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GLS20 Session Notes: Six Traits Leaders Typically Lack During Crisis

Posted on August 7, 2020 by - Articles, Character, Complex Thinking, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Learning Agility, Relational Intelligence, Resilience

GLS20 Tomas Chamorro-Premusic Article Header

The following are notes from Dr. Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s talk at #GLS20. Use them to help you apply the content you learned at the Summit.

During the pandemic there has been a great deal of speculation as to what type of leader is most needed to manage or handle a crisis. Over the past 100 years, there’s been a lot of research comparing the profiles of effective leaders in different circumstances. During this session, organizational psychologist, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic answered this question and challenged us to develop six critical traits needed to thrive in uncertain times.

 

  • Throughout the history of leadership research, scientists and scholars have shown the success and effectiveness of a leader is partly, and sometimes largely, dependent on the context or situation the leader is in.
  • There are some exceptions—leaders who are amazing in any situation.
  • There are some leaders that seem to be bad in every situation—when changed from one environment into another, they still don’t deliver in a competent way.
  • For the vast majority of people, their leadership effectiveness and success will be dependent on the situation they’re in.
  • It is normal and logical that we ask the question of not just whether the pandemic or a crisis calls for a different type of leadership, but whether we have to throw away and completely revise what we know about leadership in order to accommodate the current circumstances.
STORY |Winston Churchill:
  • He was a great wartime prime minister but useless when peaceful times came.
  • It’s been said in peaceful times, the aggressive or violent man makes war with himself.
  • He was too combative, too blunt, too bold, too aggressive to preside over his country when times were good.
What type of leader is really needed for a crisis?
  • What type of leadership profile, qualities or competencies do we need when the situation is high stakes, unprecedented, or we have to manage a very complex and stressful time?
  • Over the past 100 years, empirical and quantitative research compares the profile of more and less effective leaders in different circumstances.

6 Important Attributes Leaders Need To Have In Order To Manage Or Navigate A Crisis:

1. Intelligence
  • The ability to learn quickly to reason obstructively and to make rational, data driven decisions.
  • More important than ever when leaders cannot rely on their past experience or expertise.
  • A crisis is a time or a period of traumatic transition where the old is not dead yet and the new is not quite ready to move in.
  • Smart leaders tell people and guide others through this traumatic transition—that can only happen if you, as a leader are capable of making smart and logical decisions.
  • You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. When leaders think that they have to be the smartest person in the room or behave as if they were, it typically doesn’t have healthy or successful consequences.
  • Have the intelligence to hire intelligent people and build teams made of people who are smart and data driven with strong mental horsepower.
STORY | David Ogilvy:

David Ogilvy is a marketing and advertising tycoon of the sixties and seventies, who said his only onboarding protocol or ceremony ritual when somebody joined his firm was to give them a Russian doll—a babushka doll—and say, “Look, this is my only advice for you. If you hire people who are smarter than you and bigger than you, at some point, we will become a company of giants. But if you only hire people who are less smart, less competent, less talented than you very quickly we’ll become a company or an organization of dwarfs.”

Pay attention to other people’s cleverness and intelligence.

STORY | Amos Tversky:

A psychologist in Israel who won the Nobel Prize for economics, Amos Tversky, was reportedly so smart his colleagues and university coined the Tversky Intelligence tests. They said, “When you meet and speak to Tversky, the sooner you realize that Tversky is smarter than you, the smarter you probably are.”

When leaders think they’re the smartest person in the room, they will make avoidable mistakes, underrate and underestimate others’ intelligence—especially when they don’t think like themselves.

2.  Intellectual Curiosity
  • When leaders are not curious, they get stuck in their own ways and become intellectually conservative, doing things in their specific way, stubborn, and arrogant.
  • It’s hard to persuade a leader to change their mind, especially when they combine high intelligence with low curiosity.
  • If you have somebody who isn’t the fastest mind and the fastest learner, but they’re curious, there is more hope that person gets better.
  • Curiosity means having a hungry mind, high levels of learnability, experiencing a sense of discomfort when you know you don’t know something.
  • Being aware of what you don’t know is really important, but it’s also important that the knowledge gap or the gap in the difference between what you know and what you would like to know makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable so you work hard to close it.
  • Not closing the curiosity gap around things that might not be considered, sustainable and nutritious food for your hungry mind, but more fast food.
  • Have a deeper appetite to ask why, to have a critical way to explore problems, to scratch under the surface and understand how things really work.
  • We have a certain baseline of curiosity that tends to cement around the age of 20. Curiosity does continue to change and develop as we grow older. Sadly, for most people, it tends to go down as they grow older.
  • One of the most effective ways to predict whether somebody is made a leader or not is whether they are old enough and more and more, we keep on selecting leaders because of their maturity and experience.
  • The older you are the naturally less curious you become.
  • In order to keep developing your curiosity, you need to go against the default tendency that we have to try to understand the world in a certain way and not question it anymore.
  • Go outside your comfort zone and ask uncomfortable questions.
STORY | Social Media:

Over the last 5 or 10 years we have blamed social media for creating the filter bubble we live in and as if algorithms and artificial intelligence are to blame. The filter bubble exists because humans love to live in a world where everything seems certain and predictable, but that also makes us less curious.

To work on your curiosity is to exit your filter bubble.

  • Hangout with people who don’t think like you.
  • If you’re a leader, that also means not hiring just for culture fit or on your own image, but actually embracing people who are cognitively diverse, who think differently, who can speak up on certain issues and provide a different perspective on things, which is how you avoid groupthink and how you avoid this systemic bias that comes when everyone sees the world in the same way.
  • A lot of organizations simultaneously say they value diversity, but that they love to hire on culture fit.
STORY | Travel:

Before COVID-19, people travelled and enjoyed going places. For those who haven’t, they’ve missed traveling for one very important reason. When you go to a new place, you develop curiosity, and see things from a different culture’s perspective. There is an understanding of what models and routines people follow to understand there are more ways to behave, think and feel.

3. Humility
  • If leaders don’t have humility, it’s very hard that they actually develop some curiosity. If they don’t have curiosity, it’s very hard that they develop expertise and that they become or act in a smarter way.
  • Humility is being aware of your limitations.
  • Humility is being aware you are not as good as you think,
  • You shouldn’t automatically underestimate others and overestimate yourself.
  • We live in a funny world really because we’ve been praising humility especially in leaders for about two decades.
  • If you ask the average person on the street, “is it important that a leader has humility?” They will look at you and say, of course—yet, if you analyze the profile of the typical leader in politics or business, or any organizations, including sports, military, and religious organizations, there are not often found to have a reputation for being very modest and very humble, especially when, what we seem to prefer in a leader is that they have this magnetic, charismatic quality that enables them to entertain, perform and behave in a way that is closer to the self-importance pole of the spectrum than the modest and humility pole.
  • There are cultural differences in this as well.
STORY: Origin
  • I was born and raised in Argentina where they say they seem genetically incapable of humility.
  • They are pre-wired for overconfidence and arrogance—neighbors know this very well.
  • Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, or Brazil, this is not news to you.
  • I moved to the UK to study for my PhD, where an academic career began.
  • Notice if Argentines are genetically pre-wired for arrogance and overconfidence, in the UK, they are culturally predetermined to fake modesty and humility.
  • 7-8 years of living in the USA caused a rewire of models on how to present yourself and think about yourself.
  • In the USA the cultural pressure is to fake confidence and arrogance to the point that you have to believe that you’re amazing even if there is not much data or feedback to back it up.
  • It is important as a leader to cultivate humility.
  • Long term success depends on it and your ability to handle or manage a crisis is largely dependent on how humble you are.
  • A crisis is a complex, unprecedented and difficult situation.
  • If you overestimate your ability to deal with it, and you exude a false sense of optimism and security to others, it’s not good for you or for the group.
  • Know your limitations, and also understand that being aware of your limitations isn’t a weakness. In leadership it’s a true sign of strength.
How Can You Cultivate Humility?
  • You need a little bit to be able to cultivate more of it. If you have none it’s very difficult.
  • People who are deluded to the point of being narcissistic are not coachable and you often do find them in leadership roles.
  • There are ways in which you can cultivate a reputation for showing you are not the hero in your own mind to others, and that as a leader, you don’t think your opinion is the most important thing in the world.
  • Create the conditions around you so others can provide you with negative, critical, constructive feedback on your performance.
STORY | Amy Edmondson

Amy talks about psychological safety—an important construct to show the best ways in which leaders can cultivate their humility and their curiosity is to create their conditions in their teams and organizations for others to provide them with negative feedback.

