Leader-Are You Willing to Admit and Showcase a Mistake?

January 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The January 22, 2008 Wall Street Journal included an article in Jared Sandberg’s weekly Cubicle Culture column, entitled: Why Learn and Grow on the Job?  It’s Easier to Feign Infallibility, that fits nicely with my recent posts on leadership decision making. In his column, Sandberg focuses on those individuals that we have all encountered, that masterfully and deliberately avoid taking blame or responsibility for any mistake.  He states: “At work, some people just won’t admit to making a mistake.  They have a gripping fear that it will indict their character, attract more work and invite more blame.”  How true (the existence of these people) and how sad.

The question of the moment is how do you deal with your own mistakes?  Are you a leader that works hard to distance yourself from your mistakes or those of your team members, or do you embrace mistakes as learning experiences and place them in full view?  How you deal with mistakes says a lot about your character as a leader.

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Leader-It’s Time to Act on That Poor Performer

January 29, 2008 By 2 Comments

One of the most common mistakes of leaders of all experience levels is failing to act in a timely manner on poor performers.  This is certainly consistent with our firm’s findings in interviews and surveys over the past two years, where the winner for  number one self-described weakness was delivering constructive feedback.  (Choose your label: constructive feedback=the tough performance discussion, robust dialog or candid conversation.)

Apparently, many of us are wired with a naive sense of optimism and a willingness to continue throwing good time and money after bad in the never-ending hope that the poor performer will see the light, make adjustments and turn things around.  And it does happen.  Rarely.  In fact, so infrequently, that in my opinion, the leader is better served operating with the parable of the scorpion and the frog in mind.  In case you don’t recall, the scorpion convinces the frog that he has changed and should the frog kindly agree to transporting the scorpion across the pond, the scorpion promises not to sting him.  Needless to say, they don’t make it across the pond.  With their last gasps, the frog asks why and the scorpion responds with, "It’s my nature."

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Leadership Decision-Making: Learn to Be Like Mike

January 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

I worked for two executives with very different styles in my first job out of college.  The first executive, Tom, was a polished professional that liked to study a problem, gather the facts, look at the situation from all angles and then sleep on it.  And sleep on it.  And sleep on it some more.  Tom would rarely make a decision and when he did, so much time had elapsed that his team had moved on and made the decision for themselves.  (Often choosing a very different direction than the one Tom had finally decided upon.) 

The firm’s other key executive, Mike, would quickly frame an issue, ask for input and decide.  Mike was less concerned about developing what he believed was the perfect answer, and he clearly did not fear being wrong.  If he made a mistake, he had no qualms about admitting his error, adjusting his course and plowing ahead.  I decided very early that I would strive to be like Mike and not like Tom.

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A Friday Walk on The Lighter Side: Growth is Not a Four Letter Word

January 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

(The following is a figment of my imagination only and any resemblance to anyone living, dead or otherwise is purely accidental.

I had a horrible consultant’s dream the other night, where I found myself shouted down in a planning session when I had the temerity to suggest that the “g” word was suspiciously absent from the prioritized corporate action-list. 

“Growth is an outcome!” one person shouted.  “We need to fix the
plumbing and growth will come our way!” shouted another.  “Growth is
not our issue,” hollered a third person who I had observed arriving
just after the financial review showcased what can only be described as
reverse growth. “Death to the growth zealot,” shouted a fourth baring
his teeth.” I remember looking at the door and mentally calculating
whether I would win the footrace to the exit should that be
necessary.   Fortunately, my alarm clock went off and I breathed easier
until I remembered that I was facilitating a discussion about growth in
two hours.  I immediately broke out in a sweat.  Fortunately for me,
the group was much less “Lord of the Flies-like” than the team in my
dream.  I did however maintain an unobstructed view to the door at all
times.

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Leader: The Company Might Be Virtual, But the People Are Real

January 24, 2008 By 1 Comment

One of the wonderful benefits of modern technology is the ability of organizations to scale without investing in bricks and mortar. It is commonplace in a number of industries for people to work together for years and never set eyes on each other.  It’s also common for the leaders in these virtual organizations to lose track of the fact that there are real people behind the e-mail and text messages. 

People choose a virtual professional lifestyle because they like the freedom and flexibility that it provides.  However, when a virtual organization is faced with the need (or desire) to shift gears into a new growth mode or to change its strategy, it is essential that the leaders of this firm rethink their communication and engagement with their remote knowledge workers. For many leaders used to not communicating frequently with these invisible associates, this can mean a significant change in behavior.

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