The Doug Noll Show

What are the three topics your mother said never to raise in polite company? And what are the three topics that drive human resources managers crazy? And what are the three topics that define us as human beings in terms of the most important values and beliefs. You got it — Sex, Politics and Religion. In this show, we talk about sex, politics, and religion at the office. Why are these hot buttons? Is it possible to even talk about these issues without drawing the ire of HR or bringing down a lawsuit? How do we build healthy attitudes towards sex, politics, and religion at the office?

In this show, we talk about sex, politics, and religion at the office.

In this show, we talk about sex, politics, and religion at the office.

Sex, politics and religion—the three subjects you don’t raise at the office. Yet these topics and the values they represent define what it means to be human. So often, however, conflicts arise over sex, politics and religion, especially at the office. Is it possible to develop healthy attitudes towards sex, politics and religion at the office? I will be talking about these common experiences in this show. Why are these such hot topics? Does anyone really think that repressing sex, politics and religion works? These are about what makes us human and our basic values are formed from and around them. Why aren’t we allowed to bring our values to work? I talk about all of this and more.

The law establishes five protected classes of people from employment discrimination. Employers may not discriminate because of age, disability, gender, race and national origin, or religion. The law does not make being a jerk illegal, however. So there is a lot of room for unhealthy attitudes around sex, politics and religion to develop and destroy a company.

There are key leadership characteristics that support a healthy attitude towards sex, politics and religion at the office. These are being nonjudgmental, being noncritical, being nonreactive, valuing balance and seeking balance, and being selfless. Learning how to ask questions to make people reflective is another leadership characteristic I talk about.

You can learn to listen by following the listening checklist I outline for you. If you follow the checklist, you will model respectful, caring behaviors that you want people to have around you. Finally, help people talk about sex, politics and religion by finding the deeper meanings those topics have to people. If sexuality is about looking and feeling good, how does the workplace help or hinder each of us looking and feeling good? That alone can lead to healthier attitudes.

Leadership is a quality that many claim to have but unfortunately seems to be in short supply. How many of us can say that our bosses inspire us, support us, help us improve, and motivate us to do our very best? And honestly, how many of us really work at leadership ourselves, at home, at work, or in the community? Leadership is important and its particularly important for solving problems and effectively working out disputes and conflicts in the office. We are going to look at leadership through the eyes of an expert.
Craig W. Ross is President of Pathways to Leadership Inc., a leadership development company in business for over 15 years. For almost a decade, Craig has partnered with CEOs and high-level executives around the world to increase productivity and bottom line results through the development of healthy work cultures. Craig brings high energy and a dynamic approach to executive coaching, keynotes and the transformational Pathways to Leadership® program he facilitates to companies worldwide including Owens-Illinois, Procter & Gamble, Gerber, Nestlé, Mazda Motor Company, CIBA Vision and many others.Craig has a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota and M.A. in Curriculum Instruction and Design from Colorado Christian University. The three attributes of great leadership are self-awareness/self-control, the ability to communicate with some charisma, and the ability to focus people’s minds on what is important.
http://www.pathwaystoleadership.com/

Focus-foward questions are one way to focus minds out of the past and into the future. He ability to ask well-phrased and well-timed questions is a leadership skill that pays huge dividends. We will always focus on a good question and leaders learn to use our innate curiosity through good questions.
http://www.pathwaystoleadership.com/

Jerks in the office are a huge problem. Dysfunctional office behaviors cost billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, not to mention lawsuits and claims. The real secret to dealing with the elephant in the office is to not fix people. Instead, develop some self-awareness. Am I focused on that jerk? If so, why? Can I put my focus in a more productive place? Teaching people how to do that is a critical part of leadership. Trying to fix people or setting down behavioral rules are simply not effective. Thus, leaders have to be thinking about working with the minds in the office to deal with the elephants.
The Peacemaker’s Bookshelf looked at the book Mediating Dangerously by Kenneth Cloke.
http://www.pathwaystoleadership.com/

A caller asked if the elephants ever go away. Doug felt that the elephants never go away and always provide us with lessons to learn about being aware, conscious, and even spiritual. Craig agreed and felt that elephants come in different shapes and sizes. As we learn to deal with the elephants through our own increasing awareness, they become less of a problem.
http://www.pathwaystoleadership.com/

As we are all too aware, we are in the midst of a presidential election. Most everyone agrees that our country needs real leadership, which raises the question what should a presidential leader look like. How do we look for intelligent leadership in the next president? Will eitherSenator McCain or Senator Obama be a good leader based on what we see so far? There are a lot of tough issues for this country to face so the question is not trivial. David Russell is an acknowledged expert in helping entrepreneurs succeed. He has authored the book, Success With People, and has been under contract with Microsoft for the last 2 years to teach their partners how to hire, manage, develop and retain great people. More about Dave’s work can be found at his website, successwithpeople.com. We start with the question of how political leadership differs from business leadership. The principal difference seems to be that political leaders, especially presidential candidates, are in the spotlight all of the time. Every move and word must be calculated and planned. Because the scrutiny is so intense, there is little room for error. Thus, the safe path is usually blandness and ambiguity. Taking this into account, the two most important leadership attributes in a presidential candidate should be integrity and vision. Integrity tells us that a presidential candidate will be consistent to his stated set of values, giving us some certainty and predictability about his performance. Vision tells us what fundamentally, a presidential candidate sees as the direction of the country in the next four years.

