Month: September 2015

In a message last year, Pope Francis warned about leadership diseases and temptations, which can dangerously weaken the effectiveness of any organization. Gary Hamel (TGLS 2009) translated his words into corporate-speak for this article in the Harvard Business Review. In light of the Pope’s visit to the United States last week, we thought it was worth another look.

Pope Francis has made no secret of his intention to radically reform the administrative structures of the Catholic Church, which he regards as insular, imperious, and bureaucratic. He understands that in a hyper-kinetic world, inward-looking and self-obsessed leaders are a liability.

Last year, just before Christmas, the Pope addressed the leaders of the Roman Curia — the Cardinals and other officials who are charged with running the church’s byzantine network of administrative bodies. The Pope’s message to his colleagues was blunt. Leaders are susceptible to an array of debilitating maladies, including arrogance, intolerance, myopia, and pettiness. When those diseases go untreated, the organization itself is enfeebled. To have a healthy church, we need healthy leaders.

Through the years, I’ve heard dozens of management experts enumerate the qualities of great leaders. Seldom, though, do they speak plainly about the “diseases” of leadership. The Pope is more forthright. He understands that as human beings we have certain proclivities — not all of them noble. Nevertheless, leaders should be held to a high standard, since their scope of influence makes their ailments particularly infectious.

The Catholic Church is a bureaucracy: a hierarchy populated by good-hearted, but less-than-perfect souls. In that sense, it’s not much different than your organization. That’s why the Pope’s counsel is relevant to leaders everywhere.

With that in mind, I spent a couple of hours translating the Pope’s address into something a little closer to corporate-speak. (I don’t know if there’s a prohibition on paraphrasing Papal pronouncements, but since I’m not Catholic, I’m willing to take the risk.)

Herewith, then, the Pope (more or less):

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The leadership team is called constantly to improve and to grow in rapport and wisdom, in order to carry out fully its mission. And yet, like any body, like any human body, it is also exposed to diseases, malfunctioning, infirmity. Here I would like to mention some of these “[leadership] diseases.” They are diseases and temptations which can dangerously weaken the effectiveness of any organization.

1. The disease of thinking we are immortal, immune, or downright indispensable, [and therefore] neglecting the need for regular check-ups. A leadership team, which is not self-critical, which does not keep up with things, which does not seek to be more fit, is a sick body. A simple visit to the cemetery might help us see the names of many people who thought they were immortal, immune, and indispensable! It is the disease of those who turn into lords and masters, who think of themselves as above others and not at their service. It is the pathology of power and comes from a superiority complex, from a narcissism which passionately gazes at its own image and does not see the face of others, especially the weakest and those most in need. The antidote to this plague is humility; to say heartily, “I am merely a servant. I have only done what was my duty.”

2. Another disease is excessive busyness.It is found in those who immerse themselves in work and inevitably neglect to “rest a while.” Neglecting needed rest leads to stress and agitation. A time of rest, for those who have completed their work, is necessary, obligatory and should be taken seriously: by spending time with one’s family and respecting holidays as moments for recharging.

3. Then there is the disease of mental and [emotional] “petrification.”It is found in leaders who have a heart of stone, the “stiff-necked;” in those who in the course of time lose their interior serenity, alertness and daring, and hide under a pile of papers, turning into paper pushers and not men and women of compassion. It is dangerous to lose the human sensitivity that enables us to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice! Because as time goes on, our hearts grow hard and become incapable of loving all those around us. Being a humane leader means having the sentiments of humility and unselfishness, of detachment and generosity.

4. The disease of excessive planning and of functionalism.When a leader plans everything down to the last detail and believes that with perfect planning things will fall into place, he or she becomes an accountant or an office manager. Things need to be prepared well, but without ever falling into the temptation of trying to eliminate spontaneity and serendipity, which is always more flexible than any human planning. We contract this disease because it is easy and comfortable to settle in our own sedentary and unchanging ways.

