John Baldoni's Blog

There used to be a saying in baseball that a player’s legs were the first to go. Comedian George Burns, who performed well into his eighties, would deadpan, taking out his cigar, “No, the legs are the second,” referring to a loss of virility.

When it comes to leadership—as with so many great players—virility plays second fiddle to the ego. These past weeks have seen ego cause President Joe Biden to assume a defensive posture by refusing to step down as a candidate for another term. The harder he tried, the weaker he looked, physically and mentally.

Until now.

President Biden is stepping away from the ticket and endorsing his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. The politics of this decision will be debated from now until the election in November and well beyond. 

Lessons to learn

Since I am not a political commentator, I focus on what leaders learn from Biden’s stepping away. As I have written many times about when it is time for the leader to step down, the biggest and best reason is always the effect such a decision has on the organization. 

In this regard, Biden has done what many in his party wanted him to do. He is not the hale and hearty man he was as vice president or president when elected in 2020. Father Time is the great leveler, and Joe Biden realized it.

The ego can affirm what a leader wants to hear and believe. It is vital to the ability to want authority and exercise power. But when the ego clouds the vision and jeopardizes the mission, it is toxic.

A by-product of ego is the supplicants who feed the ego—the leaders and their own. They enjoy the perks of power as if they were in charge, which is never suitable for an organization or the leaders themselves.

History will judge whether Biden wavered too long. Many would say yes. Party stalwarts preferred to give Biden, a proud man, the space he needed to digest the tenor of the times and then decide.

Respect for the man

Now that he has decided to fulfill his term as president but seek no extension, it is right to honor him as a faithful public servant, one who, even in the most contentious times, was able to seek consensus across the political divide. The Bipartisan Infrastructure bill may be his crowning achievement. 

Biden has always been very human. He has overcome the loss of his first wife and the death of two children, including son Beau, to whom he was very close and perhaps admired more than any other person. Such losses did not break him; they gave him the strength to carry on, and in doing so, he connected with people who had suffered losses, no matter how personal.

Biden was never perfect. He made mistakes that cost him political capital. And, at times, he could be a gaffe machine. He would often misspeak, at times due to a stutter, but usually, because he loved to speak, sometimes mixing up names, dates and people. 

Now, President Biden can use his remaining time in office to campaign for the candidates and issues that have always animated him. His stepping aside shows that good leaders are the true masters of their egos.

First posted on Forbes.com on 7.21.2014

As I was reading Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Touch Choices by Travis Rieder, the title of a children’s book I used to read to my children came to mind — The World Is Big and I’m So Small.

Yes, the world is big, and sadly, unlike in the children’s book, the problems cannot be solved by mythical knights with assistance from Mom and Dad. 

Yes, the problems are significant, and we as individuals are small—and we may not know what to do—but we must address them. A bioethicist at Johns Hopkins, Rieder, argues that the moral philosophy that has shaped humankind provides a framework for addressing the challenges of our times. Still, we need a revitalization of thinking and doing to confront what we face today.

The Puzzle

Rieder frames Catastrophe Ethics around a concept he calls “The Puzzle,” a framework for examining a problem of great consequence: climate change, abortion, and racism. As Rieder writes, “(1) a massive harm threatens, which makes moral stakes feel high; but (2) individuals are largely powerless to affect meaningful change; and so (3) this leads to passionate disagreement about what individuals are morally required to do.”

Here’s a thought problem: Would it be better to use funds for fine dining to alleviate hunger in distressed parts of the world? You say yes, certainly. But then what about the restauranteur, his staff, his suppliers and those who enjoy fine cuisine? Should we minimize their happiness to provide happiness to those who are starving?

You can argue both sides of the issue, and that’s the challenge this book presents. What one side advocates imperils the primacy of the other side’s argument. Few argue that climate change is a positive, yet responses to the problem often pit one side against the other. Your solution works for you but is harmful to me and my family.

