Create Clarity

How clear are you on what it means for you to holistically flourish in Jesus?

/ mkessenburg

Photo by Jenna Hamra

Get clear on holistically flourishing in Jesus—and then take action! Why?

  • Because God calls you to abundant life in Jesus (John 10:9-11).
  • Because getting clear on and taking action on holistically flourishing helps you serve God, have robust health, enjoy deep friendships, and learn life-changing things.
  • Because not getting clear on and not taking action on holistically flourishing can result in you serving yourself, experiencing only satisfactory health, and possibly stagnating socially and intellectually.
  • Because getting clear and taking action are best practices.

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Here are 5 questions that can help you get clear on and take action on flourishing in Jesus:

Question 1: To you, what is and isn’t holistically flourishing in Jesus? This is what that looks like for me:

Holistically flourishing in Jesus is…Not holistically flourishing in Jesus is…
Joining God in what He’s already doing.Asking God to join me in what I’m already doing.
Having adequate time to do my work (see Construct: Stress, p. 18)Having too much to do and not enough time.
Apologizing, asking for help, and demonstrating commitment to the mission.Not apologizing, asking for help, or demonstrating commitment to the mission.
Getting consistent feedback and getting coaching.Getting infrequent feedback.
Experiencing a welcoming workspace.Experiencing an unwelcoming workspace.
Discussing (including celebrating) the meaning, implications, and achievement of the purpose statements.Treating the purpose statements as irrelevant.
Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night.Feeling tired (and in need of coffee).
Expressing deep appreciation for my colleagues’ cultures.Thinking everyone should use my cultural practices.
Having my professional development aligned with individual, team, and schoolwide goals (see Construct: Professional Development, p. 16).Having professional development that is not aligned with goals.
Using tools that help me focus on flourishing: Curriculum Plan, Expected Student Outcomes Assessment Plan, Governance Plan, and Well-Being Culture Plan.Using tools that don’t focus on flourishing.

Question 2: How would you define holistically flourishing in Jesus? Based on ACSI’s Flourishing Model, I’d define holistically flourishing as consistently experiencing the 5 elements of flourishing and helping others do the same. The 5 elements of flourishing are:

Photo by Ann H

Question 3: For you, what does holistically flourishing look like? I use vision scripts to describe what flourishing looks like (see sample vision scripts for students, staff, and leaders). Holistically flourishing for me includes consistently experiencing…

Question 4: What can you do to achieve your vision? I’d recommend…

  • Implementing a Personalized Flourishing Plan that is designed to help you achieve your vision (see Question 3).
  • Working with a coach or an accountability partner.
  • Assessing and celebrating progress.
  • Completing an annual after action review and then determining next steps.

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Question 5: What will you do? What I’m doing includes:

  • Exercising 5 times each week.
  • Building relationships at church.
  • Reading 50+ books in 2024.

Here are some related blog posts:

Get flourishing!

Michael

How clear are you on the value you want to create through a given school improvement goal? (Hint: Use ChatGPT!)

/ mkessenburg

Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

Get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal! Why?

(1) Because clarity and creating value helps you and others flourish.

(2) Because getting clear increases the likelihood that value will actually be created in terms of deep change (in terms of institutional effectiveness) and in terms of people flourishing (by experiencing 1 or more of the 5 elements of flourishing: passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources).

(3) Because not getting clear increases the likelihood that value won’t be created, that no change or nominal change will happen, and that people will get frustrated and irritated with school improvement. Not good.

(4) Because getting clear and creating value are best practices.

Think of it this way: It’s much easier to actually create value when you know what you want to create. Or to put it another way, “Without a clear and shared picture of the value you’re trying to create, the project is doomed” (Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, loc 561). Ouch!

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So, how can you get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? What comes to mind for me is (1) purpose, (2) parameters, and (3) the practice of collaboratively generating a vision script. Let me explain:

(1) Purpose: Establish a galvanizing purpose for all your school improvement efforts. Here’s mine: To get students, staff, and leaders holistically flourishing in Jesus.

(2) Parameters: Define the parameters for creating value, for example: The value created must…

  • Be aligned with the overall purpose for school improvement.
  • Be based on an improvement plan that is completed on time and within budget (not on a plan that is not completed, or is late, or is over budget). 
  • Be deep change (not nominal change). Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement goal (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education). And deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms of practices that increase institutional effectiveness. 
  • Get people flourishing during and after the implementation of the plan, further cultivating a flourishing culture. Flourishing means (A) that people consistently experience 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and (B) that people consistently help others do the same.

(3) Practice: Collaboratively identify the value you want a given improvement goal to create, documenting it in a vision script format: 1-2 paragraphs that use present tense verbs and that describe 5-15 specifics of the value you want to create in terms of deep change and getting people flourishing. 

Before starting, review sample vision scripts. Here’s a sample vision script for an improvement goal to increase compensation and benefits:

We experience increased compensation and an enhanced benefits package that includes a wellness program, a pension/401k, and more funds for professional development. The new compensation and benefits package is…
(1) Based on accessible, transparent, and equitable policies and practices (and these policies and practices are reviewed annually).
(2) Monitored by additional qualified staff who enable us to stay current with best practices regarding compensation and benefits.
(3) Clearly and repeatedly communicated, resulting in shared understanding regarding compensation and benefits.

We have increased retention, and we are better able to attract more qualified candidates. We are flourishing (for example, in terms of professional growth), able to stay in Christian education for our careers, and able to retire well.

Feeling more valued, we experience increased passionate purpose in terms of commitment to the mission and to helping each other holistically flourish in Jesus. We experience increased morale and unity.

And before starting, consider using these 3 ChatGPT prompts:

  • ChatGPT Prompt 1 applies the above parameters to an improvement goal. It will help you see what happens when value is and isn’t created. Exhilarating and scary!
  • ChatGPT Prompt 2 will help you see what deep change could look like for a given improvement goal.
  • ChatGPT Prompt 3 will help you see what both deep change and getting people flourishing could look like for a given improvement goal.

*Note: When using a given ChatGPT prompt, you will need to insert the improvement goal you are working on toward the bottom of each prompt—see purple print.

ChatGPT Prompt 1: Act as an international Christian school consultant who specializes in school improvement. You believe that school improvement should create value, and you have developed a 4-level model to assess the value created. Here’s the 4-level model: 

Level 1: The improvement plan is completed (but it’s late and/or over budget). 

