Why this election was personal and what that means for leaders.

Leadership

Real diversity is experiential capacity. ~Quentin J. Schultze

urban-and-ruralThe presidential election was personal for me. It put a spotlight on something that is a personal struggle. I feel pulled, stretched, and strained. An NBC News article entitled How the 2016 Election Exposed America’s Racial and Cultural Divides describes what’s pulling me in two very different directions.

The biggest difference between the two parties is the urban-rural divide. That gap widened. Politically, that translates into race and identity as the main political dividing line. Rural and exurban America is very white, and generally inward-looking. Urban America is very diverse and cosmopolitan, said Lee Drutman, a political scientist at New America, a Washington-based non-partisan think tank.

I recognize that I’m not the only person in this position. I grew up in rural America, very rural America, on a small farm in Kansas. For the past 16 years I’ve lived in urban America, very urban America, in Chicago. I’ll admit, I feel most at home (by far) in urban America.

My history, my life experience, represents the polarizing opposites exposed in this election. So I’ve been reflecting, thinking, and wondering–where do I fit? What’s my identity in the midst of this divide? What would be a leadership perspective?

Then Quentin Schultze offered me the opportunity to read a manuscript for a book he’s about to publish, 30 Days to Great Communication for Leaders. I came across this sentence: “Real diversity is experiential capacity.”

…diversity comes from the inside of people, not from the outside. Diversity has more to do with culture than color. Real diversity is experiential capacity. Perhaps we servant leaders have to stretch beyond contemporary notions of diversity that are limited by simplistic categories. (30 Days to Great Communication for Leaders by Quentin Schultze, p. 52)

It was the reminder I needed to hear. That effective leaders are stretched because they are looking for ways to increase their experiential capacity. That real diversity is the result of experiential capacity.

…diversity requires deep communicative capacity. This capacity gains traction within organizations especially when leaders are personally hospitable to a wide range of other persons’ life experience across geographic space and through generational time. (30 Days to Great Communication for Leaders by Quentin Schultze, p. 52)

My identity is not on either side of the divide, it’s on both sides. So instead of trying to find a “middle ground,” I’ve decided to stretch even further. I’ve agreed to volunteer my time in scenarios that will take me even deeper into an urban culture and take me back into a rural culture more frequently.

If there ever was a time for leaders to model the way for real diversity and expand their experiential capacity, I believe that time is now.

Finding leadership, the week after.

Leadership

Authentic leaders match their behavior to their context. They do not burst out with whatever they may be thinking or feeling. They understand how they are being perceived. ~Bill George

dividedAfter this past week, I was at a loss for how to address the topic of leadership. A country starkly divided, people living in fear, harsh and hateful words painted on walls, social media posts riddled with hurtful and mocking statements, etc. Where is leadership in the midst of all this turmoil?

Then, I went to a concert at Symphony Center Sunday afternoon. This was a solo pianist concert by Jeremy Denk. A musician I was completely unfamiliar with but the concert was part of the subscription package I purchased months ago.

The program we received as we entered the auditorium included an insert with a revised program. At the top of the revised program it included this statement: “Due to unexpected circumstances, Jeremy Denk has revised the first half of his program and will not perform Phrygian Gates by John Adams.” My first thought was, this is a solo performance, how could “unexpected circumstances” change the program if only one person is performing?

Jeremy performed the first piece and then took the mic to explain the “unexpected circumstances.” He apologized for changing the program at the last minute and then said, “I didn’t sleep very well last week.” He said given how last week played out, his original program was too serious. Instead, he replaced the Adams piece with seven ragtime pieces, which he emphasized are based on syncopation. If you’re not a music buff, here’s the definition of syncopation.

A shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats. More simply, syncopation is a general term for a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm.

Brilliant!

He performed the seven “replacement” pieces and the mood in the auditorium shifted. The response was a standing ovation, which in my experience is not typical in the middle of a program at Symphony Center.

I asked myself, what did Jeremy just do, because I think that was leadership?

  1. He acknowledged the atmosphere, the elephant in the room, he didn’t try to pretend it didn’t exist.
  2. He saw the need to alter his plans to align with what people were experiencing. He matched his behavior to the context.
  3. He altered his plans in a way that was authentic, unpretentious, and gracious.

As I walked home along Michigan Avenue, I heard people talking about his altered program. He literally lifted people’s souls when they needed it most. That is leadership.

A Leadership Lesson from a World Series Champion

Leadership

Everything you do is measured by stats and it is difficult to keep your identity as a person out of the game. It can swallow you whole if you let yourself be engulfed by your statistics. ~Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs World Series MVP)

cubsI’m not, or at least wasn’t, a baseball fan. Then the iconic Chicago Cubs made it into the World Series. I love my city so I was quickly swept up in the excitement and drama. I watched all seven games (more baseball games than I’ve watched in my lifetime). After that many hours of watching the same team over the course of two weeks, I discovered that I was actually learning their names and becoming curious about who they are, as people, not just athletes.

Clearly, Ben Zobrist stood out as an amazing player, after all he was selected MVP, but then I started to dig deeper, what was his character. I came across this quote and was especially drawn to the last sentence: “It can swallow you whole if you let yourself be engulfed by your statistics.”

