Interview: Kris Cooper talks about Elegant Leadership

Kris Cooper has over thirty years’ experience in planning, human resource management, marketing, training and consultancy roles, mainly in senior leadership. She has facilitated countless leadership development programmes and coached hundreds of people, from CEOs to specialist staff members. She is a regular facilitator for executive education programmes at the University of Otago, and has taught on MBA programmes at Otago and the University of Canterbury. Kris likes to support and challenge clients to be the best they can be, and to see people and organisations setting and achieving their goals. Kris talks to NZ Booklovers.

Tell us a little about Elegant Leadership.

Leadership can be a tough gig, but it involves more than knowing what to do in difficult times and big moments. Effective leadership is often about the micro-moments, and is usually judged on the basis of small actions that accumulate over time.

Elegant Leadership offers a methodology for bringing intentionality to day-to-day leadership so that actions are clear, simple and fit for purpose. The book identifies core behaviours that work well in leadership and provides a framework for stretching further. Using the frameworks and practising the behaviours means the difficult times and big moments feel less difficult and big; we become more conscious about what matters and what actions are likely to be effective.  More importantly, we have more courage and confidence to give action a go and step into leadership.

What inspired you to write this book?

I work in leadership development.  Over the years, I have seen people struggling with how to put what they learn about leadership into practice. People seem to not know where to start. Plus it’s a bit of a personal frustration in a world where we need more leadership that all of the things people know about leadership these days doesn’t seem to translate into effective action. I wanted to do something to help.  I know I’m not solving all of the world’s leadership challenges with the book, but I hope it helps some people make inroads.

What research was involved?

I’ve been coaching and facilitating leadership development workshops for more than three decades, during which time I have held many leadership roles, too.  So the research has been facilitating, reading, listening, learning, acting, observing, questioning, and seeking to synthesise theory with practice over a large number of years to come up with what works and what doesn’t.  The book has been about pulling together what I notice works.  (I’ve deliberately avoided going into what doesn’t work.  That has us stepping away from leadership, rather than stepping into it.)

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

I started with the few models that form the introductory chapter of the book.  A couple of them (the Knowing-Doing-Being model and the WSLR courageous goal setting framework) I started using with leadership development groups.  They resonated, and that gave me confidence to keep going.  The Elegant Leadership polarity and balance point I did not use.  I held that in my thinking as I was compiling the book, to see if it worked.  I had a notebook marked out with A – Z to help me record actions that seem to help with leadership.  It soon became a challenge to populate every letter and have some fun with that process. Then it was about defining each item and coming up with actions or reflections to bring that item to leadership life.

If a soundtrack was made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include. (Optional)

I asked my husband to compile a playlist for me for the book launch, using ideas from some of the Core Concepts and A-Z words of Elegant Leadership.  It’s a cool playlist.  These are a few of my favourites: Brave (Sara Bareilles), Try Everything (Shakira), Here we Go (Wild), Humble and Kind (Tim McGraw), Respect (Aretha Franklin), Achievement (MaxKoMusic)

What is one key takeaway for your readers from your book?

Elegant Leadership is about clear, simple and effective action that is fit for purpose and finds the balance between people-pleasing responsiveness and needing to be right.  It’s contextually relevant and grounded in reality.  That means that rather than focusing on what we know, having impact is about what we do and who we are being when we seek to lead and influence others.

What did you enjoy the most about writing Elegant Leadership?

The fun part was coming up with the actions to take to make Elegant Leadership real.  For me that was the clear, simple and effective bit.  I also enjoyed wondering what readers would do with that action and what insights might come to them in the process.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

There’s a bit of gap between finishing writing and having a book in your hand.  So, interestingly, I cannot remember how I celebrated finishing the writing process.  With book in hand, though, we had a launch party with friends, colleagues and clients.  It was lovely fun to share in this way. 

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

I love reading New Zealand fiction writers and first novels.  I also like supporting people I know.  Imagine when it all comes together!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Where in All the World by Vanessa Croft. 

What’s next on the agenda for you?

I’d like to see the interest people have in the book and how they find using it, so it will be more of the same with my leadership development mahi.  During the writing process, I also came up with ideas for an addendum on strategy and performance.  So, if interest is keen enough in Elegant Leadership, I’ll progress that.  Or maybe I’ll just write it for my own satisfaction.

Quentin Wilson Publishing