Hi!
While too many of our friends are struggling to find their way through the thicket of economic uncertainties, in my teaching and travels I'm finding that the hunger for meaning and focus on the people and projects that matter most is more urgent than ever. I'm glad to have this opportunity to offer some news I hope you'll find useful about Total Leadership and its impact around the world. |
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In this issue
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Book now available in audio and in Russian
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Impact of Total Leadership
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Where in the world is Total Leadership?
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My recent blogs
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Total Leadership in the media and blogs
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Causes we support
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New books we like
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| Book now available in audio and in Russian |
If you or your friends prefer listening to reading books, you can now hear Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life on your iPod or any other listening device, narrated by yours truly. Find it at iTunes or audible.com.
If you know this language (I know not a word), please tell me how you would translate the title (see picture) our Russian publishers chose, and order your own copy.
I'm eager to hear about how people in Russia respond to the ideas and methods in this book.
Watch for news of Portuguese, Chinese, and Spanish editions! |
Impact of Total Leadership
Feedback from workshops
Here's some of what we heard from participants after a recent workshop at Bazaarvoice in Austin, TX:
"I am inspired to work through this program. I have already made one small change and am anxious to see how the experiment works. I think that Stew had many insightful ways to help me change the way I look at the family/life/work integration (looking at it as complementary efforts and not competing). I appreciate the way that he did not just answer questions but made the whole group think about the answers and then have a very interactive discussion. I was more engaged in that session than any other workshop or session I have attended in a long time."
"This session was great. It felt very managable and inspirational in a short period of time...I can't wait for the follow up meeting."
"Writing down what is important to you and how much energy you devote to those things on paper is a very good exercise to see yourself from a 3rd person-view."
"I was very impressed with Stew's introduction to the Total Leadership program. His presence and interactions with us were very authentic. This allowed me to enjoy the conversation in a way that is rare with guest speakers. I get the feeling that he is very deeply involved with the intellectual challenges people face when exploring his book and the exercises it puts forth. My trio...has met once outside of the introductory meeting. Each of us has decided to take a new approach to making changes to our lives. I'm eager to hear more about the progress made throughout the experiment both within my trio, and across the company."
"It was good to see just how far out of whack my priorities and focus are in life/work. Working with coaches was also beneficial to get an outside point of view and suggestions as to better align my focus. I'm excited to have my follow-up with my coaches to see how we are all progessing."
"I've seen the trios already engaged and having meetings last week...I love that people from different departments that would not normally work together are in trios and sharing pretty intimate stuff...Really helps to build cross-team relationships and culture."
"I loved it! I feel like I have a plan and look forward to seeing how I can change/improve on a number of areas in my life. I plan to time shift for my experiment and fortunately my wife has agreed to work with me on this."
From the National Nonprofit Leadership Conference:
"Stew, the feedback on your session was over-the-top terrific. I anticipate that we will be hearing how the Fellows are using your model, tools, book - your whole approach - in the weeks and months to come. I know my colleagues and I at the National Assembly are planning to dive into your book ourselves right away.
"In our role as a national association of national nonprofit headquarters, we work mostly with senior executives of the big nonprofit networks (those you met, plus everyone from the American Red Cross to YMCA of the USA). Because of the space we're in -- between nationals, working with the senior executive level -- we feel we have the opportunity to influence the direction of the sector by facilitating learning, sharing knowledge and even sometimes nudging leadership in new positive directions. If the national leaders move toward a more holistic way of leading on a personal level, that would be very powerful for their staffs, their networks, and ultimately the millions of people their organizations serve."
Feedback from students |
Total Leadership can benefit people of all ages and in all kinds of organizations and groups. Here are three examples of stories I've heard recently from people in their 20's:
Nicky Rho, a student in my class at Penn Law School, wrote: "As a second year law student I have enough responsibilities and commitments to need to consider ways to better balance and integrate the various priorities and domains of my life. However, I also retain a lot of flexibility and am perched on the cusp of the next stage of my life. Having taken this class now I look forward to using the skills I gained in the future when I start working full-time and I take on even more commitments and responsibilities. For the short term I am very pleased with the progress I've made and the positive results that are coming out of my experiments. For the long term, however, I am hopeful that I can continue to use some of the tools and skills I've developed over the course of the semester and apply them to new and even more challenging situations."
