Mike, Author at The Third Zone

Oct 15 2019

The Orchestra Conductor As A Model for Successful Leadership in Business

I recently saw a “TED” video in which the renowned orchestra leader Itay Talgam, pointed to several 20^th century conductor ‘greats’ and the lessons their leadership held for business leaders of today. The connection to

orchestra leader

business leadership is especially fascinating once we realize that no verbal exchanges take place when conducting the orchestra and still, the group, or team if you will, have the potential of making the most beautiful music … and that requires cooperation, willingness to be part of a team and a sense of responsibility both to the individual musician’s role and that of the full orchestra.

Appropriately intrigued I wanted to explore the connection between conducting music and leading an organization, a department or a group. I came upon an article in which Jazz maestro Dominic Alldis was interviewed entitled “Symphony of Leadership”. As you to read the key points he has identified, forget that this is being written from a music perspective and realize the similarity to effectively leading within a business organization: The most significant connections include:

Conducting represents the corporate world.
“It conveys metaphors of collaboration (not competition), appreciation of diversity and creativity, and culture and tradition.

There is a periodic ‘check-in’ with the leader/conductor
Although an individual’s focus is on their personal tasks, this provides the reassurance from their leader that they are on the right path and serves to add energy to their performance. Being an effective team player also requires periodic acknowledgement of the leader at key moments while continuing to perform in one’s specific area.
A leader is crucial to bring together varying voices …
and give it a sense of unity.
It conveys the importance of listening quietly and patiently.
The conductor is akin to leading in business.
The making of eye contact with each of his team members, gesticulating with his hands and managing toconvey to each the highs and lows that they must take in order to produce beautiful music.” Such eye contact and other non-verbal communication allows people to know they are respected, have a true value and are contributing to the whole.
The conductor is the only person in the orchestra who makes no sound.
He/she is merely there to help his team members make music. “This just goes to prove that leadership is never about control or dominance, it is all about support, understanding, and effective and timely communication.”

Last year Steven Gambardella authored an interesting article entitled ‘Manage Like A Conductor’ in which he relates what managing like a conductor actually means. The points he makes are as follows:

Conductors orchestrate collaboration.
The conductor does not need to tell the members of the orchestra what to do, the conductor simply endeavors to achieve optimum collaboration among the orchestra from their privileged vantage point.
Conductors are always a step ahead.
They need to be a step ahead because they need to ensure that the orchestra plays the music as best as possible. Similarly, the good manager always needs to be a step ahead. Planning is essential, and managers “cue in” the resource as needed.
Conductors do not play …
Even if every instinct is telling you to work on something, even if you (think you) could do a better job, you should not get actively involved in your team’s tasks. Delegation is essential to good management: you must ensure that you’re getting the best from your team and, love it or hate it, that’s a full-time job.
Neither can conductors play.
It is doubtful that any conductor could play all the instruments as well as the members of their orchestra. There are many aspects of a team’s work that the manager will not be qualified in, or even have a clue how to do. And that’s fine. You don’t need to know everything about accounting, marketing or communications or whatever type of team you manage. If your team members know more than you, it could well be a sign that you’re doing a great job of managing them.
Conductors set the pace.
It’s all about continual feedback to the performers. Not controlling them, but rather letting the performers thrive in a framework that evolves as the composition progresses. Great managers balance workloads, ensure the pace is right so that productivity does not come at the cost of rest and creativity (or work-life balance). It’s the output (achievements) of a team, not the input (effort), that’s important.
Conductors never take the credit.
Never take the credit for your team’s work. The conductor will always bow to applause, but they will also quickly divert the applause to the musicians. No one person is responsible for teamwork.
Conductors have the best spot in the house
Management gets bad press because of the cult of leadership. But it’s gratifying to be a manager. It’s wonderful to see people develop, to see your team come together to become a greater force than a sum of its parts.

music symbols

Wouldn’t it be interesting … and potentially valuable … to compare your leadership style or that of
those around you to an orchestra conductor? Doing so and making some adjustments to one’s personal style and the approach might definitely sharpen the music and the results on all fronts.
Mike Dorman

Sep 25 2019

Your Job Success is Your Job – Why Outsource It?

The topic of responsibility as related to personal job growth and success is timeless. Regardless of the organization

in which I work as a business leadership coach, it is inevitable that I will encounter some individuals who express frustration with the lack of effort that their boss or their company makes toward helping them advance. We’ve addressed this previously a couple of times and the message relates to us as individuals taking charge of what we want to achieve.

In order for more of us to individually view our advancement and ultimate success as OUR job the degree of ‘employee engagement’ must improve. Recent studies indicate that only 1/3 of the workforce is actively engaged and over half are unengaged or totally disengaged. Thus it’s not surprising that one complaint I hear in working with people across all industries is that ‘my organization isn’t doing anything to help me grow and move upward.

