Leaders Are Readers -- February 2024
Is it really the end of February already?! Years ago, I heard the expression that the older we get, the faster time seems to go by. That does "feel" about right, at least this past month. Haven't been on top of my reading as much as I planned, including the stack of books gathering dust on my nightstand. Will attempt to dive back into that stack in March. Probably doesn't help that I just added two more books to the stack without removing any. Not quite the same experience as Sisyphus pushing that blasted boulder uphill, only to have it repeatedly roll away from him?right before?reaching the top; but when I look at it, I sometimes wonder why the pile keeps growing ... no matter, still much to share for the read and reviewed pile this past month. Let's dive in!
APPLIED AI & ANALYTICS
Are the growing fears about AI replacing our jobs rational, irrational or somewhere in between? Have we ever experienced upheavals? Think we can make arguments favoring all of these questions. Plumbing more into AI and the accelerating pace it appears to be generating, found the following article which looks at a similar question about how emerging technologies gave rise to the exact same concerns nearly a century ago. Will humans be replaced by machines and leave us without jobs? A couple compelling statements from within the piece that I've been thinking over:
1)? "While today’s technologies certainly look very different from those of the 1930s, [Karl T.] Compton’s article is a worthwhile reminder that worries over the future of jobs are not new and are best addressed by applying an understanding of economics, rather than conjuring up genies and monsters." Compton was the President of MIT from 1930 to 1948. As this article shares, he wrote about technological advances and labor markets in 1938. Lots of similarities between then and now worth?contemplating.
2) "... we have a choice going forward: we can use technology to simply replace workers, or we can use it to expand their skills and capabilities, leading to economic growth and new jobs." This is where my thinking has been landing. AI can improve productivity, and like many technological leaps forward, improve our lives. We can, and perhaps must, balance the scale between what a machine does, and what humans still do. This is a particular friction point for longshoremen at our Nation's ports. They fear being fully replaced by automation and machines and have been pushing back on that advancement. At the same time, the productivity levels of our ports are falling behind rates of other countries. This really points to what some of my clients have been thinking; how do we harness AI in a positive way while upskilling and / or reskilling our workforce to keep them on the team???People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before. | MIT Technology Review
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This next piece provides eight practical examples of ChatGPT benefits. Rather than being "afraid" of the tool, the writer leans into useful ways to approach and apply the technology. There are, of course, some things to consider. Most importantly, information validity. Can we simply assume what?ChatGPT generates is accurate. From the piece, the writer asks ChatGPT to summarize George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has been more than 30 years since I read the book, but from my recollection, the summary is on target. That one instance is not nearly enough to conclude everything will be accurate, but if regulated in a manner where accuracy and currency has a high-level of confidence (say within one standard deviation of?+/- a couple percent), might be useful in concert with other AI tools. Akin to checking your math a couple times and ways before concluding you've arrived at the right answer. Same as the first article above, skepticism is healthy; we, however, may not need to "fear" this advancement.?
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In the two prior pieces, we explored the application of AI and concerns about jobs disappearing, here, the author explores the negative impacts to interpersonal relationships. Very similar to balancing between using technologies to replace humans, while moving those displaced humans into other roles, our workcenters need to harness the technologies to increase and improve productivity and product, while opening more ways to ensure we're continuing to have direct, person to person interactions. My wife sometimes talks about just this. Some of the best things about working are the relationships we?build over time. That "human touch" cannot, or rather, should not be replaced by a "machine".?'People send their AI assistant to meetings': Is AI diminishing work relationships? - WorkLife
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This last AI offering, at least for this month's missive, brings everything together. How do organizations prepare for the inevitable? AI is here, it is only going to gain momentum across most, if not all, private and public organizations; what questions should we be asking, what actions should we be advancing to harness the best of the technology? Really good framework shared in this article. While I only have a few clients in my new organization right now, questions about and around AI are being asked by them, and I hear much the same from my colleagues from their clients. Given we are all senior Human Resource practitioners, I pulled the following from this article as directly applicable to our respective clients: "...[AI] It can help organizations reinvent their talent management practices. The emergence of gen AI presents an opportunity for organizations to hone their approaches to attracting, retaining, and developing talent—particularly when it comes to creators and tech professionals. HR professionals could use gen AI to send personalized outreach emails to candidates and to design job search experiences for candidates in underrepresented groups; research suggests this work could dramatically increase the number and diversity of applications for various roles.12 Gen AI applications could also help companies match new hires with mentors and coaches to improve the onboarding experience, upskill talent, and streamline administrative tasks." Adding my own amplifying comment, given the all-out competition for the best talent, finding ways to better find candidates, and accelerate bringing them onboard our collective teams is growing in importance seemingly every day. As in time gone by, the organizations best positioned to make good use of technology, will win the war for talent.?How to prepare your organization for AI | McKinsey
CREATIVE COMMENTARY
There may well be more than 12 characteristics and qualities of a good leader, there likely are not less. Here, the Center for Creative Leadership provides the following 12 with attending definitions of what they mean by each: Self-Awareness, Respect, Compassion, Vision,
Communication, Learning Agility, Collaboration, Influence, Integrity, Courage, Gratitude, and Resilience. These appear not to be shared in any rank order, rather just how they detailed the 12. All, I agree, are essential, with Self-Awareness and Learning Agility standing out to me. In particular, informed by my own experience over three decades, these two are overlooked. We may quickly agree a leader without integrity is a real problem. Leaders who are poor communicators, lack vision, and yield no influence, are not going to meet with success. And so on for the other listed areas. I've heard and experienced leaders who have been lifelong learners; they are usually better, if not, much better at leading because they never (as the piece points out) "arrive" at full knowledge. They are inquisitive, interested, and information-seeking. Their minds continually expand, making them better by this deliberate discipline. Conversely, I have worked with leaders who lack this. They are rigid and (always) right. Fortunately, these kinds of leaders have not been the norm in my circles. Similarly, self-awareness sometimes gets lost. Within each definition, there are links out to supporting resources and materials. This piece was a good reminder to focus on foundational things every leader can not only learn to do; can continually hone, and they must do both (me included!).?12 Characteristics and Qualities of a Good Leader | CCL
HARVARD YARD
This month's walk around the Yard is entirely composed of Harvard Business Review's (HBR)?Today's Tips. New(er) "Readers" may not be aware this feed flows Monday through Friday for free. Over the past several years, I have found many of these timely, relevant, and relatable across and number of leadership and managerial landscapes. Each also links to longer same-subject pieces on HBR's website, to which I typically don't link here. Occasionally, we explore the underlying article. What I appreciate most is these little bites and super easy for busy professionals to digest and distill for direct application.
