Earlier on this year, I had the honour of attending the Q&A immediately following the showing of Coriolanus - the Directoral debut of Ralph Fiennes starring Brian Cox.

It’s a superb movie – a must see if you get the chance.  It’s pretty dark, late Shakespeare, and, as the reviewers have said, the main characters have few redeeming features!  However it touches on very current issues, as only shakespeare can.  At the end of the movie…(see below)

At the end of the Movie, Brian Cox responded to the packed DCA audience in a Q&A session.  

It was simply brilliant.  One of the things he said that struck me very powerfully was something from his own story.  When he decided to get into movies, he was already a very successful stage actor.  He moved to LA to initiate his movie career – and he had this mindset.  

There are no such thing as small parts and big parts.  There are only long parts and short parts.

Fantastic!  And if you ever see Brian Cox in a movie, you’ll see the impact of this mindset on his performances.  No matter what size his part, you notice Brian Cox in a movie!  

It got me thinking about life and work – and how, in our work, there are no such things as ‘big parts and small parts!’  So… my challenge to myself, and to you is – how will you make the most of your part, no matter how short it may be?

I’m really excited to announce that my friend and colleague, Peter Koestenbaum, will be in Europe in June, spending a good part of his time based in Dundee, Scotland, and I wanted to share a unique opportunity to work with Peter on his ‘Legacy’ visit. If you are able to attend, you will hear, first hand, from the creator of the Leadership Diamond® philosophy of leadership, and engage with him either in a One Day Masterclass, or a Two Day, In Depth, Leadership Diamond® seminar.

I know the world of leadership ‘gurus’ and authors is pretty cluttered, and often given to hyperbole – but it is no exaggeration to say that these events are a one-time opportunity to be in the company of true greatness. It is impossible to spend time in the presence of a philosopher like Peter Koestenbaum and not be moved and inspired, made wiser by a broadened, and yet more focused vision.

For further information on events, dates, cost and how to apply, please click on the following links:

Today’s world requires broader and deeper ways for leaders to understand reality and find new tools with which to build a future. …Peters book is indeed a blueprint for revolutionising organisations with ideas. It offers deep and practical advice for any leader engaged in shaping the future of our businesses and institutions, and the coaches and consultants that support them. … Every once in a while, a book comes along that illuminates the darkness and genius of our time. This is the book for our time (emphasis original).
Warren Bennis

In this video, I introduce, and set the scene, for a fifty minute conversation between Peter Koestenbaum and myself in Dallas Texas in November 2011. Peter, a former Professor in Philosophy, became a leadership educator and executive coach some 15+ years ago, practically applying his learning and ideas to ‘Philosophy in Business’. He has worked with leaders and organisations across the globe, bringing his wisdom and pragmatism, enabling leaders to deepen their capacity and enhance their readiness.

This video is password protected for use with clients, if you would like to see a 10 min summary of this conversation, click here.

Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. Einstein

This video starts with a brief introduction to the Leadership Diamond™, outlining each of the four ‘skills’, themes, ‘agenda points, ‘critical success factors’ or Platonic ideas:

Ethics – Belonging
Reality – Security
Vision – Achievement
Courage – Identity

This is followed with exploring the Inner Diamond, in particular Polarity. Then, using a case study of an actual failed change intervention, we touch on individual free will and the system/field or world providing some further in-depth application.

No problem can be solved at the same level of consciousness it was created. Einstein

If you would like any further information on how you can apply the Leadership Diamond™, to transform your leadership, please contact Peter at www.pib.net, or Joe www.lifetree.co.uk.

“The language of the Leadership Diamond™ is what is necessary to speak fluently and well about leadership. It is the natural language for leadership conversations, it automatically makes them more easy, more accessible, more accurate and more useful.” Peter Koestenbaum

Thanks for watching!

Joe Lafferty, Dundee, Scotland.

In conversation with Peter Koestenbaum

Had a late night twitter conversation with @MartinShovel which lead me to his webpage which is packed with excellent material on communication, and more. Real depth, insight and clarity. A rare mix I recommend you check it out.

I was struck by his comments in his last post on outstanding communication and oratory. At the seminar I hosted in Dundee Monday past with Dick and Emily Axelrod, one thing we focused on was Peter Koestenbaum’s Leadership Damond® – exploring his simple, elegant yet deep model. In one exercise, we analysed Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech – looking at it through the lens of the Diamond. This lead to some significant insights into leadership as well as the brilliance of the crafting, and delivery, of this momentous speech.

So, leadership that makes a difference is leadership that communicates. Communicates with simplicity and with passion.

Martin Luther King had not heard of the Diamond! Yet his speech used the tensions between the polarities of vision and reality, ethics and courage. His speech was incredibly courageous, not just in going to Washington. Not just in standing up as a black man in the hallowed ground of American leadership and politics. More than that, it was in having the courage to face reality. And to have the courage to encourage others to face that reality together. And not to allow that reality to lead to depression and despair. Or to aggression and violence. Rather it was courage to have vision, to believe, to have hope, and to inspire hope in others.

A historic speech by a leader who changed things.

Had a superb visit with Dick and Emily Axelrod this weekend. We got to hang out, as well as host a brilliant one day seminar with them in our home city of Dundee.

The group of clients and friends that gathered to explore ‘Engagement is the New Change Management’ and ‘Leading with an Engagement Edge’ had a very interesting and stimulating day @ Figure 8 Venues.

The diversity and willingness of the group to engage lead to a very stimulating day – where we explored core concepts of engagement, change (‘old’ change management as well as the ‘new’ change management), and leadership.
Just to give a short ‘flavour’ of the day, I’ll share some of what we explored.

