The Solution:

The ‘Head’ bit: It was General Eisenhower who said, “Plans are pointless but planning is essential”. The real issue is not the ‘planning’ but rather an over-subscription to the plans once formulated. The reluctance to ‘shred the plan’ is because of the investment of time, money and effort that goes into our plans. It is also true to say that, for the most part, we like having plans for the sense of control and security that they afford. Acknowledging all this (the ‘head bit’) is the first step in weaning ourselves from what has become a traditional business tool and mindset.

The ‘Heart’ bit: It is important to acknowledge that some of us ‘like plans’. There is a default setting in the thinking of many people towards the black/white or right/wrong in life and very often (but not always) an outcome of this is ‘to have a plan’. It is important to acknowledge that for some a move away from plans can be somewhat traumatic (most likely not a word they would use) and there would be a lot of supportive ‘business speak’ to validate not jettisoning your plans. So moving away from a reliance on plans will be emotional for some and as such, these emotions will need to be acknowledged and dealt with in a suitable and sensitive manner. That said, don’t let this hold you hostage!

The ‘Hands’ bit: At your next meeting take a copy of your plans and in a dramatic gesture, shred them! If nothing else it will get everyone’s attention! Then, outline that you wish to conduct an experiment. Experiments often fail because we fail to tell those in the experiment that they are part of an experiment. Ask for ideas on how you might lessen your dependence on your constructed plans. Ask how you might go about planning without creating plans. The experiment will be to see how you get by within always following the plan.

It might surprise you as to what emerges. It could be that this is the very thing your team has been waiting for and with it comes a burst of creative energy and sense of freedom. It could also be that there is a dull non-comprehension about what you are getting at and perhaps even some degree of hostility towards the proposal. Either way, the reactions should be both informative and instructional.

Let your team come up with how best you can lessen your fixation and adherence to plans. Make this discussion (and review) a set feature of your meetings until a new way of thinking and behaviour emerges. It will…you just have to trust the process. And, as it does, you will be building the capacity to be more adaptive and agile!

Note:

In deciding how to go about the experiment be sure to factor in organisational realities and the wider impact and consequences. Any experiment is best conducted in a ‘confined area or sandpit’. You will need to set these boundaries.

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post Plans, plans, plans…and then some! appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

PepsiCo CEO, Indra Nooyi has said that “Every morning you have got to wake up with a healthy fear that the world is changing, and a conviction that, to win, you have to change faster and be more agile than anyone else”. The ability to ‘live with change and uncertainty’ has been identified as one of the essential elements in developing adaptive intelligence. Developing this capacity is both an individual as well as an institutional challenge.

According to a recent Leadership Institute (London Business School) survey, 80% of change within any organization is driven by senior management. This finding suggests that change from the bottom-up is a rarity. It is also perhaps reflective of the ‘types of organisations’ we have built rather than the ‘people filling to lower echelons’ of these organisations. This finding suggests that senior management has an overwhelming burden to ensure that the organization is ‘future-fit’ and if, for any reason, they don’t feel they can fulfill this responsibility, then there is a very clear and present danger.

Given the chance, change can emanate from anywhere. Smart leaders know this and so don’t rely on only those ‘at the top’ to be the primary change-agents. When you can get everyone looking for ways to make things better – ways to create a better tomorrow – and then find ways to harvest these ideas – you have the structure in which spontaneity can flourish. Professor Dan Cable writes that “Organisations work best when there are hundreds or even thousands of people that are looking every day for ways to make a better tomorrow”. Given this, an important facet of leadership becomes the ability to create a sense of and commitment to what Cable terms the ‘purpose of change’.

When it comes to this topic, here would be five important questions to be asking within your organization/team:

• Who within our organization drives the change?
• How can we get more of our people committed to the purpose of change?
• What might we need to change (within our structures, decision rights, information flow and motivators) to make this possible?
• Where does resistance to change within our organization usually come from? For how long has this been the case and what do we need to do about it?
• What will happen if we don’t increase our internal ability to adapt/change

Essentially, being adaptive and change-fluid is a cultural matter rather than a strategic imperative. Having a flexible strategy is important but strategy alone will never be sufficient to keep pace with the external change most industries and organisations are facing.

