Intuition and Change

Happy black Friday all! :) I am spending the holiday at my best friend's family on their dairy farm in northern IL. It is one of my favorite places....crops still coming out of the field, new baby calves born daily, and just a different gentle way of life I really admire.

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I appreciated both Mark and Ruby's responses on intuition and its place in their work. While I was with a nonprofit consulting firm out of Indianapolis, I co-facilitated a couple of executive transitions. Some were 30-year execs retiring...other execs transferring to another organization. We used a three-step process from TransitionGuides funded by CompassPoint--prepare, pivot, thrive. Basically it is a process that honors the work of the past executive, works with the board and organization to set their vision for the future, and then choose a new leader best suited to work towards that vision. Essentially, especially for smaller organizations, this is a ideal opportunity to "rebrand" the organization. The organization's that I have seen move through this process and grow with the most promise are those poised to handle change.

I am reminded of the 12 Change Success Factors identified by John Adams in his article "Successful Change Paying Attention to the Intangibles." I find they boil down to the people, their trust, structure for change, and the communication among those involved. So where does intuition come into play?

In change processes, I think there has to be a little "gut instinct" or intuition at play. But there must be trust among the group towards the common vision...as well as a way to communicate when and where the "gut instinct" is informing the process. At the Foundation, we have recently shifted one of our grant programs that works in seven communities across the US...focusing on one every year. In this change, I (as the new staff member) provided support to the grant committee. We outlined our activities for each meeting but did not anticipate the flexibility we would need to exhibit while finding community partners in the focus community. The way I chose to handle this relationship was not ideal for one of our committee members. After re-reading Adam's article, I think that the bottomline was that the committee member and I had not worked much together so he did not trust my work and intentions with the community partner. Also, I did not adequately communicate the assumptions I was making for the partnership. It was a hard and very valuable lesson to learn.

I think that most changes do "stick" at some level. It might not be the ideal result or end change I envisioned or held for the organization....but it might be the "right" change for the organization. Also, the process could have been transformational for an individual, work group, etc. involved in the work. I have found that I never know exactly the impact I have made in consulting with organizations. It has led to board chairs choosing to leave the corporate world to follow their heart in leading a nonprofit, a development director pursuing Master's work, new board members for organizations, and more. I'm always surprised (and humbled) with the "ripple effect" from change processes I have been involved in.

Service Exposing the "Other"

PROMPT
Excerpt from The community of those who have nothing in common. (1994) by Alphonso Lingis, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. (9-11)

Rational discourse and practice makes nature a communal work and makes our own nature our own work. . . the individual of modern culture, who affirms himself with his inalienable rights and sets himself up as a legislator of his own laws, sets out to produce his individuality as that of a nature closed upon itself. In the human community he finds a work closed in itself and representative of his own thought. As the individual finds that his own thought is representative of the whole system of rational thought, he will find on his fellow man but the reflection of his own rational nature.

Before the rational community, there was the encounter with the other, the intruder. The encounter begins with the one who exposes himself to the demands and contestation of the other. Beneath the rational community, its common discourse of which each lucid mind is but the representative and its enterprises in which the efforts and passions of each are absorbed and depersonalized, is another community, the community that demands that the one who has his own communal identity, who produces his own nature, expose himself to the one with whom he as nothing in common, the stranger.

This other community is not simply absorbed into the rational community; it recurs, it troubles the rational community, as its double or its shadow.

The other community forms when one recognizes, in the face of the other, an imperative. An imperative that not only contests the common discourse and community from which he or she is excluded, but everything one has or sets out to build in common with him or her.

It is not only with one’s rational intelligence that one exposes oneself to an imperative. Our rational intelligence cannot arise without commanding our sensibility, which must collect data from the environment in comprehensible and regular ways, commanding our motor powers to measure the forces, obstacles, and causalities of the practicable field in comprehensible and regular ways, and commanding our sensibility to others to register the relations of command and obedience at work in the social field in comprehensible and regular ways. It is with the nakedness of one’s eyes that one exposes oneself to the other, with one’s hands arrested in their grip on things and turned now to the other, open-handed, and with the disarmed frailty of one’s voice troubled with the voice of another.

One exposes oneself to the other – the stranger, the destitute one, the judge – not only with one’s eyes, one’s voice and one’s silences, one’s empty hands. For the other, the stranger, turns to one, not only with his or her convictions and judgments, but also with his or her frailty, susceptibility, mortality.”

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RESPONSE
One of my clients in Indianapolis was a new charter school. Their building was not quite ready for the new school year so they asked my organization to help provide team development for their incoming class of 30 Freshman students. I planned some content for the time as well as brought in a few nonprofit organizations to provide ropes course facilitation as well as coordinate community service projects. One of the smaller groups of students ended up at a local thrift store sorting clothes, cleaning the facility and helping with a small construction project. They worked alongside the employees of the store and over the day began to build relationships with them. At the end of the day, Michael, the store manager, asked if he could have a moment to thank the students for their work and share a story. I instantly said yes.

