Turning Adversity into Opportunity [1 ed.] 9781118911303, 9781118911297

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Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

Jossey-Bass Short Format Series Written by thought leaders and experts in their fields, pieces in the Jossey-Bass Short Format Series provide busy, on-the-go professionals, managers, and leaders around the world with must-have, just-in-time information in a concise and actionable format. To learn more, visit www.josseybass.com/go /shortform.

Other Titles by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia: Applying the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart of the Matter Facts You Need to Know A Leader’s Legacy Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces (e-short) Finding the Courage to Lead (e-short)

Turning Adversity Into Opportunity James M. Kouzes Barry Z. Posner

Copyright © 2014 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Brand One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594 www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read. Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002. Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http:// booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and is on file with the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-118-91129-7(pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-91130-3(ePDF); ISBN 978-1-118-91431-1(ePub) Printed in the United States of America first edition PB Printing   10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Introduction: Strategies for Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

1

Strategy Number One: Broaden the Context

5

Strategy Number Two: Defy the Verdict

9

Strategy Number Three: Fully Commit to What’s Important

15

Strategy Number Four: Take Charge of Change

21

Strategy Number Five: Engage Others

29

Strategy Number Six: Show You Care

33

Conclusion: No Shortage of Opportunities to Make a Difference

41

Notes45 About the Authors 49 v

Introduction: Strategies for Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

N

ot too long ago, normal meant stable. Normal meant slow and steady. Normal meant you could predict what was going to happen tomorrow based on what had happened today. But the world is very different now, and you had better get used to it. There is no turning back. In today’s real­ ity, normal means turbulence. Normal means disruption. Normal means chaos. Normal means expect the unex­ pected. Normal means that you can’t predict tomorrow’s winners based on today’s successes. Normal means that leaders and their teams have to be able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Normal requires improvisation. 1

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Turbulent. Disruptive. Chaotic. Unexpected. Unpredict­ able. Changing. While these words have come to mean normal, they also describe circumstances that demand leadership. Leadership has always been essential in getting through tough times. Challenge is the defining context for leadership. That’s the consistent pattern we’ve discovered from our research over the past three decades, asking thousands of people to tell us what they were doing when performing at their personal best as leaders. They told us about deal­ ing with challenge, with adversity, with turbulence, and with unexpected difficulties and hardships. They told us about venturing out into uncharted waters—personally, professionally, and organizationally. Regardless of function, field, economic sector, orga­ nizational level, or national boundary, the people in our studies talked about times that were not “normal,” were not the status quo, and were not about business as usual. Instead, they told us about how they led adventures into new territory. They told us how they turned around losing operations, started up new plants, installed untested pro­ cedures, dealt with conflict and crises, or struggled with poorly performing units. The personal-best leadership

Introduction | 3

cases were about firsts, about radical departures from the past, and about doing things that had never been done before. Again remember, we did not ask people to tell us about challenge; we asked them to tell us about their personal-best leadership experiences. We asked them to tell us about an event or series of events that they believed to be their individual standard of excellence. We told them to discuss any leadership experience they chose—past or present, unofficial or official, in any functional area, in any community, voluntary, religious, health care, educational, public or private sector organization. What they chose to talk about were challenging times. We learned very early on that no one ever got anything extraordinary done without initiating or accepting a challenge. Challenge, it turns out, is the crucible for greatness. Exemplary leaders turn adversity into opportunity. There are no shortages of these opportunities, and they demand leadership. It’s not a choice; it’s a requirement. If communities and organizations are not just going to sur­ vive but also to prosper, leaders must rise to the occasion. In The Leadership Challenge, we described The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®, the skills and

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processes that leaders apply when they are operating at their personal bests. We wrote about how leaders Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. In this book, we examine more specifically what leaders do within the context of these practices to strengthen resil­ ience and fully engage people during uncertain times. We’ve identified six strategies you should incorporate into your leadership practices to successfully turn adver­ sity into opportunity: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Broaden the context Defy the verdict Fully commit Take charge Engage others Show you care

In the next six chapters, we explore each of these strategies. For each strategy, we ask you to pause and reflect on several vital questions that can help you and your constituents determine how to navigate effec­ tively through these turbulent times.

Strategy Number One: Broaden the Context

I

t’s common for all of us to take disruptions personally. After all, we’re the ones directly affected by the organizational downsizing, hiring freeze, or cuts in spending. Closer to home, we’re the ones dealing with the poor health of a loved one or the fact that too many young people can’t find good-paying jobs after graduating from college. It’s only natural that we see these events as singular and significant to us. It’s the same with organizations. The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the marketplace may be affecting others, but it’s quite personal when it’s happening to your organization. True enough. But we need to put all of this into a broader context. It’s important to view what’s happening

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from the perspective of history. We need to understand what others have done when they’ve faced similar adverse circumstances in their lives. In fact, people who reflect more on their past during stressful circumstances rebound more quickly and are much more likely to deal effectively with their circumstances than those who don’t.1 The first thing you have to do to turn adversity into opportunity is to put all these challenges into a broader context. You have to get people to see that they too can overcome the difficulties of today and tomorrow, much as others did before them. It may not be easy, but it has been done before and will be done again. Adversities can be overcome. Leaders and constituents alike have faced turbulence and difficulties in the past, and they’ve not only survived but thrived. It’s true of historically admired leaders, and it’s true of today’s everyday leaders. It’s true for others, and it’s true for you. Challenge, adversity, uncertainty, ambiguity, volatility, and complexity are not partial to an individual, an organization, or a period in history. These conditions have been with us for as long as human history, and you can count on them to be there for future generations.

