Leadership Caffeine: For a Change, Look At What’s Working
Filed under: Career, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leadership Skills, Management Education, Middle Management, Performance, Professional Growth, Talent Management, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
Consider these frequently overheard refrains from two different leaders:
Leader 1: “That’s great! Congratulations! How do we do more of that?”
Leader 2: “That’s broken and we need to fix it right away.”
We have all met both of these characters. One sees opportunity and achievement and building blocks everywhere she looks and the other sees flaws and problems that need fixing.
And while you are free to accuse me of making a hasty generalization here, my “blink” assessment of the two is that I want to hire or work for Leader #1
Don’t get me wrong. I like the attitude of Leader #2 if we’re talking about toilets, sump pumps and just about anything else that is found in the plumbing family. Otherwise, #1 is my choice for manager or project leader.
I’m not certain why some people are pre-disposed to see beauty and what’s right in people and things, and why others see gaps and flaws when looking at the same objects. In the world of leadership, I do worry that some of this reflects bad habits carried forward from early, unsupervised and un-coached first-time leadership roles. More than a few first-time leaders are thrown or drafted into their position with no more idea of what to do than you or I might have if we were asked to perform surgery today, and the instinct to tell, order or criticize is part of a survival strategy. Left untreated, this early style easily becomes dominant.
And yes, you continuous improvement disciples might appropriately chastise me for discrediting the person that’s looking for things to continuously improve. My focus here is on the impact that these two different leaders have on the people around them. #1 fuels performance by encouraging people to build on successes and #2 flummoxes people by going for the negatives or the gaps. #1’s style not only doesn’t preclude continuous improvement, I believe it fuels it by reinforcing the notion of doing more of “what’s working.”
I’ve worked for both of these characters at different points during my career, and now when I see them regularly in my client assignments, I’m never surprised to observe that the results are always the same:
- #1’s teams are productive and creative, and good people migrate towards this leader.
- #2’s teams are often efficient but lifeless. Good people seek to escape and those that don’t mind the constant “here’s what’s wrong” view of the world linger on, comfortable in the fact that someone will tell them what to fix.
5 Ideas For Changing Your Leadership View from What’s Wrong to What’s Right:
1. Project post-mortems or activity debriefs are a great place to start. Instead of the typical, “let’s assess what we did wrong and how we can improve next time,” try: “what did we do right and how can we do more of it next time?” I guarantee that those are two very different conversations.
2. Set a goal every day to offer one piece of behavioral, business-focused positive feedback every hour. Keep tally of how well you do. And remember, the feedback has to be genuine, and specific and behavioral enough that someone will understand what to keep doing or to do more of. A classic example is, “nice presentation.” It’s fine to hear that, but what did you do that was nice? A more specific example might be, “during your presentation, you really engaged the audience. Your eye-contact was excellent, your body posture was open and inviting, and best of all, your constant smile warmed everyone up.”
3. Bite your tongue and hold-off every time you are tempted to criticize. While I don’t want you to short-circuit your use of constructive feedback, I do want you to quit telling everyone what’s wrong, what’s not working and what needs to be fixed. Replace statements with questions and then shut up and listen!
4. Try adjusting your altitude just a bit and looking at the big picture of what your team does effectively. Let them know how impressed you are by their work and their outcomes.
5. Let your team members find the areas that need to be improved upon, and then encourage them to take ownership of those ideas. Take it a step further and help knock down some obstacles so that they succeed with their improvement initiatives.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Don’t think for a second that I’m asking you to walk around and avoid dealing with problems. I am however encouraging you to adjust your focus a bit and start looking at what’s right, what’s working and what you need to do more of, rather than what’s wrong. If you already do this, do more of it. And if you’re reading this saying, “that’s not me,” it can’t hurt to try the above suggestions, can it?
Here’s to building on strengths and successes. And here’s to plumbers everywhere that keep the water flowing!
