Good day, team,

The theme of the January 2007 special issue of the Harvard Business Review is “The Tests of a Leader.” In the article “What to Ask the Person in the Mirror,” I found a quote that I want to share with you this week.

“While your direct reports know what you are doing wrong, most of them are not dying to tell you. It takes a concerted effort to cultivate subordinates who will advise and coach you.”

I thought about this statement in relation to the managers I work with, and I found that it’s invariably true. For fear of reprisal, we don’t tell our bosses what we really think of them and their performance. And yet, because we work with them every day and are affected by their decisions, we have many observations that would help them do a better job. However, these observations are not easy to hear. And often, they’re even harder to say.

By developing a network of fellow team members and subordinates who can give us honest feedback, we can modify our behavior throughout the year and avoid year-end surprises in our performance reviews. More importantly, we can build more honest and open communication with the people we work with and trust.

Wise companies dedicate a portion of a manager’s performance review to what team members need from their boss; for example, the question might read, “As your boss, what can I do to help you be more successful and what do I need to change?”

This week, try asking for more direct feedback from your subordinates or your teammates. I’m sure you’ll meet resistance when you ask, “What should I be doing differently?” or “What can I change that will help us both be more successful?” After an awkward silence, your team member might come up with a suggestion that’s devastating to hear. But remember, the sting of a reproach is the truth in it.

What you do with this feedback is critical. If you act on it, you will improve your performance. And, more important, you will take a big step toward building trust and laying the groundwork for a continued channel of open and honest feedback. When your team members see you respond to their suggestions, they will feel empowered and take some ownership in your success. After all, who can resist the Three Musketeers’ rallying cry: “One for all, and all for one!”

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

(c) Copyright 2007 Pathfinders Coaching, Scout Search, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good day, team,

This week, I read a magazine article about top chefs in America. One of those interviewed, Thomas Keller, who started the famous “French Laundry” restaurant in Napa Valley and now runs “Per Se” in New York, is known throughout the world for his perfectionism. He’s one of the few chef’s who has earned a combined six Michelin stars.

In the interview, he said something that really struck me: “I tell cooks it’s about four things: awareness, inspiration, intellect and evolution.” When I read this statement, it occured to me that these are four of the five traits I consider to be most important in a leader. The fifth is “clarity.”

Without awareness, people miss what’s right in front of them as well as the benefit of self-observation. Without inspiration, they themselves are unable to inspire others to want to do more and be more. Without the intellect that comes from book and street smarts, it’s hard to keep up in today’s global world. Without the willingness to evolve as things change, people lose their flexibility. And without clarity, it’s hard for people to see the truth in a situation and communicate it in such a way that most people understand it. All of the good leaders I know embody these qualities.

Your challenge this week is to choose one of these attributes and make an effort to enhance it within yourself. If the trait is awareness, try being more present in each moment. Just look out of your eyes and feel your feet on the floor. Or maybe you become present to your breath. Try using whatever brings you back to the moment so you don’t miss what’s happening around you.

Maybe you’d like to be more inspirational to the people you work with. What do you love doing every day and how do you let others know that it gives you energy? Try sharing what energizes you.

How about increasing your knowledge about a subject and finding a way to share that with others? Have you learned something new that you’d like to share with a colleague?

Consider your evolution. Are you growing as conditions change and as you mature in your current job or life situation? If you feel stagnant, how can you jump-start your evolution by approaching something in a new way and challenging yourself differently? Are you someone who acts as a change agent within your organization?

Finally, how clear are you in your thoughts and words? Are you able to see through many extraneous facts to the heart of the matter and then clearly communicate what you see? Ask a co-worker what he or she thinks of your communication skills. Find out whether people understand what you’re saying. It may be a lack of clarity that makes it difficult for others to understand what you mean.

Whatever quality you choose, don’t be afraid to experiment. It’s through trial and error that we learn how to change the way we do things and thus gain a new perspective about ourselves and the world around us.

