I concluded last time by observing that, in order to change a long-held habit of behavior, the Daily Improviser leader first needs to unlearn the old habit before the new habit can take root. Once he has jolted himself out of his former reflexive behaviors, the leader can then start to implement strategies to put new ways of acting into effect.
Leaders often mistakenly think that they can learn the new behaviors by merely attending training and developing a general awareness of how they might need to change. However, as Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee observe in their book Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence:
“A teacher can’t instruct your brain circuits that carry old habits of leadership to relearn new habits. What’s needed is practice: The more often a behavioral sequence repeats, the stronger the underlying brain circuits become. People literally rewire their brains.”
Clearly, developing a more emotionally intelligent approach to leading requires consistent, targeted on-the-job application of the new skills. Yet, in the rush of time during the typical workday, a leader commonly finds herself backsliding in her commitment to changing her behaviors. It’s easier just to do it the old way.
To overcome this tendency, a leader might consider some strategies that Goleman et al. recommend. First, they suggest that leaders use a “stealth learning” approach, i.e., experimenting with the new behaviors in naturally occurring situations both on and off the job. “The trick,” they say, “is to learn while doing other things.”
By way of example, the authors describe a study of IT leaders. As is common for people in these roles, the leaders had first gained career success through their proficiency at solving problems in relative isolation, but then needed to learn interaction skills to become more effective in their leadership roles. To do this, they engaged in such learning strategies as:
• Taking leadership roles in volunteer organizations;
• Planning conferences for professional associations;
• Practicing team building in settings such as community or church organizations.
Goleman et al. cite one IT leader who developed stronger emotional intelligence skills through his service on a church group:
“My church group easily lent itself to people expressing feelings and opinions. Where, as an engineer, I usually felt the need to always have a logical flow, in the group I became more accepting of less structure. Over time, that acceptance worked its way into how I acted as a leader – less concerned with flow and content and more attuned to group process.”
Almost by definition, stealth learning lets the leader develop mastery of new behaviors below the level of conscious awarness. To paraphrase John Lennon, skills are happening while the leader is busy doing other things.
(I'll continue next time with some additional strategies for making the leap from novice to master.)
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