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An Appreciative Incident . . . That Changed My Life
By Susanne Biro
The single greatest catalyst to my professional development was
an unassuming man who first approached me as a peer. I met this
gentleman at a networking event, and I immediately noticed how he
engaged with others through his genuine interest in them.
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A Bit of Perfume
By Bruna Martinuzzi
"To see things in the seed, that is genius", said Lao-tzu,
Chinese philosopher. This is what we now refer to as Appreciative
Intelligence, a term coined by Tojo Thatchenkery, to describe the
capacity by certain individuals to see the positive inherent
generative potential of situations or people - it is the ability to
see a breakthrough product, top talent, or valuable solution of the
future that is not readily visible in the present situation.
more
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The Tough Side of Appreciative Coaching
By Gregg Thompson
In writing their truly ground-breaking article, Appreciative
Inquiry in Organizational Life (1987), David Cooperrider and Suresh
Srivastva changed the way many of us look at improving the
effectiveness of organizations. Their thesis - that organizations
grow and develop in the direction in which they inquire - has become
the basis of many very successful organization development
initiatives.
more
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Are You Craving a Carrot?
By Valarie Willis
There used to be a saying that eating carrots was good for your
eyesight. I don't know if that is true or not, but there is a concept
called "The 24-Carrot Manager" which is good for your business.
Authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have written a book on the
The 24-Carrot Manager.
more
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Appreciative Mindset
By Ron Crossland
Appreciation stems from an appreciative mindset, a way of seeing
others that isn't merely maintaining a positive attitude about
people, but a deeper and richer way of viewing individuals. Having a
positive attitude towards others is helpful, but it is limited in
that it tends to narrow one's focus to simple constructs such as
looking at the good with the bad, or finding a silver lining in any
action or situation, or maintaining the hope that things will get
better.
more
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An Appreciative Incident . . . That Changed My Life
By Susanne Biro
The single greatest catalyst to my professional development was
an unassuming man who first approached me as a peer. I met this
gentleman at a networking event, and I immediately noticed how he
engaged with others through his genuine interest in them. As people
informally mingled, it was as if he was learning the most profound
lessons by listening to others speak. When he and I finally
introduced ourselves, he offered me his full attention. We spoke
about topics relevant to our profession, and it felt as though what I
had to say was of profound significance. I could not put my finger
on it, but in this man's presence, I felt intelligent, important, and
talented. The conversation ended with him adding,
"You have a lot to offer this profession. Please let me know if I can be helpful to you in any way."
Later, I was surprised to discover that he was the featured
speaker that evening, and moreover, a well established and respected
businessman who led a highly successful organization. As our first
conversation had been so enjoyable (and he seemed genuinely
interested in how he could help me - a young person struggling to get
established), I asked him if we could arrange to meet, citing that I
could really benefit from his advice. He happily agreed, and we set
a date and time immediately. I was elated!
At our first meeting, this man spent most of the time listening,
and by the end I realized what I needed to do next. With some simple
questions - and a great deal of attentive (and awkward) silence - I
was able to hear myself say things I did not know I already knew,
thoughts I had failed to trust until I had expressed them aloud. He
offered me resources and also took note of some I was able to offer
to him. I felt a great friendship emerging, although it was clear to
me that this was not a friendship. I felt he was going to require
more of me as a professional than I was currently requiring of
myself, and I liked that feeling! Finally, I thought, someone who
won't let me off the hook. Of course, I also felt slightly afraid of
him because I desperately wanted him to think I was a competent and
serious player in our profession. At first, I chose my questions
carefully, but he saw through it all,
"How is business really? Are you making a living?" The truth
is I was struggling and afraid to admit my incompetence of running a
profitable business. He called me on it and forced me to address
what was real; but what was different was that he was able to do so
in a way that I never felt judged. In fact, it felt as though he saw
my performance as separate from who I was, and who I was capable of
becoming.
