Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

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  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> Integrity #2: Character, Integrity and Reality

    thought-leadersImages don’t get any better than this. The wake a boat leaves as it plows through the water.

    We also leave a wake as we plow through our day at work. It’s an interesting fact to consider.

    Integrity, by Henry CloudWith this simple analogy Cloud equips us with a non-judgmental tool for thinking about our impact on others. I don’t know about you, but when I sense the “blame game” in the vicinity, my defenses go up and I shift out of learning mode and into self-protection mode.

    But that I leave a wake is just a fact. It raises the question that Cloud asks us to consider, which is “What sort of wake to I leave?” A question I am free to consider and learn from. Any learning or adjusting I do as a result of my reflection is my own. With this simple question I am empowered to coach myself.

    My second main take-away from this chapter is that the demands of reality determine the requirements of the design. By defining character as my ability to meet the demands of reality, Cloud switches up the motivational equation for me.

    I already want to be able to meet the demands of reality. No one has to convince me. There are no moral constructs someone else is asking me to adopt. I am by my own desire to fully engage with my own life predisposed to what might help prepare me for the journey ahead.

    When I hear that the depth, breadth, and substance of my character are key to meeting the demands of reality, I want to invest in the development, strengthening and exercise of my character.

    The pressures of a private consulting practice, a family experiencing a variety of transitions and a desire to develop a plethora of ideas for transforming the workplace in America, often leave me dizzy from spinning in so many directions. I want to engage of each of these fronts. I want to make the next set of choices required by each, and then the next set and the next.

    The quality and effectiveness of engagement will arise from within… from what sort of character I have… or don’t. Yet.

    What was your main take-away from Chapter 2?

    Each Friday I post my reflections from one chapter of Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by Henry Cloud. If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Loving Monday: The Summer Season

    loving_mondayJust two more weeks of school for my kids. Some of your kids are finished already.

    The summer season requires a number of adjustments in our schedules, approaches and attitudes. The kids are off school. The vacations start picking up in earnest. The traffic patterns themselves change.

    Everyone is affected. Even if you don’t have kids or already went on vacation, the fact that so many others around you do and are will have its impact on you.

    If we have a seasonal approach to the working year, summer adjustments are experienced as an expected acquaintance rather than an abrupt intruder. It’s a matter of perspective. It’s a decision about attitude. Keeping the seasons in mind is a form of preparation.

    You know what to expect when summer arrives and are ready. You have methods for adjusting schedules to accommodate vacations. You know who is away dropping kids off at day camp. You are not thrown off guard by the afternoon telephone calls arbitrating sibling warfare or helping someone deal with their boredom.

    Seasons. Rhythms. They are our reality. The sooner we accept them and work alongside instead of against their flow, the sooner we can find our own productivity rhythm .

    Two more weeks and everything changes. I’m getting ready. Are you?

  • Question of the Week

    Who might be an unexpected resource that you have overlooked until now?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Listen In -> Job Hunting in a Difficult Market #4: Your Job Hunting Strategy

    You’ve made a decision.

    You are not going to let the climate of fear in the economy discourage your job hunt.

    When our ideal dream job is not available, what are our alternatives? Disappointment or devastation are not very helpful ways forward, even if they describe how we feel at the moment.

    This week Claudia and I discuss how to decide what to do “in the mean time.” Not just waiting out the recession in a lousy job, but using our transferable skills as building blocks on the way to a better position.

    What about an imperfect position where you can learn new skills? What about a less than ideal role where you can establish helpful connections?

    Listen in.

  • Stop By and Say Hi

    This week we’re asking those of you listening to our podcast to stop by and say hi.

    Many of you are listening via an iTunes subscription or a feed reader, and we haven’t had a chance to meet.

    Leave a comment on this post letting us know who you are and where you’re located.

    We’d love to acknowledge you and greet you in return. We appreciate your participation in the Working Matters community.

    On your side,

    The Working Matters podcast team

    – Karl, Claudia and Jorge

  • Question of the Week

    Who can you talk with this week who will help you think outside of the box?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> Integrity #1: The Three Essentials

    thought-leadersCompetence. Alliances. Character. The “three essentials.”

    While affirming the crucial importance of the first two characteristics of successful people, Henry Cloud introduces his book, Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, with the spotlight on character.

    Integrity, by Henry CloudThe significance of this insight to these times of economic turmoil is huge. I would suggest that it was competent, well-connected professionals who lacked the third essential, character, who got us into this mess. People who could carry out their functions and leverage the systems with spectacular agility, but who did not know for what or for whom (other than themselves) or to what end they worked so hard.

    The timing for such a book as this could not be more significant. The value of such a discussion (more…)

  • Loving Monday: Caring Enough to Reengage

    loving_mondayThree day weekends can bring us back to work refreshed or exhausted.

    The difference between the two, interestingly enough, does not have to do with how busy you were over the weekend. The difference between returning refreshed or exhausted has to do with how much you care about what you do.

    For those who care, some space from work functions like recharging the batteries. We return ready to reengage, refocus and dig in to the task at hand. For those who are indifferent about their jobs (or worse, hate their jobs), a long weekend is like a festering open wound. The pain accompanies you everywhere even as you do your best to escape it.

    What’s important here is realizing that a powerful distinguishing factor between these two is in your control.

    Choosing to care about your work.

    Even in a less than ideal job we can find creative ways to care about what we do to whatever extent we can.

    We can raise our quality game. We can choose to help a team member. We can improve a cumbersome procedure. We can go an extra mile for an unreasonable client. We can say, “Thank you” more often.

    The amazing thing about caring is that no one can do it for you. It is totally and completely a personal decision, choice, and act. Caring is you choosing to show up and make a difference. Even in the circumstances of organizational powerlessness, caring is a demonstration of power.

    Hence its energizing, restorative impact on our ability to reengage after being away from work. Try it.

    On your side,

    – Karl

  • Question of the Week

    Whose feedback can you trust as insightful, helpful and safe?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked: Integrity by Henry Cloud

    Integrity, by Henry CloudGiven that denial is one of my favorite coping mechanisms, it might seem odd that I would ever pick up a book about meeting “the demands of reality.”

    But here I am. Again.

    I feel like I’ve been wrestling with this book, Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, since it first came out in 2006. It seems that when learning needs to go deeper than simply acquiring new competencies, that time (read years) and practice (read many mistakes) are involved.

    Hence the rationale for working through this challenging piece together here on “Thought Leaders Unpacked.”

    For many of us there is an unnoticed disconnect between our job performance and our self-understanding. When we think about work, we think about the tasks, responsibilities, goals, processes, and deadlines involved. We don’t have tools for considering how we ourselves might be a part of the problems we are trying to address.

    When thinking about ways to help our employees work harder and smarter, we seldom include our own behavior in the mix of factors contributing to their shortcomings, challenges, or motivation levels.

    A mirror and a map. Where can we find a mirror that will help us take a look at ourselves? What maps are available to help us navigate a more centered, realistic approach to developing our own character at work?

    Join me in conversation each week as I post my reflections on one chapter of Integrity. There is no learning like learning from each other.

    Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality

    • Introduction: Why Integrity Matters
    • Character Dimension 1: Establishing Trust
    • Character Dimension 2: Oriented Toward Truth
    • Character Dimension 3: Getting Results
    • Character Dimension 4: Embracing the Negative
    • Character Dimension 5: Oriented toward Increase
    • Character Dimension 6: Oriented Toward Transcendence

    Forward this post to someone you think would benefit from our discussion. Every voice matters.

    Each Friday I post my reflections from one chapter of Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by Henry Cloud.