Level 2: The improvement plan is completed within parameters for time and cost (but does not result in deep change or in people flourishing). 

Level 3: The improvement plan is completed within parameters and results in deep change. Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement plan (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education), and deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms practices that increase institutional effectiveness. 

Level 4: The improvement plan is completed within parameters, results in deep change, and results in people flourishing during and after the implementation of the plan, further cultivating a flourishing culture. Flourishing means that people consistently experience 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and means that people consistently help others do the same. Remember, (A) only include 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing and (B) specify what this looks like both during and after plan implementation.

Now, please apply the model to an improvement goal on _____. For each of the 4 levels, write 4 or more sentences describing the results. Use present tense verbs and give 5-15 specific descriptions for each level.
ChatGPT Prompt 2: Act as an international Christian school consultant who specializes in school improvement. You believe that for school improvement to result in deep, lasting change (for example, practices that increase institutional effectiveness), school improvement must address 1 or more root causes of a given improvement goal such as the following 6: 
(1) Unhelpful mindsets: fixed mindset, closed mindset, survive mindset
(2) Insufficient staffing
(3) Inadequate policies and processes, at the board and/or administrative levels
(4) Faulty assumptions and misunderstandings regarding the improvement goal
(5) A lack of training/expertise
(6) Insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education related to the improvement goal.

Apply your belief regarding root causes to a school improvement goal on _____. Identify 5 specific examples for each of the 6 root causes listed above. Next, 5 ways to address each of the 6 root causes listed above. This means you will provide a total of 30 examples of root causes and a total of 30 ways to address root causes, OK?
ChatGPT Prompt 3: Act as a consultant for international Christian schools. We have an improvement goal, and as a result of working our improvement goal, we want to see 2 things: 

(1) We want to see deep change. Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement goal (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education), and deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms practices that increase institutional effectiveness. 

(2) We want to see people flourishing. Flourishing means that people consistently experience the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and means that people consistently help others do the same.

Now for our improvement goal on _____, identify 20 specific examples of deep change. Next, identify 5 examples of each of the 5 elements of flourishing during the implementation, and then 5 examples each of the 5 elements of flourishing after the implementation. 

Here are some related resources:

Source

And here’s what else I’m learning about creating value from Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager:

  • “You’ve got to make sure that everybody sees the same picture of your project’s outcome. Its value must be clear and unquestionable to the people involved” (loc 567).
  • “It’s a strange world, but often projects are called successful if they end on time and stay on budget. Oddly enough, achieving an important, worthwhile, or useful outcome is rarely mentioned! It’s as if you were to make dinner on time and on budget but serve up lousy food nobody wants to eat. But you could still claim, ‘My project succeeded!’” (loc 279)
  • “Here’s how to lead your project: First, we SCOPE the project to define its value to the people who will benefit from it. Then we PLAN how to achieve it. We ENGAGE people to give their best to the work, revisiting the plan as necessary. And we TRACK & ADAPT throughout to ensure we’re always heading for value. Finally, we CLOSE the project and celebrate success and lessons learned” (loc 497).
  • “…the main measure of success is the value delivered to stakeholders—people” (loc 2251).

How about you? How do you feel about getting clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? How can you get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? What will you do?

Bottom line: Get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal! 

Get flourishing!

Michael

When you want to more effectively improve, what do you need to do?

/ mkessenburg

This blog post is part of a series on your improvement engine—make sure you have a great improvement engine (purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices) before you start working on your improvement goal! (See also School Improvement Reflection Protocol).

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If you want to more effectively improve, enhance the engine that drives your efforts! Enhance your improvement engine of purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices. Why?

(1) Because enhancing your improvement engine (purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices—aka, the 5Ps) helps you get flourishing faster.

(2) Because you’re more likely to achieve your improvement goals when you have an inspiring purpose, use an ongoing process, and implement a documented plan.

(3) Because you’re less likely to achieve your improvement goals if you have an uninspiring purpose (to get the goal done, to improve, or to  get/stay accredited) or if your process and plan are undocumented. (Did you know that about 70% of improvement initiatives don’t succeed? 70%. Ouch.)

(4) Because enhancing the 5Ps is an effective practice.

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Let me pull this together by asking you a question: In the chart below, which person is more likely to successfully improve?

5PsPerson #1Person #2
PurposeTo get holistically flourishing in JesusTo get the goal done
PerspectiveHas a thrive mindsetHas a survive mindset
ProcessUses a documented process designed to increase focus on getting flourishingDoesn’t have a documented process, sees improvement as an event and not as a process
PlanUses a documented planDoesn’t have a documented plan
PracticesWorks with a coachDoesn’t work with a coach

My answer: Person #1. From my experience, the more I’m like Person #1, the more likely I am to actually improve, to grow, to flourish.

Let me ask you another question: In the chart below, which international Christian school is more likely to successfully improve?

5PsSchool #1School #2
PurposeTo help students, staff, and leaders holistically flourish in JesusTo be accredited
PerspectiveHas a growth mindset and shared understanding of school improvementHas a fixed mindset and little or no shared understanding of school improvement
ProcessUses a documented, ongoing improvement process that gets people flourishingNo documented process, sees improvement as an event and not as a process
PlanUses a documented planDoesn’t have a documented plan
PracticesStarts school improvement meetings with a review of the purpose, the improvement goal, and the meeting’s focusStarts school improvement meetings with a review of the meeting’s focus

My answer? School #1. If you want to improve, be like School #1, not like School #2.

Note: When the engine is working, you can drive the car. When the engine isn’t working, you push the car. Any questions?

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What will you do to enhance your personal improvement engine and/or your school’s improvement engine? Possibilities include:

(1) Purpose: Documenting your purpose—be sure to make it inspiring!

Note: “When you know your WHY, you’ll know your WAY” (Michael Hyatt, X, 2020-07-09).

(2) Perspective: Reading this blog and this blog, studying this graphic, watching this video, and reviewing this tool—then assessing your improvement mindset. At school, collaboratively develop and implement your School Improvement Framework (template).

Note: Your perspective eats your process and plan for breakfast!

(3) Process: Documenting a process that is ongoing and includes key components like:

  • Reviewing your purpose for improvement.
  • Assessing your current situation.
  • Developing and implementing a plan.
  • Assessing, celebrating, and reporting progress.
  • Determining next steps.

Note: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems” (James Clear). 

