Here are some thoughts and perceptions by some of the leading lights regarding the key elements that leaders and managers need to address. All represent possibilities and options so that you can choose whatever you feel is most appropriate for your situation.

Leadership

There are as many definitions of leadership as there are people writing about it. Marv Weisbord describes leadership as setting the purpose and direction for others, and getting them to move in that direction with competence and commitment. The Center for Creative Leadership identifies these challenges as central to the leadership role:

• Dealing with rapid and substantive changes
• Managing diversity of people and views
• Building the future through a shared sense of purpose

Warren Bennis says that leadership is about communicating a vision and the readiness to assume responsibility for  performance. Noel Tichy asserts that effective leaders create a vision, mobilize commitment and institutionalize change. In “The Transformational Leader,” he and Mary Anne Devanna believe that leaders:

• Identify selves as change agents
• Are courageous risk takers
• Believe in people
• Are value driven
• Are life-long learners

Management

Traditionally, management is the planning, organizing & controlling the implementation of “the work” that gets done in an organizational setting. Ellen Schall says that it is possible to both lead and manage, that is to provide a vision for the long term while dealing with the day-to-day activities. Effective managers set and help others achieve a standard of excellence. Managers generally, are trying to create the right environment, conditions and processes that bring out the best in people. They will establish or refine systems or procedures for performance measurement, feedback and reinforcement.

Managers need to have skill, and to encourage the skill in others, to diagnose what is going on, and to modify the direction and actions of their units toward goal accomplishment. In that sense, they need flexibility, adaptability and the capacity to act.

Teamwork

One definition of a team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to:

• a meaningful purpose
• clear performance goals
• a common working approach

Among the reasons why leaders and managers pay attention to building effective teams is that research has shown that teams outperform individuals by a wide margin, if  the task is a “team-like” task. In other words, you use a regular working group if results can be achieved through the sum of individual best performances. However, you employ a team if the task requires the real-time integration of multiple skills and perspectives.

Performance goals, and the struggle to attain them, are what makes a team. According to Katzenbach and Smith, high performance teams have a sense of individual and mutual accountability and are invested in each other’s growth and success. Teamwork builds a sense of community and belonging.  

Coaching

Highly effective managers know what performance is required and they prompt, model, encourage and help shape performance toward those results. Paul Brown states that good coaches emphasize positive expectations. They ask themselves if the person understands the goals, their duties, and the work processes to be used. Then they intervene at the right level, and provide direction and feedback. Along the way, coaches may need to encourage alternate behavior and to reward “approximations that come closer to the ideal”. They also provide latitude for the learner to find even more effective ways. They do give corrective feedback, but usually do so after building up a track record of  acknowledging achievements.

An effective coaching session will include a review of the goals, the purpose of the session, and joint agreement on a plan of action. It will maintain the self esteem of both the player and the coach.

Building Trust and Relationships

When you trust someone it means that you are willing to be count on them and to be vulnerable to their actions. Being willing to take this risk helps to build authentic relationships. The elements of trusting, authentic relationships are:

• Commitment – to more than just yourself.
• Familiarity – we know enough to give each other the benefit of the doubt.
• Responsibility – we trust people who are willing to take personal responsibility for their actions.
• Integrity – we trust people who are honest and willing to be themselves.
• Consistency – it is easier to build a strong relationship if there is some predictability of behavior.
• Forgiveness & Reconciliation – our ability to forgive and be forgiven is important.

One definition of trust (from Michael Annison) is the intuitive confidence and sense of comfort that comes from the belief that we can rely on a person (or organization) without thinking about it. Some ways to help build trusting relationships are:

• Develop rapport – by taking a genuine interest in the other(s).
• Provide information – share relevant data and/or opinions.
• Support – demonstrated by acceptance of the other person, independent of whether or not you feel the same way they do. It helps to listen.

Strategic Communications

“Communications creates meaning for people. It’s the only way any  group, small or large, can become aligned behind the overarching goals of an organization.”

 –Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus.

A communications plan/strategy is a critical component of any implementation of strategic direction. It requires addressing four key questions in a disciplined approach:

What is the message. People need to know where we are heading and what is expected of them, in terms of tasks. Data is critical to allow effective participation in planning and implementation.

Who is involved. The who may depend on structures or task groups created. Involving future key players early may be an effective strategy since we know that people support what they help create. The leader may want to consider how to bring along other units or stakeholders.

When do they need to know. Regularity and frequency of communications should be planned to support strategy. Communications can be tailored to reach specific groups when it is important to build buy-in, and to signal actions required.

