Election Time Yet Again

I wonder if we set a record...3 elections in 4 years. That's not to mention the expense, and the "here we go again" attitude of Canadians that might translate to many not voting this time. I wonder if the stats are tracked on that when there are so many elections back to back.

Some have a better idea of who they want to vote for and some still don't have a clue. I wonder why?

It's not that they don't know what they want and what issues are important to them . Many Canadians don't know how the system of government works and so they want things from the federal government that isn't in their power to give....because it's in the realm of the Provincial Government to implement. Their voting reflects that.

Still, I love watching the 'players' behaviour during an election and this year I'm blessed with watching 2... The US and Canadian elections.

For the moment I'm going to focus on my own country. I have to be a-politcal in my work as my role is to get my clients where they dream of being because of who they are, not who I am. So to look at the opposition party, I wonder if a poll went out to Canadian citizens with regards to its leader, would they would vote Liberal if the party had a different leader at the helm?

I wonder if the Liberal party is thinking similar thoughts right now? The question is, how likely are they to ever win an election with its present leadership? Just wondering out loud...

To look at the party in power, I wonder if Mr. Harper had a different opponent across the table, if he would have called this election? And if he doesn't get his majority, how many more elections would he call if he feels his hands are tied?

Still wondering out loud...
Donna Karlin

Diving Back In

Labour Day has passed, for those of you who celebrate that extra day off of summer and now people are diving back into work with both feet. For some of us, the down time was a great time to catch up on research and writing, while of course making sure we didn't miss a second of sunshine. I made a deal with myself. On rainy days I wrote for hours and when the sun came up I'd be out and absorbing it so it would last through the cold days of winter.

Fall also brings a great deal of travel, symposia, speaking engagements and back to teaching. In the middle of all this, the interviews for my book have begun, each one taking my breath away as it couldn't be more perfect and in alignment with what I want to shine a light on: Human Based Leadership.

As people are coming back from holidays, this is the perfect time to sit back and listen to their stories. You can learn a great deal about a person by listening to how they spent their holidays, what lights up their whole being while the stories are being told. We spend so little time getting to know the people we work with and yet demand the most and best from them. However these people, these colleagues, staff, managers and leaders are people first and people in roles second.

We only seem to be paying attention to one side of the coin. However that's a very one dimensional existence, isn't it?

Emotional Intelligence is a term we're hearing more and more about. It's not just a term, it's a way of being. When you lead through your authetic self, including your emotions, while, at the same time not getting bogged down by those emotions, you will connect with people in the most fundamental way...through their humanity.

A colleague of mine, Lee Salmon, was a guest writer for the new book "A Coach's Guide to Emotional Intelligence: Strategies for Developing Successful Leaders". We've had many a discussion on this topic, one that continues over time as we use EI more and more in our work. "A Coach’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence is a groundbreaking book that combines the topics of coaching and emotional intelligence in a down-to-earth resource for coaches, facilitators, and consultants."

I would say it's a book for anyone who wants to grow people, either for a living or a passion. Emotional Intelligence is not a passing fad. It's how humanity will evolve.

"Companies can continue to give top priority to financial performance -- but many now also realize that technical and intellectual skills are only part of the equation for success. A growing number of organizations are now convinced that people's ability to understand and to manage their emotions improves their performance, their collaboration with colleagues, and their interaction with customers. After decades of businesses seeing "hard stuff" and "soft stuff" as separate domains, emotional competence may now be a way to close that breach and to produce a unified view of workplace performance." -- FastCompany

Think about it, but don't think too long. You'd be much better off if you started paying attention to it.

Best..

Donna Karlin

A Leadership Project for Leaders by Leaders

It’s time to have that conversation. As an Executive and Political Leadership Coach and a writer on Leadership, I cannot do my job in the best possible way unless I know where leaders ‘come from’, as in their stories, and what their view of succession is to grow future leaders into their levels of excellence.

So I invite you to ‘play’…to take part in this project and suggest leaders to be interviewed. I am asking leaders to spend a bit of time with me to share their stories, perspectives, and ideas in their words so they may be shared with those who will follow in their respective fields of expertise and areas of passion.