At the end of our first meeting, he ended with the greatest words
I have ever heard:
"You are incredibly talented, you really get 'it'. You might not be able to fully appreciate my words right now, but one day you will look back and be able to see how wise and extremely talented you are. I cannot stand by and watch you not realize your full potential."
Both stunned and excited, I thought,
"What if he is right? What if I am really talented? And, if I really believed this, what would I do next? What if my current self identity is not the entire picture? What if there is an entirely different future for me?"
Following our meeting, I excitedly began to create a development and
business plan, based on the small chance that he was right in his
assessment of my potential. The next day, and every day since, I
return to those words and think about what I would do next if I
knew them to be true. These simple thoughts have me flying
out of bed each morning, eager to continue to live up to an idea of
who I might be that he so eloquently planted in my psyche.
Over the last four years that I have known this man, he has never
once answered my questions directly. He forces me to draw my own
conclusions and challenges me at every turn. I have had to hear some
difficult things about myself and my performance, but because I
believe he sees an incredible future for me, I have promised myself
to prove him right. So far, I have done work that I would have never
believed possible this early in my career, and I am now starting to
truly trust and believe in my own wisdom and value as a professional.
That is the power of an appreciative prediction - a few simple,
genuinely expressed words about who I was and could become - and I
did everything I could to ensure they turned out to be true.
It is so rare that we hear good things about who we are and, even
more importantly, what we can achieve and become. Can you remember a
few appreciative words that someone else said to you, perhaps even in
passing, that had a profound impact? Perhaps they forever changed how
you saw yourself or what you thought was possible for you.
Think back to those times when you have heard kind, appreciative
words. Why did they have such a profound impact upon you? Notice
also how long ago you heard such words. When was the last time you
voiced the same to others? For example, who do you work with now
that you believe has untapped potential and could become so much more
than they are currently demonstrating? Why do you believe this, what
evidence do you have to support your belief? Take time to tell that
person today. In fact, tell five people how talented you think they
are and what you believe is possible for them in the future. If you
want to excel in organizations today, it is so very easy to stand
out. Notice all the great work people are doing; acknowledge their
investment, sacrifices and struggles; and voice your genuine,
appreciative predictions about what is possible for them. Perhaps
you will never know the full impact of your expressed belief in
another; however, I suspect it won't be long until you see the
impact. What I know to be true is that every professional I coach is
working very hard to do exceptional work and achieve results in some
incredibly competitive and challenging times. This article is to
acknowledge all of you who invest your attention, energy and
knowledge to help others become successful - keep up the great work!
Susanne Biro is Director of Leadership Coaching at Bluepoint
Leadership Development. She can be reached via email at
susannebiro@bluepointleadership.com
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A Bit of Perfume
By Bruna Martinuzzi
"To see things in the seed, that is genius", said Lao-tzu,
Chinese philosopher. This is what we now refer to as
Appreciative Intelligence,
a term coined by
Tojo Thatchenkery,
to describe the capacity by certain individuals to see the positive
inherent generative potential of situations or people - it is the
ability to see a breakthrough product, top talent, or valuable
solution of the future that is not readily visible in the present
situation. In short, it is the ability to see the mighty oak in the
acorn. The term originated when the author began studying the
explosive entrepreneurial growth in Silicon Valley in the late 1990s.
According to the author, it is appreciative intelligence that
allowed, partly, for so many highly talented immigrants from
different countries to assemble in the area and flourish. As the
author puts it, venture capitalists looking to fund the right ideas
were asking the question, "How can I make this work?" as opposed to
"What are the chances this idea will fail?" They created an
environment of high anticipation of positive results which became a
contagious fever of opportunity, achievement, resilience and
possibility recognition.
Appreciative Intelligence is different from
Appreciative Inquiry
which is an approach and methodology for analyzing organizations.
Appreciative Intelligence is a mental ability of individuals who have
a knack for reframing situations (the glass half full/half empty) and
a keen eye for spotting what's valuable and positive in a situation
or in people. And these individuals go one step further: they are
able to envision how the positive aspects can be used to create a
better future. Combining the two in an organization, i.e. a leader
with appreciative intelligence using an appreciative inquiry
approach, constitutes a powerful force indeed for effecting positive
change and inspiring others to give the very best they have to offer.
