Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

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Listening: Leadership Trait and Narcissism Cure

August 28, 2015

Is there a narcissist in your life?

If you live in the West, especialy in America, the odds favor a yes answer. One hopes that the person is not your boss. I further hope the person is not you! (But if it is, you’re not aware of it.)

There are a few in my life. I asked a therapist (my daughter) about what the DSM says. She said there is no known cure. Either live with it or avoid them.

Jenny Dyer writing on Donald Miller’s Storyline Blog came up with some interesting thoughts. Not valid cures at this point, but interesting thoughts.

I have written several times about listening and how it’s a great leadership trait to develop. It may go deeper than that.

Dyer writes, “In the recent HBO hit series, “In Treatment,” Gabriel Byrnes discusses his role as a psychotherapist.”

He notes, “Listening, I think, is one of the most profound compliments that you can pay to another person. To truly listen and to feel that you’re heard is deeply fulfilling in a deep human way.” This awareness of listening is an act of empathy.

Hearing the story of another human, and deeply listening to that story, is an act of compassion, altruism, and love. It involves losing yourself and experiencing a “vicarious introspection” into the life of another human being.

To truly hear a story is an act of empathy. 

Neurological studies show that altruism is actually a biological response, hard-wired into the brain.

In fact, acts of generosity, empathy, or altruism light up a primitive part of the brain that is usually associated with pleasurable actions like eating good food or sex.

They might actually cure narcissism.

So if you’re starting to fear you’re a little too self-absorbed, stop to listen, think about others instead, and give generously with what you have.

Ironically, in combating narcissism through empathy, the individual who has long suffered from narcissism actually secures the greatest win—a pleasurable biological response—when focused on others.

Reflecting on that idea, it came to me that he may be on to something. I think I have witnessed that in a couple of lives. Maybe more. Something broke through their consciousness. They started to actually think about other people. Give money, time, gifts.

In none of the cases was it a total cure. But it was an improvement.

So if you are feeling a bit too self-absorbed. Or maybe someone you know is. Try breaking through the fog and just try listening to someone with no thought about what you might say. If a thought comes to mind about your experience to share with the other, say to yourself, “It’s really not that important. Let’s listen to the other person.”

You can learn a lot just by listening to someone else.

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Committees Speak With A Single Voice-Leadership Tip

August 21, 2015

My Friday thoughts on leadership are targeting committees.

Most of us have no doubt served on a committee. These are groups of people brought together for a purpose. Sometimes it is a special occasion, for example organizing a reunion. Sometimes it is a standing committee formed to support a function or need of the organization. These might be trustees of an organization or marketing committee or finance.

Committees are rarely composed of only one person. Therefore when a committee meets several voices are heard. That is often why a committee is formed. Bringing in diverse points of view provides a better chance of finding the best solution to the problem that the committee is formed to solve.

When the committee decides, then it must speak with a single  voice. There may be members who do not agree with the majority. There may be background concerns or opinions. Whatever that may be, the committee must either report to the main body with one solution or tackle its work in a single direction.

That is where the leader’s role becomes crucial.

The reunion committee agrees on date, location, theme, entertainment, and the like. Then assignments are made to area leaders to get the various tasks done.

The finance committee must report its findings and recommendations to its governing board. The report cannot include the discussions and a variety of half-formed “concerns.” It must be specific in stating the problem and recommending actions.

The governing board leader and the committee leader must:

  • Clearly define and communicate the problem
  • Keep the committee discussions focused on solutions
  • Strive to focus on the business and not on personalities
  • Bring the committee to a decision regarding solution to the problem
  • Clearly communicate the solutions or actions needed to all concerned

If that last task is not done, then the work of the committee is subverted and desired actions will not be carried out. Argument and divisiveness grow in the organization. The problem festers.

We have all experienced the committee from hell where we drank lots of coffee and ate lots of doughnuts and talked endlessly (or maybe quietly checked email or Facebook while others talked on and on).

The good leader will keep things focused, minimize personalities, respect others’ time, and guide the group to a conclusion.

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Think and Do

August 14, 2015

Welcome to the Friday leadership tips post. By the way, this week I passed the 1,000 post barrier. That’s a lot of writing. 

