by dbward | Mar 7, 2022 | shared leadership
Today’s blog post is by Niall White
Want more great leaders? Be a great follower.
I’m convinced there are many potentially great leaders in the world. Of these potential leaders, I sometimes wonder if many are simply afraid to step forward. This fear could come from many different sources; fear of failure, fear of rejection, lack of confidence, or even a lack of understanding, to name a few. It is also possible that this fear comes from negative experiences or deeply personal mental illness. It may be impossible to know every reason why someone is reluctant to step forward as a leader, but it is possible to help them.
Being a “follower” can sometimes come with a negative connotation, but some of the great leaders I’ve known were also great followers. Rather than thinking of a follower only as someone that simply goes through the motions, doing whatever they are told with little proactivity, I invite you to consider an alternative viewpoint: A follower can be someone that not only makes way for someone else to lead, but provides positive reinforcement, kind and productive criticism, and looks for their own leadership opportunities that support the leader (e.g., volunteering to help or pursuing a recommendation). In short; friendly following. Now, it’s probably worth mentioning that, just like the phrase “yes, and”, you don’t need to follow, endorse, or agree with something you aren’t comfortable with.
Can you imagine a world where people of all backgrounds and experiences, strengths, and limitations, felt empowered to lead in whatever capacity they could? And can you imagine if they not only felt empowered to lead, but believed that their message would be received by people that were open to new ideas, willing to help, and helpful enough to provide courteous feedback? Dare I say, friendly followers? I imagine that world would have a lot less fear. I’ve seen teams, families, and organizations that operate this way, and I can say that these are the teams, families, and organizations that I’ve felt the most safety and satisfaction being associated with.
Think about the friendly followers around you. I can think of many at here at MITRE. I can think of many in the ITK community! Volunteering to co-facilitate a workshop with someone, giving someone the benefit of the doubt when they are slow to respond to an inquiry, assuming good intent when a statement is made, and enabling an environment where others feel safe, are all examples of friendly following.
I really do believe that there are many incredible people all around us that are reluctant to step forward, stand in the limelight, or even be noticed. How might we be a source of strength and encouragement for these potential leaders? How might we be friendly followers so that others might lead?
cover image by Doug Coldwell
by dbward | Feb 21, 2022 | Misc Awesomeness
As the 2022 Winter Olympics come to a close, I find myself thinking about the concept of being “the best.” In Olympic competitions of course, each event awards a gold medal to a competitor who comes out ahead in a rigorous competition. They are The Best.
In some events, the difference between gold and a non-medal fourth place is measured in fractions of a second. I even saw situations where an athlete’s performance broke the previous world record, but they still came in fourth because three other people were oh-so-slightly faster. Clearly, the gold medalists aren’t the only ones doing excellent work. In other events, the difference between first and fourth is more pronounced. For example, Italy’s mixed doubles curling team had a perfect 11-0 record in the round-robin tournament, and they played nearly flawless matches, absolutely dominating the field. In the fourth end of their match against Norway… but I digress.
The point is, this whole thing got me thinking about one of my favorite questions: Who are the top performers in YOUR field?
In any field or discipline, some people will simply do the work better than most. Take a moment to think about what you do – can you name the people who set the bar in your particular field? Who are the leading voices, the practitioners who deliver outstanding results, the ones who would wear gold medals if such things were awarded? Keep in mind that the list of top performers will change over time. Nobody stays in the winner’s circle forever and even Shaun White came in fourth in the half-pipe competition this year. So this is a good question to ask on a regular basis as new players enter the stage and surpass previous records. Once you’ve got a list of top people in your field, you may want to ask a few additional questions:
- What makes them a top performer?
- What do they do differently?
- What can we learn from them?
- Could we reach out to them?
- Partner with them?
As I watched the Olympics this year, I was struck by how often the commentators described the relationships between competitors. They all knew each other and learned from each other. They competed against each other many times before arriving at the Olympics. They made each other better. I think there is a lesson there for all of us.
