Sunday, March 14, 2010
Follow up from Feb 28th post
As the Do part of the plan-do-check-adjust Deming cycle, this post is a follow up to the Feb 28th post. The boy leaders did well today. They invited the others to join in the reading program. They explained it to the other boys, and they had a discussion about how they wanted to reward themselves if they continue until the end of the year. In the end, all ten of them decided on a paintball game if they consistently performed. Some that did not seem too interested at first decided to join in too. We'll check up on their progress next week. It is a daily commitment.
Monday, March 8, 2010
What Can We Learn from Military Leadership (this one is not aimed at kids)
The United States military has a bit of an advantage over most small to medium businesses in how it develops leaders. Perhaps very large companies can afford to have extensive leadership training, but most companies do not seem to prioritize leadership to the same extent that the military in the USA does.
For example, the military had a long history of effective leadership. New people entering the organization see the examples all around them in a myriad of situations. They can observe various styles of leadership in various situations and put some of these methods into their own leadership toolbox.
Another example is the leadership schools used by the US military. They have the organizational structure and budgets to operate their own school system. These include basic and advanced leadership training at the direct leadership levels (tactical) and go all the way to indirect leadership (leading other leaders) and to enterprise-level (strategic) leadership for organizations. Most profit and non-profit organizations do not allocate this level of resources to leadership training in their organizations. Instead of building their own leadership schools, many non-governmental organizations will either create in-house or license pre-made courses for facilitators to use or for web-based training. Learning management systems are starting to be more common in medium-sized organizations. For smaller organizations, open source LMS systems like Moodle can be used too.
Another advantage the military has is that they split up leadership into two areas. Commissioned officers focus on collective performance of the entire organization (platoon, company, battalion, brigade, etc.) while non-commissioned officers (NCOs) focus on individual performance. This separation of roles is not common is the commercial realm or that of non-profits. This teamwork between multiple leaders in an organization can make a huge difference in the success of the unit under the stress and strain of combat. In most non-military organizations, one leader focuses on both the individual performances and the collective performance of the organization.
Part of the reason for the emphasis on leadership in the military is that they have to prepare people to succeed in combat. Combat is one of the most (if not the most) unstructured and chaotic situations people have to operate in and leadership in combat requires practiced effective leadership, sometimes called "in the muscle", rather than checklists or a new book, or ponder-as-you-go that might succeed in a slower-paced environment.
Teaching leadership is one thing. People do need the theoretical background. However, much more important is skill transfer to the job. This requires opportunities to practice and receive feedback in many different situations. This is another advantage the military has over most other organizations. The military system is designed to move people into various roles and assignments that provide opportunities for leadership application, feedback, and improvement. Some companies like General Electric in the US do this too, but many small to medium sized businesses hire people for their specific job skill set and use them in that role until they leave the organization. Although such specialization can be effective for specific performances, it sometimes robs the organization of the leadership talents of their people. In many hiring situations, leadership is not even acknowledged or suggested as hiring criteria by human resources groups. Individual hiring managers will select for leadership on their own depending on their personal experience and background. In some organizations, with poor leadership histories have started to improve when a person with leadership ability gets into a key position with hiring/firing authority and starts including leadership as a criteria for hiring, promotion, and reassignment. They may or may not have the full support from supporting business processes like human resources functional groups. They may make these improvements on their own until a momentum starts to build. This can take time, months or years.
So non-military organizations can learn from the military leadership system and apply the parts that seem applicable to their situation.
Here are some suggestions.
Leadership is too vast of a subject for any one article to be comprehensive. Hopefully this has given you some ideas. How you improve is up to you.
Effective leadership is one of those intangible abilities that when present helps organizations in any endeavor.
For example, the military had a long history of effective leadership. New people entering the organization see the examples all around them in a myriad of situations. They can observe various styles of leadership in various situations and put some of these methods into their own leadership toolbox.
Another example is the leadership schools used by the US military. They have the organizational structure and budgets to operate their own school system. These include basic and advanced leadership training at the direct leadership levels (tactical) and go all the way to indirect leadership (leading other leaders) and to enterprise-level (strategic) leadership for organizations. Most profit and non-profit organizations do not allocate this level of resources to leadership training in their organizations. Instead of building their own leadership schools, many non-governmental organizations will either create in-house or license pre-made courses for facilitators to use or for web-based training. Learning management systems are starting to be more common in medium-sized organizations. For smaller organizations, open source LMS systems like Moodle can be used too.
Another advantage the military has is that they split up leadership into two areas. Commissioned officers focus on collective performance of the entire organization (platoon, company, battalion, brigade, etc.) while non-commissioned officers (NCOs) focus on individual performance. This separation of roles is not common is the commercial realm or that of non-profits. This teamwork between multiple leaders in an organization can make a huge difference in the success of the unit under the stress and strain of combat. In most non-military organizations, one leader focuses on both the individual performances and the collective performance of the organization.
Part of the reason for the emphasis on leadership in the military is that they have to prepare people to succeed in combat. Combat is one of the most (if not the most) unstructured and chaotic situations people have to operate in and leadership in combat requires practiced effective leadership, sometimes called "in the muscle", rather than checklists or a new book, or ponder-as-you-go that might succeed in a slower-paced environment.
