Invest NI Leadership Conference, Ben Bryant, March 2017

© Ben Bryant 2017Leadership Conference

Ben Bryant PhD Professor of Leadership

Director, IMD CEO Learning Centre

The Learning ExecutiveEmbracing Complexity in the Business World


Agenda

1. The Executive Learning Agenda2. Learning Dialogues Toolbox3. Inner Dialogue - Developing Self-Awareness


70 20 10How do Executives Learn?

70% from experience & challenging assignments

20% from developmental relationships

10% from coursework and training

Dissonant Experiences are the major source of Executive learning


Musical Dissonance

Our tolerance for aural dissonance can increase

c.1800

c.1865

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2qr3iYFIi4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2qr3iYFIi4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZreeVzaOEo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZreeVzaOEo


Executive Learning: Dissonance, Disabilities and Enablers

Sources ofDissonantExperience Learning Disablers

Learning Enablers

Unfamiliar Contexts

Unanticipated Outcomes

Divergent Teams & Antagonistic Individuals

Unexpected Events

Confusion

Anxiety

Conflict

Vulnerability

Experimental Action

Dialogue

Reflection & Narrative

Deflection & Distortion

Defensiveness

DissonantEmotions


Dissonant Experience

New RolesNew Contexts

Unanticipated Outcomes

Life Changing EventsDivergent Teams & Antagonists


Executive Learning Disabilities



2. Excessive Conviction & Dependency

3. Fear of Vulnerability

Vulnerability is our most accurate measure

of courage

1. Cognitive Limits and Biases


Replication The need for continuous success

Avoidance The need to avoid failure

4. Accumulating success….

As we accumulate success….we tend to get stuck

PLAY NOT TO LOSE WHAT WE HAVE

…and so we

Adaptation Exploration, Curiosity, Sensemaking



A tragedy in Tenerife March 27, 1977

Learning:

-KLM Simulator Routine – No response to getting final clearance for takeoff.

-Fixation – take off as soon as possible (get out of this fog - crew regulations)

-Relaxation – the difficult part was turning around a 747 on a 45m runway…

-Fatigue & Overload – too much going on and limited information processing capacity

Miscommunications?

Authority in the cockpit?

http://images.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/planecrash/images/minu-tenerifecrash7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/planecrash/minutes.html&h=120&w=198&sz=7&hl=en&start=8&tbnid=fTtMeyf0IG432M:&tbnh=63&tbnw=104&prev=/images?q=tenerife+air+disaster&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G

http://images.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/planecrash/images/minu-tenerifecrash7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/planecrash/minutes.html&h=120&w=198&sz=7&hl=en&start=8&tbnid=fTtMeyf0IG432M:&tbnh=63&tbnw=104&prev=/images?q=tenerife+air+disaster&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G


Focus


Focus and Noticing


Too much focus?

28th January 1986


2. Excessive Conviction

An analysis of 300 CEOs (Kets de Vries, 2002)

• A sense of superiority• A sense of uniqueness• An exaggeration of talents• Boastful and pretentious behaviour• Grandiose fantasies• Self centred and self referential• Need for attention and admiration• Arrogant behaviour


Dependency (Parent-Child) is common in executive teams

President LV 1990-2013

Interdependency (Adult to Adult)is not easy in an executive team

Excessive conviction is amplified by team dynamics as “dependency”

leader


3. Fear of Vulnerability

What is vulnerability?

InitiatingRisking failureSaying “sorry”Saying “no”Saying “yes”Revealing your inner selfBeing open to rejection

TEDx: Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

Vulnerability is our most

accurate measure

of courage

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html


SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES

FAILED EXPERIENCES

InternalLocus of control

External Locus of Control

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN SUCCESS AND FAILURE?

What part belongs to me?

What part does not

belong to me?

• Luck • Complaining to friends• Being a victim• Waits for the world to

come to them

Takes actionAccepts responsibility

Wants to learn & change


How do we protect ourselves?

