Reflections on Flawless Consulting and Peter Block

by Johan Greeff

During April this year I had the privilege of spending five days in Redbank with three amazing, talented fellow South Africans; Nomatemba Sithole – our amazingly wise Elder; Chris Ahrends – the quiet, strong and spiritually anchored member of our team and Sharon Golding who brought passion, enthusiasm and her own unique meaningful insights. The Molly Pitcher Hotel in Redbank was our base and it can rightly be called “The Home of Flawless Consulting”. This is where Peter has been presenting Flawless Consulting courses for the past 20-odd years. It has a beautiful scenic view over the lake and this allowed for some open-minded thinking and open-hearted discussions.

But first a bit of background
I first came across Flawless Consulting in 1999 when I read the book. My opinion then - okay, but nothing really new. And then during 2009 things changed. I met Peter when I attended one of the Community Building Workshops arranged by Symphonia. In two days he managed to confuse me with many questions (‘Questions are empowering, opinions are impotent’ - Peter Block). During the two days Peter challenged me intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and socially. I left inspired-confused and in an effort to make sense I decided to read the book again. I am ashamed to confess – I never really understood the book the first time. This time I found immense substance in the content. It brings a powerful message to all experts, internal- and external consultants. It is really a guide to help you to get your expertise used and appreciated.

When Louise van Rhyn, Managing Director of Symphonia Leadership Development (http://www.symphonia.net/) asked me to become one of a handful of Flawless Consulting Facilitators in South Africa, I jumped at the opportunity.

A bit more about Symphonia and Louise: Symphonia is doing brilliant work in the field of Organisation, Leadership and Community Development. My opinion is that they are the current benchmark in South Africa in these fields. They work with an open-minded, highly skilled group of partners and are committed to making South Africa “A place of possibility”. To assist them in this process, they have invited global thought leaders like Peter Block and Ben and Ross Zander to South Africa. Their OD practice includes offerings like Nine Conversations in Leadership and their initiative ‘Schools at the Centre of Community’ is visionary and inspirational.

Training in Redbank
Our first day was spent with Phil Grosnick. Phil has been Peter’s partner for many years and is the Managing Director of Designed Learning. On Day 1 he coached and prepared us for what was to follow over the next 4 days. What a privilege! Phil’s wisdom, ability to relate, availability and deep respect for the process showed. He is an authentic individual and demonstrated deep insight into the consulting process. Phil does not only talk Flawless but he lives it.

On the second day Peter joined us and posed one of his favourite questions:

“What type of consultant are you?” Confronted with this as well as the question of “What expertise I bring to my clients” resulted in reflecting on my 27 years in the consulting arena. I realised that with the Treetops vision “Your partner in transformation” and some of our favourite statements like “The Leadership Partnership” and “Partnering clients to more exciting and rewarding futures” our efforts lacked a certain essence. Our consulting was not as ‘flawless’ as I thought.

I have since also learned that transformation is only possible with a confession. So herewith my confession: “I believe that I suffered from the worst possible consultants paradigm”. (Maybe it’s more correct to call it a disease)

I believed my task was to bring (quick) answers to the complex problems of my clients. I believed that as the objective, outside expert I had the responsibility to efficiently help clients with their deficiencies. My patient was the organisation and like a Doctor I had a Tool Bag full of remedial tricks. In selling my services, I had to eliminate resistance and the best way was through manipulation (if they resist give them another “benefit” or use “Third Party” references etc). I also believe that for the past twenty years I have been doing good work, I often received the praises and accolades of my clients. I did it with the right intention, but now know it could have been done differently.

Flawless Consulting allowed me to appreciate that consulting is about authentic partnering in a collaborative relationship, based on transparent contracting. With this we can express the terms, our needs and our wants. We meet as equals and humanity is at the centre. The relationship is open, honest and constructive and the aim is to solve problems permanently and to assist people to do business in a more meaningful and better way.

As to the question: “What type of consultant am I?” I realised that often I took on the cloak of Consulting Type 1: The Saviour rather than staying in the relationship of the “Facilitating Partner”.

Consulting Type 1 – “The Saviour” (Expert)
Here you arrive from an absolute place of certainty. You are the ‘knowledgeable expert’. With your tools of surveys and competency models you focus on deficiencies and aim at diagnosing people and then fixing and treating them. Talent is never good enough as we should strive for a state of zero defects. The aim of leadership is to control (and to do it in such a way that people will not really mind it even maybe like it). As consultant, you feel obliged and are expected to give definite answers. In Peter Block’s: “If you feel obliged to be the saviour and give the answers, make it worth your while because you know you’ve been had” (Maybe that is why some of the bigger International Consulting firms charge such outrageous fees.) The end result of this type of consulting is often that we change structures, processes and systems, but don’t necessarily engage people and change their hearts and minds.

