Messenger of God

"People exercise an unconscious selection in being influenced." 
- T. S. Eliot

Position and Power
I have been fortunate to serve in leadership roles for more than twenty years. It's hard to believe so much time has passed. One issue that continues to be ever present regardless of where I've worked or my position is the influence leaders have...but don't realize the real impact of that influence.

On one level, leaders bask in the new found glory of their position. Right? They have authority to make purchases, hire team members, and impact how the culture will be experienced by the employees.

That my friends is a lot of power. Remember, employees do not set the culture without leaders having a culture tolerance. Sadly, most organizations still have a low culture tolerance and thus those leaders power becomes a burden.

Influence
On a very different level, effective leaders understand the profound responsibility they have at all times. They understand that how they conduct themselves, even in more private settings, reflects directly on their credibility and the culture tolerance they will allow.

The best of the best embrace this responsibility and leverage it in a thoughtful and intentional way. They make calculated decisions all day long, not to manipulate, but rather to build their organizations in a spectacular way.

Yes, spectacular. If you're not up for making your organization spectacular why do you accept a leader's pay check?

How About You
What messages are you sending each day, and do you appreciate the breadth of your influence? Does the team look to you for support, vision, and leadership? Or, are you so above the masses that you don't have time to deal with simple things like culture, people...and success.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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It's All About You, Right?

"Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It's not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious-but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves."
- Jim Collins

As you think about the choices you'll make today...your words...your behaviors...what do you think your team will think?

How about your peers? Will they want to follow you; or, is today all about you?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Power, Transparency and Culture

Culture change is an interesting concept. Typically driven by a desire to become a world class organization, the core tenets of a major culture change must include the willingness of senior leaders to be humble, transparent in their decisions, and be unafraid to confront those that are resistant to change.

Humility Is Hard
The interplay between power and humility is a daily struggle for many leaders. Finding a way to appreciate the authority they have, while simultaneously doing everything possible to give that power away (you've heard of delegation, right?) is simply too difficult for some leaders.

The perception that the leader, particularly a newer leader who suddenly has more power than ever before, is making decisions without including others because they know best is dangerous. The leader may be correct in their ideas, however the delivery is so critical to achieve buy-in from those affected that simply making proclamations from on-high engenders no loyalty. After all...most leaders like loyalty among their teams, right? 

Transparency - Can You See It?
One of the easiest ways to achieve culture change is to be open about why decisions are being made. This sounds embarrassingly simple, yet time and time again decisions are made but the rationale for those decisions is kept close to the vest. Why? 

Is there a fear that by explaining why certain things are happening in an organization the leader will open to criticism? Is that so bad? Don't we all perform better when there is healthy dialogue, constructive feedback, and improved decisions emerge?

Confrontation Is For the Real Leaders
The trap I see so many leaders fall into however is exercising their authority in the absence of sharing why decisions are made. Their credibility quickly erodes. Sadly, they don't realize this is even happening because of their painfully obvious fear of confrontation. How in the world can anyone lead and do so from behind closed doors; or worse, through sending their team to deliver messages that should be delivered by them in the first place?

Confrontation is not easy...it is not fun...and it is absolutely required if one is to be an effective leader that builds trust.

Trust.

How About You
Is building trust on your radar screen? If so, you'll need to push yourself outside your comfort zone of power. Otherwise, you'll simply be the hamster on the spinning wheel of power, transparency, and culture change dreams.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Free Will Sacrifice

I spend a lot of time thinking about leadership, and more specifically what it takes to be an effective leader. So much is written about this topic (including this blog) that it almost seems impossible to read it all, process it in a timely way, and execute the approaches that make the most sense to us in our professional lives.

We have so many options to consider, perhaps we are over-thinking the core concepts of leadership; and in so doing, we're missing opportunities to achieve our primary goal of leading effectively.

Use The Data
The more I struggle with my own leadership and the behaviors of other leaders, I find myself returning to the work Jim Collins did relative to Level 5 Leaders. The piece in Harvard Business Review is a fantastic resource that describes what it takes to get to this lofty status.

Collins' data suggests that there are two primary behaviors that are essential for leaders to move beyond their own myopic view of the world: humility and fierce resolve.

When was the last time you tried that combination at the office?

