Category: Inspiration

What inspires leaders to lead with spirit?

Post author By Heather
Post date June 3, 2019

Portrait of happy mature man wearing spectacles and looking at camera outdoor. Man with beard and glasses feeling confident. Close up face of hispanic business man smiling.

In my last post, I asked for ideas and suggestions about what inspires you as a leader. I was touched and enlightened by the generous response.

Of the many resources offered, I want to share some that inspire leaders to lead with spirit. I’ve learned this takes clarity of values, commitment, and courage.

How spirit becomes a foundation for leadership.

I grew up attending an Episcopal school where in morning prayers we were reminded of daily service to others. I later came to the United States to attend the Yale School of Management whose mission is to educate leaders for business and society. For me, this mission included the ethos of service. And it took me a while to appreciate what it really was to lead with spirit because, for a long time, I confused spirit with religion.

My clients have been my teachers in giving me an appreciation of the important, pragmatic role that spirit can play. I have witnessed them grapple with conflict, hard decisions, and opposition to their vision for the future while finding a way forward by connecting to their core values and principles. Equity, inclusion, transparency, learning, integrity, generosity—whatever they uniquely stand for—becomes a grounding for their leadership.

What they have taught me is that to lead with spirit means to know what you stand for, in a very human way. It’s standing for serving a common good rather than, and sometimes in spite of, your own self-interest. I have been most inspired by seeing clients filled with anger in the face of injustice, or fear in anticipating the backlash to their position and move forward courageously for that common good.

To lead with spirit, leaders turn here.

I believe we are hungry for this reconnection to the spirit and to having a true foundation of meaning. The inspirational people below share what they have found helpful.

Method | Commitment Practice

Ruth Levine has just completed her term as Director of the Global Development and Population Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and will soon be a Fellow with The Advanced Study in Behavior Sciences associated with Stanford. At the Hewlett Foundation, she led a team that was responsible for grantmaking to improve living conditions in low and middle-income countries, and to advance reproductive health and rights in developing countries and in the United States.

Ruth has a powerful combination of IQ and EQ. But there’s something more that you feel when you’re with her. Everything Ruth does is grounded in her values of true respect and care for others: including those who the Hewlett Foundation serves and those who she led.

One of the ways that she expressed her values was in a simple annual ritual with her team where she shared the lessons she has learned from them, her commitments to them, and her expectations of how they work with her and each other. Several of her commitments clearly manifest her value of respect, but one really stands out to me: “I will not compete with you.” It’s a simple but profound act that Ruth lives by and her team trusted. Take a look at a few of the slides that she presented every year that reflect this spirit.

Poem | For a Leader, Bless the Space Between Us | John O’Donohue

Murchison is an organizational development consultant to private, philanthropic, and non-profit organizations. His work is an expression of two of his core values: creativity and inclusion.

Chris introduced me to John O’Donohue’s work. His blessings invite us to pause and appreciate the beauty in everyday moments. We don’t create enough moments like this at work. Art like O’Donohue’s offers the opportunity to bring organizations and leadership to life in a way that most business books just don’t.

Read: For a Leader

May you have the grace and wisdom
To act kindly, learning
To distinguish between what is
Personal and what is not.
May you be hospitable to criticism.

May you never put yourself at the center of things.

May you act not from arrogance but out of service.

May you work on yourself,
Building up and refining the ways of your mind.

May those who work for you know
You see and respect them.

May you learn to cultivate the art of presence
In order to engage with those who meet you.

When someone fails or disappoints you,
May the graciousness with which you engage
Be their stairway to renewal and refinement.

May you treasure the gifts of the mind
Through reading and creative thinking
So that you continue as a servant of the frontier
Where the new will draw its enrichment from the
old,
And may you never become a functionary.

May you know the wisdom of deep listening,
The healing of wholesome words,
The encouragement of the appreciative gaze,
The decorum of held dignity,
The springtime edge of the bleak question.

May you have a mind that loves frontiers
So that you can evoke the bright fields
That lie beyond the view of the regular eye.

