We’re living in crazy and uncertain times, where it’s more and more challenging to maintain balance and to lead with integrity. But this is precisely when we want to be at our best in our workplaces and communities.
The following elements of courage are intended to help you stay true to your life’s purpose and passion, and in turn your contribution and effectiveness in your daily work, whether it’s for pay or community service.
Paying daily attention to these elements and reflecting on whether you’re staying on course towards your goals will enable you to deal with the volatility of change and the stress is brings.
Share these elements with your co-workers and your team. Pay it forward.
1. Tell the truth to our superiors, to one another, and to ourselves.
2. Live our lives with integrity, being consistent with what we say and do at home, at work, and in our communities.
3. Ignore those who attempt to infect us with their cynicism.
4. Take responsibility for our own learning and personal growth.
5. Initiate change at work for the betterment of our organizations.
6. Persevere in making our organizations enjoyable places in which to work.
7. Lead balanced lives between work and home.
8. Be inclusive leaders, actively ensuring that others have the opportunity to lead.
9. Be followers, knowing when it is time to move to the side.
10. Celebrate our accomplishments.
And when you fail at any of these elements, don’t forget the 11th one:
Don’t give up, keep trying.
What would you add to showing courage in our workplaces and communities?
Be sure to download my new e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a Principle-Based Approach
My last post Innovation Through Leadership was a call to action in response to mounting global competition and the need for a new moon shot (recognizing as well that President Obama appears to be cooling his heels on space exploration).
To continue the conversation on globalization and the impact it’s having on North America, I’m sharing the results of a recent international survey that focuses on management skills. Read on.
The management literature is packed full of stories, anecdotes, surveys, etc. on what’s going on in North America (read U.S.A). It’s easy to become consumed with this information. Seldom do we get the opportunity to read about what’s happening elsewhere in the world on management and leadership issues. Well, thanks to a 2008 survey conducted by The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILS) in the U.K. we get the chance to delve into how the United States stacks up against other countries when it comes to managing.
The ILA’s survey was conducted in May 2008, comprising the U.S., U.K., China and France. The survey was carried out by telephone, using the native language of the respondents. The results are nothing short of fascinating. Read on.
The survey found that China is forming its own “distinctive and highly effective management culture–sophisticated, very commercial, innovative and ambitious.” Yet, U.S., French and U.K. managers “…don’t necessarily practice what they preach.” They talk about the importance of the customer, results, working relationships and communication. However, this appears to be more talk than action. Of particular interest is that Chinese managers tend to be more modest about their performance, noting areas for improvement. They’re also well-educated and very ambitious; they’re not content with average performance, as opposed to with Western managers. U.K. managers were the least motivated to improve their knowledge and performance.
In contrast to Western conformance to cultural models and how management should be practiced, Chinese managers are embracing a new way of managing, similar to how the Japanese developed their own form of management several decades ago. So let’s look at some of the more specific findings.
Perceptions are always fascinating to explore, and this survey illustrates a number of mismatches between how managers saw themselves and how others perceived them.
Managers from the U.S., France and the U.K. held the perception that Chinese managers are hierarchical and authoritarian in their management approaches, pushing their employees to work harder to meet production schedules. Furthermore, they were seen as not being innovative or as following the rules.
When looking at themselves, Chinese managers admitted their weaknesses. However, they believed that a good manager has three essential traits: knowledge, wisdom and the ability to learn; assuming responsibility; and team skills. They saw themselves as being very concerned with following rules, very good at motivating employees, and focused on getting work done. Being authoritarian and lacking innovation was not seen as big an issue as the perception of Western managers. They also saw themselves as having a focus on the customer, maintaining workplace safety, and being honest and ethical. Their education is higher than Western managers, at least at the Bachelor level.
When asked what makes a good manager, the French noted communication and taking action, while the British emphasized relationships, safety and customers. None of the three Western countries ranked knowledge and wisdom highly.
