Practicing leadership presence foundations of board engagement Nathan Brown Ph.D. TrueBearing Consulting

The Board experience The experience of serving on a board

The Board experience The experience of serving on a board Thinking back on your board career (or any goal-oriented group experience) Identify a “peak” and a “pit” experience How do you make sense of each experience? What made it turn out so well or so poorly?

The Board experience The experience of serving on a board Thinking back on your board career (or any goal-oriented group experience) Identify a “peak” and a “pit” experience How do you make sense of each experience? What made it turn out so well or so poorly? There are at least two ways we tend to make sense of these experiences: In terms of the success or failure of certain leadership techniques In terms of the human/relational strengths and weaknesses of those involved

leadership presence- What is it?

leadership presence- What is it? Leadership presence is a learned ability to focus your attention on the situation at hand to recognize your own range of choices in the moment to empower others to bring their best to the situation

Presence is not a technique “You can’t just cut and paste a few things effective leaders do and expect the same results– Good leadership flows from the inside out.”

Presence brings leadership techniques to life Just as a well-made tool requires the skilled hands of a master carpenter to create something beautiful, the degree of success of any sound board leadership technique depends upon a leader who is fully present.

Leadership Presence and Performance Small wins- focus on chunks of moderate importance Focus on what you can control- efficacy All of us ride this curve: Board colleagues Staff Ourselves

Becoming a non-anxious presence “The most important attribute of a leader is not knowledge or technique but what the leader brings in his/her presence. And the presence he/she needs is a non-anxious presence.” Edwin Friedman, Failure of Nerve.

Cultivating presence in Yourself One habit of highly effective Samurai A board’s level of engagement in its work depends on the extent to which its members are personally present– at the top of their personal performance curve

Cultivating presence in others Always begin with yourself Maintain your own non-anxious presence. You’ll know you’re doing that when you exhibit: Positive attitude Attentive listening, other focused Consistent “people skills” Capacity to be vulnerable, to acknowledge mistakes

Cultivating presence in others Always begin with yourself Cultivate meaningful relationships among board members: bedrock of a healthy organization Recognize that cultivating relationships among board members are as important to the long-term health of the board (and the organization) as the tasks Team up on assignments where possible Offer helpful feedback and genuine appreciation Take time for conversation

Cultivating presence in others Always begin with yourself Cultivate meaningful relationships among board members: bedrock of a healthy organization Identify and support others’ efforts to get atop their own stress curve Identify and support others’ efforts to get on top of their own stress curve Support others’ investment of time and energy in at least some tasks that are personally meaningful to them Encourage others to engage in “small wins”

Cultivating presence in others Four touchstones Always begin with yourself Cultivate meaningful relationships among board members: bedrock of a healthy organization Identify and support others’ efforts to get atop their own stress curve Create a decision making culture that systematically engages all voices Create a decision making culture that systematically engages all voices Next session

Playing the game right The moment could hardly have been bigger for the Mariners’ Bill Risley. Coming into the ninth inning, tying run at the plate of this franchise-defining game, Risley proceed to get two tension-filled outs, pick up his second-career save and send the Mariners on to Game 5. "I was not nervous at all, no butterflies, nothing," Risley told author Chris Donnelly for his 2010 book Baseball's Greatest Series of taking the mound in that game. "Lou (Pinella) told me to 'relax like you've never relaxed before.' That really helped me because he knows I'm an intense guy and I try to overdo it.” (Source: www.greatest21days.com/2012/12/bill-risley-no-butterflies-pc2313.html)

Nathan Brown Ph.D. TrueBearing Consulting LLC nathan@truebearingconsulting.com ©TrueBearing LLC 2016. Contact author for permission to use these materials in whole or in part.