Okay. The message is clear. If we want to advance and ultimately be more and more successful, we have to view this as our job and our job alone. And yet … what do we do to accomplish that job? With some specific suggestions, the

racing to success

on-line publication ‘The Muse’ has identified a long list of ‘to-do’ behaviors we can implement as a means of building and developing a successful career in an article entitled ‘47 Habits of Successful People’. Those who adopt these things are the ones who experience the promotions and raises leading to their personal ‘wins’ and the best news is that they are things one can implement immediately … like today. Some of these are as follows:

They think about the skills they need for the next job
- They speak up in meetings
They get to know the higher-ups
- They take charge
They look for leadership opportunities
- They think like managers, not employees
They focus on results, not just activities
- They pitch in
They listen to feedback
- They solve problems
They commit to learning
- They’re comfortable with pressure
They own up to their mistakes
- They’re not afraid to ask for help
They Actually Like Their Jobs

Marshall Goldsmith, a renowned business coach, puts forth six straightforward and simple steps as questions to ask ourselves at day’s end as follows. They all begin with “Did I do my best …”

To set clear goals?
Do I know what I’m aiming to achieve in a clear and understood way?
To make progress to achieve my own goals?
Are you successful moving toward them or do you find yourself stuck at some point?
To be happy?
As a result of the satisfaction I feel in moving toward my goal?
To find meaning?
Is the work I’m doing providing a sense of satisfaction through progress I am making in getting closer to achieving my goals?
To build positive relationships?
With others to whom I can turn for desired help or provide help as needed?
To be fully engaged?
To the degree to which I commit to being conscientiously engaged will have a very positive impact on the results I can anticipate

Whether the economy is strong or weak … whether the business or industry you’re in is soaring or stagnant … being willing to view our personal growth and success as our individual responsibility is the one thing that we can count on. Accepting it as our job gives us the best chance of accomplishing whatever we want to accomplish. Considering the actions and questions listed above will help us to stay the course that we have for ourselves by serving as foundational elements that help to maintain our focus and drive to wherever we decide we want to go. Why would anyone want to give that power to another? I sure wouldn’t!
Mike Dorman

Sep 11 2019

Feeling Stuck at Work and How You Can Change That

This is interesting and perhaps not surprising. At times of high unemployment we are just happy to have our job. It may not be the best in

security in job

all ways and still, we’re working and bringing home a paycheck so life feels pretty good. When unemployment is at a low point it certainly make s us feel more secure in the position we have … confident that as long as we do our jobs and produce what is expected of us, we can be quite certain that we’re on fairly solid ground. Being confident and on solid ground, however, doesn’t say much about our being satisfied with what we’re are doing and the position that we hold. In fact, very often if we are honest with ourselves, we are plain and simply bored … tired … burned out. And the reason we stay put and settle for this amounts to our feeling stuck!

There are a number of things that can contribute to the glue that seems to have settled on the bottom of our feet. Perhaps some will hit home for you:

Lured by the money ~
Of course the money we earn in a job is important. It provides for the lives we want to live and the lives we need to support.However, it can also have a blinding effect in that it tends to have us diminish and relegate other aspects of our work to the back burner. We can easily rationalize that … ‘the work itself isn’t that exciting or interesting but

look at the money I’m earning’. Eventually, we risk having the semi-weekly paycheck pale when we realize the unsatisfying work we are doing to receive it. Not feeling able to afford to move elsewhere is both a dilemma and a trap.
Staying put rather than the risk of having to learn and perform in a new job ~
We may willingly admit to boredom in our current job but are we sure we are willing to do the learning that taking on a new role will require? What if we fail? Thinking that the risk isn’t worth the potential gain we would experience in moving to another position, we are inclined to stay where we are … and over time this becomes less gratifying and less satisfactory.

Failure to recognize that the current work is quickly becoming outdated ~
We actually like our job and the work we do. We enjoy the camaraderie with our co-workers. We know that we are appreciated by ourboss and the company and thus, we have less inclination to change what we do. This becomes a real problem when the work we do is on the way to becoming extinct … made so by new innovations in technology, systems or products. Waiting until we have no choice makes the decision someone else’ s.

Not recognizing the importance of continuing education as key to our work ~
In today’s business environment it would be highly unusual that change is not a constant aspect of it. If one becomes complacent and sees no need to keep up with work-related changes taking place around them, he/she risks watching others who remain the curious and interested students bypass them, their capabilities and advancement opportunities.

Not having a clear picture of what else one would/could do = a formula for stuck The current job isn’t too bad. In fact, there are aspects of it that one finds interesting and even rewarding. Yet the truth is that if it wasn’t this job what else would it be? Waiting for that answer to suddenly drop to our desktop probably isn’t going to happen. What can likely happen is one’s feeling of simply being stuck and the related frustration and unhappiness that accompanies that.