Leaders have to ensure that the ability to change is part of the DNA and the more people who understand this and can act on it, the better!

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post Who drives change in your organisation? appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

What might have ‘worked’ and been acceptable then, is no longer acceptable today. This was something that Beardsley failed to grasp. In trying to prepare young professionals for their profession he drew on what had worked when he was in their position; he tried to imitate the conditions that generated his success and failed to recognise that both the game (well those who play the game) and context has changed.

It is a common mistake and one made by many leaders.

The need to recognise that ‘what got you here’ will ‘not get you to where you need to be’ is easier written (or said) than practised. Smart leaders continually evolve and they recognise that a fundamental part of contemporary leadership is to understand the changing context and adapt accordingly. This is seldom easy and may not be ‘liked’ but it is entirely necessary.

Evolutionary biology teaches us that adapting to changing circumstances requires knowing what to keep from the past that which will be helpful going forward; knowing what to discard – that which will no longer be helpful as we move forward and knowing what needs to be created in order to meet the changing circumstances.

Understanding what to keep, discard and create in times of change and uncertainty is a foundational block in building the capacity to adapt. This holds true at both a personal as well a corporate or collective level. Preparing others to live in the future will most certainly require adaptive mindsets and accompanying skillsets – something that Beardsley failed to appreciate. Times change and with that so do mindsets, values and behaviour. Some of this might not sit well with us but nonetheless, it needs to be understood, appreciated and embraced or suffer the consequences of becoming obsolete, out of touch or worse, as Peter Beardsley has found out to his cost.

It is sad for he was a tremendous player who often saw things on the football field that others couldn’t. He was a clever player with great skill and yet he was incapable of transferring that on-field versatility into his post-playing career scenario; one that is shaped by a different context.

It is a lesson for leaders everywhere.

This blog post originally appeared over The Tomorrow Today Global website.

The post The Intelligence to Adapt: A lesson from the Peter Beardsley story appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

My team (or even as an individual) we / I have difficulty admitting when I am wrong. I have come to realise that this unhelpful intransigence is putting a handbrake on our (my) ability to challenge orthodoxies, to unlearn and accept ownership of things that aren’t working and then doing something about them.

The Solution:

Develop an understanding that to admit error or being wrong about something is medicine. When we are sick we all want something that can help restore health – we all want ‘our medicine’ even although it is often something that isn’t easy on the pallet!

Consciously determine to be quick to admit when you are wrong. When you find yourself being defensive start an internal conversation with yourself as to why you need to ‘be right’ on the subject being discussed. What would happen if you ‘let go’ your position? Put another way this all about ‘being open’ which is something often spoken about but not as easy to actually practice. A way of developing a greater degree of openness is to be ready to admit error or hold lightly your viewpoint.

‘There can be no better medicine than finding out you are wrong’ was a sentence that forcibly grabbed my attention as I read Terry Pratchett’s wonderful novel, Nation. It altogether serves as a stark challenge, an invitation and a gateway to growth.

Admit your wrongness. Make this something that becomes part of your team culture and determines how to lead the way. It would be worth acknowledging that this something that is easier for some than for others.

Tips:

Find someone you know that exemplifies this unusual quality. Watch how they to it. Perhaps even ask them about it and see if it might have been something they at some point intentionally developed. Be curious about this quality to have noted and it will lead to some good and affirming conversation.

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post The Best Medicine – finding out you are wrong. appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

The Problem:

Our team conversations have grown stale. We are in a state of ‘death by agenda’ and there is no spark, zip or animated discussion anymore. What can I do?

The Solution:

Borrow something from a ‘literary Master’. Find a paragraph or some dialogue from a great novel that you introduce as a springboard to discuss at your next team meeting. Let me give you an example from something I read from one of my favourite authors, the late Terry Pratchett. This particular excerpt is from his wonderful novel, Nation that concerns itself with the end of the world.