May you have good friends
To mirror your blind spots.

May leadership be for you
A true adventure of growth.

Book | Soul Without Shame Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within | Byron Brown

Diane Gabinelli is the President and CFO of Parallel Advisors, a private wealth management firm headquartered in San Francisco. Authenticity is a core value that Diane stands for. One of the things that gets in the way of authenticity is the internal critic or judge that we all carry within.

Diane says about Soul Without Shame: “This book has been my catalyst for venturing into the world of mindfulness and how big of an impact it can have both personally and professionally. Becoming more present, reframing inner and outer judgment, turning worry into action, taking ego out of the equation has given me more courageous authenticity, an ability to make better, clearer decisions, and to more actively move my company forward.”

TED Talk | The Disarming Case to Act Right Now on Climate Change | Greta Thunberg

In this passionate call to action, the 16-year-old nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Greta Thunberg, explains why, in August 2018, she walked out of school and organized a strike to raise awareness of global warming. She protested outside the Swedish parliament and the result grabbed the world’s attention.

“What we do or don’t do right now, me and my generation can’t undo in the future,” Thunberg says. “So when school started in August of this year, I decided that this was enough. I set myself down on the ground outside the Swedish parliament. I walked out of school for the climate.”

Dylan, my 14-year-old son, says about Greta “While many people care about climate change, Greta took a stand. She wasn’t afraid of what other people thought.”

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Inspiration Leadership

On Creativity, Joy and Inspiration for Leaders

Post author By Heather
Post date February 17, 2019

Woman making a hand shaped heart at sunset.

One of the things that I love is learning about new resources that will inspire and support leaders. Sometimes these resources are books, increasingly they are podcast episodes and music, and often they are practices that help leaders create an environment for themselves and their teams that support whatever their goals are.

Lately, I’ve been asking my clients and friends for the resources that are giving them the most inspiration and support right now. Their ideas inspired me to create this blog post and to share them with you.

Insights on an Environment That Inspires Creativity

Sam Gutsch, CMO of California Closets and a dear friend, was inspired by “The Daily Show’s Secret to Creativity,” an episode from organizational psychologist Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast and is bringing what she learned into her own team meetings.

The story takes us behind the scenes of The Daily Show and reveals a creative team of 30 writers, producers, and on-air talent that starts each day with a blank page and ends up with 22 minutes of great comedy. In the words of Grant, “Four days a week, they make a show that millions of people watch. I want to know how they pull that off because usually big groups are where creativity goes to die.”

Decades of evidence document that brainstorming doesn’t work. Groups produce fewer and worse ideas than the same people working alone. People tend to silence themselves out of a fear of looking stupid. Some people dominate the conversation, with the effect of silencing others. And then there’s the tendency people have of getting behind the boss’s favorite idea.

The Daily Show’s creative team has overcome these problems. Grant takes us into the writer’s room and shows us how. You have to listen to the episode, but two big takeaways for any leader stand out.

To encourage creativity, there needs to be a high level of psychological safety on the team and it’s the leader’s job to create this.  You’ll get to hear Trevor Noah setting the tone.
Teams create best when they have a structure that helps keep the group focused.  You’ll hear about the rules of when and how the Daily Show’s team works together each day.

Finding Joy During Life’s Inevitable Suffering

Joe Morris, a leader in grass-fed beef farming and a new friend, approaches his life and work with two key values in mind:

Treat others with respect
Be of service to the community in all its aspects, from health to the environment

He’s been drawing inspiration from The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, which captures a five-day conversation between good friends and Noble Peace Prize Laureates, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They discuss the question “How do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?”

Like everyone, leaders suffer. They face failures, losses, hardships, and boredom. To lead well, they need to be resilient and find optimism and joy, especially in moments of difficulty.

Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and in this book they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.

Learning to Listen to See

James Flaherty is the founder of the New Ventures West coaching school and a good friend, teacher, mentor and now colleague (I am enjoying being an adjunct faculty with one of James’ professional coaching certification classes). James brings a depth of wisdom, kindness, and uplifting creativity to coaching that is truly unique.

