GA 541 | The Gemba Academy School of Leadership with Ron Pereira

Today I'm excited to pull back the curtain a little on some exciting new Gemba Academy learning content. Now, over the years, we're probably best known for our Lean and Six Sigma content. Well, believe it or not, we got things started back in March of 2009 with 12 videos on value Stream Mapping. And today at least as of this recording, we have a little over 2,000 videos, which is pretty mind blowing. I can't believe that actually. But that's where we are. And while we have touched on many leadership topics over the years, we made a decision last year to focus in on the overall topic of leadership in a more intentional way. This has led to the release of what we're calling the School of Leadership. Now, as of the day I'm recording this, we have released four School of Leadership courses with many more in the pipeline. Now the four available courses are Change Management, Facilitation, Leading Teams, and Adaptive Leadership. So what I thought I'd do today is share the audio from the overview videos from each of these courses. Now we're going to link to each of these courses and you will be able to actually watch the video for these courses. If you'd rather just watch the actual video. But if you're only in a place where you can listen, have a listen to the audio to see if it's something that sounds interesting and then if it is, you can follow the links to go watch the actual video and then peel back the curtain and watch the whole course if you'd like. Now, first up, I want to talk about change management. So that's actually the first course in the School of Leadership. And so what I thought I would do I'll just go ahead and read the actual description for the video before we play the audio. So this video is called what is Change Management? When we follow a good strategy, complete an important project, or install a new technology, we expect to realize its benefits. However, many organizations find that people are slow to adopt the improvements or don't adopt them at all. Change management offers a structured process for planning, preparing, implementing, and monitoring successful change in an organization. Learn the seven common reasons that change efforts fail and how change management practices address these causes.

When we follow a good strategy, complete an important project, or install a new technology, we expect to realize its benefits. However, many organizations find that people are slow to adopt the improvements or don't adopt them at all. Most of these struggles or failures are because we didn't manage the human side of change adequately. Change management is the process of planning, preparing, implementing, and monitoring changes in an organization's structure, planning processes, technologies, or culture. The goal of change management is to help organizations succeed and sustain their efforts to improve, innovate, and grow. Change management also helps organizations adapt to meet the demands of a changing world. Specifically, change management takes a systematic approach to preparing and supporting people to make the transition from the current state to a desired future state. Change management includes a variety of activities designed to address seven common challenges of failing change initiatives. Let's review these challenges and how change management practices address them. The first reason that organizations fail to put good ideas into practice is a lack of urgency to change. Organizations must be nimble and agile and able to act quickly when they recognize threats or opportunities. Common techniques for creating and communicating a compelling case for changes include SWOT analysis, benchmarking visits, steep factor analysis, listening to the voice of our customers, and gap analysis. Creating a sense of urgency for change within an organization or team is challenging, but it's an important skill that we can learn when leading change. The second common challenge when managing change is lack of clarity on goals and objectives. If we don't know exactly where we're going, it can be difficult to measure progress or determine success. During a change initiative, leaders must establish clear, measurable goals and objectives and regularly assess progress against those goals. As part of change management, leaders must align change initiatives with organizational goals and objectives. This enables focus, collaboration, and the achievement of desired business results. The third common challenge when managing change is failure to identify and mitigate risks. Overlooking technical, people, related, or schedule risks can lead to missed deadlines, missed opportunities, and increased costs. We can avoid this by including proven risk management practices into our change management framework. The fourth common challenge when managing change is providing inadequate resources to achieve the change. Even when we have excellent ideas, if we run out of time, money, or personnel to put them into practice, we'll fail to achieve the results we wanted. Leaders must include resource planning activities within their change management framework to ensure that this doesn't happen. This includes considering both resources to make the changes as well as resources to manage the change process. Resources include not only budgets for new systems, equipment, and training, but also the time leaders must dedicate in forming a steering committee to oversee the change process. The fifth common challenge when managing change is poor communication. Miscommunication can be a major obstacle during change management, especially if stakeholders have different perspectives or information needs. Following structured change management processes helps leaders to develop clear and effective communication strategies that reach all stakeholders, build trust, and increase support. The sixth common challenge is the failure to empower and engage people in making changes. One of the key responsibilities of change leaders is to give people a sense of control over the changes that affect them. Steering committee members make sure there is open and transparent communication as well as multiple ways for people to learn about and get involved in making the changes. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan is a helpful format to make sure we've considered where people are in their level of support, involvement in change, and where we need them to be. The seventh challenge of failed or stalling change efforts is resistance to change. Successful and sustained change requires buy in from a large majority of stakeholders. However, people resist change for a variety of reasons, including fear of the unknown, loss of power or control, or concerns about job security. One of the first steps in change management is to identify stakeholders, learn their needs, and make plans to engage them. In addition, the change management process prepares leaders with a variety of techniques to recognize and address the causes of resistance. These are seven of the most common challenges faced during change management. There may be other challenges specific to the organization or to the change initiative, but they generally fall into one of these categories and can often be addressed by following a structured change management framework. By following such a framework, leaders can anticipate and manage potential challenges, minimize disruptions, address the human element, and ensure that changes are successful and sustained.

