PRACTICE APPLICATIONS Business of Dietetics
The Reality in Leadership This article is reprinted from the June 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2005;105(6):889-890). Editor’s Note: In February of this year, Susan Scott spoke to an audience of dietetics professionals about what she calls “fierce leadership” at the American Dietetic Association’s Leadership Institute. There are seven principles (see sidebar) to achieving this intense form of stewardship, which are the simple yet indispensable keys to becoming a successful leader and partner. Dietetics professionals are already practicing fierce leadership skills in their daily lives. To positively affect the lives of their clients, dietetics professionals must master the ability to listen and speak with intensity, focus, and strengtheit’s a requirement of your demanding (and rewarding) profession. In this article, Scott would like to help you drill one level further within the principles, and discuss the sometimes amorphous nature of reality and how you can navigate and, more importantly, own itefor yourselves and your clients.
M
Y PROFESSIONAL GOAL IS to enhance the collaboration, alignment, and accountability of a functional or cross-functional team of executives responsible for achieving significant goals. One outcome of my work with leaders is that they become adept at Principle #1: “Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality.” Interrogating reality is a central function of a leader. Why?
This article was written by Susan Scott, CEO and founder, Fierce, Inc, Bellevue, WA. Ms Scott spoke on “Fierce Leadership” at ADA’s Leadership Institute 2005 in St Petersburg, FL. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.026
S28
Because reality has a habit of changing, seriously compromising your plans. Changing realities outside organizations can affect your plans . think technology, the economy, and science. Also think about what is changing for your clients, which affects what they want and need from you. Changing realities inside organizations can also affect your plans . think budget crunches, leadership, reorganizations, product and service development, and progress against goals. Principle #1 is all about mastering the courage and the skill to interrogate reality. Each person in your organization or practice and each of your clients experiences reality from different perspectives. Everybody owns a piece of the truth, so when there’s an important decision to make, it’s important to examine multiple, often competing realities. These are referred to as lowercase “r” realities.
CAPITAL “R” REALITY Capital “R” reality is the reality of your own intellectual, physical, or emotional capacity and contribution. This is where the courage in “Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality” comes in, because “R” reality has to do with selfexamination, our role in creating or sustaining any negative current reality with which we are confronted. The bravest among us actively seek a glimpse of “R” reality by asking, “What am I pretending not to know about my own contribution to this situation or problem?” Even while interrogating realities about business performance, the question great leaders invariably ask is, “Where am I in all of this? What did I bring to the party? How have I behaved in ways guaranteed to produce results?” For example, in the middle of a recent conversation with a prospective client, I sensed that the client was distracted. I was disappointed and a bit judgmental that she had asked for time with me and, yet, was so unengaged. And then the recognition hit me that I
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
was distracted too. My mind was drifting to the article I needed to write by the end of the day. The instant I brought all of my attention back to the client and the problems with which she was dealing, she became animated and energized and we had a terrifically enjoyable and productive conversation. Our actions determine what happens in the environment around us, and others. No two ways about it. For years I have counseled leaders by saying, “The good news and the bad news is the same news. The news is that your company (or your team or division) is an accurate mirror reflecting you back to yourself.” The things that please you are aspects of you that are working well. The things that frustrate you are aspects of you that aren’t working well. There is simply no other place to look.
DISCOVERING POTENTIAL My work with leaders would be ineffectual if we did not move quickly and honestly to the inward essential character of a marketplace, a company, a team, or an individual. It is like drilling for water. You put a drill down deep, find water, and realize that water is down there under everything. It’s been there for a long time, but first you had to take a chance and drill deep to find it. One of the greatest challenges we all face is understanding and embracing our own leadership potential. Even the most highly paid executives struggle with internal questions about their personal effectiveness. At the same time, some people simply become leaders. It doesn’t matter if they have the title or not. They are the people we look to for advice and opinion. We gratefully follow where they go. And we are engaged whenever they are present. Call them natural leaders if you will. I would call them natural, period. Whether discovered deep inside us, or just natural, to truly understand our own leadership potential is to truly understand ourselvesecapital “R” reality. It’s about taking ownership for our ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
PRACTICE APPLICATIONS results and making choices with clear intentions. We can learn the skills and the tools, but true leadership is about learning to maintain a state-of-being that is both authentic and powerful. If you want to be a leader, you must learn how to “be” in such a way that you establish your leadership.
Self-examination is not ethics, nor judgment, nor a quest for perfection. It is recognition, awakening. We become aware of interior impact, the big “a-ha!” experience. These moments are what make all the hard work worthwhile. The world opens up when we’ve achieved this inner depth.
Here’s how it works: The world doesn’t change, our context changes. It begins by answering the questions: Where am I going? Why am I going there? Who is going with me? How am I going to get there? In answering these questions, we change. And then the world changes.
7 Principles of Fierce Conversations 1. Master the courage to interrogate reality. It’s important to regularly reassess goals, strategies, and priorities. Remember that verifying truth is a group effort, so be receptive to opposing views in open, honest dialogue. 2. Come out from behind yourself into the conversation and make it real. Say what’s on your mind and don’t hide behind a mask. 3. Be here, prepared to be nowhere else. Participate in each conversation as if it were the most important you could have, without distraction and without indifference. 4. Tackle your toughest challenge today. The problem named is the problem solved. Get it out of the way so you can be free in the rest of your conversations. 5. Obey your instincts. There are things our gut knows long before our intellect catches on. 6. Take responsibility for your emotional wake. Everything we say affects those around us, regardless of its intent. 7. Let silence do the heavy listening. Never mistake talking for conversation. There are insights and realizations that can happen only in silence, so don’t be afraid of slowing down and enjoying some pauses.