“I will not be trapped in a shell again, because…yes, there has to be a because…because…any shell will be too small. I want to know why. Why everything. I don’t know the answers, but a few days ago I didn’t know there were questions.
Pilu was watching him carefully, as if uncertain whether he should run or not.
He’s frightened of me, Mau thought. I haven’t hit him or even raised my hand. I’ve just tried to make him think differently, and now he’s scared. Of thinking. It’s magic. (Nation, page 174/5)

From this (edited) excerpt there would multiple questions to seed further reflection and conversation. Questions such as:

• What might our ‘trap’ or ‘shell’ be?
• How do we use ‘because’ to kill inquiry or discovery – or justify certain responses and actions?
• How does ‘thinking differently’ scare us?
• How might we learn to ‘think differently’?

Tips:

As you read look out for useable extracts. Get the ‘Readers’ in your team to do the same.
You might need to provide a little context to the extract used but this doesn’t mean explaining the entire plot!
The questions posed could be predetermined the first time you do this exercise but allow the team to shape the questions/discussion as you practice this exercise going forward.
The ‘best’ sources could well be from sci-fiction and even comic books and children’s stories (Think Dr. Seuss or Winnie the Pooh!)
Have fun and keep an open mind. Learning is not limited to serious business books and formal research!

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post Standing on the words of Giants appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

These were reportedly the words spoken by the newly elected President of South Africa Nelson Mandela to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar when talking about the importance of a ‘leadership philosophy’. Of course ‘the words’ were the poem Invictus penned by English poet William Ernest Henley in 1875. They were words that inspired Nelson Mandela during his darkest times and shaped his own leadership practice and expression.

Leaders need to have (and be able to articulate) their own leadership philosophy. It is the hidden part of the iceberg that supports that part of the iceberg visible for all to see. Your leadership philosophy

Developing and being able to articulate the ‘why’ that underpins ‘how’ you lead is the most important work that you can do as a leader. Having a ‘why’ to your ‘how’ is the very foundation of intentional leadership. Your ‘why’ is the North Star that guides and directs everything you do as a leader.

‘Philosophy’ is ‘a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour’. Forming, integrating and then living one’s leadership philosophy is what guides leadership practice.

So what then is your leadership philosophy?

If you haven’t really thought about it then sifting through what guides your leadership practice and motivation will be surprisingly rewarding work. It also might be harder than you first imagine. To be able to articulate in a few choice words ‘why you lead’ is like a distilling process that will take time and reflection before you finally settle on something that will not need further revision.

In a leadership development programme in which I am involved, the pinnacle of the year-long programme is to be able to articulate one’s leadership philosophy. The content, the experiential learning, the coaching / mentoring, the reflection and group activities are all designed to help participants formulate and shape their leadership philosophy which is then shared with the Executive team at a gala dinner to cap the programme and celebrate this journey. The obvious benefit is that the company has released into it clearly focused leaders who have thought deeply about what it means to leads and who it is that leads. The impact is almost immediate and is certainly obvious.

Here would be some helpful reminders for you as you work on your own leadership philosophy:

• Your leadership philosophy is work done by you, for you in the service of others.
• It comprises of some simple words or phrases that when spoken, come from within – words that may have started in the head but that have made their way to the heart. These are words that reside in and are spoken from the heart.
• Your leadership philosophy should be able to be ‘seen’ by others in how you choose to engage, relate and lead.
• Your leadership philosophy should not change (much) once set; that is why forming it is a long, slow, deliberate and thoughtful process.
• Once formed and articulated, your leadership philosophy is something that you draw on, lean on and rely on every day (as a leader) and especially in making those tough decisions.
• Your leadership philosophy helps answer the question: why should anyone be lead by you?

So then, what is your leadership philosophy?

Invictus (by William Ernest Henley)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

This blog post originally appeared over The Tomorrow Today Global website.

The post Finding the words that shape your leadership practice – the critical importance of a leadership philosophy appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

We are frequently asked by concerned leaders how they can continue the conversations with their teams around disruption and the future of leadership.

Most of the senior leadership meetings that take place within a business focus on an agenda driven by operational concerns. This is the norm and exactly what is needed you might well be thinking. Of course you would be right. Any leadership team that doesn’t focus on the core aspects and metrics of that business would be irresponsible.

