How do organizations thrive? How do you build a thriving organization? What are the ingredients? One of the ingredients to becoming a thriving organization is to have energetic and satisfied people. They are positive and delighted to work in their organization. How can an organization have such people?

The important key is to have benevolent leaders in the organization. Benevolent leaders focus on doing good for others. They are life-affirming and honest. They are modest, kind, compassionate, and giving. They are persons of integrity. They consider the well-being of others. They like to serve others. They are ethical and have strong social conscience. Lao Tzu said in 6th century BC: A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. He is the teacher who succeeded without taking credit. And, because credit is not taken, credit is received. That is the kind of leaders the thriving organizations should aspire to have onboard.

When a benevolent leader is in charge of an organization, integrity flourishes and communication flows freely in all directions. People can freely offer ideas and suggestions without retribution. Each member of the group feels accountable to one another as to the leader and the group.

Even though benevolent leaders may have different personal styles – some are soft-spoken, quiet, outspoken, and tough or everything in between, regardless of what their styles are, they all create a culture of openness, collaboration, and hope. They trust and delegate power to people and ensure that the successes benefit every stakeholder. When a leader’s attention is focused entirely on the well-being of every stakeholder and bringing out the best in them, people are likely to dedicate their full potential to accomplish their shared goals.

In today’s distrustful milieu with many malevolent and amoral decision-makers who resort to greed and self-interest, benevolent leaders are in extreme demand more than ever. People are yearning for leaders who have strong set of core values and ethics. As CEO of Starbucks, Schultz says, “Benevolence is a business essential”. People are increasingly questioning organizationsʼ ethics. We need leaders who believe in principles and not only in the financial bottom-line. Leaders must take significant accountability to the social and environmental issues, and that should be at the heart of the building of a successful organization.

It is the ability of leaders to develop a benevolent group, organization, society, and the world in which humans work and live in peace and happiness with dignity. These benevolent leaders will lead their followers by example, thus, the followers will develop into benevolent individuals; and benevolence becomes contagious within the group, organization, society and the world with the result being an enhanced quality of life, peace, with justice finally able to prevail.

Benevolent leaders create a healthful society where every human on the planet can live with dignity in harmony.

（Published on ASQ VancouverSection Newsletter Feburary 2005)

長年働いていて感じることは、管理職に携わっている者のリーダーシップスキルの欠如。これは日本だけではなく世界での共通点だと思います。私は、過去5カ国で働いてきましたが、どの会社においても効果的なリーダーと思えるような人材は非常に少ないと思いました。独裁者のような社長、部下をいじめる部長、部下とのコミュニケーションを怠る課長、部下に情報や仕事を渡さない主任。年功序列制度だといっそうこういったダメ管理職者が増えるのです。そもそも、技術が高いとか、売り上げが高い社員が昇進することが多く、それが当然という企業が多いですが、高技術を持っているからといってその人がリーダーシップ又マネジメントスキルがあるとは限りません。本人自身も、技術を生かして会社に貢献し昇給していきたいのに、マネージャーとして部下の配慮をしたり、コーディネーションをしたりしなければならなくなると、ストレスになって本来の仕事すらにも影響を及ぼす事もあります。“彼はもう10年この部署にいて、こつこつ働いてそこそこ成績を上げているのでそろそろ課長にしてやったほうがいいかも?”などという理由で管理職につかせてしまっていいのでしょうか?　昇進したのはいいのですが、リーダーシップやマネジメントトレーニングは受けさせてもらえず、職務も給与も前とあまり変わらず、しかも今度は数名の部下というものを持ちチームをマネージしなければいけないのですからこれはなかなか大変です。“めんどくさいなあ!”“やだな～”“部下の世話なんかしてる暇なない！”といった不満を良く聞きます。学生の頃にスポーツチームのリーダーをしていたとかキャプテンだった人にとっては結構簡単にできるかもしれませんが、そういった経験をあまり持たずに社会人となった人たちにはかなり難しいことでしょう。

