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Leaders view life through the lens of opportunity

How long have I been a leader? Probably for as long as I can remember. Starting back when I took a leadership role at the local youth group, coaching a soccer team, to becoming a teacher, and finally a Head of School. All of us experience leadership when we seek to influence others (Blanchard).

Along the way I have had to face enormous challenges. Being a Head of School you would think that the biggest challenge would be dealing with a naughty student. I have had to face vexatious complaints, death threats, and conspiracy. I’ve uncovered murder plots and had to be involved in the investigation of crimes committed long before my time. As a result I’ve had police protection more than once. When you seek to serve people in a position of leadership you see will the darker side of life.

Each challenge brought new levels of stress and anxiety. Just when I thought I had dealt with everything possible, along would come something out of the blue that I would never have thought possible.

There have been many times that I have thought about giving up. It was all too hard.

There are two ways you can view these experiences. You can look at a tough situation as a victim, seeking empathy from others, or you can see it as an opportunity for growth.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).

Leadership is hard. If it isn’t it probably means you aren’t doing much. It takes courage, and when you get started you will come up against challenges, some predictable, but others you can never plan for.

A leader can never turn up to work having their day planned out, knowing exactly what they are going to achieve. Your work as a leader is the unknown.

Leadership is a bit like rock climbing (my son took me indoor climbing over Easter). When you look up the cliff face looks formidable, unachieveable. Half way up your arms begin to shake, particularly if you are using the wrong technique. If you look down your courage can falter and you think you can’t push on any further.

But like rock climbing, leadership is a skill, that with practise, can be improved. You only get better at it when you are faced with a new over-hang, new hold, or new rock face.

Good leaders will assess each challenge. Have I seen this before? What did I learn last time? Should I tackle this a bit differently? Who can I ask for advice? And if I make a mistake, what is the worst that is going to happen? I’ll have to apologise, adjust my strategy and give it another go.

Rock climbers, like leaders never get any better by looking at the cliff. They can learn by watching others, but the real learning happens when you hook on and give it a go.

And if your courage does falter? There is nothing wrong in knowing and accepting your limits. Every climber needs a good person to belay.

Is reputation everything?

When threatened our instinctive response is ‘fight or flight’. The emotion we experience is fear. This instinct not only kicks in when we are personally threatened, but when the organisation we work for is threatened.  The default position is to ‘protect reputation at all costs’. This is because we perceive reputation, both personal and organisational, to be our most important asset.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently. Warren Buffett

However, what happens if you are faced with a choice between protecting reputation or doing the right thing?

There are plenty of examples of the tension between doing the right thing and reputational protection. Volkswagen didn’t do the right thing when it made the conscious decision to cheat the emissions test on its diesel cars. Instead, it wanted to build its reputation as the world’s biggest car company.

Samsung is another example with its recent recall of the Galaxy 7 notebook. At enormous financial and perhaps reputational cost, they chose the right thing by recalling all the phones it had sold.

However, with the advent of social media companies are finding themselves forced to do the right thing. Would Samsung have recalled all those phones if there wasn’t such a public outcry? Up until the point of the recall a mere 35 phones out of the 1million+ sold had exploded into flames. Had they done sufficient testing to begin with, or were they, like Volkswagen, hoping to get away with it?

There are plenty of examples where people and organisations have done wrong and tried (successfully or otherwise) to ‘sweep it under the carpet’ in order to protect their reputation. This is done out of fear; fear that if they don’t protect reputation there will be loss of face, loss of business, and consequences that will have to be borne. In these instances protection of reputation more often than not involves deceit.

We have seen examples of this played out in the way institutions in Australia (and across the world) responded to allegations of sexual abuse towards children. When a young person did have the courage to speak out they were beaten into submission for the protection of the organisation’s reputation. The loss of an individual’s potential (and sometimes life) seemed inconsequential to those in leadership roles.

It takes enormous courage when faced with the choice between doing the right thing or protecting reputation, particularly if it means admitting that you were wrong. But great leaders are more interested in integrity than reputation. They are more interested in the other person than themselves.

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. Oprah Winfrey

Nelson Mandela said, “I have learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.

