peter drucker don shula and ken blanchard margaret j ...mor associates, inc. 462 main street,...

MOR Associates, Inc.462 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472tel. 617.924.4501 fax. 617.924.8070www.morassociates.com

Brian McDonald, President

[email protected]

© 2017

Leadership can be learned; in fact, it has to be learned. There are very few born leaders.

Peter Drucker

Learning is defined as a change in behavior. You haven’t learned a thing until you take action and use it.

Don Shula and Ken Blanchard

I think a major act of leadership now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and process so people can actually

learn together, using our experiences.

Margaret J. Wheatley

The proof you have learned something is in your ability to do something at an increased capability.

Brian McDonald

MOR [Maximizing Organizational Resources] provides:

» Leadership Development » Data Analytics » Talent Management » Strategic Consulting » Executive Coaching

Brian McDonald President

Jim BruceSenior Program Consultant

Retired CIO, MIT

Alicia Jurus Program Coordinator

Annie StundenLeadership Coach

Retired CIO, University of Wisconsin

Chris PaquetteSenior Survey Consultant

Curtis Odom Leadership Coach

Dan McDonaldProduction Manager

Garland ElmoreLeadership Coach

Gary AugustsonLeadership Coach

Retired CIO, Penn State University

Greg AndersonLeadership Coach

Harold PakulatLeadership CoachSurvey Consultant

Jack WolfeLeadership Coach

Jim DezieckLeadership Coach

Kathy Pletcher Leadership Coach

Leslie AlgerLeadership Coach

Lori GreenLeadership Coach

Maria CorsoFinance and Administrator

Maritza Hall Leadership Coach

Mike SullivanLeadership Coach

About MOR

Strategic ConsultingWhether working through difficult challenges, engaging groups to think and interact in new ways, or facilitating strategic thinking, MOR Associates consultants are astute partners for leaders seeking to position their organizations for future success. We understand how leaders think and work; we understand organizational dynamics; and we understand how to use process to maximum effect.

Data AnalyticsLeaders need to develop strategies and make decisions based on evidence supported by analysis. MOR Surveys offers tailored services designed to gather, analyze, and report useful information. MOR offers customer satis-faction surveys, employee engagement surveys, and 360 multi-rater feedback surveys. Our survey services are vir-tually turnkey and we provide expert assistance in survey design, methodology, administration, analysis, reporting, and communication.

Customized Leadership DevelopmentMOR Associates offers a proven approach to building lead-ers that combines feedback, individual development goals, one-on-one coaching, workshop instruction, and applied learning. Thousands of leaders from public, private, and non-profit organizations have realized significant, lasting benefits from our programs, and their organizations have benefited from the improved ability of these leaders to deliver results.

462 Main Street, Suite 300 | Watertown, MA | 02472p: (617) 924-4501 | f: (617) 924-8070 | [email protected]

www.morassociates.com

Leadership CoachingMOR’s seasoned, professional coaches have helped thou-sands of individuals achieve higher levels of performance. Coaching is an important facet of what we do and takes many forms: » Ongoing coaching relationships beyond our leadership development programs

» Stand-alone leadership coaching » One-on-one debriefs as part of our 360 feedback survey service

» Train-the-trainer programs to develop organizational coaching capacity

Talent ManagementLike everything else in this world, recruiting, retaining, and developing the best talent increasingly demands a sys-tematic approach and specialized activities. MOR’s talent management services support the work of senior business leaders, talent management officers and HR professionals.

Rick FredericksLeadership Coach

Rob SmyserSenior Consultant

Survey Services

Sean McDonaldVice President

Susan Washburn Leadership Coach

IntroductionMOR Leaders

3

This program provides numerous opportunities.

It’s a place to take risks, to test out your ideas, to test out new behaviors, and to solicit

feedback.

Sustainable behavior changes take place when

individuals adopt new practices, and as a result,

develop new habits.

Dialogue and real-time feedback are great sources

of insight, though they require us to acclimate to

being vulnerable.

You haven’t learned anything unless you have demonstrated your ability

to do something at an increased capability.

Each workshop is a learning lab. This is

a practice field. Stepping up or stepping out of the

familiar requires us to operate outside our comfort zones.

Premises Underlying This Leadership Program

Why Not Make this a “Game Changing” Experience?


4

Program Roster

Name Email

Cornell University

Michael Baker [email protected]

Kevin Baradet [email protected]

Jeff Bishop [email protected]

Jessica Doolittle [email protected]

Phil Robinson [email protected]

Harvard University

Deane Eastwood [email protected]

Dave Goodrich [email protected]

Katie Kilroy [email protected]

Steve Martino [email protected]

Chris Pringle [email protected]

Dianne Stronach [email protected]

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Adam Henneberry [email protected]

Vishal Chawla [email protected]

Tony Santos [email protected]

Princeton University

Charlayne Beavers [email protected]

Ash Hadap [email protected]

Emily Jeng [email protected]

Joe Karam [email protected]

Jill Moraca [email protected]

Steve Niedzwiecki [email protected]

Name Email

Stanford University

Jon Davies [email protected]

Peter Kwok [email protected]

Will Law [email protected]

Stacy Lee [email protected]

Alison Mark [email protected]

Beth McCullough [email protected]

Brian Medernach [email protected]

Mellani Miller [email protected]

Todd Wheeler [email protected]

Yale University

Shane Anderson [email protected]

Stephen Baraquin [email protected]

Hadar Call [email protected]

Frank Mathew [email protected]

Andy Newman [email protected]


5

Session 1: Leadership, Management, and Strategic Thinking

Day One: Defining Leadership

Tuesday, January 31, 2017 – Stanford University

Meeting Location: Barnes/McDowell/Cranston Rooms, Arrillaga Alumni Center, 326 Galvez St

Continental Breakfast 8:00 am

I Opening Comments 8:30 amOverview on the Agenda Welcome to Stanford University Participant Go-around: What is One Thing You Want to Get from this Experience?First Impressions Exercise

II Presence and Presentation\Leaders Need to Have PresenceBe Intentional

III Perspectives on LeadershipParticipants Compare and Contrast Thought LeadersSmall Groups Present Guidelines for Giving FeedbackWhat Makes for an Effective Presentation?

Lunch 12:30 pm

IV Balancing Leading, Managing, and Doing How Do You Use Your Time and Your Talent?Introduction to Coaching SkillsListening is a Leadership AttributeThinking About Your Goals for this Program

V Lessons from Your Leadership Journey Discussion: What Lessons Have You Learned in Regard to Leadership?

VI Wrap Up 5:00 pm


6


Day Two: Strategic Thinking

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Meeting Location: Tresidder Cypress Lounge, Tresidder Memorial Union


I Opening Comments 8:30 amOverview on the AgendaReflections on Yesterday’s SessionLeadership Journeys:Understanding Group Process and Group Dynamics

II Developing a Strategic PerspectiveYou Can’t Make Up in Tactics that Which You Lack in Strategy

III Leaders Focus on the StrategicWhat are the Forces and Trends Shaping the External Environment?Facilitating an Environmental Scan for IT in Higher EducationWhat are the Major Strategic Issues Facing IT Groups in Higher Education?

Lunch 12:30 pm

IV Perspectives on LeadershipRandy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO of Stanford University

V Strategic Thinking ToolsScenario PlanningTrain Your Brain to Think in Scenarios, So What if?Conducting a SWOT Analysis for Your Organization

VI Applied Strategic ThinkingWhat is One Strategic Goal for Your Area?What is the Desired Future State for Your Workgroup?What is a Possible Strategy for How You Can Accomplish this End?

VII Wrap Up 5:00 pm

Cohort Reception and Dinner hosted by MOR Associates 6:30 pm Hell’s Kitchen, 80 S 9th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402


7


Day Three: The Immediate vs. the Important

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Meeting Location: Lathrop Library, Rm 135, 518 Memorial Way


I Opening Comments 8:30 amOverview on the AgendaReflections on Yesterday’s SessionLeadership Journeys:

II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic Leading – Managing – Doing; Finding a BalanceDoes the Immediate Pre-empt the Important?Focusing on the Big Picture and Priorities Requires Certain Skill Sets• SettingPriorities;CapacityPlanning• BeingDecisive:WhatDecisionsShouldYouOwn?• DelegationisaProcess,NotaSingleAct• SelectingandDevelopingYourPeople

III Creating Your Development PlanRevisit the 360˚ Survey Share Examples of Goals Appropriate to this OpportunityParticipants Work on Shaping Their Development PlansPeer-to-Peer Coaching Conversations to Refine Goals Next Steps for Completing Your Development Plan• FinalizeandSubmitYourGoalsThe Power of Habit, Adopting Practices• PracticeBridgetheGapBetweenAspiration&Achievement• AnExperimentwithPractices

Working Lunch 12:00 pm

IV Coaching on Your Development

V Wrap Up 2:00 pmOutline Action ItemsApplied LearningFeedback on the Session


8

Notes:

S E S S I O N 1

Presence and Presentation

Defining Leadership

Leading, Managing, and Doing

Your Leadership Journey

The Immediate vs. The Important

Creating an Individual Development Plan

Adopting Sustainable Practices

Coaching for Commitment

January 31 - February 2, 2017

Leadership, Management, and Strategic Thinking

Presence and PresentationMOR Leaders

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First Impressions Exercise

KEY QUESTION: What impression do you make?