5. The disease of poor coordination.Once leaders lose a sense of community among themselves, the body loses its harmonious functioning and its equilibrium; it then becomes an orchestra that produces noise: its members do not work together and lose the spirit of camaraderie and teamwork. When the foot says to the arm: ‘I don’t need you,’ or the hand says to the head, ‘I’m in charge,’ they create discomfort and parochialism.

6. There is also a sort of “leadership Alzheimer’s disease.”It consists in losing the memory of those who nurtured, mentored and supported us in our own journeys. We see this in those who have lost the memory of their encounters with the great leaders who inspired them; in those who are completely caught up in the present moment, in their passions, whims and obsessions; in those who build walls and routines around themselves, and thus become more and more the slaves of idols carved by their own hands.

7. The disease of rivalry and vainglory.When appearances, our perks, and our titles become the primary object in life, we forget our fundamental duty as leaders—to “do nothing from selfishness or conceit but in humility count others better than ourselves.” [As leaders, we must] look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interests of others.

8. The disease of existential schizophrenia.This is the disease of those who live a double life, the fruit of that hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and of a progressive emotional emptiness, which no [accomplishment or] title can fill. It is a disease, which often strikes those who are no longer directly in touch with customers and “ordinary” employees, and restrict themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with reality, with concrete people.

9. The disease of gossiping, grumbling, and back-biting.This is a grave illness which begins simply, perhaps even in small talk, and takes over a person, making him become a “sower of weeds” and in many cases, a cold-blooded killer of the good name of colleagues. It is the disease of cowardly persons who lack the courage to speak out directly, but instead speak behind other people’s backs. Let us be on our guard against the terrorism of gossip!
10. The disease of idolizing superiors.This is the disease of those who court their superiors in the hope of gaining their favor. They are victims of careerism and opportunism; they honor persons [rather than the larger mission of the organization]. They think only of what they can get and not of what they should give; small-minded persons, unhappy and inspired only by their own lethal selfishness. Superiors themselves can be affected by this disease, when they try to obtain the submission, loyalty and psychological dependency of their subordinates, but the end result is unhealthy complicity.

For the last five diseases the list, you can go to the original article here.

Wilfredo De Jesus challenges us to boldly identify with Jesus.

When I was about 17 years old, I was walking after midnight with three younger friends down Armitage Avenue in Humboldt Park in Chicago. We were going to our family’s little apartment.

As we were walking, we ran into a group of about 10 guys who I could tell were tough. I wasn’t sure if they were in a gang, but I had enough street smarts to know this wasn’t good.

As we approached them, they split up. Half of them crossed the street. The other half went the other way—they were surrounding us. Without missing a step, I walked straight up to the leader. I’d never seen these young men before, but I could easily identify the leader because the others obviously deferred to him.

I led my three friends up to him, and I asked, “What you be about?”

He sneered. “We’re the Vice Lords.”

He looked me up and down, and asked, “What you be about?”

I said, “Jesus Christ.”

And my friends and I all waited for his response.

Everyone wants to be “about” something, to be “with” someone. Where I grew up, this was literally a matter of life and death. When I was growing up, I knew guys who had experiences remarkably similar to mine. They would be surrounded by a gang, just like we were that night, and were asked, “What you be about?”

Except they didn’t know what to say.

Those guys were beat up.

For whatever reason, The Vice Lords left us alone that night. I shook hands with the leader and my friends shook hands with the guys who surrounded us. I don’t know this for sure, but I think it’s because they respected us. I think it’s because we were “about” something.

Being about Jesus is different from being about anything else, because Jesus is our creator. He knows what is best for us. He promises us a life of purpose and deep peace if we follow him.

What are you “about?”

If you are “about” Jesus, are you willing to stand up for him, even when it costs you something? Taking a stand makes us vulnerable, but if we claim to know Jesus Christ, His compassion for the hurting will rub off on us.

Question: What are you about? Are you willing to stand up for it?

Patrick Lencioni describes five practical ways to boost accountability in a work setting.

