Monthly Archives: May 2012

Self-Regulation in Expertise

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In child development, self-regulation is one of those “grand pooh-bahs” of behavioural and attitudinal development: teaching a child to learn and choose behaviours, strategies, environments, etc. that will help her or him to achieve a predetermined goal. (Unfortunately, some people think this means letting their children act like a little demon in the supermarket (or at home) till they learn it’s not the right thing to do. Without instruction or guidance, this is a good way to encourage psychopathy.) Teaching, modelling and managing the development of self-regulation is a must for responsible parenting.

Oddly enough, the development and deployment of self-regulation is also an issue for adults and the workplace. Self-regulation in adult environments consists of the same elements: Choosing strategies, behaviours and adapting environments in order to achieve a goal.

Barry Zimmerman has conducted a lot of research over several decades on self-regulation as a function of expertise. Zimmerman and Campillo (in “The nature of problem solving”), in their analysis of self-regulation in experts characterised the process as Forethought; Performance; Self-Reflection. Another way to conceptualise this self-regulation is through 3 Ps:

  1. Planning
  2. Performance
  3. Perfecting

You can add a 4th P – Perception (of the initial need) – for a complete picture, if you like.

Now examine your goal and/or your team’s goal: How are you and they Planning for specific strategies, techniques and outcomes? Perform the planned behaviours and strategies. Perfect the strategies and techniques through review, analysis and practise.

Expertise studies demonstrate time and again that experts continue through this self-regulatory cycle so that they drill down to more finely developed and articulated technique as they develop their skill. Whereas a novice leader may say, “I will motivate my team”, an expert may say, “I will use socratic questioning at a period of team vulnerability in order to elicit and reinforce the individuals’ motivations, which I will then shape into a team goal orientation.” The point is, you have to become further skilled.

High performing individuals know that they need models, exemplars, coaches, mentors who can help them to learn what they don’t know and to improve – even to observe their performance in order to articulate salient facts about their performance. So building observational and modelling capacity into your functioning is very important.

Of course, part of the problem with teams is that “while the cat is away, the mice will play.” Unproductive behaviours and attitudes are “disinhibited” without the drive of a leader seeking to make results happen. And, let’s be honest, we all do it by ourselves at one time or another – we let down our drive and focus.

There are, concurrently, two related but important qualities to consider that make all the difference to your self-regulated performance. They are:

  1. Motivation and
  2. Responsibility

Both are functions of individual drive, ethos, values, development, environment and more. Without them, you have process but no passion. Passion drives action towards achieving superior performance and outcomes.

The next time you’re teaching your kids how to regulate their own behaviour, think about how you should be developing some more self-regulation for yourself or your team.

Executive Presence in Public Speaking Workshop

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On July 30-31, I am holding a two-day Executive Leaders Public Speaking Workshop at a Perth resort.

For years I have been running public speaking workshops for all types of professionals. I have also been individually coaching executives, senior leaders, business owners and professional speakers in their speaking. Based on my many years of success with clients, I have seen the need to create a high level event for people who are already confident speakers, but need help moving to a higher level; becoming more engaging and inspiring for their audiences. They need to convey strong executive and leadership presence, persuade and convince, while maintaining the authenticity that is so often unfortunately lacking in leaders’ communication.

This workshop is a further step in the development of these skills, based on the my original Authentic Speaking(R) methods that have already made my work with speakers so successful.

Enrolment is strictly limited, as there will be many opportunities to work on your speeches in front of the group, get video feedback and receive individual coaching. Additionally, there will be opportunities for you and your peers to discuss the communication needs that you have at the top of your organisation: influencing and communicating with staff, conveying passion to clients, convincing stakeholders, representing your brand well and building your own personal brand as a leader.

If you would like further information, contact me through info@lamplighter.com.au and I will send you a flyer describing some of the course content and registration information. This event will be held at a fine resort and will include restaurant meals on both days.

We already have enrolments and only have limited spaces left, so enquire now and secure your seat.

Is Your Phone That Smart?

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I’ve sent my smartphone in for repair. It turns out it wasn’t so smart when it came down to running the battery. It kept telling me the battery was disconnected. So now I am saddled with a little loan phone for a week or more and, I must say, it’s a real pain not having access to my regular phone.

