How Are Golf, Football and Soccer Like Inclusive Project Leadership?

Inclusive Project Leadership (IPL) is currently passing through three phases: Transactional, Transitional, and Transformational.  Transactional Project Leadership focuses on supervision, organization, rules, regulations, and performance.  It is based on a shift in the way the project process is completed, which is designed to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of the project.  Transformational Project Leadership is a style of leadership where a project team works together to identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executing the change to the satisfaction of all the involved stakeholders.

Golf is akin to Transactional Project Leadership, since the real “star” is the one playing the game.  He/she has a team with them, but they are mainly invisible, except for the caddy, who ensures that the player follows the rules and regulations, and understands the distances – thus achieving a winning performance.  Golf is becoming more and more scientific.  Just ask Nike!

American football is akin to Transitional Project Leadership, since there is a team, but the real “star” continues to be an individual – the quarterback.  There is a team in evidence, however, and without it the quarterback would not be able to carry out his mission.  The game also is quite physical, which in a way, represents the rugged individualism of the U.S., where the game is almost exclusively played. (In Canada, hockey still rules!)  Football is a craft, but few reach the pinnacle of becoming the quarterback. 

Soccer is akin to Transformational Project Leadership, since once again there is a team, but not a “star” like the quarterback in football.  Each player has a role to play; when they play together, inclusively, they win.  Soccer is very popular almost everywhere, except in the U.S. Women also play soccer, making it even more inclusive.  Soccer is truly an art, and although it looks boring to non-fans, it is, indeed, a magnificent inclusive, global game.

In fact, Inclusive Project Leadership is part transactional and transitional, but mostly transformational.  It is like golf, where the outcome is performance. It is like football, where there is often a “star” supported by a team. It is like soccer, where victory and success are in the hands of the entire team.

Leader as Storyteller

Storytelling has been an effective means of communicating substantive and cultural messages for thousands of years. The Bible is one of the best examples of how storytelling has been used to shape behaviors, cultural norms, and core values. Great stories create a rich visual imagery in our minds, and great storytellers invite us to dream about realistic futures. Consciously or not, these are some of the reasons why storytelling has emerged as the preferred approach for teaching leadership effectiveness in many of today’s high-performing organizations.

Most of us love stories. We love to tell them, and we love to hear them. A story can evoke both tears and laughter, and can touch something familiar in each of us, while showing us something new about our lives, our organizations and ourselves.

Today’s leaders must develop the skills to become effective storytellers, as a workable strategy in how they perform their jobs and engage others to perform theirs. Storytelling, when linked directly to an organization’s strategic and cultural context, is a powerful means of simultaneously building strategic capability (the “doing” aspects of leading), and strengthening organizational character (the “becoming” aspects of leading).

For a story to be effective, it must stimulate learning, encourage mutual involvement, and produce changes in behavior. Different organizations may prefer to emphasize different skills and behaviors as their components of effective leadership, and they should map those elements against the relevant and exciting stories they want to tell. A story can also stimulate the power of imagination to gain insight into how our colleagues and clients envisage their future. Telling a story requires a storyteller (“liberating leader”), and an audience (co-workers). The interactions between the storyteller and the audience create a space within which they exchange ideas, experiences and feelings.

The story aims not only at the past, but also at a possible and dramatic tomorrow. With cultural change, the skill is in storytelling the future. Stories can boost a cultural change that is already underway; stories can also serve as both example and inspiration, if they are about past and present successes.

The 'Perennials,' They Are Aflowering

As a so-called “senior” born between 1930 and 1950, I was comfortable with the term “Ageless,” until last week, when I read about Gina Bell, an award-winning creative director and tech entrepreneur. Ms. Bell is currently Content Chief of “The What,” a fast-growing email newsletter, who does not use the term “Ageless,” but rather “Perennials”—“something lasting or existing for a long or infinite time; enduring or continually recurring (2016).”  She also wants to stretch her definition to a new generation of consumers and workers, one that transcends the boundaries of age, and classifies us as those living in the present time—ever changing and regenerating, with each passing year. 

