Credibility The Foundation For Leadership

Posted by on July 17, 2009

There are many leadership qualities that must be present in the leader if people are going to trust them to the point of following.  It is very important to be committed, competent and inspiring but without credibility especially today people will see you as a fake and be totally turned off.

The bottom line is regardless of how visionary the message if they cannot believe in the messenger then trust is destroyed.  People may show up for work but their heart is not in it and although they seem positive in front of superiors they are constantly critical with their peers in private.

If leaders are to maintain credibility they have to walk the talk and personally practice what they preach.  When their actions are inconsistent with their words and they do not follow through on their promises then they are no longer seen as authentic.

When team members work on a project for a long time and produce great results only to see the leader take an inappropriate amount of the credit they feel burned.  They want to see leaders who give credit to others and assume personal responsibility when they make mistakes.

If the leader is seen as real when things are not going well people will give them the benefit of the doubt every time.  When leaders are hypocritical and things are even going well they will get polite support but in reality they have lost the confidence of their team and sadly don’t even know it.

 

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Lighting Own Fire

Posted by on July 16, 2009

We all understand that light is used in the Bible as a picture of truth, wisdom and understanding.  It is important to daily walk in the light and not in the darkness which represents confusion, deception and lies.

Many times in our life we find ourselves in a position of asking God for specific light or guidance in a major life decision.  We sincerely want His will and we completely trust His plans for our life.  The hard part is when the light does not come and we find ourselves sitting in the darkness of not knowing what to do.

The great danger in waiting on God is that many times we will try to light our own fire because we so desperately want to move forward.  We can justify this because the path we have chosen to walk is a good one and surely this is something God will bless.  When we do this the scripture says that eventually all our manmade fires will go out and we will be in a far darker place than where we began.

The darkness that comes from lighting our own fire is the result of not being patient and trusting God’s perfect timing.  The end result is feeling alone with fear and doubt as your constant companions.

The darkness that comes from waiting on God is the result of His wanting to reveal things to you about yourself that can only be found in a dark place.  Even though the future may not be clear the present is because you are finally aware that He was with you in the darkness all along. 

Waiting with Him is always better than walking ahead without Him.

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Adding Too Much Value

Posted by on July 15, 2009

Every day we have conversations with people who are trying to tell us something we already know.  Most of the time we interrupt them in mid sentence and complete their thought so we can move on to something else that we think is more important.

There are sometimes when this is very appropriate especially where timing is extremely important and we must make decisions quickly.  However the vast majority of times our stopping them is totally inappropriate for a variety of reasons.

First of all we really do not know for sure all that they were going to say and many times they do know something we need to hear but we are too impatient to wait and listen.  We have this need to impress people with our knowledge and experience to the point we come across as rude and insensitive.

In a business environment we feel justified in cutting to the bottom line for productivity sake but we fail as leaders to see the value in allowing other people to participate in the process.  If you only see your team as a means to your predetermined end then in reality they are only attending this meeting for their information and not for their involvement.

The willingness to listen to someone regardless of the value of the information communicated is an investment in them as a person.  The agenda is no longer what can they do for me but how can I help them. 

There is a time to add value and genuinely help someone by what you know but only after they have had their opportunity to shape the conversation first.  Nobody likes someone who always thinks they know it all.  Let’s be sure we are not that someone.

 

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Moving Beyond Significance

Posted by on July 14, 2009

We owe a great deal to several authors who have written excellent books on how to move from success as the primary goal in your life to real significance. Probably the book Half Time by Bob Buford has made the most life changing impact with people who have worked very hard to be professionally successful in the corporate world only to find their personal life lacked real purpose and meaning.

Significance moves way beyond profits as a definition of success to people and how is my life adding value to others. Success many times is simply about what do we get at the end of the day while significance is about what are we willing to give away to make a difference.

If you want to have an eternal impact on the people who are a part of your life you must move beyond significance to surrender. When you live a total life of surrender your definition of success is totally determined by the One you are following. This definition alone will give you true significance as He uses your life story to impact other people in ways that will permanently change them for their good.

This means that we must die to the world’s definitions of success as the accumulation of power, position and pleasure and conform our expectations to His perfect will for our lives. This may include the ability to make a lot of money and have great positions of leadership responsibility. It may also mean a life that is filled with suffering and difficulty that can be leveraged by God to even have a greater impact on other people as they see you daily walk in grace and peace.

