Over the past 30 years we have noticed ‘another Glass Ceiling’ – the thoughts we have that stop us.  It’s part of every one of us.  What stops us is not our just our culture but our beliefs and our perception about what will happen if we tell our truth.  It’s the stories we tell ourselves about how we might be judged and about what we can and can not do. If we hold back consistently our spirits will shrivel and die.  It’s that simple.  Changing a work place culture requires a different way of thinking than what we are currently using. The blocks that get in our way always start within us.

This blog is for women in leadership and management roles at all levels of organizations. They are Green Light Leaders (see home page) who want to create a workplace environment which enables them and the people who work for them to be more creative,  more communicative, more collaborative and more productive thus  getting the results they desire.

Forget the word “challenging.” The inescapable changes we’re living daily in our business and personal life can be frightening. How can we, as business leaders & managers create meaning—and preserve sanity—in work environments where chaos seems rampant?

For twenty plus years, Janice Calnan has provided meaningful answers for senior managers and industry leaders who must deal with growth, change and quality issues that if not addressed can paralyse even the most successful organizations. “People and their organizations need to see things differently before they can do things differently,” claims the leadership specialist and principal of Ottawa-based CALNAN GROUP. When a company is managed with human potential in mind, employees are motivated, trusting, creative, innovative and willing to take risks to improve quality. All of these skills are required as companies are driven to respond faster, cheaper, with fewer resources and higher quality—all to satisfy greater customer demands. These demands, of course, slow the search for an improved work environment, which in turn creates a greater profit. People are our next frontier. This dynamic demands a significant paradigm shift on the part of the leader.”

In her book SHIFT: Secrets of Positive Change for Organizations and Their Leaders (Creative Bound Inc., 2001), Janice presents simple steps to help leaders slow down, notice how they contribute to the work environment, and then move forward in a more effective, purposeful manner. Her 21 chapters are concise and focused on key precepts, among them:

- The hierarchical structure of most large organizations isolates. It keeps people from speaking with those who can make a difference in the work that must be done on a daily basis. Creativity and innovation is unintentionally discouraged.

- What we focus on expands. The risk to a company that is “downsizing” is that as the executive team think about saving money, they create the very environment they are trying to avoid, one where fear prevails and innovation disappears, along with quality and timely delivery of products and services.

- The best practices are close at hand. It pays to find best practices in our own organizations and not in our competitors’. Employees have their own best answers about how to make improvements. Encourage their passion! Invite their participation!

- The process of change is straightforward; most of us complicate it with our thoughts.

While Calnan’s coaching has made her sought-after by North American organizations in sectors as diverse as technology, aerospace, automotive, health-care, education and defense, Calnan believes she has uncovered some “constants” about change. Here’s the top one—that organizational change is all about personal change. “You’re it. Look inside the box,” states Calnan. “Being a leader in today’s economy takes courage to discover what’s going on inside you, to recognize it as a reflection of what others are experiencing and to speak about it especially to those above you. Change happens when you change how you think.”

Janice may be contacted directly at (613) 721-5900 or janice@janicecalnan.com

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Janice Calnan of CALNAN GROUP, Ottawa Ontario, Canada, executive coach, author, specialist in organizational change. Her book SHIFT: Secrets of Positive Change for Organizations and Their Leaders can be obtained through www.janicecalnan.com . Reach Janice at (613) 721-5900 or info@janicecalnan.com .

• I’m the boss so it’s my job to fix this situation.
• Asking for help is a sign of weakness. I’ll act as if I know what to do.
• There is no time to build buy-in, just tell staff what to do.

The hierarchy, while important in corporate structure is no longer effective on its own. In fact it’s counterproductive to quality. Believing it their job to GET THINGS DONE NO MATTER WHAT, managers feel justified to holler, intimidate, add projects, tighten deadlines, ignore “annoying questions and push to “Get the job done at any cost.” These beliefs and behaviours limit human potential. Fear and resistance increase as does silence. Problems and personal issues go underground and pop up elsewhere as quality issues – thus a fear-based culture with little room for personal and professional growth.