Teaching leadership is one thing. People do need the theoretical background. However, much more important is skill transfer to the job. This requires opportunities to practice and receive feedback in many different situations. This is another advantage the military has over most other organizations. The military system is designed to move people into various roles and assignments that provide opportunities for leadership application, feedback, and improvement. Some companies like General Electric in the US do this too, but many small to medium sized businesses hire people for their specific job skill set and use them in that role until they leave the organization. Although such specialization can be effective for specific performances, it sometimes robs the organization of the leadership talents of their people. In many hiring situations, leadership is not even acknowledged or suggested as hiring criteria by human resources groups. Individual hiring managers will select for leadership on their own depending on their personal experience and background. In some organizations, with poor leadership histories have started to improve when a person with leadership ability gets into a key position with hiring/firing authority and starts including leadership as a criteria for hiring, promotion, and reassignment. They may or may not have the full support from supporting business processes like human resources functional groups. They may make these improvements on their own until a momentum starts to build. This can take time, months or years.
So non-military organizations can learn from the military leadership system and apply the parts that seem applicable to their situation.
Here are some suggestions.
- Many organizations have implemented succession planning, but often stop there without the follow-up of developing the people they identified further.
- Watch for who effectively gets things done with others, getting both the results and keeping the group morale high. Offer them an additional project or two to confirm your observations. Then put them in charge of a more challenging situation or group. Support them with additional leadership training.
- Be careful that your actions to develop are not perceived as exploiting them until they burn out and leave. This can be done most effectively by sincerely feeling this way. People see through insincerity quickly.
- Pull together the executives who demonstrate the most effective leadership and ask them to help build the organization’s leadership capability. As a side effect, the organization will end up with a leadership development program. Focus on business objectives first keeps everyone focused on the best organizational outcomes.
- Key individuals can start to use effective leadership as criteria in their advancement choices when vacancies open up or when re-structuring occurs. Not all supervisors and managers know how to do this. Start with those who do and begin and get some successes. Then focus on training others on how to accomplish this. However, you’ll have more results from focusing on those that already know how and having them coach others than you will get trying to start from those with the least demonstrated leadership abilities. Apply Pareto analysis to figure out what 20% of your leaders get 80% of the results and begin with the 20% group.
- Human resources groups can provide hiring managers behavioral interview questions that include leadership questions for supervisory and manager positions. Most people can spot effective leadership, but many don’t know how to go about assessing the degree of its existence. Job aids like this can help.
- Executive hiring should always include leadership criteria.
- Supervisors and managers at all organization levels can be provided training on providing opportunities for less experienced people who demonstrate above-average leadership potential.
- However, manage expectations carefully with such a program so that people understand they are getting horizontal opportunities, not necessarily vertical opportunities. Some organizations have counted on specialized skills sets and have kept people in their same roles for 5, 10, 15 years. This does not typically offer promotional opportunities, but rather project opportunities.
Leadership is too vast of a subject for any one article to be comprehensive. Hopefully this has given you some ideas. How you improve is up to you.
Effective leadership is one of those intangible abilities that when present helps organizations in any endeavor.
Who Else Can Help?
NOTE: I found this article by someone else a long while back and I did not record the source at the time. The ideas are not mine. They are important for teaching leadership to children.
How do you find a way of leading that doesn't demand more than it gives back in return, that doesn't lead to burnout, or unfulfillment, or alienation, or drift? How do you teach a child to do the same?
You can't do everything yourself. If you do that, then why is a 'leader' of others even necessary? In addition to asking "How?" ask "Who?" Assume you're not the answer. Most of us ask "How?" How can I (or we) get this thing done? We begin assessing what it would take to turn the idea into something real. We begin thinking and planning. Many times we get overwhelmed. (All those details to handle! All that know-how required!) And we conclude, not unreasonably, that the idea can't be done. Or if it can be done, then usually the personal price paid by the leader — the knower of the answers — will be high.
But what if, instead, the leader presumes they can't do anything, at least not as well as someone else, and definitely not on their own. Instead of considering for a moment that you might be the person to execute the plans or projects that arise in the course of business, always assume there's a better option.
Instead of asking, "How can I do that?" ask "Who can do that?" "Who knows how to do that?" "Who can help me get that done?"
Management analyst Jim Collins (author of Built to Last and Good to Great: Why Some Companies
Make the Leap... and Others Don't ) likens the leader of an organization to the driver of a bus, Collins says that the bus driver's job is not to decide where the bus should go or how to drive it there, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place -- as well as to get the wrong people off the bus, and ultimately to get the right people into the right seats. The right people then will help the leader figure out where to drive and how to drive there. What's more, the right people will attract other right people and inspire them to stick around, diminishing the burden and anxiety felt by leaders who are in the position of having to motivate their flock by themselves. Although his example is more about hiring and staffing, it still has impact on project implementations.
By observing the who-not-how guideline, the leader is liberated to imagine. Since you don't assume you're the one who's going to have to do things -- or even that you're the one who has to know how to do things -- you're not limited to considering only the things you know you can do. Start thinking Who?, and the results are exponentially reinforcing: Once you find you can make things happen that you couldn't dream of doing yourself, you believe you can do anything. And so does everyone in or involved with your company, each of them able to see that the possibilities aren't bounded by their own know-how or even their leader's.