To what degree does the operation of a campaign give us some indication of leadership ability? Dave and I agree that it provides some indication of two aspects of leadership. First, campaign operations tell us how well the candidate selects the people to carry out the tasks of the campaign. If good, competent people are selected, the campaign should be seen as a smooth running operation. Second, campaign operations tells how well the candidate sets a vision, sets goals, holds people accountable, and then moves out of the way to let people do their jobs. Under these criteria, Senator McCain does not show as much leadership as Senator Obama. To what degree does experience predict future performance? We talk about how CEOs are selected on the basis of their track record. No corporate board would select a leader without knowing a lot about the leader’s experience and history. In this election, we know a lot about Senator McCain because he has been in public service his complete adult life. We know much less about Senator Obama because he is younger and his term of service is much shorter. We know that McCain makes fast decisions and Obama tends to be more deliberate. We can expect to see these attributes carry forward into the presidency.

I ask Dave what he would teach if he were engaged to teach leadership development to the incoming administration. We learn that the most important goal of the transition team will be to define the fundamental difference the administration wants to make in the next four years. What kind of difference does the administration want to make? This alone will set the tone for all of the decisions and policies that will follow.

Richard, a caller from San Francisco, asks Dave what common values should be uniting the country. Dave lists off twelve values, including seeking the common good, equality,, faith, family, justice, liberty, life, privacy, pursuit of happiness, responsibility, thankfulness, and truth. Dave concludes by telling people the best way to assure selection of a great leader is to stay informed and be involved.

Just about everybody has an annoying or even combative coworker without which work would be so much more pleasant. Imagine how great it would be if you could go to the office and do your work without having to deal with jerks with quirks. Doug’s guest is Serena Williamson, a corporate consultant with more than 20 years’ experience leading, coaching and training thousands of people. She holds a Ph.D. in adult education and psychology from the University of Toronto and has written numerous books and recorded CDs that inspire people and give them the tools to ride life’s ups and downs with enthusiasm and reduced stress. Her latest book is THE PASSION AND THE PAYCHECK and her website is www.serenawilliamson.com. Serena and Doug talk about leadership. One problem seems to be that people have high expectations of leaders. They expect their leaders to be geniuses, be inspirational, and have vision. The truth is most leaders are ordinary people with faults and problems like everyone else. Serena says that the key to dealing with poor leadership is to stop, look, and listen. Reflect on what’s going on around you. Decide what is important and what is not.
http://www.serenawilliamson.com

Doug and Serena talk about controlling the informaton flood. Turn off the machines and observe that the world does not come to a screeching halt. Serena talks about how amazed people are when she gives them permission to turn off their cell phones and Blackberries.
http://www.serenawilliamson.com

Doug asks about bully bosses. Serena explains that we cannot change people. The common whine is “Why do I have to change to accommodate that witch? She’s the problem not me!” The whining does no good and to manage a bully boss, you have to be willing to listen. Doug and Serena talk a little about empathic listening and Doug describes his technique of mining the emotional data field. To deal with colleagues who are not pulling their weight, Serena suggests some assertive “I” statements. “I am not getting my work done, and I need your help,” said in the right way can work wonders. Making people feel important and needed motivates them to work.
http://www.serenawilliamson.com

Serena reveals that she is a song writer and singer and is going into the studio next week to record her first commercial CD. In her day job, Serena is a consultant offering workshops, keynote speeches, and coaching on work place issues, including leadership and conflict. The show ends with a great tip: Go home everyday saying it was a good day. Think about what would have to happen to make the day good, and then do it.
http://www.serenawilliamson.com

Doug introduces emotional intelligence by describing its history from Darwin through the work of Salovey and Mayer to Daniel Goleman’s best selling book in 1995. Doug guest, Hank Clemons, Ph.D. has been teaching the practical aspects of emotional intelligence for over a decade.

Doug and Hank talk about emotional intelligence as an intuitive skill. Hank tells the story of a young man in New Orleans that, after receiving a tip from Hank, said, “Thanks big guy.” That young man intuitively knew what to say to create a connection with Hank in a way Hank could relate to. The ability to connect and relate is emotional intelligence.

Hank tells us that IQ gets you hired and EQ, or your “emotional intelligence quotient,” gets yoo promoted. Hank uses five dimensions to measure EQ, including self-awareness, self-management, slef-motivation, empathy, and social skills. Doug and Hank talk about the application of these dimensions to common triggers such being cut off by a rude driver.

Hank talks about his workshops and books, especially about Applying Emotional Intelligence: From Mail Room to Board Room.