In a hierarchy, employees, including management, operate according to the way they think their boss wants things done. They serve their boss instead of their team. Assuming they are expected to know what to do, team members have difficulty asking for what they want and need. Conflicts surface. Completing projects in timely ways become difficult. Communication between those who “know” and those who “need to know” is limited. Defects increase. Quality decreases in service and production. Client satisfaction is at stake.

Strong hierarchies limit potential. Huge waste results through fear of pushing back and withholding information. Companies then experience increased apathy, illness, absenteeism and turnover with low moral, low commitment and reduced innovation and creativity, all at a time when the opposite is needed. Employees are easily offended. Litigation appears. These symptoms cause management to cut staff and increases work without dealing with the underlying people problems. In doing this management unintentionally creates the very problems it wishes to avoid, namely poor quality and high costs. Watch upcoming newsletter for next steps on “Leadership Thinking that promotes growth.” (see The bully & the system are one

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Food for thought – These twins provide a great metaphor for the role of the leader. Touching another and connecting our touch with our voice is critical for survival. This is particularly true for the human spirit in the work place. While the military and religious organizations provided the values and structure for organizational growth and the subsequent economic wealth, expansion of cities, disposable income and good jobs that followed, the values inherent in their style are no longer enough. Our culture is changing and with it comes the need for a humanistic approach. Consider for a moment how technology has changed your life in businesses and at home. Information comes in with such rapidity that you might ask yourselves, “How can I keep up?” People feel as if they are loosing touch with each other and keeping in touch is critical for survival.

How change happens in two different cultures – In one sense, traditional, top-down structures can’t handle information and client demands with the speed that’s required by technology. This happens because the control of communication and information by using the chain of command inherent in traditional organizations hampers how things happen in the technological culture. Decisions need to be made immediately and immediacy is difficult when people need to be in the presence of each other to decide. It’s difficult for executives and other employees to get together as a result the hierarchy seems slow to respond. Imagine for a moment what it’s like getting three or four people into the same meeting time slot on any given day. It’s just plain difficult. Customers aren’t willing to wait. This high-tech organizational culture requires different leadership traits, such things as – lateral thinking, greater flexibility, participation, compassion for the wider needs of people, diversity and a willingness to break routines and rituals. All of these are rooted in the socialization of women.

“So what?” you might ask. – Many of you are businesswomen either running your own company or inherently involved in the operations of a large organization. To stay effective and profitable you are called on to operate at your personal best. This means that the beliefs and values of authenticity, integrity, compassion, fairness and standing by your word are required. Honouring your values is what allows you to operate at your personal best. You bring them with you to work. Do you find room for compassion, flexibility and creative thinking in your own life or are you running from one task to the next, never really feeling a sense of completion?

What do women want in their management/leadership role? - In the mid ‘90’s I looked at women in the work place and asked myself “What do women need in order to instill and honour their values and beliefs at work? To discover the answers I conducted a research project involving 80 women in manufacturing, hi tech, and the automotive sector. I wanted to know how they defined their needs as they took on leadership roles in traditional work environments. Three themes appeared repeatedly. They wanted to:

• portray a more confidant image of personal and professional leadership without compromising their values.
• take greater risks in order to bring about needed organizational change.
• balance personal and professional goals to make better use of personal time.

Perhaps these are the same six years later. And do men want these opportunities and traits in their leadership role?

The Risk – Wanting it helps but doesn’t necessarily make it happen. It is hard to tell the truth in a culture that demands numbers and quality when focusing on what interferes with quality is what is really needed. When a leader/manager adopts the business practices of a culture that goes against his or her beliefs the risk is high. Reduced efficiency, the lowering of self-esteem and the loss of respect from colleagues begins to appear. Motivation wanes and negative conversations begin to prevail. The overall human dissatisfaction begins to interfere with an environment where quality is needed. What are your specific values and beliefs about people and work? How do you honour these values in the work environment? What happens when you give in to what you know to be true? Where do you find your support?

