Jann's Blog

Stewardship

Image by Reinante El Pintor de Fuego via Flickr

Since the type of leadership I advocate is often referred to as servant leadership, stewardship is a similar concept. Peter Block wrote on stewardship as a form of leading and his ideas resonated with mine in terms of what is expected of us as leaders. Basically, this is a philosophy where serving others is more important than serving self.

My pastor, Jim Wallace, shared his thoughts on stewardship in a sermon that had some interesting insights about leadership for these economic times. Because I perceive leadership as a holistic endeavor, I wanted to share some of his comments with the readers of my blog (if there are any of you out there) An excerpt is printed below:

"For me, like much of Presbyterian theology, stewardship is a holistic way of making sense of life, a way of being in the world ... For example, a cornerstone of our economic systems is the idea of private ownership. her is is the home I live in, my belongings, my portfolio, they belong and are restricted to me as an individual person. It is mine, not yours, for me to determine. Stewardship, on the other hand, says these gifts have been entrusted to you completely, but they are not yours. They belong to God and you need to be conscious of how you use them because someday you must give an account to the real owner.

Same thing with the idea of a consumer driven culture. We live in a system where the consumer is foremost, catering to your wants and needs. Stewardship moves the spotlight from what the consumer wants to your neighbor's well-being. Stewardship says we have a larger moral responsibility than to self.

We live in economic realities, but with a larger moral responsibility for the well-being of neighbor and under the spiritual directive that says all we have has been entrusted to us by God for God's use. This is what it means to practice stewardship and to live with a different set of values and agenda than those found in the world as we know it. Think of stewardship as a holistic way of making sense of life, a wonderful way of being in the world."

Peter Vaill talks about learning as a way of being and I always liked that phrase. Now Reverand Jim Wallace talks about stewardship as a holistic way of making sense of life, a wonderful way of being in the world. I really like that perspective.

Isn't that what we should be doing as leaders by helping others see this holistic perspective? Wouldn't we be better as people and the world would be a better place if we saw our role as through this stewardship lens?

Posted by Jann Freed on December 02, 2009 in Leadership, Life Renewal, Living Life | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Coaches are Leaders?

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Are coaches--athletic coaches-- leaders? Since I consider anyone who has influence over someone else as a leader, then I certainly think athletic coaches are leaders. So why am I writing about this topic?

One of our sons plays college soccer and it has been a big part of his identity since he was in kiddie soccer. This year he was particularly focused because last season he tore his ACL and was out for most of it after his surgery. He felt this year was a good year with a good team and he was designated as one of the co-captains as a junior. The same thing was true for his roommate and good friend. They love to play soccer and they play with all of their hearts.

Two days before the biggest game of the season, the coach tells both of them that they will not be starting the game--they had lost their starting positions. According to both of them, the coach did not explain why they would not be starting. Needless to say, they were both devastated and broken hearted for reasons you might imagine.

As parents know, nothing hurts as when your children are hurting. It is hard to explain to people without children, but it is so hard to see your kids hurting. I can remember when one of my kids was being left out by the "clique" at school or someone was not being nice to one of them. It hurts as nothing else hurts. You try to comfort them because you know from experience how bad it feels. But some times there is not much you can do or say to make it feel better or to make the feeling go away. It seems to be a part of growing up that just comes with the territory. When their hearts are breaking, yours is too!

As my husband and I were processing this recent soccer situation and trying make sense of it all, I made the statement that "as a leader, this coach needs to explain why they were not starting so that they can understand." To which my husband replied, "This guy is not a leader. He is only a soccer coach."

Then I quickly replied that at "Central College we expect our coaches to be teachers and teachers are leaders. Anyone who influences someone else --positively is a good leader or negatively is a bad leader. But coaches are leaders."

My husband totally agreed.

We did not necessarily question the decision. We can accept that the coach did not want to start these two people for whatever reason and perhaps that was the right decision. But I find it unacceptable that the coach did not communicate enough or in ways that could be heard by these young impressionable lives. With some introspection and wisdom, this coach could have made the situation into a teachable moment that leaves everyone as better people.

They always say that participating in sports contributes to building character. But the lack of communication was misleading and hurtful. Hopefully, this leads to character because we can learn from bad leaders as much as from good leaders.

What do we not want to do when we have a chance to influence others?

What do we want to remember to do?

