Leadership in the Strangest Places

Single-Tasking is Back!

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:49:00 +0000

I love this video from Fast Company Magazine. Our workplaces have become havens for multi-tasking, and thus, potentially less productive. That seems counter-intuitive, but watch the video:

Leadership in Film: Legend of Bagger Vance

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 +0000

The Legend of Bagger Vance tells the story of a man (played by Matt Damon) in the early part of the 20th century, who was on track to be the greatest golfer of his generation. His path is interrupted by fighting in World War I. His battlefield experiences shake him so much that upon his return he struggles at the game he played so spectacularly before. Those around him, including his love interest, begin to lose faith in him.

Enter a mystical caddy named Bagger Vance (played by Will Smith) - who literally appears out of nowhere. Bagger inserts himself into the golfer's life and coaches him back to greatness. His message to the golfer is that he needs to rediscover his one true authentic swing. He can do this by clearing his mind so that he can see what Bagger calls, "the field." The movie is a metaphor for life. It's story could be taken in many different directions, bringing forth questions of destiny, fate, integrity, and perseverance.

The lesson I value most from the film is the idea that we all have an authentic core (represented by the golfer's swing in the movie). Life, through many different tactics, tries to challenge this core. Life experiences and the voices of the external world can hide, bury, or weaken our core. Full self-actualization happens when we are able to rediscover that core and use it to guide our actions. Author Parker Palmer calls upon us to do this by listening to our "inner voice." As he describes in the book Let Your Life Speak, "Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity...the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life (p. 12)." I believe this inner voice is represented in the movie by the caddy.

I find this scene to be the best of the movie - and a summary of its messages.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (2000) by Parker Palmer

Mixing Up the Message

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:14:00 +0000

The next time you fly, take notice of the passengers when the flight crew is doing its usual safety talk. Most of them won't pay a bit of attention. They will continue reading their paper, talking to their neighbor, sleeping, etc. That's because the message never changes and is always conveyed in the same way. It becomes nothing more than background noise right before takeoff.

As leaders, when we communicate, we face the same problem. We may have a really compelling vision or idea, but how it is conveyed makes a difference.

The video below of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant serves as a great example of how we can get people engaged in our messages if we are willing to mix up the delivery. This can be applied to how we conduct meetings as well. If we surprise others with a new approach, we are likely to get and keep their attention.

Leadership and Guide Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:15:00 +0000

I was re-reading an old Ken Blanchard article, and came upon this passage, which made me smile. He is referring to the training of Guide Dogs:

Trainers take two kinds of dogs out of the program - the completely disobedient and the completely obedient. You'd expect the first group to be dismissed, but why the second? Because the only dogs trainer's keep are the ones that will do whatever the master says unless it doesn't make sense. Imagine letting dogs think! And yet, it would be a disaster if a Seeing Eye Dog and his or her master were waiting on the corner and the master said, "Forward." The dog, seeing a car speeding in their direction, shrugs his shoulders and thinks to himself, "This is a real bummer" as he leads his master into the middle of the street. Frontline / customer-contact people are asked to do that all the time - do what they're told, follow policy, even if it doesn't make sense for the particular situation (p. 24).

If your team is full of only completely obedient people, who do only what they're told, then get ready to be run over by a car. Thinking critically, providing feedback, and challenging ideas are all qualities of an effective leadership process.

This passage also reminds me that those we lead sometimes know where to take us, how to get us there, and when to start. Sometimes it's best to trust them, and get out of the way.

Source: Blanchard, K. (1998). Servant-leadership revisited. In L.C. Spears (Ed.), Insights on leadership (pp. 21-28). New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Michael Jackson's Leadership Anthem

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Michael Jackson, the pop star who passed away earlier this year, has been in the news again thanks to the release of the documentary "This Is It." Jackson was a controversial figure, but there's no doubt his music was indelible. As I was reflecting on Jackson's songbook, I remembered one of my favorites: Man in the Mirror. Performed by Jackson, but written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard, the song provides a powerful message about the responsibility each of us has towards a better world. It's a musical expression of the Ghandi quote "be the change you want to see in the world."