So maybe you have read these signs of being stuck and personally relate to them. And because staying in such a position has few overall positives, recognizing yourself as such opens the door to wondering what can be done and how to go about it. Ashira Prossack penned an article that appeared in Forbes that identifies things that can be done to throw off the chains of ‘stuck’. They include:

leaving comfort zone sign2

Get out of your comfort zone ~
The reason you feel like you’re in a career rut has a lot to do with staying well within your comfort zone. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, in order to make a change often requires that one leaves the safety net that has been created. Rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen it means taking charge and making it happen.

Set a goal and create a game plan ~
Generally speaking change takes place because there is a plan developed to achieve the goal. Not only does it create the road map to follow … it also provides a person with the motivation to follow it. With identified action items, a timeline and steps one needs to take and a willingness to be accountable, one has the ingredients to achieve that plan.

Take Risks ~
Turning ones situation around often means taking risks. And although not always comfortable, in doing so you’ll be challenging yourself. This does tie to stepping out of your comfort zone and can also be a part of your game plan. The key here is to stretch yourself outside of the box you’ve been working in. There’s no harm in trying, and you never know how taking a risk can end up paying off.

Don’t go it alone ~
While it’s ultimately on you to get yourself out of a rut, you can’t do it entirely alone. Get advice or just talk things over with a mentor, find a sponsor, attend networking events, talk to your friends. Every person you meet could potentially help you out of your rut. You never know who will be instrumental in helping you find your next opportunity, so don’t be shy. Be direct and ask for what you’re looking for.

Finding ourselves in a career rut is a pretty common occurrence to just about everyone at some point in time. What was once the most exciting job in the world can and often does become monotonous after a time. Doing the same job for too long can lead to feeling stuck there. The good news is that getting out of a career rut is rather easily achievable … just requiring that we put in a bit of work.
Mike Dorman

Aug 21 2019

Political Polarization Comes to the Workplace … The Good and the Bad

It is frequently said that never, in the past several decades has our country ever experienced the degree of political arguing couple polarization than that which exists today. What used to be the ability to have civil conversations with friends and family about our different views and the reasons for them, has, for many, gone out the window. At family gatherings, talk about current politics is often forbidden. Getting together with friends who have a different leaning means avoiding such conversations in order to maintain the friendship. In more extreme cases, those who were friends for years are no longer able to spend time together through an apparent loss of respect or tolerance for that ‘other’ person’s viewpoint.

Every Monday morning we walk into work prepared to do the expected job we were hired to do. What so many have discovered is that with the varying and prevalent political beliefs of all co-workers, the increased polarization is unfortunately not left at the door. In fact, the questions we hear awaken in all the diverse perspectives that exist … unrelated to the actual work we perform and accomplish. Comments like these: Could you believe the Sunday news show and the biased viewpoint? Did you hear the lies that so and so told the attendees at her/his rally? Did you watch the debate’ and wasn’t it a joke? Too often we hear such questions and we can’t help but to make decisions about a co-worker based on their political beliefs rather than their skill, knowledge and/or contribution to the team’s effort.

To the extent that this is today’s reality … the new normal … and because this issue is raised with increased frequency with coaching clients, it warrants some exploration. The key questions become what are the negative impacts that such differences have on the workplace and the work to be done? Conversely, what might the benefits be to the organization due to the diversity existing among employees? Randstad, an employee solution organization conducted an in depth survey uncovering U.S. employees’ feelings about and experiences with political discussions in the workplace. The report also examines how an employer’s approach to political issues can influence employee engagement and retention.

“Our study shows the topic of politics itself is extremely divisive in the workplace, reflecting our country’s current polarized political climate,” said Randstad North America chief diversity and inclusion officer Audra Jenkins in a statement. “It seems there’s no escaping politics, even on supposedly neutral ground, and unfortunately this can contribute to feelings of alienation as well as deteriorating relationships in the workplace.”

Key Findings:

Some employees see the benefits of discussing politics at work, but the risk of negative consequences is high.
Differences in political viewpoints, whether expressed in person or online, can be alienating and damage workplace camaraderie.
Political viewpoints can drive employees to quit their jobs, or determine the employment opportunities they seek.
Workers are divided on whether employers should take a stance on political issues.
Politics matter more to millennials than other generations.

It becomes very evident that there are clearly some negatives that tend to arise when political opinions and the belief that we have the freedom to express them become workplace fodder. And yet there is the other side … that teams of people charged with working together to achieve the project or overall goal can get results that truly benefit from conversations that represent all sides of the approach. In this sense, it is very possible that today’s political discourse that is flowing more and more freely, is, in fact, making a good contribution.

