Byron's Babbles

  I talk a lot about how leaders have to provide safe places for those we serve. This safety is most important when related to disagreement and discourse. I wrote extensively about this in Civilized Disdain Vs. Political Correctness. In Lesson #36 of The Disciplined Leader John Manning (2015) tackles this subject. Manning (2015) argues healthy work cultures demand disagreement, which creates viable possibilities for ingenuity, change, and progress. As a leader is up to us to create a safe environment for discourse and be comfortable with opposition and debate, knowing full well the result is sharper analysis and well-crafted ideas. 

 I believe creating a safe environment for disagreement considers civilized disdain, where we allow each other to feel disdain for a person’s or group’s views or beliefs while maintaining respect for the human beings that hold them. Then, we need to take those difference and through compromise and consensus-building form them into a “best” solution. Organizational learning can certainly be thought of as a discursive practice and it can be argued that disagreement improves learning. Oswick et al (2000), for example, attempt to formulate a more ‘discourse-sensitive’ conceptualization using the idea of dialogue. This position is cooberated by Senge (1990) who argued dialogue represents an important part of the learning process and they attempt to formulate a more sophisticated analysis of organizational dialogues using a discourse analytical framework.

Are you creating an environment of learning that is safe for discourse and disagreement?

Reference

Manning, John (2015). The disciplined leader: keeping the focus on what really matters. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition

Oswick, C., Anthony, P., Keenoy, T. and Mangham, I.L. (2000) A dialogic analysis of organizational learning. Journal of Management Studies, 37(6): 888-901.
Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.
London: Century.

Essential Insight for Talent Development Leaders

Guest Post By Ann Parker

CTDO (Chief Talent Development Officer) magazine provides essential insight for any leader responsible for developing talent. You can expect the following regular feature articles and columns in this free, quarterly, digital magazine. Learn more at www.td.org/CTDONow.

Features:

• CTDO spotlight: This profile showcases a talent development (TD) executive who is championing employee development in meaningful and innovative ways. It also incorporates commentary from another C-suite peer, showing how the two collaborate to achieve business success.
• Hot topic: This feature unpacks one of the macro-level ideas that CTDOs care about – global issues that will affect the world of work in the future and that executives must consider now.
• Debate: This article contrasts two diverging viewpoints on a popular practice or theory, such as emotional intelligence.

Columns:

• State of Talent Development: This four-piece round-up features public policy and talent development research.
• The Angst Index: You will get a deep dive into the top challenges of TD leaders, such as leadership development, adapting to globalization, employee engagement, and succession planning.
• Prove It: This column provides a practical look at how TD executives can effectively measure the impact of the seemingly intangible work that they do.
• Giving Back: We highlight TD efforts – at the individual and organizational level – to give back to the community and society at large.
• Career Hacks: This series showcases practical and sometimes quirky tips for talent development careers and competencies.
• Confessions From the C-Suite: A different perspective from the typical “happily ever after,” this case study article focuses on a big problem that a company is facing and lessons learned from implementing a talent development initiative.

Check out the latest content on the above topics in the Spring 2016 issue of CTDO magazine.

*****

Ann Parker is manager of the Human Capital Community of Practice and the Senior Leaders & Executives Community of Practice at ATD. Prior to this position, she worked at ATD for five years in an editorial capacity, primarily for TD magazine, and most recently as a senior writer and editor. In this role, Ann had the privilege to talk to many training and development practitioners, hear from a variety of prominent industry thought leaders, and develop a rich understanding of the profession’s content. Visit Chief Talent Development Officer Magazine.

 
In prepping for writing the post What’s In Your Culture, I reflected on the 71 highlights I made while reading It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture by Dee Ann Turner. In What’s In Your Culture I said that my big takeaway from the book was the fact that Dee Ann Turner was the product of the culture of excellence she taught us about in the book. Then, I got to thinking that the content of the book was too great to not blog about. Therefore, I have decided to share my top five highlights from my Kindle Edition of It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture.

For me, this drove home the fact that every organization has a culture. The question is whether it is a great culture or toxic culture. The point here is we, as leaders, cannot just leave this to chance. We must lead our organization’s culture to greatness!

“It was an honor to be a “facilitator of opportunity” on behalf of Truett Cathy.” ~ Dee Ann Turner

As leaders we are facilitators of all that happens in the organization. Note, the word here is facilitator, not doer of, commander of, or all knowing of, but facilitator. Facilitators lead people to understand their common objectives and assist them to plan how to achieve these objectives. 

“Creating a strong, compelling culture requires intentionality and vision. This creation cannot happen instantly or accidentally. A visionary must imagine the future and then design the path to align the organization with that future. 

Culture is the soul of the organization. It is the way we envision, engage and experience others within an organization. Culture defines the values and behaviors that are acceptable and expected. Culture can be an elusive concept to describe, but at Chick-fil-A, we call it living life together.” ~ Dee Ann Turner

Leaders must envision what the culture of the organization can become. The culture of the organization defines the stories that are told by those in the organization. Therefore it is important that clear values and behaviors are defined. This, in turn, defines how the stories of our organizations are told.

“We recognize the tremendous responsibility not only to lead, but also to serve those we lead. In our culture, leaders are the first to arrive and the last to leave. Leaders ensure that everyone else is served first. They give deference to others and do not expect, nor accept, privilege.” ~ Dee Ann Turner

“The Talent we select to be part of our team brings unique abilities, perspectives, ideas, thinking and insights. If we are to maximize their contributions to our business, then we have to steward not just the competencies of the employee, but also their interests and their dreams. In our business, Chick-fil-A Operators hire many team members that are on their way to something else. For some, it is their very first job. For a few others, it may be the first step toward pursuing an opportunity to operate their own restaurant. As the NCAA ad says, however, many will ‘go pro’ at something else.” ~ Dee Ann Turner

The idea of servant leadership was coined in 1970 by Robert Greenleaf. Greenleaf said that “the servant-leader is servant first.” By that he meant that that the desire to serve, the “servant’s heart,” is a fundamental characteristic of a servant-leader. It is not about being servile, it is about wanting to help others. It is about identifying and meeting the needs of colleagues, customers, and communities. This is why I really walk the walk on the idea of what I call hyper-personalizing the personal and professional growth of the teachers (Talent) I serve. 

“When the core values of an organization match the purpose and the mission, they inspire that organization’s members to play an integral role in the organization’s success.” ~ Dee Ann Turner

Strong core values can set an organization apart from the others by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong core values, and then sticking to them, requires real guts. Indeed, an organization considering a core values initiative must first come to terms with what is non-negotiable and then realize that, when properly practiced, adhering to core values is tough, and sometimes inflicts pain. Core values limit an organization’s strategic and operational freedom and guide the behavior of its people.

As you can see, this book is an outstanding resource to all leaders wanting to build the same great culture as Dee Ann Turner has experienced at Chick-fil-A.