  • Simple nudges can help you implement critical feedback.
  • If you’ve given a presentation, had a client deal or finished a report, and are asking for feedback from your team, don’t ask them, “Wasn’t I great?” or “Isn’t this amazing?” Ask questions encouraging them to provide critical feedback helping you to improve.
  • What would you have done better?
  • If you could have changed one thing about my report, my presentation, the way it did this, what would that thing be?
  • What are the two or three things that you think I could have done better and why?
  • If you encourage people to do it and don’t punish them for speaking up, but reward them, you will simultaneously become more self-critical and more humble, understanding your limitations.
  • If you don’t understand your limitations and that there is a gap between the person you are and the person you want to be you, you for sure won’t continue developing as a leader.
4. Resilience
  • As leaders you don’t need to be a kind of a Buddhist monk or in Zen like level of emotional coolness, super phlegmatic and non-reaction; work with what you’ve got.
  • All of your emotions are amplified in a crisis.
  • In a crisis, all of your followers, subordinates and direct reports are looking at you for guidance on how they should behave.
  • If you are experiencing anxiety, that’s okay but expressing that anxiety instead of trying to control it or to hide it will make it a cascade onto others and will make it contagious.
  • Resilience is not difficult to develop and cultivate it during a crisis—it’s a muscle that doesn’t get exercise a lot when everything is going well.
  • Exercise that muscle and ensure it doesn’t go passive or dormant.
  • Ensure you have meaning, purpose and a higher sense of calling and that you discipline yourself and engage in routines that actually keep your levels of emotional stability up and your levels of anxiety down.
What are you going to do to cultivate resilience when the crisis is over and times are good?
  • It’s easy to learn from failure. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted to get. Or good judgment comes from experience, which comes from bad judgment.
  • The hard thing is to learn and become stronger from your successes.
  • Nietzsche says, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We’re all going to be stronger or strengthened by adversity and a crisis.
  • What are you going to do to ensure that you keep developing and becoming stronger, even when times are good?
5. Empathy
  • Humans are simultaneously capable of logic and rationality, but also influenced by emotions and feelings more than facts.
  • The ideal leader needed for a crisis is somebody who is smart, curious, rational, and capable of making logical and data driven decisions, but doesn’t seem cold, aloof and robotic.
  • Nobody wants to follow a robot, which is why even if artificial intelligence keeps developing fast and more rapidly than it has so far, we will still crave human affection, human validation and empathy in our leaders.
What Is Empathy?
  • The ability to understand and care about what other people are thinking and feeling.
  • As a leader you have the responsibility to develop more and more empathy as part of your leadership development journey.
How Do You Do This?
  • Pay attention to what other people feel and care about their point of view.
  • Understand if you disagree with someone or don’t understand them, it’s probably because you haven’t thought hard about their perspective.
  • Know if you are making decisions that might seem blunt, abrupt, cold and not kind and caring enough, that’s going to be much more damaging to others and your reputation as a leader during a crisis where people need a lot of validation and a lot of reinforcement.
  • The hardest thing for managers to do in this crisis has been to manage via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Hangouts, BlueJeans or video conferencing.
      • For the first time, you totally remove physical and analog interaction between a manager and an employee.
      • We think we can see emotions through Zoom, but it’s an artificial version.
      • If you’re managing remotely check in on people as often as possible and don’t be afraid of seeming kind and caring.
6. Integrity
  • If you don’t have leaders in charge who are honest, ethical and moral, all of the other qualities will be either irrelevant or even backfire.
  • A leader who is smart, who can understand others well and who seems cold and composed, lacking integrity, is a recipe for disaster for everyone else.
  • You have to have the ability to control your short-term temptations, your impulses and make decisions for the benefit of others, other than yourself.
  • Leadership is fundamentally a resource for the group, for the team, for the organization, for society and for the nation.
  • It’s a privilege to be in charge, but as a leader, you have the responsibility to not misuse that power and that responsibility and make decisions that have the interest of the collective at heart.
  • Your reputation for integrity, for being ethical and being moral can be harnessed and has to be harnessed on a daily basis.
How Can You Do This?
  • Ensure you practice what you preach—you put your money where your mouth is. You are consistent, you are clear, transparent and fair about what your moral values and your ethical code of conduct is, and you hold yourself accountable, even when others don’t.
  • You will be remembered long term by whether you were an honest leader or not.
  • People, societies, organizations and cultures are generally better off when their leaders are smart, kind and honest.
  • If we need this crisis to remind us it’s because the majority of leaders don’t have these six qualities.
ASK YOURSELF 3 QUESTIONS:

1. What you could have done differently to prepare your team, your organization and your followers for this crisis and to have ensured that they went into this unexpected and unpredictable crisis being stronger and better prepared?

    • What would you have done differently if you could go back in time and cultivate strength in your team so that they are more resilient and immune to this difficult crisis in time?

2. What are you going to do to ensure people, followers, teams, and organizations are going to emerge stronger after this?

    • Two Distinct Phases/Stages In Any Crisis:
      • Shock Absorption: To ensure everyone is fine, healthy, okay and able to resist the initial impact of the crisis.
      • Leverage: Use the crisis to emerge stronger.

There’s no excuse for not building the qualities of team effectiveness that will be needed to emerge stronger in the future short term and long term.

3. What are you going to do to improve and increase your critical six leadership qualities?

    • What are you going to do to grow your intelligence, to improve your curiosity, your humility, your resilience, your empathy and your integrity? What are you going to do to increase it in others?
    • The fundamental goal of leadership is not just to better yourself, but to make others better.
    • Leaders have the potential to not just improve other people but develop these six traits so that next time we have a crisis, we don’t have to ask this question.

 

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GLS20 Session Notes: Beth Comstock: Imagine It Forward

Posted on August 6, 2020 by - Articles, Leading Organizations, The Global Leadership Summit

GLS20 Beth Comstock Faculty Spotlight

The following are notes from Beth Comstock’s talk at #GLS20. Use them to help you apply the content you learned at the Summit.

Accelerating growth and innovation is one of the most challenging tasks of a leader. In this interview, Paula Faris draws out some of the ways in which Beth Comstock has thrived in her ability to continue to innovate both in business and in life. Beth helps us understand specific ways we can re-capture the joy and art of discovery, find the courage to be a permission granter, and get comfortable with experimentation and failure.

 

Faris: Your book’s all about innovation and change. Why is it so important for organizations to change?

Comstock: We’ve seen it over and over again when companies don’t innovate, they die.

  • Came into GE from NBC but it was a different world.
  • Look at a company like GE going through change—that’s a sign of resilience.
  • Change is a test of longevity.

Faris: You open the book and right away you mention your time working with the CIA and talk about failure of imagination, which ultimately led to GE’s response to 9/11. How did GE respond?

Comstock: I was invited to lecture there and what I liked about the CIA at the time was they were bringing in outsiders to give them different perspectives. Whereas what had happened leading up to 9/11, they stuck with the same playbook and missed that terrorism had gone on a grassroots level. They realized they were indicted, if you will, for a failure of imagination to imagine something different. I liked that they were bringing in outsiders who could challenge them. I was at GE and 9/11 happened, for all of us in business we couldn’t imagine there would be terrorism attacks—that business would literally stop. Now, in COVID-19 we’re experiencing this again, but it caused us to rethink what happens when your business totally stops. Airplanes can’t fly, what do we do?

The good thing about change is it forces us to confront things that otherwise we might not.

Faris: You took a leap of faith getting a lot of pushback. What brought that?

Comstock: Post- 9/11 America was in shock. Business had stopped. People were feeling incredibly vulnerable, lives were lost which was the worst tragedy of it all. GE said, “we need to do something.” The team I worked with had this crazy idea, “Let’s do an ad.

  • Most advertising had stopped except print newspapers.
  • “We can go forward from here.'”
  • First of all, the agency hated the idea, most of the team hated the idea.

Faris: Did you believe in the idea?

Comstock: I believed it because part of our job in change is to appreciate the zeitgeist and people felt vulnerable.

  • Wanted to send a message of hope.
  • We pored through the artwork of the agency, producing Lady Liberty rolling up her sleeves and turning it into an ad.
  • The ad wasn’t about GE, it was brought to you by GE.
  • The head of the company Jeff Immelt resonated with it and employees were proud.
  • With change, you have to find a story that gives people hope of where the future is going to be.

Faris: For those individuals and the organizations that are listening to this, what do you tell them? What tools do you put in their hand to take those first steps to innovate and to change?

Comstock: The most critical thing is giving yourself permission. I love this idea of permission granted. You have to say, “okay, I’m going to give myself permission.”

Came up with a habit, sharing with colleagues of writing a self- permission slip.

Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone:

  • Asking a question in a team meeting
  • Pitching an idea to somebody who you think is receptive.

Comstock: You can’t have all the answers. Use your curiosity as the lead.

What you’re doing is creating a path of discovery, which is a critical step in that permission granting, risk-taking—getting out and discovering new ideas.

Faris: How do we take the steps to counteract what is rooted into fear?

Comstock: Fear is a basic human instinct. It motivates us more than we want to admit. It’s centered in our amygdala, in our brain, it’s the reptilian brain if you will, the kind of fight or flight for survival.

  • Recognize it’s a natural reaction.
  • At times say, “let’s admit we’re afraid.”
  • Leaders, very now and then to say, “we’re in COVID-19, I don’t know how to deal with a pandemic. You’re here, we’re here together to figure it out but we don’t know.”
  • That is a bit of a way to get rid of the fear. “Here’s what we know and here’s what we don’t.

Faris: GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, at the time tapped you to lead marketing. What was it about you that people were willing to take a chance on at that point?

Comstock: I was willing to bring outsiders in who provoked us. I took on a pretty aggressive effort to rebrand the company. We ask all kinds of tough questions. We did things I think he thought were very unusual and got good results.

  • One of the things I did is I brought in a cultural anthropologist early on who did not come from our culture.
  • He asked tough questions and helped us get to the core of what we were trying to understand “what’s our story? What’s our strategy?”

Faris: Was that person what you would define a spark?

Comstock: A spark is somebody you’re bringing in to spark a new perspective.

  • As simple as a team of marketers bringing an engineer from inside your company.
  • Someone from the outside who challenges you.
  • Looking for somebody with expertise not just a troublemaker to come in and bring a perspective.
  • Ask “what questions make us feel uncomfortable with what they’re asking? What perspectives must we focus on and what doesn’t make sense?” And so, it’s really a way to provoke a different perspective.

Faris: You’re a self-proclaimed introvert. You don’t love change, your book’s all about innovation and change. How have you been able to develop the skills that are necessary to go into the unknown and to get your ideas and to get your voice heard?

Comstock: That notion of discovery to me it’s a joy of life, it’s a joy of work and it’s often counterintuitive to what we do at work. That’s what’s really propelled me to get out and discover.

  • Go into situations needing to learn.
  • Go to places that are seemingly weird.
  • What’s an example? When I was doing digital at NBC, a group of us went to South Korea to understand what we’re doing, and we judged boy band competitions.
  • Just to get a sense I went with a group to understand the Israeli Military, to understand non-hierarchical learning. It doesn’t have to be that grand, it could be if you’re in New York City go to another neighborhood and see what you see.
  • First, you need a notebook, or I keep a folder on my phone of interest.
  • You’re learning about it and you’re understanding what the facts are versus what’s the hypothesis. And you’re saying to yourself, “How can I speed up my learning on this so I can get smarter on it?” And I really believe speed to learn is a competitive advantage especially now. The faster you learn, the faster you can serve your customer, the faster you can do well in your job.

Faris: You talk about getting comfortable with some level of maybe, how do we get comfortable with just some level of maybe?

Comstock: Most of us I think we want certainty. Especially in the world today we assume we’re going to have certainty. And so, it’s a fallacy I think many of us have grown up with, we don’t learn it in school. And so, for me it became this getting comfortable with just living in hypothesis. I mean, my biology background science helped a little bit in that.

  • The scientific training is what’s your hypothesis? You’re not saying we have to have the definitive answer. What’s your hypothesis? What can we go and do to test that?
  • You’re saying, “we’re going to move forward on this side of assumptions until we learn something different and then we’re going to reserve the right to change it.”
  • Did anyone imagine COVID-19 affecting their revenue in 2020 the way it is? No. You need contingencies, you need hypotheses that get you through some of that.
  • It’s a tension between both.

Faris: You talked about mental grazing and trendspotting and you didn’t mention trendspotting, but can you elaborate on mental grazing?

Comstock: Mental grazing is I think this notion of just getting out when you’re out in your discovery mode, which we talked about.

  • You’re grazing a cow or something. You’re just picking up, eating little bits and pieces, taking it in, just to try to see if you can start to build some of those patterns we talked about.
  • It’s how you build up your recognition of things that are different.
  • Right now, we’re in a really tough time with most people being siloed in their homes, they’re only now being able to return to work in some areas.
  • It’s harder to get out and mental graze physically in the world. But you certainly can do it digitally, you certainly can ask people what they’re reading.
  • Read different sources than you are used to reading. I don’t just mean politically, I mean, read a book on physics if you’re a designer.
  • Ask yourself different sets of questions and how might this impact me, the work I do.

Faris: How do you balance that?

Comstock: Everyone has to imagine it forward. Just like I think everyone’s job right now is changing, whether you know it or not that’s in your job description. And what do we mean by imagining it forward?

  • Have a vision for where the world’s going and how you’re going to get there.
  • Notion of thinking in two speeds, operating in two speeds.
  • You have your now and your what’s next.
  • Your now, is where we mostly are—where we live, focus, it’s where your investors are expecting repeatable earnings. They’re expecting some predictability as much as you can predict.
  • This is the area where you feel really peak confidence.
  • Not to say change won’t happen, but let’s say most of your resources, your time, your energy goes into now, but you must create the second lane.
  • Call it your imagination lane, your what’s next, maybe it’s 10% of your time and resources in a good year, maybe it’s only five.
  • This is where you’re starting to do the discovery.
  • “Can we think of something different?
  • Can we carve out a couple of hours a week, even a month to go and discover and try these things?”
  • The secret to success and made us have better jobs.
  • We didn’t need the permission as long as we met the numbers, we were able to discover things.
  • People started to see that it was working. They’d ask, “how did you get permission to do that?” “Oh, we didn’t need permission, we just tested it on a small scale.”

Faris: Ecomagination is one of your crowning achievements at GE, it happened under your watch, under your tenure. How did you come up with Ecomagination? What was the discovery process for that?

Comstock: Ecomagination was about looking at the world saying cleantech is the future and it’s coming to an industry. We had the idea; it just came out of the ether we got out in the world. We heard from our customers. They were saying whether it was a rail customer, an airline customer, a power company customer, they were saying, “Help us. We need technology that’s going to make us greener but not make us go broke.”

  • Right there was our platform, ecological and economical. We spent a year in discovery, talking to them. One of the interesting things we did is we talked to our critics. Up until that point GE had really been at war with environmentalists. We changed that. We said, let’s ask environmentalist’s, “How could we do something that would be meaningful? How would you hold us accountable? Can you help?”
  • They were skeptical for good reason. And it was a very unnerving thing to go to a critic and go, “We want to change, can you help? They didn’t believe us at first, but we started to feel good that we knew we could do this with partners. The other thing you start to realize is that some of this you’re already doing that you don’t know so we started to take an inventory inside the company. And there were certain things, technologies we had or were developing that were greener. And we actually had that capability, so it wasn’t such a far leap.

Faris: How can a leader when you’re trying to encourage innovation—how can you also establish feedback loops and circle of trust so to speak, transparency and honesty?

Comstock: One of the most critical things are feedback loops. We’re in a digital age where we have never had so much data and exhaust if you will, so it’s a bit overwhelming.

  • There are some basic questions that you need to ask because you’re trying to get feedback. Again, if your speed to learning is your competitive advantage today, the faster you get feedback the better you should be able to learn, it’s that premise. How quickly can I get feedback?
  • The simplest thing you can do is ask this question, “tell me one thing I don’t want to hear.”
  • You need to ask that regularly of your team, of your customers.
  • You want all the answers and you come into a room with everything fully done and we’re asking ourselves, ‘Why are we here?'”

Faris: But when you’re not in control of it that’s when it can be difficult. And when you left GE you weren’t in control of that fate. What did you learn about yourself?

Comstock: I was leaving GE; I knew at some point there’d be a new leadership change but the company hit a tough spot and the leadership team was out.

  • I got a call from the new CEO saying, “we don’t have a place for you.”
  • I had to renew my story.
  • I spent a lot more time in personal discovery trying to be more creative. I’m doing a lot of writing, reflecting, finding time for spirituality, things that frankly I had excuses for not doing in business because I just didn’t have time. But things that were calling to me I just didn’t necessarily listen to them.

Faris: How do you embrace that lane when it’s not really your choice?

Comstock: You don’t always embrace it at first.

  • Give yourself that space and then just go, “okay, I’m going to create an experiment lane for myself. I’m going to try things.”
  • Just do some things to get you to another level.