Ms. Bell goes on to further define “Perennials” as: “Ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages, who live in the present time, know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. Perennials are people who get involved, stay curious, mentor others, and are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, and global-minded risk takers.  We are individuals who comprise an inclusive, enduring, hustling mind-set, not a diverse demographic, and who have a wide appeal, spreading ideas and commerce faster than any single generation, like the ‘Boomers’ or ‘Millennials.’”  I love it!

Notable examples of this “Perennial” generation are Lloyd Robertson (former Canadian TV News Anchor); Clint Eastwood (actor, director); Sean Connery (actor, Scottish nationalist); Barbara Walters (entertainer, former ABC TV news anchor); Betty White (actor, humanitarian); Stephen Lewis (politician, humanitarian); Jimmy Carter (former US President, humanitarian); Willie Nelson (singer, composer); Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones lead singer); Bob Dylan (song writer, Nobel laureate); Pope Francis I; and the Dalai Lama, among others. 

I would also like to add my name to this list, although not nearly as famous nor impressive as the list above; at 81, I am still passionately researching, writing, and teaching—somewhat like my illustrious managerial leadership mentor, Peter Drucker, who at 95, passed on in 2005; a true Perennial!

From HICD to LPC

Leading Performance Capability (LPC) is defined as: "The systematic process by which an organization involves its co-workers, as individuals and members of a group, in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of organizational missions and goals."

Return to the Balkans and Eastern Europe

Restitution of Property to Victims of Conflict in Colombia

I have worked in many international development projects, from the Balkans to Africa and Latin America, but the most significant work I have performed was in Colombia under the USAID Land and Rural Development Program (LRDP) as a subcontractor to Tetra Tech. The work in Colombia entailed creating a Unified Land Information System (ULAS)-later called Land Node- in support of property restitution to the victims of Colombia’s decades-long conflict. Although the project also comprised working with various national and local government institutions engaged in the application of land information systems technology to best serve the citizens wishing to formalize their property rights, it was working directly with the beneficiaries that provided me with a deep sense of satisfaction and commitment.

The assessment conducted for the design of ULAS components was based upon four distinct user types: Colombian citizens, local or municipal GOC staff, national or regional GOC staff, and finally, LRDP staff and USAID representatives. However, it was our direct contact with the victims of Colombia’s conflict that made this assistance extraordinary. While working in Montes de María, a region vastly affected by the Colombian conflict during many decades, we met with many citizens who had been displaced from their properties. From them, we learned first-hand about the violence they were exposed to. For me, it was particularly moving to hear the account of a man as to why he could not go back to his original property because of the atrocities that some of his family members had gone through on his farm. As well as being quite an emotional experience it was a new challenge since we would have to adapt the system design to find him, as well as other victims, equivalent farmland based on the crops he cultivated and the livestock he raised.

This work was performed along with my dear friend and colleague, Nicholas Thomas, to whom I dedicate this piece since he recently passed away unexpectedly in Myanmar.

Are We Living in a Global Village?

I just finished reading an article by Luc De Keyser for Stratfor in which he questions the historian and technology futurist, Marshall McLuhan’s prediction of an inevitable “ global village”. Citing UCLA Professor Ramesh Srnivasan’s latest book, Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World, De Keyser points out that instead of one great “global village” our new technologies are creating a series of independent “electronic villages”. He concludes: “Though the original vision of a digitally interconnected world placed a premium on globalization, it largely ignored the difficulties that harmoniously amalgamating an array of different cultures would present…” Indeed.

Behind the “global village” was McLuhan’s belief that each major change in communication technology brought about a major change in history. In his Gutenberg Galaxy, McLuhan attempted to demonstrate how the invention of the printing press had led to the Renaissance. In somewhat the same way, the invention of the computer, the cell phone and the internet at the end of the 20th Century have triggered major changes not only in the way we communicate but also how we govern, how we conduct business, and how we live our lives. From fishermen in India who use their cell phones to find better markets for their catch to ISIS terrorists who use the Internet to recruit new members from a worldwide audience, the results have been both positive and negative for society. In 1995, only one percent of the world’s population had access to the Internet. Today slightly less than half the world’s population has Internet access. The digital revolution is just beginning.