“I try to make clear how often I’ve changed my own view,” Travis Rieder told me in a recent interview. “I spend my life thinking about ethics. It is my day job, it is my passion, and I’m constantly finding nuances and developing and being convinced by other thoughtful people who bring things to light.” Rieder says, “Even on things that we have the deepest disagreement, there is probably something that we can identify that is an insight… I really try to get people to search for those insights, to search for those shared starting points, to see the other people that they’re talking about not as evil or bad or deeply fallen, but instead as folks that are just starting from a different place.”

This issue became a stark relief when we saw climate activists storm the 18th hole at the Traveler’s tournament in Connecticut. As a golfer myself, I know the issue well. The activists view golf as detrimental to the planet in terms of chemicals used to control pests and the vast amounts of water needed to keep the courses green. And it’s a conundrum I wrestle with as an avid (not very good) golfer. I support golf as a participant and follower of the game as a Hobbesian choice.

As Rieder says, “One of the things that I want to say is I was taught by my mom a long time ago, be part of the solution and not part of the problem… What are the ways in which you can become part of a solution, which are the ways in which you can stop being part of the problem?”

Engage and Involve Yourself

The commitment to making a difference is the search for meaning, or more directly, the implementation of that search. Becoming involved in an issue that matters and engages the heart and mind is an exercise of agency, of being fully human. Our challenges today are sometimes existential – climate change, indeed – but so is our humanity. As a people, we have faced gigantic challenges, but we have survived because we used our most precious resource – our humanity – to face them. And we have survived.

The very conclusion describes how his book gets to the heart of the matter when we face. Ignoring the problem leads to “moral emptiness.

“But when we recognize that there is real goodness in responding to threats in different ways, than that we get to – and need to – participate in determining that response, we rescue our moral agency from the threat of nihilism. We build a meaningful life. This is the world of Catastrophe Ethics.”

Note: To view the full interview with Travis Rieder, click here.

First posted on Forbes.com 6.26.2024

A key to Japanese manufacturing prowess is kaizen, the discipline of continuous improvement grounded in worker involvement partnering with management to accomplish program goals. Inherent with kaizen is gemba, meaning “the actual place,” precisely where the work is done. When people design and build products convene, they exchange ideas, develop best practices, and share what they have learned. A term for such lessons is tacit knowledge, meaning the “knowledge behind the knowledge.”

Today tacit knowledge is less prevalent in management discussions than in the nineties. But that is changing. A recent Bartleby column in The Economist sketched the reason why. “All organisations face the problem of storing and transferring knowledge so that newcomers know what’s what, lessons are learned from successes and failures, and wheels are not constantly being reinvented. An ageing workforce adds to the urgency of training inexperienced hires before the old hands leave the building.”

Tacit Knowledge

Examples of tacit knowledge are what skilled tradespeople practice daily. A licensed electrician has passed the certification courses, but their actual knowledge is how to apply it to the workplace situation. That only comes from their apprenticeship and journeyman experiences. In short, you can read the diagram, but making it work requires expertise honed from experience. Electricians possess tacit knowledge.

Every discipline needs tacit knowledge. With such knowledge, things get done. 

One of the foremost thinkers in the area of tacit knowledge is Ikujiro Nonaka. “Tacit knowledge is personal, context-specific, and therefore hard to formalize and communicate,” wrote Nonaka. “Explicit or ‘codified’ knowledge, on the other hand, refers to knowledge that is transmittable in formal, systematic language.”

“By definition, tacit knowledge is knowledge that we aren’t aware we have. So it is hard to surface,” says Dan Denison, a founding partner of Denison Consulting and professor emeritus at IMD in Lausanne, “Ever hear the phrase, he (or she) has forgotten more than I’ll ever know? That’s an acknowledgment that someone has tacit knowledge that they aren’t aware of and that it is powerful.” 

In the mid-nineties, Denison was a visiting professor studying with Nonaka and his colleagues at Hitotsbashi University in Tokyo. He shares a story that Nonaka tells about what Mitsubishi when it was working on the development of bread-making machines. “The early ones burned the bread on the outside and left it gooey on the inside,” says Denison.

 Mitsubishi sent engineers to observe how pastry chefs worked. The engineers “discovered that the pastry chefs used a twisting and stretching technique, rather than just stirring up the dough.” The design team built a machine that could twist the dough, and it worked well. “Surfacing tacit knowledge often means using something like an apprentice model to get started.”

