A520.1.2.RB_RuggerioSteven

Self-Awareness: The Road to Life Improvement

I want to be a better man.  One of my key motivations is to strengthen my role as husband, father, friend, and employee.  And, the moment I stop pursuing higher awareness and deeper character is when I am headed for trouble.  From Ken Lay to Eliot Spitzer and Ted Haggard to Eddie Long, none of these gentlemen (and scores like them) ever woke up one morning and thought, “Today, I am going to make illegal financial transactions,” or, Today I hope to embarrass my family and constituents, or “Today I am going to throw away my ministry and hurt my family.” And yet, it happens more than we would care to count.  “I’m sorry,” “I didn’t know what I was thinking” and “I am ashamed of my actions” litter the media headlines as leader after leader falls prey to hubris and power.

In Die Empty, Todd Henry (2013) said, “Knowing yourself will help you counter self-delusion and pursue the unique contribution you are alone are capable of making” (p. 106).  I lead a men’s group that meets the second and fourth Saturday of every month.  What started as a handful of men in my living room has grown to a roster of nearly 50 men.  Last Saturday, I spoke on our propensity to settle for a mediocre life.  Henry said mediocrity is “a negotiation between the drive to excel and the biological urge to settle for the most comfortable option” (p. 36).  Before you know where you want to go, you first must know where you are.  This recent self-awareness assignment is perfectly designed to lead individuals on a journey to a place many choose to ignore.  The inner self. 

            The following five questions are a summary of my journey (test results were added at the end of my blog):

What do you notice in your results?

            I recently took the MBTI and a Management Assessment Profile (MA) through NextSteps Research.  The diagnostic survey from the Whetten & Cameron textbook confirmed the findings from the MA.  Identified by the MA as a “highly confident, highly extraverted and tactical leader” is displayed in the Self-Assessment as well.  

            Whetten & Cameron (2011) said, “Management skills are developable. Performance can improve” (p. 11).  As I stated earlier, self-improvement is a core goal of mine.  The results of this self-assessment identified my strengths and the areas where I may be inclined to choose another path than the best way forward.  While my highest score was found in the self-assessment test (top quartile), three of the other tests all scored me within the “third quartile.”  Obviously, this means I answered the questions as truthfully as possible because there is a commonality through the entire test.

How much of this rang true for you?

            As stated above, I took the MBTI recently and was astonished at its accuracy.  My family was so amazed that they all took it after dinner.  The self-assessment was much more detailed and specific than the generalized MBTI.  However, it certainly pinpointed certain inclinations of mine. 

What did you see that you were expecting in the results?

            The high self-awareness and the high core self-evaluation scale were two areas that I scored what I would have previously considered.  However, in reference to the men’s group discussed earlier, I often tell them men, “Be careful with deceit.  We are often to believe we are much more advanced in relationships, our marriage, and our character than may be true.”  While this test confirmed much of what I believed about my leadership, it also highlighted areas that I was unaware.

What were the surprises?

            For starters, the extremely low locus of control score.  My score of 2 identified a significantly low external locus of control; which means, I am a strong internal.  Whetten & Cameron (2011) said, “people with an internal locus of control are more likely to (1) be attentive to aspects of the environment that provide information for the future, (2) engage in actions to improve their environment, (3) place greater emphasis on striving for achievement, (4) be more inclined to develop their own skills, (5) ask more questions, and (6) remember more information that people with an external locus of control” (p. 78).

           Being an internal was not surprising as I regularly tell people they can make decisions today that completely alter their life.  They can choose to be different.  However, scoring so highly as an internal was slightly surprising.

How will you make use of this information?

            The goal of our course, Management Skills for Leaders is to “develop a foundation of management skills for emerging leaders.”  This self-assessment diagnostic is a great tool of enlightenment.  Like Whetten & Cameron (2011) said, “By knowing your scores, you will be able to choose situations in which you are more likely to feel comfortable, perform effectively, and understand the point of view of those whose perspectives are different from yours.” And then, most importantly, they said, “Self-understanding is a prerequisite to self-improvement and change” (p. 79).

