There's No Such Thing As Weak Leadership

Have you ever heard the comment..."oh, he's a weak leader." Maybe you've said it yourself. Candidly, I have too. Ouch.

Expectations
We all talk about...or should talk about...setting proper expectations with our leadership teams. 

What should they focus on? 
Where should they put their development time? 
How will their success be measured? 
What can they expect from us as their senior leaders?

Friends, I've heard these questions asked for years, literally. Yet somehow they keep coming up again and again. How is that possible? In some instances I've been exposed to sophisticated onboarding and leader pathway processes. In others, I hear the tired excuses of leaders who want to do well, but just don't know how to be effective. 

Accountability
I'm convinced the secret to weeding out the failing leaders is simply to hold them accountable. Be firm and fair. But, they must be held accountable. 

Here's the tricky part...most of these leaders believe they are doing a good job. They have convinced themselves they are above the fray and untouchable. Imagine their shock when they are provided coaching that does not continue to inflate their already overinflated egos?

Look out!

How About You
What is to be done when a leader is struggling? Do we...coach them....have an off-the-record pep talk with them...fire them...hmmm?

How about we step up and handle it directly? It's harder this way, but you can do it. Oh, and it's also the "leader" part of leadership.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Invisible Boundaries

Balance.
Crossing the line.
Setting expectations.
Role clarity.

Boundaries.

Work/Life Boundaries at Work
Okay, I need to say right away...I struggle with this. In my mind, I need to be available, on-call, and ready to jump into the action at any moment. That's what leaders do, right? 

We're available!

We've decided to forgo a large part of our personal life for the greater good of the organization!

We're role models of leadership effectiveness!

Well, I do love being all of those things...but I'm learning that I don't love being all of those things, all the time.

Boundaries at Home
Where is the balance point between committed leader, and committed person outside of work?

Where is that fine line that separates "dedicated" from hurtful intrusion? 

Is there a sign I should be looking for; or, perhaps that sign comes in the form of a tangled plan that is influenced by our work?

There is no easy answer. One of the thrills of leadership, for me, is the action and drama and sudden intensity that requires a savvy response as the "world" is getting all worked up. But when that world is always worked up it can begin to negatively impact our personal lives.

That's not good...for us as people, or as leaders.

How About You
How do you find the 'life balance' that integrates all of your responsibilities? Where do you draw the lines that ensure you don't give too much of yourself away?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Get Off My Lawn

I have become an angry old man.

You see, getting (a bit) older is an interesting thing. While I try really hard to be a positive force in my little world, I can sometimes fall in the trap of...well...not being so positive.

Those Darn Leaders
The curse of high expectations can be costly. On one hand I work extremely hard to ensure phenomenal results are achieved; and, I can also be critical when junior-level leaders try hard but repeatedly fall short.

Get off my lawn you struggling leaders!

Those Darn Team Members
I'm blessed to help lead an organization that is absolutely loaded with bright young minds. Their energy is infectious, and pushes me to keep bringing my A-game each day. Except, I fall into my own expectations-trap.

I expect those fired up young minds to understand everything I already have been exposed to and learned over many years. Sigh. Another #JayFail.

Get off my lawn you young people!

Those Darn Executives
Ah, at least I can rely on all of the executives leading organizations around the globe! They are my "angry old man" salvation, for sure!

But wait...did I just hear one (er, all!) of them say they don't have time for social media, branding, have any time to spend with employees, or mentor a young motivated leader because they have more meetings?

What is happening?
Excuses? Meetings? Noise!

When did policies, process, busy calendars and egos take over our passion for leadership?

Get off my lawn you scared executives!

How About You
Have you become angry in your "old age?" Well, I for one am done with being the old angry guy in the corner of the conference room. Complaining doesn't support new leaders, educate motivated young employees, or call-out stressed executives.

Action + a positive attitude does all of these things and more!

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Expectations and Engaged Employees

The concept of employee engagement is used so frequently in the world of work, I often see my leadership colleagues in a variety of industries roll their eyes when it comes up in conversation.

Yet, they publicly espouse the value and priority of having an engaged workforce...that it will make a huge difference in the performance of their companies...and that without it they will fall behind their competition.

Wait, what? 

I think I've stumbled onto one of the disconnects between leaders and engaged employees.

Expectations.

The Leader Lens
In my experience, I see many leaders wishing they could somehow "see" or "feel" the engagement of the employees. I'm not entirely sure what this means though.

- Should there be big smiles all day every day?
- Should there be verbal expressions of gratitude?
- Should there be public displays of a$$ kissing?