The article on top chefs noted that Thomas Keller had stood on a chair to sift confectionary sugar onto a cake to see if it would look more like fallen snow. Sure enough, the picture of the scrumptious-looking chocolate cake in the magazine looked just like snow had fallen on it. I was inspired by Keller’s creativity, adventurousness and commitment to making the most beautiful cake he could make.

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

c copyright 2007 Pathfinders Coaching, Scout Search, Inc., all rights reserved.
ci

Good day, team,

It’s always interesting to see what happens when people with different agendas, opinions and viewpoints get into a room and try to agree on what should be done and how to do it. Often, there’s general consensus about what needs to be done in the long term. The greater differences lie in how the work should get done in the short term. We all have strong ideas about how to do things, and these ideas show up in meetings where teams are trying to create a roadmap for moving forward.
This process reminds me of occasions when I fought with my older sister over which one of us would do something. For example, if one of us got a present for Christmas that required assembly, we would both grab the item and then fight over who knew best how to put it together. Or our parents might ask one of us to do something, and the other would jump up and say, “I’ll do it!” It seems that it’s a challenge for all of us to allow someone else to figure something out, when we’re convinced we know how to do it better and can just get it done in alot less time. I know this is one of the greatest challenges of management… allowing your people to take the time to fully understand and do something that would only take you minutes to complete. Envy, competitiveness and stubbornness are just of few of the emotions we experience in these situations.

The same emotions overtake us in meetings when we’re convinced that our solution is the best, and we fight to convince everyone else to go along. Of course, if lots of people in the meeting feel they have the best answer, it becomes less a meeting than a fencing match, an opportunity to “thrust and parry.” In the heat of battle, the strategies for winning an argument can overtake the topic itself, and the possibility of reaching consensus may disappear.

This week, when you attend a meeting where a decision must be made, try considering how you can participate in a way that’s best for the team, rather than best or most gratifying for you. If the intention is to reach consensus, perhaps your best course of action is no action at all. Although you may be tempted to make your point or defend your position, these actions might take the team further away from consensus. Try to attend a meeting intent on supporting someone else’s ideas. Or try not saying anything when you feel as though your idea is the best solution for the team.
Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

(c) copyright 2007 Pathfinders Coaching, Scout Search, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good morning, team,

The word “integrity” is used a lot in business. It’s how we refer to people who exhibit the wonderful qualities of trustworthiness, dependability and honesty. Sometimes we use it to describe a process or purpose, such as “the integrity of a work product” or “integrity of purpose.”

Though we esteem integrity and recognize it in action, it’s often difficult to put into words. Here’s my definition: To have integrity means to act in alignment with your values. For example, if you value respect, then you experience it within yourself, and you treat yourself and others with respect. Simply put, who you are internally becomes who you are externally. Thus, your external life becomes a reflection of your inner life, and the two are integrated, connected, mirrors of each other. Once you begin to act with integrity in your life, it becomes increasingly difficult to act without it. As Tom Peters wrote, “There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”

This week’s challenge is to think about what you value most and then make efforts to live in alignment with those values. Do your actions portray who you really are and what’s most important to you? If freedom is important to you, how does that show up in your life? Do you feel free in your relationships, free at work, free in your thinking? Maybe it’s family that’s most important to you. Do you make enough time for family? And if you can’t give them a lot of your time, in what other ways do you show your family that you value them highly? If you value your co-workers, how do you demonstrate that inner priority? Maybe it’s as simple as always making the effort to show up on time for meetings with them.

If we don’t live in accordance with what’s most important, we can find ourselves angry and frustrated. This week, begin to ask yourself how you can live your life with more integrity and to make small efforts each day to do so.

“You don’t need to train people in all these competencies of leadership. You need to help them identify their values, develop “who” they are, and then share and act from their values within the organization.” Kevin Cashman, President of LeaderSource Co.

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

(c) copyright 2007 Pathfinders Coaching, Scout Search, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good day, team,

As we approach the end of 2006, I am contemplating the three stages of change: endings, transitions and beginnings. The holidays give us a chance to rehearse the three stages, as we mark the end of one year with parties, enjoy some time off to absorb the transition, and then celebrate the new beginning, usually accompanied quickly by resolutions to improve!

