Leadership and Being Open to Change

One of the qualities that I believe has come to define me - for myself and in the eyes of others - is the ability to persevere in pursuit of desired goals.  This has been true both personally and organizationally in my varied roles as a leader.  As I transitioned from my last senior leadership role I believe it safe to say that new goals and objectives took a little while to solidify as I worked through what it was to be an independent business-person for the first time in my life.  As a newly minted management consultant and executive coach it was clearly a case of "I didn't know what I didn't know."  Much like my first year or two as an executive in healthcare, the start in my new career was characterized by what I now identify as missteps, lost time and misguided pursuits.  Am I still learning?  Absolutely.  I expect to continue down that learning path for a long time to come.

One tool that I believe has been instrumental in my development over the past 3-4 years is my own personal business plan.  It's a tool that many of my clients would recognize along with students in my leadership course at Concordia University of Edmonton.  Now I've had various versions of my personal mission, vision and values since my mid-twenties.  At that time the prime catalyst for my leadership framework was Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".  Since then my thoughts have been further shaped by work and life experiences and the writings of other authors such as Kouzes & Posner and Jim Collins.  The frameworks that I have worked with have certainly evolved over time as have some of the key content of each plan.  This evolution owes much to experience, maturity and more fully developed sense of self.

If one were to lay all of these frameworks and their contents side-by-side, as I have done from time to time, common elements would certainly stand out - mission, vision, values, objectives and even metrics.  Over time I would say that my personal mission has certainly evolved (or become better understood by myself) while my vision of future success has significantly changed along with the strategies and metrics used to ascertain progress.  The only thing that I can say with relative confidence - and satisfaction - is that my values have remained solid, anchored on such things as integrity, commitment, compassion and humility.

A key difference for me in the past several years is how effectively and consistently I have paid attention to my plan.  I can literally say there is not a month - or sometimes even a week - when I am not coming back to my plan, evaluating progress towards objectives, re-evaluating strategies, all within the context of long-term goals.  The results of the increasing specificity of my plan and the attention paid to its execution have been clear and evident - moving from half my previous annual salary in year one of my practice to nearly double that in the 5th full year of my practice.  The focus afforded to me by working to my plan consistently has also meant the scope of my vision has consistently shifted year over year.  The definition of impossible is getting challenged all the time.

But for all the success enjoyed while executing on my plan I recently came to recognize a potentially fatal flaw in my structured process.  The relative success that I have enjoyed by focusing on the "details" of my plan nearly made me blind to other lurking challenges and available opportunities.  In many ways I had become comfortable and complacent in my path.  It wasn't until a colleague of mine started to express some reservations and frustrations with their state of affairs - which mirrored my own reality - that I started to seriously question my plan.

The result of getting hit by this "bucket of cold water" - and having the humility to accept its lessons - is that I'm taking the next big step in my career.  I'm embracing another order of change and being open to a new round of "impossible".  I'm furthering my reinvention as a leadership development resource for established and aspiring leaders.  As with all change like this I'm positive that it will be both exciting and nauseating!

While I can say that my mission, vision and values have been solidified and reinforced through this recent evaluative process, my strategies, objectives and even long-term goals have gone through sizable change.  It is at this point that I believe it necessary to identify that, despite the relatively short gestation period for delivering this change, it has not been undertaken without extensive evaluation and self-talk.  On the outside some might consider this another decisive initiative on my part yet the result masks a period of intense consideration of risks and benefits.  

This process of rediscovery has again taught me about the value of being mindful, intentional and provocative with oneself.  As leaders we have to continuously look to ways to challenge ourselves and our mindset or find others that will do it for us.  It may sound cliche, but for leaders it may just be that "If it ain't broke, break it."  Only by being open to change can we reach new levels of impossible for ourselves and those we serve.

_____________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca
780-401-2812

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Healthcare - A Way Forward?

On January 10, 2017, Andre Picard, writing in the Globe and Mail, commented on his assessment of the real challenge facing our healthcare system across Canada - leadership.  His article came on the heels of the decision of Saskatchewan to abolish its (latest) current regional structure in favor of a single administrative structure.  Quoting directly from his article he concluded:

"Complex health systems do not run themselves, and our current loosey-goosey collection of leaderless, milquetoast administrative bodies is not doing the job.

If you want a well-managed, efficient health system that provides value for money, you need to hire good managers, pay them decently, empower them and hold them accountable.

Until we do so, the number of health regions won't matter, and the quality of health care will not improve appreciably."

Strong words and a conclusion I have no difficulty agreeing with.  My perspective is established out of a 25-year career in healthcare administration spanning roles in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and a stint within a provincial Ministry of Health.  Since departing the formal healthcare system almost 5 years ago I have remained a keen observer of the system, hearing the concerns and complaints of those who try to navigate the system and receive less than optimal results, observe the macro results we achieve (or don't achieve) for the resources invested, see how Canada compares to other jurisdictions across the world, and continue to connect with those who still labor valiantly to try to make a difference in service of patients, clients and residents.  Despite the best efforts of very many committed individuals, those who are good leaders, and those who see healthcare not just as a job but as a vocation, we continue to perform at far less than desired or optimal levels.

