Military commander calls for quiet leadership

I was intrigued yesterday by recent comments by Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his recent trip to Afghanistan.

Each soldier is going to have use leadership in the fight, the chairman said. They are going to have to learn all they can and make important decisions.

“I want to encourage you to do that: to lead quietly, to lead [while] listening, to lead [by] understanding what the challenges are for these people,” Mullen said. “Because in the end, they want to raise their kids to a higher standard of living, [and] they’d like to do it in peace and security, just like you and I.”

via defense.gov

On the surfact, his call for leadership does not seem very military-like but seems appropriate for the times and mission.

First he is asking for every solder to lead. This is a great example of "anyone can lead" when you consider the strict chain of command that the military makes famous. You don't need a title to lead, you don't have to be an officer.

Secondly, I appreciate his call for quiet leadership and interpret this as a call for a calmer more sane approach to the Afghan situation. He describes the importance of listening and understanding. It is very different from the command and control approach that many leaders define as leadership.

The quote gives me a new perspective on the renewed mission in Afghanistan.

This information came to me via a Google Alert that I have set up that alerts me when the phrase "lead quietly" is used on the web or news. I was pretty surprised to see the military reference.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly even if you are in the military.

Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

The Best Leaders are......

Introverts. They draw on important strengths that extroverts may not have.

The intersection of leadership and introversion doesn't get much attention. The reality of our world is that many people just expect leaders to be charismatic heroes, General Patton-types who rally the troops and lead the charge. But as you have read in this blog numerous times, "You don't have to be a hero to lead! Leadership is a choice"

Executive coach Jennifer B Kahnweiler indentifies the important leadership strengths that introverts have in a recent article on Forbes.com. As an introvert, I totally concur with these strengths and propose that the world might be a better place if we seized more leadership opportunities.

Here are the key characteristics that Kahnweiler identifies that may make an introvert a better leader:

1. They think first, talk later.
2. They focus on depth.
3. They exude calm.
4. They let their fingers do the talking.
5. They embrace solitude.

Please read the article. In the end it reminded me of one of my favorite introvert quotes that comes from Jonathan Rauch, writing in The Atlantic,

If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place.

Kahnweiler's article is also suggesting that quiet leadership could be better, more leaderful. You don't have to be a charismatic hero to lead.

Thanks for reading. Introverts can make the best leaders.

Four Simple "Shared" Ideas for Building Community

I'm into simple and concise ideas about leadership.

This even applies to more complex leadership challenges like community building where I have written previously on simple concepts for community building. For example:

Building Community - Trust Begets Trust
Cites the work of Kouzes and Posner in The Leadership Challenge where the authors identify trust as a foundation for community and teamwork.

Building Community: Thank you as a way of leading
Proposes gratitude as an easy and remarkably powerful step in building the type of community that is essential for successful teams.

Building Community with Giving
Suggests that giving and service are key ingredients to building community across teams.

Becky Robinson at the Mountain State University LeaderTalk recently posted four simple ideas for community building. Her ideas were both "simple" and accessible.

Here are her four points along with my comments and links to my previous posts:

Shared relationships. People feel part of a community when they are well connected in relationships... leaders facilitate this interconnectedness. The more people are interconnected, the more likely they are to have a sense of community.

Get to know the people around you. To me, it starts with knowing about their families and names of spouses and children; it allows you to connect quickly.

Sustain the interconnectedness with smiles and gratitude.

Shared experiences. When people participate in activities together, collaborating as a whole or working in small groups, relationships have a chance to grow. Even after the activity is over, shared memories with others can contribute to a sense of community.

Draw people into your plans and tasks. Collaboration doesn't have to be hard. But is starts best with questions and listening; not telling. Also, let's dispel the myths that collaboration takes longer or suggests that a leader is soft or weak.

Shared goals and purpose. As people rally around a shared cause or goal, a sense of community builds. People feel emboldened by others who are working toward the same purpose.

I have previously cited the work of Kouzes and Posner who describe the importance of a shared vision across a team or organization. They suggest in their work, "Remember that leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.... it's about developing a shared sense of destiny. "

Shared achievement. People enjoy being a part of something bigger than themselves, knowing that their contribution makes a difference. Leaders who recognize a groups' effort build community.

I feel that celebration should be an important element of the gratitude shown by an organization. As I have written before Gratitude is Transformational.

