Leadership Development

Have you ever come away from a conversation with someone on your strategic planning team feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck? It’s as if that person’s negativity has sucked all the energy out of you, leaving you empty, exhausted and confused.

But how about when the opposite occurs – when you leave a meeting with someone on your executive committee feeling like you’re walking on air, as if you could conquer the world (or at least your market segment)? It’s as if that person gave you a shot of adrenaline, leaving you absolutely crackling with energy, optimism and confidence.

As part of the research for his new book, Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows, bestselling author Charles P. Garcia interviewed over 200 distinguished strategic leaders who have served in the prestigious White House Fellows Program in Washington D.C. Garcia’s interview subjects included Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, former CNN CEO Tom Johnson, Levi Strauss CEO Robert Haas, former Travelocity CEO Michelle Peluso and former Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Marshall Carter.

Among other things, Garcia asked each Fellow to name some of the qualities they think are most important for a leader to possess. One recurring answer was that strategic leaders exude positive energy, and they know how to pass that energy on to their people as if it were the baton in a relay race. Here are a few specific communication and collaboration techniques for energizing people, courtesy of the White House Fellows:

· Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. One former Fellow, General Bernard Loeffke, never let a night go by without writing notes to at least five individuals who had done something positive for him or his people that day. “…I recorded the names of people I personally saw doing something right,” Loeffke said. “For example, I’d go into the range and see a sergeant who was doing truly good work, one of the best ranges I’ve seen, so I would get his name… and every night I’d sit down and write a minimum of five handwritten notes to the people who helped my staff or to those I had seen doing good work, thanking them for a job well done. Everyone needs recognition.”

· Create a ‘no-risk environment.’ When Frederick Benson III was a White House Fellow, he worked under an assistant Secretary of Defense who was a pro at creating a positive work environment. Years later when Benson was a company vice president running his own office, he carried on the upbeat management approach he learned in Washington. “I created a ‘no-risk environment’ in which I encouraged everybody to step in and do whatever they thought was right to help the company, without fear of making a mistake,” Benson said. “I told them… I would give them bonuses if they came up with something that worked. If something went wrong, I simply asked, ‘Okay, what did we learn?’… It reaped dividends. If you let people go and grow and give them the resources and help them when they stumble, they will dearly respect your leadership and want to break through barriers for you.”

· Develop and maintain a connection. For Mitchell Reiss’s Fellowship year, he was assigned to work in the office of the National Security Council with National Security Advisor Colin Powell. At a staff picnic in the early days of his Fellowship, Reiss and his wife arrived to find that Powell was already on the scene setting up tables, grilling burgers and hot dogs, and taking the time to greet every staff member and their families. “He came over to me and knew not only my name but introduced himself to my wife, Elisabeth, and thanked her for allowing me to work the hours that I worked at the NSC,” Reiss said. “He told her she should feel that she is part of the NSC family as well. That very brief but very personal interaction with Powell had an extraordinary impact on her. After he left, she turned to me and said, ‘You better do a good job for that man. If you need to stay late at work, I will never complain.’ That’s the sort of transformative impact that leadership can have…”

· Stay physically fit – and encourage your team to do the same. Before Major John Patrick Gallagher became a White House Fellow, he served under General David Petraeus in the U.S. Army’s 82^nd Airborne Division. One day, Petraeus asked his troops to name the Number One leadership priority of the brigade. The troops guessed integrity, tactical competence and the like, and were surprised when Petraeus said that physical fitness was the brigade’s top priority. Petraeus began leading the troops through grueling physical training every morning, pushing them to the brink and beyond, and Gallagher said the brigade naturally began to grow stronger – but not just physically. “All those things we wanted to do well got better, whether it was marksmanship or vehicle maintenance or soldiers going on leave and not getting arrested for DUI,” Gallagher said. “All these other indicators went up when Petraeus created this climate of self-discipline… Petraeus knew how to lead in such a way that it gives his subordinates energy. That’s an incredibly powerful leadership tool.”

The White House Fellows relied upon caring mentors and trusted advisors to help them with their leadership development. When you are ready to re-energize your team and take your own communication and collaboration skills to the next level, call upon an experienced executive leadership coach and strategic consultant for advice and direction. You – and your team – will be glad you did!

