Written by Rachel Clapp-Smith
Photo by Joshua Earle 

It’s now that time of year when we anticipate a new beginning, a new year to start fresh on the things that we know we should or want to do or be, but up until now we just haven’t had the time, energy, or motivation. A new beginning gives us hope because it seems like a natural starting point for making a change. The only problem is that most good intentions remain intentions and very rarely sustained action – proverbial New Year’s resolution that works for about a week and the rest of the year is back to same old habits.
 
As you are thinking about the changes you want to make in the New Year, we encourage you to think about the type of leader you want to be and what small changes you can intentionally practice to reach that goal. Changes are easiest when goals have certain characteristics, there is an action plan for achieving goals, and a coping plan for overcoming anticipated obstacles.
 
Frame Goals as Approach Goals
Most people I know have heard about SMART goals and when I mention the word, they usually say “yeah, yeah, SMART goals,” in a very knowing and “don’t bother me with something basic” tone. And yet, when they set their goals, they are anything but SMART – vague, unclear, not time-bound, and doomed to fail. So, step one is to set a goal that is specific enough that you know what you are trying to accomplish, you know how it look when it is completed, and you know when it will be accomplished. When it comes to leadership development goals, this can be tricky because leadership is a life-long journey, so you never truly reach a destination per se and measuring, therefore, is similarly tricky. But, you can put in horizons for yourself, that give you evidence that you are making progress. An example might be: “to effectively use inspirational motivation tactics once a week for the next 6 months, measured by feedback from teammates and mentors.”
 
See how that is time-bound, a specific behavior, and a measurable? Now, the other key to setting a good goal, which is often glossed over, is how the goal is framed. Usually we have an implicit idea of what we want to change, but articulating it into an actionable goal is challenging. The hardest goal to reach is one that avoids a particular behavior: quit smoking, stop being negative, stop interrupting people. Avoidance goals are impossible to reach, because at what point have you successfully stopped being negative, for example? When you go one day without a negative comment? What if something negative creeps in the next day? Therefore, it is much easier to approach new and positive behaviors: make 3 positive comments each day. That’s a behavior a that is easy to accomplish, and we can celebrate it when we do.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, Christians worldwide prepare to wrap up the season of Advent.  Advent is the (roughly) 4 week period immediately preceding Christmas. In the Christian tradition, it is a period of waiting and preparation for the appearance of the Christ child. 

The focus of the Advent season contains some principles that are helpful for leader development. 

When I hear the word “waiting”, the first thing that comes to my mind are dentist offices, check-out lines, and stop lights.  They are times of passivity. They are minutes we need to kill until life resumes and we get to the good stuff.

 In the Judeo-Christian tradition, however, times of waiting are anything but passive.  Instead, waiting is marked by anticipation. By preparation. By practice. By focus. By rehearsing the time when event will once again be in motion.

Sometimes as leaders, we feel that we are passively waiting.  Waiting for the next promotion. Waiting to finish school.  Waiting for a new venture to bear fruit.  These times can seem never-ending and sometimes even pointless.

But what if we were to use these times to prepare?  To practice the fundamentals?  To lay the groundwork to learn new skills? 

There will always be tension between our current reality and our hoped-for future, even leaders.  But if we take an Advent approach, we just might find that the time of waiting an preparing is every bit as essential as the time of doing.
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The Leadership Professors wish you the very best this holiday season!

Written by: Gretchen Vogelgesang Lester
Photo by Riccardo Annandale

​A few weeks ago, I was teaching content on the Behavioral Approach (Blake and Mouton, 1964) to leadership – particularly on leaders who show both paternalistic and maternalistic behaviors towards their followers. A student who typically stays quiet during class burst out – “wait, that’s my manager at work – exactly!” We went on to discuss the types of situations she has experienced at work, many of which lined up with this particular theory.
 
A few days later, we were covering leader-member exchange (LMX) theories (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) and describing the outcomes for in-group members vs. out-group members. Again, an outburst from the class – “wait, I think I’m in the out-group at my work!” We went on to discuss that student’s experiences and they did, indeed, line up with outcomes of LMX. Other students got excited about these real-life experiences and started to bring up how their own situations were explained by the different leadership theories.
 
As an instructor, this is my favorite time of year – not the grading, not the worries about final grades - but seeing students realize someone out there (probably teams of someones) have observed similar situations and spent time studying them. Those studies, of course, help explain the phenomenon of leadership. I feel like my purpose is to help students understand how to read those scientific results with a critical eye, to understand how they might incorporate the field’s findings into their own working relationships, and to seek out organizations where they feel leadership is valued. Leadership as a field is unique – almost every one of my students comes with preconceived notions about which leadership behaviors work and which ones don’t – this doesn’t happen in nursing, or biological sciences, or physics. Teaching leadership challenges instructors to make the theories relevant to our students by connecting in different ways – and we know we’re succeeding one light bulb at a time. 

Written by Michelle Hammond
Photo by  Anna Dziubinska 

For many industries, this is the busiest time of year.  Workers in retail, ecommerce, warehousing and distribution, and customer service are at the frontline of the busy season. The hospitality sector prepares for holiday parties and travel.  Health care workers see more patients than ever as those who have met their deductible clamber for appointments.  Those in education face massive piles of papers and exams to grade.  And many businesses scramble to meet fiscal year end goals.

