Category Archive: Staff Development

Clock Building Not Time Telling

Posted by on June 12, 2009

The days of all decisions being made solely at the top with a few people involved are fading fast.  Throughout the Industrial Age of leadership during the last half of 20th century this was the only model of leadership.  The overwhelming percentage of the workforce was for the most part simply telling time based on the clear instructions that were given for them to follow.

Today we are leading from an Information and Idea Age model of leadership.  The entire development process has been delegated to various teams so that everyone who can contribute will be involved.  In essence people are now being asked to help build the clock.

Most people think the changing role of the top executives is by far the most dramatic shift that has occurred.  In a sense of scope that may be true.  Key leaders today do not have to know all the answers to all the questions they only need to know what are the right questions to ask? 

There primary responsibility today is to make sure they have the best possible people on their team because the quality and success of the clocks they are making will determine the future success of the entire organization.

The most dramatic shift in leadership today certainly from a standpoint of scale is not at the top but in the middle of organizations.  There is a big difference in telling time compared to building clocks.  Today people are daily being asked what do you think and what would you recommend?

Many organizations are caught in the middle of this transition and seem to be stuck.  The problem could be that you are asking people who only know how to tell time to build clocks and they are not capable of making that change.  Don’t give up on clock building just find the right people who know how to build great clocks and you will be fine.

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Networking

Posted by on June 4, 2009

 

The old mindset was your success depends upon how many people you know.  Today the most important thing is how many people are you helping. 

The focus has shifted to some degree because of the culture created through the use of social media.  The motivating factor behind most people is how can I help others be successful by giving them information that will be helpful. 

It is just as important to be willing to ask other people for help as well.  A true network works then because of the dynamics created because of mutual need.  This in essence is the difference between someone being merely a contact in your database compared with a person in your life. 

Make no mistake; serious business is taking place here.  However, that is a natural result of working with people you like and respect and not using other people to get what I want. 

Never Eat Alone is a great book written by Keith Ferrazzi.  He hates what he calls networking jerks.  If you don’t want to come across as one here are few things he says you must never do: 

Don’t schmooze

Don’t rely on the currency of gossip

Don’t come to the party empty-handed

Don’t treat those under you poorly

Be transparent

Don’t be too efficient 

What we can do is to have a desire to genuinely add value to other people and by doing so knowing we will have made a difference.

 

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Coaching

Posted by on June 3, 2009

If you need help in making some major decisions in your life coaching may be exactly what you need.  There are many types of coaches available from executive, life, fitness and even spiritual.

The one major thing you need to understand about coaching is that it is not counseling or therapy.  The major focus will not be your past and the things that have gone wrong but the future and how you want it to look.

Great coaches don’t have the answers to all your questions.  Their role is to help you by knowing how to ask the right questions so you can see why you may be stuck and what your options are as you move forward.

A coach might ask, What is the one major area in your life you would like to change that would improve your life?  Then, What do you want that area to look like six months from now?  Finally, What do you need to do this week to start closing that gap?

Another important aspect of coaching is accountability.  It really helps when you have someone who is on your side and offers the necessary what do you want to accomplish before our next time together type questions.

With this accountability comes encouragement that reminds you of what you said you wanted to do to change your life and gives you the confidence that you can make it happen.

My experience in using a coach was incredible.  So what are you waiting for give them a no charge to you first call and see if it feels like a good fit.

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The Five Practices Of Leadership

Posted by on June 2, 2009

 

I am constantly reading new materials on leadership and occasionally I review great books from the past.  One of the all time classics is The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.

This very exhaustive book centers around these five simple but very powerful practices:

 Model The Way-Find your voice by clarifying your personal values and set the example by aligning actions with shared values.

 Inspire a Shard Vision-Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities and enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

Challenge The Process-Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve and experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.

Enable Others to Act-Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.  Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.

 Encourage The Heart-Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence and celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.        

   

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Making Destructive Comments

Posted by on May 28, 2009

One of the hallmarks of leadership in the 21st century is participative team building and problem solving.  We have moved from the old top down decision making model to one that allows and encourages everyone’s involvement in the process.

If you are a good leader then you will make sure that everyone has an opportunity to give their opinion and respectfully discuss and even debate the issues so that the best possible solution can be reached.  For some people this type of give and take environment comes easy and for others it is very hard to open up and participate.

As a team leader one thing I watch very carefully is when someone starts to take on another team member personally rather than dealing with their ideas.  This can be very subtle in the beginning but eventually something is said that really stings.

There is a big difference between I do not agree with what you are saying and here is the reason compared to you are wrong and just don’t get it.  Certain people with strong personalities will go after another person when they feel threatened because they know they can intimidate them to back off.

During the meeting when I see this happening I will usually make a point to come back to the person who was attacked and draw them out again.  After the meeting, I will go to the person making the destructive comments and make sure they understand that type of behavior will not be tolerated.

After clearly communicating with someone privately and they continue to demonstrate this type of behavior then they will lose their seat at the table and everyone will know why.

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Team Operating Principles

Posted by on May 27, 2009

The first thing I look for in putting together any team is the right chemistry for the particular task at hand.  If the team is responsible for completing a construction project I need expertise and great project managers.  When the assignment is to create a new vision statement I want very creative people that are willing to think outside the box.

