Leader as Chief Talent Officer

I'm starting to really "get it" regarding the importance of having talented people on your team. Now that I say that, it sounds very obvious however it's more top of mind for me now than it ever has been. As a result, I'm spending more time on talent issues that I have in the past.

What got me thinking about talent? Frankly it was something of a lucky break. On last year's board we had somebody who had to leave after a couple of months, in part due to medical reasons. And so we advertised for replacement for her role, and soon found ourselves with two amazing candidates. And so we took them both on the board, creating an additional role.

Both of these people have shown me how powerful it is to have talented people on your team. The most obvious "before and after" case has to do with our events chair. Prior to her arrival, our organization had done a reasonably good job of putting on an annual conference, but had absolutely struggled with doing medium-sized monthly events. It had been talked about for a long time, but nobody really knew how to do them. Sometimes they would be tried with mixed results, but more often than not, nothing happened.

Then our new events chair join the team and very soon after put together a "Winter social" event at a local gallery. She wrote the description in a certain way, she found just the right venue, and she leverage the contact to bring great wine. I was cautiously optimistic about the event, and then absolutely blown away when we had about 50 people attend. Prior to that, if we'd had 20 people show up we would have considered it a success. In the three events that she's organized since then have been similarly dynamic and well attended.

Now I have to tell you that in my first year on the board, I was the events chair. I really didn't know how to do it and neither did anyone else on the board, and so in terms of monthly events, the things I tried didn't go very well. Just consider that this is the same organization, the same community, just a different events chair and the events are like night and day in terms of their success. Clearly there is something that she knows that makes a difference.

But for my role as board president, I'm getting more and more clear about how critical it is for me to develop the talent that is on the board, and also to help recruit the best talent I can find for next year's board. Although the success of the organization ultimately depends on the degree to which we can engage the community in our organization, the board will be the ones leading the charge in making that happen.

Better talent --- better results.

“The President’s Binder”

Consider the idea in your position as a leader, that the organization you lead will be around much longer than your tenure. After you go, eventually, the wheels on the bus will keep turning. No big deal, right? Your team will remain, the learnings of your business will be passed on.

But now consider that at some point in the future, perhaps sooner than you think, everybody on your executive team will have moved on. Now the question is whether the insights that you’ve gained, as individuals and as a team, will be passed along in a useful way for consideration by a future team. And if not, why won’t that future team just run into the same old problems, and try the same old solutions?

On June 1^st I stepped into a one year team as board president for a Bay Area professional network. One of the traditions of our board is that the outgoing and incoming presidents meet for a meal to do the handover of “The President’s Binder.” And with the words “Paul, now this binder is in your hands,” Andrew had the biggest smile I’ve seen in the three years I’ve known him. I imagine he felt lighter—Andrew was in fact president of the organization for the past two years.

In looking through the binder, it really came home to me that several generations of boards (which for our organization are really combined boards/management teams) had done all of the things that we’re doing. They’d done strategic planning, created visions for the future, and put a lot of work into the organizations. What struck me was how few of the initiatives had “took hold” and resulted in lasting programs or infrastructure. And so I had to ask myself “what happened?” as well as “why will my year be any different?”

A unique challenge for non-profit boards is that in California, board terms are limited to three years. This is great in that it keeps the board fresh and changing, however it creates a big challenge for organizational learning. Although all organizations face this in one way or another, the three year turnover is striking.

I’ve created a shared succession planning worksheet that projects the membership of the board in future years. In June of 2012, everybody from the current board will be gone. Will they be building on the work we’re doing now, or will they do something totally different? Will they be moving forward, or stumbling over the same challenges that we’re solving right now?

And so this brings me back to the binder. It is if anything a reality check for an incoming leader—it is humbling to see all that’s been tried before. I see it as my duty as the current president to add to the binder so that future boards can benefit from the learnings that we’re going through every day.

One tool I'm using, among several otheres, to meet this need to pass along these learnings, is an online archive. The way it works is that we simply forward key emails to a special email address, and have those emails kept in a secure, searchable archive. In this way, I hope to create an online “binder” for future boards to add to and reference.

Having said that, I think that the tradition of the “passing of the binder” should remain. An online archive has many advantages, but being handed a binder that’s a decade old? That hits home.

Let’s face it: People can tell.

I’ve been playing with the idea, recently, that nothing is really “hidden.” That at a deep level, that which we think we can hide from the world, from other people is actually “out there.” And it can be detected, if not consciously, then subconsciously, by those around us.

Wow, so if there’s truth to this, it’s a game changer. Why? Well for one, it means that “fake it till you make it” and “don’t say you’re nervous, nobody can tell” are…risky. Both of these strategies assume that such deception works, and is effective.

Take for example the case of a leader who is worried about the viability of their business given the economy. (Not much of a stretch, is it?) Such a leader could be outwardly very upbeat, while inwardly worried. I propose that rather than reassuring or inspiring people, such deception will cause more worry.