In addition to being festive, these rituals are important psychologically. If we don’t allow ourselves to fully experience each of the aspects of change, we may take actions we later regret because of our unresolved attachment to what came before.

The classic case of this confused process of change is known as rebounding: ending one significant relationship and starting another right away. If we don’t allow ourselves any time of transition between one person and the next, we miss the chance to digest what happened in the old relationship and learn from our mistakes. All too often, we then “jump from the frying pan into the fire,” repeating unsuccessful patterns of behavior and regretting the entire set of changes that have taken place.

So now is the perfect time to take a look at where we are in the stages of change. What do we need to let go of so we can move forward more productively? Where are we facing transitions and how can we help ourselves be patient during that state of limbo? How do we recognize when a new beginning has taken form, even if we didn’t initiate it? What do we need to do to commit to the new beginning?

For most people, change brings fear, and fear can paralyze us, preventing us from making necessary changes. Often we’ll hold on to things that no longer serve us just because they are familiar.

However, it helps to know that fear is predictable in times of change and that it doesn’t need to be the main force in our decision-making. If we can identify the things we need to let go of, we can make space for something new to enter.

Your challenge this week is to identify where you are in the change process. Are you letting go of something that needs to end? Are you suspended between what was and what is to come? Perhaps you are starting something new and learning how to deal with the challenges and opportunities that it brings.

Wherever you are in the process of change, try not to rush any stage because you’re uncomfortable being where you are. All things change, and sooner or later, this part of the process will too. It’s predictable!

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

P.S. -The coach will be on vacation from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2. The next challenge will appear the week of Jan. 7. I hope you all have happy holidays filled with light and love! k.

Good day, team,

Part of my morning walk includes strolling through the park not far from my home; I especially love the large trees and duck pond there.

One morning last week, I could hear music playing somewhere near the duck pond. The sound was faint, so I couldn’t make out what I was hearing, but I headed for it anyway.

As I approached the pond, I saw a man sitting on a park bench with a horde of ducks and geese surrounding him. At first it seemed odd, that all of the birds were out of the pond and at his feet, but I thought perhaps he was feeding them.

As I got closer, I saw that the man was dressed shabbily and drinking something from a bottle in a brown paper bag. I immediately thought, “This guy is homeless and a drunk.” That combination spells danger to me, so I turned in the other direction.

As I began to walk away, the music began again, and the birds began to chime in. I turned around to have another look. The man I’d made sure to avoid was playing a harmonica-he played extremely well-and as he did, the ducks would quack, quack, quack and the geese would honk, honk, honk. Even a seagull let out a screech.

The birds were completely drawn in by this fellow’s music. When he stopped playing to take another drink, they stopped too. But they stayed right where they were, in silence, cocking their heads and staring intensely at him, as if waiting for him to play. When he began again, they chimed right in with their honks and quacks and screeches. It was quite a cacophony of sound.

The entire scene made me laugh. What an unexpected pleasure, to see these birds treating this man like he was the Pied Piper! I was glad they had helped me look at him a second time and see an entirely different dimension. Maybe he was a homeless drunk and maybe not-for all I knew he was drinking apple juice out of that bag and had worn his old clothes to the park that day-but he was definitely the music-maker for the birds, and they were completely enthralled by him and his music.

I learned two lessons on my walk that morning. First, how easy it is to make snap judgments about other people. The mind is excellent at identifying things and defining people based on quick observations. However, we often miss the opportunity to see more about another person when we make a quick judgment and leave it at that.

Second, I understood that respecting others really does mean being willing to take a second look. The word “re-spect” literally means to “look again.” If I hadn’t been willing to look at the man on the bench a second time, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the unexpected delight he brought to the birds and to me while being so entertaining.

Your challenge this week is to try not to make snap judgments. Try to be willing to respect others enough to look at them again in a new way, with open eyes that can see something different about them. Your first thought about someone might be right, but it could also be a misjudgment and if so, you may miss the chance to see another dimension of that person’s character. He or she might just surprise and delight you and, just like the birds, you might experience an event that makes you want to sing!

