Lee Ellis's Blog, page 283
February 6, 2016
Join Lee this September at SHRM Georgia Annual Conference – Your Invitation is Enclosed
If you’re a Human Resources or Training professional, we invite you to join Lee at the 2016 Annual Georgia SHRM Conference in Augusta GA on September 18-20th.
His keynote presentation will include stories from the Vietnam POW camps plus leadership development insight from his latest book on courageous accountability.
February 5, 2016
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, February 5, 2016
“Courage is leaning into your doubts and fears to do what you know is right even when it doesn’t feel natural or safe.” – Lee Ellis
February 4, 2016
Fill-in-the-Blank – “Recently in my work and team, I chose to break an old mindset about ________________.”
Fill-in-the-Blank – “Recently in my work and team, I chose to break an old mindset about ________________.”
Please share your answers in this post – thank you!
Also read Lee Ellis’ latest article on topic – click here
February 3, 2016
Changing Your Mindset About Stinky Fish: Embracing Leadership Growth
By Lee Ellis
The temptation is there for all us, but it’s easier to notice in others – “Why do they lead this organization the same old way? And why do they only see life from their myopic view?” The ability to break free from old mindsets and gain new ones is a valuable attribute—especially for leaders who find themselves thrown into paradox.
My Breaking Free Moment
Occasionally, I’ve been a co-facilitator for an event, and I almost always learn a lot from the experience. One of my fellow consultants, Robin Gerald, opened up my world with a simple graphic—showing how our mindsets drive our attitudes, choices, actions, and behaviors—sometimes for the better and sometimes for negative outcomes.
Robin’s simple explanation was a gift for a lifetime to help me break free from unproductive mindsets or expand an old worldview to see things differently. Recently I’ve used it to explain the importance of paradoxical thinking on leadership.
Leaders must operate in Paradox
Consider the challenge when you encounter paradox and have to acknowledge and operate on two seemingly opposite principles from the list below –
This and This
Visionary Practical
Chaos Order
Results Relationships
Competitive Supportive
Detached Sensitive
Bold Cautious
Quick Patient
Strong Vulnerable
Leader Servant
Tough Compassionate
Generalist Specialist
Convincing Good listener
Can you really be both tough and compassionate? Can you effectively operate with a clear vision of your strategy while working in the day-to-day fog of complexity to achieve your goals?
Life and Death Paradox Encounter
An earthier example of mindset and paradox occurred in my Vietnam POW experience. For months we had been eating nothing but bowls of bland, watery “weed” soup and a piece of bread or cup of rice. Then one day at meal time we caught this waft of a horrible odor—so bad it was literally gagging to some. When we went out in the hallway to get our food, there plopped on our metal plate was a serving of stinky, rotten fish that was more salt and bones than fish.
Even as hungry as we were, many of our mates could not touch it. A few of the more adventurous ones in our group set aside our mindsets about never eating something that was stinky and rotten, and we gave it a try. By the third time they served it, we were hooked and soon everyone joined in. We came to love it because our diet had been so bland, and this nasty stuff was very “flavorful.” Plus, it was a source of protein and calcium that we desperately needed. Paradoxically, rotten and stinky became good in our new mindset.
Living in the Tension of Change and Growth
Leaders don’t need to take on rotten and stinky fish, but they must be flexible and open to new mindsets. Challenge your mindsets. Often a change in perspective is the only way to employ the wide array of behaviors and skills needed to lead effectively.
Be willing to live in the tension—holding two seemingly opposite concepts at once. Our tendency is to want simplicity. We like to reduce things to right or wrong, good or bad, strong or weak. The reality of life says it’s just not that way. We are at once good and bad, strong and weak. In fact, even the best leaders readily admit that they have major insecurities.
How can you learn to live in the tension and embrace paradox? Three tips –
Try a Picture-in-Picture Approach.
My friend, Laurie Beth Jones, has a good analogy called the “picture-in-picture” approach. We must learn to keep more than one channel on the screen and be able switch between them. For example, a leader needs to be able to expand the “vision” onto the full screen in order to develop strategy while at the same time keeping the practical details of reality in the smaller background screen, knowing they’ll need to swap pictures again to deal with the here and now.
Develop flexibility in yourself and others.
Push yourself to identify old mindsets that really aren’t working. When you notice that your actions don’t seem to bring good results, consider taking a new perspective. As you get older, flexibility gets harder but it’s worth the effort. Share your growth and mentor others to do the same.
Remember the Stockdale Paradox.
Leaders need resilience in tough times. Our POW leader, CDR James Bond Stockdale, the senior Naval officer in the camps knew a lot about resilience—spending more than four years in solitary confinement, two years in the infamous Alcatraz camp with many rounds of torture.
