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Leading with Questions (How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask?) by Michael J. Marquardt I spent 2 years with Ron McLuckie learning the art and science of leading with questions, first through the Action Learning program for Coaches and then the Senior Executive Action Learning Program run by WIAL, co-founded by Dr Michael Marquardt. Ron is the Chairman and Chief Executive for their India operations. He has done seminal work in the area of leadership and organization development in the country. I am grateful to not only have been coached by him but also to have him contribute to transforming the leadership consciousness in our country. Before the concept of 'Leading with Questions' hit me straight on my face and woke me up from my slumber, I was a 'telling my people what to do' kind of a leader both at work and at home, who always had to have an answer to all the problems. It was an exhausting way to lead. As John Stuart Mill says in his book The System of Logic: "Asking more of the right questions reduces the need to have all the answers. Leading from good to great does not mean coming up with answers and then motivating everyone to follow your messianic vision. It means to have the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights." Though the problem usually is, as Dr Marquardt points out that too often, we ask questions that disempower rather than empower our subordinates. These questions can cast blame; they are not genuine requests for information. •Why are you behind schedule? •What’s the problem with this project? •Who isn’t keeping up? The risk with leading with questions as a tactic without the shift on the inside is that it will end up creating more disengagement and alienation in the organisation than a purposeful coming together for the best solution and effective implementation by people on the ground themselves taking complete ownership and accountability. That is why, in our leadership evolution methodology, learning to ask great questions is a Gear 3 (Communicating while Being in the World of Others) skill after the leaders have been immersed in Gear 1 (Agility of Mind) and Gear 2 (Being of Service) Leadership Consciousness. The power of questions had been understood even 2000 years ago. Folklore has it that when people went to Socrates with their problems, he would respond back with questions for people to discover their own answers. That makes him the first known coach in the world. The coach's secret power is the ability to lead their clients from their original question to an even greater question, shifting the way they look at their problem and their world itself. The coach's job is not so much to give answers to their clients' questions but more to create the space for them to access their own wisdom to find their own answers and lead them to even more powerful questions. Finding answers is the easiest thing. The challenge lies in discovering the right questions. A really effective leader is a one who understands that his role is not only to lead but also to nurture and coach. Dr Marquardt does a phenomenal job at deconstructing and teaching the what, when, where, who, whom, why and how of leading with questions with amazing clarity. If it isn't as yet, include this book as part of your essential reading for your leadership team. And, of course, begin with yourself first, if you are really serious about sustainable transformation of your organisation from good to great. Here are few gems from the book for you to experience the power of leading with questions: 1. Leaders who use questions can truly empower people and change organizations. Poor leaders rarely ask questions of themselves or others. Good leaders, on the other hand, ask many questions. Great leaders ask great questions. And great questions can help you become a great leader. 2. The ability to ask questions goes hand-in-hand with the ability to learn. A learning organization is possible only if it has a culture that encourages questions. Questions enable people to increase alignment, engagement and accountability. It is not simply asking more questions. It is asking more and better questions. Avoiding questions can cause serious harm – even disaster. Because people did not ask questions, the Titanic sank and people lost lives. 3. Questions are useful for giving feedback, problem solving, strategic planning, resolving conflicts, team building. When we avoid questions, all these activities suffer. 4. Organizations and leaders who avoid questions are actually losing opportunities to learn. By telling rather than asking, they are actually making their organizations dumber, less smart, less aligned, and less energised everyday. A lot of bad leadership comes from an inability or unwillingness to ask questions. The dumbest questions can be the most powerful. They can unlock a conversation. 5. If you ask profound questions, you get profound answers. If you ask shallow questions , you get shallow answers. If you ask no questions, you get no answers at all. 6. Deep significant learning occurs only as a result of reflection, and reflection is not possible without a question. Questions, especially challenging ones, cause us to think and learn. The point is not to find the answer. Rather in a questioning culture we keep asking and learning. There is no correct answer, the point of asking questions is to gain perspective. 