Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

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Leader’s First Response To Decline

August 19, 2016

You’ve been appointed to head an organization. Could be a business, church, nonprofit. Wherever you are in life.

The organization is thriving. All indicators were up. People affiliated with the organization are enthused. Good things are happening all over. Leadership teams are planning expansions.

Then a change happens. Imperceptibly at first. Few, if anyone, notice. But growth stopped. No real decline, yet. But a couple of staff leaders left, leaving behind some leadership gaps. You, the overall leader didn’t move quickly to fill the gaps. They just slid by.

Eventually the decline is in progress. At first only key people in the organization notice. Then more people notice. A key top staff person notices and brings to your attention. Conflict erupts. Now there is another key gap in the leadership team.

This is a situation I’ve seen several times in my career. I did try to salvage a couple. In one I was actually “president” for a short time while my partners tried to raise money for a takeover. They didn’t, we failed, now I’m writing here.

But back to our fearless leader. The one who seems oblivious to the by now obvious to everyone decline. If you were in that position, would you

  1. Call an emergency staff meeting of the perhaps dozen top leaders to address the problem; or
  2. Gather together a larger group–say greater than 25–and begin a month’s long vision planning exercise, or
  3. Do nothing and either ignore the situation or hope it reverses?

I have never been in the situation (and I can think of at least four I’ve been in) where the leader chose number 1.

Mostly I have seen the non-choice choice of number 3. Either the leader is totally out of their league and just flounders, or their narcissism makes them ignore the situation. Perhaps even degenerating into blame.

Then, I’ve actually seen number 2. All attention is diverted from important and immediate tasks while the entire leadership team squanders its attention on dreaming of what might be.

What should you do? I’d suggest steps such as:

Gather the top leadership team and get them to acknowledge the problem

Gather facts and stories about the situation

Perform root cause analyses (5 why’s, as we say)

Tackle one main problem as quickly as it is identified

If one of the issues that pops up is that “no one understands what we stand for”, then the messaging both internal and external has become muddled. In that case, it is time to go back to the vision statement of the organization and sharpen it. Then make sure that all messaging is consistent.

Maybe the customer experience is not good. Then a team can tackle that problem.

Notice that by doing this, the leader focuses the leadership team and infuses new energy. The new energy should spread throughout the organization as teams form and more people are involved.

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Leadership-How Does Your Team Communicate

July 29, 2016

Email is bad for you and your team because we get too many messages every day and the important internal emails get mixed up with other correspondence with people from the outside world.–Michael Sliwinski, Founder and CEO of Nozbe

Has your team ever been caught up in long chains of emails? Someone proposes an idea or someone else attacks something. Then another person “replies all”, and another, and another. Soon you’re reading down through a horrendous chain with blood pressure rising by the second.

It’s happened to me many times. I’ve also gotten caught in the problem where the important message dropped to the bottom of the list buried by the unimportant minutiae.

A few years ago I walked away from a couple of jobs that paid very well. My earnings are a little smaller, but expenses are down. And my email load? Cut by 80%. Some days I almost feel lonely.

Sliwinski says about his company, “To solve this problem we designed a new way to communicate: we use email for the outside world and something else for ‘internal communication.’ We use two apps for that: Slack and Nozbe.”

There’s a new book “Under New Management” by David Burkus that I heartily recommend. It includes some unconventional management practices, and one of them is apparently banning email. Sliwinski says it’s something he did in his company three years ago. “Something I didn’t think was new but now I see it really is. Whenever I talk about ‘No Office,’ people ask me about my email policy and they’re surprised that we banned email in our company. They give me this ‘Can you do that?’ face. Of course you can. You actually should if you want to have a productive environment for your team. Only allow email to the “outside world” and ban email within your team.”

It is worth the effort to evaluate how your team communicates. Then find the best tool. And, by the way, don’t check email every 30 seconds! Sometimes I get caught in an endless loop of answering messages. It’s asynchronous. You can choose when to answer. Choose wisely.

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Leadership And The Discipline of Focus

July 22, 2016

What defines a leader?

Not a manager or someone with a title? No, a leader.

We always start with vision. A leader has a vision of where to go. A vision of what the goal of the organization or committee is.

I knew a leader once. I’ve worked in a number of organizations and businesses. I’ve known few leaders.

It was a larger organization. Several hundred people–maybe reaching toward 1,000 for a while. A church, for what that’s worth.

He knew where he was going and where he wanted to take the organization.

He selected close advisors–mostly wisely.

He encouraged teams to develop–as long as they moved the vision forward.

He could change teams as situations changed requiring new responses–but still moving the vision forward.

Researching yesterday’s post, I remembered Nehemiah.

He had a vision. He convinced the residents of Jerusalem, who had become adjusted to living in a city without walls, that it was essential they build a wall.

He organized teams, recruited leaders, but always focused on his goal.

He accomplished the goal in a remarkably short time. If any one of you has ever been part of a construction project or watched one, you know that they are almost never done on time and under budget. Nehemiah did it.

He was focused on the task. “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.”

What great work are we doing right now? What are our potential distractions that could prevent us from doing that great work.

