Being
a leader is being on an
adventure, whether you’re
an entrepreneur or a leader
in someone else’s organization.
In enduring stories of old,
the adventurer had to face
many challenges, or dragons,
to keep the kingdom safe,
and also for the personal
learning, and personal development
which was achieved.
Today’s
Leaders are today’s heroes
– entering into the unknown,
multi tasking, racing to
stay ahead, facing unexpected
hurdles, relying on courage
and quick thinking to come
up with solutions under
pressure. Decisions must
be made with insufficient
information, just as in
the classic stories of dragons,
raging fires and slimy snake
pits. The lives of others
will be impacted, and the
hero’s life – the leader’s
life -- will be changed
and transformed forever.
The
leader’s journey involves
achieving victory over seven
significant challenges.
Though they may not really
be raging waters and hostile
natives, they are necessary
stages for a leader to face
in order to create and sustain
an effective organization.
As any business person today
knows, no matter what happens
with the business, you are
guaranteed to learn a lot
about yourself, and what’s
meaningful to you about
the work you do.
Each
hurdle requires effort and
discomfort, obstacles to
overcome, yet yields a prize:
skills, insight, self-confidence,
maybe even wisdom.
The
issue of retention has to
do with effective leadership.
Those on your management
team who are not a good
fit, or don’t get to make
meaningful contributions,
or get to offer their greatest
value, or get recognized
for their contributions,
leave. Retention directly
relates to selection and
then the quality of authentic
leadership.
These
seven stages are:
Recruitment & Selection
Delegation
Feedback
Accountability
Teamwork
Agility
Authenticity
Recruitment & Selection
The
first obstacle, the chasm,
represents closing the gap
from being an individual
contributor, to hiring and
working with others.
So
the first hurdle is recruitment
and selection – without
this of course you remain
an individual contributor,
maybe brilliant, possibly
rich, but not building a
company or a department.
The key to effective recruitment,
is to turn everything you
have heard about trying
to match a person to the
job spec, and turn it on
its head.
Hiring
the first few people can
be a scary thing. There
is a tendency to over rely
on a resume, and sometimes
to over rely on finding
someone whose strengths
are the same as yours. What
I recommend is finding someone
whose values are a fit:
innovation, work ethic,
appetite for growth, focus
on productivity, whatever
that is for you, the
values fit
is the most important selection
criteria.
The
second cut is skills. Of
course skills matter. The
reason this is second filter,
is that values and motivation
are innate, they are part
of a person’s personality.
Those you want to
select for
a fit because it’s less
likely that that can be
learned or changed. Skills
like spreadsheet use, reading
financial statements, software
development, engineering,
those are learned over time.
If you need a skill that
has been learned, remember
that it can be learned in
the future. Nobody was born
knowing how to develop new
pharmaceuticals. The same
is true with industry knowledge.
Hiring someone from a different
industry can be enriching
to your team - and your
perspective. The single
biggest self-imposed constraint
among hiring managers is
limiting candidates by industry
and job title. Other factors
that don’t show up on the
resume can be just as essential
to finding a good fit, such
as what is the person’s
ideal boss. Another reason
these qualities are more
important than skills is
that companies changes course.
So you want to choose someone
who will be able to do that
with you.
The
jargon for this type of
selection is “core competency”
and the process for finding
out about it is called Behavioral
Event Interviewing. It bring
the focus to the experiences
a person has actually had,
rather than how they think
they might hypothetically
in the future handle something
they currently know nothing
about.
Recruiting summary
First select for
values
Second select for
skills
Focus on core competency
(not company names or
industry)
Focus on innate
qualities, don’t
eliminate a person
who may need additional
skills which are
learnable.
Use behavioral
event interviewing
“Tell me about a
time when…”
The
“prize” of victory in this
stage is:
Don’t be afraid
of what you don’t know
Don’t be afraid
to trust your gut
Choose someone you’ll
want even when the business
plan changes.
Delegation
The
second hurdle is delegation.
This is the raging waters,
requiring the help of others.
In my experience delegation
requires a continual adjustment,
like flying an airplane.
Maybe you know the amount
of time a plane is on course:
only 20%. The rest of the
time it is off course, making
adjustments, off course,
making adjustments. It’s
a great metaphor for delegation.
Sometimes
you over-delegate and lose
track of what is required
and come back in 3 months
to find the person way off
course. Sometimes you micro
manage which carries two
costs: you aren’t doing
what you are best at because
you are too close to the
task you have delegated,
and presuming you have a
qualified person in the
role you are very likely
irritating him or her. Delegation
is hard because in this
country we have two models
which tend to pull us away
from empowered delegation.
One model or metaphor is
a deep cowboy culture, an
independent John Wayne style.
The other is a caretaker/provider
metaphor. Both of those
pile too much responsibility
on the leader. It’s not
the leader who suffers –
it’s the other capable professionals
who could otherwise grow
and flourish.
