The New Center

Seth Godin posted a great short thought provoker this morning. In it he talks about how the age of the internet has spread influence and opportunity away from the center.

I’d like to take that a bit further and think about it in terms of organizational dynamics. In many organizations there is still this urge to think that unless someone is at the core of the business or center of the leadership team they don’t have anything to offer. This thinking is a result of the old “executive dining room” mentality. If you were not part of the club, you just did what you were told. No need to think strategically. Don’t offer up visions of new opportunity. That’s for the core.

Guess what – it doesn’t work that way anymore. The organization that continues to look only at the members of the “dining room club” for new initiatives will eventually implode. The organization that cannot recognize and reward talent that exists on the periphery will not only lose the talent, it will grow stale and inflexible.

If you are in leadership, provide your team with the opportunity to spread their wings. Treat them with respect and watch what happens. You stand to benefit.

If you are on the periphery, push the idea/project/opportunity. As Seth concludes in his post – “The center is a state of mind.” You are the new center.

The Power of the Introvert

I happen to be one. I like to think I have special powers but I don’t talk about them. That would be wrong.

In a recent FastCompany article, Susan Cain is interviewed about her recent book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. I think I am going to have to get the book.  Two things in particular resonated with me.

The first had to do with meetings. I hate them and avoid them when I can. Especially if they are unstructured or “agendaless”. Responding to a question about the term “groupthink” Susan states:

Studies tell us that the most verbal, assertive, and dominant person’s ideas are going to be paid more attention to. However, those same studies also indicate zero correlation between the effectiveness with which an idea is advanced and its usefulness. Any time people come together in a meeting, we’re not necessarily getting the best ideas; we’re just getting the ideas of the best talkers.

I have seen this frequently and it is particularly prevalent in corporate cultures where individual creativity and initiative are not valued. Cultures that require incessant review and approval of projects stifle the creativity of introverts as they just don’t have the personality to “fight” their way through all the talking.

The second part that grabbed me had to do with the charismatic leader syndrome. We tend to forget that leadership is case specific.

We presume you need to be bold and charismatic to be a manager, but Adam Grant at Wharton found that if a company is dominated by proactive employees you often get better outcomes with an introverted leader. That’s because an introverted leader is more likely to actually let employees run with their ideas and implement them. Extroverts, however, are often unwittingly trying to put their stamp on things and since they’re more dominant, their employees’ suggestions may never even rise to the surface. 

I tend to lean to the hands-off approach of management and try to let my staff soar, supporting them when needed. I have found in cases that it works well, with staff that can live within that. However, I have also found it to fail when certain staff require constant attention and affirmation. Maybe I just manage fellow introverts better than extroverts.

What’s your style?

Hard Choices

Had a difficult day recently. In a strategic shift for our department, we eliminated a position. It meant informing a staff member that she would no longer have a position with us. We had been wrestling with this for some time and finally got clarity on which way we wanted to proceed. Hated it. But it is necessary.

Brings me to the question of the day. How do you make those challenging decisions? Do you find them easy? We went through the following process:

1. Is the current strategy something we need to continue? (Lots of evaluative work done here.)
2. If no, why not?
3. Is there a more pressing need within the department and our overall context within the organization?
4. Define the need.
5. Can the current position holder fill the new role?
6. If yes – easy decision. If no – hard decision.

Now we begin the process of moving forward.