Okay, so that was change management. Now the next course that I want to focus on is called Leading teams and this first video is titled what is a High Performance Team? And here's a description. Working as a team helps a group of people accomplish much more than they could by working separately. However, team performance can vary widely from dysfunction to high performing. Learn the six characteristics that set high performance teams apart from others.

Most of us have some experience being part of a team. Perhaps we played sports as part of a team. In most jobs and at all levels of any organization, we organize people in teams. Some work can only be done as a team. Working as a team helps a group of people accomplish much more than they could by working separately. Once we've been part of more than one team, it's easy to recognize that each team is different. The truth is, teams can range from dysfunctional to high performing and everything in between. Although every team is different, there are six characteristics of high performance teams. We use the acronym learns to remember that what sets a high performance team apart from the rest is that they have leadership, engagement, alignment, relationships, norms, and structure. Let's review the six characteristics. The first characteristic of a high performance team is that they're structured and formed with a clear purpose in mind. When deciding how to structure a team, there are many factors to consider. High performance teams must be the right size and have the right team member composition. What this means depends on why we're forming the team. High performing teams are made up of individuals with complementary skills and expertise. Diverse perspectives often result in better solutions and innovation. But it's also wise to keep common backgrounds in mind to streamline communication. A well defined mission and purpose helps to bring these factors into focus, allowing us to find the right balance to form a high performance team. When people work in teams that are purposely structured, they are more able to use each person's strengths and get more done. The second characteristic of high performance teams is that their members are aligned toward a common goal. In other words, members of high performance teams have a clear understanding of their purpose. This means agreeing on what they want to achieve, how to work together and how they will measure success. This often takes the form of smart goals. They are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound. This gives the team clarity and confidence so they can achieve their goals. The third characteristic is that the team members are highly engaged, committed and accountable to each other. In a high performance team, each member has a clear understanding of how their unique skills, experiences and perspectives contribute to the purpose and goals of the team. As a team develops through a process of forming, storming and norming, its members understand the skills and capabilities of each team member, how their roles align with goals and develop clear expectations for each team member. As a result, members of high performing teams develop ownership and hold each other accountable leading to a higher level of commitment to achieving the team's goals. The fourth characteristic of high performance teams is that they invest in building and maintaining good relationships between its members. This includes building trust, promoting open communication and establishing a positive team culture. In high performance teams, people trust each other and feel safe to express their opinions and ideas without fear of judgment or retaliation. This enables healthy debate and collaboration leading to better decision making and problem solving. High performing teams have a culture of open and effective communication. This includes active listening, providing constructive feedback and sharing information and ideas. High performing teams have positive and supportive cultures. Common features include encouragement, mutual respect, collaboration, adaptability, innovation, growth, celebrating successes, learning from failures and building a shared sense of purpose and identity. Leaders and members of high performance teams identify their desired cultural norms and work together to to put them into practice each day. The fifth characteristic of a high performance team is that its members agree on how to get things done. These norms are often a combination of explicit or clearly documented ways of doing things and implicit agreements that are not documented but that everyone understands. Norms are often workflows and procedures specific to how work is performed. Also, they include how team members agree to identify potential bottlenecks, remove waste, and document standard operating procedures. High performing teams are committed to continuous learning and improvement. They seek out feedback and opportunities for development and are open to experimenting with new approaches to achieve better outcomes. Sixth and last but not least, high performance teams have leaders who are able to guide the team towards their goals while also empowering team members to take ownership of their work. It's true that groups of highly effective, highly independent individuals can work on a common objective without having a strong leader. However, when there are conflicts, changes in direction, or new threats, often a leader must emerge to help the team resolve these situations since most groups benefit from having people with strong leadership skills and we consider identifying and developing leaders to be an essential part of high performance teams. Once we understand the six characteristics of our LEARNS model, we can evaluate how close or far our team is from being high performing. We can use the Self assessment form to reflect on our team's strengths and weaknesses, both as a planning tool when starting up a new team and at various stages of a team's development. As we can see, if we want our team to perform at a high level, we must structure it with purpose, create a working environment where people can succeed, and provide leadership.

