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Overview
Many leaders know the answers to these questions at an intellectual level, but interestingly, they don’t talk about them very often, and most have never expressed themselves in writing on these important leadership underpinnings.
The Leaders Journal provides leaders the opportunity to take their thinking to a deeper level. Organized around twelve time-honored principles essential to effective, ethical leadership, this book introduces these keys in a week-to-week format. By quoting respected exemplars and posing important questions each day, you are asked to express your thoughts on integrity, commitment, purpose and other fundamental leadership principles. The exercise of writing your deepest thoughts can be clarifying, therapeutic and often eye-opening. Writing can help you think through ideas or problems where answers may not be readily apparent. The more diligent you are in journaling, the more you’ll learn about yourself and about your capacity to lead others. In this sense, this book is interactive and engaging. It’s about both what other great leaders have said, and more importantly, it’s about what you have to say !
Just be aware that what you record in this journal may be transformative!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781456752729 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 06/09/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 284 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
Read an Excerpt
The Leader's Journal
Integrating Head & HeartBy John Horan-Kates
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 John Horan-KatesAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-5274-3
Chapter One
"Leadership is an art, a performance art. And in the art of leadership, the artist's instrument is the self. The mastery of the art of leadership comes with the mastery of the self. Ultimately, leadership development is a process of self-development." James Kouzes & Barry Posner
The Evolution of the Inside First™ Framework
In the recent literature on leadership, a focus on the inside is becoming more and more common. It's referenced in a variety of articles and books from Joe Jaworski's Synchronicity to Peter Senge's essay The Ecology of Leadership to Bill George's book True North. Sometimes you see it referenced as "inside-out" thinking; sometimes as the "inner life." A recent special issue of the Harvard Business Review, entitled Why Knowing Yourself is the Best Strategy Now, talked about leadership being personal and put its focus on the inside. As a result, the heart-centered perspective is gaining momentum.
My own thinking solidified concurrently with the evolution of the Vail Leadership Institute's philosophy that ultimately led to coining the phrase "inside first." This framework blends a practical approach with a holistic, heart-mind-spirit outlook that is very much needed in today's fast-paced world. At bottom, Inside First is about leading from a solid foundation.
The evolution of this philosophy continues to draw from a range of excellent theories, often referred to as a multiple thought-leader approach. In the process of developing this thinking, it became obvious how complex leadership can be with the wide variety of comprehensive approaches being taught and used. As a pragmatist, I felt the need to take a stab at simplifying my thinking.
The purpose of this chapter is to describe this framework that has been synthesized over many years. My intent is to go beyond describing why Inside First thinking is important, to teeing-up the principles that undergird this approach, and then to highlight how they can be applied in the real world. It's also an opportunity to tell a bit of my own story on how these principles have played a role in my growth.
How Did the Inside First Framework Evolve?
For me, it started in the late 60's with a stint in Vietnam as a naval officer. Living and working in crowded quarters taught me discipline, focus and organization. The long days and nights on the Me Kong River provided the opportunity for my first life plan and a vision of living and working in Colorado. And it represented the first step in my commitment to serving the country.
By the mid-70's, I was living in Vail where my first exposure to personal development came through the confrontational, but nevertheless valuable, Erhard Seminars Training, or est workshops. One of the significant take-aways was the commitment to periodically taking a look at my life to see if I was really making a difference. This willingness became an annual event, sometimes with my wife, sometimes on a business-sponsored retreat, but always in a reflective way. Regardless of form, this eagerness to learn opened the door to many thought-leaders and many perspectives.
Another lesson at this early stage was seeing the power of being personally responsible versus blaming others. As the Vice President of Marketing for Vail, I led a team of creative, energetic people who loved what they were doing in this spectacular mountain setting. But I struggled with some of the team when follow-through on our agreements was weak. I saw that I couldn't make them take action; I could only take responsibility for my part of the relationship. And in doing so, I could actually take 100% responsibility for myself and this allowed me to move away from the blame game. Experiencing this power of taking responsibility was life-altering.
Richard Leider was next in what would become a long line of influencers. His focus was purpose and he professed that to discover it, one must start on the inside with what's important, what we value, what we appreciate and where our talents and passions lie. Purpose, he contended, is one's reason for being. Early on in Vail, I felt drawn to participate in helping to build the community and this would shape my next 30 years.
From the early-80's through the mid-90's, the influence of many thought-leaders served to plant seeds for a learning community of some kind. Clearly Stephen Covey made a significant impact, as did Joe Jaworski, John Gardner, and Robert Greenleaf. In his work as General Editor of The Leadership Bible, Sid Buzzell used a three-phased organizing structure that ultimately led to the adoption of the water drop as symbolic of this emerging perspective. This image, introduced by Buck Elliott, one of our founders, symbolized leadership emanating out from the center – from our inside – and from this small, but potentially influential mountain valley.
