with a friend. Whatever reenergizes you so you have the resilience to make the difference you want to make.
2. Grow your influence exponentially by thinking systemically.
For every project and every task within those projects, think systemically. What are the inputs (who is providing them, when and how)? What other inputs could there be? Could they come from different people/groups in different ways/frequency? What are the outputs (who receives them, when and how)? What other outputs could there be? After inputs and outputs, consider strategy, structure, processes, technology, people, education and rewards. What’s in place and working well? What’s missing? What’s possible? When you think systemically, you grow your influence and get extraordinary results, because you’re thinking through and leveraging each possible aspect of the system that enables what you want and supports what you want over time.
~Will you share a client success story?
I worked with a Production Supervisor several years ago who was extremely frustrated with one Operator in his group. He told me about how he had
tried everything to get this guy to change: he’d told him the new expectations, asked him want he wanted, put him in charge of his area, and so on. He kept going round and round and trying new things and yet, the Operator continually reverted to his typical ways. The Production Supervisor felt he had exhausted all possible options. I asked him, “What do you think about this Operator, honestly?” The response was immediate, “He’s old, stuck in his ways, resentful that I’m younger than him and he’s playing me.” I nodded. I got it. I understood why he thought that. I looked him in the eye and said, “Here’s the thing. You’ve tried everything – everything – except changing your outlook.” There was silence for a bit. He knew what I meant. I saw him taking it in. He was going to have to do some more work.
The Production Supervisor who believed he had tried everything, went back and did some more work. He looked for new evidence, realizations, and thoughts that could shift his outlook. We had a coaching call. He said he was ready, that he was feeling a little bit differently about the Operator. I told him to do some more searching, I didn’t feel he’d made a genuine shift. He reflected more and later he told me that he apologized to the Operator for not acknowledging the full value of his experience. The Supervisor had plans to back up, redesign the changes with the Operator’s input, and have the Operator decide the implementation steps and pace. The Operator stopped him as he was sharing these plans and said while he appreciated all that, all that he really wanted was the acknowledgement and to tweak one piece of what had previously been introduced. This adjustment would make all the difference in his mind. And, it did. The process change was implemented in half of the planned execution time, which was initially what the Production Supervisor described as an “aggressive timeline.”
When I observed this Supervisor make this internal shift, I decided right then that I wanted to share the stories of leaders like him and write The Courage of a Leader book.
~What tip or piece of advice can you share with our reader today to empower them to SHINE?
Declare your leadership legacy.
A leadership legacy is an aspiration about how you want to be known or about what you
(continued on next page)