Don't try to be a super hero. Be a part of something. Resist emotional temptation—because the adulation that comes with charismatic leading is seductive. And when you stop building a charismatic organization, what you will lose is easy to see: You don't get to be a hero anymore. You'll lose something else, too, though. You'll lose your isolation. Do it together. Ask the right questions. Stuff doesn't have to be so hard."
If what you lose is obvious, then so is what you gain: Give up being a hero and, suddenly, you don't always have to perform like one anymore. Not only don't you have to supply all the momentum, all the know-how, all the emotion, you also don't have to fear that if you stop, so will everything else. When it's all about you —the cult of the charismatic leader—you're separated from others. Being a hero is lonely. Be a part of the organization you've created. You get to be fed. You get to be part of a community. You can be renewed while getting more done.
Find out the following.
How do you find a way of leading that doesn't demand more than it gives back in return, that doesn't lead to burnout, or unfulfillment, or alienation, or drift? How do you teach a child to do the same?
You can't do everything yourself. If you do that, then why is a 'leader' of others even necessary? In addition to asking "How?" ask "Who?" Assume you're not the answer. Most of us ask "How?" How can I (or we) get this thing done? We begin assessing what it would take to turn the idea into something real. We begin thinking and planning. Many times we get overwhelmed. (All those details to handle! All that know-how required!) And we conclude, not unreasonably, that the idea can't be done. Or if it can be done, then usually the personal price paid by the leader — the knower of the answers — will be high.
But what if, instead, the leader presumes they can't do anything, at least not as well as someone else, and definitely not on their own. Instead of considering for a moment that you might be the person to execute the plans or projects that arise in the course of business, always assume there's a better option.
Instead of asking, "How can I do that?" ask "Who can do that?" "Who knows how to do that?" "Who can help me get that done?"
Management analyst Jim Collins (author of Built to Last and Good to Great: Why Some Companies
Make the Leap... and Others Don't ) likens the leader of an organization to the driver of a bus, Collins says that the bus driver's job is not to decide where the bus should go or how to drive it there, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place -- as well as to get the wrong people off the bus, and ultimately to get the right people into the right seats. The right people then will help the leader figure out where to drive and how to drive there. What's more, the right people will attract other right people and inspire them to stick around, diminishing the burden and anxiety felt by leaders who are in the position of having to motivate their flock by themselves. Although his example is more about hiring and staffing, it still has impact on project implementations.
By observing the who-not-how guideline, the leader is liberated to imagine. Since you don't assume you're the one who's going to have to do things -- or even that you're the one who has to know how to do things -- you're not limited to considering only the things you know you can do. Start thinking Who?, and the results are exponentially reinforcing: Once you find you can make things happen that you couldn't dream of doing yourself, you believe you can do anything. And so does everyone in or involved with your company, each of them able to see that the possibilities aren't bounded by their own know-how or even their leader's.
Don't try to be a super hero. Be a part of something. Resist emotional temptation—because the adulation that comes with charismatic leading is seductive. And when you stop building a charismatic organization, what you will lose is easy to see: You don't get to be a hero anymore. You'll lose something else, too, though. You'll lose your isolation. Do it together. Ask the right questions. Stuff doesn't have to be so hard."
If what you lose is obvious, then so is what you gain: Give up being a hero and, suddenly, you don't always have to perform like one anymore. Not only don't you have to supply all the momentum, all the know-how, all the emotion, you also don't have to fear that if you stop, so will everything else. When it's all about you —the cult of the charismatic leader—you're separated from others. Being a hero is lonely. Be a part of the organization you've created. You get to be fed. You get to be part of a community. You can be renewed while getting more done.
Find out the following.
- What do they know how to do?
- What knowledge or information do they have?
- Do they know how to get other resources?
- What would be helpful to know?
- What are their special skills?
- Their past experiences?
- Their hopes and fears?
- Their weaknesses as well as their strengths?
- Their goals and their attitudes?
Pride versus humility and their impact on leadership effectiveness
Let's consider leadership effectiveness and a character trait called pride or ego. Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements, but the heart, or core, of this leadership weakener is still missing.
The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward other people. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.”1
Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against others.
Pride, unchecked, allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. This can lead to "Do as I say, not as I do." hypocrisy in leaders.
Pride wants us to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them.
IF leadership is influence of others, THEN pride, or ego, can severely reduce leadership effectiveness.
The proud make every person their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”
The proud often stand in fear of other people’s judgment. “What will people think of me?” weighs heavily. Fear of other’s judgment manifests itself in competition for other’s approval. Our motives for the things we do are where the problem is manifest. This concept is excellently portrayed in a book called Leadership and Self Deception. I strongly recommend this book, especially to newer leaders or to people exposed to ego-centered leaders in their development.
Some prideful people are not so concerned as to whether their wages meet their needs as they are that their wages are more than someone else’s. Their reward is being a cut above the rest. This is the enmity of pride.
