tips from your coach

Quick reads from Arudia publications and blog posts. Perfect for leaders and managers looking to transform your leadership mindset! TIPS is our way of supporting you in the important work you do. 

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Have you ever wondered why different people seem to approach life so differently? They are either overly structured, or not at all. 

The short answer is that they solve problems differently. Dr. Michael J. Kirton, a renowned British psychologist, provided the world with an explanation of these differences in the form of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI), which measures how a person prefers to solve problems. 

Under Dr. Kirton’s theory, some of us are more adaptive, preferring a more organized and structured environment where we solve problems by figuring out how to win within the system in place. Additionally, under Kirton’s theory, some of us are move innovative, preferring a more fluid and boundary-free environment where we often solve problems by changing (or bucking) the structure, system, or conventional wisdom. It’s not that a person tries to be one or the other. Rather, preferred style is innate. 

Teams thrive when they make the most of diverse thinking and approaches. They provide better, more creative and effective service. So, how do we avail ourselves of this collective genius on our teams? Here are five tips to help you get started by amplifying inclusion. 

For the full list of tips, read the article entitled, Adapt, Innovate or Both? Leading and Leveraging Cognitive Diversity. 

1. Understand differences. Tap into your leadership insight to understand colleagues’ creativity styles. Recognize that team members’ wildly different approach to problems are why you have a great team. Know that the more adaptive will see the mess in the pattern, and may seem to be “whining” about what doesn’t fit. The more innovative will see the pattern in the mess, possibly stressing others with their seemingly casual approach to what isn’t working. They are not nit-picky or haphazard, respectively, just different.

2. Demonstrate appreciation. As the leader, you have the most impact on culture. You set the tone for appreciation and respect. Support the sharing of ideas, even if they seem ridiculous. You never know what contributes into the winning strategy.

3. Componentize complex problems. With your newfound understanding of Adaptive problems and Innovative problems, turn complex problems into a series of component problems. Divide your team into Adaptors and Innovators to get initial traction on the problem by working with colleagues with similar creativity styles. Then turn them loose on the component problems.

4. Add a disrupter. After the Adaptive and Innovative teams have gotten traction on a solution, swap a team member from each team. The “disruptor’s” role is to contribute their unique thinking style to the solution-finding process. The quality of the ideas will skyrocket.

5. Bring the full team together. The next step is for each “team” to present ideas to the full team. Encourage curiosity with questions that evince excitement.

Why do some team members clash during brainstorming while others struggle with implementation? Science has the answer.

The Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) measures cognitive style—how people prefer to solve problems. KAI focuses specifically on whether you prefer to “do things better” (Adaptive) or “do things differently” (Innovative).

The assessment is backed by over 300 scholarly articles and has been validated across cultures and industries. The KAI measures your natural problem-solving style, which remains consistent over time.

The 130-point KAI continuum works like this:

  1. High Adaptors (75-ish and below): Prefer structure, detailed analysis, and incremental improvements
  2. Moderate styles: Can flex between approaches depending on the situation
  3. High Innovators (115-ish and above): Embrace ambiguity, paradigm shifts, and radical solutions

KAI recognizes that BOTH styles are essential. The more adaptive prevent organizations from chasing every shiny new idea and putting process in place in order to scale results, while the more innovative prevent organizations from becoming stagnant by considering new and different.

The key insight? Conflict often isn’t about personalities; it’s about cognitive style differences or, more simply, different approaches to solving problems, communicating, and working within structures. When teams understand this, they can leverage their diversity instead of fighting it.

Next time you’re in a meeting where half the room wants more data and the other half wants to “just try something,” remember that’s the beauty of cognitive style diversity at work. Pro Tip: consider a pilot where everyone gets what they want.  The more adaptive limit risk.  The more innovative get to try something new.  

Within the ResilienceBuilder framework, Mental Strength determines:

  1. How well we cope with daily challenges
  2. How adaptable we are when our situation changes, and
  3. How we remain positive and optimistic under difficult circumstances. 

Try these practices to build resilience through mental strength:

  • Focus on what’s within your control
  • Practice realistic optimism (not toxic positivity)
  • View setbacks as temporary, not permanent
  • Challenge catastrophic thinking with evidence

And remember, Mental Strength is reinforced by clear purpose.
When you know your “why,” the “how” becomes more manageable. 

What is resilience?  