Imagine if all leaders in an organization proactively and mindfully
practiced appreciative intelligence. Imagine the profound, healthy
impact that this would have on an organization's culture.
Such a culture would fuel employees' motivation. Surveys of what
employees want consistently rank "appreciation for work well done"
high up on the motivation index - well above "good wages".
Ironically, managers often place good wages above appreciation in
their responses of what employees want. Other surveys show that one
of the reasons employees leave companies is because of lack of praise
and recognition. Leaders often talk of the challenge of building
trust in their organization.
Adele B. Lynn's
study on trust in the workplace shows that 54% of those polled would
work for less remuneration if the following trust building factors
were present: 1. Importance: giving people a sense of
importance about who they are and about their role in the
organization; 2. Touch: feeling that the leader genuinely
cares about them, feeling a connection with the leader; 3.
Gratitude: being appreciated for their contributions and
sacrifices; receiving genuine gratitude; 4. Fairness: knowing
that leaders ensure equal and fair distribution of rewards.
Recognition and praise are indeed high octane fuel for the soul.
When we receive a genuine compliment, we experience an inner glow -
it's a warm, magical feeling that makes us break into a smile. It
makes us want to go the extra mile for the person who bestowed the
sincere compliment. If this were not important to us, we would not
be treasuring all of the mementos of awards, plaques, appreciative
notes and emails, and other tokens of appreciation that we receive
over the years.
But intuitively, we all know that genuine appreciation is a key
factor in our relationship with our constituents, and any Management
101 course will touch on the value of praising employees for their
contributions. Yet, many well meaning and otherwise caring leaders
are reluctant to express their appreciation of others' gifts and
contributions.
Many years ago, I worked for a great leader, one who genuinely
cared for his constituents, and who confided in me one day that he
found expressing praise a very difficult thing to do - publicly and
even harder, privately. I asked him why that is. He said, "I grew
up in a household where praising was not something we did." There
is a profound implication in this statement. Our families are our
first corporations - that's where we learned many of our behaviors,
and it is often difficult to break these ingrained patterns.
Withholding praise, however, is a pattern of behavior that we need to
unlearn if we want to bring the best out in people. We need to get
over the embarrassment that grips some of us when we have to praise
an individual.
Here are some pointers for practicing this important skill:
1. If you have difficulty praising others, analyze the root
causes of this. If it is a fear of embarrassing others, know that
even the most introverted individuals who shun public praise, enjoy
reading an email to all staff about their contributions. If it is a
discomfort at not knowing how to do it, read the few simple rules
below and consider working with a coach for one or two sessions on
this most important aspect of a leader's communication repertoire.
Self-awareness precedes self-management.
2. Sometimes, withholding praise is simply due to a lack of time
for leaders who are required to handle an ever increasing number of
issues during the course of a harried day. If this is your
challenge, I encourage you to reframe how you view this particular
issue. Showing your people you care about them needs to move
up on the list of items in your "to do" list. It takes less than 10
seconds to say, "I appreciate the time and thought you put into this
report. It is exceptional. Thank you."
3. Praise has a limited "best before" date. Don't delay its
expression or wait until performance review time - when you see
something that is worthy of praising, do so promptly after the event.
4. Make your genuine words memorable for your constituents by
being specific about the achievement. Not many of us remember the
perfunctory "job well done", but we all would remember someone who
tells us "This was pure genius," or "I would have missed this if you
hadn't picked it up." The praise does not have to be elaborate. It
just needs to be genuine.
5. When you drop by an employee's office or cubicle to deliver
the praise, don't follow that with a conversation about business
matters or other projects. Deliver the praise and leave. Come back
later for discussions on other matters. This gives the praise its
moment of honor and heightens its value in the eyes of the recipient.
