How do you get the people on your side or inspire a vision or change the world? First win the heart. I’m blogging on this because it’s a lesson I’ve learned that shows up in so many ways, time and again. I see it in thought leaders. I see it in people leaders. I see it in everyday, conversational exchange. This is one of those ah-ha’s that when it sinks in, you find opportunities to apply it every day to improve your effectiveness.

I found an interesting article about contextual decision making. It’s “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making,” an article in Harvard Business Review. The idea is about tailoring your decision making approach based on the context. You can use the Cynefin Framework to figure out which context you’re operating in, so you can choose the most effective response. The five contexts are simple, complicated, complex, chaotic, and disorder. The key is to determine whether to categorize, analyze, probe or act.

One leadership style doesn’t fit all. According to the Situational Leadership II model, the leadership style depends on the development levels within the team. Some people might need more motivation while others need more capability. A quick cutting question to ask is, “do they want to do it?” Another question to ask is, “do they know how to do it?” These two questions can very quickly help you figure out the right approach.

Paving a path forward is a skill. The more you do it, the better you get. If there’s one place where your ability to pave a path forward gets tested, it’s driving projects. On sizable projects, the gap between your project vision and current reality can be overwhelming. Somehow you have to get from point A to point B and there’s not always a map. Sometimes you’re the map maker. This is especially true when your heading into uncharted territory. Even when you have a map, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. What you need is a way to pave a path forward.

I’m realizing more and more how stories help you drive a point home. It’s one thing to make a point, it’s another for your story to make the point for you. If your ideas aren’t sticking, or you’re not getting buy in, maybe a compelling story is the answer.
Stories at Work
Crafting useful stories is an art, and, now, apparently a science. Srinath pointed me to Stories at Work on 50Lessons.com. The video shares a story about using stories as a catalyst for change and a recipe …

Why do many leadership efforts and organizational change initiatives fail? The state of the art is not the state of the practice. Luckily, there are some new insights that can help shape new management practices. David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz summarize some counterintuitive conclusions in their article, “The Neuroscience of Leadership”, in strategy+business magazine.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by author Jim Kouzes.  Jim is co-author of the award-winning and best selling book, The Leadership Challenge.  This post is a follow up to Jim’s previous guest post, The Top Ten Leadership Lessons, which generated a lot of feedback and some great questions.  Jim’s responses were long enough for another post.  Here it is …
I want to thank all who commented on my post.  I greatly appreciate your graciousness and your questions.  I have tried to respond to several of the questions …

This is a guest post on lessons learned in leadership from Jim Kouzes.

Photo by clspeace
Given the economic climate and some horror stories I’m hearing, I’m refocusing on some patterns and practices for feeling good.   I think motivation is one of the most crucial skills you need throughout your life.  Even if already have motivation techniques that work for you, this is a set of expert techniques from the book Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated , by Dr. David Burns.
Thought PatternsBefore reviewing the motivation techniques, you should be familiar with the following thought patterns:

10 Distorted Thinking …

Why are you stuck?  That’s not a very empowering question.  You’ll just figure out reasons for why you’re stuck.  Instead, ask a question like “how can you move forward?” or “how might you accomplish that?”  The key is to ask “how” questions over “why” questions.  In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, Tony Robbins writes about choosing “how” questions over “why” questions.
Choose “How” Questions Over “Why” Questions
Robbins writes that you should choose “how” questions over “why” questions:
Here’s another important frame.  Choose “how” questions over “why” questions.  “Why” …

To make effective decisions, first figure out what would be the right thing to do.  That’s your starting point.  There’s a good chance you’ll have to compromise along the way, but first figure out what the right solution would be before you start trimming it down.  You can’t make the right compromises if you don’t first know what right is.  In The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management, Peter Drucker writes about starting with what’s right to avoid giving away what’s important …

How do you build a winning team? I think successful coaches are good to learn from. In Social Psychology: Theories, Research, and Applications, Robert S. Feldman interviews Joe Paterno, head coach of Pennsylvania State University’s college football team. In the interview, Feldman asks Coach “JoePa” about his secrets for building winning teams and group cohesiveness.
Build Some Pride in Being Part of the Team
The team has to be special. Feldman asks Coach Joe about how he molds individuals into a winning team:

Q. “Many coaches work with players as talented as yours, …

How do you identify your supporters, opponents and convincibles?  Part of putting your ideas in place, means knowing the influence map.  You need to know your supporters and opponents as well as those that you can convince to join your efforts.  In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about identifying your supporters, opponents, and convincibles.  
Supporters
Supporters will approve your agenda because it advances their own interests, because they respect you, or because they see merit in your ideas.  Watkins provides …

What are the most important attributes of the people on your team?  Which attributes can you influence or change versus which are relatively fixed?   What is your threshold value for whether somebody should be on your team?  In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about using key criteria to evaluate your team.
Six Criteria for Assessing People on Your Team
Watkins identifies six criteria for assessing individuals on your team:

Competence.  Does this person have the technical competence and experience to do the …

How do you overcome resistance to change in your organization? You can move people in a series of small steps. Incremental buy-in over time can often be more effective than trying to change too much at once, particularly if you face a lot of resistance. In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about using entanglement strategies to overcome resistance to change in your organization.
Reformulating Incentives, Framing Arguments and Action-Forcing Events
Watkins writes:
“Reformulating incentives, framing arguments, and setting up action-forcing events are …

Expert judgment is the ability to make predictions and avoid problems in a given domain.  How can you test the judgment of somebody on your team?  You can observe them over time, or you can accelerate the process by asking them about a topic they are passionate about.  In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about how to test a person’s capacity for expert judgment.
Key Take Aways Here’s my key take aways:

Expert judgment is the ability to …

How do you build your support network?  How do you build momentum within your support network?  In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about the coalition-building cycle.
Coalition-Building Cycle Watkins provides a visual of the coalition-building cycle:

Coalition-Building Cycle Explained Watkins outlines the key steps in the coalition-building cycle:

Gaining allies helps you recruit others.
Recruiting others increases your resource base.
Increasing your resource base, increase the likelihood of your agenda’s success.
Increasing the likelihood …

How do you build a team that trusts each other to speak their mind and take risks?  How do you make it possible for the team to engage in passionate and sometimes emotional debate, knowing that they will not be punished for saying something that might otherwise be interpreted as destructive or critical?  It’s not about trusting that your team members will behave in a certain way.  It’s about building vulnerability-based trust, where it’s safe to take risks and face conflict on the team rather than fear it.  In The …

How do you create compelling arguments for change? How do you convince others to comply with your requests? How do you reduce the perceived costs of action or increase the perceived costs of inaction? In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins writes about framing compelling arguments.
Key Take AwaysHere’s my key take aways:

Frame your arguments. One approach is to just ask for what you want and see what happens. If the stakes are high, you’ll want to frame a compelling argument.
Know whether …

How do you get people to take action?  If your results depend on other people, how do you set the stage for action and help build momentum?  In The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael Watkins write about how to use action-forcing events to help move people into action.
Key Take AwaysHere’s my key take aways:

Identify who does what when.  There’s a big difference between agreeing to actions and having owners that are accountable.  There’s also a big difference when you have a timeframe …