Consulting Type 2 – “The Facilitating Partner” (Collaborative)
Here the consultant brings his or her authentic self to the table and by doing this, allows the client to do the same. The aim is to listen and understand to enable trust to evolve in the process. As equals we share our needs and wants and through engagement you focus to make visible and celebrate what is right and what works. The aim is to create something that people can commit to, as it will have their fingerprint on it.

The consultant appreciates that the client is often caught up in the complexity of the problem. Rushing in to save them will only result in repackaging the same old dynamic. By listening and exploring at a deeper level, clarity evolves and the client now moves from complainant to agent of their own future. The focus is not on the fallacy of the individual as High Performance Hero, but on meeting and convening, appreciating that we need each other and that we cannot do it by ourselves. A sense of community is established where people become caring citizens instead of entitled consumers. In the words of Gary Hamel: “The workplace then becomes fit for human consumption”.

Consultant Type 3 – “A Pair of Hands”
Here the consultant’s main role is to execute the wishes of the client or Top Management. He or she is only used for a specific skill or deal with a specific part of a process. The client is not really interested in the consultant’s opinion or feedback and stays totally in charge of their destiny. They can mess up or fix problems without the consultant’s opinion. The engagement is transactional and the consultant is often a tool or the ‘Pimp of Management”.

In looking back, I know I’ve operated in all three roles with varying degrees of success. I also know that there is a time and a place for each of these, but I also know that the most effective, respectful, dignified and satisfying outcomes, come from being the “Facilitating Partner”. These are achieved through the following Flawless Consulting steps:

1. Entry / contracting: agreement
2. Data collection/diagnosis: clear picture
3. Feedback / decision-making: decision to act
4. Implementation: build commitment
5. Evaluation / termination: end or recycle to contracting

In following these steps a collaborative relationship is established that allows for commitment and creative excitement and not just mere compliance.

I can carry on about Flawless Consulting, but words will never do justice to the programme (It is similar to trying to give people the feel of the Grand Canyon by showing them photos. The Canyon is far too big to be captured in a two-dimensional image). Like the Canyon, Flawless Consulting must be experienced. Do yourself a favour and attend the programme.

A few other facts:
- Flawless Consulting is a Benchmark in Consulting in the United States of America and Europe. - People in the IT, HR, Financial and Engineering environments see it as a key foundational skill for professional efficiency.
- In many organisations it is also used as a module in their Leadership Development Programmes. Senior Consultants make an effort to attend Flawless Consulting 2, which is a 2-day laboratory experience where the principles are actively lived.
- The book, Flawless Consulting, published by Pfeiffer is the publisher’s bestselling book over the last 40 years.

In closure - a few last thoughts
After Redbank my life-partner Laura and I visited the Grand Canyon. We also spent a week in the tranquil and beautiful environment of Sedona. The beauty, open space, vastness and snow allowed me to peacefully reflect and integrate powerful concepts and I arrived back in South Africa with clarity to the question “What type of Consultant are you?”

The answer after asking the question to myself: “I know that I am authentically me, ready to listen to my clients and partner them and their organisations into a future of possibility”.

Some last thoughts from Peter
- Hierarchy is there to create order and structure; it makes things more predictable and controllable. It however takes creativity, uniqueness and individuality, in other words humanity, off the table.
- You cannot hold somebody accountable, only choice brings accountability.
- The aim of FC is to be powerful within hierarchy. It is to bring your expertise as a pocket of authentic relatedness into the workplace.
- Like-mindedness is the enemy of learning, creativity and democracy.
- As consultant, don’t jump in and feel you have to do something. If you do, rather get up and go to the bathroom and think about it, appreciate the world does not need your opinion right now.
- Time will not heal all wounds. In most cases it only makes it worse because we just postpone doing something about it.

In summary
As an evolving consultant I know I have taken some bold steps to becoming a more authentic partner to my clients.

Thank you Peter; thank you Phil; thank you Louise and thank you to my three fellow Flawless Travellers, Nomatemba, Chris and Sharon.

PS: If you want sign up for the next Flawless Workshop in your area, visit the Symphonia website or contact Johleen van Dyk at johleen@symphonia.net

What is Nine Conversations in Leadership?

by Lucille Greeff, Associate and 9C Facilitator

Nine Conversations in Leadership, generally refered to as 9C is a learning journey for leaders, future leaders and teams in a business. It was developed by Worldsview and it is being used globally to develop leadership and organisations. It combines the best of Organisation Development with the best of learning and training methodology to offer organisations maximum return on investment for their development spend.

9C consists of 9 conversations or contact sessions of 4 hours each. Groups, or cells, consist of 8 to 12 people each. The cell members can either be a cross-functional selection of leaders, intact team, executive team or managers from a specific organisation. There are different benefits to the different options and they all have value. Your 9C cell then go on a journey of learning and development together. Ideally the sessions are spread over 6-9 months as part of the journey requires project implementation after every conversation.