What is your most effective technique for energizing your team? Tell me about it by using the comment form above.

One of the toughest dilemmas a C-level leader will ever face is determining when to stand firm and when to compromise. Assuming that becoming a sell-out is not part of your short- or long-term business strategy, you’ll want to be absolutely certain that you nail this one. Otherwise, your entire organization – including your management team, board of directors and executive committee – will take a hit, and they will never forget your blunder.

Compromise is a sticky topic in corporate strategic managing… so sticky, in fact, that even Merriam-Webster can’t decide if compromise is good or evil. The dictionary offers two conflicting definitions for the word:

1. Settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions, or
2. A concession to something derogatory or prejudicial.

Clearly, the first definition makes it sound as if compromise is a positive thing to do while the second makes it sound like something to avoid at all costs. If you’re working in corporate strategic managing, you’ll encounter many opportunities for both types of compromise.

So how do you decide if you should bend a little or if you should stand firm? Here’s a good litmus test for making any such decision, professionally or otherwise:

If you would have to violate one or more of your core values or principles in order to affect a compromise, then you must stand firm.

There… that wasn’t so hard, was it? Actually, it usually is kind of hard, because although the test itself may be simple, your particular situation might not be so cut and dried. However, if you can manage to keep your core values and principles front and center where they belong, you should be able to stick to your guns and justify the decision to stand firm – not only to yourself, but also to your team.

Now let’s consider it from the flip side: when might it be OK to compromise? Begin your deliberations by applying this test:

If the situation isn’t critical AND/OR if there’s something of value to be gained by allowing others to have a certain level of influence, then you should probably compromise.

Occasionally you’ll have to compromise even when the situation is critical because there is a stalemate and no progress can be made without concessions – but again, you should only proceed toward that end if none of your core values or principles are threatened.

Facing this kind of scenario head on is a true test of your strategic leadership, communication and collaboration skills. But with the right frame of mind, you can pull it off and still maintain your integrity – and your people’s respect.

Are you in the middle of an awkward situation and having trouble deciding if a compromise is in order? As a C-level executive coach and strategic consultant, I’ve helped countless executives find a happy solution to some of their most challenging issues. Don’t hesitate to contact me for a free, no-risk executive consultation today.

Do you have an effective technique for deciding when to compromise or when to stand firm? Please use the comment form above to tell me about it!

The results are in… Business Insider has just released its list of the Worst CEOs Ever. A few individuals – such as Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay — made the list for committing crimes; others for executing poor business strategy. And although we can’t be certain if it was true in every case, it’s likely that a few of these gentlemen were not well versed in crisis leadership techniques or transition management, either.

As a leader, your success will be measured in large part by your ability to deal effectively with challenges. How do you respond in the midst of drastic change or chaos? How do you dispel rumors, calm fears and keep the company’s wheels turning when the inevitable crisis occurs?

In short, how do you keep your name off the aforementioned list?

Whether the stormy seas are caused by pending job cuts, restructuring or abrupt changes in business goals or leadership, here are a few tips for steering your organizational ship safely through troubled waters:

· Take immediate action. Do not delay. Remember the Exxon Valdes oil spill off the Alaskan coast in 1989? Exxon’s CEO failed to respond quickly and publicly, which gave the impression that he was indifferent to the damage his company had caused. Show all stakeholders that you are “on the case” and that you are actively crafting a solution.

· Communicate… even if you don’t yet have all the answers. It’s OK to admit that you’re concerned, and it’s OK to admit that you don’t know what the future holds. Above all, tell the truth. Just be upfront and say what you do know, sans spin. Remind your team that, since you are choosing to open the lines of communication from the start rather than waiting days or weeks for all the information to come in, details are subject to change. And remember to listen. Give everyone the opportunity to voice their concerns, ask questions and make suggestions. Listen for as long as it takes, and let your people decide when the Q & A session is over. The credibility you earn by being forthright will inspire your team to forsake the rumor mill and come to you for answers.

