Lean In to the one voice that matters

Many of my friends and colleagues have read or are in the midst of reading Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In.”  The content of the book has certainly garnered its share of rave reviewers and snipers.  Sandberg leans into the criticism and acknowledges that she has led a privileged life; however privilege may allow entrance but it doesn’t guarantee a voice at the table.

Finding one’s voice is perhaps the single most important life and leadership lesson.  You cannot have a successful relationship at home or at work without the ability to be authentic, vulnerable; speaking your mind while minding your manners.  Having a ‘voice’ at the table rather the board room or dinner still requires strength and courtesy.

There have been many times in my own career when I have been interrupted while trying to get a point across; I have had both men and women talk over me.  It reminds me of a large family eating and folks all reaching for the last biscuit.  I have in turn interrupted others, not listened well, all in the name of scrambling for a foot hold on sharing the best idea.

When I hear the words “lean in” I think of slowing the process down.  Taking the mantle of authority down a peg and listening to one another fully.  Leaning in requires us to take stock of our strengths, acknowledge what we know and don’t know.  Leaning in is the pre-requisite to leading on.

Finding your voice requires patience, respect, timing and will.  Having others desiring your voice at the table requires competence, courage, and the willingness to speak truth to power.

 

"What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid" is a new project by Sheryl Sandberg and the Lean In team that asks the question and inspires stories. More information can be found at www.ifuwerentafraid.tumblr.com.  

Welcome Pope Francis I

News reports, newspapers, Twitter and Facebook are filled with questions regarding Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The world is curious about the new leader of the Catholic Church. What does his selection mean for the church and her followers?  What leadership characteristics will Pope Francis I bring to his elevated role as the Vicar of Christ on earth? Many are curious about how his Jesuit education will inform his papacy.

I invite you to enjoy this article, written by Giula Belardelli with the Huffington Post Italy: 

Pope Francis 1.jpeg

Jesuit Pope: How Francis Will Proceed As First Pontiff From Society Of Jesus

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, is not only the first South American pope in the history of the Church, but he is also the first Jesuit pope and the only member of the Society of Jesus present in the College of Cardinals, which voted to select Joseph Ratzinger's successor. Never before has a Jesuit been tasked with leading the Church, likely because the religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 was centered around a figure who -- at least in the collective imagination -- could be seen as clashing with the Holy Father: the Superior General, also known as the Father General or, more commonly, the Black Pope.

We interviewed Father Giovanni La Manna, a Jesuit and the president of Centro Astalli, the Italian branch of the Jesuit Refugee Service. He explained to us why he does not believe clashes will occur between the two religious authorities, thanks to the "the new pope's spiritual and human intelligence," which will avoid all forms of conflict with the Father General. And as for the name chosen by the new pope --Francis -- the Jesuit has no doubts: it is an homage to St. Francisco de Jasso Azpilcueta Atondo y Aznares de Javier, better known as St. Francis Xavier, one of the first blessed witnesses of the Society of Jesus.

Jesuits must obey not only the pope, but also the Father General -- the so-called Black Pope -- who is currently Adolfo Nicolás. How will they relate to these two figures?

I believe that the new pope is an exceptional person, in both a spiritual and a human sense, and that he will have the maturity to avoid any type of conflict. As for the mission of Jesuits, they take a vow which goes beyond obedience: the so-called "fourth vow of obedience to the pope." Based on this vow, the pope can ask Jesuits to undertake a mission at any moment, and Jesuits are bound to obey him, regardless of the Father General's wishes. But I am certain that this won't happen: Francis I will not create conflicts between obeying the Father General and His Holiness.

What is the significance of the first Jesuit pope for the Church's history?

It is certainly something new, and like all new things it will bring joy and curiosity among the faithful. Personally, I am very happy and curious to see how a Jesuit pope will move forward.

From your perspective, will there also be some recognition of your order?

The new pope is a person who received a Jesuit education, and those who have been Jesuits for years cannot erase their origins. His education influenced the way he conducted himself as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires; a man is unlikely to forget that which has shaped him. The fact that he is a Jesuit will influence the way he serves the Church. We have already had a taste of this in tonight's greeting -- in his request that the faithful pray for him even before blessing him. Just as the pope blesses the people of the Church, Francis I asked his people to bless and pray for him.

What does his name mean? Do you think he chose it in reference to St. Francis and his vow of poverty?