How to get understanding. Two-way communications is critical if strategic change is involved. It allows feedback which may be more important than feeding. Elements of communications strategy may include a variety of face-to-face forums, cross-functional teams, retreats, cascading events and prototyping or piloting.

Vision

A vision is a clearly articulated, results-oriented picture of a possible ideal future one intends to create. It is a picture of the whole, which illustrates the distinctive meaning, purpose and values behind the work and why one does it. Vision statements facilitate planning and provide a public document. Good ones are oriented towards the future and emphasize distinctiveness.

Creating a vision forces us to take a stand on our preferred future. Effective leaders provide a vision that channels our deepest values into the workplace and becomes a word picture of how we want these values to be lived out in the unit. We give leadership when we help create a vision that positions our organization in relation to our customers and to our colleagues.

It may be that the process of visioning is as important as the outcome. When more are involved, it facilitates alignment, focus and direction. The visioning process can enroll and inspire others, and serve as an on-going context and foundation for decisions.

Planning

Planning includes setting objectives, outlining procedures and assigning responsibility. Plans should lead toward the organization’s overall strategies and objectives and fit within its mission and values. Effective plans identify the individual components or steps necessary to reach the objectives and place them in proper sequence. The planning process ideally deals with resources (people, skills, equipment, materials, money).

What you would like to do, coupled with strategic self-concept yields strategic intent. In some way this is more helpful for people to know than all the plan specifics. When we are clear on strategic intent, we can make on-the-spot decisions using this as a guide. Rather than fixating, the plan should allow the organization to adapt and break out of old paradigms.

Implementing

Managers are good at planning and direction setting but fail to get “beyond their best intentions” according to Billie Alban. There are some specific issues and endeavors which can load actions for success. Among them are:

• Select and involve future key players – involving people early helps build their ownership and commitment.
• Frame for public consumption – aspects of the plan that appeal to the group addressed can be stressed. Grab the stakeholders where they live.
• Develop community – show how the implementation benefits many and brings people together under a common purpose.
• Enlist informal leaders – people enjoy being consulted and can be influential in molding acceptance and action.
• Care and feeding of the boss – involve the chief, get ideas, get help in removing roadblocks. Bosses don’t like to be surprised, and often do like to help.
• Put a stake in the ground – be willing to take personal responsibility and to get others equally committed.

Responsibility and Accountability

In high performance organizations many individuals are willing to hold themselves accountable for performance, rather than blaming others if things go awry. Linda Gallindo defines personal responsibility as a “before the fact” mindset of personal ownership and commitment to the result. She also defines personal accountability as a personal willingness “after the fact” to answer for outcomes produced.

Engendering this type of  response in our people separates transformative leaders and managers from the pack. One approach is to get people to R.I.S.K. :

• Realize that my results are the consequences of my actions.
• If it is to be, it is up to me.
• Step out of my comfort zone.
• Keep focused.

When people take ownership they behave differently. They let go of complacency and scape-goating and take action and risk to achieve results. In order to help others become accountable, leaders can state objectives clearly, ensure measurement of results, and consistently model their own accountability.

Creative Problem Solving

Groups can be facilitated in such a way that their collective brainpower far exceeds the sum of individual contributions. In order for this to happen, all ideas must be acceptable, censorship is not allowed, and ideas are captured for later refinement and analysis. In order to develop creative alternatives, we can:

• agree on a process that invites participation and receptivity.
• clarify the mission or goal.
• brainstorm alternatives.
• identify promising possibilities and build momentum for them.
• overcome concerns and make them actionable.
• identify next steps and responsibilities.

Effective group problem solving usually includes defining the problem, getting ideas and information, testing ideas, decision making, developing and implementing an action plan, and feedback and measurement.

Although there are likely as many approaches to coaching as there are coaches, it is fairly safe to sum up this rapidly growing field in this way: coaching is not therapy, counseling or a treatment of any sort. These methods depend on the existence of a ‘problem’ upon which a focus is then placed. Not that we don’t all have our issues; certain fear-based assumptions which disrupt the natural flow and inevitable change that is Life. In actuality, our lives are held hostage by that which we fear, real or imagined, looming or dormant. Ironically, in order to know what you fear most, it helps to get in touch with what you want most. I mean, what do you really want?? Strange as it may sound, this is not always the easiest of questions to answer. Coaching, in general, is about deep listening which allows two things to happen: the coach is able to respond by asking the right questions at the right time and subsequently offer a different perspective from which new insight can be gained.  More specifically, ontological coaching tunes into language, emotions and the body as an inter-woven system. It is concerned with the nature of Being itself. Wellness is defined by How You Are while you are doing whatever you are doing. 