People pick up on the subtle tension, and when they realize that the outward surface message doesn’t match the more subtle signs, then they really get worried.

That “something is a bit off here” sense can go in any number of directions. Such projections could be personalized, as in “Did I do something wrong?” Or they could lead to paranoia, like “What are you hiding?” Or even a more subtle sense that “something just isn’t right.”

But the solution isn’t as simple as a leader vocalizing every worrying thought in their head. Such thoughts are too easy to take out of context, and amplify into a more worried team that gets paralyzed or starts looking for an exit.

So what is the art of leadership in tough times? I believe the art as a leader is to get clarity on what I see going on around me, how it’s impacting me, and where I see opportunities to move forward. These days it might sound like “Yes, the economy is bad. Yes this could have a serious impact on our business. Yes I don’t like it, and I am worried. Here are my ideas on how we move forward.”

I assert that such authenticity, paired with thoughtful introspection and planning, is reassuring and inspiring to a group. Although hard truth can be initially frightening, it is ultimately compelling, and critical to turning a corner.

So the next time that you approach a difficult issue with your group, ask yourself:

“Am I trying to hide something? If so, how will that go over when it’s detected?”
“How can I be authentic about this challenge, while also being progressive about a solution to it?”

Authenticity is more than a good idea—it’s a law. And there is a body of very interesting research on how well people are able to deceive others. More on that later.

The blog is back

Wow, a lot has happened in six months. A new president, a new financial crisis. And I've been busy, as well.

Eran and I have been working hard to form future research and teaching directions for Supportive Listening.

I have also been very actively involved as a board member of the Bay Area Organization Development Network. It is very exciting to see the organization become more active and vibrant.

In the midst of this activity, I've realized that I do miss the blog. The freshness faded, but now it's back! I have things to write about.

The Fruits of Staying Neutral in the Triangle

A recent New York Times article about Barack Obama’s time at the University of Chicago Law school got me thinking about triangles.

The article talks about how Senator Obama would listen carefully to the two sides of an argument (the base of the triangle), but stay neutral to those two sides (as the top of the triangle).

Early in the article Richard Epstein, a former colleague is quoted:
“His entire life, as best I can tell, is one in which he’s always been a thoughtful listener and questioner, but he’s never stepped up to the plate and taken full swings.”

And later on the article states:
When two fellow faculty members asked him to support a controversial antigang measure, allowing the Chicago police to disperse and eventually arrest loiterers who had no clear reason to gather, Mr. Obama discussed the issue with unusual thoughtfulness, they say, but gave little sign of who should prevail.

A couple of things strike me here.

The first is the potential power of being that neutral presence between two opposing – and even polarized – parties. In being a skilled neutral presence and a good listener, one could bring the discussion to another level by giving both sides a generous audience with which to clarify their thoughts.

Is a heated argument really helped by having more people to argue one side or the other with added eloquence or conviction? I doubt it – give me a great listener any day and the process has a much better chance of moving forward.

The second thing that strikes me is that Senator Obama’s neutrality is regarded with a certain disdain. As if it’s a sin to be neutral on an issue. Yet I wonder if taking stands comes at a cost, and as such is an endeavor to take on carefully and intentionally. “Pick your battles” if you will

I could see how such a positioning could be seen as frustrating for an intellectual, and yet be very pragmatic. It leaves me to wonder if I too readily take stands, especially on polarized issues, and that what cost. Perhaps I can benefit from more often being neutral in the triangle.

Leadership, community, and reaching out

One of my passions is dancing in Argentine tango. And because it “takes two to tango” dancing tango means being part of the tango community. I have had the opportunity to visit and be a part of many different tango communities, and I’ve begun puzzling over why one community feels so different from the next.

I don’t have “the answer” but I have noticed something. In every community there are people who are the de facto leaders – because they are organizers, or they have been around for a long time, or they are exceptionally talented. And the way in which they interact with the rest of the community, especially new people, has a big impact on the vibe of the group.

I was recently visiting Eran in Philadelphia and we went out to a milonga. Within about five minutes of my arrival, a kindly Italian gentleman introduced himself and asked me where I was from. He was extremely welcoming, friendly, and encouraging.

Furthermore he checked back with me through the night a couple of times to see how I was feeling. It isn’t always easy to walk into a room full of strangers, and so getting a good welcome makes a big difference. And I’ve found that as the evening progressed, most people there were also pretty friendly. I believe that the leaders of this community had set the tone.

So what does this mean for me as the leader? I naturally tend to be a bit introverted. And so it wouldn’t be my first impulse as a de facto community leader to reach out to people, introduced myself, and help them get comfortable in the room. And yet it can make such a huge difference for helping a nice community to get rolling.

Leaders can make a big difference for a community by setting a norm of being welcoming and reaching out – connecting.