Delegating
is hard for another reason.
The other person doesn’t
have your brain, and that’s
disappointing. If you are
going to delegate, it would
at least be nice for them
to have had the exact same
parents as you same schooling,
same previous job, same
values, and same temperament.
Be able to read your mind,
for example.
Another
obstacle is, if you haven’t
managed a lot of people
before, it can seem like
shirking. New (and even
some experienced) managers
often have the mistaken
idea that doing their “real
job” is the individual contributor
task, and all those interruptions
aren’t productive. Learning
to manage interruptions,
perhaps restructuring them,
but recognizing that managing
is real work, is an important
passage.
To
take courage when delegating,
and it is a risk, remember
that if you want to grow
it’s the only way to become
scalable. To grow your capacity.
Delegate a little at first,
a small risk, then bigger
and bigger as the person
demonstrates their abilities.
You decide what the outcome
should be but let the person
decide how to get there.
Remember that the goal is
to delegate responsibility,
not just the task, although
you may have to work up
to that.
There
is nothing inherently wrong
with doing all the work
yourself. It’s just that
at a point people sometimes
burn out, or find they have
shrunk their vision for
their future to a tiny spec
on the map which may not
have been what they wanted
in the first place.
Although
this does not work for everyone,
I strongly encourage a regularly
scheduled meeting, whether
that’s once a week for half
hour or once a month for
an hour and a half or something
in between. In my experience
the open door policy is
a thought the leader has,
doesn’t really work. Staff
find it too ambiguous, and
only use it for quick clarification
rather than increasing scope
of responsibility.
Delegation
summary
Think “scalable”
Establish milestones
Take bigger chances
each time
Decide the “what”,
delegate the “how”
Delegate responsibility
not just task
Delegation
“prize” when you achieve
victory over this challenge:
Even though you’re
the best -- you can’t
grow if you do it all.
The more you delegate
the more you can do
your best work where
you add value.
As you increase
delegation, you are
developing your staff
for greater things.
Feedback
Feedback
is like a riddle, a riddle
the wizard demands that
you solve.
Giving
feedback is one of the most
difficult day-to-day jobs
of a leader. All leaders
I work with know the benefits
of giving good clear feedback.
Every group I have ever
worked with can easily list
the reasons to give good
feedback, and can even more
quickly list their own procrastination
tactics. The thing about
procrastination is it is
corrosive. It makes it harder
to address, you get more
angry, the message is not
as effective, and you reach
what some call a Stack Attack:
things have stacked up until
you can’t take it any more.
Feedback actually does get
better with practice so
here is the guideline for
feedback.
In
order for it to be effective
it has to be specific, concrete
and descriptive – that’s
to keep you from being judgmental
about the person. People
can take feedback if it’s
not an insult, like “you
lazy slug.” Although you
have to touch down on the
past event, more focus should
be about the present or
the future because we can’t
change the past.
One
more thing about feedback.
You know how you sometimes
think you are saying something
nice and glossing over how
irritated you really are?
Your feedback has to genuinely
be accepting of the mistake
and the person, and open
to the probability there
will be an improvement.
By the way it turns out
many managers have as much
trouble giving positive
feedback as negative.
The
other big riddle for a leader
is to be willing to take
feedback from others. The
dilemma is that some leaders
fear that hearing feedback
somehow lowers their stature.
That is not the case. Openness
builds trust and trust builds
stature. You can require
that the feedback be given
in the same respectful way
that you give it, see above,
and you can also be clear
about what parts you may
be willing to accommodate
and what parts you aren’t.
Feedback
tips:
Be honest and clear
Be willing to deal
with conflict
Be specific, concrete,
focus on present and
future. Include impact
to company.
Be willing to hear
feedback FROM others
The
prize for success when you
give feedback
Direct information
builds relationships
Procrastination
has a high price.
Productivity and
job satisfaction for
others often increases
Accepting feedback
from others gives you
the option of changing.
Accountability
Naturally
accountability is
represented by raging fires
because it tests your mettle.
Now there’s a phrase we
don’t hear every day. Accountability
applies to you and to how
you expect others to behave.
One area of difficulty,
for holding people accountable,
is when the other has more
expertise in an area than
you do – which they should.
That’s why you hire. In
that case think in terms
of outcomes. We all hire
people, a plumber, a tax
accountant, a mechanic,
who have knowledge that’s
better than ours. But you
have an outcome you want
and you’re clear about it.
Similarly
when you have an expert
on your team, maybe a software
engineer or chemical engineer
or systems analyst or sales
manager, you need to convey
what outcome you expect,
and even engage that person
in a dialogue to mutually
set the outcomes and find
out what they are willing
to be held accountable for.