It is our ability to adapt in the face of adversity and recover from setbacks in the face of uncertainty, change, and an increasingly fast-paced and challenging climate. Resilience determines how we tackle and overcome these new challenges. 

Fortunately, resilience can be developed, and the ResilienceBuilder framework highlights the five key components of resilience:

🧠 Mental Strength: Adaptability, optimism, and cognitive flexibility

🎯 Purpose: Clear goals aligned with personal value

💪 Physical Stamina: Energy management through nutrition, exercise, and rest

❤️ Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness and emotional regulation

🤝 Social Support: A reliable network of relationships

The good news? All five components can be developed through intentional practice.

Which components are you currently focusing on developing? 

Actualized leaders have mastered the balance between leveraging their strengths while managing their shadows (stress reactions).

🏆 Actualized Achievers let go of perfection while maintaining high standards, strive to be organized and flexible, balance detail with vision, and set healthy boundaries.

❤️ Actualized Affirmers let go of the need for approval, strive to be friendly and courageous, balance building strong relationships while having candid conversations, make decisions based on objective facts (not just harmony), and set healthy boundaries.

⚡ Actualized Asserters let go of the myth of control, strive to be confident and humble, drive results while developing others, and balance quick decisions with openness to input.

The journey of self-actualizing is ongoing. It’s about continuously growing toward your highest potential.

What aspect of actualized leadership are you currently developing?

We’ve identified the three leadership shadows, let’s explore practical strategies to manage them effectively.

  • For Achievers (Fear of Failure)
    • Let go of striving for perfection
    • Break large projects into smaller steps with clear milestones
    • Set time limits for decision-making to avoid analysis paralysis
  • For Affirmers (Fear of Rejection)
    • Let go of seeking approval 
    • Think objectively, speak candidly
    • Focus on mutual goals rather than potential relationship damage
  • For Asserters (Fear of Betrayal)
    • Let go of wanting total control
    • Start with small trust-building steps when delegating
    • Practice mindful pauses before responding to frustrations

Remember: The goal isn’t to eliminate your shadow, but to recognize when it’s driving your behavior so you can make conscious choices.

Which leadership style resonates most with you?  Access our free assessment to find out your primary leadership style.

ACTUALIZED LEADERSHIP: THE THREE STYLES
 
Developed by Dr. William Sparks, the framework identifies three predominant leadership styles:

  1. Achievers are driven by excellence and high standards. Achievers excel at methodical problem-solving, attention to detail, and maintaining quality.
  2. Affirmers are focused on relationships and collaboration.  Affirmers excel at building consensus, creating psychological safety, and maintaining team harmony.
  3. Asserters are results-oriented and decisive.  Asserters excel at quick decision-making, strategic thinking, and driving outcomes.

THE SHADOW SIDE OF LEADERSHIP 
Each leadership style has a corresponding “shadow” that can emerge under stress:

  • Achievers’ Shadow: Fear of Failure:
    • Triggered by scarcity, prospect of losing, imperfection, or ambiguity
    • Manifests as: Micromanagement, perfectionism, excessive criticism, analysis paralysis
  • Affirmers’ Shadow: Fear of Rejection:
    • Triggered by prospect of conflict, hurting another’s feelings, or making someone angry
    • Manifests as: Neediness, conflict avoidance, difficulty making tough decisions
  • Asserters’ Shadow: Fear of Betrayal:
    • Triggered by vulnerability, needing to ask for forgiveness, or not ‘having the answer’
    • Manifests as: Bullying, controlling behavior, impatience, difficulty trusting

MANAGING YOUR SHADOWS

The key to effective leadership isn’t eliminating your shadow but recognizing when it’s driving your behavior.  Understanding your leadership style and shadow gives you choice, so you can leverage your strengths while managing your reactive tendencies.

Whether it’s an internal meeting, client meeting or board meeting, there are often people who hold back. They are reluctant to share their ideas.  They don’t speak up in meetings and you, as the leader, need them to.  

Achieving results requires everyone’s best thinking and that often requires improving team members’ engagement. For people to be involved and engaged, they must feel safe sharing their ideas and concerns, even if means being the “wacky” outlier.  This is psychological safety. When it is present, people feel comfortable and, in fact, are encouraged to speak up about work-relevant content without penalty. 