Okay, again, that was from our leading teams course. Now we're going to jump to our course called Adaptive Leadership and this first video is called Getting Started with Adaptive Leadership. Even leaders who have been successful in guiding their teams to a high level of performance may one day find that something has changed and the same leadership skills that worked in the past are no longer working. Sometimes new challenges require that we adapt our leadership style, learn the four foundational styles of adaptive leadership and how leaders can recognize appropriate situations for each.

A successful leader may guide their teams to a high level of performance over a period of weeks, months, or even years. Then one day the leader finds that something has changed. The same leadership skills and approaches no longer deliver good results in changing times. We can't always rely on what's worked in the past. Instead, we must become skilled at adapting our style or approach to fit the situation. Adaptive leadership recognizes the importance of traditional leadership skills, practices, and styles such as direction, setting, instruction, and delegation. However, it expands on these and seeks to apply each style in the appropriate situation. There are five steps we can follow for getting started with adaptive leadership. The first step is to study and become familiar with what's included in adaptive leadership. We may call them by different names, but the four foundational styles of leadership are directive, supportive, coaching, and delegating. It's important to note that these are categories that describe four approaches, not just four styles. In fact, within each of these foundational styles, there are multiple leadership practices we can master. The second step is to reflect on our own experience. It's very likely that we recognize some or all of these leadership styles. Perhaps we've experienced them in our interactions with our boss, or perhaps we're already practicing one or more of them. However, we may also recall an experience when a particular leader's style or approach felt wrong for us or didn't work in a specific situation. That's why the third step is to identify situations when each style is appropriate. Adaptive leadership means recognizing what style the situation team or individual calls for and being flexible to make the adjustment. Even in identical professional situations, the type of direction or support one person needs from the leader may be different from what another person needs. We must learn the general guidelines for when each style is appropriate and reflect on how these apply to our own people, culture, and situations. The fourth step continues this reflection by developing awareness of our own preferences, biases, and tendencies. It's common for each person to have a default leadership style that they feel most comfortable with. Perhaps it's a style that's easiest for us, has given us the best results in the past, or makes us feel the most powerful. Whatever the case may be, it's important for leaders to conduct a frank self assessment. This can be difficult because we're often blind to our own weaknesses or can't evaluate our leadership style objectively. For example, we may perceive our style as directive, detail oriented, or decisive. However, some subordinates in some situations may experience it as micromanaging. That's why it's essential to ask for external input from a trusted colleague, mentor, or coach when evaluating our leadership style. This brings us to step five, which is to practice. Breaking old habits and forming new ones is difficult even in the most ideal situations. This can be especially true when we're learning new leadership styles while being faced with challenging people or situations. That's why it's very helpful to have scripts and practice patterns to follow when learning new leadership styles. Although it may feel awkward or unnatural at first, practice patterns allow us to follow proven steps, use repetition to build skill, and help people recognize when we're employing a specific leadership style. As we follow these five steps to learn about adaptive leadership and practice its various approaches, it's important to keep our eyes open for three common pitfalls. The first pitfall is what we call the hammer looking for the nail. Just as this common expression suggests, when we practice one leadership style well, it's easy to think we can use it in every situation. If the right opportunity to use a specific leadership style doesn't present itself, it's best not to force it for the sake of practice. Instead, a good practice option is to use role playing to simulate situations when a specific leadership style is appropriate. As we practice adaptive leadership, a leader may switch from one style to another as the situation requires. It's also normal for a leader to use a mix of styles throughout the day. However, this can be confusing to team members, subordinates, and the people around us if we're directive one minute and supportive the next. It's important for leaders to be clear whether they're delegating, coaching, supporting, or directing. For example, employees should be easily able to recognize the difference between a leader giving instruction, making an encouraging suggestion, or delegating a task to them. Finally, when getting started, it's important to have a clear purpose for why we're making adaptive leadership part of our management toolkit. Is your boss delegating the job of learning adaptive leadership so you can teach it to the group? Are we being directed or told to be more adaptive and flexible? Perhaps we're being coached to improve the way we handle speed, specific people or situations. By understanding our purpose, we'll experience more success with adaptive leadership.