(4) Plan: Finding ways to document and/or enhance your plan. Exploring sample plans can help. Try the Personalized Flourishing Plan, Quick Win, Stop Self-Neglect/Start Self-Care, and the Action Plan template.

Note: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

(5) Practices: Identifying practices that actually help you improve. Practices that help me include talking with a coach, using a scoreboard, putting improvement tasks into my calendar, and starting school improvement meetings with a review of the purpose, the goal, and the meeting’s focus. 

Note: “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily” (John Maxwell).

Here are some related resources:

Image by freepik

Bottom line: If you want to more effectively improve, enhance your improvement engine of purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices. In fact, do this before pursuing your improvement goal!

Get flourishing!

Michael
P.S. Bonus: Here are 10 quotations from books I’ve read that contain engine or a form of improve:

(1) “Positive emotions are the fuel that drives the engine of human flourishing” (Feel-Good Productivity, loc 98).

(2) “…the engine of the Protestant Reformation wasn’t work ethic so much as literacy” (Hidden Potential, loc 701).

(3) “… self-knowledge including a sense of our life purpose is the very engine of exceptional performance” (Deep Purpose, loc 2052).

(4) “…if you devote only one hour a week to anything, you’re not likely at all to grow or improve significantly in that area of your life” (Think Ahead, loc 1236).

(5) “Coaching can only be utilized by a leader wanting to improve. If you are too proud to admit that you have a problem, then you won’t try to conquer that nonexistent (in your mind) problem. Consequently, you will not get better. A good measure of humility is required for coaching to work” (Becoming Coachable, p. 92).

(6) “Realize—and embrace—the fact that you are likely not quite as good at leading meetings as you think you are. Evidence shows that we are likely to overestimate our abilities; accepting this reality is key to self-awareness and making improvements” (The Surprising Science of Meetings, loc 605).

(7) “When leaders listen to followers and use what they hear to make improvements that benefit those who speak up and the organization, then followers put their trust in those leaders. When leaders do the opposite—when they fail to listen—it damages the leader-follower relationship. When team members no longer believe that their leaders are listening to them, they start looking for someone who will” (The Self-Aware Leader, loc 787).

(8) “Effectively leading across various cultures is a capability that can be measured and improved. But it begins with a more thoughtful, situational understanding of leadership” (Leading with Cultural Intelligence, loc 570).

(9) “Reliance on work-arounds does not just fail to improve the system, it makes it worse” (Right Kind of Wrong, loc 3544).

(10) “…because of your unawareness of your mindsets and inability to recognize that they can be improved, you have been living life below your potential. Now for the good news: by becoming aware of your mindsets and enhancing your ability to see how they can be improved, you can become empowered to dramatically change and improve your life” (Success Mindsets, p. 17).

Leaders, what happens when you clarify and overcommunicate big ideas? What happens when you don’t?

/ mkessenburg

Photo by David Travis on Unsplash

International Christian school leaders, clarify and overcommunicate big ideas! Why?

  • Because doing so helps staff flourish.
  • Because doing so increases the likelihood that staff develop shared understanding and are inspired, aligned, and moving forward with achieving the mission.
  • Because not doing so increases the likelihood that staff will be muddled, frustrated, misaligned, and underperforming.
  • Because clarity, big ideas, and overcommunication are best practices.

You might be thinking, “What do you mean by big ideas?” As a leader, I think of myself as a teacher and the staff as my students. So when I think of big ideas, I think of enduring understandings. Here’s an example of a big idea: Christian education is about holistically flourishing in Jesus.

You might also be wondering, “Does using big ideas actually work?” For me, I’d say, “Yes!” Just like using big ideas (enduring understandings) helps students flourish, so big ideas help staff flourish. 

When I use documented big ideas, discuss them with staff, refer to them in daily conversation, and use them to guide decision-making, I find that staff are more together, cohesive, effective. I also find that overcommunicating the big ideas keeps them in the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

But let me ask you, “What helps you clarify your big ideas?” What helps me includes writing them down, sharing them with others to get input, revising them, and field testing them. 

And let me also ask you, “What are your big ideas (enduring understandings)?” Mine include:

(1) Get Flourishing Framework: Holistically flourishing means consistently experiencing passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources; and helping others do the same.

(2) Christ-Centered Purpose Statements Plan: Christian education is about holistically flourishing in Jesus, and Christ-centered purpose statements focus us on Christ and on holistically flourishing in Him.

(3) Christ-Centered Purpose Statements Plan: Good Christ-centered purpose statements are user-friendly—meaningful (aka inspiring), measurable, memorable, memorizable, easy to say, and easy to use.

(4) Curriculum Plan: Our curriculum is our plan for helping students holistically flourish in Jesus.

(5) Expected Student Outcomes Assessment Plan: Good ESOs describe what it looks like for our students to flourish and are academic and non-academic (see ACSI Inspire 1.4), measurable, memorable, memorizable, and countable on 1 hand; and good ESOs are mission-aligned.

(6) Financial Health Plan: Financial health is being able to consistently and sustainably meet our financial obligations and help our students, staff, and leaders holistically flourish—both current and future generations.

(7) Governance Plan: The governing body’s purpose is to ensure our students, staff, and leaders holistically flourish in Jesus—both current and future generations.

(8) Helping Students Grow Strong in the Lord: A caring, inquiry-based, inspiring, open, relational, respectful, and safe environment helps students increase their knowledge of, positive attitude towards, and faith in Jesus.

(9) Organizational Culture Map: Organizational culture can help us holistically flourish (think effective communication and healthy relationships) or can hinder us from holistically flourishing (think toxic culture).

(10) Personalized Flourishing Plan: Stop using a professional development plan, and start using a personalized flourishing plan that is designed to help you consistently experience each of the 5 elements of flourishing: passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources.

(11) Student Assessment Data Usage Plan: We use student assessment data to increase our students’ transformative learning—which helps our students flourish!

(12) Well-Being Culture Plan: Christian education is all about holistically flourishing in Jesus. Part of holistically flourishing for students, staff, and leaders is consistently experiencing resilient well-being. 

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

So, how can you overcommunicate your big ideas? How can you keep the big ideas in the forefront of everyone’s minds? Things I’ve found helpful are documenting the big ideas, starting team meetings by reviewing relevant big ideas, and using big ideas as the focus of staff training.