When pride has a hold on us, we counter-intuitively lose our independence of thinking. Pride can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. The Johari window seems to apply here. Some of us consider pride to be a problem of those on the top, looking down at the rest of us.
There is, however, a far more common ailment in many organizations—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in many ways, such as fault finding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude that might lift another, blaming and being jealous. These behaviors can bring consequences onto organizations just as onto individuals. Leaders need to work to remove these behaviors from their organizational culture. One-on-one discussions are needed, and for some regularly.
Lack of alignment or outright noncompliance with leader initiatives, defiance, disregard, insubordination, intractableness, and recalcitrance all describe essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position. This highlights scarcity thinking patterns instead of abundance thinking patterns.
Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride and ego. "What's in it for me?" and “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking. Selfishness has been described well as self-destruction in slow motion. Addiction is a sad example of this self-focus taken to extreme. The news is regularly filled with the consequences of pride with stories of its impact on individuals and organizations. There is little room for it when effective leadership is desired.
To continue, another face of pride is conflict and contention. Arguments, fights, coercive leadership, generation gaps, abuse, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride. Conflict management is typically considered a leadership competency.
Contention in our organizations/families/teams drives many of our organizational members away. Such turnover is expensive to companies and devastating in families. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to larger conflicts.
The proud are easily offended and hold grudges. They withhold pardon to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.
The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. Defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures.
The proud depend upon the external environment around them to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of organizational success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, appearence, or intellect are large enough. Pride is ugly. It says, “If you succeed, I am a failure.” It embodies scarcity thinking.
Pride limits or stops growth individually and organizationally. This is a key leadership principle. Look for it and its impact around you to verify this truth.
The proud are not easily taught. They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong.
Pride adversely affects all our relationships—between spouses, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student, and all people. Our degree of pride determines how we treat other people. How we treat people shows others our degree of pride, especially children.
Think of what pride has cost us in the past and what it is now costing us in our own lives, in children's lives, and the organizations of which we’re a part.
Pride affects all of us at various times and in various degrees.
Pride is a universal problem with humans. The antidote for pride is humility.
The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward other people. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.”
Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against others.
Pride, unchecked, allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. This can lead to "Do as I say, not as I do." hypocrisy in leaders.
Pride wants us to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them.
IF leadership is influence of others, THEN pride, or ego, can severely reduce leadership effectiveness.
The proud make every person their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”
The proud often stand in fear of other people’s judgment. “What will people think of me?” weighs heavily. Fear of other’s judgment manifests itself in competition for other’s approval. Our motives for the things we do are where the problem is manifest. This concept is excellently portrayed in a book called Leadership and Self Deception. I strongly recommend this book, especially to newer leaders or to people exposed to ego-centered leaders in their development.
Some prideful people are not so concerned as to whether their wages meet their needs as they are that their wages are more than someone else’s. Their reward is being a cut above the rest. This is the enmity of pride.
When pride has a hold on us, we counter-intuitively lose our independence of thinking. Pride can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. The Johari window seems to apply here. Some of us consider pride to be a problem of those on the top, looking down at the rest of us.
There is, however, a far more common ailment in many organizations—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in many ways, such as fault finding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude that might lift another, blaming and being jealous. These behaviors can bring consequences onto organizations just as onto individuals. Leaders need to work to remove these behaviors from their organizational culture. One-on-one discussions are needed, and for some regularly.
Lack of alignment or outright noncompliance with leader initiatives, defiance, disregard, insubordination, intractableness, and recalcitrance all describe essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position. This highlights scarcity thinking patterns instead of abundance thinking patterns.
Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride and ego. "What's in it for me?" and “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking. Selfishness has been described well as self-destruction in slow motion. Addiction is a sad example of this self-focus taken to extreme. The news is regularly filled with the consequences of pride with stories of its impact on individuals and organizations. There is little room for it when effective leadership is desired.
To continue, another face of pride is conflict and contention. Arguments, fights, coercive leadership, generation gaps, abuse, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride. Conflict management is typically considered a leadership competency.
Contention in our organizations/families/teams drives many of our organizational members away. Such turnover is expensive to companies and devastating in families. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to larger conflicts.
The proud are easily offended and hold grudges. They withhold pardon to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.
The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. Defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures.
The proud depend upon the external environment around them to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of organizational success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, appearence, or intellect are large enough. Pride is ugly. It says, “If you succeed, I am a failure.” It embodies scarcity thinking.
Pride limits or stops growth individually and organizationally. This is a key leadership principle. Look for it and its impact around you to verify this truth.
The proud are not easily taught. They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong.
Pride adversely affects all our relationships—between spouses, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student, and all people. Our degree of pride determines how we treat other people. How we treat people shows others our degree of pride, especially children.
Think of what pride has cost us in the past and what it is now costing us in our own lives, in children's lives, and the organizations of which we’re a part.
Pride affects all of us at various times and in various degrees.
Pride is a universal problem with humans. The antidote for pride is humility.
- We can choose to be humble by conquering enmity toward other people.
- We can choose to be humble by receiving counsel and chastisement from mentors, leaders, peers, and followers.
- We can choose to be humble by concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, and ceasing to demand punishment or restitution from those who have offended us.