Regardless the expectation, the notion that a tangible behavior validates a degree of workforce engagement seems to be more important than whether or not they actually are engaged in the first place.

The Employee Lens
Here's my candid take on the employee side of the engagement issue. 

Create a positive energy in the workplace, prioritize their needs, be supportive and inclusive, share as much as you can as quickly as possible, pay competitively, recognize good performers and remove poor ones, be accessible to the team, be clear on expectations and performance, don't trick yourself into believing your job title makes you smarter than the team, laugh at yourself, be honest, be fair, be human.

Oh, and I don't think they necessarily want to jump up and down in joyful praise...they just want to do a good job.

How About You
Try strapping the employee lens on when you walk out of your office this afternoon. How does your world look now? Any different?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

What Were You Expecting?

The world of work is changing so rapidly I almost feel out of breath trying to stay current. My love/hate relationship with my task list (love the tool...hate how many items are on it!), seems to have me chasing my tail every day of the week. What about other parts of my world? I don't think I'm trying to balance any more issues than the next person, but it does make me wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

What was I expecting?

The Way It Should Be

This issue has been weighing heavily on my mind lately...the notion of my expectations and others expectations of me. Should I conform to a particular view of how I should work, behave, or interact with them? Has the culture of my world shifted in such a way that I've missed something and I am out of step with the cadence of those around me?

Difficult questions to answer as I look at the world through my biased lens. (By the way, we all have our own lenses, which makes this an even more complex set of dynamics to work through.)

Sometimes what I've come to rely on turns out to be very different as I understand more about the new reality around me.

Time Out

In those moments we have to challenge ourselves and ask about our own expectations. What do we believe is in our future? 

Can we rely on what we've grown accustomed to; or, have we allowed ourselves to fall into a false sense of security based on what we "want to be true" vs "the reality of our situation?"

Difficult questions to answer.

How About You

What are your expectations for your world? What about those connected to you? Have you found the proper alignment and balance between the two; or, are you working to bridge a gap that has "suddenly" appeared?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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The Culture Chase

The new year is upon us, and it seems there is a palpable tension in the air. So many plans, goals, strategies, and pressures to make changes and be successful. One of the most challenging change initiatives has to do with culture. Wanting an organization's culture to change, and the expectations around that process are complicated and often require longer than our modern attention spans are programmed to accept.

Organizational Expectations
As with any other major corporate initiative, outlining the end point is essential when embarking on such a significant project. Is it customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, better margins, reduced turnover, more efficient processes, cost savings, or a host of other topics that is the end game? Maybe it's just that everyone is going to work more effectively together and feel comfortable taking risks? Have you defined what a successful culture change looks like?

What exactly are you chasing?

Individual Expectations

Once the general outline of success has been mapped out, it is important that key members of the team understand their roles. This may sound obvious, but the desire for change, and the pressure team members feel to perform without the proper guidance can quickly slow down the change initiative, and may have top performers feeling like they can not contribute as effectively as they might.

What exactly should they be chasing?

Accountability
Once the organization understands the end point, and the leaders understand their roles, it is time to get moving. A critical part of the execution is accountability. For those that are committing themselves to the behaviors necessary there should be frequent and positive feedback. The members of the team, particularly in leadership roles that say they are committed but behave differently behind the scenes must be held accountable. Avoiding confrontation with key leaders only serves to undermine the entire effort and will ultimately doom all that hard work to failure.

How About You
What big changes are in store for you this year? Is a culture change initiative something your organization is launching? If so, how have you helped your senior leadership team prepare for, and sustain, such a major endeavor?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Work, I'm Gonna Leave You

How do you feel about your job? Does it make you want to get up in the morning and make an impact; or, does it make you want to hit that snooze button so hard it breaks off your alarm? What concerns me the most about these two ends of the spectrum are those employees, particularly in leadership, who are caught in between.

They're working...but they've checked out.

Expectations Matter

One of the lessons I've learned as I get, ahem, more mature in my years on the job, is that I'm not going to have fun doing everything at work. There are parts of my job that I really dislike. There are other parts that get me absolutely fired up. What has helped me get through the challenging parts is the way I set my own expectations about work.

If I expect every day to be filled with energy, creative new strategies and great results then I'm going to be bitterly disappointed. However, when I build into my expectations that I will have to power through some boring, mundane, and sometimes difficult work but I know it won't last forever, I'm much more satisfied.

