Leadership Caffeine: “You Have No Business Leading Others”
Filed under: Leadership Caffeine, Leadership Skills, Talent Management
In setting and adopting strategy, it’s critically important to decide what you are not going to do. The same goes for promoting people into roles where they are responsible for others. It’s OK to say, “No” to those who aren’t right for the role.
Leading others is not an inalienable right that comes with seniority or through mastery of a technical discipline. It’s too bad that a good number of senior leaders struggle to offer a clear “No” to those seeking the role.
While I’m a staunch defender of the premise that leaders are mostly made not born, there are some people who have no more business responsible for others than I do conducting brain surgery.
Sorry folks, not everyone can learn to lead. This doesn’t mean that leadership misfits don’t end up in roles responsible for others, but that doesn’t make it right.
One way to stop the perpetuation of lousy leaders and lousy leadership practices is to quit passing the problem forward. While that’s contrary to what we see in many of our schools and certainly from our politicians who like to kick the problems down the road, it’s an opportunity for you to take a principled stand for all of the right reasons.
3 Core Questions to Answer Before Promoting Anyone to a Leadership Position:
1. What are the individual’s true intentions? Much like a father questioning his daughter’s new date, experienced leaders must work with their team members to properly assess motivations. If pay, title or an office with a door are the unspoken objectives, the individual should be shown the door, at least as it pertains to a role leading others.
While most people won’t outwardly describe less than honorable intentions, some careful observation and interaction via low-risk developmental assignments spread over time, will provide you with ample insights to make a good decision.
2. How well does the candidate self-manage? If the individual showcases an ego as big as Indiana and a desire to prove that he is the smartest person in every room he occupies, the obvious lack of both emotional and social intelligence, is not only a leading indicator of poor fit, it’s a big, bright flashing red flag. Instead of putting on your dark glasses to shield your eyes from the light, it’s time to slow down or stop and face reality.
3. What is it about prior performance (anywhere in life) that offers clues to future performance in a leadership role? While people can and do change, I want to see at a minimum, examples of leadership…even if the circumstances were informal. Eagle Scout? Student Council President? Volunteer Manager? Military leadership?! Examples of where the individual rallied people to troubleshoot and solve problems? Life crises that taught important leadership skills?
The Bottom-Line for Now:
When we sign on to support the development of new leaders in our organizations, we are signing on for a full contact activity. The output is a direct reflection on us, and given the importance of this activity, it behooves all of us to take time and deliberately and carefully assess our leadership candidates.
I’m all for giving deserving people a chance, however, the key word is, “deserving.” Convince me through your actions that your intentions are honorable, and I’m willing to move to the next step. Prove to me that you can manage the person looking back at you in the mirror and your chances of gaining my support are increasing. And show me through examples that you have context for the role and I’m motivated to support you. Fail any one of those three, and you’re out, at least as it comes to leading.
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Want More? Check out Art Petty’s latest book, Leadership Caffeine-Ideas to Energize Your Professional Development. Created for fast-moving and highly motivated professionals and leaders, Leadership Caffeine offers more than 80 short, idea-packed essays for the critical leadership and professional development situations in your life.
Join the many groups and management teams and meeting/conference organizers who have adopted Leadership Caffeine as a discussion and development tool. The collection makes a great gift for the newly promoted leader or for your team during the holidays.
- Single and Kindle copies on Amazon.
- Group and Volume orders, visit Marathon Books for the best service.
About Art Petty:
Art Petty is a Leadership & Career Coach and Strategy Consultant, helping motivated professionals of all levels achieve their potential. In addition to working with highly motivated professionals, Art frequently works with project teams in pursuit of high performance. Contact Art via e-mail to discuss a coaching, workshop or speaking engagement or to inquire about being a guest on The Leadership Caffeine podcast.
Leadership Caffeine-Always Lead with Context
Filed under: Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Management Education, Performance, Talent Management
Overheard from various managers:
“I know it doesn’t make any sense, but corporate wants it done this way.”
“You don’t need to worry about the Why…just do your job.”
“Because I said so.”