 

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GLS20 Session Notes: The Metrics of Migrative Leadership

Posted on August 6, 2020 by - Articles, Change Management, Communication, Conflict Management, Diversity, Influence, Leading Organizations, Leading Others, Relational Intelligence, The Global Leadership Summit

GLS20 TD Jakes Faculty Spotlight Article Header

The following are notes from Bishop T.D. Jakes’ talk at #GLS20. Use them to help you apply the content you learned at the Summit.

Most people with influence survive by living within their element—staying in their zone, doing what they do—talking to people like them, who think like them, who vote like them, who dress like them, who walk like them, who talk like them.

Moving away from this space feels vulnerable because we might not have the power and the influence we have when we are on our own turf. In this session, Bishop T.D. Jakes helped us learn to migrate in our thinking—to navigate our current, rapidly changing world and the conundrum we find ourselves in. We can no longer ignore the people we can’t understand or control.

 

Concepts inform our decisions and cause us to be able to make the kinds of decisions that lead us into more effectiveness and more soul.

  • Metrics are absolutely everything.
  • Metrics help us evaluate, “What does success look like?”
Relevance Of Migrative Metrics:
  • When adding the word “migrative” to metrics, it suggests a move—a change—to think differently in order to be effective.
Questions To Ask Yourself:
  • Am I comfortable with the journey?
  • Am I going outside of my element? Because most people with influence survive by living within their element.

What Happens When We Don’t Migrate:

  • We stay in our zone—we talk to people like us—who think like us, who vote like us, who dress like us, who walk like us and who talk like us.
  • People don’t always feel so good about having to move someplace because moving means I might be vulnerable—moving means I might not have the power and the influence I have when I’m on my own turf.
STORY | Social Media Comment:

Jakes read the comments of his social media page one day—something he tries not to do. On this particular day a young man commented and cursed him out. The commenter wrote how Jakes has it easy and doesn’t know what it’s like living in the world. The commenter accused Jakes of being out of touch as the commenter lived in the hood while Jakes lives in the inner city, is a rich pastor with a nice house in an affluent neighborhood. The man accused him of not understanding what it was like to struggle and be like him. Jakes was outraged when he read the comment.

Story of How TD Jakes Grew Up:
  • Ragged house in the hills of West Virginia on a corner of a cliff hanging off a rock.
  • No grass in his front yard and thought only rich people had doorbells.
  • Knew what it was like to be broke.
  • Ate government cheese and cut coupons from newspaper clippings.
  • Understood what it meant for his mother to have “Top Value Stamps”.

1. Recognize Reality Is Different Than Our Own

Jakes was able to pause to digest the words of the man on his social media page and began to understand. He thought maybe this is the way the man speaks and isn’t cursing him out.

  • Look at the truth behind what is said.
  • Admit when the other person’s reality might be right or “kind of” right.
  • Recognize how we share similarities, but we do not always share the same experience.

Even though Jakes and the man share the same skin color, ancestry and heritage, they did not share the same experience. Jakes began to analyze that how we see the world is a reflection of our worldview and past experiences.

  • Leadership & authority positions produce willful blindness.
Willful Blindness

Willful Blindness is seldom required to have to think about what the world looks like for somebody else.

  • Having the benefit to choose/see/ignore those around us because we live in the cubicles of our own control.
  • In that controlled environment, we control the music played, atmosphere, height of the desk, etc.
  • “Everything around us is in a controlled environment except we are living in a time that cannot be controlled.”
  • We cannot control a pandemic.
  • We cannot control racial turbulence.
  • We cannot control movements like Black Lives Matter.
  • Questions arise for those in any kind of leadership organization.
You Cannot Afford To Be Ignorant Of Someone Else’s Language:
  • Businesses exist under the reality that our truths are migrating.
  • Stats are migrating.
  • Our world is migrating.
  • Influence is migrating.

You Can’t Assume That Your Client Is You.

If you own a restaurant, you can’t design the menu around what you like to eat because your client may not like to eat what you like to eat.

What Do We Do When…
  1. We are making decisions that affect people we don’t know
  2. We offend people that we don’t know
  3. We alienate people that we don’t know
  4. Can we really afford to spend all of our resources on cleanup and inviting PR people do damage control over the blind spots that we had because we don’t have migrative thinking?
STORY | Reflecting on the Social Media Comment:

It occurred to Jakes when listening to the young man, as he stepped past the way in which he talked and gravitated into a deeper understanding of reverse reflection to see the world through his eyes. Jakes understood what it looked like to him—what he accused Jakes of despite not being that. jakes shared the truths of the falsifications listed earlier.

Migrate thinking into a world that is uncomfortable in order to be relevant outside of the universe of one’s own influence.

Reverse Reflection:
  • Trying to understand the world through the eyes of another.
CHALLENGE:

Think outside of the box because the box you’re in is too small for the world that you have.

  • Don’t rely on this for creativity—turn the box all the way around to think as if you were the other person.
  • Not just so that you might have empathy toward them, but so that you might prepare your future with them in mind.
  • You cannot think like you and prepare your future with them in mind.
STORY | Pastoral Role Insight:

Jakes shared his role as a Pastor includes speaking, preaching, teaching, ministering, counseling and marital counseling. He makes a living breaking up fights—a spiritual referee.

  • When a husband and a wife come into his office, they’re in dire straits. They don’t come in the early stages—they wait until all hell is breaking loose.
  • As a last resort, on the way to the courthouse, they stop by his office because they read that Jesus walked on water and they think he ought to be able to raise their marriage from the dead.
  • The truth of the matter is Jakes cannot raise marriages from the dead.
  • “But what I can do is interpret people who are talking over each other and not really hearing each other. What I can do is train the husband to think from his wife’s perspective. What I can do is talk to the wife so that she might begin to understand what that looks like and what that sounds like for him.”

2. See Someone Else’s Perspective:

  • When we begin to see from someone else’s perspective, we expand.
  • We build influence. We form unlikely alliances. We gain an ability to connect with a global audience rather than a community of thought.
  • Your whole world is shown in who you talk to. It’s right there in your contact list on your cell phone.
  • Your world is not the world.
  • Understand others because we are better together than we are apart.
  • It is hard to get different types of people to come together because we come with the baggage of our background and our perspective and our viewpoints.
  • Many of us lack the imagination or exposure to begin to understand backgrounds inform a truth but that truth may not be the truth. And consequently, you walk away with an absolute that is really an abstraction.
  • Because your absolute is an abstraction, eventually somebody’s going to challenge it.
  • You’re not going to know what to do because you never learned the language and the ability to measure yourself by your ability to migrate.
Intellectual Quotient “IQ”
  • Measurable and understandable
  • People hire by this measurement
Emotional Quotient “EQ”
  • Measurable
  • We can ask if someone is able to stand up under stress and pressure.
  • They might be intelligent, but are they going to fall apart?
  • Are they going to collapse? Are they going to have an emotional breakdown?
  • How strong is their EQ in order to be effective today?
Adaptability Quotient “AQ”
  • How well you can adapt when you’re outside of your environment
  • How you survive for a long time and your long-term understanding of yourself.
  • Starts with leadership.
  • We must be adaptable enough to migrate in our thinking to prepare for a world we can’t control and a world we have not come from.
  • AQ helps us in become empathetic, sympathetic, prepared, develop products and come into alignment with people who come from a different perspective.
CHALLENGE:
  • To not think about AQ from the safety of what you call truth.
  • Have courage to forsake the plumb line of past experiences and migrate into an environment where you are not surrounded by the accruements of your own experience.
  • Come to a place where you have to think about things differently.
  • Women think like men and men think like women.
  • Boomers think like a Millennial and Millennials think like Boomers.
  • If you can do that, you are wiser, and your decisions are smarter.
  • Decisions become more global and less isolated.
  • This is how to avoid increasing irrelevance.

