Feb. 26 Study Guide

Book: Boyatzis, Richard and McKee, Annie. Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting With Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion. 2005. 286 pages. $25.95.

I took a break from finishing Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee’s Resonant Leadership yesterday to see the movie, The Queen. The movie is a fictional account of the week following Princess Diana’s death, in which Queen Elizabeth and her royal family seem unable to reach out to the British people’s escalating public grief. Surely this was an example of dissonant leadership, I mused, wondering why the Brits continue to humor the monarchy. Yet, the monarchy has remained in this otherwise post-modern nation (it’s interesting that in the movie Charles wants to be seen as modern); certainly this must be some evidence of resonance.

Boyatzis and McKee wrote Resonant Leadership as a sequel of sorts to Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. This new book begins with a discussion o emotional intelligence, and includes a table outlining the domains and competencies of emotional leadership: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. These ideas somewhat parallel the competencies that Warren Bennis requires of leaders in On Becoming a Leader: vision, voice, integrity and adaptive capacity. Using emotional intelligence as a building block, Resonant Leadership asks how leaders maintain that resonance over time. Boyatzis and McKee talk about the sacrifice syndrome that contemporary leaders fall into when they deal with one crisis after another, failing to renew themselves along the way. Renewal requires mindfulness, hope and compassion on an ongoing basis, the authors argue.

It might be argued that none of this has anything to do with Queen Elizabeth – she is only a figurehead, and not a leader. However, as the movie reminds us, ten elected British prime ministers have come before her to ask her permission to form a government, and have then engaged her in ongoing discussions about the country. Whether this role will continue after her death is not idle discussion. If she is more celebrity than leader, it is celebrity built on figurative leadership. Regardless of the monarchy’s relevance, Queen Elizabeth (both as portrayed in the movie and the media) would score high in the emotional intelligence of self-awareness and self-management. She embraces and believes in her role as sovereign, and shows tremendous discipline. One might argue whether she has an accurate self-assessment, adaptability or initiative. However, her sustained popularity with the British people would indicate that she exhibits these competencies as appropriate to her role. A critical discussion of her emotional intelligence in the areas of social competencies might be more spirited. While she may be an inspirational leader, as sovereign, she is not allowed to voice a political opinion, negating much of her effectiveness in other relationship management areas.

Resonant Leadership focuses on why leaders stumble, and how they might pick themselves up. The movie, The Queen focuses on such a stumble. The queen’s lack of a response to Princess Diana’s death could be seen as emblematic of a failed monarchy, the sacrifice syndrome, or a momentary crisis. Leaving aside value judgments on the monarchy as an institution, it would be hard to argue that Queen Elizabeth is a failed monarch. Her longevity, popularity and legacy are testaments to her success. However, I wondered if she had fallen prey to sacrifice syndrome, caused by too many threats and crisis for too long of a period with no time for renewal. During the course of the week, the queen’s popularity drops, and the number of Brits calling for an end to the monarchy rises to a record 25 percent, as the queen seems immobilized to do anything. She is a prime candidate for CEO Disease – with no peers, few in her trusted circle would criticize her. Interestingly, it is Tony Blair, as a young prime minister, who takes on this challenge.

Despite the disastrous week, Queen Elizabeth isn’t portrayed as perpetually dissonant. Instead, she exhibits some of the traits that Boyatzis and McKee say leaders need to sustain themselves: mindfulness, hope and compassion. She is mindful of who she is, and confident in her role. As the symbolic head of the Church of England, the media also tells us she is personally religious. Moviegoers see a vulnerable Queen Elizabeth when she stands in awe of a stag, and then, finally, is able to cry. She does stay attuned to what is going on around her, even if her response seems out of step with public sentiment. The movie would have us believe she is acting out of a sense of propriety, as well as some deep ambivalence for Diana herself. Hope is a little harder to gauge. If hope is defined as optimism about the future, Queen Elizabeth’s actions may be seen as hopeful – she thinks she is protecting her grandsons – England’s future. Then there’s compassion, interesting to think about in this woman who is seen as rather severe and formal. She does show affection for her family, even if it is within a tightly prescribed set of rules. (At one point, Charles calls her on this, pointing out what a warm mother Diana was to her sons.) In the end, she participates in Diana’s public funeral. She may have been bowing to political pressure, but she was also reaching out to the British people. For Queen Elizabeth, I wondered if the careful constructs of personal relationships that she subscribes to are what have allowed her to sustain herself for so many years.

