Leadership Excellence

Whiners and the Reaction of Leaders

Alan Weiss, in his well stated newsletter " Balancing Act" discusses a reaction to whiners. In essence, Alan walks away from these types. That got me to thinking about whiners, their impact on an organization, and leadership.

Whiners are " the sky is falling types". Life is always just not quite right. The soup is cold, her hair style is yuck, our bosses never understand us... you get the picture.  The message is ..I don't like my life, and everyone and everything conspires to make me more miserable every day.. Bah Humbug.

So as a leader,  what are your options? The 1st is not to hire these grouchy types in the 1st place. The interviewing technique here is to engage the candidate in an in depth conversation to probe and understand their attitudes about life, work, and themselves.  Amazing what people will reveal if you give them time and space.

Secondly, I concur with Alan that walking away is an excellent 1st step.  Whiners are seeking attention. The loss of recognition will motivate the perceptive types to look in the mirror and unilaterally change their behavior.

Ultimately, whiners become a carcinoma to the organization.  If they are non responsive to coaching it may be necessary to exit them from the bus.  Whiners will infect and destroy morale.

Leadership by Osmosis

Hope the title grabbed your attention.  Some leaders believe they lead by reverse osmosis... that being that employees will perform, quality will be measured, sales will transpire all because they are leaders. In prosperous economic times a hands off appoach may have been effective. After all, profits came over the transom in buckets.

Now, however, margins are slimmer, tensions in the sales cubicles, production floors, and IT platforms combine to make for  a tense workplace.  Additionally, ask leaders quantitative questins about employee performance, competitiors market share, and cost of turnover and you get this blank stare. 

Yes, I am suggesting that in this crisis mode it is time for leaders to lead. To get immersed in some level of detail: and to demonstratably rally the toops... visibly be present, verbally and boisterously appeal to their better instincts.. and present the true and accurate picture of the firm.

Treat adults as adults: they enjoy being lead--and appreciated.

Competency vs. Corporate Identification

An interesting comundrum -- one which rises above the bottom line.  I thought that competency as regards work performance was primary. I  other words, an individuals proven ability to meet or exceed the core competencies of a postion made them an unquestioned valued employee.  Why not? they are contributing to the success of the company.

Faced with the spector of more layoffs-- selecting employees for the 1st round was less than difficult- a CEO raised the spectre that the "compatibility quotient" of employees was perhaps more important than competency.  The ability of the individual to be a team player, to get along with associatges, and to get along with him were of great value in the long term.  From the perspective of psychic energy needed to lead employees, the "get along" employee was far less demanding.... and during this time of stressors coming from many directions this is an asset

Interesting -- and who is served best... the stockholders or the CEO? When the human factor is entered into a seemingly clear cut accountng equation the waters get murky. 

Generational Differences - Is listening enough

A continuing drumbeat of concern in the business community is the ever widening generational gaps. This dilemma is often written about, researched, discussed and disected from the perspectives of owners and employees. 

Given the wide disparites in values, work ethic, social norms, allegiance, short and long term goals ( the list goes on and on): is there really a resolution to the communications gaps?  Are we tilting at windmills when we attempt to bridge the gaps between the generations?  From a purely technological standpoint, its almost Orwellian. 

I have observed numerous leadership training programs which stress the imporatnce of understanding the generational phenomena...  Not worthy of the time and money spent in my opinion.  The historical and sociological frames of reference are so different that the generations run on parallel, non intersecting tracks.

In my opinions, leverage the similarities in the similarities, rather than concentrate on the differences. Assertive listening pays more dividends than aggressive leadership.

Leadership and Twitter

Twitter is proving to be an interesting communications media.  In addition, the ability of some to develop an online leadership presence is indeed fascination. Plus, there are some similarities between real life in the flesh leaders and those who are genuine leaders on Twitter.  

Twitter leadership is not merely measured in quantity --the number of people who follow or are followed.

In my qualitative opinion, there are creative, curious individuals finding new and unique ways to create communities. Not for profit, nor simply their own personal benefit, but for the benefit of greater information sharing. One of these is the group #followHR.  The leader is a recruiter who identified a commonality amongst a diverse group of human resource types.

The parallels: imagination, creativity, willingness to take a risk, commitment without regard to time or personal sacrifice.

I realize this is somewhat superficial... just beginning to formulate thoughts on this process.