Kristen Campolattaro, a Wharton MBA student, wrote: "One of my experiments is "My Time Media;" using different forms of media to communicate with stakeholders to help manage my time without sacrificing important relationships. When it came to my boyfriend specifically, the goal of this experiment was to cut down on our cute though distracting Blackberry and text messaging throughout the day.  So, I started to write my boyfriend cards. I'm a night owl and my boyfriend goes to sleep early -- we would talk on the phone, say goodnight, and then I would write him what essentially were good old-fashioned letters; writing him poems, cute notes and love letters in greeting cards, on my time. I started to mail him at least a card a week (I'm in Philly, he lives in NYC). By substituting thoughtful, hand-written cards for electronic messages, I was able to put my mobile away and focus on classes and school friends during the day -- without detracting from my romantic relationship. In fact, given the commoditization of electronic communications, my hand-written cards had even more of an emotional impact on our relationship than our status quo e-communications.
"Fast-forward to the day I got engaged. My boyfriend proposed to me through a series of three cards. Card writing had become the new, romantic vocabulary for our relationship! I think our relationship is a four-way win in the making."
Cole Farnum attended my workshop at Teach for America and wrote to tell what transpired afterwards: "For one experiment, I wanted to be a better communicator and actually listen to those who were speaking to me, most notably my family and my girlfriend...I became the connector between my mom and my brother, who rarely ever calls her but now he does at least once a month. My dad now calls ME, which is rare, to check in at random times. In fact, my extended family on my dad's side now email me because they know I listen and respond, whereas before we spoke maybe once a year at most. I applied to the Harvard Graduate School of Education and made sure that I spent time, each day, every week, reaching out to current professors and students and visiting to make sure I was known as a very serious candidate (which I was!). I developed a firm relationship with a professor who works in New Hampshire...in other words, I was able to communicate to a degree where others were motivated to help me push forward in my own personal development. I was accepted last Friday to the international education policy program to study rural education development in a globalizing world."
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| Where in the world is Total Leadership? |
San Francisco: Alexandra Sullivan of Denning and Company, a boutique private equity advisory firm based in San Francisco, handed out complimentary copies of Total Leadership at the 2009 Women's Private Equity Summit in Half Moon Bay, CA, as part of their long-term sponsorship of this annual event.
Oman: Maurice Gent, a media consultant in Oman, wrote to tell us that this spring "we will be holding our Total Leadership conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Muscat."
Poland: Jarek Mirkowski wrote from Poland to say how my article in Harvard Business Review (Polish edition) inspired him to go through the Total Leadership program.
Allentown, PA: Michael London, a faculty member at Muhlenberg College wrote: "I included a chapter from your book, the one about what's important to you, in the readings for my leadership course...written beautifully...it's having an impact on my students."
Philadelphia: In the past couple of months I wrapped up full (four-month long) programs with physicians in academic medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, with students in our law school, and with students at Wharton.
Our final session is traditionally held at a restaurant. However, because of a power outage, our Wharton class had to be innovative. We ended up having pizza at the apartment of class member, Jonathan Maack (see above). It was fun!
Where to next? This summer I'll be in Seattle, San Francisco, Puerto Rico, Chile, Chicago, and Israel. Visit the Events page at our Web site to see where we're going.
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| My recent blogs |
The Most Compelling Leadership Vision
A distinguished woman rose to speak in the front of a room of 40 fellow employees during a Total Leadership workshop I was conducting earlier this week at a large pharmaceutical company's headquarters. "Joyous laughter - this is the sound I hear throughout the home I have built and now maintain for mentally ill women in Puerto Rico. They are surrounded by people who love and care for them. They are enjoying life." More.
The Soloist: Creating a Sound Distinctly Yours
Steve Lopez's magnificent story (a book and now a movie) about his friendship with Nathaniel Ayers - the homeless cellist stricken with schizophrenia - provides powerful lessons about leading change that instruct and inspire. As I read the story, I found myself coming back to three themes that resonated with my own teaching on creating sustainable change in all aspects of life. More.
Will the Next MBA Grads Take More Risks?
"Who cares what games we choose...little to win, nothing to lose." So goes the chorus of the Strawberry Alarm Clock's 1967 #1 hit song, Incense and Peppermints. This phrase - an iconic representation of '60s counterculture - came to mind the other day as I read what one of my Wharton MBA students wrote in response to this question I posed to them as we began the fourth quarter of their first year: How are you thinking about the future in light of how the economic context has changed since you first arrived at Wharton in August 2008? She said that now is a great chance "for my classmates and myself to find real opportunity in the market mostly because we are starting with so little and have so little to lose." More.
