… this being Leap Year, I’m here to inspire you to take your leap this year.
Watch this video for a brain cell boost!
Remember, when taking a leap:
1. Keep it congruent with your values (values are not the place to take the leap)
2. Consider making an experiment – after all, Leap Year starts with a single day
3. Visualize the results you want in terms of what you want to see, hear, smell, taste and touch
and (shameless plug)
4. Hire a coach to make your leap wildly successful!
His pretext for what I call Leading from the Future (I used to have a blog by that title, and it’s also a subtext of Theory U by Otto Scharmer) is that, because the future is increasingly unpredictable, traditional ‘planning’ can turn out to be a crap shoot.
Once again, the ideas on Leading from the Future are resurfacing in a new book by Douglas Rushkoff called Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now published just this year.
The point of it all is (as Rushkoff’s title hints) that focus on the current moment is the best indicator we have for not only predicting the future – more important, focus on the current moment informs us of what’s possible, where we’re heading, and how to create the future we want.
Posted on May 13th, 2013 by leab | Tags: 