Focus. Recognize distractions and discard them. Keep the vision in mind always.

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Collaboration-It’s a Good Thing

July 8, 2016

They were sitting on the couch intent on their iPads. Chatting away about the project. My grandkids, that is, ages 9 and 7. They were building something in Minecraft, together, connected through iCloud. But also connected by voice.

Collaboration, it’s a good thing. Sometimes technology enables us to collaborate to build better things.

In my other profession, the one that pays the bills, I research companies and industries involved in a building and using a variety of technologies. But it always gets down to people. And how people interact.

Many companies foster silos. People exist only within their department or division or within their product group. They seldom share information or ideas. Many may not even know people in another division.

I’ve seen other companies where there is an attempt to bring people from a variety of functions together, but collaboration is hampered by what we call politics. The trust level in the company is not high. A person may be reluctant to say something out of fear that the comment may be taken out of context, spread to higher management ranks, and they may suffer career repercussions.

Once upon a time I led a department that designed machines to solve specific customer problems. We needed lots of ideas. White boards were a new thing. I bought a bunch. Put them in every cubical, office, and conference room. I told the engineers, sketch the problem on your white board. As you wander through the room to get coffee or whatever, look at the whiteboards. Talk to the other engineer. Maybe new ideas spring up.

We designed some pretty cool machines.

What are you building? Technology? Relationships? An organization?

Sensitize yourself to the atmosphere of the office or organization if you’re geographically spread. Are people sharing ideas? Are people receptive to ideas from others? What can be done to encourage collaboration?

One of my favorite quotes from the cartoon character Bugs Bunny was when somebody wanted to tell him something. “I’m all ears.”

Ah, the beginning of collaboration.

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What Behavior Does Your Leadership Encourage

July 1, 2016

James and John went to Jesus privately at the urging of their mother. They wanted to ask for the two top positions in the kingdom Jesus was going to start. Jesus wasn’t impressed. He stopped that sort of political backstabbing at the beginning.

My wife taught third grade for many years. Believe it or not, she did not like it when kids would come running up to her, “Mrs. Mintchell, did you know what [fill in kid’s name] did?”

Why did the kids do that? Same reason as the big guys. They were trying to make themselves look good often at the expense of others of their colleagues.

Two or three times in my career people have spread “stuff” around on me. One boss came to me once and asked, “Did you know that [x] has been going to the president complaining that you don’t have enough work to do?”

It bothered me, but taking the longer view, I knew both companies were tanking. It just gave me incentive to hit the job market before everyone else.

But what if there had been a new president who came in to turn things around? Part of her plan would be to form teams where people collaborated on projects. Just how much collaboration will we do when we’ve been in a culture of “tattling” and other such back-stabbing activities?

We know today that companies and organizations that thrive are those that build an environment where people are comfortable with each other and are free to collaborate and share.

  • Do we stop people who wish to manipulate us with out-of-bounds requests?
  • Do we weed out those who strive to make others look bad
  • Do we react to such gossip?
  • Do we let things go, afraid to act on it?

If we start to sense a lack of trust and collaboration in the organization, maybe it’s a signal to start evaluating our own leadership.

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Don’t Abdicate Responsibility For Decisions

June 17, 2016

Have you ever been part of a leadership team trying to achieve a reasonable consensus on a decision and have someone (or several) pass on contributing to the decision?

I’ve observed a phenomenon over many years of professional and personal life where someone who has the chance to contribute to a decision abdicate the throne and let others decide.

In this way, they also avoid responsibility for the outcome. Usually it means they also avoid responsibility for doing the work–one way or another.

There is another side to the dynamic. After the decision is made, these same people delight in continual criticism of the decision. I’ve seen it so often. In families, in committees, in churches, in business.

When I was younger and early in my career, I’d listen to these complainers thinking maybe they had some insight. But it didn’t take me long to discover that this was actually a strategy for avoiding decision-making, contributing to the effort, and responsibility.

It is as if they are trying to stay out of the way in case the decision was wrong. Yet, they’ll try to take some of the praise if things go well.

These people are to be avoided. Well, if you married one, then you’re probably stuck with constant criticism I guess. It’s a personality type. If they are on a committee or department or team you lead, try to marginalize them or even move them on to somewhere else.

Frank and bold discussion about decisions is to be welcomed. Snide comments and grumbling after the fact undermines leadership and the team. It is to be removed.

If you are a self-aware person, then recognize when you start to become one of those grumblers. Stop it and stay  quiet. Resolve to be part of the solution the next time.

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Banish Divisive People

May 31, 2016

When Dave and Jane and I gathered in a conference room in 2003 to start a new magazine, discussion was, well, boisterous. Loud. Argumentative. Collegial.

We came out after about a month with an editorial focus, a description of readers, a description of companies who would advertise (and why), an editorial calendar, a business plan, a media kit (all the products we could sell to advertisers).

The most dangerous next step was hiring. Bringing in people who had agendas, histories, insecurities could be disaster. We had a core team of 6-7 who stayed together eight years. We built a winning magazine and a good business. Then some new people came along and all the chemistry changed.

We were lucky in many respects. We had a couple of strong personalities who could be divisive in another situation, but they were managed.

