LeadingLDS

Take 15 minutes and Change the Way You Manage

Take 15 minutes and watch this video. Then comment below how it applies to church leadership.  There is more to be said on this but let's first hear what you have to say.

Enjoy!

 

Mastering the Fundamental Attribution Error

Have you ever said things to yourself similar to these?

"They don't home teach because they are lazy."

"They don't visit teach because they don't know how to prioritize."

"Every week they are late. They must not understand the importance of sacrament meeting."

"We've knocked on their door for three months in a row. They must not want home teachers."

"Every time I ask him to do something he drops the ball. He must not care."

All leaders approach responsibilities with optimism. However, when things don't work out because others don't follow through we begin making assumptions about these individuals. We can't understand why someone isn't doing an easy home teaching assignment so we therefore attribute it to laziness, bad attitudes, or lack of faith.

You can thank the Fundamental Attribution Error for this type of thinking.

Fundamental Attribution Error—the automatic assumption we often make that the other person's motives are bad. This can happen when someone says or does something we think is harmful or threatening. We immediately attribute bad motive

I'm a big fan of the people down at VitalSmarts. They know their stuff about creating change and leading change. (More about them to come in future posts) I first learned about the Fundamental Attribution Error while reading their material.

While leading we sometimes become so frustrated by the inefficiency of others that we simply need something to attribute the lack of success.

How do we avoid the Fundamental Attribution Error with those we lead? According to our friends at VitalSmarts we simply need to ask ourselves a question. “Why would a reasonable, rational, and decent person act this way?” Regardless how you ask this question simply take a moment and step back from your judgment and figure out what this person needs. Start with yourself. What can you do to help them build skills necessary to complete the task and how can you help them better understand the task?

As a leader when have you let the Fundamental Attribution Error take over?

Why Your Delegating Isn't Working.

Delegate! Delegate! Delegate!

If you have been a leader in the LDS church you have probably heard this cry from many others that are helping you realize you can't do it alone. They go on and on about the reasons you have counselors or committees. They thank you for your hard work but plead with you to share the many tasks that are on your plate with those that can help. You innocently reply to this outcry that you simply want to make sure everything is done right and on time. If you delegate someone might drop the ball and then you, as the leader, are responsible. Nonetheless, you understand the importance of delegation and commit to delegate many of the tasks on your list.

Sister Toobusy: Sister Helper, I know I have been taking too much of the load lately so I really need your help teaching the next Sharing Time  lesson during primary.

Sister Helper: Sure I would love to help. I have noticed you have been taking on a lot as the Primary President. I am glad you feel like you can ask.

Sister Toobusy: Oh thank you! This will be such a blessing. The topic for this upcoming Sharing Time is Honor Thy Father and Mother so make sure you have enough material to fill 30 minutes. What you will want to do is use a lot of visual aids. These kids sure can get distracted easily. In fact, here are some cute coloring pages that you can use for the activity. OH! ...and make sure you coordinate with Sister Singer so that she has songs prepared for the kids to sing that go along with the lesson topic. In fact, tell her we need to sing, Love is Spoken Here and Quickly I'll Obey. Spread out the singing time every ten minutes. And here...let me give you a cookie recipe you can make for the kids. Put each cookie in zip-lock bag and staple this cute message to it. Wow! Thanks Sister Helper for letting me delegate this to you.

Sister Helper: Um....sure....anytime.

An extreme example for sure but the point being -- delegation is giving ownership of the task, not telling how to do the task.

The concept of autonomy has been address on this blog HERE and HERE (if you haven't watched that video clip you really should take the time to do so...there is a lot to learn). Autonomy is the main key that is missing from most delegation. The leader is so concern with the task getting done perfectly that they feel they must give detailed step-by-step direction. When in the end the person receiving the delegation is stripped of all motivation.

As a leader autonomy is your friend. It motivates and engages.

Author Dan Pink gives a compelling argument in his book Drive, The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us (and seriously...if you haven't read and studied this book as a leader you are really doing yourself a disservice)

A sense of autonomy has a powerful effect on individual performance and attitude. According to a cluster of recent behavioral science studies, autonomous motivation promotes greater conceptual understanding, better grades, enhances persistence at school and in sporting activities, higher productivity, less burnout, and greater levels of psychological well-being. Those effects carry over to the workplace. In 2004, Deci and Ryan, along with Paul Baard of Fordham University, carried out a study of workers at an American investment bank. The three researchers found a greater job satisfaction among employees whose bosses offered "autonomy support." These bosses saw issues from the employee's point of view, gave meaningful feedback and information, provided ample choice over what to do and how to do it, and encouraged employees to take on new projects. The resulting enhancement in job satisfaction, in turn, led to higher performance on the job. What's more, the benefits that autonomy confers on individuals extend to their organizations. For example, researchers at Cornell University studied 320 small businesses, half of which granted workers autonomy, the other half relying on top-down direction. The businesses that offered autonomy grew at four times the rate of the control-oriented firms and had one-third the turnover.
(Pink, 2009, 70)

In short, simply delegate by letting them know the result you want the task to produce.

