The Slight Edge

• Core Values
  • Be aware of you values, knowing what you stand for.
  • Values drive behavior.
  • Appreciating others values, different from your own.
  • Congruency, espoused values and values in use.
  • Creating shared awareness.
• Thinking Systemically
  • See the bigger picture.
    We often only see one (small) part
    Seeing the connections and unintended consequences.
  • Structure drives behavior – Be aware of how they drive your own behavior –make better choices.
  • Use iceberg as a problem solving process.
  • When “stuff” happens
    Notice not just events but patterns
    Then look for structures and mental models driving behavior
  • When planning or implementing a change consider the impact of structures and mental models.
  • How you think drives the results you get.
• Engaging Others
  • Balancing high quality Advocacy with high quality Inquiry

    Advocacy	Inquiry
    State Explain Engage Genuinely Listen	Ask Disclose Seek to understand Genuinely listen

  • Moving your communications down the Ladder of Inference
  • Listen for conclusions or opinions.
  • ask for the “data”.
  • Make the steps in your reasoning visible.
  • Gently ask others to do the same.
  • Before you agree or disagree,check out the meanings of “blinking words”(e.g leadership,power,”isn’t working”,be successful, etc..)
  • Using your Left Hand Column as a resource
  • Thoughts you were thinking and feeling but not saying.

Recommended Reading

Title	Author	Summary	Comment
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook	Peter Senge, Rick Ross, et al	Covers the ideas of the leadership challenge in more depth with further examples and tools	Not a book for reading cover to cover, but great for dipping into.
The Seven Habits of highly effective people	Stephen Covey	A range of excellent approaches that help us in our lives.	Worth reading just for the opening chapter.
Feel the fear and do it any way	Susan Jefferies	How to face the challenges in our lives and use them as opportunities to learn and grow.	An easy book to read that helps us face up to difficult situations.
Who moved my cheese?	Spencer Johnson	An amazing way to deal with change to your work and in your life.	Quick and easy to read.

In his book “The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook” Peter Senge et all identifies the core of this organisation being based on five learning disciplines:

·      Personal Mastery-

Learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most desire and creating an organisational environment which encourages all its members to develop themselves toward the goal and purpose they choose.

·      Mental Models-

Reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving out internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions

·      Shared Vision-

Building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope to get there.

·      Team Learning-

Transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual member’s talents.

·      Systems Thinking-

A way of thinking about, and a language for describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shapes the behaviour of systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the larger processes of the natural and economic world.

Having defined the above as the goal how does one go about doing this in an organisation? Since 2002 the writer of this paper has been engaged in the awareness making of people to Key Leadership principles. The biggest obstacle to this are in fact other “Leaders” that find themselves on the first level of leadership as suggested by John Maxwell i.e. Positional Leadership and therefore there is no encouragement given to the very valuable principles that would encourage the Personal Mastery.

Group after group of up to 50 participants leave a three day programme having been convinced that “Leadership is a Decision and not a Position” only to disappear into an organisation of 1600 people that have mostly done the similar programme at some time and that found upon their return ,that the language of change is not encouraged , not spoken and often times ,at the highest Leadership level ,not even recognised ,as the daily priority of ticking the boxes does not allow time for three days of  wasted effort to develop leaders and effect some modicum of culture change.

People leaving the organisation frustrated at the lack of development become a statistic just to show that in fact all have been replaced without any attention being given that the level of replacement at least in some way matches the loss of the previous disillusioned leaver.

Enter The Learning Organisation.

The Programme that was run at JD Consulting had the following critical success factors.

• The whole organisation attended every session. There was no exception to this and the directors attended every Module.
• The business was closed for one day every time a Module was presented. Yes, emergencies were handled but only during the break and everybody rejoined once the break was over.

The first Module, Personal Mastery also included the ever important Laws governing Leadership.21 Laws are handled some in more detail than the others. The 5 levels of Leadership are introduced and they all support the key principles:

* Leadership is a Decision not a Position

* Leadership is influence.

The Platinum Rule-do unto others as you know they wish you to do is introduced and is based on the careful analysis using several tools of what the individual styles are like.

Personal Mastery is the fulcrum of the wheel that has as spokes all the other four key aspects of The Learning Organisation. With this in place the flywheel can start being pushed to gain momentum.

Over an extended period, due to business pressure, each module was completed.

Mental Models emphasised the skills of engagement and Balanced High Quality

Advocacy and Inquiry, Ladder of Inference and left Hand Column were new to most but quickly became skills in extended exercises where discussions become very frank and all are challenged as one would expect in an environment where personal mastery is encouraged and agreed to.

Shared Vision, Creative tension and Current reality are introduced very early in the programme and spoken about often. The organisation is challenged to talk frankly and openly about the Current Reality and with the new found skills of engaging others the Module on Shared Vision extends to a Group think tank due to the confidence that has been growing to speak your mind but in a skilful manner. The participants are invited to determine the congruency of their own vision with that of the organisation that they have just participated in.

The development of departmental vision became a parallel activity and by all accounts formed the basis of a group discussion on key aspects of the Shared Vision and a realistic assessment of the current reality.

How to progress? The investment in time was truly huge and the organisation needs to capitalise on this investment. Team Learning was the last Module and was aimed at getting an understanding on the key Laws that support winning teams.

The outcomes are overwhelmingly positive and are testimony to the solid basis of the theories espoused by the likes of Peter Senge and John Maxwell but also of cardinal value the commitment made by a whole organisation which has to be a pre requisite for The Learning Organisation. Truly a remarkable case study of leadership development.

On Monday evening 15 February at 19h00 the first two lessons of Workbook 1 were presented at The Eden Centre of Hope, this event was the start of a four week programme that is being presented as part of the John Maxwell Million Leader Mandate launched globally with the objective to equip one million Christian Leaders to impact their world for Christ.

MLM certified facilitator Paul von Zeuner introduced the topics:

• I have a Dream
• Priorities and Decision making

In the first lesson participants are invited to become familiar with the concept of capturing and implementing a God given vision for themselves.
The definition : A clear mental picture of a better tomorrow given by God which moves a person to believe that it not only could be done but should be done.

From the setting of the vision the obvious next step has to be making the most of the individuals time in line with this vision. Priorities and decision making calls on each to consider the question: How can I get more out of a day?
The Pareto Model shows that twenty per cent of our priorities will give us eighty percent of the results if they are chosen correctly.

Registrations are still welcome and the next lesson will be The Heart of a Leader that will be presented on Monday 22nd February. by Danielina von Zeuner
Details and registration can be obtained from William Sam at 0823876340 all are welcome. The registration fee is R10.

The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.

If I were to spend a day with you I will be able to tell if you were heading for success or not. Arrogant? No it is not, I will be able to experience first hand what you spend time on.

You see you will never change your life until you change something you do every day! You see, success doesn’t just suddenly occur one day in someone’s life. For that matter neither does failure. Each is a process.

Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken

“Road at Chantilly” by Paul Cézanne

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

From: The Slight Edge Chapter 6

I have titled this introduction:                            The Ritual of Self Leadership

Why Self Discovery?

Self Leadership = Conquering and Mastering Self

• Cannot give what you don’t have
• Cannot like another person until you like yourself

Mastery George Leonard

It resists definition yet can be instantly recognized. It comes in many variations, yet follows certain unchanging laws. It brings rich rewards, yet it is not really a goal or a destination but rather a process, or journey. We call this journey mastery and tend to assume that it requires a special ticket available only to those born with exceptional abilities. But mastery is not reserved for the supertalented or even for those who are fortunate enough to have gotten an early start. It’s available to anyone who is willing to get on the path and stay on it – regardless of age, sex or experience.

The trouble is that we have few, if any, maps to guide us on the journey or even to show us how to find the path. The modern world, in fact can be viewed as a prodigious conspiracy against mastery. We’re continually bombarded with promises of immediate gratification, instant success, and fast, temporary relief, all of which lead in exactly the wrong direction…..

From: The Slight Edge Chapter 7

From: The Monk that sold his Ferrari  Author  Robin Sharma

The Ritual of Self Leadership

There is nothing noble in being superior to others. True nobility lies in Being superior to your former self.
Ancient Indian Proverb.
I will incorporate with the 5 Principles, support from Jeff Olson author of The Slight Edge and John Maxwell author of Today Matters.

• 1. Discipline of Personal and or Self Renewal

To busy:
So busy driving no time to fill up.
Time will either promote you or expose you.
Running next to the bicycle.
Positive            If I stay on this road long enough, I’ll get the result I seek.
John Maxwell teaches the toys we had and their link with Leadership and one of them is the Rocking Horse.
From this toy he concludes the following: Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.
Also            There is an American Indian custom: You should consider yourself as a:
Three roomed house:            your mind            your body             your spirit
Each one requires some attention

• 2. Discipline of  Abundant knowledge       Your Mind

The type of leader and the kind of person you will be five years from now will be the result from two primary influences:
The books you read
The people you associate with
From The Slight Edge Jeff Olson calls it the Law of Association which is for example that your income tends to equal the average of the incomes of your five best friends.

• 3. Discipline of Physicality              Your Body

As you care for your body so you care for your mind.
17000 Harvard Alumni researched it was found every hour you exercise adds another three hours to your life.
The person that does not make time for exercise must eventually make time for illness.

Jeff Olson talks about:
The Power of Habit
Your habits come from your daily activities compounded over time. And your activities are the results of the choices you make in the moment.
Stephen Covey talked about sharpening the saw.
Abraham Lincoln said, Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the ax.
If you had a Million Rand race Horse would you allow it to smoke cicarettes, drink whiskey. stay out all night?

• 4. Discipline of early awakening

If you do not control the day it will control you.
The first 30 minutes after awakening sets the tone for the entire day.
There exist a gap between where you are and where you want to be. Peter Senge calls the force that drives you to close this gasp Creative Tension.
What is it that you think of in those first moments?
Example of the Long distance runner that measures his resting pulse rate before he get’s out of bed.

• 5.Discipline of Death Bed Mentality

Each day may be your last day .Urgency drive
Indian Maharaja celebrated his own funeral every day chanting
I have lived fully
There was an article written about funerals:
On average only ten people cry at a funeral
The number one factor that will determine how many people would attend the actual burial will depend on……….      the weather
Why am I spending so much time worrying what other people think of me?
For whom do the millions mourn?
Mother Theresa, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela
They are the people that did what others were not willing to do. Were they driven by the desire to satisfy other? No think not
Philosopher Emerson
To laugh often and love much: to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children: to earn the approbation of honest critics: to appreciate beauty:
To give one’s self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition : to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltations : to know even one life breathed easier because you have lived – that is to have succeeded.
Finally, all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer
If I may be arrogant enough to suggest a thought pattern for a conference it would be to ask ourselves what are we contributing to the process of Self Leadership for both ourselves and others?

Concluding:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.