I see applications in big and small ways. If we are bothered by behaviors in the workplace, perhaps we need to think about how our own behaviors could be a cause. If we want to see more integrity in the world, we have to examine our own ethical shortcomings. Basically, we shouldn't advocate for choices that we aren't personally willing to make and we shouldn't whine about the state of society if we aren't actively ensuring that we're not part of the problem.

As a leader, if you want to create change in your organization, community, or anywhere else, you need to begin with yourself. It sounds very cliche', but like the song suggests, it is the only true way to work towards the change you desire.

The lyrics to the song are below. Below the lyrics is the video for the song, which shows images of activism and social change.

"Man In The Mirror"

I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs

A Summer's Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya' Know
'Cause They Got Nowhere
To Go
That's Why I Want You To
Know

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change

I've Been A Victim Of A Selfish
Kind Of Love
It's Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With No
Home, Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me,
Pretending That They're Not
Alone?

A Willow Deeply Scarred,
Somebody's Broken Heart
And A Washed-Out Dream
They Follow The Pattern Of
The Wind, Ya' See
Cause They Got No Place
To Be
That's Why I'm Starting With
Me

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And
Then Make A Change

Deficit of Leadership?

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:21:00 +0000

David Gergen argues in U.S. News and World Report that we have a national deficit of leadership. He focuses almost exclusively on political leaders, yet claims the scope of the problem is national. A link to the article is below. Mr. Gergen makes some bold statements, including:

"It was nearly four decades ago that John Gardner first observed that at the founding, with a population of 3 million, the republic spawned a dozen world-class leaders—Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, and Hamilton among them—but today, with a population nearly 100 times that, we struggle to produce even one or two."

That's a fairly subjective statement. What does it mean to be "world-class?" What does one have to accomplish to meet that standard? If it requires the founding of a nation, then it's no wonder we've had so few.

Mr. Gergen also points out that "the blogosphere and 24-hour news channels that feature extreme voices and manufacture artificial controversies" provide a greater challenge to leaders today than in the past. He reminisces about the good old days when everyone was civil and the tone was positive. These would also be the days when leadership was uni-directional and ordinary folks had very limited chances to question authority. The internet has provided a chance for followers to influence leaders - and thus become leaders themselves in the process. Cable news networks can provide a lot of negativity, but can also provide more public accountability to leaders, which there was less of in the good old days. Perhaps we'd consider more leaders today world-class if we knew as little about them as citizens knew about their leaders before cable and the internet.

So - Mr. Gergen - perhaps we've seen a deficit in traditional, top-down, positional leadership. But, perhaps we've also seen a rise in innovative, bottom-up, influential grassroots leadership. I don't have any empirical evidence to support this, but my sense is that while national leaders might be failing, local folks who work through nonprofits, activist groups, and civic organizations may be leading more strongly than ever. Where you see a deficit, I think I see a shift.

Here is Mr. Gergen's article.

Cowboy Humility

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:26:00 +0000

I came upon this old cowboy proverb today:

"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around"

I love the analogy in this proverb, and the many messages drawn from it. Leadership really is contextual. Just because we lead in one arena doesn't necessarily mean will be effective in another. Similarly, just because we have to withdraw a bit in one setting doesn't mean we can't be a full leader in another. This proverb also matches up with the emergent belief that leadership is about the process and not about the person.

The proverb also observes the power of being humbled. When in a position of power, we may often get caught up in our own influence. I think of star athletes who are often chided after a poor performance for "believing their own press clippings." Or, the high-powered executive who comes home and gets completely flummoxed by his teenage daughter.

If we think about the context, environment, and process we are in before we think about ourselves, leadership may come more naturally. It may also keep us more humble.

Video: Modeling The Way

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:55:00 +0000

In their classic book, the Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner describe five practices of exemplary leadership. One of those practices in Modeling the Way. According to the authors, effective leaders set high standards and then lead by example. Good parents also understand the power their actions have on how their children behave. This point is driven home, in a VERY effective way, by a video developed by the anti-child abuse organization NAPCAN. How do your actions influence those around you? Especially those who are still learning their way in life? Are our actions the ultimate indication of our values, and thus more true than any claim we could ever make?

Yahoo CEO on Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:50:00 +0000

I found this great interview in the New York Times with Carol Bartz, the CEO of Yahoo. Several of the questions have to do with her approach to leadership.