I immediately thought of leaders who’ve been swallowed whole and haven’t kept their identity as a person “out of the game.” How much money they made, how much the company/organization grew under their leadership, how many other organizations they acquired, etc., etc. The list of stats can be staggering.

However, a leader’s identity has nothing to do with “statistics.” A leader’s identity comes down to the combination of four primary factors.

Behaviors. Do your behaviors reflect assertiveness, decisiveness, confidence, or insecurity, self-centeredness, unpredictability, etc.?

Responses. What is your level of emotional intelligence when handling workplace situations? Patient, compassionate, empathetic, or harsh, merciless, agitated?

Presence. How well do you organize your thoughts and articulate yourself?

Habits. What are your small actions, the day in and day out sort of things, like follow-through, confidentiality, being a person of your word (returning a phone call when you said you would)?

Notice that personal identity has nothing to do with stats and everything to do with who you are becoming, your character. Leaders should take advice from Ben Zobrist, and not become engulfed by their statistics. Instead, leaders should keep a careful eye on who they are becoming: their behavior, responses, presence, and habits.

6 Ways Email Can Make, or Break, Your Leadership

Leadership,

When leaders use email to avoid confrontations, they’re often abdicating leadership. ~Michael Hyatt

emailGiven that we’ve heard a lot about emails in this presidential campaign, it seemed like a timely topic for all leaders. We’ve likely all been there. There’s some email that we either regret sending or now realize that another communication method would have been a better choice.

Sometimes we hide behind email to avoid the emotional discomfort, or we’re just simply in too much of a hurry and firing off that email will save us time, we think, so that becomes our preferred method of communication.

Too often we take the easy and often cowardly option of using email or text messaging to avoid the emotional discomfort of a real time conversation. ~Margie Warrell

With the help of Michael Hyatt and David Grossman, I’ve created my own list of when leaders should not use email.

  • To give bad news, or to critique or criticize. This lands on the top of everyone’s list for when not to email; hopefully it doesn’t need further explanation.
  • To respond to a critique or criticism. When you’re the recipient of that critical or complaining email, responding via email only throws more fuel on the fire. Don’t follow their lead; as Michelle Obama has said, “they go low, you go high.” Pick up the phone or walk down the hall.
  • When the recipient(s) deserves the ability to respond in real time (email is typically not in real time). I think many leaders do this unintentionally, in an effort to save time, to get all the items checked off their to-do list, they default to email in these situations. It may save time in the short-term, but not in the long-term. And it can quickly erode trust, integrity, and your ability to lead effectively.
  • When it’s confidential. Again, seems obvious, but you have to ask yourself if the person on the receiving end might consider the content confidential, even if you don’t. You also have to assume that others (assistants, etc.) might have access to that individual’s email account.
  • When context is important, that could be easily misunderstood, especially if it could be emotionally-charged. We can all think we’ve explained ourselves well in an email, but if the topic warrants explanation, then it probably warrants a different mode of communication other than email.
  • To compliment or praise someone. No one else has this one on their list, but I’m putting it on mine. Yes, you can compliment or praise someone in an email, but the impact will be far greater if it’s done either in person or in a handwritten note.

Test yourself. For one week, pause each time before hitting the send button and ask yourself, “will this email help or hinder my leadership”?

Leaders make us do what we can!

Leadership

Our chief want in life is somebody [a leader] who will make us do what we can. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

graduationLast weekend I walked into the Alumni Office of my alma mater to register for my 30th class reunion. I was immediately greeted with a very enthusiastic, “Hello, Kathryn! It’s so good to see you. Do you remember me”? Ha! No, I drew an absolute blank; had no idea who this person was. Then she proceeded to tell me that I had recruited her to the college more than 25 years ago. Following graduation, I worked as an admissions counselor/recruiter for five years and I recruited a lot of students. Even after she told me her name, I still had no recollection of this woman. However, she certainly remembered me and began to reminisce about me, in detail. Wow, I was a little embarrassed that I still couldn’t remember her. She’s now a microbiologist at a major hospital. What I can’t even remember was the beginning of her journey to “make us do what we can.”

The following morning, I attended a meet-and-greet at the business department hoping to find one of my professors. I walked in, was greeted with an eager hug, and then listened to him go through my resume (accurately!) as he introduced me to the new faculty. He didn’t know I was coming! But he was someone in my life who was my “make us do what we can” person. He was the first person to encourage me to really pursue business. By that I mean, told me that I could be more than a secretary, which was my worldview of women in business at that time. He was not only one of my biggest cheerleaders, he actually personally paid for the first quarter of my MBA. I just didn’t have the money to get started and he believed in me that much. He was going to “make me do what I could.”

This all came just a few days after I attended a concert with the Emerson String Quartet, which took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. They have won nine Grammy’s and many consider them the best string quarter in the world. I wish I could have video-taped their final piece. It was an octet; they were joined by the Calidore String Quartet. The Calidore Quartet members are probably half the age of the Emerson Quartet. The Emerson Quartet could have been elitists, they could have been impatient, but they were anything but that. I could visibly see their support and encouragement for these younger musicians. When the piece was finished, it was the Emerson Quartet who immediately congratulated the younger Calidore Quartet on their performance.

I truly believe that Ralph Waldo Emerson would have been proud of his namesake. “Our chief want in life is somebody [a leader] who will make us do what we can.”

Effective leaders are those people who “make us do what we can.”