Chances are you’ve heard one of those statements or some variant of them at some time during your professional life. They are obnoxious, offensive and importantly, they take a perfectly good opportunity to get the best effort out of someone and stomp all over it and then flush it down the toilet.
The empty orders above are utterances without context.
Context in this case is that not-so-secret ingredient that helps people understand the idea or issue and how it connects to something important in the workplace. Context provides the basis for understanding and assessing a situation or a request to do something. It has the equivalent workplace outcome of adding yeast to the process of making bread. Without it, everything is flat.
People and teams do their best work when they understand how their efforts fit into the bigger picture of the organization. It’s unfortunate that in the hectic pace of business, too many managers fail to leverage the catalytic power of context, and instead, end up issuing empty orders to their compliant but not fully engaged employees.
The Three Levels of Context in the Workplace:
1. Big Picture…What We’re All About Context (Organizational Context). This is “reason for being” context and it provides that sense of belonging to something meaningful and purposeful.
Inherent in this type of foundational context is a directional component as well. Mission, Vision and Values are powerful context builders here. Unfortunately, these important concepts are often reduced to meaningless jumbles of framed artwork hanging on conference room walls. Instead, Mission, Vision and Values should be used to offer critical foundational understanding of the purpose and general direction of the organization.
Your Actions:
- Periodically talk to team members about Mission, Vision and Values. Ensure that new employees understand the relevance of these elements to the broader work and functioning of the organization.
- Use the values to define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.
- Teach people and teams to leverage values in decision-making.
- Engage senior leaders in the discussions and politely challenge them to make Mission, Vision and Values relevant in the context of the firm’s current situation.
2. What We’re Doing to Win with Customers and Beat Competitors (Strategic Context). Whereas foundational context (Mission, Vision and Values) provide a sense of belonging and general purpose and direction, strategic context gives people the high level understanding of the importance of their actions and how and where they fit in support of helping the firm win customers and beat competitors.
I’ve never understood why so many senior leaders fail to provide adequate strategic context to their broader organizations. One leader kept his firm’s strategy securely locked in a drawer, lest anyone leak it to competitors. Another rationalized that the big picture thinking was for senior leaders only. Both grossly misunderstand how important this context is to helping the organization move forward.
Actions:
- Talk strategy frequently. Don’t kick off projects, discuss results, set goals or talk about improvements, cost cuts or just about anything, without anchoring the discussion in strategy.
- Invite front-line professionals (sales, customer service) to talk with your team frequently about marketplace realities and issues.
- Ensure that all goals discussions are in the context of strategy, and always, always, always link scorecard and other discussions about business performance to strategy.
- Ask for input. The broader topics of strategy and execution should be bi-directional, with employees offering ideas for improvements and feedback on what’s working and what’s not.
3. “Me” Context. We all want to understand how we as individuals fit into the picture. We also want to understand at least in general where we might be going as the team or organization succeeds.
“Me” Context provides us with purpose and with a sense of belonging. “I count, and my work here contributes to helping move the team forward and ultimately to helping us win with customers and beat competitors.”
The absence of “Me Context” results in a kind of out of body experience at work, where people go through the motions, but don’t truly engage with their full force and power.
Actions:
- Always frame positions and job descriptions in terms of how the role is expected to contribute to the firm’s/team’s success.
- Ensure that goals discussions are anchored in Strategic Context.
- Deliver behaviorally-focused constructive and positive feedback often and always link it to the business.
- As identified above, ask for input. Your act of asking and listening…and then acting reinforces the connection that people have with their organizations and teams.
- Don’t ignore professional development and advancement. A surprisingly large number of organizations that I encounter don’t have anything formal in place for developmental activities and discussions. The absence of this system is not an excuse for you. Help people grow and they will pay you back many times over.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
One of your core tasks as a leader is to foster an environment where people have the tools and resources to do their best work in support of the firm. Context helps create the effective working environment. Consider this as critical context for your own role.
Leadership Caffeine: Respectfully Speaking, Let’s Cure Respect Deficit Disorder
Filed under: Career, Dealing with Difficult People, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Life and Business, Talent Management
Newsflash: The Center for Leadership Diseases (CLD) has just announced an addition to their growing list of maladies and afflictions running rampant through the leadership and customer service communities.
