Effective Leadership: The secret to happiness...

I had the opportunity to attend the ASTD national conference in Washington DC this past week. It was a great experience and I'll try to get a few posts up specific to what I learned. One recurring theme reminded me of a comedian I heard a few years back. His bit went something like this: "Hey, you want to know the secret to happiness? Lower your goals!" He may have meant it as a joke, but there's a nugget of truth in his statement; though I would rephrase it a bit. I wouldn't say to lower your goals but to have fewer goals.

One of the conference sessions I attended featured Ken Blanchard, author of "The One-Minute Manager", who applied this take on the Pareto principle: 20 percent of what a person does accounts for 80 percent of their success. Think about that. Most of our success comes down to just a few key behaviors! This concept lines up with the findings in an awesome book called "Influencer" which says the key to changing behavior is to identify the few "vital behaviors" instead of trying to change a laundry list of behaviors.

In managing the performance of our teams we will likely have much more success focusing on a few rather than many behaviors. It's no different on a personal level - we can't beat ourselves up over a litany of behaviors. Instead, we should focus on those vital behaviors that will have the most impact.

More to come....

Employee Development: Picasso or Cezanne? Fleetwood Mac or the Eagles? You Decide!

Last week I had the privilege of attending the annual ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) convention in San Diego. One of the highlights of the conference was a keynote address given by Malcolm Gladwell. He's the author of "Tipping Point" and "Blink" - two excellent books I highly recommend. In his address Gladwell explored the concept of 'genius' using several fascinating examples. Let me try to paraphrase:

The artist Picasso burst on to the modern art scene in his early twenties. He was almost immediately revered as a genius and people clamored to purchase his work. The paintings Picasso made in his twenties and thirties are worth about four times as much as those from his later years. Paul Cezanne, on the other hand, was a "starving artist" for years and years until, finally, in the later years of his life, people began to recognize his artistic genius. His paintings from the end of his career are worth about eight times as much as those from his younger years. Both Picasso and Cezanne are viewed as geniuses but they achieved that status in very different ways and on very different time-tables.

The rock group Fleetmac Mac is best known for their mid-70's, Stevie Nicks-Lindsay Buckingham sound heard on their grammy winning album "Rumors". But what many folks don't realize is that "Rumors" was their 16th album! The group had actually started in the mid sixties with drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie (the "Mac" part of Fleetwood Mac) and guitarist Peter Green. Fleetwood Mac slogged it out for over a decade with a revolving door of musicians but it wasn't until right before the "Rumors" album that the group really took off. Fleetwood Mac might be viewed as the classic rock equivalent of Cezanne. The Eagles might be viewed as the Picassos of rock and roll. They formed in 72 or 73 and were shortly at the top of the charts with their first album. By 1975 they were one of the biggest bands in the business. Like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles are considered musical geniuses from that time period. Again, the Fleetwood Mac/Eagles scenario illustrates two different types of genius. One type, like Picasso, sees success quickly. The other type, like Cezanne, takes longer to achieve that success but when it does the results are worth the wait.

Gladwell points out that in today's music business Fleetwood Mac wouldn't have a chance. No label would be willing to give a band a decade to develop their genius. He also observes that, unfortunately, that shortsightedness often spills over to the business world as well. I agree.

Do we sometimes overlook or even lose someone who has tremendous long-term potential because they aren't a 'Picasso' right out of the gate? Perhaps what organizations need are leaders who approach talent management with the eyes of a long-term investor rather than those of a "day trader". While companies will always appreciate the 'Picassos' on their team, perhaps they should learn to appreciate the 'Cezannes' as well. After all, 50 million Fleetwood Mac fans can't be wrong....

Experiential Learning: Are You Experienced?

As a trainer I'm always beating the drum about making training "experiential". Adult learning theory stresses the importance of experiential learning and hands-on training and, of course, I agree with that - it's crucial. But I like to think that "experiential" also refers to what the adult learner brings with them to the classroom.

As a trainer, I am doing a great disservice if I do not acknowledge and leverage the wealth of experience that my participants have. In any given class I'm sure I have multiple individuals who are full-blown experts at something. True, they may be new to my particular industry, but chances are they are bringing with them a bevy of experiences, skills and insights that will help them in their current undertaking. Why not build on what they already have instead of building from scratch? One of the easiest ways to do this is to simply give your class plenty of time for discussion. Let them talk. Let them bring up past experiences. I've found that in most cases the more my participants talk the better. It's the basic "guide on the side" vs. "sage on the stage" philosophy.

This past week I attended an ASTD seminar with Cynthia Clay, President of NetSpeed Learning in Seattle. She shared a great quote from George Siemen of the University of Manitoba. He views the training professional as a "museum curator". A trainer should be "an expert who creates spaces in which knowledge can be created, explored and connected." Wow. What a great analogy. Our job isn't necessarily to jam folks' brains full of everything we know but rather to create an environment where they learn on their terms. One of the best ways for adults to learn is from other adults and sometimes one of the best things a trainer can do is shut up and let participants talk.

I remember a Sunday school teacher a few years back, an older lady who was a retired school teacher - a very intelligent woman steeped in the traditional "education" approach. It seems nearly every week we would get to a point in her lessons where there would be some great discussion going on or at least the potential for some great discussion- but this sweet lady always nipped it in the bud! "Well, we need to cover all of this material so let's move on", she'd say. Why was it so important that we moved on? To be honest, I got more out of the contributions made by other class members than from her "curriculum". This is an example of being curriculum driven vs. learner driven. Focus on the learner not the curriculum! I would much rather have participants really "get" one or two topics than simply hear a dozen topics just for the sake of "getting through" the material.

C.S. Lewis said "a person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument." We cannot underestimate the value of experience. It is a key element in adult learning. It means we need to give participants hands-on experience but it also means we need to make the most of the experience they already have. Much of the learning that takes place in your classroom may very well come from the experiences shared by your participants. Don't be afraid to let that happen.