3) Create a Level Playing Floor:

  • Level the playing floor where every person can be heard regardless of their background and be valued.
  • At the beginning of the COVID-19 virus, we noticed people we had not noticed before.
    • Pizza delivery boys.
    • People who came by to bring groceries to us because we were shut in.
    • People who were cleaning up the hospitals at the risk of their lives, risking contracting the virus so that our loved ones could be taken care of.
    • All of a sudden, we had gratitude for people who were slinging hamburgers across the counter to us in the hospital restaurant.
  • We’ve had to have migrative thinking.
  • Coronavirus has forced us out of the box.
  • As America has the most uncomfortable conversations it has ever had before, it is uncomfortable because we have the benefit of living in our silos.
    • Writing the books we read.
    • Choosing the press to watch.
    • We create this false reality then complain about anybody rising up against it.
  • We’re in a conundrum because we can no longer silence the people we can’t control.
  • We must learn how to migrate in our thinking to become a more perfect union—more perfect company, more perfect marriage, more perfect church.
  • CEOs can no longer just talk to CEOs. Talk to spiritual leaders because they’re the gateway to the community.
  • To make an impact on underserved communities, bring people to the table different from us for a 360 perspective.
  • Talk even when you’re afraid you might say the wrong thing.
  • If you can build a demographic that is different from yourself and respect their perspectives, we can have a level playing floor and we can change the world.
STORY: Four Men In The Bible Carrying A Man Sick With Palsy:
  • They carried him to Jesus, and when they couldn’t get in the door, they carried him up the wall.
  • When they got to the top of the wall, they climbed over on the roof.
  • They cut a hole in the roof and they lowered the man down into the finish line of being in the presence of the Lord.
  • Those four prongs are corporate leadership, spiritual leadership, community leadership and elected officials.
  • We’ve never had to work together, but we better do it now.
  • If unreasonable people do not find a way to migrate their thinking, unreasonable people will take over the conversation and we will all suffer the consequences of unreasonable people ruling in our silence.
CHALLENGE:
  • Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of the box.
  • Love enough, care enough and feel enough to be uncomfortable standing shoulder to shoulder with somebody who is good at something completely different than what you’re good at.
  • Make the connection so we can lift those that are fallen and raise those that are hurting.
  • Create a level playing floor where the rules are clear.
  • If we can do that effectively, we can make a big difference in the world.
  • We can make a big difference in our company.
  • We can make a big difference in our lives.
  • Play musical chairs with and switch until you have migrative thinking.

NEXT STEPS:

  1. Build a coalition you can’t control.
    • Purposely put together a coalition of people completely different from you.
    • Have uncomfortable conversations where the “Amens” don’t come easy and you are not the teacher.
  2. Sit down at the table with someone who has a perspective that you can’t teach.
    • The objective is to understand, not to straighten out.
    • Too many times our focus is, “I know how to straighten this out.” No, you don’t even understand this.
    • Find a situation where you become a student again.
  3. Find what connects you rather than what divides you.
    • Be in a situation where the objective is to take different types of people and find out what you have in common rather than focus on where you have distinctions.
    • Bear to admit that you don’t know what you don’t know.
    • You cannot be what you do not see.
    • You cannot change what you do not touch.
    • You cannot heal what you will not lay a hand on.
    • The only hope for our future globally and nationally—for our communities and society is to develop a new metric.
    • Start choosing people—hiring people and moving people up who have the liquidity of thought and the nimbleness of mind to have migrative thinking.

 

View All GLS20 Session Notes >>

 

 

10 Things You Can Do Today to Get the Most of #GLS20

Posted on July 30, 2020 by - News & Updates, North America, The Global Leadership Summit

The Global Leadership Summit is your two-day infusion of  fresh  ideas,  actionable  concepts,  leadership  principles  and heartfelt  inspiration—accessed either in-person where available or online, right where you are.

It’s just one week until thousands of us will gather for The Global Leadership Summit 2020! Some of us will experience the event through the brand new GLS Online Experience, our state-of-the art digital platform. Others of us will gather in person at micro-gatherings or in small venues across the U.S.  

 One thing we know: Your leadership matters…and it matters now more than ever. 

 We have seen it time and time again. The two days you invest in yourself at the GLS can have an outsized impact on your life when you apply what you learn. And a few minutes of preparation can pay big dividends as you get your heart and mind into a posture of openness and learning. 

 So, as you place that “out of office” message on your email and work through those final projects on your to-do list, be sure to make time to prepare yourself for what you are about to experience. 

 

Here are the Top 10 things You Can Do Today to Make the Most of #GLS20. 

 

1. Log on to the GLS Online Experience. Whether you are at home or gathering in person at a host site, the GLS Online Experience will give you the unique ability to interact and engage with the GLS faculty content before, during and after the event on August 6-7. Logging in early will get you access to bonus content and faculty sneak peek videos! (To access the Online GLS Experience platform, check your email for your unique access link associated with your registration).  

 

2. Download your Digital Notebook. Get faculty biographies, the daily schedule, save and share your session notes and learn more about how the GLS has impacted communities around the world. 

 

3. Check out the Summit Guide. The online Summit Guide is your one-stop digital companion website for all things GLS. On your tablet, phone or second computer, access supplemental GLS materials including faculty graphics, notes, downloads, free stuff and more. 

 

4. Dream a little…What would you do if you could gain just one more hour of time in your day? Author Rory Vaden will help you learn—not just how to do things more efficiently, but how to actually create more time in your life. 

 

5. Reflect on the leadership challenges you have faced during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. What traits have helped you rise to the occasion? What traits have caused you to falter or doubt? Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic will teach you how to draw upon the top six research-based leadership attributes needed to thrive during seasons of crisis. 

 

6. Watch this short clip from Craig Groeschel  as he shares what he’s looking forward to most at #GLS20.

 

7. Name a specific initiative where what you’ve done in the past just isn’t working anymore. Maybe you realize it is time to make a change—but there is a good chance you might experience a downturn before things turn around. Craig Groeschel will help us learn how to lead well “through the dip”. 

 

8. Evaluate the psychological safety of your workplace. How frequently do you feel safe to disagree with management and appropriately express a contrary opinion: Often? Sometimes? Never? Dr. Amy Edmondson will unpack the importance of psychological safety and how leaders can build it on their teams. 

 

9. Join the conversation on social media. Follow @GLNsummit on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Tweet, post and share about your experience, and connect with Summit enthusiasts all across the globe! This year’s official hashtag is #GLS20. 

 

 10. Pray. Add a daily prayer this week: “God, guide me to know where to focus my growth for the next leadership season. prepare my heart to hear the message you need me to hear at the Summit.” 

 

See you at the Summit! 

President George W. Bush’s Powerful Message of Hope During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Posted on July 27, 2020 by - Articles, Change Management, Leading Yourself, Resilience

GLS20 President George W Bush Marquee
This article is a part of The Global Leadership Summit Faculty Spotlight series where we feature content from the upcoming #GLS20 speakers. This is a great opportunity to get a taste of what to expect from these amazing leaders!

 

We are honored to welcome this special guest to the #GLS20 faculty lineup!  

Join us at The Global Leadership Summit for Decision Points: One-on-One with President George W. Bush* where he’ll discuss his time in office and the leadership lessons he learned while serving as the 43rd president of the United States during one of the nation’s most difficult eras.   

President Bush recently shared a powerful message of hope and unity with the world. Although his interview during the Summit will not focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, the remarks he shared within the video below gives us a glimpse of the President’s perspective on leadership. 

 

Watch Video Now >>

 

This is a challenging and solemn time in the life of our nation and world.  

A remorseless, invisible enemy threatens the elderly and vulnerable among us—a disease that can quickly take breath and life. 

Medical professionals are risking their own health for the health of others. And we’re deeply grateful. 

Officials at every level are setting out the requirements for public health that protect us all. And we all need to do our part. 

The disease also threatens broader damage—harm to our sense of safety, security and community. The larger challenge we share is to confront an outbreak of fear and loneliness. And it is frustrating that the normal tools of compassion—a hug, a touch—can bring the opposite of the good we intend.  

In this case, we serve our neighbor by separating from them. But we cannot allow physical separation to become emotional isolation. This requires us to be not only compassionate but creative in our outreach. And people across the nation are using the tools of technology in the cause of solidarity.  

In this time of testing, we need to remember a few things: 

First, let us remember that we have faced times of testing before. Following 9/11, I saw a great nation rise as one to honor the brave, to grieve with the grieving and to embrace unavoidable new duties. And I have no doubt, none at all, that this spirit of service and sacrifice is alive and well in America.  

Second, let us remember that empathy and kindness are essential, powerful tools of national recovery. Even at an appropriate social distance, we can find ways to be present in the lives of others, to ease their anxieties and share their burdens.  

Third, let us remember that the suffering we experience as a nation, does not fall evenly. In the days to come, it will be especially important to care in practical ways for the elderly, the ill and the unemployed.  

Finally, let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat. In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God.  

We rise or fall together. 

And we are determined to rise. 

 

 

Join President George W. Bush and 15 other world-class speakers for The Global Leadership Summit on Thursday and Friday, August 6-7. Get ready for your two-day infusion of fresh ideas, actionable concepts, leadership principles and heartfelt inspiration from a world-class faculty online or at a location near you! 

 

Click this button to register today

 

 

 

*Please note: This session is closed to the media and will only be available to attendees on August 6, 2020 within the U.S and Canada—it will not be available for viewing on August 7, 2020 or at any point during the 7 Day Video-on-Demand period. 