Sister Toobusy: Sister Helper, I know I have been taking too much of the load lately so I really need your help teaching the next Sharing Time lesson during primary.

Sister Helper: Sure I would love to help. I have noticed you have been taking on a lot as the Primary President. I am glad you feel like you can ask.

Sister Toobusy: Great, I know you will do a wonderful job. Feel free to handle it anyway you would like. All I want is for this sharing time lesson to help the kids feel the spirit of the topic and feel motivated to respect their parents.

Sister Helper: I understand. I'll get it done.

If they need further direction they will let you know. But let them spread their wings and try. If it isn't as perfect as it would be if you did it yourself that's ok. At least you have a motivated and engaged team player on your side.

How to Get the Class Participating During Your Church Lesson.

Let's talk about awkward times during quorum meeting. You are ten minutes into your lesson and it isn't turning into an all-star lesson. Everyone looks bored and the content you are presenting doesn't seem to come across as overly interesting. It's time to save the lesson by getting the class involved--get them talking. So you naturally ask a question, "So brethren what are your thoughts on the scripture I just read?" And then you wait for the first hand to go up....

...and you wait

...and wait

...wait

...still waiting

By this time the feeling of awkward silence settles on the class like it did on your first date in high school. Sweat beads appear on your forehead and you just can't take it anymore so you break the silence yourself. "Well....ok....What about this..." By the time you finish answering your own question you get a few nods from the crowd. You then look uncomfortably back down at the lesson manual and move to the next point.  Hopefully there is a next point.

Tough crowd, eh? What is it that makes a crowd tough? 

Let's turn the tables. Remember the last time you were in a Sunday School class and the teacher asked a question that you knew the answer to but you didn't raise your hand? Or you whisper the answer under your breath? Why does this happen? Why don't you raise your hand and proudly proclaim the answer to the question? 

When we walk into a room with a group of people, regardless how familiar they are, our comfort level seems to reset. We naturally put our guard up and our personality takes a back seat. As soon as we regain that comfort we then have no problem expressing ourselves.

The Secret: Get them to hear their own voice among the group.

Many instructors in church jump into their lesson without realizing everyone in the room is naturally uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable to the point of leaving, but uncomfortable enough that they don't want to overly participate. No matter how intriguing you sound they won't participate even if they know the answer. It is your responsibility as the instructor to prime the pump before you start with your lesson plan. The mental switch happens once they hear their voice among the group and realize they are safe to participate. This involves simply asking basic questions and having a natural conversation with the group.

"Well thank you brethren for maknig it to Elder's Quorum. We are going to talk about missionary work today. I need five of you brethren to quickly tell me where you served your mission."

This is a simple question and many will feel comfortable speaking up with an answer. The trick is to make the question simple and have the feel of a normal conversation.

Additional examples of questions:

What are some things you miss about being a missionary?

Who enjoyed the MTC?...Who never wants to go back?

Who have contact with people from their mission?

Who still uses the languange they learned on their mission?

How many copies of the Book of Mormon have you shared since you returned from your mission?

The class should be inundated with questions such as these at the beginning of the lesson in order to get them used to participating. Once someone responds immediately give them a follow up question. "Brother Watts tell me in what capacity you still use your Icelandic since your mission."

The Shy of the Shy

The above technique may work for many in the class but there will always be a group of people that simply refuse to respond to your questions. It's important that you address this at the beginning of the lesson so all will feel comfortable participating throughout the class. Once you see who isn't responding ask them questions directly.

YOU: "Brother Nevershares, where is it you served?"
Brother Nevershares: "Antartica West Mission"
YOU: "Wow, What sort of food do they eat there?"
Brother Nevershares: "Frozen whale."

Continue with follow up questions until he feels comfortable speaking in the group.

Taking the time to get the class talking is so crucial. If you are able to help the class feel comfortable with active discussion at the beginning the rest of the lesson will be much more comfortable as the teacher. Or you can skip this step and enjoy the sound of silence after each questions. Your call...