Strategy Number One: Broaden the Context   |  7

Consider what DeLisle Worrell, governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, is doing. In a recent talk with many of the country’s leaders, DeLisle broadened the context when discussing the challenges of reviving economic growth in his country. He provided perspective by reminding his colleagues that the country has faced similar and even more dramatic challenges in the past, and then showed not only how they have been overcome but also how rebounding from these challenges built the basis for substantive future growth. Research supports DeLisle’s approach, finding that resilience is enhanced when people are able to share positive stories about handling past hardships.2 Ask yourself and other people you’re working with: • What’s the bigger picture here? • How can we help people understand what’s happening in the broader environment and how it’s affecting our business? • How can we educate others about the larger context? • How can we get people to see that we’re not any worse off than others were before us?

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• How do we give people time and space to discuss their answers and gain perspective? • What can we do to frame what is happening and being done in ways that give people hope? Putting things into perspective is vital to transforming adversity into opportunity.

Strategy Number Two: Defy the Verdict

M

ax De Pree, former CEO and chairman of Herman Miller, says, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.”3 We agree. You have to tell the truth, regardless. It’s absolutely fundamental to your personal credibility. People want to know the truth. The Pew Research Center for People and the Press asked people to indicate how they felt about economic news. One of the questions was, “Do you feel better knowing, even if it’s bad?” Eighty-five percent said yes, and only 15 percent said no.4 When an issue is directly relevant to their lives, people want to know even if the news is negative. And more, not less, communication about what is going on is

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critical during times of change and transition. This is when people need accurate information, and if they don’t get it, rumors are likely to fill the void. Yes, there are those who wish to live in denial, but the vast majority of people want to be told the truth. They want you to define reality. But defining reality and accepting it as your personal fate are two different things. Just because things are not going the way you predicted doesn’t mean that you are doomed to a life of gloom and doom. Norman Cousins, longtime editor-in-chief of Saturday Review and also an adjunct professor of medical humanities, became interested in the biochemistry of human emotions after being told that he had a serious illness with little chance of surviving. In writing about his experiences and those of others, he observed that when presented with a serious diagnosis, some cancer patients “responded with a fierce determination to overcome. They didn’t deny the diagnosis. They denied the verdict that is usually associated with it. Was it any coincidence that a substantial number of these patients lived significantly longer than had been predicted by their oncologists?”5

Strategy Number Two: Defy the Verdict  |  11

Similarly, exemplary leaders acknowledge reality, but do not dwell on the threat. Instead they see change as a challenge and as an opportunity for renaissance and learning; they move quickly to mobilize personal and group resources. They believe they can influence the outcome and turn the tide of events to their advantage. They do not become resentful, bitter, or alienated; instead, they become engaged, involved, and committed. They do not dissolve into despair, but resolve to act quickly and zestfully.6 It would be foolish for people to ignore the fact that they have life-threatening diseases or that their businesses are failing or that their families are troubled. It would be foolish to deny the changes in their bodies or organizations or relationships. Leaders must listen to the diagnosis; they must listen to the reality, particularly in cases of adversity. But acknowledging the reality does not mean you must accept the verdict. You can be well informed and can deeply understand the perils you face without accepting a prognosis that your organization or civilization is destined to fail. Reality may mean that you have lost a loved one or that you are disabled by a physical trauma; it

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does not have to mean that you have been sentenced to a life of misery. Reality may mean that the world is plagued by poverty, pollution, unemployment, riots, and infectious disease. But it does not have to mean that civilized society is coming to an end. Reality may mean that the current product line is not selling or that the warehouses were destroyed or that you just got restructured out of a job. It does not have to mean that companies will go bankrupt or that business careers are over. Like survivors of serious injury and illness, exemplary leaders accept the diagnosis, but they do not accept defeat; they do not become consumed by self-pity and grief. They regroup, reassess, and prepare to go forward. Leaders inspire others by sharing their determination to beat the odds. Take it from Carolina Rojas, who met her most admired leader when she was working with PepsiCo Mexico. She explained that he had a “Yes, it is possible” attitude. “While this outlook won’t make problems disappear,” she said, “it helped me and others to believe the future will be better. In addition, this positive thinking lets you discover an amazing power from people when they think in this way.”

Strategy Number Two: Defy the Verdict  |  13

Take the time to discuss these questions with your constituents: • • • • • •

What’s going on right now? What is truth, and what is rumor? What are we clear, and unclear, about? What is possible? Where’s the silver lining? How do we communicate the message that we can overcome these difficult circumstances? • What are some innovative opportunities that we can now explore? Being willing to defy the verdict, and giving people reasons why, are critical to keeping them focused on what is possible.