At its core, psychological safety and a safe culture require that colleagues possess a problem-solving mindset. Creating a safe and problem-solving culture requires the intentional management of fear-based reactive thinking, feelings, and behaviors such as fear, anger, jealously, conflict avoidance, impatience, and pessimism. 

So, how can you create a safe and problem-solving culture? Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Promote a problem-solving mindset.  Stay focused on resolving the problem instead of lamenting the problem. You are where you are. Know that you and your colleagues can deal with it.
  2. Depersonalize complaints and criticism.  Leaders can easily fall into the trap of feeling targeted or responsible when a project isn’t going well. The truth is that the complaints and criticism are not about you, even if they are directed at you. Rather, complaints embody information about concerns and most likely reflect fear and stress. Listen, learn, and lead. 
  3. Use coaching skills with colleagues.  Coaching, in the business context, means that you ask colleagues open-ended questions to help them think clearly and creatively as they become more engaged in resolving the challenges you face.
  4. Frame challenges. Frame seemingly negative comments or feedback with why it is important or what is at stake if the issue is not resolved.
  5. Ruthlessly prioritize. Be realistic about what you and colleagues can accomplish within a time frame.  While there is a time for cheerleading, be mindful that you aren’t damaging psychological safety by making it taboo to raise concerns about overload and burnout.
  6. Solicit everyone’s views. Once you’ve created psychological safety, for the more reserved to share their thoughts and ideas, you still may have to employ facilitation techniques, which have the added benefit of reinforcing psychological safety. Encourage engagement by soliciting everyone’s views with post its or notes and polling whether the meeting is virtual or in-person. Manage dominant voices with breakouts or rooms.

For the full list of tips, check out the article entitled, Amplify Engagement with Safety, and more insight into your fear-based reactions take this short-form assessment at alpfree.com/arudia/.

While a certain amount of stress is normal, and even helpful in meeting deadlines and pushing ourselves to grow personally and professionally; there comes a point at which stress becomes counterproductive, even harmful in some cases. So, what are we to do? 

One strategy is to Compartmentalize Your Stress to Optimize Success by creating the mental state necessary to produce your best work. It is this singular focus that allows you to fully engage, improving performance and results, and ultimately fulfillment. Achieving this mental state requires Objectivity, Hyperfocus, and Optimal Time Orientation (OTO). These are the three Thinking Attributes in Dr. William Sparks’s Actualized Leader Framework. 

Being Objective is essential because to compartmentalize you must assess your work and capacity based on reality and facts, rather than on personal feelings or preferences.

Improving productivity and results requires Hyperfocus. We have all tried to multitask at some point, and let’s face it, our results were likely suboptimal, to say the least. Multitasking is a myth; we actually switch between tasks, our focus divided. 

Compartmentalization requires a high degree of presence and mindfulness, or what Dr. Sparks refers to as Optimal Time Orientation (OTO). While we can all learn from our past and strategically apply those insights to the future, those with OTO neither perseverate over mistakes nor anxiously fear the future.

Here are five tips to help you further develop your Objectivity, Hyperfocus, and OTO. For the full list of tips, download the article entitled, Compartmentalize Your Stress to Optimize Success.

  1. Language your objectivity. Practice describing situations factually and without judgment. Avoid adjectives and exaggerations. This reinforces thinking objectively about yourself and challenges.
  2. Be objective by being mindful. Notice your assumptions about what is possible or required, and the “right way” to do it. Mindfully distinguish both implicit and explicit assumptions from what is so.
  3. Hone your authentic listening to improve your Hyperfocus and OTO. To improve your capacity for Hyperfocus and OTO, listen for the speaker’s core message. Is the speaker stressed or fearful? What are the speaker’s feelings and needs? Listening this intently has the added bonus of improving relationships and your understanding of clients’ and colleagues’ needs, priorities, problems and concerns.
  4. Offload distractions. When you are distracted by the thought of another task, record it and continue working on the task at hand.
  5. Decided is done. Once you’ve made a choice, don’t obsess over whether it was the right one. Trust yourself and move forward.

We explore the meaning of resilience: our ability to adapt in the face of adversity and recover from setbacks is vital in the face of uncertainty, change, and an increasingly fast-paced and challenging climate. Resilience determines how we tackle and overcome these new challenges.  Fortunately, resilience can be developed. 

Unsustainable stress levels and burnout have become increasingly common in the workplace, and the long-term impact of the global pandemic has and will continue to fundamentally change the way in which we work and live.

