So, let’s rephrase the FAQ:  How do you influence someone to change their behavior?

Answer:  Obey the First Law [...]]]> Whether CEO, CFO, employee, spouse, spouse-ette, baker man, thief – we all want to know:  How can I make him/her/them behave differently, the way I want them behave?  The answer: You can’t, they must. OK, you saw that coming.

So, let’s rephrase the FAQ:  How do you influence someone to change their behavior?

Answer:  Obey the First Law of Performance, articulated by my past colleague Steve and Dave.  How people perform correlates to how situations occur to them. Steve and Dave: “Consider that when we do something, it always makes complete sense to us.  On the other hand, when others do something, we often question, “Why are they doing that? It doesn’t make any sense!” But, if we got into the world of the person [into their head], and looked at how the situation occurred to them, [Being John Malkovich, trailer] we would experience that the same actions that we were questioning were completely and absolutely the perfect and correct thing for him to do, given how the situation is occurring to the person.”

Knowing the First Law, you can probably answer The Ultimate Leadership FAQ. Give it a try. I’ll push the pause-blog button …. [Musak for 9 seconds] … Yes, you are right! To change someone’s behavior, change how the world occurs to them. Change how the world occurs and their actions change to match the new world view. Bingo!

That was easy. So the Real Ultimate Leadership FAQ is: How do you change someone’s “occurring world”?

The answer: Change where their world occurs. It occurs in the conversation they have about the world (situation, other people, sales targets, deadlines, frozen budgets, new competitors, you name it). It’s the conversation, Silly! Create a conversation that creates a new world occurring — a conversation that the person now generates for themselves, and lives inside of. Simple and profound. Welcome to leadership.

Camille Smith understands what it takes to change at the individual, team and organizational levels. It’s not easy, it’s worth doing, and it’s required of everyone today, not just leaders. Specializing in transformational leadership, she provides the knowledge and coaching to teach others to create and sustain breakthroughs in performance. She doesn’t bring the answers; she brings them out of you. Reach out to her at camille@wipcoaching.com.

If you consider yourself curious, creative and innovative (or want to demonstrate more of those qualities), listen not just to the music, but to the musician – the leader generating the sounds that move you.

Let’s start with [...]]]>
Do you need to re-ignite yourself in these days of 100 inputs to produce 2 outputs? Turn up the volume!

If you consider yourself curious, creative and innovative (or want to demonstrate more of those qualities), listen not just to the music, but to the musician – the leader generating the sounds that move you.

Let’s start with less is more – as in Les Paul is more than a legendary guitarist. Considered a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible and credited with recording innovations, including overdubbing, tape delay, phasing effects, and multi-track recording, Les lead himself first as he describes playing with arthritic fingers, “learn(ing) in a hurry to live with and overcome obstacles”.  For today’s “lead yourself first” lesson (and at the risk of having you not return to read the rest of this post), please listen as Terry Gross interviews Les Paul, guitar hero who recently passed. Hear his verve at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111888401.

Want the classical approach? There’s Roger Nierenberg, former conductor of the Stamford Symphony and creator of The Music Paradigm. “Being on the podium affords the global view of the lights and shades that were there, already playing, but you didn’t hear.” Roger will be at the October 2009 GILD.  I cried during his keynote last year. Join me for at best leadership immersion program on the planet, email me to take advantage of a 2-for-1 offer.

My point? Shake up your listening. Rattle your own box. Roll into a new future by listening for the inspiration around you, especially coming from your team. Keep the box, use it when it works. When it doesn’t serve you, step beyond it to achieve new possibilities for yourself, as a leader, and your team, as a team of leaders.

Camille Smith understands what it takes to change at the individual, team and organizational levels. It’s not easy, it’s worth doing, and it’s required of everyone today, not just leaders. Specializing in transformational leadership, she provides the knowledge and coaching to teach others to create and sustain breakthroughs in performance. She doesn’t bring the answers, she brings them out of you. Reach out to her at camille@wipcoaching.com.