One of the best books on team building is The Performance Factor by Pat MacMillan.  He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Team Resources Inc. an international consulting firm specializing in organizational and team development.

Regardless of the team dynamics and the task assignments there should be some guiding principles that give direction to all teams.  The following list from MacMillan is the best one I have found and creates an environment of mutual respect that drives participation and performance:

1.       We are open and honest with one another.

2.      We treat each other with dignity and respect.

3.      We listen to and respect each other’s ideas and opinions.

4.      We hold confidences.

5.      We honor our commitments.

6.      We support and invest in each other’s development.

7.      We routinely critique our processes.

8.      We have fun.

If the team leader can model and get everyone to buy into these principles then the potential for a great outcome has dramatically increased.  When teams often break down it has very little to do with the task at hand but with the way members communicate and relate to each other.

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Circle of Influence

Posted by on May 19, 2009

Several years ago Stephen Covey wrote one of the all time best selling leadership books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a book that I have read several times and refer to often.

The first habit in the book is to be proactive and take responsibility for leading our own lives.  He writes, “It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives.  Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.  We can subordinate feelings to values.”

One of the most practical tips for doing this on a daily basis is what he calls the circle of concern in our lives vs. the circle of influence.  The circle of concern represents all the things we really care about but have no control over to change the outcome.  If we are not careful we can spend most of our day here with nothing to show for all the emotional effort.

The circle of influence though contains all the things that are important to us as well but we do have the ability to control the outcome.  When we focus on what we cannot control during the day that just means there were many things that should and could be done that were not.

The amazing thing about this principle is that the more you prioritize the things you can do and start accomplishing them the things you cannot control proportionally diminish in their importance. 

When we are doing the things we know we should do it not only allows us to  accomplish something but it also gives us the needed perspective to deal with all the things that are beyond our control.

To quote another Covey principle:  WIN WIN

 

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Good People Are Everything

Posted by on May 5, 2009

A few years ago Mark DeMoss wrote a great book called The Little Red Book of Wisdom.  He shares the personal and professional core values that helped him develop one the most successful Public Relations firms in the country.

Just as Jim Collins did in Good to Great and Jack Welch in Winning he drives home the most important asset for any organization are the people who work there.  He states in one chapter, “the implication is that in business, how you treat your people trumps what you do with your clients, schedules, output, and spreadsheets.”

He believes there are four major motivators in attracting and retaining the best of the best.

1.       The first is mission—People need to totally buy in to the big thing your company is all about.

2.      The second is a good leader—Not the smartest or the brightest but someone who knows where they want the organization to go and has the character to lead.

3.      The third motivator is corporate culture—This aspect is especially important to the next generation workforce because they must have an environment that is participatory and not highly directive.

4.      The forth factor is compensation and benefits—This goes way beyond the basics to giving special recognition to best people who over time earn up to six weeks of paid leave and a $10,000 bonus.

For years everyone thought the most important decisions a leader had to make was What their organization needed to do in the area of products and marketing.  Now the focus has shifted to Who are the people on your team.  Get the right people and they will help you define the What, How, When and Where.

 

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Generational Leadership

Posted by on March 23, 2009

As a follow up on the last posting about Situational Leadership I want to make an observation.  I recently spoke at national conference on the subject of Leadership for 21st Century.  The major point of the presentation was the need to shift from a positional leadership model to a participative one.

The feedback after both of my sessions confirmed everything I have been reading on this subject.  There is very little honest and clear communication taking place between key leaders and their teams on an ongoing basis.

The challenge for most corporations today is that the majority of senior management positions are filled by baby boomer age leaders who know nothing but a positional model.  They were trained that way academically and that is the only system that has been a part of their entire career.

The new workforce is made up of generation x employees that have an entirely different world view that impacts how they view their career.  They are highly motivated and want to be a part of interactive team where they can actively be a part of the process.

If we do not provide the critical situational leadership skills that both generations need then we are creating unnecessary leadership cultural wars that destroy moral and diminish productivity.  The result of any lack of relevant training is that the older generation think the younger are too aggressive and the younger are convinced that the old guard will simply not let go and delegate.

 

 

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Personnel Qualifications

Posted by on March 20, 2009

When hiring any new employee you can ultimately place all of the criteria you are evaluating into the two major categories of character and competency.  In the old days of the Industrial Age model of hiring the priority was given to job competency over personal character.

The process was started with a specific job description and then you would try to find a person with an educational and experience background that matched that job assignment.  Their character was a factor but just not the main one.

In the new Information Age character has now clearly moved to the top of the list.  Today you find the right person that will be a good fit for your team and over time you know they will find their right seat on the bus.

Jack Welch had three major things he was looking for at General Electric with all new executives.  Two of these criteria related to character and only one to competency.

The first test was integrity because he wanted to know they would keep their word and tell the truth.

The second test was for intelligence because it takes smart people to compete in today’s complex global economy. 

The third test was for personal maturity which means they can handle the stress and setbacks with equal parts of joy and humility.

The major reason for this significant shift in hiring priorities is that people now have to know how to work well in a highly participative environment.  In this culture the mutual goals of the group are the target and not just personal success.

Everyone must have the mindset that what matters is that we succeed regardless of who gets the credit.  Competency will always play a part in the hiring decision but today personal character clearly separates the winners from the losers.

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