A surrendered life is one that is lived in total partnership with God so that He can use us as He sees best to change the world one person at a time starting with us. There can be no greater definition of success and significance in this life.

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Performance Review Systems

Posted by on July 13, 2009

All of us at some point in time have waited with anxiety for that wonderful time of the year when we receive our annual performance review.  Even if you know that you have had a great year you are never really sure what is going to be said and how pleased management is with your performance.

To a great degree this whole process is a major problem within most organizations.  On the one hand poor performers are not dealt with on an ongoing basis and sometimes they are even given good reviews because their direct supervisor does not want to admit that they also have failed.  Sometimes employees think things are going great only to have the big bomb dropped with no real explanation as to why they were not told before.

On the other extreme top performers are left in the dark about what they are doing well and they only get the one time a year serious conversation about where they stand and what is next in the area of development.  The bottom line there should be ongoing informal times for evaluation and at least twice a year if not quarterly a brief review of exactly where everyone stands in regards to expectations.

I have seen performance reviews that are literally 20 pages in length with a tremendous amount of worthless information.  Most in my opinion should not be more than two to three pages that only deal with key objectives and some type of quantitative analysis on success.

I also prefer some type of 360 feedback system in place so that in a non-threatening way immediate supervisors can be told what they need to do to help improve their direct reports performance.  This should be a time where an honest exchange of information takes place so that everyone knows what they need to do to improve day to day performance and lay out a clear plan for professional development for all involved.

We really need to change the culture of the performance review process from going to the dentist mentality to meeting with my coach who I know has my best interest in mind and is passionately committed to helping me reach my potential.

 

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Problems With The Boss

Posted by on July 10, 2009

All of us have worked at some point in time for someone who at worst just could not get it done or at best was personality challenged.   We come into our jobs with the hope that we can be a part of the solution and yet there are times when we don’t see the progress we had hoped for.

I changed jobs three times in the first five years out of college because I thought the problem was external.  If I could just get with the right company with a great boss then I would be successful.  To my shock I realized that the real problems were internal and I was simply carrying all of my personal issues from one company to the next expecting different results.

These are some of the things I have learned over the years about problems with the boss:

1.       Check Your Motives—make sure that your real agenda is to do what is best for the organization and not for yourself.  When you make it a priority to help make your boss successful then it becomes a win-win for everyone.

2.      Keep It Real—when things are not changing at the pace you had hoped you have a choice to make.  You can get your feelings hurt and start telling people what they want to hear and emotionally quit or you can have the character to tell the truth with a respectful attitude.

3.      Watch Your Tongue—if you allow your concerns to become public in an inappropriate way then you just became part of the problem and not part of the solution.  You should never say anything negative about another person to someone else because it will only spread disunity and destroy team moral.

4.      Do Your Job—when we get in the negative cycle not only are we causing problems for other people we are not focused on getting our own jobs done with excellence.  We must show up every day with a clean heart and high level of commitment to be and do our best.

 

 I can promise you it is not in your job description to change your boss or even your organization for that matter.  What is there is a clear set of priorities that need to be done by a person who is mature enough to stay positive when things don’t go their way and passionate enough to never settle for anything less than their personal best every day.

 

 

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Work-Life Balance

Posted by on July 9, 2009

If there has ever been a day when the demands of work and home have been greater I am not aware of it.  The sheer pace of life today leaves us emotionally and physically worn out and feeling empty at the end of most days.

Technology keeps us connected all the time and people in the workplace culture almost demand that we stay available 24-7.  Our families are all running on the same high speed treadmill that produces stress in every area of our lives.

There are several key principles that must be in place if you want to create margin for the people and priorities that you care about the most:

1.       Lead Yourself First—it is impossible to successfully help lead other people at work or in the home if you are not able to accomplish what is most important in your own life.  You should set specific goals in the areas of health, personal development and faith with the necessary time allotment to make sure they get done.

2.      Prioritize Your Family Next—at the end of your life it will not matter how much professional success you have had if you consistently neglected your role as a spouse and parent.  There are no guarantees that time alone will produce a great marriage and character driven children but without it there is a high probability that both areas could fail.

3.      Choose Right Career—most organizations are looking for people who will perform and improve their bottom line.  However there is a growing awareness that if you want to attract and keep the best people you have to give some deference to work-life balance.  The key is you have to be outstanding at what you do and you have to be in a culture that will reward that effort by giving you more time off and not more projects to accomplish.