Humble leadership is more effective leadership. Proud leadership is less effective. Judge this principle for yourself. Compare and contrast all the examples of both you’ve come across in your life. Which type has a stronger positive influence on children, youth, teens, new graduates, mature adults, and on profit and loss statements? Which type has a stronger positive influence on organizations of which you’ve been apart?
If we know these things, why is it so difficult to consistently do them? Because we’re human. The striving for effective leadership is constant, on-going, and never ending because we often slide back into less effective behaviors.
This article intentionally pushes the extremes to make the point. Pride and ego hurt leadership. Humility helps leadership. Which will you apply today? Which will you model for children around you today?
If we know these things, why is it so difficult to consistently do them? Because we’re human. The striving for effective leadership is constant, on-going, and never ending because we often slide back into less effective behaviors.
This article intentionally pushes the extremes to make the point. Pride and ego hurt leadership. Humility helps leadership. Which will you apply today? Which will you model for children around you today?
Note: This article is based almost entirely on a talk given by Ezra Taft Benson in May 1989. I revised it for the purposes of this site, but the ideas are his, not mine. I have simply noticed how true the principles are in many situations in life since then. I noticed enough to make me want to share the ideas here.
1. Pride, Ezra Taft Benson in May 1989
Effective Learning and Teaching of Leadership from AAAS
One of the documents that I respect is from an organization called The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This group is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world. Their Project 2061 developed a book called Science for All Americans which includes some real gems (see http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/Chap13.htm) that are largely transferable to the advancing of leadership around the world. I bought their book and recommend it.
Standing on the shoulders of these giants, and leveraging on what they have already done, I will offer some insights on applying what they use for Science instead to Leadership.
For anyone in the business of teaching or training, your experience, like mine, may validate their Chapter 13: EFFECTIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING and the principles identified therein. I'm only listing the ones here that apply. First I'll list their principles and then connect it to leadership learning.
For anyone in the business of teaching or training, your experience, like mine, may validate their Chapter 13: EFFECTIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING and the principles identified therein. I'm only listing the ones here that apply. First I'll list their principles and then connect it to leadership learning.
- Learning Is Not Necessarily an Outcome of Teaching
- What Students Learn Is Influenced by Their Existing Ideas
- People have to construct their own meaning regardless of how clearly teachers or books tell them things.
- To incorporate some new idea, learners must change the connections among the things they already know, or even discard some long-held beliefs about the world.
- Progression in Learning Is Usually From the Concrete to the Abstract
- Young people can learn most readily about things that are tangible and directly accessible to their senses—visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic.
- With experience, they grow in their ability to understand abstract concepts, reason logically, and generalize.
- Many people need concrete examples of new ideas throughout life.
- Concrete experiences are most effective in learning when they occur in the context of some relevant conceptual structure.
- The difficulties many students have in grasping abstractions are often masked by their ability to remember and recite technical terms that they do not understand.
- People Learn to Do Well Only What They Practice Doing
- If students are expected to apply ideas in novel situations, then they must practice applying them in novel situations.
- Students acquire desirable skills as they are permitted and encouraged to do those things over and over in many contexts.
- Effective Learning by Students Requires Feedback
- The mere repetition of tasks by students is unlikely to lead to improved skills or keener insights.
- Learning often takes place best when students have opportunities to express ideas and get feedback from their peers.
- Feedback ought to be analytical, to be suggestive, and to come at a time when students are interested in it.
- And then there must be time for students to reflect on the feedback they receive, to make adjustments and to try again—a requirement that is neglected, it is worth noting, by most examinations and assessments.
- Expectations Affect Performance
- Students respond to their own expectations of what they can and cannot learn.
- If they believe they are able to learn something, they usually make headway.
- But when they lack confidence, learning eludes them.
- Students grow in self-confidence as they experience success in learning, just as they lose confidence in the face of repeated failure.
- Thus, teachers need to provide students with challenging but attainable learning tasks and help them succeed.
- What is more, students are quick to pick up the expectations of success or failure that others have for them.
- Start With Questions About Nature
- Sound teaching usually begins with questions and phenomena that are interesting and familiar to students, not with abstractions or phenomena outside their range of perception, understanding, or knowledge.
- Students need to get acquainted with the things around them—including devices, organisms, materials, shapes, and numbers—and to observe them, collect them, handle them, describe them, become puzzled by them, ask questions about them, argue about them, and then to try to find answers to their questions.
- Insist on Clear Expression
- Effective oral and written communication is so important in every facet of life that teachers of every subject and at every level should place a high priority on it for all students.
- In addition, science teachers should emphasize clear expression, because the role of evidence and the unambiguous replication of evidence cannot be understood without some struggle to express one's own procedures, findings, and ideas rigorously, and to decode the accounts of others.
- Use a team approach
- Do Not Separate Knowing From Finding Out
- Science teaching that attempts solely to impart to students the accumulated knowledge of a field leads to very little understanding and certainly not to the development of intellectual independence and facility. But then, to teach scientific reasoning as a set of procedures separate from any particular substance—"the scientific method," for instance—is equally futile. Science teachers should help students to acquire both scientific knowledge of the world and scientific habits of mind at the same time.