Strategy Number Three: Fully Commit to What’s Important

I

f you were to generate a list of the historical leaders you admire, we bet a commonality they would share is that they all stood for something meaningful. They were people of solid principles. They were clear about what was important to them and what was consequential in life. They had strong values and beliefs that raised their own and others’ morality and motivation. They were fully committed to something important. As Radu Basu, then CEO of SupportSoft, told us: “If you are clear about your values, and your actions are aligned, it makes all the hard work worth the effort.” Challenges, hardships, and adversities cause you to come face-to-face with yourself. They are rather harsh 15

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ways of reminding you of what’s important, what you value, and where you want to go. Many people have experienced life-­threatening, even torturous circumstances, and found ways to turn them into tests of strength and determination. One such experience is described in the story of computer science professor Randy Pausch, who delivered his now-famous “last lecture” at Carnegie Mellon University, a one-of-a-kind speech that made the world stop and pay attention.7 In his talk, Randy, who was dying of pancreatic cancer at the time, said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”8 Randy’s personal circumstances at the time were certainly unique to him, but his observation is applicable to everyone. It’s especially relevant to leaders. The challenges today are not any more insurmountable than the ones faced by so many others. Several generations have now successfully dealt with world wars, economic depressions, and natural disasters. Similarly, each generation has had to, and will continue to have to adapt to technological innovations, scientific advancements, and cultural shifts. What might seem like brick walls are simply doors to a

Strategy Number Three: Fully Commit to What’s Important   |  17

High

4.87

6.26

Low

4.90

6.12

Low

High

Clarity of Organizational Values

Clarity of Personal Values

Figure 1  The Impact of Values Clarity on Commitment

new future, asking “What do you want, and how badly do you want it?” There is a significant measurable impact on people’s performance when their personal values are clear. Take a look at Figure 1 and see what we discovered.9 Along the vertical axis is the extent to which people report being clear about their organization’s values. Along the horizontal axis is the extent to which these same people report being clear about their personal values. We analyzed these responses in terms of the extent to which people said they were committed to the

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organization as measured on a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high). We subsequently organized the results into four cells, each representing a level of clarity from low to high on personal and organizational values. The numbers in each of the four cells represent the average level of commitment people have to their organizations as it relates to the degree of their clarity about personal and organizational values. Notice the quadrant in which people feel the most committed. It’s the upper right, with a score of 6.26— high clarity about organizational values and high clarity about personal values. Not surprising. We’d all expect that. Now notice the lowest level of commitment (4.87): there’s high clarity about organizational values, low clarity about personal values. Actually, the difference between that score and the score in the low-low quadrant (4.90) is not statistically significant. Finally, look at where the second-highest level of commitment is, with a score of 6.12. It’s low clarity about organizational values but high clarity about personal values. At first, these results were somewhat jarring to us. You can see that the impact of being very clear or not about the organization’s values doesn’t seem to make much difference in how committed people are to their

Strategy Number Three: Fully Commit to What’s Important   |  19

organizations. But notice what happens when people are clear on their personal values. First, they are significantly more committed to their organization, and second, their commitment is not affected by the extent to which they are clear about the organization’s values. There is no statistically significant difference in the responses of those high on both versus those high only on personal values clarity. What does all this mean? Essentially, clarity about personal values has the most significant impact on employees’ feelings about their work and what they’re doing in the workplace. This is not to say that shared values don’t matter. Our research and that of others suggests that it does. People do want to be part of something bigger than themselves. What it does point out, however, is that people cannot fully commit unless whatever they are being asked to commit to fits with their own beliefs. Here are some important questions to discuss during challenging times; they will help people decide if they can more fully commit to what’s important: • Why are we doing what we’re doing? • What’s the larger purpose? • Why does what we’re doing matter?

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• What are we really passionate about? • What important shared values and beliefs can we emphasize to keep people engaged? • Who’s counting on us? Who cares about and depends on the quality, innovativeness, and efficiency of our efforts? Being fully committed is what keeps you and your constituents on track and willing to struggle through the hard times.

Strategy Number Four: Take Charge of Change

S

ometimes the brick walls in your life are external to the organization. Sometimes they are internal. Most often they aren’t a matter of life and death, as Randy Pausch experienced, nor are they as huge and dramatic as those challenges that make news headlines. Usually, they are barriers that you encounter every day on the job—a reluctant team, an over-controlling boss, an inhibiting routine, an industry shift, or the introduction of a new technology. Whether the challenge is large or small, however, leaders take charge of change. When we asked people in our research for the “five or six words they would use to best describe the character, the feel, the spirit, the nature, the quality of their personal-best leadership experience,” the words most