Senior leaders are charged with seeing multiple dimensions of a situation—including those that are hidden. It’s difficult to do this well because it requires different parts of the brain to work together in a unified way. The emotional brain needs to be able to register gut feelings and intuitions. The relational part of the brain needs to listen to what others are saying and not saying. The thinking brain needs to be able to grasp problems and potential solutions.

One of the ways that James helps his clients to develop the ability to see multiple dimensions simultaneously is through listening to music. Different parts of our brain respond to the lyrics than to the timbre, rhythm or emotion. Shifting attention between different elements and the “zooming out” to the gestalt of the song helps strengthen the brain’s capacity to unify the experience, making us better able to appreciate more dimensions of a situation.

One song he often shares is Another Train sung by the Poozies.

The lyrics speak to loss and failure—experiences everyone has, but which can leave leaders feeling very alone. The music starts off feeling sad, slow and heavy before shifting into another mood. What range of feeling arises when you listen? Can you identify how different elements of the music affect you? Music can be a powerful teacher—and all you need to do is listen.

Lessons from Four US Presidents + One First Lady

I became an American citizen after the election of President Obama because I wanted to be committed to the country he envisioned. As Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says, history reminds us of who we are and in this turbulent time, I know that I am not alone in wanting to better understand and have faith in this country’s leadership history.

Two of my favorite books of the moment are Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new bestseller, Leadership in Turbulent Times and Michelle Obama’s new bestseller, Becoming.

Leadership in Turbulent Times profiles the four presidents that Goodwin has written about extensively and studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson—all of whom led the country during uncommon adversity.

The book outlines each man’s formative years, shares how each overcame devastating reversals and provides a step-by-step analysis of his greatest leadership success. It’s great, insightful storytelling.

Becoming tells the compelling story of Michelle Obama’s life and provides an honest, revealing perspective on the experience of being the spouse of the first Black president and her thoughtful approach to the role of the first lady.

These four presidents and the first lady all had different backgrounds, abilities, and temperaments, but they all led in a way that enlarged the opportunities and lives of others. In a time when our President represents the worst of our natures, these books show us that those who lead us can remind us as President Lincoln did in his First Inaugural Address, that it is possible to lead “by the better angels of our nature.”

Goodwin’s and Obama’s insights inspire me as an American and in my work with leaders, and provide fresh roadmaps for leaders in any field. More than anything, they are important reads right now.

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Inspiration Leadership

What my mother-in-law, Sandra Day O’Connor, taught me about leadership

Post author By Heather
Post date November 26, 2018

I have the privilege to work closely with many leaders and to observe how they navigate their worlds effectively so that others are committed and together something better is created—whether that is new policy and programs, or breakthrough technologies and services.

Sixteen years ago, I married Jay O’Connor, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s youngest son. As part of the O’Connor family, I have had many blessings. One has been to observe the many qualities that make my mother-in-law such an effective and beloved leader. No doubt, you are familiar with her service on the US Supreme Court. But her work with iCivics, which she founded in 2009, is equally inspiring to me.

Retiring from the Supreme Court

Sandra chose to step down from the court in 2006 at age 76 to care for her husband, John. As his Alzheimer’s advanced, she asked herself what she would do with the rest of her life.

This was a hard moment for her: she had given up work that was deeply meaningful. Jay and I were with her one day when she wondered with great sadness if her time of contribution was over.

Before long, she gave birth to iCivics, a nonprofit that brings civics education alive for young people. She had become very worried by what she saw as a growing lack of understanding among citizens about the fundamental concepts of our government, our Constitution, and the importance of civic engagement.

Creating Something from Nothing

When she dug into this problem, she saw that civics education had largely disappeared from US school curricula. Her vision was to develop a solution that wouldn’t simply educate students but would inspire them to participate in democracy.

Rather than revive the old civics lesson plans, she was inspired by Silicon Valley to create interactive video games that would teach young people how government works.