Since His Holiness has a Jesuit history, I very much think that he chose it with St. Francis Xavier in mind (San Francisco de Jasso Azpilcueta Atondo y Aznares de Javier), one of the first missionaries who tried to evangelize in new lands. I believe that the choice is rooted in His Holiness' own history and therefore in that of the Jesuits.

Thinking and living as a Jesuit, I immediately thought of this reference to our Francis Xavier, a important saint for Jesuits and one of the first blessed witnesses of the Society of Jesus, who spent his entire life on his mission of evangelization. I am sure that this name rings in the spirit of His Holiness.

What kind of pope will Frances I be? Will he offer a break from the past, or continuity?

He will certainly keep the path of his predecessors in mind. But he will assign priorities in his own way, and the fact that he is a Jesuit will affect how he identifies these priorities. Considering the name he has chosen, he will surely be a man committed to the New Evangelization in the Year of Faith.

He will guide the Church with the attention of someone looking at the world from another point of view -- in his case, from Argentina. And in that way he will help bring fresh air and a review of priorities to the universal Church. All of this brings nothing but excitement and enthusiasm to the Church. Returning again to his first speech as pope: By asking the faithful to bless him, he began a dialogue -- a new reciprocal relationship. It is not a one-way speech, but one which bespeaks a sense of shared reality.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/jesuit-pope-how-francis-will-proceed-as-first-pontiff-from-society-of-jesus_n_2874782.html?utm_hp_ref=religion#slide=2218753)

It's clear that both surprise and joy erupted on the announcement that a Jesuit had been named the Holy Father.

 

Best New Year's Resolution? A Stop Doing List

As I was thinking about the new year I ran across this outstanding article. Not one for making resolutions, I do use this reflective time to think about commitments. To me making a commitment to myself and others actually is about trust and respect. Commitments are about integrity. Commitments made reflect both character and competence...which makes keeping them all the more important.
The attached link, brings a distinctive flavor to "new year" dissolutions! The author asks the question "What will you stop doing?" Very provocative and cheers to 2013. Enjoy!

The following article originally appeared in USA Today on January 3, 2003, and is written by Jim Collins. 

Each time the New Year rolls around and I sit down to do my annual resolutions, I reflect back to a lesson taught me by a remarkable teacher. In my mid-20s, I took a course on creativity and innovation from Rochelle Myers and Michael Ray at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and I kept in touch with them after I graduated.

One day, Rochelle pointed to my ferocious work pace and said, "I notice, Jim, that you are a rather undisciplined person."

I was stunned and confused. After all, I was the type of person who carefully laid out my BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals), top three objectives and priority activities at the start of each New Year. I prided myself on the ability to work relentlessly toward those objectives, applying the energy I'd inherited from my prairie-stock grandmother.

"Your genetic energy level enables your lack of discipline," Rochelle continued. "Instead of leading a disciplined life, you lead a busy life."

She then gave me what I came to call the 20-10 assignment. It goes like this: Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?

That assignment became a turning point in my life, and the "stop doing" list became an enduring cornerstone of my annual New Year resolutions — a mechanism for disciplined thought about how to allocate the most precious of all resources: time.

Rochelle's challenge forced me to see that I'd been plenty energetic, but on the wrong things. Indeed, I was on entirely the wrong path. After graduate school, I'd taken a job at Hewlett-Packard. I loved the company, but hated the job. Rochelle's assignment helped me to see I was cut out to be a professor, a researcher, a teacher — not a businessman — and I needed to make a right-angle turn. I had to stop doing my career, so that I could find my real work. I quit HP, migrated to the Stanford Business School faculty and eventually became — with some remarkable good luck along the way — a self-employed professor, happily toiling away on my research and writing.

Rochelle's lesson came back to me a number of years later while puzzling over the research data on 11 companies that turned themselves from mediocrity to excellence, from good to great. In cataloguing the key steps that ignited the transformations, my research team and I were struck by how many of the big decisions were not what to do, but what to stop doing.

In perhaps the most famous case, Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark — a man who had prevailed over throat cancer — said one day to his wife: "I learned something from my cancer. If you have a cancer in your arm, you've got to have the guts to cut off your own arm. I've made a decision: We're going to sell the mills."

At the time, Kimberly-Clark had the bulk of its revenues in the traditional paper business. But Smith began asking three important questions: Are we passionate about the paper business? Can we be the best in the world at it? Does the paper business best drive our economic engine?

The answers came up: no, no and no.

And so, Smith made the decision to stop doing the paper business — to sell off 100 years of corporate history — and throw all the resulting resources into the consumer business (building brands such as Kleenex), which came up yes, yes and yes to the same questions.