My conclusion is this. Women in the work place challenge the cultural beliefs simply because they bring values that are different than workplace values. They depart from the hierarchy. What they do value is (fill in the blank) ______________. What wears women out is not hard work but rather repression of their personality. This is so for men as well. How can you value your bone deep beliefs and use them at work? Your company needs them, your colleagues needs them, and most of all you need to be living them.

Leadership is about connecting your voice with your touch. – It’s about telling the truth. It is about having the courage to say what is not working and it’s about inspiring others to do the same. If you are in a leadership role ask people what they want and need. How can you make good decisions when if you haven’t really heard what’s going on? Be a leader! Invite others to speak the truth! It’s the only one they know. Listen to what they have to say. While they are speaking don’t interrupt them with rationale and reasons. When they are finished thank them for their bravery in being honest. Speak about what is important to you. As you help others find their voice you will also find your own.

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In April 2004 I interviewed Steve, a VP in an international telecommunications firm. We spoke about the discouragement experienced by one of his senior executives whose self esteem and confidence had been slowly eroded by leadership practices in the company. Steve was sad to admit that by the time he discovered the situation, the executive was already on a short list for a position in another organization. Steve suspected inner discontent among other executives and was courageous enough to do something about it. Here is what we looked at:

A FEW SERIOUS QUESTIONS – As a VP ask yourself these questions about your peers, senior executives, senior managers and others in your organization!

1. Are our senior executives sufficiently stressed by business practices that they take results personally? If yes then self esteem and confidence start to erode. On the surface senior executives believe they are above ‘confidence and self-esteem issues’ and therefore don’t recognize early symptoms in themselves. The situation escalates.

2. If an executive is dealing with self-esteem and confidence issues, who would he talk with? He believes that talking about his situation leaves him vulnerable to being seen as ‘not being able to do his job’. While this may not be true, he acts as if it is true and tries to hide his feelings from those at work. They see him anyway.

3. What’s the impact on the profit of our organization when a senior executive feels vulnerable and we don’t know about it? All senior decisions cascade throughout the organization and are acted on according to ‘how the executive is perceived’. When employees are concerned about their executive they become preoccupied about their own jobs. Quality and productivity take second place

4. Is our company on a fast track to the point that we don’t recognize early signs of discontent? Driven by the need to satisfy shareholders and at times to stay afloat, executives push harder, work longer hours and ignore human capital with the risk losing expensive senior executives – a very costly matter.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO STRESS – There are many factors that contribute to discontent, discouragement, irritation and anger, all adding to stress. If ignored, executives leave an organization. At lower levels in that company violence may erupt. The company looses people, productivity, quality and image, all of which cost money. Some factors that increase stress are:

1. The person with the most experience in a project is ignored. Politics takes over and the person who ‘should’ have stepped in to take the lead begins to feel shame. A variation of this is when a major decision is made by VP’s in the absence of all members of the senior team.

2. Rumors start, are known about and assumptions are made that rumors will die down. The person deemed to be ‘at fault’ begins to be shut out of meetings. Assumptions are made about the validity of the rumor and the ‘fault’ of the individual. There is no attempt to stop the assumptions.

3. Leaders don’t know how to stop rumors or stress AND they may also assume that both rumors and stress eventually fall away. In fact they do fall away and sometimes it’s too late to make a difference.

4. For some reason men are more prone to tease others than women are. Teasing often involves another person’s vulnerabilities. This happens at every level of an organization.

IDENTIFYING DISCOURAGEMENT* – With each source for discouragement listed above, the risk is that executives (manager or other employees) experience a sense of ‘shame’, a natural feeling accompanying discouragement. This knowledge helps a VP recognize the following behaviors among his executive team members. For example, the executive in question:

1. stops adding comments about a number of things during team meetings and in fact is withdrawing.

2. focuses more on negatives such as “That won’t work because…” or “We tried that last year and it failed,” forgetting that different people and a different focus today result in different opportunities and outcomes.

3. begins to arrive late for team meetings and leave early. He or she is less likely to support a company wide fun event such as an Employee Awards Evening.

4. shows signs of physical illness and may in fact be taking time off.

5. talks more about ‘following the party line’ rather than taking a creative approach to growth.