What about you? How do you feel about clarifying and overcommunicating big ideas? What are your big ideas? How can you overcommunicate you big ideas?

Get flourishing!

Michael
P.S. If you’d like help in developing big ideas, feel free to contact me.

Avoid Faulty Assumptions (#1): What helps you?

/ mkessenburg

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New ideas—my family likes them! That’s my assumption as we go out to eat. So on the way, I say, “How about Indian food? Or we could do hamburgers. What do you think about pizza?” 

They listen, but they don’t look happy. Why? Because I’m operating on a faulty assumption. The reality is that at breakfast we all agreed that we were going out for Mexican food, and they have been looking forward to this all day. The reality is that the more new ideas I share, the unhappier they’re getting because it looks like less and less we’re going out Mexican food. Not good. Really not good.

New idea—revise my assumption about new ideas: My family sometimes likes new ideas, and when we’re going out to an agreed upon restaurant is not one of those times.

Bonus: Avoid faulty assumptions!

But might not my assumption about avoiding faulty assumptions actually be a faulty assumption? I don’t think so. Here are 3 reasons why:

(1) Do a Google search on “avoid faulty assumptions” and you get about 5,530,000 results, including The Danger of Making False Assumptions, Don’t Let False Assumptions Cloud Thinking and 5 Tips to Avoid Flawed Assumptions.

(2) Leaders I trust promote clarity, which is the opposite of faulty assumptions:

(3) My life experience confirms that I should avoid faulty assumptions—because when I don’t, no good, very bad things happen, for example:

  • I’m riding my bike, heading toward an intersection, and the light turns yellow. I hit my brakes, assuming both are working. Faulty assumption. Only the front brake works—which is why my back wheel comes off the ground and I’m propelled forward off the bike and onto the street, with my feet hooked into the handle bars. Enough said.
  • My spouse wants me to solve a problem, and I think my spouse wants me to listen. (Or, my spouse wants me to listen, and I think my spouse wants me to solve a problem.) Whoops!
  • As a middle school basketball coach, I think the game is over, and it’s actually only the end of 3rd quarter. Not good.
  • As curriculum coordinator, I think I’m helping busy department chairs by developing department meeting agendas, and the department chairs feel they are being micromanaged. Instead of helping, I’m accidentally diminishing—bad!
  • I think the purpose of a meeting is to make real progress on a project, and the others present at a meeting think the purpose of the meeting is to build relationships and perhaps address the project. Bummer.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

What helps me avoid faulty assumptions includes:

  1. Starting with myself. Starting with myself fits with biblical teaching: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3, NIV). And starting with myself keeps me out of trouble. Trust me—starting with others’ faulty assumptions is not a good idea.
  2. Listing my faulty assumptions and the consequences. I review my list of faulty assumptions and make revisions. 
  3. Asking others for input. My faulty assumptions (aka, my blind spots) are something others are already aware of. Just ask my wife and my co-workers. (Note: Reading books written by experts is an effective way to get input. So to help myself, I read quite a bit.)
  4. Focusing on living out my revised assumptions. 

What about you? How do you feel about avoiding faulty assumptions? What are some of your past faulty assumptions, and what were the consequences? What helps you avoid faulty assumptions?

Here are some related blog posts:

Get flourishing!

Michael

What increases the likelihood that an improvement initiative will be successful?

/ mkessenburg

About 70%! That’s the percentage of improvement initiatives that Dr. Toby Travis (author of TrustED: The Bridge to School Improvement) says do not succeed in both schools and businesses. Why are such a high percentage of improvement initiatives in schools and businesses unsuccessful? Because, says Travis, there’s a lack of execution—meaning, there’s a lack of leadership (Zoe Routh Podcast 253, 5:53 – 6:42). Ouch!

So, what increases the likelihood that an improvement initiative will be successful? Execution-enhancing practices that come to mind for me include:

  1. Asking God for help. Regularly.
  2. Getting buy-in by framing the initiative as inspiring, engaging, and significant.
  3. Developing a documented plan for each initiative that identifies the timeline, action steps, resources, and who is responsible for what. (Be sure to assign someone to be the execution champion for the entire initiative.)
  4. Making the documented plan easily accessible. Using a Google Doc works well for me!
  5. Getting some quick wins. This builds momentum.
  6. Frequently discussing and asking questions about the improvement initiative.
  7. Using a scoreboard to visually display progress on the improvement initiative.
  8. Holding people, including myself, accountable. One way to do this is to review the scoreboard during meetings.
  9. Celebrating small wins.
  10. Practicing discipline and patience over time.

Let’s try this another way: How can you avoid being unsuccessful with an improvement initiative? One way to avoid being unsuccessful with an improvement initiative is by doing a pre-mortem. Have those working on a given improvement initiative imagine that the initiative has not been successful. Next, ask them to identify the factors that caused the lack of success. Finally, work together to address those factors in the plan.

What about you? What percentage of improvement initiatives in your organization are unsuccessful? What causes improvement initiatives to be unsuccessful? What increases the likelihood that an improvement initiative will be successful? How can you avoid being unsuccessful?

Here’s what I’m learning from reading The Psychology of Money:

  • “The correct lesson to learn from surprises is that the world is surprising. Not that we should use past surprises as a guide to future boundaries; that we should use past surprises as an admission that we have no idea what might happen next” (loc 1320).
  • “Margin of safety—you can also call it room for error or redundancy—is the only effective way to safely navigate a world that is governed by odds, not certainties” (loc 1423).
  • “…the most important part of every plan is planning on your plan not going according to plan” (loc 1524).
  • “Go out of your way to find humility when things are going right and forgiveness/compassion when they go wrong” (loc 2150).