· See and be seen. Resist the urge to hunker down. Get out from behind your desk and go to where they make the sausage. Even if you’ve got nothing new to report, physically be there for your people. Your presence will have a calming effect, and who knows? You may find the answer to one of your most challenging issues – or at least some much-needed inspiration – on one of these jaunts outside the C-suite.

· Be proactive and ask for help. Prepare in advance to meet your next leadership crisis, because you can rest assured that it will come! Seek guidance from a trusted advisor or strategic consultant who has helped other C-level executives perfect their crisis leadership and transition management skills. By being proactive and developing a crisis plan, you may just save your career and your organization – not to mention keeping your name off those pesky lists!

What was your greatest leadership challenge, and how did you resolve it? Share your experience in the comment form below!

So, there you are in the C-suite with your head down, totally on-task. You know how it is… you’re completely consumed with carrying out your company’s strategic plan, guiding your management team, putting out the occasional fire and pacifying the board of directors, and you check your watch only to discover that three, five…heck, ten years have gone by!

You, my friend, are in a rut – and the chances are good that if you are in a rut, your organization is, too. I’ll admit that when you’re a strategic executive, the stability that comes from being in a rut has a certain allure. You don’t have to think too hard. You don’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting. You pretty much know what to expect, and so do your people.

But a recent survey conducted by BusinessWeek found that 54% of its readers believe that even in these difficult economic times, taking risk is more important than stability.

That’s right – the majority of respondents said that now is the time for innovation.

What’s more, 55% said that if they could recommend one thing to their boss for increasing innovation, it would be for him or her to “encourage all employees to submit ideas for new products.”

Notice that the respondents said all employees. This is not the time to just round up the usual suspects. Innovation is a team effort. Every single person in your organization must be empowered to bring forth their best ideas, and not just during strategic planning sessions, but always.

You’ve worked hard to create a culture in which ideas are treated as priceless commodities; a culture in which every team member takes his or her responsibility for innovation to heart. But what do you do when the suggestion box – and your brain – are both full-to-bursting with big ideas? How do you ensure that you’ve considered every angle and option in this thorny and ever-changing business environment? When the stakes are this high and there’s a major decision to be made, the C-suite can seem like the loneliest place on the planet.

This is where a strategic consultant can step in to help you come up with effective ways to incubate or test your big ideas. A strategic consultant is a trusted advisor who will provide confidential guidance, honest feedback and leadership coaching to help you find the clarity you need to make your best decisions.

If you are in need of a sounding board for your next big idea, use this contact form to schedule a no-cost, no-risk hour long executive consultation with one of the most highly regarded strategic consultant’s in the business, click here.

“Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!

~~ Thomas Alva Edison

What is your favorite inspirational quote about business, innovation or risk-taking?
Tell me about it using the contact form above, or the comments below.

Last time I wrote about how C-level leaders and executives can create environments and take actions that support their employees’ efforts to manage up – actions that open up the upward flow of valuable organizational information.

In reviewing my bookmarks, I was reminded of an article by James Kelly and Scott Nadler, writing for the Wall Street Journal, that was superb and thought it made a nice follow up to my last entry.

In their article, “Leading From Below,” the authors recommend several strategies that managers have used to successfully lead from below.

Here, I paraphrase only the first three of the twelve:

1. Make the Decision to Be a Leader
In every case of successful leadership from below that we have studied, the manager made a conscious decision to move beyond the service and governance roles, without waiting to be told to do so.

2. Focus on Influence, not Control
Getting people to act on their own to achieve the goals you have in mind is far more effective than having them only react to your direction.

3. Make your mental organizational chart horizontal rather than vertical.
In a horizontal world, your peers’ concerns are no longer objections to overcome. Instead, they are important feedback to hear and heed.

What I liked about this article, and about these strategies, is that even though the focus is on behaviors for managing up, they require the manager or team member to develop the same critical leadership success skills that the CEO, CFO, COO or any executive in the organization needs in order to ‘manage down.’