However, there is another equally important item that should be on the main agenda but isn’t. These are the ‘open discussions’ that are driven by questions that the leadership team should be asking, but isn’t. These are the type of questions that will unlock important and deeper discussions amongst the team that are often difficult to entertain and yet are essential to developing a future fit team and company. These are the unasked questions that lead to deeper engagement and result in better thinking (and therefore leadership practice) and emotional intelligence.

The purpose of START Conversations is to provide a practical resource for CEO’s and team leaders to develop the critical thinking muscle within their teams. They are conversations that will help you ‘look out the window’ and over time, much like any fitness programme, will help your team become future fit: ready to meet the challenges and demands of an exponentially changing landscape and context.

You can watch this short video below for more information on how to use this resource.

Getting Started

You’ll need to download the following 3 files below.

• The Powerpoint presentation that hosts the image, the quote and the question that you’ll be using to facilitate the conversation. Download here
• The supporting article that you can either send to your team members before or after you’ve facilitated the conversation. Download here
• The facilitators notes to guide you through the process of hosting this ‘START Conversation’. Download here

Once you’ve downloaded these files, start with the facilitator notes which will walk you through the next steps. Good luck – we’d love to hear your feedback on how the conversations go this month.

Supporting Article
Change is hard – I’ll be ready tomorrow

Having breakfast with a CEO recently and talking about organisational change, he came out with the memorable line, “change is hard – I’ll be ready tomorrow”. It wasn’t a personal reference but rather the unspoken response he seems to encounter from his senior leaders at every turn when it comes to the organisational change he knows is necessary and that cannot be delayed.

As TomorrowToday we have done extensive work globally and across multiple industries helping leaders and companies ‘look out the window’ and bring coherency to the ensuing conversations. Looking out the window is important work for leaders to do and those that fail to do so often end up running their company into a dead-end alley of oblivion.

What we have found however is that for the most part companies know that, (1) they need to change and keep pace with an exponentially changing world and, (2) they may even know ‘what that change is’ or looks like but often seem incapable of realizing the change they need.

There are internal inhibitors that militate against the ‘real’ change needed. Of course they appear to be changing but the unspoken reality is that the more they change, the more things stay the same. Things are shifted, given different names and maybe even a fresh coat of paint but the real change needed, change that is often all too apparent, remains untouched. The structures that need dismantling; the policies that need erasing; the experimenting being called for; the honest feedback to leaders; the revisiting of core elements, are all ignored.

If we’re honest, perhaps the biggest reasons for this inertia around real change has to do with leaders fearing the loss of control and / or an erosion of their own personal position both financially and status-wise. These are difficult barriers to breach and often constitute the ‘enemy within’ when it comes to the kind of meaningful change that is required in response to the dynamic and challenging external context.

Dealing with the ‘enemy within’ has become an increasingly emergent and dominant theme as we (TomorrowToday) have worked with leaders and companies in ‘looking out the window’. It has become apparent to us that looking out the window constitutes but half of the equation; it is the response to looking out the window that is where the real challenge is to be found. Having looked out the widow and understood the disruptive forces driving the change, the next step is to ensure that your organisation is ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

It is about helping companies understand that it is not merely their strategies that need to be overhauled nor is it simply about greasing the wheel by way of a change management process – it goes far deeper than both those elements; is about changing their DNA. It is about ensuring that we have the DNA that will allow us to thrive into the future. In any biological DNA evolutionary process three fundamental things happen: the metamorphous is shaped by what to keep; what to discard; and what to rearrange. ‘What to keep, discard and rearrange?’ is the underpinning question to be engaged if your company is to successfully meet the challenge that the unfolding future poses.

But what does this all mean for you as a leader? How do you lead in such times?

Of course there is no simple answer to that searching question but there are three pointers for you as a leader that are worth noting.

1. Experience is overrated.

This was the provocative subtitle on the cover of a recent Harvard Business Review on Talent. It is true. In a world in which the challenges that leaders are encountering are nothing like those previously encountered, the past offers little help in finding solutions. This is what Ron Heifetz of Harvard refers to as an ‘adaptive challenge’.