Smartphone Evolution

Smartphone Evolution (Photo credit: Phil Roeder)

Aside from the fact that I don’t really want to spend a week learning how to properly use the loan phone, and the fact that it has nowhere near the functionality of the other, I don’t have email handy, texts are more difficult to access and track, my calendar is not on the phone, I don’t have my contact list, etc. etc. etc. Even though I could carry a diary around with me (and sometimes this is better for planning, anyway), carrying around a book with hundreds of contacts would be awkward. It would also be awkward carrying a laptop to all of my meetings, simply to check a fact quickly on the internet, or search for a location, or book an appointment, or easily look up a company or client’s details.The smartphone has become such a ubiquitous tool in our business and personal lives. And I mean ubiquitous. In Pakistan, there has been an explosion of mobile phones in the last couple of years. You’re more likely to find someone with a mobile phone in Pakistan than you are to find scheme water, household electricity or sewerage treatment.There are so many features on smartphones that are useful. Of course, there are so many that waste our time and can decrease our effectiveness. The fact that people access so much information so readily means that their memory capacity actually diminishes over time (it’s been demonstrated in Japan), we can fool ourselves into thinking that we can multitask (MIT and Stanford have conducted some great experiments including using fMRis to demonstrate that we can’t), we think things are quicker on the phone than on paper or in our head (my 7 year old will easily recall facts while adults around them are scrolling through their iPad trying to find a reference), we think we’re planning well with technology when using paper would be vastly more efficient, more and more people avoid face to face communication when a meeting with people who can actually talk would be far more productive, and the list goes on …

I don’t have nomophobia (an irrational fear of having no mobile phone). And really, we should not become reliant on them.

But, I am really annoyed at not having my phone. I want it back.

Loyalty is Not a Virtue

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It has always bothered me when leaders want to develop loyalty to the company, but don’t point to any of the co-requisites for good performance. The fact is, loyalty, in and of itself, is not a virtue, nor does it necessarily drive worthy results.

I had a boss once to whom loyalty was a key to whether or not staff were good and should be retained, promoted, involved in initiatives, etc. If the staff were loyal to clients or to a goal or cause, that wasn’t good enough – they had to be personally loyal, to him. When I submitted my resignation to him, I told him about some of my concerns regarding the leadership and management of the organisation. He never spoke to me again, because I was ‘disloyal’ and ‘ungrateful.’ But the fact is, I was deeply loyal to the cause of the organisation and its clients and seeing results improved and furthered.

It was with some satisfaction, then, that as I was working through Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership (2010), I read of some key aspects of Apple’s culture from the early 90s that were clearly re-established when Jobs returned to the company.

Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. (Photo credit: marcopako )

Schein worked with Apple line managers and human resources personnel in the early 90s to decipher Apple culture. Among their conclusions was the governing assumption that “Task accomplishment is more important than the process used or the relationships formed” (you’ll find the quote on p. 337). That is, people were loyal to and excited about the task, not the relationships or methods as a rule. Apple even had (probably still has) an explicit mutual “no loyalty contract”, whereby the company did not owe loyalty to staff if there were hard decisions to be made, nor, if staff found greener pastures, did they owe loyalty to the company by remaining.

If you think about leadership and organisations on a broader scale, the world’s greatest despots had tremendously loyal followers and servants: Hitler, Mussolini, Gaddafi. The list goes on. So too, have some of the world’s greats. But dictators and manipulators tend to put personal loyalty above loyalty to the cause. Then, if disagreement comes, you are not being ‘loyal.’ We know that gangs work on this same mentality: it’s about the gang, not about you. People can equally be loyal to the most foolish of causes.

Regular readers know that I place a high value on leaders and organisations treating their staff well. I contend that it’s part of an implied social contract and the contract of leadership. Demanding loyalty without thought and ethic is, however, irrational at best, despotic at worst.

So remove loyalty from your list of virtues. It won’t guarantee results. It has its place, but is subordinate to other true virtues for both followers and leaders.

Is This Management Terrorist Style?

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Do these sound like familiar management quotations?

  • Worrying about “recruiting talent”, as “the rise of lower leaders who are not as experienced” would “lead to the repeat of mistakes,”.
  • Leaders of large corporations admitting “that they were now seen ‘as a group that does not hesitate to take people’s money by falsehood’” or that a large portion of people around the world “have lost their trust” in the organisation.
  • A leadership that is so concerned about image that it considers changing the brand’s name, as the name “is so damaged” that it is synonymous with outrage and failure.

Though these may sound like certain hedge fund or global banking and oil leaders, they’re not from corporate leaders (at least, not the kind you’re thinking of.) These were the ruminations of Osama bin Laden and his seniors before his abrupt end at the hands of US soldiers. He was worried about succession planning, organisational loyalty and corporate branding, amongst other things. (Read the Yahoo! News story here – http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/depressed-bin-laden-thought-al-qaida-name-change-175556810.html)

They may be important, but paying attention to these matters does not in and of itself make for a virtuous corporation or leader. I have seen terms like “Authentic Leadership” being bandied about as the solution to ethical problems in leadership, corporate violations and consumer and government rip-offs. But none of these is a solution. I submit that people like bin Laden and Hitler before him were very authentic and genuine – it’s just that they also happened to despise large portions of the world’s population and wished to exterminate them by force. They found some good, loyal followers to help them too.

