Author Archives: DieterL

“Conventional Econmics is a form of brain damage”

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“Economists say, if you clearcut the forests and put [the money] in the bank, you could make 6 or 7 percent. If you cut down the forests and put it into Malaysia or Papua New Guinea, you could make 30 or 40 percent. So, who cares whether you keep the forest, cut it down [and] put the money somewhere else! When those forests are gone, put it in fish; when the fish are gone, put it in computers. Money doesn’t stand for anything, and money now grows faster than the real world. 

Economics is so fundamentally disconnected from the real world, it is destructive. If you take an introductory course in economics, the professor—in the first lecture—will show a slide of the economy, and it looks very impressive. They try and impress you, because they know damn well that economics is not a science, but they’re trying to fool us into thinking that it’s a real science; it’s not. 

Economics is [just] a set of values, and [they] use mathematical equations and pretend that it’s a science. But, if you ask the economist, ‘in that equation, where do you put the ozone layer? Where do you put the deep, underground aquifers? Where do you put top soil or biodiversity?’, their answer is ‘oh, those are externalities.’ Well, then you might as well be on Mars! That economy’s not based [on] anything like the real world. It’s life, the web of life, that filters water, it’s microorganisms in the soil that create the soil we can grow our food in…insects fertilize all of the flowering plants…nature performs all kinds of services…these services are vital to the health of the planet. Economists call these externalities; that’s NUTS.”

—David Suzuki

Tomorrow’s Leader

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Some years ago I came across an excellent and unusual book by Prof.Srikumar Rao called “Are YOU Ready to Succeed? Unconventional Strategies for Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life”; unusual, because it focuses on self-discovery rather than traditional business skills.

Today I want to give you a glimpse of his philosophy with an excerpt from an article he wrote; it is called “Tomorrow’s Leader”:

 
Srikumar S. Rao conceived Creativity and Personal Mastery, a pioneering course that is one of the highest-rated at Columbia Business School and London Business School. It is believed to be the only course at a top business school to have its own alumni association. He also created the Advanced Leadership Clinic, a unique and intensive leadership workshop offered to senior executives. More information on his work is available at www.areyoureadytosucceed.com.


Business is changing. Although this is hardly an original observation, what few realize is the extent to which and speed with which it is doing so.
  
What are some of the more important factors driving this change? First, the way in which business is transacted is changing. Technology-the Internet, new methods of communication, faster and more customized manufacturing, and so on-is a principal cause, but not the only one. Second, the breadth of the playing field in which business takes place is increasing enormously. A tiny bookstore in a suburb of Manila can take a sale away from Borders. Third, consumer expectations are changing, and consumers are becoming much more demanding. At the same time, employees and their expectations are changing. They expect more from work and want to contribute in different ways. Another important factor is that interdependence is becoming greater and much more complex. A U.S. company may have a research laboratory in Bangalore developing prototype products for Australia. The interdependence goes beyond business relationships to encompass governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other parts of the citizen sector. Last, the pace of change has accelerated so rapidly that size is no longer a protective buffer. Multibillion dollar companies often see their competitive positions erode within months.
  
Leadership then is a hot area for management thinkers and writers, for good reason: in this new world, our organizations-commercial, not-for-profit, and government-need leaders with different skills and a richer set of them to lead us into the future.
……
  
Let me explain.
  
I have taught a course called Creativity and Personal Mastery for many years at schools such as Columbia Business School and the London Business School, and to executives in other forums. It is a deeply introspective course, and those who take it spend enormous amounts of time contemplating the workplace and how they would like it to be. They think about leadership styles they would like to develop and what they would like to see in their hierarchical superiors.
  
Hundreds of students and executives have shared their opinions with me. Are there variations? Sure there are. But the composite picture that emerges is startlingly clear and quite unambiguous. The successful leader of the future is one who can create systems that bring into being organizations that command a deep allegiance from employees, and from others who interact with the organizations, such as customers and suppliers.
  
In discussing this new type of leader, I speak mainly from the perspective of for-profit business organizations, but intuitive changes can readily be made to adjust to the needs of other types of organizations. Also, much of what I reveal concerns organizational culture and values.
  
So what is the task that lies ahead for the successful leader of the future?
  
Set an Inspiring Mission
  
While this may not seem relevant to leadership, mission is actually crucial. The leader sets the organization’s mission, and if this mission does not resonate deeply, then those being led will merely go through the motions. Many of our present organizations have exemplary missions that exist primarily in framed statements in the boardroom and in company brochures. This does not work. The mission should resonate and it should be crystal clear to all that it is indeed the guiding principle of the organization.
  