Respect Deficit Disorder (RDD) has officially been added to a list of maladies that includes Two-Dimensional Leader Disease (2DLD) and Tired Leader Syndrome (TLS).
In this era of runaway deficits, it seems that the need to treat others with respect…especially those who work for and with us… well..it has run away.
The extent of the disease is not entirely known, although it has been widely observed in congress as well as in a large number of workplaces and oddly enough, even in settings where treating people with respect might be expected to be a key criterion for success.
The CLD encourages anyone observing someone afflicted with this malady to direct them to the content below. For extreme cases, a stern rebuke from Mom about “treating others as you would like to be treated,” is recommended. If necessary, Mom should brandish the wooden spoon as a reminder of the implications of failing to improve.
Respectfully Yours, What Part of “Respect” Don’t You Get?
The one absolute certain thing about your day today is that you and only you determine whether you treat everyone you encounter with respect. Or not.
Too many of us will choose the “Or Not,” in spite of the fact that the simple and free but priceless act of showing respect is the most powerful lesson you will ever learn on the road to success.
For anyone leading others, respect is your most precious currency. Treat people with respect and watch resistance melt, collaboration and creativity flourish and joy or at least enjoyment begin to break out all around you.
Overheard…Contrast:
“She always pays attention to me…and listens to my ideas. Even when she’s busy, she takes time to pause and focus on me. The way she deals with me makes me want to do my best.”
With:
“If I’m lucky, he turns away from his computer screen when I have a question. Usually, he snarls something unintelligible and then waits for me to go away.”
I’m comfortable betting heavily that respect is not only correlated to high performance, but that there’s a causal relationship.
For those dealing with others, show respect to those approaching you, and you reduce resistance, gain customers, sell more, put people at ease during difficult times or simply ease the burden for a moment for someone during their journey.
How many times have you approached someone (especially the receptionist at the doctor’s office or the clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles) to be greeted by a look that says, “Who the f#$% are you and why are you standing in front of me?” While the behavior is inexcusable, the boss is truly to blame in this situation.
For those of you who operate small businesses, teach your people to smile! (see: Smiles, Sales and Leadership)
I don’t get why people fail the respect test so many times every day. The concept is as old as humanity and wars have been fought and lives lost over the lack of this free but precious act of human decency.
Showing Respect isn’t Showing Weakness and Conversely…
And while some may confuse respect with weakness, don’t fall into that trap. In fact, it’s the opposite. Showing respect requires you to sublimate your own desires or ego and focus on the other person. This takes self-confidence and discipline, both critical indicators of strength.
Good negotiators get this…great negotiators live it. Respect wielded liberally is a powerful force.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Leading and living are a both a great deal more enjoyable and a heck of a lot more productive when every action is preceded by the act of showing respect for the person or group in front of you. If you are leading others, take time, pay attention and engage with people like they matter. If you are leading others who deal with others, have this conversation and then hold people accountable. And if all else fails, Mom will straighten you out.
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About Art Petty:
Art Petty is a Leadership & Career Coach helping motivated professionals of all levels achieve their potential. In addition to working with highly motivated professionals, Art frequently works with project teams in pursuit of high performance. Art’s second book, Leadership Caffeine-Ideas to Energize Your Professional Development, will be published in September of 2011.
Contact Art via e-mail to discuss a coaching, workshop or speaking engagement.
Leadership, Unrealized Potential and the Sad Passing of Amy Winehouse
The sad ending to the life of 27 year-old and talented but visibly troubled singer, Amy Winehouse, offers a sobering reminder of the horrible waste of undeveloped talent.
Winehouse’s music now belongs to the ages. While perhaps she was most well known for her troubles, I suspect her fans are even more saddened by what they won’t hear from her in the years to come.
What if?
Different circumstances…an accident, but I still wonder what Stevie Ray Vaughn would have given us these past two decades. Perhaps the difference between SRV and Winehouse was that Stevie soared beyond his problems to deliver something remarkable for a time, only to be cut down by an accident. Too short, but greatness delivered.
What if?