What happens when you realize (finally) that you could use some help?

I know, too many people think they can do it all by themselves (guilty!). Sooner or later you’ll need some help. And you’d better ask for it.

When help arrives, do you know how to make the best of it?

Several incidents and a couple of conversations lately have clued me in to thinking about this.

First–know what needs to be done.

Think about your task. Break it into chunks. Figure out what only you can do. Figure out what sort of person can do the rest.

Second–write a detailed list.

List what you will do. List what you’ll ask your help to do. Trust me, this hard work of thinking ahead of time will save you bundles in the long run. When you list what others can do, include a vision of what the completed work will look like. Include some instructions and best practices. Give them room to think and create a workflow. But, be perfectly clear about the outcome you desire.

Third–do.

Then you all get to work. It’s a good practice to reflect on what you’re doing to make sure it is best use of your time as the project evolves. Check with your helper. Make sure they’re on the right track. Ask if they need any help or additional tool.

Oh, and celebrate and enjoy the fruits of a job well done.

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Leadership Tip-Team Building

July 31, 2015

What made Phil Jackson such a great coach in the National Basketball Association. Arguably it was his ability to take a group of super-talented individuals and convince them that their role in the team was important but that all of them working together blending their roles would bring championships.

Building teams is the best way to move an organization or even committee forward.

Here are some elements of team building for leaders:

  • Define why you are building a team (winning NBA championship, leading a new building campaign, selling a product, leading a church)
  • Define the roles you need to be successful (not just filling spots, but recruiting talented people to fill roles)
  • Carefully recruiting people who can fill a role or be trained for that role
  • Continually work with each person and the group to build trust and communication
  • Leaders must constantly hold out the vision and purpose to the team to avoid splintering into factions going different ways

If you are leading a team of leaders, it’s the same thing. But each team member will go off to lead their teams. It is important that the team building be passed down the organization. A good team at the top builds teams all the way throughout the organization.

The enemy of teams–silos. When leaders appear to communicate together, but the conversations are superficial, that is a warning sign of silos. When each leader goes off and does their own thing without regard to the work of other teams, then the organization grows dysfunctional. That reflects lack of top leadership. It also reflects lack of vision.

When Jesus said people would know his followers by their love, he didn’t exactly mean that they were always sitting in a circle holding hands and singing Cum Ba Yah. Love demands respect.

A team-building leader respects people as a first priority. And respect for people filters througout the entire organization.

A great team consists of people who fulfill their roles in pursuit of the common visions where everyone has respect for the others.

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Perseverence Is A Key Leadership Trait

July 24, 2015

A couple of guys meeting regularly felt a call to start a coffee shop. Not just a coffee shop, but one with a mission. 

The mission was brought to them through a conference in Thailand where the plight of coffee farmers was brought to awareness. As is often the case with commodities, large corporations buy up all the coffee paying the lowest possible price.

Farmers cannot make a living, often being forced to sell daughters into the sex trade. Evidently men have such great physical need along with a lot of money to make selling sex a lucrative business.

Smaller roasters buying directly from the farmer can pay a fair price for the product and still bring the coffee back to sell at a reasonable price to the retail customer. In the case of a farmer in Thailand, he was able to make a profit and at the same time pay his laborers a fair wage such that 50 young women were brought back home rescued from their horrible life.

The thought of the coffee shop based on Direct Trade coffee grew. Plans were laid. Investors sought. Contractors interviewed until one came forward with a workable plan within budget.

Just when they thought they could go no further, a new investor or donor came forward. Work could proceed. Even at the last minute when a sign needed to be purchased and installed and working capital obtained, new investors came forward.

Two years is a long time to work on a dream. Today, the High Grounds Cafe opens. I changed my “office” from the local Starbucks which is at a grocery store and Tim Hortons this week. I’m an investor and I’ve witnessed the perseverence that led the investors, contractors, employees to this stage.

I’ll never forget a poster I saw about 30 years ago showing a heron swallowing a frog. But the frogs front legs (“arms”) were free and it was strangling the heron. The caption–Never Give Up.

Certainly perseverance is a necessary leadership trait. Now–what can I learn from that. Congratulations Chuck and Chris.