An adaptive challenge can be defined as, ‘knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do’ and as such, any solution requires ‘new learning’. In an adaptive challenge even the problem itself requires ‘new learning’ – or it needs to be defined because the very nature of the problem is not immediately apparent. It is about getting to the ‘real problem’ – and the first step demands thorough diagnosis.

The danger is that too many leaders believe that they can solve adaptive challenges through their own – or the companies, experience. In fact to suggest otherwise is not always kindly received and it is often taken as an insult or interpreted as being dismissive of the road travelled and the many lessons learnt along that journey. To say experience is overrated is not to imply this nor is it to be dismissive of the past; it is merely saying that tomorrow’s challenges will not be solved by yesterday’s solutions.

Instinctively we all know this and yet we cling to experience as the means to navigate the future. It is like driving down a fast paced highway looking only in the rear-view mirror! It is only a matter of time before we have a fatal accident.

2. Questions are the answers

Smart leaders ask a lot of questions and I would go as far to say that the quality of the questions you (as a leader) are asking will determine the quality of the solutions and strategy going forward. The willingness to pose questions that go to the very heart of purpose, motivation and objectives; questions that are given permission to venture into territories that previously have had large ‘no entry’ signs posted; questions that go both ‘inwards’ and ‘outwards’ – these will be the means by which we find our way forward through the turbulence, complexity and ambiguity that obscures our way.

Questions serve to open the conversation and thinking. They invite others into the conversation and as we get more used to asking them – and more comfortable, so too will we get better at ‘holding’ them, engaging with them and strengthening the process towards new learning and solutions. Do a ‘questions audit’: At your next meeting, pay attention to the number and quality of questions being asked. What does this reveal about your team and company’s readiness to be ‘future-fit’?

3. Adapt or die.

Smart leaders understand that they need to become an ‘adaptive leader’. They know that they need to build organisational cultures that are agile, nimble and responsive and they are preoccupied with how best to do this. Well, the short answer is: It starts with you. You need to be an adaptive leader; you need to model what this looks like and by so doing, give permission to others to follow suite. It is about becoming ‘future-fit’ and as in any attempts to ‘get fit’ – hard work and discipline is required.

Unlike the many ‘magical’ or quick-fix solutions being offered to get in shape physically – becoming future-fit is not something that can be achieved overnight but it is possible and is attainable when given an intentional focus. It will require both a mind shift as well as behavioural practice before it roots and becomes something that is recognisable.

Leading in today’s context is tough and it is not going to get any easier. The kind of organisations that we have built from the past will resemble little likeness to those that will stand in the future. There are too many things changing for us to really believe that what has got us here will be sufficient to get us to where it is we need to be.

Technology, societal value shifts, globalisation, new threats and opportunities and a host of other forces and elements will ensure that our current ways of managing our enterprises will have to change. Recognising this reality and shaping the future is the leader’s responsibility. It is your responsibility and a fair question to be asking is, ‘so what are you doing about it?’

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post [START Conversation Toolkit] Dealing with change appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

Of course this is hardly a ‘new’ issue. Prejudice and discrimination is as old as human history. The once distant compass points pointing to far-away Neverlands have increasing converged; what was once an imaginative stretch is now within a short reach as societies, and all that is inherent within them, collide with jarring frequency. A prejudice once hidden by distance and /or ignorance is now simply being made more explicit. What was once avoidable or could be justified and rationalised in some distorted way, is now simply an ever-present reality that refuses to be placated by the old and defunct explanations. The subject demands our attention; it is both a foundational stone as well as a capstone to all of our futures.

What should be of deep concern though is the alarming failure of the many past interventions to make a difference in this area. There has been a battery of attempts to highlight and deal with this concern, a concerted bombardment that seems to have yielded little return and in some cases may even have made things worse! Our best efforts have resulted in a ‘political correctness’ that straightjackets conversations and limits meaningful and authentic engagement. It is a constraint that we don’t seem to know how to free ourselves from and any attempts to do so appear clumsy and often yield deeper offence and hurt. “I simply don’t ask anymore” one frustrated senior executive said to me when it came to dealing with difference within his work environment, “because if I do it invariably just leads to trouble”.