Have you ever been in an organization with someone who is just plain divisive? They have an agenda. They are always engaged in hallway conversations trying to build alliances against someone in authority.

Churches are full of this personality type. Businesses, too. I’ve seen it. It’s ugly. I’ve even been the target. Never saw that one coming.

Henry Cloud devotes many pages to the problem in The Power of the Other. He looks at the master organization builder, Paul the Apostle.

Paul says when you see one of those divisive people, recognize it, give them a warning, and, if they don’t change their ways, banish them

Cloud says he’s seen it in organizations. The CEO recognizes the situation and terminates the culprit. Overnight the atmosphere changes. People who had been enemies become friendly. “Gosh, you’re a pretty good guy. I don’t know why I didn’t like you.”

The answer to that is the recently departed divider.

Recognize the signs of a divisive person. Find them, and deal with them. The sooner the better. Rip that cancer out of the organization. Everyone will feel–and perform–better.

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Leaders Struggle, Too

May 20, 2016

Peter, the apostle, grew up with a fixed set of beliefs. There were beliefs about religion. Beliefs about types of people. Beliefs about interactions among different types of people.

He met Jesus who proceeded to blow away every stereotype and belief he’d grown up with.

When he became the leader, his struggles were public–at least within his group.

What am I supposed to do, he must have been continually thinking.

I’m not supposed to eat from this long list of foods. Yet, I find myself in situations where hospitality, and yes, love, require that I eat some of those foods.

I’m not supposed to associate with certain types of people–even to the point of not entering their house. But there I am associating with one of “them”, even worse healing one of “them”, even worse preaching and sharing the gospel, even worse baptising them.

These are all recorded for all of us in the book called The Acts of the Apostles.

Surely for a reason, we can still read this.

This does show us that great leaders can struggle with issues and change their minds. They can grow publicly. Imagine one of our presidential candidates doing that! The media would be highly critical. But if one actually had the courage to say, “I’ve grown. God has shown me how I was wrong and how I need to grow”? How refreshing an example that would be.

Sometimes people become leaders and have a solid view on the nature of the organization, the market, the team, themselves. The good leaders grow. They adapt to changing circumstances. They don’t make themselves into a persona that says they are God. They acknowledge that sometimes God says I’m going down the wrong path. It’s OK to change.

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Leadership Means Establishing Responsibility and Accountability

April 22, 2016

Responsibility and accountability. These are both spiritual formation values and leadership essentials.

One of the organizations I work with has developed a system of diffused responsibility and accountability. When there is no one person responsible for a function, that task will be undone and the function will not grow and prosper.

Think about Jesus. He made people responsible for themselves and for certain roles. His last instructions to his followers we call the “Great Commission.” He did not give the instruction to an organization. He gave it to those who follow him.

Then he told stories, such as that of the talents. The servants were given responsibility to make the most of the money the master entrusted them with. But then the master returned and held each accountable.

As a leader or part of the ruling board or committee, the essential task prior to oversight is to establish clear responsibilities and accountability. Do not put two different committees or point leaders in charge of the same thing. Now no one is accountable.

Establish point leaders for each important function that must be done. Start with the overall manager and then each functional area. There are certain things that must be done if the organization is to succeed. Assure that these are defined.

Just so in personal development. We are each responsible for our spiritual formation. No one will do it for us. We can search out guides and mentors. In the end, we are each responsible for what we did in response to Jesus’ commando–“Go into all the world and make disciples…” We are each responsible for deciding to be a follower and developing and using our gifts in the service to God and to all other people.

We cannot escape being held accountable for how well we accomplished our responsibilities in life. As Paul laid out in Romans, life in the spirit begins with faith and completes with how well we lived.

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Leadership By Delegation

April 15, 2016

What is the hardest leadership lesson to learn? Actually, more than learn (we all can memorize words and regurgitate them), what is the hardest leadership task to do?

Pause, while you think…

I’m betting on delegation.

It is for me.

I’m a get things done sort of person. Give me a task and I dive in and do it.

Even as a leader. Often I would just do the task. Until I found myself just totally swamped. Then I’d take a breather–no, literally, with Yoga breath–and gain perspective. Then say to myself, self, you could have asked someone else to to this. They’d have loved the task. You’d have been able to work on something more important to your own goals.

So, you have your trusted place where you write every idea, task, next action, request. And you process those into lists of next actions (to-do list). Oh, yes, and then you have to actually do the items, one by one.

What if you added one more thought consideration to your process? What if on every item you thought, “Can someone do this better, faster, easier than I can?”

What’s the trouble with delegating?

  • You think it’s too much trouble to explain to someone else how to do it or just exactly what you want.
  • You don’t trust someone else with the task.
  • You’re a control freak–you know who you are.
  • You think they are already too busy.

Why should you delegate?

  • You only work on items that you do best.
  • You work on items that further your goals, and by extension, your organization’s goals.
  • You will be developing the skills and value of someone else.
  • You will strengthen the team by including more people on it.
  • You will prepare for future leadership transitions.

This is hard. I know it. Been there, done that, have a T shirt. But you and your organization will become so much more effective if you do it.

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