The journey has its roots in the methodology of conversation but these roots grow out of the rich soil of the latest and most up-to-date leadership theory and practices. It is however not a theory session – the material is provided as a backdrop to the conversation itself. The journey starts with the big picture and organisational vision and then progresses through other aspects of the organisation and team until you complete the journey looking at your development and energy as a leader.

The 9C journey is a process that encapsulates all three centres of intelligence – the head, heart and hands. It is therefore about allowing leaders to connect to thinking as well as feeling and action oriented aspects of leadership.

9C includes a 360 evaluation as part of the journey. It is also supported by an E-Learning platform to track projects and performance. Organisations and teams craft their reasons for going on the journey as a statement of intent which underpins each one of the nine conversations.

Organisation Development theory shows that most learning does not happen within a classroom context. The frustration with the lack of results from traditional management and leadership training supports this theory. So where and when do we learn? Most learning happens when we go and apply things. It therefore happens between contact sessions. If leadership development can be supported systematically over a period of 9 months, rather than over 2-5 days of training, the results become transformational. This bridges the gap between training and organisation transformation.

Treetops have trained 9C facilitators that would love to walk alongside your team and organisation in your development journey. Contact us to explore 9C and the benefits for your team further. It will change the way you think of leadership development forever!

2011 - A Year of Possibility

by Johan Greeff: MD Treetops Consulting

2010 World Cup legacy
Last year’s World Cup gave South Africa a focus point. In the year building up to this event, there was an immense and tangible excitement in South Africa. People could see and experience the changes in the South African Landscape.

Gauteng became one massive construction site given all the infrastructure development: stadiums, roadworks and the Gautrain. Great debate was sparked: “Are we in over our heads? Will we be able to deliver?”

Then it happened! We did it! Everybody stood in awe of the magic of our country as we ‘wowed’ the world. Some said the “best world cup ever”. But before we know it, the world cup had come and gone.

Post-World Cup a lot of us may have felt like a “dazed boxer” recovering from a punch. People still bathed in the euphoria, but we all felt a bit lost and unfocused too. The big question we are all faced with now is – “Where to from here?”

2011 is upon is!
We at Treetops are excited about this year and realise that everybody now appreciates that the World Cup was just an event and a springboard to a bright and more exciting future. The World Cup showed us that success will only come through hard work.

Before we look at the year ahead, I believe we need to honour the year that we left behind.

Highlights 2010
1.Director’s Forum:
In January 2010 we had 20 Managing Directors and Executives at Treetops for an MD Forum. It sparked immense debate and created shared appreciation of the mutual challenges leaders face. It was a great opportunity to network with fellow executives.

2.Organisational Resilience and Strategic Alignment:
During June and July we had the privilege to do some work with Norman Chorn from Australia on this important topic.

3.Lecture to Wits MBA Alumni:
During August I was invited to lecture to the Wits MBA Alumni on Executive Coaching. It was a wonderful evening with fellow professionals.

4.Lecturing at Wits Economics and Management Faculty:
Lucille was invited to guest lecture on Reinventing Management with 3rd year and Honours students in Marketing and Management Science

5.Assessment Centre Study Group:
In March we presented a ground-breaking paper on ‘Enabling Assessment Centres for People with Disabilities’ – suggesting ways in which Assessment Centres can be made more accessible to people with disabilities.

6.Mentorship Publication:
The SABPP (South African Board of Personal Practitioners) is publishing a book on ‘Lessons from 40 Senior Members’ and I was invited to participate.

7.Aurecon LDP:
Aurecon is now truly an international player in the Consulting Engineering environment. Our continued involvement with their Accredited Leadership Programme is an honour and privilege.

8.Networking:
Our association with Symphonia is growing Treetops and Symphonia share the belief that South Africa needs opportunities for different generations to share their wisdom. Watch this space for Inter-Generational Wisdom Sharing.

9.Nine Conversations in Leadership:
Lucille is now an Accredited Facilitator for this wonderful Leadership, Team and Organisation intervention.

10.Khula Project:
This is an exciting project that enhances Business Acumen for workers and managers on all levels in the form of a business simulation. We are especially excited about the results within Agriculture

Personal Front
On the personal front Judy was successful in passing her HPCSA Board Exam. We wish Alene good luck with her exam this February!

Laura is again the Lady’s Champion in the Porsche Time Trials Series. Johan managed to win his class and is one of the Top 5 in the Driver of the Year competition.

2011 Year of Possibility
1.Treetops Network Day:
We kicked off the year with the Annual Treetops Network Day and were privileged to host more than 30 of our colleagues at Treetops. The World Café facilitation process allowed for intense and meaningful debate around HR and OD in South Africa.

