Stephen H Baum Leadership

In the most recent post, I described CEO Harry the bulldog, along with the impact his behavior had on his team, his family and everyone around him. And I promised the next post would describe what Harry tried to change his long-standing behavior; and his progress and lapses.

So, here goes. Harry came to realize his bulldog behavior limited is capacity and his career; de-motivating his best players; “training” others to avoid risks of taking ownership and expect to be “spoon fed” by him. 

“Homework” Harry did for self-discovery and to change his beliefs and his behaviors:

Thought experiments (strictly mind exercises, alone in a quiet space):

–       Yellow pad (fears, adverse consequences, history of fears)

–        Mindset chart (current vs. future beliefs, actions and outcomes that vary with beliefs)

–       Trigger identification (early, indelible experiences and current triggers of the same perceptions and emotions)

Field Experiments (actions in the real world of daily meetings and phone calls):

–       Staff meeting and conference call changes (engage others in agenda-setting, have someone else lead meeting, get others to summarize discussion)

–       1-2-1 changes (do not go first, think self as mentor not boss)

–       Centering: “count to 1 before you speak,” assess the emotion you are feeling, then ask a great open-ended question that makes people think)[1]

–       Communication changes (time the duration of your own speaking intervals; speak in “packets” and stop; ask what others heard, then what they think; ask “how am I doing?”)

–       Real time partnering: ask the most trusted direct report to signal you when you violate your own behavioral intent; ask for post-event feedback on your behavior)

*            *            *            *

Everyone reverts at times to old behaviors. But Harry will tell you he is a different person most of the time. He sees positive outcomes with his family as well as at work.

 Not long ago Harry had a relapse, reverting to some of the old behaviors. This time he recognized the pattern, deployed some of the learning from before and added a couple of new ones to make him stop, breathe, think, then act (see my earlier post on Lessons from Scuba for the CEO).

Adam Bryant’s  interview i today’s NY Times with Mario Batali with the famous chef’s comment on “yellers” is consistent with my view. 

This is just my view, what’s yours?