The aggregated results of the survey are very interesting. For example, the top ten characteristics of good managers are oriented towards the three Western countries, based on the responses from managers.
The highest ranked characteristic was Determination to get things done, and done correctly. This stood out clearly above the other nine (in descending order):
9. Good communication skills
8. Knowledge, ability to learn and wisdom
7. Responsibility to make things happen
6. Positive and supportive relationships with people
5. Management skills, leadership and control
4. Customer-focused
3. Knows the business
2. Team skills
1. Good organizing skills
When separating out the results by each of the four countries, Chinese managers placed knowledge and the ability to learn at the top; U.K. and U.S. managers ranked communication as number one. The French viewed determination to get things done as the most important, and ranked knowledge in fifth place. American managers, however, didn’t rank knowledge and learning in their top five.
The survey contains a number of additional cross tabulations, but what comes out at the end is the need to understand much better how people in other countries manage and lead. Working on the basis of either outdated or entirely false assumptions and misperceptions is a dangerous game, especially when the stakes are high in a competitive global economy.
To be blunt, a hubristic attitude by Western managers towards Chinese managers – and other managers in emerging economies – is both foolish and myopic. That Chinese managers ranked knowledge and the ability to learn as number one should be a wake-up call to the West. If we do indeed live in a knowledge economy, then it would be logical to believe that this should be an integral part of a manager’s being.
NOTE: If you would like to read the full report but have difficulty accessing it, please post a comment to that effect and I’ll help you out.
Be sure to download my new e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership
Using a Principle-Based Approach
FREE e-GIFT DETAILS AT BOTTOM.
The commercial storm leaves its path strewn with ruin. When it is over, there is calm, but a dull heavy calm. (Afred Marshall, British economist, 1842-1924)
What set America apart from the rest of the world during the 20th Century was its extraordinary capacity for entrepreneurship and innovation. In contrast to Canada, for example, where failure is frowned upon and risk-taking approached with trepidation, Americans are gung-ho. Failure is seen as a learning experience, a trial and error from which one picks himself (or herself) up and moves forward. The U.S.A., engine of new ideas and their practical applications, whether dealing with healthcare, engineering, inner city social programs, software, aeronautics, or (more recently) social media, needs a major tune-up.
Is there hope?
America, once the beacon for people around the world to start anew, to create employment and generate wealth, continues to build a wall of exclusion. Consider a few facts:
• The influx of foreign students to U.S. universities has slowed dramatically. In 2000, 28% of students who studied in other countries did so in America. By 2008, that had plummeted to 21%.
• Historically, just over half of the scientific researchers in the U.S. are foreign students and immigrants.
• Sixty percent of post-doctoral students doing advanced research are foreign-born.
• Immigration reform is proceeding at a snail’s pace.
Raising the topic of immigration during a precarious economic recovery is not something most Americans want to hear, especially when long-term unemployment is the highest in recorded history (since 1948). But supplanting foresight with emotion WILL undermine America’s efforts to reassert itself as the innovation engine of the world.
One example:
The Chinese are laughing all the way to the bank as they accelerate their efforts to build their economy using advanced technologies. Urgency is their catalyst. A case in point is the development of high-speed rail, where trains will hurtle along at 240 mph. They have established business relations with such companies as Bombardier, Siemens and Kawasaki. Of particular significance is that for these companies (and others) to be awarded contracts, they must transfer knowledge to the Chinese. The acquisition of know-how and intellectual property is a critical goal for China.
One of the few journalists who “gets it” is New York Times report Thomas Friedman. In a January 24 column, he presents an energizing vision for America, and a call to action for President Obama. Friedman states that Obama needs to “…launch his own moon shot….We need to make 2010 what Obama should have made 2009: the year of innovation, the year of making our pie bigger, the year of ‘Start-Up America.’”
Thank you, Thomas, for articulating why America needs to move now, and not tomorrow. It’s unfortunate that big, corporate leaders are not stating the same, and that it’s a sad commentary when an excellent journalist has to be the voice of change.
