Archive for May, 2009

I am pleased and humbled that Becky Robinson, over at Mountain State University’s LeaderTalk, has named our post entitled “Learn to Lead in Your Sleep” one of their “Top Five”. I use the word “humbled” intentionally, as you must check out the other great posts she’s chosen from four of the best leadership bloggers around. Enjoy.

There is an ongoing debate about whether great leaders are born or made. Warren Bennis, a highly respected scholar on leadership, says that it is dangerous to believe that leaders are born. It may be that the desire to lead is inborn, but leaders are developed over time. The best leaders are deliberate and intentional about practicing to get better at what they do.

I recently finished reading Geoff Colvin`s book, “Talent is Overrated,” and was discussing the value of his concept of “deliberate practice” with a client. This particular leader is an artist and the executive director of a successful nonprofit art organization. She and I worked together for about a year on developing her capacity for leadership so she could more effectively engage and inspire her staff and her board.

From the beginning, she was more prepared to be a leader than many of my clients. She just needed some discipline and practice in the finer points of working with others, along with some accountability to assure that her practice continued and was working. Her preparation as an artist had prepared her to be a natural leader.

Colvin`s book contains numerous examples of how deliberate practice ?€“ the intentional, regular practice of a specific skill ?€“ can lead to success. The problem is that most of us don`t have the discipline or the accountability to practice. And we`ve probably never realized that the same principles of practice that apply to musicians or visual artists also apply to leadership.

I believe my client was able to make the changes she made because she “got” what it means to practice deliberately. Artists understand that to get better at what they do, they need to continually work at the specific medium they have chosen. So she knew, intuitively, that to improve her leadership, she would need to practice certain skills.

Great leadership requires that we create new habits. New habits come from practice. As you practice and work intentionally at a skill, it eventually becomes second nature. It`s just like learning to read or drive a car. Remember how difficult those were in the beginning and how much you thought about them as you were learning the skill?

This artist-leader taught me a thing or two. Determination, desire and regular practice were things she did already, although in a different realm. The leadership habit ultimately became so ingrained that her significant other claimed she was leading in her sleep! He told her that he heard her using phrases such as, “We`re all in this together,” and “Whatever we do, it will be awesome,” as she dreamed.

To be really good at this leadership thing, you must develop habits. And once you become a leader in your sleep, you`ll know that you have those habits down!

Dan McCarthy, at Great Leadership, one of my favorite bloggers on the topic of leadership, provides a tongue-in-cheek review of a NY Times article on what makes a successful leader. Check it out.

I competely agree with his take on this “either-or” thinking.

As one of the executive coaches who preaches the importance of good people skills, I’m fully cognizant that my clients also need to execute as well as be very good in the people stuff to be great.

However, my “take” (or excuse?) for working this angle with my clients is that the people skills are what they ask for and usually need help with. Perhaps this is a bit of an over-generalization, but I find that my clients already know how to get the work done. What they ask for is help with (justifiably) in dealing with people. People are complex, and relationships are confusing. An outside voice to help them figure all of this out can be extraordinarily helpful.

The truth is, the most successful leaders absolutely must be skilled with people AND in getting things done. I agree with Dan, and shake my head when reporters have to sell copy with “either-or” headlines like this. What a huge disservice this does to all of the great leaders out there!

So Dan, don’t give up that chocolate cake….yet. You can have it and eat it too!

Sheri Welsh is our featured guest blogger today. An acclaimed expert in human resources leadership and strategy, Sheri is president of an executive search firm, Welsh & Associates, Inc. Her career includes more than 20 years` leadership roles in human resources consulting/recruiting, purchasing, and sales. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC). Welsh & Associates is recognized as a leader in the professional and executive search industry.

A booming economy can camouflage a multitude of sins. Life changed for most of us, though, last November, with the global financial crises. But, like any wake-up call, those of us who lead organizations have an opportunity to face the day head on. In other words, we can shape events or let them shape us and our companies. If we are in human resource roles, our opportunity and our obligation has never been greater. Setting your company on the path of long-term success begins with your team. Following are five suggestions for using our economic challenges to build a foundation of success for your company`s long-term growth.

1. Set a vision for the recovery.
What type of organization do you want to be when the economy turns around? Putting together a strategic blueprint for growth is the foundation of our five-point plan. The next four strategies will help you shape that plan.

2. Get the right people in the right seats.
Getting the right people on the bus is, of course, Jim Collins` Good to Great analogy. But you can go a step further than just hiring the right people. Make sure that the people in your company are doing what they do best and what they love. This is an unstoppable combination. Imagine your company filled with people who are passionate about what they do and who excel at doing it. A time of down-sizing or right sizing is a great time to make sure your bus is filled with the right people and that they are in the jobs suited best to them ?€”and on the right team in the right division.

