In today’s workplaces, in all sectors of society, many are concerned that there will be a leadership vacuum in the not too distant future.  Baby boomers are reaching the age of retirement, and many have already postponed their plans for retirement.  When the economy turns around, most forecasts include a massive wave of organization and corporate leaders stepping down.  Will there be a dearth of leadership?

None of us can look in the crystal ball to answer that question, but we can turn to each other.  What are you doing to help the next generation of leaders?  Are you one of those rising leaders who seeks advancement and find yourself frustrated with the wait?  Working together, those nearing retirement and those anxious to move up can develop strategies and plans to ease the organization and members of the organization through this process. Succession planning needn’t be a fear-inducing process. Instead, look at succession planning as a learning opportunity, a leadership development opportunity, and a way to learn from each other to meet the needs of tomorrow while enhancing skils and relationships today.

Whether its Emotionally Intelligent Leadership or Transformational Leadership, one’s mind naturally moves from the “what” of the theory to the “how” of development. I am a big fan of K. Anders Ericsson and enjoy thinking about how his work applies to the previous statement. I came across the following quote in his edited book, The Road to Excellence: The Aquisition of Expert Performance in the Arts and Sciences, Sports and Games.

“Based on a review of a century of laboratory studies of learning and skills acquisition, Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Romer (1993) concluded that the most effective learning requires a well defined task with an appropriate difficulty level for the particular individual, informative feedback, and opportunities for repetition and corrections of errors. When all these elements are present they used the term deliberate practice to characterize training activities” (p. 21).

Deliberate practice. I guess I am struck by the lack of deliberate practice built into most leadership development training. Do you agree?Can you think of a program that incorporates long-term, consistent and well-conceived deliberate practice with each of the above mentioned ingredients?

After all, it seems one could secure opportunities for deliberate practice in numerous venues – gymnastics, cooking, counseling psychology…Where does this exist for leadership development? Who is doing it right? I would love to hear your thoughts…SJA

As always, I have been experimenting this semester with ways to better develop leadership in the context of the classroom. As many of you know, this is a difficult task. The chasm between someone’s intellectual understanding of leadership concepts and their ability to “do” leadership is deep and wide. Why would we be surprised though? You will not create an expert soccer player by sitting them in a classroom and discussing the theory of soccer for a semester. That may be one part of the learning.

So I have been exploring ways to create a “practice-field” in the classroom and one of the best approaches is case-in-point methodology. However, this approach really does take a lot out of me. It’s unpredictable, intense, filled with ups and downs and in the end, high-risk (sounds just like leadership, right?). I know that the students feel the same. However, some of the greatest challenges associated with this approach are also its great strengths. Students are engaged, active, challenged and perhaps most important, practicing what they have learned.

The Kansas Leadership Center has developed a great resource on case-in-point that I feel warrants review. Take a look and run some experiments. See what works and what does not. We would love to hear your thoughts…SJA

It’s the holiday season, and now is as good a time as any to think back on the year and reflect on what has happened.  New Year’s resolutions, sitting just around the corner, may fill you with enthusiasm (or is it dread?).   Consider tackling a challenge that you know will make a difference in your life.  Whether you are feeling inspired to set new goals, or are realizing that now is the time to make a change, thinking positively about your potential will help immeasurably in being successful.  The power of positive thinking is a known ingredient in achieving success.

Reality, however, has a way of invading our consciousness and often brings us down.  Margarety Wheatley, author of Perseverance, shares that resilience comes from a sense of meaning and purpose.  When we are grounded in our values and convictions, we can remain hopeful and handle setbacks more effectively.  In a recent article in Psychology Today, Robert Biswas-Diener, reminds us to learn from our mistakes – “Indeed, mistakes are an inevitable and unavoidable part of work.”

Time with family and friends, taking a little time off, and a new year provides ample opportunity for celebration, relaxation, and contemplation.  Enjoy it, and keep thinking on the bright side.

Marcy Shankman and Scott Allen would like to personally invite you to learn more about this valuable student leadership model in a live interactive online session on Thursday, June 9th, as part of The Jossey-Bass Student Leadership Development 101 Online Series.

The festivities begin on May 26th – feel free to join us for the entire series or for a selection of sessions at your own choosing, depending on your unique interests and needs.  In the kick-off session, you will hear from the authors and editors of the new Handbook for Student Leadership Development, Second Edition (including Susan Komives) about how foundations of leadership theory and research can lead to a process of effective program design and delivery.   The remaining sessions will cover the other major student leadership development models offered by Jossey-Bass.

