“I could not see the benefit of the Living Scroll, until I experienced the process”. Brian, a seasoned executive, recounted his doubts and now satisfaction after we completed this exercise with his leadership team for a public utilities company. Two executives from the oil and gas industry come up after the Living Scroll was over and shared, “In all our 20 plus years in management and leadership positions, we have never been a part of an activity so useful and engaging”. Comments like these are common as we use a simple tool called The Living Scroll to help diagnose the change required for organizations to continue on a path of growth and improvement. The Living Scroll is a facilitated journey through the life of an organization that helps participants see the need for change, create a sense of urgency within the organization, and define what other tools are necessary to move the change forward.

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The following are some excerpts of a research report that I did for a multi-national company operating in Southeast Asia  that has Western expatriates leading national managers.  Five key principles were discovered through the stories told by the nationals that Western managers working cross-culturally should take to heart.

All respondents want more of a relational style of communication from their direct supervisors.  This comment was the strongest need expressed from all the participants.  Their supervisors primarily use a direct, one-way communication with them that rarely goes beyond work related issues.  The host culture is one that values relationships, family, and the whole person.  It is vital for Western supervisors to take time each day to ask how their subordinates’ family members are doing (M1).   Westerners tend to use logic (their head), while Indonesians tend to use feeling/emotions (their heart).  If the Western supervisors could open up their hearts to their subordinates, the nationals would respond more favorably (M2).  The nationals are looking for either a father figure in their leaders or a close friend that they can trust.

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Leadership is an art and all artists need a stage to perform on.  For actors, the stage is a theater, for painters and sculptors the stage is a gallery, and for leaders the stage is our life.  William Shakespeare penned the famous words, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…”

Leaders perform a critical role on the world’s stage, but what is more important is the foundation that they are standing on which gives them a platform or stage to lead from.

The elements that make up “Our Leadership S.T.A.G.E.” include:

Leadership that Sacrifices
Leadership that Trusts
Leadership that Acts
Leadership that Grows
Leadership that Effects

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            The movie, “Chicken Run”, is not just a kid’s movie about chickens, but it is a movie loaded with organizational dynamics.  I have pulled out a few lessons from the movie in the form of an acronym C.H.I.C.K.E.N. R.U.N. that are worth reflecting on.   If you find this interesting, I encourage you to watch the movie and find some additional principles that we can all benefit from.

·         Communication (even among chickens) of strategy to all levels leads to buy-in.

·         High involvement organizations involve all the chickens in the coop.

·         Individualism breaks only one bird out.

·        Collectivism thinks about how to break all the birds out at once.

·        Know thyself!  Your organizational culture affects your organizational design.

·         Eggsellent answers come when you least expect them.

·         Never give up!  Continuous improvement leads to success.

·         Reward your staff and they will reward you.

·         Utilize your networks, even if they are rats!

·         Never trust a Cock (or consultant) who says, “Trust me”!

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