t takes a strong reserve of self-confidence to be an effective leader. It’s also remarkably easy to get comfortable crossing the fine but dangerous line between self-confidence and arrogance. The best leaders are conscious of that boundary and walk along it but resist the lure to cross into this self-gratifying but credibility destroying country.
The common outcome of The Dollar Auction offers an interesting perspective on human behavior. We are seeing similar manifestations of this behavior at work in what we are slowly learning about the events leading up to this historic (not in a good sense) financial crisis. For some reason, common sense, prudence and good, old-fashioned principles of risk management fly out the window when it appears that the magical money-making machine has been turned on. Whatever happened to making money by developing goods and delivering services that meet and exceed customer needs?
The greatest spectator sport available the past few weekends has been the systematic dismantling and reassembly (of sorts) of many of America’s financial icons and of America’s capital markets. In case the return of college and pro football the last few weekends kept you from paying attention to the financial news, the American financial infrastructure (or at least the world’s confidence in the American financial infrastructure) has teetered on the brink of disaster.
After many years of leading and now several years of working with aspiring and experienced leaders in all manner of industries and cultures, I remain convinced that most individuals lack proper context for their role as leaders. The great leaders at all levels understand that they have a unique responsibility and unique power to adapt and form their working environment to the unique circumstances at a point in time. Less effective leaders allow the environment to form around the wrong issues including ego (theirs) and petty politics. The lessons of Pixar are hard-won and the outcomes visible to all. You would be well served to listen, learn and apply some of Mr. Catmul’s wisdom to your environment.
Dan McCarthy is back this month with the 3rd edition of his Leadership Development Carnival at his Top 25-rated blog: Great Leadership. Dan brings together in one place some of the best leadership and talent blogging content from around the globe.
As organizations grow increasingly dependent upon project execution and professional project management practices to drive strategy execution, a firm’s leaders have to be smart enough and engaged enough to recognize an imbalance between process and people. Methodologies are guidelines to be strictly or liberally adhered to depending upon circumstances. Good leadership in this sense means tuning in to project activities at a level sufficient to ensure that the right approaches are being applied for the right reasons. While your methodology might have its champions, don’t lose track of the fact that the methodology must enable success, not fight it.
I’ve heard the phrase “We had a good meeting,” or some derivative of it so many times that I’ve lost count. Whenever I hear this meeting review or it’s ugly stepchild, “We talked about a lot at that meeting,” alarm bells start ringing, my spider sense tingles and I have to resist the sudden urge to scream. I know then that I am in the company of a Professional Meeting Attendee!
Not surprisingly, it’s often difficult for senior executives and management teams to gain objective feedback on their individual and collective performance. I’ve worked with clients and in organizations where the management team was generally satisfied with their own performance and would give themselves high marks at a time when the employees would give them lower or even failing grades. In all cases where I’ve observed this perception gap, there was no objective, systematic means of measuring performance and perceptions in place.
While not quick to throw stones as my own functional counterparts (sales and marketing) have plenty of their own challenges, it is time for HR to stand-up and be counted on as a key enabler of strategy. They can start by helping their firm institutionalize talent identification, recruitment, retention and development.
This topic goes to the heart of creating an effective feedback culture—one where everyone is comfortable tackling the tough topics and highlighting when the Emperor has no clothes. The discomfort of a team in expressing alternative viewpoints with a leader is one sign that all is not right with the feedback culture. In many cases, some simple behavioral adjustments and appropriate reinforcement on the part of the leader can open the spigot to some great ideas from some smart people. Remember, the contest is in the market for the hearts, minds and dollars of your customers, it’s not in your team meetings to show that you’re the smartest.