6. If you are the head of a department attending a staff event
celebrating an employee's contributions, be totally present in the
moment. Don't check your watch, take important phone calls and
otherwise be preoccupied. As the leader, people notice all of your
actions and micro expressions. If business imperatives prevent you
from being fully present, it is best to let the employee's immediate
supervisor attend the celebration - you can drop into the employee's
office later, when you are free, to personally congratulate the
employee. I am reminded of an African village where the everyday
greeting is "I am here if you are here," which translates into "I am
fully present for you." Practice being fully present for these
celebrations.
7. A primer for rewarding and recognizing others is Jim Kouzes'
and Barry Posner's
Encouraging the Heart: A Leader's Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others.
The book provides 150 ways to encourage the heart. Another useful
book is Steven Kerr's
Ultimate Rewards: What Really Motivates People to Achieve
(Harvard Business Review Book Series). The book outlines many
different sources of motivation including accountability,
responsibility, organizational culture, coaching, teamwork,
incentives and goal setting.
8. Finally, how can you apply the dynamic concept of Appreciative
Intelligence on yourself? What are your talents? Practicing
appreciating our talents and gifts opens us up to appreciating
others' greatness.
Perhaps the ultimate appreciation is letting people know that
their work - no matter how far removed they are from the top of the
pyramid - is important to the organization. It's about making
everyone feel like an owner and helping them understand how their
work contributes to the overall purpose of the company. It's about
practicing seeing more people. Excellence involves everyone.
There is another lovely Chinese quote that says, "A bit of
perfume always clings to the hand that gives roses." As leaders,
when we make people feel great about themselves, paradoxically we
elevate ourselves to greatness as well.
Copyright (C) 2006 by Bruna Martinuzzi. All Rights Reserved.
Bruna Martinuzzi is a Senior Consultant with Bluepoint Leadership
Development. She can be reached by
email.
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The Tough Side of Appreciative Coaching
By Gregg Thompson
In writing their truly ground-breaking article,
Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life
(1987), David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva changed the way many
of us look at improving the effectiveness of organizations. Their
thesis - that organizations grow and develop in the direction in
which they inquire - has become the basis of many very successful
organization development initiatives. Probably unknowingly, the
authors have also given a huge boost to coaching, as "Appreciative
Coaching" has become increasingly popular. It's aim is to help people
find and nurture their natural talents, and in doing so, achieve
higher levels of performance.
The greatest effect of Appreciative Coaching is that it generates
intentions. It gets energy flowing, opens up frontiers which had gone
unrecognized or ignored, and gets people thinking about themselves
from a different perspective. The very best coaching takes the
intentions generated by an appreciative dialogue and turns them first
into possibilities, and then most importantly, into actions. But
Appreciation alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by
two other critical elements: Confrontation and
Accountability.
As coaches, we see and give voice to the very best in others, but
that is only the beginning of our role. The toughest part is taking
that Appreciation and turning it into something tangible.
Confrontation may seem like quite a negative word, but in the
coaching relationship, it is a profoundly positive act. As coaches we
confront people with the possibilities ahead of them if they were to
fully use their talents, and we challenge them to step up and put
those talents into action.
And our task does not even end there. We must then hold them
accountable to the promises they make to themselves; indeed, until
the promises of the person being coached are acted upon, no real
coaching has taken place. Coaching without measurable action is,
after all, just talk.
Appreciation is the foundation of coaching. It is an attitude
which is assumed by the coach - a way of looking at the person being
coached - without which, transformative leadership coaching could
never take place. But it would be a mistake for us to stop short
once we have achieved an appreciative outlook. In the end, the
greatest coach is one who sees us at our best, and won't let us slide
by on anything less.
Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership
Development.
Email Gregg.
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Are You Craving a Carrot?
By Valarie Willis
There used to be a saying that eating carrots was good for your
eyesight. I don't know if that is true or not, but there is a concept
called "The 24-Carrot Manager" which is good for your business.
Authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have written a book on the
The 24-Carrot Manager.
Their philosophy is to "forget about the golden handcuffs. Carrots -
in the form of rewards and recognition- make it hard for employees to
pull up roots and move to another company."