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Spending 30 years in an environment that is both at once hyper-competitive and team-centric informs a great deal about how to move towards not just healthy, but positively powerful collaborative leadership. Simple things, like changing our speech patterns from "me" or "I' to "we" or "us" starts a mindset shift. The following shares the same. Success is truly best found on high-performing teams. Unless your work requires you to be a wholly individual contributor, say, a chess Grandmaster or top tier singles tennis player, we are individuals contributing to, and concentrating on, the team's success. Focus on your teammates first, particularly if you are the leader, much better operational outcomes and by extension, personal success, will follow.?
Moving from Territorial to Collaborative Leadership by Jenny Fernandez
"Do you feel the need to compete with your peers for people, investments, and attention? This individualistic, “fend for yourself” approach to leadership may serve you early in your career—but it can have diminishing returns. To reach the next level, you need to redefine winning as a shared goal. Here’s where to start.
Build self-awareness. Start by deconstructing why you feel the need to be competitive or territorial. What story are you telling yourself about your colleagues and organization? Once you understand the assumptions underlying your behavior, you can challenge them.
Move from a “me” to “we” mindset. To do this, identify which colleagues are critical to your success in the near term. Then determine the actions you must take to move the relationship forward and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
Rebuild trust. Collaborative leadership requires healthy, trusting relationships. Be authentic with your coworkers, showing sound logic and competence. Establish a shared commitment to help them advance their goals, as well as your own."
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March (not the Ides of March ... I hope!) being almost upon us, we're fully immersed in the new calendar year, replete with stories, by-lines, articles, and likely a trove of new books all covering organizational change and / or chaos. My former employer, the US Air Force, just days ago published its plans for the most sweeping change in decades. Long overdue to my way of thinking and decades of experience there, nonetheless, recalling before I retired how much "chaos" there was in the preparing, planning, analyzing, and advancing new concepts. Now that a course has been plotted, there is no less chaos, consternation, or concern. I'm hearing much the same in my new roles. Organizations everywhere are dealing with pressures that seem to have only mounted over the past couple years, rather than dissipated as we came out of COVID and "got back to normal". In the following few sentences, Rebecca shares a couple tips for helping us all stay grounded. Remember that the main thing is still the main thing. Whatever our line of work; our good, our service; the main thing is still the main thing.?
Stay Grounded Amid Organizational Chaos by Rebecca Knight
Big changes at work (layoffs, reorgs, or the departure of an important colleague, for example) can stir up big feelings. How can you stay grounded amid organizational chaos??
Give yourself grace. Let yourself feel your feelings. Change can be disorienting, so be gentle with yourself.?
Build resilience. Take a purposeful pause and allow yourself to imagine the worst-case scenarios. What could make me and what could break me? This type of reflection will help you shift from a defensive mindset to a growth mindset that embraces new possibilities.?
Seek support...strategically. Decompressing with colleagues can feel cathartic, and some venting may be unavoidable. But try not to lean too heavily on your colleagues. It’s safer to confide in trusted personal relationships outside of work.
Be positive and opportunistic—but stay objective. You can choose to look at the chaos as an obstacle to overcome, or as a chance to grow. But remember: If you find yourself constantly feeling destabilized, it’s worth considering whether you’re in the right place. The chaos could be a catalyst for reevaluating your current position and considering what you want out of your career.
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These nuggets nudged me in a different manner. Having left leading teams for the past couple decades to become an individual contributor, I think these same four thoughts apply in that direction as well! Not only have I moved from an area where I built a life-long career, and became very comfortable in that environment, the work I'm doing now is very different from just about anything I've previously done. Continuing to mature in this new role, these four insights are every bit as applicable ... listen, consider options, trust data and intuition, and be patient. Thinking about these four, aren't they applicable in just about any or all professional AND personal relationships and roles?