2.Flawless Consulting:
This is the topic I am most excited about. I will be spending time with Peter Block in the USA during April to complete the final steps to becoming a Flawless Consulting Facilitator. This is truly an amazing product that empowers people to communicate and contract more meaningfully within specialist roles and matrix organisations.

3.BSSA partnership for Treetops MDP:
Our MDP will be running as a registered and accredited programme with the Business School of South Africa this year. Contact us if you would like more information about this!

4.Lucille is embarking on her PhD studies in Organisation Behaviour with the UP focusing on Reinventing Management.

At Treetops we look forward to partnering you and your team in your journey of transformation. May this year hold as much excitement and Wow! For you as 2010 did, even if it is a year without a Soccer World Cup:)We also look forward to opportunities to connect, not least of all at the regional SAODN meetings every month.

How do I prepare for a Psychometric Assessment?

by Alene Edson, Treetops Consultant and Intern Psychometrist

Part of preparation is knowing what to expect...

When going for psychometric testing as part of the selection process, you can never be 100% sure about what tests you may be given. It is however highly likely that you will be given a combination of ability tests complemented by a personality test, EQ test or a trait-specific test. Start by asking what kind of tests you will need to do when the company books you for testing and how long this will take. These days most testing is done on the computer, but you may be asked to do some pen-and-paper exercises as well.

Ability/cognitive tests often have a time limit. These types of tests are designed so that most people don’t finish every single question. That doesn’t mean you should take it easy, but don’t stress too much if you missed those last few questions. Before each test you will commonly be given a series of examples. Take these slowly and learn from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to ask questions as it will definitely help you when you complete the actual test.

The best technique is to practise answering questions a day or two before starting the assessment process. Taking sample tests on the internet is a great way of gaining experience about what may be expected on the day. If you know you will be doing a test that measures numerical reasoning, even doing a couple of Sudoko puzzles will help to activate the brain! Practise also boosts your confidence. There are books available that help you prepare for assessments with sample questions etc. but this may just be overdoing it. You can simply practice doing sums in your head – ask a family member or friend to give you some basic calculations to do.

Most importantly, prepare for psychometric testing with a good night’s sleep and eating before the assessment to make sure your brain has fuel to think. Arrive early, not just in time. Having a couple of minutes to familiarise yourself with your environment will help calm your nerves while rushing headlong into the assessment normally has the opposite effect.

Interestingly, people perform better in reasoning tests in the morning. If HR gives you a choice of times, early in the morning is better than late in the afternoon when you are tired from a day’s work.

Personality tests are much harder to prepare for as they commonly assess relatively stable behavioural tendencies. The best technique is to be completely honest. Don't think about any one particular question for too long. With that said, your first response is your best response.

If, on the day, you feel a little bit of adrenalin it may help you perform but take care not to become too stressed. If you feel overwhelmed, ask for a quick bathroom break or take a couple of sips of water. Slow your breathing by focusing on your out-breath. Most importantly, maintain a positive attitude throughout the process. It's not the end of the world if you're finding a test difficult. Remember it is only one section of the entire recruitment process and a decision is never made solely one assessment criteria. You are being assessed against the needs of one organisation, which does not mean you are not suitable at all for this type of job or this organisation, should you not be successful in the application or promotion.

Remember to disclose andthing that may impact on your testing to the Psychometrist or Psychologist that is testing you. This includes things like diabetes, dyslexia or if you've recently been going through a particularly difficult time in your life. If they know where you are at, it helps them interpret the results. If you are asked what your home language is, also be honest. If you are not a first language English speaker being asked to do a test in English, there may be different norms that apply to you so being truthful will actually benefit you in terms of scoring.

And finally, remain calm and do your best.

Good luck!

What is an Assessment Centre?

by Judy Latell - Treetops Consultant and Psychometrist

Assessment Centre is a term that describes a particular approach to assessing individuals. It often forms part of recruitment, selection and personal development in organisations. Assessment Centres use a number of assessment tools and activities, including such things as work-sample tests, group discussions and simulations, in which candidate performance is observed and rated by a team of assessors. In South Africa, assessments also frequently incorporate psychometric testing which uses standardised and registered psychological tests to complement the simulation exercises.

Assessment Centres can seem confusing and intimidating for people who do not necessarily know or are exposed to Psychological/Psychometric jargon. Being told you have to go for an Assessment Centre can be quite scary, especially when your boss or future employer wants you to do something like this.

As Psychologists and Psychometrists, we have seen very anxious and tense people show up for an Assessment Centre. This fear and anxiety normally stems from a belief that this is a pass or fail exam, which will forever make or break their careers. Essentially, Assessment Centres are competency based and therefore have a limited lifespan and will never be valid indefinitely into the future. Your results on an Assessment Centre should change and show positive improvement as you gain knowledge, skills and experience in your profession. They also become much easier when approached as an opportunity for personal growth and development.