There are many ways in which these leadership skills and strategies have been phrased and categorized over the years, but seldom do you hear about them in a way that underscores their viral quality and ability to be an organizational equalizer. In other words, truly complete models of business leadership do not focus on the C-suite alone. There must be some acknowledgement that true true leaders are ‘viral’ - that the act of leadership creates leaders throughout the organization and is, in a way, self-replicating.

True leadership, from above or below, goes beyond control and command and actually teaches and instills leadership qualities and leadership behaviors in others, who in turn spread these skills and mindsets to others.

This characteristic of great leadership, this self-replication, lies at the core of the leadership model I developed with Dr. Lee Smith. It inspired the name of the subsequent book, Legacy Leadership, in which we wrote about the model. Note the following excerpt from the preface of Legacy Leadership:

Great leaders intentionally influence and develop other leaders…In other words, they become Legacy Leaders building a multi-generational thumbprint for others who will use these same principles…”

This mulit-generational effect all begins with a decision to lead on the part of individuals within your organization. Much of what you do to encourage this decision may be passive activities like modeling behaviors, holding up an inspiring vision, or creating an environment that allows for leading up. You may not be able to deliver an invitation to lead to each person in your organization, but you can intentionally examine how your behavior and organizational systems encourage leadership from below.

Executive Coaching Question:
Do you recall when you made the decision to be a leader?
Do you remember what inspired and motivated you to make that decision?
Given the wide variety of personalities and motivations within your organization, what simple steps can you take to nurture this desire to lead in the people around you?

You can find more information about our book online here: www.legacyleadershipbook.com

Read the full article - “Leadership from Below” - with nine additional strategies for leading up, here:
http://tinyurl.com/leadbelow

Much has been written to support the notion that Influence is not only practiced by those at the top of an organization, but is also useful tool anywhere within the organization to get things done, to change minds, to focus resources, - to lead up. Business experts, management consultants and coaches frequently write and teach strategies for effectively leading from below.

I would like to take this conversation one step further and ask:

What is your role as an Executive, a CEO, a Leader, in supporting upward leadership and enabling intelligence to trickle up the organizational chart?

Most leaders probably do not set out to intentionally block subordinates upward communication, but who has time to contemplate ways to ‘help them help you?’ We are not talking about internal leadership development, which aims to recognize future downward leaders, but something entirely different; fostering leadership that many managers and employees see as…

It doesn’t have to be impossible.

As a top level leader, you can do much to break down the common barriers that do exist - most of which are so ingrained in personality and culture as to be nearly invisible. Lets bring a few of them into the light.

Consider some of the following pesky barriers that may be creating distance between you and one of the best sources of relevant, powerful information in your organization.

Buried in a Bureaucratic Thicket

One of the paradoxes of an increasingly specialized bureaucratized society is that the qualities rewarded in the rise to eminence are less and less the qualities required once eminence is reached.” Henry Kissenger

A bureaucratic style of leadership that emphasizes procedures and historical methods has its place and can literally save lives. However, when problems are solved by adding layers of control, those layers add distance between the leader and the information - feedback and new ideas that could save the organization.

Executive Coaching Questions:

1. What have you done to evaluate the impact that procedural restrictions have on the flow of information from those in your organization that have it to those that need it?
2. Are there any outdated or unnecessary bureaucratic barriers constricting the flow of valuable information upwards and even horizontally - between departments, among peers, or even from customers and vendors?
3. How can you find out? What can you change?

Aloof in a C-level cloud

Taken too far, the advice of Jeffery Fox, in his book How to Become CEO, can become permanent leadership behaviors that lift you up, up and away from conversation going on at ground level. Fox recommends, for example, that to become CEO you should not “have a drink with the gang” and that you should try to “skip all the office parties.” This strategic coolness may work for getting to the top floor, however, it can easily solidify into a long, chilly, marble hallway between the C-suite and the executive receptionist - where underlings dare not tread.

In this respect we can learn from Japanese management philosophy which tends to emphasize the importance of a Leader’s accessibility and the contribution of everyone toward incremental growth.

