BOOK REVIEW: Boundary Spanning Leadership:Six Practices for Solving Problems, Driving Innovation, and Transforming Organizations by Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason

How refreshing and empowering to find a book on contemporary leadership that not only frames relevant issues that organization leaders face by identifying boundaries they are likely to encounter, but it also offers practical solutions to spanning these boundaries based on a decade of real-world research by leadership professionals at the Center for Creative Leadership. I’ll wager that readers of this book will: 1) either already be dealing with many of the issues presented and find the discussions a veritable lifeline or 2) they will instantly recognize situations they have encountered in the past and understand for the first time why they were so intractable and challenging.

The rapidly shifting landscape of corporate and nonprofit leadership creates unique pitfalls as well as opportunities. Research surveys of over 125 senior level executives revealed an appallingly low number who felt they were very effective at knowing how to collaborate effectively across boundaries in their current leadership roles. Five primary boundary types were identified for discussion purposes, though the authors recognized that often they are closely linked:

1. Vertical boundaries between hierarchical levels of the organization
2. Horizontal boundaries between functions
3. Stakeholder boundaries with customers and vendors
4. Demographic boundaries in working with people from diverse groups
5. Geographic boundaries of distance and region

Concluding that boundary spanning practices can turn boundaries into frontiers ripe with untapped potential, the authors explore what these practices might be, providing compelling actual stories/examples to illustrate them, and offering exercises and strategies to implement them in your own situation.

The authors first discuss the boundary management practices of Buffering (Creating Safety) and Reflecting (Fostering Respect). Then they move into practices that forge common ground: Connection (Building Trust) and Mobilizing (Developing Community). Next in the evolution of boundary-spanning are the practices that develop new frontiers: Weaving (Advancing interdependence) and Transforming (Enabling Reinvention).

“Together, these practices combine to create what authors Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason call the Nexus Effect. The Nexus Effect allows groups to be more agile in response to changing markets; be more flexible in devising and deploying cross-functional learning and problem-solving capabilities; work with partners in deeper, more open relationships; empower virtual teams; and create a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive organization that brings out everybody’s best.” (From the Editorial Review in Amazon)

While the challenges described here will be familiar to those who follow leadership trends and practices, I believe the authors have developed and presented what many will find to be an original, useful and implementable approach to thinking about and managing them.

What boundary-spanning practices has YOUR organization used? Please let us know in the comment section below.

Many of AvoLead’s clients and professional associates are leaders in various nonprofit organizations (serving as consultants, officers, board members or evangelists). My own nonprofit passion is our area’s local community foundation, so I’m always interested in articles that teach ways to leverage the time and talent of hard-working volunteers or overworked staff.

One of the blogs for nonprofits that I follow is called the Wild Apricot Blog, “dedicated to small associations, member-based organizations and non-profits.” They have had several recent articles about ways that nonprofits can use LinkedIn effectively to increase their online visibility among an important demographic of professional LinkedIn members. In hopes of saving you some research time so you can quickly understand the pros and cons of using LinkedIn for your nonprofit, I’ve listed clickable links for these and some of other relevant articles below with a short summary of each:

“Is Your Organization LinkedIn Yet?” This article discusses using LinkedIn’s relatively new company profile function for nonprofits. Information can be found in LinkedIn’s Learning Centre. The article suggests that creating a LinkedIn organization profile and getting your staff and board members to include links to it on their own personal LinkedIn profiles, can increase Search Engine Optimization and enhance name recognition and credibility.

“How Can Nonprofits Use LinkedIn?”  Podcast from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. This article explores the burgeoning use and benefit of LinkedIn for nonprofit organizations. It especially goes into the significant difference between nonprofit presence on LinkedIn compared to Facebook.

“Are Nonprofits Warming Up to LinkedIn?” by Joanne Fritz.  This article discusses the important differences between LinkedIn and other common social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and shows that the use of various social media tools for nonprofits is an evolving picture.

February Net2 Think Tank Round-up: Using LinkedIn for Change - nonprofit folks shared their experience in using LinkedIn to “create a community around their cause.”

“Should Your Nonprofit Be on LinkedIn?” by Joanne Fritz

“Tips for Using LinkedIn for Nonprofits” by Joanne Fritz

“LinkedIn Sharing: A New Tool for Nonprofit Outreach.” This article discusses the additional Share functionality that LinkedIn has added to their site. Here’s a very short video about this too:

Beth’s Blog by Beth Kanter – “How Networked Nonprofits Are Using Social Media to Power Change.” Beth Kanter is known for her sensible approach to using social media in the nonprofit world.

Bobby’s Blog by Bobby Thalhimer offers “Trends and Issues in Local Philanthropy.” Bobby is senior vice president of advancement for The Community Foundation in Richmond and has been a generous mentor to many young and growing charitable organizations.

Social Media for Nonprofits is a reputable LinkedIn Group where those interested in nonprofit management can learn and share.