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning, in which participants team together to explore a significant question, or create a meaningful project. A group of learners dialoguing about a formal presentation or working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning. In collaborative learning, participants work together in small groups on a structured activity. They are individually accountable for their work, and the work of the group as a whole is also assessed. Collaborative groups work face-to-face, and learn to work as a team. In small groups, participants can share strengths and also develop their weaker skills. They develop their interpersonal skills. They learn to deal with conflict. When collaborative groups are guided by clear objectives, learners engage in numerous activities, which improve their understanding of subjects explored.

In order to create an environment in which collaborative learning can take place, three things are necessary: (1) Learners need to feel safe, but also challenged; (2) Groups need to be small enough so that everyone can contribute; (3) The task on which learners work together, must be clearly defined.

Collaborative learning differs from traditional teaching approaches because learners work together, rather than compete with each other individually. Collaborative learning can take place any time learners work together. Collaborative learning takes place when participants work together in the same place, on a structured project, in a small group. Mixed-skill groups can be especially helpful to learners in developing their social abilities.

The skills needed to work together in groups are quite distinct from those used to succeed in working on one’s own. In a world where being a "team player" is often a key part of business success, collaborative learning is a very useful and relevant tool.

(For more detail on collaborative learning go to the “Management Corner” on our website.)

Lead Like A Missionary Not A Mercenary

Learning to lead today means practicing more like a missionary and less like a mercenary. Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner have co-authored more than a dozen award-winning leadership books, their most impactful one being The Leadership Challenge. They outline what I call the five basic “Liberating” leadership practices: Modeling the way - by clarifying our values; finding our voices; affirming our shared values; setting the example; and aligning our actions with shared values; Inspiring a shared vision - by envisioning the future; imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities; and enlisting coworkers in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations; Challenging the process - by searching for opportunities; seizing the initiative and looking for innovative ways to improve; experimenting and taking risks by constantly generating small wins, and learning from experience; Enabling others to act - by fostering collaboration; building trust and facilitating relationships; and strengthening co-workers by increasing their self-determination and developing their capabilities; and Encouraging the heart - by recognizing contributions; showing appreciation for co-workers’ efforts and achievements of excellence; and celebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

For Kouzes and Posner, learning to become the most effective leader we can be, requires us to be clear about what we value and also what we care enough about to be willing to make sacrifices. They state that it is imperative for the “Liberating” leader to do what is right, that it is working, that it is fair, that it is just, that it is safe, and that it is sustainable.

Suzanne Bates is a bestselling author, CEO, and internationally recognized expert in communicative leadership. She sums up her concepts of “Liberating” leadership, when she implies that “Liberating” leadership provides the qualities of a leader that engage, inspire, align, and move others to act.

To achieve these qualities, Bates’ “Liberating” leadership is based on three dimensions of presence (the ability to consistently and clearly articulate our value proposition, while influencing and connecting with others”): Character: the qualities of the “Liberating” leaders as persons, which are fundamental to their identity, and give others a reason to trust them; Substance: the cultivated qualities of “Liberating” leadership, which inspire commitment, inform action, and lead to above-and- beyond effort; Style: the overt, skill-based patterns of “Liberating” leadership that build motivation and shape and sustain effective performance.

She names the following as “Liberating” leaders, who have changed the world: Mikhail Gorbachev, at Reykjavik; Nelson Mandela, ending apartheid and healing the nation of South Africa; Mahatma Gandhi, fasting to end the riots between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta; Aung San Suu Kyi, leading a non-violent, democratic revolution from a prison cell in Myanmar.