3. Take advantage of the job market to make strategic hires today.
Although Kalamazoo has fared better than elsewhere in the state, unemployment in Michigan leads the nation. That means, however, that there is good talent available today that may not be available in six months. Some of that talent is in the unemployed group. Those that aren`t, are likely worried that they may be. No one feels secure in today`s job market. That means that a well-timed recruiting call could land you the talent you need to position your company for exponential growth in a better economy.

4. Train and develop your staff ?€”they`ll be armed and dangerous when the recovery comes.
Too often, training is one of the first budget items nixed. But that hurts companies in the short term and leaves them completely unprepared for the long term. And though budget dollars are tight everywhere, the Center for Workplace Excellence says it is actually possible to save money and increase your training budget. That`s because companies with good training programs have lower turnover. They argue that a good training program can be the difference of keeping three good employees. You can see a video and learn more at www.workplace-excellence.com.

5. Brand your company to attract the right talent and the best talent
Every company wants to be an employer of choice, but what does that mean? Are you attracting the right talent? This is more than just hiring for skills, we`re talking about finding people whose values mirror those of your existing staff. Branding your organization to your prospective employees can be as critical to your long-term success as branding your products to your customers. Strategic hires strengthen your team. Branding your organization to the right prospective talent pool can streamline your recruiting process, strengthen your recruiting message and make the whole system more efficient and more effective.

It’s hard to believe that an activity as simple as “listening” can be so difficult to do. And to listen beyond the words – to listen at a meta level – is even more difficult. The best leaders I’ve known have intentionally cultivated the skill of listening beyond the words to:

Understand others: deep listening gets us out of our own way, and focuses our attention completely on the individual who is speaking and what they are expressing beyond the words.

Understand themselves: with meta listening comes personal wisdom – a powerful and sometimes unexpected side effect.

Develop relationships: We don’t often get listened to! When we truly listen to others, it becomes a memorable event that creates trust and binds relationships.

Invite inclusion and participation: listening has a kind of “pull” or invitation to it. If you are truly listening, you and the person you are listening to have become joined, in a way. The word “communication” has the same roots as “communion”, which means sharing.

The simple act of listening deeply tends to make wonderful leaders very wise, and those who are listened to happy. It is a form of “communion”, or sharing, that invites collaboration.

So what are the skills involved in deep listening?

1. Setting the intention: We must consciously choose to meta-listen. If we don’t, our unconscious will take us down the path of least resistance – and that path is entitled “hearing the words but not the meaning” or simply not listening at all.
2. Slowing down: Meta listening requires us to slow down, to find that still and silent place inside that will allow us to put ourselves aside and let another person in.
3. Suspend: One of the most difficult things for leaders to do is to “suspend” their own beliefs and judgments. Yet it is both a sign of respect for the individual who is speaking as well as a way to hear beyond the words that are being said.
4. Being Aware and Remaining Present: Awareness and presence seem like two sides of the same coin. And they allow us to truly focus on the speaker.

How about you? What else do you find that helps you to meta listen?

Becky Robinson has contributed the following guest post. She is a Chicago-based writer currently developing, writing, and promoting Mountain State University’s new leadership blog, LeaderTalk.

No weekend for me is complete without a trip to Walmart. The long lines and crowded parking lot are only a small indication of this company’s popularity and success. With over 7000 stores worldwide, Walmart is our nation`s largest retailer, largest corporation, and largest private employer. Walmart has been a target of criticism and the recipient of praise, consistently appearing on Fortune magazine’s list of most admired companies.

Last year, Walmart’s stocks even defied the Dow’s downturn, showing an 18% increase. Though the company he founded is often maligned, Sam Walton’s accomplishments are indisputable. In 1998, Time named him one of the most influential people of the century. A month before his death in 1992, President Bush awarded him the Medal of Freedom, our country’s highest civil tribute, saying, “This is not…about Sam Walton’s wealth. It’s about leadership… As he became more and more successful he never turned his back on his roots.”

From humble beginnings, Sam Walton envisioned and implemented a new way of doing business. His life’s work is a legacy that illustrates the difference between management and leadership.

Leaders esteem people and seek to maximize human capital. While managers focus on overseeing the completion of tasks according to a deadline and predictable outcomes, leaders look for human potential and possibilities. Leaders inspire others with a clear purpose and vision behind the tasks at hand. In the place of quotas, standards, and regulations, a leader gives values, goals, and a mission.

Leaders seek innovation and creative solutions while managers reinforce the status quo. Managers direct their attention and energy to results, often short-circuiting creativity. Leaders appreciate the process, looking for new solutions to accomplish tasks.