If you know a leader, a human based leader, who you think would be perfect for this, please forward this letter to them and copy me with ‘Leadership Project’ in the subject line so I can follow-up. It’s time leaders share their stories with the world and, as a Coach, through their stories I will ‘get it’ as will my students, colleagues and those who follow me in the coaching profession. In turn coaches will be able to coach people like them from a perspective of insight and understanding. A coaching ideal: ‘Win-Win’ for us all.

This is not a project for Coaches. This is a project to give insight to coaches or those who grow people for a living and a passion.

So will you help me in this?

With appreciation…
Donna Karlin

The Opposite of Success

In Marcus Buckingham's book "Go Put Your Strengths to Work: Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance" he poses and answers the question "What's the opposite of success? The obvious answer is failure, but in fact failure and success aren't opposites. They're merely different." Brilliant distinction.

Many need to look at things as black and white, good and bad, up or down but don't look at the nuances and intricacies that make up each. Just like success and failure aren't opposites, a leader might be brilliant in one organization, but fail in the next. It’s more than learning leadership proficiencies; it’s learning how to work with the personalities around the table, monopolizing on them and respecting the differences. Successful leaders speak to strengths while accepting the entire individual. Successful leaders know how to dance to the music that's played and know how to change on a dime while keeping focus on the bigger picture.

Lots to think about!

Donna Karlin

*Note: 2 new additions to the Perspectives world from Benin and Madagascar. Make yourselves welcome!

Looking In All the 'Right' Places

At a recent conference presentation, one of the other presenters was a person I’ve worked with on a few occasions. She is a dynamic fireball of energy, a leader in every sense of the word, ‘lives’ professionally and is a key player in the middle of where things happen in government, from policy to how the workings of the government are decided and implemented. Her presentation was dynamic, energetic and very, very powerful. At the end of her talk she took questions from the hundreds of people in the room.

I sat at a side table watching this unfold. She’s a what you see is what you get person with a fabulous sense of humor, and as I’ve worked with her and knew her style, I was eager to hear how she would answer the questions put on the table. I figured some of the questions would be the kind many people ask country leaders, i.e. those aiming for the magic wand kind of answers. They were asked and answered in as honest a way possible.

What really delighted me was when she answered one of the questions which was “What do you read to strengthen your leadership? What books would you recommend for us to read to grow as leaders?” She gave them a list of what came to mind, not only books but articles and speeches but then threw in the unexpected: “John Cleese’s videos on Leadership.”

For a moment the room went silent and then everyone started talking at once. Earlier she had mentioned loving Monty Python so everyone in the room thought she was pulling their leg. My table mates had seen me deep in conversation with her recognizing I knew her, so looked at me as if I would confirm that she was in fact pulling their leg. My answer was “She’s right! It’s an amazing series. You should watch it as it’s unlike any other training video you’ll ever see”. They thought I was kidding. I sat there with a grin on my face and then added “It really is a great series. Are you only looking in what you think are the ‘right’ places, reading the ‘right’ things and speaking to the ‘right’ people? What makes them all ‘right’?

I am constantly asked what books l read to hone my professional skills and my answer is “Everything I can get hold of”. If I stuck to books only on coaching I’d miss out on the rest of life and coaching isn’t only about coaching. It’s about working within the context of life. One can’t be separated from the other. Just as leadership can’t be found in a canned course or book it’s snippets of everything we live, experience, read about and learn, all mixed up and filtered through our unique personalities to come out when we need it and how we need it to lead, direct and question.

Are you looking in only the ‘right’ places and feeling as if you’re coming up short? Many look for the perfect book, course or direction. Life isn’t like that. True leaders glean information from everywhere. They soak it up like a sponge, are constantly growing, rethinking and reinventing.

What are you reading? What are you not paying attention to that you should be paying attention to?

Best!
Donna Karlin

*Note: Welcome new subscriber from Namibia. 133 countries and counting!

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Hearing or Truly Listening?

Most leaders ask for information but not necessarily for advice. Many will listen to advice and then end up tossing it and doing their own thing. Is it a pride issue do you think? Or in some cases, do you think leaders hesitate to ask for and implement advice because they think in some people’s eyes it shows a sign of weakness?

