Link: http://www.gaian.com

Here's a bit of trivia. The Wright brothers’ historic first powered flight traveled a total distance that is less than the wing span of a 747. That was in 1903. In 1911, the Wrights' Vin Fiz was the first airplane to cross the United States. The flight took 84 days, stopping 70 times. Now, the last time I was in a 747, I was traveling to Hong Kong. Those are dramatic increases in the space of 100 years. Interestingly, the basic principles of flight and how the Wright brothers used aerodynamics and how Boeing engineers used them today have not changed. What has changed is the degree to which we can understand these forces and leverage them to our advantage. We have become more advanced in the use of systems that allow the laws of physics to do what is natural and enable powered flight.

What does this have to do with leadership and change, aside from the fact that I like airplanes? I am often asked for the very latest in change and in leading change. Some people consider literature that is ten years old to be out of date. Here’s the corollary to 747s. If you compare the Exodus story of a few thousand years ago to a current day change effort, you will find that the overall aspects of change have not changed (that sounds weird). The change process described in Exodus is basically the same as described today, with the big exception that we can get a lot more done in forty years now than they did back then. Oh, all right. We usually don’t use swarms of locusts and the like these days either, although I have seem some techniques that seemed pretty close. What has improved over time is our capacity to understand these forces and leverage them to our advantage. We have improvements in how we interact with people and how we can monitor systems.

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Link: http://www.gaian.com

Last week I talked about stories, and the power they have to engage people. It was one of my most popular offerings to date. One thing got more attention - both in comments and questions - and that was the part about how engaged people can become in the awful story and what we can do about it.

Many of you know that I am a pilot. Part of that journey through aviation involved becoming a flight instructor. One thing I learned about people who love to fly is that the next best thing to flying is talking about flying. Pilots call it “hangar flying”, which means being in the hangar around airplanes talking about flying. Now, I had a student who had really been bitten by the aviation bug, and he was out at the airport hangar flying with the locals. He got involved, and the subject turned bad. They started telling horror stories of flying, of accidents and awful experiences that had occurred in the air. He got really engaged, to the point where he was feeling the experiences as they unfolded through the well-rehearsed stories that these guys so loved to tell. What happened next? He acted on his feelings, which at the time were intense fear, and he left the airport. He quit flying. It was too much for him. He had not yet soloed, and by now he was sure he never wanted to.

This really had me do some evaluation about how you discuss risks, or what can go wrong, in order to prepare people fully. Aviation, like many other industries, is rigorous about accident investigations and understanding in great detail what happened. Yet, even though pilots see many of these, most of us keep flying. Here’s the difference. As humans, we can get engaged in any type of story. However, when the plot line creates scenarios where the listener would be a hopeless victim, it becomes a horror story. When the plot line creates challenges, even really big or scary ones, where the listener has a chance to overcome them, it becomes a story of possibilities. In aviation, every accident story is told with a lesson about what the pilot could have done to avoid it or prevent the circumstance from ever arising. Then, it can serve to expand potential and capability. For my student, the stories told in the hangars were missing a critical piece for growth. The stories had no way out. For a novice pilot who did not have enough knowledge to fill in the possibilities for himself, they became horror stories. He took the only path to safety he knew, which was to never come back.

Good stories empower the listener, bad stories create victims. There is an important distinction. Talking about something bad that happened is not necessarily a bad story, and to that degree, a something good that happened is not necessarily a good story. Here is a key point to remember. Our stories somewhat predict our future behaviors. Because of that, your organizations future is likely to be very similar to its folklore. If you want to change future events, change your stories. Even though you can’t change the history of your organization or the events that actually occurred, you have the choice as to how you talk about it. Think about it. Do your stories empower the listeners? Do they engage them in some basic question of humanity, acted out in this particular environment? Does the past provide a lesson for the future? This is one simple place to make large change in an organization.

So, take some time, take some notes, and change your life!

Cheers,

Jeff Evans, Ph.D.
The Gaian Group
(805) 277-4993
Inspirational Presence: The Art of Transformational Leadership

The are many references to storytelling in leadership journals, and to the importance of using stories to capture the attention of groups of people. Stories are the oldest form of teaching that we know of in human history. This oral/aural tradition of communication has fueled us and given us a collective sense of meaning. Stories teach us in every arena of life. When I look back over the years of my education, the storytellers stand out. They made everything real.

Years ago I worked as a process operator in an oil refinery. People often described it as "hours of intense boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror". There were a lot of stories told among the operators. Some of them reached mythical proportions about disasters, process upsets, fires, explosions, storms, or even the size of the meals that Joe ate. In truth, it was actually quite an interesting job, highly technical, deeply complex, and often much like playing a game of chess. I learned a real lesson here about stories. The process was basically a 24/7 operation with a goal of stability. The process in itself had no beginning, middle, or end, elements that are required to make a story. Now, all of the things that got talked about - including Joe - did. They had meaning to those of us who were up working at 3 am night after night. The process itself, however, could not be told in the same way.