Some people flirt with their potential for a moment in time, but never quite realize it. Winehouse seems to fit in this category. If you listen and experience her work on “Back to Black” and “Frank” you hear something special. Someone flirting with greatness…and it leaves you…or at least me wanting more.
What if?
What’s the Unrealized Potential on Your Team?
I see unrealized potential in the workplace all of the time. Brilliant people held back by their lack of self-confidence or self-esteem. Visionaries who labor in silence…and great minds working in one area to pay the bills while their true talents go unappreciated.
Some bosses hold people back. I overheard this recently…a remarkable knowledge worker with talents invisible to his boss offered some ideas to improve the business. “You stick to your job and I’ll make the right decisions for the business.”
What if?
Other bosses fail to help individuals and teams find the greatness in them. These people are transactional managers or narcissistic leaders interested only in the task at hand…and blind to the potential of people and the business.
As a leader, you have a choice to search for greatness in your people. Your actions, your word….your efforts to nudge or push or help people develop, is what you are supposed to be about. In your own small or big way, you’re supposed to be a contributor to greatness.
Ask and help people answer: “What if?”
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Don’t leave unrealized potential on the table…for yourself or the people you serve. It’s OK to ask “What if? in the present tense…as long as it’s answered by actions. After the fact however, the words simply speak of greatness unrealized and talent undeveloped.
July Leadership Development Round Table Challenge
Filed under: Leadership, Making Decisions, Middle Management, Talent Management
It’s time for the July Leadership Development Round Table Challenge!
You may recall from last month’s inaugural event, this is where we put forth a vexing situation and a number of regular contributors plus one guest take the opportunity to share their best thoughts on how to handle it… in 200 words or less. You vote with your comments and with your actual vote, and after one week of fierce but professional debate, a winner is announced.
This was great fun for all parties involved last month and it’s nice to get everyone involved in solving what are most definitely real-world challenges. We appreciate your active contributions and votes!
This month’s contributors:
1. Dan McCarthy, from Great Leadership
2. Art Petty, from Management Excellence
3. Mary Jo Asmus, from Aspire-CS Note from Art: as of this writing, Mary Jo is still without power from the storms that hit the Midwest this week. She encouraged us to proceed on schedule sans her post.
4. Steve Roesler, from All Things Workplace
5. Jennifer Miller, from The People Equation
6. Scott Eblin, from The Next Level
and our esteemed Roundtable Guest this month is:
7. Sharlyn Lauby, from HR Bartender
OK, it’s time for the case. Fair warning, I’m the host this month, and it was my job to write the case. While a bit longish, I erred on the side of wanting to paint a picture for you to work with. It’s a real situation that is looking for a real solution. With no further adieu, here’s the July Challenge:
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The Set-Up:
A case in a widely read publication once used the label, “Brilliant Problem-Child” (BPC) to describe the high-potential/high-performance employee who manages to tick everyone off while stomping on toes in pursuit of results. Certainly, our culture is filled with descriptions of leaders who are “less than nice” in the workplace, however, the situation gets complicated if your name isn’t Steve Jobs or Larry Ellison and if you’re operating somewhere in the middle layers of an organization.
Just about everyone knows or has worked around someone like our character, Joe, below, and if you’ve been Joe’s manager, you’ve dealt with the dilemma of “What price, brilliance?” From “results at any cost,” to “why can’t we all get along?” there are a myriad of approaches with varying costs to teams, environment and careers.
Here’s a chance to help Joe’s manager, Pat, (finally) get this one right.
The Situation:
Pat Paulsen, the Director of Product Management for Apex Inc., sat for a few moments and stared out the window after the project team left her office. She was disappointed that her employee, Joe, was once again, the topic of discussion and complaint.
Apparently, Joe had yet again stomped on some toes and bruised some egos on the project team. He had shared his disdain for what he viewed as a slow and overly bureaucratic process to gain approval for the feature specifications for the next version of Apex’s flagship product. When the project team resisted his efforts to ram through the specifications, Joe had used his considerable pull with the overseas head of engineering to bypass the team completely. His response to the protests from team members was, “I’ll get this done with or without you.”
Joe:
Joe was a widely acknowledged brilliant product manager who had worked hard since the business unit’s inception 7 years ago to translate customer needs into product ideas and programs that solved problems and kept competitors off-balance and chasing Apex.
