The dark side of passion is frustration, even anger. Zeal includes being for and against. Greater fervency for something fuels greater fervency against its opposite.
I asked Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Head of Corporate Social Innovation and Philanthropy at Twitter, Inc., if frustration drives leaders. She’s more comfortable being motivated to make things better than attacking what is bad. There is, on the other hand, a negative side to positive motivation.
Meetings and memos:
The dark side of making things better is identifying and rejecting broken things. Leaders are disruptors who seek solutions. Claire comfortably embraces tradition breaking. She believes many patterns we cling to hold us back, meetings for example. The way we run meetings – even having them – is steeped in inefficient traditions that waste time. “Many meetings could be replaced with a well written memo.”
Multi-tasking:
Claire hates inefficiency and waste. She loves productivity. She believes in multi-tasking, however. She admits research suggests multi-tasking isn’t efficient but does it anyway. Furthermore, she writes multi-tasking to-do lists. For example, watch a TV show and answer email.
I’ve never heard of a multi-tasking to-do list. Have you?
Clarity:
On the other hand, Claire turns off electronic devices for at least an hour a day. During that time she takes out old fashioned paper and pen. “There’s something refreshing about blank white paper.”
Breaking Traditions:
If this all sounds nontraditional, it is. I asked her what’s behind her interest in tradition breaking. She believes living on four continents and traveling the world since her teens frees her to explore her own path.
What nontraditional leadership/management activities or attitudes do you embrace?
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Claire wrote: “Twitter for Good: Changing the World One Tweet at a Time.”
I posted her best Twitter Tips on Social Media Freak: “Best Twitter Tips From Claire Diaz-Ortiz.”
Tags: Interview
September 14, 2011 at 8:02 am |
Very interesting lady, Dan. I especially agree with her on meetings. By definition a meeting is only a 100% effective use of time for the person who calls it. I try never to have anyone in a meeting if I’ll be wasting more of a third of his or her time. I try not to have meetings in the first place, but sometimes you can’t get away from them.
The most untraditional leadership technique I have is going for walks. When I want to talk to an employee one-on-one, whether to solve a problem or do a little counseling, I try to take that person for a walk. We have an old railbed that was converted to a recreation trail across the street, and that’s where we go. No distractions, no observers/listeners, and people like getting away from the plant.
September 14, 2011 at 8:46 am |
Hi Greg I love your idea about the private walk and getting away from the workplace. You have just given me a great idea. Often we don’t realize how important it is to disconnect (from work) to truly connect with the individual who is our focus.
September 14, 2011 at 10:50 am |
When I have had the opportunity (it’s all in the reframe) to interview folks for positions, I use an outside walk with the interviewee as part of the process.
Sure you can do the across table, canned interview questions that may or may not elicit attitude, energy and motivation, however I find the walks much more disarming and a more accurate read.
Seeing how someone handles a silence, what they observe, how they present themselves and really how they connect adds several layers for consideration.
I also try to get out at lunch and read outside…y’all have given me a far too long list of ‘must reads’ from the LF field. As the weather turns, yep a quiet space inside works too.
September 14, 2011 at 9:35 am |
@Greg and @Al,
I agree full that when leaving the work place for a while is not only beneficial for the “meeting”. What I do is going for a run. Ok, that’s not always possible but that is also beneficial to your won health, stress level etc.
Thanks @Dan for the post.
September 14, 2011 at 12:54 pm |
I’m a runner too, and find that a lunch-time run often makes for a hugely productive afternoon.
September 15, 2011 at 8:39 am |
There are days I have to write a lot. And during that process I have moments I am totally stuck. That is the best moment to have a run. That can last for One full hour. When I go back I have a clear mind on what and how to continue writing.
September 14, 2011 at 10:11 am |
I also have a lot of walking meetings. They are intimate while being public, and healthy, too! Also, I’ve found that many meetings, to make them more worthwhile, could have a training component to them, even if it’s only 5-10 minutes, which is about the limit of what most can stand.
September 14, 2011 at 12:55 pm |
Great point about the “public privacy” of taking a walk. I don’t have a window on my office door so am careful about closing it when I’m one-on-one with any of my female co-workers. Taking it outside avoids that whole dynamic.
September 14, 2011 at 10:45 am |
nice post and love the attitude. I am also a strong believer of not having meetings if you can communicate without wasting others time. I also like the part of “nothing like white paper”. I like going back to the white board or drawing board often. Gives me to think with a blank canvas.
September 14, 2011 at 10:58 am |
Claire mentioned as part of the interview that she believes she was influenced by living on four continents and traveling the world so much since her teens. I can see how that would be a powerful influence.
One attitude that is probably nontraditional (by American standards at least) that I have, having been a working mother for 15 years (and admittedly this is almost impossible to have in real life at least I haven’t found it) is that an employee’s ability to attend to their family physically and emotionally is absolutely critical to their ability to attend to their occupation physically and emotionally – for me it is virtually impossible to segregate the two. I think I embrace an attitude that integrates a person’s family life much more than is commonplace in the US.
September 14, 2011 at 11:36 am |
During my call with Claire, I mentioned this TEDtalk video that focuses on why we don’t get things done at work.
Pretty cool.
September 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm |
How can I get permission to share your blogs with Christian Education teachers across the state of VA? I am the Director for the state and want to share your comments. I am also on Twitter @RicCrouchBwc. Please resond as quickly as possible, I have 2 publications Serve and R.E.A.C.H. that are E-Newsletters that highlights great resources for leadership and creative thinking.
Thanks Ric Crouch
September 14, 2011 at 3:26 pm |
Hi Ric,
Thanks for reaching out. I’m thankful you find something on LF worthy of sharing with others. I offer the blogs free as a service to the community. Please provide proper reference.
Best,
Dan
September 14, 2011 at 5:18 pm |
Ah leadership… to lead well takes a lot of courage to be different, look for the opportunity in the crisis, find ways to turn bad into something new and better. Core to leadership is change – leaders advocate changes and changes cause stress for many others. Leading change in a way that respects others but helps bring them along, is one of the greatest challenges.
I really resonate with your quote “Many meetings could be replaced with a well written memo.” This is a hot topic for me. I’m trying something different this year with my staff: flipped meetings – tying into the flipped classroom movement if you’re familiar with that. Anyway, I plan to have information sharing done in advance of staff meetings and use face time to engage with the material, topics, decision making using cooperative learning / small group activities. I am commiting to not torturing my staff with yet another pretty power point where I broad cast what could be “in a memo” or a pre-read activity.
thanks for sharing your ideas on this!