7. Questions can certainly empower and motivate people more effectively than exhortatory statements do. Good questions empower people to devise their own solutions. When people discover their own answers, they develop self-responsibility and accept ownership of the results. Asking people questions shows that you value them. Questions move people from dependence to independence. 8. Most people are totally unaware of and unconscious about the internal questions they ask themselves - even though such inquiries virtually program their thoughts, feelings, actions, and outcomes. Self-reflections enable us to better understand ourselves, gaining insight into why we do some things and avoid doing other things. 9. We have difficulty with questions for four primary reasons: a. We avoid questions out of a natural desire to protect ourselves. b. We are too often in a rush. c. We often lack skills in asking or answering questions due to a lack of experience and opportunities, of training, and of a role model. d. We find ourselves in corporate cultures and working environments that discourage questions, especially those that challenge exacting assumptions and policies. 10. Fear inhibits us from asking questions in another way. We sometimes fear that if we ask a question we will get an answer that we do not like, one that depicts us as a part of the problem, or one that indicates that a favoured project has gone off course. 11. Most of us feel more comfortable in efficiently making statements and providing answers. We do not have the discipline or the commitment to make time for questions. 12. The capacity to ask fresh questions in conditions of ignorance, risk, and confusion, when nobody knows what to do next is at the heart of great leadership. 13. Insights are more likely when you can look inside yourself and not focus on the outside world. 14. There is no such thing as the correct answer; it is only perspective. 15. Depending on how the leader asks a question, it can be perceived as “an invitation, a request, or a missile.” 16. When you talk it stops others from expressing themselves. And, so began that revelation that leadership is about listening. 17. Start by asking yourself, “What is the most important thing to the other person?” 18. It is important for leaders to fully recognize and understand the power of words. What do I want my question to accomplish? We end up creating that which we focus on. ‘What’s wrong?’ questions threaten self-esteem and thereby cause people to get mired in problems. Empowering questions, on the other hand, get people to think and allow them to discover their own answers, thus developing self-responsibility and transference of ownership for the results. In empowering others, the leader must resist the urge of give people advise. When people ask for help, the leader must ask them questions so that they come up with their own answers. 19. Instead of asking disempowering questions, such as “Why are you behind schedule?”, “What’s the problem with this project?”; Leaders can ask empowering questions such as these: a. How do you feel about the project? b. What have you accomplished so far that you are most pleased with? c. How would you describe the way you want this project to turn out? d. Which of these objectives do you think will be easiest to accomplish? Which will be most difficult? e. What will be the benefits to our customers if you can meet all these objectives - for our company, for our team, for you personally. f. What key things need to happen to achieve the objective? g. What kind of support do you need to ensure success? 20. Great questions are selfless; they are not asked to illustrate the cleverness of the questioner or to generate an interesting response for the questioner. They are generally supportive, insightful, and challenging. Empowering questions such as: •What’s on your mind? •Can you tell me about that? •Can you help me understand? •What should we be worried about?” 21. Some more empowering questions: •What is a viable alternative? •What are the advantages and disadvantages you see in this suggestion? •Can you more fully describe your concerns? •What are your goals? •How would you describe the current reality? •What are a few options for improvement? •What will you commit to do and by when? 22. Great questions for leaders to ask themselves: •What matters most? •What is one problem that I can turn into an opportunity? •What do employees need to hear from me? •What is our customers’ greatest pain? •What new business relationship will I pursue? •How will I be more strategic? •How can I make swift yet smart decisions? •What leadership skills can and should I get better at? •How will I recognize success? •What is my biggest fear, and how will I face it? 23. Grasping the art of questioning can lead to impressive results; asking inappropriate questions usually closes learning. The attitude, mindset, pace, timing, environment, and context - all can affect the impact of our questions. Asking a question at the right time in the right manner and with the right person is just as important as the content of the question itself. 24. Best approach is to be a supporting coach rather than the judging boss. Coaching is the opposite of bossing. A coaching-type relationship helps people work out issues and find their own answers though the skilful use of probing questions. 25. The key to framing good questions is to inquire about the “quest” in your questions. What do you want this person to think about? What do you want to learn? A questioning mindset shows that you care about the other person. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Wishing you the joy of the conversation. Love, Jyoti.