Thought leader Guy Kawasaki has recently written an excellent review of Scott Eblin’s new book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know about Executive Success in his blog on OpenForum.  He feels Eblin’s message is an important one: Executive leaders can’t just keep picking up new ideas, strategies, and action plans without letting go of those things that no longer work or are holding them back. Failing to let the right things go can lead to sluggishness or paralysis in action-taking or decision-making. Elbin maintains this is because jettisoning long-held assumptions usually involves throwing out pieces of our self-image too. These are not new concepts, certainly, but they get a fresh perspective from Eblin’s work with hundreds of executives.

Read the review yourself, but among the things that Eblin suggests we should let go are: Self-Doubt, Running Flat-Out, One Size Fits All Communication, Self Reliance, Micro Management, Sole Responsibility, and Myopia. Some of these will undoubtedly resonate with you or with some of your coaching clients.

I’m adding The Next Level: What Insiders Know about Executive Success to my “To-Read” list (as well as Guy Kawasaki’s book to be released 3/8/11: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. Don’t you just love that title?)

One of the potentially powerful features of LinkedIn is the option for you, as a professional and a leader, to join Industry or Shared-Interest Groups so you can read or participate in the discussions taking place in your field and see who’s doing the talking! I’ve embedded LinkedIn’s clear and helpful tutorial below on how and why you might wish to use LinkedIn Groups.

Don’t dismiss this without watching this video, and don’t equate LinkedIn Groups with the Group function in Facebook. It’s an entirely different and more professional interaction and can involve as little or as much time as you wish.

Depending on the purpose of  the Group (which should be declared when you go to its page), LinkedIn Groups can offer you:

1. Visibility and the building of your reputation as an Expert
2. A place to find — or share — tips, techniques, and best practices
3. A place to seek a job or post job openings (though not all groups have a JOBS tab)
4. Quickly discover the most popular discussions in your professional groups
5. Have an active part in determining the top discussions by liking and commenting
6. Follow the most influential people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group activity
7. See both member-generated discussions and news in one setting
8. Easily browse previews of the last three comments in a discussion
9. Find interesting discussions by seeing who liked a discussion and how many people commented

When I’m looking for Groups I might wish to join, I consider the description provided by the Group manager, look at the length of time it’s been active, and look at the number of members. If it’s an open group, I look at the activity to see if discussions are interesting and informative. It’s easy to leave a group you have joined if you decide it doesn’t fit with your interests or priorities. Most groups require you to express an interest and be approved by the group’s manager.

For example, one newly formed group I have joined recently called Coaches and Consultants for New Horizons has been helpful because group members are generously sharing their experience with various webinar sites, marketing tools, and other programs. Sometimes people abuse a group by blatantly marketing themselves instead of joining in a legitimate discussion. If that happens too much, it’s time to think about leaving that group and joining another one.

Of course, you can start your own group too, but you should participate in one or more groups a bit to get the hang of it first.

Friends of AvoLead is a LinkedIn group established for connecting like minded individuals who share AvoLead’s values of Abundance, Evolution and Leadership. It is for sharing and networking by individuals who want to advance partnerships and authentic leadership. If you fit that description, we welcome you!

AvoLead is co-sponsoring a local train-the-trainer event with the Center for Conflict Dynamics (CCD) at Eckerd College.  This three-day training prepares and certifies participants to use the Conflict Dynamics Profile tool and to deliver CCD’s new 8-module workshop entitled Becoming Conflict Competent.

The workshop will be held February 14-16, 2011 at the Solutions Center in the Research Triangle, NC (http://www.thesolutioncenter.com/Directions.html).

More Information:

You may already be familiar with or certified in the Conflict Dynamics Profile, a powerful 360 tool for helping clients understand and work effectively with conflict in their lives and organizations.  This workshop is the next generation of applied knowledge of CCD’s solid work in this area.

Integration of ideas: The Course is shaped around Craig Runde and Tim Flanagan’s model of individual conflict competence, and Sherod Miller’s work on communications skills that encourages people to Cool Down, Slow Down and Reflect, and Engage Constructively.

Tools You Can Use: The course introduces practical maps, tools, skills and processes that improve talking and listening skills, help analyze conflict situations and systematically resolve conflicts.  These help participants manage conflict from within the Conflict Competence SkillsZone®, a place where communications is both focused and flowing.

CLICK on this link (2010 12 23_BCCFlier) for a more detailed description of the program this course qualifies you to implement.

The price for those who are certified is $1325; non-certified $1695.  Remember, completion of this workshop will serve as certification for both delivering the training modules and using the Conflict Dynamics Profile tool.

To register, call Patty Viscomi at 727-864-8972.

Questions?  Email Bonnie Wright at bonnie.wright@avolead.com.

We are so grateful to Bonnie Wright for her diligent efforts to bring this important work to our area.  We hope you’ll join us for this learning opportunity to make the investment to add to your leadership tool kit!