365QOD- Day1396

Four Elements of Leadership- Openness

"Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent."- Bertrand Russell

 

The areas of congruence and acceptance are improved by openness.   As I have already mentioned you have to be open to your team's ideas in order for them to offer them.  They have to feel that they can trust you and that you will be willing to accept them if they are valuable.

But openness does not always mean acceptance of a truly naff idea.   If you can build on it then maybe it is worthwhile.   But sometimes saying that an idea is not the best choice and providing logic as to why can be seen as being open.   But it can not be your normal mode of operation.  Being a killer of ideas is ok once in a while but when done too often it can lead to the team not offering them in the future.

Add you can see these for areas of teluability, congruence, acceptance,  and openness  go together to improve your leadership potential.   You have to ask yourself each day whether you nudged the ball forward with your team in each of these areas.   forward The gain in each one could be small but your overall leadership could be undergoing a step change in improvement.

Today's question is:

"How open are you to your team's ideas?"

365QOD- Day1395

Four Elements of Leadership- Acceptance

"The first step toward change is awareness.  The second step is acceptance"- Nathaniel Braden

 

As the leader your reliability and congruence are just a start to building yourself as a leader. You must also develop acceptance.

As I mentioned in congruence you have to be open to your team selling you on their ideas.   If you feel that your ideas are the only ones that count than the team will shut down and no offer any new ideas to you.

Sometimes accepting an inferior team idea might seem like a loss to you add the leader but it could be used as a teachable moment for both you and the team.   Acceptance of their idea and then guiding the team to improve the idea is priceless.   But you have to have the patience to pull it off.

Acceptance of the ideas of others as superior to yours is difficult.   It takes effort to not win the battle in order to win the war.

Today's question is:

"How do you improve your acceptance?"

 

365QOD- Day1394

Four Elements of Leadership- Congruence

"A certain harmony should be kept between actions and ideas if we want to fully develop the effects they can produce"- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Recently I had a boss with whom I was not congruent.   He was incompetent and full of himself.   So we lacked congruence.

As a must build congruence.  Your followers do not have to agree with every decision you make but they have to be a part of the process.   As the leader you can not operate in a vacuum and expect people to follow you.   to

Congruence is built by getting buy in from the team that your ideas are the best.   In that same light you have to be willing to let the team improve upon your ideas.   You have to realize that the team might have a lot better ideas than you.   You might know what the corporate vision is and have to find a path that fits both the vision and the needs of the team.

That is how you build congruence. Not by being a bull in a China shop.   But by being willing to sell your ideas and being open to being sold to by your team.

Today's question is:

"How congruent are you with your team ?"

365QOD- Day1393

Four Elements of Leadership- Reliability

Trust in leadership can be distilled down to four basic elements.

"Trust in others (and their trust in us) depends on four elements: reliability, congruence, acceptance, and openness."-Joanna Barsh and Johanne Lavoie in their book Centered Leadership: Leading with Purpose, Clarity, and Impact

In order for a leader to be trusted,  a leader had to be reliable.   It is one of the four basic elements.

So what do we mean by being reliable?   Being a reliable a leader can be thought of as someone who has your back. Not once but all the time.

As a follower you must get the sense that the leader will come in and clean up any problems with external people and issues that are beyond your level. A leader must be present and aware of the issues that a team has in order to be able to help.

The messages that a leader gives to his team can not change 180 degrees and expect not to lose the belief the team will have in you as being reliable. Consistency in how you nurture the team and protect them leads to you as the leader being perceived as reliable.

Today's question is:

"How reliable are you to your team?"

365QOD- Day1376

Your Attitude vs. Your Team's Attitude

"Attitude is everything."- a stone on my desk many years ago

You as the leader will either have a positive or negative attitude.  Your team will sense this and adopt it.

Your team will also have an attitude and it can be positive or negative.  The team attitude will be equal to yours OR the most negative member of the team.

This is where the title comes into play.   Your attitude must be greater than your team's.  It has to be in order for the team to be effective.  If you as the leader is negative then the whole team will be dragged down and the results will suffer.

You might not be the CEO but to your team you are the face of the organization.  If there is an image then you are the image of the company.  You might not agree with that statement but your team perceives you as the company representative. 

Today's question is:
"Is your attitude greater than your team's?"

365QOD- Day1339

Manager of The Future

"Let's get our crystal ball out."- my words

In the Forbes article titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom. also details the characteristics of a Manager of Tomorrow.

In this third part I want to show how the chart evolves the role over time and check its predictions for future.

If I look across from past to present to future
An Authoritarian from the past ->became a Coach/Motivator -> and will become a Remover of Boundaries

This transition makes sense.  I coach does not necessarily removes barriers BUT helps the team to overcome them.  So if a coach can help remove the barriers the team will perform better and most likely will achieve the goals.

Second characteristic of the transition of a manager over time is
In the past an authority Oversaw Compliance -> which morphed into Oversing Performance -> and will in the future Oversee Potential

What this means to me is that we are moving from distrust to trust.  In the past the employee had no trust and had to be monitored.  Now the employee is trusted to do the work but their performance is judged.  The future will force the manager help the employee tap into their potential.  This is at risk that if he employee gets better developed they might leave the team in order to fulfill it elsewhere.

Third transition is
In the past authority was Focused on Correction -> which became Focus on Improvement -> that will become Focused on Possibility

This transition moves from employee being seen as defective.  Now we tend to believe that performance can be monitored and an employee can be improved.  Next we will see the employee as having talents taht we are not tapping into and will try to pull out what is possible for that employee.  This transition is from employee being limited to limitless.

Fourth change that we will observe is from
A boss Looked over you Shoulder -> to a manager who Looks Over Results-> to a leader who Looks Over Alignment

This change shows how the original focus was over whether the employee will achieve the work to today where that result has to be reviewed.  The future leader will need to make sure that the team is aligned and gets out of the way to let the team achieve greater results than any one member can achieve by themselves.

Fifth directional change is from
A boss that strictly Enforced Policy -> to a manager who Enforces Productivity -> to a leader that Enforces Purpose

I can see how a boss in the past focused on enforcing policy.  As the authority he knew better and had to make sure everyone else also did what they were suppose to.  I can also see how today with the yearly evaluations a manager is trying to enforce productivity.  But how does a leader enforce purpose?  I believe that the future manager will do more of the "why" Sharing the Purpose with the team.  This will help explain and hopefully inspire the team to follow towards that purpose. 

Sixth directional change is
Authority that Managed Voices-> to a coach that Accepts Perspective -> to a leader that Organizes Collaboration

Manged voices seems as if the employee in the past had a voice.  They did not.  The transition to a manager today accepting the perspectives of others is correct.  How do you organize Collaboration?  By rewarding people for collaborating.  This is something that no performance system even attempts.

Last directional change over time
A boss that Demanded Subordination-> to a manager that Demands Cooperation -> to a leader that Demands Innovation

Over time the boss is giving away authority for the sake of productivity.  The productivity is only achieved though a team effort and this requires cooperation.  Ultimately the highest level of giving away authority if for the employees to feel that they know enough to start providing ideas and innovations.  So maybe instead of demanding the boss is Encouraging Innovation.

In the end the manager of the future needs to be a leader.  By giving away some of the authority and control the leader can get better performance and innovation from their team.  In a sense the boss will be treating their team as adults and not kids that need to be constantly monitored.

Today's question is:
"Which period management style do you best fit?"

365QOD- Day1338

Manager of the Present

"Lets go team!"- a manager's urging

In the Forbes article titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom. also details the characteristics of a Manager of Today.

If we were to look back into management theory of today, what would a manager of a typical department do and behave during the last 5 years?  What would be some descriptive terms that we would use?  How did they make their employees feel, act, and do?

Most mangers of today realize that just because they are the boss their true title is more of a Coach/Motivator.  They see their role as the person that needs to build up their team.  Everyone on their team might not be their first choice but they need to coach them to get them to a better state.

The manager of today has to Oversee Performance.  In the end without results nothing matters.  Without results there is just talk of intent.  A coach has to help the team to get to a better performance level.  Some companies take this to an extreme and systematically hire 10% of their bottom performers.  But if you have been coaching and overseeing eventually your bottom performers will be equal to your top and then you are getting rid of great employees.

The focus on performance is driven by Focusing on Improvement.  With many quality arena today a manager can reduce the number of defects that are produced and ultimately drive towards a near perfect quality.  Sometimes the focus is so much on improvement that the people doing the work feel like they can not keep up.

The manager is judged by the results that they produce.  They have to Look Over the Result constantly. As the old saying goes, "Trust but Verify."   The manager of today is not like the boss of the past.  They will not hover over you but will periodically check in to make sure that forward progress is being achieved by reviewing current results.

A team gets judged by performance.  The manager of today is aware that people have many distractions these days and that they have to Enforce Productivity.  By periodically checking in on the status that manager of today is saying to the employees that this is the expected place that I need you to be.  If the team is not there a manager typically woks with the team to help them achieve that intermediate goal.

A manager of today is mart enough to know that they do not know it all.  Unlike the boss of the past, they have to Accepts Perspectives of their teams.  Their team's knowledge and experience brings solutions to the table that the manager might not have seen.  The manager has to accept that and encourage it.

Because the world is moving so much faster than 50 years ago, a team must produce now and a manager has to Demand Cooperation from each team member.  As many managers of today say, "There is no I in team".  Teams must be functioning and perform in order to exist.

Today's question is:
"Do you fit the mold of a manager today?"

365QOD- Day1337

Manager in the Past

"I can see the past clearly, now what do I do?"- a great question

First of all notice that this post and the future two posts will deal with management and not "leadership".  To me those are two different skill sets.  These posts will be based on a Forbes article I read titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom.

If we were to look back into management theory, what would a manager of a typical department do and behave like 50 years ago?  What would be some descriptive terms that we would use?  How did they make their employees feel, act, and do?

First word that we would use is Authority.  The boss was the boss back then.  He, and it was usually only he, had complete authority to hire and fire people who worked for them.  They knew they were the boss and their employees knew they were the boss.

Based on the authority that the owners granted them, they Oversaw Compliance of the workforce.  There was no challenging the boss.  You were not asked for your "feedback".  You  were told to do X and to get going.  The boss was there to make sure you complied.

The compliance that the boss demanded often Focused on Correction.  Since the boss knew best, he would tell you how to correct your mistakes and to make sure you did it correct.  Repeat corrections led to you being let go.

In order to make sure that the corrections were followed the boss had to constantly Look Over Your Shoulder.   You were given a very tight leash and you were treated as such.  You had to do what you were told.  Or you were corrected or let go.

Since the boss was the authority figure, he Enforced Policy.  There might not have been a reason for the rule, it was just company policy.  The boss did not have to explain the policy to you.  All he had to do was enforce it.

Another one of the functions of a boss was to Manages Voices.  Your voice, like a kid, was to be kept low and to yourself.  There was no talking back.  There was no challenging the boss. 

Behavior of bosses and employees in the past Demanded Subordination.  It was complete subordination.  The boss demanded it and the employees gave it.  No question asked.

I would use two words to describe the manager of that time: Positional Leader.

Today's question is:
"Do you know anyone that behaves this way today?"

365QOD- Day1312

Being a Questioner

"Why?"- usually a dangerous question

I remember the first class I instructed.  After the introduction which is a funny story that broke the ice- see post  , I asked for a volunteer.  The students were confused.

I asked for someone that would be the class questioner.  They were still confused.  I explained that often students were afraid to ask silly questions and to heckle the professor.  I did not want that.

I explained to the students that I wanted to be challenged and pushed.  I  told them that I was no better than them and that I wanted to be challenged.  I also told them that most of them would say they could but most often they would chicken out and not do so.

So I wanted someone who was a bit of a maverick.  Someone that would push me and make sure that I did not lose them by going to fast or not explaining a concept clearly.  Finally someone raised their hand and accepted the job.

I loved it.  Officially there was someone to push me and not let me get away with anything.  What a brave soul!  It is difficult for people in authority to get challenged.  First they do not want it and second the people that are following them are afraid to do so.  That is unfortunate.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever been a Questioner?"

365QOD- Day1266

Opportunities and Icebergs 

“Leadership is about two things.  One is seeing the icebergs before they hit the Titanic.  Another one is seeing the opportunities.”  Arrianna Huffington on James Altucher show

I tend to believe that managers often come in only one flavor: the iceberg detectors.  A good manager is great in predicting how current system can derail and fail.  They want the train on the track at all time.

Unfortunately a good manager does not see the other side of the coin.

The other side is the opportunity side.  The opportunity to drive the system to a place it has never been to.  To boldly explore opportunities that could make the existing system not relevant or even better  make the system fail.  Unfortunately, most leaders tend to be great at the opportunity and very poor on seeing the icebergs.

This is why many startups eventually transition from founders to managers.  The founder is a leader that sees the opportunities but lack the ability to predictably manage the system.  So ‘adult supervision’  needs  to be brought in to manage the system and allow the founder he space to look for new 

opportunities.

If you train yourself to be able to do both icebergs and opportunities then you are worth gold.  You can not only create a system but can manage it over time and even drive it to new opportunities.  You are a true leader. 

Today’s question is:

“Are you able to see both icebergs and opportunities?”

365QOD- Day1175

Leadership Blunder

"They no longer feel accountable."- Anonymous

Recently during a conversation with a manager of a worldwide company the manager used these words to describe her new team.  I immediately followed up with, 'Who had the authority?"  Her answer was, "their manager."

I have seen this before.  A manager comes in to a role and completely removes the authority that a team has.  The team can no longer do anything without the approval of the manager.  The manager has complete control.

So why was the manager surprised that the team was no longer accountable for the projects?  I was surprised at her reaction.  The team's jobs were slowly changed from project managers into project gofers.  They were responsible to get the work done but had no control of resources and funding.

Where did this lead the team?  The manager eventually left the company.  40% of the project managers found better opportunities where they had authority to go along with the responsibility.  I am sure better pay because of the company name.

The only unknown is why the manager felt the need to completely control the team.  I believe the only answer is lack of trust.

Today's question is:
"Why would someone remove all accountability and influence from a team?"

365QOD- Day1169

Rinse and Repeat

"Leadership is like bathing.  It needs to be practiced every day in order to be improved"-  Robert Trajkovski

This is the last of the 9 posts dealing with leadership.  It is based on an article titled 

9 Ways to Become a Better Leader in Entrepreneur magazine Rob Reuteman

Principle#9  Practice leadership skills daily.

If you want to improve at anything, you must practice.  Not just any practice.  The practice must be  deliberate and purposeful.

So how does a manager practice leadership?  Simply by considering every situation as a moment of  influence that affects their employees performance and lives, a leader can improve their performance.   It is by being present in those moments and working on relating to people that you become a true 

leader.

Not every decision you make will be agreed to by your team or your bosses.  It is up to you to get  better at relating and connecting.  It is a daily practice. Deliberate daily practice.

Today's question is:

"Do you practice leadership every day?"

365QOD- Day1168

Broken Bell Curve

"Hire ten Einsteins, nine of them will be great, fire the one that is not"- Result of faulty  corporate review process

Principle#8 Get rid of poor managers. 

This principle is a very tough one to stomach and can easily be abused.  In my career I have seen  great employees who have been terminated because of their poor bosses.  

Hell GE even boasted of getting rid of 10% of their employees.  The CEO Jack Welch thought that it was better to get rid of the bottom performing employees than to help them achieve success.  He hired well, and fired fast.

So is GE a better company today?  Are other companies without imagination that follow the GE  model better off?  I do not believe they are.  All that this type of thinking does is make employees  want to play the game long enough until they realize that it is not a matter of whether they will be  fired, but simply when.

Following this principle literally creates fear in employees and eventually they have to leave the game  in order to start somewhere else as the new Einstein.

Today;s question is:

"Are you and Einstein or a dunce?" 

365QOD- Day1167

Fuzzy Focus

“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” T.F Hodge  From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"

Principle#7 Be laser-focused. 

It is easy to get distracted. Man... the new sexy project is so much more fun than the one you have been working on for six months. You can easily get pulled by its force and lose your focus.

To be a great leader we must be laser- focused.  A few months ago I wrote about the four disciplines of execution.  The goal was to find a singular goal of the format From X to Y by Z date. Then the team would determine leading and lagging indicators.   

By picking a singular goal to laser focus on the team will succeed.  The team will still be responsible for the day to day activities but the 20% of  the focus time should be on a singular goal.  This type of focus allows your team to hit several key goals each year while maintaining the forward path.  When everything clicks, your leadership will be deemed superior.

Today's question is:

"Do you have laser of fuzzy focus?"

365QOD- Day1166

Lack of Self-Knowledge

“Tomorrow, we have a march in Washington D.C.,” noted a jean-clad, long-haired man wearing a Down with Nixon T-shirt.   'Mother, we want you to march with us.'

'What is the march about?' asked Mother Teresa.

'Against the Vietnam War,' replied the young man.

'A march against the war,' repeated Mother Teresa.  'I am sorry, I will not join you.'

'Why not?” the young man asked, disappointed.  'We really want you to march with us,' he insisted.

Mother Teresa replied:  'If you have a march against the war, sorry.  But, if you have a march for peace, I  will lead.'- Unknown

Principle#6: Know Yourself

One of the books that I will write someday is my autobiography.  The purpose of it is to re-think through my own decisions and experiences and make them valuable to my kids and others.  It  is my way of getting to know myself.

In principle #5 we talked about Mr. Know It All.  Knowing yourself has nothing to do with your external actions.  You can know yourself and still behave badly.  

To know yourself, you must perform an internal examination of what is important to you and why it is  important.  What do you stand for?  What do you stand against?

The quote teaches us that we should focus on causes for which we are for rather than against.  As a  leader, are you aware of who you are as a person and the impact you have on those around you and working for you?  Are you honest about your behavior?  Who are you consulting to help you evaluate your behavior?

Without questioning yourself, you will never get to know yourself.  But you have to be willing to get feedback and make constructive changes.  

Today's question is:

"Are you a mystery to yourself?"

365QOD- Day1165

Mr. Know It All

"I know."- two very dangerous words

Principle#5: Vow to be constantly learning and curious.

As adults we believe that we are pretty knowledge.   But there is a fine line between knowing and  thinking you know it all.  What is that line?

Well, when listening to others, do you find yourself wanting to fill in their story?  Do you find yourself wanting to offer advice before you have heard all of the complexities of the issue?  Or do you believe  you are an expert on all of the topics relating to your work?

These are very dangerous beliefs.  If you believe that you know it all then you have no reason to ask  yourself what you do not know.  In my world this is a fear of learning.

This principle urges us to be constantly learning and to remaining curious. These two require us to  stay open to the idea that we can learn something new that we do not already know.  There is so  much to learn even after you believe you have reached a level of expertise.

In my belief the path to mastery has many steps.  At each level we get better at solving that level of  problems.  However, the transition from one level to another takes longer and longer for each advancement.  So to believe you know it all you are claiming to be a master.  This is dangerous.  You should be open to learning new things and determine ways to test that knowledge.

I used to tell newly minted black belts that the day they received their first black belt was the start of  learning NOT the end of learning.  Many people heard that and ignored it.  They believed that there  was nothing left to learn and left he path.  The ones that did not quickly realized that there is a  second degree black belt, third degree, etc.

Today's question is:

"How do you remind yourself that there is more to learn?"

365QOD- Day1164

Don't Show Compassion

"Compassion is for softies."- a foolish belief

Principle#4: Show compassion

As leaders we have to understand taht people are people first and employees second.  If you are a  driven manager who only understands financial targets you will never see a step change in  performance from your team.  You will meet your targets but never exceed them greatly.

In order for people to do their best work they have to have a connection to you not only as the  manager but as a leader.  They have to be willing followers.  They are human beings not just robots  of execution.

If you show no compassion for them, their outside issues, and internal problems they will never  connect to you.  The compassion connection is critical for a team to feel like a true team.  The  connection between managers and employees provides the meaning to the work that they are doing. So a leader without compassion is in danger of losing grounds due to lack of connection to their  followers.

Caution: compassion can not be faked.  If you are not willing to listen to people and become a part of their world, you will be their manager but not their leader.

Today's question is:

"How do we genuinely show compassion to others?