Isn’t the goal of leadership to help people get along and  avoid conflict? How can it possibly be a good thing for people to be in conflict with each other? And why would a leader want to mine for it?

Great questions. The first thing we need to do is clarify what we mean by conflict. I believe there is a difference between destructive and healthy conflict. I also believe that when people avoid healthy conflict it often leads to destructive conflict.

In HERBISM #16 I claimed that Leaders Pull Splinters. This provided a great visual for healthy conflict. Pulling splinters can hurt depending on how deep the splinter has penetrated. Pulling splinters requires a form of conflict–going after an issue, disrupting the status quo, and removing an obstacle or impediment.

On the flip side imagine what happens when a splinter is ignored. It usually leads to an infection as it festers. Eventually the damage and discomfort it causes is much more severe.

Now imagine how a team works together in an organization to achieve the best possible outcomes for its stakeholders.

Great leaders understand that all options need to be on the table in order to make the best possible decisions. And, in order to get all the options on the table every member of a leadership team needs [a safe environment in which] to speak their minds openly without holding back.

Great leaders recognize that when people are holding back trust is lacking. Hence, they mine for conflict and address issues head-on instead of shrinking away.

Great leaders embrace vulnerability knowing that if they don’t go first their people won’t follow. In the process trust and healthy conflict emerge and lead to an environment of creativity and communication.

In the words of Patrick Lencioni, author of The Advantage – How Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business, “In an environment of trust, conflict is nothing more than the pursuit of truth in order to achieve the best possible results”.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Every great achievement is made possible by passion.

Work without passion is a grind. Work with passion is a thrill.

Great leaders pursue passion in themselves and release passion in others knowing that passion is the energy that enables them to persevere against all odds and to achieve uncommon success.

We are all born on purpose and for a purpose. Follow your passion and it will likely lead to your purpose. That discovery will ignite an even greater passion, to provide the energy to keep going when others give up.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve greatness without passion.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

#HERBISM

Fake it until you make it.

If you have been in the automotive industry for any length of time this phrase is almost as well known as the definition of insanity. Unfortunately, many people in the industry actually believe that it’s possible to fake it without being perceived as a fake.

Abraham Lincoln claimed that you can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. In other words, ultimately your true character will become evident.

Leaders are repulsed by fake-ness and choose character not only in themselves, but in others. They understand that character is who you are and is a manifestation of what you truly believe. It is formed over time through the habits, actions, words, attitudes, and thoughts that have been embraced and cultivated. As such it represents a foundation that provides followers both comfort and a sense of security.

Since character and trust are closely linked, leaders carefully consider their words, attitudes and actions understanding that character is easier to maintain than it is to recover.

Most hiring manager’s talk about the importance of the three Cs (Competence, Chemistry and Character) when recruiting new staff. Chick-fil-A places a greater emphasis on character than competence, suggesting that they hire people based on aspects that can’t be taught and teach what’s missing.

Here are a few simple ways to discover a person’s character:

• Look at a person’s friends;
• Look at the way a person earns and spends their money;
• Look at how a person behaves when they don’t think anybody is watching;
• Look at how a person responds or reacts under pressure;
• Look at how a person uses power.

Final thought: If you need to choose between talent and character, consider the words of Bill Belichick, “Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.”

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

#Herbism

What is wisdom, why must it be exercised, and why is it important to possess?

Beginning with the end in mind, why is wisdom important? While the way to gain greater wisdom is somewhat mysterious, possessing greater wisdom enables better decision making, better actions, and better outcomes. This suggests that more wisdom is better than less wisdom.

So, what is wisdom, then?

Wisdom is a blend of the following four attributes:

Notice again that three are attributes of the emotional brain (Limbic) and only one is an attribute of the rational brain (Neocortex). In previous posts the role of the limbic brain was presented as being responsible for 75% of our behaviors and actions, 75% of what creates connections with others, along with 75% of what leads to greater trust. This suggests that wisdom is 75% EQ and only 25% IQ.

Wisdom is not something that we are born with, but something that we acquire and refine over time through experience. I believe that is why Abraham Lincoln came to the conclusion that if you want to increase the rate of success you must increase the rate of failure. Each time we attempt an endeavor we gain knowledge [learn something], while expanding and refining our insight, judgement, and belief.

I believe that the thing we call our ‘gut feeling’ is closely related to wisdom and that the exercising of wisdom comes down to how much we listen to and trust our gut feel. I also believe that vulnerability and humility are key elements in determining whether our experiences develop greater wisdom. The more vulnerable and humble we are the more  willing we are to head correction and turn negative feedback into greater insight.

Exercising wisdom suggests that a leader uses acquired knowledge (IQ), while trusting their gut (EQ), along with removing their own selfish motives through humility, and avoiding the lure of ego by maintaining an attitude of transparency, which is only possible when allowing oneself to be vulnerable.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.