Based on your limited exposure and observations, please write down three to five phrases or words to characterize each individual in your group. At least one must be a “critical” observation. When you’re done, complete the question further below.

Name:

Descriptive words or phrases:

Name:


Name:


Name:


What phrases or words might others use to describe their first impressions of you?


11

4 E’s Worksheet

KEY QUESTION: How would you describe your presence?

Think for a few moments about your “presence” and how you normally interact with others in the workplace and answer the questions below.

How do you Enter a new situation?

What Energy do you bring into the room?

How do you choose to Engage?

How do people assess the Ethos of your character?

If you were to work on enhancing your presence, what would you do differently?

Be intentional about your presence.


12

Managing Your Presence and Contribution • • • Practices Worksheet

Being intentional about how you present yourself and contribute at meetings is an excellent practice. Doing this will increase your self-awareness and make you a more effective contributor. This worksheet will guide you to be more purposeful.

Purpose(s) of the meeting

Desired outcome(s)

What is your role?

What contribution(s) will you make?

What “characters” will you need to bring to this interaction? (facilitator, cheerleader, etc.)

What is important for you to draw out of others? What process/tool will you use to engage others?

Indicate below how you think the meeting should play out if your plans work out. You can add your own measures at the bottom. After the meeting, mark how the meeting actually went.

<< More Accurate More Accurate >>

Others did all the talking ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I did all the talking

I let others manage the meeting ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I actively facilitated the meeting

I didn’t contribute effectively ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I contributed effectively

I didn’t advocate a particular view

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I advocated a particular view

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡


13

Presentation Notes:


14

1

MOR on Presentations

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

Presenting is a type of public performance in which the presenter or presenters are given the floor and expected to effectively communicate information to an audience. Just as in live theater, success hinges on how well the performers and the stage pulls in the audience and communicates a compelling story. The tools available to presenters include the structure and pacing of the presentation, slides and handouts, props, elocution and tone, and body language. This article offers some practical pointers to help ensure your presentations are effective.

Three Questions You Need to Answer

Who is your audience?

Where are they listening from? What are they interested in? What else do you know about the audience that may be helpful? How much time can you realistically expect to hold their attention? Or engage them?

What are you seeking to accomplish?

What information is important for people to take away? What impressions are important for people to take away?

How will you succeed?

What clear, simple narrative arc will focus people’s attention on the one or two things you want to convey? How do you pull the audience in immediately and sustain a connection? How will you engage directly with audience members? What makes up the core of your presentation? What slides, handouts or props will enhance your performance? What is your closing?

Tips for Delivering Your Presentation

Presence matters

§ Consider what energy level will be appropriate for the presentation and setting. Remember you are on stage. Energy and enthusiasm make a difference. Step out, speak up and communicate that you care.

§ Confidence conveys competence. Looking confident is important.

§ Ensure your non-verbals and body language align with your message.

Use the Opening to Connect and Create Context

§ Connect with your audience in the first few minutes. Introduce yourself or the topic or tell a story or set the stage in way that engages people.

§ Create context: Why is this important? How does it connect to the big picture? Help connect the dots for people.


15

2

Deliver the Message

§ Keep it simple, share the core message, be concise, and stress what is most important. Avoid telling the audience everything you know.

§ Find a way to make it easy to grasp, an illustration, a story, an image.

§ Make sure you emphasize the key points through your buildup, your voice intonation, or by underscoring what is most important.

§ If you use PowerPoint, use visuals that add something you can’t convey with words alone.

§ Bring some passion to the topic or find a way to tap into the audience’s emotions, as this will have more impact. It isn’t always what you say but how you say it that touches people.

§ Change up your presentations. Think about how you can have the impact you want and don’t be hesitant to do something different—like starting with a few questions to the audience, using a prop or two, etc.

§ Engage the people in the room, even if it’s as simple as asking them a question related to the topic or giving them an opportunity to provide input or insights. There are many different ways to do this.

§ Make sure you have a closing even if it is as simple as saying thank you.

Prepare a Closing

§ Consider how you will wrap your presentation up. Is there a key message you want to reiterate? Do you have a final point or action step or quote to use at the end? Will you end by thanking the audience or by taking questions?

§ It is helpful to state in some instances, “in conclusion” or “one last thought” or “here is what I’m asking you to …”

Rehearse or Riff?

Some presenters plan exactly what they are going to say, going so far as to memorize and rehearse entire passages of text, others prefer to “riff,” speaking extemporaneously from the barest of outlines, others work the whole spectrum in between, blending rehearsed elements and riffing. Each approach has its own advantages. The higher the stakes and the more formal the setting the greater the need for rehearsal—think State of the Union address or Steve Jobs keynote announcements. On the other side of the ledger, the greater the need to directly engage with individuals in the audience the greater the need for riffing. The very best presenters deliver rehearsed content very naturally and pivot to riffing without a noticeable drop-off in the quality of their delivery.

Practice Makes Perfect

Rehearsed elements demand rehearsing—if you bind yourself to a tight script and can’t get through it with-out stumbling, the differences between what you mastered and what you didn’t will likely be obvious.

Riffing is a skill you can develop, but you’ll need to have lots of practice opportunities. Start by choosing lower stakes events, like meetings. Come armed with as bare an outline as possible that still captures the truly important things you need to convey, maybe using something as small as a Post-It note, and have at it. Try not to look at your outline, and prioritize engaging with your audience.

Defining LeadershipMOR Leaders

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KEY QUESTIONS

What is leadership?

How is leadership different from managing?

? Leading Versus Managing

Leaders ManagersProvide direction

• Establish the vision

• Develop the strategies

• Cope with change

Plan

• Set goals and targets

• Establish goals to achieve the plan

• Allocate resources

Align people

• Communicate the direction

• Engage people in implementation

• Build commitment

Organize

• Create structure

• Develop staffing

• Communicate the plan

Motivate

• Hold up the banner

• Coach and empower

• Recognize and reward success

Coordinate and control

• Identify deviations

• Solve problems

• Measures results against plans

Adapted from What Leaders Really Do,

John Kotter, Harvard Business Review

KEY IDEAS

Leadership is about doing the right things. Management is about doing those things right.

Peter Drucker

The only true leader is someone who has followers. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone who has followers who do the right things. Popularity is not leader-ship. Results are. Leaders are highly vis-ible. They, therefore, set examples. Leader-ship is not rank, privileges, titles or money. It is responsibility.

Peter Drucker

The essence of leadership is found in the ability to transform vision into significant actions. The two dimensions are vision and the ability to implement. To this end, the leader’s chief resource is power: the capability to get things done.

William Hitt

I’m talking about leadership as the de-velopment of vision and strategies, the alignment of relevant people behind those strategies, and the empowerment of indi-viduals to make the vision happen despite obstacles.

John Kotter

LEADING

MA

NA

GIN

G

DO

ING

100% •

90% •

80% •

70% •

60% •

50% •

40% •

30% •

20% •

10% •

0% •

100%

•

90%

•

80%

•

70%

•

60%

•

50%

•

40%

•

30%

•

20%

•

10%

•

0%

•

100% •

90% •

80% •

70% •

60% •

50% •

40% •

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20% •

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0% •

• •

• • • • • • • • •

•

• •

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• •

• •

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• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

•


17

DOERSDo the task

MANAGERSFacilitate

operational excellence

LEADERSCreate future viability

AGENDA FOCUS

Personal producer

• focus on operational tasks

• get core work done

• do high risk, high visibility items

Planning and budgeting

• draft goals and operational plans

• allocate resources

• submit budgets

Establishing direction

• track external trends

• anticipate future needs

• develop vision and strategies to achieve goals

PEOPLE FOCUS

Self and boss

• high ownership for the work

• want to succeed, please the boss

• personal statistics

Organizing and staffing

• individuals, teams

• establish structure to accomplish plan

• assign responsibilities

• develop policies and procedures

• develop systems to monitor implementation

Inspiring commitment and aligning people

• communicate direction

• engage others in formu-lating and undertaking strategic pursuits

• work on raising people’s commitment levels

• role model leadership

PROCESS FOCUS

Being the best player

• do it myself

• whatever it takes

• do it right

Controlling and problem-solving

• monitor results vs. plan

• identify deviations, variances

• facilitate problem-solving

• develop systems for repetitive processes

Developing capability needed for the future

• build organizational capability required to accomplish strategic goals

• oversee high-potential leader development

• challenge and coach

• recognize and reward

RESULTSFOCUS

Individual results

• produce outcomes

• produce high quality individual contributions

• role model style to others

Operational results

• produce stakeholder outcomes: quality, service, cost, on budget

• produce degree of pre-dictability and order via systems and processes

Strategic results

• position the organization to add value in the future

• new business direction and strategies

• new processes, products

• new organizational capabilities


18

Leading-Managing-Doing Worksheet

How do you think you currently divide your time between activities related to leading, managing, and doing?

Would you change this distribution in any way?

Where are there opportunities for you to play more of a leadership role?

What do you need to do to enhance your ability to act in leaderly ways?

lead•ernoun

what one is being when one exercises leadership; not a for-mal position, but a function that anyone can do irrespective of title or status


19

Leading-Managing-Doing Worksheet

The immediate is always threatening to preempt the important, and people who are looked to for leadership are often too busy with current priorities to deliver it. Complete the first two tallies and pie charts today and fill in the last one at a future date to check in on how you fared.

Today, , what percent of your time do you spend on each of the following activities?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

What percent of your time would be desirable for you to spend in each of the following activities?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

It’s months later, how are you dividing your time now?

Leading %

+

Managing %

+

Doing % =100%

10%

10%

10%

Selecting GoalsMOR Leaders

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Initial Development Goals

Goal 1:

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:

Goal 2:

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:

Your Leadership JourneyMOR Leaders

21

Your Leadership Journey Worksheet

Everyone has a learned point of view on leadership that comes from the sum of their life experiences. Think over the leadership experiences you have had in your life. Think of the most important lessons you have learned about leadership from your life experiences, parents, teachers, schools, mentors, work, etc. Think about how you learned these lessons. Identify the lessons learned or the values that influence your leadership story. Event/Experience/Person

Event/Experience/Person

Event/Experience/Person

Leadership Lesson or Value



Presenting Your Leadership Journey?

•Who is the audience? Where are they listening from?

•What is the key message you want to convey? How can you convey it in a compelling way?

•What’s the opening, the content, the close? How can you use the room?

•Be creative. Change up the medium periodically.


22

Your Leadership Timeline

Construct a drawing similar to the one below on a flipchart or use the blank timeline on the fol-lowing page. Plot the ups and downs of your development as a leader. Label the critical events and lessons learned from each event. Add any major life events that have had a big impact on what you believe about leadership. The chart should represent positive, negative, and even neutral events that have shaped your point of view on your leadership. This exercise will help you define and articulate your personal “teachable points of view” on leadership.

Brian’s Leadership Timeline

8th GradeAlliancesFrontal assaultson the castle arerarely successful

UMassIdeasInitiatives

MRCVisionStakeholdersSocial change

H2OChange agendaBridge builderCapital

Deputy to Gov.• Balance policy and politics • Influence • Ethics matter

ElectionMomentum is hugeExtend the circleTake risks

Post El.Self-discoverySystemsNew arena

New ChapterSelf-discoveryMindful of selfOD

DIVChangeChoiceShape it

Desired future stateEnergizing

RenewalReinvent


23

A Practical Guide for LeadingMOR Leaders

24

A Practical Guide for Leading

by Brian McDonald

Focus at the strategic level to ensure the organization is doing the right things.

• A leader’s most important responsibility is to determine the overall strategic direction for the enterprise.

• A strategic focus requires the leader to be at times externally focused on the trends shaping the future while understanding the strengths, weaknesses and core capabilities of the organization.

• Charting the strategic path for the organization will have enormous consequences for the ultimate suc-cess or failure.

Focus on the results; go for the goals.

• Organizations exist to fulfill certain needs.

• Needs are better defined in specific, outcome oriented goals.

• Goals can then be measured to assess progress and allow for adjustments.

• At the end of the day results do matter.

Don’t let the immediate preempt the important.

• Too many leaders are constrained in their efforts to move the enterprise forward by the compelling ten-dency of many people to pull the leader into the immediate issue or day to day concerns.

• Identify the top five areas critical to your success and select the three you personally will champion.

• Block out time, schedule events to focus, focus, and focus on the priorities you believe are critical to your success.

Develop the discipline, build the practices.

• “Best Practices” companies got that way for a reason.

• Select the practices you believe will make excellence a habit not a chance act.

• Practices can sustain the desired changes if they are incorporated into the rhythm of the business.

Having passion for what you do will make an incredible difference.

• If you care intensely about what you are doing, this will influence those you lead in a positive way.

• Having passion behind what you are doing means you genuinely believe this effort has value and this conveys sincerity to others.

• You bring the energy to your role that will help build the support you will need to succeed.

A Practical Guide for LeadingMOR Leaders

25

Understand the environment, the politics, and the world around you.

• Where there are people there are politics, issues of influence, and power.

• You don’t need to play the political game but you don’t want to be blind-sided.

• Build the alliances needed to get support for the initiatives you are sponsoring that are key to success.

Be self aware, know your own strengths and shortcomings.

• Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

• Make the best of what you have to work with and develop yourself where gains are likely.

• Ask others to give you feedback and coaching.

• Recognize your shortcomings, where you aren’t likely to be able to develop and figure out how to com-pensate or complement yourself with others.

• Draw on your experiences to develop yourself.

Surround yourself with absolutely the best people.

• Finding the best talent will make an incredible difference.

• Select the best people you can find, don’t compromise on quality.

• Develop people, don’t settle for less or you’ll continually pay the price.

Being decisive is a requirement for most leaders.

• It helps to be able to sort through considerable information and cut to the chase with some dispatch.

• It is important to have the ability to move expeditiously and to have the courage of your convictions.

• Moving sooner is usually better than moving later, few leaders ever look back and wish they went slower.

Know where the money is.

• Understand the financials, don’t delegate the balance sheet.

• Analyze what the prime contributors to improved performance are and track cause and effect relation-ships.

• Target a few strategies directly at the financials.

Day TwoMOR Leaders

26


Day Two: Strategic Thinking

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Meeting Location: Tresidder Cypress Lounge, Tresidder Memorial Union


I Opening Comments 8:30 amOverview on the AgendaReflections on Yesterday’s SessionLeadership Journeys:Understanding Group Process and Group Dynamics

II Developing a Strategic PerspectiveYou Can’t Make Up in Tactics that Which You Lack in Strategy

III Leaders Focus on the StrategicWhat are the Forces and Trends Shaping the External Environment?Facilitating an Environmental Scan for IT in Higher EducationWhat are the Major Strategic Issues Facing IT Groups in Higher Education?

Lunch 12:30 pm

IV Perspectives on LeadershipRandy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO of Stanford University

V Strategic Thinking ToolsScenario PlanningTrain Your Brain to Think in Scenarios, So What if?Conducting a SWOT Analysis for Your Organization

VI Applied Strategic ThinkingWhat is One Strategic Goal for Your Area?What is the Desired Future State for Your Workgroup?What is a Possible Strategy for How You Can Accomplish this End?

VII Wrap Up 5:00 pm

Cohort Reception and Dinner hosted by MOR Associates 6:30 pm Hell’s Kitchen, 80 S 9th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402

Day TwoMOR Leaders

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Reflections Worksheet

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

What insight or “aha moment(s)” occured to you?

Describe one possible on-the-job-application of what you learned.

Day TwoMOR Leaders

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Notes:

Introduction to Strategic ThinkingMOR Leaders

29

Leaders Are Strategic

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as what direction we are moving: to reach the port… we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it … but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

A vision is just a vision if it’s in your head...if no one gets to hear it, its as good as dead. It has to come to life! Having the vision’s no solution, everything depends on execution, putting it together, that’s what counts. Bit by bit, link by link, piece by piece, part by part.

Stephen Sondheim


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Astute leaders need to:

• Draw on a broad range of inputs to maneuver in a world that rewards speed and adaptability.

• Call on the collective intelligence of their people to enhance the quality of their strategic choices.

• Engage numerous employees to enhance the flow of ideas and the implementation of the desired direction.

Strategic Planning Involves

• Understanding and accurately predicting the future impact of trends

• Mentally operating in the future, putting current concerns on hold

• Generating innovative and unique ideas

• Developing and communicating future related scenarios

• Anticipating the consequences of proposed courses of action

• Pursuing strategies that create future viability

KEY QUESTIONS

What is strategic thinking?

What will it look like when you are acting strategically?

?

KEY IDEAS

Developing a strategic direction in a rapidly changing world has become an increasing challenge as the pace accelerates. Estab-lishing a direction and selecting the strate-gies designed to achieve the desired results needs to be an ongoing process rather than an annual event.

Leadership is about doing the right things.

Management is about doing those things right.

Peter Drucker

Eighty percent of organizations are overmanaged and underled.

Warren Bennis

MAXIMYou can never make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.


31

Glossary of Terms

Strategic direction is designed to position your organization to be successful in an ever changing world.

Strategic thinking is intended to strengthen people’s strategic lens so they can analyze an issue and see the possibilities and consequences when the choice is important to the success of the enterprise.

Vision is a statement that creates a picture of the desired future state that is better in some important way than the current state.

A vision statement usually addresses:

• What kind of organization do we want to be?

• What will it be like for our customers and other stakeholders when we achieve the vision?

• What values are most important?

Mission refers to the business purpose of an organization.

Mission statements usually answer three questions:

• What purpose does the organization serve? What products or services do we offer?

• Who are the customers we intend to serve?

• How do we go about serving these customers? What activities, technology, etc., do we provide?

Goal is an outcome that is measurable and achievable within a specific time frame. One which is subordinate to the mission yet supports the overall business purpose by addressing an aspect of it. Most organizations need to successfully accomplish many goals to achieve their mission.

Strategy is a plan, method or series of maneuvers or actions spelling out how we will achieve a specific goal or result.

Scenario is an imagined or projected sequence of events, any of several detailed plans or possibilities. It is helpful to play out different scenarios when you are entertaning the desired future state or how you get there.


32

Strategic Planning Scorecard

KEY QUESTION: How easy is it for you to get up on the balcony?

This self-assessment will give you an indication of how predisposed you are to strategic thinking. If you score on the lower side for any of these questions, you will want to ensure there are people on the team who have higher scores or strengths in these competencies.

Rar

ely

Som

etim

es

Ofte

n

Very

Ofte

n

Alm

ost A

lway

s

Not

App

licab

le

1 2 3 4 5 NA

I identify the important trends that will be critical to the organization in the future. c c c c c c

I accurately outline the implications of the most important trends. c c c c c c

I stay focused on the future, putting current concerns on hold. c c c c c c

I develop future-related scenarios highlighting strategic choices. c c c c c c

I generate innovative ideas. c c c c c c

I work well with the ambiguity inherent in future-related planning. c c c c c c

I anticipate the consequences of proposed courses of action. c c c c c c

I translate strategic direction into realistic business plans. c c c c c c

I take action in the short term to realize necessary changes in direction. c c c c c c


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Strategic Planning Model

Scan the environment

What forces or trends will influence your future?

Determine the critical implications

What is going to shape our future?

Develop the desired future state

What is our vision for where we want to be?

Formulate or update our mission.What service and/or products are we providing to

whom and what is distinctive about how we do this?

Assess the current state

Identify our strengths, values, opportunities, weaknesses and threats.

Do a gap analysis

What are the major gaps?

Develop the strategic goals

What will move us to the desired state?What strategies will we use to achieve the progress needed?

Outline implementation

Outline the action plan, milestones and accountabilities.

It is important in most organizations to engage and communicate with various constituencies during the different phases of the process.

Analyze yourcustomers’ needs

Analyze yourcompetition


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Scanning the External World Worksheet

KEY QUESTION: What trends and forces are likely to be shaping the future context for your organization?

Economy

Technology

Government

Demographics

Customers/Stakeholders

Other


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Key Trends and Implications

Select the top three trends and identify the implications.

1.

2.

3.

Select one and identify the implications.

Strategic Thinking ToolsMOR Leaders

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KEY IDEAS

Scenarios allow people to play out various alternative futures in a way that creates a picture or pictures of what might happen should the path ahead unfold in one way versus another.

Scenario planning in its simplest form hap-pens when someone says, “What if …?”

Scenarios enable new ideas about the future to

take root and spread across an organization, helping to overcome the inertia and denial that can so easily make the future a dangerous place.

Eamonn Kelly

Scenario Planning

Scenario planning is a helpful strategic thinking tool. It can be used at any time.

Scenario planning in its simplest form happens when someone says, “What if …?” This provocative ques-tion invites us to entertain variations on the possibilities before us.

In the early stages of a strategic planning effort, when groups are identifying the forces and trends shaping the future, developing competing scenarios is one way to en-vision what may or may not happen depending on how a trend develops and how the organization decides to act.

The mental exercise of entertaining scenarios can actu-ally uncover trends that may impact the future and thus help prevent the organization from getting blindsided by external events or developments.

Scenario planning can actually shape the desired future state of the organization, and inviting people to ex-change their views can help them arrive at a common vision that they are invested in bringing about.

Beyond it’s many uses in the course of a deliberative strategic planning effort, scenario planning is also useful for addressing a pressing external threat or a potential disruption.

[Scenario planning is] a discipline for encouraging

creative and entrepreneurial thinking and action in contexts of change, complexity and uncertainty.

Peter Schwartz


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Scenario Planning Approaches

Common approaches that can elicit different vantage points on the future include the following:

Preferred Future involves sketching out a desired future state and how people would like things to evolve if they could bring it about.

Best Case versus Worst Case Scenarios

Winners and Losers is another familiar plot line that gets played out with different situations. It is useful to ask, who is likely to come out ahead? Who or what groups are likely to come up short?

Evolutionary Change versus the Quantum Leap invites people to imagine what an incremental ap-proach to a pending change would look like and to also look at what a major jump forward would look like. Comparisons between these two approaches can provoke people to tease out choices that may not otherwise be recognized by some.

Crisis and Response is another method for considering incremental versus dramatic movement and is frequently used to anticipate what will be needed if an event turns out to be a “category 3” or a “category 5” development. In analyzing the weather, it is important to anticipate the strength of the hurricane and to plan accordingly. Here, we ask what would we need to do if this turns out to be a category 3 or category 5 situation?

Multiple Perspectives looks at different perspectives on how things may develop. For example, John Van Maanen’s Three Lenses work allows a group to think about how a change may play out when viewed from a strategic perspective or a political perspective or a cultural perspective.

The Desired Future Statewhere we want to be

What can we do to close the gap?

The Current Statewhere we are now


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Identifying the Current State with a SWOT Analysis

KEY QUESTION: What is the current state?

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT analysis looks at an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This is one means for sketching out the current state of an organization, a group, a project or a particular effort. The outcomes from SWOT analyses enable people and organizations to focus on leveraging strengths, minimiz-ing weaknesses, addressing real or potential threats, and taking the greatest possible advantage of op-portunities. If conducted as an interactive forum, SWOTs can also help build cohesion within a group or an organization as people share and develop a collective perspective.

The SWOT analysis tool is a useful methodology for constructively identifying the upside (strengths and opportunities) and the downside (weaknesses and threats) of an organization. Because participants are ex-plicitly invited to offer feedback, this allows individuals to avoid being seen as too critical; they are also less likely to withhold concerns that might be politically incorrect to state under different circumstances.

Why Is It Useful?

SWOT analyses are often employed as part of more extensive strategic planning processes, but they can also be used independently as a way of gathering what might best be described as an organizational inven-tory. For this reason, engaging in this process can be particularly beneficial for a leader or manager who is facilitating a strategic process or when someone is taking on a new position or role. By their nature, SWOT analyses actively engage people in strategic thinking—a plus for all and a necessity for leaders and manag-ers.

What Next?

Once you have the results of the SWOT, then in a subsequent meeting or even in advance of the next ses-sion, consider asking subgroups to work on the following:

1. Prioritize the issues in each topic area so you identify the top 3 to 5 strengths, weaknesses, opportuni-ties and threats.

2. Have the subgroups then come up with straw proposals to:

§ Leverage the top strengths

§ Minimize the impact of the top weaknesses

§ Capitalize on the top opportunities

§ Minimize the threats from materializing

3. Encourage staff to look at these proposals in an integrated way and then put the emphasis on what is actionable.


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SWOT Analysis Worksheet

What strengths do you associate with your organization? (Internally focused)

What weaknesses or challenges do you believe are major ones for your organization? (Internally focused)

What are some opportunities you believe your organization can pursue? (Externally focused)

What are some threats you see on the horizon for your organization? (Externally focused)

Strategy MattersMOR Leaders

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Strategy Matters. What Is Yours?