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frequently reported were challenging, rewarding, and exciting. Words signifying conviction—for example, dedication, intensity, commitment, determination, and persistence—also regularly appeared. So did terms connoting passion—for example, inspiring, uplifting, motivating, and energizing. Unique, important, proud, and empowering got their fair share. Fully 95 percent of the cases were described using these terms. Once again we see that challenging situations can actually motivate and engage people to do their best. But we also have to acknowledge that uncertainty can be filled with stressors. Although almost all personal-best cases were described as exciting, about 20 percent of leaders also called them frustrating, and about 15 percent said that their experiences aroused fear or anxiety. We can’t overlook the fact that challenging times can be filled with much tension. For example, Kirstyn Cole told us about how she was both “excited and anxious” when stepping into her first major leadership responsibility. “Being a leader,” she said, “means being scared sometimes.” Sure, it can be scary to go first, but as Kirstyn realized, “I could have just come into the job and kept doing the same old process, being afraid to rock the boat or not willing to

Strategy Number Four: Take Charge of Change  |  23

put in the work to change it. But because I had the drive and initiative to keep looking into it, to not give up, and to notice that this process could be fixed regardless of the work involved—I was able to get it done.” Stuff happens in organizations and in our lives. Sometimes we choose it; sometimes it chooses us. People who become leaders don’t always seek the challenges they face. Challenges also seek leaders. Challenge is the motivating environment for excellence. Challenging opportunities often bring forth skills and abilities that people don’t know they have. It’s not so important whether you find the challenges or they find you. What is important are the choices you make when confronted with the challenges you face. Michele Goins, a veteran chief information officer in hightechnology firms, offered us this insight: “Leadership opportunities are in the moment. What makes the difference between being a leader or not is how you respond in the moment.” And everyone is capable of acting in the moment and seizing the opportunity to lead. As the African proverb so wisely observes: “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.”

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Responding positively and assertively in those moments of trial and adversity is something that you can learn. Psychologists, intrigued by people who experience a high degree of stress, yet are able to cope with it in a positive manner, have discovered that what it takes is a distinctive attitude toward stress, which they call “psychological hardiness.”10 Researchers have demonstrated that in groups as diverse as corporate managers, entrepreneurs, students, nurses, lawyers, and combat soldiers, those high in psychological hardiness are much more likely to withstand serious challenges and bounce back from failure than those low in hardiness.11 The good news is that hardiness is an attitude that people can learn and that leaders can support. Three attitudes are essential to being psychologically hardy: commitment, control, and challenge. To turn adversity into advantage, you’ll need to commit yourself to what’s happening. You have to get involved, engaged, and curious. You can’t sit back and wait for something to happen. When you commit, you’ll find the people and the situations much more meaningful and worthwhile to you. You also have to take control of your own life. You need to make an effort to influence what is going

Strategy Number Four: Take Charge of Change  |  25

on. Even though all your attempts may not be successful, you can’t sink into powerlessness or passivity. Finally, if you are going to be psychologically hardy, you need to view challenge as an opportunity to learn from both negative and positive experiences. You can’t play it safe. Personal improvement and fulfillment come through the continual process of staying engaged in the uncertainties of life. Easy comfort and security are not only unrealistic but also stultifying. Moreover, you need to help your team take charge of change. When it comes to situations that involve high uncertainty, high risk, and high challenge, many people feel reluctant to act because they are afraid they might fail or make matters worse. Disruptions, whether they’re natural disasters or economic recessions, can easily cause people to freeze in place. Leaders need to create conditions that encourage their constituents to seize the initiative in tumultuous times. First, foster a can-do attitude by providing opportunities for people to gain mastery of a task one step at a time. Training not only builds people’s skills but also builds their confidence so that they can effectively respond to and improve the difficult situations they face.

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The best leaders know that the investment in training will pay off in the long term. People can’t deliver on what they don’t know how to do, so you have to upgrade capabilities continuously. In addition, find ways for people to stretch themselves. Keep setting the bar incrementally higher, but at a level at which people feel they can succeed. Raise it too high, and people will fail; if they fail too often, they’ll quit trying. Raise the bar a bit at a time, and eventually more and more people will master the situation and build the self-confidence to continue moving the process forward. This approach addresses both the human need to grow and develop and the need to be successful. Providing positive role models of peers who are successful at meeting the new challenges also fosters initiative. Seeing one of their own succeeding in doing something new and different is an effective way to encourage others to take the same actions. Another effective way to prepare for uncertainty is to engage in mental simulation.12 Playing a scenario through in your mind until you can picture it frame by frame is a terrific way to encourage and support initiative and also to imagine how unexpected and worst-case

Strategy Number Four: Take Charge of Change  |  27

scenarios can be handled effectively. Of course, you can’t predict everything that could go right, or wrong, but asking people to imagine how things will be done before they need to be is a powerful heuristic strategy for making them confident that they can act, whatever the situation requires. It’s much the same as practicing fire drills, except that you run them in your head. Make sure you take the time to discuss these questions with your constituents: • • • • •

What do we deeply want to have happen? What decisions and actions can we control? How can we positively influence the outcome? What actions can we take to create forward momentum? What little things can we do to get moving in the right direction? • How can we transform this struggle into an engaging learning experience? • If we are going to fall, how can we fall forward and achieve a sense of progress? Taking charge of change is how you invent your future rather than simply letting it happen to you.