- De-emphasize the Memorization of Technical Vocabulary.
- Understanding rather than vocabulary should be the main purpose of science teaching. However, unambiguous terminology is also important in scientific communication and—ultimately—for understanding. Some technical terms are therefore helpful for everyone, but the number of essential ones is relatively small.
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Applying AAAS Principles to Leadership
So leveraging what they have already done, let's consider some insights on applying what they use for Science instead to Leadership. What do these transferable AAAS principles tell us about effectively teaching leadership skill to the next generations?
- Perhaps that the use of jargon should be avoided
- Personal opinion: It seems to me that many leadership peddlers have imagined their own set of semantic ‘handles’ for labeling concepts that have been around since people have been around, and many have copyrighted their imaginative new terms so they can sell their advice about things that have not changed much in thousands of years.
- We need to find concrete experiences for new leaders. West Point does a great job of doing this. How can you?
- Leadership is especially one of those areas that has to be experienced, not just taught.
- Make early leadership experiences as tangible as possible.
- Another correlary to people constructing their own meaning is that until learner is ready, there can be no learning. An eastern idea is that if the tea cup (read mind) is already full, how can any more tea (read understanding) go in?
- Mentors or coaches that provide feedback to the relevant conceptual structure can be effective. This can be done in small groups or individually.
- Stories can provide the concrete grounding with context.
- Older learners can start to link their experiences to the theories that explain what occurred and give additional insights.
- Long-held beliefs about the world that may need to be discarded include:
- Poor Examples. I have seen this play out with some people exposed to especially bad leadership examples. There is often a strong emotional response to some behaviors they were exposed to that can pose an obstacle to learning how to lead effectively.
- Cultural Norms. Another example of this with leadership is cultural norms in various parts of the world. In many places it is expected that a “leader” will use coercion and compulsion, and disrespectful behaviors. Although these may work in the very short term, in the longer term, they are destructive with humans.
- New leaders need opportunities to practice over and over in many contexts.
- Effective learning of leadership requires feedback from a mentor, coach, peers, etc.
- Reflection is a key component of growth, processing what occurred. The Army and other organizations has found this effective with a process called an after action review. Coaches do it with game films.
- Especially with younger leaders in training, we have to find ways to help them believe they can, and scope the experience to have small successes, growing the scope as they increase in confidence and ability. Keep ability linked closely to confidence so it is well rooted.
- Be cautious about over-reaching relative to their abilities so as to not cause a loss of confidence in the face of repeated failure as an unintended consequence. There is an obligation on adults to watch for the younger ones learning leadership.
- Provide leadership students with challenging but attainable learning tasks and help them succeed.
- Project positive expectations in the next increment of scope of learning and practice of leadership.
- Start With Questions About Social Relationships and Leaders they have experienced.
- Sound teaching usually begins with questions and interpersonal situations that are interesting and familiar to students, not with abstractions or situations outside their range of perception, understanding, or knowledge.
- Students need to get acquainted with the human interactions around them and to observe them, describe them, become puzzled by them, ask questions about them, argue about them, and then to try to find answers to their questions.
- Emphasize clear expression for the same reasons they do for science. It is 100% transferable to leadership.
- Use a Team Approach.
- The team provides leadership opportunities amongst each other as they learn in the context of team responsibility, feedback and communication.
- Do Not Separate Knowing From Finding Out.
- Leadership teaching that attempts solely to impart to students the accumulated body of knowledge leads to very little understanding and certainly not to the development of intellectual independence and facility.
- Help students to acquire both leadership knowledge and leadership thinking (habits of mind). Life is too dynamic for simplistic formulas or models to work in all situations. The goal is to anticipate and plan, but then to adapt depending on the situation.
- De emphasize the Memorization of Technical Vocabulary. Understanding should supersede leadership terminology. Some technical terms are helpful for everyone, but the number of essential ones is relatively small. Jargon is less important in leadership than in science.
- Link new concepts to their existing ones.
Who You Are Matters, Become Better
Example, becoming, and knowing yourself are crucial elements to leading effectively. You must know yourself and be aware of your impact on others. You have enormous responsibility. You do make a difference, mainly because of who you are.
Be comfortable with yourself first. Stephen Covey talks about private victories before public victories. Read about this and apply it. If you are not comfortable with yourself, you will tend to be a control freak, needing a constant reminder that you are in charge. Find ways to laugh. People don't want to work for someone who doesn't laugh. It also tends to correlate with people who are comfortable with themselves.
Communicate by example. Behavioral scientists call it modeling. Others recognize it simply, as setting the example. Whatever we call it, there is no substitute for it in effective leadership.
The most important influence you have on those you lead is the example you set. Your example provides indirect influence in all that you do. You are on stage, so to speak, all the time. Your character (integrity, maturity, and abundance mentality) identifies to your followers whether or not you are trustworthy.
Organizations tend to reflect their leaders. Have high standards in appearance and bearing. Be a role model.
The following poem applies to setting the example.
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
I'd rather one should walk with me, than merely show the way.
The eyes is a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example is always clear.
The best of all the preachers are the people who live their creed.
For to see the good in action, is what everybody needs.
