Responsiveness is good. In moderation.

What is not good are the unintended consequences that develop when responsiveness overtakes purpose. When the daily barrage of stuff that commands your attention crowds out time for reflection and planning, you will soon find yourself lost at sea. Perhaps more discouraging is the fact that when your mind is in a constant state of alertness, poised to respond to the next unpredictable stimulus, it becomes foggy and fatigued. Your thinking is less sharp, your decision making less focused. Your confidence takes a hit.

I am seeing this fatigue in many places—business, education, even philanthropy. Credit some of it to the relentless pace of information and escalating need. Combine it with the frothy admonitions of motivational types encouraging you to embrace life with gusto and go for the gold (especially at today’s rates). Without a filter, you are helpless.

Your computer’s spam filter operates on your behalf without your having to think about it. That’s good. But you need another, more powerful, filter to help you organize the information, requests, and commands coming at you in order to respond with confidence and a sense of equilibrium.

This filter is called priorities. It is constructed of goals and powered by purpose. Goals and purpose require reflection and planning. You see the problem.

Another aspect of responsiveness that may keep you stuck is the goodness you feel when you are able to satisfy a request or solve a problem. Even if the presenting request or problem has nothing to do with your goals or purpose, helping others feels good. Until one day you realize that over weeks, months, and maybe years, you have not accomplished what you meant to, and all your good-hearted activity has kept you locked in place.

This is not an either/or equation. You do not have to choose your work over helping others. It is a yes/and. But it starts with some sort of plan for your life. When you know what you want to accomplish, you can organize your time to make sure you progress toward your goals. Requests that do not align in some way can be deflected, referred elsewhere, or ignored. As a dear psychologist friend told me years ago, “Just because you can help doesn’t mean you should.” Wise words for many reasons, not the least of which is reclaiming your time and energy in order to respond to your dreams.

We live in a data-gorged world, where most everything can be measured in microns and progress can be tracked real-time. In theory, this rich availability of data should enhance every decision by helping us base judgments on data, not supposition, and logic, not emotion.

Unfortunately, this very condition of ubiquitous data can distract us from what is important and cause us to track ourselves right into urgent care!

Consider the evolution of the bathroom scale, the must-have tool of measurement for all dieters. Weight used to be measured in stones, literally. As science evolved and man’s curiosity about his weight advanced, newer technologies and a numeric scale were developed. Revolving wheels imprinted with numbers inside the scale rolled up and up until his weight was revealed. Depending on how he stood on the scale, he could manipulate the data by a pound or two. (Trust me, I know.) Today’s scales provide far more accurate digital readouts, along with body fat and water measurements in 0.1% increments should he (you) desire this information. (I don’t own one.)

Imagine that today’s dieter takes 20 readings a day. Minuscule changes in the data might be a source of satisfaction, distress, or pure musing. How much brain space would this consume? Where else might these intellectual and emotional ‘calories’ be better spent?

More to the point, which of the 20 data points should be a cause for new behavior? How many ounces of food or water, how many steps from desk to cafeteria, how many trips to the restroom would positively affect the digital readout?

At some point, information becomes not only redundant, but harmful. All systems operate within statistical norms and in every system some data falls outside these norms. When errant data points become numerous they create patterns. These patterns tell us about the health or distress of the system. If we are focused on noticing every data point real-time, it becomes impossible to discern patterns or analyze causes.

Today’s businesses rely more and more heavily on data for decision-making, sometimes simply because data is available. But judgment born of experience and hard-won lessons must also have a seat at the decision-making table. Even more important, keeping a clear eye on where we are going and why must trump our propensity to monitor and react to rapid, continual streams of data.

Common sense is as rare today as it has always been. Let’s not allow our sophisticated tracking and measurement systems to bury it once and for all.

This week from The Backbone Institute:

The Leadership App

We will soon begin work in Brunei.

Is a leader the same in all parts of the world?

We are betting the answer is “yes.”

Our other work:

NYC – transform public schools with Mayor Bloomberg.

