Is the Leaderless Occupy Wall Street Movement Working?

I recently read a newspaper article about the Occupy Wall Street movement and the lack of official leadership that has city officials, police, neighborhood community boards and others attempting to communicate with the movement extremely frustrated.  It seems the original organizers have purposefully maintained this "leaderless" culture in order to give everyone a voice and equal input into decisions. As the article explained, they rejected a top-down "vertical" leadership structure from the get go. They hold nightly meetings in Zuccotti Park (their home base in New York City) where decisions are made by consensus. At the outset of the movement this type of decision making was OK but as the number of protesters grew the meetings have become unwieldy, lasting hours.

 

Additionally they are confusing the population who are watching. Sure we have an overall sense of what they are angry and disgusted at - aren't we all for that matter? Yet for many who are watching the movement, there seems to be a lack of understanding around exactly what the group wants to accomplish or see happen. It was shared in the article that even finding themselves in Zucotti Park was an accident - landing there after an initial march up Broaday and deciding it was a nice place to settle. All of this seems to point to a lack of leadership. Lack of clear vision, lack of planning, lack of execution, lack of accountability.

 

Collaborative leadership is something we believe wholeheartedly in at SoundBoard. We have seen over and over again the impact collaborative environments have on productivity and the overall success of a business or group. However, an organization still needs to know what they are working toward, have a plan of action to get there and understand how their role contributes to that end result.  All of this takes leadership, without leadership creating a vision and a plan of action, its just a group of people spinning their wheels with no real destination - or just a group of people camping out in a park for an undetermined amount of time.

 

Most successful social movements in history have had strong, passionate, inspiring leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  The Occupy Wall Street movement has obviously created a great deal of momentum.  They also have an incredible amount of passion around their ideals. It may now be time for someone to step up and take a leadership role to take them to the next level.

Book Launch: Small Shifts Toward Collaborative Freedom

Richard Magid, Founder & President of SoundBoard shares a few of the lessons from his new book Small Shifts.

The Importance of Role Clarity

Over the past few weeks the constant theme that arose in my coaching sessions is the need for role clarity.  Much of the conversation is about the fact that people don't feel as productive as they can and want to be.  When I meet with the business owner and they share their frustration around how their key people don't live up to their expectations, I will ask, "Do they know what those expectations are?"  So often, the answer is an assumption that they do.  When I meet with that key person and I ask the same question, the answer is most often, "No."

We live in a world of reshuffling and reinventing.  I recently read an article about how small businesses more than ever must innovate daily to stay competitive and relevant.  As a result, roles are always changing; new tasks are put onto people's plate without much conversation and rarely are job descriptions formally updated to reflect "today's" expectations.  This is exaggerated by the impact of the economy and the desire to keep staffs lean and "at capacity."

I've written about the impact of clarity on organizational climate and productivity.  As a reminder, a healthy climate can "improve productivity by up to 30%."  One of the critical components of the clarity dimension is understanding how one's role directly affects the success of the company.

During this time of year many of you are starting to have performance conversations with your employees.  Ask yourself the following before beginning this process:

"Do I know if my employees are clear about their role? Have I defined the tasks they are responsible for and explained how they contribute to the goals of the organization? Have I made it clear what is expected of them? 

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities make performance conversations much less threatening and will ultimately improve an individuals productivity.

Are your roles clearly defined? Please share your experience.

How Emotionally Aware Are You?

One of the things I enjoy most in my work as a leadership coach is the start of a new relationship. I initially ask probing questions to uncover such things as strengths, values, passions, uncertainties, points of resistance and blind spots.  The goal is to help the individual reflect upon how they see the world, how they see themselves and what future they want to create.  Often times the "objectives" that I am retained to achieve cannot be reached until the above are uncovered.  This all takes place in the work of guiding an individual to become more self-aware.

According to Daniel Goleman an internationally known psychologist and author, the most effective leaders are "alike in one crucial way; they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI)."  In his work he speaks to the six core competencies of EI, the first two focusing on self-awareness:

EMOTIONAL AWARENESS: recognizing ones emotions and their effects. People with this competence: 

• Know which emotions they are feeling and why
• Recognize how their feelings affect their performance
• Have a guiding awareness of their values and goals 

ACCURATE SELF-ASSESSMENT: knowing ones strengths and limits. People with this competence are: 

• Aware of their strengths and weaknesses
• Reflective, learning from experiences
• Open to candid feedback, new perspectives, continuous learning and self-development
• Able to show a sense of humor and perspective about themselves 

A high level of self-awareness is critical to the success of any leader; hence the "peeling away" at the beginning of a coaching relationship; the place of discovery.

How self-aware are you? Do you ask for and accept feedback? Do you listen and watch for verbal and on-verbal cues? Do you recognize what might set you off and shut you down? Are you willing to look in the mirror?

I feel lucky to be a guide in the process of seeking self-awareness with my clients. I challenge you to honestly reflect upon Daniel Goleman's points above...becoming a superior leader depends upon it!

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Tao Te Ching

Leadership Lessons from the Driving Range

I recently made a visit to the driving range to prepare for a golf outing I had the next day. It was a beautiful night and aside from just four other people at the range it was virtually empty.  About 30 minutes into my practice session the stall next to me became occupied by a gentleman in his early 50's equipped with a jumbo bucket of balls (about 150) and only a driver.

He proceeded (in rapid succession) to tee up one ball after another and swing wildly at each.The distance, direction and trajectory of each ball had about the same consistency and predictability as Tiger Woods' love life. With each failed shot he became more and more frustrated and despondent.

While observing him fanatically swing at each golf ball, three things became obvious to me.

First, he never stopped long enough between shots to reflect upon the outcome of the swing and to consider making adjustments that would produce a more favorable result.

Second, he came to the range with only one club - the driver - of which during a normal round of golf is used only about 14 times. Any golfer would benefit from learning and practicing with the other 13 clubs in a golf set as they each serve a specific purpose in a game.

Lastly, he was a prime example of Albert Einstein's definition of instanity: doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.

As I so often do, I began to relate this situation to leadership...

Good leaders are passionate about self-reflection and feedback. They have a vision and a pre-determined course of action, yet along the journey they look for the critical feedback that allows them to make adjustments to better themselves and their companies. They reflect often, elicit the insight and perspective of others and know that feedback is critical to their long term success. 

Good leaders also know that to effectively lead others, they need to have "more than one club in their bag." They understand that different situations require different leadership styles and thus are adept at pulilng from a multitude of styles to lead and guide others. Without the understanding and proper use of multiple leadership styles, leaders can fall victim to relying on only their dominant style. Or as Bernard Baruch eloquently states - "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

So as you navigate the Augusta, Pebble Beach, Saint Andrews that is your business..., remember that there is much to be learned from the shots that did not go as planned just as there is from those beautiful drives that split the fairway. And as you wouldn't imagine playing a round of golf with only one club, don't assume you can effectively lead with only one style.