So what accounts for this challenge in performance and lack of change over the last 20+ years?  Andre Picard touches the surface of the issue and proposes a small sampling of potential solutions.  I'd like to build upon his recommendations.

The issues we face in healthcare are large, complex and not amenable to half-hearted, politically-motivated solutions.  If we - the collective we - are serious about reform in the pursuit of a system that is effective, efficient and sustainable than we must face, discuss and deal with the hard realities before us.  With healthcare typically being the largest expenditure of any provincial government - on average 40% of total expenditures - there must be concerted, sustained and integrated efforts to manage this accountability responsibly.  In my humble opinion, grand and repeated efforts at achieving positive change through restructuring - changing deck chairs on the Titanic - have been the cause of far more disruption and regression than positive change and progression.

Likewise, the challenges facing our healthcare system will not be resolved by the continued bureaucratization and centralization of decision-making and cost-control.  When I left healthcare some 5 years ago it was as an increasingly frustrated senior vice-president.  In my final years as a so-called decision-maker, with budgetary accountability of some $300 million, I found myself unable to make the simplest decisions on how to exercise my assigned accountability.  Inevitably it felt as though any decision that required an expenditure or reallocation of even $5,000 required input and consensus of an entire senior executive team.  

If anything it appears that the current reality has only gotten worse.  Cost management has taken on extreme proportions with many provincial health systems mandating, restricting and banning many expenditures.  I wish I could say I was making some of these stories up - but I'm not.  In efforts to deal with projected deficits in the area of hundreds of millions of dollars front-line managers and staff are often told to not order paper, pens or other non-patient care supplies.  Many systems are also banning any form of travel outside their province.  So at a time when we might need to be less insular we are becoming more limited in our ability to exchange information and ideas.  Efforts at staff recognition and engagement (e.g., bring in a pizza for lunch) are frowned upon.  The system now requires multiple approvals, moving up the chain of command, for even the simplest decisions.  In effect, our systems and our "leaders" are spending dollars in an effort to save pennies.  

This lament comes with a set of recommendations that is not so simplistic as restructuring or penny-pinching.  They do however require a significant change in how we collectively think and act.  But as Einstein once said, the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Time to try something different, perhaps unique, and requiring more than a bit of courage and commitment.  And a style of leadership, at all levels, that we have not had for some time.

First, given that healthcare is so important to our collective experience of our lives and now takes such a huge proportion of our total expenditures it is beyond time that our political leaders and parties approached long-term planning of programs and expenditures in a non-partisan manner.  In this I take a page out of how I understand Australia sets defense policy and manages associated expenditures.  In this case an all party committee debates and sets joint direction on a multi-year plan that transcends normal political cycles (e.g., 4 to 5 years).  Recognizing that defense decisions and requisite systems (e.g,. aircraft, ships, tanks) require long development cycles, consistent and reliable levels of expenditure, and overall sustained vision to be effective, Australia's political parties have committed to maintaining direction regardless of which party is in power. 

A simplistic and naive recommendation?  In my view not any more than the multiple and misguided restructuring efforts that have plagued healthcare since the mid 90's.  A challenge to be sure in the increasingly polarized reality of our political systems.  Within the Alberta context for example I grant that it is indeed more than a stretch to imagine Rachel Notley and Brian Jean, or perhaps a Jason Kenney, coming together, overcoming their sizable political differences, and developing and holding to a long-term vision and plan for healthcare.  But that is the political maturity and leadership I believe that we do require - and have been sorely missing - if we are to move beyond the empty rhetoric and expensive misfires of healthcare reform that has characterized the last 20 years.

Second, presuming the political solution and will identified above, we must craft a true long-term vision for what our healthcare system should be and what it should deliver.  Again, in my opinion, our systems have been operating without a true, empowering, action-oriented and well-understood vision for some time.  We've had platitudes to be sure - patient-centred, commitment to quality, accountability, [fill in the blank] - but all too often I believe a healthcare vision has been subsumed, subverted and overridden by short-term financial and political agendas.  The first step in this process?  Broad-based and transparent engagement of the public and our service providers.  The effective creation - and implementation - of a meaningful and sustained vision and plan for health will not come if we can't achieve broad-based understanding and commitment of a majority of our stakeholders in making it happen.  This is fundamental to the success of any venture.  However, for a variety of reasons (e.g., fear? arrogance?) the formal system and our political masters have shied away from anything but cursory, perfunctory, and even deceitful "consultation" processes.  The intent more often than not has been to manage noise rather than create true engagement and constructive action.