Assessment Centres are a PART of the selection process, in which organisations try to ascertain whether you are the right candidate for the position they have advertised. It therefore increases the fairness of the selection process. Their selection will however never be based solely on the assessment that you undergo, Employment Equity legislation protects you against that. An Assessment Centre is therefore not like a matric-, university- or board exam which you can pass or fail.

When you undergo an Assessment Centre, the process will include a variety of tests, which range from personality, cognitive ability, EQ, sensory intelligence, work stress related tests, interviews, group discussions, case studies, presentation and inbox exercsies. These exercises make up a holistic assessment, from which our report is then compiled.

If you are attending a full day Assessment Centre with Treetops in the near future, this is what you can expect:

Our holistic Assessment Centre focuses on certain areas, such as Drive, Thinking Skills, Leadership Skills, Interactive Skills and the competencies within these areas. The specific competencies range from Initiative, Analytical thinking, Judgment and Customer Orientation to Decisiveness. Your performance across the exercises is integrated into a Competency Profile and detailed report which normally includes a development plan. Don't worry if all of this doesn't make sense now, the process will always kick off with a detailed and transparent introduction and orientation session that will allow you to ask all the questions you may have.

An Assessment Centre varies in length from a couple of hours to a full day. It allows you to discover more of yourself and helps you map your development journey according to your strengths and challenges.

Some of the quotes from clients who have been assessed by Treetops:

“Wow, thanks this was really not as bad as I expected it to be!”

“Doing this has helped me discover more about myself, even things I have known but have not wanted to admit to myself.”

“Thanks for advising me and making me understand that if I want to go forward in my career I need to know my current reality and where I can still develop.”

Neuroleadership

Neuroleadership – A fad whose time has come?
By Lucille Greeff and Johan Greeff, Treetops Management & Development Consultants

Introduction
The past 25 years of consulting and managing organisation and transformation processes have taught us that a prerequisite for successful change is to assist individuals to willingly change their hearts and minds - easier said than done. This can only be achieved by engaging individuals, creating a sense of security and, in so doing, gaining commitment. At times our successes, frustrations and perceived failures surprised us!

In our leadership programme we focus on aligning the individual leader’s intention with his behaviour, and the importance of the power and skill dynamic (how to use power gracefully). Yet under pressure good intentions and common sense exits the arena.

In our work with teams we focus on emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, team dynamics and mutual expectations with varying degrees of success. Our understanding of the above dynamics took a massive leap when we acquainted ourselves with Neuroleadership. It allowed us to better understand what is going on in the so-called hearts and minds of clients and created the connection to the wonderful work of Peter Block Richard Barret and Covey’s “Speed of Trust”.,

With this, an introduction to this great topic “Neuroleadership”. We hope to follow it up in future articles with case studies and practical tips and insights.

History
Neuroleadership is an emerging field within Organisation and Personal Development. At the forefront of this field are people like David Rock who first coined the term “neuroleadership” as well as Dr Al Ringeb, Dr Yiyuan Tang, Jonah Lehrer, Marco Iacoboni, Dr Jeffrey Schwartz and Daniel Siegel.

The first Neuroleadership Summit was held in Italy in 2007. Since then the annual event has grown in stature and the interest it attracts. It has led to the formation of the Neuroleadership Institute which supports education and international research and collaboration within the field. It has also spawned a journal dedicated entirely to it, books, blogs aplenty and a whole new set of coaching practices and workshops.

So what is Neuroleadership?
Neuroleadership is the field of practice that applies neuroscience research findings to the context of Organisation Development and Leadership. According to the Neuroleadership Institute it is a “movement intended to help individuals and organisations of all types fulfil their potential through better understanding how the human brain functions at individual, team and systemic levels.”

Think white lab coat meets power dressing in the Boardroom.

The premise that neuroleadership is built on, is that a greater understanding of the brain and how it works enables us and by implication the teams and organisations within which we work, to function more effectively. The first building block in building this insight is to understand the basics of brain physiology. The second building block is to apply the findings of neuroscience to the everyday world we live and work in. The other building blocks lie in the application of this knowledge on an intra-, interpersonal and systemic level.

Neuroleadership has strong roots within research. In this lies one of its greatest values. It gives managers and OD practitioners the scientific evidence and theory to substantiate practice and theory in fields like change management and team effectiveness. It provides the reason “why” some things work and others don’t. It is a bridge. On the one side of this bridge lies what is kindly referred to as “soft skills” or more bluntly referred to as “fluff” and a “waste of time”. On the other side, we find the hard, factual world of science. It takes “soft skills” into the realm of proven fact and “clinical, hard reality”. It lends credibility to what has instinctually and through trial and error evolved as individual leadership philosophies across industries and organisations.

