Accomplishment Coaching

As leaders in business and life, we’re called upon to have lots of answers.  Frequently, we come up with an answer that works.  As well, we come up with ones that don’t.

But maybe being a powerful leader isn’t about having the right answers.  Maybe it’s about creating and asking powerful questions.  Consider some of the most powerful leadership is delivered through questions.

Eric Vogt, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs wrote a fascinating article called The Art of Powerful Questions.  In it, they explain the architecture of powerful questions.  I’ve paraphrased the definitions below:

1. Construction – We all understand open-ended questions to be far more powerful than closed-end (questions that get only a Yes or No answer).  Use questions that begin with “what”, “how”, “when”, and “where”.  These evoke insight and discovery.
2. Scope – When asking questions, be aware of how big your question is.  There’s nothing wrong with the question “How can we fix the SE Michigan economy”, but it’s a doozy to answer.  Rather narrow the scope down to your immediate audience – i.e. “What action can you take today to create a new client?”
3. Assumptions – Almost all questions we ask will have assumptions built into them.  “How should we revamp the automotive industry to improve our economy” assumes that if the auto industry is revamped, our economy would improve.  Perhaps it would and perhaps it wouldn’t.  The lesson in this architectural component is to become MORE aware of the assumptions in questions and to use assumptions appropriately.  Here’s a great example:  “What went wrong and who can we blame” vs. “What can we learn and what new possibilities have arisen from this situation”?

So, how can you apply these concepts to your own leadership?  Lots and lots of practice.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• What’s possible for you to spend an hour more time with your family each week?
• How does discipline impact performance in your organization?
• What situation in your workplace, community or the world would you like to see turned around?
• What does a blessing look like?
• What “fray” are you involved in that you could “rise above” by taking an aerial view?
• What project or relationship have you been hanging on to so tightly that it’s causing you to lose balance?
• What in your life still has the plastic on it, being saved for that “special occasion”?
• What’s the payoff for giving up?  For digging in?
• What are ten new ways to increase your visibility as a leader?

Getting the question “right” is not the point.  It’s about expanding by practicing.  Keep asking questions each day and observing the results.  Take the questions above and use them in your business and community.  Empower others to come up with the answers.  Soon enough, you’ll become the leader you’ve always wanted to be with a heck of a lot less work.

How exhausted have you become in trying to have all the answers?

Happy Inquiry,

- Coach Preston

Tired of always having the answer?

What questions is your leadership team asking?  Perhaps more importantly, what questions is your leadership team NOT asking?

Your organization’s ability to ask the “right questions” is critical to its success.  Unfortunately, your business, like mine, is likely at the effect of the training and experience each individual has received for years through American academia and culture – the training called having the “right answer”.

We see it daily in our lives:

• Our children are rewarded at school for the highest number of right answers
• Our businesses and organizations reward employees for having the right answers and doing the job correctly
• Our clients pay us handsomely for giving them the right answers
• We spend thousands of dollars a month or year marketing ourselves as “experts” – i.e. the one who has the best answers

So, it’s not surprising to consider that all of us have been programmed to have the “right answers”.

At first glance, having the right answer offers many benefits:

• Students who have more right answers get higher grades
• Workers who can solve problems quickly get more money and promotions
• People are recognized as experts when they have more of the right answers

It would seem that having the right answers is all we need to succeed in life.

Today, I’m going to challenge that belief.  Consider our emphasis on having the right answers actually debilitates us and keeps us small and safe.

You see, when we insist on having the right answers:

• We are attached to being right which drastically narrows our ability to create vision or get altitude (perspective) on situations
• We develop a powerful context of black/white or either/or thinking that kills off tremendous possibility
• We inhibit powerful creativity and access to new perspectives
• We frequently dis-empower our team leading to dissention and confusion

As leaders, we cannot afford to have the right answers. 

Case in point – GM, Chrysler and Ford have all been playing the game of “right answers”.  For years, they’ve been telling us what the best cars are to drive.  For two of those three organizations, that philosophy has led to some incredibly tough times.