でも、とにかく管理職者になったのですからどうすれば効果的なリーダーになれるかを、前向きに考えていきましょう。　ここで簡単なポイントを。管理職者になって一番初めにやってほしい事は、自分を知ること。自己分析をして自己理解をしてください。自分の長所短所を把握し理解をする。もちろんこれは管理職者でなくても人間として必要なことですが、特に部下を持つ方にはこれをやって頂きたいと思います。それから、次に、部下をよく理解してあげてください。どういう人なのか、何が得意で何がへたか。これをするためには自己開示も必要となります。相手のことばかり聴こうとしてもある程度自分をさらけ出さなくては相手はオープンに話してくれませんから。部下を理解し信頼関係を作りできるだけ仕事を任せましょう。信頼できる部下がいるということは管理職者にとっては非常に重要なことです。管理職者は、会社の理念、戦略などビッグピクチャーを理解しそれをチームに落としこむ役割があります。そして、管理職に就いたということは、会社の変革にも興味を持ちそれを担っていく必要性があります。柔軟な姿勢を持ち、周りの意見や提案をを聴き、自己を常に磨き、その上達度を計り、自己を振り返る時間を定期的に取ることによって、よりいっそう自己理解ができ管理職者として、そして人間として成長していくのです。

著者　小林圭子

Carigar©

リーダーとして会社変革を打ち出そうとすると、とかく社員の抵抗に遭いうまくいかないことが多々ある。抵抗の理由は“現状維持でいい、壊れていないものをどうして直す必要があるのか?”未知への不安、否定的な思考、“前に失敗したからまた失敗するに違いない”“面倒だ”などがあげられる。

海外から25年ぶりに帰国して非常に感じるのは、なにかと現状維持や否定的思考をする社員が目立つことである。人を誉めず、悪いところばかり見つけてしかる上司が多いように感じる。うつ病で会社を休む人がいるのも気がかりである。ポジティブシンキングを提唱しようと試みるのだが、なかなかうまくいかないのはなぜだろう?　行動をする前に否定的な想像をめぐらせたり結論を出して、内向的になり自己否定をしたり、何かと消極的になってしまうのはなぜだろう。生まれつきの正確や親のしつけや教育の中で、否定的な思考を植え込まれたからなのだろうか?　残業ばかりで疲労がたまっているからか?　朝の通勤電車で生き生きとした顔をした人を見るのはまれだ。カナダにいたときに、通勤者の顔がこんなに疲れていた記憶はない。それに、気になるほど、否定形“xxしてはいけません”、“xxしないでください”が日本には多い。新築のマンションを買ったのだが、トイレのお手入れのラベルにはしてはいけないことのみ書いてある。傷になるので、乾いた紙布で拭かないでください。洗剤は使用しないでください。否定形の文章ばかりだ。肝心のお手入れ方法は書いていないのだ。

最近脳科学で言われている原因として、食生活でサロトニンなどの化学物質が足りないと落ち込んだり、悲観的になると言うわれている。これによると低炭水化物ダイエットなどはサロトニンのレベルを下げるのでやせるのには効果的であるが、いらいらしたり悲観的になってしまったりすると言われている。理由は何にしろ、ネガティブ思考が会社変革に好ましくないのは確かである。

組織行動研究学者たちによると前向き思考はかなり昔から研究されていたにもかかわらず、話題になってきたのはごく最近だそうだ。変革を成功させるためには、社員の理解と心構えが必要である。希望、楽観、確信、立ち向かう心、自己効力感を持って変革にチャレンジしてくれる社員が多ければ多いほど、変革は早期に成功するだろう。それに対し、悲観的、現状維持、皮肉な態度を取る社員が多ければ多いほど変革は難しい。

リーダーとして、どうすれば社員に前向き思考で物事に対処してもらえるのだろうか?　もちろん、最初からポジティブ思考、前向きの姿勢を持つ人材を採用するというのは一案であるが、現在すでに働いている人たちをポジティブ思考に導くにはどうすればよいのか。

まずはじめに社員が希望を持てる会社を構築しようと言うところから始まるであろう。希望を持って生きられると言う事は目標到達のため生きがいを感じるということである。次に、自信を持たせる、自分を信じて自分にはできるのだと思わせる環境を作る。これには、リーダーとして感謝の気持ちを表したり、誉めたりすることが大切である。達成したことをきちっと承認する。リーダーとしてのこういう行動が、チームメンバーのモチベーションを上げ前向きに行動するために重要である。そして、楽観視を浸透させる。メンバーが挫折しかけている時に、安心感を与え、物事を楽観的に見させようとする。最後に必要なのは、立ち向かえる力をつけてあげること。不遇なときや逆境にも負けない根性。リーダーとしてメンバーを激励しサポートし何事にでも立ち向かえるのだという意識を持ってもらうことが大事である。

変革を成功させるためリーダーとして肯定心理をもとに、これらの価値観を意識して行動してくれる人々を育てる必要がある。これは、否定的、悲観的な見解を示すメンバーに対し彼らにそれを意識させることにより、それが　非生産的であり物事を解決しないと言うことを判ってもらい、常時の意識によりメンバーは肯定的感情を表すようになりそれに基づいた行動をする。こうなると変革の成功率はかなり高くなるであろう。