People usually can accept the decision if they know why it was made. This requires clear, consistent, and constant communication. As one college president told me in an interview, "When you think you have communicated, then communicate again and again. You can't communicate enough. When people lack information, they make it up and rumors begin."

I only wish the soccer coach, who has years of life experience, would have done so.

Since my son was one of the co-captains, he felt he had earned the respect of the coach. So why do you think the coach did not explain?

Please enlighten me. I am still puzzled by the lack of communication which leads all of us to guessing what happened. How can people learn if they don't know what it is that went wrong?

Posted by Jann Freed on November 28, 2009 in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)

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One of my favorite traditions is the Day of the Dead which is typically celebrated around the first of November. This is an important time of the year when Latino communities and families gather to remember spirits of relatives and friends. The celebration emerges from the indigenous people of Mexico who believe the souls of the dead return each year to visit with their living relatives. It is a time of reunion, when the living remember and honor their dead.

Altars are an important part of the celebration and they may be simple or elaborate, but the purpose is the same--they are created to honor loved ones. Skeletons are often used to symbolize the spirits and if you came to my office or home you would find skeletons all over doing such fun and interesting things.

I like this celebration because it reinforces my belief that what is important about life is that we are making a difference on others. The celebration reminds us to ask ourselves if we are living our lives and spending our time in ways that others might remember us after we are gone.

One of the key elements to living a quality life is to embrace our mortality so that we are freer to live. Living on in someone else's memory is a great testimonial that we made a difference. Pausing to remember people who positively influenced our life is a wonderful way to reflect and to give thanks for having them in our life.

In fact, they are with us always as long as we take the time to remember them.

So what do you think:

Are we spiritual beings on a human journey or are we human beings on a spiritual journey?

Posted by Jann Freed on November 26, 2009 in Life Renewal, Living Life, Positively Aging, Sage-ing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A Time for Giving Thanks

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It is that time of year for the Thanksgiving assignment. In my leadership and organizational behavior courses, I give students special postcards and give them "the assignment." They are to handwrite a card and send it or deliver it to someone they want to thank at Thanksgiving time. Since they also keep gratitude journals in one course and they write journals in the other, they are to tell me who they gave or sent the card to and what the reaction was upon receiving it. This part of the assignment is due before the holiday break.

The hope is that in the three weeks between sending the card that they would have a response from the recipient. Then they can write about how they felt completing this assignment and the response it generated. While there are many things I am trying to accomplish with this exercise, the main idea is to develop an attitude of gratitude. This attitude makes us better people, better leaders.

I am old fashioned in this way, but I like the written word in someone's handwriting and I like "snail mail." A personalized note makes me feel like putting it in a drawer whereas a nice email I might even forget to print off so that it eventually gets lost.

While we don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to have an assignment such as this, Thanksgiving is a nice time to remember to give thanks to the people who have helped us on our life journey.

P.S. I complete the assignment too and then I share my response with the students.

Posted by Jann Freed on November 22, 2009 in Leadership, Living Life, Positively Aging, Sage-ing | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Does Talent Matter to Organizations?

Geoff Colvin author of Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else discovered that it was not necessary to be born with natural talent or intelligence to excel, but it is important to have a strong desire to be the best or at least to become better at whatever it is we want to do.

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Colvin summarized the key element as deliberate practice which he defined as constantly practicing what needs to be improved usually based on feedback from a mentor or coach. This is easy to understand when referring to professional athletes or musicians, but what about leaders and organizations?

“Not all organizations want to be great,” says Colvin. In the global economy that is intensely competitive, the abilities of the people in an organization will determine the organization’s success or failure. “In a world of forces that push toward the commodization of everything, creating something new and different is the only way to survive.”

At a time when creativity and innovation may give a firm a competitive advantage, organizations should want everyone performing at the highest possible level. Yet, many companies are quick to cut training and development budgets. High performing employees want firms where professional development is a priority. Likewise, firms that are known for developing people are said to have a “first-pick advantage.” Talent may be overrated, but becoming a world-class performer and organization full of top performers is based on learned behaviors.

According to Colvin, there are principles of great performance that organizations can follow:

* Understand that each person in the organization is not just doing a job, but is also being stretched and grown. Push and stretch them through job assignments, mentoring, and coaching.

* Encourage leaders to be active in their communities. Leadership roles in charities and community activities are opportunities to practice skills that are valuable at work.

* Understand the critical roles of teachers and of feedback. At most top-performing organizations, coaching and mentoring programs with candid feedback are embedded into the culture.