The carrot is a metaphor for reward and recognition. As leaders
in organizations, we have to recognize and appreciate our employees.
One would think that this is a simple act that leaders could easily
do. Research indicates that, as simple as it may be, leaders don't do
enough of it. A simple act of appreciation and recognition for those
employees who excel in their work can reap huge benefits for
organizations.
Employees who feel genuinely appreciated will work harder, be
more committed and have higher levels of engagement. Gallup studies
indicate that, "Recognition and praise ranked fourth among the 12
dimensions that consistently correlated with those workgroups that
have higher employee retention, higher customer satisfaction, higher
productivity, and higher profits." I would call that a pretty good
return on your investment of appreciation. Consider how different
your organization could be if you could just increase the levels of
commitment in people. The power to do that is within you, should you
choose to accept it.
Recognition and appreciation isn't just a "touchy/feely" act.
Kouzes and Posner in their book,
The Leadership Challenge,
tell us that "encouragement is a form of feedback; wonderful,
personal feedback." Feedback is important so that people know how
they are doing and if they are on the right track or not. Feedback
impacts our motivational levels. In a
study by A.
Bandura and D. Cervone, in "Self-Evaluative and Self-Efficacy
Mechanisms Governing the Motivational Effects of Goal Systems," they
discovered persons who received both goals and feedback on the goals
were more motivated than those who did not. So just giving your staff
the goals to hit isn't enough. They need feedback along the way, and
they need encouragement to continue on. They need to hear your voice,
and they need a few carrots along the way.
Suppose I was driving from the East coast to the West coast and
imagine I saw no road signs along the way. How would I know that I
was headed in the right direction and that I was on course? I
wouldn't know unless something told me. The people that work for you
won't know that they are on course unless you tell them. Driving
endlessly would make me tired, but knowing that I just crossed the
state line of Texas and I only have a few more states to go adds fuel
and energy.
How can you add fuel and energy to your organization? How much
farther could your team go, and what would happen to the levels of
engagement in your area if you just gave a little more appreciation
and recognition? Think of carrots as that fuel and recognition; dole
them out freely, but in a meaningful way.
There are many ways to recognize and celebrate employees. Great
companies go out of their way to find new and different ways to
recognize and celebrate. DHL recently partnered with Major League
Baseball to recognize their employees. They have set aggressive
service level goals and launched a campaign called "I'm On It." When
employees go above and beyond, they can be nominated to become a
recipient of one of the DHL rewards. DHL has set the goal, gives
feedback and recognizes those employees who are consistent in
excelling behaviors.
DHL has a "Delivery Person of the Month Award" and an "Above and
Beyond Award". Individuals are nominated for these awards, and recent
winners received tickets to the World Series 2006 including airfare
and hotel. DHL has also partnered in the past with the Olympics team
in Italy and the local sports team, the Dolphins. This is just one
example that DHL uses to recognize and reward individuals. They have
a very robust reward program.
Don't miss the opportunity to engage your employees and to create
an appreciative culture. As the Hay Group discovered, "Your employees
start everyday with an extraordinary amount of energy, but the amount
of 'discretionary effort' that people apply to their jobs varies
tremendously from employee to employee." I believe that part of that
variance comes from how the employee is being recognized by his or
her leader.
People are craving carrots - carrots in all sizes. We would love
to hear how you are rewarding and recognizing your group.
Valarie Willis is a Senior Facilitator at Bluepoint Leadership
Development. She can be reached by
email.
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Appreciative Mindset
By Ron Crossland
Appreciation stems from an appreciative mindset, a way of seeing
others that isn't merely maintaining a positive attitude about
people, but a deeper and richer way of viewing individuals. Having a
positive attitude towards others is helpful, but it is limited in
that it tends to narrow one's focus to simple constructs such as
looking at the good with the bad, or finding a silver lining in any
action or situation, or maintaining the hope that things will get
better. All these mental qualities are helpful, but an appreciative
mindset goes further.
