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Jane A. G. Kise's 12th Leadership Lens, Balancing Limits with Opportunities, takes on so much meaning when I think back to my marching days.  One thing in particular, though, sticks in my head and won't leave.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we had a great sense of loyalty to one another, and to the vision of being champions.  Particularly in the Saints Color Guard, the more adept we became at handling our equipment, the more we experimented on our own.

During breaks in rehearsal, or even before or after, it was common for members of different sections to "play around" with their flags, rifles, or sabres to come up with "work" - the movement and handling of equipment to match the music and a particular part of marching drill.  Discovering different movements or equipment positions was fun and exciting for us.  Execution of those movements required quite a bit of practice to perfect the work to a level high enough to include in competition.

At first, the limits on what would eventually make it into the competitive drill were set by our instructors.  Having a better sense of what it would take to achieve championship status was the wisdom they brought to the process.  By our final winter season, though, we, the marching members, had achieved a strong enough sense of balance between the opportunities for creative movements, and the limits imposed by the judging system, for us to choreograph much of the equipment work.

Did we succeed?  You bet!

A moment in the drill when simplicity spoke more strongly than equipment work.

Saints Color Guard, in our earlier days.
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First, no matter how much I prepare myself, I always struggle with fasting and abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday (yes, I realize there are more stringent religious fasts out there - I'm weak, I admit it).

Second, I'm so grateful to be surrounded - physically and virtually - by wonderful people who are generous of heart, of time, and of resources.

Finally, while I had a sense before I began my March Madness series of how much I learned in drum corps about leadership, I'm actually surprising myself that the stories keep pouring out of me the more I write about it.  In case you missed the first couple of posts:

Thanks for listening.  See you Monday!

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The year was 1967 when the Saints Drum and Bugle Corps of Fords, New Jersey, held its first registration nights and rehearsals.  My sister Karen and I were among those 100+ kids who signed up as members right away.  One thing we all had in common?  None of us had ever marched before, and most of us had never even seen a corps in competition.  Yeah, I know - that's two things. 
As members, we really had no sense of the big picture when we started.  
Parades?  Yeah, we got that.  Field and floor competition?  No clue.  
While my memories of that first year are mostly pleasant, I can't imagine the challenges the instructors and Board of Directors faced.  How do you share the vision needed to get such an organization up and running?  How do you remain optimistic while doing so?  
I'm pretty confident that much of what happened back then was management by the seat of their pants.  Here we are, all these years later, and I discover that those wise parents and other adults were "balancing reality with vision," or the 4th Lens described by Jane A.G. Kise in Intentional Leadership.  
As the weeks and months progressed, we learned to be accountable to one another.  We understood the importance of every rehearsal, and how we couldn't march forward if there were holes in the ranks.  We purchased windbreakers with the corps' name and logo on the back, and proudly wore them to school (and every place else, truth be told!).  
We marched together in our first parade in April, some nine months after the first rehearsal.  We soon had the chance to see other color guards and corps in competition, filling out the vision of where we were heading.  
We stuck it out, and grew.  We learned how to march in drill patterns while playing drums and bugles, or twirling flags, rifles, and sabres.  It wasn't pretty in the beginning, but we held each other accountable to get better with every rehearsal and competition.
The loyalty, accountability, visioning, and optimism paid off.  Three Aprils after that first parade, our Saints Color Guard won its competitive season chapter championship.  Our guards and corps continued to rack up championships and awards after that - all made possible with that balance of vision and reality.
The first championship flag earned by the Saints Color Guard:
National Judges Junior Color Guard and Corps Association, Chapter 3 Champions, 1971
Interested in how my consulting services can help you
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You just don't know what life experiences will come back to serve you in another context.  In my case, time spent decades ago while marching in, or providing other support for, activities related to drum and bugle corps still serve me well, time and time again.

For the uninitiated, the best way I can describe what drum corps meant when I marched is for you to think of a college band half-time show, done military-style.  We marched and performed year-round, independent of a school affiliation.  Our members were as young as 9 and as old as 21, after which you "age-out," or are no longer eligible to march in a junior drum corps.