Our ability to adapt to change and rebound from setbacks is determined by our level of resilience. While we all have a degree of inbuilt resilience, we can develop this further by learning from disappointments or failures, enabling us to be better prepared for any challenges that may lie ahead.

So, how can you develop your resilience?  Start by taking a moment to reflect on a recent challenge you overcame. What strengths did you use?

  1. Identify Your Strengths. Understanding your skills and abilities can help build self-confidence. List things you have done well and are proud of.
  2. Reflect on Past Challenges. Learning new skills from previous challenges helps you (i) be better prepared for what lies ahead and (ii) manage difficult situations more effectively.

Looking for more?  See the coaching options we have for Improving Your Resilience.

“Adaption” is an approach that accepts the existing construct or way of doing things and uses it to develop a solution.

“Innovation” describes an approach that may seek to alter the construct or way of doing things to develop a solution.

Quite simply, the more that is subject to change, the more there is to disagree about. For the more adaptive, there can be so much up in the air that they feel unnerved by the lack of rules and known processes–– like the Wild West. For the more innovative, the Wild West sounds like a blast.

A particularly salient point of contention amongst those with differing cognitive styles, is the degree to which one ought to plan for details and contingencies.

Thus, implicit in innovative change is the need to distinguish between that which can be planned versus that which is best handled in the moment. The latter requires emergent planning––a very likely component of complex innovative change. Thus, when it comes to innovation, expect problems, which the team will solve when they arise.

Furthermore, a common mistake is expecting all problems to be solved with the same level of detail in the initial planning stages. Such thinking can trigger what we refer to as Fear of Failure Shadow, which if left unchecked can stall innovative change. The Fear of Failure Shadow is the catastrophizing of the smallest mistake. Subsumed by this fear, a person endlessly focuses the steps necessary to avoid every disaster imaginable, which is both impossible and unproductive.

Additionally, firms for which conflict avoidance is a cultural norm will struggle to effectuate innovative change. People shy away from addressing the real problem or ask the edgy, discomforting question for fear of alienating a friend and colleague. They are reluctant to appear pushy.

When conflict avoidance pervades a firm’s culture, the result is indecision, frustration with ineffective meetings, and struggles to move forward with change. Colleagues dread meetings as ineffective wastes of time.

So, how do you drive innovative change while mitigating the effects of both Fear of Failure and conflict avoidance? Here are a few tips to help you facilitate meetings.

  1. Sticky Note Exercise. Use sticky notes to fast-track brainstorming by gathering thoughts quickly. Each person uses as many sticky notes as they desire, placing one idea only on each note. Organize sticky notes like with like. This allows you to see trends. Discuss and decide, or defer decisions based on the need to obtain more information or delegate.
  2. Merlin Back-Casting Exercise. Create a timeline on craft paper from the perspective of having achieved the goal. Work backward to identify necessary steps, each person using sticky notes to record tasks and place on the timeline.
  3. Identify Assumptions. People often have differing assumptions based on their experience and cognitive style, all of which shape views about change, diagnosis of a problem, what they know to be true, and approach to solving the problem.
  4. Ask Open-Ended Questions. Utilize open-ended questions to engage your team members and surface thinking that is innovative, adaptive and everywhere in-between. Listen to all, maintaining a curiosity and asking follow-up questions.

For the full list of tips, including how to use Arudia’s Coaching Model to facilitate meetings, download the article entitled How to Effectuate Innovative Change: A Process for Collaborative Success.

Your organization is growing, and it’s time to change processes. Perhaps you are adopting a new case management system or merged with another organization. The list goes on. What these changes have in common is that they are large-scale, intentional, and initiated because they are believed to be beneficial. Let’s call the change “Problem A.”

  • The challenge with change is not the change itself – the Problem A. It’s “Problem B”––the people side of change. 
  • Problem B is the friction that can result in team members becoming annoyed (or worse) by differences in their approach to effectuating and adjusting to change.

It was the late Dr. Michael J. Kirton who explored differences in approach and made the distinction between Problem A and Problem B as part of his Adaption-Innovation Theory (A-I Theory). A-I Theory provides a framework for understanding different problem-solving styles (also known as “creativity” or “cognitive” style).

  • “Adaption” is an approach that accepts the existing construct or way of doing things and uses it to develop a solution.
  • “Innovation” describes an approach that may seek to alter the construct or way of doing things to develop a solution.

