I am regularly asked, seeing as I present myself as a Corporate Leadership/Intelligence Strategist, why I spend a great chunk of my working hours on individual coaching – I guess an answer is required:

All coaching engagements, especially those relating to Career Transition, Conflict/Anger Management & ADHD, have been a direct result of referrals/requests arising from corporate, not-for-profit or academic institution activity. For me, it is a reality that people collectively and individually comprise and contribute to organizational well-being – Strengthening an individual/team of necessity will strengthen the organization… and ultimately the industry!

The short answer then, is that I see all aspects of my work as complementary!

My own life has been an endless exploration… A quest to evolve to my fullest potential... Quite often not knowing what that would look like ... A sort of Unaware Awareness ! By default, this state of being has attracted many like-minded clients, ranging from high-level business folk, philanthropists, politicians, creatives, students and, interestingly, many of those labelled ADHD! 

Not subscribed or locked into any single methodology or approach, my focus is always on:
 Who/what the client is
 What the client wants
 My ability to recognize, understand and reflect who the client may be…
 Collaborative exploration of all potential client outcomes 

The words of Laurens van der Post in A Far Off Place, recounting the wisdom of the Bushmen, are more articulate than mine with regard to my coaching motivation :

“The real art of living is to keep alive the longing in human beings to become a greater version of themselves, to enlarge this awareness of life, and then to be utterly obedient to the awareness.”

Van der Post felt that in the modern era, there were too many thinkers who did not do, and too many doers who did not think!

For more information on our Leadership and related coaching: (416) 962-6700

Oftentimes, those who interact with me, professionally and personally, comment on my obsession with conscious or unconscious individual impact … I have always insisted in leadership seminars & especially in career transition and life/relationship coaching sessions, that showing who we are, upfront, will allow us to more quickly arrive at a good fit … the right job, the right friends and surely the right loves!

I had a stimulating first meeting with an industry colleague today - In the space of 45 minutes, I believe we established a mutual and comprehensive appreciation of who we really are - I felt buoyant an energized, although very aware that the encounter had demanded a healthy dose of courage/risk-taking… The lowering of natural fire-walls that might have resulted in instant rejection… 

On the way home, I reflected on how much easier life would be (time, money & energy wise) if we were less scared of being who we really are… Surely arriving at the truth of any relationship is preferable sooner rather than later? Does not the truth ... with the passage of time... ultimately reveal itself? Is it not a better strategy to be who we are rather pretending to be the person we think others would prefer us to be?

“… there are very few people with our curse or gift… No one wants to see anything of what there is to see, they don’t even dare to look, still less take the risk of making a wager; being forewarned, foreseeing or judging… no one dares to say or to acknowledge that they see what they see, what is quite simply there… “  - Javier Marias, Your Face Tomorrow, Volume 3

“Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way, and never again.” - Demian, Herman Hesse

I am often asked why I do what I do:  “How did an experienced diplomat, lawyer/advocate etc. land up in professional/personal development arena?"...

Oftentimes, I flippantly reply that I am a frustrated priest, but the reality is that fierce belief in our innate individuality, as well as the unique contribution each of us has to make, is unwavering. I also see, on a daily basis, that our natural human inclination to conform/comply with social norms is often at odds with our ability to be who we really are!

To greater or lesser degrees, this becomes problematic when individual aspirations, goals or even character diverges from mainstream thinking/trends. My overriding professional purpose, honed by previous experience, is to enable individuals in their quest to be themselves within their greater evolving circumstance - A sort of subjective/objective continuum…that makes conscious what is innate!

In my student days, Hesse’s words inspired what has become a lifelong credo that continues to underpin my approach to my professional & personal endeavors ... Seeing and being seen, for who we really are, is so important in the quest for happiness...!

I felt a deep sense of fulfillment this week then, receiving a note of thanks from a client last seen early last decade, explaining that these same words inspire her every day! 

The MH370 SAGA from the start has clearly shown 2 distinct human trends. One is age old … People crave certainty and abhor the world of might/maybe, while the other is a more 21st century phenomenon… An almost palpable expectation that the enigmatic ‘THEY’ should have found an  immediate and technology driven/verifiable answer by now!

I find it surprising that people forget that all technology is made, programmed, accessed and analyzed by humans… Humans being innately imperfect, does it not follow that technology has itself to be flawed or at least work within known parameters? (Technology is only as good as the last save!) Personally, I much prefer Marshall McLuhan’s adage that technology extends rather than replaces human capacity. That being said perhaps we should just admit there will be time when we have no control over outcome… the great unknown remaining a constant in life’s equations!