Let’s face it: What most people want in their leaders is someone who won’t treat them like dirt, will listen to them and will involve them in achieving something regarded as important. And when we talk about inspiring, global leadership we’re talking about people who will treat others with care and respect while doing something that benefits others – whether consumer, employee or shareholder. Instead of coming at it obliquely by saying we’re “Authentic” or otherwise, how about just saying that’s what we want?

A client of mine hit it on the head when we were discussing global leaders in the U.S., South Asia, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The general populace and media bemoan the lack of statesmen in the world today. Back in my undergraduate days, my International Relations professor said time and again that it is a standard rule of international relations that “No country acts outside of its own national self-interest.” Otherwise, it would be self-defeating. However, my client, who works in leadership capacities in Australia and South Asia, pointed out that what we really need are leaders who will look not only to the interests of their own nations, but to the interests of other nations around the world.

There, my friends, he hit the nail right on the head. That’s true statesmanship and great leadership: Someone who acts in the interests of the people he or she leads, as well as in the interests of those who surround them.

Don’t let the corporate-speak fool you. It is important to plan for succession, consider the brand, examine recruiting practices and so on, but in the end, you must ask: Are we acting to serve the best interests of others, as well as ourselves?

3 Strategic Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Leadership

  1. Are we navel-gazing because we are not focussed on the needs of our clients/customers?
  2. Are we so (self-)involved in our own strategy that we don’t see the outcomes of what we are doing?
  3. How much does our organisation seek to create benefits for everyone involved in our activities?

Are You In the Zone?

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When I started studying gifted professionals, one of the issues that I ran across was that of people getting “in the zone”. Elite athletes, artists and musicians talk about it. How do they access their gifts and talents in such a way that it “flows” out of them, resulting in outstanding performance?

I was recently asked to record an instructional video for a video services company. On the day I was due to record, I was tired from a great lack of sleep, in a new environment and running between appointments. Needless to say, I was not “in the zone”. In fact, I don’t think I was even on the same playing field. After three complete attempts and a review of the results, I told the company I was not happy and would re-record it for them on another day when I had had more sleep. It won’t cost them anything – just push the record button and go, but it means that I will be able to provide them a much better product.

Sometimes we get so hectic that we can’t get into that high performance zone that élite athletes talk about. Even with all their coaches, practices, trials and more, those élite athletes also perform at less than their best when the moment comes.

There are many secrets to performing in a zone - they involve focused attention, cognitive load, automaticity of functioning, appropriate environment, suitability, talent and skill development, etc. etc. etc. But what do you do when you can’t get into the zone?

Here just two keys:

1. RESHAPE YOUR ENVIRONMENT WHERE POSSIBLE

Make things work for you, not the other way around.

I was discussing this with the director of a tech company who also does a lot of computer programming. He said that when he programs, it takes him a full day just to “get in the mode.” There is a way of thinking required, variables to hold in memory, contexts and global conditions for him to consider in order for him to write great code. He said others could supposedly work on it, but it’s one of the things he’s really good at, so he does it and it’s why they have the products they have. A close colleague and friend of his was in on the conversation and said, “Yes, sometimes the other directors don’t understand that if he’s in there programming, he can’t come out and answer a question about something else. It’s like him going down a mineshaft and then you calling him up to ask him what the time is!”

But because he gets “in the zone” and is quite a gifted and highly skilled mathematician, programmer and engineer he creates software solutions that other companies with scores of programmers and many millions upon millions of dollars of investment have not been able to develop. That’s the advantage of “the zone”.

This director has learned to shape his environment so that he can devote himself to something that he does exceptionally well, without distraction.

2. DON’T FRET IF YOU DON’T GET THERE

Sports psychologists spend a great deal of time trying to help athletes pull out of a bad run. They take a dip and it keeps going down – “I’ll never get back in that zone.” This is one of the reasons megastars make those crazy demands for a certain type of bottled water, gilded baths and weird foods on demand: they’re trying to consistently recreate conditions under which they were “in the zone” and are afraid that if the conditions change too much they won’t get there again. And they get more depressed and more demanding as their personal expectations don’t match up to their performance. Anxiety overloads their ability to perform.

Although you should work with your environment, don’t go overboard. Getting in the zone is about performing something in a seemingly effortless way. And that is as much a state of mind as anything else. Learn from your mistakes, don’t stress and try again.

In your personal work and in your people’s work, consider how you are either creating barriers or distractions, or how you are creating conditions that help people to achieve at their best. (I’d love to hear how you achieve peak performance – leave a comment!)

I’ll go back to that company and record that video again – I won’t fret about last time, I’ll set things up best for me to perform well and I’ll get “in the zone.”