Community | Lorne Rubis

Whose View is Right?!

Understand that every world view, including yours and including mine, has limitations. Listen, learn, be humble …be respectful.

The tragic shooting in Tucson has raised the issue of intolerance and acceptance of diverse viewpoints; including but not limited to the provocative and potentially dangerous aspects of name calling and labeling. Unfortunately we have people with very public platforms making a living out of intolerance rather than promoting dialogue and understanding. They often argue that THEIR world view is not only the right way but that it’s the only way.

Cindy Wrigglesworth the Founder and CEO of www.deepchange.com has done some important work on spiritual intelligence. She describes it as follows:

Spiritual Intelligence: “the ability to act with Wisdom and Compassion while maintaining equanimity (inner and outer peace), regardless of the circumstances.”

She and her organization measure 21 attributes that they believe capture progress on the spiritual leadership continuum. Just ONE measurement area of spiritual intelligence is around the notion of world view; the way one sees the world. A well developed mind set regarding this world view, according to the people at Deep Change, is, “Everyone has a world view and that every world view has limitations. This keeps us humble and open to learning. We genuinely value other people’s perspective.”

The RESPECT value as defined in the Character Triangle fully embraces the critical importance of valuing other people’s perspective. The elements of respect as I define it overlap with many of the dimensions that Wrigglesworth and her team believe leads to greater spiritual intelligence.

The workplace is often filled with a my way or the highway perspective. This is especially dangerous when authority is attached to intolerance. Of course there are rules and policies that need following. Chaos and anarchy aren’t very practical. However the ability to really value other people’s perspectives is vital to a respectful and healthy organization culture.

Action: Take an honest look at where you may not be genuinely valuing another person’s perspective at work. Is there anywhere that you are intolerant? Why? What might you learn if you open up to better understand the other view?

Remember that every world view has its limitations. Be respectful.

Live the Triangle,

Lorne

Get Uncomfortable: The Value in Mixing Up Your Environment

Community Organizational culture Respect

Hi Characters,

Diversity, as a key element in developing RESPECT as a value, includes learning how to meaningfully connect with a variety of others in a wide range of environments. As a CEO, I want leaders around me who can walk into any environment and build value. We should learn to be comfortable and confident in all areas, from the board room to the front line; the academic to the mundane. This takes experience and practice. In order to develop this skill, we have to intentionally get out of our “safe” zone. I also don’t think it’s possible to be a great listener and therefore fully embrace the comprehensive value of being respectful if we haven’t been in the front lines with others. As an example, one third of our business is in Europe. I try and spend significant time living as a European.

This viewpoint is also expressed by Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. In an October 1, blog on Big Think (Why MBA’s Should Take Acting Classes) Pfeffer notes that meeting lots of people should take priority over staying exclusively in the comfort zone of friends. “Its very important for you to meet people in a diverse set of industries and a diverse set of companies and a diverse set geographies.” I totally agree.

As part of an organization’s recruitment process I think we should place prospective candidates in numerous organization environments to see how they act and react. If they can’t navigate all levels of an organization, I am not interested in hiring them. If their passport isn’t stamped I would rather they did that first before joining us.

Pfeffer gives us a challenge in his blog: “Find 10 unique people we don’t know, who if we did, they could help us in our careers” …and as leaders overall. I like this assignment.

Let’s purposefully practice (read my recent blog on practice) by intentionally putting ourselves in unique environments with others. Why not start by getting to know five people outside of our departments but still inside the company. Then let’s seek out five people who we would really like to get to know because they will help us grow. Let me know what happens as you go about this. What will you learn about yourself? Others?

with Character,

Lorne

Rules of Conflict: Attack the Process not the Person!

Community Kindness Respect

What does attacking Muslims have to do with work? The short answer is… a lot. Nicholas Kristof’s article in last Sunday’s New York Times, raises the question, “Is this America?”, partly on the observation of the recent attack rhetoric aimed at Muslims. He cites a blog post in The New Republic magazine where the editor in chief asserts, “… frankly Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims.” Kristof questions the personal venom in this New Republic article and then goes on to commend Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders for denouncing the anti-Islam discourse overall.

It is perfectly acceptable, perhaps even desirable, to question the shortcomings of Islam and any other religion. “Attacking” ideas, processes, and/or situations is appropriate. Attacking people or groups of people is generally not. (Self defense from physical harm most believe is an acceptable exception.)