At the end of the movie, Tony Blair compliments Queen Elizabeth on handling the crisis. She cautions him that public opinion can turn negative very quickly. Anyone up for analyzing Tony Blair’s leadership issues?
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About the Author: Richard Boyatzis is a professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior and Psychology at Case Western Reserve University. Annie McKee is at the Teleos Leadership Institute.

Questions:

1. Do you have to be THE leader to fall into Sacrifice Syndrome?
2. What can you do to renew mindfulness, hope and compassion?
3. Is CEO Disease related to the Abilene Paradox?
4. Take a look at the activities at the end of Chapter 5. Define your fantasy job. Think about what you would like your legacy to be. Do you have a personal vision?


A Short Webography:
Book Reviews and Summaries

Ten minute audio file of Richard Boyatzis talking about Resonant Leadership on Bill Thompson’s eyeonbooks at http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=1591395631

Case Western Reserve University article on book: http://www.case.edu/news/2005/12-05/resonant.htm

Book excerpt, “Business Week” online at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_48/b3961151.htm. Short discussion of some of the exercises from the book.

Book summary from 800-CEO-READ of first chapter at http://800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/005772.html .

Amazon reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Resonant-Leadership-Connecting-Mindfulness-Compassion/dp/1591395631/sr=8-1/qid=1171850745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-7672359-1488452?ie=UTF8&s=books

Executive Summary from Executive HR Network summit led by Richard Boyatizis on Resonant Leadership: http://www.cognos.com/pdfs/whitepapers/wp_executive_summary_chicago.pdf

About the Authors

Biography of Richard Boyatizis: http://www.eiconsortium.org/members/boyatzis.htm

Publications by Annie McKee: http://www.teleosleaders.com/pdf/Bibliography_of_Annie_McKee.pdf

Jan. 29 Discussion

Book: Bennis, Warren On Becoming a Leader: The Leadership Classic. 2003. 218 pages.

Preliminaries: Holly led this month’s discussion as we munched on cheese and crackers, along with a little dark chocolate. Our group of seven welcomed one new comer, and discussed inviting some additional people. I realized after the discussion that I had forgotten to take notes, so my comments here are from memory; perhaps another participant will have additional insights.

Book Discussion: Most everyone agreed that they liked this book, and appreciated Bennis’ writing style; his focus on four leadership competencies (vision, voice, integrity, adaptability); and that Bennis didn’t try to offer up any formulaic solutions. We found our discussion returning to the competencies throughout our discussion, and at one point Holly asked us which we valued most. Several discussants thought integrity was the most important, because without it, vision and voice can be destructive. Another person argued for vision, pointing out that without it, a person can be a good manager, but isn’t necessarily a leader. Another person made a similar argument for voice.

The group spent some time discussing Ed, the company man from New York who as being groomed to be the CEO of a Minneapolis-based company. Bennis came to know Ed when he was hired to coach him, a role in which he did not succeed. Ed was a company man who had drive and toughness. He quickly earned a reputation in his new company as the “Brooklyn Bomber,” and lacked people skills. As much as Ed worked at becoming less tyrannical, the people who worked with him remained wary of him. We discussed the competencies that Ed seemed to missing, and finally concluded that he lacked them all. Rather than leading, he was bullying.

Book discussion participants talked about library leaders in Arizona and the U.S. They talked about how the Library Development Division at the Arizona State Library, as well as continuing education efforts within library districts, might nurture leaders. The opportunity to travel, especially to attend national or regional library conferences, is especially important. Workshops delivered to local communities can be important first steps, and workshops that encourage library staff members to attend with those they don’t know, are also important. Library leaders have emerged from the week-long library institute, which takes place on the UofA campus. Efforts to encourage library staff members to network outside the library within their own communities are also important.

Something to Think About: Can leadership be taught? Thinking about each of the competencies that Bennis outlines, is it possible for a person to learn these?

Jan. 29 Study Guide

Book: Bennis,Warren On Becoming a Leader: The Leadership Classic. 2003. 218 pages. $17.50.
This month’s book summary is a letter to my son, Sam, currently a freshman theatre student at the University of Northern Colorado. While he was in high school, he was often challenged by a failure to manage his schoolwork. (That’s a nice way of saying he didn’t pay attention to deadlines, and too often decided to reinterpret his assignments.) However, he also attended the annual meeting of the International Thespian Society in Lincoln, Nebraska, as the sole representative of his high school, and was elected chairman of the national student organization. In that capacity, he traveled extensively across the country to participate in meetings and present at conferences, choosing to focus much of his efforts on fund- and friends-raising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

My dear Sam:

As I read Warren Bennis’On Becoming A Leader, I found myself thinking of you. At first, I thought his ideas were ones I would simply like to share with you. Bennis, a former university president, professor, and author of many books, writes thoughtfully and intelligently about leadership, not only from a business perspective, but also from the perspective of leaders in the arts and politics. As I continued reading, I came to better understand and appreciate your gifts. I realized that your life experiences (as much as any 18-year-old’s can be) are those shared by leaders, and that you already have many of the traits that make a leader. I think you will find that Bennis still has a lot to offer you, as you begin to navigate your way through the adult world.

