In the forthcoming, March 2008 issue of Integral Leadership Review, the “Leadership Quote” notes that in his recent book, Timothy R. Clark (Epic Change: How to Lead Change in the Global Age) writes,

“In the field of change we have something of a crisis of leadership today, in part, because the strength of our theory has not kept pace with the magnitude of our challenge…Unless there is solid, empirically-based theory and a set of practical tools to help a leader respond to a change imperative, we haven’t helped anybody. At the end of the day, leadership will always be an applied discipline.”

This raises numerous flags for those of us, like me, who are engaged in exploring the application of more holistic, meta theories to the field of leadership.

On the one hand, the crisis of leadership today is very much a motivator in searching for more valuable ways to practice, develop and think about leadership. On the other hand, I am convinced that in the face of the kinds of challenges Clark addresses, our continued exclusive focus on the individual as leader, the romanticized heroic archetype that so often seduces us, we shall continue to generate more and more empirical evidence that is crippled by its narrow focus. The individual is important as both leader and follower. Note Barbara Kellerman’s discussion of Followership: How Followers Are Creating Change and Changing Leaders in her soon to be released book. This work shows how various types of follower behaviors shape and constrain leader behaviors. And still this is only part of the story.

I am also convinced that some very valuable models and methods are being generated by those interested in integral theory and developmental psychology. Integral theory recognizes a relationship between individual and collective, agentic and communal, interiority and exteriority. It suggests that to build the kind of theory Clark is seeking that factors such as these and relationships among them need to be more clearly understood. In addition, recognition of worldview and developmental variations among individuals and collectives is a beginning with rich promise for both individual leader development and the integration of collectives in showing the way to address the crisis of leadership.

We have evidence, albeit anecdotal, of the significant impact that integral and developmental approaches to leader and leadership (in the collective) development can make. We see these being explored in places like the Center for Creative Leadership and implemented by firms such as the Stagen Leadership Institute. But this is not enough. The challenge is to all of us who are addressing the challenges of leader practice and development to generate the research and assessment data that will assist us in making theoretical approaches more relevant to the applied discipline of leadership. We need to find ways of augmenting our empiricism with persuasive, if less obvious, data. My expectation is, and my hope is, that we are at the beginning of a growing number of studies that will help us along our way. But we need a lot more. We need to build the evidence that Clark asks for that helps us see how we need to go beyond heroic images of leadership and begin to build the collective systems that bring not only agile leaders, but agile institutions as well. – Russ

So, I’m sure that many of you heard by now the news that Starbucks will be closing all of its approximately 7100 U.S. locations today from 5:30–8:30pm to educate its employees. Click here to read an article about it.

Now, after hearing this several thoughts ran through my head–other than the fact that caffeine addicts across the country will be slightly agitated this evening.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, took over 6 weeks ago. This is his first “big move” as the new leader of the company. Click here to read his “Communication #7″. He regularly posts communication on the Starbucks corporate website. Howard discusses organizational restructuring, layoffs, and a host of other large scale changes.

I have lots of questions…

The Leadership Development side of my brain is fascinated by the decision. How is this perceived by other top tier leaders in the organization? Was Howard brought in, six weeks ago, with the intent that he would enact all of this change? Does this type of radical change suit Howard’s preferred leadership style, or is this something he really had to prepare himself for?

The Organizational Development side of my brain (closely linked to the Leadership Development side) processes this differently. Regarding the “education” sessions happening this evening, how did they train staff accordingly to provide the education sessions? Was there some kind of a baseline done to assess the level of competency of staff members before providing the training? How will the Starbucks know if it was effective?

Check it out… If you find more information about the changes, let’s continue the conversation.

-Casey

Currently spending the semester abroad in Ireland, one of the most valuable lessons in culture I have learned is how easily we develop “tunnel-vision” within our own cultures. In other words, because we are so immersed in the one culture under which our lives operate, we tend to lose sight of the fact that there are other people in the world with different cultural visions. This is an important concept to keep in mind as we post our research, thoughts, or perspectives about leadership on the Internet, which is not called the World Wide Web for nothing. It may add a new and useful dimension if we keep in mind that our work may not only apply to one nation but to many nations. I do not mean to insist that we should cater every study or post to every other country in the world. Nonetheless, a little universalism could go a long way.

As this book on sharing scholastic ideas from a global perspective demonstrates, understanding the cultural context under which an idea is proposed often determines the success or productivity of the plan. If two heads are better than one, who knows the potential of several heads, each with different cultural understandings? – Jim Meehan

Leadership: Equine Assisted Development is a development tool that utilizes horses in their development interventions. According to Sue Thomas, founder of L-E-A-D, horses possess many of the qualities described in Daniel Goleman’s emotional intelligence theory: “their awareness is so acute that they tune into all the non-verbal communications, including the emotions of the humans they interact with…When we mask our emotions we hold tension in our bodies, and our horse partners recognize these disconnections and mirror them back through their actions. Emotions and tensions that lay under the surface and out of our human awareness are very visible to the horse. They notice the inconsistencies in our actions and non-verbal messages” (www.l-e-a-d.com). As a result, horses can be a great medium to help participants adapt their behaviors so that we can be “conscious synchronistic leaders.”

