If someone asks me a question, I’ll answer it.
That’s not bad, except that sometimes I then neglect to ask a question in return. People think you are a fascinating conversationalist if you ask questions. Not so much if you just spout off with what you know.
Even more, leaders are known by the questions they ask. Or if they don’t ask, just tell.
It is said that leaders are readers. They are also askers.
You show your interest by asking questions. In a work or other leadership situation, people will know what is important to you by the questions you ask.
My early work in manufacturing was with a company that made products. Every day the president of the company would call the production manager and ask, “How many did you get?”
Guess what. Sometimes products were pushed out before they were completely ready. But, the production manager could say that x products were out. What wasn’t said was the products had to be finished outside of the normal production area.
But, the president was answered.
Even as a “kid” I thought that the president wasn’t asking the right question.
I’ve heard that Bill Hybels has said that great leaders pause before a decision and ask of themselves, “What would a great leader do?”
That is a great question. You could also substitute dad, mom, grandparent, coach, teacher, brother, sister, pastor….
I like the idea of pausing. Too often, I don’t.
But the question has great value. The old phrase (and wristband) WWJD—what would Jesus do—comes to mind.
It’s good to pause and think. Then act. And act like a great leader.
Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
Leaders Are Known By The Questions They Ask
May 8, 2015Leadership: Connections and Changed Behavior
May 1, 2015My customer had a problem. During one process of assembly, if a little spring was not installed correctly–and there were six per assembly–it would lead to warranty problems when its customer used it.
So, we installed an automated vision system that would work alongside the worker to assure the quality of the product.
It was not an inexpensive solution.
The worker did not like this intrusion and refused to work with the vision system. So, they turned it off and decided at that level that the company could live with potential warranty risk.
The technology was good. But we didn’t change the behavior of the worker. So, it failed.
This week, I heard a speaker talk about technology in terms of changing behavior and connecting people.
It’s not just about technology, he said. Think the iPod, which changed the way we listen to music. The iPhone which changed the way we connect with friends and the Web. These changed behavior and connected us.
I thought about leadership in that way.
Good leaders connect us. They connect the team. They connect the company’s parts. They connect the company with customers and suppliers.
They aso lead us to changed behavior. We came into the company as a collection of individuals. The leader gets everyone to modify behavior to get along with each other–at least enough such that work can be done to fulfull the mission of the organization or committee.
I thought about how James tells us that unless our belief changes our behavior that belief is not real–or at least not deep enough. James was a leader in the formation of the church. He knew what he was talking about. No doubt he lived it.
So go about connecting people together and connecting them to the mission. And lead them to changed behavior that forges a team that accomplishes much.
On Leadership–Placing Blame
April 24, 2015The results were in. The project had “gone south” as they say. Actual numbers were far from projected. Team members were discouraged. Worse, they were scrambling to justify themselves by placing blame on others. It was as if a serious virus had invaded the body of the organization spreading disease and death.
Now is the time for the leader to step forward. Can she bring everyone together and salvage something in order to move forward into the future. After all, things fail. Not all projects are successful.
But the leader, oh what a narcissist or worse. The leader places blame.
“If only the economy were better.”
“If only the designer had done a better job.”
“If only the sales people were better.”
“If only….”
How about–“I’m sorry I let people down. I failed to plan adequately. I failed to get the team working together. I failed to make decisions quickly enough.”
One of my spiritual mentors says that when things are bad there are two responses we should never make. These responses to suffering, failure, bad results will prohibit any further spiritual (or other) growth.
These responses are placing blame and festering in bitterness.
Experience comes from making bad decisions. Wisdom comes from learning from those bad decisions.
The leader could go to the team and own up to the mistakes and then leading a reflection on what went wrong in order to position the team (or committee, business, church, non-profit) for future success.
Promoted Beyond Confidence
April 17, 2015“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” –Walt Kelley, Pogo Seth Godin, famous marketing guru, has written several books, but now he writes short thoughts on his blog. Yesterday, he wrote a corollary to the Peter principle.
