Episode 59: Put Your Own Mask on First – 3

Put on your own mask first – practice what you preach

· Valuing Growth

· Role Modelling

· Preparation and Awareness

· Preserving and Abandoning

Preparation and Awareness

Situational Awareness

Vision and Strategy – what are we working towards.

Situational awareness is what is going on right here, right now, in this context. What are the resources we have to work with? What are the threats and opportunities? What are the problems that need to be solved?

Surround yourself with the right people so that a complete picture can be gained. Different views, different insights. Be open to hearing and listening. A variety of channels are essential so the problem can be understood in total.

Skip level management is a style of leadership that allows the executive to gain a different picture of the organisation. Confirmation bias is a risk. The skip level style is threatening at first, but if a regular event, it can become part of the culture and a wonderful source of information.

Amy Edmondson has talked about psychological safety in the workplace. People need to feel safe, build trust and be trusted. It is about speaking the truth.

Once the information is gathered, a timely response and some action are required.

Planning in a high level and flexible manner is required. The plan needs to be responsive. Levels of governance in an organisation can be a barrier to agility.

Put on your own mask first – practice what you preach

Role Modelling

If you are not looking after yourself, it isn't easy to look after others.

How will people learn from you?

People observe us as leaders. They listen to what you say and watch what you do. You give them a chance to improve.

Some key points to being a great role model.

Doing what you want others to do. Lead from the front.

Role model leaders have more impact than they realise. It is not easy, and therefore when you are a role model leader, it is easy to underestimate the impact you are having.

Leaders do their best to make a difference but at the same time set up a framework that faciliates others to shine and make a difference.

e.g. Alan Roger Mulally is an American aerospace engineer and manufacturing executive. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company. He was instrumental in the design and manufacture of the Boeing 777 jet. Alan was caring and genuine, along with a high level of rigid standards. Jets are built by people, and a close-knit team with a positive work experience is imperative to success. He was able to bridge the gap between process engineering and the people aspects.

e.g. Nick Johnston was a great leader because he was solid on the organisation's values. Everyone had to have the same values and adhere to the culture. He was prepared to reward and recognise based on adherence to the values and culture of the organisation. Nick is a salesperson, and even though he was the CEO, he was selling every day and demonstrating best practices to his people.

Jude Butcher and Maureen Walsh were mentors for Steve's PhD program. They dedicated a lot of time seriously and earnestly. They were not subject matter experts in the same way, but they produced a framework that set Stev up for success. They set high standards, which stretched him and helped him achieve at an appropriate level. Jude and Maureen contributed what they knew and were good at while letting Steve succeed and shine.

Through collaboration, the complexity can be increased in a structured way. A great leader can facilitate the process without having to know everything.

Valuing Growth (Professional & Personal)

Value Your Personal Growth Journey

Feed yourself – mindset and mental attitude. Each person's interests are unique. What are the things that make you happy? Develop habits for personal Growth. Some interests are passing, and others stick with us.

The agile leadership model is an apt leadership model for the Humanised Workforce.

Agile leadership complements a world of constant change.

Our ability to be agile in a changing environment helps leverage the situation and emerge in good shape.

The agile mindset is about how leaders think. It's the characteristics of leaders which allow them to be agile. There are 6 points:

4   Visionary

Setting a Vision in an organisation is easy to say but not easy to do. Maintaining an optimistic view of the future and a vision of where the organisation is heading is a constant challenge for leaders.

What is the right direction? Related to the Mission, strategy and the organisation's values.

Of course, the big goal is essential as the steps along the way.

What happens when a roadblock arises?

The Mission is a long term objective. However, the Vision is time-limited and has objective outcomes. Time is a resource that needs to be used respectively and wisely.

The Visionary Leader is able to know what the destination looks like.

Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson are modern-day visionary leaders. Mike Cannon Brooks is another where he is funding Sun Cable to produce solar energy in northern Australia and transmit the power to SE Asia.

5. Trust and Trustworthy.

The Leader needs to trust the team and be trusted by the team. There must be recognition and trust in what each individual brings to the organisation or the project. Recognising this contribution makes people feel important and valued.

Having a diverse range of team members permits a range of solutions and possibilities. Different demographics are focused on different viewpoints.

"People who don't trust are not trusted." Roberto de Vido.

6. Balanced views and interests.

Being balanced is about recognising and respecting different viewpoints.

Inspire the team with a vision but accommodate the different views and interests. Progress is created when problems are solved.

A systems thinking capability is an essential skill.

Transformative change means all types of challenges. Rigid ways of thinking and operating are not conducive to transformative change.