Just outside of Dallas, in Irving, TX, Jeff Kane became CEO of NEC Unified Solutions Inc, owned by the Japanese parent company, NEC Corp. Mr. Kane’s evolution from Senior Vice President of Sales to CEO was profiled in the Dallas Morning news in 2007. The article relates the leadership qualities that Kane believes have made this transition a success:

It would be foolhardy for Mr. Kane to hide the fact that he’s new to the company and industry. So he doesn’t pretend. Instead he asks questions – in private meetings with management, at trade shows and even during sales presentations – and listens to what people say.

“The questions let people know that he’s interested; the answers give Mr. Kane the information he needs to better perform his job.

“Mr. Kane makes himself totally accessible. He wants any idea – from mild to wild – that will improve the company.” (Pauline Graivier and Rob Hoffman, “New CEO Learns Territory Quickly,” Dallas Morning News, Sunday, August 19, 2007)

Executive Coaching Questions:

1. What is the state of your physical availability to your employees? What do they have to do to share an idea with you? Do they see you regularly? Can they email you directly?
2. What can you do to create more frequent opportunities for feedback and questions?

Surrounded by a Mote of Intolerance

In addition to lack of accessibility or positive interaction, distance could be the perception of an intolerance for mistakes, contradiction. Managers may be afraid to stick their neck out for fear that it may turn out to be a career ending move.

Carmine Coyote, founder and editor of Slowleadership.org, in a recent article entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Leaders, suggests seven leadership mistakes that lead to our current “economic mess.” Number two on his list:

Questioning was strongly discouraged. Disagreement became a reason for career death or dismissal. Whistle-blowers were first muzzled, then sacked, then persecuted. The atmosphere on the executive floor tended, in most cases, to be more like the palace of a tin-pot dictator than somewhere people worked together to find the best strategies for shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers. Intolerance of criticism should be another instant killer of leadership ambitions.”

If our metaphorical mote was dug by intolerance for hearing about their own mistakes, leaders next filled the mote with intolerance for the risks and mistakes of those below them.

…treat well managed risk as tolerable and understandable mistakes as informative, you’ll build a capacity below for those to lead up and one day move up.” (Micael Useem, “Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win”, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001, 178)

Executive Coaching Questions

1. When is the last time any one on your team, or any of your direct reports contradicted you, questioned your suggestions, or simply offered a contrasting opinion?
2. When was the last time you tolerated a ‘well managed risk’ from below and gained some valuable lesson? If it was more than 3 months ago, why?
3. If you don’t have enough of this kind of feedback, what can you do to change that?

***********

Creating Collaboration and innovation involves an intentional process whereby the environment and culture for collaboration and innovation is created and nurtured. This process respects, honors, affirms and encourages partnership and teamwork. It identifies challenges and sets the ground rules, tears down boundaries, fosters relationships, builds trust and shares everything, including responsibility. And then it develops an attitude of anticipation for the collective and creative future. These competencies will shift individuals and organizations from the ordinary to the extraordinary.”

(from my book, “Legacy Leadership”)

Coming Soon…leading from below - the decision to be a leader wherever you are in the organization…

As a leader, you are surrounded at all times by people who need something from you.

• The Boss and the Board expect you to have the answers to their questions - a well thought out strategy and a finger on the pulse of overall performance .

• Colleagues look to you to create a trusting environment for innovation and collaboration, to provide focus and direction.

• Direct reports and subordinates need you to hold up the vision, champion the values and inspire them to deliver their best, unique contributions.

But from whom do you get what you need?

The answer is so simple, it is surprising how few avail themselves of the solution.  Not surprisingly, those who do rank among the most successful and intelligent leaders in the business world.

Look at Oprah for example.
She has a coach to advise her on what to eat, a trainer on how to exercise.  She relies on professional coaching on how to feel good, experts instruction for how to look good, and gurus guidance on how to be good.  You can bet she also has at least one executive level business advisor she trusts as a sounding board for her business leadership and strategy ideas.

But, divulging your dietary defects, or fitness flaws is just not the same as entrusting someone with your private thoughts and sensitive information about your career.  Who can you trust with your half-formed ideas, your next big business strategy, your struggles with your executive team, and the truth about where you think you may be falling short.

It may seem difficult to imagine finding such a trusted advisor.  You can be sure you won’t find this person inside your organization, not amongst your customers, and probably not even on the golf course.