Image Credit: The 1913 Saint-Moritz Bobsleigh Derby Cup by Albert Ewald
by dbward | Feb 14, 2022 | Facilitation Tips
Here in ITK land, we aim to foster an atmosphere of curiosity everywhere we go. Most of us are pretty curious by nature, and ITK work is full of opportunities to indulge our “strong desire to know.” Naturally, pretty much all the tools in our toolkit are question-based, and are designed to draw out thoughts, ideas, and perspectives from the groups we work with. Our facilitation techniques are similarly focused on helping teams dig deeper, explore new areas, and learn new things together.
The truth is, curiosity is an action as much as an identity. It’s what we do as much as who we are. And the good news is that curiosity-as-a-verb points towards specific behaviors that anyone can adopt, should they choose to. Have you ever wanted to be more curious? If so, read on!
The most fundamental way to exhibit curiosity is pretty simple: ask questions. Here’s what that might look like.
Suppose someone tells you they did marching band in high school. How might you respond to that statement?
The non-curious option is to say “Cool, I was in band too!” and then start talking about yourself. Or “Yeah, I did sports / theater / chess club / etc instead of band.” And then keep talking about yourself.
The curious option, in contrast, is to ask a question such as “Oh, what instrument did you play?” And maybe follow it up with more questions, like “Did you play all four years? Did you enjoy it? Do you still play? What did you like about it the most? Do you miss it?”
OK, maybe don’t ask all those questions at once (that’d be annoying), but I bet you see the pattern. This curiosity behavior is a discipline we can choose to cultivate, a repeatable practice that anyone can adopt. All it takes is a moment to stop and remember to ask a question. Whether we’re facilitating an ITK session or just chatting with a friend, this posture of curiosity helps keep the conversation going and leads to learning new things. And that brings us to one final question: will you try this?
(featured image is used with permission from Wikimedia Commons user Eesco9141, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3_Cats_in_the_Window.jpg)
by dbward | Feb 7, 2022 | Innovation Coaching
When we’re trying to make change in an organization, starting a new initiative, and generally learning & growing as a professional, my favorite phrase to use is “Let’s Try This!”
If we say it correctly, it’s an inclusive invitation to experiment and learn something specific. Say it more than once and we’re on our way to an iterative series of collaborative experiments.
Please note that pronunciation matters. It’s not pronounced “Let’s ONLY try this” or “You have to try this” or “This will definitely work.” If we use these three words it in an exclusive or controlling way, if it’s directed at YOU instead of US, or if there’s an implication of certainty and predictability, we’re saying it wrong.
And of course, it’s not enough to just say it, we also need to be ready to hear it from our teammates and respond accordingly. And if we really want to crank it up to 11, let’s sprinkle some “Yes-And” pixie dust on it too.
It’s the closest thing to a magic formula I know. I hope you’ll join me in giving it a try (see what I did there?). And remember, it’s pronounced leviOsa, not levioSA.
by dbward | Jan 31, 2022 | celebrating failure |
The book was titled Perfect Vegetables, so imagine my surprise when I opened it to a random page and came across this line:
“None of the methods proved satisfactory. The wrapped leeks were too tough and dry, while the naked ones were too tough to chew.”
I was struck by this blunt description of their failure, and even more struck when I realized this pattern was consistent throughout the whole book, from artichokes to zucchini. Page after page provided detailed descriptions of disappointing results, cooking techniques that didn’t work, and veggies that were bland, limp, or otherwise inedible… the opposite of perfect. I realized that this book was not just “350 exhaustively tested recipes” (as the cover says), it’s also the failure-filled story behind each one.
I love everything about this. If ITK made a cookbook, I bet it would look a lot like Perfect Vegetables.
Whether the subject is a Master Recipe for Grilled Fennel (page 122) or helping a team build clarity and consensus around their problem statement, the path to perfection is paved with lots of imperfect attempts, lots of little experiments that generate insights… if we’re paying close enough attention.
It’s easy to overlook that fact if all we see is the final, finished, perfect product. By sharing their process and describing all the dead-ends they explored, the authors help readers really understand the deeper practice of cooking well. None of these “perfect” recipes came out of thin air. In some cases, the air was full of the smoky residue of burned peppers (pg 184).
So don’t worry if some of your ITK experiments don’t quite turn out the way you’d hoped. That’s all part of the process, and we’ve all been there. When that happens, just do what Team Toolkit does – toss those veggies in the trash and start baking a Failure Cake.
