By Ron Woodbury, CCE
Short of combat, there's nothing quite like designing, building, and moving a team across a bridge while blindfolded for getting you to look deep inside yourself for ways to improve your effectiveness as a leader and mentor.
It's been a couple of months since my fellow colleagues and I graduated from CUES' CEO Institute III, held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and I am still very excited about the program, which included a "day in the woods" of team-building activities at Falls River. The level of emotion and energy we experienced during the final year exceeded my expectations.
The outdoor activities produced breakthroughs in trust, leadership, overcoming fears, and taking risks. Best of all, the exercises exemplified our real-life leadership experiences, where those leading and those being led are not necessarily in a position to see things from the same perspective. Making assumptions that we are all on the same "strategic path" is a common mistake.
One of the fundamental take-aways for me as a leader is to spend a little more time up front to ensure everyone is informed and understands the vision, opportunities, and obstacles—then forge forward as a cohesive team on a path to success.
For me personally, one of the most significant activities in this year's program was the Leadership Practices Inventory study. It will undoubtedly assist me in improving some of the more difficult, or soft, aspects of leadership. I've participated in many similar studies, but this one hits the mark.
The LPI study categorizes your leadership behaviors into "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership." One of the practices is "Encourage the Heart," which focuses on how well you really understand and support your employee's and colleagues' needs in order to help them become as successful as possible. Historically, this is the area in which many participants score lower, as did I. It reveals the importance of praise and celebration.
I have identified this area as the greatest leadership improvement opportunity for me. And, as a result, I have fundamentally changed the format of my individual one-on-one leadership meetings to incorporate issues revealed in the LPI study. Instead of focusing on topics related to projects and productivity, I spend more time on the individual. If the soft issues are in order, the productivity and performance will follow naturally.
Additionally, we were introduced to a series of personal assessment tools that can be accessed at www.authentichappiness.org. These tools were developed by the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, home of The Wharton School which hosts CEO Institute I.
It certainly makes sense that positive, happier individuals are more productive. How happy are you and how can you use this knowledge to improve your effectiveness? Your team's? The Quality Department at my credit union is already reviewing these instruments to assist us with some internal motivation metrics.
These are just a few examples of the long-lasting benefits I received as a result of CUES' CEO Institute. And I haven't even mentioned the long-term relationships with the Class of 2007 that I'm looking forward to.
Ron Woodbury, CCE, is EVP/chief information & administrative officer for Altura Credit Union, Riverside, Calif.
Read more about the LPI and CU executives' leadership strengths/weaknesses in "Leadership: Learnable not Mystical."