Strategy Number Five: Engage Others

W

e feel a lot healthier in trying times when we get support from others. Just having one supportive, stable relationship is an important condition for transcending adversity.13 Numerous research findings conclude that having friends enables people to live longer and happier lives.14 Neuroscientists are discovering that our brains are wired to connect.15 We feel the emotional pain of loss of a human connection in the same way that we feel physical pain from a broken bone. A broken heart is not just a metaphor. At the other end of the emotional scale, when other people around us become genuinely excited about something, we feel it. We feel it not only in our minds but also in our bodies. If you doubt this, just think about fans in a

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sports stadium quite literally jumping for joy when their team scores the winning point. It is increasingly clear that social connection and social intimacy are necessary conditions for a meaningful life at home, at work, and in our communities. Humans are social animals, and trust and collaboration are essential to dealing with challenge and adversity. In the new normal world of rapid change and disruptive innovation, people have to become more involved with one another, not less. We learned this lesson early in our research, when Bill Flanagan, then vice president of manufacturing for Amdahl Corporation, explained that he was unable to tell us about his personal best. This surprised us, and we asked him why. Bill replied, “Because it wasn’t my personal best. It was our personal best. It wasn’t me, it was us.” That was in 1984. In 2009 in Hong Kong, Eric Pan, regional head of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in South China, told us essentially the same thing when talking about his personal-best leadership experience. “No matter how capable a leader is,” Eric said, “he or she alone won’t be able to deliver a large project or program without the joint efforts and synergies that come from the team.”

Strategy Number Five: Engage Others  |  31

Twenty-five years and half a world apart, Bill and Eric—and the thousands of other leaders who’ve told us their ­ stories—remind us all that no leader singlehandedly ever gets anything extraordinary done. We’re absolutely certain that in another twenty-five years when someone asks a leader to share her personal-best story, she’ll say exactly what Bill, Eric, and, just recently, Kim Wizer said. The key to success in Kim’s personal-best leadership experience was “involving everyone in the organization. Getting their suggestions and using their ideas made everyone feel like they had leadership responsibility and accountability.” This is especially true when conditions are adverse. The American Psychological Association reports that “accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience.”16 It is in the difficult times, and not just the stable ones, that we turn to others for strength and support. After all, to say that my fate is not tied to your fate is like saying your end of the boat is sinking.17 When people are engaged with one another, they are motivated to strengthen their relationships with one another, resolving interpersonal conflicts by finding win-win solutions and doing favors for one another with the clear expectation that these will be reciprocated. .

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Here are some questions to ask yourself and consider with your team: • Who else is affected? • How can we engage with them? • How can we use this opportunity to fortify our relationships with others and build partnerships? • How can I connect people with one another on the project? • How can I let others make choices? • Whom can we turn to for caring support and wise counsel? • How do we strengthen the sense that we are in this together? • Who has done something that has helped to make a difference, and how can we tell their story? Engaging others makes sense because there simply is no way you can navigate the future all by yourself.

Strategy Number Six: Show You Care

I

t is always important to show that you care about those you work and interact with regularly, and this sentiment takes on special significance when times are tough and people feel stressed. Human beings have an intrinsic need to be appreciated. Not everyone comprehends this at first. For example, when we ask people in an audience if they “need encouragement to perform at their best,” only about 50 percent raise their hands. But when we follow up with this question: “When you get encouragement, does it help stimulate and sustain your performance?” nearly everyone raises a hand. The truth is that we all need encouragement. We may not all need the same variety, texture, or frequency, but none of us can expect extraordinary accomplishments without knowing

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that someone cares about what we are doing. Reflecting on his experiences with global teams, Ajay Godbole, IT principal consultant with Oracle, notes that “leaders who have the courage to show how they care for the team and the organization build strong interpersonal connections among their team. This bond is the difference between a team that can overcome challenges and a team that disintegrates at the first challenge.” Joshua Fradenburg, senior consultant with Caiman Consulting, told us how he came to understand that “people needed to know that I cared about their circumstances, before they would trust what I was asking them to do. By showing openness and compassion, they were able to suspend their disbelief and follow the course we had laid out.” At the same time that you ask people to change and do things differently, you must also demonstrate a willingness to change and show that you have the best interests of others in mind. An important way that leaders show they care is by participating in any hardships and pain like any other member of the organization; not doing so almost always irreparably damages their credibility. Compassion means “to suffer together.” Only those who have suffered with

Strategy Number Six: Show You Care  |  35

their constituents can genuinely uplift them. Only those who have felt the pain of loss and yearning for fulfillment can truly inspire during desperate circumstances. The perception that those in senior leadership positions have not suffered along with their constituents fosters employee cynicism and disengagement. Individual team members need to feel that they belong and that their contributions make a difference. You have to communicate to the team by your words, actions, and even nonverbal behaviors that they are capable of meeting the challenges and overcoming adversity. When individual team members internalize a winning mentality, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that spreads virtuously throughout the team. When team members become confident that you will nurture their skills and provide them with the resources to overcome the odds, then everyone feels more energized and works to make one another successful. It is very difficult for leaders to show their faith in the winning abilities of their team when there is infrequent face-to-face contact. There is a quantum difference between individual team members interacting with their leader in the hallways and the cafeteria versus doing so

