Three Ways to Show Respect for Your People

• By Scott Eblin
• May 24, 2012
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Even if you’re trying not to pay attention to the presidential campaign right now, you might have heard about Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s comments on “Meet the Press” last weekend. When the topic of the negative messages that the Romney and Obama campaigns are both transmitting about the other side was raised, Booker said he found the whole thing “nauseating.” My guess is a lot of Americans (myself included) agree with Booker on that point. The problem for Booker is that he’s a high-profile Democrat and is therefore expected to parrot the incumbent’s line.

For the past week or so, that line has been that when Mitt Romney was running Bain Capital he was personally responsible for the bankruptcy of a number of companies and the jobs that were subsequently lost. At the same time, as Steve Rattner points out in the New York Times, Romney takes credit for the 89,000 jobs at Staples based on the relatively small investment that Bain made years ago when the company employed around a thousand people. He holds Obama responsible for the loss of 100,000 auto industry jobs. Are things really that simple?

Based on what each ...

That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It

• By Scott Eblin
• May 22, 2012
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So, let me say at the outset that I’m reasonably confident that this is the world’s first leadership development blog post that includes a story about roasted cauliflower. (I Googled “roasted cauliflower leadership” and the top result was this recipe from Northern Michigan’s News Leader.) Here’s my back story.

One day last week I was working from my home office and went into the kitchen to get some lunch. My amazing wife, Diane, had a baking sheet full of raw cauliflower out on the counter. I asked her what she was doing and she said, “Making some roasted cauliflower for lunch. Want some?” I think I made a face, semi-politely said no thanks and that she must be the only person in North America who was making cauliflower for lunch. She kindly reminded me that I’ve demonstrated over the past couple of years that I actually like cauliflower and noted the different occasions that proved that point.

That’s when I said, “I’m still working with my long held story that I hate cauliflower and I’m sticking to it.” So I went for a sandwich and missed out on tasty cauliflower with peas ...

How to Lead Massive Change

• By Scott Eblin
• May 17, 2012
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Podcast: Play in new window/Download

Sondra Barbour is the chief information officer and senior vice president of enterprise business services at Lockheed Martin. She’s a company veteran and change leader who has taken on increasingly responsible positions over the course of her career. I spoke with her recently about what she’s learned along the way. Some of the highlights from our conversation include:

• Leading Massive Change: When leading change, Barbour focuses on the connection between two key factors: communication and identifying the influencers. She notes that the influencers are “sometimes not the people you think” they would be. Once you find them, you have to establish two-way communication with them.

• Get Comfortable with Mistakes: Leading change means you’re going to make mistakes. Barbour says, “You can’t be right 100% of the time, and if you are then you are not taking enough risk.” When a mistake is made, call it out and let your team ...

What I Learned About Power Last Weekend

• By Scott Eblin
• May 15, 2012
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This past weekend I traveled to Cambridge, Mass., for the 25th reunion of my graduating class at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. (Just writing that makes me feel old.) I had the good fortune of graduating in a year that was the 350th anniversary of Harvard and the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy School (and its predecessor, the School of Public Administration). So, this year, as all of you mathletes have figured out, marks the 375th and 75th anniversaries respectively.

That meant that there was a lot of other stuff going on in Cambridge besides class reunion parties. On Friday, for example, there was a Dean’s Conference with a lineup of really interesting speakers. They were all good, but the one who really stood out for me was Joseph Nye, the long-time Harvard professor who also served as assistant secretary of Defense and other positions over the years.

Nye spoke on the topic of his latest book, “The Future of Power.” While he was approaching the topic from the standpoint of international relations (lots on the dynamic between the U.S. and China), I think Nye’s views on the evolving nature of power have broader applications for ...

How to Talk With People

• By Scott Eblin
• May 10, 2012
• comments

This is one of those titles that when you read it, you might be saying, “Really?” Yes, really. There’s a big difference between talking to people and talking with people. If you’re the designated leader in your organization, that difference has a multiplier effect that can cut in either direction.

In a post a few weeks ago, I asked if you were a transmitter or a receiver. Transmitters talk to people. Receivers talk with people. Transmitters take the teaching stance. Receivers take the learning stance.

When you’re the leader, you end up leading a lot of conversations in which multiple people participate. Sometimes you need to transmit to get a point across. That’s talking to people. Most of the time, though, you’re going to want to set things up so you learn from people and they learn from each other. That requires talking with people.

As the leader, you’ll set the tone as to whether it’s a talking to or talking with conversation.

Here are three ways to improve your communication skills by talking with people when you’re the leader.

• Ask open-ended questions. Yes or no questions put people on the defensive ...