A couple of good quotes:
"A lot of it is just picking the right team and just picking people so much better than you are, and involving them in a decision. Everybody on my team — I couldn’t do their jobs. I could not. I really mean that."

"If I had my way I wouldn’t do annual reviews, if I felt that everybody would be more honest about positive and negative feedback along the way. I think the annual review process is so antiquated. I almost would rather ask each employee to tell us if they’ve had a meaningful conversation with their manager this quarter. Yes or no. And if they say no, they ought to have one. I don’t even need to know what it is. But if you viewed it as meaningful, then that’s all that counts."

You can read the full interview here.

The Girl Effect

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:26:00 +0000

I stumbled upon this video thanks to the Made to Stick blog. The message is powerful, concrete, and clear. My takeaway from watching is that by putting the right people into situations where they can lead (i.e., a girl in a male-dominated culture), momentous change can happen.

The part that impacted me the most was the description of the girl gaining respect, getting into the leadership circle of the village, and once inside, convincing the males that girls can be extraordinary contributors and leaders as well.

Vanity and Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:11:00 +0000

I’ve read some columns and listened to political pundits over the weekend discuss at length whether or not President Obama is narcissistic and if that’s negatively affecting his impact as a leader. Conservative columnist George Will discussed this issue in the context of Obama’s (and the first lady’s) speeches to the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen. In his column, Will remarks that: “In the 41 sentences of her remarks, Michelle Obama used some form of the personal pronouns ‘I’ or ‘me’ 44 times. Her husband was, comparatively, a shrinking violet, using those pronouns only 26 times in 48 sentences. Still, 70 times in 89 sentences was sufficient to convey the message that somehow their fascinating selves were what made, or should have made, Chicago's case compelling.” A rebuttal to Will's column is here. 

President Obama’s self-confidence (described as vain, narcissistic, egotistical, arrogant) has come up repeatedly as a criticism since he took office. One of his opponents in the election, Sarah Palin, also faced similar criticism, being labeled as a “diva” by even those on her own side. She has even been accused of having a narcissistic personality disorder.

Narcissism is mostly used in the negative – as a way to describe someone who is obnoxiously self-centered. Although, if kept in check, it can be seen as a positive. Emily Yoffe, in a column on Slate.com recently wrote about narcissism and noted that it “is used to describe a quality that comes in three gradations: a characteristic that in the right amount is a normal component of healthy ego; a troublesome trait when there is too much; and a pathological state when it overwhelms a personality.”

I don’t know if the commentary about Obama or Palin is fair. It’s hard to really know anyone in this world of soundbites, instant reaction, and attack-style politics. I also don’t think they’re very different from their colleagues on capital hill. Most politicians echo, through their actions, the famous words of NFL star Chad Ochocinco: “I love me some me!”

However, it got me wondering about the vanity and its role in leadership. (By the way, I tend to use the words vanity, ego, and narcissism interchangeably, although I’m sure there are some subtle differences in those concepts).

Do leaders tend to have large egos? Probably. It takes a lot of self-confidence to step forward and assume the risks of leadership.

Does a leader have to have a large ego? No. One way to examine is something is necessary or significant as a leadership quality is to also understand the opposite trait. The opposite of vanity is humility. Some of the finest leaders, those that Jim Collins refers to as “Level 5” leaders in Good to Great, are exceptionally humble.

If you had two leaders, one of them vain, and the other humble, who has the greater chance for success? It depends on a myriad of other factors of course, but I tend to believe that the vain leader would have a greater impact immediately, whereas the humble leader would have an impact that lasts longer. Both kinds of leaders can be respected, but I wonder if the legacy of a humble leader becomes stronger by the sheer fact that we just like them more.

Should leaders nurture their ego? Perhaps - if it helps them exert influence in a positive way for the betterment of the organization. Pete Hall wrote a nice article for Education World on this topic. He states “Simply put, since we acknowledge that leaders who are charismatic and self-confident (the politically-correct term for possessing a strong ego) are likely to be effective in their leadership, then we ought to cultivate those traits.”

Should leaders keep their egos in check? Definitely. As a society, we value strength and confidence in our leaders. However, we despise unnecessary arrogance or self-grandeur – especially in our elected public servants.