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Why is your organisation's higher purpose critical for your organisation's financial health? The Gartenberg study, which included 500,000 people across 429 firms and involved 917 firm-year observations from 2006 to 2011 — documents that firms exhibiting both high purpose and clarity have systematically higher operating financial performance (return on assets) and forward-looking measures of performance (Tobin’s Q and stock returns). Simply said, quoting from the enclosed HBR article, "Purpose is not just a lofty ideal; it has practical implications for your company’s financial health and competitiveness. People who find meaning in their work don’t hoard their energy and dedication. They give them freely, defying conventional economic assumptions about self-interest. They grow rather than stagnate. They do more — and they do it better. By tapping into that power, you can transform an entire organization." For the organization to have a higher purpose, the CEO has to have a higher purpose. That requires CEOs to be emotionally and spiritually intelligent. Mere intellectual intelligence will only take you so far. Click below to learn how to create a purpose driven organization. https://hbr.org/2018/07/creating-a-purpose-driven-organization.html Questions for deeper reflection: 1. What does being emotionally and spiritually intelligent mean? 2. Why is that needed to have a higher purpose? 3. Why does the CEO need a higher purpose for the organisation to have a higher purpose? Love, Jyoti. Leadership is a journey, not a destination. It is a way of being, not a place to go to. You don't become a Leader by moving into a role in an organization. By role, you may be a Leader and yet not know how to lead. By role, you may not be a Leader and yet be powerfully leading the business function within your influence from good to great. Leadership is an inner journey of personal evolution from good to great that results in you transforming your environment (personal, professional, social) from good to great. It is a journey over 5 stages. We iteratively move forward by focussing on key skills at each stage involving all the four bodies of the Being (physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual). I find it useful to call the stages Gears as you cannot force your way to Gear 5 without immersing yourself in the learnings of the previous gears, as in a manual car. 1. Leadership Skill: In Gear 1, we learn to 10X what we tell others, drawing power from giving unconditional love to ourselves and relating to our own self as extraordinary. 2. Nurturing Skill: In Gear 2, we learn to unconditionally give our love to all beings and relate to others as extraordinary. 3. Coaching Skill: In Gear 3, we realize the futility of talking from where we are and learn to communicate while being in the world of others by learning to coach. Rich is a master coach. He has beautifully put together a comprehensive Deep-Coaching checklist. I am grateful to have been coached by him for nearly a year. I still look up to him and continually learn from what he puts out in the world in the form of his writings to forward my own journey as a coach, even as I have moved to another coach to deepen my experience of living and giving. I have enclosed his checklist to support you to learn to coach to be a successful leader / prosperous entrepreneur / an effective parent. How can you live the learnings from this checklist moment by moment to shift to Gear 3? 4. Integration: In Gear 4, all the above skills get integrated and a Leader is born. 5. Being: In Gear 5, you become these skills and these skills become you. A Master is born. Though it should not come as a surprise, a smile escapes me to see that it always does come as a surprise to my clients that as they work on the inside to shift from one Gear to the next, all areas of their life (work, finances, relationships, kids, health, making a difference) simultaneously move forward. When you eat food, you don't expect to get energy only to work or only to drive or only to read a book. Wishing you the joy of the journey. Love, Jyoti.
I thought I knew what it takes to fulfil one's intentions and realise one's dreams. In fact, I had it all mapped out in a 5-step process. I coached it to my clients and it worked magic for them. Their life shifted, my life shifted as a consequence though it was a slow process. So, I taught the virtue of compassionate love, gratitude and patience to myself and to my clients. That added its own magic to the mix. Results accelerated because peace and stillness descended where there was unacknowledged and unconscious angst, anger and upset; showing up in the form of stress, impacting productivity, performance, creativity, innovation and health. My clients evolved in their journey and I evolved as an outcome of that and as an outcome of me raising 2 kids. I say as an outcome of both because I wanted to show up as a better human being every new day for my kids and for my clients that had me model all that I was coaching them on. Then, I had a moment of epiphany, the moment for which the entire journey so