Toxic Forms of Leadership

Maybe not toxic but certainly wet!

Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, the current re-read Saturday book, is an example of a toxic environment on a grand scale. Every attribute that we reviewed earlier in this theme on toxic cultures can be found in the tale Mr. Carreyrou describes. In the next installment of the re-read we are stepping back from the narrative to highlight how toxic cultures at this level can be used as a cautionary tale to help keep teams on the straight and narrow.  Highlighting the behaviors of a toxic leader provides another framework to evaluate or identify a toxic environment.

 

SPaMCAST 518 – Leadership, Coaching, and Mentoring, An Interview With Rebecca Staton-Reinstein

http://www.spamcast.net

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SPaMCAST 518 features our interview with Rebecca Staton-Reinstein.  We discussed leadership, the difference between leadership and management, coaching versus mentoring and who should own your improvement program.  Rebecca and I have known each other for years and I have always enjoyed her wisdom and pragmatic advice. She really delivers the goods.

Rebecca’s bio:

REBECCA STATON-REINSTEIN, Ph.D. is the president of Advantage Leadership, Inc.

Where she works with companies around the world that want strategic leaders and engaged employees to increase bottom- and top-line results and delight customers. Clients achieve their goals through strategic planning and leadership, management, team, and organizational development. Rebecca’s team works with clients to craft customized, successful solutions to their complex business issues in all economic sectors. Rebecca’s says, “Our mission is your success.”

For over 25 years, Rebecca has contributed improved organizational value as a leader, manager, technologist, keynoter, educator, and consultant honored by organizations on four continents. She is a Ph.D. in organizational development, MBTI® Master Practitioner, a National Speakers Association Professional Member, St. Petersburg Engineering Academy Foreign Member, and Board of Directors Chairperson-Elect, Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce.

Contact Information:

Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President

Advantage Leadership, Inc.

320 S Flamingo Road, Suite 291, Pembroke Pines, FL 33027

Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com

Phone: +305-606-9312  

Web:  http://www.AdvantageLeadership.com  

Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/RSRpage

Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccastatonreinstein

Re-Read Saturday News
We continue our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018).  Today based on the advice of Stephen Adams we tackle chapters three, four and five. The chapters  are titled, “Apple Envy”, “Goodbye East Paly” and “Childhood Neighbors.” The chapters we cover this week paint a picture of a toxic culture full of deceit, naiveté, and vindictiveness; this will be a blockbuster movie someday. While Theranos sounds extraordinary, it isn’t hard to find similar corporate train wrecks. Bad Blood needs to be read as a cautionary tale.

Current Week:  Week 3 — Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors – https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO

Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t   

 

Negative and Unhealthy Reciprocity

What is the outcome if the sign is on the ground?

In our essay Reciprocity or Manipulation, we broached the idea that reciprocity can be negative. Negative actions are often reciprocated with negative actions.  Just yell at a driver who just misses you as you jog through a city and see what response you get. In general, negative reciprocity is behavior that occurs when an action has a negative effect on someone and that someone returns with an action that is approximately as negative. Tit for tat behavior is a polite way to describe negative reciprocity.

 

Turn the Ship Around! By L. David Marquet Re-read Saturday Week 19, Final Thoughts

Turn the Ship Around

Today we complete our re-read of Turn the Ship Around! with a few final thoughts.  Next week we will begin The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along).

As I have noted before, I was introduced originally to David Marquet’s remarkable book by Bill Fox (Bill’s website is Container 13) who suggested that I read the book and interview Captain Marquet for the Software Process and Measurement Cast. I did both.  If I remember correctly I read the book in over a weekend traveling between DC and Cleveland. The interview followed (SPaMCAST 202).  Over the years I have read the book’s workbook, a set of flashcards and generated numerous bookmarks for the Leadership Nudge (video).  This is the long around saying that I have been heavily influenced by Marquet’s work; an influence that is still growing.   

 

Turn the Ship Around! By L. David Marquet Re-read Saturday Week 18, Chapters 28 and 29, A New Method of Resupplying and Ripples

Turn the Ship Around

We will complete our re-read of Turn The Ship Around next week with a few final thoughts.  The next book in the series will be The Checklist Manifesto  (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) by  Atul Gawande. Today we complete re-reading the chapters in  L. David Marquet’s Turn the Ship Around!  Chapter 28, 29 and Afterthoughts complete Marquet’s reflection on the leader-leader model and his journey of discovery.

Chapter 28: A New Method of Resupplying

The setup question for this chapter is, “Do you want to empower employees but find that empowerment programs don’t help?”

The story Marquet uses to drive the ideas in the chapter home centers around the Santa Fe’s need for oil to be resupplied due to a leak. If the Sante Fe is not resupplied the boat will not be able to keep its perfect record of meeting all mission goals.  The supply ship Rainier is also transiting the Straits of Hormuz (another one of those busy scary places). Using the normal channels getting supplies from the Rainier would have taken too long. Personnel on both vessels found a way to get the Santa Fe the oil, trade mail and also some fresh fruit.  

 

Turn the Ship Around! By L. David Marquet Re-read Saturday Week 17, Chapters 26 and 27, Combat Effectiveness and Homecoming

Turn the Ship Around

 

I forecast, barring any huge incidents, that we will complete our re-read of Turn The Ship Around on 22 July, 2018.  The next book in the series will be The Checklist Manifesto  (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) by  Atul Gawande. Today we tackle two more chapters in L. David Marquet’s Turn the Ship Around!  

 

Chapter 26: Combat Effectiveness

The question that opens this chapter is “Are you looking for resilience in your organization?”

 

Turn the Ship Around! By L. David Marquet Re-read Saturday Week 14, Part IV and Chapter 21, Under Way for Deployment

In week 14 of our re-read of L. David Marquet’s Turn the Ship Around!  we begin Part IV of Turn The Ship Around and tackle chapter 21. The first three parts of the book bring the story to the beginning of deployment of the Santa Fe, Part iV picks up from there.

Part I – Starting Over – This section profile why Marquet is frustrated with leader-follower model of leadership.

Part II – Control – This section profiles the change and command and begins to layout Marquet’s vision of a leader – leader model of leadership. This section delivers mechanisms for control in a leader – leader model.

Part III – Competence – This section builds on the story of how the Santa Fe prepares for deployment and Marquet lays out mechanisms for building technical competence, the second leg of his leader-leader model.

Part IV – Clarity – This section completes the leader – leader model, focusing on the third leg of the leader – leader model, clarity.

Clarity means that people at all levels of the organization understand the nuances of what the organization is about. I have recently changed job and have gone through a few weeks of difficult product training. At first, I bridled at not diving into the day-to-day activities of my coaching. Re-reading this section is a reminder that developing an understanding of the organization’s values by translating them into behaviors and product will pay huge dividends in the long run by pushing decision making down the chain of command.

Chapter 21: Under Way for Deployment