5 Things to Know About the Value of Your Ticket to the Summit

Posted on June 26, 2020 by - News & Updates, The Global Leadership Summit

The Global Leadership Summit is your opportunity to access a wealth of leadership insight from a world-class faculty ready to equip and inspire you—no matter where you have influence.

What is the value of your ticket to The Global Leadership Summit (GLS) conference in 2020? While we’d love to make this event free for everyone, the reality is we’d go out of business, and not only would we no longer be able to host the GLS each August, but ministry initiatives to bring additional leadership resources around the world throughout the year would come to a halt.  

What you might not know is that there is a lot more to the value of your ticket to attend the Summit than you initially realize.  

“It’s two days of diverse thinking, motivation and insight. The investment is so worth it, and I see the results.”– Chuck Surack, CEO, Sweetwater Sound

What started as a single event back in the 1990’s, the GLS now attracts hundreds of thousands of people in 124 countries at thousands of host sites and online locations in 2020, providing leadership tools where they’re needed most.  

Attracting an audience that represents various industries, including marketplace, non-profit, healthcare, education, government, ministry and corrections, the GLS has become a unique platform, unlike any other leadership conference in the world today. The GLS brings people together to not only empower better leadership wherever they are, but in a growing number of cases around the world, this event also acts as a catalyst for organic local movements seeking to positively impact their community. 

Here are 5 things you should know about the value of your ticket to attend the Summit in 2020. 

 

1. The value you receive is higher than the cost to attend.

But don’t take our word for it. Impact stories from our attendees and research outcomes speak for themselves. In 2017, an independent research firm, Excellence in Giving, showed us that the real value is actually much higher than the cost to attend, citing an overwhelming positive return on investment.  

  • 68% “agree” or “strongly agree” the GLS improved their productivity  
  • 81% “agree” or “strongly agree” the GLS improved their job satisfaction  
  • 74% “agree” or “strongly agree” the GLS improved the quality of their work  
  • 62% “agree” or “strongly agree” the GLS materials helped them teach others about leadership, with an average of 47% other people being trained in the last two years   

Every day, we hear stories about how the Summit has impacted someone’s life, family, relationships, organization or community. To learn more about what has happened as a result of someone attending the Summit, check out those stories here. 

 

2. 2020 ticket prices have been reduced from $209 to $189*. 

As significant pivots have been made this year due to COVID-19, we also decided to adjust to the hardship many people are facing by reducing our ticket prices to a rate we believe will continue to deliver value. Additionally, we have also shifted to providing an interactive, online delivery option to accommodate people where in-person gatherings are not available in their local context. 

If you have found yourself recently unemployed or facing hardship and cannot afford the full ticket rate, please contact our Service Engagement Team at heretoserve@globalleadership.org to discuss potential options. 

 

3. The Global Leadership Network values accessibility and affordability.  

Because we believe everyone has influence, we do not want to let financial constraints get in the way of someone’s opportunity to grow in their leadership. This is why, even against some advice we’ve received to increase prices to match industry standards, we’ve maintained to keep our ticket prices as low as we can without going out of business. The reason? We value accessibility for anyone to attend. 

We believe leadership really matters, not just for those who can afford a $5,000 conference price to attend leadership conference of similar caliber, but also for those who are normally unable to access conferences where expert faculty, like the ones brought in for the GLS, are offering their insights and encouragement.  

For what you can get for $5,000 at another conference, you get at the GLS for significantly less. Additionally, resources and free events are offered throughout the year to support your leadership journey beyond the annual GLS each August. 

 

4. Revenue from ticket sales only supports 60% of our budget to deliver the conference in 2020.  

As with any conference, our ticket sales support technology, staffing, programming, development, online platforms, training, speaker fees and conference materials. But the reality is, our ticket sales in 2020 will only generate 60% of our budget to deliver the conference in 2020.  

“I believe the Summit is the most accessible and applicable leadership opportunity I have ever attended.” – Tracey Beal, Founder of School Connect

Where does the other 40% come from, and why is this important to you? 

The other 40% of our budget is being supported by generous donors and sponsors. This has allowed us to reduce ticket prices and also support ministry efforts to bring the GLS to places where positive leadership is needed most. These ministry efforts include bringing the GLS to 100+ prisons and translating it into 60+ languages to bring it to another 123 countries, including 50% of the world’s poorest countries.  

Additionally, in 2020 the GLS will be brought into homeless shelters, transition homes, at-risk youth and addiction recovery centers at no charge. Why? Because we believe everyone has influence, no matter where they are or where they lead.  

 

5. The GLS is more than an event. 

Since the Global Leadership Network sees the GLS as more than a one-off event, after the GLS in August, the GLN continues to provide free resources, events and opportunities throughout the year for continued leadership growth.  

The reach of the GLS and the leadership support provided by the GLN goes much farther than a typical business leadership conference—there is a heart behind it to serve everyone who has influence, no matter where they are—whether they are a business leader of a major company, a stay-at-home parent, a pastor in rural Honduras, a student at a local high school, a college professor, administrator, entrepreneur, artist, coach, or even someone serving time. 

At the end of the day, we believe leadership centered on love and service has the power to ignite transformation globally. This is why we host The Global Leadership Summit and invite you to be a part of it each year. We believe your leadership matters, especially now.  

Join us at #GLS20 >> 

 

*$189 is the highest individual ticket rate offered in 2020. 

4 Keys to Hold Through Seasons of Change

Posted on June 23, 2020 by - Articles, Change Management, Leading Organizations, Servant Leadership

A business meeting taking place at an office.

 In September 2019, I moved my family from Chicago to California to start a new job. 

These past 8 months have been a joy as Parkcrest Christian Church has welcomed my family and trusted our leadership. We love this congregation.  

These past 8 months have also been filled with immense change.  

Personal and organizational.  

Change that is good, hard and necessary.  

Change that is welcomed and change that is challenged.   

From a personal perspective, my family has had to acclimate to a new school system (with 4 kids under 10) and to find doctors, a dentist and to experiment with different grocery stores.  

From an organizational perspective, my team needed to develop a mission, vision and values statements that were consistent with our DNA. We needed to restructure our staff to better serve that mission and right–size budgets. And just when we were ready to launch the framework, COVID-19 arrived!  

The only consistent over the past 8 months in my life has been change. 

While I did not get everything right in this season, I have experienced four important keys that unlocked my ability to lead and give my teams confidence in the process. 

 

Key #1 Clarity—Know where you’re headed.   

Keep the end in mind. Where is your organization headed? What values are driving you? With clarity, you can see the big picture when it’s difficult and others can’t.   

During change, people will react with support or rejection. With either response, your feelings may go to an extreme place. You may feel that everything is going either right or wrong. Clarity can create markers to measure progress towards the goal. Stay the course. 

 

Key #2 Communication—Know what you need to say and what others need to understand.  

Armed with clarity, you can communicate the problem you’re trying to solve, the vision of why it’s important and the plan to get there. However, sometimes what we intend to say and what others hear are miles apart. In change, it’s easy to miss each other so being on the same page is important.  As leaders, we must reduce the gap between what we say and what our team takes away.  

In the book improv leadership, by Stan Endicott and David Miller, it describes a competency called “metaphor cementing.” Metaphors allows us to move the needle further by helping people see an old thing in a new way. When I use a metaphor, I see a lightbulbs go off even in hard conversations.  

 

Key # 3 Consistency—Be who you will be.   

Have you ever been frustrated with a leader who you don’t “get?” Sometimes she’s up, sometimes she’s down. The culture tends to shift to her “will” and that “will” change at any given moment.  

Forrest Gump reminds us that life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. While it’s fun to get a delicious treat, it’s not fun if the team has to guess who’s coming through the door. Is it the fun leader today or the tyrant? Is it the thoughtful leader or the impulsive one? If people are going to follow, they must trust your character, intentions and decision-making ability. Consistency builds trust and with trust, anything is possible. 

 

Key #4 Compassion—Love your team. The Master Key. 

Change is hard. As leaders who are driving it through organization, it’s easy to focus on what needs to improve. While it’s important to focus on the things that can get better, never lose sight of the people you’re called to serve.   

While my family and I experienced tremendous change this past summer, so did everyone else in the church.   

  • The congregation has experienced a new lead pastor, worship pastor and children’s pastor. Every upfront face is different than a year ago.  
  • The staff has a new manager (me) who came in with different strengths and insecurities that often play out in real time. They built something beautiful before we arrived, and if we lead well, they will continue to build after we are gone.  

So, while this time is exciting, there is grief and uncertainty. It’s vital that leaders see change, not just through their own experience but also through the eyes of the people we serve.   

Compassion is the Master Key. Our teams are not a means to accomplish our goals. They are people who deserve to be cultivated with care.  

