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Definition of leadership
“Leadership is authentic influence that creates value.”
• Authenticity: Well-developed self-awareness that openly
faces strengths, vulnerabilities, and development
challenges.
• Influence: Meaningful communication with people by
reminding self and others what is genuinely important.
• Value Creation: Passion and aspiration to serve multiple
constituencies—self, team, organization, world, family,
community—to sustain performance and contribution
over the long term.
Source: Cashman, K. (2008). Leadership from the Inside Out, 2nd Ed. San Francisco
CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, p. 24.
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Leader development starts with yo
“What a long time it can take
to become the person one has always
been!
How often in the process we mask
ourselves
In faces that are not our own.

How much dissolving and shaking of

ego we must endure before we discover
our deep identity
– the true self
that is within every human being
that is the seed of authentic vocation.”
What do you see? What can you see? P. Palmer (2000)

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The limitations of perception

“Reality is nothing
more than a
collective hunch.”

Lily Tomlin

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Perceptions, Prisms, and “VABEs”
We do not see things as they
are; we see them as we are.”
The Talmud

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What do you see?

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What do you see?

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What’s this a picture of?

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Believing is seeing
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would
appear as it is….William Blake, “The Marriage of heaven and Hell”

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 My “prism”

Too Good to Be
True
• Childhood lessons learned
Individual • Beliefs, assumptions, and
values Legitimate,
• Formal theories and Proper, and
systems of thought Acceptable
• Paradigms
• Societal culture
Questionable,

V
Illegitimate,
and
Unacceptable

VABE
s
Adapted from: Marshak, R. J. Covert processes at work: Managing the five hidden dimensions
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of organizational change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, p. 23.
Group discussion: VABEs
What VABEs do you have about you as a leader & how leadership is
actualized at work?

You as a HR Official Leadership at Work

Values
Assumptions
Beliefs
Expectations

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“Managerium” Mm
New element for the periodic table:

The heaviest element known to science is Managerium. This element

has no protons or electrons, but has a nucleus composed of 1
neutron, 2 vice-neutrons, 5 junior vice-neutrons, 25 assistant vice-
neutrons, and 125 junior assistant vice-neutrons all going round in
circles.
Managerium has a half-life of three years at which time it does not
decay but institutes a series of reviews leading to reorganization. Its
molecules are held together by means of the exchange of tiny
particles known as morons.

Source: Unknown
[From: Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., and Lamper, J. (2010). Management? It’s not
what you Think! New York, AMACOM, p. 29.]
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 Bottom line, it appears that we humans are not the
rational, objective decision makers we believe we are. We
are prone to systemic biases that can derail our decision
making that we may not even be aware of this fact until its
too late.

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 Common Biases and Errors
Selective perception results in “shortcuts” in judging that results in
common biases and errors including:
 Selective Perception - A perceptual filtering process based on
interests, background, and attitude. May allow observers to draw
unwarranted conclusions
Halo Effect - Drawing a general impression based on a single
characteristic
Contrast Effects - Our reaction is influenced by others we have
recently encountered
Stereotyping - Judging someone on the basis of the perception of
the group to which they belong

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 Common Biases and Errors (cont.)
Overconfidence Bias - As managers and employees become
more knowledgeable about an issue, the more likely they are to
display overconfidence
Anchoring Bias - A tendency to fixate on initial information and
fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information
Confirmation Bias - Seeking out information that reaffirms our
past choices and discounting information that contradicts past
judgments

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 Common Biases and Errors (cont.)
Availability Bias - The tendency to base judgments on
information that is readily available
Escalation of Commitment - Staying with a decision even when
there is clear evidence that it is wrong
Hindsight Bias - The tendency to believe falsely that we could
have accurately predicted the outcome of an event after that
outcome is already known
Can you think of others? What biases, either perceptual or
decision-making, do you find you use most commonly?

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Learning, unlearning, and relearning

Unlearning

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How we address…
Technical Challenges
• Skill or information
• Take a course
• Read a book
• Adds a new domain to your
repertoire
• Modify previous action to
get new result (single-loop
learning)
• Growth, tools, tips
Adaptive Challenges
• Awareness or mindset
• Shift of perspective
• Make meaning of a situation
differently
• Skills alone not sufficient
• Reflect
• Development
• Transformation
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Examples…
Technical Problems
• Learning the subject matter of
a new account
• Mapping the social network in
a new environment
• Understanding the rules for
financial disclosures
• Identifying quality standards
for your product area
• “Tradecraft”(skills)
Adaptive Challenges
• Beginning to seek out and
accept other people’s views
• Developing attention to
longer-term goals and
outcomes
• Shifting from an either/or to
a both/and mindset
• Comprehending the
interplay of more complex
systems
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Your turn