Gain More Confidence in Your Managerial Judgment by Hanna Hart
Transitioning from being an individual contributor to a people manager is hard. You’re no longer only responsible for your own work and career; your decisions now have a direct impact on somebody else’s professional life. This can feel like a lot of responsibility—and it is! But there are habits you can build to develop your managerial judgment.
Listen. You may feel pressure to come up with an answer to every question or a solution to every problem. But remember that asking the right questions and listening—to your team, superiors, and key stakeholders—is an equally important leadership skill.?
Consider a range of options. Poor judgment often comes from an inability (or unwillingness) to consider all the possible solutions to a given problem. To expand your point of view, ask trusted colleagues for input: “I've identified options A and B, and here are the trade-offs I see. What am I missing?”
Trust data...and your intuition. Good judgment ought to be backed up by data. But data alone can’t tell you whether a decision is right or wrong. Learn to trust your intuition. Your emotions, such as a feeling of discomfort, might be a clue that something is off or that you need further input.
Be patient. Snap decisions that go awry can be costly and hurt your credibility. Following a good process can help ensure that you form solid opinions and make decisions you can stand behind.
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Ruminating can lead to ruin! Ok, that may be overstating a tad. But, if we swap ruminating out for "worry", I think it has been well established through research that most of the things we worry about never come to pass, and many have a tendency to lean into the negative rather than the positive of things. Maybe it's just me. Good reminders here about how to approach "problems" we're facing. I'm reminded of the late 1980's movie, Die Hard (and yes, that is a Christmas movie!). The title role, John McClain, played by Bruce Willis, found himself in a stressful situation, and not when the bad guys descended upon Nakatomi Plaza. Actually, before that. He'd been on a long flight from New York to Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife during the Christmas season. A fellow plane passenger noticed how nervous John was on the flight. He shared a technique for letting the stress go was to take off one's shoes and curl your toes in the carpet. So, John did. As the following shares, he was just physically anchoring, what today is known as the practice of grounding. That exercise allows the mind to relax, leading naturally into the other three tips shared below. Could also think of this as ways to practice mindfulness.?
How to Stop Ruminating by Jenny Taitz
It’s totally normal to ruminate on stressful situations, whether it’s a nagging problem at work or a personal conflict that’s making you anxious. The good news? Improving your ability to stay present can help you set aside stressors that you can’t immediately resolve. Here are some strategies to break the cycle of rumination.?
First, anchor yourself. Take a moment to feel the weight of your feet on the floor, then consider: “What am I thinking? What am I feeling in my body right now? What am I doing right now?” Then ask yourself: “Are my thoughts helping me in this moment?”
Then try to take your thoughts less seriously. Rather than allowing negative ideas to feel like dictators in your life, gain some perspective by observing them from a distance and reminding yourself that they’re just thoughts.
Next, don’t fight uncertainty. While accepting uncertainty might mean sitting with some amount of fear, the alternative is to try to micromanage reality, which simply isn’t possible.?
Finally, validate yourself and what you’re feeling. Simply legitimizing your negative emotions can help diffuse stress and rumination. For example, you might think something like: “I have the right to feel nervous.” Naming an emotion—and giving yourself permission to feel it—can help you move past its initial intensity.
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Preparing for a current- and prospect-focused roundtable discussion this month, I found the notes and nuggets provided here directly on target! My part of the roundtable was facilitating a participant discussion around skill building and development for leaders and managers. How are organizations, in application, actually doing this? Have they identified what "new" roles and responsibilities are being levied (particularly upon Human Resource professionals)? Do they know what skills are needed? Have they identified obstacles? Have they determined how they will deliver this development? The following is more about routine one-on-ones with direct reports, but I think the questions posed and presented are more broad in application. There are four linked thought-pieces that are the full-text articles for each of the areas. The first of the four is behind HBR's paywall; the other three are freely available.?
Questions to Ask in Your Next Employee Check-In by Sarah Moughty (Executive Editor, HBR.org )
It’s midyear check-in season here at Harvard Business Publishing, so I’ve had one-on-ones on the brain.?
This year, in addition to a more formal meeting about performance and goals, I decided to have a separate conversation with each employee to help me get a sense of where their head is at. I wanted to find some fresh tools to encourage open discussion about what’s working and what isn’t, so I dug into the HBR archives. Below are some of the questions I pulled out to help guide my conversations—I hope you find some of them useful as well.
How would you like to grow within this organization?
Do you feel a sense of purpose in your job?
What do you need from me to do your best work?
What are we currently not doing as a company that you feel we should do?
Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
If you were offered the finances and time to take a work-related training on any topic, what type of course would you choose? Why?
When you think about your typical work week:
Which activities do you look forward to doing the most? Why?
Which activities energize you the most while you’re doing them? Why?
Which activities do you find challenging in the moment, but fulfilling after they’re done?? Why?
When you think about your skills, which do you enjoy using? Which would you rather not use in the future?
What outcomes from your work feel most fulfilling to you?
What motivates you most about the work you do today?
What are the talents you want to build a reputation for?
What career possibilities would you like to learn more about?