You see, people tell the story that they can witness, observe, and experience. Without a larger context, the only stories we observed were those within our local folklore. While there was a business story that our process lived within, we could not see it. Eventually I saw a real leader show up there, who began to engage people in a much larger story based on the business of refining. Lo and behold, it had meaning, and it connected with people. This was real engagement of the hearts as well as our minds and our efforts. It was amazing to see and experience the difference it created.

I have recently been spending more time around the entertainment world, and this brings to light another aspect of storytelling. Here people are really in touch with how a story connects to the people who will be watching it. People want to be entertained - however - entertainment does not necessarily mean that they are laughing and smiling. Perhaps it makes more sense if you think of it like this. People want to be engaged. They want to be moved in their own humanity. They want stories to relate to what it is like to be on this planet. Let's face it, life is not about a long series of work assignments and tasks. It is about living. Now, we all work at something, the trick is to make sure that the work we do has some purpose to it, some meaning, and engages us as being part of a larger story.

The last piece of this is for leaders. People can become as engaged in a bad story as they can in a good one. We have all seen or even experienced group bonding over a common pain. However, this is usually not constructive. During the time I spent as an operator, the folklore taught most of the lessons, and most of the time it was not good. When we had a better story, we told it, and we lived it.

It is a requirement of leaders to tell the story of why the people are there from the highest level, with a way to connect through to the lowest level. It is a requirement for leaders to provide these key elements of meaning in a way that people can find useful. This opens the door for people to bring their hearts and minds to what they are doing. If you don't have this story down, get it down now. Get clear on the story of why you are here, what you are trying to accomplish, and why it matters at all in the grander scheme. Send it to me. I'd like to hear it.

So, take some time, take some notes, and change your life!

Cheers,

Jeff Evans
The Gaian Group
(805) 277-4993

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Last weekend found my wife Justina and me at Comic Con in San Diego. What an experience that was! It started out with our good friend Matthew inviting us to go to the conference to see his sons’ business Radical Publishing and their booth at the convention. Now, I have not been much of a comic book fan, but I am a fan of family and seeing people succeed. I am also a great fan of creativity, and was this ever a place to see that! Top it off with a party on Saturday night, and we were good to go.

Now, what does Gene Simmons (yes, the one from Kiss) have to do with this? By series of connections, he was at the event as well. You see, Matthew’s son Jesse, of Radical Publishing, is friends with Nick Simmons, who is a very talented artist and writer. Nick has written a story line that is published through Radical and is moving towards film production. On Saturday night, Radical Publishing took over the Hard Rock Hotel to celebrate their amazing journey and the fabulous projects they are launching. For this party, Nick (also a talented vocalist), sang a few songs to the party-goers. All vocalists need backup, so his dad, Gene Simmons and three of his friends (all sans makeup) backed him up. At the end of the set, Gene took the mike, pointed at Nick, and said “That’s my son!” The four of them then played their own set, and we all left duly impressed as well as deafened.

This event really struck me, and got me thinking about generosity and what it means to leaders and to all of us as humans. We saw Gene Simmons coming to the Radical booth every day to sign autographs with his son, and use his influence to create visibility for his son. We saw him using his musical talents to provide support and entertainment to his son and to those who turned out for the new company.

Leadership is about helping other people succeed. Zig Ziglar is quoted as having said “you can only get what you want if you help enough other people get what they want”. You see, we succeed in life based on the success we help create. Our job as a leader is to give our unique gifts to create more and more success in those people within our sphere of influence. As they succeed, so do we.

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Most of us have now seen the news covering Sarah Palin and her decision to step down as Governor of Alaska. While we can question her motive, agree or disagree, what I would like to talk about today is simply the leadership action involved. First of all, as anyone who has listened to me for very long will know, I am a huge advocate of stepping into a desired state of change. Obviously there is something very compelling that has led her to that action, and she has made a huge move towards something different. She made a significant move towards whatever is important to her.

At the same time, when I talk about taking action towards a desired end, I also talk about "exit with integrity". This is the part that must go along with change, as we will leave behind many things when we make big changes. This can sometimes be one of the hardest parts of change. It is not so much that people don't want to move into a new area, they just haven't fully let go of their attachments. Taking the time to identify what is left behind and ensure that it will be handled allows the systems you leave to continue functioning. It also allows you to move forward freely without attachments to unfinished business you left behind.

One last thing about making big changes. When you are a very visible leader, it is very important to public your reasoning for change. People follow those they can trust, and agree to their direction. Silence from a leader is a sure way to lose followers. For Sarah, the media can only guess what she is doing. We will have to wait to see the outcome.

For our purposes, I just ask you to consider how far you will go to create what you want. Would you step down from your position, leaving items unfinished and commitments unmet to create something new and more compelling? If you decide you would, then take these lessons for making big changes.
Clearly define and public what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how the world will be different for your actions.
Make your move decisively, clearly transitioning from one role to the next.
Exit your current situation with the utmost of integrity. It was important enough for you to commit your time and energy before, leave it with as much care as you created it.
So, take some time, take some notes, and change your life!

Cheers,

Jeff Evans
The Gaian Group
(805) 277-4993

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licensed under a Creative Commons License.