Third we need to ramp up the collective courage to make the hard decisions and choices that are before us.  The changes we need to achieve the outcomes we say we want (e.g,. quality health care, cost-effective, patient-centred, sustainable) will not come without courage.  We do not lack for knowledge, data and research.  Much of what we know about what contributes to healthier populations has been reinforced in multiple studies dating back to the 1970's.  I suggest to you that another study - on mental health reform, rural health services, manpower planning, whatever - will not fundamentally alter our understanding of what our issues are, where are systems are failing, and what we must do.  Do we have 100% perfect information?  No.  But if we believe we need that before taking action I suggest you prepare yourself to accept less than optimal performance for some time to come.  We need courage and leadership to address the hard changes before us. 

So how do we incent the type of leadership we require within our systems?  When I've posed this type of question to others one of the common responses I've received is that we need to move away from our publicly funded health care system and allow the private sector to drive needed change.  Again I may be naive, idealistic or blinded to the possibilities, but I do not believe the profit motive is one that is required - or desirable - within our healthcare systems.  I still believe that a publicly funded and managed system can deliver on its commitments if it is allowed to.  I do believe that we have the leadership talent in the system to work for better change if we empower staff, managers and leaders to do the right things, to make courageous decisions, and be supported for doing so.  The reality for the past many years however is that caution, risk aversion, and even indecision have been rewarded over any form of action.  Too often those who have been prepared to take action have been chastised, demoted, isolated, or even dismissed.  Other potential leaders have left of their own accord, having become discouraged by their inability to make the difference they believe necessary.  Others have simply quit in place, now being content to defer to others higher up in the chain of command, or to participate in innumerable and never-ending committee work - our proverbial bridge to nowhere.

Finally, and just as critically, we need to overcome the challenge of the type of leadership culture we have created over the past 20+ years.  While we often hear assertions, particularly from politicians, that our system is overburdened with overpaid administrators I believe the issue is more profound than that.  In my view, due in no small part to the actions and behaviours of our politicians, the healthcare system is over managed and under led.  As noted previously, we have raised several cadres of healthcare administrators within a culture that has valued "noise management", risk management, and decisions and accountability (or lack thereof) by committee.  Accountability has become diffuse by design.  For those wishing to push forward with strength and vision they often encounter policies, procedures, and processes to confound Solomon.  

Aside from the challenge of the maturity of our political process noted at the outset of this post, I believe this latter point may be one of the most challenging to overcome.  Changing the culture of leadership - which sets the stage for all other required change in the system - is daunting.  How does one change a leadership mindset when more often than there is a predilection in succession planning in choosing those who act, behave, and look most like us?  Wholesale change is certainly not desirable.  We need the benefit of corporate memory to inform us, guide our actions, and prevent us from repeating past missteps.  But we also need more innovation, creativity and courage than ever before.  I fear that our current leaders may not overcome their own unconscious biases to make that happen.  I fear too that there may not be many of those potential leaders remaining in the system to choose from and develop to make the necessary difference.

The challenges healthcare faces are immense and they will require political maturity, vision, courage, the right incentives, appropriate accountability mechanisms and a new style of leadership to overcome.  A tall order.  Can it happen?  Only if we have the strength to do the hard work and not simply engage in what seems expedient in the moment.  Only if we have the courage to risk and hold true to the values that I believe informed most of us to enter into the healthcare field in the first place.

In this case it truly is all about leadership.

_____________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca
780-401-2812

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Compromise - The Price of Leadership?

Life continues to be tumultuous and the world we live in a topsy turvy place.  Just this past week - in some of the bigger highlights of the times - we had President Trump issue several executive orders that started to put in action some of his promises from the campaign trail and here at home in Canada we experienced the tragedy of a mass killing, terroristic attack at a mosque in Quebec.

Sandwiched and almost overlooked or forgotten between the initiation of the "muslim" ban by Donald Trump and the killings in Quebec was a tweet by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.  If you missed the tweet or hadn't heard the news of it, here it is again:

"To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of faith.  Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada."

Some certainly saw this a direct and clear reaction to the executive order signed by Trump that indefinitely suspended admissions for Syrian refugees and blocked citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for at least the next 90 days. In the immediate aftermath of the tweet having been posted reaction to it seemed to have been as divided as the assessment of Trump's campaign and his embryonic presidency.  

One article I read with interest relating to Justin Trudeau's apparent stand on Trump's executive order came out of a National Post editorial (January 30, 2017).  I certainly could be challenged on my interpretation of the commentary, but what I took away as a conclusion was "don't poke the bear"...It was suggested that while useful in playing to some particularly anti-American elements within the Liberal Party of Canada or serving to bolster sliding domestic support the tweet could actually prove to be counterproductive to the quality of the [business, diplomatic, political] relationship that Canada needs with the US.  Trump is acknowledged as being at best mercurial and subject to seeing the world in very black and white terms (no pun intended) so standing so sharply in contrast to a key directive of his was deemed to be a mistake that could cost the country.

To be sure, other countries and other leaders have dealt with similar challenges over the course of history - and continue to do so.  We have only to consider how various countries and leaders have tried to deal with societies, countries, regimes and leaders with less than stellar track records on human rights - China, South Africa, Syria and the list goes on.  In many circumstances these debates have centred around what the cost to our business interests may be as related to the values and morals we espouse and live to in our own society or country.  Inevitably, arguments are offered as to the competitive disadvantage we might create for ourselves vis a vis other nations, whether we have the right to impose our own codes of conduct or expectations on other cultures, and even the possibility that by compromising in the short-term we might be better positioned to influence the moral codes of others in the longer term. 