领英推荐
Finally, if you want to dig into some research to ensure that you’re making the most of your ongoing check-ins, I recommend this 2022 magazine article by Steven G. Rogelberg [Make the Most of Your One-on-One Meetings ( hbr.org ) ], an organizational psychologist who specializes in the science of meetings. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for every employee, he recommends tips on what you can do before and during your meetings—and how you can improve over time.
Thanks for reading—and take good care, Sarah
MASTERFUL MCKINSEY
In our walk around Harvard Yard above, we read the quick notes from Hanna Hart, where I shared a little about learning my new role. The following explores that more. My primary responsibility is in helping Chief Human Resource (or Capital) Officers succeed. Understanding how the landscape has, and is continuing to change, is critical to providing best inputs and insights. In addition to the voluminous research and analysis my organization (Gartner) does, looking at multiple sources helps me think about one of Hanna's four specific inputs; trust the data. In order to do that, I know I must continue sharpening my knowledge, updating and adding to the data and detail in order to trust my instincts as still being viable.?The changing roles and responsibilities of a CHRO | McKinsey
Will the US and global economies avoid a recession??If so, will that come with a soft or less-soft landing? What are the key things organizations must prepare, posture, and proceed doing this year to achieve success? In this piece, McKinsey provides some analysis and recommendations. Bottom line for me continues to push forward and three key themes that aren't really new to 2024. More or less, they have been key components and focus areas for the past couple years, perhaps longer. No surprise they posit that organizations must upskill people and change how they work; they must invest in capital, technology, and innovation; and they must (continue) offsetting price, wage, and interest rate upticks. They provide a VENN Diagram that postulates this is a "three-sided productivity opportunity". The diagram depicts the three real focus areas as accelerating growth, operating with excellence, and optimizing capital leverage. A good reminder piece as I read it vice breaking truly new or innovative ideas. Regardless, here, the authors are continuing to highlight the things that have been important in the recent past and are no less important in the year ahead.?The productivity imperative in 2024 | McKinsey
This piece was shared by one of my new Gartner teammates, (hat tip to HR Executive Partner, Dennis Berger) for sharing! As the title imparts, this piece reiterates the importance of organizational health. It also provides a quick primer on the 9 components of their Organizational Health Index. And, connected to the prior McKinsey piece, one of the three key areas they present about how leaders should think about organizational health, is ... the dynamic deployment of talent is becoming even more of a competitive advantage. In other words, organizations that focus on upskilling their current workforce are experiencing improved outcomes.?The other two focus areas are on leadership and the ever-increasing importance of data.?
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These particular notes came into my email feed, not as an article link, rather some general notes about Gen Z. For many, many years, our long-time Readers have seen my notes and thoughts about our first-time in history, five generations in the workforce at the same time. Having one child considered as being at the end Gen Y and the at the beginning of Gen Z, and also being a curious life-long learner, looking for ways to unlock the best in all teammates, we should continue to equip and educate ourselves with factual fodder rather than suppositions about the younger generations. At least, as a Gen X-er, I should instead of indulging in the?"get off my lawn" mentality?about them ...
“Are Gen Zers really so different from boomers?”
This year, Gen Zers, many of whom are newly entering the workforce, are expected to outnumber baby boomers in the US workplace. While it’s been a little over a decade since boomers were the largest age group in the workforce (Gen Xers held that title briefly before passing the baton to millennials, who represent the largest share of workers today), the shift still marks a meaningful moment in the modern workforce.
Boomers helped shape modern work culture as we know it. Now that younger generations are occupying a greater share of the workforce, will their preferences upend workplace norms??
Turns out, Gen Zers have similar expectations and motivations for work as other generations. After surveying more than 30,000 workers around the world, McKinsey senior partner Aaron De Smet and coauthors discovered that among workers who plan to leave their jobs, inadequate compensation, lack of career development and advancement, and uncaring leadership are the top reasons for doing so among all age groups. Gen Zers rank meaningful work just as highly as workplace flexibility as a reason for taking a new job, akin to how other age groups rank these factors.
When it comes to staying in a job, Gen Zers rank workplace flexibility, meaningful work, and career development as more important factors than compensation. Compare that with boomers, who rank compensation first, followed by meaningful work and workplace flexibility as the top three reasons to stay in a job. While there’s some overlap between what Gen Zers and boomers want from work, the motivations behind both groups’ rankings may differ or be influenced by their life stage. Gen Zers could be considered “idealists,” unbothered by the concerns that older workers might confront, such as mortgage payments or dependents. Meaningful work matters to Gen Z, but in a different way than it does for boomers, who could be called the “relaxers,” one of five employee personas our research has identified. For this cohort, career no longer comes first (they may even be retirees, or might have left the workforce for other reasons but would be willing to return).
What does this all mean for employers? It means the strategies used to attract and retain Gen Z employees shouldn’t veer far from those used for all other groups of employees, but Gen Zers’ specific needs should be considered when setting workplace policies and benefits.
Despite their similarities with other generations, Gen Z is changing workplace policies and norms in unique ways. Consider politics: boomers (as well as Gen Xers and millennials, for that matter) have traditionally been less inclined to announce their political beliefs in the workplace. In contrast, Gen Zers are more likely to share their politics at work, which can create a tricky situation for employers. Companies needn’t wade into every conflict, but they can create designated spaces where employees can come together to focus on their similarities rather than amplify their differences.
