leadership

Running and Sliding into the New Year

Posted by Constance Ward on January 11, 2013   |   1 Comment

solitary long distance runner in urban parkI hope you’re having a good slide into the new year, as the Swiss say. Are you rested and refreshed after your holiday break and ready to start ”the race” again? Have you made any New Year’s resolutions about how you’ll run the race this year?

Before you do, think about the Zambian proverb on the homepage of this Thought Leader Zone site: ”When you run alone, you run fast; but when you run together, you run far.”

Ask yourself, have you been running alone or running together with your team?

I’m reminded of the title of the acclaimed short story and film by Alan Sillitoe that spawned several rock renditions of the same name — The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. It takes discipline and endurance to run fast alone.

“When you run alone, you run fast; but when you run together, you run far.”
— Zambian proverb

Were you lonely last year because you were running too fast for your team members to run beside you? Did you find time to stop running to think and look at whether you’re running together with others or trying to cover long distances in your business by yourself?

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah writes (12:5 NIV): ”If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?”

If ”the pace of the race” threatened to wear you out last year, what changes are you going to make now to ensure you’re able to run far in 2013? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help!

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A Simpler Time

Posted by Constance Ward on November 27, 2012   |   Comments Off on A Simpler Time

In a September New York Times article titled “Seeking a Simple Respite” writer Anita Patil claims, ”It seems we’re taking a collective deep breath, stepping back and reassessing our complicated lives.”

The latest marketing buzzwords, the article points out, are ”simple,” ”simply,” ”simplicity,” ”easy,” etc.

In the UK, one of the most ubiquitous — and annoying — advertisements on air (see the embedded video below) involves promoting how simple doing business with that particular insurance company can be. The end of the commercial, a meercat stands up and shouts ”Simples!” and clicks its teeth.

So even animals are catching the spirit–the Zeitgeist–of our time. Are you? Are you finding effective ways to simplify your communication, your organizational structure, etc.? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help!

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Senior Leaders versus Seasoned Leaders: Which Type are You?

Posted by Constance Ward on October 31, 2012   |   Comments Off on Senior Leaders versus Seasoned Leaders: Which Type are You?
four seasons with roadway

The journey to seasoned leadership: a long,
sometimes difficult road. Photo: Jeremy Wilburn

I recently ran across a candidate who described himself as a “seasoned leader.” What’s the difference between a senior leader and a seasoned leader, I wondered, so I Google-d and Wikipedia-d and Yahoo-d and LinkedIn my way to this definition:

Seasoned leaders have tenure and clout and gravitas and a broad range of experiences in different industries, geographies and situations. Seasoned leaders are more well rounded because they have perspectives not yet formed in senior leaders. The next stage in the development of a senior leader is to become a seasoned leader. Seasoned leaders and senior leaders alike can certainly be thought leaders.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to ”define definitively” what a seasoned leader is and does. And the term ”seasoned” itself could be misinterpreted. The problem is that a “seasoned” leader could refer to any season – how confusing is that! If you think about what those seasons represent, you might want to steer clear of describing yourself in that way. I’m not sure all four types of seasoned leaders can be considered complimentary.

For example, the description of a “Spring” seasoned leader seems to be contradictory. If leaders are fresh and spouting – or sprouting – new ideas, they can’t be seasoned, can they?

“Summer” seasoned leaders, I would then assume, are in the prime of their lives and careers. They’re sowing in rich, fertile soil in their companies and making hay – or moula – while the sun is shining on their careers.

“Fall” seasoned leaders are clearly not British or they would be “autumn” seasoned leaders, right? But the connotation of that season – fall or autumn – is that things are dying and falling and decaying. It seems to imply that things are ending and winding down as far as the leader’s career is concerned.

Finally, the term “Winter” seasoned leaders would seem to imply that the leaders are used up, dormant, hibernating or dead. That’s not a very appealing description of someone with great experience and honed skills of leadership, is it?

Are you a seasoned leader? What season of seasoned leader are you? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help!

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A Culture of Learning and Unlearning

Posted by Constance Ward on March 21, 2012   |   Comments Off on A Culture of Learning and Unlearning

learning and unlearningThere’s a saying that goes something like this: “History is the best teacher, but we are the worst pupils.”

Have you ever found yourself repeating the mistakes of the past, even when you know what the outcome will be? It’s human nature to cling to old habits and thought patterns, and it’s not always easy to break such cycles of thinking.

But cultural change is more difficult when an organization has failed to learn from its past poor decisions and mistakes. That kind of blindness to the long-term impact of a lack of organizational learning can make a company resilient to change — even when it’s change for the better.

Guiding an organization through the usual rough waters of cultural change is a challenge for even the most determined leaders. These leaders have to help their teams learn the lessons that corporate history should have taught them…and they may have to help their organization “unlearn” some other lessons along the way before they launch a cultural change program.

As a thought leader inside your own organization, is it time to begin learning and unlearning before you sow the seeds of cultural change? Ask, assess, then act.

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