            This is my tenth class within the ERAU Leadership curriculum (MSLD).  I have another MBA (2004) from a credible online institution.  This curriculum has been one of the most pleasant experiences of my adult life.  I told a friend the other day, “The textbook for this class is like reading a book that I would have bought myself.”  With only two classes left after this one, it is imperative that I continue to shed light on the things that I do well and those that I am more challenged with.  The information gleaned from this diagnostic will lead me to succeeding in my opening statement.

Leaders look inside before they ever look outside.

Steve

Results from pre-test:
1.     Self-awareness – 56 (top quartile)
2.     EQ – 65 (3^rd quartile)
3.     Defining Issues (stage of moral development)
4.     Cognitive Style Indicator
      a.     Knowing – 3.0 (m = 4.06)
      b.     Planning – 3.78 (m = 3.81)
      c.     Creating – 3.42 (m = 4.16)
5.     Locus of Control Scale – 2 (low external locus of control)
6.     Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale – 60 (3^rd quartile)
7.     Core Self-Evaluation Scale – 4.1 (3^rd quartile)
 

References:

Henry, T. (2013). Die empty. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Whetten, D.A., & Cameron, K.S. (2011). Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

A630.5.4.RB-RuggerioSteven

NASA: Exploring Internal Space

One of my close friends is a NASA engineer.  He is one of the smartest men I know and also one of the nicest.  We meet regularly as I am coaching him about marriage and making right decisions.  Throughout our conversations, he speaks frequently of the challenges inherent in his job and the interactions with his coworkers.  He’s never complained about the atmosphere or the culture though he has mentioned butting heads with very strong-minded people who can be quite unmoving and inflexible in their views.  I found that interesting while watching NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe discuss safety culture, employee opinions, and potential management changes.

Why did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture?

Administrator O’Keefe held a news conference to discuss the conclusion of BSTs cultural investigation into NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.  The report exposed NASA and said it was a space agency with a non-existent safety program. It spoke of a culture that prevents free discussions and promoted employee disrespect.  O’Keefe said, “We get it,” and is now facing the challenge of reinventing a culture that contains over 45-years of deep-seated bureaucracy.

The BST report, “Assessment and Plan for Organizational Culture Change at NASA” surveyed about 40 percent of the space agency’s 19,000-member workforce.  The report showed both positive and negative elements within the NASA culture.  According to Frank Sietzen from Space Daily, the positive elements reflected what the report called “a long legacy of technical excellence and a can-do-attitude.” However, there were other elements that did not fair as well.   For instance, the report found the present-day NASA working environment "does not yet reflect the agency's espoused core values of safety, people, excellence, and integrity."

Was O’Keefe believable?

This video about the changes at NASA was the first time I’ve seen Sean O’Keefe make a presentation.  Obviously, he is highly intelligent.  He cares greatly for his company and his people. And, he wants what is best for the administration and the future of our country.  However, with all that said, he does not speak and present his heart in a believable manner.  Yes, I do believe he wants the agency to improve; but I just didn’t get the sense that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make that happen.

Rather, I heard an air of bureaucracy with an undercurrent of timelines and expectations surrounding deliverables, i.e., programs, successful products, and better shuttles.  In short, it sounds like his passion is not for the people and what happened in them that allowed the tragedies to occur.  He said, “This is about a much broader approach of values.” He stated that safety and integrity should be evidenced in everything they do; yet, is he willing to hear news about a launch being delayed because of safety concerns?

Is it important whether he appeared to be believable?

Yes, visual believability is extremely important.  It can be the difference between the employees accepting O’Keefe’s message or writing it off as public relations damage control.  What I found even more disconcerting during the video were the audience members.  Every person listening to O’Keefe seemed distant, disengaged, uninterested, and certainly not passionate about taking steps to change the culture!  In fact, what I picked up was apathy and resignation.  They seemed not only unmoved by the director’s comments, they actually projected mannerisms that said, “It’ll never happen here.”