It makes sense that people with different cognitive styles experience change differently. People with more adaptive problem-solving styles can struggle with lack of a detailed plan or process. People with more innovative problem-solving styles can be frustrated with the slow pace of change caused by unnecessary handwringing, which can result in missed opportunities.

We’ve previously explored how to Improve Your Team’s Critical Thinking Skills With Style.  Critically, the initial step of examining one’s own thinking style leads to greater curiosity and understanding of colleagues’ approaches, and then recognizing that your colleagues both see the challenge differently and provide insight.

So, how can you minimize the distraction caused by the people side of change? Here are a few tips to get you started

  1. Know yourself. It starts with you and your relationship to the change––the Problem A. Are you more adaptive or more innovative or somewhere in the middle? What does change look like when it’s working well? What annoys you when it isn’t? Knowing yourself will help to better navigate both Problem A and Problem B by elevating objective thinking over fear and personalization.
  2. Anticipate colleagues’ challenges. Using yourself as a baseline, consider whether your colleague is similar, more adaptive or more innovative in approach to change. Recognize that the bigger the difference in style, the more likely their approach, stresses, and feelings about the change will differ.
  3. Discuss and adjust. Now that you have a theory to inform your approach to your colleague, discuss the aspect of the change that isn’t going smoothly vis-à-vis you and your colleague. Listen with curiosity. Adjust your approach and request that colleagues adjust as well.
  4. Shift the conversation. If your colleague vents fears or frustrations, shift the colleague’s thinking by asking, “What would you like to see happen here?” or “What is one action I/you/the organization could take to improve the situation for you?” The point is to move the conversation from frustration to identifying action steps.
  5. Recognize different planning styles. Recognize that an absence of planning and details cause stress for the “more adaptive” and that “overplanning” and the lack of progress causes stress for the “more innovative.” Discuss and negotiate these differences, identifying next steps and which challenges will be left for emergent planning.

For the full list of tips, download the article entitled, Why the People Side of Change Is So Difficult and What to Do About It.

We have been taught that choice is a necessary part of life. “You can’t have it all,” “you must choose between what is right and what is easy” and being “between a rock and hard place” are all examples of the thinking that pervades our culture. 

This either/or thinking presents as the performance-wellness conundrum–– that we either have high performance or wellness, and the two cannot coexist.  What if you bucked conventional wisdom, applying both/and thinking? The challenge is to figure out how to meet these seemingly contradictory needs. It requires you to really look at performance and wellness as more than a simple two-dimensional puzzle.

At its core, and for true wellness, a person’s work environment needs to be largely free from unnecessary fear, frustration, and drama.

High performance is meeting or exceeding goals for client service.  Colleagues are engaged, proactive and support each other. They are effective and get results.

While performance requires hard work and a lot of it, that isn’t truly the issue. The real question is whether unnecessary negatives pervade to such a degree that they damage culture, performance, and of course, wellness.

These negatives are also what hurts an organization’s ability to recruit, retain employees, and affect other key factors that influence performance and wellness. Some suffer in silence––they “gut it out,” feel perpetually “in trouble” and at risk for their livelihood.

Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, it is the culture, not the need to perform well that undermines both performance and wellness.

What exactly is culture? According to Dr. William Sparks, culture is the collective emotionality and underlying personality of an organization as determined by how people deal with stress and treat each other. In a culture that promotes performance and wellness, the collective emotionality and underlying personality are passion and authenticity.

So, how can you achieve a culture of high performance and wellness? Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Be a system thinker, not a blamer of persons.  Culture is systemic–– not person-centric. Fix suboptimal performance by focusing first on systemic issues such as training and communication. Look at your role in the system, especially if you are a leader. Remember that blame begets a blame-ridden culture, undermining both performance and wellness.
  2. Think objectively, speak candidly.  Whether it’s dealing with challenges to the organization’s viability, giving feedback to colleagues or counseling a client, think objectively about the challenge. You serve yourself, your colleagues and the culture by candidly addressing issues with the right people. Inaction-oriented gossip signals avoidance.
  3. Make it safe to raise concerns.  Cultures in which colleagues feel safe are cultures in which issues are raised and addressed without covert or overt punishment. Embrace all feedback and the courage it takes to deliver it, even if you do not agree with it.
  4. Ruthlessly prioritize. You wouldn’t be where you are if you weren’t ambitious. Be realistic about what you can accomplish within a time frame. While there is a time for cheerleading, be mindful that you aren’t discouraging honest communication about overload.

