The lazy [leader’s] guide to saving the world

As the first truly global accord, the Paris Agreement, ratified on the 4th of November is monumental.

I can’t begin to imagine the work involved from the grassroots campaigners to the signatories that has enabled this to happen.  Decades of hard work and cycles of complex international negotiations. A powerful reminder of what can be achieved through individual and collective action.

This week in Morocco, the discussion will be about how to put this accord into force, and meet its aims.  This is where the real work begins.

And we know as individual citizens, we can make changes in our lives now to help combat climate change and be more loving towards the earth and its inhabitants.  Recognising that we all, even the most laziest of us, have a part to play in creating a sustainable world, the UN has provided a ‘lazy person’s guide to saving the world’.

Perhaps we are all inherently lazy.  Working with leaders,  I wonder if actually many of the busy leaders are paradoxically, the lazy ones. 

Those leaders who, swamped with tasks and desperate to get things off their desk, or get their direct report out of their office, or respond to yet another demand from higher up  – will take the lazy option of giving quick answers, barking instructions or giving their well-rehearsed opinion.  They fail to see the opportunity the occasion presents to them.  The possibility to pause, get off automatic pilot and listen and inquire with courage and compassion.  The chance to go off a familiar path, out of one’s comfort zone of interaction and let the other be truly heard. To dig into what is really going on and discover new realities and solutions rather than ‘clipping one’s wings’ and creating a sense of dependency through a fixed answer or view of the world. 

For the lazy leader becomes unnecessarily busy.   Because the direct report they gave directions to, comes back time and time again for their advice, having not learnt to take ownership or think for themselves. Or hot potatoes continue to get passed down the line.  The lazy leader, having not helped to unleash potential in the other, stymies the creation of new ideas and innovation, so is forever chasing their tail. The lazy leader tells mindlessly rather than coaches consciously, so nothing advances or changes.  They just get drawn into a spiral of fire fighting, rather than strategically driving transformation in the organisation. 

So here’s my lazy leadership guide to saving the world.

• Pause

• Listen

• Ask

                                   

The only thing, it may take some hard work.

For a conversation on how our Earth Coach programmes can build capacity in the Sustainability Industry, please contact me. 

  

Image: via google images (http://nobleanarchist.com/blog/comfort-zone-lazy-mammal-danger-zone/)

But just tell me what to do!

Have you said or thought so much?  Has one of your direct reports voiced this to you?

We like a challenge us humans.  It is all part of the hero’s journey. Overcoming obstacles and stretching ourselves to reach a goal, is a key source of motivation and satisfaction in our professional and personal lives. 

But we can sure like the easy path.  Particularly when time is limited, stakes are high, the pressure’s on, we may easily withdraw, shrink, hide, defend and relinquish responsibility to the other.

And for completely justifiable reasons.  It may be the most appropriate response we know given what we know.  We may be just implementing our very loyal strategies that have got us out of similar situations before. 

It seems that through parental, societal, cultural, political, economic programming we have conditioned ourselves to prioritize answers, advice and direction from others – to the detriment of our own growth and path.    Even though leadership can come from anyone at anytime, the ‘Great Man’ theory seems to be firmly entrenched in our psyche, business and politics.   Notably during uncertain and volatile times, we like the idea of someone saving us. So we turn to the ‘other’ to get them to do, what we don’t want to do ourselves. Our reflexive response becomes “just tell me what to do (in this project/for this client/in my career”). It is easier to do that than self reflect and manage the responsibility which comes thereafter.

As Hollis writes, “to recover our own personal authority is a daily task imposed upon all of us by the soul”. 

With that task, we may want to explore...

• Being aware:  We give ourselves credit for recognizing this tendency we have, in the first place.  And with a healthy dose of compassion and curiosity, notice when it happens.

• Understanding triggers: What is going on for me when I default to others? What triggers such a response in me?