By the way, just because Gen Zers are likely to outnumber boomers at work this year doesn’t mean boomers are exiting the workforce. In fact, many workers in their 60s are deciding to put off retirement or, if they have left the workforce, to return to work later in life, which may actually be good for their health and longevity. This is also a bonus for Gen Zers: more boomers at work means more opportunities for mentorship, which Gen Zers crave.
MEDIUM MUSINGS
Is there a way to remember more we learn, the following piece answers with a yes and here is a way to possibly do so! I am a visual learner. Reading helps, but I have to see more complex and complicated things demonstrated. The Zettelkasten method could be very effective and I think some of the connection concepts detailed herein are very interesting. Challenge for me reading this article, is frankly, being able to put it into practice without a practicum someone else walks me through. Regardless of the challenges I might have using this, sharing here because there is no shortage of things to learn, and we have collectively been attempting to continually learn, and remember for application.?Start remembering everything you learn: Zettelkasten method | by Mary | The Pub | Jan, 2024 | Medium
Understand the author is specifically targeting the under 30 population segment, and I agree with the thinking to learn these skills. While they aren't actually all "skills", some are habits, these are valuable at any age or stage in life. Good reminder that each and every one of the things included require some amount of continuous effort to maintain, let alone build upon. Discipline in these areas, like any in life, is the key kernel to maintaining them.?
STUDYING STOICISM
Marcus Aurelius and John Adams in the same paragraphs caught my attention! In part, because it, at least in my mind, demonstrates once more, the timelessness of these lessons. Because humans are essentially the same as we were thousands of years ago, only technology has advanced, being a good human is every time era or epoch thing. One thing I know I have learned after committing to becoming and being a better life-long learner for the past decade is, the more I read and learn about, the more I learn, and attempt to advance, is being a better person. Not trying to be "virtuous" for personal gain or benefit, rather because my effort has shifted from me first, and me only for too many years in my younger professional life in particular, I see that as a responsibility I have to those around me. By extension, the rewards are realized in stronger personal partnerships, better bonds, and more communal connections. The last line from Aurelius really says it all, my task is to be good;?with me adding, no matter what reflects or returns back to me from others. Simply do it because it is the right thing to do.
"Marcus Aurelius didn’t just study philosophy when he was young. He didn’t just pick a set of beliefs and stick with them. No, to him,?philosophy was a lifelong study , a?process?that he committed to. That’s why, even as an old man, he was seen famously heading off to?attend lectures from Sextus ?the philosopher.
And while all this certainly made him quite educated and quite smart, we can also imagine something else happening after so many years of reading and discoursing and meditating. What undoubtedly happened is that the older he got, the more he learned, the closer he came to understanding Socrates’ humility, the sense that the more one learns, the less they are certain they know.
As John Adams (detailed in David McCullough’s?amazing biography ) wrote in his own old age, “You are not singular in your suspicions that you know but little. The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously inquire, the less I seem to know…” Yet, Adams, like Marcus, still found himself returning to a set of ageless, universal principles. They found themselves?boiling things down ?to their essence, into real and practical ‘epithets for the self’ as Marcus called them. Adams came up with these three commands, which he passed down to his granddaughter Caroline: “Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. This is enough…”
My task is to be good; Marcus wrote to himself. And the more you learn, the longer you live, the more you will understand that that is your job too. Doing that is more than enough."
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Really reinforces the prior post. Our task is to be good. In doing so, we can avoid, or overcome, becoming jealous of others' successes, feeling like we "earned" or were "owed" something because we deserve more than others. Many years ago, I found myself in the finals of a speech competition. When the other speaker was done, I felt very good about what I had done prior to him. The audience was more engaged and energetic during my speech, which in part, brought them into the delivery directly (asked and answered questions), and the applause was louder and longer for me. I knew?the award was mine (no money awarded, just a hang-worthy plaque). Well, you already know how this competition concluded. I lost. I was upset and didn't understand why I hadn't won. I deserved the award; the other presenter was good to be certain; I was convinced I was the better orator that day. And my ego was fed by all the folks coming up to me after the event saying I should have won, thus confirming my own self-bias. Truth was, as I understood later, the winner was closer to the judges' scoring rubrics than I was. Meaning, he did the right things better than I did from a scoring standpoint, focused on areas for my own better development and delivery in the longer-term as a keynoter. I should have been more gracious in defeat, celebrated my competition's win, learned from the experience, and more rapidly realized there were very important things the?judges wanted to see from us both that I hadn't paid as much attention to doing as he did. I am a better speaker for that experience as a result of losing. Now, it isn't always going to be the case that the "other" merits the position, promotion, or prize; that doesn't really matter. My task is to be good (an grow constantly)!
"Imagine the jealousy that they must have felt. Hadrian was gifting the purple—the job of the emperor—to a teenager he wasn’t even related to. In 138 AD, his succession plan involved adopting Antoninus Pius who in turn was to adopt young?Marcus Aurelius ?so that he would one day become the most powerful man in the world.