Basic dictionary defining terms for appreciation include
"sensitive awareness, recognition of an aesthetic value, expressing
admiration or gratitude." In other words, appreciation isn't just
observing exterior actions, but considering deeper levels of personal
aesthetics, values, or potentials and then expressing admiration or
gratitude for these qualities
even in the absence of any particular external behavior. I
argue it is a way of seeing the entire potential of another person
and constructing a vibrant, unique, and ongoing image of whom and
what that person is becoming. This implies, of course, that the
leader gets to know the talent well, so that the image construction
can become as specific as possible. Then all appreciative comments
can be constructed as a reminder to the individual that they are
constantly in the process of becoming their future self. This appeal
nearly always stimulates positive feelings, improved work attitudes,
and a desire for performance enhancement. It takes nourishment to the
person's roots, rather than just applying reinforcement to particular
surface level actions.
An appreciative mindset goes further than just nourishing the
individual. It also affects the system. By maintaining an
appreciative mindset, the individual leader significantly moderates a
variety of leader-member exchanges that can have unintended
consequences. While a great many studies have shown that individuals
respond well to task contingent rewards, especially when tasks are
clear and the reward structure is fairly applied, there are limits to
these transactional systems. In a comprehensive review of the major
theories, Bernard Bass concluded in his tome,
Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership,
"As an approach to effective leadership, contingent reinforcement
has considerable limitations, although it may work well in many
situations. Rewards for performance and disciplinary actions for
failures may not work as expected for numerous reasons, ranging from
the leader's lack of control over what the followers are seeking, to
the overriding impact of group norms. In the last analysis, the
carrot-and-stick approach may make the subordinate feel denigrated
and less than an adult person."
There are certainly known methods of administering rewards and
recognition that do have positive results. But the key ingredient is
the appreciative mindset. Seeing others as whole human beings, with
potential beyond what they currently demonstrate, and a capacity for
growth that may or may not have evidence to support it, has powerful
effects both on the leader and the talent. When an appreciative
mindset is adopted by leaders at the individual level, it not only
allows contingent rewards to be distributed within context and
sufficient meaning to be applied to these rewards, but it allows the
leader to add confirming messages to the individual concerning the
individual's higher potential. An appreciative mindset is essential
to helping the individual see they are not just being rewarded for
task accomplishment, but that they are being recognized for the
person they are becoming.
Steven Berglas, in the September, 2006, issue of
Harvard Business Review,
suggests appreciation is needed even by the best of the best.
Describing a scenario concerning a high performing Harvard graduate,
he said, "Jane's problem was that she felt underappreciated. She
consistently over-performed, and her boss said she did great work.
This was the highest accolade he ever gave anyone, but Jane needed
more. She worked harder and harder, but more fulsome praise never
came her way." Berglas goes on to describe more "A" players'
difficulties, but his example strikes at the heart of the issue. This
"A" player was already doing such great work, that her leader's
response was predictable: She was rewarded with money, advancement,
and praise for her work (please read "work" as "contingent
performance"). She was not recognized for the qualities as a person
she brought to the situation, and the boss likely failed to create an
image of her potential future abilities because her performance was
already at such high levels.
Even when receiving extrinsic rewards such as bonuses for
specific work achievements, individuals can feel personally slighted
or that the achievement becomes tainted when one of the following,
all too familiar, things happen during the distribution of the reward:
1. The person's name is mispronounced or misspelled.
2. The person delivering the reward is uncertain about the
specifics of the situation and fumbles when relating the story about
why the person is being rewarded.
3. The leader distributing the reward is mistrusted.
4. The leader distributing the reward does not appear genuine in
their manner.
5. The reward announcement is accompanied by additional remarks
that are not pertinent to the occasion or in some manner defame or
denigrate the individual receiving the reward.
The bottom line lesson, I suggest, is simple. If you want good
performance, reward and recognize work achievements. If you want to
add to this superior commitment and an appreciative climate, then
develop an appreciative mindset and learn how to use this mindset for
others and yourself.
Ron Crossland is Chairman of Bluepoint Leadership Development.
Email Ron.
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