So what possible relevance does this discussion have for your own personal leadership?  For me the debate around issues like these open the door to exploring how truly meaningful your own values are to you as a leader.  I have to believe that Justin Trudeau made his comment in concert with his values and what he believes or wants to believe about what the values of Canadians are.  That perspective is and will be debated.  As a leader you are also called upon to clarify, animate and support the values espoused by your company, organization or team.  If not the final arbiter and upholder of these values, your behaviours and actions will be a key determining factor as to what will be seen as acceptable for the team you lead.  

Of course this discussion presumes that as a leader you have actually adequately articulated, understood and communicated your personal values.  Similarly too, is the a similar question as to what work may have been done or not a team or organizational level.  This may be a strong assumption on my part.  What I have learned through unfortunate experience is that too many leaders have not done enough of this self-reflective work nor have they engaged sincerely enough or authentically enough with their teams in a group effort to define team or company values.  The result?  When the next storm winds blow decisions can often be made for the sake of expediency, to get along, to get the business, or just simply to stay out of the line of sight of any negative consequences (better that someone else take the slings and arrows than us).

I can't call that leadership.  For me leadership very much revolves around who you want to be and who you profess to be.  Leadership isn't just about espousing a philosophy and a commitment when it is easy to do so.  Leadership is about standing up for what you say you believe in when the times are tough and uncertain.  Leadership is about when you might even have to stand alone on the basis of your convictions and lose something of value as a consequence. 

It's About Leadership and if you thought leadership was easy you were wrong.  True, courageous and inspiring leadership is never easy.

What are you prepared to compromise as a leader?  What are you prepared to stand for?

_____________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca
780-401-2812

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

  

Exceeding Our Expectations - Is There a Recipe?

In my last post I talked about the power and challenge of our own expectations - how these expectations could be powerful motivators in some cases while at the same holding the potential to be demoralizing and debilitating if not managed against some bar of realism.  One of the questions posed to me as a result was whether in fact I possessed any recipe or model for exceeding one's expectations.  To that I offer the experience of myself and what I have also seen work with many of my coaching clients.

I believe the first element of exceeding one's expectations comes from conscious awareness and thought being put to understanding where you currently are and how satisfied you are with that state of affairs.  As with all leadership, one must start with self first, develop one's self-awareness of strengths and opportunities in order to form an understanding of where to from here.  In this I also do not believe in the artificial separation of professional life from personal life - most of us don't live to work, rather we work to live. Self-awareness and commitment to a plan must come from a holistic understanding of what is in play for us.

Consciousness

That Annoying Time Between Gaps 

Unfortunately, that is sometimes where too many of us stop.  We do develop some sense of dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs but believe ourselves unable to change the trajectory of our lives - others have expectations of us, a shift would be outside of our social norms or conventions, its too late in life to make a big change, we are fearful of the unknown or even that first big step, or we lack experience in taking what we perceive as too large a risk.  So how to next overcome those barriers?

I suggest a couple of different ways of resetting our expectations.  First consider your past.  More often than not, we have some experience in taking first steps, daunting steps at the time, that have allowed us to enjoy elements of success.  There are lessons there to reflect on.  For myself, I have had 25 years of leadership experience prior to becoming an executive coach that has provided me with a litany of learning opportunities, (hard) lessons, and affirmations of capability that I can use going forward.  The same holds true for my life experiences over 52 years.

Second, I believe we have much to learn from those around us.  What this sometimes requires though is broadening our circle of contacts and comparators.  In this regard, I have to say that my first few years outside of healthcare have been truly eye-opening.  Whether it is the benchmark set by my working colleagues or that of my clients I have come to appreciate how much more significant the world and the opportunities in it are then what my limited vision allowed me to previously appreciate.  I have both been inspired - and prodded - by the aspirations and achievements of others.  In the light of their inspiration I have often had to ask myself "Why not me too?"  Their courage and achievement has allowed me to become more aware of my own possibilities.

Self-awareness, dissatisfaction, anxiety and aspiration can only carry one so far though.  The next key ingredient, which should take a significant amount of work, is that of developing a tangible, specific and action-oriented vision of the desired future state.  As I have stated before, I believe such a vision must be informed by both professional and personal goals.  Here is where more personal courage is called upon.  For myself, I have continually developed and set stretch targets for myself since starting my new career path.  So rather than settle for re-establishing equality on the basis of what I once enjoyed as a healthcare executive why not set progressively bolder professional targets?  And match that up with more ambitious personal goals as well?  We are our own worst limiting factor.  Don't have a particular skill set you believe is required to reach the desired vision?  Invest in getting it!  Don't clearly understand the challenge or opportunity ahead?  Seek out advice.  But above all don't think small.  If your vision is clear enough and important enough you will do what it takes to succeed - and often times the significance of the barriers is only as strong as we imagine them to be.

