Barnes & Conti Newsletter: May 2002

Focus on Leadership

We have all been focusing a lot on leadership these days. Perhaps it is the “turbulent times” we live in, with so much global unrest and an economy that is just beginning to recover—it seems that turbulent times cry out for flexible and effective leaders.

At Barnes & Conti, we’ve always had an emphasis on developing leadership; our training programs and consulting services are designed to help leaders and managers succeed in a continuously changing environment. Recently, I have had the opportunity to share ideas with some of our customers about leadership in turbulent times, both in the Bay Area and in Mexico. In thinking about what leaders need to be able to do now, I identified three key skill sets: thinking strategically, influencing others, and establishing an agile and versatile culture. In response to current conditions and customer requests, we find ourselves focusing more than ever in these three areas this year.

As most of you know, we have been involved in influence skills development for more than 15 years. Cultural strategies to support risk and innovation have become important to many of our customers over the past several years. Strategic thinking has always been a focus of my consulting process and we have now found some ways to make those tools more accessible to our clients. Strategic thinking goes hand in hand with risk-taking and innovation, involving a broad range of tools and approaches. It is a flexible process that synthesizes creative and critical thinking, is focused on a desired result, and is intended to develop, test, and decide on possible actions to achieve the desired result especially under continually changing conditions. Strategic thinking is not an event, (as strategic planning sometimes is seen to be), but a way of life in the most successful organizations.

In this newsletter, we’re introducing our new program, entitled Strategic Thinking: Leadership Practices for the Innovative Organization™. This program provides a set of tools for moving the right ideas into action—the ideas that will move your organization toward achieving its vision.

In other news, for those of you who must influence others across the globe; Exercising Influence™ is now available in Polish through our new Eastern European Partner, P-aiz (The Polish-American Management Institute). And for those of you who will be attending the ASTD conference in New Orleans this June, I want to extend a personal invitation to my seminar on June 3rd, which will look at how Barnes & Conti partnered with Procter & Gamble to help establish a more innovative and less risk-averse culture, both here and abroad.

Kim

In this Issue:

“Leadership in Turbulent Times: Four Styles of Leadership” (excerpt) by B. Kim Barnes
Featured art (above) “Composition Storm” by Wassily Kandinsky
Kim Barnes to Speak on “Culture Change in a Global Economy” at ASTD in New Orleans
News Items: Introducing our Partner in Eastern Europe, Kim Addresses Bay Area OD Network
New Barnes & Conti Programs: Strategic Thinking™ and From Conflict to Consensus™
Recipe: Polish Sour Rye Soup
Just for Fun:
- Ten ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Fun—and Insanity —in Leadership
- Leadership Joke for Turbulent Times

Leadership in Turbulent Times: Four Styles of Leadership (excerpt)

B. Kim Barnes, Barnes & Conti President and CEO

A leader is a person to whom others turn for direction, inspiration, moral authority, or support. No title, however grand, confers the qualities of leadership on anyone. Leadership is earned, person by person, through behaviors that qualify in the minds of others as leadership behaviors. In the end, a leader is someone whom we trust to guide us toward a shared future.

Four Styles of Leadership

These four styles of leadership are derived from the work of the Tibetan sage, Milarepa, who described four ways to lead—noble, peaceful, fascinating, and stern.

Noble: The Noble leader leads by example and moral authority; he or she represents by his or her actions the highest expression of the values and principles by which the organization governs itself. The Noble leader is admirable and meritorious. He or she is seen as impressive, heroic, extraordinary; one who is virtuous, valorous, and incorrupt. Many people view Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa as Noble leaders. The basis of their leadership is moral authority (although the people who worked most directly with Mother Teresa also characterized her as Stern).

Peaceful: The Peaceful leader leads through nurturing and supporting the people and creating an environment where they can be their best and highest selves. The Peaceful leader is serene and steadfast, characterized by a quiet dignity, a gracious and caring manner. Bishop Tutu of South Africa is nearly universally thought of in this way, as was Mahatma Ghandi. Their leadership is founded on trust—both trustworthiness and trust in others.