I can say, I'll learn how to do it if you let me see it done.
I can watch your hand in action though your tongue too fast may run.
Although the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true,
I'd rather learn my lessons by observing what you do;
for I may misunderstand you, and the fine advice you give,
but it's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
~ Author unknown
I'd rather one should walk with me, than merely show the way.
The eyes is a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example is always clear.
The best of all the preachers are the people who live their creed.
For to see the good in action, is what everybody needs.
I can say, I'll learn how to do it if you let me see it done.
I can watch your hand in action though your tongue too fast may run.
Although the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true,
I'd rather learn my lessons by observing what you do;
for I may misunderstand you, and the fine advice you give,
but it's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
~ Author unknown
Treat people as volunteers even if they work for money. Yes there is often payment for services provided in many organizations, but there is typically more involved. Of the many areas that influence their decisions and reduce organizational turnover, right now I’d like to discuss one. What we have become.
Knowing, doing, and being are all important, but who we’ve become is often easier to ignore, pretending it is not relevant to our success and our happiness in life. Becoming also happens so slowly as to not easily notice it happening.
Followers, whether paid or volunteers, don’t decide to continue providing their labor and loyalty to us only because the sum total of our acts—what we have done. They also judge us on the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. For improved follower satisfaction, it is not enough for you just to go through the motions of leadership. You may skimp by, and they may stay if better opportunities aren't right there, but your organization/family/team could be so much stronger and better able to weather difficult challenges together.
A story may better illustrate this principle to help communicate what I mean.
A wealthy father knew that if he were to bestow his wealth upon a child who had not yet developed the needed wisdom and stature, the inheritance would probably be wasted. The father said to his child:
“All that I have I desire to give you—not only my wealth, but also my position and standing among men. That which I have I can easily give you, but that which I am you must obtain for yourself. You will qualify for your inheritance by learning what I have learned and by living as I have lived. I will give you the laws and principles by which I have acquired my wisdom and stature. Follow my example, mastering as I have mastered, and you will become as I am, and all that I have will be yours.”
As an aside, there was a 2007 movie about this idea called the Ultimate Gift, starring Abigail Breslin, Brian Dennehy, Bill Cobbs, Drew Fuller, Ali Hillis, Lee Meriwether and James Garner that might make such conversations easier to get started with a child.
.
You can also be more effective in leading your child/followers/employees as you reduce your concentration on statistical measures of actions and focus more on what the people are now and what they are striving to become. This may not show up in official performance appraisals, but they can tell if you are considering these things about them.
Caring is not only an act but a condition or state of being. It is far easier to ask for stronger performance when they know you care about them and when who you’ve become elicits collaboration and respect. Get to know them. Have genuine interest and concern. Be natural, friendly, and warm. See their potential. Commit the time and effort to know those you lead.
- Understand what makes them tick.
- Learn what is important to them in life.
Who you are matters. Know yourself and seek personal improvement in areas that you need to develop. Become better.
Note: This article is based largely on a talk given by Dallin H. Oaks in 2000. I revised it for the purposes of this site, but the ideas are his, not mine.
Set High Expectations
Do not be seduced by lowering expectations. Yes, that is the path of initial least resistance. It may even be less difficult for you the adult, but a much better path in the longer term is to clearly communicate your high expectations of the child to them directly.
Effective leaders don't aim for the minimums as goals. Of course, everything can't be the number one priority either.
As the adult, you must exercise judgment concerning which expectations are most important. Your child is sometimes required to perform many tasks that are not critical to their development as leaders. While some of these are extremely important, others require only a minimum effort. Striving for perfection in every area, regardless of how trivial, can quickly work an individual or even a team to death. On the other hand, the fact that a task isn't a first priority doesn't excuse a sloppy performance. Caring adults make sure the expectation of the child fits the task's importance.
Your values influence the child's behavior because the child may use them to decide between alternatives. You have the power to influence the child's values by setting the example and recognizing behavior that supports those values. You are the ethical standard bearer. Understand and be personally committed to the values that make leadership effective.
Effective leaders don't aim for the minimums as goals. Of course, everything can't be the number one priority either.
As the adult, you must exercise judgment concerning which expectations are most important. Your child is sometimes required to perform many tasks that are not critical to their development as leaders. While some of these are extremely important, others require only a minimum effort. Striving for perfection in every area, regardless of how trivial, can quickly work an individual or even a team to death. On the other hand, the fact that a task isn't a first priority doesn't excuse a sloppy performance. Caring adults make sure the expectation of the child fits the task's importance.
Your values influence the child's behavior because the child may use them to decide between alternatives. You have the power to influence the child's values by setting the example and recognizing behavior that supports those values. You are the ethical standard bearer. Understand and be personally committed to the values that make leadership effective.
Confidence
The amount of confidence leaders possess affects the way they do their job. Lack of confidence in themselves or their followers may result in over supervision.
In contrast, confidence begets appropriate delegation with less direct supervision. Close supervision can be good where the aim is to develop people, but may retard the development of initiative, so vital for long term successful results.
Provide opportunities for children to gain confidence from their increasing capacity, not just feelings alone.