The growth of transnational corporations, and their non-allegiance to nations; outsourcing to foreign countries (offshoring); the accelerating development of emerging economies (e.g., South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, China and India); and mind-numbing technological advancements (mention an I-Phone in 2000 and you would have been accused of smoking pot), have so radically changed our world in such a short time that we have yet to figure out the consequences.
Our world is changing so fast that historians 50 years in the future will marvel at not just how wealth was redistributed globally so extensively in a few short decades, but how America let its guard down momentarily. Catching up in today’s economy is only for the very hungry nations. The South Koreans figured this out many years ago.
We all love to talk about leadership and its many dimensions. In fact, there’s such a plethora of literature, journals, websites and blogs (and yes, I include myself among the ranks of the guilty), that we become numb after a while trying to absorb each writer’s “unique” perspective. But are these perspectives unique?
My issue is that we can write about leadership until the cows come home. However, what’s typically missing is the lack of a clear link between all the theory and fuzzy feel-good-stuff and the practical applications and the consequences for our collective standard of living.
The meter’s ticking, folks. As I said, the South Koreans are hungry for more, as are the Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Turks, Brazilians, Bulgarians, Hondurans, etc. They’re making the needed sacrifices to expand their economic growth that our grandparents made in the early to mid 1900s. A case in point is my oldest daughter (now 30), who went to South Korea some eight years ago to teach English. Her students went to school all day and then met with her to learn English in the evening. Their parents wanted them to be accepted to North American universities. Being bilingual is their ticket to success, along with hard academic work.
Given a globalized economy where decisions are made in seconds, where information is transferred and accessible in split seconds, and where almost all work can be done anywhere in the world, the savior for America is its capacity for creativity and innovation. We can’t rely on transnationals to do what’s in our best.
The need for self-empowered leadership has never been greater. With the democratization of cyberspace and the eagerness demonstrated by Generation Y, I like to think that there’s still hope for us as a society to maintain our standard of living.
We need to assert ourselves as citizens and take action to maintain our standard of living. What’s needed is a moonshot, reminiscent of John F. Kennedy’s call to action in the early 1960s, which spawned innovation, energy and hope for a better future for not just Americans but Canadians as well.
I believe that the subject of this post is of extreme importance to our future wellbeing. Please take a moment to share your comments, ideas and links. For those who do post replies, I’ll send you my new white paper entitled The Awakening: Personal Insights into Leadership.
Be sure to download my new e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader: Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a Principle-Based Approach
On January 24 I watched CBS Sunday Morning, as I do every week. But one of the features blew me out of my chair. A 24 year-old musician/vocalist was one of the stories. I’m a long-time jazz lover and enjoy playing the piano, and have a broad array of favorite jazz vocalists. But when I heard Melody Gardot on CBS that Sunday morning and her tragic story, I was stunned. I then checked her out on the Web and quickly purchased her 2009 double CD set My One and Only Thrill.
So what’s with Melody? There’s lots of great talent out there. Indeed, yes. But it’s seldom when a singer is able to raise the hair on the back of your neck through just her voice. And when she’s backed by a highly competent orchestra, then you’d better have a seat because you’re in for an incredible experience.
When you listen to Melody, it’s hard to believe that six years ago she was almost killed by the driver of a Jeep who ran a red light. Melody had been riding her bicycle. She suffered a broken pelvis in two places; her spine was badly damaged; and she suffered serious brain injuries. On the CBS program, her neurologist was interviewed, in Melody’s presence, and marveled at her recuperation and progress.
Music has been her therapy. In addition to rising rapidly in America in the charts, she’s ranked number one in France. Yes, she also sings some of her songs in French and her accent is impeccable.
We all like to groan and moan at times about life’s difficulties. For an inspiration, buy Melody’s CDs and you’ll forget your troubles. Guaranteed! Having been around musicians for the past 15 years doing volunteer work, I can attest that it’s grueling work. Imagine doing tours and recording with what Melody has had to contend, and at the tender age of 24. She’s an inspirational leader in her own right.