The January Leadership Development Carnival-Best of 2009
Filed under: Fresh Voices, Leadership, Leadership Carnivals, Leadership Skills, Leading Change, Life and Business, Management Education, Performance, Professional Growth, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
Dan McCarthy, the proprietor of the well-named and always excellent Great Leadership Blog, is out with The January Leadership Development Carnival-The Best of 2009 Edition. I am honored to be in some great company with Dan and many, many of my absolute favorite thinkers and writers, and I encourage you to click over and spend some quality time soaking up the energy and great ideas.
Thanks Dan for the inclusion and for your hard work in pulling this great feature together!
Two Voices-Humility and the Effective Leader
Filed under: Career, Fresh Voices, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Management Education, Professional Growth, Talent Management, Values, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
Note 
from Art: One of the true joys of my blogging experience comes from meeting and collaborating with some remarkable people. Mary Jo Asmus is one of those remarkable people. She writes an outstanding leadership blog offering powerful and relationship-focused perspectives on all things leadership. I don’t miss a post of hers and encourage you to check out her site and make certain to subscribe. We collaborated a few months ago for Two Voices on: The Words of a Leader, and enjoyed the experience and the reactions so much that we vowed to do it again.
Well, we’re back. Mary Jo reached out to me a few weeks ago and raised the topic of “Humility and the Leader,” and we were both so interested in exploring this issue that we went off to our separate corners and the output is reflected in the two posts below. While the posts don’t necessarily reflect a point-counterpoint perspective, they do bring two unique perspectives to what turned out to be a challenging issue. My gut indicates that we might even elicit some interesting feedback from the many thoughtful readers that frequent our respective blogs.
OK, enough of my blathering and time to get to the posts. Thanks, Mary Jo for your inspiration!
–
Humility and the Effective Leader-Mary Jo’s Thoughts
So often, when we think of leadership, we think in terms of the charismatic leader, or the bold leader. We think of leaders as bigger than life, exuding confidence and perhaps, arrogance.
For most, “humility” isn’t a word that comes to mind when considering the leaders we think we know. This is unfortunate, because the best leaders I know have been able to stay self confident without crossing the line into arrogance through the simple act of remaining humble. It isn’t easy, especially for leaders who’ve had big success.
When we are humble, we understand and invite the gifts that others bring to our effective leadership.
When we are humble, we invite participation by others.
When we are humble, we are open to new learning.
When we are humble, we have empathy and compassion.
Arrogance breeds behavior that isn’t inclusive, diverse of thought, creative, or enlightening. We know that we are not humble when we’ve become arrogant.
How do we know when we’ve crossed the line into arrogance?
Be vigilant. Listen to yourself. You’ve crossed the line into arrogance when:
- You take all the credit: real leaders know that their success is a group effort. When we are humble, credit goes to all who share in your success.
- You are the smartest person in the room: learning has ceased. You feel as if you have nothing new to learn from those around you. When we are humble, we are in a state of inquiry; not knowing all the answers, which allows us to continually learn.
- You judge those around you as “less” than yourself: you’ve put yourself on a pedestal. Nobody can do anything better than you can. It’s not important where you are in relation to everyone else. What is important is that we push our own edges outward to continually evolve.
- You’ve lost empathy and compassion: you just can’t seem to identify with those in a tough spot or feel sympathy for those in sorrow. When we are humble, we can walk in the shoes of others and we can reach out to them.
Are you staying humble, or have you crossed the line into arrogance? Spend some time thinking about this question and asking for feedback from those you trust on what they are observing in your behavior. And if you’ve crossed the line, call your executive coach to help you get back to humility.
–
Humility and the Effective Leader-Art’s Thoughts
I concede the dictionary war to all of you that will turn to the word “humility” and see a definition that says, “a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness,” or, something as profound as “the quality or state of being humble.”
These are not definitions and words that you tend to associate with successful leaders, and yet, I cannot help but observe that many of the most impactful and successful individuals that I’ve worked with and around have an element of humility in their demeanor and an approach that exudes a quiet but positive self-confidence.
Is humility one of the secret ingredients of successful leaders?
To me, humility in a leader is best described as having the self-confidence borne of experience to be comfortable in your own leadership skin, without having to project to the world that you’re on top and in charge.
To be humble as a leader does not mean that you are weak, but rather that you are thoughtful, considerate and confident in the people around you and their ability to solve problems and learn and solve more problems.