How many Romans hated Marcus for this? ?How many distant relatives of Hadrian thought themselves more qualified, more entitled to it? And how many people disliked Marcus throughout the years simply because he seemed to have a perfect life—a happy family, a great reputation, perfect character.
Yet Marcus Aurelius' story is also a great reminder of why we should not be jealous, why we should remember Solon’s advice to Croesus—to count no man as happy until he has died.
Because how did Marcus Aurelius’ perfect reign go? As we’ve detailed here before many times,?it was one disaster after another . Plagues. Floods. Wars. Sure, fate and fortune and luck handed Marcus incredible gifts…but the man also?buried a half dozen children.?This was a man who was betrayed. ?This was a man who was in so much pain from a medical condition that he was regularly prescribed opium. He had a real rough go of it. Most of us would count ourselves lucky to?not?live through half of that.
The point is:?We wish for other’s fate and fortune at our peril . Jealousy and envy rarely see the full picture, rarely take into account the costs—past and future—that go along with something. Besides, it’s pointless. We have our life. Our fate. We have our own happiness to attend to. And Marcus’s life should humble us: None of us know how our own story will end, what tragedies or obstacles lay ahead. Focus on the present moment, the good you have at hand now, don’t ignore them while pining for someone else’s."
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This one line stands out for me; "Agippinus?claimed he wanted to be the red thread in the sweater of life." When I was in high school, a sophomore, we moved from the Buffalo, NY area to Virginia Beach, VA. It wasn't over the summer where there would be time to join the incoming class on the first day of school, and just "blend in". Nope, it was October; the school year was the better part of two months in, the groups (or cliques) had been formed, and into a completely different culture came this scrawny kid from Western NY. I stuck out in a way that wasn't helpful to the transition period. I didn't wear the right fashions, didn't skateboard or surf, was a decent soccer player but not skilled enough to really compete with my classmates, didn't really fit in with the punkers, hard-rockers, scholars, or band kids. Some months later, when I felt like I was finally fitting in (mostly, by the way, as a band kid), I started getting bullied. That bullying only ended when a very large friend made it clear to my bully he wouldn't tolerate me getting pushed into drinking fountains, tripped, punched, or books knocked out of my hands any longer. I was learning, as we all do, to find my own pathway, and get comfortable being who I was/am. In truth, that took much longer than my high school days, but like Agippinus, I wanted to do things differently; wanted to provide something of value that was uniquely mine. Perhaps I'm still searching for that, and I don't "go against the grain" just to be different for difference's?sake, rather, trying to become and be a "red thread" of value to those around me in a discernible?manner.
"They were different. Some of them were downright weird. Cleanthes made quite a spectacle of himself in Athens, a philosopher who did manual labor for a living. Cato walked around bareheaded and barefooted, violating most of the social and class norms of his time. Marcus Aurelius was?seen reading books ?at the Coliseum, indifferent to the popular past times that got everyone else excited.
Agrippinus, one middle Stoic who lived in the time of Nero, cared nothing for the niceties and obeisance expected of the citizens of Nero’s tyrannical regime. As we explain in?Lives of the Stoics , Agrippinus claimed that he wanted to be the red thread in the sweater of life—the little bit of color that stood out and made the garment beautiful.
All the Stoics went their own way.?Like the great Kacey Musgraves line ,?they followed their arrow wherever it pointed.?For them, getting ahead, being well-liked, being cool—this was not interesting. They aimed at something more meaningful:?Virtue . Self-sufficiency. Excellence. Sometimes this took them in a direction that people understood and respected (running for office), other times it didn’t (what do you mean, you wouldn’t cheat to win that office?). Sometimes it made them seem very strange, sometimes it made them seem very stubborn.
But as the centuries passed, it certainly made them stand out. We see them as unique and inspiring individuals, we see them as independent, free-thinkers, men and women of principle. If I wanted to be like everyone else—like the mob —one Stoic said,?then I wouldn’t have become a philosopher."
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The following input from Daily Stoic connects, in many ways, to the prior piece. The struggles we all experience, albeit in different degrees and ways, do shape who we become over time. My struggles to fit in at a new school, to not get bullied, to believe in myself as a person of capability and credibility most certainly shaped who I later become as a person and a professional. Very early in my professional career, for example, that drive to overcome led to my 30 years in uniform. Readers who know me the most, have heard me share I knew that was my calling. Not because I had success, rather because I knew the thread I was weaving into the organization was bringing value. I would not have spent three decades serving if I didn't think I was delivering value, and in return and reflection, actualizing my own goals, desires, and accomplishing things bringing me a sense of fulfillment. In a word, finding and fulfilling my purpose.?
"Maybe you don’t think of Socrates as an athlete, but that’s how Epictetus described him. The man was a ballplayer, Epictetus said, catching what life threw at him and throwing it back. And not easy throws either, but war and pain and being misunderstood, even eventually?being sentenced to death . Socrates handled all this with the grace and skill of an elite athlete.
Maybe you don’t see yourself as an artist, just like Socrates didn’t see himself as an athlete, but maybe you are. According to Mikel Jollett, the founder of the band The Airborne Toxic Event and the?author of a fascinating and haunting memoir ?about his troubled childhood, we have to “take our pain and make it useful. That’s what it means to be an artist.” His own art came from growing up in a cult?his mother had joined , then living with her series of messed up husbands, struggling with addictions, getting in trouble at school, not knowing what he ought to do with his life. But all this?struggle ultimately shaped him ?and in turn shaped the art he would make.
Marcus Aurelius wrote about?how we turn our obstacles into fuel , we convert the impediments to action into new opportunities for action. That’s art, that’s sports, that’s philosophy. It’s a highly skilled thing—it’s certainly not easy. Still, it’s the only way.
Because life is going to keep throwing stuff at us. We’re going to experience pain and suffering. All we can do is catch it and throw it back. All we can do is find some way to make it useful."
SUPER SLOAN
So much of my life is sweet serendipity. I have reasons built on faith for most of that, but things like this six-minute video popping into my feeds was a perfect timing example. In my new role(s), I have a certain anxiety about being and belonging. My teammates are amazingly accomplished and exceedingly experienced. More so than I often feel I am as I work with clients. The beauty of this team is how collaborative and supportive they area of one another, and of me. The team and leadership have provided a masterclass in bringing new teammates aboard, making us feel up to the roles and responsibilities, and more importantly, actively applying several of the recommendations Sanyin shares here:?Ask Sanyin: How Can I Minimize Impostor Syndrome? ( mit.edu )
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
Great question, what is ERP? Prior to this popping into my feed, don't recall hearing about this, or at least, being described in this precise manner. From the piece, "An [Enterprise Resource Planning] ERP system gathers information across all the departments and consolidates it into one source. This makes the sharing procedure streamlined, accurate and consistent, which leads to more coherent coordination between different business departments. It also provides access to up-to-date, accurate information that helps high-level business operations like decision-making, subsequent planning and forecasting." The value is inherent in the name. How many organizations really do this well? Have no doubt some, perhaps many, do this well, whether or not they employ a specific ERP platform or program. When the COVID pandemic hit, the Air Force started to really get after doing this sort of thing. Pulling in disparate data streams to unlock and uncover more systematized planning efforts. Prior to that, I don't recall a program at our fingertips that allowed planners, let alone budgeting functions, being able to see inside the different silos ... Logistics, Personnel, Medical, Readiness, etc. Working with my clients, in my new profession, I hear some of the same concerns. How do we "operationalize" Human Resources (and the Talent Management Lifecycle) in a manner that is more directly and deliberately connected to what other C-Suiter's are deciding, directing, and delivering? Human Resources is often (not always)?seen as a set of discrete administrative functions, rather than a strategic resource or imperative. That isn't to suggest executives don't understand the organization doesn't work without the people, rather some executives and leaders don't make the deeper connections about the importance of each and every component comprising the talent management lifecycle. I'm excited and engaged in helping my partners elevate just this imperative.?What is ERP and Its Advantages? - Wheelhouse
SEED KORN
Return.To.Office (RTO). There is, perhaps, no current subject that is more roiling and rankling than this one. Across the past several years, the numbers of people working from home in some manner of teleworking arrangement grew significantly. Sure, it was mostly pandemic driven and doesn't apply to every person or profession, but where telework, and the remote working variant, have been allowed, demonstrated much success. There are, at this point, many studies looking at the various effects and outcomes, including increased productivity early on in the pandemic, with that having more or less waned, and higher job satisfaction rates, dollars and time saved by not commuting (plus childcare, clothing and other related expense avoidance), and improved at home relationships, and "work/life harmony". Conversely, team cohesion, creativity and innovation, connectedness, and collaboration, depending on study surveyed, indicates lower scores and negative impacts to these areas. This piece reiterates a few things we've previously explored in these missives and advances a couple new items, such as RTO hasn't translated to higher financial revenues and/or returns.?RTO and the Bottom Line ( kornferry.com )
At the bottom of this input, the following about RTO was also linked:?A New Return-to-Office Trade-off ( kornferry.com ) . This re-emphasizes?several inputs and ideas covered in the previous piece, but shares that top performers are leaving organizations at a higher rate than others where organizations have strong RTO requirements. This makes sense because our top performers have options, and will exercise them if those options allow for more telework flexibility. Prior to retiring from the Air Force, we instituted a minimal RTO. Civilian teammates were required to be in-person on Mondays. Many rebuffed that request. We gave many weeks of grace before we started being more direct about the policy and enforced it. As these articles both share, kicking off projects was one useful reason for having teammates together. While the military doesn't engage in profit / loss situations, so can't really point to lack of financial returns not being better, but given the nature of what we were doing, in-person collaboration did, in?practice, improve our connections and communications around some heavy and hard projects we were advancing. But, we did lose some talent because they did not want to RTO, and were open about that. I encouraged that open communication and shared that we weren't walking back the one day weekly requirement because I was quite aware?of our improved objective outcomes by having time together back in the office. And, the Administration mandated higher in-person rates. The option wasn't on the table for no RTO except for the few full-time remote workers we already had. Being open helps and is a communicative?must, but won't, necessarily, stop top talent from leaving for other opportunities.
WINNERS WISDOM
So true! In relationships, my wife has been helping our young adult children and me to be more "intentional" with our time and relationships in particular. Connected to our opening thinking this month about the speed of time passing by, being more intentional with relationships matters (obvious I know!) because the older we get, those most important to us, parents, other family members, close friends, pass away. Not intending to be macabre here, rather, like we often explore in Studying Stoicism, we are time-limited on this planet,?making best use of the time we have. Jim challenges and channels us into thinking about taking every moment captive to being present in what we're doing. Many years ago, I became focused on what many of our Readers have read about often here, staying in the 7's. Meaning, I became very deliberate about not checking on anything work-related before 7 am or after 7 pm and staying off comms to the extent practical on weekends and other days off. This was primarily done knowing everything we read on screens, be it cell phone, tablet, laptop, or other medium, lead to making decisions and engaging with the content. In short, burning our daily supply of good brain power. My "7s" was a bit of a relaxation and mental health exercise. In my new, post-Air Force life, this is much easier to execute. That may change as my schedule gets busier with every passing week, but this missive from Jim came at a good time to remind me to continue the practice of being mindful of my time, being intentional with others, and being intentionally present in whatever I'm doing. It is not only ok, it is healthy, to be able to compartmentalize and focus on the right things, at the right time.
In the Moment
by Jim Stovall
Recently, I reread?Our Town?by Thornton Wilder,?which was turned into a wonderful movie. I first read this story in high school because it was on the required reading list. I’m always concerned about books that appear on this list because students have a tendency to slog through the pages without paying attention while thinking, “This can’t be good or important because they have to make us read it.” This concern of mine has renewed itself now that many school systems require students to read my own book,?The Ultimate Gift.?I can only hope these students will revisit the novel or the movie later in their lives as I did with?Our Town?and discover the treasures within.?
Our Town?chronicles a small group of people and the extraordinary impact of what otherwise seems like ordinary moments in their lives. There are definitely transformational moments in our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, at the time, we don’t identify these moments as critical or even significant. My late, great friend and mentor,?legendary Coach John Wooden, often reminded his players, “There are only a handful of important plays in a game. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you when the important plays are coming, so you have to give a 100% effort all the time.”?
It's hard to live in the moment because there’s a great battle going on in our world today. I’m not referring to a battle to control a government or a country, but instead, it’s a battle to control our own minds. There are countless advertisers, marketers, content developers, and thought leaders striving to control our minds. On top of that, we are often our own greatest enemies when trying to focus and control our thinking.?
Unfortunately, as we experience any specific moment on any specific day, we are pulled in two diverse directions. First, we are tempted to think about things that happened in the past and suffer regrets about situations we no longer control. Then, we are inexorably drawn into the future and begin dwelling on upcoming problems or challenges that may or may not ever come to pass.?
Those who will succeed in the future are those people who can clear the past from their minds and control their thinking today. If you can control your thoughts here and now, you can begin to control events and results yet to come. If you live to be a hundred years old, the key to having a significant life is to control your thoughts in the one moment you are living right now.?
As you go through your day today, let the past lie,?and the future will take care of itself as you focus your mind right now.
Today's the day!
WORKLIFE WISDOM
Pizza, pretzels, pasta ... what incentivizes people to come back to the office? I don't have the answers, but this piece shares some things that seem to be working for?some.?These fresh RTO tactics are helping bring people back to the office - WorkLife
Sorry for the WTF annotations, that is how WorkLife shares the next two pieces. Regardless of the acronym, this piece points out that 85 percent of all workers are currently contemplating changing jobs. When I was the Director of Personnel at the United States Transportation Command, my boss, four-star General Darren McDew (one of the absolute finest people and leaders I have ever met), invited executives from Silicon Valley in to talk with the command leadership team about how to invite and incentivize the best and brightest minds in information technology to join the Department of Defense, to a person they all said and shared, (paraphrasing); "your requirement for four-year college degrees is excluding at least half of the most talented and capable people in this field". I am not suggesting college isn't still relevant in many fields. For example, I want to ensure my doctor went to a good medical college, was a good (if not great student), and has?demonstrated knowledge through board-certification that they?know how to diagnose and treat whatever ails me. The key point here is, college does not automatically mean experience, expertise, or education we need to meet the requirements our organization needs to be successful. Quite in fact, choosing to consider only candidates who meet arbitrarily applied degree-holding requirements means we will likely miss allowing the most actually capable and qualified applicants to enter our organizations.?WTF is a new collar worker? - WorkLife
Another "WTF" piece. This one covers improvisation. Well, I do tell more than a few dad jokes around the house. I, of course, think they are all hilarious. Not so much the same reaction or response from my wife and kiddos. This piece shares some interesting insights and information around the practice worth our review and reading.?WTF is applied improvisation? (and why it's popular in RTO transitions) - WorkLife
Read and Lead On!
Shawn
Senior Human Capital Leader | TS/SCI
8 个月Sir, this is an awesome roll up of some great works. Just what I needed, more on my list!! The Fernandez piece (talking about moving from me to we) reminds me of the Arbinger training we just went through (Outward Mindset) at SSC. Too many times we focus on the inward when we could do so much more by being "outward." I just started using ChatGPT but hadn't thought of asking about book summaries. Great way to determine if you'd like to read it or not. Thx for the regular, impactful posts/articles!