Suppression

Rationalization

Projection

Denial

Representation

Displacement

Humour

Answer:By distortingOur reality


WHY ARE YOU HERE?Defensive Person

• Gives certainty, conviction & clarity• Withholds vulnerability• Socially “distant”• Occupied with own thoughts and feelings• Protects own autonomy and control

Learning Person• Explores own anxieties & fears• Explores confusion• Explores own vulnerabilities• Closes “Social Distance”• Occupied with others’ thoughts and feelings


DICKERSON: Mr. Trump, let me ask you a question. Presidents in both parties say that the one thing you need in your administration is somebody who can tell you you're wrong. You don't necessarily seem like somebody who has somebody who tells you you're wrong a lot. Can you tell us of an instance where somebody has said, "Donald Trump, you're wrong," and you listened to them?

TRUMP: Well, I would say my wife tells me I'm wrong all the time. And I listen.

[Audience Laughter]

DICKERSON: About what?

TRUMP: Oh, let me just say -- look, I am very open -- I hired top people. I've had great success. I built a great, great company. I don't need to do this. I'm self-funding. I'm spending a lot of money. I've spent -- like in New Hampshire, I spent $3 million. Jeb bush spent $44 million. He came in five, and I came in No. 1.

Source: CBS February 2016


Please read Francois le Blanc:

What did Francois Learn from his experience?

What could Francois learn?


Part B Francois le Blanc: Locus of Control

“I put down my failure at that time to a passionate confidence and belief in myself that literally bull-dozed through objections. I took far too much on myself. I didn’t seek opposite views or consider another path – I was fixed on the pre-decided original plan. I didn’t listen to others or consider contingency planning. There was no sensitivity analysis. All of the issues that became the major elements of the fiasco were there on the day the deal was closed, but no final review was done to see if the original logic still existed – it did not.”


Part CFrancois le Blanc: Recovery

• After 4 years, Francois reflected on the incident and reported the following in an interview

I paid a huge personal price for this disaster. I was diagnosed as suffering from depression and anxiety. This continued for four years. Thankfully my wife and family stood by me for I was very low. After four years I picked myself up and resumed my career within the business, becoming managing director two years later and driving the company to become the leading national food processor with a 15% market share.


Learning Enablers

Learning Dialogues


Truth and Trust

Two elements of truth

Self-Disclosure

SHARING what I know about myself

(& you don’t know about me)

Perceptions of Others

SHARING how I experience you

(& that you are unaware of)

Truth


MAKING TRUTH TRANSPARENT

BELIEFS& ASSUMPTIONS

EMOTIONS & THOUGHTS

FACTS DATA

INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE


Why is “truth” is hard to find?

• Being open (disclosing) might make us vulnerable, and so weaken our authority

• If we tell people how we perceive them, it might be painful for them

…but why don’t we like to offend other people?

Because if we offend another person, they may feel rejected and get defensive.…

….and in turn they might reject us


Truth & Trust


Putting it to Practice: Learning Dialogue

Reflect on a personal experience of dissonance

• Think about an experience in the last 5 years where you felt or experienced dissonance

• Examples might include- taking up a new role or new responsibilities- confused by a performance outcome you weren’t expecting- being told things that may not be pleasant to hear- experiencing a life changing event and not knowing what to make of it

Emotion is the best guide in terms of where to start. So start with when you felt confused, angry, frustrated or irritated.

Prepare a 3- 5 minute verbal narrative that describes the experience and what you learnt from it.


Observer

Narrator Enquirer

Fishbowl Dialogue


RolesNarrator (explore own learning)

Be as open as you wishNotice when you get defensiveExplore your own feelings, emotions, assumptions and biases

Enquirer (lowers defences to help narrator learn)• Questioning: Who, what, when, how and why• Ask questions that lower defences: • Hypothesising:” I’m wondering”….”perhaps”…..”maybe”……• Probing: Say a bit more about that…• Don’t expect complete answers• Stay with the person, like an interview: It’s not a dialogue, and its not

about you. Your role is to help learning.• Summarising: Restating/rephrasing what you’ve heard

Observers:• Noticing the dynamic • Feel the openness• Discuss with each other


What is Learning in Depth?