The potential application of neuroscience in the field of organisation development is a gold mine of possibility that we have only recently started to explore. At the present moment, consensus is that there are four domains within the field of neuroleadership, namely:
•Problem Solving and Decision Making
•Change Management
•Teamwork
•Emotion Regulation

Neuroleadership and Change
The work of Gordon, Lieberman, Eisenberger and others helps us to make sense of change and the challenges of facilitating change in teams. Social neuroscience has shown us that much of our social behaviour is ruled by the principle of minimising threat (“away” response) and maximising reward (“toward” response). At the same time the brain networks that govern these “away” and “toward” responses, are the same brain networks activated by our primary survival needs.

Neuroscience has found that there are five key levers that lead to the human brain activating the “away” or “toward” responses. These levers are summarised in the SCARF model as coined by the author Rock: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness.

•Status is about relative importance in relation to others, the social hierarchy or perceived “pecking order”.
•Certainty is about the ability to predict the future.
•Autonomy provides a feeling of being in control of events or decisions.
•Relatedness is about belonging and safety in relation to others; a feeling of being among friends.
•Fairness is a perception that there is equality and justice in the exchanges between people.

If one applies the findings of social neuroscience to the domains of the SCARF model, it becomes clear that a threat to your status or autonomy would activate the same circuits in your brain as a threat to your life would. No wonder people are often “up in arms” when the company is restructuring! Scot Peck aptly put it “People don’t fear change, they fear loss”.

As managers we’ve all had to manage change within our teams, business units and organisations. We know how individuals resist change, become emotional when confronted with the need for change and act in counterproductive ways. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, we can admit that the same is true for us too. So how do we counteract that instinctual response to change?

Applying the SCARF model
The neuroleadership perspective enables us to use the five levers to nudge our teams towards the change required if managed well. As a leader, I need to be able to see how my positioning of what is required directly leads to the threat response “away” from the required change, or alternatively leads to the reward response “towards” the desired goal.

How do I do this? Firstly, if I can decrease the extent to which people feel that their standing in the team or organisation is being threatened by the change, I’m halfway there. If I can increase the individual’s relative standing in the team, I’m doing even better.

There are many experiences that could reduce a person’s perception of their status: advice, behaviour correction, giving instructions, even the mere suggestion that a person’s approach to a task is ineffective. These experiences may all lead to that instinctual threat response. Performance discussions and feedback also fall into this category.

If I want to increase a person’s status, creating a reward response in the brain, I can start thinking of promotion, salary increases, opportunities for training and skills development or the simpler things like positive feedback and public acknowledgement.

I can also create the “towards” response by creating certainty. What is the timeframe? What are the steps in the process? How specific can I be about the outcome and how quickly can I move through uncertainty? If people are waiting to hear whether they will be losing their jobs, waiting 1 week is less painful than waiting 2 months. Make the announcement, provide certainty about process and get on with doing it...

We can apply the same type of thinking to the areas of Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness. How can I reduce the threat created by a lack or decrease in the perception of these elements and how can I increase the reward response by increasing them in turn.

Is neuroleadership just a fad?
This angle on change management may not feel like a big AHA! What does create that AHA response, is knowing that there is scientific proof that explains why these levers are the ones that need to be managed. It creates a sense of control over change and our response to it, providing certainty and autonomy, which in itself promotes the “towards” response. As leaders, we need to maximise the amount of time we spend in this “towards” state as a team. It reduces conflict, increases productivity and enhances the social fabric of the organisation. The SCARF model can also help us build change management strategies and make decisions we feel confident about.

The leadership guru Warren Bennis has been quoted as saying that neuroleadership has potential but that it is “filled with banalities”. He may well have a point. Neuroleadership is a fledgling frame of reference that is still developing in the depth of insight it provides us as leaders. It may feel like a new angle taking us to old, well-known conclusions. It may be science masquerading as explanation to behaviour that is already understood well enough. Yet it also holds the potential of enhancing leadership practice and OD in amazing ways, and that is really exciting!

Neuroleadership is definitely a fad; only time will tell whether it is more than just another OD craze. One thing it for certain though, it is definitely a fad whose time has come!

About the authors:

Lucille Greeff is a Chartered OD Practitioner with the SABPP and a Director at Treetops Consulting specialising in leadership development, change management and employee engagement.

Johan Greeff is an OD Consultant, Psychologist and Executive Coach. He is the Managing Director of Treetops Consultants and a founder member of IODA.

Look out for this article in May's edition of Management Today

Men cry bullets: reflections on the internal exile of men in South Africa

by Mike Abrams and Des van Niekerk

Mike and Des facilitate the Heart Economics Workshop for Male Managers with Treetops

The background to our story
Hands on, an associate organisation of Treetops, is a collective of trainers and community workers with a people centered, systemic and experiential approach to supporting individuals and their organizations to attain social justice. As a collective we work inside out through integrating personal and organizational learning to empower people, organizations and communities.