Texas – charter schools – bolder leadership essential to build new schools that give students the ability to learn skills they need for the 21st century.

IB Schools growing – kids need broader education, building on basics. Students living in expanded global world. Must learn to deal with other cultures and recognize opportunities.

From a leadership standpoint, requires people to create a vision – what we believe the world will look like and what you need to be equipped with in order to thrive.

How to become the leader people are looking for?

Noel Tichy – professor at University of Michigan has written 13 books on leadership. His latest: “Judgment.” How to make judgment calls and see them through.

Leadership App – there are many, many upgrades!

Begin with fundamentals. 5 Skills from The Backbone Institute. How well do you think, decide, communicate, do what you say, and stay consistent?

A common theme? Yes, a very human one. People want to step up to leadership role. The challenge is developing confidence to step to the front, lead the way, attempt to create shared vision and a way to get there. This is scary, it feels risky.

People want to do the work and they’re afraid. Step out of comfort zone to do the work; riskiness sends them back. Inconsistency in behavior destroys credibility of leaders.

How to prepare for work in Brunei? Approach it as an open slate. See how they are reacting to what we are teaching. Gauge readiness to adopt and work with new ideas. Build relationships across cultures.

I will remind myself to breathe deep, work to respond not react, be curious, and take good notes!

These practices translate to anyone entering a new situation. The willingness to be curious, inquisitive, and open to discovery is a human app that deserves attention, work and purposeful energy.

I will try to use social media to send discoveries from Brunei. We will work to build bridge between cultures and develop leadership capacity around the globe.

This week from The Backbone Institute:

Why is Change in Schools so Difficult?

Thanks to John in NYC for his email. He wrote:

Would like to know more of your perspectives on schools and why you think improvement, growth, and change are so challenging in so many of them.

[Susan Marshall’s comments are editorial, based on experience with school systems. She is not a licensed educator.]

Curriculum outdated. Tend to change it using new ideas from Ph.D. studies, new classroom ideas, which get tested, then rolled out or shelved.

Similar to updating technology

Legacy systems, new software applications don’t “talk” well

Add lots more diversity in school systems

· Cultures

· Languages

How to teach? Native language or English?

What gets lost in translation?

Great debate re: America as melting pot

Change difficult because we don’t listen well when we believe we’re right

Discourse best when:

· Civil

· Creates new understanding, new ways of thinking

· Leads to shared vision

Inclusion – primary task of leadership

What needs to happen among faculty, school leaders to create environment where

· Kids are challenged to learn

· Feel safe to learn

Challenge: How to develop confidence to listen to alternative viewpoints, share knowledge and new ideas, engage in true collaboration?

Who to benchmark? Where to look for things that are working well?

· Tend to seek like entities

· Why not dissimilar others?

· Tend to isolate ourselves within our professions – creates bureaucracies

Brunei – create entirely new way of doing things

· New learning

· How is our instruction landing?

· What will happen as a result?

· Create spirit of inquiry and curiosity

Next time from The Backbone Institute: What has more apps than an iPhone?

This week from The Backbone Institute:

Leadership in Education

Last week we mentioned new work in Brunei. Similar to work we did in NYC when Mayor Bloomberg took over the schools.

Started a new Leadership Academy at Uplift charter schools in Dallas in January.

Will start another for a charter school system in South Texas in July.

What’s broken?

Not enough strong leaders to change old broken systems, bust up old bureaucracies.

Too many kids not getting the education they need.

Curriculum in many schools is dated. Trying to update it is similar to upgrading technology working with legacy systems and introducing new technologies and systems. They don’t talk well to each other.

Curriculum that is updated in bits and pieces doesn’t hang together. No integration.

Meanwhile, kids less disciplined.

Teachers = caretakers as much as educators.

What School Leaders Can Do

· Understand responsibilities. Kids watch adults!

· Make decisions, draw boundaries, be consistent, be respectful of each other.

· Manage conflict.

What Parents Can Do

· Get involved. Meet school leaders and teachers.

· Understand curriculum.

· Work hard with children – do not drop and run!