FEEDBACK -> CHANGE, SELF REGULATIONFix it; Change it; Stop it

Rules of Thumb, Generalised Knowledge

ExplorationLocalised, Personalised Specific Knowledge

MINDFUL -> CURIOSITY

In – Depth Learning

Surface Learning

https://vimeo.com/97370236

https://vimeo.com/97370236


Learning Narrative

1. Narrator shares his/her learning narrative (3-5 mins)

2. Enquirer and Narrator explore what more the narrator could learn from these experiences (10 mins)Observer does not talk during this phase–

3. The Observer then discusses the dialogue – what they felt or observed was really going on in the dialogue – (5 mins)Narrator and peer coach cannot talk during this phase–


Team Dialogues

Team Dialogues


Team Dynamics GET STUCK

http://joesfishpond.com/images/AquariumAnimated.gif

The “stuckness” of teams is inevitable

Entrenched conflict

Permanentalliances

RepeatedCompetition

Lack of Safety

Centralised, or Polarised authority


Dialogue 1: “Team Clinic”• Draw a sociogram – a single visual representation or image of you, a

team you lead or are a member of. Minimum 5 people. Maximum 15 people

• The image should reflect the deeper underlying dynamics in your team, reflecting dynamics. The image should capture what is really going on in your team, from your perspective, at a deeper level.

• You should use colours, shapes, lines to represent any or all of the following:

- Authority- taken up, not taken up, excessively taken up;- Coalitions, competition and conflicts (pairs, triads, scapegoats);

• Identify individual people by names, initials, function, or if you need to disguise them, use a letter.


Dialogue: “The Bus”Resources: A large sheet of paper (A3-A1); A space to draw in; Different coloured marker pens.

Task: Use the metaphor of a bus and its surroundings to create an image that represents a team you lead or are a member of.

Preparation:1. Draw an image of a bus.2. Place members of the team on the page and identify them by name, initials or job

function. 3. Include all the people in the team, but feel free to add other people who affect the

team, or who are affected by your team.4. Include yourself on the page5. Add other objects associated with the bus metaphor to your image, such as:

• Bus stops• The destination or route number of the bus• Bus depot or garage• Surrounding landscape• Any other objects that come to mind


Inner Dialogue

Building Self Awareness

Ben BryantProfessor of Leadership


What makes you feel most satisfied, happy, proud, and fulfilled?

Values Points(total = 600)

1. Money, Comfort, “no worries”

2. Structure, certainty, “no surprises”

3. Belonging, connection, not alone

4. Recognition, status (also money)

5. Power, control over resources

6. Autonomy, personal development & growth

600

Allocate a total of 600 points between these 6 “values”

100

100

100

100

100

100

80

120

80

150

50

120


48 46

5964

7677

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Comfort/Lifestyle Structure Relationships Recognition Power Autonomy/Growth

Average Management Profile - Main Goals - 2008

Main Goals










outer journey

inner journey


outer journey

inner journey

1955

2015

Father: 1927 - 2004

1965

1975

1985

1995

2005

Enters family

business

Vancouver Office

London Office

Commercial Director

CEO & Chairman

Wanted to be a doctor

Divorced

Married 3 children

Ongoing Personal Learning &

Growth

IdentifyingSuccessor

RejectionSuppression

Isolation

Resentment

Catharsis

Discovered self in CEO

Role

ReluctanceAmbivalence


British Museum: History of the World in 100 Objects

Objects

Narratives, StoriesChapters in history

Identity

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world/objects.aspx

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world/objects.aspx


Which three objects would you choose to represent 5 chapters

of the 20th Century

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world/objects.aspx#99

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world/objects.aspx#99


.

Which three objects would you choose to represent three chapters of your life