At the heart of our understanding of the context in which we work is a belief that South Africa is a multiply wounded nation carrying the emotional weight of the scarring of individuals, families, cultures and communities by violent forms of colonization and Apartheid. Over generations the physical and psychological brutality of colonization and the racial hatred of the apartheid state were institutionalised in all the structures of South African society. This has created a scarring of the sense of self and a ripping apart of the psychological skin of the community leaving human bonds fragile and dislocated.

As a nation we have spent little time, resources and effort on understanding how the past is impacting on the present levels of violence in our personal relationships with each other. The weight of the past is experienced in breakdown of relationships resulting in epidemics such as domestic violence or xenophobia. We are in complete denial about what the impact and legacy of trauma has on our daily lives. In the focus on creating the new South Africa we have developed total amnesia about the horrific impact of colonialism and racial capitalism on relationships and culture. But it sits hidden in our souls and the very fabric of our daily existence terrorizing us with the actions of rapists, murderers, perpetrators of family violence, in the trend of binge drinking, road rage, taxi conflicts, school violence and murders, deaths at initiation schools and the high rates of interpersonal violence which all prevent our self actualization and development as a nation. Rather than understand the wounds of the past and deal with them effectively, and lacking the emotional vocabulary to express our feelings, we have normalized the abnormal behavior that comes from these scars.

This culture of normalization has been unconsciously internalized as a homicidal impulse that is repeatedly directed towards self and family while creating a high potential for fragmentation and violence. “Shoot to Kill”; “Women need a beating now and again”; “return the death penalty and corporal punishment” ideas that are prevalent in our society and reflect an internalization and normalization of violence. This impulse destroys the cement of relationships through a failure to reflect on and take responsibility for our actions.

The deep wounding of our nation is most clearly seen on a personal level in the behavior of men and on a social level in the dominant masculine identity we are socializing our sons into. We believe that it is the multiple wounds that are woven in to our masculine identity that propel individual men to psychological, physical and institutional violence.

What we have learnt. Men the walking scarred…

"When a person does not or cannot work through a trauma right away, its social consequences, the most frequent of which are apathy, isolation and aggressiveness, are only revealed over time. .. When one has a lot of accumulated pain, one loses the capacity to communicate with others. The ability to communicate, to be flexible and tolerant is enormously reduced among people who have a number of unresolved personal traumas. The characteristics vital to a person’s ability to function adequately become affected. …

The only way they [men] found to express their pain was through violence and aggressiveness, because that’s the only way men have learned to express their emotions and shake off their traumas."
- Living and Surviving In a Multiply Wounded Country. Martha Cabrera

Over the last 10 years we have spent 100’s of hours listening to boys and men of all ages recount their stories and reveal their pain and scarring as individuals. The telling of their stories has faced us with the need for deep introspection and analysis to try and get to the root causes of “why men cry bullets”. It has forced us to make emotional sense of, understand and analyze the trauma men have suffered.
As we have listened to this recounting of history of 3 sometimes 4 generations we have noted that the intent and role for men was to be a co-habiter of the living space, with the ability to create new things, find meaningful ways to provide and protect his family and engage on both an intimate and intelligent level with his partner.

However, the impact of colonization and apartheid has completely destroyed the social and economic relations underlying this view of men. An example of this is the rapid change in the role of the father in the family structure due to expropriation of the land, migrant labor and urbanization. This in turn, has disfigured the form and content of the relationship between father and son /daughter. Fatherhood as a role and cultural identity has gone through a massive reconfiguration as we have moved from fathers being present and responsible in the family to the scourge of absent fathers. A refusal to acknowledge responsibility that characterize at least 64% our families today.

From our observations it seems that the relationship between father and son is a key determinate of how men behave toward themselves, other men and women.
If the relationship between father and son is not a healthy one then the resulting trauma and unprocessed pain seems to become a powerful determinant of the behavior of the son over many years. In fact until such time as the son begins to make sense of what happened and work at healing.

We have come to understand that a hunger for father love makes it difficult for many men to complete their socialization and move beyond childhood. Unresolved father issues seem also to act as a catalyst for further relationship breakdowns and trauma.
The role of a father –whether physically or emotionally or both- seems to drive men’s sense of self and understanding of their role and function in society.

The rapid change and breakdown in the nature of Fatherhood has resulted in firstly, a confusion of identity and roles for many men and secondly, a masculine identity that normalizes the use of psychological and physical violence as a legitimate response to human interaction. The impact of the multiple wounds of our nation is most painfully experienced by children in their relationship with their absent fathers. The absent father epidemic is resulting in a generation of youth being socialized without positive male role models leading to further distortions of masculinity.