The idea of gaming as a teaching tool was in its infancy and she knew nothing about it, but Sandra learned and created an organization that solves an important societal problem and that brought a new mission to her life. She worked passionately on behalf of iCivics—giving speeches around the country, raising money and providing direction—until very recently.

Today, the iCivics program provides quality, non-partisan, and truly engaging civic education to more than half of all middle and high school students in all 50 states. My husband Jay and his brothers Scott and Brian are continuing to carry the torch for iCivics, along with a very dedicated staff and Board that includes Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In the Fox TV interview below, Jay shares his mother’s passion about iCivics.

While Sandra has had many big moments, I want to share a few small, personal ones that have taught me important lessons of leadership.

1 | Service

Serving others is in her bones. In the first year of his presidency, President Obama awarded Sandra the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As part of the celebration, each award recipient had a private conversation with the President.

We asked her what they talked about. Sandra said, “I told him that we needed more women on the Supreme Court.” In a moment that was a celebration of her, where the conversation could have been about her, she chose to speak about what she believed the country needed.

2 | Relationships

Sandra built and maintains strong relationships. At every organization she has been involved in, she has lived her philosophy that the key to making things happen is bringing people with different perspectives together to get to know and understand one another.

On the Supreme Court, her colleague, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said about Sandra: “She has done more to promote collegiality among the court’s members, and with our counterparts abroad, than any other Justice, past or present.”

In fact, she makes friends from all walks of life. In 2004, I joined her on a safari in South Africa and Botswana organized by Kathleen Smalley, one of her first law clerks. It was my mother-in-law’s first trip to South Africa—she had been invited many times, but would not go when the country was under Apartheid.

She was deeply moved by our visit to the South African Supreme Court where she heard stories about the work her counterparts were doing to establish constitutional law in the country.

What sticks out most in my mind from that trip was how much Sandra connected with our safari guide, Anthony Bennett (known as Ant). Sandra appreciated Ant’s commitment to and knowledge of African wildlife. When she heard that he had never been to the U.S, she invited him to visit her in Washington DC. Ant ended up staying in her home and then staying with the O’Connors in Phoenix and with us in San Francisco.

She went all out for her friends, both new and old, and it’s something that I saw and experienced many times.

3 | Play

Sandra worked hard throughout her life. While undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, she didn’t miss a day of work on the Court. But she also loved to play.

She has an enormous appetite for sports (skiing, golfing, tennis, fly fishing, dancing), the arts (music, theater, fine art) and travel. And she loves to laugh until the tears roll down her cheeks.

Play and laughter were essential elements of her leadership. They recharged and rejuvenated her so that she could keep showing up to do the hard work with energy and passion. Play is something that some leaders struggle with, but Sandra showed me how important it is.

The Humanity of Leadership

Clearly much has been written about Sandra’s intelligence, commitment, energy, and mastery of constitutional law. The qualities of creativity, service, caring and play that I witnessed were ones that brought her humanity to her tremendous skill.

That humanity is very present today in her openness about stepping back from the active life she loved due to dementia. Anyone who has had a loved one with dementia, and more than 5.7 million Americans do, knows it is hard for everyone. So in this time of transition, we are grateful to be open about this condition and to hear how Sandra has touched others. With this, I want to add my voice to appreciating her and remembering the power of her lessons.

To honor her and in gratitude for the work I have the privilege of doing with creative and caring leaders, I am making a contribution to iCivics. If you are so moved to join me, the whole O’Connor family and iCivics thank you!

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Inspiration

3 Must-have Leadership Books

Post author By Heather
Post date August 10, 2018

Open book, hardback colorful books on wooden table. Back to school. Copy space for text. Education business concept

Inspired by the Next Big Idea Club, I’ve been thinking of the many, many leadership books that I have read and given to clients. If I could only give leaders three books to support their development, what would they be?

The field of leadership is home to so many models that can help leaders illuminate something that was hard to see before—whether that is a strength, a pain point or a path to resolution. Different leaders need different things at different times.

What I love about these three books is that together, they make up a timeless leadership library that any leader can turn to again and again for the most useful and sustaining ideas.

