Free For All

How do some of the best ideas come about? Ask creative people and they will tell you the most interesting stories. "I get all my ideas in the shower." "They come to me as I am about to fall asleep." "In the grocery store." "When I'm hanging upside down."

How many people answer, "All my great ideas came when I was sitting at my desk thinking about them?"

Yet, as time gets more and more strained, we spend more time at our desks and less time allowing for the activities that set our minds free. Further, the more stressed we get, the more circular our thinking becomes until we cannot seem to think of anything other than the one solution that we know doesn't work.

Some companies have recognized this problem and have instituted retreats and "thought sessions" to generate creative ideas. Judaism has its own answer. We have "thought retreats" built into our day - three times a day as a matter of fact. Three times we are told to take a break. Put your work down. Think larger thoughts. Our prayer services are a means of re-centering our days. Morning and evening we remind ourselves of God's dominion and uniqueness with the Sh'ma prayer. All three times we stand in silent reverence and praise, thank and request of God all our basic needs. It's our fifteen minute yoga class.

Unfortunately, sometimes our lives are so busy that when we do sit down to pray, all our dormant thoughts start pouring out, not letting us get to the task at hand. Many a day I have had to stop praying to put another item on my to-do list that I had forgotten about. In my busy life, sometimes 15 minutes isn't enough to get me to that quiet space where I can think. That's why I have 3 chances a day. And if it still doesn't work, I have tomorrow to try all over again.

Jewish tradition teaches us that it takes discipline to pause in your busy day. It can be most inconvenient. And stress inducing - not stress relieving. We need to make room for thought. We need to give ourselves that space. In coaching we ask everyone to have a "pause practice" - something that makes you stop and re-center in your day. We gain the most from a practice that is disciplined - a set time every day. Like the time constraints for prayer. We can reap the best rewards from this pause practice. Maybe next time you'll say, "That idea came to me while I was praying."

Be Careful What You Sew

I couldn't resist. I am aware of the millions of opinions floating out there in cyberspace in response to Scott Brown's election as a Republican Senator from Massachusetts. My computer is underlining that phrase "Republican Senator from Massachusetts" - even spellcheck doesn't believe it to be possible. Yet, I can't pass up the chance to learn from what happened. Many people, brighter than I, will debate the causes of the upset for the next year, or at least until the mid-term elections. But it seems to me to boil down to one looming leadership lesson - be careful what you sew.

Barack Obama ran on the platform of "hope" and "change." He articulated few clear policy points and steered away from setting an agenda of leadership. He did not debate the issues - he attacked the status quo. He taught the country that all it needed was something different than what it had and life would again be better. Obama did not waste his time splitting hairs over some government policies that might be working well while others needed reform. He stayed on message. "Yes We Can." We can change (everything). He taught the people that what is, is never good enough. Joe Trippi, Howard Dean's campaign manager in 2004, claims the flaw the democrats faced in this race was their "failure to understand how anti-establishment the country has become."

This anti-establishment sentiment coupled with a soft campaign preaching hope and change instead of policy and agenda is what allows democrats in Massachusetts to vote in a Republican. There is no more loyalty. What can you be loyal to? If the parties aren't going to put their stakes in the ground and own up to what their core beliefs dictate, than what are we the voters left to ponder? The only question for us is do we like where we are right now? In these tough times the answer will continue to be "no." The only option then is to seek change. So we vote for whoever is different. Then we can hope. The grass is always greener.

Leaders have to respond to this crisis. Make no mistake it is a crisis. Without a sense of loyalty we float from one thing to the next without taking root anywhere. We never truly connect. We drift. The rising numbers of independent voters bears out this phenomenon. Drifting is not the human condition. We seek connection. But connection is hard. It means we have to understand one another. It means we have to be clear about what we stand for. It means there will be differences between us and we have to respect that -- we have to live with that.

Loyalty does not mean that we do not want change. It is about where we seek the change. Sometimes we can seek change from within. We can repair the party that we are a part of. We can change our actions, our policies, our values to better align with today's envirnment. It's harder than just hoping for better with the outsider. But as Ryan Bingham would say "There's nothing cheap about loyalty."

To Be a Drama Queen

Drama, drama, drama...

What place does drama have in leadership? A prominent one I would say. As the title of this blog implies, I believe leadership should be inspiring. To inspire means moving emotions. Even if I am talking about an intellectual development, the "inspiration" piece is a feeling - the faster heart beat, the rush of adreneline, the surge of dopamine - I am happy and excited - eager.

When Daniel Goleman talks about emotional intellegence for leaders he includes not only the abillity to read people's emotions, but the ability to lead people's emotions. It is this quality that sets great leaders apart.

President Obama is under fire currently for allowing his emotional connection to the people to wane. In an op-ed in the Washington Post today, Michael Gerson attacks Obama for lackluster speeches that fail to connect to the American people. "His (Obama's) reactions to the Fort Hood murders and the Christmas Day attack were oddly disconnected from the emotions of the country he represents. His speech at Fort Hood was strong on paper but delivered with all the passion of remarks to the Chamber of Commerce."