Fascinating: The Fascinating leader leads through stimulating the hopes, imagination, and dreams of the people and enabling them to see a vision of the future. The Fascinating leader may be either charming or charismatic. Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair, and Bill Clinton typify the charming leader—engaging and appealing (to those who elected and support them). Jack Kennedy and Martin Luther King exemplify the charismatic leader—energetic, dynamic, and vigorous. Their leadership is based on attunement to others or a shared vision. These leaders are the “great communicators,” able to tap into common hopes and dreams.

Stern: The Stern leader leads through reminding the people of their duties and responsibilities and calling them to account for their actions or lack of action. The Stern leader is strict and rigorous. He or she is seen as shrewd and authoritative. Margaret Thatcher and Charles de Gaulle, among recent political leaders, best fit that profile. George W. Bush, especially after September 11, has made speeches that are good examples of stern leadership, although some of his campaign speeches exemplified a more “peaceful” style. Stern leaders lead based on the strength and certainty of their commitment and convictions.

In today’s complex organizations, the successful leader must know how to lead in all of these styles and when each of them is most appropriate. For example, during a crisis, when time is of the essence, the Stern leadership style may help move people to focused action. When there are decisions to be made that require good judgment, the Noble style may be of greatest value. When relationships and morale are highly important, the Peaceful style is called for, and when people lack energy or alignment, the Fascinating style can transform a situation.

To download the complete essay, click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)

To view the essay in your browser, click here

Kim Barnes to Speak at ASTD International Conference in New Orleans.

Topic: Training for Culture Change in a Global Economy
When: June 3, 2002 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Barnes & Conti President and CEO Kim Barnes will be co-presenter at a seminar entitled “Training for Culture Change in a Global Company.” Kim will be presenting with Kim McGraw from Procter & Gamble. The session focuses on how Procter & Gamble needed to change its organizational culture to better support intelligent risk-taking, and how a program for leaders (Creating a Culture for Risk & Innovation™) was implemented in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. This session is presented as part of the Leadership/ Management Development track.

For a full session description, click here
or go to /www.barnesconti.com/ASTDSession.html

Please stop by our booth at the ASTD Expo to say hello and see what we're giving away! We'll be at booth #1314.

What's New at Barnes & Conti?

New Global Partner in Eastern Europe/
Exercising Influence™ Now Available in Polish

We recently added the Polish-American Management Institute (P-aiz) to our list of global partners. The Polish American Management Institute is an organization of management consultants based in Lublin, Poland. Their current focus is companies indigenous to Poland.

Barnes & Conti resident world-traveler, Kim Barnes, recently completed an Exercising Influence™ “train-the-trainer” process with our Polish partners. The process began with a discussion of the business situation in Poland, and a detailed discussion of the Exercising Influence™ workbook. Our enthusiastic partners had already translated the workbook into Polish (!) and because Slavic languages are so different from English, they wanted to make sure they had translated the concepts properly.

To read more about our partner in Eastern Europe, click here
Or go to www.barnesconti.com/partners.html#paiz

Best in the West: Bay Area Network Annual Conference

Kim Barnes spoke at the recent “Best in the West” Bay Area OD Network Annual Conference. Kim talked about our work with Procter & Gamble, working with their leadership to create a more innovative and less risk-averse culture.

Towards the end of the conference, which had as a theme “Community,” four members were selected to address the assembled organization development professionals as “elders” and Kim was among those selected. Said Kim, “After getting over my struggle with being considered an ‘elder,’ I spoke about the contribution that I believe the organization development profession, as well as the many individual OD practitioners who are actively volunteering their services, could make to the community at large.”

Kim said that the OD profession has developed expertise in understanding and leading change, conflict management and problem resolution processes in human organizations. The insight, wisdom, and experience of the mature OD profession speaking out as one of the “elders” of the community, could be of great value—not only to local communities, but to the larger global community. Maturity, for professions and organizations, as well as for individuals, involves that delicate combination of accepting responsibility for doing what you can, with what you have, where you are—while recognizing your limitations and avoiding the temptation to fly too close to the sun.