With Hirotakei Takeuchi, Nonaka developed the SECI model of knowledge transformation via socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. The SECI model helps organizations translate their implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be shared and practiced. [The Knowledge Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation is a seminal book on tacit knowledge.]

Addressing the Problem

With the Boomer generation exiting the workplace in droves, how can you ensure that you and your team embrace tacit knowledge? Here are some suggestions.

Create awareness. Tacit knowledge resides in the experience of those doing the job. For this reason, managers need to identify who on the team knows what and enable them to practice what they do best. 

Share it. Mentoring is a perfect way to disseminate knowledge. Tradesmen excel at doing this with on-the-job training. Junior technicians are paired with the veterans to learn “the right way” to do things. 

Improve upon it. Tacit knowledge is generative. It feeds upon itself. Once someone has gained the know-how to do the job, they can share and improve it. That practice is the key to learning within kaizen. Never is tacit knowledge more important than now as we integrate AI into our daily work processes. 

Make It Work

Tacit knowledge is not novel; it is not innovative in itself, but without it, innovation fails – or at least is much more complicated – because you are always starting from scratch, metaphorically redesigning the wheel by ignoring it is already there. 

Many organizations invite former employees to rejoin as consultants. This is a good solution in principle, but the challenge is to integrate the practice of tacit knowledge into daily management.

“In an economy where the one certain is uncertainty,” wrote Professor Nonaka, “the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge.” Every organization’s challenge is to capture, nurture, and sustain that knowledge.

First posted on Forbes.com 3.20.24

Storytelling is an essential part of leadership communications. In the following sentence, Steve Almond, author of Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow, writes:

“The most fundamental question for readers is to who we’re being ask to care about, what they desire, and what sort of trouble they encounter in pursuit of that desire. In other words, what promises is the piece making? Has our protagonist been forced to reckon with external obstacles and internal conflicts?”

If you were to substitute readers for followers and a piece for a story, you would have an excellent framework for shaping a story. Almond has authored 11 books and has taught writing in MFA programs for decades. Truth Is the Arrow is a distillation of what he teaches. And he does it with verve, candor, style and courage.

Why We Need Stories

For that reason, his exploration of storytelling is worth exploring for leaders who need to communicate more effectively with their followers. Stories have beginnings, middles and ends, and in the management environment, leaders know the beginning but not the ending. Forming the ending – fulfilling the mission – is a series of “middles” – ever-changing and ever-challenging.

 The narrative in fiction has been plotted, though when the writer is writing, they may not know it at the time. Same for work life. We mark milestones, but we are still in the process. Storytelling – that sheds light on people and effort – makes the progression worthy of further commitment.

A vital part of storytelling is revealing something of yourself. Almond does a skillful job telling parts of his story throughout the book. He is not afraid to laugh at his early writing efforts. More directly, he deals with family challenges and is not afraid to call himself out for shortcomings in his teaching.

Almond notes that writers come to workshops to express themselves, and part of that expression involves the grasp of self-knowledge. In this regard, the principles of the writing process mirror the coaching process, peeling back the layers to help the individual learn more about themselves.

An essential part of storytelling is humor. At this, Almond is a master. Not afraid to reveal his own foibles, he does so in ways that make us laugh and at the same time say, “I know that feeling.” That lesson is something that binds listeners – and followers – to the storytellers. Consider it vulnerability tinged with what it means to be fully alive.

Revealing Self

Near the end of the book, there is a chapter, “Man at the Top of the Stairs,” that explores a character’s inner life. Writers have to find a different way of being in the world,” writes Almond. “The making of literature is the manner by which we come to understand our inner lives, by which we travel in difficult truth toward elusive mercy, and thereby affirm the bonds of human kindness.”

Same holds true for leaders. Their connection to those they lead may waver from time to time, but when the leader knows themselves they have the capacity to look outward, to connect with others with story that resonate with shared experience. And when those stories reflect hopes and aspirations tempered with kindness and grace, the connection between leader and follower remains resilient and firm.