For this section, the word “strategy” is intended to mean how to accomplish an identified strategic goal. It assumes the end state is clear.

There are numerous ways to approach strategy. In the well regarded book The Discipline of Market Leaders, the authors describe organizations that excel at one or more of three primary strategies: operational excel-lence, product leadership, and customer intimacy.

Operational Excellence

These organizations execute extraordinarily well with guaranteed low price and hassle-free service. Opera-tions are standardized, simplified, tightly controlled and centrally planned, leaving few decisions to the discretion of localized rank-and-file employees

Product Leadership

These organizations offer the best products and continuously innovate. This strategy concentrates on of-fering customers products or services that expand existing performance boundaries. A product leader’s key proposition to its customers is: We have the BEST product - period.

Customer Intimacy

These organizations focus on specific customer needs, cultivate relationships, satisfy unique needs and have the best solutions. This business structure and strategy must delegate decision-making to employees who are close to the customer. Its focus is to create positive results for a carefully selected and nurtured group of customers.


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Three Strategies for Your Environment

There are a variety of strategies available to select from as you plan to accomplish identified goals. In some cases the intent is to simplify, while in other cases automating or innovating may be a better strategy for achieving the goal.

Strategic Design

Strategic design is the application of future oriented design principles targeted at increasing the organiza-tion’s innovative approaches and its competitive position. It may be advantageous to deploy strategic de-sign when you believe the best strategy is to innovate or reinvent or leapfrog. If the goal is to deliver better service or create a new service or product then strategic design can serve as a means to the ends.

Business Process Improvement

Business Process Improvement is a systematic approach an organization can use to optimize the “pro-cesses” and develop more efficient and effective ways to provide whatever the output is. Business process improvement focuses on redesigning the fulfillment process. How can the process steps be simplified or automated or re-engineered to make the process more efficient, more consistent while improving the cycle time/ quality of the output?

Organization Practices

Developing Organizational Practices is another approach a leader can use to achieve a goal focused on how people contribute or how the organization could function more effectively. Adopting specifically targeted organizational practices can influence the norms or current way things are done or the behaviors exhibited in an organization. Conducting a simple employee huddle on Monday morning can improve communica-tions and highlight the deliverables for the week.

Strategic Design Steps

1. Focus externally on the customer experience or the identified need. Get out and see what is going on when you observe directly the transaction or the product or when you interact with the people using the product or service.

2. Create a design team composed of inquisitive people who bring a combined set of lenses to the situation.

3. Develop a prototype, experiment with different models

4. The prototype can be used to demonstrate, evaluate and iterate the next version.

5. Design is never done, keep iterating improvements or next generation models.


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4 STRATEGIES

The Desired Future State Worksheet

DESIRED FUTURE1

2 NOW GAPS 3

The Desired Future Statewhere we want to be

What can we do to close the gap?

The Current Statewhere we are now


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Thinking Strategically “Real Time”

From Vision to Strategy

Group A - What is the vision for this learning community?

Group B - What are some strategies or actions you would recommend to help this group achieve the vision?

Group C - What are some strategies or actions you would ask the facilitators to take to help achieve the vision?

Group D - What are the forces that will help us achieve the vision and what are the forces that will work against our achieving the vision?

Group E - Look at this as a change process, what will we need to do to support this change so it comes to fruition?

Applying strategic thinking, what type of learning community do we want this to be?

Day ThreeMOR Leaders

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Day Three: The Immediate vs. the Important

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Meeting Location: Lathrop Library, Rm 135, 518 Memorial Way


I Opening Comments 8:30 amOverview on the AgendaReflections on Yesterday’s SessionLeadership Journeys:

II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic Leading – Managing – Doing; Finding a BalanceDoes the Immediate Pre-empt the Important?Focusing on the Big Picture and Priorities Requires Certain Skill Sets• SettingPriorities;CapacityPlanning• BeingDecisive:WhatDecisionsShouldYouOwn?• DelegationisaProcess,NotaSingleAct• SelectingandDevelopingYourPeople

III Creating Your Development PlanRevisit the 360˚ Survey Share Examples of Goals Appropriate to this OpportunityParticipants Work on Shaping Their Development PlansPeer-to-Peer Coaching Conversations to Refine Goals Next Steps for Completing Your Development Plan• FinalizeandSubmitYourGoalsThe Power of Habit, Adopting Practices• PracticeBridgetheGapBetweenAspiration&Achievement• AnExperimentwithPractices

Working Lunch 12:00 pm

IV Coaching on Your Development

V Wrap Up 2:00 pmOutline Action ItemsApplied LearningFeedback on the Session

Day ThreeMOR Leaders

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Reflections Worksheet

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

What insight or “aha moment(s)” would you share with the larger group?

Describe one possible on-the-job-application of what you learned.

The Important vs ImmediateMOR Leaders

46

Focus On the Important

Nobel laureate James Franck has said he always recognizes a moment of discovery by “the feeling of terror that seizes me... I felt a trace of it that morning. My discovery was this: I had become the victim of a vast, amorphous, unwitting, unconscious conspiracy to prevent me from doing anything whatever to change the university’s status quo. Even those of my associates who fully shared my hopes to set new goals, new directions, and to work toward creative change were unconsciously often doing the most to make sure I would never find the time to begin.

Warren Bennis, Why Leaders Can’t Lead, The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues

Put first things first. Begin with the end in mind. Be proactive.

Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

George Marshall understood that leaders must spend the time to recruit the right people for the job and then support them completely, so that they can do the job. The exceptional leader sees his or her job as enabling people to do their jobs.

Peter Drucker

For me, this is a familiar image - people in the organization ready and willing to do good work, wanting to contribute their ideas, ready to take responsibility, and leaders holding them back, insisting that they wait for decisions or instructions.

Margaret J. Wheatley


47

The Immediate versus the Important

Tension Exists Between the Immediate and the Important

Immediate and Less/Not Important

Immediate and Very Important

Not Immediate and Not Important

Not Immediate and Very Important

Immediate

EmailMeetingsCrisis of the dayInterruptions

Important

Strategic prioritiesPlanning for the futureCritical business projectsDeveloping talent

KEY QUESTIONS

What do you need to do to balance the immediate and the important?

Your calendar is a strategic asset. How do you spend your time and talent?

?

KEY IDEAS

Providing Leadership...

• Means focusing on the strategic.

• Requires us to spend our time on the important.

• Requires most of us to create capacity.

Strategies for Focusing On the Important

• Identify the top five priorities critical to your success and select the three you will personally cham-pion.

• Block out time; schedule events to focus on the priorities you believe are critical to success. Plan to spend time on the important. Manage your calendar, don’t let it manage you.

• Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

• Delegate to others in ways that provide people with the chance to take ownership for the decisions and actions needed.

• Develop the people who work with you. Give yourself an unfair advantage.

• Leverage your time and your talent.


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Providing Leadership

Means focusing on the strategic

Requires us to balance our time on immediate demands with the important priorities

Requires most of us to create capacity

Strategies to Consider

Establish clear priorities.

Create a capacity planning practice.

Take command of your calendar.

Become more decisive.

Become a more effective communicator.

Refine your delegation process.

Develop your people via exposure, experience, and stretch assignments.

MAXIMYou can never make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.


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Mapping Your Priorities Over the Next Six Months

What are your highest priorities?

What actions, meetings or tasks do you need to take to move the top two priorities forward?

Priority Action Needed Who Else?

What entries do you need to make in your calendar to advance these initiatives?


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Capacity Planning

KEY QUESTION: How much capacity do you and your team have?

Conduct a one month audit. What do the results tell you?

How can you gauge your work group’s capacity to get things done?

By estimating time, hours, and days

By determining level of effort required

Projecting forward, how could you better manage supply (time and energy) with the demand?

What strategies or practices might enable you and your group to open up some capacity to devote to the important priorities?

Spend the first 30

minutes on Monday or the last 30 minutes on

Friday setting your three to five priorities for the week, then review your calendar and place them on your schedule.


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Capacity Management...Practices Worksheet

Maintain a concise list of the things that are consuming your and your group’s capacity.

Project Pipeline

Rough Order of Magnitude

Lead and/or Key Resource

Key Milestones


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The Decision Making Continuum

There is a range of decision making styles available to you. It is important to think about what decision making mode is most appropriate to each situation.

Directing Selling Consulting Participating Delegating

Make a decision and inform people

You or someone above you makes a decision, then you sell the direction

You ask for input and then make a decision

Is used when you ask and want a consensus

You hand off to someone else

“How will we do this?”

“I’ll take into con-sideration what I’ve heard and then decide.”

“Let’s decide.” “You decide.”

Despite a cultural tendency toward consensus building, it is helpful to remember that the participating ap-proach is most useful when you want to get input or increase ownership. In some instances, there is little benefit to working for a consensus, yet managers default to this approach and defer to the group. This can be an inefficient way to make decisions. Oftentimes, simply asking for input (consulting) will provide people with a sufficient opportunity to be heard and lessen the time required to work the decision. In any case, it is helpful if you, as a leader, are clear on what approach is best suited to the issue being addressed and that you are intentional about your decision making style. You want to create expectations with your staff that are in alignment with what you will be doing.

KEY QUESTIONS

What decision making styles are most appropriate for the different situations you encounter?

How do you differentiate between them?

?


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Defining Delegation

Delegation Is:

• Assigning specific tasks to others, along with clear criteria for success, and the au-thority to complete those tasks

Delegation Is Not:

• Abdicating responsibility for a task

• Dumping work on the unprepared or unwilling

• A new and fun way to micromanage your staff

The Benefits of Delegation

• Frees up the manager’s time to focus on the important

• Draws on the strengths and expertise

› Develops your staff

› Provides exposure to wider experiences

› Creates opportunities

Effectively delegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful high-leverage activity there is.

Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly

Effective People

Delegation Strategies

What to Take “Off Your Plate”

• The routine and the necessary

• Tasks that don’t contribute to group goals

• “Occupational hobbies”

• Developmental opportunities

• Consider succession

• Over-delegating is rarely a problem

What Should Stay “Yours”

• Tasks which require a level of authority

• Policy/direction setting tasks; strategic

• Personnel/confidential matters

• Crisis management

• Internal group communication strategy

Your Responsibilities

• Willingness to delegate

• Select the right task(s) to delegate

• Select the right person to delegate to; assess competence, commitment, time

• Ensure the delegate:

› Knows what you want, clear expectations

› Has the authority to achieve it

› Knows how to do it or how to find out

› Has access to necessary, relevant information

• Delegate not only tasks, but decisions

• Evaluate the risk

• Focus on results, not how it’s done

• Do not solve problems for the delegate

• Monitor progress along the way

• Be prepared to thank and reward

KEY IDEAS

The object of delegation is to successfully transfer ownership.


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Delegation Inventory Worksheet

What tasks can only you do?

What tasks could you teach others to do?

What tasks should you not be doing that people can do already?


55

Delegation Prework Worksheet

Task/project

To whom might you delegate?

What, exactly, is it you expect this individual to do? What will success look like?

When does this need to be completed? Are there other milestones?

What authority will this person have?

Where is this person on the competency and commitment scale?

What do you hope this person will learn through this work?

What information will this person need?

What resources will this person need?

How will you follow up?


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Developing Talent

Selection

•ExpandthePool

•EstablishingCompetenciesandCriteria

On-Boarding

•EstablishExpectations

•ProvideaWaytoLeantheLandscape

•HavetheCultureExplained

•ShareKeyThemes

•ProvideaStretchAssignment

Situational Leadership

•AssesthePerson’sLevelofCompetence

•AssestheLevelofCommitment

•AdaptYourLeadershipStyle

Professional Development

•SetGoalsandStrategies

•IdentifyOpportunities

•AgreeonPractices

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping togeth-er is progress. Workingtogether is success.”

Henry Ford

“George Marshall under-stood that leaders must spend the time to recruit the right people for the job and then support them completely, so that they can do the job. The excep-tional leader sees his or her job as enabling peopleto do their jobs.”

Peter Drucker

“When You are looking for talent, you have a license and an obligation to go hunting for the best person possible, don’t settle for good enough.”

Jim BruceCIO Emeritus, MIT

Process Timeline

Outlining Your Development PlanMOR Leaders

57

Feedback and Self-AssessmentSelf-Assessment

Input from Manager and Others360° Feedback

Leadership CapabilityLeadership Opportunities

StrengthsStepping Up as a Leader

Growth AreasPresence and Presentation

Establishing GoalsOutline Possibilities

Work with CoachFocus On Initial Goals

Identify Additional Opportunities Throughout Program

Learning in ActionApply Learnings in Current Role

Use Change Initiatives to ExperimentExplore Additional Practice FieldsSolicit Feedback, Use Re�ection

Inputs to Your Development Plan


58

Components To Consider When Selecting Goals

Leadership Development

On becoming a leader: who you are, how you show up, and what you do. Are there developmental opportunities that pertain to your evolution as a leader?

Strengths

What are your primary strengths? Are there strengths you want to build on? What did the 360° survey tell you about your strengths?

Growth Areas

Are there aspirations you have that this leadership program would support your pursuing in the year ahead? Are there gaps in your knowledge or exposure to the organization that you would like to fill? Are there opportunities you are aware of that are important for you to tackle this year?

360° Feedback

What areas from your survey stand out as improvement opportunities?


59

Initial Development Goals

Development Plan template

We would like to encourage you to make your goals specific and to think through the action steps.

Development Plan - Each participant in this leadership program has the opportunity to identify what you believe will be most useful for you to work on to enhance your effectiveness as a leader in the year ahead. Selecting three or four developmental goals to focus on can help ensure you make the headway you see as important to your future. These goals are about your professional development. Keep in mind a goal could be focused on taking a strength from good to great. Development plans consist of goals, actions, practices and time lines you and your coach can review and revise during the year.

Goal - A goal can be defined as the object of a person’s ambition or effort, your aim or desired result. As you draft your development goals please use the phrase “so that” to clarify what the result is you want to achieve.

Example: To get in the habit of delegating more often “so that” staff have an opportunity to learn new skills and enable me to spend more time on leading strategic initiatives.

Actions - Specific steps in support of a goal are called actions. These can be one-time actions or repeat-able. We call repeated actions, practices.

In the delegation example the following is a sample one time action step: Create the cate-gorization of my work queue into A) tasks only I can do, B) tasks I could teach others to do, C) tasks I could hand off to others and had just become accustomed to doing.

Practices are repeatable actions in service of a goal. Behavior change is the ultimate goal, and it is typically only sustained when individuals adopt new practices. Practices, done repeatedly, become incorporated into our on-going behavior as habits.

Similarly, committing to delegating one thing a day is an example of a practice.

Habit. We use the word practice as the means for developing these new behaviors. Once these changes become internalized they become a habit.

Time line. It helps to establish dates or milestones to indicate when you will implement the actions or practices you have identified. Only 3% of people in the

United States have written goals, and according to research, these people accomplish 80% more than those that don’t.


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Potential Goals

Goal:

Actions and Practices in Service of this Goal: Timeline:

Support/Resource:

Goal:


Support/Resource:


61

Potential Goals

Goal:


Support/Resource:

Goal:


Support/Resource:


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Sample Goal Statements

• To be more deliberate in setting priorities and delegating work so others get to step up thus allowing me time to focus on the more important goals.

• To become a more effective coach so that I can develop the capability of my staff to a greater extent.

• To be proactive by setting aside time on Monday mornings to write out my priori-ties for the week, to review my calendar, to prepare for upcoming meetings so that I can be more purposeful.

• Tobemoreintentionalwithmypresence&in my interactions with others so that I be-come more effective at exercising influence.

• To focus on building relationships so that I can extend my network and enhance my ability to get things done.

• To develop a more strategic perspective so that there is better balance between short and long term priorities.

• To work on leading and managing more and doing less of the immediate tasks so that I use my time and my talent to add more value.

• To become a more effective listener so that others recognize my interest and respect for what they have to offer.

• To get better at making presentations and communicating with others so that I can have more impact.

• To step up more readily and take the initiative so that I help move needed changes forward.

• To focus on my ability to deliver results (rated as a strength) and add to this the ability to collaborate across organizations so that it will be possible to have an impact on broader outcomes.

SMART Goals

We encourage you to make your goals “SMART” goals:

Specific

The more specific a goal is the greater the chance that it will be accomplished. Include in your goal statement:

What: Clearly define the outcome you want to create. Be very specific.

Why: Why is it important to you? What is the benefit to accomplishing this goal?

Measurable

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. What are the specific criteria you will use to measure your progress towards accomplishing your goal? How will you know when you have reached your goal? Measurable include time, frequency or duration and measure the process of your performance.

Attainable

Your goals should require a commitment on your part and stretch you slightly, yet are attainable. Once a goal is identified you might see opportunities that were previ-ously missed.

