Mike R. Jay on Leadership

Why Democray Isn't Always Such a Great Idea

I was reading this today in the NYTimes:

Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election
By CARLOTTA GALL and JANE PERLEZ
Early results showed equal gains for Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the faction led by the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Democrats Make Populist Appeals Before Contests
By JOHN M. BRODER and JEFF ZELENY
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are pushing their party further from the business-friendly posture once championed by Bill Clinton.

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I don't want to make this a long post, and it probably should be, but let me cut to the chase and make my case...

Domains, Noise & Effectiveness

Misjudging Leadership Ability

One of the most perplexing issues facing a leader in today's evermore complex world is the ability to judge ability. I find over and over again in my own life, most of my failures have come from failures in judgment of leadership ability.

So many theories on how to judge leadership ability abound that it is almost as big a problem in judging ability, as it is in judging which method allows you to judge ability better.

One thing I have been concerned about of late is the latter.

Have You Had Your Coaching Today?

Have You Had Your Coaching Today?

Leaders need access to coaching daily. This may seem like a bold statement, or perhaps an unnecessary one at the least. Here's why leaders need access to coaching daily.

Increasing Complexity requiring multiple perspectives
Increased iterations and cycle speed
Evaluation and feedback requirements for meaning making

Leading with Dimension and Depth with Space!

Dynamic Leadership:

Leading With Space

How To Use A Integral Model To Lead With Dimension

Over the years I've been inspired to try to create in my own leadership dilemmas and in those situations I've encountered and those I've yet to encounter...an integral model of leadership. Even though my integral model is more differential, let me start with integral.

I've written extensively about "what-is-integral."

Today I returned from a week in Russia. I must say that each time I go, it's a much different experience--and this time it was no different. Next week, I'm going to write about the "Turquoise Rainbow" but for now, I wanted to provide you with some background on dimensionalizing leadership through an integral approach.

On Leading Conflict

Leadership: Spiral Conflict

Using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode to Determine Meme Density?

Many of you, if you've been a reader for very long, know about my affinity for all things spiral. As I deepen my understanding of development, I realize that spiral things only describe a certain type of mechanics regarding development...which doesn't make the spiral thing unimportant, perhaps more important, as we know...quantum physics is not understood--and quite frankly doesn't explain everything--you must have an understanding of classical physics to go along with the quantum world.

Therefore, I'm constantly seeking things to help me understand development and it becomes necessary in that process to pay attention to your experience. So today, I'm reviewing a "TKI" (Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Indicator) from a client...and I was able to look through the client's data into the assessment itself...and my few brain cells were able to connect something I had never seen before...duh!

Leadership is a Culture Code?

Leadership, An Oath, and Citizenship

Currently, this is the oath for citizenship in the United States taken at a naturalization ceremony.

The Oath of Allegiance

I hereby declare, on oath,
that I absolutely and entirely renounce and
abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign
prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom
or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
that I will support and defend the Constitution
and the laws of the United States against all
enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States
when required by the law; and
that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion,
so help me God.

I would say that most Americans don't have a clue about what's in the oath of allegiance...

Leadership at the Crossroads

I want you to know that I hesitated when I thought about where to put this review of the Dalai Lama's speech given November 12, 2005 at the Society for Neuroscience. Do I put this in the public and endure the nature of criticism that it will evoke from the people who will see this as blasphemous? Will there be riots because I have criticized his holiness?

Then I thought, what would his holiness have me do?

So, I'm posting this here for you.

I apologize because in general I've used a coding system that only a few people will understand, although if you read my comments you'll get the idea that I'm trying to put across here...that we need to be able to view NOT just what our leaders say, but "how" our leaders say what they say. We have to be careful not to be hung upon their content, but really be able to view deeply the problem-making and solving operandi they use in saying what they say.

In a complex future, we have to begin to identify the complexity of our leaders and the capacities, capabilities and potential of those leaders to lead effectively in view of an ambiguous future.

I will say for the record that my remarks are critical of the suppositions made and how they are made...and I've tried to give you a window into why I think so.

For the review, I used the following attractors, colored, so I could point to a specific constellation of values first identified in the book Spiral Dynamics (R). My work uses some of the terminology in that system, but expands the work to Spiral 2.0.

Here are the oversimplified attractors and their colors so you can identify the review and my comments below:

Beige-Survival System (not used)

Purple-Mystical System

Red-Power System

Blue-Salvation System

Orange-Empirical System

Green-Collaborative System

Yellow-Differential System

Again, you will want to note that there is no particular agreement of the systems I use and those offered by Clare Graves and Spiral Dynamics...in fact, I'm sure they would say I've oversimplified and adulterated them, but then again, that's pretty good protection for me in that they certainly don't represent anyone's ideas but my own.

My attempt at review is done with irreverance, but with compassion.

Mike

www.mikejay.com

Leadership In India

India will need 250,000 leaders in next 3 years

IN CONVERSATION

Kalpana Pathak / New Delhi May 11, 2006

Business coach and author Mike R Jay believes India's diversity will help produce good leaders. Founder of the Leadership University, Mike continues to train global leaders in over 25 countries since 1988. He has authored a book titled Coach2 The Bottom Line: An Executive Guide to Coaching Performance, Change & Transformation in Organizations who has developed an innovative model for governance called Intocracy and an interdevelopmental form of leadership called Generati. Mike Jay, who was in India to address a leadership seminar, spoke to Business Standard.

Resilience IS Leadership?

The Essense of Resilience

What is it about people that makes them resilient?

This may be the most perplexing thing to human-kind as there is....

Why do some people consistently land on their feet and other people spend their lives been knocked continuously about by every possible storm?

To answer this requires a significant amount of perspective in my view. But I'll try to provide some insights from my own life to shoulder some of the weight of explanation.

What is it about people that makes them resilient?

This may be the most perplexing thing to human-kind as there is....

Why do some people consistently land on their feet and other people spend their lives been knocked continuously about by every possible storm?

To answer this requires a significant amount of perspective in my view. But I'll try to provide some insights from my own life to shoulder some of the weight of explanation.

Sage Leaders and Sage Leadership--An Archetype?

Sage Leadership

Archetypes & YOU

There is an under-ground swell occurring in leadership around the term Sage Leadership. I'm not going to spend too much time writing about this today, as I intend on authoring a white-paper on the topic. I did want to try to spur your thinking a little.