Adaptive Leadership: Self Management – A Tribute to a Mentor
During the writing of this series in Adaptive Leadership I have reviewed some notes and messages from my mentors over the years. One of the persons who has impacted my life is Frederic Hudson, PhD, the founder of The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. During (and since) my Coaching training it was clear to me that Frederic has dedicated his life to teaching and coaching renewal in adults., He is a role model for adaptive leadership. The note below is an example of how Frederic encouraged us in Coaching Training to "pay attention" to the idea of self management. In this note he summarizes concepts from Peter Drucker's book "Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Written over 12 years ago it is still full of direction and wisdom for being an Adaptive Leader and Coach. I have "bold lettered" some nuggets. Thanks Frederic.
Adaptive Leadership: A leader all the time or A Leader for all times
I think there is a lot of value in establishing our signature presence as a leader. Presence is defined in this post as how people experience you over time and in the moments of challenge when it really counts. Just like your handwritten signature is recognized as belonging to you, so is your presence amongst others because it is consistently the same. Much like how you write out your signature without thinking. It becomes natural and a signature, a real good one, can't be faked easily. People want to follow leaders that seem to naturally know what they want. The person they follow creates the assessment and experience that is signature to them specifically. This dependability and consistent approach is needed especially in those times that contain uncertainty. We live in very uncertain times. Indeed we may be just on the cusp of a whole new chapter that offers ...
Adaptive Leadership: Acquiring perspective and knowledge
The number of transitions we go through in our personal and professional lives is accelerating exponentially. The skill/attribute of managing and leading individuals or systems through transition is adaptive work. It is intuitively about perspective and knowledge. The problem on the knowledge side is that information (what there is to know) is growing exponentially. We have great tools and search engines that allow us to acquire information, but it may be lacking validation or incomplete at best. This ability to "know" is growing increasingly more difficult. Which seems counter intuitive with all the technology we have available. Adaptive leaders are learners at their core. As a leader they focus on what they "need" to know. They fundamentally understand they can't know it all. Staying anchored in your core values as a leader is essential. Core values are something we can know and discern with the help of others. It is vital ...
Adaptive Leadership: Giving Feedback you don’t want to, but need to.
Effective leadership (like coaching) is about creating awareness for others. Helping them see something that will create value for them. Feedback has become a term that most leaders and their subordinates have confused with "coaching". Giving Feedback is not coaching. Feedback is an invaluable tool and skill that when used correctly can literally change the trajectory of a person or business. And it should always come with implicit or explicit permission and trust from the person receiving it. Feedback is the means to an end and not the end itself. Just because you deliver some feedback or information to another doesn't mean that action will follow. Great feedback can help the other person know how your perspective is grounded in observation and data. Data is not necessarily truth and that becomes a real part of where the breakdown in feedback begins. If you treat it as truth to be bestowed rather ...
Adaptive Leadership: Responsible for the future
Culture in an organization is a direct product of the conversations leaders are having or holding within their organizations. Or said another way the culture of an organization is nurtured or destroyed by the conversations of its leaders. If you want more accountability with in your organization than you must be in a relationship of responsibility. You can create a powerful conversation and then let your actions follow in complete reflection of your words. So many leaders just struggle with owning the results their people produce. The all to common thinking of some managers and owners is.."It is their (the employee) fault that they didn't make the numbers or fulfill on a commitment". Then the usual conversation is that you can't find good help these days. Somehow to these leaders its just doesn't seem like being a leader if you aren't blaming or fixing others instead of leading them. Adaptive leaders are ...
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