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via an email or a video conference. When individuals cannot see for themselves the passion that a leader brings to the team’s mission, they are more likely to be disengaged. This disengagement means that people hide negative feedback, and inevitably projects spiral out of control; consequently, teams are unable to learn from the experiences of others and often have to start from scratch. Being with people in person is even more critical for leaders with long-distance and global teams. Although it may seem counterintuitive, in difficult times it is important to maintain travel budgets (even possibly increase them) rather than cutting back. There is no substitute for leaders’ making intentional efforts to meet face-to-face with all members of their global team at regular intervals. These meetings allow the leader to set expectations and receive honest feedback. Individuals, who may have had only virtual contact with their leadership, can be energized by their leader’s passion when meeting face-to-face. This vitality propels them toward exemplary performance. Showing that you care is personal. You have to make direct connections with the people who are doing the hard work and often struggling to meet seemingly impossible demands. People simply don’t, perhaps even can’t, do their

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best when they feel unappreciated, inconsequential, unimportant, or invisible. Jane Binger, senior research officer at Sutter Health, told us: “People want to know that I value them. That I think they are doing a great job. And that I am not taking their contributions for granted.” If you want people to hang in there when times are tough and continue to give it their all, then you have to show them that you value them. You can never take them for granted. There’s strong empirical research behind Jane’s perspective. Barbara Fredrickson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, reports that when people experience positive emotions, their minds are stretched, their worldview is expanded, and they are open to new possibilities. They see more options and become more creative and innovative. At the same time, they are more careful in making decisions, hence more accurate, and also have been shown to be more interpersonally effective.18 Showing that you care and being compassionate give people hope. Much of the emphasis at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, for example, was about his extraordinary powers of empathy and forgiveness and how he gave people hope, even inspiring the headline, “Mandela gave us the

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greatest gift of all: Hope.”19 He made us feel better about ourselves and provided an example of what each of us could aspire to be. To take an example from popular culture, in the massively successful Hunger Games trilogy, Coriolanus Snow, the ruthless president of Panem, feels that Katniss Everdeen is a powerful threat because she serves as a beacon of hope. When another character proposes that they punish the people, doubling the amount of floggings and executions and putting them on TV, and sowing fear, President Snow responds, “It won’t work. Fear does not work as long as they have hope. And Katniss Everdeen is giving them hope!” Real leaders like Mandela, and fictional ones like Katniss, not only give hope; they also keep it alive by inspiring people to see positive images of the future. Experiments have shown that positive images make groups more effective, enhance achievement, and even relieve symptoms of illness.20 Ask yourself these questions: • How can I make sure that people on my team know that I care about them? • What can I do to maintain face-to-face interactions and conversations with people?

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• How do I communicate my belief that the people I am working with are winners? • How can I share the sacrifices that people may be, or are being, called on to make? • What can I do to recognize the positive contributions that are being made? • How do I keep myself and others enthused about the work that we’re doing? • How can I be certain to say “thank you” more frequently? Showing you care about others is what, in turn, makes others care about you and work hard to make the impossible possible.

Conclusion: No Shortage of Opportunities to Make a Difference

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

C

harles Dickens wrote this in 1859, and it is a humble reminder about keeping in perspective what ­ so many are exclaiming about our contemporary landscape. The times may be adverse. They may be chaotic,

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disruptive, and challenging. But they are not the only times we’ve faced such conditions. And these days are also full of great opportunities. There are no shortages of challenges in the world today, and no shortages of opportunities for leadership. From our research on The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership we know that leadership is within the capability of every person as long as he or she is open to seeing the opportunities and trusts that he or she can make a difference. As Hong Kong–based Olivia Lai, associate product strategist for Moody’s Analytics, told us: “It’s clear that leadership is everywhere, it takes place every day, and leadership can come from anyone. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have the title of ‘manager,’ ‘director,’ ‘CEO’ to go with it. In the end, that’s all they are—titles on business cards and company directories. Being a true leader transcends all that.” Olivia went on to explain that “challenging the process is a necessity in life, not only from a leadership perspective. It’s the only way for the world to keep on turning and people to keep on growing.” As much as people say they want a world of normality, we believe that this is not only a fantasy but just plain wrong.

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Let’s get excited about the adversities. Yes, that’s right—excited. They are not brick walls. They are turning points. They are there to ask you what you want and how badly you want it. Let’s embrace the chance to make a difference. Let’s remain open to both hearing and heeding the call to change the business-as-usual environment and escape from the routines and ruts created by doing the same things over and over again. Without leadership, the world would not have evolved to the way it is today or will be tomorrow. There would be no electricity, no computer operating systems, no Hershey’s chocolate, no Disneyworld, no smart phones/tablets/televisions/ glasses/watches/cars, or any of the other products and services we now enjoy. Wherever you find yourself in your organization, community, and family, there are opportunities for leadership. Leadership is not a position or place. It is an attitude and a set of practices that are accessible to anyone. We’ve offered six leadership strategies to guide you and others in confronting the new realities of today’s disrupted world. We want you to broaden the context, defy the verdict, fully commit, take charge, engage

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others, and show you care. Put these into practice and you can turn adversity into opportunity. And because life has a way of making sure that you can never step into the same river twice, we trust that’s exactly what you’ll be willing to do.