* Identify promising performers early. Developing future leaders as early as possible creates a competitive advantage years into the future.

* Understand that people development works best through inspiration, not authority. Command and control leadership will not work with knowledge workers. The best-performing companies help inspire their workers.

* Invest significant time, money, and energy in developing people. CEOs at top-performing companies believe that people development is at the center of their jobs. For example, at McDonald’s, CEO Jim Skinner personally reviews the development of the top 200 managers. At GE, Jeffrey Immelt reviews the top 600.

* Make leadership development part of the culture. Applying these principles is “walking the talk.”

Based on Colvin’s research, “Developing leaders isn’t a program, it’s a way of life.”

Since most people don’t work alone in organizations, it is just as important to develop effective teams where members trust one another. Colvin says that this is not difficult because it is based on applying the principles of great performance to team development: well-designed practice activities, coaching, repetition, feedback, and building knowledge of the company and industry.

As Colvin discovered, top performance either as an individual, team, or organization is not based on natural talent or intelligence. It is based on understanding the principles of great performance and having the desire to commit to the discipline needed to engage in deliberate practice. Even if we are good at what we do, we can always get better.

But are we willing to do the work to get better?

Posted by Jann Freed on November 03, 2009 in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Got Talent?

Does talent matter?

In a global economy that is information based and interconnected, both businesses and individuals are competing against the best of the best worldwide. Often we are told that a scarce resource today is outstanding human ability. In a world of business that has shifted from one dominated by capital to one dominated by knowledge, the real competitive advantage is the rate at which organizations can learn and stay ahead of their competitors. Since knowledge is carried in the heads of people, the key is to make sure all employees are developed to their potential. Yet, companies are cutting training and development budgets.

So what does it take to be a world class performer? When thinking about world class athletes, it is easy to classify these people as gifted, talented, and born with natural abilities such as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, or our hometown star of Shawn Johnson. When we think about Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, we attribute their success to natural intelligence. But Geoff Colvin, author of Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, discovered there are principles that can make us better at whatever we want to do in work and in life.

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However, according to Colvin, “at most companies—as well as most educational institutions and many nonprofit organizations—the fundamentals of great performance are mainly unrecognized or ignored.” “The secret” is deliberate practice, not just “practice makes perfect.” It is practicing what we are not good at doing. Deliberate practice is designed by a teacher or coach to specifically improve performance with continual feedback given. This practice is demanding mentally and not a lot of fun which is why most of us don’t do it.

This is why mentors are important—not just as people who can give guidance, but as experts in the field who can give feedback on what to work on and how we are progressing. Similar to athletes, we need to work on conditioning by maintaining our cognitive skills because just like physical strengths, they diminish if not maintained. Colvin says “every field has classic guides that will always repay study, just as linebackers will always benefit from leg presses.” It is easy to accept that Tiger Woods should have a coach, but Colvin advocates that leaders who want to improve their performance and take it to a higher level would benefit from coaches as well.

In addition to deliberate practice, another key to individual success is in learning extensive knowledge of the company’s business. But in most organizations, there is little to no direct education about the nature of the industry and how it works. Companies that understand this move people around to different jobs so that they see and know the bigger picture.

If you want to become an expert about your business, you would do the following:

Study the history of the business.

Identify the experts.

Read all that you can find.

Interview people inside your organization and outside to gain new perspectives.

Track trends.

In time, this knowledge becomes an advantage over others.

Is it talent in Applington-Parkersburg (220 students) that enabled Coach Ed Thomas to have four former players currently playing in the NFL? While I did not know Coach Thomas, everything I read about him reminded me of Coach Ron Schipper, successful long-time football coach at Central College and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Could it be that Coach Thomas, as Coach Schipper, understood the principles of deliberate practice--having the players practice what they don’t know and giving them feedback so they know what to improve; inspiring the players with discipline so that they want to perform at the highest level?

If we know how to become world class, then why doesn’t everyone do it? Colvin believes that answer lies in the fact that not everyone has the passion to work hard to be the best. “But the evidence shows that by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better … Great performance is not reserved for a preordained few.” It is available to all of us if we want it and we are willing to work for it.

It may not matter if we are gifted and talented if we are willing to work to be the best we can be.

Are you willing to work for it? What would it take to be the best we can be?