Welcome to the coming of the economic recovery and  how to take advantage of leadership skills

Leadership and Individual Performers-- The Question of Transition

A common thread in succession planning is the "readiness" of an above average individual performer to accept the mantel of being a leader.I'd like to turn our attention to the opposite scenario...that of an individual who is currently an effective leader  transitioning to an individual performer. 

You/ve been trained in delegation,motivation, team building, synergistic results.. the positive ego strokes which come with successfully navigating the challengers of executive management and customers. Life has been positive and indeed exhilarating.

An opportunity arises where you can utilize the technical knowledge you have acquired. Indeed the financial compensation is enhanced.  However, you are now an individual performer responsible for leading external customers.  Gone are the planning meetings, the rubbing elbows with groups of higher executives. 

There are many keys to this new job fit.  One of the obvious observations is that leadership drive is always present.  It does not dissipate. To fill the void, mentoring the individual in identifying work or avoacational leadership is recommended. This is key to retention and performance.

Secondly, consider the element of psychic reward.  The individual performer usually has a smaller support system.  The recognition which comes with corporate accomplishment may be less public: and those well deserved atta boys from co workers may be absent.

Alone on an island vs.engaging and motivating a team...indeed the challenges and rewards are significantly different.

Self Serving Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

I am struck by Arlen Specter's rationale for changing political parties.  The Philadelphia politiican stated he was not willing to give up his 29 years in the Senate and lose in the Republican primary.  To me this self serving rationale is illustrative of the loss of servant leadership... Who serves whom? 

This is a classic example of a leader who doesn't have a clue about emotional intelligence and its role in leadership.  Poor Arlen is out there on an island all by himself.  A shephered without a  flock is a lonely guy taking aa walk.  Arlen is a lonely politician who has lost his way in the fog of self importance.

And so, the message is... if you are a leader.... look around,is anyone following you?

Leading by Inquiry - Creating long term Empowerment

Powerful leaders are those who create a cadre of dedicated, loyal, questioning supporters. Questioning supporters?? Yes,  those who seek out the myriads of why? when? how much ? how often? etc etc. These individuals have been empowered by their leaders in the science of critical thinking. As compared with an expectation of blind obedience, the servant leader gains strength and obtains results be engaging in constructive discourse.... coming to decision making conclusions after soliciting unrehearsed, unfiltered information from subordinates, suppliers, and customers.

Supporters learn how to succeed, indeed survive in an organization by modeling the behavior of those who occupy the corner office.  Leaders who demand obedience and fealty will get the answers subordinates think will fly. Not necessarily the best answers, but those which will be approved. Couched as the group think meetings are,in a supposed air of openness, in the  end it's all about compliance. In this environment, leaders are not developed.... passive supporters are the norm... original thinking is requested.. but actually frowned upon.

If you question, in good faith, supporters will take risks, come forth with ingenious solutions... and be long term loyalists knowing that you will ask, accept their ideas, and implement those which are of benefit. By the same token, this model will be beneficially followed throughout the organization.

Clear,concise,consistent: the 3 C's of Leadership Communications

Whether in the IT area, production floor, or accounting circles, the art of communications can make the difference between motivated, deadline driven, skilled results and mediocrity epitomized by the "deer in the headlights syndrome:.

One of the measurements of clear,concise, and consistent communications is the results received from exercising confirmation and clarification.  Having employees repeat back to you what you said, tells you if they understood what you are saying.  Or what critical elements aren't in their feedback?

Secondly,consider how many ifs,ands,buts, and or's are in your directions. Ambiguity leads to confusion. Breakdown your ideas into layers suitable to the audience. Too many options for employee action will not produce the end product that you desire...... unless you intentionally want to be vague ( which is sometimes the best approach).

Consistency is a by product of knowing yourself: what are your goals: what is the path to getting there. The more grounded you are, the more consistent your message.  Inconsistency leads to employees searching for direction, for substance, for an understanding of your core message.  In the end, inconsistent leaders become powerless and ineffective because employees will not have faith in them.

Ben Bernake and Green Shoots

Spring time has almost arrived here in the upper midwest. A lone tulip is showing its brilliance and leaning towards the afternoon sun.  A true metaphor for Ben Bernake, the economy, and hopefully for leaders everywhere.  It's been a long cold winter... above average snowfall, extended periods of freezing temps, we thought it would never end. 

Yet, the lone tulip survived.  And so will strong, resilient leaders.  The flower stretched, and persisted until it found fertile ground and life giving sunlight.  As leaders who command respect, ( not demand).. we  are obligated to find those green shoots of opportunity and optimism. 

The strong will survive! It takes strong, positive leadership to make the difference.