After telling us why leaders are important (responsibility for effectiveness, serving as anchors, providing integrity) and reminding us that leaders are not managers, Bennis discusses the importance of knowing oneself and being responsible for oneself in terms of education, actions, and reflection. Bennis then launches into a chapter on “Knowing the World” in which he discusses the importance of a broad education, coupled with a native curiosity. (He also mentions dominating mothers, but we won’t go there, right?) Bennis discusses the importance of an intellectual life, travel, friends and mentors, and adversity. Sam, you’ll like this quote Bennis includes from John Cleese: “It’s self-evident that if we can’t take the risk of saying or doing something wrong, our creativity goes right out the window. . . . The essence of creativity is not the possession of some special talent, it is much more the ability to play.”

The central chapters in Bennis’ book outline key tools that a leader needs: good instincts, a willingness to try everything, an ability to deal with change, and a capacity to working with people. Although Bennis identifies lots of troubling elements in our world today, his words reverberate with a sense of hope, along with the importance of integrity and ethics. In his introduction, he outlines four essential competencies that a leader must have. First, there’s that vision thing. If you don’t have the big idea (or better yet, ideas), why do you want to be the leader anyway? Then, he says, leaders must have a distinctive voice. I struggled to understand what Bennis meant by this for a while. Did this mean a big personality, I wondered? Further in the book, he explains that leading from voice requires trust, which is built by consistency, congruity, reliability, and integrity. Third, Bennis writes that leaders must have integrity (seems like this reinforces the voice business, but I appreciate also acknowledging this issue separately). Finally, Bennis writes that leaders must have adaptive capacity. Here is where Bennis requires leaders to deal with change, both quickly and intelligently.

Toward the end of the book, Bennis outlines his advice to young executives. He says: 1) Take advantage of every opportunity; 2) Aggressively search for meaning; and 3) Know yourself. I could only wish that mothers gave such sage advice.

Love you,
Mom


About the Author: Warren Bennis is a Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is a former university professor, consultant to multinational corporations, and the author of more othan 30 books on leadership.

Questions:

1. Are you willing to wear a sombrero?
2. Do you agree that life is no longer linear? 
Was it ever?
3. Bennis names four characteristics of leaders: vision, voice, integrity and adaptive capacity. Would you add anything else? 

4. What does it mean to you when Bennis says that trust resides between doubt and faith?
5. Former CBS executive Barbara Corday tells Bennis that gender matters in terms of empathy, and in the way leaders see power (p. 146). Do you think there is a gender difference?
6. In Chapter 9, "Organizations Can Help -- or Hinder," Bennis lists a number of pivotal forces: technology, global interdependence, mergers and acquisitions, deregulation and regulation; and demographics and values. Which of these pertain to libraries? How should library leaders be addressing them?
7. How much of a leader is the personality, and how much is the vision? Bennis acknowledges that sometimes leaders need to leave an organization, if they are not able to lead ethically, and if their vision is no longer relevant. If a person is to be a leader, are they ultimately tied to to the vision, the organization, or to themselves?

A Short Webography:

Summaries and Reviews

www.bizsum.com/OnBecomingALeader.htm
The BusinessSummaries website is a pretty good of the first edition of the book. Andrew Gibbons, a management developer from Gloucester, UK, wrote the summary. It is available on his website at:
www.andrewgibbons.co.uk/documents/BECOMING_002.doc.

www.butler-bowdon.com/onbecoming.html
This is the website, 50 Classics, which has another summary of the first edition.

Here’s a review on Epinions:
www99.epinions.com/content_182715190916

www.amazon.com/Becoming-Leader-Leadership-Classic-Updated-Expanded/dp/0738208175
This Amazon entry has lots of info on recent edition, including 22 consumer reviews, as well as several book list summaries.

Biographical Info on Bennis

Basic resume info on Bennis can be found at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bennis.

From the USC Trojan Family Magazine, a collection of articles printed in 2000 on Waren Bennis. You can begin with “Leading Man: A Festschrift for Warren Bennis” and find additional links at
www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/autumn00/Bennis/Bennis.html.