So, what were some of the leadership skills I picked up during that time?

In her book Intentional Leadership, author Jane A. G. Kise describes 12 different lenses, or ways to categorize leadership priorities.  The 1st Lens, Outer and Inner Focus, sounds really complex in drum corps terms until it's broken down:

  • Networking and Relationships (Outer Focus) - this describes our connectivity with others.  In the case of the drum corps I joined (as well as in most others), we were together constantly.  Rehearsals, parades, competitions, tours were all opportunities to develop the skills of working and playing together in the literal sense.
  • Individuality and Personal Development (Inner Focus) - Besides the section, guard, or full corps rehearsals, we each spent individual time practicing skills needed for our chosen piece of equipment (flags, rifles, sabres, drums, bugles).  Just ask my dad about how many overhead light fixtures my sister Karen and I smashed while practicing with our guard equipment in our bedroom ...

Discord in the ranks, or lack of practice by some individuals, is easily spotted and measured in performance.   By nature of the activity, members have no choice but to develop these skills - and to keep them in balance - to remain competitive.  

For the rest of the month of March, my posts will explore the spectrum of Kise's leadership lenses. I promise, it will take you Just a Minute to read each one.  In the meantime, Happy March Fourth!

 Me, just before a competition while on tour during my age-out season

Interested in how my consulting services can help you focus on leadership skills?
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First, January and February slipped by very quickly for me this year (translation:  yes, that means I still have Christmas decorations to store away).


Second, keeping a fairly constant wakeup time each day (around 6 am) serves me well, and has for a long time.
Finally, almost everything I ever needed to know about leadership, I learned in drum corps.  I’ll be sharing some of those unique lessons throughout the month of March.

Thanks for listening.  See you Monday!

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For those of you who know me, it's probably not surprising that my blogging would stray onto the baseball field.  With Spring Training games underway, it seems as good a time as any.

Today's focus?  Looking at baseball through the lens of emotional intelligence in the face of concrete data.

Statistics are a method to quantify what happens during the 9 innings of play (more or less) each game.  The history of those statistics takes on special meaning, as it did during the Summer of '61 - the year of the M&M Boys.

Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, both players for the New York Yankees that summer, were each having incredible offensive seasons.  As Mickey hit a home run, Roger matched or exceeded the total.  Great times, exciting times, except people started to take sides - and not in nice ways.  Newspapers (especially the NY Daily News) and local radio / television stations fanned the flames to encourage fans to support one player over the other.

Given my age at the time, I easily was swayed to love what Mickey was doing, and to despise Roger's attempt to break the season home run record.  My decision-making was all emotion-based:  How could someone who wasn't a "true" Yankee (Maris had played with the Kansas City Athletics before joining the Yankees the year before) become the heir apparent for a record set by another beloved Yankee (Babe Ruth)?

The lack of empathy (OK, I'm being polite - the hatred) from baseball fans for Roger Maris that season is well-documented.  The pressure caused him to suffer both physically and emotionally, right up to hitting his 61st, record-breaking home run as the season came to a close.

These days, I have a much better appreciation of what happened back then, and how easily I and so many others were swayed to be less than objective during the home run race.  It was all about failed reality testing, impulse control, and empathy among other components of emotional intelligence.

Roger, I'm sorry.

The stats?  Yeah, they're important, but they've gotten so complicated in this Information Age they're mostly beyond my waning math abilities.  Being able to still enjoy the efforts of each player on the field?  It's why I'll always be a fan of the game.

Roger Maris's Retired Uniform Number Plaque, Legends Field / Steinbrenner Stadium, Tampa FL

Interested in learning more about emotional intelligence and its usefulness?
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Not that long ago, some long-time friends and I were having a casual discussion about personality type.  At one point, one of them turned to me somewhat indignantly and said, “What makes you think I’m an introvert?  I’m not shy.  I’m -,” and continued to list out adjectives that she felt best described her.  