著者：　小林圭子

Cariger Consulting©

- 入社してよかった、働き甲斐があると感じるためには、どんなポイントが必要でしょうか？

1. 新入社員が歓迎ムードを感じられる。
2. 周りの人が進んで手助けしてくれる。
3. 周りの人は皆会社のいい所を話してくれる。
4. 会社の理念、目標がはっきり伝わっている。
5. 指導計画がきちっと知らされている。明確な指示が出ている。
6. スケジュール的に無理のない仕事ができる。
7. 周囲の人は自分の仕事を良く把握している。
8. 毎日、周りの人と仕事以外の話をするチャンスがよくある。
9. 成功すれば賞賛される。
10. 失敗を報告してもあからさまに叱責はされない。
11. わからないことがあれば、いつも気軽に質問できる。
12. 自由に自分の意見や提案を述べられる。
13. 社員の安全や健康又ワークライフバランスに気遣いがある。
14. キャリアディベロップメント、人材育成や教育が充実している。
15. 職務、人事制度、賃金、福利厚生などが透明化、又充実している。

補足してください。

Change is not easy, least of all organizational change. Change initiatives can fail and many such failures overwhelm the organization. It may seem obvious that corporate leaders are the true champions of change. But the answer is “Not always, not even most of the time.” How can you improve the success rate?

Find and nurture the change champions within your organization.

Understanding Change

Take a look around. Everybody talks about change. The fast accelerating forces of change impacts us in great deal. These forces of change puzzle most people – many try to ignore them, while only a few try to understand them. Of these few, only a tiny portion really understand and appreciate “change” as an opportunity for betterment. The problem is that such people are not necessarily in any position of authority to act on organizational change initiatives. A vast majority of people in authority are usually frightened of changes and use all their prudence to hide these under the carpet. They may even behave as if they are in complete control. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not going to solve anything. The big question is “How to change”, not “Whether to change or not to change”.

Why Does Change Fail?

Many organizations choose to face up to the fact that change is needed. They decide to take up the challenges of change and get on with it. But, soon, something goes wrong. Why? There are many reasons, but here are a few:

1. Senior managers lack commitment to the change initiatives. They understand that they have to change, but can’t commit to it.
2. Politics hinder the change initiative. Power-plays are rampant among managers.
3. Lack of communication about change. Top executives do not let their people know what is going on.
4. Not enough people who buy into the change. People are skeptical and don’t trust the management.
5. Not enough real change agents. Since there is no buy-in, there are no believers or owners of change.

What Can You Do to Achieve Successful Organizational Change?

1. Don’t Take Half Measures:

Any attempt at change requires full dedication. Half-hearted measures will cause more damage than good. Half measures are dangerous for an organization’s health. Half measures serve to increase employee cynicism and mistrust toward management. The cynics will lower the company’s morale. Employees know that the bosses are simply not serious and genuine enough to see this through. Management is at great risk of losing credibility when half measures are the norm. You’ve got to be convinced yourself that “Change is a Great Thing.” Have a clear vision and strategy to the change efforts. If you yourself are not committed, how do you expect your employees to believe in it?

2. Avoid Playing Politics

This is definitely not the time to play politics. Remember, many of the problems you are trying to eliminate are a result of the politics people have been playing for decades. Be open and up-front. No change can take solid root unless the people being affected by the change are involved. Ask them for their feelings about change. Let them get involved from the initial stage. Successful change initiatives require the commitment from everyone, not just management. Excessive politics weakens organizations. It places unsuitable and incompetent people in positions of power. These persons play more politics, since they are not good enough to do their jobs. Don’t let them be the hindrance to opportunity for improvement.

3. Don’t Hide the Facts, Communicate to Everyone

Traditionally, management across the company has the tendency to control information. Somehow, people put on managerial positions have been made to believe that it is their privilege to receive information, and only dish out what they believe is required by others. This is huge arrogance. Restricting information from your people will not help. When you want the change efforts to be successful, don’t surprise them. Tell them what’s going on as soon as possible. Tell them the vision and strategy of the change efforts. Present them with the plan (divided into incremental changes) so that people can experience the short term wins.

