A521.9.4.RB - Reflections

Stephen Denning has several dimensions to leadership in The Leader's Guide to Storytelling (Denning ,2011). Today I am going to discuss the three that I feel best represent my idea of transformational leadership and why they work for me. There are a few other dimensions, all good ones, in Denning's book but I'm not going to take royalties out of the man's pocket. Besides, it's my blog. So without further ado here are three dimensions that I have chosen as my favorites and probably the most germane.

1. The innovative leader works with the world instead of against it.

I like this dimension. I've spoke on the tendency for academics to view the world the way they want it to be rather than the way it is. I feel this affects more than just academics; the phrase cognitive dissonance can apply to a whole host of people that are unable to reconcile their view of the world with the actual reality. For the leader, myopia is a crippling affliction, even if your goal is just to maintain the status quo. However, the innovative leader wants to bring about change. Change, in business units, appears to be reactive in nature. It's only recently that agri-business discovered profit in organic goods so new business models cropped up (pun intended) to capitalize on organic spinach. However, people have known for years that pesticides in foods and goods drenched in chemicals were having negative effects. An innovative leader would lead a trend towards organics rather than waiting for the populace to demand them. Apple has built an empire based on generating needs where people never knew they needed things. "Hey! I never knew I needed an ipad...thanks Apple! Here's all my money." However, even Apple isn't truly innovative, they make neat gadgets but are still stockholder, not stakeholder, focused and their labor and environmental problems seem to be recurring .

All of that being said, innovative leaders still need jobs. It is my belief that if you want to change the beast you must first look like something the beast wants to eat. Innovative leaders understand that they aren't going to be Dali Lama of hedgefund  management without first getting a job as a hedgefund manager. Once established it can become difficult to overcome institutional barriers to innovation. It is a double-edged sword; to first become part of an organization you have to be something the institution wants, but once you try and change the institution you may find yourself without an institution to change. So what does it mean when the leader must view the world as it is? The innovative leader will utilize skills such as emotional intelligence, multi-cultural viewpoints, and communication techniques to grasp a realistic vision of how the section of the world in which they are operating actually operates. From there they can begin to devise strategies to move the markers further away from status quo and into innovation. To get somewhere new, you first must understand where you are. Be aware that resistance will be met at some point along the change process. However a proper usage of Lewin's Change Management Model may help. Also keep in mind that change is a process that takes time; don't expect to change the world overnight but by working within a company's policies and with proper support from superiors, it is possible to innovate in established firms.

The other option is to create your own business and many entrepreneurs are doing so. Several green companies are springing up to fill a consumer need for green goods and services. Here leaders are free to be as innovative as they please, and if successful they will create profitable companies with boardrooms, and CEO's, and CIO's, and all the trappings of hierarchical leadership.

2. Innovative leadership doesn't depend on the hierarchical authority.

Hierarchical authority structures usually wind up existing only to perpetuate their own existence. Don't misunderstand, someone has to call the shots but that someone needs to understand that shot calling can be trusted to other people as well, and creating new shot callers means pushing authority as low as it can go. Strict adherence to a command structure limits creativity; people need the room to make their own choices if they are to truly innovate.

In our successful green start-up, Patrick's Organic Spinach and Management Consulting (I call dibs) eventually Patrick, if he's not careful, will assume his innovation is better than some middle manager or sales clerks' innovation and will start to consolidate power in small rooms. Instead, Patrick needs to provide the resources and support to allow the sales clerk or middle manager to develop their ideas. This may mean investing resource and treasure into dead ends, but true innovation means learning from failure as much as successes. People need to know that failing does not mean a loss (and then termination), but rather a learning opportunity. To do that, you have to let them make their own choices. It is perfectly fine to provide a framework for operation but be sure to make that framework as broad as possible.

3. Lastly innovative leadership builds on personal integrity.

This is sort of a no-brainer if you ask me. People have to trust in you in order to have them believe in your ideas. Last week I equated public speaking or "working a room" with performance art. But I also said that you need to be sincere. Sincerity comes from authenticity and when you are authentic people will connect. You can be authentic and still play a part when speaking to a crowd. Your passion for your ideas is authentic, your desire to improve is authentic, and while it is true that you may need to provide data to back your dreams that is where integrity comes into play. If you are seen as a person with integrity, people will be more inclined to believe your data and the conclusions you draw from it. Remember we must deal with the world as it is, and in the real world data drives decisions. When you are authentic and viewed as someone with integrity, it becomes easier to convince others your innovative dreams are the direction in which to go.

These three dimensions of innovative leadership are dimensions that blend very well with my vision of leadership. I believe that understanding how the world works, pushing authority to its lowest level, and being authentic make up the foundation of innovative and transformational leadership.


Denning, S. (2011). The leader's guide to storytelling. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass. 

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact .

Making contact, working a room, meeting a new friend, schmoozing...these are all things that many people find themselves dreading. I've never had that problem. It isn't because I'm full of confidence or consider myself the center of attention. Far from it, I actually struggle with esteem issues; something that many that know me may be surprised to hear. However this post isn't to analyze my self-esteem, I have a therapist for that; rather the idea of meeting new people and "working a room" and how I manage to pull that off when plagued with self-doubt.

Growing up as a young adult my father's house was home to many visitors. Many of these visitors were from Mexico or Sweden. My father was in sales, very high dollar sales, and meeting customers was more of a social event than a sales pitch. I learned early that it is more profitable to build working partnerships than to sell and move. This requires a bit of play-acting. The dinner is a set-piece movement where conversation goes as scripted and everyone, including the children, have a role to play. This isn't to say that things were stilted or contrived. Rather my father's easy going nature and inquisitive mind made conversation naturally free-flowing...even when it was designed to persuade. Folks who know my family will say I'm just like my father in that I will talk to a tree if I get restless. Oddly enough, folks that know me now will see that I am often withdrawn when not clocking office hours.

Being a business man's son, moving into adulthood, experiencing homelessness, joining the military, and now being involved in training and public speaking have allowed me to perfect the art of social graces. Believe it or not, when homeless your charm can mean eating or not eating. So you learn really quickly how to turn a phrase or toss a compliment in order to achieve maximum utility. However, people are quick to perceive dis-ingeniousness. While I may see working a room, or public speaking as a performance art I am sincere in my desire to build connections with people.

Only recently have I learned to reveal my real-self with with a trusted person (outside of the therapist that is) but I've always been good at the public-self. I was raised to understand that people have value. My mother and my father, while being wildly divergent on most things in life, both believed that all people have value. I think this, more than anything, is what helps when connecting with a room full of people. Understand that it is a performance art but it is conducted by people with real feelings, everyone in that room is being their public-self to some extent. However, be sincere in your desire to connect and operate from the "do no harm" standpoint. This will enhance your public-self with a real value that you can project. This value projection allows the other parties to see your humanity and your sincerity. After that it just comes down to conversational skills.

Conversational skills are important. I don't wish to expand on them too much but I will say this: it takes practice. You'd be surprised at the faux pas people are willing to forgive if they detect your sincerity. With time, practice, and hopefully some feedback, people can learn to become naturally more conversant.

The trick for me(remember self-esteem issues) is that my public self is an act built with internal values. I am sincere in my desire to "do no harm". I am sincere in my desire to build connections. I am sincere in my desire to help my clients. What the public sees is a character. As I mentioned above, you must project values that you hold dear. Being in character does not mean being a liar. In many ways my upbringing is what shaped this view of "working a room."

A521.7.4.RB - Knowledge Sharing Story

Knowledge sharing stories are a bit different than a normal story. There isn't a plot, climax, or denouement. They can be dry and lifeless along the lines of "I went to fix a computer and the user had every toolbar imaginable installed and they were draining all the RAM. I learned a new technique for clearing them and here it is." There you have a basic knowledge sharing story; the knowledge being the technique used to remove toolbars.  Exciting stuff.

However think of it this way. I could have built a PowerPoint, included steps and best practices, and told you all about how to remove toolbars in five easy steps in a thirty minute presentation. Along the way you would have no doubt wanted to jump from the nearest window. However, if I tell you about the time I went over to a friend's house to help clean up the mess they made of their PC and fill you in on this sweet new program that deletes all these toolbars, you will be engaged. Knowledge sharing stories can be tailored to suit your audience but there isn't a rule that says they have to be boring.

In my line of work knowledge sharing stories are told quite a bit. I help rehabilitate disabled veterans into the workforce. These veterans may have addictions, PTSD, homelessness, or any combination of barriers preventing them from obtaining employment. There are often techniques that people in the business share with each other regarding how we coach our clients. Here is a knowledge sharing story about how I taught a client to give clear and concise answers during a job interview

Job interviews are tough for some people. There are those that tend to ramble on anytime a question is asked. It can be tough to get folks to understand how short to keep an answer. In the vocational rehabilitation world we train for 30 seconds to a minute and half depending on the question asked. It isn't a hard and fast rule but for the most part if you can't answer a simple question about your behavior in 90 seconds you are doing something incorrectly. My idea was to set an alarm on my phone using the stopwatch feature. I'd ask a question, hit the button and let the clock run to 90 seconds when an alarm would sound. After the alarm I would debrief the client on the question and try to trim the language down or eliminate unnecessary verbiage. Rinse and repeat. I shared this technique with a co-worker who had their own long-winded client they were training. We have found it to be a useful way to coach.

Knowledge sharing leads to what we call "best practices."  Often an informal body of knowledge that has helped us in our daily tasks. After some time these practices are sometimes formalized as taught techniques. All in all knowledge sharing stories are the meat and potatoes of storytelling leadership. After you motivate and inspire you need to share what you've learned. These stories allow that to occur.