*All of these indicators are in themselves everyday events. They become problematic when they start to show up as new and consistent behaviors or attitudes.

COMPLICATING THE SITUATION - If the senior leader is an engineer or has an MBA he is ill prepared to deal with the subtle clues of discontentment. Even if trained in these areas there are constant pressures at senior levels that grab his attention. Managing the ‘feeling’ component of executives is neither his greatest strength nor is it high on his list of things to deal with. In our conflict avoidant culture, no one wants to talk about problems – better to avoid them. It’s difficult to speak about shame and fear when doing is considered ‘a weakness’. And who wants to tell the boss that he is seen to be part of the problem? There is a lot to deal with here. By not addressing the team member’s ‘mood’ the VP may lose a valuable senior person.

HERE IS WHAT’S REQUIRED OF THE VP (OR THE BOSS) IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION

1. Notice the changes in behavior listed above. Invite your senior executive to lunch outside your organization. Let him set the time and plan to take at least two hours. You may both decide not to return to the office.

2. Be prepared to ask ‘very specific’ questions in the following way! “You have always been so enthusiastic about your job and I’ve admired this in you. Something is different now and I can’t quite put my finger on it. What’s happening?” You are his boss and you have asked him a question. He wants to and needs to respond – he will search for a place to begin.

3. Be still! Say nothing more! Be prepared to live with extended silence! Chances are high that he is thinking, sorting out what he wants to say and it finding it difficult to get started. If you jump is with your ideas he won’t have to address his own thoughts. You may be sabotaging the very things you need to know i.e. where he is at.

4. When he begins to talk you have one primary job and that’s to listen. You also have a secondary job and that’s to clarify what he means. So from time to time ask him to clarify what he is telling you. Say, “What’s that like?” or “How did that happen?” or “Tell me more!” You will get a more complete story this way.

5. Finally, when you have listened and he has talked about his situation and his feelings, ask him, “Is there anything else you want me to know or that I would need to know?” Keep more silence! When he tells you then ask, “How would you like to proceed to make this better?” You guessed it…listen again and together agree on a first step.

A FINAL STEP – Steve had neither time nor interest in contributing to failure. He chose a coach with who understood how people think, how they learn and how human systems work. Tapping into the mindset of his team was only part of his plan. He chose to be involved early on and regularly in the senior executive’s coaching sessions to learn how he contributed to the situation in the first place. He has learned to make corrections where needed and to avoid repeating patterns with other members of his team. What he was not able to provide was a safe personal environment for his executive to experience his own vulnerability where his growth would happen. Several months have passed. Everybody won.

Negative impacts on profit are palpable – have you measured them? Let’s talk about your executives in crisis. Your future depends on it.

“In the turning moments of life fate always gives us an opportunity to know what’s necessary . . . to find the answers for the questions it asks. This book is . . . a desired and long-awaited signal for me that confirms intuition and a map for the way. The author asks readers the questions unobtrusively and compels them to think about themselves and their families, about organization as a form of being with life and work together as a very important part of their existence. When reflecting on and answering these questions, the insuperable wish to act is arising and you’d like to change yourself and your world immediately.

The author makes the process of changes a simple, clear, and technological instrument ready for use in the moment. Being a propagandist of TQM (Total Quality Management) ideology for the last nine years, I was engaged in changes that occurred in different companies and I am ready to use a half of the book immediately.

I completely agree with the author that psychology is coming to take the place of management technologies and that qualitative measurements of relationships are coming to take the place of the quantitative. In strict competition we need to speak about comfort, self-knowledge, consent and harmony, necessity to love people, not to control or command but give them freedom of action…. People pay the most expensive price to ignore common truths…the main of which is trust, the only eternally valuable commodity in any market!
- Vladislav Nikitenko, President, The Russian Society for Quality, September 2007

1 VISION: I see the larger picture and some of the major interventions required long before others do

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2 INTUITION: I use inner tension and silent moments to get in touch with more than the obvious and more than what is being said. Then I take action.