The Harvard Business Review published a study conducted by a team of scientists that found there was a big cost in having a team of people charged with working together who vote just like all the others. They reached these conclusions in following political arguments that took place on Wikipedia:

The most effective teams fight about politics. Mixed teams of conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats,ended up writing way better Wikipedia pages than those written by teams that consisted largely of people who all agreed or had no strongly held position. In other words, fighting about politics led teams to do far better work.
Hiring both Democrats and Republicans helps weed out group think and broaden the knowledge of the team to find more creative solutions.
They insist that while political diversity can pay hefty dividends, in order to cash in leaders need to set the stage for a healthy exchange of ideas. Here are a few of their recommendations in brief –
- One token Republican/Democrat does not a politically diverse team make.
  Translation: one token diversity hire tends to end poorly. True diversity demands a greater balance between different viewpoints.
- Set clear expectations for the discussion from the get go.
  Translation: it probably pays to create a rule book for respectful conversations before you dig into meaty discussions and make sure there is a transparent process for handling violations of these rules. Talk about how you’ll talk before you talk.
- Be upfront from the beginning about your commitment to diversity.
  Translation: be upfront about your commitment to political diversity and productive debate with those with whom you work so they can self-select into the challenges and rewards of this sort of workplace.

What extensive research concludes is that diversity in the workplace as related to one’s political persuasion, has clear

benefits to results achieved … provided it is done respectfully, with curiosity and genuine interest in understanding other perspectives. When this path is followed it can and does result in richer and more complete decisions and actions that are truly beneficial to the organization. Would it be great if such an approach could be followed when we are with our family and friends?
Mike Dorman

Aug 07 2019

Are You Achieving Your Personal Success Plan for the year? Or Has It Fallen By the Wayside?

Businesses and organizations of all types are known to create business plans at least annually. These are shared with various leaders, divisions and departments with all focused on achieving them. They are reviewed with regularity and hopefully, they are achieved. .

This is all good and the norm. However, the same approach definitely applies to individuals wanting to move up a ladder in their personal careers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to get the same determination and focus. This becomes a missed opportunity. This is especially the case when we are in a time of low unemployment which provides individuals with a comfortable sense of job security. Feeling secure is what we all want and yet, what is overlooked is the opportunity that can accompany it. Such times are also the most ideal ones for us to personal business plan

determine where we want to be in our jobs or careers at the end of a year. In other words, create our personal business plan around the goals we have. Such a plan allows us to actually look to the future and where we would like to go in order to enhance our career … including the added income this often represents. I experience more and more individuals actually thinking about this and creating their plan to achieve it. This is actually exciting and the right way to start.

Consider the advantages of making your plan. They include:

Providing someone with a sense of direction in terms of goals
Provides something on which we can continually focus as a measure to how we’re doing
Helps us to recognize obstacles and thus, the ability to make a needed change to stay our course
Provides the guidelines for our decision making as we progress through the year

Terrific! The plan is in place and unfortunately this is where progress stops and too often. The second KEY element of realizing the desired success in one’s plan is the execution of it. Execution is a concept easy to talk about howe strategy to success ver, more challenging to actually follow through on and therein lies a potential stumbling block. Once you convert your plan into specific actions and behaviors you have a plan you can manage and measure. Here are some attributes leading to successful execution:

Having a sharpened focus by informing us of what we need to do in order to successfully execute the plan.
Provides a roadmap of what we need to learn and master in order to enhance the competence our advancing will require.
Builds our passion for what we want to achieve and the associated enthusiasm for doing what is needed to what is needed.

Be warned. There are some real factors that tend to interfere with true progress and the achievement of our intended success. These include:

One’s personal resistance to change because it often takes us to a zone of discomfort. Whereas the status quo might make us feel more relaxed it does not move us in our desired direction. Giving into this becomes a big factor in personal plans being abandoned.
Feeling there is a lack of needed resources that will enable us to move upward in our planned direction. Giving into this feeling without exploring what’s possible and how to acquire what we need is to basically abandoned our personal plan and the related goal.
Experiencing the personal politics that can be pervasive in so many office environments can be enough to derail a personal growth and success plan. This is where our commitment to where we intend to go is so important so that we are willing and able to withstand the opinions and resistance of others around us.

growth sign

Execution is essential to the equation of success. Just as a new year’s resolution requires a committed plan, the goals we have for our own success do as well. And yet, without the determination to execute in a specific and meaningful manner, our plans and the related success it can bring become nice ideas.

It’s now August … early in the second half of 2019. With 5 months remaining there is still adequate time to make serious progress in getting to where you want to personally be. Maybe you’ll take out your plan, dust if off and jump into full-fledged execution. That’s all it takes! Execute today and win tomorrow.
Mike Dorman

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