Leading from the Middle and Managing Up

1. Leading from the Middle and Managing Up 10/10/07 Janet Bickel Career Development and Executive Coach

2. Top Middle Bottom Patients and Students Patients and Students

3. POLI - TICS (many) (blood sucking parasites) But: Everything Gets Done through People

4. Leading from the Middle • Requires: • conflict management skills • team building skills • communication skills • emotional intelligence • integrity • service orientation

5. POLI - TICS (many) (blood sucking parasites) But: Everything Gets Done through People

6. Are you Uncomfortable withOrganizational Politics? • When someone disagrees with me, I either assume they’re wrong or I back down. • I’d rather work alone than depend on others. • I’m careful not to step on anybody’s toes. • If someone’s angry with me, I can’t stop thinking about it. • I assume I’ll get what I deserve. • I don’t understand how a lot of important decisions get made.

8. Organizational Iceberg • Events (visible) • Behavior patterns • Structures • Mindsets (stories) • Organizations are: • goal-directed • boundary-maintaining • socially constructed

9. Source: Kathleen Kelley Reardon, The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle, NY: Doubleday, 2000.

10. Increasing your Political Savvy • *Be curious about the systems you work in and how value is created • *Recognize when you’re relying on snap judgments--ask more questions • *Focus on what you can do something about • *Do not internalize negative politics • *Let others know about your work and what you care about • *Anticipate conflicts and make constructive use of them

12. Common Conflict Situations • Disputes about sharing data, personnel, lab equipment, space • A colleague with a similar idea won’t collaborate • Getting credit • Boss favoring an “in group” • Disagreement with powerful senior person • ??

13. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES R E L A T I O N A L C O N C E R N Collaborate Accommodate Compromise Avoid Compete Concern for self-interest Source: Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument

15. Effective Collaboration: *depends on communication skills and individual commitment to group effort *builds understanding of complex issues *leverages differences *increases probability of sustainable change

16. Communication • Debate • Intent on making your point, you argue individual perspective and prevent learning • Dialogue • Listening with fascination and curiosity eg “Tell me more about that” • Asking questions instead of relying on assumptions • Valuing differences and disagreements as an oppy to learn ONE MOUTH TWO EARS

17. Skillful Advocacy ….. • Explain the structure of your thinking ie your reasoning and intent [“This is how I arrived at this idea…”] • Ask for help in understanding your own thinking [“I appreciate that I may be missing something here…. Do you have any insights?”] • Test assumptions and inferences [“Can you walk me through how you came to that conclusion?”] • Use and ask for specific examples • Discuss the undiscussable [“I need to raise what might be a difficult issue…how do others see this?”]

18. ‘PEARLS’: Relationship-building affirmations Partnership I really want to work on this with you. Empathy It sounds like that was hard for you. Acknowledgment You put a lot of work into that. Respect I value your commitment. Legitimization This would be hard for anyone. Support I want to see you succeed.

19. IN BUZZ GROUPS • What political and communication skills do you need to work on? • *How will you develop these skills? • *What can you do differently?

20. Managing “Up”

21. How do you relate to authority figures? • resent? • over-depend? • defer to? • avoid? • compete with? • effectively partner? • other?

22. Managing “Up” means developing a pattern of interaction with your boss that produces the best results. Seek to understand her: • “Big picture” ie, goals, priorities, pressures • Limitations and blindspots • Preferences re communications NB: You don’t need to like your boss

23. From your boss’s point of view: • Do you communicate effectively? • How do you show respect? • Do you keep the boss informed? • Use boss’s time well? • Do you express appreciation? • Solicit and use feedback? • Bring solutions to problems? • How do you handle disagreements?

24. Disagreements with your Boss Did conflict or tension arise primarily from: • Different measures of performance? • Different values or sets of stakeholders? • Lack of respect for you? • Your failure to produce? • Your failure to negotiate?

25. Managing “Up” includes *building trust *communicating effectively *addressing boss’s priorities *anticipating other points of view *agreeing to disagree when necessary *standing up to a bully

26. Don’t assume your work speaks for itself • Timidity is like waiting to be asked on a date • Keep your boss updated • Recognition attracts new opportunities • Use every opportunity to spread the credit and strengthen alliances • Articulate how your productivity and success benefit your institution and profession

27. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) • --To be aware of & understand my own & other’s emotions • --To use my awareness to effectively manage myself in relationship • In many performance areas, EQ matters TWICE as much as technical expertise or IQ • The more complex the work, dependent on others to get the job done, and degree of stress, the more EQ matters

28. Underdeveloped EQ Relationships are often unsatisfying Easily disconnects from others or stays in unhealthy relationships Highly reactive Low capacity for chaos Rigid under stress Relationship healing is slow Low trust in self & others [LSLO] Highly developed EQ Relationships are enjoyable Flexible Relationships are easily repaired Wide tolerance for differences Takes responsibility for Self Good listener High trust of self & others [HSO]

29. IN BUZZ GROUPS • *How can you more effectively partner with your boss? need to work on? • *What can you do to increase your EQ? • *From whom can you seek feedback?