For more information on her background, check out Melody on Wikipedia.
Be sure to download my new e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a Principle-Based Approach
Author Dawn McCooey has just released her new book Keeping Good Employees On Board: Employee Retention Strategies to Navigate Any Economic Storm. This book comes at a critical time for organizations. Despite the effects of the recent recession, the rapid aging of Canada’s population will increasingly challenge managers when it comes to recruitment and retention. The latter–retention–poses a particular challenge as Baby Boomers retire in growing numbers.
A resident of Victoria, British, Columbia, McCooey has a Masters of Arts in leadership from Royal Roads University (my alma mater, as well), and is Associate Faculty. With over 20 years experience in her career and business consulting practice, she was also voted best boss in Victoria by the Vancouver Island Business Examiner.
An avid sailor McCooey uses sailing as the metaphor for her book, with each chapter referring to such themes as Is Your Kit Bag Packed, Surefire Ways to Ignite Loyalty, and Five Things Your Crew Really Want from You.
This book has significant content, drawing on McCooey’s work and sailing experiences. At the end of each chapter, she provides a set of tools to assist managers, for example checklists of questions and reading resources. For example, her chapter on igniting company loyalty contains a wealth of valuable ideas on how to retain employees. The chapter on “Different strokes for Different Folks” examines inter-generational issues and is especially relevant to today’s organizational challenges.
In Chapter Six, she talks about what employees really want from their managers. Referring to survey data, the literature and her experiences as a boss, she lays it out in direct terms on the need for managers to understand the needs and aspirations of their staff. Her tool section at the end of the chapter, like the others, will be very useful to managers.
Chapter Seven was one that really caught my attention: “The Courage to Ask the Questions and to Hear the Answers.” This is an area that I believe is so vital to effective leadership, and one that often scares those in managerial positions. The tool section in this chapter is comprehensive.
Teamwork, recognition and celebrating achievements are subsequent chapters that provide excellent perspectives, advice and resources for managers. The final chapter addresses the need for an action plan by managers. However, it also serves, in addition to including questions for reflection, tools and resources, as a motivator to move forward to create a tangible framework for retaining a resource–employees–which will become ever-more valuable in the coming years.
Be sure to check out this book. You’ll enjoy it!
Franklin Delano Roosevelt rates as being one of America’s greatest presidents. Yet he was despised by many during his ascendancy to president and during his four term tenure. And he is still reviled by conservatives and many Republicans.
FDR, of whom I am a great admirer, was an exceedingly complicated man. He most certainly had his warts, weaknesses and biases, but he was also a visionary who understood what America needed to do during the Great Depression and as World War Two proceeded initially in the absence of the U.S. Furthermore, FDR was probably the most effective president at initiating and sustaining action. He launched the Civilian Conservation Core, instituted the New Deal, and deftly handled a demanding Winston Churchill during the War.
This all sounds great. And it is. But there’s one important omission: FDR didn’t accomplish his achievements alone. One person who served under him, and who was in effect his backbone in many ways, was a woman. Her name was Frances Perkins (April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965).
As early as 1930 when Roosevelt was the Governor of New York, Perkins relentlessly prodded him to support social insurance. When he took office as president in 1933, Roosevelt stalled in proceeding with social insurance because he believed that the country was not yet ready for such change. During his first Hundred Days (a concept borrowed from Napoleon), FDR argued that Perkins, as Labor Secretary, should commence an education campaign on the subject to begin laying the foundation within government and the American public. In addition, he wanted a panel of experts to study what would be involved in introducing social insurance.
Perkins accepted this approach and began a focused effort during which she raised the subject over two dozen times in Cabinet meetings during 1933, and delivered 100 speeches across America in which she touted the benefits of social insurance.