The search for MH370, for sure, is taking place in the random realm of uncertainty. Any conclusion drawn until it has actually been found, will at best be described as probable - Selling the probable to the average person on the street, and dare I say so called experts, all desirous of certainty, is problematic. This is especially so in time of fear/crisis!

For those requiring a mechanism to balance the probable with the improbable, Thomas Bayes’ Theorem of Probability might help:

Bayes, an English Theologian and mathematician who lived in England from 1702-1761, is possibly the first person to have linked probability to logical process, by providing a mathematical basis to infer probability: Simply put he believed that by calculating the number of times a certain theory is put forward by experts, one could infer the probability of its actual occurrence. He pitted the Known VS the Unknown! This approach he felt would allow experts to make use of knowledge they did not know they had – A big picture approach to analysis that allows expert minds to use both rational expertise/knowledge as well as innate intuition. This forces a creative draw on a wealth of disconnected knowledge that will possibly be of relevance to the situation at hand. 
The easy 3 step process is as follows:

1. Brainstorm to evolve a short list of possible scenarios that might be dictated by facts, data and precedent surrounding MH370 (aviation/detection technology; weather/currents; people etc., 
2. Assemble a team/group of experts to develop probable case studies for each possible scenario
3. As a group, repeatedly vote to narrow down the choice to the arrive at a most probable scenario

The theorem was put to great use during the Cold War*. Both U.S. and Soviet submarines,  sensitive warheads and other items, went missing without explanation resulting in multi-million dollar search expeditions, all conducted with utmost secrecy. John Craven a U.S. Naval Intelligence trouble-shooter, his creative ideas/theories often landing him in the hot seat, would formulate several hypotheses as to what probably/could have happened and then collaborate with expert mathematicians to construct a map of the sea bottom – This done he would repeatedly ask them to place bets on the probability of alternative scenarios (accessing the knowledge they did not consciously know they had) – each a potential location of the missing submarine/warhead. Using Bayes’ formula he narrowed data down to most probable and plotted maps that were oftentimes ridiculed as “insane” and “impossible” – Yet he was almost always spot on!

Do we in our everyday world confuse good leadership with promises of certainty? Do we sufficiently value the exploratory mind-set of a leader happy to be wrong... rather than the safe spew-out of known/cliched/expected solutions?

Have we abdicated the thinking process in favour of stand alone technology?

* Blind Man’s Bluff
The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage - Sherry Sontag & Christopher Drew

That it is possible for Heads of State to arrive at the podium with same speech, or that students might submit similar academic papers, are just two glaring examples of societal tendency to download readily available information. Don’t get me wrong, I love/use evolving technology, and am a passionate learner, but should these take precedence over original thinking?

This week, a client wandered around the neighbourhood looking for my office… apparently her Tom-Tom gave her wrong direction. Despite my map and building photograph attached to an e-mail, she haughtily informed me that she “was part of the 21st century”!  Similarly I read of an army unit stranded in the desert because the GPS signal was unobtainable… It was a scramble to find someone who remembered how to plot direction by traditional means. Similarly how often do members of the medical or automotive professions tell us “there is nothing wrong” just because the diagnostic technology of choice says so? Think too, of how easily we comply with fashion, art trends etc. by a quick verification on the internet… Discovering, and often preferring, someone else’s taste/interpretation rather than evolving our own opinions!

Marshal McLuhan wisely said: “technology extends, rather than replaces human capacity…” – I often wonder if our reliance on technology for accessing existing information hasn’t overridden our ability to generate our own opinions/theories/ideas? 

The Harding Leadership Program identifies the starting point of leadership as the ability to identify requirement at any point in time. This important competency is dependent on individual ability to listen, observe, research, analyze, interpret, and ultimately distil clues … random or specific… to a workable theory! Surely this calls for both existing and original information? In an environment when time is too often of the essence, do we not forget at times that what we think counts…And might save a great deal of money and even more time in the long run?

We encourage participants to strive for the right fit… Full and pleasurable deployment of all individual competencies and experience is our goal!

For more information (416) 962-6700

 Creative Thinking underpins sound business vision, strategy development & effective problem solving!

Career facilitators and established artists, Stephanie MacKendrick & Rodger Harding present their annual fun, four-hour painting workshop series designed to enhance your ability to: 

• Recognize creative strengths 
• Connect analytical & creative thinking 
• Confidently apply creative thinking to solving business problems

We have seen first-hand how this process enables creative explorers of all ages and business backgrounds to better articulate, sell and apply their creative competencies for effective problem solving and leadership! A confidential written brief, summarizing observations and insights provides a future guide to the best use of your identified creative strengths.

Please indicate preferred dates: Workshop participants are matched to ensure a compatible group. Once you have indicated your preferred times, we will confirm your session within 7 days. A limit of 4 people ensures maximum individual attention. A relaxed atmosphere with wine/cheese, good music and good company/conversation is guaranteed!