I often work with leaders who listen intently to what’s unfolding before them and even though some of the issues are critical, respond by saying “I would have done it this way” or “Yes, I see what you mean but you should do this instead”, totally discounting all advice. They are downloading information, perhaps using bits and pieces of it to validate what they already know or feel, but they’re not doing anything with the advice they were given. Most of the time it’s unsolicited and they let you know they didn’t ask for it either, making that one of the main reasons for not taking it into account.

People will stop suggesting or giving well based advice because they know it’s falling on deaf ears. Is that leadership or dictatorship? And we all know what that kind of dynamic does to self-worth.

Is it power, politics and self-preservation?

It doesn’t matter how secure we are, don’t we all want to be on top, the kingpins, to dominate those who we feel might just know more than we do?

Ego at play; no matter how much we want the best for the organization and its people, we all need to have our egos stroked now and then, don’t you think?

Even if we think we know all there is to know, mastery comes from practicing from a position of what I call grad basic or going back to the basics from a position of having been there, done that. There is always something more to learn. You might be starting from a higher plane but just think of how much you’re going to pick up that you missed the first time ‘round.

Whose responsibility is it to encourage advisors to speak up, to bring ideas, thoughts and concepts to the table by actively engaging others with the intention of listening and learning? The leader’s or the staff, or both?

Best..
Donna Karlin

*Note: Welcome new subscriber from Cambodia. 132 countries and territories and counting!

Work Life Balance

You might be wondering why I haven’t been posting for a while. I, as many other do, blog to reach out and have a conversation with people from all parts of the globe and do so to learn, to hone my writing skills and to share a perspective or message. I am honoured when others think my post is important enough to quote it in their blog or publication with a link back to the original. What I have a fundamental problem with is when others take my posts in their entirety and publish them as their own. This has been happening way too frequently so I paused in publishing until I could deal with this in a systematic and legal manner. I must thank Google and Wordpress for acting so quickly on this. They don’t like copyright violation any more than I do! Now that it seems there’s a handle on this, I’m back and raring to write! Time to tackle the subject of “Work Life Balance”…

Recently I was at a Coaching Best Practices Conference at INSEAD Global Leadership Centre in Fontainebleau. To say the conference itself blew me away is an understatement.

For now however, I’d love to delve into the world of “Work / Life Balance” which seems to be on the minds of people in the private and public sectors alike. I’ve had many a conversation about this with clients over the years. Most of the time it was them turning the tables on me asking if I had a private life, if I ever slept and “Where’s YOUR work / life balance?” I always answered in the same way: “It’s personal. It’s up to an individual to determine what that balance looks like and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another”

One of the amazing people I met at the conference was Kavitha Iyer from Singapore; Director, Human Resources, JAPA at American Express International and Adjunct Faculty Coach at INSEAD. She had a very unique way of looking at work / life balance that immediately resonated with me. With her permission I would like to share it with you. She talks about ‘Work / Life Values’, or a psychological balance. To me that made a great deal of sense. If I am living within my personal values, then the balance happens. For some with young children, they might come home from work early to spend time and have dinner with their families, but once their young children go to sleep, they put in another couple of hours work to stay on track. No one said we have to work consecutive hours. This way we work within our family or personal dynamics.

Last year when I took a few days off (and yes, I do that once in a while) my friend challenged me to disconnect from my BlackBerry and was adamant that I not check my emails. I disconnected the email feature of my BlackBerry and only left the phone on as that was my connection with my family. I was able to mentally disconnect from the 'CrackBerry' however when I got home I had over 2000 emails waiting for me. I had to take time off to process them all, figure out how to jump back into the intensity of my work and all in all, just being faced with that volume of correspondence was overwhelming enough to negate most of the benefits of taking the time off.

For me in future, I plan to log on twice a day for a short while to process what I need to so I never come back to that level of overwhelm again. That for me is a balance. Over time and as life’s circumstances and dynamics change I will continue to redefine and design just what ‘balance’ means, but as long as it’s within my personal values, I know I’ll stay on an even keel.

Kavitha, thank you for illuminating this very important distinction for me and our readers.

Best!
Donna Karlin

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