Leaders takes risks, while managers follow a formula. Motivated by a leader, possessed by a belief in a cause, people will make sacrifices. In the film “Jerry Maguire,” Renee Zellweger’s character, Dorothy, leaves her job to work with Tom Cruise’s Jerry after he is fired for writing and distributing a personal mission statement about unfair practices in the sports management business. Her reasoning: “I just want to be inspired.” Jerry’s rebellion against business as usual is a risk of his job and reputation. The payoff is a more authentic life and a successful career as a sports agent, rebuilt on a foundation of personal relationships. This fictional example underscores a reality that is often missed by people working in upper management: sometimes you have to defy conventions in order to achieve greatness.

Managers may be lonely at the top, but leaders invite others along for the journey. Inherent in effective leadership is the concept of helping others develop their potential. When Sam Walton started his chain of discount stores, one of his strategies was giving his local managers a stake in the company. In this way, Walton’s was not a singular success.

Time invested in training and launching leaders may seem peripheral to more urgent tasks. It may seem like a diversion from your immediate purpose. As a long term strategy, though, leadership development can exponentially increase your company’s ability to get things done.

Leadership’s worth cannot be summarized in a quarterly report or earnings statement. Without exception, business leaders must manage resources toward a fiscal payoff for their companies. Leaders of non-profit organizations must ensure that the needs of their clients are met. Though managers may be satisfied with achieving an increased bottom line or providing adequate and expected services to clients, a leader`s clarion call is toward purposeful pursuit and fulfillment of a personal or organizational mission.

You may never develop a chain of stores that bear your name, make Time’s list of influential people, or top the list of our nation’s wealthiest people. Yet you can begin to craft your own legacy by leaving management to managers and choosing to lead instead.

by Rebecca Robinson, Guest Author

My clients know that I have a special fondness for the importance of a leader slowing down to ask important questions rather than just talk. When I talk to other people who do the kind of work I do, I find that many also see the value in coaching their clients to ask good questions.

Asking questions is essential, and is only as good as our willingness to listen to the answers. I was reminded of this twice yesterday:

1. A team I’m working with got into a heated discussion. Everyone felt like they had to get their opinions in. They were interrupting each other, talking over each other, and focused on what they’d say nex to defend their positions. Nobody asked any questions, and nobody was listening.
2. A woman I’ve never met called yesterday to seemingly pick my brain about what I do (she was considering a similar career path). In a half hour “conversation” (this isn’t the right term), she asked me one question – and cut me off when I attempted to answer it. She talked about herself the entire time.

So how do you learn to listen?

Like a 12-step program, our listening – or not – must become a conscious choice, a habit. And it needs to be practiced and ingrained. For starters, consider doing the following:

1. Observe: Although it sounds odd, observe yourself in conversation. How often do you pause for someone else to speak?
2. Stop talking: I know it sounds obvious. But the first step in listening is to shut up.
3. Don’t interrupt: Also obvious, but most of us do this unconsciously.
4. Turn toward the person who is speaking and look them in the eye: We tend to listen on autopilot, not realizing the effect our body language may have on stifling a conversation.
5. Stop the quacking: You know, that incessant voice in your head that wanders off to what you’ll have for lunch or the ugly tie the person you’re speaking with is wearing?
6. Turn off or at least ignore the buzzing, whining, ringing cell phone. When you pay attention to your phone in the middle of a conversation, many will believe you’ve made the choice that the phone is more important than they are.

The above steps are just plain courtesies. They are obvious, but often hard to put into action. They show respect for the person you are speaking to. Learning to do these and making them habit are key. Find someone to help you by observing you and providing feedback.

Next post – part II – will be about going beyond listening – for those really important conversations.

I am honored to be a guest blogger today over at Mountain State University’s Leadertalk site. Please visit their site often (or subscribe to a feed) – it’s a great resource for leadership reflection and information!

Include us: We are social animals and we have a desire to feel as if we are part of something. We also want to make an impact. Include us in your thinking, your brainstorming, your actions. When we’re included, we can help you to do your best work.

Listen to us: Often, all we want is for you to listen to us. We are people too, with the same needs as you; one of them is to be listened to. And….who knows? You might learn a thing or two from us.

Suspend your judgement of us: There are times when we need to say what we need to say. This may include how we feel about things, our values, some of the “soft” stuff. Don’t discount these things. We really feel them, and they are legitimate and real to us.

Encourage us: Some encouragement, acknowledging that we’re on the right path can go a long way. Our confidence may be waning, and the situation at work may be very tough. Let us know we’re doing fine.

Be kind to us: Sounds silly, but kindness is a powerful motivator. And kindness is catching! When you are kind to us,we will be kind back.

Thank us: We need to hear “thank you” more often. And your thank you needs to be specific – to us as individuals and about the great work we are doing.

It isn’t complicated or hard to show respect, but it can be difficult when you are caught up in the day to day stuff of getting things done, especially in these tough times.