Thus, in summary, I think all leaders exist on a continuum of vanity and ego. Those who stay in the middle of the continuum, or more towards the less extreme end, tend to get rewarded. Those who drift farther towards the vain or narcissistic end tend to get ridiculed and criticized.

That’s enough rambling on the subject. I’d love to have your thoughts.

Leadership in the Story of a Rock Song

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:59:00 +0000

Joseph Rost wrote a very influential book years ago entitled "Leadership for the Twenty-First Century." For anyone interested in the progression of leadership thought and study over the years, this book was a masterwork. Rost, through his extensive research and powerful tone, made perhaps the most convincing argument to date that leadership was not a top-down proposition. Rather, Rost's definition says that leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. Defining leadership as a relationship means that both leaders and followers are doing leadership. This flies against the typical paradigm of of leadership being projected only from a leader to a follower. The arrow can go both ways, according to Rost.

Now consider the rock group Pearl Jam, one of the most successful musical groups in modern times. In their profile on the VH1 show "Storytellers," frontman Eddie Vedder told a story about Pearl Jam's most popular hit song - "Alive." In his story, Vedder essentially describes Rost's definition of leadership. Vedder tells about how the audience for Pearl Jam's live shows, through their collective influence, forever changed for him the interpretation of the song. The band on the stage, and the audience in the stadiums, were practicing leadership with each other. The story is powerful, and worth a few minutes of your time:

I doubt Rost and Vedder ever encountered each other or each other's work. Rost might have found a Pearl Jam song to be a strange place for his ideas - but leadership is often found in the strangest places!

By the way, if you are not familiar with the song, here is a video with both the story above and their performance of the song.

Where Do Our Limits Come From?

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:11:00 +0000

A man once found an eagle's egg and put it in the nest
of a barnyard hen. The eagle hatched and grew up with the
rest of the brood of chicks and thought he didn't look all the same.
He scratched the earth for worms and bugs and played the chickens' games.

The eagle clucked and cackled, he made a chicken's sound;
He thrashed his wings, but only flew some two feet off the ground.
That's high as chickens fly, the eagle has been told.
The year's passed and one day when the eagle was quite old

He saw something magnificent flying very high
and making great majestic circles up there in the sky,
He'd never seen the likes of it. "What's that?" he asked in awe,
While he watched in wonder at the grace and power he saw.

"Why that's an eagle," someone said, "He belongs up there, its clear.
Just as we, since we are chickens, belong earthbound down here."
The old eagle just accepted that, most everybody does.
And he lived and died a chicken, for that's what he thought he was.

Charles Osgood - The Osgood File - April 21, 1992

Imagine Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:12:00 +0000

My friend Corey White found this video. I love the messages and the way in which the visuals tell the story. Here is the video's description from YouTube:

Nitin Nohria and Amanda Pepper of Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative collaborated with XPLANE to create this video in order to generate a discussion of the value and importance of leadership to address some of societys most pressing problems.

"It is my desire to inspire people of all ages and social demographics to think about leadership on a broad level, contemplate what it means to them and what individual impact they can have when it comes to leading," says Nohria.

Enjoy!

Poetic Leadership: May Sarton

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Now I Become Myself

Now I become myself. It's taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
"Hurry, you will be dead before--"
(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!
The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.
All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.
As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.
Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

May Sarton

Seeing What Others May Miss

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:30:00 +0000

I am always in awe of people who see something ordinary, and imagine something spectacular. In the process of leadership, freeing our minds can lead to unexpected outcomes.

Sivers/Vonnegut: Drama and Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:36:00 +0000

I read a great piece by blogger Derek Sivers, who recalled a Kurt Vonnegut lecture he attended. The talk focused on why people often need and seek out more drama in their lives. Vonnegut's premise is fascinating in that he links that need for drama with the familiar arc of stories we hear in all types of places. Sivers recreates some charts that Vonnegut used to make his point, including this one:

Vonnegut contrasted a common story like this with what happens in real life, which has far fewer dramatic ups and downs.

His point is that people often actively try to make that line move up or down so as to mirror the heroic and uplifting stories they have been exposed to. Thus, we frequently create (often only in our minds) our own dramatic moments, with the intention of a fairy-tale ending.

