25 June 2008

The remote control of leadership revisited


In January I proffered that even deciding to change the TV channel was an act of leadership. Recently I adapted and developed the post for an article for Sync Leadership. So, in my usual desperation for blog fodder, here's the renewed article:

Leadership is often mistaken as a quality that only some people possess. When we look for leaders to lead others, we look for particular developed skills and attributes - perhaps extreme competence in a certain area like the arts, sport or technical skill, or superior qualities like confidence or charisma.

But leadership is a quality of which everyone is capable and we all do it at some point in our lives. When was the last time you suggested seeing a movie, having coffee or dinner with friends, or doing something, however small, differently at work? That was you being a leader, without even knowing.

Even deciding to change the TV channel is leadership. If you don't believe me, let's look at an analysis of the five tasks of leaders, originally developed for business by Warren Bennis (1):

  • Develop a positive future vision (dream) - "I want to watch a different programme."
  • Incorporate the vision into daily life (think) - "I need the remote."
  • Sell the vision to others (talk) - "Hey you guys, you'll really enjoy this programme."
  • Take calculated risks with the vision (do) - "Let's just watch it for five minutes."
  • Click! Involve others with meaning (share) - "Hey, isn't this a great show?"

Next time you're looking for leadership, take a lesson from your own inner couch potato. See what potential lies beyond the remote control, by applying these principles to more lofty ideals – like changing the world. My leadership goal at the moment is to move the world beyond ideas of impairment and disability. Here's how I've used Bennis' framework to guide social change:

  • Develop a positive future vision (dream) - "I want the world to understand about experiential diversity as an alternative to impairment and disability."
  • Incorporate the vision into daily life (think) - "I need to change the way I think about myself in order to communicate that new identity to others."
  • Sell the vision to others (talk) - "Hey you guys, I have unique experience, you have unique experience and this is how things could be if we all valued our experience differently."
  • Take calculated risks with the vision (do) - "This is how I use my unique experience to add value to my work and my lifestyle."
  • Then I get on and run my business, projects and life in a way that expresses who I am.
  • Involve others with meaning (share) - "Hey, isn't this a great way to think – can I offer to show you how this way of thinking can change your world?"

Thinking in this way about leadership has helped me demystify the role and understand three things:

  • You don't have to lead 24/7 – in fact, leadership is more like a relay race – you run for a bit and then pass the baton.
  • Leadership is about you – it's far more effective to change things for yourself than to set out to change things for others.
  • The dream of a better way and convincing others that they will benefit is the most important thing – leadership doesn't point out the error of where we are now. Its value is in showing the beauty and excitement of the next destination.

(1) “Becoming a Leader of Leaders” in Rethinking the Future, Rowan Gibson (ed). Nicholas Brealey Publishing (May 25, 1999)

18 June 2008

Square wheels of innovation


I read a blog about blogging today (go figure), which discussed its pros and cons. One of the cons mentioned was the need to write regularly in order to keep readers interested and returning. Others I've talked to say it doesn't matter whether it's regular as long as it's consistent, so that people know when to return, whether daily, weekly or monthly. Well, I like the element of surprise, so my blogging strategy is "sporadic". 

Hopefully that isn't reinventing the wheel in such a square shape as elevator manufacturers have, with their new "buttonless" design.  New lifts popping up in corporate buildings (like the PriceWaterhouse Coopers building in downtown Auckland, which we visited today) have no floor or call buttons - you now enter the floor you wish to go to in a separate console and it tells you which lift to take (the cars are lettered). If you press the button with the Universal Access (wheelchair) Symbol, it embarrasses you by shouting the lift letter (hopeless if you are  blind because it doesn't say where it is). Once you're in the lift there are no floor buttons except to open and close the doors, which made me feel strangely like I had no arms. 

Obviously  designed for efficiency in car management, where the system really falls down is if you pick the wrong floor. You can't just push another floor - oh no, you have to get out, find the console, punch (yes, by now you're punching) the floor in, find the right lift,  wait for it and get back in.

It makes you wonder if the nods who design them actually use them. What do you think - do you like these nouvelle elevateurs - or, like me, are you thinking nothing was broken, so who decided to fix it?

While I'm grumbling about innovation that just makes life more difficult, how about the new Microsoft Office Fluent user interface? Fluent?! Luckily I don't use it because I use Apple, but I've had a couple of goes and it must be the most unintuitive UI I've seen for ages. Like the buttonless lift, it's innovation for the sake of it, as useful as a square wheel. What was wrong with menus, Microsoft?

Your thoughts? Come on people, talk to me!

04 June 2008

Revenge of the fat, pink Americans?

[Image: www.tv3.co.nz]

While mainstream New Zealand agonises over whether pink "Tagger" jackets will suggest taggers are gay, I wonder what the choice of colours conveys about the cop who chose it and, by proxy, all cops – all heterosexual men for that matter. I mean, subconsciously, what was he thinking? Skater boys with spray cans wearing caps and baggy shorts, clad in pink. Sounds like a secret little homoerotic fantasy, if you ask me.

Meanwhile, America is about to make a gay-looking black man President - what does that say about Americans? They've come a long way, haven't they? Now, if Obama turns out to be a female-to-male transsexual, I'll eat my hat.

And apparently two thirds of New Zealanders are fat and offended by the stating of the fact. Well, I'm sick of being told I'm too thin, too.

So. Interesting times.
© 2008 Philip Patston & Diversity New Zealand Ltd (unless quoted or otherwise attributed). All rights reserved.