In 1995, Leider introduced me to Frederic Hudson, a delightful, sage psychologist-thinker-coach who really helped launch a new course. Hudson's philosophy was based on a Cycle of Renewal that described how leaders are ever evolving through various phases and stages of life, taking one both inside and then out. Sometimes we're in a phase when things are going well, when we're meeting our objectives and really producing the desired results. Sometimes we're in the "doldrums" when things seem out of synch or when we've got to let go of the past. And sometimes we simply need time to reflect. As an evolving leader, I began to see how much I didn't know, and committed myself to a process of lifelong learning. With Hudson's guidance, I became an executive coach and learned the incredible power of questions.
Along the way, David Burger shared his Natural Life Cycles model, wherein he refers to the continuous seasonal nature of life reflected in the spring, summer, fall and winter cycles. Both the Burger and Hudson models are mirrored in what Colorado's Southern Ute Indians have called throughout their history the Circle of Life where our existence is a constant journey; where the cycles never end. Understanding these models caused me to develop our own Seasons of Leadership model. Thus it became more clear to me that leadership, like life, was an evolving process.
It wasn't until later that thought-leaders like Peter Senge, Henri Nouwen, Ken Blanchard, John Heider, Bob Vanourek, Max DePree and Parker Palmer became influences. As I read the work of these masters, I began blending and synthesizing their philosophies with the influences from a whole raft of biographies of people like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and others.
What is inside first leadership?
All great human achievement begins from within, thus, Inside First leadership is a process that starts there. Inside is where we clarify our values and discover our purpose. Inside is where we develop character. Inside is where we store our convictions, our beliefs and our courage. These virtues within then guide us in our responsibilities through relationships with others. This approach allows people to better realize their leadership potential to make meaningful contributions to society.
The Inside First framework employs a continuous process that is always cycling and looping back. It's a flow from inside reflection to outside action with relationships as a constant backdrop. It's developed through a thoughtful process that helps people discover a deeper sense of themselves, their values, their beliefs and their purpose. And the thinking is fostered by a set of universal leadership principles and leading practices organized around character development, skillful actions and relationship building. A significant premise is that leadership engages us in others people's lives, and before inserting ourselves, all of us should know how to lead our own lives first.
Another way of saying this is that in order to grow as a leader one must first grow as a person. As a beginning point, this involves understanding our essence, integrating heart, mind and spirit, and then, with a focused inside and a commitment to serving others, we can attempt to lead. In this way, people can sense our essence and can choose, voluntarily, to follow.
Developing one's inner capacity involves a number of perspectives that help leaders understand their essence. Central to this understanding is dialogue, a process that encourages us to engage others openly. It's an environment where small groups of leaders become comfortable interacting and sharing their stories, their deeper feelings and their concerns. Being receptive to these respectful conversations and allowing the wisdom that naturally resides within a group of leaders to emerge can be extremely powerful.
Why is this Philosophy so Valuable Today?
Some would tie it to our culture, which is increasingly complex and fast-paced with globalization, technology, and more TV channels than we could ever imagine. And now, with terrorism close at hand, we have our safety to think about as well.
As the Enron-type scandals indicate, greed, materialism and destructive competition have some leaders, and often whole teams, moving in questionable directions. Our litigious, cynical, hedonistic culture is producing many people who are largely self-absorbed and think of the common good as something for soft-headed monks. The media rationalizes its programming by saying they only sell what the public buys while some leaders push to do whatever it takes because "hey, it's just business."
If freedom and opportunity are going to spread in this world, we will need more from our leaders. The common good must be balanced with individual achievement and success. The head must become more integrated with the heart. The positive potential of people must be more fully developed.
What Distinguishes Leading From The Inside First?
The inside is about heart – it's where character is built. Parker Palmer's perspective on the word heart is:
"In ancient times it meant that center in the human self where everything came together – where will and intellect and values and feeling and intuition and vision all converged. It meant the source of one's integrity."
We are working on the inside when we take that extra moment to reflect – to just be. The inner life is often about discovery, creativity and recognition of a higher power. In our Seasons of Leadership model, fall and winter are the inside seasons when we are harvesting, evaluating and sorting things out, preparing for our next phase. Palmer advocates attending to the inner voice through solitude, meditative reading, walking in the woods, keeping a journal or simply finding a friend who will listen.
The "outside" emanates mostly in the head; it's the doing part of life. If the inside tends to be more about renewal, the outside is more about information and action. For example, how we manifest our vision is an outgrowth of that connection which we have developed largely in thoughtful reflection. Again, referring to the seasons, we are on the outside when we are in spring and summer, a time for planting, producing and achieving. Developing that strategic plan for reaching your goals clearly draws on outside skills.