As the months proceeded through 1934 and as FDR continued to show ambivalent behaviour towards introducing social insurance, Perkins took drastic action in December of that year. At a Cabinet meeting at her home, during which the discussion became heated over whether social insurance should be run by the federal or state governments, she locked the doors to her house and disconnected the phone, stating that no one was going to leave until an agreement was reached. At 2 am a tentative agreement was finalized.
Of course, there were still many rough patches in the months afterwards. For example, I find it amazing that one of the issues that concerned Cabinet in 1935 was that an aging population would eventually contribute to a deficit in social insurance by 1980. Yes, that’s 1980, 45 years later! How often do we see politicians looking that far ahead nowadays?
Perkins was a pit bull when it came to grabbing onto an issue she believed was critical for America and then driving it forward. Hers is a fascinating story of how one woman was the impetus for a program that has served tens of millions of Americans, serving as an automatic economic stabilizer, as well as mitigating the effects of poverty among the elderly. Incidentally, it wasn’t until January 1940 that the first individual received a Social Security check, in the amount of $22.54, a Miss Ida Fuller of rural Vermont.
Frances Perkins may not be well known as an incredible leader, but she is in the ranks of other contemporaries, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Parker-Follett, seen as the Mother of Modern Management. We have a lot for which to thank Frances Perkins. JT
Be sure to download my new e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a
Principle-Based Approach
Are YOU a Promise-Keeper? Why Promise-Keeping is a Core Part of Our Inner Leadership
First things first: today’s post is not about New Year resolutions. It’s a bit of a ramble, which is allowed, given that I’m hitting my mid-fifties. More seriously, it’s about how we make and keep promises to one another, whether at home, in our communities or at work, and how we nurture relationships. Oops, I almost forgot a fourth element: our expanding virtual global communities, where we increasingly meet people from around the world to do business, develop social conversations, share information and ideas, and offer support in times of need.
It’s the latter where I’d like to turn for a moment.
Since jumping with both feet into blogging and website creation in early 2009, I’ve been blown away with what’s going on in cyberspace. We receive an onslaught of negative information everyday from the media. Turn on CNN, FOX, or the mainstream channels, or read the newspaper, and see the carnage. Happy news is getting hard to come by–but it is out there.
As a newbie into the blogging world, I was surprised with not just the massive and growing volume of blogs but perhaps even more so with how frank and open many bloggers are with their readers (and yes, the voyeurs out there, doing their peeking and negative comments). Three prominent bloggers come to mind.
First, there’s Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist. I’ve been one of Penelope’s many readers for about six months, and also a member of the Brazen Careerist network which she was instrumental in creating. Penelope’s about as open as you can get, talking about business challenges, how she copes with Asperger’s syndrome, and other tawdry issues, such as her relationship with the “Farmer” next door.
Yes, she’s been attacked a few times by readers, but Penelope’s readership community is very loyal, offering their support to her when she’s had a difficult time. What some, even many, people may miss in her posts are the teachings from her openness. Her brutal honesty has brought out into the open such issues as abortion (witness her television interview late last year with the well-coiffed and ego-centric Rick Sanchez of CNN).
A second blogger I like and who turns Cyberspace blue from her creative vocabulary is Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz. Naomi openly shares her knowledge in a very direct and humorous way, and recently posted a comment about losing her step-dad. Her readers stepped up to offer their support and condolences. No one made them do it; it was all self-initiated.
And a third blogger is Tanis Miller’s Attack of the Redneck Mommy. Based in rural Alberta, Miller’s posts range from hilarious to X-rated to sad and poignant. She doesn’t seem to hide anything from her readers, but in sharing some of life experiences she also helps raise awareness on sensitive issues. For a good chuckle, read about her sister’s birthing experience. Revenge is Sweet.
So what’s with my promise-keeping post title?
