Discover the Power of You: How to Cultivate Change for Positive and Productive Cultures
248
Discover the Power of You: How to Cultivate Change for Positive and Productive Cultures
248Paperback
-
SHIP THIS ITEMTemporarily Out of Stock Online
-
PICK UP IN STORE
Your local store may have stock of this item.
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781785355912 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Business Books |
| Publication date: | 08/25/2017 |
| Pages: | 248 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.36(w) x 8.58(h) x 0.56(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
A - Affirmative and Adaptive Cultures
The philosopher Herbert Marcuse says, in The Affirmative Character of Culture, that an affirmative culture has 'right on its side.' This must be good news then for everyone out there with an affirmative 'default' leadership style.
Affirmative leaders tend to have key strengths around being positive like having an open-door policy, showing empathy, building a sense of loyalty through praise and acknowledgment of others contributions. These are great attributes for building successful teams.
There is much to learn from the example of affirmative leaders. Especially for those leaders who are more 'resolute' or 'commanding.' Simple things, like:
• saying 'thank you',
• watching your facial expressions – especially those judgmental looks,
• saying 'good morning',
• and taking the time to give other pleasant greetings.
David Petraeus, retired four-star general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency describes an affirmative model of leadership, founded on an assumption that the vast majority of people want to do the best that they can, as one that "inspires those an individual lead to do just that, to do their best to 'be all that they can be.' It's a style or approach that's very conscious in conveying a respect for the individual ... and that conveys that the leader looks forward to confirming the excellence of those he is privileged to lead."
Research clearly shows that productivity increases and turnover rates decrease the more affirmative traits the leader shows.
So it's all good news then?
Well, unfortunately not. Before we go patting ourselves on the back too much we might want to consider that all default settings blind us to other approaches. DISC personality profiling has much to offer here in directing our thinking around effective leadership and default styles. Whether you are a D (Dominant), I (Influencer), S (Steady) or C (Conscientious), or more likely a 'blend' of two or more of these personality traits, you will already have identified some of your own key strengths and weaknesses. But with heightened levels of self-awareness these can be greatly refined to ensure a broader field of leadership responses and approaches.
It is not uncommon, due to their need for harmony, for high affirmative leaders to be slow to address conflict situations and underperformance which can then spiral out of control resulting in a culture of aggression or underachievement. The very opposite of what they were aiming for.
An example of this from my own experience was when I was brought in as a consultant to work with a highly affirmative senior manager whose department had just been inspected by Ofsted and judged to 'require improvement.' Initially the lead team had assumed the issue to be one of insufficiently good teachers which could be quickly turned around through a suite of CPD events and some new blood. It didn't take long though before the real issues came bubbling to the surface; a senior manager who wouldn't address performance management issues that led to a split between those who 'played the game' and those who had to pick up the shortfall, resulting in back biting and a loss of focus on the needs of the learners; and a lack of Governance scrutiny that had allowed this situation to escalate.
So affirmative leaders need to learn a thing or two from their 'resolute' or 'commanding' peers around challenge and pace. What does this mean practically? For a high 'affirmative' leader the key learning points are;
• to take control and draw that line in the sand,
• accept and see the flaws in others,
• hold people to account,
• meet resistance head on,
• seek out inefficiencies,
• and accept that 'good enough' is not always good enough.
So while Marcuse may be correct in his assertion that affirmative culture has 'right on its side', this is only half the story for an affirmative leader. The practical implications for the business or organization of an affirmative leader taking on board the key learning points noted above is immense when matched to their natural people orientated approach. This is the real strength Petraeus describes when he matches adaptive to affirmative leadership.
In my experience and through the direct research carried out for this book I found very little recognition around the need for 'adaptive' practices. Likewise, there appears to be a lack of understanding or belief in any real ability individuals have to impact on the prevailing culture, let alone cultivate the culture one might desire. In the minds of most leaders and managers I've spoken to culture shapes individuals but individuals (other than the leader) do not impact on the prevailing culture.
This more than anything has emphasized for me the need for more clarity and greater understanding of culture and cultural cultivation at all levels, including at the most senior level, and therefore the benefit of adaptive practices.
So how do we develop an understanding of our 'default' leadership styles and how do we adapt our styles to the requirements of the situation? In short, through the development of self-awareness.
Research shows that while people join an organization, they leave their managers. To minimize conflict, reduce wastage through high turnover and so missed potential for the profitability of your business we (as leaders) need to build our levels of self-awareness (the practical steps to this will be discussed later in this book, in section M).
Self-reflection
In the meantime, here are a few useful questions you might like to ask yourself as an individual and as a leader:
• Am I trusted by others?
• Am I sensitive to the needs of others?
• Am I aware of the impact I have on others?