Visions can be daunting.  Too many times I have seen friends and colleagues become discouraged as they don't reap large enough rewards soon enough to sustain them through the journey to reach their new goals.  It really is like the fate of many New Year's resolutions - gone within the month of January.  In my view the biggest reason for such failure is the lack of understanding of the length of time it takes to truly achieve something great and the need for some level of reinforcement for the effort being put in.  So success in achieving a vision comes from breaking it down into shorter term goals tied to specific actions.  Have an income target or growth objective for 2 to 5 years down the road?  What has to happen month-by-month starting now to start you moving forward?  What are the strategies that must be employed in the next quarter?  Set the small, achievable steps that allow you to evaluate progress.

Evaluation is also key.  Without monitoring of your efforts and results truly any direction will do.  It's like being back on autopilot with the added challenge that there are a host of things to distract us from our vision on a daily basis.  Evaluate the critical variables and plans on the road to your success.  When you falter - and you will - don't use that fact to berate yourself, become dejected and quit.  Rather, critically evaluate whether your strategies and actions were the right ones after all, whether you have sustained commitment to them, and whether you still wish to use those tools to reach your grand vision.  I literally evaluate my plan and status every month.  I always find that there is a least one strategy not implemented or one metric falling short of target.  Each time I must decide what my course of action should be.  However, the vision is never questioned.  The long-term goals remain valid and desirable.  I just have to overcome temporary setbacks and small bumps on the road to my next success.

On at least an annual basis this evaluation takes on a more significant tone.  What I have found is that through the constant application of the process identified above I have been consistently upping my game - I have been setting newer and bigger goals for myself because I have demonstrated to myself the ability to succeed and and exceed my previous expectations.  My possibilities are truly limited only by my own vision of what is possible.

I may not win the Boston Marathon or become Time's Person of the Year...or can I?  Maybe I have to rethink my own expectations.  I challenge you as a leader to exceed your own expectations.  It's the greatest thing you will ever do.

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

The Power - and Challenge - of Expectations

Just over a week ago my wife and I completed our first Dopey Challenge which unfortunately turned into the inaugural Grumpy.  For those of you who don't know what the Dopey Challenge is let me briefly explain.  Disney now puts on a series of races through its parks and early last year we decided that we would take on the Dopey Challenge which amounts to a 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon held on successive days through Disney World in Florida - the Dopey!  The reference to the Grumpy is an unfortunate note to the fact that the half marathon was cancelled on account of severe weather.

The reaction of most people when we describe this challenge is literally one of shock and awe with equal parts appreciation of the event and the training we underwent in the months leading up to the event and incredulity at even contemplating such an effort.

Their expectation is that they themselves would never undertake such an effort.  Their expectation is that they would never be capable of achieving such a feat.  And their expectation makes them right.

Those who have known me for some time could easily attest to the seeming impossibility of Greg Hadubiak circa 2007 ever running more than a few hundred yards if that, much less contemplating the image of a 200++ pound Greg running a marathon.  And while I can't say that there aren't challenges to overcome, better preparation to be done, and less pain to hopefully endure the next time, the fact is that over the last 10 years I have become a more capable athlete than at perhaps any other time in my life.  This capability has grown in direct proportion expectations of my performance.

Likewise, I can say from a professional standpoint I have developed greater capacity and capability as an executive coach and management consultant and for many of the same reasons that I have grown as an athlete.  I have engaged in my practice, have focused on my self-development and learning, have stretched my bounds, and have learned from others.  In this latter category, I have to say that I have been particularly inspired by many of my clients.  While their journey, challenges, goals and aspirations have all been different those that have been most inspiring have shown me the power of personal belief, commitment and expectation that has allowed them to dream big and realize major milestones.  For each milestone achieved they have developed an expectation of the next big opportunity.  Each obstacle, or even failure, has ultimately only been perceived as a temporary setback or learning opportunity allowing them to reach the next pinnacle of success.

What I speak of is certainly not rocket science.  A similar effect is noted in medicine with the placebo effect, in education with what we expect (or not) of learners, and in human resources in what we expect (or not) of our staff.  We often get the result we expect.  All to often as it relates to our own performance we also engage in too much negative self-talk and self-doubt.  We quit or limit ourselves before we even begin.

I can relate that when I started trying to become some sort of healthier person ten years ago I could not swim 25 metres in a pool and most definitely could not run any distance to save my life.  But my expectations of my own performance have grown as I have trained, lost weight and competed in various races.  So while I experienced a personal best marathon time this past week I also know - and believe - that more is possible.

Similarly with making a major career shift five years ago and becoming more accomplished in my new profession, I have literally reinvented myself in a number of ways .  I have established new expectations of myself, hit new goals, and realized that more is possible by preparation, practice and courage.  I know that the professional goals that I set five years ago are but the tip of the iceberg of what will and can be achieved.

So far I have related the powerful positive aspect of aspirational expectations we can have for ourselves.  However, there can and is a dark side of unrealistic expectations that we might hold for ourselves or others.  Unrealistic expectations, or uniformed expectations, can at best set us up for disappointment. At worst we can experience and impose upon ourselves significant negative emotions and physical ill health by expecting more than we or others are capable of relative to how we have prepared or have been prepared.

Keeping on the athletic bent for a moment, I'm realistic enough to know that given my advanced age, late start in life, and balance of other family and professional obligations, that winning the Boston Marathon is not in the cards.  But if that were the expectation of my performance I might at this stage be rapidly losing interest in the marathon scene, developing excuses and maybe becoming a bit angrier and depressed than was warranted.  Similarly, if I was not prepared to put in the time and effort to train to further improve my personal best time my expectations of performance would be grossly unrealistic.

I have seen similar issues at play for more than a few of my clients as well.  In many circumstances they expect to be a truly iconic leader, one who overcomes all obstacles, is the font of all perfect information and answers for their followers, and can predict all bumps along the road.  The result of this perfection expectation is relatively predictable - frustration, emotional and physical exhaustion, increasing self-doubt, and even withdrawal from their day-to-day challenges.  The biggest key I believe here is that most of this unrealistic expectation is self-imposed.  Most others who interact with my clients hold no god-like expectations of perfection or infallibility of them.  When pushed, my clients can recognize at an intellectual level the lack of realism in their expectations of self.  They would even go so far as to be able to help others with strategies to deal with their unrealistic expectations.  Unfortunately, this journey on the road to realistic and achievable expectations is more one of the heart than the head.

My conclusion to this post is that there is both power and challenge in setting the right balance for yourself in your personal expectations of self.  Your measure of where that balance lies must be in whether you are finding your expectations motivating or debilitating.  And remember, you don't have to be the sole arbiter of what is possible.  Use others as objective and supportive sounding boards as to what might be your next big achievement. 

On that note, I'll be revisiting my personal business plan to support my next level of professional development and getting back on the track to improve my performance for the 2018 Dopey Challenge.  It's all about leadership and in this case its leadership for and about yourself.

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca
780-401-2812

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Facing YOUR Demons

Growing up I had my fair share of fears as I suspect most kids do.  In particular, I somehow learned to fear the dark and more particularly all the evil creatures that might be lurking under the bed, in my closet or just outside the window.  Every noise and small movement of shadow seem to be amplified, the precursor to my impending doom.  Several decades removed from those childish fears I still find myself somewhat anxious at the thought of a night out with my telescope observing the heavens.

The reality is, however, that in my youth those monsters were quite real.  And in truth it was only over time and not through any particular parental logic that there were overcome.  I profess to still having some fear of the dark but more often it is borne out of knowledge of what is really out there - farm dogs who might perceive me as a threat; skunks, coyotes or other wild animals; and other humans who might have less astronomical things on their minds.  My fears are more grounded in reality these days but yet they don't hold me back from pursuing one of my personal passions.  So what gets me out there in the middle of the night regardless of perceived or real ghosts?  In this case, it is the opportunity to gaze upon celestial wonders of far flung galaxies, nebulae and the rings of Saturn. In some bizarre and metaphorical sense I am driven to face my fears by a higher purpose.  Pun intended.

As an executive coach - and a leader/entrepreneur in my own right - I experience and realize that I can be subject to a number of different fears.  Most of these come down to self-doubt and the courage to take on new and different challenges in my career and business.  And I see similar behavior in many of the clients that I work with.  The mythical monsters that have lived in the closets or just outside our windows in our youth now stalk the halls and alleys of our hearts, souls and minds.  These monsters and ghosts are some of the most insidious we will ever face.  They know us well and play upon and magnify our weaknesses, insecurities, and doubts.  Left unchallenged, they grow in strength and hold us paralyzed with fear striving to ensure that we never take that next step forward.

These ghosts just don't operate purely or even mostly on horror and shock value.  Rather, they are more cunning and possessed of a powerful voice, constantly talk us out of taking that next bold step into the future.  They are the voice that suggests that we really aren't qualified to apply for a new position.  They help us procrastinate and rationalize to the point where even if we were to apply to take on the next big challenge we would show up with the belief we didn't belong.  We display our anxiety to the point that those who are in the position of deciding our fate (e.g., the hiring decision) or supporting our next big step recognize our lack of confidence and make the non-supportive decision we have been expecting all along.  We become our own self-fulfilling prophecy.

But like conquering our own childhood fears success in facing our more mature fears is possible.  My success and that of my coaching clients is proof of that.  In my first year away from an executive role and into my new venture I probably had more sleepless nights - and self-talk - than I'd had in the previous ten years.  What made this the right move?  Was my business plan just wishful thinking?  What made me think that my marketing efforts were the right ones? And so on and so forth.  I could say that it was a powerful vision of my ultimate success that kept me going but that would be too easy a way to rewrite history.  Truth be told, I was probably just too proud and stubborn to give in.  But I did ultimately face and conquer (most of) my fears.  I often did so with the encouragement, support, inspiration and examples of others.