When faced with the choice, to do the right thing or protect reputation, what would you do? Would you allow your natural fight or flight instinct to rule you, or will you conquer your fear and do the right thing, even if it may mean reputational damage? Great leaders hold integrity far above reputation.

To coach or to performance manage: Where is the line?

I recently attended a coaching course in Singapore run by the Center for Creative Leadership. It was an intimate group of seven with two facilitators. Amongst the nine there were eight different nationalities; I was the only Australian and the only person from education. The remainder were from the corporate sector, multinationals from China, Indonesia, India and the Netherlands.

It was fascinating to hear stories from the corporate sector in relation to coaching. The pressures to meet key performance indicators (KPIs) by certain deadlines is immense. The frustration on the part of supervisors is palpable. They have a continuous internal conflict going on. On the one hand they have a deep empathy and value for people, while on the other hand, they are compelled to reach set targets or risk their own position.

These supervisors were at the course, like me, to learn how to be more effective coaches. They genuinely want to see their colleagues grow. But when do you cut your losses and shift a person to a performance management process?

The key is to never allow your decision-making to be compromised by in-justice. People are more important than KPIs. Are the targets realistic? Has the person put in their best effort to meet those targets?

My expectation is that everyone is growing, including me. This view is not at the expense of accountability. Of course I would be asking why a target isn’t met, or if there were extenuating circumstances that impacted the person’s ability to perform. But it is growth that I expect to see, and growth can be accelerated with effective coaching.

A key role of a leader, and particularly one who is focused on building trust, is coaching.

It is when a person has been supported, or at least genuinely offered coaching, and you don’t see growth that it is time to shift to a performance management process. Nothing is more frustrating for other staff than a team member who refuses to share the load and grow. Trust isn’t damaged by tackling under-performance head on. Staff look to you to deal with the issues and trust you to treat people fairly and with respect.

Trustworthy leaders value people and support their growth, but they are also have the wisdom to know when it is time to let a person go.

The Deal’s Off

We are witnessing an erosion of trust across the globe. With the inauguration of a new President all deals are off. Nothing is being honoured, not even the respect that should be given to another country’s democratically elected leader.

In years past deals were made on a handshake. A person’s word was their oath. There was no need for written agreements that contain copious pages of fine print that no-one has the time to read but wishes they had when something goes wrong.

As the economy shifts more and more into the digital space companies are becoming more and more ruthless in their efforts to make money. Your personal data, purchasing habits and interests are being sold by all and sundry without your knowledge (unless you have actually taken the time to read the fine print in the terms and conditions attached to that loyalty card, rewards card or online game).

Trust is being eroded at an alarming rate as we become increasingly focused on ourselves. Fear feeds protectionism, tearing peoples apart. There is a real risk that Trumpism and the platform which it feeds off will grow to other democracies.

At some point this has to stop. History has shown us that personal gain over the needs of others never ends well.

We can idly sit and watch the world slide ever further down the path of legalism, racism, border control, intolerance and greed, or we can choose to change the world one person at a time.

Sociologists have suggested that even the most isolate individual will influence over 10,000 people in their lifetime. Change can happen with you.

Trust is the thing that underpins every relationship. Without trust there is no relationship. Interactions become hurtful, demeaning and destructive.

But trust can be restored. How we choose to behave is within our power. The birth of trust comes when a person chooses to put another’s needs before their own; when I choose to put others before me. Life is not a game to be won.

For leaders, trust grows when we put aside our own ego and approach our roles as a servant rather than someone who is the most important man (or woman) in the room.

Trust flourishes when a leader consciously considers their practices and how they impact the people they seek to grow.

There is hope. It begins in the way we choose to live life and lead others.

 

Boom or bust? The Hero CEO

The new CEO has been appointed, brought in to turn around the ailing company. The Board are keen for results. Key Performance Indicators are set and the lure of a bonus thrown out.

Share prices have been in decline. The primary task is to arrest that trend, balance the budget and begin to make in-roads on the deficit. The stage is set for the Hero CEO. His ego is primed.

With an economic landscape changing before our very eyes, more and more Boards will be seeking the quick fix. Out with the old and in with the new. New strategy, new leader. The hero appointment is attractive. It has paid dividends (at least in the short-term), but at what expense?