far was, the moment that could not have been without the journey before. I understood, finally, the secret to fulfilling one's 100% intentions and realising one's impossible, unimaginable dreams; dreams so big that they scare you. Either one could be right; or have one's intentions be fulfilled by generously letting everyone else be right. Either I could have my way; or fulfil my intentions by providing space for others to have their way. Either one could take all the credit; or realise one's greatest dreams in deepest communion with one's highest self by generously giving all the credit away. Either I could work hard to be appreciated, acknowledged and applauded; or fulfil my dreams effortlessly by silently supporting others to fulfil their dreams, for them to feel complete, fulfilled and at peace. Of course, this requires a massive shift in our human consciousness from fear-based evolutionary survival instinct to joyous love-sourced consciousness with defenceless (no urge to defend or protect oneself) childlike trust and faith. The journey of human evolution isn't over as yet. Physical evolution sure has played its part. The evolution journey is now in the domain of emotional, intellectual and spiritual bodies. This evolution will be played out in the organisations as businesses would be forced to evolve from good to great in search for more and sustainable profit, possible only if there is leadership evolution at home and at work. "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes." said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair have been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be Ugly, except to people who don't understand." - Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit Come home to yourself to experience the Real you; and you will find all the wealth and success chasing you, instead of the other way around.
Love, Jyoti. The 80/20 Principle (The Secret to Achieving More with Less) by Richard Koch This is a book after my own heart. What I am upto in the world is to support leaders to have it all - deeply fulfilling successful career, loving harmonious relationships, happy responsible kids with their genius joyfully expressed, lots of nourishing nurturing me-time while making a huge difference in the world. I love busting the myth that you cannot have it all with every coaching engagement. This myth is a cause of so much misery and sadness on this planet because it makes people cynical and resigned about the possibility of living their greatest lives and fulfilling their impossible unimaginable dreams. Nothing spreads the disease of 'living small' as much as forgotten dreams, pushed away under the carpet of imaginary 'reality'. One of the key levers to have it all is to become an 80/20 Thinker. Richard Koch has done a phenomenal job of explaining step by step how to become one. The 80/20 Principle has been my secret magical wand in supporting my clients. That's how we coaches dramatically increase the effectiveness of our clients, professionally and personally, by getting them to realize what 20% of what they do gives them 80% of their outcomes and then systematically get them to expand the 20%. Of course, in that whole journey of expanding 20% to become 60% so that results are now 240% from the original 80%, unacknowledged hidden fears show up and then the work is about getting off that to take powerful effective precise actions. The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually lead to majority of results, outputs, or rewards. That means, 20% of what you do at work is actually what is creating your success and 80% of what you do is largely irrelevant. Amazing, isn't it. Based on my own experience, I connect to the truth of what Koch says - The 80/20 Principle can raise personal effectiveness and happiness. It can multiply the profitability of corporations and the effectiveness of any organization. Here are few gems from the book: 1. Strive for excellence in few things, rather than good performance in many. 2. In every important sphere, work out where 20% of effort can lead to 80% of returns. 3. Calm down, work less and target a limited number of very valuable goals. 4. Three implications for organizations: a. Successful firms operate in markets where it is possible for that firm to generate the highest revenues with the least effort. A firm cannot be judged successful unless it has a high absolute surplus (in traditional terms, a high return on investment) and also a higher surplus than its competitors (higher margins). b. It is always possible to raise the economic surplus, usually by a large degree, by focusing only on those market and customer segments where the largest surpluses (profits) are currently being generated. This will always imply redeployment of resources into the most surplus-generating (profitable) segments and will normally also imply a reduction in the total level of resource and expenditure (in plain words, fewer employees and other costs). Firms rarely reach the highest level of surplus that they could attain, or anywhere near it, both because managers are often not aware of the potential for surplus and because they often prefer to run large firms than exceptionally profitable ones. c. It is possible for every corporation to raise the level of surplus by reducing the inequality of output and reward within the firm. 5. 