Centerpoint for Leaders and The Points of Light Foundation's newest e-publication to give you relevant and concise information on leadership and organizational development.

Leadership with Spirit

Do you remember the Wizard of Oz? Some of us are still having nightmares about those flying monkeys. But the production also had a powerful message. The Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow go with Dorothy to see the wizard because they all want something that they think is missing in themselves. The Tin Man wants a heart, the Cowardly Lion wants courage and the Scarecrow wants a brain. As it turns out, they discover that they had these things all along and just had to look inside themselves to find them.

Each of us has spirit within us, but most of us are either unable to find it, afraid to tap into it or operate from a singular paradigm. We’ve bought into the idea that as leaders, we have to be hard-nosed and practical –– that’s the traditional leadership which is “objectives driven.” Think back over the last few years about leadership paradigms and you’ll recall three more:

Visionary leadership –– vision-driven
Transformative leadership –– learning-driven
Spiritual leadership –– values driven

But instead of personally connecting with others –– using a synethsis of objective-, vision-, learning- and value-driven leadership modes, we connect through our cell phones, pagers, and palm-pilots. Are we afraid to acknowledge the importance of our emotional, spiritual side because we don’t want to be perceived by others as weak?

Leaders with spirit:

• Have an in-depth understanding of themselves
• Are committed to their own personal inner growth
• Are committed to preserving their well-being and the well-being of others as they achieve their business objectives
• Are value-driven
• Recognize that they are connected not only to their organization, but to society and the world as well
• Focus on the common good
• Are committed to learning new things throughout their lifetime

What if we brought our total selves to work and used the energy that our spirit gives us as individuals to contribute to our organization and its mission, values and goals? For example, we could use spirit to change the way we evaluate employees. What if we dropped our need to control our employees and instead praised their performance? What if our evaluations were as risk-free as possible? This could help people to become comfortable and confident enough to learn, grow and change.

by David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz

This does not imply that management — of change or anything else — is a science. There is a great deal of art and craft in it. But several conclusions about organizational change can be drawn that make the art and craft far more effective. These conclusions would have been considered counterintuitive or downright wrong only a few years ago. For example:

• Change is pain. Organizational change is unexpectedly difficult because it provokes sensations of physiological discomfort.
• Behaviorism doesn’t work. Change efforts based on incentive and threat (the carrot and the stick) rarely succeed in the long run.
• Humanism is overrated. In practice, the conventional empathic approach of connection and persuasion doesn't sufficiently engage people.
• Focus is power. The act of paying attention creates chemical and physical changes in the brain.
• Expectation shapes reality. People's preconceptions have a significant impact on what they perceive.

Cited and used with permission from Strategy+Business. To read the entire article, register and then click here.

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In a survey of a broad cross section of CEOs, the Malcolm Baldrige Foundation learned that CEOs believe deploying strategy is three times more difficult than developing strategy. If deployment is so challenging, the questions are:

• Are you making progress? Would your employees agree? How do you know?
• Are your vision,mission,values,and plans being deployed? How do you know?
• Are they understood by your leadership team? How do you know?
• Are they communicated to and understood by all employees? How do you know?
• Are your communications effective? How do you know?
• Is the message being well received? How do you know?

Cited and used with permission from Baldrige National Quality Program. To read the entire article, click here and click on "pdf version" for the document.

by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Our true self-awareness forces us to place trust in others. Lewis knew his limitations, and he sought a leader with abilities to complement his strengths and weaknesses. In selecting Clark, Lewis showed maturity in realizing he could not lead the way alone. In allowing Clark equal rank and an equal share of the credit, Lewis demonstrated remarkable security.

Competence is essential if trust is to be continued. Lewis and Clark had differing skills, but each was a greatly talented man. From their diaries, it is obvious that as the journey progressed, their trust in each other deepened. They had a sense of great security because of the mutual confidence they placed in each other.

Trust is strengthened when trust is proven. The two officers would have one opportunity after another in which they literally put their lives into the hands of others on the expedition. Surmounting each challenge, their trust increased as they proved their merit.

The highest level of trust is expressed in obedience and submission, even when there is a lack of understanding or agreement. At one point on the journey, the explorers came to two rivers and had to decide which one was the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark's choice went against the general consensus of their men. Even while disagreeing, the men were willing to trust the judgment of their leadership.

The reward of trust is an intimate relationship that few ever experience.

Cited and used with permission from Leadership Wired. To read the entire article, click here.

by Cynthia D. McCauley

There are several ways to add developmental assignments to your current job:

• Reshape your current job. Adding new responsibilities or reshaping your job may be more doable than you think. Consider trading tasks with another or taking on a role or task that needs to be done but that no one currently "owns." Also re-examine responsibilities that are already a legitimate part of your job, but have received little attention.
• Take on temporary assignments. Look outside your job description or department for projects, task forces, one-time events and activities that you can participate in for a short period of time.
• Seek challenges outside the workplace. Other areas of your life often provide the same challenges found in job settings. You'll find plenty of leadership responsibilities in nonprofit, religious, social and professional organizations, schools, sports teams, and family life.

Used and cited with permission from Center for Creative Leadership. Click here to read the entire article.