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3 LEARNING AND SELF DEVELOPMENT: I am the finely tuned instrument that leads my company. The company responds to me at all levels so I need to know myself well. While I know my industry well, I also continue to learn about myself, my leadership style and what triggers my responses. This affects my company.

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4 COMPASSION & FEELINGS: I am in tune with my feelings. They act as an antenna to let me know when I am on track and when I am not.

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5 BALANCE & FLEXIBILITY: I believe in balancing work and personal life. Time for family and special interests is high on my list. Flexibility allows me to shift my priorities when needed.

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6 STANDS BY his/her WORD: I speak truthfully about what I mean. I do what I say and let it be known when I change my mind. My authenticity builds trust in my team and in the entire organization.

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7 CONFIDENCE: I have learned that confidence, sometimes up and sometimes down, is part of being human. When I am less confident I use that as a clue to notice what is happening around me.

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8 CREATE MEANING: The real power of my leadership is internal and deeply connected to what Stephen Covey refers to as ‘something greater’. I connect small success to our larger vision daily and share this with employees regularly.

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9 SYNERGY: I use silence to tap into new ideas and I am able to link ideas about seemingly divergent activities to design the plays accordingly.

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Janice Calnan of CALNAN GROUP, Ottawa Ontario, Canada, executive coach, author, specialist in organizational change. Her book SHIFT: Secrets of Positive Change for Organizations and Their Leaders can be obtained through www.janicecalnan.com . Reach Janice at (613) 721-5900 or info@janicecalnan.com .

North American, companies tend to do the following:

• rush in and take ten percent of the graduates; serves them right
• increase technology
• keep control of technology
• encourage competition
• allow failure without sharing the learning that resulted
• encourage “just enough” involvement to discourage thinking
• insist on annual performance ratings that kill motivation
• ask people to do what they can not do
• ask people to do what the company (politics) blocks them from doing

Statisticians know what to do about this . . . they do not do it. They should be teaching, giving lectures, writing papers and helping others understand significance and application of statistics.

The Japanese got ahead because they practice all of the following. Our culture should:

• stop blaming the people for the system they work in
• work to understand the balance of trade
• manage its own affairs
• learn where we are falling down and discover why
• read Robert Reich in May 1988 Atlantic
• remember that things go awry not because of the front line
• learn to understand people

HOW TO IMPROVE QUALITY

1. Innovation of product and service.
2. Innovation of process.
3. Improvement of existing product and service.
4. Improvement of existing process.

Note: some companies take top 10% of the class. Serves them right. They need to learn to understand people.

“NASA inquiries recently revealed events that led to the Challenger disaster – all of them invisible and inextricably tied to corporate cultural. Recognizing problems early on, lower level engineers, felt they had to ‘play the party line’. The real story did not become known until now. Quality, safety and profit were at risk in lieu of saving face.

1. Policy, procedures and technology do not make a company happen. People do. Help them commit to the vision!
2. People commit when they find themselves speaking their truth in the presence of others whom they believe can make a difference. Involve them!
3. The instrument of change is you, the leader or the CEO. It’s in your thinking and behavior. Model what you want others to follow! Invite them to join the enterprise!

Without exception, quality is linked to people. Our workplaces riddled with irritation, perceived harassment and even litigation leave managers wondering how to develop healthy work environments? What gets it the way? What heals difficulties that undermine human relationships? Ask yourself, How do I handle irritations? Do I protect my boss when s/he is micromanaging or covering up incompetence? How do I contribute to safety or quality issues in my company? How am I a problem for my team? Top-down hierarchical are the answer. Maintaining the ‘party line’ is risky business. As with the Challenger, the challenge is how to create work environments where people feel safe enough to tell their truth, knowing that recrimination in not on their heals? How do you, the leader, address underlying human issues before a crisis shows up?

Where do problems, distortions & misunderstandings begin?

Quality is always about people. When people feel safe to speak their mind they are more creative, innovative and precise. Safety is a byproduct. When employees feel threatened or fearful their ability to think straight deteriorates. Their ability to provide quality is impaired.