So what’s the alternative?

Please take a moment to reflect on the following question:

What’s possible for you, your business and your team if you spent just 20% more time focused on identifying the right questions?

In Germany, major business organizations (Diamler, Siemans, SAP for example), have entire departments dedicated to Grundsatzfragen, meaning “fundamental questions”.  The primary role of this department is to create and discuss fundamental questions.   When many of these companies have been acquired by a US company, the Grundsatzfagen departments have been eliminated.  (Click for attribution and more)

Questions are the life-blood of creativity, reinvention and evolution.  Questions stir vision, purpose and passion.  Questions lead to some of the richest conversations that not only spur collaborative and intimate relationships, but ultimately lead to the most effective “right answers”.

Do you know what question led to the invention of the McDonald’s fast food empire?  Ray Kroc asked, “Where can I get a good hamburger on the road?”  Ray didn’t start with having the right answer.

Leadership Practices:

1. Play a game.  For one week, record the number of times you give people the answer.  Scoring key = 0-3 times – great work empowering questions; 4-6 times – you’ve got some room to practice asking more questions; 7-10 times – congratulations – you’re not only the “answer-man/woman but you’ve effectively eliminated all creativity and have trained your team to be entirely dependent on you! 
2. Practice asking questions that evoke a future vision rather than solve a problem.  For example, “What’s the possibility or opportunity we see inside our overtime situation?” rather than “How do we reduce overtime?”
3. Create a semi-monthly meeting (twice a month) in which you and your leadership DO NOT answer a single question or issue.  Make the sole purpose of this meeting to identify the “right questions” your leadership team needs to be asking.
4. Invite a facilitator in to run a Leadership Cafe for you – it’s a powerful, structured experience that allows you to identify the right questions your oganization needs to be asking.

Giving up always having the answer may not happen overnight, but focusing on the right questions will get you further, create more success and, ultimately, have you develop a more fulfilling business and team.

Happy Curiosity,

-Coach Preston

If you’re wondering what coaching is all about, here is a terrific opportunity to discover what the world of professional coaching has to offer.

Today and tomorrow in East Lansing, MI, the Professional Coaches Association of Michigan is hosting their annual conference.  It’s open to anyone who’s interested.

I’m heading up there this morning and would love to see you there. 

Learn more at MichiganCoaches.org.

Cheers,

-Coach Preston

The power of more

Partnerships are a funny thing.  We seem to love creating them, but it often seems we have real struggles sticking with them.  So what gives?

Rarely intentional, we enter personal and professional relationships without truly considering what’s important for each one of us.  The Gallup Management Journal ran an article last year that identified the three “most important statements in determining how well your abilities mesh with those of your collaborator”:

1. We compliment each other’s strengths
2. We need each other to get the job done
3. He or she does some things much better than I do, and I do some things much better than he or she does

Although this can apply to personal partnerships as well, I wanted to give an example of how this so critically applies to professional partnerships.  Let’s use our old friend, Stan, as an example.

What Stan knows about himself is the following:

He’s created a successful business over the past 12 years primarily because he’s great at fostering relationships, freely expressing compassion, mentoring and developing his staff, being highly self-aware, and upholding integrity. 

But he also realizes that he’s often too narrowly and short-term focused, jumps too quickly to fix symptoms rather than identifying the root problem, and lacks critical decisiveness in taking action.  This often puts him in a position of complying with the views of others and current circumstances.

When I asked Stan who he felt would be a good fit as a potential partner, he suggested he’d look for someone who has a high level of relationship building skills, sees a similar future for the business, and is willing to weather the bumps of partnership.

If we take a look at this more critically, Stan was really looking for someone who was very similar to himself.  Of course he would… he’s built a successful company on the culture he’s created.

But that’s exactly what Stan doesn’t need.