I hope you'll read my blog, subscribe to it, and share it with anyone who might be interested.
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| Are you sharing Total Leadership with people in your world? Let me know by writing to info@totalleadership.org.
Until next time, Stew
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Share this book! |
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is an easy-to-give gift for the important people in your life -- at work, at home, and in the community. Perfect for graduates and Father's Day!
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In the media and blogs |
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Philadelphia Inquirer
How to let the ax fall gently. The best leaders act with respect, authenticity, and integrity -- especially in times of downsizing.
"Right behind a heavy hand on the horn and nimble reflexes, a successful New York cabbie needs to develop the ability to listen. 'Everyone's on a different journey, but I guess that's a hackneyed thing to say,' recalled management professor and former cabbie Stewart D. Friedman - not realizing he had made a truly clever pun." Read more.
Total Leadership
"Google Professor Stewart Friedman and you'll discover that..." Read more.
Chief Executive Officer (U.K.)
A life in harmony
"'Obama's story of growth and transformation through a remarkable personal history, and how that fits in with where he wants to lead us, enabled people to feel that they were listening to a real person whose values were derived from his experiences,' Stewart D. Friedman says. 'He clearly takes himself quite seriously as a leader and has done a great deal of introspection, struggling to articulate his story.' " Read more.
Effective Executive (India)
Managing in troubled times
"My approach is to focus on the things that matter most to people and to find creative means for organizing that enable them to pursue these things in ways that benefit the organization and society. My research has shown that when you account for the interests of the whole person, paradoxically, you get better results in your business." Read more.
We recommend: Path to better leadership and richer life
"Do the different domains of your life have to compete in a 'zero-sum game?' No, says Stewart D. Friedman, founding director of the Wharton School Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania." Read more.
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Joseph Ansanelli, co-founder and former CEO of Trio Development (acquired by Palm), Connectify, and Vontu (recently acquired by Symantec) is a Wharton grad who speaks passionately about valuing the whole person, focusing on what's important, and continually experimenting. Check out his blog where he has several posts about Total Leadership.
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| Causes we support |
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Total Leadership is devoted to helping those who suffer from mental illness and their families.
We support Mental Health America, which is celebrating 100 years of advocacy. MHA "is the country's leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives."
Here in Philadelphia, on May 26 we'll be among friends and family watching the Phillies (beat the Marlins) and participating in Mental Health Awareness Night at the ballpark.
Any way that Total Leadership can help people live the lives they want to live is a good thing. So it was gratifying to receive this note from a friend in Kentucky: "Dr. Friedman, thanks so much for the autographed book you donated at my Dad's request for the National Kidney Foundation of Kentucky Gift of Life Gala. As a kidney transplant recipient, I can assure you that this helped us raise a great deal of support for kidney patients and our prevention programs. With so many doctors and professionals in attendance at this gala, your signed book was a hit at the silent auction and brought a great deal of funds for us. I cannot begin to personally thank you enough for the impact you've made. Thanks!" -- Tina Kauffmann, board member, NKFK
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New books we like |
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Greg Shea
The dominant reality of our world is and will be change. Indeed, your real job is change. Greg Shea's new book works with two metaphors to provide both a mindset and specific approaches to not just surviving but to actually thriving in our world of change. The metaphor of permanent white water captures the nature of our turbulent, churning world. The metaphor of kayaking provides a way of capturing how we can successfully adjust to this world of work. The book draws on research and experience with hundreds of executives to offer ways to lead yourself and others amidst the churning of relentless changes at work. Read it now!
Alan Lurie
Imagine a Managing Director at a large commercial real estate firm standing in front of 100 hard-nosed New York brokers every Monday morning to share five-minute messages of inspiration and wisdom. Now, imagine that this person is also an ordained non-denominational Rabbi, who draws on a wide variety of sources - from religion, science, philosophy, and business - to extract transformative lessons that apply to the world of work. Finally, imagine that thirty of these weekly messages have been compiled in to a book that is available to the public, and you have Alan Lurie's wise and wonderful new book, Five Minutes on Mondays.
It's a must-read for anyone who wants to find more purpose, peace, and fulfillment at their jobs, or for anyone searching for spiritual growth in their lives. Lurie's writing style is at once humorous, accessible, profound, and comforting. I highly recommend it!
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