The start of the New Year is a perfect time to start a stop doing list and to make this the cornerstone of your New Year resolutions, be it for your company, your family or yourself. It also is a perfect time to clarify your three circles, mirroring at a personal level the three questions asked by Smith:

1) What are you deeply passionate about?
2) What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just "made to do"?
3) What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?

Those fortunate enough to find or create a practical intersection of the three circles have the basis for a great work life.

Think of the three circles as a personal guidance mechanism. As you navigate the twists and turns of a chaotic world, it acts like a compass. Am I on target? Do I need to adjust left, up, down, right? If you make an inventory of your activities today, what percentage of your time falls outside the three circles?

If it is more than 50%, then the stop doing list might be your most important tool. The question is: Will you accept good as good enough, or do you have the courage to sell the mills?

Looking back, I now see Rochelle Myers as one of the few people I've known to lead a great life, while doing truly great work. This stemmed largely from her remarkable simplicity. A simple home. A simple schedule. A simple frame for her work.

Rochelle spoke to me repeatedly about the idea of "making your life a creative work of art." A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit — to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort — that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company or, most important of all, a life.

 Jim Collins is author of Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last.

Original post found here: www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/best-new-years.html

 

"Generation on a Tightrope"

“I Need A Launching Pad. I Have So Many Helicopter Parents.” - Dean, Selective Eastern College

October is national book month and I confess to loving real books, the ones made with paper and ink and binding. Perhaps some may think I’m old fashioned craving paper as I do, and yes if you call me out on paper-love I am likely to respond to you on my iPad or Blackberry in less than 30 minutes.

I am digitally connected and love scanning Facebook, Twitter and occasionally get side tracked by Pinterest. Connected and scanning on-line are very different than getting lost reading a book. It’s fair to say that I do read on my Kindle but I tend to enjoy the hard back book between my hands most. My Kindle is a part of every trip; I like carrying my library with me. But at home, I like seeing my old friends on the shelf; books that have transformed my ideas about spirituality and relationships; books that illustrate the difficulties of the damned game called golf.

I also like underlining and folding pages. I like flipping manually back to a page and re-reading a paragraph without hitting a back or refresh button. Sometimes I just want to sit with an author’s thought without a digital screen growing dark.

Two weeks ago a book I’d been waiting for arrived by snail mail. I opened the package and the new book slipped out. As I opened it I heard the spine of the book crack and could smell the pages. It’s akin to walking across your yard after the first snow or like being the first one to open the NY Times saving the travel section for last. There is an absolute freshness to the written word on paper.

I am just beginning to read “Generation On A Tightrope: A Portrait of Today’s College Student” written by Arthur Levine and Diane R. Dean. Arthur Levine, author of two previous books about college students: “When Dreams and Hero’s Died (1980) and When Hope and Fear Collide (1998), is currently the president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and retired as President Emeritus of Columbia Teacher’s College. Dr. Levine has been profiling colleges students based on significant research for over 30 years. His work was important to me during both my master’s and doctoral work. His co-author, Diane R. Dean is the current associate professor of higher education policy and administration at Illinois State University.

In the preface of the book Levine and Dean write the following

“This is a portrait of a generation on a tightrope. Today’s college students are struggling to maintain their balance as they attempt to cross the gulf between their dreams and the diminished realities of the world in which they live. They are seeking security but live in an age of profound and unceasing change. They desperately want the economic opportunity their parents enjoyed but are coming of age during a deep recession with reduced career prospects. They want to believe in the American Dream and are optimistic about their personal futures but they are pessimistic about the future of the country. They want to become autonomous grown-ups but seem more dependent on their parents and adults around them than any modern generation. They want intimacy—a partner and a family – but they are isolated, weak in face-to-face communication skills and live in a hook-up culture. They want to play by the rules but they don’t know the rules and the rules are in flux because of the dramatic changes in our economy, the rise of new technologies, the condition of poor public and private institutions, and a world growing flatter. They want to live in an Internet world, a digitally connected globe but the adults and social institutions around them are analog or digital immigrants, including their blackboard universities.
This is a generation that thinks itself as global citizens but knows little about the world and acts locally. It is the most diverse generation in collegiate history with the strongest relationships between races but they have limited interest in talking about race or reaching across political or generational divides.
This is a story about how we help today’s undergraduates cross the abyss that threatens to dissolve and swallow them, and how we can work with them to ensure that they will help us all to create the diverse global, digital information economy of the twenty-first century.”

So the introduction is done, and now it’s time for me to turn the page.

What’s on your reading list?