In creating my own global network through LinkedIn.com and building a readership with my own blog, I’ve met too many wonderful people to count. In fact, I’ve been amazed at how people offer to provide suggestions, advice or just plain support. For example, when I was writing my recently launched e-book, most of the reviewers are people I’ve never met. They live all over the world. But they committed to reading the drafts, which took time, and made very substantial suggestions. There are other instances where my virtual friends have been helpful. Just recently, an executive coach offered me several complementary coaching sessions as a thank you for my free e-book download.
And herein lies the rub: I have been able to count on these folks in some cases more than people I’ve known in my home city for many years.
So when I hear negative comments in the media about the shallowness of social media and virtual relationships, I’ve learned that this is pure BS. My only regret is that I’ll never be able to meet my virtual friends face-to-face.
Stephen Covey, of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People fame, has talked about the importance of promise keeping. In an age of jet-speed change, volatility and unpredictability, one key element of who we are as human beings is keeping promises to one another. This is something we do NOT want to lose, and it indeed requires daily work and commitment.
So the next time you’re about to make a promise to your boss, spouse, child, friend, co-worker, neighbour, or virtual acquaintance, ask yourself: “Do I really intend to keep it?” If the answer is a solid yes, then go ahead and make it. It’s a core part of your inner leadership and goes to the heart of your personal integrity to honour all of your promises. JT
Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power. (Lao Tzu)
Only three more days to download my new e-book for free:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a
Principle-Based Approach
I’m very pleased today to have Debbie Payne return to Changing Winds as a guest. Debbie’s last guest post was in November 2009, entitled Ten Engaging Conversations: Asking Provocative Questions to Provoke New Ideas. Her insightful perspectives on leadership and personal growth are especially relevant to the uncertainty we’re all facing.
January 1st is just another day, one day past December 31. Or is it? There is a marking of an ending and a new beginning as we shift to a new calendar year.
Does our thinking shift when we erase 2009 and 09 from our habits and awkwardly pen 2010–perhaps writing 200 and then squeezing in the 1? A minor irritation and then over the year we develop the new habit.
Leaders are often irritated in January. Thinking has shifted, new ideas are proposed, and new targets are made for the year. It’s not the same as it was last year, just days ago. We have marked a line in the sand and stepped over it, never to go back. Some are stuck in 2009 thinking trying to finish up old projects. Others are in transition trying to bridge between the two. Others have taken the leap and are moving fast into 2010 already discussing 1st quarter results.
As leadership thinking evolves, so does leadership behaviour. The social media craze is almost mainstream now; connecting broadly is the norm. Now we are looking for ways to connect deeply as well. What can we learn from all these mass connections? Which relationships should we really cultivate? Who are the people we want to be with in 2010? What kind of balance will best help us grow as leaders?
I think of my own work and the time it takes to cultivate relationships. I consider this the most important and most inspiring aspect of who I am as a consultant. When I have a contract I produce work and focus on the relationships in the work. When I do not have a contract I’m cultivating new relationships and developing existing ones in the search for work. I look for people who are shining in the world, people who want to shine even more. You know the ones with the energy sparkle who connect quickly on an intriguing topic. You can feel this energy even virtually as it comes purely from curiosity. If you are authentically curious as a leader about people your energy sparkle emerges.
A question for you:
What questions can you ask of others that stimulate your own energy sparkle, igniting theirs as well?
Try embracing 2010 and know you will soon be no longer irritated by the loss of the 9 and the introduction of the 1 squeezed in the middle.
About Debbie Payne, MA:
Debbie is the Senior Principal Associate and President of DP Leadership Associates, and founder and partner of Deberna International. She’s the author of over 25 curriculum publications and two books. Her latest book Tri-namics Power of One, Two, Three: Provocative Questions for Leadership Wisdom (2009)” is co-authored with Erna Hagge, founder of Coaching Services at the University of BC.
Debbie is a leadership consultant, facilitator and educator with over 25 years experience in adult education and consulting. She has certificates in management from the University of Western Ontario and in Organizational Behaviour from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, and an MA in Leadership from Royal Roads University. You can reach her at 604.209.5069 or by email debbie@dpleadership.com.
