Evolutionary Provocateur

Corporate Leadership-To Much Higher Levels

Citizen lead action is popping up all over the world. Between Leonardo DiCaprio's The 11th Hour to Peter Gabriel's vision for The Elders launched by Nelson Mandela, there is growing action to shift the crash course humanity has set for itself. While some are in denial and others keep saying 'its not our fault' the reality is that the global changes have implications for humanity and implications on business.

Much of business powers on - business as usual - struggling with the emotional implications on their employees without recognizing that, as part of a much larger picture, they are power behind the solution.

Many people ask why it takes cancer or some kind of life altering experience to shift the mindset to see and create a different life. The same question is relevant to business.

Shift in Action, launched by the Institute for Noetic Science names 2008 as the year for going deep...deeper into the self and ultimately to tap into the creative force and source of solutions. Jim Garrison from www.wisdomuniversity.org stated that the technology we need to manage ourselves is here. We simply can't see it. Stiff mindsets stand in the way. Fit minds are flexible. They can widen to take in the big picture and narrow down to see the minute nuances that make or break successful navigation. With fit minds comes vision and capacity to see ahead.

That would help right now. The notion that emotion is touchy-feely is so worn out it does not qualify to be antique or any form of wisdom. Emotion is energy and energy powers leadership. Now, we are on the podium of radical change that is happening so quietly few but the most attentive and attuned can sense it. These are now the more advanced leadership skills that are required to shift company culture, and hence radical innovation, to much higher levels. The cross roads is where personal spirit meets business and takes off. We are the leaders we have been waiting for. Oh yeah.... Let Er Buck

The Power of Presence-Part 2 of the Power series

The universal principle 'Show up and choose to be present' is what this is all about. Being present is more than physically being in the room. It is about being aware, there, and energetically present with all four dimensions on full throttle.

Most often we associate value with intellectual prowess, forgetting that there is no shortage of academics or executives/managers who have plenty of intellectual horse power but who can't relate or communicate, preferring instead to pontificate. The four intelligences that are reflected in the capacity to be present include your emotional, spiritual/energetic, physical (the body as a source of intelligence) and the intellect.

This only comes from a disciplined practise of taking personal leadership to a higher level. Occasionally individuals are gifted by a massive amount of charisma, but this does not translate into leadership until four domains are embodied in their character. A 'leader' with charisma, who is tempted by actions that reinforce a need for self-adoration, is not going to be taking the kinds of risks true leadership requires.

We have tossed the word leadership around a lot....quite simply because it is the only word that evokes an image most are familiar with. However, what has become associated with leadership is to be the one who knows it all, has all the answers. Being present and emanating the power of presence requires enough self-awareness and self-security to enable receptivity and curiousity to be the primary drivers of action. Each individual can then take in the unseen, the unsaid, and the hidden thoughts and merge them into a picture that can include seemingly competitive and polar opposites as many sides of the whole picture.

It is an art and a science in my experience. How about yours??

The Power of Communication- Part 1

Angeles Arrien in The Four Fold Way presented three universal powers: power of presence, communication and position. Memorable leaders exemplified all three: Martin Luther King and his unforgettable speeches, Ghandi and others who stand out.

The Power of Communication

Being skilled as a communicator amounts to merging content, context and timing. Obama appears to be a master orator who gains fans outside the U.S. quite simply because he is an effective communicator speaking from a real and genuine place. His core energy and presence, which carries the words, is aligned. The listener has no doubt that his word is good.

There was a time when a handshake confirmed a business deal that, even if it went wrong, the parties could be trusted to sit down and come to an agreement out of mutual respect. It was all in the trust that went with what you said was what you meant...to the heart and core.

When a saleperson does not speak from his own truth, but relies on formula, ultimately it is detected. Robots may be able to communicate but relationships are made with sincere people. Oddly, a quick look at sales blogs reveals not much in the way of the basic skills, even less about the need to be really you in terms of how you communicate with customers.

Self-leadership as it applies to sales at least, is a simple place to gain clarity. It is not in the words. Mastery is found in the zone of awareness where you are attuned to all of the cues that inform timing, , choice of words and the tone - the genuine feeling that each word carries.

Right now, everyone is a leader and leads themselves through each interaction. How you communicate is not a matter of being a master of the language, though that helps, but is more a matter of being a master of assessing the situation and speaking to what matters from a place that is true. Being impeccable with your word is a simple place to start. In environments where there are unwritten codes about conforming or adhering to a party line, that is much easier said than done.

All You Need is Love..

Dan Bobinski over at www.Management-issues.com just wrote an article entitled, How to kill morale and start an exodus. It is a classic story of what happens when managers forget that love is the most important generator of performance; when data drives action and disconnection to what has heart and meaning prevents clear vision. There are a lot of managers in that boat right now. Managers who  truly believe that it is all about control and all about the numbers.

We focus on the manager but what about the culture that values the numbers over performance. Where numbers do not accurately reflect the real dynamic and way that work gets done. Too often assumptions are made where curiousity would be a stronger ally in seeing the underlying forces.

Tim Sanders, with Yahoo has made the point that it is love, not greed that is the Killer App. Tim learned that the three elemental particles of Love are: knowledge, networks and compassion. That was in 2002. The words are even more true now.

Yet old habits die hard. It is easy to blame the people. The real culprit lies in the embedded habits of the organization which rewards data over intuition insight and wisdom.

Time for a rebirth don't you think?