Surprisingly the generation
called Millennials, or Gen
Y, say that their managers
don’t exercise enough authority.
That’s an element of accountability.
If
you don’t have as much background
in an area of expertise,
be clear that even though
you’re the leader, you’re
also being in effect tutored
by the person.
The
hidden message in holding
people accountable isn’t
that you mistrust them,
it’s that there are always
an infinite number of forks
in the road and you want
to be sure you and your
staff person are taking
the same one. It’s a way
of being clear. And it requires
constant reinforcement.
Accountability
summary
Rely on others’
expertise while being
specific about outcomes.
Be clear about which
of your thoughts are
ideas, future remote
possibilities, and specific
expectations.
Holding people accountable
clarifies your priorities
and goals, and the reasons
you choose certain forks
in the road.
Prize
for squelching this fire.
Accountability builds
excellence.
People deliver what
you expect of them
The more you expect
the more they deliver
Growth can be managed.
Teamwork
Hostile
natives – this is what you
get if you pit one executive
against another. It’s what
I sometimes call the hub
and spoke form of leadership,
where you are the focal
point and all questions
and ideas must come through
you. But what happens to
all these spears when you
do that – they point at
you.
The
dangers of the “hub and
spoke” style of management,
is, a leader who becomes
the axis around which every
thing turns covers no ground.
Look at the axis. It doesn’t
move. It’s almost stationary,
except for going in circles.
It’s only when all the spokes
work together to form the
circumference that some
territory gets covered.
That’s when there is productivity
and progress.
Teamwork
can be difficult to foster
because it means that sometimes
you are out of the loop,
as your team is working
out their relationship and
their ideas without you.
That’s a necessary part
of the process. You also
have to be willing to be
very open to the idea of
being pressured by two or
more people, to take on
a new course, a new direction.
Remember in the back of
your mind to appreciate
the team aspects of this,
even if you disagree with
the recommendation or veto
the outcome. And the rewards
need to be in line: if you
want team work to work,
a portion of financial rewards
has to be based on the team
effectiveness.
It
can feel, to the faint of
heart, like giving away
the keys to the castle,
to entertain the ideas of
objectors, of “revolutionaries.”
But then you remember, it’s
really to the artisans and
generals. You’re giving
the keys to the castle to
the people who also live
here. Who work with you
to create this organization.
Volumes
of books have been written
on teamwork. Here are the
highlights in my experience.
Teamwork
summary
Encouraging dialogue
between management team
members
It’s a victory when
others combine forces
to suggest a solution.
Reward what you
say you value – be sure
team results are a component
of compensation.
Prize
for fostering teamwork,
and including the hostile
natives
Combined thinking
produces better ideas.
Teamwork builds
trust & productivity,
and job satisfaction.
You get to do more
high-value activities.
Agility
Snake
pit requires agility. Picture
Indiana Jones dancing around
the snakes.
You
hear a lot about goal setting
and focus in leadership.
One of the biggest challenges
today is to be able to change
on a dime. Which is the
opposite of clear goals
and focus. It is a strength
not a weakness, to be able
to change course with sufficient
information. Balance tenacity
with flexibility and opportunism.
And keep taking in market
information, including your
own clients, market trends,
and competitors. So many
of us are caught up in the
all American work ethic
that we can forget, the
course with less resistance
can be right.
Keep
in touch with the outside
world. Attend conferences,
send your associates to
trade shows and professional
associations. Keep the information
coming in.
Agility
summary
Balance tenacity
with flexibility.
Keep taking in market
information.
Prize
for agility
Nobody knows the
future anyhow so trust
your knowledge and instincts.
Be sure to use mistakes
for all they are worth.
Sometimes the easier
course turns out to
be right.
Authenticity
Be
yourself. The journey of
leadership, especially entrepreneurship,
is to discover all you can
offer. It’s really a fantastic
opportunity to envision
a bigger you. To test yourself
in ways you would never
imagine. I love the energy
and innovation and courage
of entrepreneurs so I listen
to a lot of their presentations.
Each story of course is
different but this common
theme emerges: first comes
the anxious joke: if I knew
what I was getting into
I would never have done
it. Then comes the voice
of experience: I wouldn’t
have traded this for anything.
And that’s even from the
people whose company did
not strike it rich. Because
the richness, as they knew
in the way back long ago
stories, comes from the
journey. The most important
part of the prize is your
own enhanced sense of yourself,
the challenges you stood
up to, the people you met,
the things you learned,
the friendships you formed
and the insights you earned
all along the way, you get
to keep forever.
Be willing to be
uncertain
Be willing to be
very curious
Pay attention to
gut instincts – they
usually have important
information
Prize
for authenticity
You survive
You thrive
You grow
You
get to keep all the things
you learned – forever.
Janet
Britcher first presented
this at the Entrepreneur’s
Network, part of the IEEE.