Realistic

Is this goal really doable? Set the bar high and devise a plan to achieve your goal, but make sure that it is realistic and achievable. This does not mean “easy”!

Timely and Tangible

A time frame gives you a clear target to work towards and creates accountability. When you can experience it with one of your senses (tangible) you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable.

The following page shows an example of a goal that fol-lows these precepts.

CoachingMOR Leaders

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The Coaching Conversation

An effective, highly focused coaching session follows a process:

1. Set the right context – Remind the partner why you are getting together and emphasis the track that a coaching conversation follows.

2. Converge on actions – A lot of ground can be covered in a coaching conversation. A good coach can help narrow the conversation to a few key topics.

3. Seek commitments – A good coach draws out promise phrases such as “I will …,” and avoids po-tential phrases such as “I’ll try …” Without commitment to action, you have just had a chat.

4. Create a plan for continuity – Intentions are more like to form into results when follow-up milestones are agreed upon. Setting a timeline and planning the next coaching session creates accountability.

Listening With Care

Listening requires you to actively manage your mental processes

Concentrate

• Eliminate noise and distractions

• Decide to listen

• Stay tuned in

Ask questions

• Inquire

• Draw out

Recap

• Paraphrase

• Gather information

Express interest

• Non-verbal body language and gestures

Anticipatebreakdowns

Askquestionsto create

possible practices

Determine thecommitment

Askopen-endedquestions

Presentingtopic

Summarize

Follow up

NO ADVICE NO AUTOBIOGRAPHIES !*WHEN COACHING:

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Good Coaches Ask Good Questions

A good coach seeks to understand the partner’s challenges to form a context for the conversation.

“Tell me what’s going on…”

“Why is this important to you?”

A good coach builds clarity so the conversation can converge on specific themes and ideas that can become actionable.

“How might this look if you are successful?”

“What else might you try?”

“Have you thought about…..?”

“What might stand in the way?”

“What has changed to cause this to happen?”

A good coach enables commitments to take place so the partner is willing to act.

“So, what might you be willing to do?”

“When might you start?”

“Have you thought about the resources you will need?”

“Tell me again what you are committing to.”

A good coach creates continuity so that follow-up is planned and forward progress is maintained.

“When do you want to meet to review how you have done?”

“How do we want to check in case of a breakdown?”

Coaching is the universal lan-guage of change and learning.

Tom Peters

Sentence Stems

Open

It seems to me ...

Another way of ...

If you play this out ...

CoachingMOR Leaders

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Practicing Coaching Worksheet

With a peer coach you will practice the skills of purposeful listening, managing the conversation and asking open-ended questions. First, meet with your partner and exchange one goal.

My partner’s goal is:

Now spend two or three minutes of I-time to write down a few questions that you might ask.

Have a coaching conversation. If necessary, jot a few notes so that you can capture your partner’s thoughts without bogging down.

Debrief. List two or three things that you did well (pluses) and two or three opportunities (deltas).

Pluses Deltas

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Adopting PracticesMOR Leaders

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prac·ticeto study, exercise one’s skill regularly or frequently so as to win greater command (e.g., to practice with a musical instrument before a performance or to practice one’s tennis serve)

a customary action or customary code of behavior

“it is their custom to dine early; it is their custom to defer to the authority figure, it is their custom to meet each morning as a team”

observable and actionable steps that can be repeated for the purpose of learning or acquiring proficiency

best prac·ticea deliberate pattern of activity that accomplishes its objective with outstanding efficiency and effectiveness, contributing to exceptional performance

If I miss one day’s practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.

Ignacy Paderewski, concert pianist

KEY IDEAS

Practices Facilitate Learning

If an individual has a commitment to devel-op a new competence, then practices can facilitate the learning needed to achieve the desired proficiency.

Coaches Need to be Competent At Designing Practices

Managers, who often fulfill the role of coach in team-based work systems, need to become competent in designing practices. It is also important that coaches make sure the practices are implemented. Dur-ing the early stages, teams may need some reinforcement for carrying through on the practices.


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Practices

If you look in the dictionary, you will find practices defined as:

Performing an act or exercising a skill repeatedly in order to achieve greater command

A customary act or code of behavior

A repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of learning or acquiring proficiency

All of these are accurate of course, but in the work envi-ronments that many of us find ourselves in today, how can practices actually be used to improve individual and team performance?

Anyone who has ever attempted to acquire or develop a particular skill knows that it is not what you intend to do but what you actually do that makes the differ-ence. Practices are the specific means that turn inten-tion into action. A person can intend to become a better listener, but unless he or she develops a practice, such as asking more questions, the old habit pattern will prevail. The person who dominates meetings needs to develop a practice regarding the frequency and duration of their participation. Developing prac-tices are critical to any improvement effort because, in most instances, people are trying to overcome long-term patterns of behavior that are difficult to change.

A recommended practice in the leadership program is to spend 30 minutes first thing Monday morning identifying your 3 to 5 priorities for the week. Review your calendar, schedule times for those priorities dur-ing the week. Look at the meetings coming up. Can someone else attend any? What prep do you need to do? How can you make the best use of your time this week? Review your development plan, what goals will youworkonthisweek?Get in thehabitofplanningyour week, as this is a keystone habit! This practice will enable a leader to focus more effort on the important

priorities rather than firefighting.

Step 1 - Awareness

The first step to change is awareness. People first need to be aware that change is needed or could be a benefit. This can happen either through self-reflection or more typically through feedback from others. At this point the person chooses to accept this feedback and the reason for change or to reject it, in which case nothing happens. If the person accepts the need or rationale for change and sees the benefits of making this change, then he or she can identify specific actions or results s/he intends to achieve. For these intended actions to become an actuality, practices need to be developed that will drive the intended changes.

Awareness of the need for change from firefighting can be raised by noting that specific goals set each week are not being achieved.

Step 2 - Acceptance

Acceptance of the need to change must happen next. While one might think this would be a foregone conclusion in this situation, this may not be the case. Many managers see problem solving and the crisis management associated with the firefighting role as having value. The recognition associated with solving problems and helping others deal with crisis situations is rewarding for many and in some organizations has led to promotional opportunities.


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Step 3 - Action To Change

At this point the leader identifies the actions s/he intends to take that will address and improve the situation, in this case, to focus more attention and time on the important issues and for staff to take more responsibility for resolving their own issues. But will this actually happen? Not unless practices are implemented that are designed to create more constructive habits.

Step 4 - Build Practices

Practices that would support the commitments identi-fied at Step 3 could include:

Block out time in the calendar dedicated to the most important priorities

Identify important tasks and goals for each week, set priorities and allocate 50% of time to these issues, and delegate tasks that can and should be performed by others

Monthly skills assessments of staff to ensure their ability to resolve issues

Create individual action plans to address gaps in abilities & review quarterly

Schedule “office hours” each day for staff issues

Use a coaching approach to help staff resolve issues, ask questions to encourage staff to develop solutions

Designing Practices

Be creative in looking at alternatives to customize your approach to a given situation. A practice needs to meet two criteria: first, it is a specific action one takes, and second, it is tangible. For example, it would not be a practice to “spend less time on firefighting” unless you specified a percentage of time and tracked this over weeks. It is not a practice to be “less argumentative with others,” but it is a practice to “acknowledge the benefits of another’s point of view by paraphrasing before raising any concerns.” In both examples, the first statement is not a specific action one would take that could be observed by someone else but rather it is more the intended result one hopes to achieve. The practice is what makes the intention come to fruition.


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Action Items Worksheet

Bring a copy of this worksheet to meetings. Make it a practice to capture key action items and agreements.

WHAT will be done?

WHO will do it?

WHEN will it be done?

Applied LearningMOR Leaders

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Applied Learning Opportunities 1

Applied Learning Opportunities

In this component of the leadership program you are encouraged to apply what you are learning back in your workplace. You may have a number of ideas about how you could ful�ll your role as a leader to a greater extent, or how you could sharpen your strategic lens, or focus more on the important items versus the immediate, or anyone of a number of ways you could enhance your effectiveness. Getting into action and trying out new behaviors is essential to this track. Once engaged in applying the new approaches, you may �nd it helpful to ask someone who can give you feedback on the new behaviors you are testing to coach you. Being outside your comfort zone is a necessity. Get used to it.

What will you do when you go back to your workplace?