The original Peter Principle made perfect sense for the industrial age: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence.” In other words, organizations keep promoting people up the organization until the people they promote reach a job where they are now incompetent. Competence compounded until it turns into widespread incompetence. Industrial organizations are built on competence, and the Peter Principle describes their undoing. Consider a corollary, one for our times: “To be promoted beyond your level of confidence.” Too often, the person who wrecks our work is us. In every modern organization with upward mobility, good people are promoted until they get to the point where they lose their nerve.
How often it seems that organizations promote people who were good at something, but they were not good at the new job. The original Peter Principle was derived from education. A teacher is good at communicating with children and controlling a classroom. Promoted to Principal, she must now supervise and motivate teachers as well as deal with more parents. Promoted to Superintendent, she must now deal with the school board and supervise and motivate Principals. Each move up the ladder requires new skills. Maybe in churches, a pastor is good at preaching and dealing with a few committees. Then going to a bigger church, now she must deal with more committees, supervise and motivate a larger staff, do more strategic planning, and upgrade preaching skills. Today in flatter hierarchies, Godin says the problem is confidence. He may have something. We get into something that we are no longer confident of handling. “How did I get into this,” becomes the question of the hour—or minute. It may be mostly the same skills, just on a different level. Leaders lacking in confidence may wind up micromanaging. Or they may withdraw. Either way, they become ineffective leaders. How do we gain confidence?
- Seek out mentors
- Study
- Get over needing to be “the smartest person in the room”
- Celebrate small accomplishments—both personally and with the team
Respect For People Key To Leadership
April 15, 2015There was a person in a leadership role, but he failed to exhibit the least bit of leadership. Isn’t it amazing, yet sad, how often that sort of person exists?
People were like objects to him. Just names on a spreadsheet. Employees who were always trying to beat the system. They were always trying to get out of doing work.
He would even terminate people via email and then publicly humiliate them.
Ideas? He had all the ideas. Initiative? If you stuck your neck out trying to accomplish something in his organization, that just made it vulnerable for his next tirade.
He seemed to care about people at times. In the end, he really didn’t.
Sometimes he would have a flash of insight into himself and the organization and wonder why things were not going well. Why was the organization not growing and thriving? Why did people not seem to be happy at work?
But the feeling would quickly leave. It is hard work to truly lead.
The leader who truly leads the group (company, organization, department, committee) understands the value of people. She respects others and treats them as functioning human beings full of ideas and hopes and wanting to contribute and find meaning in the mission of the group.
Fortunately, these leaders exist. They trust their team members to do their jobs with appropriate follow up. They expect ideas and initiative and reward publicly those who try and communicate privately with those who need help or who fall short. “How can I help?” is the mantra of a leader.
Leaders Build a Great Team
March 27, 2015Good leaders build a product at a profit; great leaders build a great team.
A great team fits together seamlessly. Each member knows and is great at executing the assigned role. Yet, each member knows and believes in the goal of the organization. The leader need not look over the work of each member in minute detail.
In this situation, the leader is free to fulfill the role of leader.
- Reinforce the vision to avoid “vision leak”
- Be aware of the “big things” so that the little things go the right direction
- Encourage each team member in growth and development of skills
- Groom the next generation of leaders
- Watch the details so that actions may be taken immediately upon changes in external or internal environment
Have you ever been part of such a team?
If you have, you will never forget the feeling. You actually enjoy work. You enjoy relationships with the team.
I have been on both–this type of smooth functioning team and dysfunctional teams. But mostly the latter. So much so, that a friend suggested I write a book on dysfunctional leadership.
Someone asked me recently about an area where I am leading currently. What should I be doing? I answered, finding a younger person to replace me and then mentor them to grow into leadership and commitment to carry forward (and grow) the mission that I’m on.
Organizing–that’s what I do. It’s second nature by now. Looking out at opportunities for new things–I think about that often. Finding and grooming a replacement? That is my challenge.
Whatever your challenge–whether it be lack of sufficient trust in your team members to let them be free to do their jobs and suggest improvement areas and new directions or whether it is a state of mind where you feel compelled to watch over everyone’s shoulder–recognize that as a weakness. Then go to work on it. Find a coach to help if necessary. There are many of us out there more than willing to help people grow.
The world does not suffer from an overabundance of good leadership. There’s room for one more.