• Do I encourage people to be candid with me without worry of repercussions?
An affirmative culture then is the key platform in which to build from, but insufficient on its own to cover all eventualities. For this we require an adaptive stance. Adaptiveness however can only be effective if derived at from a position of self-awareness that better directs your own actions within a given situation. This resonates well with myself and a comparison between two situations might illustrate this point well:
Situation One
I had taken over the quality department in a college early on in my career. Issues had been identified around a member of the quality team. I had been informed she was 'not up to the job' but no one to date had taken responsibility for dealing with the issue. I started with an affirmative approach; laid out my expectations and that staff would want to reach those expectations, put into place training and support mechanisms, and monitored the situation. Nothing changed and so I reiterated my expectations, laid on more training and heightened our one-to-one support sessions. Nothing changed. I reiterated ... By now the rest of the team's underlying frustrations had surfaced. Tensions had risen. Sniping was the order of the day. Sickness levels rose and work suffered overall. And I reiterated ...
Situation Two
I had taken over the role of Director of the business facing department at a large college. The department was underperforming against income targets, learner success rates and was no longer a financially viable entity. My naturally affirmative and people orientated approach came to the fore as I brought the staff together to better understand what had gone wrong. On the one hand I could see a level of frustration in a naturally 'selling' team - leaders who had been forced to stay office bound to manage the team. This changed and she became the key externally facing partnership manager. And on the other hand I could see a level of disengagement from a number of staff who no longer had any bond with the organization. I now recognized the need to address this quickly and that my natural 'default' affirmative position was not called for here. I set up speedy HR intervention that resulted in these staff being managed out of the organization and replaced by new, fresh and enthusiastic staff. The result being increased business, improved success for learners, subsequent repeat business, enhanced referrals and a department that was financially viable within the year.
Knowing your default approach and having the self-awareness to understand when this default approach is appropriate and when not, I now believe, is the fundamental starting point for decisions around cultivating the positive and productive cultures we wish to immerse ourselves in. This therefore is the basis from which my A to Z Framework builds.
My key learning point:
I had taken on an affirmative stance when I was younger as a means to convince my Mum everything would be 'ok.' Although I now see this was really done as a way of getting her attention and recognition for myself
We need to know our 'default' approach from which to adapt to suit current and changing needs.
What is your key learning point?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 2
B - Buddhist Cultures
I 'don't know' can be a frightening concept, yet these are the most important words in Buddhism. For Buddhists 'don't know' is an exciting place to be. This is the place of great focus and potentiality. Keeping 'don't know' in mind brings us back to our 'beginners' mind where we can better focus on 'just doing', so when we are eating we just eat, when we are walking we just walk, when we are working we just work and when we are listening we just listen.
'Don't know' warns us not to be limited by what we think we already know.
From a Western perspective we often see 'don't know' as a weakness, an absence of knowledge, or philosophically a question of knowledge;
• What do we know?
• Who is this 'we' who thinks they know?
• Why do we need to know?
• How do we know it?
Whichever of these questions most resonates with you will indicate a preferred way of looking at things. This in turn will indicate your 'default' personality trait - whether that be Dominant, Influencer, Steady or Conscientious. The implication of this default personality trait when we are in a 'don't know' position can be profound.
For a high D
Dominant personalities tend to have a need to be in charge, so not knowing can appear to undermine their position of authority.
A useful response here might be "Based on what we know now; my thoughts are ..."
A 'don't know' response from others can appear to a D as a blockage and not solutions focused. 'Don't know' will almost certainly be seen as impacting negatively on the bottom-line, but actually offers a great opportunity for challenge (as well as the potential for failure).
For a high I
Influencer personalities tend to have a need for recognition, so not knowing can be a difficult or exciting place to be, one that might lead to a loss of popularity if they do not have the required knowledge, or the opportunity for great innovation.
A useful response here might be "Lets brainstorm."
A 'don't know' response from others can appear to an I as too negative. 'Don't know' could come across as impacting negatively on the enthusiasm of the team, but offers great opportunities for incentives and the fun of new learning and exploration.
For a high S
Steady personalities tend to have a need for security, so not knowing can appear to upset the established harmony.
A useful response here might be "Let's reflect on the options."
A 'don't know' response from others could appear to an S as confrontational and not team orientated. 'Don't know' might also be seen as impacting negatively on the traditional way of doing things, but offers great opportunities for collaboration (while raising the potential for unease and insecurity).
For a high C
Conscientious personalities tend to have a need for clearly defined explanations, so not knowing can appear to undermine their position in knowing and being right.
A useful response here might be "I don't currently have that information to hand. I'll find out."