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Applied Learning Opportunities

In this component of the leadership program you are encouraged to apply what you are learning back in your workplace. You may have a number of ideas about how you could ful�ll your role as a leader to a greater extent, or how you could sharpen your strategic lens, or focus more on the important items versus the immediate, or anyone of a number of ways you could enhance your effectiveness. Getting into action and trying out new behaviors is essential to this track. Once engaged in applying the new approaches, you may �nd it helpful to ask someone who can give you feedback on the new behaviors you are testing to coach you. Being outside your comfort zone is a necessity. Get used to it.

What will you do when you go back to your workplace?

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


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2 Applied Learning Opportunities

Menu of Practices You Could Adopt

Being Intentional in Your Presence

Fill out the “Being Intentional Worksheet” and elect two or three aspects of your presence or engage-ment style you want to work on and give yourself a grade each week on how you are doing.

Before entering a room make a decision on your “entry” and “energy” level, and after the interaction make a note what you did well and give yourself a rating on a 1-5 scale with 5 being a very positive pres-ence.

At least three times a week, �ll out the “Self Managing Your Presence” form in advance of meetings.

Go to meetings 5-10 minutes early and strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know well and/or walk out of the meeting with someone you don’t know and strike up a conversation.

Make a point of dressing at a level appropriate to various situations and make journal notes of your choices.

Get engaged and speak up earlier in meetings/exchanges. Say something in the �rst 15 minutes to get yourself in the conversation.

Work on your non-verbal as well as verbal communications. Watch Deborah Gruenfeld’s YouTube video Acting with Power. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mLFUtv0pCo

Ask someone to observe your interactions and give you feedback every two weeks.

Make a formal or informal presentation twice a week to work on your con�dence and delivery.

Improving Your Presentation Skills/Con�dence

Identify a few speci�c objectives you want to achieve. For example, what do you want to improve in your delivery? How could you create more engaging presentations? How could you use different mediums?

Consider joining Toastmasters as a practice �eld where you can safely experiment with public speaking and get feedback.

Create opportunities to make formal or informal presentations so you are up on your feet speaking twice a week.

Create a log and make two or more entries a week on how you are doing with presenting formally or informally.

View the Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk, Your body language shapes who you are. http://goo.gl/FzJCRH

Sign up someone in this program cohort to be your feedback partner.

Get a coach, someone who is good at presentations, to work with you.

View Matt Abrahams’ YouTube video, The importance of knowing your audience and speaking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ3wJ2A_4UI


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Shifting the Time Spent on Doing to Balance Leading or Managing

Every role provides an opportunity to spend time on leading, managing, and doing. What is the best distri-bution for you, given your role?

For the next 4-6 weeks do an experiment: code your calendar to record the percent of time you spend on leading, managing, and doing, then compare this to where you want to be.

Week 1 Percent of Time Predominant Tasks

Leading

Managing

Doing

Spend the �rst 30 minutes every Monday morning, or if Monday’s are too busy, spend the last 30 min-utes on Friday identifying the priorities for the next this coming week and next.

Put these priorities under the headings, L-M-D and assess whether you need to delegate some of the doing.

Put the leadership related action items on your calendar,

Identify two or three things you need to do to step into your role as a leader and begin incorporating these into your behavior.

You will enhance your evolution as a leader by writing down some of your thoughts and observations regarding leadership. Start a log so you can capture these �eeting perspectives. As the months progress you will be able to read over your re�ections and see the evolution of your thinking.

Volunteer for a role helping move an initiative outside your functional area.


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Menu of Practices You Could Adopt - continued

Balancing the Important with the Immediate

Get organized. Spend the �rst 30 minutes on Monday morning or whatever times works for you to get focused and organized.

Review the past week what did you get done? Identify your top four to six priorities for the next week or two.

List the speci�c actions steps needed to make progress on the priorities for the week.

Decide what can be delegated and hand off two or more tasks.

Pull up your calendar and block out time to focus on the important tasks.

Use defensive calendaring to hold time blocks for you to work on more strategic issues.

On Monday mornings, review your development goals, what actions do you want to take this week to advance your development? What will you do that takes you outside your comfort zone?

Go back to your calendar, what is coming up this week you need to prepare for? What meetings could you delegate or decline?

Assess the capacity within your work unit, explore ways to develop more capacity.

Calculate how much work in process you have.

Establish a process for determining when a request is made and what the level of effort needed is.

Are there ways to manage the commitments or expand the capacity available.

Practice Delegating Where Appropriate

1. List the things you need to do under three headings:

A. Things only you can do

B. Things you could teach others to do

C. Things you do because they are a habit, but there is no need for you to be doing them

2. Find a couple tasks you can hand off every week.

3. Assess person’s commitment and competency to do the tasks, then establish a feedback loop to ensure the task gets done.

4. Use delegation as a way to develop people. Identify two or three tasks a week or meetings where you can bring other people along and eventually hand these responsibilities off to them.


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Extend Your Network by Building Relationships

Identify two or three people a week you want to meet or connect with or simply engage in a purposeful way.

Who are the particular people in your work environment with whom you could bene�t from building a better relationship?

Have a cup of coffee with someone or go to lunch.

Make it a point, even in passing, to connect with people, including your staff. In your one-on-one meet-ings with staff, ask each person how s/he is doing.

When you ask people how they are doing, listen and ask a follow up question.

Take an informal walk through your work area or an adjoining one and talk with people informally.

Show up a few minutes early at meetings, walk out with someone different, engage with others more readily.

Take your employee to breakfast on his or her work anniversary.

Select two or three individuals within this program cohort with whom you would like to make more of a connection. Initiate, Inquire, Invest.

Are there individuals outside the work setting with whom you would like to catch up, reconnect, or develop more of a relationship?

How will you experiment in regard to relationship building? What actions will you take? How can you be deliberate in expanding your network?


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Being Intentional About Your Presence Worksheet

What presence would you like to have?

Would it be useful to consider how you dress?

Are you are looking so stressed and others aren’t sure you are approachable?

Do you want to speak up earlier or find your voice so you speak with more confidence?

What impression would you like to make? Be intentional.

What works to your advantage when it comes to establishing the presence you would like to achieve?

What are a couple of aspects of your presence that you would like to enhance? Will it be sufficient to be

more intentional or do you need to work on improving in specific areas?

Remember the 4 E’s: Entry, Energy, Engaging, Ethos

Are you bringing energy into the room?

Are you conveying the image you want people to perceive?

Are you interacting in ways that will create the impression you’d like?

Are you contributing?

Is your voice, projection, tone, and use of language all consistent with the impression you want to make?


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Self-Managing Your Presence (and your contribution) Worksheet

Purpose of the meeting:

Desired outcome:

Your role:

What contribution will you make?

What is important to draw out of others? What process tool will you use to engage others?

Post Meeting

How did you do regarding: listening, getting input, and managing your contribution?

Tended to Dominate Discussion

Noticed I Spoke Over Someone or

Interrupted

My Thoughts Tended to Race

Ahead

Asked Questions for

Understanding

Listened Attentively Throughout

1 2 3 4 5


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This program provides numerous opportunities.

It’s a place to take risks, to test out your ideas, to test out new behaviors, and to solicit

feedback.

Sustainable behavior changes take place when

individuals adopt new practices, and as a result,

develop new habits.

Dialogue and real-time feedback are great sources

of insight, though they require us to acclimate to

being vulnerable.

You haven’t learned anything unless you have demonstrated your ability

to do something at an increased capability.

Each workshop is a learning lab. This is

a practice field. Stepping up or stepping out of the

familiar requires us to operate outside our comfort zones.

Premises Underlying This Leadership Program


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Post-Session One Commitments and Next Steps

Key learnings from this session:

Submit Development Plan to Your Coach by ________________.

Adopt two practices to implement as an early experiment.

Confer with Peer Coach.

Confer with Executive Coach.

Send a reflection email.


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Insights from Session One

1. First impressions matter. Why not make the best one?

2. Presence can help or hinder your ability to influence.

3. If you look confident, you appear competent.

4. Leadership is a behavior, not a title or position.

5. You have many lessons from your life that inform your views on leadership.

6. Striking the right balance between leading, managing and doing requires discipline.

7. In order to learn, you need to experiment, to try new approaches. This requires you to leave your comfort zone.

8. Leaders focus on the strategic.

9. You can’t make up in tactics what you lack for in strategy.

10. Coaching involves listening and asking open-ended questions.

11. Taking a strength from good to great is a game changer.

12. Balancing the important and containing the immediate is the first order of business. Spend the first 30 minutes on Monday mornings prioritizing, delegating, and doing defensive calendaring.

NotesMOR Leaders

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Notes: KEEP A RUNNING LIST OF YOUR “AHA’S”

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peter drucker don shula and ken blanchard margaret j ...mor associates, inc. 462 main street,...

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