Upcoming Public Programs

Exercising Influence™

May 21-22, Bethesda, MD (sponsored by Strategic Partners, Inc.)
June 25-26, San Francisco, CA
July 16-17, Seattle, WA (co-sponsored by Corporate Strategies)

Constructive Negotiation™

May 14-15, Milpitas (San Jose), CA
July 16-17, San Francisco, CA

Intelligent Risk-Taking™

June 4-5, Milpitas (San Jose), CA

To register for one of our public programs, click here
or go to: www.barnesconti.com/ppsched.php

New Barnes & Conti Programs

Strategic Thinking: Leadership Practices for Innovative Organizations™

This spring, we are proud to introduce this new program for leaders, managers, team members—in short, any individual whose work may have an impact on your organization’s future. Strategic Thinking™ is a one-day intensive program which teaches participants to work with a variety of strategic tools, such as scenario planning and assumption-busting, and gives them the opportunity to apply those tools to strategic challenges and/or opportunities in their own organizations.

For more information on Strategic Thinking™, click here
or go to www.barnesconti.com/programs/thinking.html

From Conflict to Consensus: Prevention,
Management, and Resolution™

From Conflict to Consensus™ is a program for leaders, managers, team members, and individuals who need to interact, collaborate, and make decisions with others in order to achieve their goals. In this program, participants will gain a better understanding of the sources of conflict, and learn tools for preventing conflict from arising. It also provides methods for taking advantage of the energy tied up in conflict, allowing creative resolution and more productive relationships.

For more information on From Conflict to Consensus™, click here
or go to www.barnesconti.com/programs/conflict.html

Featured Recipe: Zurek Polski (Polish Sour Rye Soup)

Kim enjoyed this delicious and unusual—to Americans at least—soup while working with our partners in Poland. They were more than happy to share the recipe with us. We had to make allowances for some ingredients not readily available outside of Eastern Europe, such as kwas. In Poland, this soup is traditionally served in a bread bowl.

Virtual Kwas

Kwas is a fermented juice made from rye flour. As this is not easily available in the US and is difficult to make, try making the “virtual kwas” below:

4 slices extra sour rye bread, crusts trimmed off
1/2 c. white wine vinegar
1 c. water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. plain yogurt

Sprinkle bread with vinegar, allow to soak a few minutes. Add water and garlic, sour cream and yogurt. Blend at high speed.

Making the Soup

6 c. chicken stock
6 slices of bacon, partially cooked and drained of fat, then sliced into 1" pieces
2 large onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
8 large mushrooms, sliced
Virtual kwas (see above)
2 potatoes, cooked and diced
2 chicken/turkey sausages, sliced (artichoke and garlic flavor is excellent)

Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

Just for Fun

Here are ten ways to maintain fun and a certain amount of insanity for the leaders and teams in your company. Some of these we’ve tried ourselves, and we know that they work very well. We will admit to having done four of them... well, maybe five. See if you can guess which ones (be careful what you assume about Berkeley-based companies!) The first person to get them all right wins a signed book!

On Friday afternoon, put white wine in the water cooler.
Switch the labels on the decaf and caffeinated coffee (then duck).
Switch the regular and low-fat pastries on Fridays. Better yet, bring in regular pastries and just say they’re low-fat.
Share your favorite computer game with everyone (to be played during lunch and breaks, of course).
Have a karaoke party for the staff; you volunteer to sing first.
Hang colorful flags and banners from Italy around the office.
Burn aromatherapy candles during weekly staff meetings.
Answer every question with a funny story.
When redecorating the office, hire a Feng-Shui consultant.
Take the entire department on a teambuilding trip to the bowling alley.

Turbulent Times

As a new CEO takes the reins at a dot.com, the old CEO gives him three envelopes numbered 1, 2 and 3. He instructs the new CEO to open the envelopes if he encounters any problems he cannot solve. Things go well for the new CEO for a few months but then sales fall sharply. The CEO opens envelope number one and reads “Blame your predecessor.” He does so and the company responds well. Sales pick up. A year later sales slump again, so the CEO opens envelope number two. He reads “Reorganize” and follows the instructions. Again, the company rebounds. Things go well again for a year but another sales slump occurs, more difficult than the others. The CEO opens envelope number three and reads, “Prepare three envelopes...”

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