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Making Process Better But Destroying Goals–Leadership Lesson

July 10, 2015

Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal . Making something great is the goal. I see this over and over again in other companies: A subversion takes place in which streamlining the process or increasing production supplants the ultimate goal, with each person or group thinking they’re doing the right thing—when, in fact, they have strayed off course. When efficiency or consistency of workflow are not balanced by other equally strong countervailing forces, the result is that new ideas—our ugly babies—aren’t afforded the attention and protection they need to shine and mature. They are abandoned or never conceived of in the first place.

The quote is from Creativity Inc., Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand In The Way of True Creativity, by Ed Catmul, president of Pixar and Disney Studios.

It’s Friday leadership day. I’ve been reading Catmul’s book on leadership. It is a fascinating look into the creative process of Pixar–and into leading a creative organization.

How many of us have been involved in a project or organization where people (leaders) keep refining the process and then refining some more, and then they lose sight of the overall goal.

I certainly have seen this in business. And in church work. And in non-profit work.

What’s the goal?

Usually it concerns wowing the customer with a product whose quality and timeliness goes far beyond customer expectations. 

Didn’t we just see Toyota do that recently when they took the eye off the goal of pleasing customers?

How many Albert “Chainsaw Al” Dunlaps have you seen trying to cut a company to prosperity? This “Rambo in Pinstripes” destroyed Scott Paper, Sunbeam, and who knows how many other by his terrible management.

A leader works tirelessly to assure everyone affiliated with the company or organization or committee is firmly focused on the end goal. They never forget whom they are serving and what quality consists of.

Another part of what Catmul is talking about is fostering new ideas. Don’t let the process drown out creativity.

I recommend this book for leaders and creative types (who should be all of us).

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Top Ten Leadership Commandments

June 26, 2015

Organizers of the conference a couple of weeks ago gifted us with some books. One of mine was “The Top Ten Leadership Commandments” by Hans Finzel, President and CEO of WorldVenture.

The book itself is fairly autobiographical, but the list is good as lists go. The sub-theme of the book is taking leadership lessons from Moses and extrapolating to present day problems.

The Top Ten:

  1. Thou Shalt Cling to the Vision
  2. Thou Shalt Not Serve Thine Own Ego
  3. Thou Shalt Practice Servant Leadership
  4. Thou Shalt Be Opposed, Resisted, and Misunderstood
  5. Thou Shalt Have a Life
  6. Thou Shalt Sweat the Small Stuff
  7. Thou Shalt Spend Time in the Tent (get away and meditate)
  8. Thou Shalt Lead to Leave
  9. Thou Shalt Never Give Up
  10. Thou Shalt Keep Thine Eye on the Prize

Those of us who have been a leader of something during our lives can look at this list and cringe in remembrance of things we missed. Maybe getting a little too full of ourselves. Maybe ignoring details. Maybe not taking time to refresh.

One of the hardest, at least for me, would be number 4. “I’ve thought this out, what do you mean that you don’t think it’ll work????” Or, worse, when a clash of personal agendas takes everyone’s eyes off the prize.

In the end, Finzel is optimistic and encouraging, even when acknowledging the pain. Go forth and lead!

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Why Become a Leader

June 5, 2015

Betrayal, failure, working excessive hours, exhaustion, worry, fear.

By the time you finish Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth by Samuel Chand, you wonder why anyone would want to be a leader. He has written eleven chapters that contain about 30 stories of leaders who experienced all of that and more.

He doesn’t take the easy route out, either. No simple formulae. No quick list of top ten tricks and tips.

There is no easy solution. People are people. Some lie to you and then betray you. Some betray you yet continue to smile when you meet. It happens. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to you.

What you know is that you have a vision of how you want to make a difference. And it takes an organization to make that difference. You want to build a business, a ministry, a church, a non-profit. You begin to hire people and you think they share the vision. Then someone will turn on you. Or there will be a market setback. Revenues dry up. There are big challenges.

What Chand shows is how people worked through all the crises. You will suffer some degree of pain as a leader. It is inevitable. One would hope not to suffer as his examples did. You have to have examples out on the extreme a little in order to have enough drama for a good book.

But we all get in the middle of something and discover the pain.

