This is September 2012, and I am in Phnom Penh to evaluate a Train-the-Trainer Program with people from five countries. These people learn to train in week one and then use their learning to train others in week two. This is week two, and the farmers are gaining skills in leadership.

Some of my colleagues at CCL EMEA

I love my work. The kind of work I do is fascinating: research on leadership and diversity. I could write about this all day. Yet the most fascinating thing of all is that I can experience this diversity every day in my own office of CCL EMEA in Brussels. Amongst the roughly 60 people in our office, I count 28 different nationalities, almost as many different languages, and pretty much all other forms of diversity that you can think of. When I think of the current debates about diversity, I realize that I am experiencing what most would consider the future of work in Europe, and eventually in other regions in the world. For me it’s a dream come true.

Well, most of the time. Without the right leadership, this dream can easily turn into a nightmare. Diversity doesn’t only bring harmony – often enough, diversity brings conflict. The most powerful approach for benefiting from diversity, rather than living in a diversity nightmare, is leadership. But how can you lead in such a diverse environment? I asked Dave Altman, who’s recently made the transition from leading in a US-based environment to heading up our diverse EMEA office.

Dave shared with me three observations about leading in this diverse environment:

1. First, you need to really believe in the positive impact of diversity. If you don’t believe in this with all of your passion, over time you will get frustrated with all of the obstacles and the conflict that results from not taking advantage of diversity. No matter how hard you try, those obstacles with always reappear again,  so without a passionate belief about the values of diversity and the daily commitment to ignite that belief in others, you will not have the resilience to counteract these side-effects. More importantly, you won’t be able to harvest the benefits of a diverse workplace..
2. Second, empathy. Empathy is more than perspective-taking. Empathy comes from a deep desire to understand the perspective of others, and emotionally connect with them. This doesn’t mean that you need to adopt other people’s values or belief systems. Rather, it means that you need to connect with them on more than a cognitive level. Sometimes, having empathy for someone whose values are totally opposite of yours is demanding and feels like the last thing you want to do – and those are exactly the situations when empathy is most needed and most beneficial.
3. Finally, as a leader, you need to accept that diversity is not positive in and of itself.  Leaders needs to focus on  creating an environment that helps people engage with others in meaningful interactions – interactions in which diversity is valued and adds tangible  value to the processes and outcomes that are important in that context. Surely it is much easier, more comfortable and more reassuring to interact with people who are like you – but this leads to group think, poor decision making and inability to tap into  opportunities available to diverse groups working well together. As a leader you need to be a role model to engage with diversity every minute of the day and have the developmental mindset that others can do the same.

Dave was helped in his transition from the US to Europe by taking our new 360-degree feedback assessment, Global6. Global6 is not competency-based; thus it helps leaders realize there is no right or wrong way of leading in the global context. Dave obtained insights into the different expectations people around the world have of him as a leader, based on their own viewpoint. Due to these differences, he cannot be effective as a one-size-fits-all leader in a diverse environment, and instead focuses on being adaptable, flexible and agile.

What are your experiences with leadership in diverse environments – what has helped you and what did you learn? I would love to hear from you.