May 2014 Suppl 1 Volume 114 Number 5
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
S29
The Reality in Leadership This article is reprinted from the June 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2005;105(6):889-890). Editor’s Note: In February of this year, Susan Scott spoke to an audience of dietetics professionals about what she calls “fierce leadership” at the American Dietetic Association’s Leadership Institute. There are seven principles (see sidebar) to achieving this intense form of stewardship, which are the simple yet indispensable keys to becoming a successful leader and partner. Dietetics professionals are already practicing fierce leadership skills in their daily lives. To positively affect the lives of their clients, dietetics professionals must master the ability to listen and speak with intensity, focus, and strengtheit’s a requirement of your demanding (and rewarding) profession. In this article, Scott would like to help you drill one level further within the principles, and discuss the sometimes amorphous nature of reality and how you can navigate and, more importantly, own itefor yourselves and your clients.
M
Y PROFESSIONAL GOAL IS to enhance the collaboration, alignment, and accountability of a functional or cross-functional team of executives responsible for achieving significant goals. One outcome of my work with leaders is that they become adept at Principle #1: “Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality.” Interrogating reality is a central function of a leader. Why?
This article was written by Susan Scott, CEO and founder, Fierce, Inc, Bellevue, WA. Ms Scott spoke on “Fierce Leadership” at ADA’s Leadership Institute 2005 in St Petersburg, FL. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.026
S28
Because reality has a habit of changing, seriously compromising your plans. Changing realities outside organizations can affect your plans . think technology, the economy, and science. Also think about what is changing for your clients, which affects what they want and need from you. Changing realities inside organizations can also affect your plans . think budget crunches, leadership, reorganizations, product and service development, and progress against goals. Principle #1 is all about mastering the courage and the skill to interrogate reality. Each person in your organization or practice and each of your clients experiences reality from different perspectives. Everybody owns a piece of the truth, so when there’s an important decision to make, it’s important to examine multiple, often competing realities. These are referred to as lowercase “r” realities.
CAPITAL “R” REALITY Capital “R” reality is the reality of your own intellectual, physical, or emotional capacity and contribution. This is where the courage in “Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality” comes in, because “R” reality has to do with selfexamination, our role in creating or sustaining any negative current reality with which we are confronted. The bravest among us actively seek a glimpse of “R” reality by asking, “What am I pretending not to know about my own contribution to this situation or problem?” Even while interrogating realities about business performance, the question great leaders invariably ask is, “Where am I in all of this? What did I bring to the party? How have I behaved in ways guaranteed to produce results?” For example, in the middle of a recent conversation with a prospective client, I sensed that the client was distracted. I was disappointed and a bit judgmental that she had asked for time with me and, yet, was so unengaged. And then the recognition hit me that I
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
was distracted too. My mind was drifting to the article I needed to write by the end of the day. The instant I brought all of my attention back to the client and the problems with which she was dealing, she became animated and energized and we had a terrifically enjoyable and productive conversation. Our actions determine what happens in the environment around us, and others. No two ways about it. For years I have counseled leaders by saying, “The good news and the bad news is the same news. The news is that your company (or your team or division) is an accurate mirror reflecting you back to yourself.” The things that please you are aspects of you that are working well. The things that frustrate you are aspects of you that aren’t working well. There is simply no other place to look.
DISCOVERING POTENTIAL My work with leaders would be ineffectual if we did not move quickly and honestly to the inward essential character of a marketplace, a company, a team, or an individual. It is like drilling for water. You put a drill down deep, find water, and realize that water is down there under everything. It’s been there for a long time, but first you had to take a chance and drill deep to find it. One of the greatest challenges we all face is understanding and embracing our own leadership potential. Even the most highly paid executives struggle with internal questions about their personal effectiveness. At the same time, some people simply become leaders. It doesn’t matter if they have the title or not. They are the people we look to for advice and opinion. We gratefully follow where they go. And we are engaged whenever they are present. Call them natural leaders if you will. I would call them natural, period. Whether discovered deep inside us, or just natural, to truly understand our own leadership potential is to truly understand ourselvesecapital “R” reality. It’s about taking ownership for our ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
PRACTICE APPLICATIONS results and making choices with clear intentions. We can learn the skills and the tools, but true leadership is about learning to maintain a state-of-being that is both authentic and powerful. If you want to be a leader, you must learn how to “be” in such a way that you establish your leadership.
Self-examination is not ethics, nor judgment, nor a quest for perfection. It is recognition, awakening. We become aware of interior impact, the big “a-ha!” experience. These moments are what make all the hard work worthwhile. The world opens up when we’ve achieved this inner depth.
Here’s how it works: The world doesn’t change, our context changes. It begins by answering the questions: Where am I going? Why am I going there? Who is going with me? How am I going to get there? In answering these questions, we change. And then the world changes.
7 Principles of Fierce Conversations 1. Master the courage to interrogate reality. It’s important to regularly reassess goals, strategies, and priorities. Remember that verifying truth is a group effort, so be receptive to opposing views in open, honest dialogue. 2. Come out from behind yourself into the conversation and make it real. Say what’s on your mind and don’t hide behind a mask. 3. Be here, prepared to be nowhere else. Participate in each conversation as if it were the most important you could have, without distraction and without indifference. 4. Tackle your toughest challenge today. The problem named is the problem solved. Get it out of the way so you can be free in the rest of your conversations. 5. Obey your instincts. There are things our gut knows long before our intellect catches on. 6. Take responsibility for your emotional wake. Everything we say affects those around us, regardless of its intent. 7. Let silence do the heavy listening. Never mistake talking for conversation. There are insights and realizations that can happen only in silence, so don’t be afraid of slowing down and enjoying some pauses.
May 2014 Suppl 1 Volume 114 Number 5
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
S29
