Your Personal Productivity Platform - 5. Power
This is the fifth in the series on your personal productivity platform.
Power is about the capacity for action and outcomes[1]. Our personal productivity platform is predicated on that capacity. Ignoring for the moment whether what we get done is the ‘right thing’, we are still left with being competent to complete the task(s) at hand at or above the standard set by a customer. The customer could be us or someone else. How quickly can we steepen our learning curve on the way to become proficient?
Another aspect of power, important to me as a value, is that while getting results I leave others at least in as good a shape as when we started. In other words, I intend to maintain and even enhance our working relationships. This connects to the dual aspects of leadership – performance and relationships[2]. Though my work context is predominantly a business or organizational setting, this intention seems relevant and applicable everywhere. Others may not design to the same standard but that’s how I play.
A final piece: to move from this kind of incremental power to the power that enables us to take something we believe “impossible”, declare it possible, and then deliver and make it real in the world. To do that, we must re-invent ourselves, transform our way of being. At the heart of this re-invention is shifting our context, “the human environment that determines the limitations of your actions and the scope of the results your actions can produce.” [3] We shall save a fuller exploration for another time and another blog post. But read on for a taste of this.
I coached a senior manager who was challenged to relate as well to her peers and subordinates as she did with her clients. Marcia (not her real name) often felt impatient and dismissive of her colleagues; they simply didn’t see things her way quickly enough. It showed up in her tone and demeanor, and in her language. Others noticed, and it constrained their felt sense of connection, camaraderie and relatedness. As a result, they were less able to listen generously to her perspectives, even less willing to share their points of view.
This dynamic could become a career-limiting derailer; it was already impactful enough to catch her attention. As we discussed the situation and her differential response to the two groups, Marcia distinguished underlying assumptions about her colleagues and who they were for her. She saw how her marginalization was inconsistent with her purpose and values (though seemingly consistent with her value of speed to respond). The unintended consequences: partial dialog, incomplete listening, inconsistent execution, and weakened relationships. She saw that to be in integrity and alignment, she would need to choose to shift her context, to reframe her story about colleagues, to prioritize connection over speed. She realized that it was possible for her to manage what mattered with grace.
This is not trivial work, especially when one’s approach has proven successful. On the other hand, she had reached that point identified by Marshall Goldsmith where one’s winning strategy has run its course: “what got you here won’t get you there.” Tweaks around the edges would be insufficient; what was needed was a contextual overhaul.
Marcia committed to take this on, challenged yet enthusiastic about the different and better future that seemed available. She practiced, ran small experiments, noticed results, welcomed feedback and feedforward[4], and adjusted for subsequent iterations. Over time, crafting a new narrative consistent with her purpose, values and intentions fostered a different attitude towards her colleagues and a different tenor in her conversations. She intentionally engaged in producing psychological safety[5]. Listening improved, calibration sharpened, execution became more reliable, and satisfaction increased. Results and relationships were both honored – the essence of powerful leadership.
What habits could you draw on that enable delivering on results while also taking care of the people involved? What gets in your way of showing up powerfully? Where are your narratives misaligned and undermine what you intend? Where do old, habitual ways of being and doing constrain your powerful expression? Can you distinguish winning strategies that now seem to be bankrupt? Do you have support for taking the learning journey of upskilling? Is there a missing conversation to be held?
Good food for thought? I encourage you to not get lost in your reverie. Let it energize and catalyze you to mindful action. And feel free to comment and dialog. This line is always open.
[1] Dunham, R. (2009). Power, Politics and Care. Unpublished paper. Boulder, CO: Newfield Network and the Institute for Generative Leadership, p. 1.
[2] There are many books written about this distinction. For example, see Anderson, R.J. & Adams, W.A. (2016). Mastering Leadership. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
[3] Goss, T, (1996). The Last Word on Power. New York: Currency Doubleday, p. 17.
[4] A description of this approach can be found in “Want to give feedback? Rather try feedforward!” at http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com.
[5] Edmondson, A.C. (2012). Teaming. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
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