When an organisation’s performance is poor, many leaders default to what they believe will yield quick, turn around results. They become punitive, seeking to control people through manipulation or coercion.
The Hero CEO approach rarely, if ever results in lasting positive change. Lasting change and more profound positive impact is achieved through the establishment and embedding of trust.

Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, and 40% less burnout (Zak, P).

The road to long-term success is often the narrow, more windy road, that takes time to navigate, but the rewards far out way the patience needed to get there.

There is a stark difference between the Hero CEO and the Servant Leader CEO. Once a person realises that trust is far more valuable than any bonus, the road is chosen and the transformation begins. But it is never an immediate transformation. It takes time, vulnerability and a willingness to let go of long held beliefs as the leader chooses to forego himself.

Take the first step. Hand back back the offer of a bonus. Never forsake what is right by putting your own selfish ambition above the needs of those you seek to serve. A quick turnaround will never pay long term dividends.

I’m the busiest!

Here is my medal to prove it! I am officially the busiest person in the organisation, and therefore the most important! Notice me as I wear my medal proudly around my neck.

Don’t you love watching people? It is always fascinating at conferences. At every break there is invariably the rush to the door, mobile phone to the ear, just checking in. “Are you sure you’re doing ok without me; you can’t be, surely?”

What do truly great leaders actually occupy themselves with? What takes their time, what do they prioritise, what should be important and why?

I heard a good phrase this week, “I’m not busy, I’m distracted”. I hear that the average Australian now spends 10 hours a week on social media. How on task are you really and how truly productive are you?

Contrary to the popular myth, leaders don’t have to the the busiest people in the organisation, the most stressed, do the most hours, do the work for others, be the hero against whose everyone else’s measures their worth. It isn’t a competition–the actual prize isn’t worth it. Instead they should be good role models for a healthy work-life balance.

Leaders should never be too busy that they become inaccessible: the person that no one wants to disturb because their issues would seem too trivial or insignificant in comparison.

I like to set goals for the things I would like to achieve in a day. But I have to constantly remind myself that sometimes the distraction may be far important than the goal, particularly if it is to do with the people you serve.

The staff member who comes into your office wanting the vent, or who is just in need of a sympathetic ear. It is in fostering these relationships, the giving of your time, that a leader is doing their most important work. It is then that they are building trust, and ultimately trust is far more important to an organisation because it unlocks the huge potential of the ‘we’.

The moment you set yourself goals that can only be achieved behind your desk you are moving from leading to managing (unless it is to prepare an inspirational speech that articulates a compelling vision for the future). Of course these things have to be done, but not in the name of leadership, rather in the name of necessity to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation.

There is nothing wrong with being extremely busy, but what you are saying when you place that medal around your neck is that you don’t have time for others, you don’t have the time to cultivate what is the most important task of a leader. As a leader one of your key jobs is building the capacity of others and empowering them to do their roles so you can achieve the organisation’s vision together.

Take the medal off. Pop it in the draw. Remember, you should never be too busy for the people you serve.

 

Great expectations: Lost or won?

I usually write from the perspective of the leader and not from one who is being led. We are all led by others, no matter what leadership position you are in, including me. So what happens when when trust in my leader is broken? What should be my response?

I know what it feels like when trust is broken. For me it begins with a feeling of disappointment, and if not fixed quickly, the feelings escalate to a deep hurt and even anger.

I could go through the 10 leadership practices that engender trust and point out which ones he/she failed to employ in his/her leadership of me.

I could let my feelings consume me and destroy any possibility for reconciliation.

I could continue to scrutinise my leader’s actions, looking for further confirmation of their ‘inadequacy’ to reinforce my disappointment and to build myself up by saying, ‘I’d never lead like that’.

I could respond with any one, or all of these, but ultimately, they aren’t really helpful. None will have a particularly positive impact on my wellbeing (which ultimately I am responsible for), nor will they have a positive impact on the organisation I work for.