In his classic Good to Great, Jim Collins talked about his relationship and conversations with Stockdale. From those insights and the quote below Collins coined the term “Stockdale Paradox” that highlights this dynamic tension and Stockdale’s perspective on resilience:
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Stockdale’s life demonstrated that resilience starts with a mindset of “both”. Operating with faith and optimism yet digging into the nasty, painful realities of life—even stinky rotten fish if that’s what it takes to survive. Trust me, I know it works.
Next Steps
Are you willing to open up your mindset and embrace paradox? You may hate the process, but be glad you did. Now that’s kind of a paradox in itself, isn’t it? Please share your wisdom and experiences in this forum.
LE
Free Infographic Offer!
Leaders must get results to accomplish the mission, stay in business and be competitive, but they also must build relationships because it’s people (with motivations and emotions) who do the work.
This new infographic from Leading with Honor, Find and Balance Your Leadership Tilt, helps you find your natural leadership tilt between results and relationships, and then you’ll discover how to better balance your behavior to become a more honorable, successful leader.
February 1, 2016
Latest Lee Ellis Interview on Finding Your Natural Talent – Listen Inside
How did Lee start using his natural talents? What was his most impactful turning point in this career? What was the most powerful lesson learned?
Listen to this new radio interview on “Discover Your Talent, Do What You Love” with host Don Hutcheson, and share your comments too –
January 31, 2016
On This Day in Leadership History, January 31, 2016
On this day in leadership history in 1936, the radio show “The Green Hornet” debuted. Though both the police and the general public believe the Hornet to be a criminal, he used that perception to help him infiltrate the underworld, leaving behind for the police the criminals and any incriminating evidence he has found.
Sometimes in leadership, doing the right thing may not be understood or accepted by others. Keep leading with honor even when it’s not popular!
The Green Hornet – Wikipedia
January 29, 2016
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, January 29, 2016
“Hire character. Train skill.” – Peter Schutz
January 28, 2016
The Latest Recommendation from Lee’s Bookshelf – “It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy”
The Latest Book Recommendation from Lee’s Bookshelf – It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by D. Michael Abrashoff.
When Captain Abrashoff took over as commander of USS Benfold, a ship armed with every cutting-edge system available, it was like a business that had all the latest technology but only some of the productivity. Knowing that responsibility for improving performance rested with him, he realized he had to improve his own #leadership skills before he could improve his ship.
This book can help you change the course of your ship, no matter where your business battles are fought.
Learn more about his dramatic leadership story. If you’ve read this book, please share your comments in this post – thank you
January 27, 2016
What Kind of Excellence Do You Want to Accomplish? The Telltale Signs Revealed
What a great reminder about the balance between Excellence and Mediocrity! What kind of excellence are you aiming to accomplish? Compare your leadership style against the list below –
“Your company is approaching an intersection. The light is green. Turn left and you’re headed toward Excellence. Turn right and you’re headed toward another kind of Excellence. Go straight and you’ll arrive at Mediocrity.
Let me give you a glimpse of the scenery you’ll find on the left and on the right –
Turn left and you’ll reach Excellence through Planning and Execution.
Policies will revolve around efficiency and the reduction of waste.
Processes will be streamlined and standardized to minimize costs and problems.
Few decisions will be left to front-line employees.
You will need workers that are task-oriented, happy to conform to your policies, implement your processes and follow your procedures.
Customers will love that you are reliable and consistent.
Management will be focused on planning the work and working the plan.
Your success will be scalable because the need for talent and passion and commitment will have been replaced by systems and methods and procedures. A burger and fries at McDonalds is precisely the same at each of their 36,000 locations.
Turn right and you’ll reach Excellence through Poise and Responsiveness.
Policy will be to serve each customer in the manner they prefer to be served.
Processes will be about going the extra mile.
Big decisions will be left to front-line employees.
You will need workers that have talent and passion and commitment.
Customers will love the attention that you lavish on them.
Management will be focused on long-term relationships and the creation of a tribe.
Your success will rise and fall according to your ability to recruit and retain excellent people. They will cook your burger with the meat you prefer, the bun you prefer and serve it with exactly the combination of condiments you prefer. They will call you by name as they present it to you and bring you an extra cloth napkin because these burgers are really juicy. They’ll refill your drink, ask about Alfie your dog and tell you about the special dessert the chef prepared when he heard that you were going to be here today. Of course you love this place. It’s excellent.
Never forget: anytime you’re moving toward one kind of Excellence, you’re moving directly away from another kind.
Source: The MondayMorningMemo© of Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads®
January 26, 2016
Need a Way to “Set the Tone” with Your Team this Year?
Need a way to “set the tone” with your team this year? Thousands of leaders have used the Courage Challenge card to unify their teams to serve with character, courage, and competence. 10-pack card sets available – visit the Leading with Honor Online Store for details.
And, please share if you’re already using it – thank you!
