Leading andManaging

Saint Louis Park

Learning and DevelopmentMarch 9, 2011

Chad Weinstein

Ethical Leaders in Action

ELA’s “Guidelines for Grownups”

• Confidentiality Expectations

• Engagement

• Respectful Candor

• Thoughtful Expediency

• Comfort and Fun

Agenda

• Introduction

• Virtues of Ethical Leadership

• Leadership Goal: Engagement!

• Skills

• The Power of Purpose

“Business ethics is so…negative.”

Empower others to improve the world

Who does ELA serve?

Ethical Leaders in ActionLeadership Development Model

Leading

Self

Leading

Others

Leading

in Context

Among my teachers…

Leadership

• People-oriented

• Vision is key.

• Leaders engage and

bring out the best in

their people

• Observable Outcomes

• More art than science.

Management

• Process-oriented

• Resources are key.

• Managers seek to

maximize the value of

human resources.

• Measureable Outcomes

• More science than art.

One conventional viewpoint

Do Stuff!

One conventional viewpoint

Do Stuff !The right right

One conventional viewpoint

Ethical Leaders in ActionVirtues of Ethical Leadership

Clarity Creativity

Competence Courage

Service

Being serious

about

empowering

others

Exercising

will in support

of collective

aims

Service

Imagination

and Vision

Reality and

analysis

Moral Clarity:

Values

Clarity

Divergent

thinking:

“out of the box”

Convergent

thinking:

“in the box”

Problem-

solving

Creativity

Practical

wisdom and

judgment

Technical

knowledge

Communi-

cation

Competence

Doing right,

In the face of

difficulty

Courage

Your Turn: in Four Groups

Describe a time when you saw this virtue in action in your department. (You can’t be the hero of your story.)

Select one story for the group to tell, and one lead storyteller. Draw a picture on your flip chart that helps to tell that story.

When we reconvene, we’ll discuss how to stimulate these virtues in our departments

Groups: North: ClaritySouth: CreativityEast: CompetenceWest: Courage

Measuring Engagement

• Retention

• Safety

• Customer Service

• Productivity

• Profitability

Source: Gallup G12 Summary

• Clear expectations for

performance

• Adequate materials

and equipment

• Ability to succeed

in assigned roles

• A supervisor who cares about subordinates

• Co-workers committed to quality work

• Opportunities to learn and grow

Source: Gallup G12 Summary

Employee Engagement Drivers

Pre

ssu

re

LOW

HIGH

HIGH

Adapted from Social Discipline Window - Paul McCold and Ted Wachtel - 2000

TO WITH

NOT FOR

punitive relational

neglectful permissive

authoritarian

stigmatising

authoritative

respectful

indifferent

passive

protective

easy/undemanding

Relational Leadership Model

TO WITH

NOT FOR

Relational

Leaders

offer high

pressure,

high

support

Pre

ssu

re

How do you lead?

ELA’s Foundational Values forPublic Agencies

• Excellent Public Service

• Sound Stewardship of Resources

• Fairness to Employees

Tough conversations?

“I’m promoting Sandy over you.”

“We must find a way to achieve the same result at

lower cost.”

“ I know you can do better.”

“I’m tired of your grousing.”

“That’s unsafe.”

What makes a conversation tough?

• Title borrowed from Robert Sutton, The No

Asshole Rule.

• Skills are easy to discuss, harder to

implement.

• Communications problems are notoriously

sneaky – we cannot observe ourselves as

others see us!

Listen like you are wrong; Speak like you are right.

• Perceive – with whole being

– Most people blunt their own perceptions.

– Cops sharpen perceptions to survive and succeed

• Suspend analysis and action

– Cops learn to draw conclusions and to act swiftly

– Act, but deliberately.

• Ask, ask, ask ask

– Action bias leads to “internal storytelling.”

– Inform your narrative with input from others.

Leaders Listen!

We need to learn how to deliver

pressure and support to each person

• Past: What happened

– Observable events and facts

– First person and objective

• Present: Why it matters

– Consequences of actions.

– Implications

• Future: Required Changes, Directions

– Changes in actions or behaviors

– Reinforcement to repeat positive actions

Fair

Process is

working

WITH

others

Giving Feedback

What does “Relational Leadership” teach us

about giving feedback?

• I am sorry

– I understand your concerns and my mistake(s)

– I sincerely regret both my actions and their impact

• It won’t happen again

– I commit to change

– I am accountable for that commitment

• Thank you for bringing this to me

– I appreciate the trust you demonstrated

– I appreciate the opportunity to apologize and change

The Critical Art of Apology

A mistake – or crisis - becomes an opportunity

to strengthen a relationship

We are most likely to trust and

co-operate with individuals and

systems - whether we win or

lose - when we experience fair

process.

“Process”

includes

anything

from

giving

feedback to

a single FF

to setting

departmental

strategy

Kim & Mauborgne, Harvard Business Review, July – August 1997

Why think about “Fair Process?”

• Engagement– Stakeholders invited to participate

– Participants have an opportunity to be heard

• Explanation– Process and rationale are clearly explained, along with

decisions and outcomes.

– Explanation is respectful – it is also often educational.

• Expectation Clarity– When decisions are made, implications for all

stakeholders are clearly articulated.

– Everyone knows what to expect, and what is expected

of them.

Fair

Process is

working

WITH

others

The Three Elements of Fair Process

Fair Process does not mean:

• Democracy

• Consensus

• Happiness or Contentment

• Accommodation of individual wishes

or whims

• Command relinquishing legitimate

decision authority or accountability

A good indication of a fair process is when people who do not

“get their way” understand why and how a decision was made,

and acknowledge that the process was fair.

• Sisyphus angered

gods through a

variety of antics.

“Accounts vary.”

• His sentence was the

worst thing the

storytellers could

imagine for a smart,

engaged person.

Learning from Sisyphus

Purpose

Expectations

Performance

Pride

A virtuous cycle

The oldest leadership seminar

• Safety and comfort

• Tactical information

• Problem-solving

• Strategic decisions

• Who are we???

If we

aren’t

telling

stories,

others

surely

are!

Thank you for your attention!

Chad Weinstein

Ethical Leaders in Action, LLC

cweinstein@ethinact.com

651-646-1512

“We enable ethical leaders to achieve

extraordinary results”