4.      Develop Life Plan—it never ceases to amaze me that some of the most effective leaders in the corporate arena do not practice any of the leadership disciplines that made them successful in their home and personal life.  The can lead multi-million dollar projects from start to finish at work but not take more than 30 minutes to plan the annual family vacation. 

 

When you develop a total life plan with goals and strategies for everything personal, private and public you just assumed the C.E.O.  leadership role for your whole life.   You will never have a more important job.

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Lessons From Michael Jackson

Posted by on July 8, 2009

We have all been affected by the sudden death of Michael Jackson in different ways.  Some of us feel compassion for the children who are left behind to grow up in the huge shadow of their father.  Others are feeling regret for such a waste of a very talented person who lost so much of what really matters during his life.

Most of us will never have to deal with all of the things that Michael did that come with being a famous celebrity who earns millions of dollars in income.  However we all have to deal with the life issues that he faced:

1.       Resolve Past Hurts—if you do not deal with the pain from when people close to you have failed you when you were growing up then you will surely carry those open wounds into adulthood.  The tragedy for all of us is when the core issues that we are dealing with as adults are really problems that surfaced many years ago but were never appropriately resolved.

2.      Trust Right People—show me who your friends are and I can tell you a lot about your character.  The temptation for all of us is to surround ourselves with people who tell us all that we want to hear but they really don’t care enough to tell us the truth.  These people make us feel good for the moment but leave us eventually broken and empty when the fun runs out.

3.      Develop Core Values—there is no doubt in my mind that many times Michael wanted to do the right thing and really wanted to help people.  When you don’t have a solid foundation to build on you will consistently make very bad decisions that seem extremely inconsistent with whom you want to be as a person.

4.      Decide How Much Is Enough—driven people are never satisfied because they are trying to satisfy their deepest needs with things that can never bring real peace and fulfillment in life.  If you are not content with what you have now there is no reason to believe you will be in the future regardless of how much you get. 

Michael Jackson’s legacy will be a hotly debated subject for years to come.  Some only see the bad and others refuse to say anything was wrong at all.  Will the people closest to you be debating your legacy when you are gone or will they all agree it was a life well spent.

 

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Faith vs. Trust

Posted by on July 7, 2009

In the Christian life we are taught from the very beginning the importance that faith plays in our lives.  Without it we cannot know God on a personal relationship level and we cannot reach our potential in this life without putting it into practice every day.

Faith allows us to not only believe that God exists but that everything He has promised us in His word is true.  Beyond that the core issue is that God is able to do what He has said and there is nothing too hard for Him.

If faith answers the question Is God able then trust answers the question Is God good?  Trust goes beyond faith and believes that everything He has asked me to do is not only for His glory but also for my good.

When suffering comes faith will help you to believe that God is able to deliver you out of your trials but trust helps you to rest in the fact that if you are not delivered His grace will still be sufficient.

Most Christians are no longer afraid of what God is going to do to them because they have the complete assurance of their salvation.  However, the major problem is that we daily walk in the fear of  what God might do with us if we fully surrender our lives to Him.

There is no greater deception for the believer than to fear the One who loves you the most.  Yes God is able but far more than that He is also good.

 

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The Building Blocks Of A Strategy

Posted by on July 6, 2009

One of the best books I have read on developing a strategic plan and all that is involved in the execution of that plan was written by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan called Execution.  It is a must read for any organization that uses teams to accomplish planning and execution.

A strategy is the key steps or methodology that you are going to use to accomplish your goals or mission.  Many times the goal seems to be clear and necessary but the breakdown occurs at the point of determining how we are going to accomplish what we want to do.

In this book he lists several critical questions that should be answered during the development of your strategy to ensure a high probability of success:

1.       How good are the assumptions upon which the plan hinges?

2.      What are the pluses and minuses of the alternatives?

3.      Do you have the organizational capability to execute the plan?

4.      Are the short term and long term balanced?

5.      What are the important milestones for executing the plan?

6.      Can you adapt the plan to rapid changes in your environment?

The two most important questions are do you have the organizational capability to execute the plan?  Just because it is the right thing to do may not mean we have the right people in place and this is the right time for implementation.  If we add something major to our process without additional manpower it must be assumed that something else needs to go.

The last question is even more important in the culture we live in today.  Just because something looks great as a strategy today and even works for awhile does not mean that it will be viable in the next twelve months.  This means that nothing must become so sacred that it cannot be changed if necessary when a better plan is discovered.

 

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