news2use | February 2021

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln attended a church not far from the White House. The preacher, Dr. Gurley, allowed the president to sit in the pastor’s study with the door open to the chancel so he could listen to the sermon without having to interact with the crowd.

One Wednesday evening as Lincoln headed back to the White House after the sermon, one of the President’s attendants asked, “What did you think of tonight’s sermon?”

“Well,” Lincoln responded, “it was brilliantly conceived, biblical, relevant, and well presented.”

“So, it was a great sermon?”

“No,” Lincoln replied. “Tonight, it failed. It failed because the pastor did not challenge us or ask us to do something great.”

Lincoln felt that leaders, whether they be politicians, pastors, or the head of a family, had a moral obligation to challenge and inspire people to become a better version of themselves. He believed deeply that this started by setting a personal example. In my book, “Executive Ownershift, Creating Highly Effective Leadership Teams”, I refer to this as the Lincoln Law.

Lincoln’s birthday is February 12, an excellent opportunity to practice the Lincoln Law. When we first challenge ourselves to become a better version of who we are, it sets a compelling example for those around us to become a better version of who they are.

That’s why they call it leadership.

Enjoy your February news2suse.

Regards,

Dan

“Relevant & pragmatic ideas, tools and insights to play at your best.”

For You

Meta-Invite to Conflict Resolution

You know how when you are sitting in a meeting and two people start to argue? It just goes round and round, consuming energy and time and everyone leaves the experience feeling frustrated. To make matters worse, it is often an argument or conflict that happens over, and over, and over again.

You see this issue but are not sure how to resolve it.

Consider using the meta-invite for conflict resolution.

The next time the argument or conflict starts, politely, yet firmly intervene with this question:

“Excuse me, what’s happening right now?”

(The two people arguing may start to defend their positions. Let each speak for some time, letting the air out of their personal interest balloons.)

Then you ask, “What should be happening right now?”

Often people will refer to the overall objective, bringing the conversation back on track.

Then you add, “How do we make this goal, the true objective for our meeting, happen now?”

You may suggest that the two people arguing take their discussion up at another time and place, and perhaps you offer to moderate this, or someone else could help them where needed.

Meta means to see something from a higher level and using the meta-invitation questions help people step up and beyond their drama circle.

For You & Your Team

The 4Es

Teams often struggle to scope and prioritize their strategic initiatives. I introduce the 4Es to help teams in such situations. Here is a brief overview of how to use the 4Es to scope and prioritize your initiatives for this year.

Explore – such initiatives are in the early stages, you need to gather more information as to whether this is something to pursue more concretely, and with more resources in the future.

Enable – you recognize that such initiatives will not be executed by your team, yet others rely on your expertise to define the scope, system, or framework for others to work in. Do not let the desire to be perfect slow you down here.

Execute – initiatives in this segment belong to you and your team. You own them and your team’s success will be measured based on how you perform on these initiatives.

Exit – this is your strategic quitting quadrant, meaning you and your team are going to be very clear (and aligned) about what you are not going to do this year, letting go of lukewarm initiatives that simply keep people busy or maintain the status quo.

The 4Es is an effective way to distinguish how you and your team want to pursue different types of initiatives this year.

If you have any questions about the 4E framework or other questions about creating a senseful strategy for breakthrough results, feel free to contact me.

For You, Your Team & Your Business

Are you running red lights in your leadership team?

People run red lights because they think they can get away with it, they are in a hurry, or are serving their own interests and not considering the consequences of their actions.

You may run a light, and nobody notices or gets hurt. You might get a camera flash and pay a fine. Or you could cause property damage or kill someone because of your actions. (In the USA alone, two people are killed EVERY DAY because someone ran a red light.)

Yet if you knew that your actions would damage something, or injure someone, you would not run that red light.

It is not all that different when a leadership team interacts. When executives communicate, collaborate, or take decisions without considering how their behaviors damage their company culture, discourage employee engagement, or tarnish their leadership values, they “injure” their own business.

Understanding the field of consequences, behavior source codes, and performance half-life, (Chapter One, Executive Ownershift) help leadership teams understand where they (often unknowingly) run red lights and put their organization at risk.

What examples have you seen of leadership teams running red lights?

People, Places & Technology

Leadership Growth Lab & a 2021 Learning Incentive…

While most of my work involves working with intact leaderships teams; more and more people are coming to me for individual coaching and looking for a high caliber, challenging peer group setting to accelerate their personal and business growth.

If you are interested in working closely with me and a small group of high-performance peers who, like you, want to maximize their potential as a leader, one of my leadership growth labs could be of interest to you.

The Leadership Growth Lab is made up of five to six professionals, often coming from diverse companies and industries and who share a desire to accelerate their growth as a leader and results for their business.

None of us is as smart as all of us; you will grow faster—with fewer wrong turns and much more enjoyment—leveraging the insights you develop in the Leadership Growth Labs. Throughout your growth lab cycle, you will get personal advice, practice sessions and strategic business exchanges on topics that matter most for your leadership success. For more information about my leadership growth labs click the link, drop me a mail dn@dannorenberg.com or ring me at +49 172 862 5123.

When you join a growth lab before March 31, you will receive this program for 33 to 50% off the normal price, details in the link above. Happy New Year!

Thought for the Day