Looking for an opportunity to be a leader in community or schools?

Education needs leaders!

If you have interest, get involved.

Sign up, jump in, give us your best.

This week from The Backbone Institute:

A Call for Leaders

Special announcement: Susan Marshall going to Brunei in March!

We need leaders!

Susan teaches an MBA Leadership class. The Brunei work is about leadership in school systems.

Some common notions/misunderstandings about Leadership – why people are reluctant to assume leadership role.

· It’s about making people happy. No. It’s about results.

· It takes special abilities. No. It takes purposeful action.

· It’s bigger than most people. It’s yours if you choose to develop yourself.

· Young people are not eager to pursue leadership roles.

o Too much time required – no life balance

o Don’t want the hassles

o Other ways to make a difference

It’s good to know what you want and what you are willing to do to get it.

The Backbone Institute weekly feature:

CALL UP YOUR CHARACTER!

You can be a leader!

Here’s how to prepare yourself: Remember competence builds confidence that enables you to take the risk of becoming a leader.

Learn the industry you’re in — healthcare, engineering, automotive, retail, hospitality, entertainment, manufacturing, etc.

Get to know your customers.

Learn about your competitors. Google alerts.

Stay current with technology.

Study people.

Watch who gets things done in your organization.

Pay attention to what engages and motivates people.

Watch what shuts people down.

Understand yourself. Know what you want. Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE: “Leadership is an intense journey within. It starts with a constituency of one.”

Know your strengths.

Ask for feedback.

Surround yourself with people who do what you don’t.

Keep a journal or log.

Watch leadership exchanges.

What works?

What doesn’t?

What can you learn?

Leadership is a contact sport! If you want to be a leader, go for it!

If not, be a good follower. Tell your leaders what you need. Speak up when things aren’t right.

We see these things happening in Milwaukee and feel outraged, ashamed, and sometimes incredulous, but largely paralyzed to do anything about it. What’s going on?

I had the privilege of helping to build a Leadership Academy in New York City when Mayor Bloomberg took over the public school system in 2003. As in all change initiatives, our work was difficult, uneven, and stimulating. Thanks to tremendous engagement, dedication, and perseverance, we made things better for kids.

Earlier this month, I was once again privileged to help launch a new Leadership Academy for a charter school system in Dallas, Texas. Forty school leaders overcame their anxiety about leaving school for five days and their skepticism that any leadership experience could have a meaningful impact on their lives or their work to participate in the beginning of a six-month leadership development journey. They received encouragement from a New York City principal who sent the following (excerpted) message:

“It is a great honor for me to send a message of encouragement your way. Seven years ago I was in your shoes, anxious, nervous but committed to becoming an exemplary school leader. The weight of the world seemed to be on my shoulders, and now that I look back, I can safely say, that it was. My saving grace was that I was in the company of those who could advise me, direct me, encourage me, and teach me what true leadership means. To say that their influence was great in my bringing a failing school to the peak of success is an understatement. Their expertise, manner, and emotional support helped me develop into a confident leader with a vision for my school’s development and ultimate rebirth. Remember, that the work we do in schools will change the lives of children, our country, and society itself.”

We will launch another Leadership Academy in south Texas in July. In March, we will do the same in Brunei, a tiny country surrounded by Malaysia, with 250 schools determined to give their children a truly world-class education.

I don’t know anything about Brunei’s schools. What I know about the country comes from a Google search. It is Islam and oil rich. Its governance is dictatorial. This information gives me pause, yet the prospect of working with people who are willing to step out of their comfort zone (a fundamental premise of our work) to help children learn, grow, and embrace a future of opportunity energizes me tremendously.

Why does MPS resist change so vehemently? Why are the excuses for failure so carefully protected? Why are schools that excel in educating kids and creating new opportunity—The Ronald Reagan Wilson College Preparatory High School led by Julia D’Amato—looked upon with suspicion and even disdain?

There is something wrong in the stories being told. The question that thunders through my mind as I read and watch and listen is: “How dare you destroy the future for these kids?”