Michael was a handsome mid-aged black man with a personality that instantly pulled you in. He began the his story…sharing that he came from a upper middle class family where both his mother and father had college degrees and professional jobs. He had the ideal upbringing and was the quarterback of his high school football team. He went to college on a full ride. He had everything he needed…yet found himself wanting more once he graduated. He began experimenting with drugs and became addicted. Addicted to the point he ruined his friend and family relationships from stealing and letting people down. After not even a year of drug use, he was homeless. Eventually, he found his way to the shelter that is supported by the thrift store. The shelter and its staff supported him through rehab and helped him rebuild his life. He closed by saying that the shelter had saved his life. He thanked the students for helping save lives like his through their volunteer work…and warned them to never take what they do have for granted. The room—once filled with the adolescent posturing of high school Freshman—was silent.

Most of the students in this school came from families not as well off as Michael’s. There faces, comments on the bus ride home, and sharing with other students the next day was by far one of the most incredible impacts I have ever witnessed. It could never have been planned. It was the raw human experience meeting open hearts and minds at just the right time. I wasn’t moved by tears that day as I have been most other times I have felt moved or touched by the “other.” But it was definitely there.

I write this during my monthly evening volunteering at the homeless shelter. I have met and had conversations with many of the guests…and know they each have their story as did Michael. I wish for each of them the chance to have their story known and honored.

More on leadership qualities...

I was very drawn to Elise’s poem describing a leader in her life. Sarah whom she describes feel so “real” and authentic. Someone I would trust just from our initial encounter. The attributes described I wholeheartedly agree are leadership qualities needed in the past, present and future…
• inimitable style—“innate rather than inculcated”
• passion—for life and people
• doing what needs to get done
• craft of counsel and practical philosophy
• accessibility
• Carpe diem!

From what I can deduce about Sarah she is probably quite elegant at what Ron Heifetz describes as moving from the dance floor to the balcony and back--gaining perspective from all views and engaging others in the dance. I have heard Ron describe this concept multiple times and each time I have wondered how this awareness and talent can be coached. My experience has been that most people who do this well it is part of who they are…part of their emotional intelligences. Have others found the same or found ways to coach this quality?

As I read the text from Aurelius and compare it to this poem of another great leader, I am struck by why, as a society, we seem to hold up, respect and write about the great, epic leaders more than those who impact our daily lives—like Sarah? Why is more writing done of Fortune 500 companies or nonprofits who have “gone to scale” than the small businesses or nonprofits who have chosen to stay small or serve a local purpose? Are the lessons the same but not as memorable?

Nonprofit Leadership Qualities

PROMPT
"Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without a fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted, as he judged right. Bewilderment or timidity were unknown to him; he was never hasty, never dilatory; nothing found him at a loss. He indulged neither in despondency nor forced gaiety, nor had anger or jealousy any power over him. Kindliness, sympathy, and sincerity all contributed to give the impression of a rectitude that was innate rather than inculcated. Nobody was ever made by him to feel inferior, yet none could have presumed to challenge his preeminence. He was also the possessor of an agreeable sense of humor."

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Number 15

Please reflect on this meditation, offered by Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-80), a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. He describes qualities of leadership. How do you resonate/not resonate with his characterization? And how would you compare modern leaders to these ancient ideas? Are some of these traits worth emulating today? Which ones would you keep and which ones would you throw out? Consider the varying contexts -- ancient history and modern society today.

RESPONSE
Earlier this week, I went to the coffee shop across the street from my office for lunch and a little PhD time and read this prompt just prior to a meeting. My meeting was with a businessman who is a devoted board member for a variety of nonprofits in the community. He is interested in making the move from business to the nonprofit sector. During our conversation about the nonprofit world, he asked what I saw as the ideal personality and leadership qualities of a nonprofit leader. Many of the qualities we discussed were described by Marcus Aurelius including passion for the cause, selflessness, and authenticity. As a nonprofit leader, you become the holder of the mission of the organization and the vision for aspired change. This means that the work is not about the leader; but the people this leader is inspiring or ensuring are helped. The nonprofit leaders I respect the most see this as their life’s work or mission. Many would classify my description above as “servant leadership.” I believe that the ideal nonprofit leader is just that.

We also discussed the vital role of nonprofit leaders to embody collaboration, innovation, and sustainability. These could sound in conflict with each other but I feel they are keys for future nonprofit leadership. In describing the book Governance as Leadership, co-author Bill Ryan describes the vital role for nonprofit leaders to embody generative thinking. He describes this as “it frames the problems that we solve, it determines what needs deciding before we make decisions, it suggests what’s worth a strategy before we develop a strategic plan.” If nonprofit leaders are thinking generatively they are always on the look-out for partners to ensure the vision is being accomplished; they are looking for new solutions and to engage those with innovative ideas; and they are making the decisions (sometimes very hard) to ensure the programs and services best accomplishing the mission are sustainable.

Aurelius’s characteristics are indeed still very relevant. The modern leaders of today that I most respect, hold many of these qualities. I do however think that part of being an authentic leader is being able to be vulnerable enough to ask for help when “at a loss.” Maximus’s role as a military leader probably didn’t allow his to do this to his enemies—but I would be highly surprised if he did not find himself “at a loss” every once in a while.

What stood out to me and does in any other ancient text is the rich and poetic tone and nature. What will people reading the work of current philosophers of leadership think? Surely, they will still be experiencing the same “what works” for leadership…but how will they be conveying it? And, what a good reminder…leaders do need to possess a sense of humor!