Why Employees are No Longer A Company’s Most Valuable Asset: The Dehumanization of the Workplace
I love Dilbert. Why? Because after almost three decades of existing in what Pamela Slim calls Cubicle Nation, it’s how I’ve coped – as have tens of millions of employees across North America.
We can laugh at the Dilbert cartoons: the effects of downsizing, outsourcing, stupid bosses and organizational politics. Laughter does indeed reduce stress and helps us deal to some extent with the uncertainty around volatile change. It’s one thing, however, to realize the impact this has on people; I call it the Micro Effect. But what is taking place now in companies across North America is no laughing matter and has big long-term repercussions on our standard of living. This is the Macro Effect.
Nortel, before it finally descended into the sewer, steadily offshored its workforce during the past decade. Work was offshored, for example, to contracting companies in Turkey, Vietnam and India. That IBM, a once-proud American company, has almost three quarters of its workforce outside of the U.S. seems to be the accepted new normal; no one is really making much of a fuss. In fact, I recall an executive from IBM stating baldly at a conference I attended a few years ago that “anything can now be outsourced,” including government services. Unless you have to touch someone physically, your job is at potential risk. If you’re a firefighter, police officer, nurse or paramedic (as is one of my daughters), you’re safe–unless you get whacked by municipal budget cuts.
There’s a very long list of companies that have been outsourcing their work to other countries. At one time, not too long ago, the mantra was: “Sure, offshore all the crappy low-wage jobs to India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Honduras, Turkey, Bulgaria etc.; we’ll keep the knowledge jobs.” The problem is that these emerging economies are steadily climbing the value chain, no longer content to produce low-end products or services. If anyone believes that South Koreans, Chinese or Indians are dumb and uninitiated, then you’re living on another planet.
Art Petty of Management Excellence blog recently wrote a post based on BusinessWeek’s The Disposable Worker. This may be a blunt expression, but if the shoe fits… Art provides some insightful reflections on the effects for management; be sure to read his post.
Here are a few highlights from the The BusinessWeek article:
• Alan Blinder (a respected Princeton economist) forecasts that between 22 and 29% of all American jobs will be offshored within 20 years.
• Even when the U.S. economy recovers and employment begins to grow again, it’s expected that this will be the consequence of Americans accepting lower wages and salaries.
• Compared to 1973, wages for production and non-supervisory work (accounting for over three quarters of the labor force|) is 9% lower, when adjusted for inflation.
• In 1953, unions composed 36% of workers in the private sector; that fell to only 8% in 2008.
• GM was America’s biggest employer in the 1950s; it’s now Walmart.
So what do we make of this growing trend, which is not just radically altering the practices of management and leadership but how we as human beings function in bureaucracies and make a living?
What often gets lost in the debate on free trade, outsourcing, etc. among economists is that as real wages continue to fall and as credit remains tight (the driver of North America’s economy over the past few decades), aggregate demand will suffer. With consumer spending accounting for about two thirds of the U.S. economy, a sustained drop in aggregate demand will eventually devastate the country’s economic well-being.
When we look at what’s occurring within corporate America, the dehumanization of the workplace is accelerating. People are increasingly being viewed as commodities, sold to the lowest bidder, where productivity and output are king, where medical and other benefits are something that grandchildren won’t believe ever existed, and where our collective standard of living is steadily going down the tube.
I don’t have the solutions to help people with their dilemmas when it comes to job loss, diminishing finances or organizational dysfunction. However, I can try to provide some useful suggestions, in part drawing upon the works of others, to assist you.
First, here are my suggestions in dealing with uncertainty:
1) Get your personal finances in order: pay down debt.
2) Be a minimalist (as Zen Habits’ Leo Babauta would urge, see below).
3) Learn new skills, keep on top of technology, stay informed.
4) Be open to outcome, not attached to it. Seek new opportunities.
5) Continually build new virtual and face-to-face relationships.
6) Share what you know and learn openly with others.