When it comes to leadership, I think this can be true as well. Especially in regards to heroic leadership. The stories of leaders we grow up learning about often follow familiar themes:

Leader is born, greatness is evident early -> leader faces some hardship in life -> with guts and determination, the leader emerges stronger than before -> the leader has a pinnacle moment (typically a rousing speech) that inspires others -> leader achieves good for mankind and is regarded a hero.

These stories of leadership can be what limits some from even engaging in leadership. Some may go on to do great things because of the inspiration of these stories, but others may find to great of a disconnect with their own experiences. If I haven't had some unusual life experience, or I cannot give a stirring speech, then what can I offer?

If we pulled back the curtain on some of these stories, we might see things that are far more common. Great leaders often have family or friends that help build their self-confidence and position them for great moments. Thus, hardly anyone does it alone. Many leaders come from privileged backgrounds - or relatively mundane ones. The achievements of most effective leaders are due to the hard work we never see - not the breathtaking speeches we do. Lastly, leaders often find themselves in "moments of greatness" by sheer accident. The heroic pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River certainly didn't plan for greatness!

I reflect back on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his story. It's a wonderful story that needs to be told over and over again. But the story of those who stood alongside him - who led from the background - are the stories we need to hear more of. Those are the heroes most of us can connect with.

Kudos to Derek Sivers for a thought-provoking piece!

Eight Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Breaking Decorum

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:23:00 +0000

The internet and media have been buzzing with outrage about U.S. Representative Joe Wilson's outburst at President Obama's speech last night.

For instance, Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press: "Joe Wilson didn’t insult the president. He insulted America. And every one of us deserves an apology, too."

First of all, count me among those who are surprised that breaking decorum in the halls of congress is such a hot-button issue. But, I'm aware of the ultra-political environment we're in and Mr. Wilson is going to get plenty of flack for what he did.

This got me thinking about the whole idea of "decorum." Decorum is the norm, the standard, the way things are supposed to be. It's one of those things that society determines collectively, based on past traditions and well-regarded practices. Most of the time, decorum is linked with things that are polite or civil.

This is all well and good, and I welcome decorum in my life. Although I must admit that I resist the term, since it makes me think boring, stuffy, and ordinary (imagine the town elders from Footloose). Mr. Wilson's outburst certainly broke decorum, as defined above. My read is that his emotions truly did get the best of him. I find it hard to despise someone like that, especially if they recognize it and apologize for it - which he did.

This post isn't about Joe Wilson. His act just got me thinking more broadly about decorum and leadership.

The leadership question is, when and how often should we break decorum? In other words, when is it appropriate to challenge the status quo, break away from convention, and go with our gut instincts about what's right?

I wonder if our regard for decorum sets us up for groupthink or the avoidance of conflict. We push against those who break decorum with our sighs, nasty looks, rolled eyes, and laughter. We isolate them, talk about them behind their backs, and give them few chances to respect decorum again. Why do we gasp when someone breaks decorum? What are we afraid of?

Many of our most treasured heroes became that way because they found the right time to break decorum. In your practice of leadership, when was the last time you did?

Those organizations that struggle might be bound too much by decorum. It can inhibit creativity. People may be more willing to hide emotions and opinions in such an environment. Maybe we're just too polite with each other.

I'm probably making too much out of this, but I just can't help it sometimes. I appreciate decorum, and it serves us well. I just wonder if more often than we realize, a well-intentioned person who breaks decorum, serves us better.

Leadership in Film: The Wrestler

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:40:00 +0000

I saw The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke a week ago, and really enjoyed the story and the acting. As with most things, I had my leadership lens on, and the scene below is one that really stood out to me. As I watched it, I thought about the connection between vulnerability and leadership. In order to build trust, group members need to be vulnerable with each other (this is one of the main points from Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team). In the scene below, Rourke's character is trying to reconnect with his daughter - who previously wanted nothing to do with him. Notice how well the actors portray vulnerability and how it builds a link between stubborn individuals. I connected with this as a parent as well.

This is another reminder of how we should try harder to be forthcoming and honest about our limitations, instead of trying to always be perfect. This can be a frightening prospect, since we've been conditioned to view leaders as infallible. If you are a command/control type of leader, vulnerability is your enemy. If you are anything else, it can be your friend. Enjoy the scene:

Small Wins and Health Care Reform

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:37:00 +0000

Karl Weick, author of "Small Wins: Redefining the Scale of Social Problems," an article that appeared in the January 1984 edition of American Psychologist, wrote:

"The massive scale on which social problems are conceived often precludes innovative action because the limits of bounded rationality are exceeded...People often define social problems in ways that overwhelm their ability to do anything about them."

