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March 12, 2008 Welcome! Welcome to the Perspective Leadership newsletter, A New Perspective! It is going out to people I know and have worked with at some point in our professional lives. Some of you I see regularly, some of you not so much and I hope this is a way for us to stay in touch. If you’re not interested in one more newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe at the bottom of the page. I understand everyone has to manage their information flow! For those of you who are left, I plan to write every month or two with my latest thinking on leadership based on the work I’m doing as a leadership coach and consultant. As the name implies, my hope is to provide you with a New Perspective—on leadership, on business, or on yourself. In my one-on-one coaching, I’ve found that there is amazing value in being able to pause for just a moment in our extremely busy days—to reflect, to assess, or to see things a little differently. I hope spending a few minutes with the newsletter will help you do just that.
Moving Technology Leaders to New Levels Many of you know that I have long been fascinated by the impact of leadership on organizations, and hold a firm conviction that strong leadership is a significant driver of bottom line results in organizations. That’s why I do what I’m doing now. And, I am also convinced that people with technical or engineering backgrounds have unique needs in making the shifts required of successful senior leaders—based both on the preferences of those who choose technical fields to begin with, and the very ways of thinking that they are exposed to through their education and as practitioners. The shifts are listed on my website, and I’ll be exploring some of them in newsletters to come. Today, I’d like to address one that is at the heart of a new way of thinking… Shifting from Being the One with the Answers to Being the one with the Questions Most of us grew up dutifully going to school where each assignment was graded and each answer judged “right” or “wrong”. The goal was to get the most “right”. That was very clear. Even when we got to college, while there may have been more complex thinking involved, at the end of the day, success was based on having the best argument—proving oneself right. And then we enter the work world where things get a little fuzzier, and no one gives a grade on every assignment, but it’s still clear that the more you know and are “right” about, the more you can do and bigger impact you have. After all those years, having the right answer is the key to success, we’ve all learned. It’s gotten us to where we are and it’s become a habit. But then, something happens. As we become leaders of more and bigger, does needing to be “right” ever start getting in the way? My observation is that it does. It does when you want creativity and innovation from your team, and they keep looking to you for the right answer. It does when you have a different opinion than a client or customer and are trying to find a common solution. It does when you want everyone’s best thinking applied to a problem but you already have made a decision. It does when you want to learn from others but aren’t open to feedback. It does when there are problems with possible “good” answers or “better” answers but no sure-fire “right” answers. So maybe there are cases when being right really isn’t helpful. But, is the answer to be wrong? Not to stake an opinion? To be wishy-washy? To see what needs to be done and not say anything? Those options could lead to disaster. So, if you’re not RIGHT, what ARE you?
That can be a tough one for a lot of people, but can pay big dividends if the shift is made. So, what does open and curious sound like? In my experience, it is when:
How can you give it a try?
"You can tell a man is
clever by his answers. You can tell a man is wise by his questions."
News The Perspective Leadership Development web site is now up! Please check it out, and let us know what you think.
Recommended Reading Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What Got You Hear Won’t Get You There is quickly becoming a standard for people on their way up. In it, he addresses the behaviors that get in the way of successful leaders’ future success, and how to change them. In his direct and humorous way, he helps bring a dose of reality to all of us.
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