The 'Not-Asking' Mistake

Dr. Ross Wirth has a passion for developing Change Leaders. He established the College of the Future using curriculum structured around micro-degree online courses. Recently retired from Assistant Provost for Academic Quality at Franklin University after serving as Dean for the College of Business and Program Chair, Business Administration. Previously, 32 years cross-functional corporate experience, mostly doing special projects that were related to strategic planning and organizational change.

Ross Wirth is an #EverydayLeader

I recently had a conversation with Ross on the phone and what follows is a summary of our discussion.

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Ross, can you give me an idea what you are passionate about and what you are doing to deliver on that passion?

There is much more that people can do in their organizations to get better results that they struggle with needlessly, but at the same time they struggle because they don’t know what is possible and they are fighting too many small fires to have the time to deal with the big issues that are really hurting them.

If you think about the average person that’s managing they are basically doing what they’ve always done or more likely they manage in a way that they have been managed in the past - primary observational learning. But even though there is a need for continuous education they only deal with it as a mandatory last resort when what they’ve been doing fails so badly they are forced to do something else.

There is very little proactive learning, little in the way of raising awareness of what is possible, what others are doing. There are some of these types of peer group services for CEO’s and Presidents at that level, but too often below that level, people just struggle and more likely get lucky or plod along doing less than they are really capable of doing.

Your passion is the gap between people’s actual performance and what they actually are capable of?

Right. And how to raise that awareness so that

• They are more successful in their life
• They feel better about the results that they have gained
• They feel better about themselves
• They are less likely to complain
• They are more likely to take action, and
• They are more likely to ask for assistance when needed versus just thinking they’ve got unique problems.

I see it as an opportunity that’s out there that most people realize they do not have.

How are you going about delivering on that passion?

That’s where I am still experimenting. I’ve been working with online courses and I see the future of education being a hybrid of not only traditional Higher Ed but also what I call the Alt Higher Ed market which is independent instructors delivering online courses to people who need “just in time” learning when they need it, and in the amount that’s needed.

That, I think, is going to be an increasing reality in the future. I think of it as micro-degrees instead of having a traditional bachelor degree that carries you for a while and then a graduate degree. You’ll have a series of degrees that are competency based that are specific to a job, in which case, when you look forward to either the next promotion or to parallel paths, there is an additional unit of learning that you can take to move you successfully forward in that desired direction so that you become better, and you are more prepared.

So even though I’ve got four courses running now I’m making dramatic changes to how I view the needs of people for continued education as life long learning but how it needs to be structured and supported.

“I think the biggest mistake is the 'not asking' mistake. People don’t have a practice of asking for help and probably to an equal extent they are afraid of appearing vulnerable by showing the need to ask for help.” Ross Wirth

How would you position Alt-Higher Ed versus professional certification versus independent coaching?

They are all very similar.

In some ways your coaching gives you probably the best one-on-one but it is not easily scalable so it has problems and that’s why high level executives can afford to do it and often do take that approach. But for a first level or even up to a general manager level there is insufficient funds available to support that degree of coaching support which puts you into other mediums. There are also certifications that are really great but again to some extent locks you into a narrow role.

For example, I spent the bulk of my career outside of HR but did a two-year rotation within HR inside of HR planning and then rotated back out into the operating group. Many more people could take this route if they had that competency to move laterally and that’s where the micro degrees will better prepare you versus a certification. Certifications are also driven by professional organizations that to some extent standardize the knowledge within that discipline which again are good, but cross organizational ability is limited.

Okay I think I am starting to understand a little bit about how Alt Higher Ed is positioned. It’s more scalable than coaching and its more general than professional certification?

Here’s the challenge right now. The Alt Higher Ed market is anybody who says they want to become an expert provided by online courses. That’s what it is currently. The independent market though could truly be disruptive but it does have the deficiencies that you would expect of a new innovation. I think there are 8 or 9 deficiencies between the Alt Higher Ed market and traditional education. but you can see a path on how to close each of those gaps with current technology or minor changes in business models. There is a path forward to closing the gap but right now the gap is significant.

Can we shift a little bit to talk about your leadership approach? What’s the story on how you go about leading?

A lot of people use leadership and management interchangeably and I use them very distinctively. One is not better than the other. They are both necessary and complimentary. What I do, its not change management it is organizational change, because you’re leading the vision for change, you’re managing the change process and you’re enabling people to do the necessary work. So how I see things its almost like a paradox, and that I can simultaneously switch from big picture to small picture, back and forth. It’s very similar to the way I think strategically in that its not just tactics, its not just strategy but the ability to switch rapidly the mindsets back and forth. So in leadership I am constantly looking at it from multiple perspectives flipping back and forth, pros cons, other possibilities.

There is a newer, higher level approach that came out a few years ago that I really like and use quite a bit and that’s called the “DAC” –Direction, Alignment, Commitment. That is a higher level of leadership umbrella that all other leadership models will fall under in different places. But if you take a look at leadership functionally of setting direction of aligning the organization and getting people committed everything else, whether it be management or leadership itself, falls somewhere within there.

Is there anything in your background that has had an outsized impact on your approach to leadership but not directly related to the work that you’ve done and the leadership and management that you have done in the past?

I’ve been very fortunate in my career in that I’ve had 32 years at one company but changed jobs every 18 -24 months so I was able to amass longevity and knowledge of the culture while moving across functional and seen many ways that organizations operate at all levels of the organization. Not many people really have that experience and I have found that has been very beneficial in the way I see how organizations develop, how they can be led and people’s roles within organizations.

Along that time, you have built and managed many teams. How do you go about searching for people to fill positions? How do you go about selecting and then managing their performance once they are onboarded?

I would probably favor passion more than current expertise because with the passion and proven ability in the past they can fill in the necessary gaps. Even replacing an existing position nowadays, jobs are changing, organizations are changing and you can’t look for the exact same person to fill a vacancy. You need to be looking for someone who can not only fill that but can move forward with the growth of that position and the growth of the organization. So it’s a constant look at what is needed, not micro managing but a conversation as to the vision, and providing the resources necessary to keep moving forward while not getting comfortable staying in one place.

What are some of the biggest mistakes that todays leaders are making and specifically what you would do to go about fixing it?

I think the biggest mistake is the “not asking” mistake. People don’t have a practice of asking for help and probably to an equal extent they are afraid of appearing vulnerable by showing the need to ask for help. As leaders progress up an organization this becomes more pronounced.

But couldn't someone put themselves at risk by leveraging the power of asking questions the way you propose?

It’s a cultural risk within the organization so there is a necessity to have one foot in the organization and one foot outside the organization such that you’re basically providing an outside counseling service that can be bidirectional and peer related with some expertise facilitating the process - that is my vision that I am heading toward.

Do you have any final words of wisdom for every day leaders?

If I were to summarize it might be: You don’t have all the answers but somebody out there has the answers you are seeking if you know what to ask and who to ask. 

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About this Series

I’m on a quest to profile 100 #EverydayLeaders doing extraordinary things. If you are an everyday leader and you’d like to chat, please reach out directly or through The Leadership Growth Network.

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