First posted on Forbes.com 5.00.2024

 Note: For more insights into the parallels between writing and coaching, here is my LinkedIn Live interview with Steve Almond.

Is there a secret to living a better and happier life?

In The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, Robert Waldinger, M.D., and Marc Schultz, Ph.D., co-directors of the Harvard Adult Development study, write “Positive relationships are essential to human well-being.” This finding, drawn from the Harvard Adult Development Study, which began in the late 1930s, echoes something we humans have known for millennials. The authors quote Lao Tzu, who wrote 2400 years ago, “The more you give to others, the greater your abundance.”

Building good relationships

Relationships, according to Dr. Waldinger, are not merely external. “If you think about it, you carry around many people you care about inside you all day long. You can call up a warm image of a friend or a loved one. And so in that sense, we carry them around. You carry around a warm image of somebody who may have passed away a long time ago. So it’s often useful to think about how we carry people with us as we go through the world.”

Fostering good relations with others can depend upon what the authors call “the power of generosity.” 

In our recent interview, Dr. Waldinger said, “Research tells us that when we are generous, we feel better and happier. We feel like our lives are more meaningful. So when we help people, we take care of ourselves… We know that being generous makes us feel like our lives are better.”

Helping ourselves

One practical element, among many, in the book is the W.I.S.E.R. model (Watch. Interpret. Select. Engage. Reflect). “Wiser model is really just a way of slowing things down when you have a challenging interaction, particularly with another person.” As the authors write, imagine you receive an email from your boss at 5 p.m. saying he wants to meet you at 9 a.m. The intent of the email is ambiguous. “And the problem with our wonderful minds doing that is that we can often create a story that isn’t true when we get this kind of challenging stimulus from somebody else.”

Dr Waldinger says, “Don’t jump to conclusions, don’t reply right away if you don’t have to. But just think, okay, what might be going on? What am I assuming and what do I actually know for a fact?” 

“When you receive an angry email or an angry text and you want to reply right away with something, and that’s the time to stop and slow down,” says Dr. Waldinger. “Take a moment, take a breath, or count backwards from five back to zero. Just anything to interrupt the swirl of thoughts. Think about it.”

Addressing loneliness

Loneliness is an epidemic in our country, and according to the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, it is a health issue. In a health advisory issued by his office in 2023, Dr. Murthy wrote that beyond health hazards such as cardiovascular disease and dementia, “the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.”

Fostering a sense of belonging is an essential antidote to loneliness. Human resource professionals need to address this issue more seriously in the workplace. Leaders must show the way by “being interested in other people’s lives, curiosity about your colleagues and your workers. It means modeling vulnerability and not knowing. It means modeling, learning to get help from other people, all that as part of enhancing relationships with other people.”

Value others

Good relationships are essential to a life well-lived. We must find ways to connect that benefit others and, in turn, ourselves. It is important to be open to possibility of deep connection. It’s good for you and your life. The authors write in their concluding chapter that it is essential to realize that “the good life is not a destination. It is the path itself, and the people who are walking it with you.” 

“Keep reaching out to people, email people, text people regularly saying, just thinking about you, wanting to say hi or checking in about how they’re doing,” says Dr. Waldinger. “For the people who are really important, make regular dates with them. Make sure that you have a once a month lunch with that friend who you don’t want to lose touch with no matter what.” Recognize their contributions to you and let them know it. 

Note: Here is my full LinkedIn Live interview with Dr. Robert Waldinger.

First posted on Forbes.com 4.04.2024

Catch this clip of Professor Barbara Kellerman of the Harvard Kennedy School talking about “The Social Disease of Bad Leadership.”

Synopsis:

In the YouTube video “GRACE under pressure: John Baldoni with Barbara Kellerman,” Barbara Kellerman, a Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership fellow, discusses her focus on the negative outcomes of leadership and challenges the industry’s portrayal of leadership as only positive.

Kellerman argues that there are many bad leaders and managers and shares her unique perspective on the dark side of leadership. John Baldoni emphasizes the importance of understanding how leaders become bad and the role of followers and context. They use extreme examples like Adolf Hitler to illustrate the subjectivity of defining good and bad leadership. Baldoni also discusses the concept of bad leadership as a social disease and the importance of accountability.