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

Good day, team,

This month it seems that all my clients are involved in some sort of strategic planning sessions. They’re either following up on meetings held previously or presenting plans they’ve worked on for months. My individual clients are also strategizing about what they want to achieve in the coming months.

Such activities are a common occurence at this time of year. What better time to think about how we want to position ourselves, the goals we want to achieve, and how much profit we want to make than in preparation for the new year?

People with strengths in strategic thinking relish this sort of task. They love to analyze data and come up with different ways to have a more competitive edge. There’s nothing more fun than coming up with a forecast and then comparing your accuracy as the numbers come in. It’s like gambling: You analyze the cards, strategize your moves and then see how the game plays out.

But in the midst of this activity, it’s equally important to pay attention to what’s in front of us right now. There’s a tendency when involved in strategic planning to ignore what’s actually happening and possibly miss a great opportunity.

Last year, one group of clients got so involved in their strategic planning process that they missed the chance to do business with a client who would have opened up a new segment of their market. The strategic planning committee couldn’t see how the customer fit their plan for the new year, so they ignored the customer’s request. That customer went to a competitor instead and gave that company half a million dollars’ worth of business that my client could easily have garnered.

Your challenge this week is to try to see what’s right in front of you. While you’re thinking strategically, are you also keeping an eye on the opportunities that are here right now? Are you ignoring some of your customers’ current needs while you’re busy thinking about what you’ll give them in the future?

Planning is important, but being flexible enough to alter the plan when opportunity knocks in the here and now can be even more crucial.

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

Good day, team,

I had an experience recently that seemed an appropriate topic for this week in particular, since Thanksgiving is just a few days away.

While flying back to Portland, I sat next to a 10-year-old girl named Bailey. She seemed just like any other little girl, but as I sat down next to her, the stewardess informed me that Bailey was a “challenged child” (an odd term) in that she could not speak. However, the stewardess went on to say that Bailey would understand everything I said to her and could communicate with movement and expressions.

This news made me immediately uncomfortable, as if she were made of fine porcelain and, if I wasn’t careful, she might break. I was also confused, unsure whether I should speak to her or not, since we usually receive some type of response in communicating.

Fortunately, Bailey immediately put me at ease with her beautiful smile and sparkling blue eyes. When I said hello to her, she smiled and waved hello. The plane took off, and I began to read a magazine. The many Christmas advertisements featured pictures of snowflakes, stars, icicles, presents, etc.

Each time that I turned a page and a picture of a star appeared, Bailey pointed to the star and looked at me and smiled. I would then say, “Yes, that’s a star.” Before long, I noticed that I was actually looking for more pictures of stars so we would have a way to communicate with each other.

Coincidentally, there was a boy sitting behind us about the same age as Bailey. I realized before long that he talked pretty much continuously, first about the Game Boy he wanted for Christmas, then about his friend’s new cell phone, then about school, then about his Dad, and so on and so on.

After awhile, I realized I had toned him out. I may have been open to hearing what he had to say in the beginning, but after so many words, I was no longer interested. And yet every movement and expression of the little girl sitting next to me, who couldn’t speak a word, kept me keenly interested in what she was communicating.

This experience made me think about our basic need to connect with each other as human beings, and the importance of allowing our emotional beings to reach out to each other in any way possible. When we take up all the space by talking about ourselves and don’t allow the other person room to respond, the connection is lost, and the speaker becomes a nuisance rather than someone we want to know.

Bailey taught me something fundamental about our true nature as human beings. Wordlessly, her communication came through loud and clear. Her loving nature spoke volumes, and our communication had a quality that I don’t often experience when I talk with another person.

This week, try connecting with others in ways that you don’t normally use. Experiment with being more present to someone who is speaking to you so that you can not only hear her or his words, but can also notice expressions and gestures. Perhaps you’ll try greeting someone with a smile and some eye contact instead of a hello. If you find that you tend to talk a lot about yourself, try to ask other people questions about themselves instead. Practice listening more, especially to the words that are not being spoken, so that you can have a different experience in your communications.