In any economy, change within an organization can be challenging, and let’s face, downright stressful. Conflicts seem to emerge out of the woodwork and chaos reigns. Now add on a recession and an economy heading downhill, if not off a cliff, and the problem of change intensifies. Maybe its downsizing or consolidation or loss of a customer base—whatever it is constitutes change. The problems of adapting ourselves to these changes can be staggering, not only for the rank and file, but for the leadership as well. Doug’s guest is an expert on change and is here to give some insights about what change is about and how we might constructively deal with it when it comes knocking at the door. Dr. Billie Blair is an organizational psychologist and president of the LA-based change management consulting firm, Leading and Learning, Inc. She earned her Ph.D. in organizational psychology from Claremont Graduate University dual master’s degrees in management and clinical psychology from San Diego State University. She completed her postdoctoral study in organization and management at Harvard University. Her research area is the study of Chaos Theory for a Relationship to Management Practice. Doug and Billie talk about the application of chaos theory to change management. Billie observes that the smallest movements can effect huge changes. Thus, corporate leaders must pay attention to the small things.
http://www.leadingandlearninginc.com/

Billie’s approach to change management is to start with the leadership team and go through a complete strategic analysis. After goals have been set, the change plan is rolled out and adjusted along the way.
http://www.leadingandlearninginc.com/

Conflicts around organizational change drive clients to consultants. Billie tells Doug that leaders contemplating change or in the midst of uncontrolled change must pause, examine the immediate past history, and contemplate future goals. This is the strategy building process around which change management can occur. The key to selling change in the organization is building trust. People must see a positive outcome and see their particular role in the future vision. When people are in conflict over change, which is frequent, their relationships with their superiors and their role in decision making must be examined. Often, these are out of balance and the true source of the conflict. Billie warns of change without conflict—it almost always indicates a deep problem that is not being surfaced. The challenge, she tells us, is that managers are programmed to have smooth operations. Therefore, they are conflict-averse to the point of suppression because of fears it will make them look bad. This is embedded in corporate culture and presents huge challenges when change is underway.
http://www.leadingandlearninginc.com/

Billie and Doug talk about her firm and its work and her latest book.
http://www.leadingandlearninginc.com/

Defective and dark leadership is the single most pressing problem facing humanity. In Corporate American, over 65 percent of the managers and leaders are incompetent, defective, or badly flawed. A higher percentage exists in government. The costs are staggering and one only has to look at the financial market melt down of the past months to understand the enormity of the problem. Doug’s guest has spent 30 years studying leadership and its dark side. Robert Hogan is an international authority on personality assessment, leadership, and organizational effectiveness. He is widely credited with demonstrating how personality factors influence organizational effectiveness in a variety of areas - ranging from organizational climate and leadership to selection and effective team performance. Dr. Robert Hogan received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in personality assessment. Dr. Robert Hogan is the author of more than 300 journal articles, chapters and books including his latest book, "Personality and the Fate of Organizations." Doug and Robert begin by understanding leadership through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Leadership evolved in humans as a way to come together for a short time to accomplish a common goal. Thus, humans became hard wired genetically to form social, hierarchal groups with leaders in charge. The most effective leaders were humble, supported the group and its goals, and was not self-aggrandizing. With the development of agriculture about 12,000 years ago, Robert describes the rise of the kleptocracy, which persists today. This is a class of leaders that rose to high status through power grabs, political maneuvering, technical competence, and raw luck. Once high leadership status was achieved, this class ahd no difficulty stealing from the groups it was leading. Leadership, as Robert sees it, is the ability to build and maintain a high performing team. Over time, this team will compete well against other like-minded teams.
http://www.hoganassessments.com

Doug asks Robert about the percentage of bad leaders. Robert says that 50 to 75 percent of the current managers and leaders in the United States are incompetent. This base rate of bad management is astounding, but has been well-established in empirical studies. Bad and defective management and leadership is the primary cause of employee dissatisfaction, turnover, absenteeism, product shrinkage, and sabotage. Robert tells Doug that the defective and incompetent leadership causes huge losses to shareholders and business owners.
http://www.hoganassessments.com

A caller asks Doug and Robert about charismatic leaders that drive companies and institutions into the ground. Robert laughing says that the way you spell charismatic is narcissist. Charisma is not an attribute of good leadership. However, charismatic people who are defective leaders nonetheless attract followers, build a political base, and appear to be competent. Only after they have taken over leadership, do we learn that they are truly defective and incompetent as leaders. Robert also tells Doug that what people consider as leadership strengths can be weaknesses if over used. Likewise, strengths that are under utilized can be weaknesses. One of the keys to leadership is understanding followership. Followers are always asking, “What’s in it for me?” Leaders have to pay attention to followers. The four fundamental leadership behaviors are integrity, decisiveness, competence, and vision. Without these behaviors, no one can expect to assemble and maintain a powerful team.
http://www.hoganassessments.com

Robert talks briefly about his business, which is leadership assessment. Through the various assessment tools delivered through the Web, his company can quickly profile the leadership attributes of applicants to leadership positions. In addition, he assists companies in identifying their up and coming leaders and providing tools to groom those people for higher leadership. Robert points out that the need of leadership has never been greater. He says that if a dart is thrown at a world map, the likelihood is that the dart will land on a country or region that suffers from defective and incompetent leadership. The economic, social