As a follower I have a responsibility in what is a broken relationship. In the words of the wise “Trust Lady” Vanessa Hall, my expectations of my Leader have not been met. For me to trust someone I have to know that they care for me deeply. So, have I told them what my expectations of them as a leader are?

Truly great leaders get to know the people they lead so they can employ the appropriate leadership practice to engender each individual follower’s trust. But when a leader has responsibility for a lot of people, or the location of their office means that they rarely have an opportunity to get to know the people they lead, it is hard for them to know what a person’s expectations are.

When trust is broken, I could meet my leader and use the ‘I’ word in my sentences, “I am feeling…”, but what is more helpful is to say, “my expectations are… I need you to lead me like…”

Give your leader a chance. They aren’t mind readers. They don’t intend to be poor leaders, or mean to leave you feeling hurt and angry. True leadership is a relationship. If no one is following, the other isn’t leading.

 

Teach for the best, not to the test

The despairing commentary of the most recent international maths and science performances by Australian students is as predictable as it is unfortunate.

Despite the commentary, Australia’s education system is not broken.
We’re just talking too much about a race that may not be worth entering.

The reality of the data is that Australia’s test scores in science and maths have essentially remained stagnant for many years, while other ‘competing’ countries have invested heavily on lifting these results.

I’ve been in classrooms overseas and have seen some of these nations that have improved in these international tests.

The difference is that many of these other countries, including Shanghai, which was noted as “outperforming” Australia, focus on rote learning.

You will see rows of desks occupied by 40-60 students, all compliantly gazing at the blackboard, hanging on every word of the teacher.
The difference between us and these countries is not the skill of the teacher, the resources of the school, or the content of their curriculum, but in the respective cultures. There is a difference by a country mile in work ethic and expectations. The really intriguing thing is that teachers in Shanghai are saying that they need to look to Australia because we have a greater values-based education, something they are lusting after.

The real question we should be asking is, “what is an education worth having?” Is it one where we adopt a ‘me too’ philosophy and simply judge ourselves by the results of some standardised testing, or should we think more broadly? Should we think more creatively.

My worry is that the narrative of a failing education system will continue to gain momentum. The implications for teachers and students are alarming.

There will inevitably be a growing temptation among educators to ‘teach to the test’. Teachers will be encouraged to prioritise students’ standardised test results at all costs and the effects will be twofold.
One, we’ll likely rise on the international leader board ranking, causing policymakers and commentators to cheer.

Second, we’ll cripple the creativity of classes, leading to a generation of students who are great at sitting tests, but with no imagination.
If you were to consult the C-suite of Australian businesses regarding what they most value in their employees, I would expect “the ability to perform well in standardised testing’ would not rank among the highest answers.

They would likely say that a candidate’s ability to problem-solve, think laterally, persist in the face of obstacles and work in teams would be valued far more highly.

And this is the disconnect – the education sector is being pushed in one direction, while business is pulling in another. And these latest international rankings and predictable outrage will only reinforce this misdirected status quo.

The reality is that, to prepare students for the needs of a current and future workforce, one where many of the jobs they’ll be performing don’t yet exist, we need to prioritise more than just test results. Students need high levels of creativity, the ability to persist through failure, an innovative mindset and an entrepreneurial spirit.

The challenge for educators is how to find ways in which to help students access and grow their remarkable creative capacity. The encourage them to develop resilience and not see failure as ‘the end’.
At St Paul’s School, we recently ran an Entrepreneurs Club. Students from Years 7-12 (and even some teachers) worked alongside one another to prototype and pitch a business to a panel of investors. One idea was a bin that disintegrates rubbish, improving waste management systems.

Some ideas won’t work, but one or two have already generated investor interest with a view to becoming fully-funded start-ups.
However, how will these students find the time to develop these businesses while also needing to prepare for the pressure of standardised testing? The unhealthy preoccupation with this testing is potentially costing Australia it’s next Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Baxter.

Australian educators, corporates and policymakers need to work hand in hand to help realise a vision for Australian education that isn’t based on comparing ourselves to a set metric. Rather, we must all work together to build an entrepreneurial, innovative and creative capacity into our education system.

Let’s not teach to the test, but focus on what is best – and that is preparing our students to be the real leaders of tomorrow.