L-E-A-D’s workshops utilize an OB/OD specialist, an equine professional and horses. In their introductory course, “Unharness Your Leader-Self” the primary focus is the individual and self awareness through the lens of emotional intelligence theory. Prior to the workshop, individuals take a “thinking style” inventory and over the two day experience have an opportunity to interact with session participants, the herd as well as session leaders. In addition, Thomas suggests, “You will become aware of your leadership style, see your style through the interaction with the horses, become aware of how you communicate, collaborate with others to accomplish goals, and develop new approaches to building trust and respect….During the workshop, participants will identify an area of personal development and several action steps toward improvement. Each participant will receive an individualized follow-up phone call and e-mail to monitor and discuss their progress” (www.L-E-A-D.com). Additional courses offered by Thomas and L-E-A-D, include:

• Taking the Leader-Self Reins – Continued developed for those who have graduated from Unharness Your Leader-Self
• An Eye on Communication
• Lassoing Team Energy
• Breaking Out of the Corral

Potential Benefits and Drawbacks of Leadership

For those who are tired of the “same old” development tools, Equine Leadership Development will offer a new and unique experience. An additional benefit of this approach is that research based in equine therapy will easily transfer to leadership development. A potential drawback is simply whether or not learning will transfer back to work – some participants may not make connections between the horses and their job back at the office unless the experience is linked to other development tools and a supportive organizational culture. – Scott J. Allen

Like many other government agencies, the US Department of Homeland Security maintains a blog which is called Leadership Journal. The contributors include Secretary Michael Chertoff and all of the department leaders. About the Department Journal:

This journal is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide a forum to talk about our work protecting the American people, building an effective emergency preparedness and response capability, enforcing immigration laws, and promoting economic prosperity.

On February 22, 2008, Michael Chertoff wrote a post entitled A Fresh Look at Port Security. Nothing really new here; but what I did find interesting was the tone set by Secretary Chertoff. He opens:

It often amazes me how certain myths about our Department’s efforts continue to endure despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Take port security, for example. I regularly see stories in the media asserting that our nation’s seaports are insecure as if we’ve done nothing since 9/11 to protect them. Just yesterday, a columnist for the New York Times casually repeated that claim.

I suspect a lot of this venting is simply intellectual laziness by those who prefer to recycle old sound bites rather than do their homework. In some cases, a deeper misunderstanding is taking place about how ports function in the real world. I’m referring to those who contend that because we don’t physically inspect every one of the 11 million shipping containers arriving at our ports each year, our entire system of security is compromised. Incidentally, those same individuals never explain that if we did open every box, there’d be a line of ships stretching across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans waiting to enter our country.

OK, Homeland Security has a very challenging mission and will always be an easy target for critics; but that’s precisely why the Leader’s Voice is so important. It presents the vision, mission and values to the world and sets the tone for the entire organization.  

Secretary Chertoff should be commended for participating in the DHS’ social media initiative. However, his post is alternatively and unnecessarily defensive and aggressive in tone. While presenting “A Fresh Look at Port Security” is valuable, framing it around “myths about our Department’s efforts” diverts and diffuses the readers attention. Using language like “as if we’ve done nothing” is defensive in nature. Read the editorial that he linked to and see if it is really worthy of this attention or again just distracts the reader. 

In the second paragraph Secretary Chertoff’s writing takes an aggressive turn. Accusing unnamed critics of “intellectual laziness by those who prefer to recycle old sound bites rather than do their homework” appears to be taking the bait of DHS critics; something that the leader of this type of organization should really avoid. The final sentence of this paragraph presents an arrogant “know it all” attitude.

In the next four paragraphs, Secretary Chertoff lays out many of the programs and initiatives undertaken by the DHS to bolster our nation’s maritime security.  While informative and full of links, the passionate voice displayed in the first two paragraphs entirely disappears in the body of the post. Granted presenting this material in an exciting way is pretty difficult and has been made even more so by how he framed the post in the preceding paragraphs.

Secretary Chertoff closes the post by writing:

Those who don’t put in the effort to get their facts straight, or who use misinformation to suggest we are ignoring our maritime sector, are not serving their readers or the American people. They also do a disservice to the men and women who stand watch over our ports and our frontlines every day.

Readers remember the last thing they read and Secretary Chertoff misses the opportunity to make a strong close. By returning attention to DHS critics the reader’s attention is diverted away from the good work done by department employees and it makes the entire post read like a defensive Quixotic argument.

Finally, social media like this blog is designed to be conversational. It is the most democratic form of engaging communication short of actually hosting a town hall meeting. In fact many would argue that this is a form of digital age town hall meeting. Unfortunately, Secretary Chertoff’s post doesn’t really engender conversation and as of this posting, no comments appear. In fact, the entire blog is remarkably void of comments considering the subject matter and authorship.

The Leader’s Voice is so important in every type organization and more so in a constantly closely scrutinized government agency like the Department of Homeland Security. Properly framing the message (vision, mission and values) is absolutely essential in order lead stakeholders and interested parties toward desired outcomes. While Homeland Security should be commended for launching a social media program, they need to find a more engaging voice if they truly want the Leadership Journal to be an authentic and effective communication medium.

Cross posted: Sea-Fever blog and Center for Leader Development