Hostage at the Table

Loving the book by George Kohlrieser "hostage at the table". A former hostage negotiator he takes this as a metaphor for leadership in all kinds of organisational and leadership contexts. Learning to relate with a hostage taker turns out to be one of life's great lessons in getting people to find perspective, become effective and deliver results...so get on out there and get yourself taken hostage for some excellent leadership development. The key things so far include keeping a positive "mind's eye", the bonding cycle, the need for stables bases and conflict management. Understanding how to connect with people and then how to connect them with your organisation and its objectives is headlined by the idea of the "bonding cycle" and it is such a great chapter. It has great synergies with the ideas in tribal leadership (Dave Logan) of how we can help upgrade culture person by person.

The broken pane theory

The government's policy of zero tolerance for anti-social behaviour is apparently rooted in the work of Dr Kelling. "Dr Kelling's broken pane theory takes its name from the observation that a few broken windows in an empty building quickly lead to more smashed panes, more vandalism and eventually to break-ins. The tendency for people to behave in a particular way can be strengthened or weakened depending on what they observe others to be doing. This does not necessarily mean that people will copy bad behaviour exactly, reaching for a spray can when they see graffiti. Rather, says Dr Keizer, it can foster the “violation” of other norms of behaviour. It was this effect that his experiments, which have just been published in Science, set out to test." This idea has been significantly shaping my thinking about the behaviour of staff within the workplace and the place of culture to preserve the necessary order and discipline required for success. Is a zero tolerance approach the necessary answer eliminate the rapid deterioration of standards that quickly ensue when one or two disrupt the order? Or are there other ways to preserve the disciplines essential in organisational life? (source: the economist)

The Conscious Competance Learning Matrix

I found this quite helpful for thinking about how to teach others knew skills. You have to understand where your subject is on this on this cycle before you effectively help them move on. I'm sure we all figure out different approaches to teaching/coaching accroding to where the student find themself on the cycle.

I'll paste some blurb below:

Learning can be said to take place in four stages:
I Unconscious incompetence
Blissful ignoranceConfidence exceeds ability, we are not knowledgeable/skilfulWe don't know we don't know.
II Conscious incompetence
We discover a skill we wish to learn - driving a car, riding a bikeConfidence drops as we realise our ability is limitedWe need to practise to learn. Often this means not succeeding at first. This is learning; unfortunately, in our culture it is often labelled 'failure'. We feel uncomfortable.We know what we don't know.
III Conscious competence
We acquire the skill. We have become consciously competent. Our conscious mind can only cope with a small number of new bits of information at any one time.Our confidence increases with our ability, we have to concentrate on what we know/doCan do if know how to.
IV Unconscious competence
Lastly, we blend the skills together and they become habits - we can then do them while our mind is on other things.We have reached the stage of unconscious competence.Our confidence and ability have peaked, we no longer have to concentrate on what we know/do; this is the start of the next learning curve

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is a useful concept developed by Goleman (1996). The pillars it builds upon are:

1. Self-awareness - The ability to recognise and understand your moods, emotions and drives, as well as their effect on others
2. Self-regulation - The ability to control or redirect impulses and moods, a propensity to suspend judgement, to think before acting
3. Motivation - A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status, a propensity to pusue goals with energy and enthusiasm
4. Empathy - Ability in managing meaningful relationships and building networks, skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions
5. Social Skills - Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, an ability to find common ground and support

The greatest benefit I have drawn from this theory is being aware of my need to manage my behaviour despite my emotions. I may feel bored and frustrated in a meeting but it is important that my body language and participation does not reflect that. I may have had a bad weekend but come monday morning I am employed to manage those emotions and do my jobs as if it was any other day. It is also helpful to understand the behaviour of others.

Coaching

The Will-Skill matrix helps a manager identify the level of will and skill of the employee they are managing. This in turn can help the manager determine the approach required to manage them.

Coaching is the an approach that can be used to help someone through a specific problem or to achieve a specific goal. Coaching should begin with the principle of contracting - agreeing the parameters and purpose of your relationship with the person you are coaching.

A framework for contracting: TREAT

T - Thank them for their time

O - Outline the reasons for the meeting

E - Explain what you would like to achieve

A - Aim for agreement

T - Thank them

On the basis of your contract the coaching relationship can be based on the following principles:

GROW

Goal - What specifically do you want to achieve?

Reality - What is the reality of the situation as it stands? Where are the gaps between where you are now and what you to want to acheive?

Options - What are the options open to you in terms of closing the gaps?

Will or "Wrap-up" - Do we have a plan of action to enable you to acheive what you want? Agree SMART objectives and check the motivation and capaiblity.

Trust in Society

The following question was asked to the public in 2001: Who would you most trust to run your pension? (Mckinsey Survey 2001) They answered as follows:

1. Virgin (Richard Branson)
2. The Government
3. Tesco

A learning game

Sit down with a colleague and ask them the following 3 questions:

1. What do you want me to do more of?
2. What do you want me to do less of?
3. What do you want me to keep doing the same of?

I did this with a colleague I had only been working with for 2 weeks and found it a really insightful exercise.

ORJI Cycle

The ORJI cycle (Schein, E H (1988), Process Consulting, (two volumes), Addison-Wesley, Wokingham) helps us think through our reactions to other's behaviour and also how others react to our behaviours. This really connected with my own experience.


I received some feedback that I looked bored in a meeting. The feedback had been passed to the Director of the organisation I was working in by another senior manager. They had arrived at the conclusion that I was not interested in my job. The Observation that I looked bored was accurate. The reaction was well concealed - I had no idea that people were thinking that. The judgment was wrong, the body language did not reflect my personal interest in my job. The manager's intervention was disappointing - instead of challenging me directly they went and accused me before the most senior director in my organisation.

I have learnt that everything I do leads to someone else reacting and judging me. Not everything leads to an intervention but some can and they may have severe consequences. Now I am working at trying to giving off the right signals through my body language, contribution, questions and tone.

I have also learnt that when I interpret my own observations I should consider how my reaction may start this cycle off all over again. I may need to reserve my reaction (eg. not gasping at what someone said), broadening the range of interpretation and therefore withholding judgment. I may want to clarify my understanding of what I have observed before I decide to make a judgment. When I'm sure about what I observed I should finalise my judgment and consider appropriate interventions.