Procrastination - a poor example of leadership...

In July 2008 I particpated in the Harvard Business School's Social Enterprises Executive Education program Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Managers (SPNM). It was one of the best and most transforming weeks of my life.

Here are all of the links and topics for posts from SPNM:
Overview
Inspiration
Capacity
Leadership
Scale
Strategic Service Vision
Mission and Strategic Triangle - Legitamacy & Support / Organization / Mission
Value Chain
Market Research
Measuring Impact


I really should be reading. On my shelf in my "dorm" room is a stack of 15 or so case statements. I am procrastinating.

I was just thinking that anyone who is reading this will think it seems messy and little all over the place. It most likely is. I am using this as an exercise for clarification for myself. I am throwing everything out there honestly so that an honest discussion may be had.

Today there was a lot of discussion about leadership.

Some of the interesting concepts:

Leadership's job is to frame the need for change.

The role of leadership is acting in time. You must notice the problem; formulate a plan; and execute a solution. What are the conditions that you need to act in time? What can a leader do to create those conditions?

Innovation is all about learning to make progress. Who needs to learn what? What are the circumstance for learning?

Leadership is the process of bringing a new and generally unwelcome reality to an individual, group, organization, or society and helping him/her/it/them adapt to it. This produces stress in the organization and the natural response is avoidance (we're to busy, what problem, it won't work).

In some situations leaders need to provided a clear answer or direction and in others leaders need to be bold enough to explore, invent, develop, and create.

Of course this makes me question what kind of leader am I. I know I have a lot to learn. Overall I am a good manager, but that isn't a leader. I think I am able to inspire people when I am on my game. But without question I need to listen more often and I need to learn to let people arrive at knowledge at the own pace and their own method. What is that saying "let your mind catch up with your mouth?" I have the opposite problem, my mind is always going so fast, I have to remind myself to not interrupt or jump to the next topic before others arrive there with me. Unfortunately this means I am good at multi-tasking, but the problem with multi-tasking is that some things need your full attention, especially people. I am pretty self-aware of what I need to work on, I just need to remember to do it!

We talked a lot today about learning as well. A leader should orchestrate the process of learning not dictate it (see things to work on above). But you have to be a rapid learner (see positives above).

What is the question to which this process is the answer? What is the decision process (the weighted criteria)? Exploration, invention, and noticing are longer processes and more ambiguous. It's all about pacing.

People have to look at the reality. If you learn the reality you can make the decision because you will know the answer. (a little like a fortune cookie).

And finally we ended the day talking about formulate non-profit strategy, in the road from mission to programming there is an interim step a platform/theme.

Which brings me back to a question I have written 10 to 20 times in the last two days.

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF RELEVANT? Practical not literal.

Won't you be glad when I get back from Harvard!