Leadership Excellence

Good is not Good Enough

Every so often the contents of a book resonates: indeed opens ones eyes to a divergent point of view.  Manfred Kets de Vries in his " The Leader on the Couch" takes a clinical approach to changing people and organizations.  He slices, dices, moves the pieces of the human psychological puzzle around in delineating how leaders come to be.

In addition, de Vries closes "  with a call for authentizotic ( how's that for a new word) organizations where leaders walk the talk, people feel alive and all are called to give their very best.

Ah yes, my current mantra -- " Good is not good enough"...

Winter's Leadership

The silence of snow piled high in the woodlands: drifting snow creating hazards for squirrels, and salmon red surise and sunsets create  a almost indescribable landscape. Benaeath my snowshoes are the frozen lakes with languid bass and blue gills,

Leadership of two different types are necessary to servive the 6 months long winters.... the strong, adaptabile type that has a recurring vison of what the fututre brings... and begins to prepare 6 months in advance for the changes to come..... The second is the quiet, observant leader who keeps to themself... remaining below the suface..while getting stronger and surving through the life threatening chaos of an unpredicatable season...

Which leader are you  ?????( let's hear from you)>

Leadership & Martin Luther King Jr

One of the characteristics to be considered in evaluating potential leaders is " risk". Specifically- is the individual willing and able to " take risks"?  Or are they risk adverse --they avoid taking chances. Obvioulsy there are many different types of risk: capital investment, marketing strategy, hiring decisions, etc etc.

These risks all pale into comparison with the risk Martin Luther King Jr. knew he was taking. He knew from the taunting reception received in places like Skokie Il that not only was his message controversial --- he also knew his life was at risk.  But he kept on walking the walk.

So when clients express their concern about risks --one of the outcome related questions -- what is the worst case scenario..... Martin Luther King gave us a new definition of risk.  May he rest in peace.

Civic Leadership Run Amuck

News reports coming from the reputable print and TV media in Milwuakeee indicate the schools system ( MPS _ or MY POOR STUDENTS) averages 61 calls for police assistance each day. Yes, folks that comes to over 11.000 calls per year. 

So where is the leadership.  Teachers are intimidated by thugs in the schools as well as school regulations barring physical contact in disciplineing a student: expulsions are minimal: fights now regulary involve outsiders invading the schools ( contacted by students using cell phones) etc etc.

So where is the leadership?  The current response is to assign 2 policemen to specific schools on a trial basis .

As a consequence: the drop out rate exceeds 50%.... violent crime in the city is up 20% from last year: students are not learning.... and flight to the suburbs gains momentum.

I ask again: where is the leadership?

Interviewing-- What Interviewers Avoid

The specter of Government Investigations, EEO sleuths, legal claims, etc. has chilled the air in interviewing offices.  Clients tell us they are so afraid of asking "inappropriate questions" that they avoid and all subjects beyond discusiing technical issues ( computer software, engineeering calculations, accounting procedures, etc).   

The amazing comundrum relates to " why do you interview'?  Responses generally are something like" we want to know if the candidate is a good fit:",,,we need to learn if they will fit into our culture.

I asked a candidate last week if HE had ever worked in an office where he was the only guy? The aspiring employee groaned, went through facial contortions, and nearly jumped out of his seat. Oh NO! he exclaimed, I couldn't do that ...( the initial part of a personal catharsis which included tales of anger management, the need to have ribald chats with the good old boys in the lunch room etc etc)... Upon recovery, the candidate realized the interview was over.

It is appropraite to ask candidates questions which are job related....not those that you might find interesting but are not relevant.  But let's not be totally afraid...otherewise we don't know who we are hiring....

Who is YOUR leader of the Year?

So who is your leader of the year?  Let me rephrase the query --- what criteria do you use to choose YOUR leader of the year? 

Is it the difference the individual made in your life --or the life of your organization? What kind of substantative difference (rather than a change in style of superficials)?

Perhaps it's because the leader challenged you (subtly, directly, discreetly) and took you to heights and places in your career and professional life that you never thought possible.

Or did the leader have that emotional intelligence sense to let you alone == to observe from a distance -- to trust you and give you the space and opportuntiy to grow, succeed, and yes, sometimes fail (  my 1st true mentor was like this -- l'll always be indebted to the late Anne Rodgers)

Let's give some serious consideration to who made a difference this year and why..perhaps using them is a model for 2007 is a worthwhile resolution as well.

_..

Take Less -- To Survive

Hiring managers today ( let's forget about the myth of the growing economy) receive significant numbers of resumes from "overqualifed candidates". Individuals who have been downsized, laid off, had their jobs outsourced, etc... in other words they have bills to pay, families to feed, and no income.  They are, in a word, desperated.

Conventional wisdom held that these individuals would take a new job and then leave when a position opened that more closely matched their skill base.  Therefore, recruiters put the resumes on the " see you later" pile. Sometimes, interviews took place... again, employers deferred, not taking a risk with "overqualified" managers and executives who pleaded for a job in sales, or a 2nd-3rd tier position in manufacturing management.

Outsourcing has increased. Here in the upper midwest major layoffs occur as companies relocated to warmer, non union environments. The upshot is many jobs will never reappear. Housing prices are unstable: families have been in the area for generations with deep roots. The result -- a surplus of overly skilled workers.

What would you do if you were an employment manager?

Love What You Do.

Mario Andretti in the book " The Most Important Thing I Know", compiled by Lorne A Adrain writes : " Love What you do. Believe in your instincts. And you'd better be able to pick yourself up and brush yourself off every day. While life is not always fair, it is managegable. It is a matter of attitude and confidence".

For leaders, this is really resonates both for us and those we are seeking to influence.  Our attitude, our confidence, our ability to pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off ( wow - what a mental portrait)... this is the essence of leading by example... of influencing others by the way we perform on a day to day basis. 

One can see why Mario was a champion.

Leadership and Intuition

The late Johnny Cash sang  about knowing when to hold'em and when to fold'em. 

Successful, intuitive leaders know that almost ephemeral sense of what to say to whom: when to say it, and when not to act.  One of my favorite leaders is Joe Paterno of Penn State University. Joe is 80 years old. How many generations of college students has he interacted with in his 40 years of coaching? How many generation xer's, y'ers etc etc? And the gurus continue to thrash about talking about the keys to relating to those younger, and different than Joe.

He keeps on trucking. A brillant guy who feigns homespun intellect. A leader who knows when to look a young man in the eye: a time to walk away from potential conflict: a time to converse with the rich and famous: the poor and needy.

What makes Joe tick? Some call it Emotional Intelligence: Others Servant Leadership. I wonder what the kid from Brooklyn who is a genius in his own time calls the phenomena?

Hiring- I'm too Busy

A familiar refrain --I'm too busy to take training courses: I''ll do it later .

This being the busiest season for many retailers, the hiring of seasonal and part time employees is at its highest.  Cashiers, stock persons, sales staff, customer service assistants, the list of hires is a long one. A strange thing happened on the way to the forum.... hiring managers tell us they are too busy to assess candidates for honesty, work ethic, substance abuse attitudes --- " we do background checks on full time hires --these seasonal people are here only 6-8 weeks- what harm can they do??????

Gee: how about negligent hiring claims: people with their hands in the tills who have an arrest for theft: or even more troublesome- what about those strangers you work in the toy department: or in clothing etc?

Slow down: take a look at who you are hiring. A $30 investment in a tool such as the Step One Surey ( see our website www.rlhassociates.com) could save you both embarrassment and money.