For the full list of tips, check out the article entitled, How to Solve the Performance-Wellness Conundrum.

To understand your relationship to this Tip take the short-form Actualized Leader Profile to learn whether you are an Asserter, Achiever, or Affirmer and, more importantly, what those styles mean for your everyday leadership, your ability to operate under stress, and your impact on the team and organizational culture.

Affirmers

 If you need to have a difficult conversation, don’t let your Fear of Rejection Shadow get in the way.  Use the Win-Win Conversation Model.

  • Frame the conversation with why it’s important.
  • Focus on your mutual goals by stating why your mutual goal is important.
  • Give feedback (as necessary) and make a request using “Would you be willing to . . .?”

Asserters

If you find yourself feeling impatient  — in your Fear of Betrayal Shadow – for any reason, recognize it as your Shadow and remember “paradoxical intent.”  The harder you push, the more you push away those who can help you.  Take a moment to identify how to partner with your colleague to get great results.  Use the Win-Win Model’s focus on mutual goals to secure alignment quickly.

Achievers

Paralyzed, self-critical, or just feeling pessimistic?  Tune into “abundance.”  We know that sounds trite in industry fraught with scarcity, but you’ve got this.  Next, remind yourself that Fear of failure is rooted in scarcity, imperfection, and ambiguity.  To get out of your Fear of Failure Shadow:

  • Recognize your shadow.
  • Smile and take a breath.
  • Identify your next step.
  • Take action.

Have you had team members come to you with ‘problems’ and no real insight into how to approach solutions? Does it make you wonder what’s preventing them from putting their thinking caps on?

It’s not clear whether the dearth in critical thinking has, in fact, worsened since Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and older Millennials were newbies. Could it be that we are stretched more thinly or that people are burned out? Could it be that the pandemic and hybrid work have adversely affected old-school learning in the trenches?

Whatever the cause of perceived challenges, you can develop your team members’ critical thinking skills. Here’s how:

Let’s start by evaluating critical thinking, which is the intentional thinking in which we systematically imposes criteria upon our own thinking. The skills necessary to think critically include the ability to distinguish, analyze, judge, and detect bias.

Let’s also look at Dr. Michael J. Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation Theory and Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI), remembering that in last week’s Tip, we learned that under Dr. Kirton’s theory:

  1. Some of us are more adaptive, preferring a more organized and structured environment where we solve problems by figuring out how to win within the system in place; and
  2. Some of us are move innovative, preferring a more fluid and boundary-free environment where we often solve problems by changing (or bucking) the structure, system, or conventional wisdom.

SO, equipped with these reminders, let’s examine our own thinking and help others to do the same. Here are five tips to get you and your team started.

  1. Deal with distractions. Time, focus, and being present are essential conditions for critical thinking. Coach yourself and your team to develop these practices as healthy work habits. Do not attempt to multi-task.
  2. Improve objective thinking with inquiry. Logical reasoning is the cornerstone of critical thinking. It requires the thinker to distinguish between facts and opinion, set aside emotion, and uncover assumptions and biases. All of this requires the self-awareness and confidence to question thought patterns. Heighten thoughtful inquiry.
  3. Know your problem-solving style. Knowing your natural approach to solving problems will help you to see and be open to alternatives. Consider who thinks differently and might be a resource to help you solve problems and broaden your capacity.
  4. Identify and challenge assumptions through the lens of problem-solving style. Ask yourself and colleagues: “What have you unknowingly assumed can’t be changed, must happen, or be included in the approach to resolving the problem?” Next, itemize then discuss whether the assumptions are accurate, inviting opposing views. Do your colleagues agree? If so, why? If not, why not?
  5. Invite diversity of thought. There are many reasons people are uncomfortable challenging assumptions. Concerns can be that questions come across as inappropriate challenges to a highly respected or intimidating colleague. To prevent this stifled culture from developing, invite questions, curiosity and challenges as a necessary component of providing exceptional service. Further, a manager who recognizes when problems lend themselves to certain approaches, can maximize value to the client and workplace satisfaction.

For the full list of tips, download the article entitled, Improve Your Team’s Critical Thinking Skills With Style.