Consider the benefits of bringing in an outside advisor - an Executive Coach

• Gain confidence in your strategic plans. Run your ideas by someone who has boardroom experience but has no vested interests in anything but seeing you succeed.

• Be completely candid and unguarded.  You don’t have to worry about office politics, your professional image, or damaging the confidence of your team when you confide in someone who is on your side, but on the outside.

• Get to the heart of important issues quickly. Cut through the fog that comes with being engulfed in the day to day work your job requires.

• Get your own personal ’staging’ ground.  Enjoy a private ‘practice’ space where you can test new ideas and develop new skills - where you are free to look bad, sound bad, and fall flat - with no negative ramifications whatever.

• Finally get the leverage to work ‘on’ the business and not just ‘in’ the business

Access expertise beyond your own.
Your trusted advisor, your executive coach, also has something you do not; years of experience in organizational development, leadership development, and a whole set of ‘coaching’ skills giving them the power to draw out of you a level of power, insight and performance you didn’t think was possible.

Today’s Leaders Can Make Team Collaboration Inevitable
No matter how talented the soloist, you can’t play a symphony with just one instrument. Can you imagine The Four Tops, minus three members? Or Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as an oboe solo? How about if Glenn Miller’s orchestra playing ‘In The Mood’ with a single saxophone?

As a CEO, or Executive with Leadership responsibility, you understand the magic that can happen when talented people get into a room together to collaborate. But, creating this elusive dynamic on demand in an organization that spans the globe with thousands of employees - there should be a Grammy for that!

Billions of dollars are spent every year just on the technology that attempts to bring people within organizations ‘into a room’ together so that collaboration and innovation can happen. But, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Every organization has different challenges.

You have most likely already noticed what conditions allow first collaboration, and then innovation, to occur in your area of responsibility. Have you also noticed the conditions that prevent it? In my experience, a leader may have the most success by focusing on creating the environment that ‘allows’ collaboration to happen naturally.

Surely one of the worlds foremost experts in the technology of collaboration, Cisco has found that non-technological solutions can be just as important in creating the conditions that foster team collaboration. Take a look at this surprisingly simple collaboration solution involving musical chairs, as it were.

How can you turn your creative music from solos into full choruses?

(Share your ideas and best practices by commenting below!)

Think back to the time one of your bosses showed you they truly cared about you or something you had just done.  Remember how that felt and perhaps what you were motivated to do as a result.

So often in our fast paced world we focus mainly on the deliverable, the end result to be accomplished and forget to acknowledge the underlying value of the person completing that good work.  This in no way means Polly Anna sap dripping on everyone around us!  It does mean, however, that unless we are intentionally conscious about showing respect and appreciation, a major influence motivator is overlooked.

Put in place a sequence of actions that satisfy this:

Consistently look for the attributes and contributions of others.

Acknowledge that they are real and true, worthwhile and praiseworthy.

Show or express appreciation for them in specific terms.

Formally reward them.

In a summary, remember the 3 E’s:  Encourage, Expect and Endorse the Best ! (pg. 107 Legacy Leadership:  The Leaders’ Guide to Lasting Greatness)

Tough Times Require Authenic and Frequent Communication.
That statement is a no brainer - right?  Yet in client companies all over the nation, Leaders are telling me they are spending more and more time with a select team of direct reports working to figure out their path through the chaos.  This in and of itself is more than necessary — it’s required to constantly chart a life saving course through the ice field.

At the same time, what message are leaders sending who spend most of their time behind closed doors?  Without an intention and system in place to provide constant communication to all employees rumors develop and run wild.

Given people WILL talk, effective leaders influence that communication by frequently and clearly sharing what they do know of a situation and what steps are being taken to address most pressing challenges.  A clear message that leaders are aggressively looking for ways to manage effectively through the downturn is critical.

It’s the straight talk of reality — how thing are and what is being done to address them — that motivates other leaders and employees to more actively step up, get engaged and even offer solutions senior leaders overlooked.

What is your best experience of a leader who truly communicated effectively in a time of crisis? Feel free to use the comments form below to share your thoughts.