7) Maintain your sense of humor: watch Jon Stewart, Conan, Stephen Colbert, or whatever makes you smile. Laugh a lot.
Stay grounded. Help out a Veteran. They helped build America and Canada and protected our freedoms.
I also offer some posts to assist you. First off, I’m including Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits as the first link. Leo is an amazing guy who is a true inspiration to us all. He’s helped me through his writings, and his The Power of Less is a simple yet amazing book. Buy it, read it, reflect upon it.
Here are a few of my recent posts that may also be of assistance:
Paddling in Organizational Whitewater
I hope that today’s post is useful for you. What would be really beneficial is for people to share their thoughts, experiences and suggestions so that we can all benefit. I look forward to hearing from you.
Don’t give up. The sun always rises!
Be sure to download my new leadership e-book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader
Strategies for Successful Leadership
Using a Principle-Based Approach
I’ve been a long-time proponent of self-empowerment and have written about its role in effective leadership for many years. And it’s been something I’ve struggled with myself, having being locked into the subservient mindset and behaviour of which many of us have fallen.
Heroic Leadership–that those in positions of authority have all the answers and power–has unfortunately permeated society, and in some ways emasculated our collective ability to speak truth to power, whether it is within organizations or how we assert our desires to elected politicians. I believe that Heroic Leadership is an anachronism in today’s society and economy, and will become a liability to organizations and governments as we proceed deeper into a very uncertain future.
We have become enraptured with charisma, misinterpreting it for leadership. We underestimate our own capacity for helping effect positive change within organizations, our communities and the world at large. One glimmer of hope is Generation Y, which has been desperately trying to exert its mark but which has been creamed by the “Great Recession.”
There is hope. The sun always rises.
Two authors and consultants who have influenced my thinking in the past are Harrison Owen and Angeles Arrien. Both base their work on Native American spiritual teachings. Arrien’s excellent book The Fourfold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary serves as a guide to how we can live in greater harmony with the Earth, how we can develop better relations with one another, and how we can improve our personal leadership. Her words have helped guide me for the past decade: Be open to outcome, not attached to it. In a world of chaotic change and turmoil, these simple yet wise words serve us well.
Check out her work and especially this book.
Harrison Owen is the creator of Open Space Technology and author of several superb leadership books. Check out his recent video on Leadership in a Self-Organizing World”, in which he talks about the complexity of change, closed versus open systems, and the delusion of those in power believing they understand change and have the solutions. This is a very insightful presentation; be sure to watch it.
In his work in Open Space Technology and through his writings Owen talks about Four Immutable Laws of the Spirit, which help us to understand acceptance of an experience and then how to be creative with it. This approach contrasts with how we, as a society, prefer to resist change or force it in a certain direction:
1) Whoever is present are the right people
2) Whenever it begins is the right time
3) Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
4) When it’s over, it’s over
I’ll always remember a statement that Owen made in his book The Spirit of Leader: If I empower you, to some extent you are still within my power. Reflect on these words for a moment. Remember Heroic leadership?
How often do we hear the Heroic Leadership refrain about “empowering employees.” In reality, no one can empower you; you can only empower yourself. The role of senior corporate leadership is to set the context, to create the environment where collaboration is fostered, creativity nurtured, mutual respect ingrained, vision created, leadership shared, and innovation valued.
Juxtaposed against self-empowerment, Heroic Leadership doesn’t stand a chance against the forces of positive change. Reject Heroic Leadership; embrace self-empowerment!
Finally, I would like to mention a fellow leadership blogger whose writings I admire and value: Bret L. Simmons. Check out Bret’s recent posts on taking personal responsibility, in which he talks about the work of Ira Chaleff “The Courageous Follower.” You’ll find Bret’s reflections inspiring and motivating. Be sure to leave comments on both Brett’s and my blogs. JT
Be sure to download my new book:
Becoming a Holistic Leader:
Strategies for Successful Leadership Using a
Principle-Based Approach