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Leadership drives culture, culture determines both performance and wellbeing, and all of the above affect recruiting, retention, and profitability.

In recent years, many have questioned the viability of current norms with respect to work-life balance (or integration), how to accomplish the work with current staffing constraints and attitudes, and whether a “hustle culture” left us all in a working environment that was far from ideal.  While some blame the pandemic for the “great resignation” and “quiet quitting,” the truth is that many were already unhappy, and were starting to re-evaluate workplace norms.

Some employers didn’t see it or weren’t willing to grapple with it.  With the myth of “this is how it has to be” exposed, for many, resentment replaced acceptance. Leaders, often caught flatfooted, crave the means of improving culture, performance and retention.

Until recently, leaders told themselves that the work was getting done, frustrations were “normal,” and everyone thought they were rocking along just fine.  In professional fields such as law, accounting, engineering, medicine, and behavioral health, managers are often doers first and managers a distant second.

MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY BY MINIMIZING PROBLEM B

Consider the value of culture through the lens of Dr. Michael J. Kirton’s work. Kirton was a renowned behavioral expert who studied the impact of different problem-solving styles on collaboration.  Kirton aptly described the workplace as having two types of problems: Problem A and Problem B.

Problem A is what the company’s employees are tasked to provide or produce.

Problem B is friction arising from colleagues with different work styles unwittingly

annoying each other as they go about solving Problem A in their preferred style.  When we expand that to include generational, racial, socioeconomic, and other differences and needs, we have a lot of Problem B.  Kirton’s point is that if you don’t address Problem B, you spend more energy triaging Problem B than on solving Problem A.

Companies that have figured out how to minimize Problem B––that is the challenge of being diverse in all its forms not the diversity itself––actually position themselves to use diversity to better solve a broader range of Problem As.

So, how can you minimize Problem B with an eye on culture? Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Be objective about yourself.  Leaders must recognize that like other humans, they have strengths and weaknesses. If you are not honest with yourself about yourself, you risk overdoing your strengths and being defensive about your weaknesses. You risk not reaching out to colleagues when necessary. Two (or more) heads really are better than one.
  2. Embrace a problem-solving mindset.  Embracing a problem-solving mindset is essential to nurturing a desired culture. In fact, the best cultures adopt a problem- solving mindset. They eschew blame in favor of solutions, learning, and growth.
  3. Proactively embrace diversity.  This message cannot be overstated; embrace differences as the advantage that they are. Differences make a company strong, but only if you proactively address Problem B, the friction and misunderstandings that can result from differences. The answer to Problem B is not to require everyone to mold themselves into a particular archetype embodying success.  Rather, increasing understanding, getting to know colleagues, and honoring the differences dissipates fears and discomfort arising from disconnection.
  4. Give credit to colleagues. As Harry Truman said, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

It can be difficult to define culture and determine how to carry forward the desirable aspects while eliminating the counterproductive ones. What is clear is that culture is like a garden; it can be beautiful, lush and thriving but only through intentional creation. Also like a garden, neglect leaves culture wild, barren and unfruitful. Creating a culture in which everyone thrives isn’t by happenstance. Leaders, ask yourself, what kind of a gardener do you aspire to be?

The skeptical may worry that this gardening fluff eviscerates a leader’s efficacy. But, being a good gardener doesn’t mean you’re a hopeless ‘soft touch’ or avoid doing what’s difficult.

In fact, being a good gardener means thinking and speaking with objectivity and candor, and grappling with uncomfortable topics. Consider that like plants, employees need to be trained, pruned, reorganized, or replanted.

To the leaders who are committed to being thoughtful gardeners, let’s upgrade your personal operating system. The “upgrade” presents an opportunity to lead at an extraordinary level. It’s not about doing more. In fact, it may be about doing less, and it is most certainly about thinking more intentionally and acting based on a thoughtfully and objectively conceived plan.

The upgrade is the shift from operating out of fear to operating with the kind of objectivity that leads to superpower confidence in the face of uncertainty. It is operating from a place of strength.

The challenge is discerning whether fear or objectivity drives you. The humble truth is that we cannot believe everything we think. And yet we do.