And finally, be grateful that you have the amazing ability to connect and communicate with others in so many ways. By meeting Bailey, I understood that some of us are not so fortunate and that many of the things we take for granted, like saying our name, are not possible for others.

This week of Thanksgiving, be thankful for your ability to let others know what you think, how you feel, and who you are. And don’t be afraid to really connect by allowing the beauty of your heart to speak out, whether it’s in words or silence.

Have a great week,

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

Good day, team,

At this time of year, I meet with my accountant, and it’s always interesting to see what I’ve achieved, both professionally and personally. Now is a good time to take stock of what you’ve accomplished based on the goals you set for this year.

You might begin with questions like these:

1) What goals did I set for myself in the first quarter of 2006?
2) What curve balls were thrown at me that required me to take a different direction and have I been able to fit those changes of direction into my original goals?
3) What have I learned this year and how has it helped me?
4) What people have I met and worked with who have had a significant impact on me?
5) How many of the goals that I set for myself professionally and personally have I met?

By asking these questions, we can see where we are and who we have become. They also give us clues to the new goals we’d like to set for the coming year.

Your challenge this week is to review where you stand in regard to your goals for 2006. If you have a year-end performance review coming up, it’s particularly important to read what suggestions were made for your improvement and to see what actions you’ve actually taken. Maybe someone suggested you take a type of training that you had completely forgotten about: Is there still time to do so? There are six weeks left until the end of the year, and you might be able to fit in that last action that helps you meet your annual goals.

We can all be more successful if we take the time to consider what we want to achieve and set some definite goals for what we want to accomplish. Often just the energy that we summon to aim for a particular goal gives us a leg up in achieving it. This is a good time to remember what we intended to do in 2006 and to consider what we want to do in 2007.

Have a great week!

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249

Good day, team,

The coach’s challenge this week is about playing on a winning team. Last evening, I was watching the Portland Trail Blazers play basketball on television. This is a rare occurence since I don’t particularly like watching televised basketball, though it’s a great game in person. I also have no affection for the Trail Blazers, or at least I didn’t before last evening.

For those of you who don’t follow basketball and don’t live in Portland, I’ll include a brief description of our basketball team. Since I moved here in 1998, the Trail Blazers (or the Jail Blazers, as they are affectionately called) behaved like the biggest bunch of spoiled-brat losers I had ever seen. They were all paid outrageous salaries, they frequently made the front page of the newspaper for committing misdemeanors, and when I sheepishly said hi to one of them in the grocery store one day, he just frowned at me. How could life be so bad for someone who gets paid to play sports?

Last season, you couldn’t give away tickets to their basketball games. They were an embarrassment to all of us, and as the coaching staff continued to turn over rapidly, the city was rife with rumors that their wealthy owner was trying to sell both them and the arena in which they play.

But with a new coach and some rookies, much has changed since last year. What I saw last night amazed me. The rookies ran up and down the court as though their lives depended on it, trying to take every shot they could. In fact, the only guys who looked flat-footed were players who were holdovers from last year.

The arena was full, and the fans were shouting and jumping up and down with great enthusiasm. This was a team they could get behind. Here were some winners they could believe in. Maybe, just maybe, things had turned around and the Blazers were back!

Clearly, being part of a winning team is the best. It’s great to be part of an endeavor in which people go beyond their normal limitations to win. It makes everyone feel good to see players who “have each other’s backs” work incredibly well together and support each other on every play. Even the coach didn’t sit down. He paced back and forth on the sidelines, gesturing for the ball to go in the basket, giving his players a high five when they came back to the bench, encouraging them to keep the energy up and not to slack off. And he didn’t shy away from letting the slackers know that they weren’t holding their own for the rest of the team.

This week, consider your team. Whether you’re the coach, or a player, or both, are you winning? Are you letting your team players know that each one of them plays a critical role and that their ability to work together is essential in winning? Does your coach give you all the support and encouragement you need to win? Are you putting out your maximum effort to be the best player on the team?

Your challenge this week is to do just that. Play as though your life depended on it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Have a winning week.

Kathleen

Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249