 

Over the past 8 months, I’ve learned that change management isn’t about fixing the “other.” Rather, change management is an invitation to take a journey towards understanding how we are being changed together to create a better future for the organization.   

I am different than I was 8 months ago and thankful for my family and a team that trusted me through this process. I’m better because of them. At the end of a healthy change process, we can all progress.   

Use these keys, unlock the doors and create thriving organizations.   

Go get better!  

 

Four Universal Truths About Leading Change

Posted on June 2, 2020 by - Articles, Change Management, Leading Organizations

Busy day. Group of multiracial business people working together in the creative co-working space. Team building concept.

Adapting. Pivoting. Being flexible.

Call it whatever you want, but right now change is the thing that literally none of us have been able to avoid.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across America and the world, we have all been forced on one level or another to change. And it has impacted each of us in very profound, yet different ways.

Restaurants are changing the way they provide dinner to their customers. Movie producers have changed the way they release their movies to the public. Pastors have changed the way they care for their congregations. Production lines have changed what their producing. And the list goes on and on.

When things are changing, those we lead need to understand what’s driving the change and why it’s necessary.

As a leader, I would love to say that this time is no different. That I’ve led change dozens, if not hundreds of times before, and this is just another change that I will lead and manage and find success through. But this change has been different. This change has been exhausting. I have regularly commented that I feel like I’m trying to learn a new job and my days are far busier than they’ve ever been. Maybe you can relate.

While navigating this pandemic, there are some truths we can pull out that are universal when leading change–and these truths are magnified when there is chaos or uncertainty.

1. Change requires leaders to speak with clarity.

When things are changing, those we lead need to understand what’s driving the change and why it’s necessary. Even when things are uncertain, a leader needs to speak with clarity. Clarity leads to confidence. One last thing to note here, clarity does not equal having all the answers. A leader can still be clear and give their people confidence without having all the answers.

 

2. Change requires leaders to feel the pain of their people.

Regularly, change brings pain to those we lead. It may be learning a new way of doing something we’ve done for years. Or, it could be thinking about something or someone in ways we never have before. It can also be the simple fact that they do not agree with the change we’re leading. Leaders should be able to feel that pain. Empathy is a core skill of leadership. Without it, even the best leaders will lack influence. But with it, leaders will be more relatable, and their leadership will be more effective.

 

3. Change requires leaders to filter the criticism.

Notice I didn’t say “ignore” the criticism. As much as I would like to just ignore the criticism that comes my way, an effective leader understands that not all criticism is bad or unfounded. Even when it’s not delivered well, criticism can contain areas of growth. We must be humble enough to be criticized while being tough enough to let go of those who are just being critical.

 

4. Change requires leaders to go first.

There are very few changes an organization faces that does not have an impact on leadership. Change usually happens from the top down. This means that leaders who are leading change are being required to change themselves. Change become especially hard for a leader when it wasn’t their choice. As leaders it’s important that we go first–that we change first. Our people will be able to sense change that we have not adopted for ourselves.

 

We must be humble enough to be criticized while being tough enough to let go of those who are just being critical.

No matter your level of leadership, the industry you find yourself or the economic or social conditions, change is inevitable. Leaders make or break change management which in turn makes or breaks an organization.

When we lead change well, we will find greater team cohesiveness, a stronger foundation for future change and a deeper sense of missional effectiveness.

Never-Before-Done Digital Visitation Experience Reaches Prisons Nationwide

Posted on June 1, 2020 by - Influence, Leading Others, News & Updates, North America, Prison, Stories

Never-Before-Done Digital Visitation Experience Reaches Prisons Nationwide

Coronavirus breeds additional levels of complexity and fear in prison.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us with varying degrees of challenges. Many are struggling, and for some, hope feels unattainable. For the 2.2M people living in incarceration in the U.S., this crisis has added an additional level of complexity, isolation and fear.  

Confined and overcrowded conditions make the coronavirus a particularly lethal threat in prisons for both staff and the incarcerated. Growing feelings of hopelessness, as well as mental and spiritual strain, are evident—especially when correctional facilities began to initiate lockdowns and cancel all visitations in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. Visitation—a lifeline of hope to those serving time—is no more.  

What now? A new vision is born. 

For Josh Smith, Executive Producer of Visitation 2.0 and Founder of 4th Purpose Foundation, who was also formerly incarcerated himself, this global health crisis could have put an immediate halt to his ministry, whose mission is to serve as a catalyst to make prison a place of transformation. When Josh could have given up, God gave him a new vision for a path forward.  

Josh Smith with Inmates“When COVID-19 hit us, it bothered me pretty bad knowing what it’s like in prison,” said Josh. “You see, I was in prison when 9/11 happened. They put us on lockdown, and I lost all visitation.” 

“I battled spiritually and emotionally as I reflected on my experience in prison, and the isolation and fear that I felt,” said Josh. “I complained to the Lord, ‘You gave us a vision to make prison a place for transformation, but now we can’t even get in!’ So, I went to bed at 2 a.m., and at 4 a.m. God woke me up with a new vision. I worked for 2.5 hours, taking vigorous notes. I was really excited, but right after that, reality set in. I thought, What in the world? I don’t know anybody!” 

But God provided. 

…he’d always challenge me with this one quote by Sir Isaac Newton, ’If I’ve seen further than others it’s because I stood on the shoulders of giants.’

“When I was prison, I had a mentor who was this big business guy,” said Josh. “I used to take my ideas to him, and he would chew them up and spit them out. But he’d always challenge me with this one quote by Sir Isaac Newton, ’If I’ve seen further than others it’s because I stood on the shoulders of giants.’ He’d always ask me whose shoulders I was standing on. So, on that morning after I typed up my mission and vision for Visitation 2.0, I wrote the question, ‘Whose shoulders am I standing on?’ The first organization I wrote down is the Global Leadership Network.” 

“When I got connected in partnership with the Global Leadership Network, I was really excited. It was so cool because I had already been bringing all my leaders from my business to The Global Leadership Summit, which I already knew had a global impact. They dove right in, and said, ‘How do we help?’ It’s been faith–building and humbling to say the least!” 

Josh and team develop a never-before-done event. 

Over the last month and a half, Josh and his team developed Visitation 2.0, a digital visitation series of 30–minute episodes providing uplifting, life–changing, Christ–centered support and encouragement, including recordings from contributors across the country, produced as one event series to be played inside prisons across the U.S. and worldwide. The primary purpose? To provide hope to those who are incarcerated, reminding those behind bars they are loved and not forgotten. 

I want them to know that, regardless of their circumstance, they are loved and valued by their Creator.

Featuring music from top Christian and mainstream artists, nationally recognized speakers, and short clips of inspiration from professional athletes, celebrities and political leaders, each episode of the Visitation 2.0 series communicates directly to the prison population, while also providing encouragement to their families and corrections staff alike. This is truly a never-before-done event, providing a singular message of hope with a goal to reach approximately 6,500 prisons across the U.S.! 

“I’m excited to be a part of Visitation 2.0,” said three-time Grammy winner Michael W. Smith. “I’ve always believed music is a universal language that can bring hope and healing. Our brothers and sisters behind bars face many unique challenges, including those caused by the coronavirus. I want them to know that, regardless of their circumstance, they are loved and valued by their Creator. I hope I can bring a message of hope and encouragement that is eternal.” 

In addition to connecting to artists, 4th Purpose Foundation is working diligently behind the scenes to build a network of people across the country who work and serve in corrections. “Prisons and jails are not naturally networked together,” said Dr. Kristi Miller Anderson, Research and Program Officer for the 4th Purpose Foundation. “Some are networked better than others, but basically you’re climbing one mountain at a time 6,000 times. We’ve been working a top–down and bottom–up approach. We’re going to the heads of organizations, and also connecting with prison ministry organizations… and it’s working! As of last month, we are building a database and new network of people who are participating. And we’re working to drive prison transformation through this event for the future as well!” 

Celebrities, artists and nationally recognized speakers donate their talent for the cause. 

Common records message for inmatesIn addition to Josh Smith, the Visitation 2.0 series will have contributions and feature performances from past Global Leadership Summit artists including: Common, Lecrae, Michael Jr., Willow Worship, as well as faculty, Albert Tate and Rick Warren. Additionally, Lauren Daigle, CeCe Winans, Ambassador Andrew Young, We Are Messengers, Luis Palau, Alice Marie Johnson and many more, are joining the lineup daily.   