Additionally, customers and industry partners respected Joe’s industry knowledge and his zeal for supplying them with products that helped them run their businesses more effectively. They even overlooked his propensity to tell them how to run parts of their business, because he was most often right. “One partner summed it up best, “Joe has a horrible bedside manner, but he knows his stuff.”
Pat and Joe
Pat, as Joe’s manager, had been on the receiving end of a number of these types of complaints over the years. The conversations typically started with, “I know Joe is brilliant, but… .” The group that just left her office didn’t include any references to “brilliant” this time.
Pat genuinely believed that she had gone beyond the call of duty trying to remedy the problem and support Joe’s development. In addition to documenting, discussing and offering ample feedback and guidance over the past few years, Pat had invested in Joe attending several workshops on improving interpersonal skills. And just last year, Pat, with her superior’s blessing, had invested in sending Joe off to the prestigious Institute for Leadership Excellence, for some focused and very expensive coaching.
Perhaps the most perplexing part of the situation was that Joe seemed to genuinely take the feedback and coaching to heart. He worked hard on modifying his behavior after receiving feedback, but eventually he would become frustrated when project team members or groups ignored his guidance or moved too slowly on an issue that he viewed as critical.
The Environment:
The values at Apex were clearly posted in every conference room and they clearly implored people to “Break Down Walls,” “Challenge the Status Quo” and “Serve Customers First.” Taken literally, Joe’s behavior matched those values perfectly. He did do great things for the firm, and he was a thorn in everyone’s side in the process.
The success of the business unit over the past few years (much of which was due to Joe’s products), had led to a significant shift in the internal culture, from one fueled by entrepreneurial zeal to one that was building processes and relying more on teams. It was clearly a different environment and one where Joe’s approach was increasingly in conflict with the emerging culture.
What Next?
Pat shuddered to think what life would be like without Joe’s knowledge and expertise helping the company specify and launch great products. She pushed the momentary vision of him wearing a competitor’s badge at the upcoming industry trade show out of her mind.
Pat had no doubt about Joe’s brilliance, but it was clear that his approach engaging with others had more than worn thin. She sighed and pondered what to do next.
Help Pat. What should Pat do given the history and circumstances described in the case?
Advice from the Roundtable Members:
-From Art Petty, Management Excellence (note: as host, I’m honor-bound to write my answer before reading the answers from other members…thus my being first in the line-up. All other posts added in the order received):
Pat is in a pickle, and her options are not great. Joe is unlikely to change his spots with more coaching and counseling, and the”or else” discussion will begin moving Joe out the door. Leaders often have to make hard, unpopular calls, and this certainly feels like one of those.
The values describe an aggressive culture, and given the growth (on the back of Joe’s products), new people and new processes and teams are forming and feeling their way forward. While Joe seems to introduce significant task conflict and creative tension, it does not appear that his behavior is unethical, immoral or toxic. It does create task stress, which can contribute to improved performance.
Strengthen the team…provide coaching and training on team dynamics, conflict resolution and managing challenging team members. No one should have to walk on eggshells around Joe, and individuals and groups must be comfortable conducting robust dialogue with him and each other. If his behavior crosses the line from task to personal and the toxicity goes up, I would advise Pat to move him out. For now, I’m not willing to suggest she trade a visionary with an unquestioned ability to create value.
Leadership is often lonely.
-From Jennifer V. Miller, The People Equation
It’s time for Pat to level with Joe and let him know that if he doesn’t curb his atrocious bedside manner, he’ll be discovering his brilliance somewhere outside of Apex Inc. Allowing this behavior to continue tells other employees: “It’s ok to act like a jerk as long as you’re brilliant”. Lots of really smart people don’t leave bodies in ditches, so the “we tolerate it because he’s brilliant” argument doesn’t cut it.
Joe’s been acting this way for seven years, so he’ll push back, offering evidence of all his accomplishments. Pat should meet with Human Resources to review the existing documentation and develop a plan for the conversation with Joe.
