TGIF Quotation New Years Edition

Happy New Year everyone! Here is a quotation related to the concept of adaptive leadership:

"But in practice master plans fail - because they create totalitarian order, not organic order. They are too rigid; they cannot easily adapt to the natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise in the life of a community." 

Christopher Alexander

What is the connection between leadership approach and negotiation? Part 2: The Adaptive Leader

Last week we began our exploration of leadership approaches and their connection to negotiation by looking at the servant leadership approach. This week we continue that line of inquiry by analyzing an approach to leadership called Adaptive Leadership. This concept was first crystallized in 1998 by Harvard University Professor Ronald Heifetz in his book Leadership Without Easy Answers.

Heifetz began presenting the adaptive leadership approach by clarifying two important types of problems leaders face -- technical and adaptive problems. Technical problems can be solved by expertise and good management, while adaptive problems, such as the societal problems of racial tension and poverty, require innovation, adaptation, and learning. Much of leadership theory to that point had been focused on technical approaches. However, many of the types of problems leaders were encountering were not technical and could not be adequately addressed from seeing them through that lens. Put differently, traditional leadership strategies had proven useful in dealing with technical problems, but when more complex situations existed, where beliefs and values came into play, these technical approaches often exacerbated the problem -- not addressed it.

The adaptive leadership approach follows five strategic principles. First, leaders must diagnose the situation in light of the values and other underlying issues involved and then break the issues down into manageable pieces. Second, a leader must keep the level of anxiety people are feeling within acceptable limits -- in Heifetz's words, "keep the heat up without blowing up the vessel". Third, leaders have to work hard to counteract problems of denial, scapegoating, or focusing on the problem as if it is technical. Fourth, leaders must encourage and allow people involved to take responsibility for the problem, but in a manner they can handle. Fifth, the adaptive leader has to protect those who raise hard questions, generate discord, and challenge people to rethink the issues at stake. Without these contrarians nothing changes, but they are at risk of being ostracized from the group.

This theory has proven to be extremely valuable for an entire class of problems that previously were befuddling. Given all of this, what is the connection between adaptive leadership and negotiation? I see at least three important connections, which are as follows:

1. The first step in the adaptive approach is to adequately diagnose the problem.  It is not uncommon for negotiators to skip this step and assume they know what they are negotiating about. Without clarifying what the negotiation is about, negotiators are like ships passing in the night -- talking about different issues without even realizing it.
2. Negotiators often mistake adaptive problems for technical ones and deploy a technical approach that is bound to fail.  When negotiators apply a technical approach to an adaptive challenge they more often than not end up with an inefficient compromise -- one that does not really solve the problem.
3. An adaptive mindset -- one based in exploration and creativity without drawing quick conclusions -- is the mark of a successful negotiator. The best negotiators have spent time planning so they are prepared, but also enter the process and expect the unexpected to emerge at some point. When one enters a negotiation in that manner they are much more likely to succeed and not miss key possibilities that naturally arise as part of the process.

What connections do you see?        

TGIF Quotation for the week

In staying with the servant leadership theme, I offer you the following quote:

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." 

Chinese philosopher Laozi 

What is the connection between leadership approach and negotiation? Part 1: The Servant Leader

I have recently been thinking more about different approaches and styles of leadership and how those intersect with approaches to negotiation. In this series of posts over the next few weeks I will explore that connection.

One approach to leadership is servant leadership. For those who don't know, the concept of servant leadership goes back over two thousand years, but the modern servant leadership movement was launched by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. In his seminal essay entitled The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf defined the servant-leader as:

"The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions...The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."

"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"

Examples of servant leadership include Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Abraham Lincoln.

According to Larry C. Spears, former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:

1. Listening.
2. Empathy.
3. Healing.
4. Awareness.
5. Persuasion.
6. Conceptualization.
7. Foresight.
8. Stewardship.
9. Commitment to the growth of people.
10. Building community.

This list opens the door to think about this concept from a negotiation perspective.  There is little question that servant leadership requires skills and abilities connected with negotiation.  In particular, listening, empathy, persuasion, and others that may be needed in more contextual situations (such as healing).  However, servant leadership is also very much about sensing the needs of those around you and taking actions to meet those needs.  (This is a very important part of negotiation that does not get discussed frequently.) Taking those actions is done, without question, to meet the needs of the other. What is also important to remember is a servant leader also assesses a situation and realizes this is the best strategic approach to meet their objectives and goals.  That is something an effective negotiator must do at all times.  Knowing when to assert to meet their objectives and interests, but also when to pull back and see how best to meet the needs of the other so that they can get where they want to go.

Finally, if we think of the concept of negotiation styles (the five approaches being competing, avoiding, compromising, accommodating, and collaborating) it is a useful thought exercise to try to think of the servant leader and which approach they take.  At first blush it would appear they take an accommodating approach.  However, the more you analyze and think about what a servant leader is doing the more you realize that they are taking a collaborative approach.  They are not just serving the other, but also trying to meet their goals.          

TGIF Quotation for the week

This weeks theme is the mindset of successful leaders and negotiators.  

Here are two quotes that I believe reflect the mindset of effective leadership and negotiation. Enjoy!

A Growth vs. Fixed Mindset for Leaders and Negotiators

Two years ago my friend Sheila Heen told me about the idea of a Growth mindset vs. a Fixed mindset as espoused by Dr. Carol Dweck. Dweck, who is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, developed the idea as part of her research into human motivation, personality, and development. Lets take a look at this idea and then connect it to leadership and negotiation.

According to Dweck, a mindset is a self-perception or “self-theory” that people hold about themselves. Believing that you are either “smart” or “stupid” is a basic example of a mindset. Now add in the concepts of Fixed and Growth ways of thinking. Dweck describes it this way, “In a Fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.” In contrast, Dweck explains that a Growth mindset is when “... people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment." Importantly, those who adhere to the notion of Growth mindsets view challenges and failures as opportunities to improve their learning and skills.

So, you might ask, what does all this have to do with leadership and negotiation? From my perspective it is quite clear. Leaders and negotiators who have a Fixed mindset may see themselves as born leaders or natural negotiators. While it is true that people are born with certain biological tendencies that aid in leadership and negotiation, if one believes they are just naturals in these realms they are very likely to fail when they run into problems and challenges. When they do hit these bumps in the road they either give up or they find ways of blaming others. If success happens it was do to them and their gifts.

Contrast that with a Growth mindset leader or negotiator. They see problems and challenges as obstacles to be overcome through creative solutions and hard work. There is a tenacity and resilience to the best leaders and negotiators. When they fail they put that situation on the failure pile, learn from it, and move on...taking valuable lessons for their next leadership or negotiation conundrum. A good friend of mine -- an excellent negotiator -- uses the metaphor of "rolling up his sleeves" anytime things get difficult. What he means is that everyone just needs to try harder and they will find a unique solution to that problem. And 9 times out of 10 he does.

In sum, give me hard work and resilience over an intelligent mind any day of the week...I will take my chances with that.