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Why Leaders Should Talk Less & Listen More

Malcolm Gladwell, author of a couple great (and best-selling) books including The Tipping Point, recently shared his greatest triumph. Maybe it's because I'm a little older than he is (by about 18 months, best as I can tell), but as I look back on my 20+ years in leadership, what jumps out at me is the stuff I'd do differently. For starters, I wouldn't talk so much. 

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:

Purpose Is A Powerful Motivator

This is a tale of two restaurants and the power of purpose as a motivator.

Don't Bow To Tradition

There's an urban (like) legend about a little, centuries old, country parish somewhere in the UK where the worship leaders had a tradition of getting half way up the center aisle, stopping, and bowing before proceeding up to the altar. When asked why the worship leaders were bowing in what appeared to be such a random place, no one could give an answer. It's just the way they'd "always done things." 

One parishioner, determined to sleuth out the origin of this odd tradition, discovered that before the most recent renovations (several generations ago) took place, a very low arch stood over the center aisle. The procession of worship leaders had to bow at that spot in order to get up to the altar. Now, the arch was gone. But the tradition remained.

Apparently, no one had ever bothered to ask "why?"

Four Ways To Get Going When The Going Is Tough

It's a hard time to be in business, whatever your business is. A lot of nonprofit organizations and churches, for example, are experiencing shrinkage in both financial resources and membership. Unfortunately, when the going gets tough, a lot of these organizations don't "get going." Instead, they become:

• more and more inwardly focused;
• less willing to take the kinds of risks that innovation demands;
• more likely to be torn apart by internal conflicts over who gets the share of scare resources;
• more suspicious of outsiders and perceived "competitors";
• less open to new ideas and new people;
• more protective of their customs, traditions, and "the way we've always done it";
• more centralized and top-down in their decision-making;
• a lot less interesting or fun to be a part of.

Sound anything like the organization you're a part of? Here are four things you can do to get yourself (and others) going when things get tough:

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? 

What NOT To Do When Things Go Wrong

The finger-pointing (i.e., blaming somebody else instead of taking responsibility for your own actions) culture we live in reached the point of absurdity long ago. (Remember the 1994 "McDonald's coffee case"?) And it shows no sign of abating. 

How do you respond when things go wrong?

Five Mistakes Leaders Make After A Crisis

Let's say the organization you care about has just been down a particularly dark road. Money has been tight. You've had to let some people go and those who remain are demoralized and overwhelmed. Your base of support - members, clients, customers - has dwindled. They all have problems of their own. And the PR you've been getting hasn't been all that great. Maybe there's even been some infighting. People within your organization disagree about the direction you should go. Those disagreements have been ugly. That conflict has made a bad situation worse. But now you're starting to come out on the other side. You're not out of the woods yet but you think you can see a glimmer of light. You're starting to breathe a little easier. What are you going to do now?

Here are the five biggest mistakes leaders can make on the other side of a crisis:

Real Leaders Sometimes Look Arrogant

Are you afraid to admit that you are longing, hoping, planning, even committed to doing what matters? That's what Seth Godin, blogger and author of several books including Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us, thinks. We think he might be right. 

Advice For Leaders In The Line Of Fire

Whatever your political persuasion happens to be, if you're a leader, you can probably empathize with Elena Kagan. On the one hand, she is likely to become the next member of the United States Supreme Court - one of only four women in history to hold this position. On the other hand, it looks like somebody painted a big ole' bulls-eye on her back. Unfortunately, personal attacks come with the territory for those who answer the call to lead. That goes for leaders who have committed to helping people make the shift to a new way of living and working together, too.

How should a leader respond in the face of personal attacks and cheap shots?