What It Means To Me
Read the article, I don't need to reprise it here. The evolution in my thinking has shifted from Collins' focus areas and the subsequent hierarchy of achieving Level 5 status down to one word: sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

What comes to mind when you hear that word? Pain? Suffering? Loss of personal or professional freedom? 

Sacrifice to me means all of those things and more. It's a commitment to something more important than ourselves; yet at the same time it can be a selfish move too. Sometimes we make sacrifices for others or our organizations. In fact, that type of sacrifice has dominated much of my life.

There is another type of sacrifice. When we take risks to try new things...when we test out new strategies that others have been afraid to try...when we move out of our comfort zones...these are sacrifices too.  

When we are willing to sacrifice our credibility in order to achieve a breakthrough that could benefit our companies and ourselves, we are also making a sacrifice. Those sacrifices are not easy...in fact, most don't dare give them a try.

How About You
How do you define success? Are risk-taking and sacrifice part of your definition of effective leadership? For me, they are two of the most important pieces. Think about what is most important to you. This stuff matters.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Corporate Body Language

As a leader, speaker, and visible member of my organization's leadership team I think a lot about body language. If I'm meeting with a group of employees who have concerns I am focused on staying calm, not being defensive, and trying hard to validate their feelings. 

If I'm speaking at a recognition event I need to be warm and funny to help attendees enjoy the event. If I'm speaking at a conference it's all about energy, passion, and hopefully some fun for the audience.

My personal body language is important, and needs to be different in all three settings in order to be effective.

Corporate Messages

One of the strengths of a good company is that it's messaging matches the behavior and decision-making of the leadership team. If the message is about integrity, inclusiveness, and striving to be a Level 5 Leader, then the corresponding behavior and decisions that are made should match those messages.

Sounds simple enough, right?

How hard is it to engage with front line team members, act friendly, and be open about how decisions are made? It's not actually...unless there is another agenda behind the scenes that supersedes the rhetoric.

 
Now things aren't so simple.

Corporate Behavior

One of the realities of leadership that continues to surprise me is the notion that "everyone is watching." Employees certainly hear what we say, but they are far more attuned to what we do. 

If we espouse a culture that embraces transparency, inclusion, and openness, yet clearly makes "back room" decisions that seem to be based on a small minority's plan for the large enterprise, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue to send out the same messages that obviously to all (except perhaps the back-room-gang) that those messages aren't worth the paper they're written on.

Painful to hear? Perhaps. Putting the obvious in print? Yes.

How About You

What is your corporate body language? Do you live in a self-perpetuating  public relations machine that has lost touch with reality? Or, do you practice what you so eloquently preach?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Strength = Weakness

We all do a little self-talk from time to time. Okay, everyday we practice this technique whether we know it or not. It just seems to happen. We strategize options, consider our strengths, and then make decisions to move forward. We rely on what has worked for us in the past to help determine what the appropriate steps are moving forward. At least we have our strengths to rely on when faced with adversity.

Unless our strengths will do us no good.

Strengths Are No Good
You might be wondering if I've lost my mind, but hear me out. We all have skills and approaches that have proven to not only fit well with our personalities and comfort level in the workplace, but they have also brought us a measure of success. We rely on these approaches and use them frequently. Sometimes we are described as "driven" and we push hard for things to get accomplished. That is a good thing.

The problem arises when we are unable to recognize that in certain situations our passion for being "driven" is no longer an appropriate leadership behavior to work through a particular situation. Now what? Are we lost? Do we throw our hands up in the air? Or worse, do we let our emotions dictate our behavior which typically leads down a slippery slope of lost credibility?

It's Not About Strengths
The solution lies in the very early stages of the various conflicts and issues that present themselves in our lives. If we leverage our self-talk so intensely that we convince ourselves we should keep pushing for what we believe in, versus leveraging another leadership skill - humility - we risk never being able to solve problems collaboratively.

"If your leadership style is about winning at all costs, you are guaranteed to lose. However, if you are willing to leverage your passion with a healthy dose of humility, you are guaranteed to win."

How About You
In Jim Collins' terrific Harvard Business Review article he describes the potent combination of leadership skills that have driven organizations to incredible levels of success: an iron will and an incredible sense of humility. He calls these very unique individuals "Level 5 Leaders." Don't let your strengths inadvertently hurt your leadership. Are you Level 5 material?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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