Leadership reflection: how it helps managers and leaders enhance their learning.

Posted on 17 July, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

man reflectingA common challenge that managers, leaders and business owners have is not having enough time to actively or proactively reflect.  Attending to the daily schedule of meetings and appointments,  managing the team, customers and board relationships along with unscheduled things that pop up often leaves time for little else.

And yet the ability to reflect is a critical part of a leader and manager’s growth and development.

It is through reflection that we are able to cull out the juices from any encounter and move forward more confidently.

Reflection enables us to dig deeper and come up with insights and gems that may not have been so apparent initially – often tapping into the wisdom of the unconscious.

This is one reason that more and more organizations and executives are resorting to coaches to have that committed time, space and listening.  Being able to reflect on things with a trusted other enables powerful learning conversations to occur.

It brings forth analysis as well as synthesis. Continue reading →

Posted in leadership, Personal reflection | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How embracing ambiguity can lead to more creative solutions in leadership

Posted on 14 July, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

When?As human beings we like having a sense of predictability and control.  And yet,  currently in business – volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are all too prevalent.

The good old “cookie cutter” solutions just don’t fit anymore as leaders are having to respond and find effective solutions  facing their business and industry.

In this context when faced with the unfamiliar requiring a new and different response, we can  feel somewhat fazed and put out. The old instinct kicks in as we try to re-create a sense of order,  familiarity and control.

In our discomfort with ambiguity  we may find ourselves reaching out to the old, familiar solutions.

But what if by doing this we are missing out by not seeing the new possibilities that are present. Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-cultural, Dealing with change, leadership | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What makes for great leadership?

Posted on 8 July, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

Gandhi on Indian rupee noteThere is so much rhetoric in leadership but from time to time we get to see and experience what great leadership is.

These are moments, events and time in our lives when we feel touched, moved and inspired because we see and experience great leadership.

What have been such moments for you?  Can you recall some examples from your own life?

Perhaps it was a parent figure, a family member or a particular manager who embodied confidence in you and your abilities and made you feel like you could tackle and take on anything.  And that is exactly what you did and nine times out of ten, you proved them right!

On the global stage, like many, I was incredibly moved by the historical event when Barack Obama became the United States of America’s first African American President.

Then there are other awe inspiring history making stories as per Nelson Mandela,   The Dalai Lama, Gandhi, and Mother Theresa.

In my own neighbourhood there is  the mature, migrant woman who runs a family business. She started with minimal experience and a dream and now has a  roaring trade based on the quality of food she makes as she keeps the neighborhood fed and happy and  at such reasonable prices!

Her business continues to grow from strength to strength but her leadership has not veered from the core values that made her successful.

There are many qualities, principles and actions which make for great leadership.

I have chosen the following seven for this blog: Continue reading →

Posted in leadership | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leadership Courage – What does it mean to you?

Posted on 21 June, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

dare to dreamWhat does the word courage mean to you?  The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines courage as – “the ability to disregard fear; bravery.   Having the courage of one’s convictions and acting on one’s beliefs.”  Over the centuries, courage has been regarded as a core virtue which then enables other virtues such as truthfulness, responsibility, integrity, authenticity, accountability and persistence. I rather love Ernest Hemingway’s famous definition of courage as “grace under pressure.”

Being in a leadership role, one is constantly in a fish bowl. A leader is being constantly watched for everything she does, how well she does this along with what she does not say or do.  The current business and economic VUCA context calls for even greater leadership courage, resilience, agility, nimbleness and innovation.    Managers and leaders courage gets tested every day.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
–  Ambrose Redmoon.

For the purpose of this blog, I have broken down courage into three levels where a leader’s courage is called upon.  As you read these, note where you show more courage along with what is more challenging for you and why?  Continue reading →

Posted in Integrity and Values, leadership | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leaders: Where are you being willfully blind?

Posted on 8 April, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

How many times in our lives – at work or personally have we known that something isn’t quite right be it about a particular situation, a business transaction or a person and yet we have chosen to be willfully blind.  According to Margaret Heffernan in her insightful and engaging book, “Willful Blindness” – why we ignore the obvious at our own peril, this is far more common and pervasive than we would possibly care to think about.  With real case studies, she answers questions like, why do we choose to keep ourselves in the dark, what are the forces at work that make us deny the big threats staring at us in the face and not heeding the warnings and why as individuals, companies and countries we regularly look back in the mirror and howl: How could we have been so blind?

Here are  twelve factors at play that she covers in this highly recommended book.

1) Affinity and beyond – familiarity does not breed contempt.  It breeds comfort and a sense of safety. Madoff’s  crime is described as an affinity crime,  preying on people like him who knew others like themselves, who didn’t ask questions because their level of comfort was so high that they felt they could take shortcuts.  Our blindness grows out of the small, daily decisions that we make which embed us snugly inside our affirming thoughts and values.  We think we see more but in fact the landscape has shrunk.

2) Love is blind – we blind ourselves to inconvenient or painful facts. Because our identity and security depends on our loved ones, we don’t want to see anything that threatens them. It is easier to be blind than deal with uncomfortable feelings. Neuroscience shows that love activates those areas of the brain associated with reward such as food, drink, money or cocaine.  The chemical processes stimulated by love disable much of the critical thinking about the loved one. There is the paradox of blindness – we think it will make us safe even as it puts us in danger. We make ourselves powerless when we pretend not to know.