In similar fashion I have been inspired by the courage that many of my coaching clients have ultimately demonstrated as they struggled with realizing their potential, seeking out new opportunities, and taking on new challenges.  We have helped them face their fears, challenge their self-limiting beliefs and powerfully own their strengths.  A quote from one of my coaching colleagues comes to mind in this regard - "Your mind is a dangerous neighborhood to go into alone."  So together, we have walked the dark halls and alleys of their mind, challenging assumptions, taking small steps, all in service of a grander vision of what is possible for them.  To realize their potential and open up new vistas that they had not even imagined.

The fears and doubt never truly go away.  I still fear the dark, I still fear swimming in open water, and I still fear that business success enjoyed today is fleeting.  Even as my clients enjoy their current success (e.g., new job, award, raise, promotion) they still wonder how they will maintain or build upon that success.  Our fears and doubts won't go quietly into the night.  But perhaps rather than paralyzing us they can serve a more useful function of keeping us sharp and helping us prepare for potential (and reality-based) setbacks.

Keeping a higher purpose in front of us - the celestial heavens, the triathlon finish line, a successful and fulfilling career - is a foundation by which we can keep moving one step ahead developing our own level of reassurance that our fears are often overblown.  We can choose to live in fear or live in purpose.  We can look back on our past successes as harbingers of bigger things to come.  We can believe in our strengths and in our capacity to become stronger.  We can ultimately build the confidence and courage to overcome what is holding us back from our yet to be imagined potential.

Choose to face your ghosts, get off your (metaphorical bed), and shine a flashlight into the dark spaces.  What you don't find there might amaze you and lighten your load.

Exorcise your ghosts - own the night.

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca
780-401-2812

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Leadership Failures??

As I write this post the second in the US Presidential debates between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump is has just been completed.  We are a month away from the US deciding the respective fates of these two candidates and perhaps of a whole system of international relationships at this critical point in history.  While I've not watched any of the debates, I nevertheless find myself distracted by the frantic activity hitting my twitter account as updates come fast and furious.  In many ways, the experience is like passing by a car accident - while I'm not directly involved in any way I can't help slowing down to watch the scene. 

I've also been struggling to figure out and make sense of the Trump experience.  I consider myself a rational and logical human being and find myself astounded at how long and how successful this political run has been.  Similarly, as I've been lecturing at Concordia University of Edmonton to my leadership class I've struggled to explain the reason for Trump's success thus far - or the failure of the US political system to exorcise this challenge long before now.  There probably was no more telling commentary on the quality of this particular political race than the main subject and focus of the most recent Presidential debate being about who carried more sexual baggage.  Substantive and focused discussions on the significant issues facing the US and the world played second fiddle. 

So how to explain this from a leadership perspective?  At the same time I couldn't help but believe that there were complementary lessons to be gleaned from other world events where the electorate of other countries seemingly made uninformed, under-informed or nonsensical decisions - at least from my perspective.  How to explain Brexit?  How to explain Columbia voting against a peace deal in its decades long civil war? 

As I struggled to dissect these scenarios and possibly put pen to paper to expound my thoughts I fortuitously came across the article below which comes from Psychology Today and was published about a month ago.  I found its insights intriguing and I hope it helps you consider and put into perspective the leadership challenges noted above.  More importantly, and perhaps a subject of further thought in another blog, what might this mean for your particular leadership challenges?

Bobby Azarian, Ph.D.

The Psychology Behind Donald Trump's Unwavering Support

Research explains why Donald Trump maintains support despite shocking behavior.

Posted Sep 13, 2016 

There’s no doubt that Donald Trump has said many things that would have been political suicide for any other Republican candidate. And almost every time he made one of these shocking statements, political analysts on both the left and the right predicted that he’d lose supporters because of it. But as we have clearly seen over the past year, they were dead wrong every time. Trump appears to be almost totally bulletproof.  

The only thing that might be more perplexing than the psychology of Donald Trump is the psychology of his supporters. In their eyes, The Donald can do no wrong. Even Trump himself seems to be astonished by this phenomenon. "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."

Senator John McCain, who has been a regular target for Trump during his campaign, has a simple explanation for his unwavering support. “What he did was he fired up the crazies.”

While the former Republican presidential nominee may be on to something, he doesn’t exactly provide a very satisfying scientific explanation.  So how exactly are Trump loyalists psychologically or neurologically different from everyone else? What is going on in their brains that makes them so blindly devoted?

1. The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Some believe that many of those who support Donald Trump do so because of ignorance — basically they are under-informed or misinformed about the issues at hand. When Trump tells them that crime is skyrocketing in the United States, or that the economy is the worst it’s ever been, they simply take his word for it.

The seemingly obvious solution would be to try to reach those people through political ads, expert opinions, and logical arguments that educate with facts. Except none of those things seem to be swaying any Trump supporters from his side, despite great efforts to deliver this information to them directly.