Don't Leave
When expectations and the reality of our jobs are not aligned, nothing good happens. We become less interested and committed. Typically work product suffers and relationships that might have been strong at one point now become fodder for office gossip. Worst of all, the impact on our teams is obvious and immediate.

"When we lose the confidence of our team, we have nothing as leaders."

How About You
Have you already checked out? Have you noticed a colleague that has become disengaged or seems to be somewhat distant? It's time to step in and be a resource. Being a resource is still part of Human Resources, right?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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What If I Say I'm Not Like The Others

Ahhh...behold the excitement around the arrival of a new leader. The department has been struggling, and now that Knight in Shining Bureaucratic Armor is on the horizon. Woo hoo! Everything will certainly be "fixed" once the new champion of all that is right about management walks through the front door. Seriously!

Is That You?

Have you ever taken a job where you knew there were some "issues" that needed to be addressed? What were the expectations, both the ones you put on yourself, and the ones the organization placed on you? Did you even realize the depth of the situation?

Maybe you told everyone that you were different because you picked up enough clues during the interview process that something wasn't quite right. I bet you had them eating out of the palm of your hand.

Well played...to start.

Time To Deliver
Once you started your new journey as Savior of the Corporation however, things began to change, didn't they? Suddenly the norms, unwritten rules, and impossible to decipher politics of your new corporate life got in the way of your promises of being "different" and "new" and "high energy."

That is the exact time you're supposed to start leading. 

How About You

When you step into a new role do you tell your team that you're not like the others and hope they believe you? Or, do you begin the lonely (read here => required!) journey and start making decisions that prove you're not afraid to take risks, or to change old and ineffective processes so your team and organization can thrive?

They're all watching and waiting for you...

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.





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Sticks and Stones

One of my biggest pet peeves is hearing about a problem within my scope of responsibility that has been festering for a while. While I appreciate that I work in a supportive environment that often allows for understanding and giving people the benefit of the doubt, I don’t want to wait to get the feedback. I want to know now. I want to fix it now.

May Break My (Ego) Bones

Okay, here’s the self-disclosure part of today’s post. I don’t like hearing about where I’m not performing well. Sure, I don’t do all the work; actually I don’t do most of the work. My team does that! But I have to provide the guidance, information and support they need to do their jobs well. If we struggle from time to time that’s all on me. No excuses.

But Honest Feedback Will Never Hurt Me

So even though I don’t like hearing it, I also know I need to hear it so I can do my job more effectively and keep us moving forward. Although my ego may be a little inflated (say…like the size of the state of Texas); I recognize that I need to put my ego aside so I can make work better.

Ultimately that’s my job…to make work better.

How About You

When it comes to hearing criticism do you morph into Captain Blame, quick to identify the guilty party? Or, have you figured out that it’s the group of people around you that needs feedback and clear expectations to do their jobs effectively; and making them feel terrible about their performance will ultimately hurt you (and me)  in the long run? Remember, communicating bad news to your team is fine…its how you deliver the message that is most important.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.




pic courtesy of christinabrunk

Unmet Expectations

My father passed away ten years ago, and from the time I was a young boy I can remember him telling me about his best friend.  They did everything together: pretended to be Charlie Chan detectives, went fishing, played on the high school basketball team and were President and Vice President of the Student Body.  Both of them had tremendous potential, and after high school went off to pursue their dreams.

Finding A Calling

My father pursued his dream of becoming a concert pianist, first at Ithaca College and then at Yale.  It was only after he was a year into his Graduate studies that he felt called by God and switched to the Divinity School.  He went on to have a successful career as a United Methodist Minister.

His friend however did not see his dreams realized in the same way.  He headed off to Colgate University but never quite found his place in the world.  Following graduation he worked in the newspaper business although he had not studied advertising.  He just seemed to make his way along the path that presented itself to him.

Unrealized Expectations

What is it about planning, goal-setting, and personal expectations that fill us with such hope?  I sometimes wonder if everyone is as hungry for the next step along the career journey as I am.  Often the next step is a bold new approach to making my organization stronger, or more current, or….well, it could be anything other than remaining stagnant and using the good ‘ol days as an excuse to avoid trying something new.  When we see the world passing us by, do we start to feel as if we have not fully met the personal expectations we set for ourselves so many years ago?

How About You

Think back to when you were “just starting out.”  What expectations did you have for yourself?  Were you going to graduate from college, or land a management job, or own your own firm?  How are you doing so far?  How about those around you that are struggling…how are you helping them realize their full potential?

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.


pic courtesy of bjorn