3) Dangerous convictions – Psychologist Anthony Greenwald called this the “totalitarian ego.” It operates like a police state: locking away threatening or incompatible ideas, suppressing evidence, and re-writing history, all in the service of a central idea or self-image. Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness & Consciousness, leadership, Organization culture, Personal development | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leadership Call: The time is Now

Posted on 30 March, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

How many times have you really wanted to do something – take your leadership the next step up, follow your heart’s desire, committ to a new goal but have shied away?  Pulled back because you felt you weren’t ready, the time wasn’t right or you got distracted from what really mattered?

It is one thing, if there were legitimate reasons for not taking action. However, many a time, we have also not done what we really wanted or taken that next step because of our limiting self-talk and underlying beliefs.  Thinking and beliefs like – “I just need to do one more course before I am ready” (then another and another!); “can I really do that” or “what if it doesn’t work out?”

We talk ourselves out of things even before we begin.  Our dreams, desires or goals beckon but we don’t honour them sufficiently; instead – prioritizing it to a vague another day, another time, maybe never. Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness & Consciousness, leadership, Personal reflection | Leave a comment

Leaders: Why gratitude matters

Posted on 5 March, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

It was a birthday week last week.  And yes – I am happy to admit –despite the passing years; I stretch it out and lap it up like I was still in my teens!  A day is far too short to do birthdays any justice, don’t you think?

More seriously, this time it hit me that birthdays are only made special because of our loving family and friends. Their warm wishes are like a wrapping of love. It made me feel like the perfect gift.  As my heart expanded, I was able to extend these feelings of appreciation and gratitude back to them. I was also left questioning how most of our days we madly rush around, rarely savouring or letting in the gift that our loved ones are to us.

According to Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Psychology Professor and author of Positivity, true gratitude is heartfelt and unscripted, not mindless manners or tit for tat reciprocity.  The film and social movement Pay it forward is a great example of gratitude in action.

Gratitude is one of the essential pillars of positive psychology.   It has a direct hit on our feelings of positivity and well-being. Research shows that people, who are more grateful have higher levels of subjective well-being are less stressed, less depressed and are more satisfied with their lives and relationships.  Our resourcefulness and capacity also expands when we are in a more positive frame of mind and we are better able to deal with life transitions. Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness & Consciousness, Personal reflection, Positive Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leaders: Saying nothing can be a COST

Posted on 17 February, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

silenceLast week, a girl friend visiting from out of town, posed this question “Jas when is it appropriate to say things as they are versus not saying anything for the sake of maintaining the relationship?”  As you can imagine, this led to an engaging conversation on what the context of the question was including the nature of the issue, how long the issue had existed, what she was feeling and what she really needed from her partner.   My friend was obviously grappling with some relationship issues as we do from time to time. However, it got me reflecting on how similar dynamics show up in organizational life with our clients, colleagues, managers, leaders and or suppliers?

Let us take our colleagues and bosses. How free do we feel to openly communicate our thoughts and feelings with them?  How often do we not share with a team member that their annoying and seemingly disrespectful behaviours perhaps borne of poor EQ skills are getting in the way of a potentially good working relationship?

My experience is that we cannot avoid and gloss over issues and our rumbling feelings for too long.  Sooner or later things do catch up and bubble over at inopportune moments and in inappropriate ways.   When this happens, it is generally not a good look and typically does more harm than good.

The other down side of not being able to discuss and share our concerns is that it does not call for a good, healthy and robust team and or relationship where differences can be voiced, feelings can be heard and decisions still made for the greater good. In fact, what is “present” but not spoken becomes the “pink elephant” which is very much present but everyone ignores and carries on regardless. Continue reading →

Posted in Giving and receiving feedback | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Leaders: Where have you given up the reins?

Posted on 8 February, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

giving up reins“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”  
–Josiah Charles Stamp

Being responsible for our lives is a no brainer.  If we are asked the question of whether we take responsibility for our lives, the majority of us would say, “but, of course.” Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?   But this can be a question worth exploring deeper.  In my earlier work as a clinician, then as a consultant and coach, I discovered that even the most successful person invariably had an area or issue that they had sidled away from taking responsibility – whether consciously or unconsciously.

Here are a couple of examples–a top executive while “hitting the numbers” and running a very reputable and successful business, gave up responsibility of “being a father”  and spending much quality time  ( or any  at all!) with his  young kids.  His rationale – his partner was super organized and while holding down her own demanding job also managed the home life including the children.  Given one of his top values was family, the irony of this hit him sharply and he consequently committed to making time with the kids before they were put to bed.  A solution that he felt was realistic and achievable especially the weeks he was home and not out of the country.
Continue reading →

Posted in leadership | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leaders: Don’t take your eye off the ball

Posted on 28 January, 2013 by jasbindar.singh

I once heard a speaker at a conference do an entire presentation about the time they “took their eye off the ball” and the impact this neglect had on their primary goal of building their new business.  Being a fairly focused person, I couldn’t quite relate to their message at the time but the penny dropped some years later when I did something similar!  Writing a book needn’t have precluded other important aspects of my life.

The message here – regardless of what other ventures and or exciting people and projects come along your way, is do not give up your original dream, project or intention in pursuit of the other.   Continue to nurture your dream, goals and intentions.  Like planting seeds in your garden – provide the best growth conditions you can – water it regularly, feed it the right nutrients and generally keep an eye on its ongoing requirements.

It can be a challenge to keep our commitment to our dreams, passion and goals while also maintaining other important aspects of our life.  Our time and energy is limited on planet earth so why not grab it with zeal and give it your best shot.  Research on happiness indicates that our sense of satisfaction comes through engaging in what is meaningful for us.  Once you have identified these –stay on track and remind yourself when you take your eye off the ball for longer than desirable!

Jasbindar Singh is  business psychologist who loves helping her clients achieve their goals and lead  fulfilling lives.

 

Posted in Awareness & Consciousness, Careers, leadership | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment