LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

D-Day

 I’m blessed to be the daughter of not one, but two World War II veterans.  My father (who passed a couple years ago on June 6th) served in Patton’s 3^rd Army, my mother as an Army nurse.  I’ve seen the power of organizations that have enjoyed strong leaders at the helm who served our nation, as well as organizations wise enough to learn take-away lessons from key moments in history.

     June 6 commemorates D-Day, marking the beginning of the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II.  The beaches of Normandy, France, were stormed in the largest amphibious invasion in history.  France was occupied by Nazi Germany and needed to be freed. 

     In a recent conversation about where D-Day took place, two of the history buffs participating in the discussion concluded that D-Day took place all over.  The planning took place in English and American board rooms.  The physical invasion took place in Normandy, France. 

     So, what does D-Day have to do with your leadership today?  Here’s a couple considerations.  First, what is occupying your workplace, right now, today that your people need to be freed from?  Is it excessive bureaucracy?  …lack of engagement?  Is your team so stuck in the day-to-day that critical foresight has not been developed. 

     The World Future Society in their 20 Forecasts for 2013-2025 (May 30, 2013), have sited the key ingredient of success going forward will be possessing foresight.  This is the skill that enables you to see opportunities, avoid threats, and chart the fastest path to your goals.  The question for you, as a leader, is what are you doing to develop this critical skill in your organization?  Is scenario planning part of your active discussions?  How much energy is invested in vision realization? 

     The next idea spurred by a consideration of D-Day:  Is the planning that takes place in your boardroom captured and embraced by team members?  Is the vision and strategic planning of your organization so clear that team members can take decisive, positive action?  Does what transpires in the executive suite set your team up for success or failure as they execute their duties?

                                                                Actionables from Great Leaders

“The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours.  It is your future that matters.  And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say:  We lived in freedom.  We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology.” 

--Ronald Reagan

Application Challenge:  Are you building a business that will stand in the future?  Are you actively pursuing making your vision (statement) a reality?  Are those in your organization living their lives as statements rather than apologies?

“I neither ask nor desire to know anything of your plans.  Take the responsibility and act, and call on me for assistance.”

--Abraham Lincoln to General Ulysses S. Grant, 

on his Appointment to command the Union Armies, 1864

Application Challenge:  What type of delegator are you?  Do you trust and empower? 

“A sense of humor can be a great help – particularly a sense of humor about (oneself).  William Howard Taft joked about his own corpulence and people loved it; it took nothing from his inherent dignity.  Lincoln eased tense moments with bawdy stories, and often poked fun at himself – and history honors him for this human quality.  A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.”

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

Application Challenge:  When’s the last time you had a good laugh (on yourself)?  Commit to adding laughter to your life and the lives of those you lead.

“The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision.  That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine!  When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all of your fears and go ahead!”

--Gen. George S. Patton

Application Challenge:  We are living in a change culture.  We’re surrounded by change on all sides.  In what situation do you need to take counsel, make a decision, and act?

THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE

MILLION DOLLAR LESSONS                      FOR TODAY’S LEADERS

    

Fellow Leader--

I love the month of June!  It marks the mid-point of our calendar year -- how are you doing 6-rounds into the year?  Many of you know, I am a big boxing fan, so for me it also represents a celebration of one of my favorite past-times -- The Florida Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend.  The weekend of events celebrates the greats of the sport and encourages young warriors.

So, this month's e-Mel is a throwback a good friend asked me to share -- one focused on lessons from the ring and how a leader can find him/herself TKO'd. 

Hope you enjoy a knockout month.
    

Here's a great fight film provides powerful lessons for leaders.

    “Instead of running from pain, 

   in boxing you step into it.” 

–F.X. Toole, Million Dollar Baby, 

7 Academy Award Nominations, 4 Oscars. 

Application:  What ‘pain’ have you been running from in your business?  You continue to run, but it’s still there!  What’s the issue you need to turnaround, face, and step into, head on?

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“You cannot call yourself an actor 

(or leader) if you’re not listening.”

– Morgan Freeman, on his role in Million Dollar Baby.

“Listening is everything.” 

– Hillary Swank

                                                                      

Application:  Do you believe listening is everything?  Do your actions support your belief?

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One of the peripheral characters in the movie, ‘Danger’ was a 100-pound weakling, misfit, lacking a firm grasp of reality; this individual had no/low skills, in fact ended up getting himself hurt badly, yet at the end there is a nice surprise... 

Application:  Do you have such peripheral characters in your organization?  Who’s the ‘Danger’ in your organization – they’re low skilled, lacking a grasp of reality, under-performing, yet have been allowed to malinger?  What steps will you take to address your ‘Danger’?

    Recently, one CEO quite indignantly shared,, “You think we’d invest in training and developing them!?”  He was referring to employees filling service roles within his Fortune 500 organization.  He continued, “Mel, it’s a low skill/low wage role.  It’s not critical.”  What this CEO failed to realize was it is this level of employee that has the most direct and profound interaction with his customers. 

    The point:  If you don’t want to invest in your ‘Dangers’, eliminate them from your team.  Remember the maxim, “We are only as strong as our weakest link.” 

    What significance do you think there is in the character’s name being ‘Danger’?  By not addressing the ‘Dangers’ in your organization, there’s a great cost in terms of time, dollars, and human resources.  So, who’s your ‘Danger’ and what are you going to do about it?

HOW CEO’S GET TKO’D

    It’s a common belief that CEOs get fired because of financial performance.  But that’s wrong, according to a study by Leadership IQ.  It found that 31% of CEOs get fired for mismanaging change, 28% for ignoring customers, 27% for tolerating low performers, 23% for denying reality, and 22% for too much talk and not enough action. 

    The 4-year study interviewed 1,087 board members from 286 public, private, business and health care organizations that fired, or otherwise forced out, their chief executive.

    Upon completing the 1,087 interviews, responses were compiled and distilled the most common answers to the open-ended question:  “So why did the CEO really get fired or forced out?”  The top five responses:

1. Mismanaging change (31%): Virtually every organization interviewed indicated they were undergoing, or had recently undergone, a change initiative.  However, half of board members said that their change initiative did not go well.  Most pointed to a failure on the CEOs part to properly motivate employees and managers, and more specifically, to adequately sell the need to change course.
2. Ignoring customers (28%):  Board members said their test for whether the CEO was sufficiently engaged in the business was the extent to which they evidenced intimate knowledge of customers, customer needs and developing trends. 
3. Tolerating low performers (27%):  Board members shared that when CEOs allowed an obvious low performer to linger (without any improvement or discipline) it destroyed the CEO’s credibility and made it politically difficult for them to hold others accountable. 
4. Denying Reality (23%):  When board members felt that they were closer to the market and customers than the CEO, the CEO was ousted.  Board members said they would rather have bad news and a plan to fix it, than they would no news or sugarcoated news.
5. Too much talk, not enough action (22%):  Walking the walk is more important than talking the talk.  Boards want tactical plans for the who, what, when and where, as well as evidence of implementation.  

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY ...

NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES OF A MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKPLACE

    How successfully are you navigating the waters of a multi-generational workplace?  Do you hear comments from supervisors that include, “This younger generation has no concept of work ethic or time!”  Do you have younger employees challenge, “I have a boss more concerned with rules than results; his/her last creative idea was sometime in the 1980s!”

     In fact as older workers delay retiring and younger workers are entering the workforce, the work environment has become a sea of varying perspectives and experiences.  In the near future we will see five generations in the workplace at once.  In the past we had three or four generations at a time with some but not vast differences in work behavior. 

     Although any study of generations includes generalizations and stereotypes, it does provide us an understanding of overall trends.  It’s important to note just because one is born in a particular era they may or may not exhibit the behaviors of the generation.  What’s important is that leaders and team members are aware of the diversity that exists and are skilled in how to play to all team members’ strengths rather than demand a one-size-fits-all approach to achieving excellence in results.  Have you, as an organizational leader, ensured your employees are skilled in understanding customer needs, interaction and work styles from different generational perspectives? 

     Consider the challenging navigational role for leaders in your organization faced with your most youthful employees, joining the workforce out of micromanaged childhoods and bringing serious technology addictions into the work environment.  Their predecessors, the “Gen Y”ers, seek constant feedback, which frustrates your Boomers and annoys the “Gen X”ers”.  If navigating generational diversity is a stress point, if you find it’s taking an inordinate amount of time and more skills than ever before, it may be time to strengthen your navigational tools. 

 

Understanding generational differences is critical to making them work for and not against your organization.  It is critical to creating trust, mutual respect, and teamwork.   

WHAT’S YOUR MAYDAY CALL?

    Mayday is a word used internationally as a distress signal in radio communications.  It is suggested it was derived from the French expression “venez m’aider”, meaning “come help me”, the last two syllables of which sound similar to “Mayday”.  What is you ‘Mayday’ call today?  Do you have a strong handle on where gaps exist within your organization?  Would those around you assess the state of your organization similarly to how you see it?  Do you know what others (those who work for you and those you report to) would identify as their ‘Mayday’ situations?  The only way to be a true value-add is to possess the ability to identify and take action on the ‘Mayday’ situations that exist. 

     It’s critical that a clear vision outcome is in place when evaluating ‘Mayday’ calls within your organization.  Team members must be skilled in prioritization, problem solving, decision making, action planning, and improvement implementation.  In reviewing how Mayday calls are practically handled, we see senders of Mayday calls are entitled to interrupt messages of lower priority.  Of course, the use of a Mayday term without proper cause could render the user liable to civil and/or criminal charges.  This means as we send out ‘Maydays’ and encourage others to identify Mayday situations we need skilled team members who are aware of their responsibilities and accountability to outcomes.  Otherwise, the invitation to identify Mayday situations can easily become a crash site littered with lack of results and folks simply acquiescing responsibility.  It’s critical that you stay informed and know what’s causing turbulence, it is equally important that ownership of outcomes and responsibilities remains clear.  Have you set up a system for ‘Mayday’ identification for team members and customers alike?  Rather than a crash landing, does your system ensure team members maintain ownership and accountability for delivering results? 

 

RESOURCE:  In the book, 10 Answer Keys, Communication with the 5 Generations in the Workplace, generational diversity is pointed to as the root cause of many of the problems in business today that affects growth, productivity, and erodes relationships in the workplace and in critical service interactions.  

SPRINGING FORWARD

DON’T SPRING SUCCESSION

Lack of planning for future talent needs can cripple an organization.  Springing ‘opportunities’ on unsuspecting and underprepared employees, sets them and your organization up for failure.

 

At the most basic level, as you evaluate the preparedness of current employees to successfully expand their role within your organization, begin by asking yourself these questions:  

1. How well is the potential internal candidate performing within his/her current role?  
2. Does the prospective candidate possess the experience and qualifications to successfully fulfill a majority of the requirements of the new position?  
3. Is the candidate willing to step away from current responsibilities and be a transition support for the person assuming their current duties?  
4. Is the candidate enthusiastic about the opportunity to step into a new role within the organization? 
5. How familiar is the candidate with the role, responsibilities, priorities, and desired outcomes of the succession position? 
6. Does the candidate you are considering possess the interpersonal skills necessary to be successful in working with others in the succession position?  
7. Is the candidate adequately trained and/or willing to ramp up technical and/or interpersonal skills? 

In the short-term, the more questions you can answer ‘Yes’ to, the better the chance for success.  For those questions where your answer is ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know’, thoroughly investigate, develop and implement action plans and transition timeframes to ensure succession success. 

If you believe your organization could benefit from some outside I/O support in developing a solid succession planning process, contact Dr. Mel, askdrmel@aol.com.    

 

“Everyone can change.  Everyone can learn.  Everyone can get a little better.”

--Marcus Buckingham

CONTROVERSY AS A SPRINGBOARD TO LEADERSHIP SUCCESS

A new movie opened this past weekend amid great controversy.  It’s been interesting to take note of the ‘water cooler’ and breakroom discussions on the topic of Noah.  In fact, I can say I’ve never heard Noah discussed with such animation and passion as in the last couple of days. 

Since it’s a ‘hot topic’, let’s consider 10 good leadership lessons from the original Noah:

1. Don’t miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead – it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.
4. Stay fit – when you’re very old someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don’t listen to critics – just get on with the job that needs to be done. 
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety’s sake travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn’t always an advantage – the snails were on board with the cheetahs.
9. When you’re stressed, float a while.
10. Remember that amateurs built the ark; the titanic by professionals. 

So, which piece of Noah wisdom do you need to keep in mind to make April a month for your effectiveness to spring forward? 

“The time you save in not making changes and taking risks can be used to perfect current practices.  Your employees will be grateful to you for letting them know exactly where they stand – and will reward you by being unimaginative, uninspired and unhappy.”

--Donald Whitham,

Supervisory Special Agent

FBI Academy

VISION--

DON’T LEAVE IT TO LUCK

It’s easier to put a vision statement on the wall than it is to put it into action.  A vision that motivates is aspirational.  As internal stakeholders review the vision they are inspired, “We’re not there yet, but won’t it be great!”  A solid vision presents a picture of the future that your key stakeholders want to be a part of.  Does the vision statement of your organization inspire? 

To achieve vision requires change.  The challenge, after the strategic planning session wraps up, many executives fail to realize the magnitude of change required to make the penned vision a reality.  Are those within your organization committed to vision fulfillment?  Do they understand their role in vision achievement?  Do they see the benefits and rewards that come from vision fulfillment? 

Too often strategic planning remains in the clouds, an activity for upper levels of the organization.  The only thing that changes year to year, is the location for this year’s retreat.  An organization serious about achieving vision, gets serious about communicating – and, not one way communication! 

Engagement is an active, not passive pursuit.  It’s not talking at employees, but with.  It requires an authenticity that belies pretense or posturing.  It allows your team members to personalize the vision.  This is how personal accountability and ownership happens. 

Action Focus:  Have you committed the time and resources to put action behind your vision statement?  Can those on your team articulate both mission and vision?  Have you actively engaged employees in a way that motivates and inspires?

“The secret to success is

constancy of purpose.”

                            --Benjamin Disraeli

INNOVATION--

A NECESSARY FACTOR

In a recent conversation with a client I greatly admire he shared, “Dr. Mel, if we’re not reinventing ourselves every 3-years, we’re destined to fail.”  He went on to share the challenge of being the innovative visionary that at times felt he had to push, cajole, challenge others to take necessary innovative steps.  Do you experience the same risk-aversion in your organization?

Consider since World War II, private and public sector professionals have been schooled and trained to be efficient, effective and economic – not innovative.  Many still enter their workplaces daily with the motivation to make it through the day or put out today’s fires and let tomorrow worry about itself.   Such thinking flies in the face of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness report that states, “Innovation will be the single most important factor in determining America’s success through the 21^st Century.” 

    

It’s not about working harder or longer and thinking we’ll be the best, we’ll change the world, we’ll achieve our vision.  It’s about intentional, focused development of creative and innovative practices within our organizations that remove us from the insane practice of doing the same thing (even if we do it cheaper or faster) and expecting better (different) results.  

What have you done to build a culture of innovation?  Have you developed this imperative skill of the 21^st century in those you count on to produce results within your organization? 

CELEBRATING LUCK

(of the Irish & Others)

“Someone has said that the “p” is silent in the word “luck,” but it belongs there nevertheless.  Investigation usually turns up the fact that the lucky fellow is the plucky fellow who has been burning midnight oil and taking defeat after defeat with a smile.”

--James Hill

Culture Building…Put Me In Coach

Culture Building ...

     Stephen Covey’s, The Speed of Trust, chronicles the 4 cores of credibility and the 13 behaviors of high-trust leaders.  Without credibility, there is no trust.  Without trust, engagement and culture building falls flat.

     Engagement is more than traditional notions of job satisfaction.  It consists of an active commitment to doing the job well and helping the organization achieve goals and implement strategies.  Engaged employees take ownership of their roles within the organization. 

     The challenge:  The levels of employee engagement in many organizations have reached crisis lows.  A recent global survey of 30,000 employees in 15 countries reveals that only 34-percent of employees identify themselves as fully engaged, while 50-percent are completely disengaged.  Nine percent are engaged by their organization but not by their job, and 7-percent are engaged by their job but not by their organization. 

     The question:  Do you know where those in your organization fall in terms of engagement?  Follow-up question:  Have you identified what it’s costing you to not know the answer and/or not be employing strategies to positively impact the situation? 

     Beyond integrity, intent, capabilities, and results – what behaviors are you employing each and every day to build relationships?  How do you score on:  talking straight?  Demonstrating respect?  Creating transparency?  Righting wrongs? Showing loyalty?  Delivering results?  Getting better?  Confronting reality?  Clarifying expectations?  Practicing accountability?  Listening first?  Keeping commitments?  And, extending trust? 

     Application:  Which of the above 13 behaviors, if employed by you over the next 30-days, may create a more positive workplace culture?  One at a time to focus on is fine…Rome wasn’t built in a day.

 Put Me in Coach ...

     Developing executive and leadership talent in organizations is a challenge. From succession planning, to developing those identified for future leadership roles within the organization, often the question arise on ‘who’ and ‘when’.

     I’ve often been requested to assist in assessing the ‘who’ and the ‘when’.  So, who is a candidate?  Bottom-line, those who you count on to achieve results with, and through, people in your organizations are candidates.  The ‘when’ is often determined by the timeframe in which you require the individual to perform at a higher or next level in the organization.

     Coaching can take on several forms, based on a needs and skill gap analysis.  Although most coaching is behavioral, technical, functional, or strategic is also employed.  Typically, a leader (or respected team around the leader) has identified some key area(s) for strengthening.  A coach, like a surgeon, comes in focused on those key behavioral or skill initiatives.  Over the past 20-years, our coaching with organizations has taken on everything from assisting organizational successors in articulating their strategic vision, to ‘how to’ give speeches, to addressing key behaviors which will enhance a strong leader’s performance.

     A board chair of an organization we recently worked with, chronicled in a thank you letter why the board was pleased with the decision to utilize an external coach.  “There was great confidentiality and trust.  No one felt as though they were being put under the microscope or feared discussions going on their permanent record.”  The chair revealed in past internal coaching attempts, issues seemed to be whitewashed and gritty issues remained unaddressed.  In addition, the leaders in the organization recognized, although they always had good intentions of developing current and future leaders, no existing leader had the time to devote to coaching.  All the existing leadership talent in the organization were over-committed. 

     Application:  ‘Who’ do you need to function at a higher level?  ‘Who’ are you counting on for leadership results?  ‘When’ do you need those results?

“Even if you’re on the right track,

if you just sit there, you’ll get run over.”

--Will Rogers

Are You Ready for the Best Year Ever?

14 Questions for 2014

Are You Ready for the Best Year Ever?

1.            Have you effectively broken down silos in your organization? 

Ø   It’s amazing how often we are called into organizations that ‘claim’ customers are the #1 focus, yet internally departments are at war with one another. 

Ø  Can those within your organization flowchart the customer experience from start to finish? 

Ø  Do those you lead recognize the ‘internal’ customer they serve?  Are they striving to ‘delight’ their internal customers so their external customers can in turn be delighted?

2.           How are your relationships with others? 

Ø  President Reagan formed working friendships with leaders in the opposite political party; he accomplished much more than presidents who have just solicited input from a narrow group. 

3.           “Can you hear me now?”

Ø  What kind of listener are you? 

Ø  The best way to make informed decisions for your organization is to ensure you are well informed on issues.  Do you regularly receive feedback?  Have you set-up a mechanism to “hear” all the news – good, bad, and opportunities you can capitalize upon to strengthen performance? 

Ø  How do you feel about ‘actively’ engaging employees to share their perspectives?  It’s amazing what those who are willing to ‘hear’ have learned from “Stamp Out Stupid” and/or F.I.S.H. ‘Fresh Ideas Start Here’ forms that challenge employees to identify issues and recommend solutions. 

4.           Who gets your ‘BEST’?

Ø  At every meeting you attend are the ‘customers’ that are spoken of in your mission statement the dominant focus of discussions as you focus on how to improve and where to focus continuous improvement efforts? 

5.           Have you developed and effectively shared a vision of the future for your organization? 

Ø  Opportunities, technology, new challenges and competition keep the world changing.  Observation, intuition, and analysis let us ‘picture’ future needs and wants of those we serve.  Have you engaged those who work with and for you in such a way that they feel ‘ownership’ in the vision and passionately pursue its accomplishment? 

6.           In what ways are you supporting leadership by others?

Ø  You most likely already have those within your organization who are natural, respected leaders. Many others can be assisted in developing their leadership and interpersonal skills with access to training and development opportunities.

7.           Are you an encourager? 

Ø  Do you actively, regularly engage in ‘good finding’?  Do you seek and see the best in others?  Are you ‘too busy’ to compliment?  Are you waiting for perfection or do you encourage the right steps along the way towards goal accomplishment? 

Ø  Are you a builder on the construction team or a demolition expert when it comes to motivating the spirit?

8.           How are you harnessing the power of teams? 

Ø  When your team is actively engaged in improvement projects and continuous improvement efforts, buy-in increases.

9.           Are you skilled in providing critical feedback?

Ø  Many managers and leaders shy away from critical feedback or discipline.  It conjures up visions of being sent to one’s room without supper!  As a result, we often unwittingly allow poor behavior to continue, thus condoning an unhealthy culture and/or lack of results.  Our careers should be a journey of growth and development that means we need coaching along the way.  When we leave employees without feedback and coaching, they can only replicate what they already know.  Strong feedback and coaching impacts an employee’s potential – you have the ability to create a vision of who they are, how they engage in work, and how their role positively impacts other’s lives. 

Ø  Are you skilled in turning ‘wake-up call’ conversations and disciplinary actions into rewarding interactions?

10.      What are you role modeling?

Ø  By simply observing your actions can employees ‘see’ your organization’s values in action?  Leaders set the tone for what’s really important and their expectations through daily behaviors. 

11.      Is trust high? 

Ø  Is your organization one of high trust?  Do customers (the public) trust you?  Do employees trust you?  Is ongoing character development part of your corporate culture?

12.      Is your attitude worth catching?

Ø  Does a ‘check-up from your neck-up’ show you need an antidote to negativity?  Would you like 100 of your employees with your attitude interacting with your customers?  Do you have positive attitude maintenance and enhancement practices in place? 

13.      What are you curious about? 

Ø  When leaders stop being curious their effectiveness wanes.  What would you like to explore/learn this year?  And, you don’t need to restrict yourself to only work endeavors to increase your overall effectiveness.  A number of years ago when working with an owner of a major sports franchise, he shared his best thinking happened when he had a pair of knitting needles in his hands.  He shared the movement relaxed him, he could feel muscle tension release, and his mind was able to get unstuck.  He pointed to several solutions and opportunities that were identified as he sat quietly with yarn and needles.  

Ø  What is it you’d like to learn this year – Spanish?  Project Management?  Scuba certification?  Pottery? 

14.      What’s next? 

Ø  Is continuous improvement ingrained in your business approach?  Have you expanded beyond simple corrective action and problem solving to a culture of innovation? 

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The New Year is upon us.  Are you ready to make 2014 your best year ever?  We stand at the ready as your partners in development your talent pool should you desire any assistance.

Ability is what you’re capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you do.

Attitude determines how well you do it.

   --Lou Holtz

May you ‘do’ 2014 exceptionally well!