The Art of Herding Cats

1
The Art of Herding Cats

• Providing Leadership to
• Diverse Teams

2
Belling the CatAn Aesop Fable by Joseph Jacobs,
1894
3
Introductions

• Bill Lamb, Ph.D., Dean of Liberal Arts
• Gina Graham Helget, M.S., Registrar
• Johnson County Community College
• Overland Park, Kansas

4
Program Overview

• The Development of Team Identity
• Effectively Managing Change
• The Magic of Conflict
• Successful Herding Strategies

5
(No Transcript)
6
Types of Cats

• The Crafty Cat
• Personality Profile Can never be found
• Favorite Activity Hatching devious schemes
  while maintaining an air of calculated innocence
• The Feisty Feline
• Personality Profile Often looks puzzled
• Favorite Activity Frequently causing distraction

7
Types of Cats

• The Combative Calico
• Personality Profile Rips into people just to
  keep his jaws in practice
• Favorite Activity Pouncing on anything that
  moves
• The Ornamental Cat
• Personality Profile Wastes hours basking in own
  beauty
• Favorite Activity Restroom trips, internet
  shopping

8
Last, but not least . . .

• The Timid Tabby
• Personality Profile Would like to catch mice,
  but is afraid of getting bitten. Cringes when
  stroked by owner. Opens mouth as if to speak, but
  no sound comes out.
• Favorite Activity Hiding in her office.
• The Alley Cat
• Personality Profile Angry at the world but
  never confronts issues
• Favorite Activity Digging up trash on
  co-workers

9
Who are your cats?

• Write down the kinds of cats you have on your
  team.
• What kinds of cats do you have that we did not
  describe?

10
(No Transcript)
11
Developing Team Identity

• Cats are smarter than dogs. You cannot get
  eight cats to pull a sled through the snow.
  Jeff Valdez

12
Definition of a Team

• Sports A team is a group brought together to
  work and accomplish a winning goal
• Websters A team is simply two or more animals
  yoked together to perform a work task

13
Where to go.

• How do we move from the dictionary definition to
  the NCAA final four championship team?
• Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, Go KU!

14
Elements of Team Identity

• Vision
• Mission
• Values

15
Vision

• Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to
  go from here? asked Alice.
• That depends a good deal on where you want to
  get to, said the Cat.
• I dont much care where--- said Alice.
• Then it doesnt matter which way you go, said
  the Cat.
• --Alice in Wonderland

16
Mission

• As cat owners know, if they attempt to walk
  their cats. . .
• It is more a case of the owner following the
  cat than the cat going where the owner wishes.
• -- Cat Owners Wisdom

17
Values

• With a cat . . . if you forfeit his respect and
  confidence, the relationship suffers. The cat,
  it is well to remember, remains the friend of man
  because it pleases him to do so and not because
  he must.
• Carl Van Vechten

18
(No Transcript)
19
Elements of Team Identity

• Vision
• Mission
• Values

• Goals
• Ground Rules
• Talents

20
Goals Letting the team set them

• In Kansas, it is believed that it will rain if
  the cat washes its face before breakfast.In
  Maine, there will be rain if a cat scratches at
  the fence and the direction to which his tail is
  pointing indicates the direction of wind the
  following day.

21
Team Goals and Team Leadership

• Indecisive people are like a blind man looking in
  a dark room for a black cat that isnt there.
• Author unknown

22
Ground Rules

• A cat can be trusted to purr when she is
  pleased, which is more than can be said for human
  beings.
• W.R. Inge

23
Talents

• To understand a cat, you must realize that he
  has his own gifts, his own viewpoint, even his
  own morality.
• Lillian Jackson Braun

24
(No Transcript)
25
At your table

• What strategies do you use with your team that
  help to guide the development of an identity and
  to assist with the maintenance of that identity?

26
(No Transcript)
27
Change

• But what about my courage? asked the Lion.
• You have plenty of courage, I am sure, answered
  OZ.
• All you need is confidence in yourself True
  courage is in facing danger when you are afraid,
  and that kind of courage you have in plenty.
• --The Wizard of Oz

28
Managing Change

• I wanted to find couragelike the Cowardly Lion
  in The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard says that
  everyone is afraid. Courage is the ability to go
  on anyway.
• --Leading with Soul

29
Managing Change

• Dorothy and Toto found their vision with the help
  of the good witch, and they set off on their
  yellow brick path. But to be successful, they
  needed to solicit help from othersthose with
  different talents and skills.

30
Managing Change

• First came Scarecrow
• Second came Tin Man
• Third came the Cowardly Lion

31
Managing Change

• When the Wizard of Oz gave them their challenge

32
The Magic of Conflict

• Cats take offense easily. Any invasion, any
  alteration on its territory or emotional upset,
  and a cat is likely to use one of its potent
  range of weapons against its owner.
• --Cat Owners Wisdom

33
Common Causes

• Lack of a Shared Vision
• Value Differences
• Mission or Goal Differences
• Focus on Weakness

34
(No Transcript)
35
The Four Rs

• Reframe
• Think Win/Win
• Consider how it can be productive
• Behave responsibly
• Recognize
• Core issues
• Your emotional response
• Ellen Langer

• Respond
• Be Proactive
• Be Sincere
• Reflect
• Analyze what happened
• Consider what worked
• Decide what to do differently next time

36
And for those more difficult kitties

• Consider Two More Rs. . . .
• Redirection
• Describe the behavior as soon as possible,
  clearly, without blame
• Show its negative impact
• If appropriate, take the blame for not making
  the expectation clear
• Go over the expectation in detail and make
  sure it is clearly understood
• Express your continuing trust and confidence
• Responsibility
• Role model by taking responsibility for
  whatever you can
• Emphasize the importance of taking
  responsibility for ones own actions

37
Preventing Conflict

• Use your Ground Rules to set clear expectations
  about respecting differences in opinion.
• Be aware of your behavior.
• Accentuate the positive.
• Regularly review and evaluate the mission and
  goals of the group.
• Listen. Observe. Be open to feedback.

38
Successful Herding Strategies

• Theres no need to panic when you see a cat
  apparently stuck up a tree.
• Left to its own devices, the cat will generally
  work out the best way to get down.
• --Cat Owners Manual

39
How do you manage conflict?

• Share strategies that work for you.

40
Four Gifts of Leaders

• Authorship
• Provide information,
• but let the team set goals.
• Let them figure out How.
• Significance
• Create community
• Emphasize the contribution

• Compassion
• Be present
• Be sincere
• Build relationships
• Empowerment
• Provide opportunities
• for success and
• decision making

41
(No Transcript)
42
Remember to. . .

• Seek honest feedback
• Give honest feedback
• Be Willing to lead
• Have the courage to follow
• Accentuate the positive
• Redirect the negative

43
Rules for Working with Cats

• Be dependable.
• Do what you say you will do.
• Dont leave your cat out in the dark.
• Consistently check in with her.
• Spend time with your cat, talk to him/her.
• This will make it easier to help it if it gets
  into trouble.

44
Learning as a Leader

• Remember these wise words from Mark Twain
• A man who carries a cat by the tail learns
  something he can only learn no other way.

45
Advice from Morris. . .

• Whatever you do, dont treat us like dogs.
• We dont fetch slippers or newspapers.
• If you want a servant, hire a hound.
• If your cat rolls plays dead, youre in trouble.
• We dont need authority figures like canines do.
• Remember Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

46
(No Transcript)
47
Thank You!

• Bill Lamb, Ph.D.
• Blamb_at_jccc.net
• Gina Graham Helget
• Ghelget_at_jccc.net