Know your people, they are your bread and butter

I recently met a young restaurateur who, with his older brother had opened their first business, “The Wooden Horse.” They were 18months in and going well. He was talking to a group of budding entrepreneurs, sharing what he had learned from the experience.

For someone who is just 22 I was amazed at what he had learned about leadership in such a short space of time. As he shared the challenges of running a business he identified the appointment and management of staff as one of the most difficult.

He wisely said that staff are people, they are not inanimate objects. Every person is unique and brings with them to work their own story. Once he understood this he realised that, “every interaction with each individual staff member had to different because they all have their own unique personalities. A joke with one doesn’t work with the next. Know your people. They are your bread and butter.”

I was staggered by this young man’s wisdom. So many leaders never wake up to this seemingly obvious point. Instead, they rely too heavily on their own ‘expertise’, assuming that a ‘one-size fits all’ approach is best when leading a group of people because ‘they know best’. What this type of leader is actually saying is that it is ‘all about me’.

This young man had worked out that the way to get the very best from his staff is see each of them as individuals, to know them and adjust his behaviour to support them to achieve the goals of the organisation.

One of the most common questions I am asked when sharing the 10 key practices that build trust in leadership is, “which one is the most important?” No single leadership practice is more important than another because trust, like leadership, is a socially constructed phenomenon. It is all about the relationships we form and you cannot form those relationships if you first don’t know yourself, and then the people you seek to lead. Every person has their own life story.

 

Is our education system really failing our kids?

“Australia falls further behind on the international rankings” are the headlines once again. With the release of the 2016 TIMSS scores you could be mistaken for believing that our schools and teachers are mediocre at best. Myth or reality—is our education system doing our kids a disservice?

If you take the time to actually critique the results you will find that Australian students aren’t getting worse. They typically are unchanged:

  • Maths
    • Year 4
      • 2011 score: 516
      • 2015 score: 517
    • Year 8
      • 2011 score: 505
      • 2015 score: 505
  • Science
    • Year 4
      • 2011 score: 516
      • 2015 score: 524
    • Year 8
      • 2011 score: 519
      • 2015 score: 512

The difference is that other countries, and Kazakhstan, the new kid on the block, have improved remarkably. How is that so? What are they doing differently to what is happening in the classrooms here in Australia?

If you were to visit classrooms in Singapore, Shanghai (and I have) you would see rows of desks occupied by 40-60 students, all compliantly gazing at the blackboard, hanging on every word of the teacher. Rote learning is the order of the day.

I am willing to bet you would see the same in Kazakhstan. The difference between us and these countries is not the skill of the teacher, the resources of the school, or the content of their curriculum, but in the respective cultures. There is a difference by a country mile in work ethic and expectations.

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The real question we should be asking is, “what is an education worth having?” Is it one where we adopt a ‘me too’ philosophy and simply judge ourselves by the results of some standardised testing, or should we think more broadly? Should we think more creatively?

The preamble of the 2008 Melbourne Declaration for Education (our nation’s educational philosophy) says,

“As a nation Australia values the central role of education in building a democratic, equitable and just society—a society that is prosperous, cohesive and cultural diverse, and value Australia’s indigenous cultures as a key part of the nation’s history, present and future.”

Who can argue against that? Why wouldn’t we want that for our children and our society? This philosophy has already been agreed, but we seem to be set on being in the top 5 as measured by mathematics and science, because, as someone tells us, these are the skills our children need for the future.

Is this the truth? There is no question that to be able to become an independent functioning member of society a person needs to be able to read, write and add up. But the recent New Work Order report published by the Foundation for Young Australians says that demand for digital skills are up 212%, critical thinking 158% and creativity 65%.

I would boldly suggest that a continued push to improve our standings on the global stage in mathematics and science will be to the detriment of the more relevant skills such as critical thinking, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism. Our nation will not remain “prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse” if we narrow our education system and teaching in the classroom in an endeavour to win a race that actually isn’t worth entering.

There is no doubt we should be transforming our education system, but not in the way commentators are suggesting. We should be transforming it to focus on nurturing and developing the skills the next generation need in order for them to create their own employment futures.

That, is an education worth having.