Rather I suggested he look for someone with the following characteristics:

• Willingness to speak powerfully and pointedly, even if he/she occasionally steps on some toes
• Has little interest in the symptoms of business challenges but can see the root-causes
• Maintains daily focus on the five, ten and fifteen year future of the business
• Has a focus and drive for business results and keeps individuals and teams accountable for results
• Regularly displays courageous behavior in making decisions and taking action

At first Stan was completely resistant… “That person will get crushed in my company.”  Eventually, he began to see exactly why that type of partner would be best.  Through interviews with his staff in which he asked what they thought his leadership gaps were, they almost perfectly outlined the above description.

A year later, Stan and his partner Mary have grown the business significantly, hired more effective staff and shifted the company culture from being 100% “nice and friendly” to “nice and friendly AND results-oriented”.

Stan found a business partner who compliments his strengths, keeps him accountable to results, and is able to do what he can’t.  He does the same for Mary.

Powerful partnership is often most effective with clear difference rather than similarity.

Leadership Practices:

1. Schedule interviews with your staff over the next two weeks and ask the following questions:
   1. What do you see are my gaps in leadership?
   2. If you were going to partner me with another leader, what qualities would that leader possess?
   3. What two actions would you assign me to practice more effective leadership?
2. Write out the three top characteristics you bring to the table as a business leader
3. Notice how many times your actions say “I can do this all on my own” – what are the results?
4. Publicly share your gaps with at least two people, and especially with your current business partner

The myth of “individualism” died long ago, but there’s a large contingent of business owners who still buy into it.  If you’re ready for a new level of success, I invite you to consider a partnership or, if already in one, revisit it.

If you (and your partner) are interested in discovering exactly what you do and don’t bring to the table, please contact me to take my Leadership Circle profile.  I’ve found no better profile to support effective partnership development.

Happy Cahoots,

- Coach Preston

A familiar form of feedback

Yet another “LinkedIn Answers” gem-of-a-question…

Paraphrased = “Since most of us are entirely incapable of seeing the constraints that hold us back, feedback is an invaluable tool.  It offers a chance to see the constraints and take appropriate action.  But how do you offer feedback that makes a difference rather than frequently upsetting another?”

Here are a few thoughts in response:

1. Consider the constraints we have are actually part of the way we’ve been trained to give feedback.  In other words, one of my constraints is that I love to control.  If that’s operating in the background, it’s likely I’ll offer feedback that has me trying to fix or manipulate the other person (so as to control the situation).  Inevitably, that feedback lands as harsh or critical since what I’m really trying to accomplish (underlying assumption) is to protect myself.  This applies to any version of our constraints.
2. Since our feedback is based primarily on our constraints (per above), what you’ll notice is that the focus of our feedback is actually on ourselves rather than where it should be, on the other person or situation.  In other words, our feedback becomes in service to us rather than in service to the other.
3. Finally, since this is typically how feedback is given, we end up having a less than desirable (at time disastrous) experience with feedback.  This has us avoid both giving and receiving feedback.

So, what is there for us to do?  Here are a few ideas:

1. Get clear on your intention for offering feedback.  Ask, “For what would I want to share A, B, or C with Bob?”  Getting clear on our intention will uncover whether we’re about to offer feedback for our own benefit or the other’s benefit.
2. Practice using this format for giving feedback:
   1. Offer an invitation to give feedback rather than telling someone that feedback is coming (whether they want it or not).
   2. Ask the person, “What worked in this/that situation?”
   3. Then ask, “What didn’t work in this/that situation?”
   4. Then ask, “If you could change two things about how it went, what would they be?”
   5. Acknowledge the person for their intention and action around the situation.  Make sure they are fully acknowledged.
   6. Then provide your feedback on the situation based on: a) the situation, and b) what can be done in the future to improve the process.  In other words, don’t make the feedback be about the person – make it about the situation or their actions/speaking.

By offering feedback in this manner, you’re not offering it from your constraints, but from a look into the future; a future that offers forgiveness, development, second chances and partnership.

Happy Feedbacking,

- Coach Preston