Normally, when speeches of this magnitude are given, they are delivered with passion and hope for a better future.  The audience normally nods in agreement and provides the non-verbal necessary to encourage the speaker of their belief in the message. That was not the case in this video.

Why did he talk about NASA values?

Everything within a company rests on the values established and modeled by leadership.  NASA uncovered an insidious problem within their culture—disrespect and lack of accountability.  When employees are afraid to bring up safety concerns for fear of being marginalized or ignored, it undermines the values of integrity and transparency.  O’Keefe promises greater accountability.  He said it’s a “We” culture not a “Them” culture and that each and every employee from this point forward will be encouraged to bring up concerns.  While every suggestion will not be followed, there will be an avenue to be heard.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

In Cohn and Moran’s book, Why Are We Bad At Picking Good Leaders, they identified integrity as one of the prevailing characteristics of a good leader.  They said, “People in organizations look to the leader for guidance on how to act.  This includes deciding what is right and what is wrong.  When a leader sets the tone for what is ethically permissible, the tone is contagious.”  At NASA, leaders placed schedules, budgets, and programs over safety and ethics.  After a while, employees realized their suggestions would not be heard (or worse, they would face retaliation); therefore, they kept silent.  The tragedies surrounding the Columbia disaster and the Challenger before it, are examples of what happens when leaders ignore integrity and devalue employee insights.

Personally, I have learned many important lessons in this study. One that stands out is this: Compromises, no matter how small or how big, have consequences.  Even if you never see the immediate effect of cutting corners, the cumulative value adds up and eventually there is a payment that will come due. As a leader, be willing to make the hard decisions on the front end. The blast effect of a missed deadline is a tiny percentage of what you or someone else may face later.

Steve

A521.7.4.RB_RuggerioSteven

Wisdom Has a Price

When I was young, my mother used to say, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”  Always the optimist, I shrugged it off as parental nonsense and went about my life.  If someone said they were going to do something, I believed them.  I always gave strangers the benefit of the doubt.  I would find out later in life that there is a world of difference between optimism and wisdom.  Optimism sees the good in all situations.  Wisdom looks at circumstances and context, and then makes a careful judgment.  Denning (2011) said, “Negative anomalies far outnumber positive ones.  Hence, we learn more often from failures than from successes” (p. 188).  In short, when it comes to wisdom, some things have to be learned the hard way.

Germany is a beautiful country with wonderful people and I hated to leave.  However, after three years stationed in southern Germany, my family and I were assigned to Langley AFB in Virginia.  July 1995 was one of the hottest summers on record; and while I missed the sights and sounds of Deutschland, it felt good to be back home.  After settling down in a small house in Newport News, an old Air Force colleague called in hopes of getting together.  Hearing I’d been back from overseas for two months, he stopped by to visit and ask for a favor. 

Pulling up to my house, the first thing I noticed was his car.  At the time, my family had one car—a 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier.  An efficient car.  Very unfast.  Conversely, my friend drove a brand new, 1995 Nissan 300ZX.  The Air Force was sending him to California for a month and not trusting a parking garage, he asked if I would watch his car while he was away.  Parked next to the Cavalier, my new 300ZX…err, wait, I mean his 300ZX looked like a space-age automobile.  Being a kind and generous friend, I graciously agreed.  After dropping him off at the airport, I immediately settled into the driver’s seat and headed to the car wash.  For the next thirty days, this car was mine.  All mine.

After washing the car at a local do-it-yourself car wash, I pulled the 300ZX forward and began drying it with a new chamois.  Halfway through the drying and shining, a white cargo van with only two windows pulled up beside me.  Two gentlemen quickly exited the van and began asking me questions about “my” car.  What year?  How much did it cost?  How fast have I driven it?  Playing it cool, I smiled, threw some numbers at them, and kept on drying.  Finally, one of the guys began to share with me how his current dilemma could greatly benefit me.  Two great opportunities in one day!  This was amazing!