“When I asked for celebrities and important people to be a part of this, people wondered if I had a need to be around important people, but that’s not the case,” said Josh. “It’s really about having familiar faces saying they’re thinking about you and praying for you. For example, back when Dr. Sam Huddleston found out that the Raiders were coming to his prison while he was incarcerated, he decided to get rid of the razor blade he was going to use to kill himself that night! It really has an impact.” 

One of the most inspiring things about this initiative is that each contributor has donated their time and talent! “Not one person, musician or contributor has been paid a dollar,” said Josh. “Even the licensing is being given to bring this content into the prison system! The generosity we’re witnessing is incredible—the people who are joining us are passionate about this—they are giving it as a gift!” 

Stories of redemption have a ripple effect for more stories of redemption! 

Josh Smith headshotWe are excited about what God will do through this incredible initiative to bring hope to those behind bars. But none of this would be possible without God’s vessel in Josh Smith, whose passion behind 4th Purpose Foundation and Visitation 2.0 is a reflection of his personal redemption story that helps us better understand the heart behind his vision and mission. 

“My father was kicked out and left our state when I was two,” said Josh. “My mother said she could afford good childcare or good housing, but not both. So, we moved to the inner city in government housing. She later married out of the projects. I was then sent away because she feared for my life—I was removed from the home at 11 from the abuse of my stepfather. By the time I was 16 I had ten felonies. I quit high school after the 10th grade and ended up in prison on a drug charge by the age of 21. I had a brand-new wife at the time and a child of my own as well—I didn’t think in a million years that she would stay around.” 

One thing I say often when I speak is, ‘how many people, how much potential, is locked away in prison just waiting on an investment from someone to help unlock it?’

“It was a short time after being in prison when God got a hold of my heart. I surrendered my life to Him in prison. And in that first year, I got to know who God is—I learned how to balance an image of a heavenly father with my picture of what a father had been in my life until now. I saw myself as an entrepreneur, and while I was there, I met some white-collar criminals. There were three or four that really mentored and invested in me. I was an uneducated punk drug dealer, and once I was exposed to the education and mentorship of executives and successful people, I was able to have the necessary tools and information to climb out of poverty. One thing I say often when I speak is, ‘how many people, how much potential, is locked away in prison just waiting on an investment from someone to help unlock it?’” 

“When I got out, my wife was living on welfare and living in government housing and on food stamps. I found myself in the same situation I was in when I was a kid, but this time my mentality had changed, and my trust was in God.”

…we made a covenant not to make more than a certain salary or be worth more than a certain amount of money. 

“My wife had to drive me around while I begged for a $6 an hour job and lived in the half-way house (the county jail). When I was released, we were kicked out of government housing because you can’t be a felon living in government housing. So, we lived in the back house of an in–laws house and scraped what we could.” 

“We started a little business and had a few employees. We grew from a few employees to 20 employees and kept growing. Most of the employees we hired were formerly incarcerated as well.” 

“I didn’t think I’d end up going back to visit prisons, but God called me there. I visited prisons in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, and about 8 years ago I was the first ever formerly incarcerated federal inmate to get an ID badge to come back into the federal system, so I’ve been able to share ministry there as well. At the same time, my business was growing and growing.” 

“Fast forward to last year when the governor asked me to come onto the Criminal Justice Task Force as one of his leaders by the recommendation from others. I agreed.” 

Josh and Tracy Smith with their kids

“Locally people only knew me as a large business owner, but then my story started coming out. About two and a half years ago, my wife and I read the book, Giving it All Away by David Green, the CEO of Hobby Lobby. We actually got to spend the day with he and his wife, and from there we made a covenant not to make more than a certain salary or be worth more than a certain amount of money.”  

“Our company doubled in size! Then when we sold the company, it went over our worth, so we put millions of dollars into the 4th Purpose Foundation with a vision to make prison a place of transformation.” 

In this incredible story of redemption, Josh Smith and his wife Tracy, are driven to reshape reality for those who are incarcerated through 4th Purpose Foundation and are now providing a message of hope through the new initiative, Visitation 2.0.  

You too can be a part of contributing a message of hope! 

The Visitation 2.0 series, which premiered in May 2020, also includes personal messages from friends, family members and other supporters interspersed throughout the program. For those interested in contributing a message of hope, you can upload your own short video to express support and encouragement. You can also share and engage with Visitation 2.0 content across social media platforms using #Visitation2.0 and #WeAreComingToVisit.  

“We encourage anyone interested in supporting our brothers and sisters behind bars to upload their own video to the 4th Purpose website,” said Josh Smith. “It’s easy to do, and we want to share as many messages of love and support as possible!” 

To upload your own Visitation 2.0 video message, click here. 

The Global Leadership Network is proud to partner with Josh Smith and 4th Purpose Foundation to bring this program into as many prisons as possible! In addition to Prison Fellowship, another partner of the Global Leadership Network, the list of other partnering organizations continues to grow with the goal of distributing episodes of the Visitation 2.0 series to more than 6,500 prisons and jails (including juvenile detention centers) across the U.S.  

For details on how to get the content into your local prison, click here.

Episode 073: Chris Voss on Facing Fear In Uncertain Situations

Posted on May 20, 2020 by - Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Leading Others, Podcasts

The Global Leadership Summit Podcast

Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads.

 

SUMMARY:

On May 5, 2020, the GLSnext Event Series hosted Chris Voss for a highly-relevant online event on Facing Fear in Uncertain Situations. Drawing upon 24-years of real-life experience as an FBI hostage negotiator, Chris shared seven key relational intelligence strategies that he used to lead people through unpredictable and fear-filled situations. If the team you lead, or anyone in your life, is struggling with fear in this season, this can’t-miss episode will help you calm the situation and help them move forward.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • This coronavirus situation feels a bit like the movie Groundhog Day–the same day over and over. The point of the movie was that Bill Murray’s character just needed to get a little bit better every day.
  • As an FBI hostage negotiator, I had to lead when I wasn’t in charge. Stressful and unrelenting situations call for a more relationally-intelligent type of leadership.
  • The definition of stress is that it’s overwhelming and unrelenting. Unrelenting means you don’t know when it is going to be over.

1) Don’t pay attention to the media.

  • The media heightens your awareness of the bad going on in the world.

 

2) Communicate in a late-night FM DJ voice.

  • A low, calm voice causes an involuntary response with the neurons in your brain that reassures people and calms them down.

 

3) Say, “I want you to be scared.”

  • Telling people to be scared actually snaps them back to a rational mindset. It actually causes them to think of all the reasons they should be scared.
  • The quickest way to de-activate fear is to call it out.

 

4) Instead of saying, “We’re all in this together” say, “I know you’re scared.”

  • We want people to know we are with them, but telling them we are with them is not an effective way to soothe their fears.
  • If someone is in quicksand, it doesn’t do any good for you to get into the quicksand with them.
  • Instead, say, “I know you’re scared.” This is what I did with kidnap victims.
  • In low-stress situations, you can be more tentative with your words (i.e. “it seems…”) but in high-stress situations people want to know that you know.
  • Use phrases like this: “I know you’re scared.” “I know you’re angry.” “I know you feel alone, abandoned and isolated.” These phrases communicate “I’m with you” more than just saying “I’m with you.”

 

5) Don’t say. “but …”

  • If the word “but” is getting ready to cross your lips, it’s a good time to go silent. Nobody wants you to put your “but” in their face.
  • Instead go quiet and let your words of understanding sink in.

 

6) Call out negative emotions.

  • It reduces fear to call out fear.
  • Start a difficult conversation by calling out all of the things the other person might be feeling—anger, disappointment, fear.
  • Calling out the negative emotions gives you the best chance of mitigating fear.

 

7) Create predictability.

  • In crisis, trust = predictability.
  • You may not know when or if you are going to have good news, but you can relieve people of some stress by letting them knowing when they are going to hear from you again.

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Take a few minutes to reflect on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting your leadership right now.

  • What situations are concerning you?
  • How are the key people in your life responding?

 

 

2. With the situation(s) you identified above in mind, go through the seven tips on how to lead in stressful, unrelenting situations. Which one would be most relevant for you to try right now?

  • Don’t pay attention to the media
  • Use a late-night FM DJ voice
  • Say, “I want you to be scared.”
  • Don’t say, “We’re in this together”. Instead say, “I know you’re scared.”
  • Don’t say, “But…”
  • Call out negative emotions
  • Create predictability

 

 

3. What would it look like for you to implement that one tip in the situation you identified? Make a plan to try that tip today!

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

COVID-19 Crisis of 2020

FBI Hostage Negotiator

Groundhog Day

Bill Murray

Elephant in the Room

Suicide Hotline

Department of State

RELATED LINKS:

Chris Voss

Black Swan Group

FBI

Never Split the Difference

The Global Leadership Summit