A 'don't know' response from others could appear to a C as sloppy and lacking in detail. 'Don't know' will almost certainly be seen as impacting negatively on quality and being able to do things right, but offers great opportunities for future planning and working out the proper way to do something (while also raising the fear of risk taking and making mistakes).
Uncertainty, ambiguity and being stuck
Lots of research has been carried out around the issues of uncertainty and ambiguity, and especially how leaders respond in situations of uncertainty and ambiguity; of not knowing. You only have to think about Jerry Rhodes 'Effective Intelligence', John Holland's work on 'Complex Adaptive Systems', David Snowden's work using the 'Cynefin Framework', or Ralph Stacey's 'Model of Uncertainty' to name but a few.
The perceptions of uncertainty, the ability to deal with different levels of ambiguity and the degree to which individuals and groups show uncertainty avoidance will differ, partly due to personality and partly due to individual and group learned experiences; all of which can be learned, unlearned, transferred and reinforced. What is certain though is the difficulties many find when faced with uncertainty (we will elaborate on this aspect in section F) and yet as Charles Sheen said,
"Uncertainty is a sign of humility, and humility is just the ability or the willingness to learn."
It might be worth asking yourself at this point; What do you do when you or your team 'don't know' what the next step in your life or for your business should be?
One of the key issues for a place of uncertainty and 'I don't know' is the accompanying feeling of being 'stuck.' This can vary from being stuck in the same old rut, working in the same old ways, with the same old people, and the same old problems. Or it might be stuck because you are confronted with new ways of doing things, new approaches, new people who expect things done differently, new problems. The two most common ways of dealing with being stuck is to take a fight or flight approach;
1 To attack it head on. Any action is better than no action approach that too often results in misdirection, loss of focus, energy and resources that can lead to competitor advantage, or financial ruin for you as an individual or the business.
2 To avoid the issue. The old sticking your head in the sand and hope it goes away approach that too often results in personal and business stagnation and decline.
As creatures of habit being stuck can actually be relatively comfortable for many people, especially when accompanied with a feeling of 'I do know.' But unless we expand our field of comfort through the occasional stretch and challenge our comfort zone soon becomes our prison zone. Our habits become our limiting beliefs (as we discussed in the Introduction) and our successes can only ever be fixed in a static environment and more likely declining in a changing dynamic business setting.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Discover the Power of You"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Robert Adams.
Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface,
Part One,
Introduction,
Whose personality is it anyway?,
Whose culture is it anyway?,
Values, beliefs, purpose, leadership and culture,
DISC personality profiling,
My A to Z Framework – an overview,
Part Two,
A to Z,
Chapter One A - Affirmative and Adaptive Cultures (affirmative leadership and adaptiveness),
Chapter Two B - Buddhist Cultures (I don't know, uncertainty and ambiguity),
Chapter Three C - Creative Cultures (creativity and culture revisited),
Chapter Four D - Diverse Cultures (the business benefits of equality and diversity),
Chapter Five E - Energizing Cultures (energizing leadership, change and growth),
Chapter Six F - Fractious Cultures (fear and blame, conflict and trust),
Chapter Seven G - Grow Great Cultures (moving beyond conflict to growth),
Chapter Eight H - Humane Cultures (compassion in the work place and team development),
Chapter Nine I - Inspirational Cultures (freedom and story-telling),
Chapter Ten J - Judicious Cultures (wise men and women as social agents, organisational personalities),
Chapter Eleven K - Killer Cultures (self-reflection and energy flows),
Chapter Twelve L - Leadership Cultures (leadership styles and DISC leaders),
Chapter Thirteen M - Mindfulness Cultures (self-awareness and self-mastery),
Chapter Fourteen N - Noble Cultures (some DISC questions),
Chapter Fifteen O - Oops Cultures (pragmatism, the GROW model),
Chapter Sixteen P - Purposeful Cultures (motivation and the DISC styles),
Chapter Seventeen Q - Queer Cultures (leaders and followers),
Chapter Eighteen R - Reframing Cultures (communication and DISC),
Chapter Nineteen S - Safer Cultures (change revisited, the Paradox),
Chapter Twenty T - Transpersonal Cultures (sub-personalities, fulfilling our deeper needs),
Chapter Twenty-one U - Understanding Cultures (listening with sincerity, becoming unstuck),
Chapter Twenty-two V - Visionary Cultures (DISC blends and cultivating positive change),
Chapter Twenty-three W - Win-Win Cultures (nurturing abundance, neighbourliness),
Chapter Twenty-four X - Xenagogue Cultures (the great guides and new story-lines),
Chapter Twenty-five Y - Yen Cultures (growth, queer youth and the gift),
Chapter Twenty-six Z - Zazzy Cultures (consciousness, sustainability and values revisited),
Part Three,
Pulling it all together,
Parting Comments,
Suggested Reading List,