The Leadership Challenge

How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

James M. Kouzes + Barry Z. Posner

A Taste | “Model the Way” is one of the concepts in the book that details the importance of clarifying your values and then setting the example by living them. It is a simple practice that supports clarity in direction and decision-making, yet many leaders either don’t do it or don’t do it well. Their Leadership Challenge values card sort is one of the great tools they offer to help you define values.

Bottom Line | This book provides a well-researched, complete set of fundamental leadership practices. If you could only have one book this would be it.

In Action | I recently gave this book to a client who had taken over a new team. The values exercise was the first thing she did in establishing and connecting the team to what it stood for.

What I Love | This book does a great job of breaking down important leadership concepts and providing practical exercises to help you make use of them. Now in its 6th edition, it’s both well researched and pragmatic. You will walk away with a clear idea of why leaders need to define and articulate values and vision, in addition to other practices, and it gives you tools to do it.

About the Authors | James Kouzes and Barry Posner are internationally renowned scholars associated with the Leavey School of Business in Santa Clara (both now are Fellows and Professors, Posner was the Dean for 12 years).

For Your Improvement

FYI | For Your Improvement

Korn Ferry

A Taste | One of the competencies in FYI is called Interpersonal Savvy. The chapter on this competency describes relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people. It defines in detail what skilled Interpersonal Savvy looks like (e.g. “picks up on interpersonal and group dynamics”) and what less skilled looks like (e.g. “shows little interest in others’ needs”). It also offers a number of ways to support building the skill.

Bottom Line | This is the complete encyclopedia and “how to” guide for all the leadership skills. It names them, explains what they mean and provides multiple ideas for developing them.

In Action | One of my clients had a direct report who others complained was aloof and cold. As a result, people didn’t want to interact with him and worked around him. My client was struggling with how to explain this blindspot in a clear, understandable way so that together they could discuss a path forward. The Interpersonal Savvy chapter in FYI gave my client the language needed to help the direct report see and understand the problem. Together, armed with the information about what skilled Interpersonal Savvy looks like and with lots of effort on both of their parts, they were able to ultimately resolve the issue.

What I Love | This guide provides clear language and development ideas to a well researched and complete set of 38 leadership competencies (a chapter is devoted to each competency) relevant across organizations and globally. I give this to many clients to help them see what leadership competencies are. This is useful as a way to reflect on their own performance and that of their direct reports.

About the Authors | Robert W. Eichinger, Ph.D. and Michael M. Lombardo, Ed.D. wrote the first book in the 1990s. Their firm Lominger was acquired by Korn Ferry in 2006. This guide has become a gold standard among leadership academics and coaches alike. It is based on strong research and continually updated.

Nine Types of Leadership

Mastering the Art of People in the 21st Century Workplace

Beatrice Chestnut, Ph.D.

A Taste | The Enneagram is a personality typing system that outlines nine different types, each representing a distinct worldview and core motivations. These motivations can contribute to making leadership skills easy or hard to do.

Bottom Line | A clear guide to identifying the core motivations that inspire and limit leadership behavior.

In Action | Recently, I have been giving this book to clients who are hitting the wall of their own effectiveness—they have exhausted the possibilities that result when they operate as they always have and realize they need to explore new ways. This book can jumpstart their insight into their operating system, and suggest how to evolve their ways of thinking and acting to more appropriately meet whatever challenge it is that they are facing.

What I Love | It’s a great tool for understanding your own strengths and blind spots as well as those of anyone you are managing. I think of this book like a map that can help you identify what leadership competencies come easily to you and what you likely need to develop. Pair it with Korn Ferry’s FYI to more deeply understand this territory!

About the Authors | Beatrice Chestnut is a Bay Area local who published this book in early 2017. She’s a well regarded Enneagram expert and clinical psychologist who balances psychological depth with real world business application.

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How spirit becomes a foundation for leadership.

To lead with spirit, leaders turn here.

Ruth Levine | Philanthropy + Global Development Leader

Chris Murchison | Consultant

Diane Gabinelli | President + CFO

Dylan O’Connor | Student