80% of value perceived by customers relates to 20% of what an organization does. What is that 20% in your case? What is stopping you from doing more of it? What is preventing you from "making" an even more extreme version of that 20%? 6. 80% of any industry's profit come from 20% of its customers. Do you have a disproportionate share of these? If not, what would you need to do to get it? 7. One-fifth (20%) of a typical company's revenues account for four-fifths (80%) of its profit and cash. Conversely, four-fifths (80%) of the average company's revenues account for only one-fifth (20%) of profits and cash. ... You could have a business solely composed of the most profitable chunks and it could make the same absolute returns, provided you organised things differently. And, why is this so? ... It is because simple is beautiful. Business people seem to love complexity. No sooner is a simple business successful than its managers pour vast amounts of energy into making it very much more complicated. But business returns abhor complexity. ... The act of making a business more complex depresses returns more effectively than any other means known to humanity. 8. A recent careful study of 39 middle-sized German companies, led by Gunter Rommel, found that only one characteristic differentiated the winners from the less successful firms: simplicity. The winners sold a narrower range of products to fewer customers and also had fewer suppliers. The study concludes that a simple organization was best at selling complicated products. 9. Where a business is dominant in its narrowly defined niche, it is likely to make several times the returns earned in niches where one faces a dominant competitor. 10. What is most simple and standardized is hugely more productive and cost effective than what is complex. The simplest messages are the most appealing and universal: to colleagues, consumers and suppliers. The simplest structures and process flows are at once the most attractive and the lowest cost. 11. Waste thrives on complexity; effectiveness requires simplicity. 12. The large and simple business is the best. The way to create something great is to create something simple. ... Progress requires simplicity, and simplicity requires ruthlessness. This helps to explain why simple is as rare as it is beautiful. 13. Important as focus on the few best products is, it is much less important than focusing on the few best customers. 14. The key to superior sales performance is to stop thinking averages and start thinking 80/20. ... Most studies find that the top 20% salespeople generate between 70 and 80% of sales. 15. Focus every salesperson's efforts on the 20% of products that generate 80% of sales. ... The salesforce should be rewarded for selling the most profitable products, not the least profitable. ... Focus salespeople on the 20% of customers who generate 80% of sales and 80% of profits. 16. The Top 10 business applications of the 80/20 principle: i. Strategy ii. Quality iii. Cost reduction and service improvement iv. Marketing v. Selling vi. Information technology vii. Decision making and analysis viii. Inventory management ix. Project management x. Negotiation 17. A few things are always much more important than most things. 18. Progress means moving resources from low-value to high-value uses. 19. The 80/20 Principle, like the truth, can make you free. You can work less. At the same time, you can earn and enjoy more. ... The beauty of 80/20 Thinking is that it is pragmatic and internally generated, centered around the individual. There is a slight catch. You must do the thinking. 20. Most of what any of us achieve in life, of any serious degree of value to ourselves and others, occurs in a very small proportion of our working lives. 80/20 Thinking and observation makes this perfectly clear. WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME. We demean ourselves, both by lack of ambition and by assuming that ambition is served by bustle and busyness. Achievement is driven by insight and selective action. The still, small voice of calm has a bigger place in our lives than we acknowledge. Insight comes when we are feeling relaxed and good about ourselves. Insight requires time - and time, despite conventional wisdom, is there in abundance. 21. Work out what you want from life. ... aim to "have it all". Everything you want should be yours: the type of work you want; the relationships you need; the social, mental and aesthetic stimulation that will make you happy and fulfilled; the money you require for the lifestyle that is appropriate to you; and any requirement that you may have for achievement or service to others. If you don't aim for it all, you'll never get it all. ... We are wasting 80% of our effort on low-value outcomes. 