The average person has a moderate amount of agility or Change Fitness. The recent change in work conditions, the work environment and the environment, requires an increased ability of agility. As the challenges increase, then agile response and flexibility are needed.

Building agility prevents a considerable cost as change is forced upon us.

The agile leadership model is an apt leadership model for the Humanised Workforce.

Agile leadership complements a world of constant change.

Our ability to be agile in a changing environment helps leverage the situation and emerge in good shape.

The agile mindset is about how leaders think. It's the characteristics of leaders which allow them to be agile. There are 6 points:

1. Strong Values

Values are things that are essential to us. If we care about something, we are motivated to try and improve things and tackle problems.

Leaders need to understand what they are doing the role for and what they are trying to achieve—the values of the Leader influence other people.

The values of the Leader need to align with the organisation.

Values are not static. They change over time. The things that are important in one stage of life are not necessarily important later on in life.

In aligning values, there will be commonalities and differences. Conflicts need to be avoided.

2. Confidence to make a difference

A reason for the confidence is required, authentic.

What are the qualities the Leader is bringing to the organisation?

It is best to be humble about the qualities and be aware.

What kind of a difference does the Leader want to make? What is achievable, and what is out of the possibility.

Not all is known, but a problem-solving ability can steer the agile Leader.

Leaders who are capable of a big plan are few and far between.

We can all have small goals or what we can already do.

However, agility is about stretching and reaching out further than the simple plan. While stretching, flexibility and problem-solving are paramount.

The agile Leader needs access to resources which means corporate or organisational support.

If a leader is conservative and wants to proceed safely, this is probably at odds with agile and a bigger plan.

3. Insightful

Insight is about seeing what is going on in the present time. We need to be open to the truth. "It is what it is."

Insight is being aware of system complexities.

What are the resources that are available for change or problem-solving?

Part of this understands the risks and the relationship to strategy. High risk is an ambitious strategy. Low risk is a conservative strategy.

The perception of reality varies between individuals. The agreement about what is real is essential.

Amanda has a background in the telecom industry. She started in Australia and worked her way around the world – Paris, Carolinas in the USA, Petaluma in California,  San Francisco Bay area and then back to Paris.

As COVID hit, Amanda left the corporate world and started her own company focused on helping clients with transformation and change. She is also an advisor on the board for the Centre for Optimism. In the Nice Cote d'Azur, Amanda is the Professional Women's Association leader.

Optimism is the belief that things will work out in the end. Suppose it doesn't work out it is not necessarily the end. There are several types of optimists.

Amanda considers herself to be a natural optimist. However, she is also a realistic optimist. Unrealistic levels of optimism can be pretty toxic to organisations.

At each stage of a transformation process, optimism has a role to play. However, it needs to be realistic. The risks need to be ascertained and communicated. If things are not going well, that also needs to be shared. What is going well and what is not. The optimistic piece is “how can I make it work?

e.g. The Professional Women’s Organisation was able to pivot quickly to an online forum when the COVID pandemic hit. Many associations were not able to do this and have ceased to exist.

People are not easily fooled. Therefore, during a crisis, be open and honest with everyone. What is going well, and what could be improved? What is the plan, and how can we fix the problem in a realistic manner.

e.g. Hewlitt Packard was an early adopter of the management or leadership by walking around.

From a leadership perspective, the modern organisation is much flatter than in the past. This means the leader’s role has changed a lot. Listening skills and consultation are paramount before making decisions and moving forward.

What makes you optimistic today? This question opens up a different conversation.

Some responses start positive, but then a “but” is inserted, and the actual situation comes to the surface. It can be a brake on the positive outlook.

In the San Francisco Bay area, there are a lot of huge technology companies.

How important is it to have an explorer mindset? It is belief and belonging.

Psychological safety at work is very important. Engagement in large companies is very low. Optimism and psychological safety can make a material difference to the engagement employees will have in an organisation.

Optimistic people are more engaged.

An optimistic culture requires people to feel comfortable presenting their own ideas, progress, and to supported. There needs to be a level of trust on both sides and across the organisation.

Optimistic individuals or organisations must solve a problem and make a change.

Change can be made incrementally and continuously or in a transformational way which involves discarding the existing methodology or solution and implementing something new.

The grounds for optimism are derived from solving the problem and making the necessary change.

A group of people in the same area can contribute more than an individual.

The process starts with identifying a problem and then solving the problem.

Making change and improving quality in an organisation needs to be part of company culture. The change process is continuous and ongoing.