The purpose of my three blogs on “Liberating” leadership is to provide a new way of looking at our organizations and the world. “Liberating” leaders are bold, take action upon themselves, and fearlessly approach their leadership development, unleashing the power of their unique presence. “Liberating” leadership is a journey, and achieving the “presence” about which Bates talks is undertaken in the true spirit of learning and adventure. It rescues us from stagnating in the status quo, and thrusts us into the belief that our mission is to help and create other “Liberating” leaders, whose task it is to shape the world.

"Liberating" Leadership: Dream Maker

“If our actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more, and become more, then we are leaders.” (John Quincy Adams)

Quite possibly the most influential theorist and practitioner on “Liberating” leadership over the past 60 years has been Warren Bennis, an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, and a man widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership studies. He passed away in 2014, but not before leaving us with a plethora of concepts, stories, and principles, related to our topic here.

His basic principles regarding “Liberating” leadership are:
• Leaders are made, not born.
• Leadership is like beauty.
• Leading means deeply affecting others.
• A leader is self-aware.
• Curiosity and risk-taking make a leader.
• A leader sees the big picture.
• The leader does right.

To apply these principles, Bennis was convinced that the “Liberating” leader had to possess:
• Humility: For Bennis, becoming a “Liberating” leader isn’t about making ourselves popular or famous. It’s about leading team members to become better than they are without us, and giving them the credit for their results. In other words, the “Liberating” leader is an equal member of the team, just one with the role of a leader.
• Humanism: “Liberating” leaders for Bennis can’t just see in black and white, because humanity operates within shades of grey. That’s why “Liberating” leaders develop a humanistic perspective, and make an effort to see where their team is coming from, because that’s how a “Liberating” leader can help guide the team members to where they need to go. That doesn’t mean all decisions, ethics, or moralities aren’t defined, but it does mean that many circumstances don’t need an equal level of definition.
• Democratic Performance: “Liberating” leaders, who incorporate the opinions and perspectives of their entire team, he proclaimed, would be more effective over the long term, from those who dictated circumstances.

Dr. Bennis was convinced that an egalitarian age - the age of today - requires a new style. Leaders can no longer crack the whip and expect people to jump through hoops. They need to perform more like mentors and coaches, than old-fashioned sergeant-majors. Top-down leadership not only risks alienating co-workers. It threatens to squander the organization’s most important resource: knowledge. He professes that there was no point in employing knowledge co-workers, if we are not going to allow them to use their knowledge creatively – “Liberally”.
He firmly believed that leadership is not a set of genetic characteristics, but rather the result of the lifelong process of self-discovery. That process enables “Liberating” leaders to become fully integrated human “becomings” (Carl Rogers’ expression), who know themselves and bring out the best in others.

One of Bennis’ most famous disciples was Bill George, currently professor of management practice at Harvard Business School since 2004. He is the former CEO of Medtronic, a medical device company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Their operational headquarters is in Fridley, Minnesota, where Medtronic is the world's largest stand-alone medical technology development company. Bennis was fond of saying that he had Medtronic “in his heart,” and then would describe how his defibrillator saved his life half a dozen times – just like me!

Our next champion of “Liberating” leadership is Marshall Goldsmith, a practical, insightful and inspirational thought leader and executive coach, whose mission is to help successful leaders get even better, by achieving positive, lasting change in behavior: for themselves, their people and their teams. Goldsmith is recognized by the American Management Association, as one of 50 greatest thinkers and business leaders, who have impacted the field of management and leadership over the past 80 years.

Goldsmith’s principles of “Liberating” leadership, can be summed up in his list of actions to be performed by one who practices:
1. Thinking Globally
2. Appreciating Diversity
3. Developing Technological Wisdom
4. Building Partnerships
5. Sharing Leadership
6. Creating a Shared Vision
7. Developing People
8. Achieving Personal Mastery
9. Encouraging Constructive Dialogue
10. Demonstrating Integrity
11. Leading Change
12. Anticipating Opportunities
13. Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
14. Maintaining a Collaborative Advantage
15. “Responsibilizing” People

Goldsmith teaches us that “Liberating” leaders must provide a favorable environment, in which people are encouraged to grow. Finally, “Liberating” leaders encourage co-workers to create their own dreams.