In many instances within the corporate world, ‘diversity and inclusiveness’ training – as it has been tagged, is met with a resigned sigh and a numbing participation as something that ‘needs to be done’ with an unspoken acceptance that nothing will really change as a result of our efforts. Our initiatives merely add to the veneer covering the subject, glossing over it without us having to actually deal with it but at least we can tick if off as ‘done’. Somehow the irony is that our best efforts have made engaging with diversity (or what I prefer to simply call ‘difference’) even more inaccessible. The topic is fast reaching a point of burnout and fatigue that has rendered our well-intended efforts counter-productive.

Why is this?

I think it is because we have failed to understand the real core of the problem: ourselves. We have looked at addressing the subject from entirely the wrong standpoint and our approach, whilst good ‘on paper’ has failed to impact the real ‘on field’ behaviour. We have looked to put in place stringent rules to govern the on-field behaviour but failed to recognise that something more, something more fundamental and something deeper needs to be addressed.

To meaningfully engage with difference is to start with ‘Me’. Before looking at those ‘out there’ we first need to confront the person ‘in here’. The starting point for dealing with difference is to acknowledge my own biases and prejudices. It is to start with identifying and understanding the lenses through which I see and interpret the world around me. The reality is that we don’t see the world as it is but rather as we are. Allow me to use myself to illustrate this point: I am a white, male, South African, Baby Boomer. These are merely four (of many) ‘lenses’ through which I try to ‘make sense’ of the world and each, in their own way, radically impacts on ‘what it is I see’. To believe any different would be naive at best and intentionally stupid at worse. If I am to begin to see differently then I have to first ask how these inherent biases impact what I look at notwithstanding other powerful undertows such as religion, education, socialization and context.

In dealing with difference we have started at the wrong place. Whilst there is evidence of some progress, by and large, we have not got to where it is we intended.

This is and always has been, personal work; inner landscaping if you like and this type of work is largely alien to our formal learning structures and pedagogies. To do this essential work we need authentic processes not stand-alone programmes; we need time and space not the clipped and formatted schedules; we need subtle guides and givers of context not tick-box managers and ‘experts’; we need qualitative descriptors and not meaningless metrics; we need community and interdependence where we all understand what is at stake and what is the endgame rather than mere efficiencies and ‘functional teams’. In short, we need to rethink much of our entire approach to this subject if that is, we want a different outcome.

It will require both massive revisions and bold and courageous individuals (and organisations) to call “bullshit” on our current endeavours. We know this but someone has to be willing to take the lead and pioneer what really needs to be done, even if they don’t fully know how best to do that work or where exactly it may lead. Our society is fragmented, angry and in disarray. To some extent this reality gets muted when ‘society’ walks into our respective ‘places of work’ as a different set of rules get observed but this only serves to dull the noise and deflect the inescapable issues that remain.

So let me come back to the place we started and make some clear and bold statements for your consideration and hopefully action.

1. The challenge of leading difference will be the predominant leadership challenge of the immediate future. It is work that needs to be done in order to unlock the real and obvious benefits of harnessing difference.
2. This essential work is, at another level, work we all have to do. The leader’s responsibility is to create an environment where this work is permissible, possible and you (as a leader) need to be willing to demonstratively lead the way in doing the work necessary.
3. We need to acknowledge that our best efforts to this point in time simply haven’t worked. In many respects dealing with difference is an adaptive challenge that has been treated and approached with a technical mind-set. A fundamental revision is needed by those tasked with the wonderful responsibility of educating, developing and training. It will take bold and courageous educators to challenge the current status quo and modus operandi of educational institutions tasked with preparing people to lead. Until we develop formal programmes and processes to engage this work in a meaningful way, we will have more of the same without making any real progress. Some of this will entail ‘giving permission’ to experiment with the design and metrics of current programmes; we will need to know what to keep, discard and create in order to develop leaders capable of leading difference effectively. (As an aside I know for a fact that there are many good and capable people within these institutions eager to engage in this work and contribute towards something more meaningful and sustainable. The obstacles blocking their way are not insurmountable.)
4. Engaging in difference is to engage with oneself. This is where the work starts and perhaps never ends.
5. This is a business or corporate issue. As such, it has to be addressed. Of course there are realities and constraints governing this environment but these shouldn’t prevent a meaningful and authentic engagement with is all-important issue.