We just finished reading the Torah portions of the story of Joseph and his brothers and we see what an important role drama plays in the development of people. Joseph carefully orchestrates dramatic events - stealing, jail, travel back and forth - in order to culminate in an emotional revelation and reunion with his family. How different would the story read if the brothers had come to Egypt and Joseph simply said "Hi, nice to see you again!" Instead Joseph creates the pinnacle moment with Benjamin's life hanging in the balance and to use the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice line, Joseph says: "Can't you recognize my face? It is hard to see? The brother who you thought was dead - your brother - is me." (gives me chills just writing it)

In order for people to change course, there must be an emotional connection. Sometimes the world supplies its own drama. Sometimes leaders need to create the drama. Emotion is not whimpy. As Gerson puts it, Presidents need not only mental toughness but empathy - "The ability to wear the nation's emotions on his sleeve." In order to inspire you need to put yourself in the emotional space of those you wish to follow you. Gerson concludes "A President lacking in drama may also be lacking in inspiration."

There's plenty of drama around - as a leader - use it.

Sporty Role Models

Last Saturday, Colbert King ran an opinion piece in the Washington Post that made a solid argument as to why sports figures should not be held out as role models for personal behavior. Clearly, recent events between Tiger Woods and Gilbert Arenas, prove him to be right. King argues that athletic prowess does not translate to a good moral compass or maturity (in fact with the coddling of star athletes nowadays it may in fact mean just the opposite). Sure, King is right. Why would we assume that talent and ethics are linked? Why can't we just admire athletic talent and not "want to be like Mike?"

When we look to people who exhibit extreme talent or genius - whether that person is Madonna, Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton, Miley Cyrus, LaBron James, or Andy Warhol - the part of us that admires their talent wants to be like them. We identify with them. What would it be like to be Madonna? We ask ourselves. Little boys jump into a fantasy world where they become Kobe Bryant on the court. What would Kobe do to get around that guard? Budding artists paint vases full of flowers with patches on their ears pretending they are the tortured Van Gogh. Once we identify with the player/singer/artist/politician, we have taken them on as a person. It is very hard to then remove them from a whole self - because we are whole selves. We take on a person and pretend we are them - we fill in the pieces we don't know and create a whole being.

What does that mean for the star? King seems to be letting them off the hook. We should know better. We should be able to dissect their talent from the rest of them.

Judaism has a different approach. Recognizing that it is part of the human condition to emulate people and that our calculations of the person are always exaggerated, Judaism puts the emphasis on the behavior of the star or the leader. People in the public eye are always held to a higher standard. Moses made one mistake - hitting instead of speaking to a rock - and he is barred from entering the Land of Israel. King Saul lets his concept of compassion overtake God's directive and he is cut off from the Kingship forever. The texts are showing us the supreme responsibility a public figure takes on. Our historic leaders are presented in the texts with their imperfections. None of us are without faults. However, the brighter our star shines, the more careful we must be in all facets of our lives because we take on the responsibility as whole people. It is not our talent that's famous - it is us.

Creating a roadmap

This morning I once again passed through a new traffic pattern at the corner of my office. Two years ago construction began on the extremely congested intersection of two major roads. Over this time buildings, parking lots, and grassy knolls have been disappearing while new roads, traffic lights and bridges have gone up. Recently the traffic pattern has been changing every month. While I do get a heightened sense of curiosity every time we switch directions, for the most part I feel tired of the constant disruption and uneasiness in not knowing exactly which way I need to go to get to work. There is just too much change.



Tapping into my curious self, I wondered why this change bothered me so much. I love change. I get bored when everything is status quo. So I thought about what is making this experience different. It's the lack of a roadmap.

I believe people have a high tolerance for change if they understand the rationale and direction of the change. I and my fellow commuters have been flying blind for the past two years. We wake up one morning and the road is literally going in another direction and we don't have a clue why. Two years later, I cannot figure out the end game -- things seem to change in counterintuitive ways. I use this road construction as the supreme example of change leadership. I am fully confident that the urban planners who are the root of this construction have a master plan. They know what the road will look like in the end, why the new pattern will be better for traffic, and the winding path to get to the end is carefully laid out step by step. All this knowledge on their part is wonderful , but it doesn't help me. I am lost to the whims of their changes.

When we want to enhance our companies/ organizations/ programs, we set goals and steps to get us there. We usually include all the strategic thinkers in the decision-making. Sometimes that is the senior management, sometimes the board of directors, sometimes a group of committed volunteers. We cannot forget step two - to disseminate the what, why, how - to the people affected by the change. And as the shampoo bottle says - rinse and repeat. Constant awareness of the goal and direction of the changes is paramount to everyone. Who knows? maybe someone will have a suggestion that will make the plan even better.