Interpersonal Leadership-Can It Be Virtual?

This is an interesting blog from Tom Davenport regarding firms who are begining to migrate back to office based work.  In the past few years we have heard the constant drum beat of firms who have offered home based work, leadership that is dispersed in different locations and the adoption of the ‘you can work anywhere’ paradigm.  Indeed we can all ‘work’ anywhere thanks to our technology but there is a big difference between ‘doing work’ and creating and executing on objectives effectively.  Leadership is difficult on a webcam- worse in email and instant messaging.  A face to face interaction may deliver faster results but there is far more going on in an interpersonal interaction that contributes to interpersonal leadership and at its core the creation and sustenance of trust.  Of course we need not apply one extreme or the other but I am certain that many of us who have worked in both co-located office environments and home based offices realise that each is good but not necessarily exclusive.  Of course there are many other factors that contribute to the effectiveness of working remotely and not the least is the type of work peformed.

The Power of Intention in an Organisational Context

I have recently completed a book written by Colin Wilson.  Colin is top of the list on ‘those I would most like to sit next to on a plane.’  I read the book after reading Gregg Braden.  I guess there is a bit of a path here but both solidified some thinking that has had me somewhat preoccupied lately.   Values have little use in an organisation.  An organisation may communicate and espouse values incessantly but we all know that individuals in the organisatoin may not adopt them.   I always felt that there is a state of being that can be classified as a peak experience (Maslow).  If an organisation is able to engage its people to achieve a high percentage of peak experience in the work environment you are able to elevate the organisation performance to a level that is self sustaining and pervasive in its operations e.g. it permeates all interactions internally and externally.  This is not done by values- mere words that do not strike all persons similarly.  The way to achieve an organisational peak experience that is sustainable is through definition, discipline (more similar to empowerment), imagination and engagement (more similar to collaboration).    When people are able to use their mental (or physical) capacities to achieve progress in a work sequence we can tap into a part of a human brain that is often discounted in normal managment practice.  Why do I want to get out of bed?  I am not interested in meeting a time deadline (start by 8), nor do I get engaged by pleasing my manager (I am here before 8- look at me).  I get engaged when  my mind is connected to a series of tasks that comprise a project that result in a defined outcome.  People want to see ‘traction’ in what they spend their time doing.  Why is waking up on a Saturday so different than waking on Tuesday?  Must it be different?  Think about the last time you were so engaged in a project that you lost track of time?  (can’t remember? )  Total focus with a vision of an outcome is what produces peak experiences.  More on this in the next post.

Keith Ferrazzi – Who’s Got Your Back

I do not comment on books that I read too often.  I find that my comments are best left to myself since each of us has individual needs and tastes.  I have just finished my latest commuting companion; Keith Ferrazzi’s ‘Who’s Got Your Back.’  I read Keith’s previous book ‘Never Eat Alone’ some time ago.  I think  I would like Keith as a person but I find his books point to a substantial ego and one that cannot get enough self praise.  This comes in intermittent doses but he makes sure you get the message.   I read Section One and thought I was in for a good read.  Keith laid a bit bare by indicating that his company ‘Ferrazzi Greenlight’ was going through some change and tumult as well as some inner feelings he had about his own performance.  By page 26 this is all sorted and the company is booming and Keith is an effective executive!  Ok- maybe the rest of the book will provide the play by play action as a real life case study.  No such luck – the rest of the book follows the all too common and now tiresome formula of self -help business hybrid books.  I guess I am getting jaded but these books are plentiful and frankly useless without a means of application for behavioural change.   When I finished this book I vowed to avoid this genre of books.  That said I revisited by bookshelf and grabbed my old copy of ‘The War of Art’ and once again could not put it down.  I think the 4.5 Star Rating at Amazons for ‘Who’s Got Your Back’ is puzzling.