Again, that was from our adaptive leadership course. And the final course that I want to touch on is called Facilitation, and this first video is titled what Is Facilitation? Facilitation is a set of skills and practices designed to engage people in change, improvement, and innovation. A facilitator is a person whose role is to make it easier for teams to achieve their objectives. Learn what a facilitator is and is not, how they facilitate different types of activities and the seven key Facilitation Skills.

Facilitation is a set of skills and practices designed to engage people in change, improvement, and innovation. The word facilitate comes from the Latin word that means to make it easy or less difficult to do something. Therefore, a facilitator is a person whose role is to make it easier for other people to achieve an objective. Specifically, a facilitator guides a group of people through a process. This may be a discussion, a brainstorming session, a problem solving activity, conflict resolution, or other activity. However, it's very important to remember what a facilitator is not. The facilitator is typically not a participating member of the team's activity. This means that the facilitator does not have a vote, does not directly influence the outcome of the meeting, or attempts to influence an outcome. It's also important to note that the facilitator is not the boss, formal leader or decision maker for the group activity. In some cases, the manager of the group may also serve as the facilitator for a meeting or activity. This should only be done when the manager can remain neutral, demonstrates that they have little or no personal stake in the outcome, and are committed to helping the team get through the process. In fact, it's often best when the facilitator is someone from outside of the team or even the company. It's not necessary for the facilitator to be familiar with the whole history of the issue or to be an expert in the topics being discussed. In fact, facilitators who know a lot about the topic can sometimes be biased or have their own opinions which may get in the way. The facilitator is also not expected to bring any solutions to the meeting. Instead, an effective facilitator makes it easier for the team to work through the issues and arrive at solutions by guiding people through a process of collaboration. This does require facilitators to have a basic familiarity with the issues they will be facilitating. This is important so that the facilitator doesn't feel intimidated by technical discussions or hold the team back trying to keep up. Now, let's briefly review the skills and competencies of a successful facilitator. Effective facilitation requires that we develop seven fundamental skills. These start with being well prepared and creating an agenda to follow through the process. These are the first two skills. During the activity, a facilitator must know how to engage all participants and encourage contribution from everyone. This is the third skill. The fourth, fifth and sixth skills are active listening, maintaining focus and getting discussions back on track and keeping the process moving on time. While facilitators must guide the team through the agenda and discussion or problem solving process, this is not enough. Facilitators must also use a variety of techniques to enable their teams to overcome obstacles and achieve their objectives. This is the seventh skill. In addition to these general facilitation skills, a facilitator must be very familiar with the specific type of activity or process they're facilitating. For example, a facilitator who is experienced in one type of activity, such as a quarterly half day strategic plan review, may not know the ins and outs of how to facilitate a five day rapid improvement workshop. Although the basic mechanics of preparing, facilitating and following up are the same for all activities. Differences in the team composition, duration, speed, energy and intensity may place unique demands on the facilitator. The best way to become familiar with the new process or activity type is is by participating as a team member, observing other facilitators in action, and reviewing facilitation tips specific to it. This means that even an experienced facilitator must continuously learn and expand their repertoire of processes.

Again, that was from our facilitation course. So that wraps up the episode for today. But again we are going to link to each of the these videos. So if you want to actually watch the video, scroll down on the app that you're listening to this on and you'll find the links there. And yeah, let us know your feedback on this. You know this topic of leadership. And if there's any topics, again generic leadership that are interesting to you, shoot me an email over rongembaacademy.com because that's honestly how we get our best ideas for future courses. Okay, and show notes for this episode can be found over@gembapodcast.com just look for episode 541. Okay, next week we'll go back to a normal episode, but hopefully this added a little value and gave a little twist to to the podcast. Okay, talk to you soon.