After salivating over the 300ZX, one of the men began explaining how they worked for a company that installed “home theater speakers” in movie theaters, auditoriums, large music halls, and studios.  As he was speaking, the other gentleman slid open the side door and displayed a van chocked full of new speakers still secured in the box.  Apparently, their company made a mistake and ordered twice as many speakers as needed.  Therefore, they were looking to unload these speakers at a discount price.  As I held the laminated speaker specifications, I quickly observed a price of $1,600 for a set.  Washing a $30,000 sports car led these salesmen to believe I carried that kind of cash in my wallet.  As lie compounded lie, the charade deepened.

I told the men that I did not have that kind of cash on me and there was no way I could afford $1,600 on speakers.  After bartering back-and-forth for a few minutes, they finally asked, “How much can you get today?”  I told them the maximum amount one can take from an ATM in a day is $300.  “It’s a deal!” he said as he shook my hand.  On the way to my house, my excitement was palpable.  Back in the U.S. for only two months and I’m driving a brand new sports car and just saved over $1,300 on home stereo speakers.  Things were really looking up.  Unfortunately, my wife didn’t share my excitement.

“I don’t like it. Something smells fishy about the whole thing.” On and on she went until finally I responded, “Why can’t you be happy for us?”  After we dropped off the speakers, my two new friends followed me to the ATM where I expediently withdrew $300.  Handing them the money and saying goodbye, I revved the engine and headed home to hook up my new system.  In our small house, two large theater speakers would shake the windows.  I couldn’t get home fast enough.

Positioning the speakers in just the right place and rewiring my stereo for maximum effect, I asked my wife to sit down and get ready to be “blown away!”  Click: power on.  We heard some noises…crackle…bzzzz...shhhhh…and then some sound.   No sonic waves.  No rattling windows.  In fact, they actually sounded worse than the speakers I had.  Fighting fear, anger, and disappointment, I assumed something was wrong with my stereo.  Maybe it wasn’t equipped to push a high level of amperage through such massive speakers.   As my wife walked out of the room mumbling a few expletives under her breath, I decided the next step was to take my stereo to an electronics store for assistance.  I planned to do that the next day after I returned home from work.  As it turns out, I would not need an electrician.  The six-o’clock news would suffice.

“Steve! Come in here. You need to see this!” my wife exclaimed from the other room.  Walking into the living room and seeing the white cargo van on the television screen was surreal.  I thought I was dreaming.  Alveta Ewell from WAVY-10 explained: “Two men have been caught running a local speaker scam throughout Hampton Roads.”  As I sunk into the couch and sighed, my previously optimistic worldview exhaled into the living room.  I followed along with the news reporters and opened the back of my speakers with a screwdriver.  There was nothing but a few wires on one of the small speakers.  Outwardly, they looked authentic.  Inside, they were empty, cheap, and hollow.  Just like the salesmen.  Just like me.

I recently went on the Internet and found there is a nationwide scam known as the “White Van Speaker Scam.”  In hindsight, the red flags and ignorance are embarrassingly obvious.  Riding high with my friend’s car, I felt invincible.  In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath (2007) said, “The story’s power is twofold: It provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).  Note that both benefits, simulation and inspiration, are geared to generating action” (p. 206).  In the forty-eight hours from the time my friend called and Alveeta reported, I learned three valuable lessons.

First, integrity trumps a good deal.  If something appears shady, stick with your inner compass.  Mom was right.  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.  Secondly, listen to wise council.  Friends and family can see things where our emotions blind us.  Finally, be yourself.  Sports cars and sound systems are shallow definitions of masculinity.  Remember: Having the courage to share our embarrassing stories may save another person a lot of heartache.  As Denning (2011) stated, “Listening to stories isn’t merely entertainment: it leads to the acquisition of vicarious experience by those participating” (p. 193).  If that’s the case, file this story in your memory bank and be wary of white vans filled with speakers.

Legacy learns.

Steve

Reference:

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Heath, D., & Heath, C. (2007). Made to Stick. New York, NY: Random House.