What shapes careers? and self-change management

Some time ago, while I pondered where I was going with my career, I found this article in McKinsey Quarterly (It is a subscriber's-only site but below I reproduced the abstract part accessible to everybody).

It gave me so much to think! But there was one thing that struck me: it made me rethink how much control I had over my career. I realized that I needed to be in charge of where I was going! Instead I had just been going with the flow and cruising to where the river took me.

The reality was I was navigating somewhere in the right direction but I needed to correct the course to make sure I was going exactly where I wanted. The process took some self-change management, which was very insightful. Talk about experiencing change first-hand and in a concious way!

Read the complete article if you can.

• Executives around the world say the events that most profoundly affected their careers originated largely at work, not from family or personal issues, according to a McKinsey Quarterly survey.
• Although 40 percent of respondents say they have had difficulty balancing work and home life, they also say this challenge doesn’t drive most career decisions. The survey uncovered few differences between the experiences of men and women.
• However, women are more likely to have had a mentor or role model and to have experienced discrimination.
• Respondents are satisfied with the outcome of career-shaping moments, saying that they led to more interesting and important jobs and to higher compensation.

Listening Skills

Listening is probably the most under-valued and under-used skill people have. We are all quick to speak but, how much do we really listen?

Listening is a process that requires understanding and takes practice to do it well.

Hearing: really putting attention and focusing on what the other person is saying to be able to understand.

Understanding: processing what you heard and being able to repeat it back in your own words.

Rationalizing: making sense of what you understood.

What it takes to be a good listener

• Give your full attention to the person who is speaking. Don't look at what else is going on around you.
• Focus your mind. It’s easy to let your mind wander and get distracted from the person that is speaking. Actively work on focusing on what the speaker is saying.
• Allow the speaker to finish before you begin talking. If you interrupt it may look like you are not interested in what they are saying.
• Finish listening before you begin thinking. If you are busy thinking what you are going to say next, you can’t actively listen. Thoughts move about four times as fast as speech and if your mind takes off on elaborating ideas you are going to miss the speaker’s words.
• Listen so you understand the context and main idea of what the speaker is saying.
• Ask clarifying questions, especially if you think you may not have gotten the entire meaning of what the speaker was saying.

Check out Mind Tools for more on Active Listening Skills

Leading People to Be Highly Motivated and Committed

Ben Simonton says

"Doesn't every executive and manager want highly motivated and committed employees?
Yes, certainly. Everyone knows that highly motivated people are continually striving to do their very best. In fact, these employees use 100% of their brainpower on their work when on the job and often when not on the job and that makes them extremely valuable employees. ..."

Read more on his book Leading People to Be Highly Motivated and Committed

Six Faulty Assumptions About Change Communications

Communication is an important component of any Change Management plan. But communications need to be good.

"... Here are the most common faulty assumptions leaders make about change communications.

1. Leaders often deliver one-way communication and assume it is adequate.
2. Leaders assume that the corporate communications group can handle change communications, not realizing that corporate communications is different.
3. Leaders assume that communication is an event, but it must be treated as a process to be effective.
4. Leaders assume that communications can be planned against a pre-determined timeline.
5. Leaders assume that they should only communicate when they have a decision to announce.
6. Leaders assume that their talk will speak louder than their walk.
   

... "

Read the complete article by Dean Anderson & Linda Ackerman Anderson for Talent Management Magazine.

Change management without migraines

There is a good post in Rick Maurer's blog about Leading Change when People don't know you. His solution is simple and to the point. In answer to "How can I influence people when they don’t know me.” He says: "you can’t".

Unfortunately, as a Change Management Consultant, you get hired to do exactly that: Lead change in organizations where nobody knows you. And if we were to say to the potential clients that we needed to get to know them better before getting the change effort under way, well, I suspect we would be out of most of the jobs. Nonetheles, Rick has a point. And I don't think I know the answer to cross this bridge. Do you?

Managing Leadership

If you still haven't read Jim Stroup's book you can download a free copy of the first chapter on his blog. 

And don't miss the MUST READ POSTS with posts like "What is Individual Leadership?", "What is Organizational Leadership?", etc.

 

 

I'm The Leader Around Here!

The lion was completely convinced about his dominance of the animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure that all the other animals knew he was the undisputed king of the jungle. He was so confident about his position that he decided not to talk to the smaller creatures. Instead, he went straight to the bear.

"Who is the king of the jungle?" asked the lion. The bear bowed deferentially and replied, "Why, you are sir-of course." The lion gave a great roar of approval. He continued his journey and soon met the tiger. "Who is the king of the jungle?" he asked. The tiger, stepping off the path, quickly responded, "All of us know that you are the king." The lion gave another roar of pleasure.

Next on his list was the elephant, whom he caught up with at the edge of the river. Again he asked, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The elephant lifted his trunk proudly and trumpeted with a flourish, then grabbed the lion, threw the startled beast into the air, and smashed him into a tree. As the lion shook his head to clear it, the elephant fished him from among the branches and tossed him forcefully to the ground, then lifted him up once more and dumped him into the river. Drenched to the skin, tile battered lion struggled to shore, only to have the elephant jump on top of him, drag him through the mud, and fling him into some bushes where, caught by his tail, he hung suspended.

When it appeared that the elephant was finished, the lion - dirty, beaten, and bruised - struggled to his feet. He looked the elephant sadly in the eyes and said, "Look, just because you don't know the answer that's no reason for you to be so mean-spirited about it."
...

" Some leaders are like the lion. Reality testing isn’t their forte. Making sense out of feedback isn’t something they are very good at. Instead, they create their own reality, only wanting to see what they like to see. They are not very open to change. What this tale illustrates is that change isn’t a simple process, nor is it a comfortable one. ... "

...

I read this story and the white paper associated with it recently. A beautiful reading. I couldn't put it down.

Also good on the topic, Managing Leadership by Jim Stroup.

Psychology Classroom

The roots of any Change Management method is in understanding how humans behave and how to help them change behaviors for a sustainable solution.

Learn more about Behavioral Psychology in AllPsich Online, one of the largest and most comprehensive psychology websites on the Internet. AllPsych is referenced by over 100 colleges and universities in ten countries and receives an average of 3,000 unique visitors and 10,000 page views every day.