20% of our time leads to 80% of happiness; but 80% of our time yields very little happiness. ... Remember the promise of the 80/20 Principle: if we take note of what it tells us, we can work less, earn more, enjoy more, and achieve more. From Richard Koch back to me :-) What actions will you take as an outcome of reading the above insights in different areas of your wheel of life? Love, Jyoti. In a session I was leading today, I suddenly got present to strong judgments in me because of which I relayed outwards a blinkered ineffective emotional response. Few years back, I would have been totally disconnected to the arising emotions as I was too busy being busy and I would have simply moved on in a cut & dried fashion. Now, I was painfully aware of the judgements, the resulting limiting emotions and the impact of that on the group. I recognised Intellectual Arrogance behind my judgments. Behind the Intellectual Arrogance, I discovered many fears. In that moment of self-awareness through the process of acceptance, inquiry and reflection; I found my freedom from the suffocating grip of the judgements, arrogance and fears. Once the fears lost hold on me, I re-connected to the love within for myself, for the group and for the Universe itself. What saved me was acknowledging my judgements and emotions to myself; and with the group. In that, I found my way back home to myself. Wishing you the joy, freedom and fulfilment of finding your way back home to yourself. In that you will find the access to greater productivity, performance, effectiveness, creativity, innovation and the success which is the outcome of all of that. Love, Jyoti. An article I was reading recently in Harvard Business Review indicated that many employees and half of CEOs report feeling lonely in their roles. The experience of loneliness is not only a health hazard shortening lifespans in a way similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day; it also negatively impacts productivity, performance, effectiveness, creativity and innovation. In today's over-connected world, we have almost forgotten what being connected originally meant. Building authentic relationships at work and at home gets lost in the adrenalin-filled chase of targets and goals, both professional and personal. Interestingly, it is easier to achieve much bigger targets and goals if the focus is deep human connection between fellow human beings. Our default evolutionary fear based human design comes in the way of naturally being authentic and vulnerable, the 2 pre-requisites for forging deeper bonds. Organizations looking for greater profitability need to wake up to this new reality where communities have been replaced by organizations, as people spend majority of their day at work. The sense of belongingness to a particular community that anchored us before has now to be provided by organizations that we work for. A job only as a vehicle for earning money for sustenance does not create a space for authentic connections at workplace nor inspire maximum contribution by individuals forming the organization. In the current model of leadership development, where the focus is on beating the success out of the system without understanding the linkage of that to inner growth of people responsible for creating the success, there is a limit beyond which the businesses will not be able to grow and prosper. There is ample research out there pointing to the need to transform how we work though it is like blind-folded people touching different parts of the elephant and shouting Eureka. Each bit of research is definitive and emphatic about its discovery and its set of recommendations on what the organization needs to do. What is needed is an integrated approach which combines all the learnings across different domains for growth; with the recognition that organisational growth is a function of personal growth of people who form that organization. As long as we are still operating from the ‘Survival’ mode of the default human design, a space of authenticity and vulnerability cannot be created. We may implement a few tactics, which may have worked in some other situation, the outcome will largely be uncertain and unsustainable. Loneliness, disengagement, loss of productivity and performance, lack of creativity and innovation, struggle to remain profitable are all symptoms. Solving the problem only at the level of symptoms will not address the underlying malaise which, if not healed, will continue to fester and the struggle with the symptoms will be an endless game. It all boils down to leadership development in the new model of leadership where the focus is to support people on their inner leadership journey - from fear-based Survival of the Fittest to the love-sourced Transformation to Our Highest Self - by working at the level of habits across all the 4 bodies of the Being (physical, emotional, mental / intellectual, spiritual). Leadership development cannot happen in isolation. It needs a playground for the leadership muscles to practise and strengthen. Therefore, to successfully journey forward from good to great, organizations have to play 3 games that CEOs need to lead: 1. Leadership Depth - The inner journey of personal transformation from Evolutionary Fear to Transcendent Love for an integrated wheel of life to have it all and for greater impact in the world through living our Purpose of Life. 2. Business Excellence - The outer journey of professional success by contributing to the communities that we serve through the work we do and leading our organisations / business functions from good to great. 3. Craft Mastery - Becoming a key person of influence in our industry through continual learning, unlearning, re-learning to become the master of our craft. Ready to play? Love, Jyoti. This word is the world's most misunderstood - Spirituality. Spirituality simply means walking on the path to reach our highest self and nothing else. Religion has three components - 1. Customs, rituals & traditions - specific to a particular religion. 2. Mythology, stories & symbols - specific to a particular religion. 