Notes

1. S. P. Spera, E. D. Buhrfeind, and J. W. Pennebaker, “Expressive Writing and Coping with Job Loss.” Academy of Management Journal, 1994, 37(3), 722–733. Also see J. W. Pennebaker and J. D. Seagal, “Forming a Story: The Health Benefits of Narrative.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1999, 55(1), 1243–1254. 2. J. F. McCarthy, “Short Stories at Work: Storytelling as an Indicator of Organizational Commitment.” Group & Organization Management, 2008, 33(2), 163–193. 3. M. De Pree, Leadership Is an Art. New York: Crown Books, 2009, p. 11. 4. “Most Feel a Personal Stake in Tracking Economic News.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Feb. 19, 2009. http://www.people-press.org/2009/02/19 /most-feel-a-personal-stake-in-tracking-economic-news/. 5. N. Cousins, Head First: The Biology of Hope. New York: Dutton, 1989, p. 83.

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6. For a more extensive treatment of the attitudes of psychologically hardy individuals, see S. R. Maddi and D. M. Khoshaba, Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You. New York: AMACOM, 2005; and S. R. Maddi and S. C. Kobasa, The Hardy Executive: Health Under Stress. Chicago: Dorsey Professional Books/Dow Jones-Irwin, 1984. 7. You can listen to the entire “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” on YouTube. It’s well worth seventy-six minutes of your time. Here is the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo. 8. This quote is from “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Sept. 18, 2007, available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5 _MqicxSo. You can read more of Randy’s story and advice in R. Pausch with J. Zaslow, The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion, 2008. 9. B. Z. Posner and W. H. Schmidt, “Demographic Characteristics and Shared Values.” International Journal of Value-Based Management, 1992, 5(1), 77–87. Also see B. Z. Posner, “Another Look at the Impact of Personal and Organizational Values Congruency.” Journal of Business Ethics, 2010, 97(4), 535–541. 10. The initial discoveries of psychological hardiness came from a twelve-year longitudinal study of executives at Illinois Bell Telephone as that organization experienced the firestorm of changes produced by the federal antitrust case against the Bell system and the resulting breakup of the company. Some executives were undermined by

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the mounting stresses of this upheaval; they had high stress scores along with high rates of illness. Yet another group of executives with equally high stress scores thrived and were below average on incidence of illness. As the researchers predicted, there was a clear attitudinal difference between the high-stress, high-illness group and the high-stress, low-illness group. For a history of the research, see S. R. Salvatore, “The Story of Hardiness: Twenty Years of Theorizing, Research, and Practice.” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practices and Research, 2002, 54(3), 175–185. Also see S. R. Maddi and D. M. Khoshaba, “Hardiness and Mental Health.” Journal of Personality Assessment, 1994, 67, 265–274; Maddi and Kobasa, The Hardy Executive; and Maddi and Khoshaba, Resilience at Work. 11. See R. A. Bruce and R. F. Sinclair, “Exploring the Psychological Hardiness of Entrepreneurs.” Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2009, 29(6), 5; P. T. Bartone, R. R. Roland, J. J. Picano, and T. J. Williams, “Psychological Hardiness Predicts Success in US Army Special Forces Candidates.” International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 2008, 16(1), 78–81; and P. T. Bartone, “Resilience Under Military Operational Stress: Can Leaders Influence Hardiness?” Military Psychology, 2006, 18, S141–S148. 12. For detailed information on mental simulation, see G. Klein, Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999, pp. 45–77; see also G. Klein, The Power of Intuition: How to Use Your Gut Feelings to Make Better Decisions at Work. New York: Currency, 2004.

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13. D. Goleman, “Happy or Sad, a Mood Can Prove Contagious.” New York Times, Oct. 15, 1991, p. B4. 14. For more on this topic, see “Friends Can Be Good Medicine: An Independent Evaluation of the Pilot Project.” Sacramento, CA: Department of Mental Health, 1982. 15. For a detailed account of research on the science of human connection, see M. D. Liebermann, Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. New York: Crown, 2013. 16. “The Road to Resilience,” American Psychological Association, p. 4. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road -resilience.aspx. 17. This saying has been attributed to several sources, including Hugh Downs. 18. B. L. Frederickson, Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strengths of Positive Emotions Over Negativity, and Thrive. New York: Crown, 2009. 19. A. Massie, “Nelson Mandela Gave Us the Greatest Gift of All: Hope.” Spectator, Dec. 6, 2013. http://blogs .spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2013/12/nelson-mandela -gave-us-the-greatest-gift-of-all-hope/. 20. For example, see S. Srivastva, D. L. Cooperrider, and Associates (Eds.), Appreciative Management and Leadership: The Power of Positive Thought and Action in Organizations (rev. ed.). New York: Crown, 1999; and D. Whitney and A. Trosten-Bloom, The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2010.