Recently, while I was working with a long-time client, I was struck by the candor and intensity with which two of the teammates were interacting.

Over a year ago, when our work together was still in its infancy, things were radically different. (Tense and strained are a couple of descriptors that come to mind.) In fact, Bill, the head of a major division of this organization, and one of his peers, Samantha, were close to a breaking point. Their different communication and decision-making styles had caused such friction and tension that they had lost respect and trust for one another. Bill needs details, process and time to reflect and communicate. Samantha, on the other hand, processes verbally and prefers to leave the details to others.

Bill and Samantha were essentially having daily stand-offs – I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of them had left the organization. And the effect on the rest of the leadership team was clear – everyone noticed the destructive way in which these two interacted. There was no hiding their contempt for one another, and thus the productivity of the entire team was dragged down by these unaddressed challenges.

A year and a half later, it was a completely different story.

So what changed?

Bill and Samantha learned how to embrace and practice one of the most essential (but difficult) components of team cohesiveness: peer-to-peer accountability.

The relationship improved when they began to let their guards down and sought to understand each other’s hard wiring. For them, the light bulb went off while sharing their very different Myers-Briggs profiles. They began to see that different communication styles didn’t necessarily mean ill intent. Then, it got intense. Bill and Samantha had a set of candid, difficult conversations about how their respective behaviors were being perceived by the other and the resulting damage. And, finally, they gave each other permission not to let those unproductive actions and behaviors (whether true or perceived) fester and frustrate. They committed to call each other out openly and discuss their differences.

The result – the team is humming now. It’s truly amazing the amount of time and energy that is now being spent on running their business rather than on angst, stress and the resulting inefficiencies. Not only that, but Bill and Samantha have helped the entire team reach a place of increased transparency. They are all more willing to call each other out on unproductive behavior and missed or insufficient deliverables. Even better, they no longer take these conversations personally.

Why is holding our peers accountable so very hard?

What I see with my clients everyday is core to human nature. We tend to think “who am I to give a peer tough feedback about bad behavior?” Or, we don’t want to disrupt the “harmony” on the team by calling someone out on a missed deadline. And sometimes, we’ve simply already made a judgment call about one another and we’re not willing to give a colleague a shot at redemption.

But the thing about peer-to-peer accountability is this – it’s probably the toughest behavior to master on a team. It often feels messy and uncomfortable. And it’s not something most of us have had much experience with. But it’s worth it. Teams that can call each other out on lack of follow-through or missed deadlines and broken rules are the ones that excel. They are efficient and productive. They have fun and their relationships are stronger because of it.

So how do you tackle this accountability challenge?

Here are a couple of tips gleaned from clients who are working on peer-to-peer accountability everyday:

• Let your guard down. Peer-to-peer accountability can be truly effective only when you trust each other.

• Give permission to others first. Take the lead in asking for help and insight. Ask your teammates to help you by holding you accountable when you happen to let them down, or come across the wrong way, or steamroll their ideas.

• Assume positive intent. Keep your eye on the prize – which is the collective results of your organization. Don’t take feedback personally.

• Give the benefit of the doubt. Ask why before you make a judgment call about someone’s behavior. Understand your teammates motives and intentions before deciding that their actions signal a lack of trust.

• Get comfortable being uncomfortable. One of our hardest jobs as teammates is to be forthright with our peers. Remember that you are part of a team whose job is essential to your organization’s success. You owe it to one another to do the things you said you’d do and in a manner that works for the team. If not, you’re only hurting the organization.

If you and your teammates can master peer-to-peer accountability with each other, you have a game-changer on your hands. Once you start to see and feel your productivity rising and the tension disappearing – you’ll be humming.

Couldn’t we all of us could use a little dose of Bob Goff (TGLS 2013) today? Always inspirational, Bob is the New York Times bestselling author of Love Does, as well as an attorney who founded Restore International, a non-profit human rights organization operating in Uganda, India and Somalia. In this 30-second video, he asks, “What are you filling your bucket with?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=AcMvKZIeZoI