On top of our busy jobs, another type of unseen and unpaid work also reaches its peak about this time of year: Shadow work. Craig Lambert writes, “Shadow work includes all the unpaid tasks we do on behalf of businesses and organizations. It has slipped into our routines stealthily; most of us do not realize how much of it we are already doing, even as we pump our own gas, scan and bag our own groceries, execute our own stock trades, and build our own unassembled furniture. But its presence is unmistakable, and its effects far-reaching.”

Shadow work seems to be a permanent feature of contemporary life. We have more choice than ever.  In so many ways, this is fantastic. Choice is empowering, but it is also exhausting.  Take travel for example. We need to book a flight and a hotel to visit with family over the holiday season. We don’t have to worry about a travel agent messing up our booking or in-flight meal preferences. But how much time and energy have we spent checking prices, weighing up options to find the ideal flight that both minimizes travel time and layovers while maximizing airline miles and credit card rewards.

So how do we navigate shadow work?  I most certainly don’t have all the answers and would love to hear some ideas you have. Some things to consider:

1. Awareness is always a good first start.  What things are you doing that are not necessary or even beneficial?  What types of activities exhaust you the most? And even deeper than that, what is your view about being busy. Is it a point of pride?  When you complain to others about how stretched you are, is it really a humble-brag?  It’s so easy to get caught up in this. 

2. Considering what you identified above, can you rid yourself of any activities that aren’t necessary or beneficial?  Can you outsource any especially-depleting tasks? Even if you can’t afford to hire someone to do tasks for you, can you ask someone who enjoys it more? Swap some tasks with family or friends? I’ll bake your cookies if you wrap my gifts. 

3. Sometimes you need to satisfice, rather than maximize.  Sometimes good enough is simply that - good enough. You might never find that “perfect gift” for your child’s teacher. And honestly, who doesn’t appreciate a gift card? 

4. After you’ve made a choice, don’t waste time, attention, and energy reconsidering or justifying those choices. The time spent checking the flight prices after you’ve made your booking simply can’t be earned back. The feelings of pride in saving money from booking early doesn’t make up for the lost time doing other more productive or relaxing things.  Realize it’s normal to feel a bit of post-decision dissonance, and let it go. 

5. Create some boundaries and stick to them.  Develop times to clock out from our devices. Put a limit to time searching for gifts. Carve out some quality time in the midst of it all. And for those of you who know me personally, please hold me accountable to this! Working on increasing my screen-free time will be a new year’s resolution for me I should start practicing now. 

In many ways, it’s so unfortunate that this is such a busy time.  For many of us, this season is about something so much deeper – about hope, faith, family, and light.  Let us not forget!

What are your thoughts and ideas about how to navigate shadow work, especially this time of year?

Written by Rachel Clapp-Smith

At this time of year, I often think about what a genius Charles Dickens was. Chances are that in December of 1843, he was not intending to create a story that would serve as an annual intervention to spark reflection and introspection, but its ubiquity has achieved just that. People who have never read the original novel know the story. I highly recommend reading it!
 
So why are we so drawn to this story? It has to do with what the story accomplishes. Scrooge transforms his identity in a single night. Wow! Who does that? No one. But, figuratively, it can be done. People can transform from mean, miserly, and grouchy to generous, joyous, and kind. How? Through reflection. That’s how transformative reflection can be. But most of us find it difficult and time consuming. It’s difficult because we have to face the aspects of our character for which we are not proud. It can be painful to accept that we have hurt people or not been there for family and friends when they needed us the most, or that we played political games with a co-worker. But our ghosts don’t only bring the negative to our consciousness, they also bring the positive. Furthermore, reflection is not merely an act of thinking about our own behavior, but also considering the influence of our behavior on others. Let’s think about Scrooge’s past, present, and future for himself and his stakeholders.
 
When Scrooge looks back on his past, he sees many layers and many emotions. A sister who he loved, and he is reminded of how cold he had been to his nephew earlier that day (family domain), a former boss, Fezziwig, who he admired for his good humor and ability to bring joy to others with only small financial gestures (work domain). He is also reminded of the time when he chose work over his fiancé, the turning point at which he became a lonely man. In this reflection we see role models, difficult decisions, joy, regret, loss, gain, etc.
 
When Scrooge considers his present, he reflects on how others see him, and the prognosis is disturbing. Bob Cratchet’s family is happy, despite their ailing son, Tim, and the lack of funds to make a proper holiday meal or to get proper healthcare for Tim. They are joyous to be together, but have no kind words for Mr. Scrooge in their holiday toast. Similarly, his nephew and his guests poke fun at Scrooge and his miserly ways, laughing, and yet, feeling sad for Scrooge.
 
Finally, upon considering the possible future for himself and that of the Cratchet family, Scrooge realizes that he has the resources and power to adjust the future. What he does in the present can change the possible future. So, what does he do? He transforms his identity. He realizes there is still time to save Tim and himself. In short, as a leader, Scrooge sat on the sidelines and took care of no one, not even himself. But, after reflecting on his past, the present of others, and glimpsing into the future, he realized he could lead in very different ways and have a positive impact.
 
Does reflection create such extreme changes in people? Well, no. It takes time. All of us have a story and most of us want it to have a happy ending. But we have to face our ghosts, both good and bad, to build an accurate narrative. What’s your Christmas Carol? What transformation will you make this season?