It takes time and experience and self-awareness and raw courage to develop and project humility and confidence at the same time. Both are essential.
We generally don’t come into the leadership world with a sense of humility. Many of the mistakes of early leaders stem from a misguided belief that To Assert = To Lead.
Unfortunately, many carry this belief in assertion equals leadership with them as they climb the ladder. The earlier over-stated and over-projected self-confidence often evolves into arrogance and then hubris. The collateral damage from the leaders that follow this evolutionary path is huge.
The path towards confident humility is considerably more difficult and is filled with its own opportunities for derailment. Those that act humble may be misperceived as weak or uncertain. The To Assert =To Lead crowd likes to hire their own kind in some form of twisted Darwinian practice that ensures the survival of their kind, fully understanding that they may very well be hiring the individual that steps on their back in the climb up the ladder.
Alternatively, I submit that humble leaders are never weak. Like some martial arts experts, they have the skills to strike and defeat, but choose to use them only to defend or to fight for what is right. Fighting or striking out is the last resort of the incompetent who lack the wisdom and intellectual tools and substance to fight fair over concepts and ideas. One of the strengths of the humble leader is that everyone knows that he or she is capable of fighting and winning. This “walk softly and carry a big stick” approach buys the ability for the leader to cultivate his or her humility.
Like so many difficult tasks in life, there is no magic pill or simple guidance that anyone can offer on becoming an effective leader. You learn by doing and YOU choose your own style. I regard leadership both as a profession and as a journey and I encourage people that when they come to the fork in the road on choosing a leadership style, to turn away from the To Assert = To Lead path and start down the more difficult road and spiritual journey that focuses on others over self. I also encourage them to keep their eyes wide open and carry a big stick.
The Bottom Line:
Never underestimate the ability of the quietly confident and slightly humble leader to inspire others to move mountains.
Leaders Teach
Filed under: Career, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Professional Growth, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
For the past few Septembers, it has been my good fortune to remake a journey of my youth in pursuit of education. My role is different now as the teacher instead of student, but the excitement that I have for the experience is the same.
I love the nervous energy that surrounds starting a new class. New faces and voices…an engaging topic and a fresh start for everyone.
From the moment that I step off of the train and start the mile or so walk from the station to DePaul’s downtown Chicago campus at State and Jackson, I can feel the adrenaline start to kick in. It’s partly excitement over the upcoming class and just a bit of the joy of a momentary return to my youth. I’m very aware that I trudged these same steps as a graduate student a quarter of a century ago. They feel familiar and there’s some comfort in that familiarity. Fortunately, our minds struggle with time gaps…and to me those mad dashes across the loop to make class on time were just yesterday. Weren’t they?
I teach because I love learning…and believe me, if you take your job as a teacher seriously, you learn a great deal in the process.
In particular, if you pay attention to your students, you learn a remarkable amount about the times we are living in, about current culture and you learn from the creativity that comes from fresh minds unbiased by decades of experience. Their perspectives are “Why Not?” instead of those scarred by time that say, “You can’t” or “Watch out.”
I’ll opt for the endless possibilities of youth versus the countless limitations learned through experience.
I also teach because I feel a need to pay forward the many great lessons and experiences that I gained from the leaders in my world.
I’ve long believed that the best leaders are teachers. Not lecturers, but teachers. As teachers, they challenge us to think, to explore, to experiment, to learn and to keep trying.
Good leaders encourage us to find joy and energy in the journey of discovery and they remind us that the satisfaction from finding the answer is momentary and should quickly be replaced with more searching and more learning.
The best leaders…like teachers let us fail to learn. They offer encouragement when needed and tough-love when it the situation demands it. They teach us to be accountable to ourselves…and to set exceeding high standards for our own performance.
Great teachers and great leaders challenge us to reach and strive. They might step in if we’re about to fall off a cliff or to cross the street without looking, but they’ll wince and stand by as we fall and skin our knees or as we settle out our playground disputes.
Leaders teach and someday in the future, the student becomes the teacher and the cycle starts anew.
Are you a teacher?
