Next Level Blog

Obama’s 100 Day Report Card: Next Level Style

Everyone’s talking about President Obama’s first 100 days and how he’s doing so far.  Since Obama is the ultimate case of a leader moving up to the next level, I thought I’d add my assessment by offering a report card on his performance as measured against the Next Level model of executive presence.  As outlined in my book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, and summarized in the table below, executive leadership presence can be broken down into nine behavioral distinctions that leaders need to either pick up or let go of.   And those nine distinctions match up with three big categories of executive leadership behaviors: personal presence, team presence and organizational presence.

So, how is the President doing after his first 100 days of leading at the next level?  Read on for a point by point breakdown and an overall GPA.

Swine Flu Briefing: A Lesson in How to Run a Town Hall Meeting

One of the basics in the senior leader’s communications repertoire is the town hall meeting.  Sometimes (oftentimes?), these meetings can really run off the rails.  When they do, it’s usually because the leader comes in without the answers that people care most about.  Another classic mistake is to come in with the desired information but to deliver it in a way that shows no connection whatsoever with the people in the audience.

Fortunately for all of us, there aren’t many town hall meetings on the subject of what leaders are doing  to prevent a global pandemic of influenza.  But, that’s exactly what three senior leaders took on in front of the White House press corps on Sunday afternoon.  To share what the government is doing to deal with the rapidly developing outbreak of a new strain of swine flu, homeland security advisor John Brennan, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control Richard Besser and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano took to the airwaves.  By chance, I watched it on CNN as it happened and I have to say it was a best practice example of how to conduct a town hall meeting.  (If you missed the briefing, you can watch it here. If you want more information on swine flu and how to stay healthy, visit the CDC website here. In about 20 minutes, these government leaders showed how it should be done when it comes to the what and how of conducting a successful town hall meeting.

Here’s what I saw in their briefing and what leaders can learn from their example.

You Are Not Alone

This has been a week of contrasts for me.  On the one hand, it’s been fun and exciting as I’ve met and talked with a lot of new people during different speaking engagements I’ve had.  On the other, it’s been pensive and melancholy because of the news of the tragic passing of Freddie Mac acting CFO David Kellerman and what seems to be a continuing string of stories of deadly family tragedies that one can only assume are borne out of the difficult challenges that so many are facing these days.

This morning I made a presentation to a group of corporate learning officers on supporting leaders at the next level.  As I often do in my speeches, I began by telling my own story of a time in my career when I moved into a much higher level leadership role than I had previously held and realizing in very short order that I was in way over my head.  Fortunately, I had a boss in the CEO who recognized my situation early, called me out on it and then proceeded to support me herself (sometimes with pats on the back and other times with kicks in the butt). She also went out of her way to line up other people to help me learn the ropes. 

During a break following my presentation this morning, one of the learning executives came up to me to thank me for telling that story about my struggles in that job.  He told me that he related to it personally and thought it was important to acknowledge that everyone eventually faces a time when they feel under water. As he said to me, “It’s good to know you’re not alone.”

What I see in many organizations these days and in some of the heartbreaking stories in the news is that there are a lot of people who must feel like they’re under water and, at some deep level, must feel like they’re alone.  If you’re feeling alone, let me tell you something. You’re not.  There are people around you who have been there too and want to help.  If you don’t feel alone, that’s great.  If you’re not already doing so, please pay attention to others who might be feeling like they’re constantly rolling that big rock uphill and let them know that they are not alone.

For several years now, I’ve applied in my work as a coach some of the tools and principles developed by University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Martin Seligman. Seligman is the originator of what is known as positive psychology and is the author of many books including two of my favorites, Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness. He has developed and shared some wonderful tools for staying positive and productive when things seem to be heading south.  I want to share one of them called disputation with you in the hope that is both personally useful and that you will share it with others who might benefit from it.

Disputation is the practice of redirecting that little voice inside your head that says things like, “All is lost,”  “You’re sunk,” or “There’s no way out of it.”  Just to take the edge off things a bit, let’s call this voice what it actually is - the itty bitty shitty committee. While it’s really important to recognize and acknowledge that voice, you don’t want to let it run your thinking. When you hear it speaking up, recognize it and then use the rational part of your mind to dispute what it’s saying. Inspired by Seligman’s work, here are some questions you can ask to challenge that negative monologue:

• What’s the evidence behind the event that is prompting my negative thinking?  What’s the evidence to the contrary?
• What are all the possible  causes for this event?  Are those causes situational or chronic?
• What’s the worst case scenario here?  How likely is that really?
• Even if the worst case is likely, what options are available to me to mitigate it or change the outcome?
• Five months from now or five years from now, how much will any of this really matter?

You can use these questions for self-coaching or, better yet, talk them through with someone you trust.  If the questions aren’t something you need right now, clip and save them for a time when you will.  In the meantime, please share them with someone who might need them.

It’s Not the Change, It’s the Transition

In just about every presentation I’ve given to leaders since last fall, I’ve recommended that everyone order their own personal copy of Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges.  I’ll make the same recommendation to you.  If you’re a leader and you don’t have a copy of this book, you need it.  After you’re done reading this post, get on Amazon and buy it.

Bridges’ book is a manual (it even includes checklists) for dealing with the biggest challenge facing leaders today which is moving everyone towards a new reality.  One of my favorite lines when I was a manager and remains so today as a coach is that it’s important to understand the difference between what should be and what is.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort these days to find examples of people that are stuck on what “should be” rather than what is. 

Fire Chiefs Share How to Lead in a Crisis

Last week, I had the honor of keynoting the annual Executive Fire Officer Program graduate symposium sponsored by the U.S. Fire Administration.  One of the things I sometimes do is ask members of my audience what they think about an important question and then share their answers with you.  Since I was speaking to an audience of fire department chiefs from across the United States, I thought that this was a perfect group to ask for advice on how to lead in a crisis.  Seems like a timely topic.  After all, what leader hasn’t been doing some crisis management lately?

These folks had some terrific stories and wisdom to share.  Some of the highlights include:

What the chief of the Boca Raton, Florida fire department learned from leading the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks on the headquarters of American Media International in his city.

• The relationship between trusting your team and staying calm in a crisis.
• How preparation and risk assessment can get you ready for the unexpected.
• Why it’s important to take a step back when a crisis begins.
• How to project confidence in a tough situation.

Want to learn more from the experts in crisis management and leadership?  I captured it all with my trusty Flip video camera and you can see it all in 4½  minutes by clicking on the You Tube screen below.

Let these people know what hit home with you by leaving a comment.  Do you have some crisis leadership tips of your own?  Share them here so others can learn from your experience.