Nobody gets passionate about maximizing shareholder value, or gaining market share, or reaching market dominance, or achieving set revenues or earnings increases. In fact, a leader who puts any of these, or similar, metrics forward immediately and silently loses much support.
  
Here is what I have learned: the purpose of a business is to ensure that every person who comes into contact with it reaches his or her highest potential. This includes employees, customers, suppliers, lenders, shareholders, and the community at large.
……
  
A leader trying to formulate his or her company’s mission in line with this purpose will find an unbelievable degree of engagement at all levels.
  
Pursue Profits After Mission
  
Profits are the lifeblood of a successful business. None of the people who have shared their thoughts with me have anything against healthy profits. What they are against is a primary focus on profit.
  
Viktor Frankl postulated that success and happiness cannot be pursued-they must ensue as unintended side effects of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.
  
In like fashion, profits are the inevitable by-product of a business successfully run in accordance with a mission and purpose as described earlier.

……

The successful leader of the future, then, sets an inspiring mission, pursues profits secondarily to that mission, and makes sure that compensation is fair at all levels. This leader eliminates demotivating obstacles and is of service to his or her followers, not self-aggrandizing, and demonstrates a commitment to community, learning, and justice.
  
And this, my students tell me, is the sort of leader for whom they will gladly lay their heads on the rail.

(From The Organization of the Future 2. Copyright © 2009 by Leader to Leader Institute- This material is reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

So what is your take? Send me an email and let me know your opinion!

And if you are in the process of transforming your life feel free to schedule an online conversation with me via meetme.so/dieterlangenecker anytime! 

Ask Dieter – starting this month

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Ask Dieter is a no-cost, monthly program (starts March 17th, 2013) where anyone seeking personal development can ask Dieter any question.
 
The idea is this:
A challenge being faced by one is certainly being faced by many, and so it is via this shared experience that we may raise the consciousness of community to lift us all.
 
Here’s how it works:
Each month, Dieter will select and personally respond to one question received via http://langenecker.com/askdieter.html
 
Every 2nd Saturday of the month, Dieter’s response will then be delivered via email broadcast to Dieter’s LIfeMentoring Letter subscribers, as well as being posted on this Blog, so that all of us may benefit from the insight, advice, and direction given. (If you are not a subscriber to the free Dieter Langenecker Lifementoring Letter yet you may want to subscribe here)
 
Submit your question(s) now, Dieter is going to respond to all of them; and the first one to be answered publicly will be published here April 13th (If you would like to remain anonymous, we will respectfully support you in doing so).
 
To learn more about Ask Dieter and to submit your question(s) go to http://langenecker.com/askdieter.html

Stop Focusing on Your Performance

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The night before our wedding, Eleanor and I stood awkwardly in the center of a large room, surrounded by our family and our closest friends. There was no particular reason to be uncomfortable; this was just a rehearsal. Still, we were in the spotlight and things weren’t going smoothly. Neither the rabbi nor the cantor had arrived and we didn’t know where to stand, what to say, or what to do.
It had taken us 11 years — and a lot of work — to get to this point. Eleanor is Episcopalian, the daughter of a deacon, and I am Jewish, the son of a Holocaust survivor. The one thing our parents agreed about before the wedding was that we shouldn’t get married.
A friend of ours, Sue Anne Steffey Morrow, a Methodist minister, offered to stand in for the Jewish officiants who were absent. She moved us through the rehearsal, placing people in position, reading prayers, and lightening the mood with a few well-timed jokes.
When the rehearsal was over and we were feeling more relaxed, she offered me and Eleanor a piece of advice that remains one of the best I have ever received.
“Tomorrow hundreds of people will be watching you on the most important day of your life. Try to remember this: It’s not a performance; it’s an experience.”
I love that she said “Try to remember this.” On the surface it seems easy to remember but in reality it’s almost impossibly difficult, because much of what we do feels like a performance. We’re graded in school and get performance reviews at work. We win races, earn titles, receive praise, and sometimes gain fame, all because of our performance. We’re paid for our performance. Even little things — leading a meeting, having a hallway conversation, sending an email — are followed by the silent but ever-present question: “How’d that go?”
In other words, we think life is a performance because, well, it kind of is. We feel … continue reading at Harvard Business Review