Michael

P.S. Bonus! Here’s a list of 10 quotations from things I’ve read and listened to that contain the word execution:

  1. “The connection between execution and engagement…is the leadership topic” (Creating a High-Stakes, Winnable Game: Chris McChesney).
  2. “…leaders have three fundamental responsibilities: They craft a vision, they build alignment, and they champion execution” (The Work of Leaders: How Vision, Alignment, and Execution Will Change the Way You Lead, loc 381).
  3. “At its most basic level, execution is making the vision a reality. And not just any reality, but the right reality, one that takes the imagined future and turns it into a real accomplishment. Execution is how organizations and teams take all the good ideas and turn them into results” (The Work of Leaders: How Vision, Alignment, and Execution Will Change the Way You Lead, loc 1537).
  4. “Leading well isn’t about perfection, but about execution. Knowing exactly what your goal is and finding creative ways to hit the target in your authentic style shows your willingness to learn, grow, and do good for those you serve” (Leading with Grace: Leaning into the Soft Skills of Leadership, loc 432).
  5. “We’re stuck in permanent ‘execution mode,’ without a moment to take stock or ask questions about what we really want from life” (The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, loc 81).
  6. “When we’re busy and focused on execution, there’s no time to ask questions that might have discomfiting answers. Is this the right path? What does success really mean? Am I living my life the way I want to?” (The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, loc 322)
  7. “…large number of leaders view vision as secondary. That’s because there’s an action bias inherent to leadership. Execution, after all, is right there in the word—executive. These leaders limit their job to effective execution of their current objectives. That’s necessary, but insufficient. Execution is just part of the picture. Without a destination and the people to follow you there, you might be busy, but you’re not busy leading your company” (The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business, loc 351).
  8. “Wasted money, time, and talent. When leaders focus on execution to the exclusion of vision, they miss the role vision plays in execution. As a result, they create frustration within their teams and waste valuable resources, including their own scarce time and energy. Vision provides a direction for execution, as well as a standard by which to judge performance. Without it, teams invest themselves in irrelevant outcomes and unimportant projects. Beyond that, they don’t even know if they’re winning because there’s no external standard to evaluate their progress. Everybody runs in circles. By aligning around a clear and compelling vision, you can avoid sideways energy and wasted effort. By minimizing or even eliminating the cross-purpose activities within your company, vision allows you to execute more effectively” (The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business, loc 678).
  9. “…Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless” (Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, p. 7).
  10. “Team coaching is entirely different from executive coaching. Executive coaching is one-on-one interaction aimed at developing the capabilities of individual managers. Both approaches have a place in helping leaders be more effective. However, individual coaching contributes to the leadership team only to the extent that it focuses on individual members’ contributions to the team processes and to the execution of the team’s accountabilities” (Senior Leadership: What It Takes to Make Them Great, p. 164).

What are your tendencies?

/ mkessenburg

Tendencies. I’ve been thinking about my tendencies and what it’s like for others to work with me as a Christian, a leader, and an INTJ. While I can explain that Jesus > I, that I strive to join God is what He’s already doing, and that I value being connected, being healthy, growing, and being helpful, when it comes right down to it, what people actually experience is my behavior, my tendencies.

Before sharing some of my tendencies, I want to note that tendencies are not binary. They are not this or that. Instead of being binary, tendencies reflect “and” thinking—this and that, with a greater emphasis on this. Examples of my “and” thinking include leadership and management (not leadership or management), organizational health and organizational execution (not health or execution), and team approach and individual approach (not team approach or individual approach). 

So, what are my current tendencies? What do others experience as they work with me? Here are 12 of my current tendencies (note: > signifies “greater than”):

  1. Ideation (Wonder / Invention) > Activation (Discernment / Galvanizing) and Implementation (Enablement / Tenacity).
  2. Leadership > Management
  3. Working “on” the organization > working “in” the organization
  4. Organizational Health > Organizational Execution
  5. Clarity > Certainty
  6. Developing People > Driving Production (AKA: Taking Care of the People Who Take Care of the Job > Taking Care of the Job)
  7. LIFE > TASK, meaning:
    • Listening > Talking
    • Inquiring > Advising
    • Focusing on what others think > Suggesting
    • Encouraging > Kritiquing—which is actually spelled “critiquing,” but then my acronym wouldn’t work that well…
  8. Prevention > Cure
  9. Team Approach > Individual Approach
  10. Collaboration > Cooperation > Coordination > Competition
  11. Experimentation and Agile Planning > Traditional (Waterfall) Planning
  12. Discipline and Patience over Time > Impulsive, Impatient, and Immediate—remember, sometimes it’s both helpful and appropriate to be impulsive, impatient, and immediate.

Note: I referred to “current” tendencies because I work to adjust my tendencies so that I can more effectively help the individuals and organizations I serve. 

What about you? What’s it like for others who work with you? What are your tendencies? To what extent do your current tendencies help others thrive?

Here’s what I’m learning from Rituals for Work:

  • “…rituals can help you create smaller-scale, participatory ways to help people more satisfied, productive, and connected” (loc 362). 
  • “We observed that when we created things using the patterns of a ritual—even if we didn’t call our new thing a “ritual”—it became more likely that people would want to use it, and continue to use it. A ritual sets up a clear path for people to follow, and it calls up a sense of meaning and connection—which drew people in” (loc 502). 
  • “Anyone can say the phrase ‘Elephant, dead fish, and vomit.’ Then everyone in the meeting gets permission to speak their mind in a safe environment, about big things in the room that are not being addressed (elephants); about things that are long past but still haunting the group (dead fish); and about things people just need to vent out without real goals (vomit)” (loc 2247).
  • “Smashing the Old Ways is a ritual ceremony for an organization to officially break from a previous strategy or a dysfunctional practice. In it, the leadership calls the organization together. It sets up a stage where some big, breakable symbol of its ‘old, dysfunctional ways of working’ are set up. Then, when people gather together, the leaders announce: ‘We are going to destroy these together.’ Each person gets a turn with a sledgehammer, to smash the old thing” (loc 3079).

Michael

P.S. Bonus! Here’s a list of 8 quotations from things I’ve read that contain the words greater than:

  1. “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NIV).
  2. “Surround yourself with people who add value to your life. Who challenge you to be greater than you were yesterday. Who sprinkle magic into your existence, just like you do to theirs. Life isn’t to be done alone. Find your tribe and journey freely and loyally together. —Alex Elle (Retirement Heaven or Hell: 9 Principles for Designing Your Ideal Post-Career Lifestyle, loc 1720).
  3. “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master’” (John 15:20, NIV).
  4. “Truly humble people do not see themselves as greater than they are, but neither do they discount their talents and contributions. C.S. Lewis addressed this misunderstanding about humility when he said ‘Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less’” (The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues, loc 2235).
  5. “When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations—greater than people even realize they ought to have—in those areas that are truly vital” (Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, p. 121).
  6. “…workgroups with positive-to-negative interaction ratios greater than three to one are significantly more productive than teams that do not reach this ratio. Teams with more negative interactions are more likely to be stagnant and unproductive” (The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World , loc 329).
  7. “Unstoppable teams come in all shapes and sizes, but they all depend on understanding human emotions, motivations, and values. It is both complex and as simple as this: you must care. Caring is the cornerstone for building trust and persistence in any group. When people feel cared for and when they care about the tasks and goals at hand, they are willing to step beyond their perceived limits and dare to do something greater than they originally thought possible” (Unstoppable Teams: The Four Essential Actions of High-Performance Leadership, loc 53).
  8. “Each generation brings different strengths to the team, and smart leaders arrange the various strengths on their teams in such a way as to neutralize weaknesses, leveraging those strengths so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Effective leaders combine people from multiple generations to accomplish more than if they recruited from only one” (Sticking Points, loc 1168).