1. New ideas look funny. Whether it’s wine made with baby mice or toilet-themed restaurants, new ideas at the outset look unusual at best, strange and crazy at worst.  And that scares people away, no matter how brilliant the person.  SOOOOO: the leadership challenge is to start searching for the value in all new ideas, whether they’re yours, your boss’s, your peers’ or your direct reports’ ideas.  Get into the habit of looking for something positive for every critical question you have as you start to understand the idea.
2. “Innovation” is more than just new products. Ask a group for examples of innovation and you’ll hear about a lot of cool products from Apple to…well…Apple.  But innovation is more than just a lumpy object.  It also involves business models, networks, systems, processes, services, channels, customer experiences and more.  SOOOOO: look at ways to be innovative beyond just a great product.  Consider what areas you can influence based on where you sit.  And better yet, start adding different types of innovation to your product. The iPod wasn’t just a cool MP3 player…it allowed you to get music one song at a time, through its proprietary store, enabling Apple to make money by the sale of content and apps — not just a gizmo — and changed how we purchased music, among many other things.  How can you make your innovation bigger by looking at other types of innovation?
3. When strategy doesn’t match the talk. Many leaders of organizations talk about the importance of innovation throughout the enterprise. But many organizational systems stop employees dead in their tracks. One organization we worked with spent gazillions of dollars to train and empower people to engage in team-based innovation.  It started to really take hold, but then began to fizzle because the annual review process had managers asking their direct reports, “What have YOU created?” and discounted the team contributions, focusing on the individual. The result? The review spoke louder than the training, and people went back to old habits of working alone, until the system was changed. SOOOOO: look at your organization for those things that get in the way of innovating. Does the organization encourage disruptive change? Is the organization focused on rising stars with a different hurdle rate than cash cows? Is there time and resource support for newness?  If you answered, “No!” then start making some changes.
4. Innovation is risky. So is crossing the street! The challenge for innovators is not to eliminate risk; it’ll always be there. The challenge is “how to minimize loss.” Humans aren’t risk averse; we’re loss averse. Consider this example: if I were to offer you a raffle ticket, and you knew you had a 1 in 200 chance of winning, would you pay $1 to win $100 to benefit a cause in which you believed? Probably. If I made the same offer, except the ticket cost $1,000 with the chance of winning $100,000, would you still do it? Probably not. The risk doesn’t change – your chances of losing are still 199 out of 200. What changes is what you would lose ($1 versus $1,000). Ever notice how small start-ups seem to disrupt industries? It’s not because their people are any more innovative, it’s usually because the larger and more successful the enterprise, the more there is to lose.  SOOOOOO: take chances early, often, and in low-loss situations.  Tom Peters said it this way, “Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.” Look for opportunities to prototype on the quick and cheap. Find opportunities to test in very small doses, rather than with a market roll-out.  Get lots of input early and often to find out where the risk is when it’s safe.  Don’t think big yet, focus on small bets now to win the big reward later.
5. “Innovator of the Year” contests. Perhaps nothing frustrates me more than the usual knee-jerk reaction to “How do we create innovation in this organization?” than the response, “Let’s reward it with a competition!” “Oh boy,” I think, “here we go again.” In his book Drive, Daniel Pink does a nice job of deconstructing the myth that incentives motivate or change behaviors. In most cases, this technique not only doesn’t work, but it can also be destructive.  It seems like an easy thing to do, but every time you reward the “innovator of the year,” you DEmotivate all of the other people who are working their butts off to innovate, but didn’t get the prize. SOOOOOO: Recognize everyone who’s working their butts off, whether they succeed or not.  Not all attempts at innovation will succeed, but you need as many attempts as possible in order to achieve success (see number 4, above).  Celebrate the successes and circulate the learnings from the failures so that other people get the real benefit of attempts that don’t succeed: new knowledge (and recognize that the “new knowledge” may not always be correct).
6. People not taking on innovation as a challenge: Too many people say, “I’d like to be more innovative, but my boss won’t let me.” Or, “I’d like to have more innovation, but my direct reports don’t do it.” The fact is that innovation starts with one person and a fact, question, idea, or solution in which they see the wisdom (see number 1, above).  Given that organizations are complex, and people are generally resistant to change, the responsibility falls on each and every member of the enterprise to champion their own ideas and the ideas of others. SOOOOOO: since the top leader probably won’t send you an engraved invitation to ask you to innovate, it’s your responsibility to work diligently to understand, clarify, ideate, develop and implement innovation in the organization, fully realizing that it may well feel like pushing a boulder up a mountain repeatedly. The entire enterprise is made up of people…the real source of innovation. If you and everyone else waits for others to start, you’ll be waiting a long time.  So take action, start to get others on board, and recognize that it is your responsibility. If not you, then whom?

So what are you waiting for? Get moving on innovation!  And, in your down time, also let us know the other blocks to innovation that slow you down and what suggestions you have to get past those blocks.

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Imagine a school in rural India with over 400 students sharing one inoperable and filthy toilet. These conditions have more effect on education than one might expect. In fact, lack of access to toilets and basic sanitation is one of the major reasons girls in India drop out of school.  As part of their Global Citizen Leader (GCL) experience, a team of Indian business students left the confines of their serene and comfortable campus to build toilets for a local school.  GCL is an innovation and leadership program with a bit of a twist: business students, working in teams, apply design thinking processes to address societal challenges faced in urban and rural India. Students traveled to places and talked to people they had never been exposed to before.  I recently went on assignment to conduct an impact evaluation of the inaugural year of the program in two very distinct locations in India – the bustling metropolis of Mumbai and the quiet mountain village of Lonavala.

One of the primary themes from the program was “learning from experience.” The students realized that to accelerate their learning and growth, they had to put themselves in new, challenging and sometimes awkward situations.