Old Change Management

Dick spoke about the ‘Old Change Management’. The leaders decide the change, appoint a group or groups to plan and implement the change. If you get a consultant on board and you involve some staff, this is the ‘gold standard’ of change management. It’s still alive and well in organisational life! Dick showed how it’s actually very mechanistic, can significantly reduce engagement, with knock on consequences. This short video summarises the Old Change Management.

The New Change Management

We also looked at the ‘New Change Management’ and from my illustration you can see the emphasis is on something organic. We worked through these core principles and Dick and Emily showed how simple things can have a significant impact: like getting people to share what’s important to them at work and why. These ‘care conversations’ are all part of the
The video below summarises the key models and impact of the ‘New Change Management.’

We also learned how meetings are often such a missed engagement opportunity & how we can run more ‘engaging’ meetings using a simple model – the meeting canoe.

All of this is in Dick’s latest book Terms of Engagement (which I illustrated) and you can get a copy by clicking the link.

The Leadership Diamond

In the afternoon, we got the opportunity to look at ‘Leadership with an Engagement Edge,’ in particular doing a deeper exploration of our friend Peter Koestenbaum’s ‘Leadership Diamond.’

We learned through this inspirational and mind expanding material, about the importance of paying attention to all points of the Diamond, and how the diamond is a ‘lens’ to look at the individual as well as the system.

One person said on the day that… ‘It was great to get world class speakers here in Dundee – bring it on!’

Thanks to Dick and Emily & everyone who made it a significant day of learning which we can apply to our work immediately!

Now… off to have some care conversations and ride a few meeting canoes…

Had a superb day yesterday with the Go Dundee group on the Dundee Wave of Change, ‘hidden dundee’ journey.

Will write more about this but wanted to upload some of the photos, so here are the links below. At the end of the post is a video summarising just two of the projects where young people have engaged with the Dundee Wave of Change.

4 Star photos – on Facebook:
here, and here.

and on Flickr – full size images available here.

1 Star photos – on Flickr: a lot more here.

Health warning! None of the photos have been edited (apart from the one where I photo-shopped me into the group photo!) So they are not what I would normally publish without some cropping or slight treatment.

First video of DWoC summary of working with young people here. (I have another more professional one I’ll be uploading soon with interviews with the St Johns songwriters).

Dick and Emily Axelrod are in the UK and will be in Dundee on Monday the 6th June.

It’s a rare opportunity to work with global thought leaders in the field of engagement & enabling successful change.

Dick’s latest book “Terms of Engagement: Changing the Way We Change Our Organizations” (which I illustrated) is “A complete blueprint for involving others” and “the best of the current crop of books on this topic.” NYT, and some copies will be available on the day.

Dick encourages us to become a “Pragmatic Involver.” Covering everything from solving a nagging long-term problem at work that could save a company millions, to launching a community movement, the book shows how involving others in a project while maintaining one’s focus on the nuts-and-bolts details can make big things happen.

Dick and Emily have extensive experience in the field of OD and worked with an extensive list of clients across the globe. I particularly like the way they integrate theory with their significant experience of working at all levels in all kinds of organisations.

If you are able to come along, you will learn about practical approaches to enhance engagement and improve performance, you’ll get to work with other Leaders and OD practitioners and you’ll also have fun!

Focus

The event focus will be split into two, one covered in the morning and the other covered in the afternoon. One session will focus on Engagement is the New Change Management which will cover many of the concepts in Dick’s latest book. The other session will focus on Leadership with an Engagement Edge. These will be suitable as stand alone events if you can only attend morning or afternoon, and they will also build on each other if you are able to attend the full day.

Timings & Venue

The event will start at 09:00 and the morning session will run till 12:30.
The afternoon session will start at 13:30 and run until 16:30
The venue is F8 Venues, Whitehall St Dundee
Attached are links to two of Dick’s recent papers which you might find interesting – on on engagement and one specifically focused on practical changes in improving health care. He has one being published in the UK on engagement in early June.

Email me if you want to attend.

Just back from the Leicester Conference 2011. A very rich experience, with much to ponder on and digest. However there were some moments of insight, and i plan to share some of these over the next few weeks. I’ll start with something very practical – clarification of leadership role and skill.

At Leicester, in many of the groups I participated in there was competition for leadership: specifically the leadership role. In one of the groups I was in, we heard the children outside in the garden calling out, ‘I’ll be number one’ to which others replied, ‘No! I’ll be number one!’ We dissolved in laughter as this was evidently what was also happening in the room, albeit in more subtle ways!

At one point it became clear that we were confusing role with skill. That the clamour for power, recognition and authority, by becoming a battle, was in effect preventing leadership skill being expressed in the group.

One group I was part of didn’t have the ‘fight’ for control. Not that we avoided it, we made a decision not to fight for control. This made space for leadership skill to flourish across the group. It was striking to me how much more effective this group was at utilising it’s resources, and getting tasks done. Of course there were tensions, but the group seemed able to navigate these. Another aspect of this group was that individuals, pairs and trio’s were able to work together on tasks, maximising the productivity of the group. Also, this group was very creative – coming up with both practical ideas and also a very interesting hypothesis on latent and manifest tasks which I’ll share in another blog post.

Leadership is BOTH a position in the hierarchy, AND an activity within a social system. However if we can clarify the role of leadership – who’s in charge for a specific task or area or responsibility, AND this role leader is secure in themselves, then more leadership skill and creativity will flourish, enabling the group to work cohesively and productively towards it’s primary task.