In order to solve social problems, Weick argues that we define them as a series of smaller problems that can then be affected by small wins. He refers to small wins as a "series of concrete, complete outcomes of moderate importance [that] build a pattern that attracts allies and deters opponents."

Whenever I teach leadership to college students, especially those in fraternities or sororities, I introduce Weick's concepts and they are almost universally accepted. It makes sense to take a huge problem and break it down into manageable chunks.

And now, our nation is having a fevered debate on reforming health care and health insurance. Can Weick's ideas apply? From my view, they explain everything.

The President and congressional Democrats have been struggling in recent weeks, largely because the solution that has been proposed shows up as a 1000-page bill that tries to do everything at once. The problem is daunting, and the proposed solution has become equally so. If people cannot get a firm grasp of the problem and an even firmer grasp of the proposed solutions, they are much less likely to support the leader's proposals.

I am not a health-care expert, or a politician, but I wonder if the reform measures that are being lumped all together in once giant piece of legislation had instead been approached one step at a time, would this debate be different? What if congress first passed tort reform, then lifted the ban that disallows individuals from buying insurance out-of-state, then develop nonprofit co-0ps that strive to provide a low-cost alternative, and so on. Each step along the way, the effects on cost and coverage are evaluated. We can then see the plans work in pieces (or not work) and subsequently make better, more informed, decisions.

Perhaps health care reform is the latest example of what can happen when we ignore the power of small wins.

Football Coaches, Politics, and Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Here is an interesting article on football coaches and their political leanings. I paid particular attention to this quote:

"Others point out that Republicans tend to revere strong, singular executive leaders—a pretty good description of a coach."

It's interesting because I think many Republicans do like singular leadership, but the nature of conservatism also tends to make Republicans distrust those in power. I think a greater examination of political ideology and leadership views is called for (I'll get to work on that). In the meantime, enjoy the article.

Mali (and Roberts) on Speaking with Conviction

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:27:00 +0000

One of my mentors, Denny Roberts, who writes a blog entitled "Pursuing Leadership," introduced me to the Taylor Mali video below. Denny's brief reactions are insightful (as usual). You can read his post here.

Here is the video:

A Tribute to Everyday Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:44:00 +0000

This feature was produced for the Major League Baseball All-Star game, and was shown along with a ceremony honoring "everyday heroes." Stories of these kinds never get old. The piece is also compelling because it features 5 living presidents. As an advocate for the nonprofit sector, I also admire how the heroes all seem to be connected to a nonprofit organization. Enjoy...

What About Work Ethic?

noreply@blogger.com (John Shertzer) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:56:00 +0000

If feadership and social change are hard work, we might be in trouble. Here is a very intriguing article from the City Journal. It's one of the best I've read recently (although it's way too long). Do you agree with the author? Have we lost the work ethic this nation was built upon? Or, does work ethic just show up differently? At first read, I agree with the author.

Here's a good quote: "In the wake of the market crash, our national discussion about how to fix capitalism seems limited to those who believe that more government will fix the problem and those who think that free markets will fix themselves. Few have asked whether we can recapture the civic virtues that nourished our commerce for 300 years."

The loss of those virtues have an impact on leadership, as I believe we are less willing to stick with difficult endeavors.

Another quote: "What would Tocqueville or Weber think of America today? In place of thrift, they would find a nation of debtors, staggering beneath loans obtained under false pretenses. In place of a steady, patient accumulation of wealth, they would find bankers and financiers with such a short-term perspective that they never pause to consider the consequences or risks of selling securities they don’t understand. In place of a country where all a man asks of government is “not to be disturbed in his toil,” as Tocqueville put it, they would find a nation of rent-seekers demanding government subsidies to purchase homes, start new ventures, or bail out old ones. They would find what Tocqueville described as the “fatal circle” of materialism—the cycle of acquisition and gratification that drives people back to ever more frenetic acquisition and that ultimately undermines prosperous democracies."