The Dunning-Kruger effect explains that the problem isn’t just that they are misinformed; it’s that they are completely unaware that they are misinformed. This creates a double burden.  Studies have shown that people who lack expertise in some area of knowledge often have a cognitive bias that prevents them from realizing that they lack expertise. As psychologist David Dunning puts it in an op-ed for Politico, “The knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task — and if one lacks such knowledge and intelligence, one remains ignorant that one is not good at the task. This includes political judgment.” Essentially, they’re not smart enough to realize they’re dumb.

And if one is under the illusion that they have sufficient or even superior knowledge, then they have no reason to defer to anyone else’s judgment. This helps explain why even nonpartisan experts — like military generals and Independent former Mayor of New York/billionaire CEO Michael Bloomberg — as well as some respected Republican politicians, don’t seem to be able to say anything that can change the minds of loyal Trump followers.

Out of immense frustration, some of us may feel the urge to shake a Trump supporter and say, “Hey! Don’t you realize that he’s an idiot?!” No. They don’t. That may be hard to fathom, but that’s the nature of the Dunning-Kruger effect — one’s ignorance is completely invisible to them.

2. Hypersensitivity to Threat

Science has unequivocally shown that the conservative brain has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening. A 2008 study in the journal Science found that conservatives have a stronger physiological reaction to startling noises and graphic images compared to liberals. A brain-imaging study published in Current Biology revealed that those who lean right politically tend to have a larger amygdala — a structure that is electrically active during states of fear and anxiety. And a 2014 fMRI study found that it is possible to predict whether someone is a liberal or conservative simply by looking at their brain activity while they view threatening or disgusting images, such as mutilated bodies. Specifically, the brains of self-identified conservatives generated more activity overall in response to the disturbing images.

So how does this help explain the unbridled loyalty of Trump supporters? These brain responses are automatic, and not influenced by logic or reason. As long as Trump continues his fear mongering by constantly portraying Muslims and Mexican immigrants as imminent dangers, many conservative brains will involuntarily light up like light bulbs being controlled by a switch. Fear keeps his followers energized and focused on safety. And when you think you’ve found your protector, you become less concerned with remarks that would normally be seen as highly offensive.   

3.  Terror Management Theory

A well-supported theory from social psychology, called Terror Management Theory, explains why Trump’s fear mongering is doubly effective.

The theory is based on the fact that humans have a unique awareness of their own mortality. The inevitably of one’s death creates existential terror and anxiety that is always residing below the surface. In order to manage this terror, humans adopt cultural worldviews — like religions, political ideologies, and national identities — that act as a buffer by instilling life with meaning and value.

Terror Management Theory predicts that when people are reminded of their own mortality, which happens with fear mongering, they will more strongly defend those who share their worldviews and national or ethnic identity, and act out more aggressively towards those who do not. Hundreds of studies have confirmed this hypothesis, and some have specifically shown that triggering thoughts of death tends to shift people towards the right.

Not only do death reminders increase nationalism, they influence actual voting habits in favor of more conservative presidential candidates. And more disturbingly, in a study with American students, scientists found that making mortality salient increased support for extreme military interventions by American forces that could kill thousands of civilians overseas. Interestingly, the effect was present only in conservatives, which can likely be attributed to their heightened fear response.

By constantly emphasizing existential threat, Trump creates a psychological condition that makes the brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric. Liberals and Independents who have been puzzled over why Trump hasn’t lost supporters after such highly offensive comments need look no further than Terror Management Theory.

4. High Attentional Engagement

According to a recent study that monitored brain activity while participants watched 40 minutes of political ads and debate clips from the presidential candidates, Donald Trump is unique in his ability to keep the brain engaged. While Hillary Clinton could only hold attention for so long, Trump kept both attention and emotional arousal high throughout the viewing session. This pattern of activity was seen even when Trump made remarks that individuals didn’t necessarily agree with. His showmanship and simple messages clearly resonate at a visceral level.  

Essentially, the loyalty of Trump supporters may in part be explained by America’s addiction with entertainment and reality TV. To some, it doesn’t matter what Trump actually says because he’s so amusing to watch. With Donald, you are always left wondering what outrageous thing he is going to say or do next. He keeps us on the edge of our seat, and for that reason, some Trump supporters will forgive anything he says. They are happy as long as they are kept entertained.  

Of course these explanations do not apply to all Trump supporters. In fact, some are likely intelligent people who know better, but are supporting Trump to be rebellious or to introduce chaos into the system. They may have such distaste for the establishment and Hillary Clinton that their vote for Trump is a symbolic middle finger directed at Washington.

So what can we do to potentially change the minds of Trump loyalists before voting day in November? As a cognitive neuroscientist, it grieves me to say that there may be nothing we can do. The overwhelming majority of these people may be beyond reach, at least in the short term. The best we can do is to motivate everyone else to get out to the booths and check the box that doesn’t belong to a narcissistic nationalist who has the potential to damage the nation beyond repair. 

This article was originally published at Raw Story.