In contrast, confidence begets appropriate delegation with less direct supervision. Close supervision can be good where the aim is to develop people, but may retard the development of initiative, so vital for long term successful results.
Provide opportunities for children to gain confidence from their increasing capacity, not just feelings alone.
Help Kids Develop Improved People Skills
First of all, be an example. Help the child to...
Be approachable, be easy to talk to. Spend the extra effort to put other people at ease. Where needed, be warm, pleasant, and gracious. The Japanese people set a great example for graciousness. We can all improve this.
Be sensitive to and patient with the interpersonal anxieties of others in the organization you lead. Build rapport well. Listen well. Get informal and incomplete information in time to do something about it.
Show compassion. Sincerity is crucial. Genuinely care about people. Demonstrate concern about their problems. Be available and ready to help. For this to be effective, you have to demonstrate real empathy with the joys and pains of others. Children do this well from birth. It is trained out of some by the adults around them.
Stay cool under pressure. Being composed means not becoming defensive or irritated when times are tough. Act mature so others can count on you to hold things together during tough situations. Consider how well you handle stress. Are you easily knocked off balance by the unexpected? Be careful to not show frustration when resisted or blocked. You can be a settling influence a crisis.
Laugh a little. Develop and use a positive and constructive sense of humor. People are more at ease with those who can laugh at themselves and with others. Avoid crude humor. Be appropriately funny, using humor to ease tension.
Improve your interpersonal savvy. Relate well to all kinds of people, at all levels of your organization and other organizations. Develop the ability to build appropriate rapport. Relationships are so important. Be able to build constructive and effective relationships. Use diplomacy and tact, diffusing high-tension situations comfortably.
Effective leaders are patient. They are tolerant with people and processes. Listen and check your facts before acting. Do your best to understand the people and the data before making judgments and acting so you don't have to back track as much. Waits for others to catch up before acting where possible. Be aware of pacing. Some people can handle faster changes more easily than others. Follow establish process where appropriate.
Be open with others. Be easy to get to know for those who interact with you regularly. Admit mistakes and shortcomings. This may sound like weakness, but people appreciate the ability to acknowledge your own faults. Be open about personal beliefs and feelings without being pushy.
Be approachable, be easy to talk to. Spend the extra effort to put other people at ease. Where needed, be warm, pleasant, and gracious. The Japanese people set a great example for graciousness. We can all improve this.
Be sensitive to and patient with the interpersonal anxieties of others in the organization you lead. Build rapport well. Listen well. Get informal and incomplete information in time to do something about it.
Show compassion. Sincerity is crucial. Genuinely care about people. Demonstrate concern about their problems. Be available and ready to help. For this to be effective, you have to demonstrate real empathy with the joys and pains of others. Children do this well from birth. It is trained out of some by the adults around them.
Stay cool under pressure. Being composed means not becoming defensive or irritated when times are tough. Act mature so others can count on you to hold things together during tough situations. Consider how well you handle stress. Are you easily knocked off balance by the unexpected? Be careful to not show frustration when resisted or blocked. You can be a settling influence a crisis.
Laugh a little. Develop and use a positive and constructive sense of humor. People are more at ease with those who can laugh at themselves and with others. Avoid crude humor. Be appropriately funny, using humor to ease tension.
Improve your interpersonal savvy. Relate well to all kinds of people, at all levels of your organization and other organizations. Develop the ability to build appropriate rapport. Relationships are so important. Be able to build constructive and effective relationships. Use diplomacy and tact, diffusing high-tension situations comfortably.
Effective leaders are patient. They are tolerant with people and processes. Listen and check your facts before acting. Do your best to understand the people and the data before making judgments and acting so you don't have to back track as much. Waits for others to catch up before acting where possible. Be aware of pacing. Some people can handle faster changes more easily than others. Follow establish process where appropriate.
Be open with others. Be easy to get to know for those who interact with you regularly. Admit mistakes and shortcomings. This may sound like weakness, but people appreciate the ability to acknowledge your own faults. Be open about personal beliefs and feelings without being pushy.
Harsh or tyrannical treatment
The following quote is memorized by all classes of cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Read it as applied to children, not soldiers, a youth team, not an army. The principle is the same though the audience different.
The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be
gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more
likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give
commands in such manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling
but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to
excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing
with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander.
He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for
himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his
inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
Major General John M. Schofield
Address to the United States Corps of Cadets, 11 August 1879
Proposed youth team version (with apologies to Schofield):
The discipline which makes the players of a free team reliable in the game is not to be
gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more
likely to destroy than to make an team. It is possible to impart instruction and to give
commands in such manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the player no feeling
but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to
excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing
with teammates or players springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the team captain.
He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for
himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his
players, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be
gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more
likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give
commands in such manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling
but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to
excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing
with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander.
He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for
himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his
inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
Major General John M. Schofield
Address to the United States Corps of Cadets, 11 August 1879
Proposed youth team version (with apologies to Schofield):
The discipline which makes the players of a free team reliable in the game is not to be
gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more
likely to destroy than to make an team. It is possible to impart instruction and to give
commands in such manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the player no feeling
but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to
excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing
with teammates or players springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the team captain.
He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for
himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his
players, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
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