I recall the CEO of a huge research centers in Ottawa saying “when a young engineer shows up in my office complaining about his manager I remind him that if his boss is not willing to grow and learn then this young engineer is not going to grow or learn either. Maybe it’s time to look elsewhere. His new boss had best value growth and learning.”

While hierarchies create order so that work processes can get done they also interfere with comfort among people. Employees, managers, VPs in a hierarchy do their work to get the situation right ‘for their boss’. They cannot focus simultaneously on their boss and their customer. Serving upward leaves a sense of powerlessness regardless of how high you are in the organization.

Here is what you can do.

“It’s top management’s responsibility to create a culture where quality can thrive.”

How employees think about power is important. When people work in environments where there is no fun, no spontaneity, no enthusiasm and an underlying sense of caution, fear is likely prevalent. Ask yourself “What is going on here?” “ What’s not being said?” While you can’t read the minds of other people, you can speak up. It’s important to get at the truth. Start by noticing what’s happening inside your organization AND inside you. Write about it! This helps with clarity.

Do a reality check! Ask yourself “Would I allow a stranger at a cocktail party or in a in a movie line abuse me? NO. Then why allow someone at work to undermine your integrity, to micromanage your work, to intimidate you or to abuse you verbally?” If you find yourself saying “But she is my boss. What can I do?” Remember, you are never obliged to accept rudeness, poor management, micromanaging, favoritism or career limiting moves.

Notice when silence appears in your presence. As a leader notice whether your employees become silent or irritable in your presence. Is there someone that is not speaking to you directly? Is there something going on in your department that you should be aware of? Your job is to discover what’s behind it. Notice what’s going on in your mind. Be as open with yourself as possible. If you say nothing the situation may continue. If you say something, it may still continue. Your first positive action lies in speaking about what you are noticing with your team or with you boss.

Use an outside specialist, a facilitator familiar with human change and how people think. You need a person who can get at the root of the problem quickly and shift the focus from negative to positive. Just because you are the boss doesn’t mean you know what to do. You do what you’ve learned to do throughout your life. It may be in direct opposition to what those around you have expected. You can change your behavior when you know how others perceive you but who is going to tell the boss about his offensive behavior? When you use an outside person, you allow defensiveness to be minimized. The risk otherwise is that everyone suffers, including the organization. You don’t want the problem. Your staff doesn’t either. Working together you can bring about a positive response. Don’t do this yourself.

Tell the truth. Change is simple. Most of us complicate it with our thoughts. All relationships are about you and your learning – no exceptions. If your relationship is not working then say so. When I was upset, angry or hurt, my friend Cindy, in Denver, used to say something that at first I found irritating until I realized she was right. with someone she would remind me “There is a gift in everything Janice. Your job is to find it.” “What am I upset about with this person?” and “What is the gift? What am I to learn?” Maybe you have a lifelong pattern that is demanding to be stopped. Now is the time. The one who hurts you has lessons to learn too but that’s not your responsibility. Learn your lessons, grow and move on to the next lessons. This is life If you are irritated, disappointed, frustrated and holding these feelings inside, they get bigger inside you. Communication deteriorates. You suffer. Be honest with yourself! Tell your truth. Say to your boss, “Gerry, I am aware that every time we start to talk about internal problems, you change the subject?”

The most important lesson I have learned during my 20+ years coaching executives and managers is this. “All problems between people start with their perception. Your colleagues, in life or work, if not in agreement, will find new ways to keep old behaviors present until you reach common understanding and perception.. Without this you risk a troublesome situation where personal or professional stress increase. Don’t walk away! Call for help! If you are the leader, find a coach, or a specialist in the human side of organizational change who understands people and how they change. Healthy relationships allow for safe communication and conflict resolution, which results in creativity, innovation, high quality and organizational growth. No company can afford to ignore this today. It’s way too costly if they do.

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Janice Calnan of CALNAN GROUP, Ottawa Ontario, Canada, executive coach, author, specialist in organizational change. Her book SHIFT: Secrets of Positive Change for Organizations and Their Leaders can be obtained through www.janicecalnan.com . Reach Janice at (613) 721-5900 or info@janicecalnan.com .