How you handle the pain is the key to growth and success or decline and failure. Pain is inevitable. Overcoming it is probably a myth. But we must work through it to emerge on the other side as a stronger and more energized leader.

Many people had only intellectual knowledge of potential negative side effects of leadership. Experience drives real understanding. Especially experience reflected upon and viewed as a tough teacher.

Why lead? Because we have a vision and want to make a difference. Is it worth it? Yes.

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Leaders, How Well Do You Know Those You Serve

May 29, 2015

Recently the Keurig CEO made news by acknowledging in the face of declining sales that customers did not like the “lock-in” strategy of his new coffee machines. He had tried to use technology to assure that his one-cup-at-a-time brew machine would only work if you used coffee in his specially designed little cups (K-cups). No more freedom to use your own favorite beans.

Well, customers walked away and bought competing brands. (Duh!)

This week, the CEO of McDonalds, the fast food hamburger chain, also in the face of declining sales said that the company would change its grilling process such that it would provide hotter, jucier burgers.

Probably a genius industrial engineer goaded into finding cost-cutting processes changed the process of going from griddle to bun to going from griddle to a bin to a bun. As a result, burgers came out cold (on a relative scale) and dry.

Customers rebelled. They went elsewhere.

Leaders of organizations serve someone. Remember where Jesus said that leaders would be servants? Well, that wasn’t just for his 11 friends. It’s true today. And a leader forgets that at his peril.

Whom do you serve? Who is your customer?

If you are a pastor, do you realize that people want to be taught, not preached at? Do you realize the value of guidance to the point leaders?

If you are leading a team for buildings or missions or youth or whatever, do you know the wants and needs of your customers? Do you think of ways to serve them in ways to help them grow?

In business we talk about providing a product or service that helps someone solve a problem or improve their life. Notice the emphasis on “their”? Our thoughts, vision, effort must be directed outward toward those we serve or hope to serve.

When people become numbers on a spreadsheet, when we are focused inwardly on our costs or comfort zone, then we are in grave danger of failing. 

Then we wake up one day and realize that people have voted with their feet–they’ve left and headed for something or someone who cares about them and their problems.

How well do you know those whom you serve?

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Lacking A Core Equals Leadership Weakness

May 22, 2015

“It’s all about the core.”

That is the foundation saying about the exercise regimen called Pilates. In Yoga, we also work on the core–your abdominal, lower back, and glutes. We do Plank, Boat, Bridge, Crocodile, and several other poses designed to strengthen the student’s core muscles.

It takes a strong core to sit straighter, stand straighter, project strength, and build good health.

You work on your core in every session. It degenerates quickly. Oh, and for you men–the famous “beer belly” is less due to beer than to weak ab muscles.

What happens when a leader has no core?

A good leader is a joy. A toxic leader–abusive, manipulative–you can run from. But a leader without a core breeds frustration.

Maybe they are just so entirely self-absorbed that they don’t really care about others. Or maybe there is no belief, goal, direction, or passion.

They sit in meetings without contributing. They let staff go where they wish. If a staff person decides to do something that is detrimental to the whole, they don’t take them aside and lead them into an understanding of the whole and how their actions affect that.

How did this person in the leadership role who has no core of leadership get there? Maybe a fluke of the organization where corporate appoints a district manager. Maybe money. Maybe the other leaders bailed and this person was the last one standing.

If you find yourself in this position, when you’re just not sure where you stand. When the organization you’re supposed to lead is floundering unsure of direction or purpose–that is when you had best make like Jesus. Before he became a leader and assembled a team, he spent 40 days in the wilderness. 

Just so, you had best take a personal retreat. This can be alone or with a mentor/coach. It is time to search for your purpose, your goals, your core values. Define these. Write them. Print in large font, frame them, put them on your office wall.

Set a direction and start sailing.

If, on the other hand, you work under such a leader, then you have a situation. If you are the one on the team who recognizes the situation, perhaps in meetings you subtly guide direction through questions and proposals in such a way as to convince others as to the direction the organization should be going.

You can be a leader without being The Leader.

The danger lies in the situation when the team all recognize the weakness. If the team all have differing agendas, then heaven help the organization. It will be split in a dozen directions with no core and wind up like the middle-aged guy with the beer belly.

Go work on your core.

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