There can be no more important task facing those in leadership. This matter goes to the very heart of what it means to lead people and invite their best in our business endeavours.

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post Leading Difference: Your Most Important Challenge of 2018 appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

The Problem:

I am not sure my team is ‘seeing all that there is to see’ as we try to make sense of (insert your specific challenge here).

The Solution:

‘Seeing the walking cow’? Let me explain. I was travelling in a train the other day idling looking out the window at the passing English countryside when I noticed a cow walking rather briskly (well as briskly as a cow can walk) in a meadow. It stood out, as cows don’t usually move much; they stand idle and graze! This insight was verified as subsequent meadows flashed past and no moving cows – just idle ones doing what they always do – standing still grazing. Now, I’m not about to pin a whole theory on this insight and propose that it will change animal husbandry forever but it did get me thinking about how we see. We tend not to see the moving cows when of course they move all the time.

What might be the ‘moving cow’ you are missing at work? What are you not seeing? By stepping away or by changing your perspective (for me it was the moving train) we create the possibility to see something that ordinarily we might miss. Travel tends to do this as it affords us the opportunity to see something familiar from a different point of view. Changing departments, moving desks, rearranging an office plan – things big and small can be used to create this different perspective thereby yielding new insights and ideas. Looking at our culture, organisation or team through the eyes of someone new can reveal insights that otherwise might have been missed.

So create some perspective by:

• Mixing things up a bit. Change the routine; the furniture; the agenda.
• Asking others to share what it is they see. And listen; really listen.
• Thinking about your organisation, culture or team from the ‘outside in’
• Ask questions such as: What are the questions we should be asking but aren’t
• Identify a ‘normal process’ within your work sphere and then try to see it how someone else may experience it.
• Invite someone to share something that they might think you aren’t aware of or don’t know.

Maybe, just maybe you will see a walking cow. And if you do, it will be well worth it!

This blog originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy website.

The post Seeing the walking cow appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.

Kagge spent 50 days walking across Antarctica in perfect solitude. His reflection on the experience has become a best seller – perhaps because he touches on a yearning for a lost nuance of life?

It is hard to find silence and it is hard to be silent. Noise surrounds us and the
temptation to contribute to that noise is ever-present through our access to, and
obsession with, social media.

In our noisy worlds, silence has become the unwelcome intruder and disruptor. Silence makes us uneasy and distracted; it is a strange perversion and something that has been magnified over time and through technology.

Kagge writes that he likes ‘the idea that experiences of silence are an end unto
themselves. Their value cannot be weighed and measured like so many other things, yet silence can also be a tool’.

We all, and especially leaders, need to understand silence as an experience (as an end)
and ensure that we both possess and use silence as a tool.

Here are three experiments that you can try in order to ‘engage the silence’:

Experiment #1

Quit all social media for a month. Yes, a full month! Keep a daily journal as to what it was like – here would be some helpful questions for your consideration:

• How difficult was it to even start this experiment?
• What do you fear most about doing it?
• Does the difficulty decrease over time or increase the longer you do it?
• What are you learning about yourself through this experiment?
• What are you learning about others through this experiment?
• What / who have you missed the most? Why is that?
• What might change as you re-engage with social media?
• What has been the biggest surprise in doing this experiment?

Experiment #2

Start and close your meetings with a period of silence. I would suggest one minute. You
need not offer an explanation for doing this other than to say that this is what is going to happen. See what the reaction is and persist with the action for a period of time, maybe even gradually increasing the time of silence. See if it becomes a habit and finds a permanent place in your ‘meeting culture’. At this point step back and discuss what it
was like and distill the benefits that have resulted (there will be benefits!)

Experiment #3

In whatever meeting you find yourself, be the last to speak.

This blog post originally appeared over The Future of Work Academy.

The post Silence – the quieter you become the more you hear appeared first on Keith Coats - Leadership Expert.