Becky's community building list is a perfect way to remind leaders that building community doesn't have to be hard.

Thanks for David Zinger for his Tweet that shared this nice list.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

Are You an In or an Out Leader? - Gill Corkindale - HarvardBusiness.org

How much time and energy are you spending in (or with) your team and how much time out in the wider organisation? It might seem like a simple question, but executives rarely take the time to think about it. It's important to do though, because this single question could answer many other questions that you — or your boss — have about your style and effectiveness.

Executives usually have a preference for one arena, which can be reinforced by their role, their personality, or even the corporate culture. A quality control manager, for example, would naturally be more inwardly focused while a communications director would roam across the business. Both roles would attract different personalities. Similarly, some organisations are structured as, or have developed into, silos due to the nature of their business or markets. Examples might include law firms, where separate practices evolve to serve clients in specific areas.

My suggestion is that executives need to balance the time they spend in both the In and Out arenas if they are to be effective.

via blogs.harvardbusiness.org

I liked Gill's label of In and Out Leadership. In my comment on the post I wrote:

I appreciate the thoughtful post and the distinction between In and Out Leadership and the need for balance.

I have this notion that the line that you draw between In and Out could also be positioned differently along different definitions. I think of one alternative as a line drawn between "we" and "me" leadership. You might identify leaders who fail to focus on the "we/inner" needs of the team by focusing on their own advancement or ego/"out" leadership needs. In this case balance is also required.

Regardless of where you draw the line, I like the distinction between In and Out Leadership.

The key seems to be balance.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and stay balanced.

Posted via web from Intersectable

Scary Bloggers - I'm guilty?

There’s been a lot of fear about blogs this past decade. Even the word “blog” is scary, like some gelatinous swamp thing oozing over our precious discourse, upending the neat order of things and leaving behind a trail of slime. These monsters were multiplying by the thousands, threatening to consume national media, bring Congress to its knees and subvert the interests of decent, regular people.

via 2010.newsweek.com

Bloggers are scary. I can't help but laugh.

After writing Lead Quietly for over two years and learning so much and really appreciating the opportunity to connect with others on the blogosphere, the only scary part for me is that I continue to discover there is too much to learn and explore. I'm afraid that I won't live long enough to get to it all.

I hope that I haven't scared you with subversive information.

Check out the Newsweek series. Another favorite part, the celebrity mug shots.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

Great leaders don’t actually lead at all

When I watch ‘leaders’, here’s what I notice. Some people lead quietly, some lead loudly, some lead with ideas, some lead with deeds, some lead with unbending integrity, some lead with inspiring words and others lead, surprisingly effectively, with ego and selfishness.

Who the hell knows? There is likely no answer, except maybe that provided by the Greek philosopher (apparently it’s unclear) who summed it up: Know Thyself.

via dcnonl.com

I pulled two sentiments from this post. First, great leaders get out of the way and let their people charge ahead.

Secondly, there are many different styles of leadership. I like the quiet types because it allows me to be authentic, effective and personal.

The "Know Thyself" quote is good advice.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

ChangeThis: The Upstarts Are Here! - Surprising demand for leadership and community building skills.

Technology is GenY’s humble servant and they use it to connect and collaborate with their peers, co-workers, employees, business partners, customers and, yes, complete strangers. So it’s not the technology that’s important, it’s the relationship and community building that’s facilitated by technology that matters.

via changethis.com

One of the surprises in reading Donna Fenn's Change This Manifesto about young entrepreneurs is that their success is dependent on their ability to build relationships and community between partners, vendors, and customers. Here are some examples:

1. Fenner found that Upstarts have a strong tendency to start businesses with partners. They look to use a team to expand their skills and reach.
2. In this economy—in any economy, really—you don’t just need customers, you need evangelists. Do this by building communities of customers.
3. Build dedicated tribes of employees. "Upstart CEOs tend to build company cultures that reflect their own workplace needs. So traditional hierarchies are rare, frequent feedback and short-term rewards are popular, and training is viewed not as a luxury but as a necessary recruitment and retention tool."

My primary takeaway from the manifesto is that, although technology is important, the community and leadership skills that I describe here on Lead Quietly, are still an important tool in the entrepreneurs toolbox. It is much more than technology.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.

Don

Posted via web from Intersectable