•Unlearning Exercise
•Making Sense Exercise

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Unlearning Exercise

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“Being willing to change allows you
to move from a point of view…

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…to a viewing point—a higher, more expansive
place, from which you can see both sides.”
Thomas Crum

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Two kinds of learning
Transformational
(vertical) learning
changes the form of what
you know, giving you a
bigger perspective

Informational
(horizontal) learning
increases the amount you
know
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Humans resist vertical/transformational
development
• Humans are hard-wired to desire consistent approaches to
managing life
• We have a biological imperative to achieve states of
symmetry, completion, and closure STAGE

• This gives us a sense of stability and predictability in the

world STAGE
• Consequence: successful perspectives tend to resist
being changed
STAGE
• Vertical development can feel like a loss of Self as I
transition from one meaning-making system to another and
you begin to see that you are not who you think youSTAGE are
(includes a grieving process)
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Source: “Stages of Adult Thinking,” Steve Frieman presentation to OPM, February 2010
Creative and reactive

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Two structures of mind

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Creative competencies

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 “The wise man doesn’t give the right answers,
he poses the right questions.” Claude Levi-Strauss
Have you ever been asked a great question? Can
you think of a great question that you asked
someone?

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The power of inquiry…

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See Systems

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Leadership is a relationship

“Smile and the world smiles with you.”

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Emotional and social intelligence

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 Today’s Knowledge Workers
Great listener Blank wall
Encourager Doubter
Communicator Secretive
Courageous Intimidating
Sense of humor Bad temper
Shows empathy Self-centered
Decisive Indecisive
Takes responsibility Blames
Humble Arrogant
Shares authority Mistrusts
Who would you work best for?

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Emotional and Social Intelligence

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Emotional Intelligence model

SELF OTHERS …the characteristics that help us deliver

– individually and through others –
AWARENESS

Self Social
Awareness Awareness
 working co-operatively
 addressing and resolving conflict
 influencing individuals and groups
 motivating a colleague
ACTIONS

 inspiring a team
Self Relationship
Management Management  developing or mentoring others

Performance
Self-awareness

The “heart” of EI:

Self Social
 Awareness of your emotions Awareness Awareness

 Insight into their impact on your

performance

 Honesty in your positive and

negative biases Self Relationship
Management Management

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Values define the culture of the
organization

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 Your Turn…at work

Assumptions Values Behaviors Outcomes

1. In silence identify 2-3 values you would like to see at work.

2. Identify the corresponding behaviors exemplified.
3. What is the outcome. Be specific
4. Discuss at your tables - use flip charts (value – behavior – outcome)
5. Group Discussion - Is this what you need to achieve organizational performance?
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Mindful leadership
“The pursuit of mindful leadership will help you achieve
clarity about what is important to you and a deeper
understanding of the world around you. Mindfulness will
help you clear away the trivia and needless worries about
unimportant things, nurture passion for your work and
compassion for others, and develop the ability to
empower the people in your organization.”
– Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business
School, 2012

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The mind, body, brain connection
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Cultivating presence

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Theory U: The power of presence

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Meditation-based mindfulness practice

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The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

- The Buddha
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Self-management

The “fire and the brakes”

Self Social
Awareness Awareness
 Self-control – especially under
pressure

 The energy to do your best

 Openness to change and new

Self Relationship
ideas
Management Management

 Persistence – despite
obstacles and setbacks

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Social awareness
Tuning in by:

Self Social  Sensing others’ feelings and

Awareness Awareness perspectives

 Reading the organization – the

influencers, the networks and
the dynamics

Self Relationship Compassion automatically invites you to

Management Management relate with people, because you no longer
regard people as a drain on your energy.
They recharge your energy, because in the
process of relating with them, you
acknowledge your wealth, your richness.
- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
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Relationship management

Making a difference:
Self Social
Awareness Awareness
 Turning conflict into agreement

 Collaborating with others

 Having a positive impact

Self Relationship  Bringing out the best in others

Management Management
 Bringing people together to get the
job done

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EI competencies

• Emotional Self • Empathy

Awareness Self Social • Organizational
Awareness Awareness Awareness

• Achievement Orientation Self Relationship

• Conflict Management
• Adaptability Management Management
• Coach and Mentor
• Emotional Self-Control • Influence
• Positive Outlook • Inspirational Leadership
• Teamwork
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