3. Spirituality - universal, irrespective of which religion you belong to. Unfortunately, the third component is largely forgotten which actually is the real purpose of a religion in the first place. Most of us get immersed or overwhelmed by the first two that we become resigned and cynical about anything to do with religion. Let me also define what is one's highest self - it is our commitment of being the greatest that we can dream of ourselves being. When we are being the greatest that we can be; we will, by default, contribute to our family, our organization, our community, our country and our world. Embracing our greatness requires us to drop all our inner walls of resistance, and our fear to love and to serve; and become a space for loving kindness. Research proves that a culture of compassionate love and servant leadership leads to greater productivity, performance, profitability and organisational greatness. "We surveyed more than 3,200 employees in 17 organisations spanning seven industries: biopharmaceutical, engineering, financial services, higher education, public utilities, real estate, and travel. In organisations where employees felt and expressed companionate love toward one another; people reported greater job satisfaction, commitment, and personal accountability for work performance." - From an article published in Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2016 by Sigal Barsade, Professor of Management, Wharton; Olivia A. O’Neill, Assistant Professor of Management, George Mason University Here's how Jim Collins describes Level 5 Leaders only who, as per his research, can lead an organisation from good to great: "A man who carried no airs of self-importance... He never cultivated hero status or executive celebrity status. ... a Level 5 leader - an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will. ... they were self-effacing individuals who displayed the fierce resolve to do whatever needed to make the company great. ... their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves. ... humble and fearless. ... ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one's own riches and personal renown. Level 5 leaders want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won't even know that the roots of that success trace back to their efforts. ... In contrast to the I-centric style of comparison leaders, we were struck by how good-to-great leaders didn't talk about themselves. ... Those who worked with or wrote about the good-to-great leaders continually used words like quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated... ... The good-to-great leaders never wanted to become larger-than-life heroes. They never aspired to be put on a pedestal or become unreachable icons. They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results. ... Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce results. ...didn't have an inspiring personality to galvanize the company, but had something much more powerful: inspired standards. ... The evidence does not support the idea that you need an outside leader to come in and shake up the place to go from good to great. In fact, going for a high-profile outside change agent is negatively correlated with a sustained transformation from good to great. ... The quiet, dogged nature of Level 5 leaders showed up not only in big decisions, ... but also in a personal style of sheer workmanlike diligence. ... flat-out refused to take credit for his company's success, attributing his good fortune to having great colleagues, successors, and predecessors. ... a contrasting pattern in the comparison executives: They credited substantial blame to bad luck, frequently bemoaning the difficulties of the environment they faced. ... Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly. The comparison leaders did just the opposite. They'd look out the window for something or someone outside themselves to blame for poor results, but would preen in front of the mirror and credit themselves when things went well. Strangely, the window and the mirror do not reflect objective reality. Everyone outside the window points inside, directly at the Level 5 leader, saying, "He was the key; without his guidance and leadership, we would not have become a great company." And the Level 5 leaders points right back out the window and says, "Look at all the great people and good fortune that made this possible; I'am a lucky guy." They're both right, of course. But the Level 5s would never admit that fact. ... A strong religious belief ... might also nurture development of Level 5 traits." If you are a CEO or aspire to be a CEO, can you be on any other path but the spiritual? What does it mean to be a leader at the helm of an organization - it is to be at the source of transformation for humanity. That ultimately is the purpose of Business. That leads to not only greater but sustainable profitability. It is no longer politics or religion that will lead us forward. It is on the shoulders of business leaders that the future of humanity now rests. And, when you are on the spiritual path to be the greatest version of yourself; you realize your greatest dreams in deepest communion with your highest self, lead your organization from good to great and have it all - deeply fulfilling successful career, loving harmonious relationships at work and at home, happy responsible kids with their genius joyfully expressed, lots of nourishing nurturing me-time, making a