Of course nobody thinks in those terms. We are all good people, after all, looking after the interests of our young people. But, in the words of a Dallas educator who shared this “ah-ha” realization with me this week, “We are enabling people to be disabled.”

For the sake of our kids and their futures, let’s cut that out.

How To Ace the Interview

At The Backbone Institute, we don’t want you to just do okay in your next interview, we want you to ace it!

TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT

· Hyper competitive – many people looking for work

· High level of candidate motivation

· Uneven level of interviewer skill

· Fuzzy job descriptions

· Sloppy communication processes

How to Prepare – Competence Builds Confidence!

1. Know your strengths – review past feedback and successes

2. Be ready to talk about accomplishments – they demonstrate your breadth and depth of experience

3. Think about lessons you’ve learned from good and bad experiences. How are you wiser?

4. Know your values – what can you support/go along with and where do you draw the line?

5. Know what you’re looking for now (expedience) and later (strategic)

6. Research the company and industry. We mention it last because if you’re not solid about yourself, it won’t matter who you’re talking to. When you are, understanding your potential employer is priority 1.

CALL UP YOUR CHARACTER!

The Backbone Institute encourages you to approach your next interview being strong, centered, and excited about what you bring. You’ve prepared well!

How to Interview

1. Be authentic. There’s only one you with the set of qualifications, experiences, viewpoints and desires you bring.

2. Listen to the question before you answer.

3. Answer honestly and from your experience. If you want to have a key leadership role in the company someday, say so. If you want to find a safe place to do good work, talk about your interest in being a key contributor on a stable, high performing team.

4. Be prepared to ask your questions – an interview is a two-way street with both parties looking for a match. When one or the other is misrepresented in some way, it won’t work.

Remember that when you are called in for an interview there is some level of interest.

· Explore this interest.

· Highlight what you bring

· Tie it to the business as you understand it

· Express your interest, if it is genuine.

If this is not something that fits you, say so. There is great power in thanking your interviewer for time and interest and declining an opportunity that does not fit your unique qualifications.

To summarize: Look for the right opportunities that will allow you to shine. Prepare yourself. Get ready to wow your interviewer!

Next week from The Backbone Institute: A Call for Leaders.

This week from The Backbone Institute:
STAYING ON TRACK WITH RESOLUTIONS

By now, many people have forgotten about the New Year’s Resolutions they made several weeks ago. The nagging sense of disappointment that comes with failing to keep them may have set in, too.

“Blue Monday” - the most depressing day of the year. It falls on the third Monday in January each year. It is so named due to lousy weather, high debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

If you’re feeling a little down right now, you have a lot of company!

Resolution-making Mistakes
• Trying to change too much at once
• Believing that if you could do less of certain things and more of certain others, your life would be richer, happier, and more satisfying.
• Believing that if you can identify the things you want to change, you will have the ability to change them.
• Forgetting that any change you make will trigger other changes

Diet
• New food in the house
• New food preparation time and routines
• Some days will be boring – Am I going to trade my Big Mac for broccoli?

Workout
• Rearrange daily schedule
• Alter routines
• Having patience to see results

Job
• Disrupted daily routines – new route to work, new sleep schedule, etc.
• New relationships
• Learning curve

The Backbone Institute knows that keeping resolutions is tough! Trying to make a change without planning or reflection simply will not work.

Each week from The Backbone Institute:
CALL UP YOUR CHARACTER

Making a resolution, whether on New Year’s Eve, on the first of the month, to celebrate a birthday, to honor a big event… is about making a promise to yourself. When you break the promise, you disappoint yourself. Don’t do it!
Do this instead.

1. Recognize: Any change will take you off balance.
2. Pick one thing to work on.
3. Set a specific goal and share it with someone.
4. Keep track of your progress – chart, log – noticing it each day will keep you motivated.
5. Don’t over-think it – just do it.
6. Forgive yourself when you lapse.
7. Stick with it for at least three months!

If you make a promise to yourself keep it! Do the work. You will love the way you feel. Let’s carry this feeling throughout the New Year.