Transformational coaching can be done individually or in groups; each offering distinctly valuable time. While one-on-one coaching provides private, undivided attention, group coaching fosters a connection with others and taps into a wider circle of collective wisdom. Either way, the first step is to identify the desired outcome of the coaching relationship. We then begin to learn how to use emotions as tools and uncover self-limiting patterns of behavior (themes), usually in relation to others, which do not serve you well.  If left unchecked and unnoticed, our old, ingrained habits will create a future based in and on our past. As the wizard explains to Dorothy in Oz, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten”. We will also rediscover your true nature, your Core, which is you at your best.

Personal mastery is about building self-awareness into behavioral change thereby empowering you, as the artist, to create a life by design, not by default. Coaching is about creating a sacred space in which to embark on this journey into yourself, a place to be heard, understood and re-discover Who You Really Are. You, the real you, is nothing more or less than the awareness in which the content (story) of your life unfolds. It is only when we begin to believe that we are the thoughts we think (or not), the title we hold (or not), how we look (or not), the things we have (or not) or what we’ve done (or not) that the uncertainty sets in. In this place of uncertainty, doubt and fear we default to ‘ways of being’ that once served as coping mechanisms to help us adapt to what went on in our life as a child.

We all long for authentic conversation, to recognize ourselves in others through connection and return home to our Core only to realize we never left. The coaching I prefer is based on these guiding principles:

            ~you are whole and complete

            ~every answer to every problem or question lies within you, right now

            ~there is only Now

            ~suffering is a mental construct that arises from resistance to ‘what is’

            ~true freedom is acknowledging the power within to choose your response to

              any event, situation or circumstance

            ~the meaning in life is that which you assign to it

            ~there is enough for everyone

            ~we are all connected to each other and the Source from which we came

My intention is not to give you answers or tell you what to do. I am here to act as a mirror to help you recognize what you already know, but have forgotten. I am merely your guide along the journey into yourself. I look forward to our travels together….

Studies show the bottom line profit of any organization and the overall effectiveness of any agency or group is determined by the members abilities to first know themselves (EI) and then be able to work together effectively in harmony (SI).  Individuals with EI and SI are better able to make quick and effective decisions when faced with complex issues while maintaining good relationships with their colleagues and subordinates.  They are also better able to create and sustain cooperation and collaboration amongst individuals who are divided.

What are Emotional and Social Intelligence?
For a brief history:  http://psychology.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/jkihlstrom.html

The books: Howard Gardner published in 1983, Frames of Mind; Daniel Goleman published in 1995, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and in 2006, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships; Karl Albrecht published in 2005, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success. Dr. Goleman’s definition of EI currently has four dimensions: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Dr. Albrecht’s definition of SI has five dimensions: situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity and empathy.

What prepared me to lead EQuus Clinics?
I completed a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1982.  My course work focused on the implementation of the newly formed techniques of Cognitive-Behavioral Modification.  This is the delivery method of building the skills of EI and SI. From 1982 to 2000, I was a contractor to the enforcement divisions of federal agencies as a Behavioral Analyst.  This unique training and experience prepared me to quickly and accurately gather and evaluate behavioral data.  This set of skills is the foundation of my ability to “read” individuals, groups and organizations and determine their level of function while devising a strategy for improving organizational/personal effectiveness.

I completed my Master’s in Applied Behavioral Science at Leadership Institute of Seattle from 1993 to 1995.  As I look at my transcript, the first year was focused on the courses of Family of Origin Theory and Practice where I was expected to learn to know myself. This curriculum could be described as developing the skills of Emotional Intelligence as defined by Goleman (intra-personal awareness or EI). In the second year, the curriculum centered around creating healthy organizations with courses such as Developing Learning Communities, Creating Healthy Organizations, Group Leadership and Development and Conflict Management. All these courses could be described as developing the skills of Social Intelligence as defined by Albrecht (inter-personal awareness or SI). Back in the mid-nineties, the idea that as a business person, my success depended on my EI was not widely accepted. Now, thanks to Goleman and Albrecht, it has been widely promulgated.

Over the past two decades, I have been sought as a consultant and coach who puts learning about the Self first (EI) then ties each learning to how it affects the bottom line of profit (SI).  For some people, this is a stretch and too much of a hurdle.  The clients with whom I have enjoyed extended business relationships believe it to be critical.

How Do EI, SI and Horses Fit Together?
In 1994, while attending graduate school in Seattle and living in