difference leaving footprints in the sand of time. The question is how do you develop yourself as a Level-5 leader and create an organisational culture that nourishes and nurtures its people to walk the path of Level-5 leadership. Here's how we do it through our proprietary 5-stage Leadership Development Process leading up to Level 5 leaders. In our leadership development technology; we call them Gear 5 leaders, Peaceful Warriors on their Hero's journey. We work at the level of habits across the 4 bodies (physical, mental / intellectual, emotional and spiritual) of the Being; and use coaching as the mechanism to help leaders identify their blindspots and go beyond for growth, evolution and transformation from the inside; which supports strengthening of the below 5 Leadership Muscles one stage at a time: 1. Gear 1 - Agility of Mind 2. Gear 2 - Being of Service 3. Gear 3 - Communicating while Being in the World of Others 4. Gear 4 - Delivering on your Word 5. Gear 5 - Excellence We refer to this inner journey as Leadership Depth but increasing the leadership depth on its own cannot be sustained without the leader being on 2 other journeys simultaneously: 1. Leadership Depth - The inner journey of personal transformation and evolution for greater impact in the world 2. Business Excellence - The outer journey of professional success by contributing to the communities that we serve through the work we do and leading our organisations from good to great. 3. Craft Mastery - Becoming a key person of influence in our industry through continual learning, unlearning, re-learning to become the master of our craft. Wishing you a deeply fulfilling journey to your highest self as you lead your business from good to great. Love, Jyoti. References: 1. Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better / HBR 2. Manage Your Emotional Culture / HBR 3. Good to Great by Jim Collins Google recently demonstrated that its best employees were not Ivy League students but rather young people who had experienced a big loss in their lives and had been able to transform that experience into growth. According to Google, deep personal loss has resulted in employees who are more humble and open to listening and learning. - Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail Leadership Development is about having an integrated approach to support your people to be on their journey of growth, evolution and transformation; instead of disconnected efforts to create the shine on the outside. The shine outside is always an outcome of inner growth. An organization will grow, evolve and transform from good to great when each person in the organization is on their own personal journey from good to great. That means supporting them to grow not only i. Intellectually Intelligent a. Ability to focus and concentrate b. Have Agility of Mind to be able to understand and appreciate a 360 degree view of a situation c. Willingness to learn, unlearn and re-learn for mastery of one's craft d. Being able to integrate knowledge from diverse fields to create innovative solutions for problems e. Ability to listen with a still mind to absorb fully but also ii. Physically Intelligent a. Ability to maintain perfect health and well-being of the only house one has this lifetime to live in b. Eating consciously and responsibly c. Exercising for maintaining flexibility, strength and energy till the end of one's life d. Being able to give up whatever is detrimental for the health and well-being of the physical body e. Being able to take on whatever creates health and well-being of the physical body iii. Emotionally Intelligent a. Ability to have awareness of one's entire range of emotions, process them on the inside rather than vomit them on self or others b. To be in a state of joyous equanimity in the face of the inevitable ups and downs c. To be able to Communicate While Being in the World of Others d. Living from one's Values, Personal Inner Commitment and Powerful Intentions; rather than being taken over by Life e. Living with Integrity by honouring one's words to oneself and to others iv. Spiritually Intelligent a. Ability to experience compassionate love for oneself and for all beings b. Ability to grow through Insights, rather than wait for growth to happen through Pain c. Living by design from one's Purpose; rather than for external applause, appreciation, acknowledgement, approval or reward d. Child-like trust and faith in the Universe through a restful, tranquil, abundant experience of being taken care of; rather than the experience of having to protect oneself from a hostile world e. Living from the consciousness of Being of Service; rather than from the consciousness of Survival Growth across all the four bodies of the Being unleashes creativity, innovation, productivity, performance and effectiveness. Therefore, it is in the interest of the Business to support authentic Leadership Development for their people. Love, Jyoti. Discover the inner power to realize your greatest dreams in deepest communion with your highest self, lead your business from good to great, increase your impact in the world and have it all - deeply fulfilling successful career, loving harmonious relationships at work and at home, happy responsible kids with their genius joyfully expressed, while making a difference in the world. Wishing you the joy of the journey. Love, Jyoti. |
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