Is this "negative" leadership pet peeve freezing your team's progress?
Are you bothered when someone refers to a "negative" temperature?
Or is that just an odd pet peeve of some people (or of one person)?
Either way, a North American cold snap not only inspires the sharing of that temperature-related pet peeve in this Calgary-based episode of The Energy Detox, but also sparks a conversation about a pet peeve that's likely having a negative impact on your organization:
Generic Leadership
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Transcript
(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)
Hello, and welcome to the kickoff of season five of the energy detox coming to you today from Calgary, Canada. And today's setting is perfect for today's topic, which is pet peeves, or at least my pet peeves. And I don't say that because I have pet peeves related to Canada or the way Canadians speak, or how nice Canadians are, or the Canadian prime minister or the use of the metric system here in Canada. No, I share that because here in Calgary, it can get really, really cold. In fact, just under two weeks ago, here, it was 35 degrees below zero. And now I don't recall if it was 35 degrees below zero Celsius or Fahrenheit. But fortunately, those two things get pretty close together when you get into the 30 billows. And I believe actually 40 below zero is that magic point where Celsius and Fahrenheit are identical. But setting that aside and setting aside what may actually be some issues I have with the metric system and all the various use of different units here in Canada. The reality is, I say it's cold. And I say that that's related to pet peeves, not because I'm afraid of the cold not because I have some pet pee related to the cold. But because when people say 35 below, sometimes they choose to say negative 35 degrees. And for whatever reason, and again, maybe this is some insight into the inner workings of Joe Sinnott, that's always bothered me a bit. I'm completely fine, of course with saying minus 35 degrees, because that's how it's written out minus sign and the temperature, or again, as I said at the outset, 35 degrees below zero because that represents what it is. But there's been something irritating about the use of negative temperatures, because in reality, that doesn't mean anything. Negative 35 degrees isn't the inverse of positive 35 degrees. It simply notes how far to the left of the zero point on whatever scale you're using, you happen to be. And while we can talk more about whether this is a legitimate pet peeve or whether it's grounded in science, because again, negative temperatures are not like negative bank accounts where if you're $35 in the hole, that's the opposite of having $35 in cash. But we're going to set that aside and continue on with a bigger pet peeve a more important pet peeve one that if you've listened to the energy detox in the past, you've probably heard me talk about, and that is my pet peeve regarding leaders who leans solely on generic sources of leadership, generic sources of inspiration. And to larger degree my pet peeve regarding companies that are afraid to challenge the status quo. And again, lean on generic sources of input of training of resources. Because why? Because it's easier to do that, because it's easier to go with the flow than it is to challenge the status quo. And so in my mind, there's no better way to revisit that topic than to kick off a new season here on the energy detox with one of my favorite topics, which is again, generic leadership, and what drives generic leadership, what leads leaders to say, You know what, I'm not going to challenge the status quo, I'm just going to kind of go with the flow. Well, perhaps the biggest thing is fear, or conversely, in a more positive way, a desire to keep the peace. And again, one of the many reasons that this is a perfect setting is behind me here in Calgary is the Peace Bridge. But if you're a leader, especially a leader in oil and gas, and certainly behind me in those buildings, there's no shortage of oil and gas leaders, if your sole purpose is to keep the peace, well, you're not going to do a whole bunch of good for your team, you're not doing going to do a whole bunch of good for your company or for your industry. Because merely keeping the peace by maintaining the status quo and regurgitating generic talking points, generic approaches, generic ways to deal with problems and challenges and obstacles is not going to lead you to long term success. And while I believe I had some sense of this back in my former life when I was in the corporate world, and I got to watch leaders who were afraid to challenge the status quo, and those who were willing to embrace change and challenge things and not worry about peace as much as progress. But now am I role is Coach Well, I have extra opportunities to see how damaging it is when leaders are scared and they're afraid. And while again, my perspective as a coach is fueled by lots of conversations I have with individual leaders. Typically, this perspective is fueled by the conversations I have with their stakeholders, with the reports with their customers with their peers, with their bosses, who also expressed frustration, but also show that they to understand how difficult it can be to challenge the status quo how difficult it could be to not simply embrace peace and Kumbaya and new approaches new resources that might be a little bit different, but might actually move the needle it. So my simple challenge for you on this kickoff episode is to ask yourself in what ways you are choosing peace over progress. Ask yourself in what ways you're perhaps being a bit too nice like, again, some of the fine folks around me who are walking around here and embracing the Canadian spirit out of a fear of challenging the status quo. And I don't say this because we're simply fueling my pet peeves. And because this is something that I see that frustrates me. No, I say this, because it's a very practical reason that many people fail to get engaged in companies or in teams or failed to engage with a particular leader. Because if they see a leader who is simply generic and out of the box, and spouting the same talking points in terms of doing the right thing, or spouting the same things that you can get from any corporate mission statement or set of values, which have a place, but they're not enough, they're certainly not enough in an industry with all of the challenges that oil and gas faces. So again, ask yourself in what ways your witting or unwitting embrace of the status quo and a piece over progress approach is limiting the pride and the enthusiasm and the engagement of your team. Because again, if there's one other thing that I've learned here in Calgary over the last couple of days, is it's that Calgarians, or Calgary natives, or whatever we call the locals here, I obviously haven't learned that yet. They have pride in their city because it's unique. It's different. It's unlike other Canadian cities or so I'm told. And again, with my American bias, it's perhaps because of the influence of America from a couple of decades ago. But again, I'm still have to do a little research on that. Nevertheless, they have pride. Why? Because it's different. It's a different city. It's a different set of values, it's a different embrace. If nothing else, as you see in the gift shops around here of oil and gas. In fact, you can buy some T shirts that say, you know, I heart, Alberta Oil, which is interesting. And if nothing else different, and it leads to pride, it leads to engagement. And that's what you want as a leader. So my final admonition for you is do not settle for the status quo. Do not settle for the easy path, the peaceful path as you can find behind me. But do join me on future episodes of the energy detox. Do share your own pet peeves with me and do provide feedback on topics that you'd like me to cover over the next couple of episodes here in season five of the energy detox. With that. Thank you for spending some time with me here in Calgary on what is a relative heatwave that I'm enjoying right now. And again, I look forward to you joining me again here next time on the energy detox.