Judgment to Value

I’ve had the good fortune of participating in my employer’s “Leadership Academy”.  On our first day together, I received results of a survey of my behaviors and social characteristics, as perceived by work-mates and partners.  These indicated excellent reception from the surveyed participants, but I knew this was a relatively “safe” subset of the people with whom I frequently interact in the workplace.  So despite these positive results, deep down I knew I was conflicted.  I knew how difficult it was for me sometimes to accept and respect my teammates’ participation and input.  At the time, I’d probably rather work by myself, angry, than have to graciously accept the input of a less-than-perfectly-informed-or-committed partner. 

Fortunately, during this first session of the Academy, the concept of the climbing the “Judging to Value” ladder was introduced, almost as an afterthought.  The idea here is to allow one to progress from judgment of others; through acceptance and respect, to a state of truly valuing them.  This concept became crucial to me as I realized that I was judgmental and under-valued the contributions of others.  I had allowed only a very few people to earn my full respect. I further realized that more people probably deserved this respect.  I’d personally benefit if I were more inclusive and respectful to others.  I was also fortunate to realize early in the process that this experience wasn’t just about work; it could help me be a better person.  I’d benefit from reduced frustration and greater happiness; those around me would benefit from my new and improved outlook.  Maybe we’d all benefit from greater effectiveness in our common pursuits.

Accordingly, during the Academy (and there-after!), many of my efforts pertained to active listening, sharing my thoughts more freely, inclusion of others, appreciation of others (both in my private reflections and also publicly), and rallying teammates and partners toward our common goals.

I did a lot of reading and reflection.  Most of my reading choices emphasized leadership skills in action, especially within a historical context (explorations, battles, etc.)  Not only were these accounts more interesting to read than most current biz-buzz type self-improvement books, they demonstrated how true leadership affects outcomes that really matter, both on a large scale, but also for the immediate welfare of the leader’s teammates, partners, co-workers and “employees”.

One of the books I read (much to the amusement and disbelief of my immediate family!) was ‘The Journals of Lewis and Clark’, edited by Bernard DeVoto.  The Introduction (see especially Section 6) to this work emphasizes the importance of the Missouri Purchase and explorations to our nation’s history, while briefly examining the skills of Lewis and Clark that enabled their success.   So many of these skills seem obvious, but complementary skill sets and teamwork; ingenuity and resourcefulness; technical skills; and respect (earned and given) are identified.   However, Lewis and Clark’s greatest achievements were in dealing with indigenous people; and here they were “obviously friendly and fair, scrupulously honest, interested, understanding, courteous, and respectful...Lewis and Clark respected the Indians’ personal dignity…It paid off. (Introduction, page lv).”

Let’s face it, these are not bad recipes for dealing with any partner or teammate, and while we all should have apparently learned these skills in kindergarten, not all of us attended kindergarten.  Trust is earned.  Our actions must be consistent with our communications.  Relationships are built on this earned trust, but this takes time.  By partnering and teaming with those with whom we share mutual trust, we can achieve a higher goal or create a better work product than one can by working alone.  Without that trust, our effectiveness is diminished.

I’ve always had a bias for technical superiority; that’s long been a goal and a source of pride to me.  However, these realizations have made it clear that this is just one aspect of my work, life, and value.  I’ve grown to a fuller understanding of how we interact with and are perceived by others.  I now realize that our technical expertise is most productively applied when we’ve built relationships.  Without the foundation of trust, “what we can do” may not be asked for, realized, or respected.  I’m also more likely to recognize, seek, value and benefit from the “non-technical” skills of those around me, hopefully to our mutual benefit.

So what’s this got to do with my boat, my fishing, my Numenon?  I continue to strive to incorporate these simple concepts into my daily life.  I think my relationships with others have benefited, and my active appreciation of these relationships has improved the quality of our shared experiences.  There was a time when I would hope that a person leaving my boat after a day’s fishing would say, “That guy can fish!”  Now I’d rather hear, “What a nice guy to fish with!”  While I suspect that any given day is better with more fish as opposed to fewer fish, or bigger fish as compared to smaller fish, the key to really sharing an experience is to focus on the people involved, and the physical setting of the pursuit,  not the fish.  Everybody’s got something to contribute, it’s fun to be open to new ideas and techniques, and isn’t it better to be perceived as a nice guy, rather than a pricka donna, regardless of how skilled?