What do you really want?

/ mkessenburg

High impact! That’s what I really want—you know, to have a positive effect, to make a difference, to be really helpful. I want to have high impact when I work by myself, and I want to have high impact when I work with others. How about you? What do you really want?

Question: As you work with others in pursuing high impact, what do you really want? A high impact team or a high impact workgroup? 

  • A team works to achieve goals. Team members work interdependently, focus on team results, brainstorm how the work will be done, and use peer accountability. Teams look like basketball, volleyball, and soccer.
  • A workgroup works to achieve goals. Workgroup members work independently, focus on their individual results, are given roles to play, and are held accountable by the leader. Workgroups look like track and field, wrestling, and golf.

Currently, there’s a focus on teams, and while I really like teaming, I also recognize that workgroups have their place and that workgroups may be more appropriate in a given situation.

Regardless of using a team approach or a workgroup approach, you want to be high impact, and in my experience, things that promote high impact include:

  • Good dynamics. Healthy teams and healthy workgroups demonstrate trust and commitment, 2 things that do not happen naturally. To develop trust, use Lencioni’s personal histories exercise. To develop commitment, close meetings by confirming agreed-upon action steps.
  • Shared purpose and norms. I’ve found that briefly reviewing purpose and norms at the start of each meeting helps.
  • Clarity of roles. It’s vital to know who does what. Lack of clarity on roles results in duplication of work or in work not being done.
  • Celebrating results. When a goal gets accomplished, celebrate!

What about you? What do you want? How clear are you on what you want? What are your options for pursuing what you want? What will you do?

Here’s what I’m learning from This Is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are:

  • “What if a place becomes the right place only by our choosing to love it?” (loc 346)
  • “So I formed a hypothesis: By performing behaviors that had been linked to place attachment, or that produced place attachment feelings in others, I could proactively make myself love where I lived, even without love-at-first-sight attraction” (loc 424).
  • “…master list of ten basic place attachment behaviors that…help…put down roots. 1. Walk more. 2. Buy local. 3. Get to know my neighbors. 4. Do fun stuff. 5. Explore nature. 6. Volunteer. 7. Eat local. 8. Become more political. 9. Create something new. 10. Stay loyal through hard times” (loc 455).

Michael

P.S. Bonus! Here’s a list of 10 quotations from things I’ve read or listened to that contain the word group(s):

  1. “What’s more powerful than a motivated, equipped, and empowered leader? A group of motivated, equipped, and empowered leaders. What’s more powerful than that? That same group of motivated, equipped, and empowered leaders working as a team! When good leaders are gathered together, motivated by a leader, focused on a vision, and working together as a team, there’s almost nothing they can’t do” (The Leader’s Greatest Return, loc 2565).
  2. “…how do you harness a group of high-performing, high-spirited thoroughbreds, in all probability the most talented individuals in your organization, so that they all run together and pull the organization in the direction it should be headed? How do you create a real, effective, top leadership team?” (Senior Leadership: What It Takes to Make Them Great. p. 8)
  3. “Leadership is about helping people and groups solve tough problems by spurring integrative learning. When you take responsibility for inspiring and effecting adaptive change, no matter your station, you’re exercising leadership” (Influence in Action, p. 103).
  4. “Researchers have shown how leaders who focus on the future attract followers more readily, induce more effort and intrinsic motivation from group members, promote group identification, mobilize collective action, and ultimately achieve better performance on measures of both individual and organizational outcomes. The future is where opportunity lies. You must spend time thinking about the future and become better at projecting ahead in time” (The Leadership Challenge, loc 2461).
  5. “Whenever you’re dealing with a group of people…they’re going to break down into 3 groups…supporters….naysayers…in the middle there’s the undecideds…. When we focus our attention on the naysayers, bad things happen…. The undecideds actually decide, ‘Well, if that’s how you get attention around here, I guess I’ll be a naysayer, too.’” (CAPA: Immediate Value Webinar).“But teams of people who subordinate individual performance to that of the group will generally outperform teams that don’t. The trick, then, is to corral any such “team of rivals” into a community and get them aligned in marching toward a common goal” (Trillion Dollar Coach, loc 49).
  6. “Surprising truth: people are happier, and groups are higher-functioning, when the flow of necessary disagreements is open and they have an honest chance to be heard” (Why Are We Yelling?: The Art of Productive Disagreement, loc 126).
  7. “If you are leading a multicultural team, figuring out how to get all the group members to express their ideas openly and comfortably may be a challenge” (The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business, p. 210).
  8. “…politics is when people choose their words and actions not based on what they actually think but based on what they want others to do as a reaction. It’s a form of manipulation, and it’s a violation of honesty. Now, the opposite of politics then is truth-telling or raw honesty, and it’s hard to imagine making a case for anything but that when it comes to a group of people that is trying to get the most done in the least amount of time in a way that produces the best ideas or products” (At the Table with Patrick Lencioni: 56. Politics Sucks).
  9. “When we get into conflict, we need justification for seeing another person or a group of people as Its. While there are all sorts of potent justifications out there, few are more powerful than another person, especially one we respect, validating that we are right” (Dangerous Love: Transforming Fear and Conflict at Home, at Work, and in the World, loc 1408).
  10. “The basic idea is that expert leadership…is fundamentally different from leading heterogeneous groups of people who lack a shared knowledge base” (You Can’t Know It All, loc 54).

What’s the relationship between transparency and unity?

/ mkessenburg

I’m nodding. I’m nodding at the opening line of Craig Groeshel’s video: “As leaders, we know that we should be open and transparent, but we don’t always understand why or how to do it.” He later adds that “people would rather follow a leader who’s always real than one who is always right.”