A Little More Bennis

Here’s an essay by Bennis, “The Leadership Advantage.” It is not from the book, but has lots of good food for thought: www.leadertoleader.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/spring99/bennis.html

Dec. 18 Discussion

Book: Hammond, Jerry B. Harvey. The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management. 1996.

Preliminaries: We were a smaller group of five for this discussion, as a number of people had conflicts with the upcoming holidays. Marshall led our discussion, which could have continued into the evening once we got going. We ate holiday cookies as we discussed the book.

Book Discussion: Although the group touched upon the essays, “Eichmann in the Organization” and “Encouraging Managers to Cheat,” most of the discussion centered on the essay “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement.” Almost everyone had a story related to the trip to Abilene, and one group member who wasn’t able to attend even sent word that this was one of her/his main workplace issues.

One group member shared a story about faculty layoffs at the small college where she once worked, and how the college’s head of finance manipulated the Abilene Paradox to build supposed consensus around the layoffs. She also noted that library schools sometimes have to deal with this. Another group member talked about the prevalence of the paradox in certain cultural groups, where many important issues are overlooked, ignoring that “the emperor has no clothes.” In addition to the “Emperor has no clothes,” another group member mentioned the play “Doubt” as a story that deals with the potential of people to act contrary to what they know.

Group members agreed that some reasons for a trip to Abilene include group think, top down dictates, plain old politeness and even organizational structure. One person asked: “How do we get people to try things they don’t usually want to try?” Possible ways to address the issue include being objective, and approaching the issue without making personal. Discussants agreed that some things are worth advocating for, while sometimes the appropriate response is to let go . . . and go to Abilene.

Something to Think About:
Harvey says that the road to Abilene often begins with “mismanaged
agreement” rather than “coercive organizational pressures to conform.”
Ina library setting, what is the difference between the two? Do
managers sometimes intentionally manage in a way that avoids agreement

Dec. 18 Study Guide

Book: Harvey, Jerry B. The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management. 1996. 150 pages. $15.61.

This is a book of seven essays/meditations/sermons about management issues. Harvey, an emeritus management professor, is a gifted story teller who uses parables and analogies to talk about organizational behavior issues, such as managing agreement, conformity, the importance of owning mistakes and forgiving others, and cooperation. I’ve provided summary information on three of the chapters here: “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement,” “Organizations as Phrog Farms,” and “Encouraging Future Managers to Cheat.”

The Abilene paradox (see the first entry in the webography below for a PDF of an earlier version of this essay) begins with the story of a Texas family whose members agree to a long, hot trip by car to Abilene. Upon their return home, they each learn that none of them wanted to take the trip. Harvey discusses the reasons why individuals in organizations agree to decisions that they don’t think are in the best interest of the organization. “An analysis of the dynamics underlying the Abilene Paradox opens up the possibility that individuals frequently feel as if they are experiencing coercive organizational pressures to conform when they actually are responding to the dynamics of mismanaged agreement,” Harvey writes (p. 29). Harvey suggests that the responsibility for avoiding the trip to Abilene doesn’t just reside with top management. He recommends that individuals within the organization can address the group, own up to their own discomfort with the situation, and ask others for their input.

Harvey provides a lot of generalizations about phrogs in the humorous but telling essay “Organizations as Phrog Farms.” (See link below to the blog by Madhukar Shukla for a summary.) He suggests that phrogs act primarily to improve their own situation, in isolation from others, and with limited communication. They are more interested in preserving the status quo than in advancing the organization. Instead, he suggests creating work environments that reward collaborative work, and encourage both personal responsibility and trust.

In the essay, “Encouraging Future Managers to Cheat,” Harvey argues that the academic definition of cheating, -- to give or receive aid from others – is contrary to a healthy, cooperative business model. Despite the criticism he received from his academic colleagues, he told his students that it was cheating NOT to give or receive aid from others.

About the Author: Jerry B. Harvey is a professor emeritus of management science at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Harvey has consulted for business, governmental, military, religious, educational, and voluntary organizations. In addition to The Abilene Paradox, he authored How Come Every Time I Get Stabbed In The Back, My Fingerprints Are On The Knife? His current research is about ethical, moral, and spiritual issues of organizational behavior. Dr. Harvey has a BBA and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Questions:

1. When was the last time you took a trip to Abilene in your personal life? In your professional life?
2. Is a trip to Abilene always symptomatic of group think? What else can lead a group down the road? 

3. How can an organization create a culture that allows employees to get off the road to Abilene? 

4. Are libraries at risk for turning employees into phrogs?
5. Should there be different definitions of cheating in the academic and professional communities?

A Short Webography:

http://www.xecu.net/schaller/management/abilene.pdf
This is a PDF of a paper by Jerry B. Harvey, “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement,” which is very similar to the signature chapter in the book.

http://alternativeperspective.blogspot.com/2005/12/organisations-as-phrog-farms.html
This blog entry, by Madhukar Shukla, summarizes the chapter, “Organizations as Phrog Farms.”

http://www.arl.org/diversity/leading/issue8/abilene.html
This is an article, “Revisiting the Abilene Paradox: Is Management of Agreement Still an Issue” by Kathryn J. Deiss, Association of Research Libraries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene_paradox
Wikipedia entry on the Abilene paradox.

http://www.uthscsa.edu/hr/train/AbileneOnline.pdf
PowerPoint presentation by Robert J. Sarvis, PhD, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Office of Human Resources.

http://www.pdma.org/visions/apr06/good-questions.php
Article in Online Visions Magazine from Thought Leaders of Product Development & Management, April, 2006 by Greg Githens.

Nov. 20 Discussion

Book: Hammond, Sue Annis. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. 2005

Preliminaries: Nine very congenial people attended this initial discussion, most of which were librarians. Varying degrees of management and leadership experience, were represented, and included those who had held elected and appointed political positions. The participants had time to chat over snacks before beginning the formal discussion. The discussion began with introductions, and a brief discussion of future books. While Laura Stone led this first discussion, other members agreed to facilitate future discussions.

Book Discussion: The group members began by summarizing the book. Everyone agreed that the book focused on the positive and offered a hopeful perspective – “optimism over pessimism.” One participant said she liked the idea of carrying something forward from the past, so that a plan or eventual activity has roots. The idea of building from past successes appealed to the discussion participants. The members also agreed that this focus was helpful on an individual basis when problem solving or planning an activity, and appreciated the importance of valuing differences.

Although the group appreciated this positive approach, they weren’t as sure that it would necessarily lead to a more successful planning approach. One participant talked about a corporate situation where people had tried very hard to do the right thing, to lead in a positive way, and to be responsive to all stakeholders, but ultimately failed because of factors beyond their control. The process didn’t necessarily address situations where the group may not know what they need to know. Nor did it provide a map or process for next steps. One participant said the book provided some good ideas for strategies, even if we weren’t sure it would lead to answers.

Something to Think About: In her list of assumptions, Annis says, “If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.” How do we necessarily know what is best? How do we decide what has worked? Some “bests” may have been good for one group of people (for example, walk-in patrons) but not so good for everyone else (non-library users).

Nov. 20 Study Guide

Book: Hammond, Sue Annis. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. 2005. 70 pages. $7.90.

This is an introduction to the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, a process for helping organizations and groups bring about change. Appreciative Inquiry focuses on building from what is right, or what is working, within an organization. Hammond offers eight assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry, which serve as building blocks. This list of assumptions is taken directly from Hammond's book (pages 20-21):

1. In every society, or organization, or group, something works.
2. What we focus on becomes our reality.
3. Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities.
4. The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way.
5. People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the unknown).
6. If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.
7. It is important to value differences.
8. The language we use creates our reality.

Much of this “thin” volume outlines a process for using Appreciative Inquiry, based on the assumptions. Hammond details the following:

1. Begin with a topic, and take care in crafting questions the group can explore.
2. Make inquiries about the question to the group, either during group sessions or through interviews.
3. Work as a group to develop “provocative propositions,” which must be affirmative statements.
4. Incorporate and use these propositions so they become part of the group will, and emerge spontaneously.

The author hopes to entice the reader to explore the subject in greater detail, and provides a list of resources at the end. She also provides sample questions to use in the Appreciative Inquiry process.

About the Author: Sue Annis Hammond bills herself as a change management consultant. She has more than 20 years of consulting experience. She has a Masters of Organizational Development from Bowling Green Graduate School of Business, where she was the 1991 Minninger Foundation Fellow. She also holds a B.A. and a M.A. in English from SUNY Fredonia. This book has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Questions:
1. What kind of problem solving processes do you currently use? How do they work for you?
2. The book defines Appreciative Inquiry as a group process. Can we, as individuals, incorporate these ideas into other activities?
3. Pages 20-21 list eight assumptions, and they are also listed above. Do you react emotionally or defensively to any of the assumptions?
4. The author says she selected this change model because it recognizes and honors the human spirit. Do you think that’s important for change?
5. At the end, the author says, “I think that the one key assumption of Appreciative Inquiry is to learn to value differences.” Do you agree that it is the key assumption?