TITLE: Leading at a Higher Level
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: June 08, 2007 12:24 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Last night my wife and I went to see a presentation by
<A HREF="http://www.kenblanchard.com/">
   Ken Blanchard</A>,
author of many bestselling books on leadership, starting with
<EM>The One Minute Manager</EM>.  I previously
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-06.html#e2005-06-24T08_26_14.htm">
   blogged on his Leadership and the One-Minute Manager</A>,
and I very much enjoyed his
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Raving-Fans-Revolutionary-Approach-Customer/dp/0688123163">
   Raving Fans</A>.
His talk was as good as advertised, full of great stories that
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2007-05.html#e2007-05-16T15_53_48.htm">
   made memorable</A>
a focused message: if you wish to excel, people and energy matter.

If you have a chance to hear Blanchard speak, I encourage you
to do so, with one small caveat.  If you are averse to
spiritual talk of any sort or prefer your professional talks
not to mention God even in passing, then you may be turned off.
I thought he did a pretty good job keeping faith out of the
talk and focusing on how to lead and why.  Certainly the books
of his on management and leadership that I've read stay on topic,
though I can't speak to
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Higher-Level-Leadership-Organizations/dp/0132347725/">
   his latest book</A>.
If you can look past an occasional bit of spirit talk, then
Blanchard can probably psyche you up to be a better leader.
And you are a leader if you see any part of your life to be
about influencing others, whether you have an organizational
role as leader or not.  Teachers fit the definition, and I
think that agile software developers do, too.

I won't try to give a full accounting of the talk.  You would
be better served by reading Blanchard's books, which tend to
be slim, fast reads.  Here are a few takeaway points that seem
applicable to my roles as software developer, teacher, and head
of a university CS department:
<UL>
<LI> The computer and the human mind share at least one similarity:
     neither know the difference between the truth and what we tell
     it.  You can use this fact to help you change how you think
     by giving yourself the right sort of input.

<LI> You don't beat your competition with good product.  Without
     that, you aren't in the game.  You don't even beat your
     competition with a lower price.  Without a fair price, you
     won't even be in the game.  You beat your competition with
     "moments of truth".  Blanchard didn't define that phrase,
     instead illustrating it with stories.  My take is that a
     moment of truth is a moment when your customer senses
     something bigger than a transaction, a moment when value
     exceeds cost and expectation.

<LI> Separate <EM>listening</EM> from <EM>deciding</EM>.

<LI> When you make the transition from vision to implementation,
     the hierarchy of the organization must be inverted: the
     leaders become servants, and the customers become the focus.

<LI> Servant leaders believe their positions are on loan.  They
     are leading not to gain power or treasure, but to be helpful.
     For this reason, they love feedback; they look at feedback
     as a gift.

<LI> Your next interaction with a client/student/parent/prospective
     student or donor may be your last.
</UL>

Right now my thoughts are on moments of truth.  What are the
moments of truth that my students experience?  My faculty?
My external customers?
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