I asked her one question in reply, and truth be told, I already knew the answer:  “When you first start to process ‘stuff,’ do you do it in your head, or by talking it out?”  

“Of course I do it in my head first!”  

From there, we continued to discuss the differences between extraversion and introversion, about sources of energy, and why that was the reason I probably put my foot in my mouth many more times over the 40+ years we’ve known each other than she has.  

Her initial reactions were based on so many of the stereotypes associated with introversion.  While those with such a preference can be shy, so can those of us with a preference for extraversion.  “Shyness” isn’t a determinant.  

What complicates matters further is a bias – perceived or validated - against introversion in many US and Canadian corporate environments.  Those who provide quick answers, are spontaneous in sharing during brainstorming, and demonstrate high energy are frequently rewarded with choice assignments and promotions.  

I had someone confide in me a couple of years ago that he frequently “fakes” extraversion at work as a combat strategy in order to be accepted.  When I asked him how he felt at the end of the day, his simple answer?  “Exhausted.”  

Getting back to my friend - by the end of the conversation, she claimed introversion as her preference.  And she's absolutely right, she’s not shy!

Interested in how learning more about personality type can be useful to you and your organization?  Contact me at parentehrg AT gmail.com.

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First, sometimes it's a simple amount of effort that helps to clear away the results of the storm (not to mention the different perspective beforehand):

Before and after I cleaned the moisture from the screen in my office window.

Second, when I hold myself accountable, I get LOTS more done than when I don't.

Finally, I really do have fun when I work!

Thanks for listening.  See you Monday.

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With the Sochi Winter Olympics coming to a close, I’m noticing that a particular piece of information shared about many of the athletes is stuck in my head:  “S/he is now coached by …”.  

Why would an elite athlete change things up in the face of prior success?  For the same reason we change – to achieve a different and / or better result.  

In my case, I needed to make some adjustments to how and where I spend my time.  I needed to re-capture making myself a priority, to find a better balance for better outcomes.  

To that end, I made the crazy decision to travel to Minnesota in December (who does that?) to spend time with Jane Kise and Ann Holm as they shared their wisdom with those of us participating in the inaugural Intentional Leadership Coaching Certification session.  That small (and significant) change in how I spent my time led to two others, one of which was an entirely unexpected outcome.  

First, I finally made it a priority to complete my certification to administer and interpret the EQ-i® (Emotional Intelligence) instrument.  It’s been on my personal development list for some time, and my use of the Intentional Leadership Audit™ helped me to achieve that goal.  

The other?  Spending time in the sub-zero, snow-packed Minneapolis-St Paul area forced me to buy new snow boots upon arrival in Minnesota.  With the bizarre winter we’ve had here in New Jersey, I’ve been more than prepared.  

Go figure!

Outside our conference room at the Minikahda Club.
Post-conference gathering before heading homeward.

I was able to capture this image in my back yard while traipsing about in my Minnesota snow boots.

Interested in how my coaching and consulting services can help you
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EQ-i / EQ-i 2.0 are registered trademarks of Multi-Health Systems, Inc., Toronto, Ontario CN.
Intentional Leadership Audit is a trademark of Differentiated Coaching Associates, LLC.,
Minneapolis, Minnesota US.

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Admission:  When I'm driving about, I sing along with whatever tunes are playing on my car stereo - and that's when I had this Just a Minute moment.

While driving to a client meeting last week, I was belting out my best along with America to their Tin Man when the lyrics took on an additional meaning for me:

Oh, Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man
That he didn't, didn't already have.

The Shared Wisdom model, as described by Mary Benet McKinney, OSB, is one that I frequently employ when facilitating leadership strategy sessions and other meetings.  The premise is that the wisdom is in the room already - each has a piece, and no one person has all of it.

Without exception, the leadership teams already have their wisdom before I start to work with them - I'm there to allow participants to focus on the wisdom they already have.  This frees them to concentrate on identifying other information they need to move forward with decisions, change, and strategic plans. 

America, thanks for the reminder!
Interested in how my facilitation services can help you focus on the wisdom in the room?
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