Continuous improvement is part of company culture and a scientific approach. It is a way of thinking. Coming up with hypotheses and methods for improving processes requires a scientific mindset or an ability to know what needs fixing and work through a problem-solving approach to achieve the required outcomes.

Optimistic mindsets want to solve problems. Even if the knowledge does not exist now, it can be learned or developed.

Problem-solving capability can be enhanced if the problem is not approached as an expert but as an explorer.

Problem-solving techniques such as agile process, agile teams and scrums used to be only found in software and technology development. Gradually their problem-solving mechanisms have moved into mainstream business. Agile is now a ubiquitous methodology in most aspects of business for problem-solving and business change.

Problem-solving capability can be enhanced if the problem is not approached as an expert but as an explorer. What is going on? What is working well, and what needs improvement? The environment is dynamic. There are new pieces of information and needs arising all the time.

Emerging leaders are open about the fact that they do not know everything. They are here to find out and solve problems as a part of a group.

Having skills in a process allows the individual or group to acquire knowledge and apply it to solve a problem. The scientific method is a proven process for solving problems.

The diminishing returns phase is reached at some stage where change and problem-solving do not give the desired improvements. Some things cannot be fixed. Needs change, technology changes, and this is when transformative change is required. It can take a lot of courage to make a transformative change.

Willingness and the ability to solve problems determine who can change the most and remain optimistic. Part of the required skills is the ability to think ahead. Starting processes and planning ahead of time keeps the ideas and change implementation occurring promptly.

The input is believing in the problem-solving capability, working with the right people and having a methodology for addressing the issues.

Optimism is the outcome.

Humans, driven by optimism and applying the correct level of resourcing, have solved endless problems which have improved the quality of life on earth and beyond.

This session will focus on the "Grounds for Optimism":

Over the last few years, there have been many examples of how humans can adapt. Airlines stopped flying, and fleets were mothballed in the world's desserts. Lockdowns occurred, and people stayed at home. It was about survival, but it also demonstrated how adaptable people could be.

Humans can exist in a wide range of environments on earth and space or other planets.

A lot of people have difficulty with adaptability. They pay a heavy price. The problem is evident in the increased incidence of mental illness that has come out of the pandemic.

Humans change their environment and circumstances simultaneously so that the personal and community situation is constantly improving. Some of these changes could include sealing roads with bitumen, installing air conditioners, changing personal relationships and changing work environments.

Adaptability capabilities vary between people. It's related to change fitness.

The limitation of human adaptability seems to be limited to the laws of nature. However, most possible changes are determined because humans have not worked out how to do it yet.

Don't be restricted by what you don't know. Learning is a constant requirement, and unknowns can be worked out.

Change is constant, and sitting still is not an option. Change may not be a conscious thing often, it is subconscious.

We are unlikely to make progress if there is not a problem to be solved. Testing theories is an everyday occurrence. Sharing and collaborating on problem-solving and ideas is always richer than done in isolation or on your own.

Collaborating on ideas is more likely to give an executable outcome or solution momentum.

Incremental change: car tires or an engine tune-up.

Transformational change: a new car.

There are a lot of grounds to be optimistic. Suppose an individual is in a dire situation and has the capacity and ability to adapt. With this capability, a change process is put in place. It can be an iterative or transformative change. Optimistic individuals must be able to work through a problem and put in place the required solutions in a work environment or a personal life.

The grounds for optimism are not that we know everything already but that we can learn it. The willingness and ability to learn new things.

This podcast is the first episode in the 2nd part of the Humanised Workforce – Future You series, which will focus on topics rather than individuals.

The theme in phase II will be “Big Ideas Made Simple”.

The first topic to be addressed is Optimism.

Optimism is the ability to see through difficulties and find a way through them. People want to follow leaders who can see a way forward through a dire situation.

The Center for Optimism has several definitions for optimism on its website. Some of these examples are:

Most leaders have been in dire situations. When these situations arise, the true leaders move forward, help the teamwork through solutions, and find a way.

Calmness is required in a dire situation.  

Bounded optimism is optimism with substance. 

Professor David Deutsch – Physicist at Oxford University:   An optimist can explain failure adequately. 

It is not essential to know everything.

Elon Musk is an optimist and can substantiate a lot of his claims.

When sharing optimism, there is a requirement for engagement. 

The pandemic has pushed authentic leadership forward as a requirement for leaders.

Younger companies led by younger leaders have adapted to remote work and leveraged this by hiring the right people into their organisations regardless of their locations.

Traditional companies or leaders that do not want to solve problems are not optimistic.