Colleagues,
On Wednesday, Pam I finished watching a show on Netflix and began talking before we shut the television off. I noticed that Netflix began showing images of different movies with the movie title and three adjectives like “gritty, determined, suspenseful” or “funny, feel-good, fantastical.” These descriptors are actually called “microgenres” and Netflix uses them to create a profile of what each of us likes to watch so they can feed us more of the same. In fact, Netflix has more than 22,000 microgenres. This got me to thinking: what are my leadership microgenres? Cerebral… I think. Inspiring… I hope. Practical… I’m sure! What about you? What are your microgenres? What do they say about the leader you are and the leader you wish to be? I think this might be a good ice-breaker activity. Feel free to share your microgenres with me by replying to this email here. Do good and be well, Frederick
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Colleagues,
Years ago, I was sitting with my then 13-year-old son Collin as he did his science homework, which consisted of finding and defining key words. I noticed that he was just looking for the definition on the pages and copying them verbatim onto his paper. He was frustrated because the definitions for some words weren’t easy to find or weren’t succinct. I knew that wasn’t going to improve his understanding, so I intervened. “Collin, you need to learn what these words mean. Read all of the text and then explain what the word means in your own words. That way you will learn it.” Collin looked at me with dread in his eyes. My son Gavin, then 17, called out “Collin, it’s okay. Dad just doesn’t understand. Look up each word in the glossary and write down what it says. You’ll finish faster and get a good grade.” In my mind, high effort was worth it because learning would help Collin do well in school. Collin is more of an economist and assigned a value based on opportunity cost. Every minute spent on homework was a minute he couldn’t spend playing Legos, soccer, or Minecraft. Why was I more motivated than Collin? I perceived a high value for a low effort – V/e. In contrast, Collin perceived low value for high effort – v/E. Motivation equals value divided by effort, or… M=V/E In other words, there is no such thing as a motivation problem! If you want to increase motivation you can increase value, decrease effort, or do both! Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
We often talk about change being a journey, so I thought it might be fun to pull some change lessons from a real journey. My son Lance hiked the Decalibron this past weekend. The 10-mile hike summits four mountains over 14,000 feet. The elevation gain for the trip is 3444 feet. This is a really challenging hike, and the temperatures were near zero when Lance started out. In our discussion of the hike, he shared a couple of things that apply to leading change:
I love strategic action cycles because all three of these requirements are built into the process. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Last week was dedicated to five-minute coaching (5mc). You can go to my blog if you missed it. I designed five-minute coaching for busy school administrators who didn’t always have time to do extended classroom observations and follow-up conferences with teachers. However, 5mc helps leaders in other professions coach their people as well. If that’s not enough, 5mc can be used in other situations and not just with people who report to you. My good friend and client Dr. Robert Maddox turned the tables on me yesterday with this email: Frederick, Hopefully we can connect soon as we look to the Spring Semester and the possibility of some June training. When we talk maybe we can start by you sharing: 1. What went well with your coaching in our district this past fall? 2. What surprised you? 3. What do you think you might do differently in the Spring? I learned this discussion approach from a…… college professor, expert, and friend. Very powerful don’t you think😊 I look forward to talking soon my friend. Robert I had to laugh, but more importantly Robert’s email made me begin reflecting instantly! I am now thinking about how to add more value based on what worked and what didn’t. Also, think about the richness of the discussion that he and I will have. PLEASE engage in a 5-minute coaching session this week and PLEASE share your results (click here to email me)! Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Last week a friend called and needed help. I was glad to do it. It is funny how helping others makes me feel better about myself. After rendering aid, we talked for a few minutes and my friend shared a radical idea. The idea was that asking for help was a more powerful form of service than providing help was. What!? She explained that when we provide help, we are placed in a position of power over the person we are helping. We are in control and we reap the benefits of helping because we feel good about our actions. In contrast, the person asking for help has placed themselves in a position of vulnerability, in which they become dependent on the helper. She concluded that intentionally asking for help was a way to be of service to others. I strongly encourage you to just sit with that thought for 30 seconds. Reflecting… This has two implications for leaders. First, we as leaders need to be vulnerable and to ask for help when we need it. Asking for help when it is needed is a sign of courage, not of weakness. Second, really good leaders are strategic in asking for help. They look for ways to help grow others’ leadership abilities by providing opportunities for them to lead. This is not delegating. A strong leader asks for help with something they are confident that the other person can help with and which will benefit that person’s leadership. Do you have the courage to be vulnerable? Can you ask for help? Can you lead by humbling yourself? Do good and be well, Frederick |
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