Rationalization

I just finished reading my October, Harvard Business Review. I always enjoy that publication for its strong intellectual quality and its practical application. This month’s issue contained several insightful articles on managing risk. One of the articles is a panel interview with risk management experts and it was in that article that a word caught my attention; rationalization.

Robert Simons commented that three things were necessary for the current financial crisis to occur. The first was innovation in financial products and markets. The second was short-term focused performance incentives and the third was rationalization. As Simons puts it: “The belief that a particular behavior is economically and morally justifiable.” For example, “The shareholder value principle-that social welfare is somehow best served if managers focus exclusively on delivering maximum value to shareholder.” Such rationalization required the managers modify or override what they knew was right in order to justify their actions.

All of us can rationalize behavior when we really want to do or achieve something. This ability to override our character is precisely why organizations need to build leadership development programs with character model at its core.

100,000 People In 1 Year!

Two weeks ago I met the marketing director of a new client organization. She came to Vancouver BC to pick me up and deliver me to their company headquarters in Northern Washington. During the short drive, the subject of my book came up. After I described the book and its basic premises she asked me a simple question that I was not prepared for. "What is your goal with this project." were her words. It was not that we had not considered a goal for the Character of Leadership model but rather, in the process of getting the book to market I had forgotten our goal; to put the character of leadership model in the hands of 100,000 people in 1 year!

There are several ways we will measure our progress toward this goal. First will be through book distribution. In addition we will track how many people take the character of leadership assessment and how many people we present the model to in our public and private presentations. Every month we will keep our fans informed about our progress so look for the first update at the end of October.

As with every goal there is a potential that we won't succeed. That however, is a small risk because we believe the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership. Consequently, we are devoted to encourage individuals and organizations alike to inject a character component into their leadership. Join us!

Columbus, Apollo and You

Today is Columbus Day in the United States and although much as been said that is both positive and negative about Christopher Columbus, he was a leader. Like most leaders he had strengths that served him well and weaknesses that caused he and others problems; he was still a leader. One of his strengths was courage. The courage to push past the obstacles that threatened his voyages before they ever left port. The courage to sail across uncharted waters in search of riches. The courage to return home to the cheers and jeers. Leaders need to cultivate courage in themselves in order to power their teams to success.

In preparing for the first public presentation of my new book this week I went looking for a story to illustrate the courage of character that leaders need. I am using the short audio clip from the lunar landing of Apollo 11 as a way of describing the boldness, valor and firmness that courageous leaders possess. If you have not heard this clip I encourage you to listen to it by clicking on the NASA link http://tinyurl.com/nzuzd3 It is amazing to think that in July of 1969 three men and a breathless ground crew would make history for mankind and do it with only a few seconds of fuel left in the Eagle landing craft. Even though I have heard it many times I still get a chill when the radio crackles with Neal Armstrong's voice, "Houston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed."

Most of us won't be called on to explore new worlds whether earthly or celestial but it still takes courage to push past the obstacles of every day leadership challenges. Lead on with courage!

The Curse of Or Thinking

It’s too simple to say that leaders fit into one of two categories but the more I work with leaders the more I see them trapped by their own temperament. Leaders are either relational; they see every situation from a people perspective or they are rational; seeing every situation as a formula. This past week I had occasion to see each of these leaders at work. The relational leader was stuck in an unenviable situation by being too people focused. The rational leader was frustrated trying to hone a process in order to overcome the human factors that keep disrupting his achievement.

I could see the pain in these situations and realized as I listened that each is trapped in an environment constrained by their individual, innate temperaments (see the DISC assessment at http://characterofleadership.com/assessments.aspx )The hard truth is that leaders have to rise above (www.characterofleadership.com) their temperament in order to lead effectively.

We learn in school and through experience to see situations as choices between the ends of a spectrum. Our temperament perpetuates the myth that there are only resources enough to build predictable formulas to run my organization or to have engaged employees, not both. However, the most effective leaders refuse to be limited by “or” thinking. Instead, they make choices the embrace the best of both relational and rational thinking. These leaders take the harder course; choosing both predictable formulas and fully engaged motivated people.

Are you trapped by "or" thinking?