How to Improve Home Teaching by 20%

Many may classify 100% home teaching a fairy tale. Even 80% would be a modern day miracle for many. Like I mentioned here, home teaching is a unique challenge. It's hard to compare it to anything else in life. When a new EQP is called everything is new--especially the problems. How do they go from 40% home teaching up to 80%? I don't mean to group every new EQP into the "clueless" category because I am sure many are doing it in a way that produces results (If you are one of those please contact LeadingLDS so we can share your secret). I have been apart of many priesthood quorums and I have watch the leaders try the same techniques over and over again in order to create satisfactory home teaching results.

How does the typical leader try to motivate a group to home/visit teach?

Quorum leaders typically motivate through group pep talks, lessons, or other verbal methods. When the HPGL realizes his numbers need a boost he puts together the lesson of all lessons and then stands before his group on Sunday ready to inspire them to become all-star home teachers. My guess is every priesthood member has sat through THAT lesson. There are good ones when the spirit is present and the leader sincerely asks all to participate in home teaching. And there are bad ones where the guilt trip is laid on thick and everyone stares at the carpet. Whether the spirit is present or not the flaw is in trying to solve the problem on a group level.

"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted."
— Sir Francis Bacon

Quorum lessons focused on improving home teaching rarely work. In fact, I have made it a personal rule that I will never mention home teaching results or efforts in weekly group meetings. I tried the pound-the-pulpit-damnation-home-teaching lesson back when I was a student ward EQP. When I gave the lesson our home teaching was at 40% and a few months later it was 39%. Nothing happened.

So like Brother Bacon said in the quote above "we must expect to employ methods never before attempted." This is a strong quote. The new methods don't have to be completely out-of-the-box but slightly different can truly improve home teaching by 20% or more (I know because I've seen it happen).

There are many things to tweak in order to improve the results of home teaching (which we will discuss in later posts). But my purpose in this post is to give you one thing in order to improve your home teaching by 20% or more. That one thing is MONTHLY INTERVIEWS WITH EACH MEMBER OF THE QUORUM. 

• Make this your number one priority.
• Delegate every other task/responsibility possible so you have the time available to sit down individually with each member of the quorum. DO NOT delegate this to your counselors. It is important that you are the one they see each month. 
• Be consistent. At the beginning of each month give your secretary a list of days you will be available to interview. Don't try and set them up on your own. You already have plenty to do.
• Follow the spirit and create the best format that works for you during these interviews (spiritual thought, report on each family, personal progress)

Is this over-kill on effort? I assure you the most effective thing you can do as a leader is build relationships through monthly interviews. Being on an individual level changes everything. I would do this if I had 10 in my quorum or 96. I have seen the best results by making this one change.

I challenge you to try it for three months.

What changes have you made that have given you a bump in home teaching numbers?

Can Home Teaching Be Compared to a Skill Set?

People often feel confused when they receive a new calling in the church. They don't know how to proceed because it's nothing they have done before. This is a benefit of all callings because they allow the person to learn as they serve. In the new-calling-confusion one might look towards similar real-world responsibilities and mimic similar skills sets. For example, those involved in missionary work might look at a sales organization to see how they approach a perspective customer. A new bishop may look at how a manager in a company holds effective interviews. Though the goal is very different the way to get there can be compared.

But what about home teaching? Is it comparable to a secular occupation? Plumbers don't stop by to see "how things are going" and your mechanic isn't looking for a monthly visit in your home. If there was a clear parallel to home teaching it would have to include the following:

• A consistent renewing assignment with a solid deadline
• A required report on specific performance
• Requires working with a partner

Is Home Teaching a world of its own or can it be compared to a specific skill set?

Professor Curtis LeBaron Interview - Part 4

LeadingLDS: In your BYU devotional you have a consistent theme of four statements. The four statements of: I see you, I understand you, I like you, and I can work with you. What is your philosophy behind that? Or what is the background on those statements?

 

Curtis LeBaron: Well a little bit of philosophy or theory might be a better word. In the social sciences in the field of linguistics there was a guy named John Austin at Berkeley in the 1960’s and 70’s who developed something called Speech Act Theory. And that has been picked up and further developed by a lot of people. And the idea is this--when we communicate our words just don’t mean something they do something. They do many things. So communication isn’t just about meaning it’s about action. The technical meaning or the dictionary meaning of the words that leaders say maybe much less important than the actions that those words accomplish. And it is often the actions that we remember and that impact our lives much more than those words do. So for example, if you go to a party and you go to that party or that social event and somebody snubs you or says something rude to you; you may not be able to recall exactly what their words were but you may remember for the rest of your life the action of being rejected or being put down. Or the converse, somebody may reach out and validate you or include you or something like that and the words take a back seat to the actions that are being performed. So in the talk what I was doing was identifying some of the actions that were being accomplished by the words being used. Those words may have had a particular meaning but it wasn’t the meaning of the word that was most important it was the actions they were accomplishing.