4. Ask Everyone to Help

Change initiatives take a lot of doing. No one person can do it all by him/herself. No single person has all the answers. You have to realize that it is not possible to implement organization-wide change single-handedly. You need to get buy-in from almost everyone. The people who are going to be affected by the change must be involved. This fact is repeatedly overlooked that it’s no wonder that change initiatives fail so often. Remember, the people involved are the ones who will have to carry out the change. If you don’t solicit their help and cooperation, the initiative is doomed from the day you thought about it. Get feedback from the people; let them suggest ideas. They may come up with great ones. Let their creativity thrive. Design and provide “new ways for people to engage each other”. Let them have discussions in which they get engaged at emotional level with the initiative. “Elements of innovative engagement” will certainly build accountability as well.

5. Tell People What’s in it For Them

You need a lot of people to act as change agents, so you need to tell them what they can receive as benefits as a result of the changes being contemplated. These could be many things – monetary and non-monetary. While the monetary are easy to spell out, here are some non-monetary ones worth communicating: greater self-esteem, greater wisdom, better market-value, and the like. If people know what’s in it for them, their involvement and enthusiasm is bound to be a lot higher.

Are You Ready to Embrace Change?

Change agents are those ordinary people in the company who make the real things happen. They get the job done. These people have somehow figured out how things work. You need to put people who feel comfortable in the change process. They know that change equals to making things better. They think change is an improvement. They are not afraid of taking risks. They are confident of their abilities and thus less scared to take risks. These people will instill positive attitudes and create an organization whose “culture” is to constantly embrace “change” as an opportunity for improvement. You as a leader must be the effective change agent to champion change. Start with incremental changes so that people can embrace it with ease. Successful organizations always maintain people who act as change agents and know that change champions are a highly respected kind. Take an inventory of your own people and figure out who your change champions are. It may be a good moment to find out about yourself as well. Are you willing to change? Won’t you learn a lot about your organization’s ability to incorporate change? Are you ready to instill “Change Culture – change is a good thing, it is an opportunity to improve” into your organization? Wouldn’t that be the most valuable knowledge before embarking on any change program?

I admit that my mind used to be greatly conditioned to focus on problem solving. Problem-based management was something many of the managers think as pretty much as the standard. When I was introduced to this new approach, Appreciative Inquiry (AI), I was intrigued and also enlightened.

AI considers positive attributes of possibilities and capabilities. It is an inquiry into systematic discovery of what gives a system / organization “life” when it is most effective.  This methodology entails finding the best of a system (the best of what is) and envisioning what might be (powerful purpose).

The notion of finding and amplifying the strengths and successes of the people and their organization is rather refreshing as comparing to the traditional approach of deficit- based management. Focusing exclusively on “what’s not working” may work for certain instances but not always.

You might have heard about the Pygmalion effect or Placebo effect, where the suggestion that a drug will be effective makes it effective, regardless of the actual physical characteristics. Concentrating on the best and constructing a powerful positive image of the future can be an extremely powerful management tool. It invites people to engage in creating the kind of organization that everyone wants to work. AI engages whole systems—hundreds of people. By doing this, it strengthens an organization’s ability to make the most of people’s energy and passion, and realize its full potential around a shared dream.

It starts with Appreciative Interview. These affirmative focus interviews, in which people tell stories of their high points, uncover what gives life to them, a department or an organization. This process brings tremendous energy into the room. This positive thinking is reinforced using various techniques to facilitate dialogue around the stories, and to find agreement (possibility propositions) on what is actually possible as a group or organization.

Appreciative Inquiry can results in substantial improvements in organizational efficiency and effectiveness, where people work to further improve what they already regard as beneficial to the organization, instead of negation and criticism.  Through this process, motivation can be substantially improved because people are able to prevail over the frustrations that bog them down and are encouraged to concentrate on with what they really want to do.

As AI becomes a way of working or life, people at all levels identify best practices that the organization or community can build on to respond to new challenges. The act of spreading that knowledge and initiating action becomes routine, thus, contribute to continuous improvement.

AI is a principle-centered process which creates principle-centered organizations and communities. By embracing AI methodology, organizations, teams, and individuals can achieve and maintain positive change, and create truly extraordinary organizations that contribute to the well-being of their stakeholders, their communities, and the planet.

The problem-solving paradigm could generate defensiveness and separation among people (it is not y problem but yours) and may limit human potential. I believe that positive orientation plays a profound role in creating healthy organizations and communities.

If Here are some references for Appreciative Inquiry:

Cooperrider, D.L. and Whitney, D. “Appreciative Inquiry”.1999.

Hammond, S., and C. Royal, eds. “Lessons from the Field: Applying Appreciative Inquiry”. 1998.

Appreciative Inquiry Commons http://ai.cwru.edu

Joe Hall and Sue Hammond “What is Appreciative Inquiry” http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/thinbook/whatisai.pdf