Emotional self-control is about consciously moderating your emotions and reactions.  Although feeling emotions and being aware of them is part of this statement, so too is regulating them. Emotional self-control is about both awareness (being conscious of feelings) and action (managing emotions and knowing when and how to show them). Recognizing feelings, understanding how and when to demonstrate those feelings appropriately, and taking responsibility for one’s emotions (vs. being victims of them) are critical components of this capacity. Of course, each of you reading this knows just how difficult this is to do at times.

Two quick thoughts from leadership scholars:

1. “To gain trust, the leader must have this capacity for self-regulation. This is the case when the leader is making major changes or just trying to stay on message , even when others are not supportive. The leader must be self-regulated to remain interested in what someone has to say, even after a 14-hour frustrating day. Again self-regulation means being in control of yourself and the way you behave with others” (Avolio and Luthans, 2007, p. 127).

2. “Self regulation is the ability to channel emotions into behavior that is appropriate for the situation, rather than responding with impulsive behavior (e.g., lashing out at someone who made you angry, or withdrawing into a state of depression after experiencing disappointment)” (Yukl, 2010, p. 213).

Pay close attention to your ability to regulate today. Likewise, pay attention to others and examine closely how this helps or hinders their ability to connect with, and lead others…SJA

Are you getting on the balcony and intervening skillfully or are you still working from your defaults? An interesting question and a statement that highlights some of the innovative terminology being used by the Kansas Leadership Center. I highlighted this organization a few posts back, but would like to underscore their excellent work. Here are a few terms in heavy use…

BALCONY – metaphor for expanding our view when we are too close to a situation. The balcony allows us to see beyond the dance floor, which represents just our place in that situation. Actively working toward this broader context can be especially helpful when diagnosing the situation. (Kansas Leadership Center, 2010)

DEFAULTS/DEFAULT BEHAVIOR – the behaviors in which we naturally engage in many different situations that have worked for us so often in the past. Naturally going to our defaults or unintentionally engaging in our default behaviors might not be the acts of leadership needed to positively impact a situation especially an adaptive challenge. Part of managing self is identifying our defaults and not allowing them to interfere with positive change. (Kansas Leadership Center, 2010)

INTERVENE SKILLFULLY – intentional acts of leadership that are carefully and collaboratively designed to positively impact an issue. (Kansas Leadership Center, 2010)

A goal of student leadership development just may be to: help students get on the balcony; develop an awareness of defaults; and learn to intervene skillfully. What do you think?

There is a great article by Greg Meissen (starts on page 78) that comes from the Spring 2010 Issue of the Journal of Kansas Civic Leadership Development. Check it out! – SJA

]]> http://www.eileadership.net/do-you-intervene-skillfully/feed 0 http://www.eileadership.net/flexibility-2 http://www.eileadership.net/flexibility-2#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:34:24 +0000 scott http://www.eileadership.net/?p=1651 An important ability of any leader is the ability to change his or her approach given the context. We highlight this with the EIL capacity of Flexibility. Some scholars have said the following:

1. “behavioral flexibility is the ability and willingness to vary one’s behavior to accommodate situational requirements. A leader with high behavioral flexibility is able to evaluate his or her behavior and modify it as needed. High behavioral flexibility implies a mental model with fine distinctions among different types of behavior rather than a simplistic taxonomy” (Yukl, 2010, p. 214).

2. “During a stream of interactions, high self-monitoring leaders will adjust their behavior based on the feedback cues they are receiving form their audience” (Avolio, 2005, p. 95).

3. “performing well is adjusting a given leadership skill to the right level for the situation, neither too low nor too high” (Kaplan & Kaiser, 2006, p. 9)

4. “In the practice of leadership, you must continually adjust the setting of any attribute to the level that fits the circumstances immediately at hand. You must continually navigate the straits of leadership, steering clear of the shoals of deficiency on one side and the rocks of excess on the other” (Kaplan & Kaiser, 2006, p. 10)

How do others perceive you? Flexible and adaptive or rigid and controlling? Of course there are times for each of these behaviors. I had a conversation with a student the other day and was pretty rigid in my stance. However, this was a conscious choice, not a default. Interestingly, I have a difficult time coming off to others as rigid or firm in my stance – so it can be uncomfortable for me to use this style. How about you? – SJA

There is a great article by Ron Heifetz at the following link. It comes from the Journal of Kansas Civic Leadership Development. Check it out and see how it links to EIL. – SJA