Posted by Jann Freed on October 31, 2009 in Leadership, Living Life | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Thoughts on Life and the Economy

During my morning workout, I caught Deepak Chopra on Morning Joe on MSNBC. He was talking about his new book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul and explaining how to address stress in this tough times. Chopra was emphasizing many of the points that I advocate for leading in this times:

Take time to reflect
Be grateful
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Be generous of spirit
Focus on relationships not consumption
Listen to your intuition
Think of your heroes, mentors, people who have helped you ...

Chopra had a top ten list of things to do from his book to become "whole." But he summarized his findings by saying that when you shift your mood, your perception changes, your thinking changes, your relationships change, your social interactions improve, and your biology is positively affected.

Jann's Note: Sages have learned to behave in these ways. We can learn to do this also. But it takes time and commitment.

Do you want to become a sage?

Posted by Jann Freed on October 25, 2009 in Leadership, Life Renewal, Living Life, Sage-ing | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

My Evening with Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou via last.fm

This week I had the chance to spend the evening with Maya Angelou (well and about 8,000 people from all walks of life) at Drake University. For me, this was what it feels like to be in the presence of a sage. This was the second time I have seen her in Des Moines and she was much more frail than about five years ago.

Dr. Angelou (as she prefers to be called) came to the stage using a cane and sat down behind a microphone without the use of a podium. She spoke for a good hour without the use of one note. A few times she grabbed one of her books from which she read a poem, but she really did not need the books because she knew her work by heart.

It was clear that she is a great storyteller. It was as if we were all gathered at her feet to hear her words of wisdom. Dr. Angelou spoke of "rainbows in the clouds" as a metaphor to remind us of our mentors and teachers, the people who have helped us along the way.

She had a wonderful sense of humor and it was clear that the audience, which consisted of people of all ages and walks of life, was mesmerized. She was grateful to the people who have helped her. As her books have so well documented, Dr. Angelou had a disturbing and horrific childhood. She reminded us that she never imagined she would accomplish what she has in her life. But she had "rainbows in her clouds" who helped her see possibilities and remain hopeful.

Dr. Angelou was sharing the wisdom she has distilled from her life experience and passing it on to us. She challenged us to "be a rainbow in someone's cloud."

Jann's Note: She was a sage for sure. It was a wonderful evening being in her presence.

Posted by Jann Freed on October 22, 2009 in Life Sages, Living Life, Positively Aging, Sage-ing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Leader as a Healing Presence

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Recently I heard a sermon titled "A Healing Presence." While the message was directed to us as people, it was particularly relevant for anyone in a leadership position. The guest preacher was the director of a counseling center and a licensed psychologist. He provides counseling and psychotherapy to individuals, as well as couples and families. He has special interests in grief therapy and relationships.

As he shared the mission of the center and a few stories about his approach to counseling in this uncertain times, I was thinking about how every word was just as important to leaders. He talked about the value of just being present and not giving advice. It reminded us how we need to be receptive to how people feel and affirm their feelings because there are real to them. He emphasized listening and being still while others shared their life experiences.

He said the best gift to give was to just be present.

This message resonated with me. A few years ago, I spent some time as interim academic vice-president. A faculty member was struggling with some personal issues and made an appointment to see me. I was not sure what he needed or wanted so I listened to his story during which he became very emotional. After he finished, I asked him how I might help him. What could I do to help?

He responded by thanking me for listening and that he would get back to me if there was something I could do. He said that he was grateful that I did not judge him and how surprised he was at how much better he felt just sharing his story.

I have never forgotten this experience.

Since that time, I have done some grief work myself primarily through reading and training as a hospice volunteer. This work reminds me that life is about grace and grit.

Posted by Jann Freed on October 21, 2009 in Leadership, Living Life, Sage-ing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Focus on Being Curious

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This semester I am teaching a diversity course which I have not been able to teach for a few years. I tell the students that it will be nice when there is a time when a course to teach awareness, sensitivity, and appreciation of differences is no longer needed. But for now, the course is still important.

After reading Margaret Wheatley's book, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, I have decided that the best word to help overcome judgment is curious or curiosity. If we are curious, then we are less likely to judge others.

Why not just be curious and interested?

Why does she do that?

Why does he respond like that?

Why did she react like that?

As Wheatley says, "It's not differences that divide us. It's out judgments about each other that do. Curiosity and good listening bring us back together."

This is good advice for leaders, people, and everyone. Since leadership is really a relationship more than a position, remember to be curious. Be interested in others. Then ask yourself, "What did I learn?"