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Leadership Lessons from the Kitchen

I am a Kitchen Diva. I say that feeling a little sheepish and a little pride. I am passionate about food, and in my kitchen, Kitchen Diva = Control Freak. So I laughed when it was pointed out to me that my kitchen is a participative process in action. After the laughter subsided and I thought about it more deeply, I realized that it is. And, while it is fulfilling, it’s also challenging. Every day. Kitchen Diva = Control Freak. 

Five Good Books On Leadership & More

I just wrapped up teaching an 8-week course on leadership in the nonprofit management graduate program at Spertus College, located here in Chicago's south loop neighborhood. Many of my students are in management positions, already, in social service and nonprofit agencies across Chicagoland; others hope to be. On our last night together I asked them how their understanding of "leadership" has changed as a result of the work we've done together. Here are the top five things I heard them say. Also, just in case you're looking for a good read and/or movie this summer, I'm including both the "reading list" and the "movie list" for the course:

Leadership That Sucks The Life Out Of People

It's still pretty common across industries for leaders to think of themselves as being "in charge." The last US president, for example, described himself as "The Decider." 

No where is this view of leadership more common than in church circles. In fact, if you Google church leadership you get bombarded by site after site like this one from a church consulting group called church leadership.org that describes leadership as "the duty and call of the person who is in charge to take charge with courage and character, and to risk leading his/her people where they need to go and how they need to be led."

Does anybody else out there feel like throwing up just a little? 

Lessons For Life & Work From The Dinner Table

We are not sure when it happened, but children’s menus have taken over the restaurant landscape and our psyche as well. The messages they send have invaded every aspect of our lives:

• Don’t try anything new. 
• Don't try anything that looks weird or scary. 
• Take the path of least resistance (i.e., don't try to get other people to try anything new or scary, either!); you don't want trouble.
• Keep it painfully simple (even if it's boring and bland). 

An article in the New York Times this week got us thinking about the way children's menus are sucking the creativity and courage out of people. There's a reason our moms told us to “Try it. You’ll like it.” Their approach to the dinner table has shaped the way we do life and work. 

Here are four more helpful things we've learned from the dinner table:

4 Ways To Get People Talking About What Matters

How long has it been since you asked the people you work with and serve beside what they think – and really listened to what they had to say? There is a lot of evidence that leaders in this emerging future will increasingly need to make a shift to a more participatory way of getting things done. In your own work as a leader, make a habit of incorporating participative processes into everything you do. And, every once in awhile (at least once a year), take time out to engage people in a more intentional and focused way. 

Here are four ways to get people talking about what matters:

Why Every Leader Should Have The Jitters Today

There are jitters in Washington, DC today as political leaders woke up to the news that incumbency has become a liability. In other words, if you've had the reigns of power for longer than a season, you're potentially in a whole lot of hot water. 

If you're a leader in any kind of organization, this probably ought to be causing jitters for you, too.

Meetings That Matter

Does your organization suffer from meeting-itis? Most organizations do. That's how Gina Trapani got a guest appearance in one of our favorite business/leadership magazines. Everybody wants to know how to cure this dreaded disease and she claims to have the solution.

Trapani, author of The Complete Guide to Google Wave, defines meeting-itis as "poorly-run and inefficient meetings that go on too long, happen too often and include more attendees than need to be there." Unfortunately, the "unconventional" advice she gives about how to cure meeting-itis is both conventional (in that it lacks originality or creativity) and dead wrong.

Do You Help Others Play Well Together?

Do you play well with others? There are a lot of voices today encouraging you to ask yourself this question. HR expert, Susan M., says "accomplishing work is largely about the relationships you develop." Citing Toyota as a current example, the folks at Working With Others warn that not playing well with others can kill your brand. And Steve R. at All Things Workplace argues pretty convincingly that in terms of professional success, it's more important than anything else, including intelligence, abilities or performance. We wouldn't disagree.

When it comes to leadership in an organization, however, we think there's an even more important question:

 Do you help others play well together?

Are you ticking off your team?

Great blog post from Bob Sutton last week about his visit to the headquarters of the internationally respected design firm IDEO. Bob was a little startled to discover that the CEO and author of Change by Design, Tim Brown, moved out of his corner office on the management floor and put his desk where you'd usually find the receptionist. Tim was "vaguely embarrassed and frustrated" to be in that big beautiful office all by himself. His move out onto the floor has done a lot to strengthen the collaborative culture they've created at IDEO. But, more importantly, now Tim can really see and hear what's going on. People can just walk up and talk to him. He can find out what they're thinking. He learns more. 

Which brings us to one of our pet peeves: Leaders who pretend to want your opinion but do whatever they want, anyway, without really listening to what you have to say.

In fact, it's hard to imagine anything more annoying. 

Now You Can

What if you could explore new ideas, engage in conversation with colleagues from across the continent, learn from and with a couple of well-known authors/teachers, and get equipped to share what you've learned with the people in your organization --- all without leaving your office? 

Now you can.