Kellerman emphasizes the need for individuals to have a moral compass and take a stand against bad leadership, even in complex situations. They also touch on the importance of qualities like gratitude, respect, authenticity, clarity, and ethics in leadership.

Here is the full interview with Professor Barbara Kellerman speaking about her newest book, Leadership from Bad to Worse.

Think deeply while reading these poems and they will get to the bottom of your heart. The Leader’s Path will make you better.

Dr. Oleg Konovalov, the da Vinci of visionary leadership, author of The Fisherman’s Path to Leadership and The Vision Code

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Explore themes of purpose, teamwork, community, laughter, resilience, and leadership as you navigate the intricacies of the leader’s journey. This anthology offers timeless lessons on leading with authenticity, empathy, courage, and grace.

Jenny Fernandez, MBA Leadership and Branding Coach, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and NYU

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The Leader’s Path and Other ChatBot Poems is an exciting exploration of leadership themes from the poet’s perspective.

We used my proprietary ChatBot to generate poems from my published works — some 16 books and nearly 1000 articles.

This effort brings my work to a wider audience, those who have yet to encounter my lessons in leadership.

The result is a collection of poems about what it takes to lead with heart and courage as well as humor and grace.

Beautifully illustrated with my photographs, The Leader’s Path is easy to read as well as uplifting.

Kindle $3.99

Paperback $9.99

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John Baldoni has created an offering of grace and empathy. These poems are a breath of fresh air for those of us pursuing leadership and creative professions.

Emily Falvey, Nashville singer-songwriter

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John Baldoni is innovating in a new e-space. Poetry is simple and powerful, offering nurturing benefits for us all.

Grace Ueng, Founder and CEO, Savvy Growth

Amazon reviews welcome! Thank you.

If Kenan Thompson ever decided to give up his career in show business, he could be a master trainer teaching teams how to put ego aside for the good of the team.

“I’m tough with self-praise,” Thompson tells Tonya Mosley on Fresh Air, “but I am definitely an ensemble-minded individual. And if… people want to consider me as a glue, great.” Thompson sees his role to “showcase to these brilliant writers and brilliant minds and all of our departments – makeup and hair and directors” and many more.

Thompson has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live for twenty-one seasons, the longest tenure of any performer on that show, which will mark its fiftieth season next year. Thompson has also done film and television and lots of voice-overs. And you can catch him on commercials, too, something that was his first break into the business as a child actor. His new memoir is When I Was Your Age, and as the title says, it has many life lessons. 

Facing hard-knocks

Thompson had early success on Nickelodeon, but sadly, earnings from that show were pilfered by an unscrupulous accountant who cleaned out Thompson’s holdings and left him with a huge bill for unpaid taxes. It was a humbling experience because his stardom had made him famous but now he was broke and paying for fast food with change. “I wasn’t too proud to, like, get by, necessarily, but I would definitely watch the reactions on people’s faces… Some people would make jokes, but then some people didn’t notice either. And some people were just like, have a nice day, and just happy to see you.” 

Fortunately, he had friends. “I slept on my couches, but I had friends’ to sleep on. We had an open-door kind of policy because, you know, it was just about who can help us make a couple of hundred bucks a day.” In retrospect, this loss of wealth taught him to appreciate life more fully.

One person who helped Thompson career-wise was Tracy Morgan, the actor he replaced on SNL. “And [Morgan] just immediately ‘little-brothered’ me. I had been wanting that, you know, from adult performers for so long.” Receiving support from others helps build confidence, something that, when done right, enables you to do the same for others on their way up.

Keeping polishing your craft

Thompson, like many performers, did not watch his performances in his early years. “Because it was just too awkward for me. And I didn’t want to second guess or overly criticize myself.” In time, he eased upon himself and started to watch sketches that had gone over well with the audience. He did not ease up on his work ethic. “You’re digging a lot of the time as a creative. You’re digging for something that’s going to stick when you’re trying to build something.”