So, how can you determine whether your thinking is fear based or objective? Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Derive power from your self-awareness.  Being self-aware and accepting yourself means you can give up trying to impress or be someone you aren’t. By embracing your leadership style, you avoid stress, inauthenticity, defensiveness and a host of other counterproductive behaviors. While every leader can learn techniques from others, Gallup makes a pretty strong case for leading from your strengths. See Rath, Tom (2009). Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow.
  2. Don’t succumb to Fear of Failure.  The motive need “achievement” is about winning through technical expertise, something with which many professionals are quite familiar. The corresponding Fear of Failure is the fear that one card, removed from the house of cards, will cause disastrous results. Guided by fear, a person can be rendered ineffective, exhibiting such behaviors as micromanagement, unending criticism, and excessive pessimism. You know yourself: Which behaviors resonate with you when you are not at your best?  Note them, and use their presence to warn you when your thoughts are fear based and not objective. Then, choose to lead with objectivity and from a place of strength.
  3. Don’t succumb to Fear of Rejection.  The motive need “affiliation” and its corresponding Fear of Rejection manifest in subtle ways. Serving clients, acquiring and building relationships with new clients and colleagues, mentoring and being appreciated all satisfy the need for affiliation. When triggered by perceived threats to the relationship, Fear of Rejection can result in overdone relationship-protective behaviors that annoy the very people to whom you want to be connected. To avoid this folly, identify the behaviors that serve as a warning that you are acting out of fear. Then, use this insight to choose objectivity.
  4. Don’t succumb to Fear of Betrayal. The motive need “power” and “control” is about driving results, also something with which leaders are quite familiar. The corresponding Fear of Betrayal is the fear of being betrayed or undermined or simply not having the power or control to drive results. The triggering of this fear can result in impatience and pushing hard to drive results, which can result in bullying and manipulative behaviors. A less sever manifestation of Fear of Betrayal is making decisions without other’s input so as to not impede results. To stay at your best, to prompt you to choose clear thinking and objectivity, identify the behaviors you notice about yourself at your worst, and heed their warning.

Some leaders have operated under the illusion that they needed to figure out how to maintain the office-based culture in the new normal of hybrid working. This begs several questions before even getting to “how” to maintain culture. What is the culture? Is culture important? Is the existing culture worth maintaining? Will we ever go back to the old normal? At this point the answer to the last question is undoubtedly “no.” Leaders who are paying attention struggle to identify the levers that control culture before answering these basic questions.

Culture is not about SOPs for approval of expenditures, onboarding procedures or HR processes. Culture is the company’s underlying personality and collective emotionality as determined by how people work together, how they treat each other, and how comfortable people are being themselves. Culture includes the extent to which leaders are able to set goals, which they realistically believe employees will achieve and employees are learning, growing, and finding fulfillment in their work. Culture depends on leadership. More to the point, how leaders treat colleagues determines culture and then becomes part of the culture––informing others about how they can treat those with less power. Unless interrupted, culture is self-perpetuating.

It’s on this backdrop that leaders considering culture can clarify for themselves the reasons culture is important. While some leaders don’t believe culture affects the bottom line, and is therefore irrelevant, others see the possibility of a culture that is driven by positive values and supports wellbeing as better in all regards.

So, how can you improve your culture? Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Be intentional; culture matters.  Great cultures don’t just happen. Many leaders focus on business strategies, relegating culture to a distant second or third in importance. Legendary management consultant Peter Drucker is said to have remarked that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He didn’t mean that strategy is unimportant, but rather that a powerful and empowering culture is a more certain route to organizational success. Do not let culture develop as an unintentional consequence of your actions; take actions to intentionally shape and develop your culture. Consider how your choices as a leader affect culture.
  2. Own the mantle of power.  Leaders have the greatest ability to influence culture, and the responsibility to do so.  Recognize that how you treat colleagues, especially those with less power, either nurtures or poisons your culture.
  3. Create a system that works.  Colleagues are like actors in a play, meaning that the systems in place incentivize certain behaviors as scripted. Thus, if leadership wants people to act differently, it must create different systems, which lead to different incentives and behaviors.
  4. Assess your culture. It’s time to take a good, hard look in the mirror. What is your company’s culture? To answer this question, ask yourself questions such as: How do people treat each other? Are those lower in the pecking order afraid of more the senior? Do the transgressions of the people with the biggest books of business or highly sought-after skills get a free pass? Are there “politics”? Are issues addressed or avoided? Have hope; if you didn’t like any of the answers, this playbook will give you tools to change it.

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