Travel Makes You A Better Leader
March 20, 2015From the blog of Kevin Roberts, executive chairman of Saatchi & Satchi:
Those who have traveled will understand that it provides much more than an escape from daily routine. Roman philosopher Seneca said “travel and change of place can impart vigor to the mind” and how right he was, and continues to be.
Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures, is a full believer in the value created by travel both personally and professionally, to the extent that he lets his employees travel for free. An article by Lisa Evans on Fast Company highlights the wisdom gleaned by Tip through his globe-hopping, and in particular the profound effect it has had on his company’s operations and his leadership style.
He recalls a trip to Tibet that taught him about decision-making based on spirituality, obstacles and karma, which influenced his approach to decision-making in business. Instead of relying on data like he always had, he started making decisions based on his gut instinct, recognizing that a big part of business is emotional. Big decisions with heart; little ones with head.
Organizing and leading an international mission trip is a further example of Roberts’ post about learning leadership from travel–especially with a group.
You know where you are going and why. In our case, an orphanage ministry in Tijuana with guidance from Isaiah 58: 7, “is it (proper fasting) not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?”
- recruit a team around their hearts and the tasks you hope to achieve.
- plan the logistics of travel down to the minute–flights, ground transportation, meals, projects, downtime.
- budget the trip and raise funds.
- hold team building meetings to prepare for the trip
- provide guidance through the travel.
- make decisions on the spur of the moment as situations change.
- keep the budget in the back of your mind as you make decisions on spending the money as the trip unfolds.
- keep the needs, desires, and vulnerabilities of each team member in mind as part of the decision process.
- remind the team why we are where we are.
- rejoice at moments when God breaks through the fog; grieve for situations people find themselves in.
- make decisions based on grace
There are probably more. My travel has certainly broadened my understanding of the variety of peoples, yet also their similarities. I’ve learned to think quickly and with my gut rather than waiting for data to eventually filter in. I’ve learned when you just have to “go with the flow” when situations change. In other words travel helped me grow up. How about you? I hope not like many people in my county who rarely travel more than 50 miles even today.
It Takes Energy to Lead
March 13, 2015Nehemiah, a leader of the Jews during the time of the Persian empire, had heard about the sorry state of Jerusalem. His brother described how the walls were torn down and the gates burned. About how this made the city a laughingstock among the nations.
Chapter 1 of the book describing his work describes how he was motivated to do somehing about the problem. The next chapter describes how he traveled 800 miles to Jerusalem. He arrived, but said nothing for three days. Then he went out with a small group at night to survey the situation.
Today, I can get into a car and drive a mile over to I-75 then head south for 800 miles and stop at a hotel in south Georgia in one day and be a little tired. For Nehemiah and his troops and entourage, it was a long and physically demanding trip. He took three days to recover and rebuild his energy. Then he could cast his vision for the restoration of the walls to the people.
It takes energy to lead. Energy comes from attitude, fitness, nutrition, adequate rest. People feed off the energy of their leaders.
But, the energy must be positive and uplifiting. Many leaders have an energy that destroys motivation. The energy is perhaps nervous energy. Or perhaps self-directed. Maybe it comes from the “high” pole of bi-polar disorder. Maybe it comes from fear.
On the other hand, have you ever met people who seem to just suck the energy right out of you? They are exhausting!
If you take care of your body–as Paul describes it as the temple of the spirit, then you have the beginnings of energy. Next build prayer into the rhythms of your work. Your work, indeed, becomes prayer in action. Your service becomes prayer in action actually building more energy as you expend it on your service. (Another one of life’s paradoxes.)
Einstein worked out the math to come up with energy=mass times the speed of light squared. Leadership=energy times vision.
How to be a Leader
March 10, 2015John Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader.”
I am ever on the alert for quotes to conclude our Yoga class. here is a good one to contemplate and then incorporate into our lives.
You probably have heard someone say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
I remember the first time I heard that phrase. It sounded ridiculous even to a kid.
We all know that our kids will mimic what we do, not what we tell them. Guess what, so do people in the committee we lead. And people in our department or company.
Someone once said, “Your actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
It is so important that we act as we wish to be. And in so doing help others act in appropriate ways.
Gary Mintchell
Faith Venture 