Janet Britcher of Transformation Management talks with Greg Harley of WGEM Radio about her book, Zoom Leadership, including an overview of the lenses through which managers can look to gain perspective and make better decisions.
Greg Harley: News Talk Live! News Talk 105 WGEM. Greg Harley on the phone. It’s Janet Britcher, and Janet’s an author, is that right, Janet?
Janet Britcher: I like to say it’s just my first book.
Greg: Just your first book, okay. The book’s called Zoom Leadership: Change Your Focus, Change Your Insights. I haven’t read the book, but my take on the title is that there are leaders that maybe aren’t doing this right.
Janet: I don’t think that’s really it. It’s more that it’s a decision tool and that gaining focus in a close-up way or in a far-away way can open up new opportunities. Since we’re all familiar with that zoom concept, with cameras and maps, it turns out to be a very easy metaphor for leaders to tap into when they’re debating or struggling with a decision, to help them gain perspective.
Greg: You list four…lenses is what you call them, which are processes that people can take to better reflect on what’s happening and make better decisions?
Janet: Yes, that’s right. In my work as an executive coach, I often find, of course, my clients are in the “think” lens because they’re doing things that are logical and analytical, they’re making forecasts. You can get in real close to think either in the sense of time or in the sense of detail. Close in on the think lens, on detail, would be looking at spreadsheets, maybe changing the price of a product, raising the newest cell phone to a thousand dollars. That might be a close in, zoomed in, think lens. Then a “zoomed out” might be something like a strategic decision or scenario planning to estimate some kind of forecast, or maybe a new product or new territory, a new geography, that you want to add to your service.
Greg: That’s interesting. How do emotions and self-awareness play into this?
Janet: That’s usually the third lens I go to. The emotions, I think, have gotten lot more notice in the last few decades, because people who regulate their emotions and tune into their emotions turn out to be more effective in their job, and also happier and more successful. That idea of being tuned into emotions, I think the old school thought was if you’re upset, brush it under the rug, or if you’re worried, brush it under the rug. Certainly you shouldn’t act out, but I say that you want to listen to that information.
An example might be you’re frustrated with a staff person. You can brush it under the rug but then what happens over months or years is “why do you just want to fire them out of nowhere?”. That’s not really fair to the person or the process. Noticing as you go along the way that something’s not working can inform how you respond. The “zoomed in” on feeling would be how you notice your own self, how you feel, that self-awareness or how you’re in a dynamic with one other person. Zooming out might be, “I really care about the culture of my department or the culture of my company.” For example, Southwest Airlines is famously profitable because they care so much about their culture. There’s a direct business payoff.
Greg: Southwest Airlines, some of their employees seem to be having way too much fun though. [laughter] Again that’s the culture of it, and this is something that can happen to be improved upon just by listening to what others have to say, right?
Janet: Yes, listening to others, really caring, paying deep attention. In a way that blends into the fourth lens that I articulate, which is the “witness” lens. Paying deep close attention to somebody without jumping in — a lot of us want to be helpful and we think, “Oh, if you’ve got a problem, do this. It worked for me, I know it’ll work for you,” and often it does not. That idea of witnessing and observing, “zoomed in” would be being completely attentive to what’s going on, not thinking about traffic and weather and errands, but really, really listening. Then, in the witness lens, “zoomed way out” might be noticing, “Gee, how come we can’t hire any students out of high school? I wonder if we should observe what they’re learning and help them redesign a curriculum so that we could be hiring people right out of that school.” That’s the kind of outcome that could come from that witness lens in a zoomed out way.
Greg: Wow, there’s a lot of good information here in the book. Again, the book’s available, I imagine at Amazon.com, wherever fine books are sold, right?
Janet: Yes.
Greg: The title of the book once again, Zoom Leadership: Change Your Focus Change Your Insights. Good thing for leaders and I suppose that if perhaps you aspire to be a leader, it might something good to read as well, right, Janet?
Janet: That’s right, it would be. Even if you’re struggling with decisions, it’s a very good tool for decisions.
Greg: Well there you go. Check it out, the book is written by Janet Britcher, Zoom Leadership: Change Your Focus, Change Your Insights and Janet’s joining us on News Talk Live! Thanks, Janet.
Janet: Thank you so much, Greg. Take care.