Two Voices on: The Words of a Leader
Filed under: Career, Fresh Voices, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leading Change, Management Education, Middle Management, Professional Growth, Talent Management, Values, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
A note from Art: This dual post was the outcome of a casual exchange of thoughts via Twitter that quickly evolved into a must-write piece and fun collaboration. My partner in crime here is Mary Jo Asmus, the author of the outstanding Intentional Leadership blog...one that I turn to regularly for inspiration and insight. What great fortune it is to have met someone as passionate and thoughtful and pragmatic about the topic of leadership and relationships as Mary Jo. Another wonderful example of the power of social networking!
A note from Mary Jo: Art Petty and I met through the social networking realm recently and found that we were kindred souls, of sorts. Through a Twitter conversation, and subsequent telephone discussion about the importance of the words a leader speaks, we came to this place of deciding to collaborate on a post about the topic. Through the lens of differing, but complimentary aspects of a leader’s words, we found that the collaboration worked to produce the following post that we not only had some fun putting together, but helped us to learn a thing or two from each other – and hope you will too.
-
We decided to run both of our essays at both sites…in part because these posts live on long after their initial publication. Feel free to read and comment at either site, and we’ll watch and offer our respective comments in both locations. Enjoy!
The Words of a Leader-Mary Jo Asmus
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” – Buddha
“Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become character. Character is everything.” – Unknown
“Think before you speak.” Mom
The Buddha, Unknown, and Mom were all very smart. They knew that all words arise from thoughts, and the words we speak are words that are capable of the power to build, inspire, create or destroy.
Before a leader’s words actually get formed within the mouth, there is the place of thought. The thought that creates the words might be but a nanosecond. This little bit of time can’t prevent a leader from saying something that was unintended or taken out of context. And because followers tend to be “hyper vigilant” about their leaders – anything you say has a greater impact than you may be willing to believe.
So this is the connection that a leader needs to be aware of. Thoughts become words that become action. In order for us to say the right things in order to take the right actions, we may need to begin with our thoughts.
Change your thoughts, change your words.
In our speed-of-light world, we must slow down in order to become aware of our thoughts, in order to speak and take action in a way that is congruent with our values. You can bet that Tiger Woods and other successful athletes imagine and rehearse successful outcomes before following through on them. Why wouldn’t this apply to you and the words you use as a leader? What successful outcomes do you want your words to speak of?
Imagine using words that will build, inspire and create. What are they? Imagine your words being accepted and used in the way you intend them to be. Consider the values you hold most dear. What are your values, and how will your words describe them? How will they be incorporated into the language you use every day?
Take a mental break from the anxiety, worry and judging that go on in your thoughts. Consider a reflective practice or a meditative practice that will allow you to do so. Just as an athlete must rest his muscles, it also makes sense for us to rest our minds and thoughts. Such a practice has the effect of slowing you down, allowing you to renew yourself at the level of thought. Notice your thoughts as they arise in your practice, and you have begun a process of observing that will start you on a path to improving the words you speak as you go about your everyday life. A reflective or meditative practice has arms that reach far beyond the minimal time you spend doing them.
Where your thoughts don’t serve you, change them. Negative self-talk around guilt, anger, or hatred will not serve to help you say the words that your followers need to hear. When those thoughts arise, ask yourself if they are serving to help you in your leadership. If they aren’t, what would you prefer to change them to?
Your thoughts come through in your words, even if you don’t realize it. Others do. Become aware of your thoughts and your words can be intentional, purposeful and life-giving. You will then find it easier to accept the wise suggestions of my colleague, Art, below.
-
The Words of a Leader-Art Petty
I’ve often marveled at the speed that an off-handed comment from the boss can fly through an organization, quickly evolving into policy or direction. “Mary said…,” or, “I just heard that… .”
Have you had the unfortunate experience of seeing or hearing a manager publicly chastise a subordinate? This abuser seems to take strength from the assertion of power while the receiver visibly shrinks in stature. Observers feel pity for one and anger at the other.
Have you had the good fortune to work for someone that seemed to draw the best out of you through constructive coaching and encouragement? This type of an impact can last a lifetime.