As Palmer says in A Hidden Wholeness; "A person is healthy and whole when both the head and the heart are involved." Perhaps the key differentiating feature of the Inside First approach is that it advocates a place to start – with the heart. The heart is significantly influenced by our individual spiritual perspective, and when leaders acknowledge this side of themselves, they can tend to live more integrated, balanced lives. Palmer calls it living the "undivided life."
One of Stephen Covey's "seven habits" drawn from the prayer of St. Francis provides a great example here; "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Communication is a key skill that is a complex subject unto itself, but listening first before speaking reflects an approach with a touch more humility. After all, it's why God gave us two ears and only one mouth.
Mohandas Gandhi typified this kind of leadership; he was a deeply spiritual man who spent many hours in reflection and meditation. But he was also a man of action. He didn't wait around to see who might follow; he simply moved on his convictions. When he launched his salt march to the sea it grew to overwhelming strength from the sheer volume of his followers.
For effective leaders, both parts are essential. We need to be both thoughtful and expressive; both sensitive and decisive; both head and heart. Robert Greenleaf in his various writings on servant leadership references Jesus as an example of a leader who was both reflective and very much action oriented. The Man from Galilee summarized it well with the expression, "First cleanse the inside ... that the outside may be clean as well." I'll expand more on this notion of integration in Chapter 2.
How Can One Visualize this Thinking?
The building block image below portrays how the Inside First philosophy is structured. It identifies values and beliefs as key to our leadership foundation; character as an inside realm that drives how we'll behave; skills as the primary outside activity; and relationships as a facet permeating every aspect of leadership. Think of this image as a way of seeing how leadership is built.
What are these Key Principles and Leading practices?
A pragmatist might say, "This is interesting stuff, but how do I put it into practice?" Within these major domains or realms, a set of principles and leading practices has emerged. Practices grow from a belief that focusing on application is central to effective leadership.
The full Inside First framework encompasses numerous virtues and traits, but for this effort I have narrowed it down to the just the critical principles highlighted in the following charts. Because leadership is such a complex subject, I want to bring focus to those principles without which an effective, ethical leader cannot succeed.
In this framework, values come before principles. Values underlie everything and are key drivers of much of our thought and behavior. Values are those virtues that we supremely treasure; those standards, beliefs and qualities we consider worthwhile and desirable. They serve as a guide for determining our individual worldviews. Most of us know inherently what we value, but it's amazing how few people have ever written them down. I've managed to narrow my core values down to these five in order of importance; faith, family, action, education and community. Chapter 3 will go into more depth on values.
With values as the foundational building blocks, the principles in the character realm help us distinguish our identity and define how we will behave. Character development is not a quick-fix activity nor shaped by some intellectual approach. Rather, it's a long-term nurturing process blending experience, perspective and commitment. For most, it started at home and developed over time in the crucible of life. Former Congressman J.C. Watt says, "Character is how we act when no one is watching."
The key principles in the character domain are purpose, integrity, commitment and attitude. Each of us might add other principles to this list that are important, but for simplicity sake, these are central to the Inside First framework. The charts that follow also indicate sample practices that one might find valuable. You can participate in the open source process by adding your own practices to the "Conversation" on the Institute's web-site at www.vailleadership.org/.
Perhaps further definition of these key principles will help bring clarity to this approach. Journaling in the subsequent chapters will help draw out your own perspectives on these principles and their related practices.
Purpose is one of those universal principles that has both inside and outside dimensions. Quite simply, it's a quality around which you shape your life. An outside dimension of purpose is your calling, a way of actively contributing in the world. Think of your calling as a response to an inner summons – as an outlet for what you want to accomplish.
My purpose is "building spiritually-oriented community," an expression that evolved over many years. Building is what I do. First it was my home, then I helped build several organizations that hopefully will become sustained institutions. And as I reflected on my purpose, I was reminded of my desire to avoid the nomadic lifestyle I saw in so many others, to put down roots in Colorado. This passion influenced the "community" aspect of my purpose.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Leader's Journal by John Horan-Kates Copyright © 2011 by John Horan-Kates. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword....................IX Acknowledgements....................XIIntroduction....................XIII
How to Use the Journaling Chapters....................XV
Thought-Leaders....................XVII
Chapter One: The Evolution of The Inside First Framework....................3
Chapter Two: Integrating Head & Heart with Hands....................21
Chapter Three: Values-Building Blocks for Leaders....................31
Chapter Four: Purpose....................41
Chapter Five: Integrity....................59
Chapter Six: Commitment....................77
Chapter Seven: Attitude....................93
Chapter Eight: Vision....................113
Chapter Nine: Communicating....................129
Chapter Ten: Learning....................147
Chapter Eleven: Executing....................165
Chapter Twelve: Serving....................185
Chapter Thirteen: Love....................203
Chapter Fourteen: Spirituality....................221
Chapter Fifteen: Trust....................249
Chapter Notes....................267
Learning Groups....................271