 Viva
Kumbaya! Putting the Power of Emotions Back to Work
By:
Jeff Salz,
Ph.D.
Keynote speeches inspire and uplift.
Training sessions instruct and inform. But to get a real return on
investment meeting planners need to insist on events that do both:
impart skills but also evoke strong emotions. Scary as it may be,
only emotion connects us to the sense of meaning at work from which
true creativity comes.
I hear it all the time. “We want a teambuilding experience for our
leadership group. Activities are great and interactive experiences
are fine but let’s keep feelings out of it, positively no kumbaya.”
I have to admit, it bugs me.
What is ‘no kumbaya’ code for? “Let’s talk hard skills. Let’s talk
hows but not whys. Let’s keep emotions out of it. This is business,
feelings need not apply.” Great leaders know better. They understand
- messy as they may be - emotions make us who we are. Getting in
touch with the affective makes us effective.
Recently my partner Chess Edwards and I had a chance to offer our
interactive keynote “The Adventure Advantage” to top leaders at
Microsoft. Over dinner the night before friends within the
organization warned us: “These are meat and potato folks, definitely
no soft skills for this group. They are hardcore, intensely focused.
They won’t respond to anything less than an intellectual,
project-oriented message. Sitting in a circle talking about the
things that will make them a more ‘caring, cohesive team’ just ain’t
gonna fly.” Our friends’ firm counsel: cancel the Kumbaya.
I must admit Chess and I were almost worried. From China to Korea,
Argentina to France we’d invoked adventure aphorisms and explored
the power of such words as authenticity, honesty and trust in
building a team ready for the summit. But how to talk about such
things as soft as magic, compassion, meaning, purpose to such a
non-nonsense group as Microsoft’s top brass?
I led off by immediately calling attention to the ‘elephant in the
room’, namely the fact that Steve Jobs and Apple are eating their
lunch. This was something else I had been cautioned not to do. But
to me that was like trying to get folks to move quickly across a
glacier while shielding them from the fact there is an avalanche
barreling down on top of them. Not only is it dishonest, it’s not
optimumly efficient. Other mountain metaphors, tales of real life
and death – not just in business – followed.
Chess dug deeper with an interactive coaching experience encouraging
‘courageous conversations’ based on the Six Steps they had just
learned. Animated, revelatory exchanges began. By the time we got to
the final outdoor exercise people were participating
enthusiastically. There was joy and laughter. At the debrief people
reflected on their learning and shared their commitment to action.
By the time we finished, everyone knew something unusual had
happened and that far more had been accomplished than anyone had
expected. One of the VP’s walked up and slapped me on the shoulder.
“Good work” he said. “That was one of the most effective events
we’ve ever had. We’ll remember this for a long time. You know why?”
“No. Why?” I asked.
“Because you didn’t just get us thinking. You got us to feeling.”
Indeed, the tenor of the meeting had altered dramatically. There
were wide smiles all around. In fact when we last saw the team they
are tackling nuts and bolts issue with ease outdoors under the
gazebo… in a circle.
It looked pretty ‘kumbaya’ to me.
And you know what? For the first time I had a crazy thought: “If
they keep this up, watch out Steve Jobs!”
Jeff Salz,
when not leading international expeditions, is the ‘guru of
adventure’ for some of today’s most cutting edge organizations. His
client list includes top leadership at organizations such as eBay,
Microsoft, Wal-Mart and the Walt Disney Company.
The Adventure Advantage Program
Gold Stars is proud to partner with
Jeff Salz and Chess Edwards in bringing the power of the Adventure
Advantage to your organization
Click her to learn
more about the Adventure Advantage
Program.
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Salz. All Rights Reserved.
To learn more of how Jeff Salz can
help your organization,
click
here.
|