As we have struggled with understanding the scarring that is driving our masculine identities into crises we have begun to name some of the scars and wounds:

1. Historical and collective emotional and psychological wounding coming from group [community, culture, race] experience of oppression.
2. Class experience of exploitation creating ever deepening conditions of poverty and barbarism forcing people into a war of survival over resources
3. Disfiguring of cultural beliefs, practices, memory and identities
4. Identity blending of masculinities + violence
5. Internalized oppression - despair, confusion, anger, self hatred woven in the fibre of family leading to self and familial abuse
6. Relational: personal pain from relationships that remain unresolved e.g. father hunger father son; brother-brother
7. Intergenerational passing on the trauma’s and their outcomes to multi generation

For many men the consequences of this culture of normalization of abnormal behavior resulting from multiple wounding have been disastrous leading to an existence where men are always in competition with each other, separated from their families and in a state of aloneness. This internal exile has lead many men to be trapped in repeated and vicious cycles of break down of relationships with no understanding or support to break these cycles.

Cooking up Community: Breaking the cycles of unexpressed pain and repairing the fabric of relationships

"Personal change is key to organizational processes. There can be no social change without personal change, because one is forced to fight every day to achieve that change...

Reconstructing the sense of our national and personal histories is a path to understanding that there is meaning in what we are and what we have lived through despite everything, and this is what allows us to go forward in life. But going forward is only possible if people can find new energy…

We begin to reconstruct both the social fabric and ourselves insofar as we allow ourselves to work through our personal history and open ourselves up to this possibility. So many projects have the stated goal of “reconstructing the social fabric,” but who reconstructs a society’s fabric? People do. So first we have to reconstruct people. This recognition should lead us to analyze the development model we are proposing in our projects. Are they really people-centered projects?"
- Living and Surviving In a Multiply Wounded Country. Martha Cabrera


In trying to answer the question of how we work as development workers in a traumatised nation we have come to understand that the healing of the scars and continuous personal development is a necessary part of the ability of our nation to meet the development challenges we face. Capacity building and Developmental interventions need to have personal healing and growth as a necessary part of their activities. We need to develop the capability to heal and develop individuals, communities and institutions simultaneously and holistically. Reduction in the levels of violence in South Africa will not come about simply because of additional policing, shoot to kill policies or the militarisation of the police force. To reduce violence and begin building peace we will need to heal our men and reconstruct our masculinities. This will courageous leadership prepared to publicly challenge dominant forms of masculinity and lead a process of healing on 3 levels simultaneously:
 Individual – personal
 Relationships -family, community, work
 Institutions of socialisation of men that create gender identity-schools, sports clubs, media need to reflect and create new sense of masculinity

In a small way we have begun this work on individual and relational levels through a focus on the establishment of community based men’s circles to provide men with a safe and inspiring space to understand and change the way they see themselves, their families, and their society. Part of this intervention has been the training facilitators to hold men’s circles. We have also been involved in community healing processes to facilitate rebuilding of individual, family, neighborhood and community relationships and networks.

In our work with young boys and men we have had to develop a range of different approaches and techniques to enable participants to create a space of safety, trust and care to allow for deep introspection. These include:
 Active and Experiential learning processes
 Wilderness leadership camps
 Coaching, training and mentoring individuals and teams
 Ritual, drama, story telling, music and visual arts
 Straight talking weekly sessions focused on a theme

As we begin to heal and discover new identities as men we will begin to rebuild the social cohesion of our communities and recreate our culture. This will require men to develop and step into safe spaces of acknowledgement, witnessing, inspiration, hope and healing. This provides every man the opportunity to reflect on and repair the tears in his personal make up and actions. Our men’s circles have taught us that key to this process of restoration is the support offered to men to fix it with their fathers, clean up the mess with their families, find new ways to relate to their children and shoulder a new responsibility in their communities.

It is important as men that we come to understand that as a result of our scarring the critical issues we face are to regain an identity of the true self through grieving over damage we have caused, working through guilt and responsibility for this and embracing forgiveness for those who have hurt us. This restoration will restore the capacity to think, embrace life and live again allowing the individual man to claim a new sense of Manhood.

However, we have also learnt that individual healing and restoration while a critical part of the process seems to have limited impact on healing the multiple wounds of our nation. For this to happen we need a far more complex national process that must equip our leaders and managers in all fields of endeavour to understand the notion of multiple woundedness and how we can deal with this. In addition, we need to undertake a thorough national introspection on the nature, form and content of the institutions which create identities and transform them so that the sense of masculinity they create allows men to reach their full potential in human relationships.

Final thoughts

As we prepare for 2010 and showcasing ourselves to the world we must not hide the reality of our wounds and scars behind a façade of the rainbow nation, proudly South African and other marketing ploys which brand our nation. The TRC while an important first step in the process of healing has also been part of this superficial attempt to tidy up the brutality of the past and its psychological damage. It calms the soul but the underlying damage remains and it will resurface as deep patterns of behavior unless we are courageous enough to acknowledge the past damage and begin to heal from the roots of the problem.