What does transparency include? Good question! Let me start by saying transparency doesn’t include everything—there are things everyone doesn’t need to know. But transparency does include what is necessary for those I serve to understand why and how we work together (our mission, vision, values, priorities, policies, processes, and so forth), to feel I am being open and honest with them, to feel a connection with me. 

Simon Sinek puts it well when he says, “Transparency doesn’t mean showing everybody everything. It just doesn’t mean that. Transparency means providing context for the decisions we’re making. It means keeping people in the loop” (see video):

Being transparent involves vulnerability and effort—is pursuing transparency actually worth it? Check out the following:

  • “Transparency is a suspicion eliminator…a trust builder…[and] a relational unifier” (Craig Groeshel).
  • “We need to have transparency to build trust in the organizations we lead…. If information is power, why would I not want to give more information to my people to make them as powerful as possible…?” (Andrew Swinand)
  • Transparency helps people solve problems quicker, makes it easier to build teams, promotes authenticity, encourages trust in the leader, and improves results (5 Powerful Things Happen When A Leader Is Transparent).

So, is pursuing transparency actually worth it? For me it is because transparency promotes unity. As a Christian leader, I want unity. When everyone understands what’s happening and why, unity increases. When unity increases, collaboration, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability increase. 

So what does practicing transparency look like? Kate Dames says it looks like honesty, being accessible, and giving access to information. David Brown says practicing transparency looks like consistent communication, sharing both the good news and the bad news, and really listening to others. And Scott Mautz says it looks like sharing how the organization is doing and explaining the thinking behind decision-making. 

Ways I strive to practice transparency include reviewing the mission and vision at staff meetings, ensuring job descriptions are accurate and accessible, sharing the assumptions on which the budget is based, using radical candor, and using Google Docs to give access to plans, policies, and processes. And I now I’m wondering how transparent I actually am and how those I work with would rate my transparency.

What about you? How do you feel about transparency? What does transparency include? Is pursuing transparency worth it? What’s the relationship between transparency and unity? What does practicing transparency look like? What’s next?

Here’s what I’m learning from chapters 5-6 of Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact:

  • “Being defensive is the natural, default response to criticism. How can you increase your receptivity to correction? How might you let others know you are open to guidance and willing to act? How could you switch from a defensive posture to an offensive strategy?” (loc 2371)
  • “When we admit mistakes early and fix them quickly, we let people know we’re learning and that their feedback was a good investment” (loc 2477).
  • “Consider your work: Do you tend to make easy things difficult, or do you make hard work easier for everyone on the team? When things are tough and the load is heavy, the most valuable players on teams make work lighter. Though they may not be able to reduce the workload, they make the work process easier and more joyful. They are like a bouquet of helium balloons” (loc 2682).

Here are some related blog posts:

Michael

P.S. Bonus! Here’s a list of 10 quotations from things I’ve read that contain the word transparent or transparency:

  1. “In the absence of transparency and an abundance of information, people spend a lot of unproductive time trying to figure out what is going on…creating a narrative, projecting worst-case scenarios, imagining the worst possible situation” (Lead to Win: 4 Things I Wish I’d Known Before the Pandemic).
  2. “The opposite of Create Transparency is to hide, cover, obscure, or make dark. It includes hoarding, withholding, having secrets, and failing to disclose. It includes hidden agendas, hidden meanings, hidden objectives. The antonym for transparent is opaque—meaning something that is impervious to light and through which images cannot be seen. The counterfeit of transparency is illusion” (The Speed of Trust, p. 158).
  3. “How might greater transparency improve my team’s decision making?” (To Be Honest, loc 3229)
  4. “As a general rule, we think you want to default to transparency. If you have a tendency to maybe avoid sharing information, I want you to think about this for a second. Secrecy actually breeds suspicion, but transparency builds trust. When people are included, they feel respected, and when they’re trusted, they trust in return. I think those are all things, as leaders, we can lose sight of, but they really are true” (Lead to Win: How to Communicate Sensitive Information).
  5. “Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Declare your intent. Get real and be genuine. Be open and authentic. Err on the side of disclosure. Be transparent about not being able to be transparent (e.g., when the law or ethics preclude it). Operate on the premise of “What you see is what you get.” Don’t have hidden agendas. Don’t hide information” (The Speed of Trust, p 162).
  6. “…how do you decide what information to share, what to withhold, who to include in decisions? How do you make sure people understand how you arrive at the choices you do?” (Honesty Muscle Three: Make Sure your Decisions are Transparent)​​
  7. “You can eliminate the majority of conflicts by investing in proactive, clear, and transparent discussion that bolsters trust from the start. Effective communication is a key part of the conflict code. Your efforts will be rewarded with greater alignment and more confidence” (The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Organization Back on Track, p. 66).
  8. “The tendency to put everything in writing, which is a mark of professionalism and transparency in a low-context culture, may suggest to high-context colleagues that you don’t trust them to follow through on their verbal commitments” (The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business, p. 58).
  9. “The kind of trust that is necessary to build a great team is what I call vulnerability-based trust. This is what happens when members get to a point where they are completely comfortable being transparent, honest, and naked with one another, where they say and genuinely mean things like ‘I screwed up,’ ‘I need help,’ ‘Your idea is better than mine,’ ‘ wish I could learn to do that as well as you do,’ and even, ‘I’m sorry’” The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business, p. 27).
  10. “Transparency is the ultimate performance-enhancing drug. And when it doesn’t work to motivate your poor performers, they will weed themselves out—which is exactly what you want” (Your Next Five Moves, loc 2765).

How does integrity impact unity?

/ mkessenburg

“…poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreements, lack of shared purpose, and sanctioned incompetence.” You’re sitting in your office, watching a Dave Ramsey video entitled The Power of Unity. At the end, Ramsey identifies the “5 main enemies of unity: poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreements, lack of shared purpose, and sanctioned incompetence.”

What captures your attention is “lack of shared purpose.” Both as a Christian and as a leader, you recognize the importance of unity. For some time now, you’ve been wondering about your organization’s level of shared purpose and unity—it feels more like the unity of a pick-up basketball game at the park than the unity of a basketball team playing to win the season-end tournament. Not good. 