Classroom-based activities certainly helped students learn the principles of teamwork, design thinking, and challenges facing India. However, it was the work they did outside of classroom that drove these lessons home the most.  For example, one student described “knowing” about sanitation issues being a problem before the program, but not fully understanding until she was in the homes of the people most negatively impacted by those conditions—and about to eat a meal that had been prepared in an unsanitary kitchen.  Listening to students describe all they had to learn in these new contexts to be successful, I noticed parallels with my own work as an evaluator.

Innovation isn’t always about starting something new. It can be about stopping something or getting rid of things that don’t work. We get so caught up in our day-to-day that we don’t take time to pause and evaluate if all the things that we are doing are actually working.

One technique that we teach at futurethink is called Kill a Stupid Rule. It’s an exercise to help eliminate barriers that are holding us back from being more innovative – watch this 90 second video to learn how:

Want to learn more? Register for Lisa’s webinar with CCL on May 15, 2013. For more innovation tips and tricks like these, subscribe to futurethink’s complimentary monthly innovation tips delivered straight to your inbox.

There are also differences in what types of pictures and symbols go on currencies. Those pictures convey things that are important in the respective country and culture. The US notes all feature past presidents, the founders of the republic. As a non-American, this reinforces my impression about the leadership in the US being heavily person focused, influenced by ideals and ideas, and the importance of an entrepreneurial attitude. Euro notes all feature bridges, emphasizing the need to build bridges across the many boundaries between the different cultures in Europe, as well as the pride in creating something based on craftsmanship, art and a joint vision. Brazilian Reais display regional fauna, showing the role of nature in this vast country, and on the other side a human effigy wearing laurels – but an effigy of a fictitious persona, the republic itself. I take this as a sign that in Brazil, the currency reminds us that institutions and ideas can transcend the importance of any individual person alone.

As different as their currencies are these cultures’ ideas about leadership. Just think how differently leadership happens in a culture that glorifies leaders of the past, versus a culture that only depicts a fictitious head of the republic, or a culture (if you can call it that) that doesn’t depict any humans whatsoever? Research has shown that there are vast differences in the expectations people have around the world regarding how outstanding leaders act, think, communicate, and interact. There simply isn’t one best way of leadership that works everywhere.

In the Center for Creative Leadership’s new 360-degree assessment, Global6, we capture these differences by asking raters about their expectations of outstanding leadership–before asking them to rate a specific manager. The assessment then contrasts how perceptions of a specific manager are aligned to raters’ expectations of leadership.  And guess what–those that have the highest alignment get the best performance and promotability ratings. I am excited about this assessment as it offers a totally different approach to assessment for development – looking at “what people want” in a leader, rather than racing to get the highest scores on some specific competencies.

I’d also love to hear what your experiences are with leadership in other cultures or contexts. What insights did you have? What glorious mistakes did you make? Let’s share and learn together!

In addition to the fact that my friend has a full depth of knowledge about philosophy and life, he is an amazing speaker.  He can capture the attention of big audiences and relate to the masses in seconds, and at the same time he is also very good at leading small group dialogues by connecting with each person in the room when he speaks.

We had our one-on-one conversation right after a small group discussion that he had led.  I could not hold myself back and asked, “You are such a good speaker.  It seems like you know exactly how to build momentum with a variety of audiences, big and small. Can you please tell with me your secret?”

I expected to hear a few magical, technical steps to take in accelerating a person’s ability to speak to any kind of audience, something that I figured would be related to the right posture and voice tone, eye contact, powerful messaging, and knowing the topic and the audience beforehand.

Instead of that he looked at me with a tear in his eye and said: “Well Vered, it is my broken heart – that is my secret.”

It was such a powerful moment, and it felt like the room sat still. Since I was curious and intrigued by his answer I asked, “Can you please say more?”  And then he said, “I went through so much in my life.  I had to stay resilient while going through different kinds of crises, loved ones’ losses and disappointments. I really went through a lot, and my heart has been broken so many times. I always connect with my broken heart when I speak.”

This conversation made me reflect on the connection between a broken heart, resiliency, and public speaking.  Since I had this conversation, my attention was drawn especially to the following question:  How would you know in advance that you are about to give a good talk on a certain topic?  My answer will be: If your heart was broken because of that topic, you are most probably about to give a very good talk.

Next time , when you are witnessing a great speaker, just think and reflect for a moment on a broken heart.

However…

It’s one thing to read and educate yourself about leadership, to know about leadership. It’s a totally different thing to apply it, to “DO” leadership. Blogs, programs, books, and advice can let you know how to be a better leader – how to influence, communicate, resolve conflicts, mentor, motivate, etc., but unless you try those things out at work–unless you “do” leadership–you are doing yourself and those who work with you a disservice.

That lesson really resonated with me a few weeks ago, the day after I trained a Maximizing your Leadership Potential Program in Europe. Watch this video and see why.

How are you going to “DO” leadership this week based on what you have seen, heard or learned? If you state your goal of “doing” leadership in a comment below, you will be entered to win an autographed copy of my guidebook, Developing Political Savvy!

One day you and your friends are complaining about the boss. The next, you are your friends’ boss. So how do you successfully go from being BFFs to BOSS? It’s definitely a tricky situation. Here are some thoughts:

• Be clear.  Yes, you can still be friends. And the working relationship has changed. Set clear expectations around the work and what is expected for all of your direct reports. If there are certain boundaries that need to be set–on your part or your direct reports’– make sure to get them out in the open with the individual. And the earlier the better.
• Be consistent.  Once you are clear around what is expected of you and your direct reports, you have to be consistent in your actions. Your friends have to know that you as a boss are not going to give them preferential treatment when it comes to bonuses, raises, promotions, support and resources. And your other direct reports have to know that as well. How will they know it? Through your actions. Be consistent in the way that you give out rewards, time and resources. If your friends deserve it, and it’s documented, great. If they don’t and they still get rewarded, that’s when gossip, perceptions of unfairness and all sorts of trouble will start.
• Be mindful.  Always recognize that when you are the boss, people’s eyes are always on you, whether you know it or not. People are always looking at your actions–what you are doing, and what you are not doing. Because you know your friends more than others, you may be inadvertently giving them more time, more energy and more support than others. You as a boss have to attend to everyone, so be aware of how much time and energy you are giving everyone.
• Be proactive.  Set one-to-one meetings early and often.  As soon as you are promoted, get on the calendar of each of your direct reports to have an individual meeting that is all about them (remember, it’s not me, it’s you). Find out during that meeting what motivates them, what they like about their work, how they liked to be led and what questions they have. Then talk about your vision for the group and how they can be a part of it.  Have regular check-in meetings with all of your direct reports every month or two.
• Be aware.  A relationship between two people takes, yes, two people. You bring 50% to it, and they bring 50%, which makes 100%. But so many times a person thinks he or she is responsible for the entire 100%. You can do everything you can to be the best boss, but some people will still not be satisfied. You have no control over what they are feeling about you (their 50%).  All you really have control over are your own thoughts, ideas, behaviors and actions (your 50%). So make sure your 50% is right.

What else have your heard about going from BFFs to BOSS? If you leave a comment or piece of advice, you will be entered to win an autographed copy of my guidebook, Developing Political Savvy!

One: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)

The first is the phenomenon that took worldwide higher education by storm last year: the MOOC, or Massive Online Open Course. Prestigious universities like Harvard, MIT and Stanford offer these courses for free and attract thousands of students worldwide. A MOOC typically lasts 5-10 weeks, and every week has a dedicated topic that is explored through video nuggets, readings, assignments, project work, forum questions, etc.

Some of the reasons MOOCs work so well is that they are in reach for everyone (they are free and open to everyone worldwide) and that they enable networked learning with hundreds or thousands of people with the same challenges and interests. The New York Times declared 2012 the Year of The MOOC.  MOOCs are an innovative format for blended learning.

Two: Our mission at the Center for Creative Leadership

Ever since the creation of the Center over 40 years ago, this is the mission that has driven all of our work. We now see a world facing massive challenges, a world that cannot have enough effective leaders at all levels of society to face those challenges. We do not only develop formal leaders in Fortune 500 companies. Our mission also drives us to set up leadership development initiatives for communities, youth and women in Africa, Latin America and other regions in need.

One + Two = LeaderMOOC

Designing LeaderMOOC

So what do you get when you put one and two together? You get a LeaderMOOC. We are proud to have received a Marrow grant to pilot a MOOC for leadership development this year. We are so very excited about this. We see it as an opportunity to reach emerging leaders we would otherwise not be able to reach, and as an unprecedented way to scale up leadership development for the benefit of society worldwide.

So join us this fall for LeaderMOOC! Its tagline and promise is “Leadership for real.”  It will start mid-September and last for seven fun and thought provoking weeks. We’ll keep you posted.

More reading on MOOCs:  Hacked Education’s “Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2012: MOOCs”