Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle's nest rested. The eagle's nest contained four large eagle eggs. One day an earthquake rocked the mountain causing one of the eggs to roll down the mountain, to a chicken farm, located in the valley bellow. The chickens knew that they must protect and care for the eagle's egg, so an old hen volunteered to nurture and raise the large egg. One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful eagle was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a chicken. Soon, the eagle believed he was nothing more than a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more. While playing a game, on the farm one day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a group of mighty eagles soaring in the skies.

"Oh", the eagle cried, "I wish I could soar like those birds". The chickens roared with laughter, "You can not soar with those birds! you are a chicken and chickens do not soar".

The eagle continued staring, at his real family up above, dreaming that he could be with them. Each time, the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told it couldn't be done and that is what the eagle learned to believe. The eagle, after time, stopped dreaming and continued to live his life like a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away.

Morale of the Story: One can never be a great leader if you believe you are a manager

Leading Change

I remember on organizational behavior professor taking about change as a rational process—something that you can manage. You have seen it before in PowerPoint slides and white reports. We know it as the Stair-Step Model—something always starting at Step 1 and going to Step . . . . Yes, if you are changing a tire, I can see how this can be a logical, rational process.

However, when it comes to changing anything involving people, the process is not so neat, not so orderly—if you think you will succeed by only managing change, you will likely fail.

Here a psychologist has an advantage over the manager—the psychologist knows that the Stair-Step Model is often illusory, change really functions more like finding a Path to the Mountain Top. You are likely to find dead-ends, will fall down, will at times take two steps back for every step forward.

Despite that weakness, Stair-Step Models are helpful. Here is one of the more useful ones, a summary from John Kotter’s book on “Leading Change.”

http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2007/01/leading-change/ar/1

You might ask, what does rock climbing have to do with transformational leadership success? Quite a lot it turns out.

It turns out that the rules defining success in one endeavor, can be used in other. In this case, the heuristics that work in a sport also work in leadership. A heuristic is just a fancy word for a rule of thumb–in this a a fuzzy rule that works most of the time but not all of the time. And it works in many situations or not all. So it is not like a scientific law, a formula or an algorithm.

For example, we have all heard metaphors saying you must, “Climb to the top,” and “Work your way up.” This video really describes a set of rules for getting from here to there.

Access the Video

Sustaining innovation requires a special type of leadership style—one very transformational in its orientation. An innovative company is less surprised by changes in the marketplace and will likely ambush competitors with product or service launches that put competitors on the defensive.

This was the case with Apple’s Mac, iMac, iPod, iTunes, and iPhone. For example, the iPhone made it difficult for competitors in two ways. The first way was the design and feature set of the phone itself. And the second was the thousand of apps that you could buy on the apps store.

For insight into the thinking of a very innovative CEO (and college dropout), be sure to listen the video of Steve Job’s commencement address delivered at Stanford in 2005.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

For those who would like to work in innovative companies, here is one list of the top 50 companies worldwide.

http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/innovative_50_2009

Do you wisely use time or does it slip away from you, like trying to hold water in your hands? The other day, I spent on hour with a organization president who was leaving the organization to go on to new and better things. What was so sad about the conversation, was that 80% of it was about the past, there was almost nothing about the future. This is the case with many, while living in the present they keep reliving the past; and so, in effect, have no future. If you don’t learn how to use time better, someday day you will realize the truth of Shakespeare’s quote, “I wasted time, and now time doth waste me.”

To discover whether you have a present, past or future orientation, take this free assessment at:

http://www.thetimeparadox.com/surveys/ztpi/

Below is a one-hour lecture by Philip Zimbardo, a true giant in the field of psychology. By listening, you will discover the details on seven major time orientations: 2 about the past, 3 from the present, and two about the future. My thanks to Mike Miller who suggested this article.

http://fora.tv/2008/11/12/Philip_Zimbardo_The_Time_Paradox#