In the workplace, obviously on a much smaller stage, the same guidelines exist. Attacking the process, ideas, behavior, or situations can lead to learning and continuous improvement. Attacking each other verbally is counter productive. Think about how often personal or department criticism happens in a week in your workplace. Why? What good does it do anyone?

If we set the example on the smaller stage perhaps we can demand the same character from those on the big stage. We can change this in our work environment right now by what we expect from ourselves and our team mates.

Let’s do it. We can. Respect belongs to all of us.

with Character,

Lorne

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise… Be Generous

Abundance Community

Thomas Friedman, the author and New York Times columnist, wrote an article (with the same title) on leadership in the August 21, Sunday edition of the Times. He refers to Nelson Mandela’s leadership as portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the recent movie Invictus. When the black-led South African sports committee moved to change the famous (previously all white Springboks) rugby team’s name and colors, Mandela intervened. He called this selfish thinking and is quoted as saying: “We have to surprise them (the white community) with restraint and generosity.” While Freidman’s article refers to a larger political context, there is a lesson that applies to every day life for us….the surprise of generosity and abundant thinking.

When one thinks about the mental distance one has to travel from the greatness of Mandela to our everyday lives, it should be quite easy for us to surprise people with our daily generosity…right? So I challenge us to go to work this week and genuinely surprise someone with our generosity. Don’t expect anything in return. Why don’t you and I thoughtfully give, and let’s see what happens.

with Character,

Lorne

Forgiveness: The Ed Thomas Story

Accountability Community Courage

Ed Thomas was the high school football coach of the Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa) Falcons. In 2008, Coach Thomas rallied the town of 1800 to overcome a devastating tornado that ripped through the community that June. They played football in the Fall of 2008, against all odds, and went 11 and 1. The Falcons were a conduit for the Aplington-Parkersburg area moving forward to rebuild. Coach Thomas was a key leader in making it happen.

On June 14, 2010 at the ESPY awards, the Thomas family received the Arthur Ashe award for courage. Why? On June 24, 2009, a psychologically disturbed ex-player shot and killed Coach Ed Thomas. This tragedy tore at the fabric of the community. Yet due to the lifetime belief and example of forgiveness set by Ed, the Thomas family led by wife Jan forgave the killer and his family first. She then used the power of forgiveness to move forward. The entire story is very much worth reading.

In this case ordinary people were dragged into an extraordinary situation. But when you learn about Ed Thomas and family, you realize their faith and belief in forgiveness is extraordinary.

If the Thomas family can forgive a man and his family for the killing of their patriarch, can we forgive under less daunting and extreme cases? I think we can. Forgiving is an act of abundance. It is the total opposite of scarcity.

Now to bring it to the workplace: do we have the ability to forgive transgressions that are not about life or death at work? The obvious answer must be yes. So, let’s all work to forgive that one person we’ve been mad at. It is normally an uplifting experience for the forgiver and forgiven. Let’s start now.

And if we want to be inspired about the power of forgiveness, listen to Ed and Jan’s son Aaron Thomas’ acceptance speech at the ESPY Awards. Forgive now. We all win.

Ed Thomas family – first family in the Character Hall of Fame.

with Character,

Lorne

From Preston UK to Santiago Chile

Community Contribution Respect

I’m lying awake in that transition, a sleepless funk I often go through when traveling from North America to Europe. When I’m lying wide awake in the middle of the night my routine is to listen to the BBC. Tonight they’ve interviewed a 70 year old waitress who serves patrons in a long standing Preston, UK eating establishment. In another unrelated segment they interviewed a 27 year old single mom who works in one of Santiago’s “Cafe with Legs.” There is incredible distance between these women, geographically, culturally and in almost every way.

Yet there in an incredible common bond between these two women through the self respect each has in serving others. In both cases they run into the occasional disrespectful customer but they have control over how they choose to be what Seth Godin describes in his book Linchpin. as “artists.” They are in control of excellence. They choose to be great at what they do. They listen and laugh with their customers. They bring personal connection through the medium of a cup of coffee. Rather than feeling victimized by working in the “secondary labor market”, they choose to make their contributions great. They are valued and valuable.

Many CEOs and other execs would benefit from waiting on a few tables. We’re in the service business and can learn a lot from these two women. Greatness is in the behavior NOT the position or title. Respect is to be given. Listening is a responsibility.

with Character,

Lorne