• Challenging beliefs:  In these instances, what am I believing? Is it true? What is it like to live with this belief, in mind, heart and body?  What would life be like if I wasn't believing that?

• Building self-efficacy: As adults we consciously can build our self-efficacy, our self belief and confidence in the ability to exert control over our own motivation, behavior and social environment. This may include, for example, acknowledging our successes, being self-compassionate, quietening the inner critic’s voice and expanding our skills and interests to build up resourcefulness.

As leaders we influence the environment which people perform. What can we do to encourage people to reclaim their personal authority in the workplace?  These questions may help with reflection and action:

• What’s my leadership default option?   Am I quick to give advice, provide direction or do I seek to help people to come up with their own ideas and solutions through inquiring and coaching?   What is behind my propensity to give advice and opinions rather than asking?  To what extent do I allow people to talk about their concerns and fears? 

• What ego state am I operating from?  Transactional Analysis offers a valuable perspective on how we interact with people, through 3 parts of our personality or ‘ego states’.  In terms of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, we operate from our experiences (‘child’), significant influencers (‘parent’) or in the present (‘adult’). Simplifying it for illustrative purposes, if we operate from a ‘critical parent’, it may just trigger a ‘rebellious child’.  Being aware of how our behaviour impacts on others transforms communication and performance.

• What is my intent/agenda? Sometimes as leaders we ask or hide behind a coaching relationship, a question, the impression we want the person to take initiative, but then we undermine them, as we have already made the decision or set the objectives. This is why it helps, particularly in formal 1:1s and meetings,  to be clear and ‘contract up front’  about expectations e.g.: whether we intend to depart information, seek input, want to brainstorm. 

• Or in summary, what is missing?   What am I noticing about how people are feeling and behaving? What do they need – more meaning, a sense of direction and purpose? Or to be valued, believed in and listened to more? Or do they need more structure and clarity? What will I do to help fill the vacuum?

Sources:

own photo (Mallorcan sky)

Hollis, James (2005), Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Gotham Books (US)

Napper, R and Newton T (2000) TACTICS: transactional analysis concepts for all trainers, teachers and tutors and insight into collaborative learning strategies, TA Resources Ipswich, UK, section 4

What resources you?

I see my purpose as a coach and consultant to support others feel and be more resourceful.

So as a participant on a workshop recently, I appreciated that one of their opening questions to the group was... "What resources you"?

To reflect on that is resourcing in itself.  

We remind ourselves of what energises us, refuels and recharges us.  We actually feel better by remembering and definitely more so by actually doing that very thing.  

   

We have an innate wisdom to seek and do what resources us.  It’s called life.  And it’s deeply personal and particular to each of us. We notice in our bodies what and who brings us alive.  What helps us function effectively and make us feel good and whole.  What stops us from feeling depleted and fills us up when we do.  These buffer us to weather storms. They are the strategies we adopt to overcome difficulties.  They build our resilience and feed our soul.  In times of stress we can draw on them to offer immediate relief and perspective, but engage in them as part of our lives, out of sheer joy and love.    

The external act of resourcing enables us to access our internal resources. This is its real value. The more we are conscious of what we tap into, the more we can nurture that strength, that quality and integrate it into our daily being. For me, what a colleague referred to as ‘filling up the energy box’ is meditation and being in nature. Meditation helps me feel aware, balanced, at home with paradox.  This aids me in change and ambiguity.   So I give priority to meditating twice a day.  In a heated moment, it is enough to access those inner qualities by a pause and coming into presence.  Similarly being in nature is deeply resourcing for me.  It makes me feel more connected and free.   This helps me be centred and deal with complexity.  Even if I cannot be deep in mother nature, I can imagine it or reflect on the natural form of what is around me – which facilitates a sense of that same interconnectivity.   

Reflect on what resources you.   Fiercely protect that very thing and go easy on yourself when you can’t.  What you need is within you.

photo: own of my gorgeous sister Hannah, in Paradise.