About the Authors

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner have been working together for more than thirty years, studying leaders, researching leadership, conducting leadership development seminars, and serving as leaders themselves in various capacities. They are coauthors of the award-winning, bestselling book The Leadership Challenge, now in its fifth edition. Since its first edition in 1987, The Leadership Challenge has sold more than two million copies worldwide and is available in twenty-one languages. It has won numerous awards, including the Critics’ Choice Award from the nation’s book review editors and the James A. Hamilton Hospital Administrators’ Book of the Year Award, and was selected as one of the top ten books on leadership in Covert and Sattersten’s The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

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Jim and Barry have coauthored more than a dozen other award-winning leadership books, including Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces; Finding the Courage to Lead; Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia: Applying The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership; Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It; The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know; A Leader’s Legacy; Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others; The Student Leadership Challenge; and The Academic Administrator’s Guide to Exemplary Leadership. They also developed the highly acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a 360-degree questionnaire for assessing leadership behavior, which is one of the most widely used leadership assessment instruments in the world, along with the Student LPI. More than six hundred doctoral dissertations and academic papers have been based on their The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® model. Among the honors and awards that Jim and Barry have received is the American Society for Training and Development’s highest award for their Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance.

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They have been named Management/Leadership Educators of the Year by the International Management Council; ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine in the top twenty on its list of the Top 100 Thought Leaders; named among the 50 Top Coaches in the nation (according to Coaching for Leadership); ranked as Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America; and listed among HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers. Jim and Barry are frequent keynote speakers, and each has conducted leadership development programs for hundreds of organizations, including Alberta Health Services, Apple, Applied Materials, ARCO, AT&T, Australia Institute of Management, Australia Post, Bank of America, Bose, Charles Schwab, Chevron, Cisco Systems, Clorox, Community Leadership Association, Conference Board of Canada, Consumers Energy, Deloitte Touche, Dorothy Wylie Nursing and Health Leaders Institute, Dow Chemical, Egon Zehnder International, Federal Express, Genentech, Google, Gymboree, HP, IBM, Jobs DR-Singapore, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals, Korean Management Association, Intel, Itau Unibanco,

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L.L. Bean, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Merck, Monsanto, NetApp, Northrop Grumman, Novartis, Oakwood Temporary Housing, Oracle, Petronas, Pixar, Roche Bioscience, Siemens, Silicon Valley Bank, 3M, TIAA-CREF, Toyota, United Way, USAA, Verizon, VISA, the Walt Disney Company, and Westpac. They have lectured at over sixty college and university campuses. Jim Kouzes is the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, and lectures on leadership around the world to corporations, governments, and nonprofits. He is a highly regarded leadership scholar and an experienced executive; the Wall Street Journal cited him as one of the twelve best executive educators in the United States. In 2010, Jim received the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, the most prestigious award given by the trade association of training and development industry providers. He was listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers for 2010 through 2012, named one of Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across

About the Authors | 53

America for 2010 through 2014, and ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine as number sixteen on its list of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. In 2006, Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters International. Jim served as president, CEO, and chairman of the Tom Peters Company from 1988 through 1999, and prior to that led the Executive Development Center at Santa Clara University (1981– 1987). Jim founded the Joint Center for Human Services Development at San Jose State University (1972–1980) and was on the staff of the School of Social Work, University of Texas. His career in training and development began in 1969 when he conducted seminars for Community Action Agency staff and volunteers in the war on poverty. Following graduation from Michigan State University (BA degree with honors in political science), he served as a Peace Corps volunteer (1967–1969). Jim can be reached at [email protected]. Barry Posner is Accolti Endowed Professor of Leader­ ship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, where he served as dean of the school for twelve years (1997–2009). He has been a distinguished

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visiting professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Sabanci University (Istanbul), and the University of Western Australia. At Santa Clara he has received the President’s Distinguished Faculty Award, the School’s Extraordinary Faculty Award, and several other teaching and academic honors. Barry has been named one of the nation’s top management and leadership educators by the International Management Council, recognized as one of the Top 50 leadership coaches in America and Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior, and ranked among the Most Influential HR Thinkers in the world. An internationally renowned scholar and educator, Barry is author or coauthor of more than a hundred research and practitioner-focused articles. He currently serves on the editorial boards for Leadership & Organizational Development Journal and the International Journal of Servant-Leadership. In 2011, he received the Outstanding Scholar Award for Career Achievement from the Journal of Management Inquiry. Barry received his BA with honors in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara; his MA in public administration from The Ohio State University;

About the Authors | 55

and his PhD in organizational behavior and administrative theory from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Having consulted with a wide variety of public and private sector organizations around the globe, Barry also works at a strategic level with a number of community-based and professional organizations, currently sitting on the board of directors of EMQ FamiliesFirst. He has served previously on the boards of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Santa Clara County, Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay, Public Allies, San Jose Repertory Theater, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, and both publicly traded and start-up companies. Barry can be reached at [email protected].