21st cent leadership

21st Century Legacy LeadershipThinking Differently

Les Wallace, Ph.D.

Co-Author: A Legacy of 21st Century Leadership

A Legacy of 21st Century Leadership

Legacy Advice from a Wise Man

“These things happen naturally…

friction, confusion, underperformance.

Everything else requires leadership.”

Peter Drucker 1909 - 2005



All humans struggle with two common issues…

1.We want to be successful– with our work, our families and our lives.

2.We are unable to predict the future.

That’s why leadership matters so much!


The Real Work of Leadership

Get out of the Blender

…it’s a daily challenge to come up

for air from the rigors of management

to the perspective and behaviors of leadership.

Into the Helicopter

…to see ourselves and our organizations from a distance—and test the moment to moment choices we make.


“The future ain’t what it used to be.”Yogi Berra


Leading in the 21st Century A Series of “once in a hundred years” crises!

Chrysler bailout 1980

Savings and Loan collapse ‘86-’95

1990’s Banking closures

9/11/01

12/2/01 Enron collapse

Katrina

U.S. in two wars plus ongoing smoldering in Middle-East, Indonesia, Africa, S. America

2008 World Financial Meltdown


21C…It’s DifferentSpeed: blinding, touching every aspect of life.

Complexity: quantum leap in mix of related forces.

Risk: Upheaval raises threats and risks of “new.”

Change: radical, drastic, quick.

Surprise: hard to imagine—challenging sensibility and logic. James Canton, The Extreme Future (2006)

Also: The Meaning of the 21st Century, James Martin (2006)


“Predictions are hard, especially about the future.” Yogi Berra

Globalization Customer / citizen expectations Technology Advances Social / demographic shifts Leadership Competencies

“Leaders who ultimately will be successful in shaping the future are already scanning far beyond the horizon.”

Francis Hesselbein, The Leader of The Future, 2006


Leading in the 21st CenturyAll centuries are different.

What makes them different is the velocity and complexity of change.

Every generation finds

their traditional models

of doing business tested

by new ideas & demands.

“Nothing ages faster than the future.” David Carr


Leading in the 21st Century

We lead in a busy matrix where we can…

…easily mistake busy for successful

…easily mistake email for human contact

…easily mistake Google for intellectual activity

…easily mistake a job for a life

…easily mistake position for leadership

…easily mistake goal achievement for impact

…easily mistake management for leadership



A risk we face is applying old solutions

to new problems: Time to change the conversation about

leadership:

What’s required in this century is different!

How leadership is learned vs taught!

How legacy leadership gets embedded over shorter cycles of leadership tenure than before!


Leading in the 21st CenturyIs the pace of change and the shape-shifting of our adversaries likely to moderate?

Not likely!

We find ourselves in

“Permanent Whitewater” Peter Vaill Learning as a Way of Being, 1996

…1980s Change compatible—tolerate change

…1990s Change adaptable—evolutionary adjustments

…21st Century Change driven—create change


What to ask the person in the mirror?

“There comes a point in your career when the best way

to figure out how you’re doing is to step back and ask yourself a few questions. Having all the answers is less

important that knowing what to ask.”

“What to Ask the Person in the Mirror” HBR 1/07

Who am I / are we?

What is leadership?

How well am I / are we leading?



Thinking about legacy requires us to move beyond short term definitions of success.

To consider a journey from success to significance.

Success is accomplishing management goals…significance is making a lasting impact.


Leading in the 21st Century Legacy: How capable an organization is to lead

itself versus depend on you!

Legacy: How well the organization transforms to stay vibrant, valuable, and relevant not simply manages change.



From “Heroic” to “Transformational”

“Whereas the heroic manager of the past knew all, could do all, and could solve every problem, the post-heroic manager asks how every problem can be solved in a way that develops other people’s capacity to handle it.”

Charles Handy


21st Century Leadership Points to Ponder

Transformation rather than RescueThe age of heroic leadership is over!

"Evolution keeps you alive,

Revolution keeps you relevant.” Gary Hamel



Distributed leadership vs top down

“The most pernicious myth of all is that leadership is reserved for only a few of us.”

“When we liberate the leader in everyone, extraordinary things happen.”



Focus on the Vital FewAll leaders are busy: focused is very different than busy.

? If you only had 2 hrs a day

to work in the next month,

on what would you focus?



Developing others

More than 76 million baby boomers will take their wisdom out the door in the next 20 years

Leadership succession must replace management succession: leadership succession is a robust, inclusive, commitment to early and often leadership development.

Private sector managers invest 15-20% of their time here

U.S. Federal government managers invest < 5%A Legacy of 21st Century Leadership


Breakthrough Innovation

Old solutions don’t work on new problems Innovation is different than creativity

Asymmetrical thinking is required for breakthrough

Leaders bring “fresh eyes” into the dialogue!



Leadership is really this simple:

Help others be as successful as they can be.

Help others gain knowledge and develop new skills.

Help others anticipate the future of their work and organization to reduce surprise.

Help others adapt to the transformation of their work and organization.

Help your entire organization / profession continue to innovate and transform to stay relevant and vibrant.

And in all things, remain honest and true to yourself.



Les Wallace, your next dynamic keynote or leadership meeting speaker—youthful grandfather, bold thinker, powerful speaker!

"In the hands of Les Wallace,

complex theories become simple,

easy to use behaviors and strategies.

A person with the rare ability to

entertain, teach and change your

behavior in one tight funny package."



Speaker References for Les Wallace:

Dennis Derr, Ph.D., VP, Behavioral Health, Aetna 703-863-4596 [email protected]

John Cox, Director, Wyoming Department of Transportation 307-777-4484 [email protected]

Jim Kendzel, CEO, National Organizational for Competency Assurance 312-673-5770 [email protected]

Anne Kirkpatrick, Chief of Police, Spokane, WA 509-625-4063 [email protected]

Jeffrey LaRiche, CEO, Castle Worldwide 919-657-6908 [email protected]

Karen Mountain, CEO, Migrant Clinician’s Network 512 327-2017 [email protected]

Karen Plaus, Ph.D., Executive Director [email protected] Nat. Bd. For Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists 847-655-1109


ContactLes Wallace, Ph.D.

President

Signature Resources Inc.

PO Box 460100

Aurora, CO 80046

[email protected]

SignatureResources.com


21st cent leadership

Documents