Have you wondered what it is about that manager that everyone wants to work for? The comments usually go something like this: “She’s demanding and holds us accountable, but we’re accomplishing things and having fun in the process.”
A License To Talk:
While the communication process comprises much more than just the words that we string together, the words truly serve to build-up people, teams and organizations. Words inspire, motivate, challenge, teach and encourage.
Or, they serve as the blunt force weapons of personal and professional trauma and destruction.
Good leaders are builders and they form and shape their words into phrases and questions that encourage learning and improvement and risk-taking and more learning. Good leaders are master craftsmen in many ways, and words are some of their most important tools.
Less effective leaders use words like tools as well, but in this case they crassly apply the words of brute force in settings where precision is called for. They use the end of a wrench to pound in a nail, and seem to disregard the damage to the surrounding area. Of course, they should have used a finishing hammer and a nail set.
Other leaders use words to shape agendas. Good politicians broker understanding and alliances through their words. Less well-intentioned leaders use words to sew the seeds of doubt and mistrust and to shape alliances that benefit one person or one team.
Words are powerful tools. Perhaps leaders should be trained and certified on their use. Hmmm., perhaps leaders should be trained in general, much as a master craftsperson would train an apprentice.
Sticks and Stones:
I doubt that many of us have spent a lot of time considering our approach to word-choice much since our playground days, where the use of words as weapons by some is first mastered. The defense of, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me,” was never really a good defense, was it?
While many of us intuitively understand how powerful our words are, in my own experience, we do a less than effective job teaching this to our apprentice leaders. Consider how many “coaching opportunities” are created as we deal with teams and individuals that push back based on the “approach” used by these early leaders. Peel away the issues and at the bottom, you’ll almost always find an issue with words.
There’s no manual for this topic, but perhaps a few well-intended “words” will help. Consider sharing this with your apprentice leaders and perhaps you’ll avoid the “he said/she said” coaching calls in favor of something more constructive.
Words of Advice for The Words of a Leader
- Listen more than you talk. Use your words sparingly. Leading doesn’t mean that you are required to talk more than anyone else. Quite the opposite.
- Think before you talk. Choose your words deliberately.
- A well-turned question is often more effective to get people thinking than a dozen statements. Manage your questions to comments ratio.
- All of your words must include respect as a foundation. As soon as respect is left out of your words, you’ve lost.
- Make certain that your words and your body language match. Given a choice between the two, studies indicate that people believe the body language over the words.
- Tough conversations on performance are part of your job. Embrace this reality and don’t sugarcoat your words. Do keep them focused on behaviors and keep the behaviors linked to business.
- Genuine words of encouragement and well-deserved words of praise are rocket fuel for individuals and teams.
- “The do must match the tell.” The words of leaders not backed by actions and support are just so much hot air.
- Be aware that your words as a leader will be amplified and distorted. Manage your words carefully.
The Bottom-Line on The Words of a Leader:
The choice is yours to lead like a master craftsman or a common hack. Choose and use your words carefully and you’ll be amazed at what those around you create.
My Book
The desktop reference to leadership success whether you are starting out or starting over.
Art Petty
Welcome to Management Excellence where the focus is on building better leaders and creating high performance organizations.Building Better Leaders
Art Petty's Building Better Leaders programs in Leadership, Management and Developing as a Senior Contributor offer powerful and practical guidance for motivated professionals.
All programs available on-site in group format and select programs available in a distance learning PLUS personalized mentoring format.
Visit Building Better Leaders to find a program to help you or your team move forward. And don't forget to subscribe to the Building Better Leaders Leadership Tip of the Day.
Management Excellence Tools
Download the Management Excellence Guide to Effective Trade Show Marketing. What's Your Strategy & Execution (STREX) Quotient? Download and use the survey to help you gauge your organization's Strategy & Execution effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.e-book-Leadership and the Project Manager - Developing the Skills that Fuel High Performance Download the pdf or go to the e-book pages on this site and contribute to the conversation
Blog Subscriptions
Connect With Me On
E-Newsletter Mailing List
Join my e-newsletter mailing list and receive the latest in best-practices content for leadership, sales & marketing and strategy.