You decide explore unity a bit more, noting the following:

  1. “While I am grateful to work in Christian organizations where there is unity around key Christian basics, these Christian basics are insufficient at the organizational level” (How can you increase unity in your Christian organization?).
  2. “What happens when Christian organizations are not deeply unified?… What happens? The leader heads in a good direction; each leadership team member in different, good directions; and each staff member in other good directions.” 
  3. “…imagine working for an organization where no one talks about the core documents (mission, vision, philosophy) and where staff don’t really understand what the documents mean. Not good. No talking and no no real understanding lead to no (significant) implementation and the perception that core documents are irrelevant” (How can reading make your mission, vision, and philosophy faster?).
  4. “…the root of division is…[having] two visions. [Staff] are not always intending to create…disunity…[but] for lack of clarity of vision they created their own” (GC 2015 Leadership Focus “The Importance of Unity”). 
  5. “Dissect your company’s various statements (vision, purpose, mission, brand, values, etc.) and identify the implied promises to yourself, colleagues, employees, and customers. What commitments are being honored?” (To Be Honest, loc 1508).

And then it hits you: lack of shared purpose, over-reliance on Christian unity (instead of on both Christian and organizational unity), multiple operational mission statements, a lack of understanding and implementation of the official mission statement. Your organization lacks integrity—and that lack of integrity is negatively affecting unity. Ouch.

You recall that your organization has recently updated its mission statement. Then you recall that you didn’t really launch the updated mission statement, you haven’t been really emphasizing the updated mission statement, you didn’t de-emphasize the previous mission statement or the previous (unofficial) operational mission statements, possibly including “remain financially solvent” and “preserve jobs and a way of life for staff.” And then you think, “If we have multiple missions (only one of which is our official mission statement), then we lack integrity. And if we lack integrity because we have multiple competing missions, then we can’t or won’t have unity around doing 1 thing—our official mission statement.” Double ouch.

Question: How can you help your organization increase its integrity (and thereby increase its unity)? Things that come to mind for me include: (1) further assessing the situation, (2) starting with yourself, and (3) learning more. Let me explain:

(1) Further assessing the situation: Ways to do this include discussing the situation with other leaders, inviting a consultant to assess the situation, taking the “How Honest Is Your Team?” self-assessment, and taking the following self-assessment (using the following scale: Strongly Agree • Agree • Disagree • Strongly Disagree):

  1. Staff have received training on the mission statement.
  2. Staff deeply understand the mission statement. 
  3. Staff can readily explain how what they do each day is aligned with the mission statement.
  4. Staff have memorized the mission statement.
  5. Staff regularly recite the mission statement when talking with others. 
  6. Staff actively use the mission statement to guide decision making.
  7. Staff are focused on achieving the mission.
  8. In terms of our mission statement (our organizational promise), we are who we say we are.

Reflect on your assessment results: What do you observe? To increase both integrity and unity, which of the above would you initially work on?

(2) Starting with yourself: Having considered the situation and the self-assessment results, now it’s time for action. It’s time for you to take action—it’s not time for you call others to action: 

  • Start with yourself, working to become a model of the mission statement in terms of each of the 8 self-assessment items. Using this approach has 2 advantages: others get to see what the mission looks like in action and you gain credibility with others. (If you are looking for a way to deepen your understanding, try the 6-question exercise at the end of the above video.)
  • You also need to solicit criticism from others by asking questions, for example, “To be a better model of the mission, what should I start doing and stop doing?”

(3) Learning more about organizational integrity and unity. Watch the playlist for To Be Honest, listen to a podcast (Leading Transformational Change with Tobias Sturesson: 009. Ron Carucci: Building an Honest Organization), read To Be Honest, and read blog entries: 

What about you? How might the 5 enemies of unity be affecting your organization? How does integrity impact unity? How can you help your organization increase its integrity (and thereby increase its unity)?

Michael

P.S. Bonus! Here’s a list of quotations from things I’ve read that contain the word integrity:

  1. “An organization has integrity—is healthy—when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense” (The Advantage, p. 5).
  2. “Trustworthy leaders…. demonstrate competence by having the knowledge, skills, and expertise for their roles…act with integrity when they tell the truth, keep confidences, and admit their mistakes…care about others…. People trust leaders who honor their commitments” (Leading with Trust: If You Build It, They Will Come – 4 Characteristics of Trustworthy Leaders).
  3. “Guard your integrity” (Leading with Trust: 10 Powerful Ways to Build Trust).
  4. “To become the most effective vision-driven leader, tenacity, integrity, and courage are essential” (The Vision Driven Leader, loc 2299).
  5. “When we refer to integrity, we are not referring to its popular definition—things such as not stealing from the company or being generally honest. Rather, integrity was manifested in the senior leadership teams we studied by these behaviors: • Putting enterprise-affecting issues on the table for discussion by the group even when resolution of the issues could have negative implications for one’s own area of responsibility • Keeping discussions among senior executives confidential, not sharing them with one’s group or gossiping to others about who argued for which position in senior team meetings • Actually implementing decisions that have been agreed to by the team • Holding the team accountable for making choices that are consistent with publicly espoused team and organizational values” (Senior Leadership: What It Takes to Make Them Great, p. 93).
  6. “In his best-selling book The Speed of Trust,15 Stephen M.R. Covey describes two sources of trustworthiness: character and competence. Character is who you are—your personal maturity, integrity, and commitment to principles. An immature, unprincipled person cannot be trusted regardless of his or her skills. Your competence is what you do—your talents, skills, and capabilities. Even a person of high character cannot be trusted if they lack the skills to do the job in a high quality way. Both character and competence are essential to have trust and credibility” (Unlocking Potential, loc 491).
  7. “Simply put, trust means confidence. The opposite of trust—distrust—is suspicion. When you trust people, you have confidence in them—in their integrity and in their abilities. When you distrust people, you are suspicious of them—of their integrity, their agenda, their capabilities, or their track record” (The Speed of Trust, p. 5).
  8. “Be honest. Tell the truth. Let people know where you stand. Use simple language. Call things what they are. Demonstrate integrity. Don’t manipulate people or distort facts. Don’t spin the truth. Don’t leave false impressions” ((The Speed of Trust p. 147).
  9. “What is trust? It is predictability. When you trust someone, you know how they will react to new or unknown circumstances. It is a measure of assurance of someone’s honesty and integrity” You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most, p. 107).
  10. “One of the major faults leaders can make is to assume they get trust just because of their title. Your title might get you watched, but what will others see? The next move is yours. Your credibility exists only insofar as others believe in you: in your integrity, track record, and commitment” (Cracking the Leadership Code, loc 2412).