Bob Newhart is an inspiration to Thompson. Newhart, who had three long-running television series, “taught [Thompson] what consistency looked like, you know, because as creatives, we have a tendency to always want fresh or always want new or switch it up in pursuit of topping the last person that was on that subject.” 

Such drive has its place but so too does stability. Newhart, who lived close to the studio producing his shows, showed Thompson who has two daughters “there is a way to do it where you can be a steady adult and be in one place… It’s not necessarily what happens for 90% of us, but, you know, it is a possibility.”

The ability to be consistent in what you do is a form of self-knowledge that breeds self-confidence. And that confidence gives performers the sense they can be their best and do their best individually and as part of an ensemble.

First posted on Forbes.com 2.20.2024

Sometimes, you must slow down to realize what you like doing.

In an interview on Fresh Air with Sam Briger, actor Paul Giamatti was reflecting on what it was like to work with young actor Dominic Sessa in his first film role, The Holdovers. Giamatti praised Dominic for his approach to his craft. “Working with him was really easily one of my favorite things I’ve done in a long time in I think a lot of ways because he was so fresh to it, you know, and his – and he was so thoughtful about it.”

Giamatti drew a contrast between himself a veteran and Sessa newcomer. “I’ve gotten very proficient with things. I can do stuff fast and easy and, you know, move on and do my thing. And it was wonderful to have this guy who was less acquainted and more questioning and more – in all ways, and to sort of slow down and just take it easy with him was really nice.”

Learning experience

This experience with Dominic Sessa echoed Giamatti’s experience when he first starred in another Alexander Payne film, Sideways. Giamatti recalls being very nervous then, but he has become confident in his abilities since having played significant roles in series like John Adams and Billions. “I think I have more command of things. Am I better or anything like that? I don’t know. But I was more relaxed, that’s for sure. And with him, I was even more relaxed because I trust [Payne] a lot.”

Working with Dominic reminded Giamatti of where he had begun and where he is now. Giamatti’s experience is a good reminder for anyone in their role for a long time. With it comes confidence, yes, but it can breed an “easy street mentality.” You may stop trying as hard. You avoid risk, and perhaps, in some ways, you go through the motions. Therefore, it’s always good to reflect on the what, why, where and how of what you do. Here are some good questions to ask.

What do I like about what I do? Itemize what you enjoy doing and why. Is it the joy you get from doing the work? Is it because you are working with people you respect? Do you want the impact you are having on those you serve as customers and colleagues?

What is holding me back from doing my best? As much as we like what we do, some things get in the way. For example, is busy work taking up too much time? Do you have the time you need to think and reflect? Do you have the right people to do what needs to be done?

What is one thing I can do to improve my situation? The answers to the above questions will illuminate the changes you need to make. Often, you can only do some at a time, so begin by doing one thing differently. That is, delegate busy work, stop wasting your reflection time, or act now to upskill your people.

Making connections

Later in the interview, Giamatti discusses why he became an actor. As a child, he liked the world of make-believe. Later in high school, performing school plays helped him fit in, especially as an outsider. (He was a day student at a boarding school.)  “I felt connected to people, to the other actors and to the – and I felt a sense of communal effort that was really exciting to me.” 

Again, considering what we do, think how we fit it. Are we sticking around because we like work, like the people? Or are we, as noted above, just going through the motions? 

Fitting in is pleasant, but if what we are doing is not challenging, we need to seek a different stage where we can become, if not the stars, supporting players in a venture that brings greater satisfaction. Making time to reflect and then taking steps to implement your feelings will enable you to find the satisfaction you seek.

First posted on Forbes.com 1.24.2024

With open eyes I see the need, 

And open heart I plant the seed, 

Of service rooted deep within, 

That grows through care my soul has sown.

I walk among with ready hand, 

To lift the fallen where they stand, 

And voice of calm that stills the storms, 

That rage within through anger born.

A servant first I’m called to be, 

To lead through love and empathy, 

Putting others before my pride, 

That side by side we walk, not I.

The path ahead I do not know, 

But follow where good spirits flow, 

Past fear and doubt my role above,

Is servant first when leading with love.

This poem was generated by the Baldoni ChatBot that draws upon the library of my published works.