The overall message should be: “Joe, we appreciate your efforts on behalf of Apex. Business conditions have changed and we now need team players, not hard-charging mavericks. Your behavior must change, or you will be fired.”
After that, it’s up to Joe to determine if he wants to change. He’s increasingly becoming a square peg in a round hole. Not only is Joe’s behavior damaging to other employees, it’s most likely stressful for him to continually be told to “change”. He may decide that it’s best to move on.
-From Sharlyn Lauby, H.R. Bartender
The thing that stood out to me was the environment. The scenario paints a disconnect between the stated company values and the actual internal culture. At some point, the company will have to reconcile this. That’s another post.
I’ve seen this situation many times. A person has creativity and produces at a high level but leaves body bags all along the way. Hopefully, Pat is able to recognize the good things Joe has done for the company while at the same time realize it might be time for him to move on.
If Pat continues with the status quo, there are two possible repercussions. (1) the remaining team members become completely disengaged creating an “us versus them” environment. (2) Pat’s credibility goes down the tubes because she failed to deal with the situation.
Pat needs to explore a way to have Joe exit the team in a positive way, allowing him to keep his dignity. At the same time, she needs to set new expectations for the remaining team members who will still be accountable for delivering results.
-From Dan McCarthy, Great Leadership
Joe is doing exactly what he was hired to do and you’ve allowed him to do. In fact, up until recently, it sounds like Joe’s values were a perfect match for your company culture.
Oh sure, you’ve spent a bundle on executive coaches and fancy charm schools, and for a while, he may have been ready and able to change. However, when push came to shove, you continued to let him get away with it because he got the results you craved. To make matters worse, it sounds like you’ve been so dependent on Joe that you’ve ignored the development of the rest of the team.
Managing an employee like Joe is like having a drinking or gambling problem – we deny there’s a problem until it’s a crisis.
It’s time to sit with Joe and spell out your behavioral expectations. More importantly, it’s time to lay out the consequences – this has been what’s missing in order for him to change.
If he does not change, then you need to follow-up on those consequences. I’m betting he will once he sees you’re serious. That’s when you earn your stripes as a leader!
-From Scott Eblin, The Next Level
In considering Pat’s dilemma about Joe, two quotations come to mind. The first is from the former French president and general Charles deGaulle. “The cemeteries, he said, are full of indispensable men.” Pat is feeling trapped because she’s allowed herself to believe that Joe is indispensable. She will eventually have to deal with his behavior in a definitive way. It’s just a question of whether it’s sooner or later. Either way, she needs to start working on building the company’s talent pipeline now so that when Joe leaves she’s not left with a gaping talent hole in the organization.
That leads to the second quotation. Paraphrasing Karl Marx (yes, that Karl Marx), the good of the many outweigh the good of the few. As talented as they are, people like Joe ultimately stifle their organizations because the really good people leave because they don’t want to work with a pain in the butt. If Pat lets this play out much longer, she’s going to be left with a lot of mediocre people and Joe. Not a great competitive situation to be in. She might have one more “You’ve got to change or else,” conversation with Joe, but she has to be prepared to let him go.
-From Steve Roesler, All Things Workplace
Indeed, we’ve probably all dealt with high-performing/low-collaboration types. The last client situation with which I was involved saw the real-life “Pat” character follow the same steps described ( I was “Joe’s” coach). After being involved with a number of these, here are my thoughts. 200 words probably won’t do it justice.
- Joe works for a profit-making company that rewards revenue generation and will go out of business without it. (Note the Apex well-publicized values). So, the question to ask is, “While this huge pain in the butt is ringing up business, what behaviors can we all learn to live with?”
- Pat has introduced developmental activities to impact Joe’s behavior. In fact, Joe has actually exhibited desired behaviors. It seems that the smell of victory puts him into high gear and, like a profit magnet, he goes for the gold.
- Bypassing people and procedures is normally a no-no. But look at the bestselling books that tell you to be a Maverick or use the Fire-Ready-Aim approach to business. If you’re a high achiever, what are you supposed to believe?
One last possibility: team meeting with Joe to let it all hang out. Could it hurt?
It’s Your Turn…What Say You?
Vote in the poll below for your favorite answer, and please share your own professional perspectives with a comment.
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