 

The beautiful thing about the gospel and about the Savior's teachings is that at the same time He was communicating or teaching about things like love, like peace, and so forth His words didn’t just mean those messages they were also doing those messages and that is one of the things that made them so powerful. When leaders are able to give us instruction about something and the content and meaning of their instruction is coupled with or is joined with displays that in the moment illustrate that instruction. So for example the Savior’s message of love and peace was always coupled with His behaviors that communicated or that accomplished love and peace. So when the meaning and the actions coincide it’s especially powerful.

Professor Curtis LeBaron Interview - Part 3

LeadingLDS: You mentioned in your BYU devotional, "the moment of transition or boundaries are moments that define leaders." Can you expound on that a little bit as far as transitions go with leadership?

 

Curtis LeBaron: Yeah, this is something that I have noticed and it has come from my own research even though I am not the first person to focus on the importance of transitions. These can be transitions like the beginning and the ending of a meeting. These can be transitions that are life transitions like when a young man or a young women graduates from one class to another like going from a deacon to being a teacher. They can be transitions such as when a calling is extended and accepted and there is a setting apart. All of these kinds of transitions are important for leaders. Leaders have to be very careful about how they facilitate the transition. The reason transitions are so important is that during transitional moments we do what is called identity work. This is a little more technical than what I got into in my talk but identity work is we behave in ways that define who we are relative to one another. So I mean such things as relative status. Who is more important? Who has more authority? Who is in charge relative to other people? We manage relative status, and when I say we manage it through subtle ways of behaving through our behaviors we subtle establish for one another who is in charge—who is to be respect—who is to be acknowledged and listened to. Another definition of identity is our social distance or closeness. So how close are we? Are we intimate? Are we friends? Or on the other hand are we just kind of co-workers and acquaintances? I think a lot of times we make the assumption that we begin as individuals and that we come together to form groups. I think arguably it is the other way around. I think our sense of who we are as individuals is something that comes through our association with each other. Individuality is a product of group interaction and so when we go to church and when we attend Teachers quorum or Beehives class or Relief Society or Primary we are engaged in a process that unavoidably helps define who we are in this world. Because who we are is always relative to who we are in relation to one another.

 

During transitional moments identity work goes on and leaders have to be very careful that they manage those transitions well so that people receive the kind of messages that leaders want them to receive.

 

LeadingLDS: So these moments of transition are opportunities for leaders to maybe point out the individual but also help the individual define who they are? Am I understanding it right?

 

Curtis LeBaron: Right, yeah, Whenever we’re go into a new situation. When ever people come together in a room they have to show one another what they are doing. They have to answer the question who are we? Who are we in relation to one another? And what is our work? And they have to answer those question, those questions are like hanging in the air. So transitions are a way for leaders to answer those questions maybe even explicitly but unavoidable they do it subtly. And they need to be thoughtful about what they want those answers to be. With a young man that is being ordained to a priesthood office it is a wonderful opportunity to answer those questions in relation to that young man which is to talk about their infinite worth, to talk about the goodness in their lives that has allowed them to accept a new position in the Aaronic priesthood and so forth. It’s an opportunity to celebrate that and to state it explicitly and unavoidably they do it subtly.

 

LeadingLDS: So in that situation not only does that young man learn more about himself but he learns that his bishop is somebody who is inspired and cares about him.

 

Curtis LeBaron: Yeah, I mean it goes in all directions. Not only is it an opportunity for the young man to learn of the bishop’s concern and love for him but it is an opportunity for others in the room to witness that and to see that love from the bishop to the young man and that is kind of a public pronouncement of sorts. It makes that information public for everyone to see. When we raise our hand to support or sustain someone in a calling we can follow the bishop’s example as we see the bishop support that person and sustain them.

Professor Curtis LeBaron Interview - Part 2

LeadingLDS: Is there anything from your research that you have discovered as far as leadership goes that could tie over with leading in the church.

 

Professor LeBaron: Yeah, I think there is. One of the things that we see demonstrated so well in places like general conference is the importance of stories and telling stories effectively. Leaders need to be heard, they need to be remembered, they need to be valued. If anyone of those three things is missing then their leadership is going to be less effective. One of the beautiful things about stories, whether they are stories from the scriptures, or they’re stories from life experiences is that people tend to listen to stories; they tend to be interested in them and the human ear just quickly opens up to stories more than it opens up to abstract kinds of ways of talking. Stories enter the mind and the heart very quickly. They are not only heard but they are remembered. There is something about stories. For example, just off the top of my head I remember a story that President Monson told years ago about the octopus catching devise—the maka-feket. I remember the story of how it was used to trap these things. And it is through the story that I am able to access the principle that he was talking about. I think it was related to repentance. I can think of other stories that President Hinckley has told or President Kimball. So stories are memorable—and of course the valued part I think stories come with lessons. Stories ring true to us. Stories capture life in a way that includes its complexities. In any single story we can have the main character kind of caught in the web of circumstances that are analogous that we find ourselves in day to day. So we value stories and the messages that come. So that is one example.

Another example is something that is a key leadership principle is attention to the individual. We have in the gospel the beautiful juxtaposition of things universal and things individual. The gospel reaches in both directions. We believe in heavenly father and the savior who on the one hand are beyond our comprehension in the sense of the universal scope and the universe. On the other hand they know us on an individual level. I think in the church we are very good at doing both. The church is now an international organization it’s a huge organization but yet look how well it tends to the need of individual. So I think we see that as a beautiful thing within the church. I think that local leaders, I know that one of the groups that you are trying to serve are kind of ward level leaders or stake level leaders that want to make a difference. I think the most effective leaders are those that can see the big picture of their calling but never neglect the individuals and what that means for me is actually taking time and making contact with people. Just yesterday the primary president in my ward--she came by and brought a flower for my six year old daughter who is one of  her primary students and she explained that we had both been at a wedding reception on Friday evening and my daughter had tried to talk to her and had been crowded out by other adults. And this wonder leader and sister in our ward had noticed my daughter’s two attempts to come in and talk to her and had been kind of  shut out or literally blocked out with other people who were standing in the circle. And so this primary president came over and brought her a flower and apologized that she hadn’t been able to talk to her. And it meant a lot to my daughter. That kind of leadership is so effective.

 

From the Experts - Professor Curtis LeBaron Interview - Part 1

Curtis Lebaron teaches in the Department of Organizational and Leadership at BYU. I first was introduced to Curtis LeBaron when I listened to his BYU devotional talk he gave in July 2009. I was extremely impressed by his research experience and thought it applied so well to church leadership. I strongly recommend you listen to his talk here and take good notes.  

I later contacted Curtis LeBaron and asked if he would be willing to allow me to ask him some questions about his research and see how we could apply it to typical church leadership. He graciously agreed and I had a wonderful hour interview with him. Over the next few posts I want to share with you what I learned and how it might be applied to leading in the LDS church.

ETHNOGRAPHY

Professor LeBaron's main focus in research is through a method called ethnography. Ethnography is the study and systematic recording of human cultures. It's typically used in anthropology. Here’s what Professor LeBaron had to say about it:

Research methods are kind of a menu of choices and they all have strengths and weaknesses. Most of the social science research that has been done in the last 50 years or so has been informed by psychological model of understanding. Of course research methods and theory need to be compatible in any kind of research project. I am speaking in very broad terms so please understand that I am generalizing probably irresponsibility. Psychologists have been very good at experimental methods often bringing people into a laboratory where they study under controlled conditions. How people behave, how they make decisions, how they live in the social world. A lot of insights have come from that kind of work. But one of the weaknesses of that approach to study human behavior and trying to understand people in that way is that it removes people from the natural environment in which they live and work and behave on a day to day basis. To some extent the argument goes, who we are is related to where we are; who we are is related to the situations in which we behave. As soon as we separate ourselves from our contexts we are no longer who we are within our context.

So ethnographic approaches which come not from the field of psychology but from the field of anthropology primarily, they try and understand people by looking at people within their natural circumstances or situation or context and of course when one does that the downside is that we can’t control those conditions because they are naturally occurring so they are not laboratory like settings where variables can be control and hypotheses can be tested. So we have to study people and learn about them by looking closely sometimes conducting interviews. And my research comes from that kind of a tradition. Now there is kind of a twist on that which is when I go into situation I don’t just observe I make audio and video records of people actually going about their work, conducting meetings, having conversations, making plans, forming strategies, developing new ideas, foster innovation, all those sorts of things. Things that can be captured on video tap, they can be carefully analyzed and studied and those details that come from the recorded data can be examined against a backdrop of understanding that come from interviews or documents and histories. And so it’s a different approach to research than most people take.

Imagine what could be learned about leaders if we recorded typical Elder Quorums or Relief Societies around the church. This probably wouldn't be realistic, but thankfully church leadership principles can be very similar to those in the secular world. Stay tuned as we discuss with Professor Lebaron what he has learned from his research and how it can be related to church leadership.