• Monday, November 4th         4:00pm-8:00pm Sold Out
• Monday, November 11th       4:00pm-8:00pm Sold Out
• Wdenesday, November 27th  4:00pm-8:00pm Sold Out
• I am interested but none of these dates work for me

No artistic experience is required! Register now to reserve your place!

Cost: $350.00, including take-home materials to enable continued creative exploration!

Ask us about our advanced group and individual sessions!

Contact: Rodger Harding (416) 962-6700  rodger@hardingintl.com or Stephanie MacKendrick (416) 466-0569 stephanie@mackendrickassociates.com

www.rodgerhardingart.com            www.mackendrickartshow.com

Acute observation, intense listening and the desire to reach the truth will perhaps undeniably enable a leader to effectively drive to the heart of a requirement, issue or challenge!

Stripping away irrelevant detail does not however always simplify matters – Prevaricators, bull-shitters, those with a hidden agenda and the incompetent will often times find themselves exposed … Resulting in varied reaction along the Richter Scale…

Can it be safely said then that a leader, able to see things simply and honestly, will require a healthy dose of courage and tenacity to survive?  Both of these elements have their roots (why factor) in care/empathy… otherwise known in corporate world as service-orientation. 

Our leadership development programs place strong emphasis on empowering leaders to access innate ability to read situations simply and accurately … and to forward-think in anticipation of any eventual impact/consequence!

Of course, as is so often seen, it all starts with primary leadership goals/objectives – What does an individual really want to see happen at any point in time?
Understanding the simplicity of subjective objectives in the context of objective circumstance is a complicated business. We believe that it is at this point that true leadership can be identified!

If you have a few minutes check out the following clip: Björk interviews Arvo Pärt – In the sublime realm of music, the same philosophy is so beautifully expressed…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pDjT1UNT3s

I particularly noticed Pärt’s ability to juggle inevitable opposites – A concept that appears increasingly resisted in a world that demands/expects absolutes and the illusion of certainty!

For more information about customized Leadership Training/Coaching: (416) 962-6700

Increasingly today we read of people whose societal alienation or Anomie leads them to do dreadful things. So much so, that average folk seem to have lost patience with looking at the whys and wherefores, and clamor for retribution/justice with the bloodthirsty fervour of a lynch mob. Oftentimes the loud demand for legislative solutions draws the noose tighter around the consciousness of afflicted individuals. 

Societal templates are reassuring for most. However for those who see the bigger picture and who are sensitive to what others miss, rigidity can be quite catastrophic. I have heard the feeling described as akin to “driving a Porsche on go-kart track”!

Harding Leadership Programs strive to awaken those in leadership, teaching and parental roles to accommodate these special people before they feel disconnected from the society’s norms. Of course time and effort, not to speak of the empathy/awareness, are required to recognize stifled originality. We talk blithely in organizational/corporate circles of playing to individual/team strengths, but sadly I guess we all to easily fall back on the set job-description, curriculum or family norm as a safe/comfortable guideline. More...

Despite the incessant meeting of time, budget and bottom-line parameters, an effective leader would perhaps do well to, at very least, to acknowledge creative individual/team input. So often different or critical thinking is regarded as tangential, time-wasting or even negative.

It is surely a strong service-orientation that would most often prompt suggestion or unsolicited input?
Consistent dismissal or ignoring of ideas will, with time, de-motivate the most committed individual. De-motivated people quit, or worse, stay on as a bitter and negative influence.

Consider the words of maverick/iconoclastic WWII hero Orde Wingate:

“A man who possesses creative ability tends inevitably to form his own original opinions. Unless he is very fortunate the value of his opinions will not be apparent to his superiors unless there is some acid test to which they can be put”  

Wherever possible/appropriate a good leader will provide the occasion for such a test. Innovative/forward thinking forestalls problems, sustains the competitive edge… and in the long term, saves money!  

In the interview/hiring process both the hirer and prospective employee should ascertain the level/percentage that strategy VS execution is desired/required!

As a Canadian Opera Company super (extra) I am privileged during rehearsals to see Maestro Johannes Debus continually exhorting principals and chorus members to think about the meaning of the words they are singing – “the meaning brings the music to life…!” Technical music/vocal excellence is enhanced by expressing the underlying passion/drama of any particular libretto. 

So too in the business world, and any other walk of life, true passion can only really live itself out via the understanding, acceptance & embrace of the significance of our pursuits! Good leadership will recognize, access & accommodate individual/team passion in the pursuit of exceptional deliverables. Is the very concept of mentorship not based on this premise? 

If interested, listen to Maria Callas coaching Juilliard students:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNHPMGQkeGk