Susan’s Blog

One of the key traits of a great leader is their ability to communicate. That ability can be boiled down to two components, content and engagement. Content is the easier of the two to command. A leader has to know their stuff. They have to know their topic and what they want to communicate. Use facts to support a compelling case. Telling stories that make the point has proven over the ages to be one of the best formats for communicating messages.

Engagement is more difficult since it is an art form versus technical and scientific. The art includes how one presents, the emotion shown, inflection of the spoken word and the gestures used. The circumstances around of the talk are also critically important. The leader has to decide how the message should be delivered: large group, offsite, small group, over dinner or simply one on one. The decision must be based on how is best to maximize engagement of those the leader wishes to impact. It is also important to understand how often the message needs to be delivered. Adults especially need to hear a message multiple times over of a length of time in order to internalize it. I have found that it takes 18 months, in general, for the message to come back to the leader through the follower. The test is that the message is repeated by the followers as a matter of course. That is the point where the leader knows impact has been achieved.

Watch those in leadership positions - watch what they do and how they do it. There are examples such as our President who is exceptional on engagement. On the other hand, you will see a broadcaster such as CNN’s Fareed Zakaria who is outstanding at the breadth and depth of the topics he covers.

Here’s the checklist:

Content -

• facts that support a compelling case
• use stories to make the point

Engagement -

• set the circumstances for delivering the speech, where, how, size of group
• emotion and passion shown appropriately for the topic
• gestures match passion and emotion
• how often does the message need to be delivered

Keep the checklist handy and get your message out!!

Over the years I have often referred back to one of the first leadership books I ever read, “The Leadership Engine” by Noel Tichy. The book is excellent and timeless. The primary message Tichy puts forth in his book is that organizations perform better if there are leaders at every level and it is the responsibility of all leaders to be developing those behind them. This just makes sense.  You can get in a real bind when a leader moves on in his or her career and the bench is empty. It is a great concept, but how do you execute on the concept? Here are three points you may want to consider.

• Always be surveying the landscape for new leaders. Look among the unofficial leaders in your organization and give them official leadership responsibility. Small things at first are best. This gives you the chance to see how they handle themselves, if indeed people follow them and maybe most importantly that they enjoy the responsibility of leading. It is frequent that we promote those who are great producers with an exemplary work ethic, and they find themselves in a leadership position which makes them miserable.  This is best identified early so they can transition back to their passion without much disruption.

• Recruit with leadership in mind. When recruiting, think about their leadership ability even if you are not recruiting for a leadership role. Again, surveying the landscape for leadership potential - further, if they are a natural leader, you may recruit others who are comfortable following them. No organization can have too much talent and in a knowledge based economy talent is a critical competitive advantage.

• Talk about leadership. Thank people for their leadership. Any member of your organization who influences anyone else, any stakeholder, is a leader. Leaders have followers. Identifying leadership examples, sharing them and congratulating those who perform positive leading tasks all help in developing and continuing a culture of leadership.

Lead on…

As we think about Sarah Palin and here choice to resign from the governorship of Alaska, it may appear that she has made a terrible leadership error.  On the surface I could believe that.  We will not know however, for some time to come.

More importantly, how does a leader make that decision?  When does the leader decide that the current situation is absolutely wrong and must extract them self or change the mission completely?

In a July 13 article in The Dallas Morning News titled, “Actions, Inactions Led to Sarah Palin’s Resignation” the reporter relays a statement by Palin.  ”There’s no ulterior motive”, she said.  She said the lieutenant governor who will succeed her on July 26, Sean Parnell, will pursue “the same agenda as mine - minus the distractions.”  For Palin, this comment may be the key.

When in the leadership position, the leader always watches to make certain the mission is the right mission.  Circumstances can change enough for a formerly well thought out strategic mission to become the wrong thing to do.  In Alaska’s and Palin’s case, there is not clear evidence that the mission is wrong.  The second thing that has to be right is for the leader to recognize whether they in their role become so compromised that they are in the way of the mission to the point that it will not be achieved.  At that juncture the true leader makes a change, takes them self out of the game and leaves the mission in able hands.  It would also be critical that the leader had done all that they could to make certain that there were those within the team who could take over and lead the mission forward.

We always have to check and recheck: is the mission right and is the team and leader right?  If circumstances so compromise any of these areas, change is the right thing to do - and what an elite leader does.

In a chaos filled environment leaders can get tangled up in the desire to make their followers comfortable and tell them all is going to be fine. What happens frequently is that as issues continue to show up and become more complex and harder to understand, the leader gets into a cycle of having to go back and recant what has been said. Trust issues start to creep in between the leader and followers and then communication stops. That is the worst possible thing that could happen. In a vacuum of information, people naturally start making things up and what they make up usually follows a worst case scenario. In very difficult fluid situations, communicate the facts that are certain and inform the followers of the fluidity of the situation and that they will be supported regardless of what happens. The most important thing that can be done is keep the communication flowing.

A friend recently sent me a copy of Chris Lowney’s book “Heoric Leadership” (2003, Loyola Press), which is excellent.  In the book, Lowney reveals many aspects of the Jesuit philosophy in developing leaders.

Reading the book made me think about the hiring process and that a great deal of focus must be put there in an effort to have a strong, enduring and productive culture. I believe we all need leaders in every part of our business and that everyone in our organization is leading something. We can apply the leadership characteristics that I have spoken of: Charisma, Environmental Sensitivity/Emotional Intelligence, Strategic Thinking, Flexibility, Empowerment Orientation/Team Player, Vision, Grit/Drive and Life Long Learner to the hiring process.

When we are hiring individuals at any level in our organizations we should be thinking about these characteristics and looking for evidence that the person we are interviewing has them. The key is evidence. As we ask interview questions is this person showing me and clearly articulating these critical characteristics? If they are, the chances are good that they will be a great addition to the culture you currently have or are striving to build.

There are those who believe that leadership has to be a product of new thinking. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is fundamental leadership tenets don’t change. These tenets are about how to lead. The personal characteristics of integrity, respect for others and good judgment are pre-requisites to leading. A leader does not get out of the starting blocks without these personal characteristics. The tenets may be identified differently, embellished, but the truth is everything one would need to know to lead in these uncertain times can be rolled up into the following six simple truths:

• It’s About Them
• Relationships
• Team
• Everything Matters
• Communicate A LOT
• Self-Care is Essential; Not Selfish

If there is a failure in any one of these areas, there will surely be a failure to lead of some sort at some point. The good news is that these are all executable and it doesn’t take multiple advanced degrees and 40 years of experience to understand these basic truths.

Mid-Year is a great time for a good look at what has happened as it tracks back to the strategy we set at the beginning of the year.  Tracking objectives monthly and weekly are commonplace, but what I am talking about is taking a broader view of how strategy, tactics, budget, products and people all fit together to support the objectives of the year. Although, I know most of us would rather just keep going, working on the tactical side of our businesses, it is critically important that we do take a regular inventory of our progress. This is where the ladder can end up leaned against the wrong building as a fire spreads. Here are some of the thoughts and questions I go through myself:

Strategy:

• Review strategic objectives
  • Note progress
  • Note adjustments that should be made (Typically, this is not the focus for big adjustments unless there has been a substantial change in the operating environment for your organization.  The real focus for mid-year is a review for adjustments in the tactics that support the strategy.)

Tactical:

• Review progress in initiatives
  • Results-
    • Where you are in the process with each initiative and what is left to do?
    • Who is responsible for the remaining items to be completed?
    • Should any new tactics be implemented in order to complete the strategic objectives for the year?
    • Should any tactics be dropped?
    • Identify any additional adjustments. 

On Budget:

• How is top line growth?
• And expenses?
• How is the bottom line?
• How far away from targets (+/-) is the organization for the year? Why?
• Are there additional items that were not part of original budget that must be added in order to complete the strategy for the year?  (It is important that the finances track back to strategy.  This helps keep spending from getting out of control.   In the spending errors I have made, I have usually found that the spending did not support the core strategy.

Product:

• What products are working best?  Rank the products relative to revenue and expense performance or ROI.
• Here again, check all back to strategy?
  • Are the products at the top of the ranking supporting the strategy?  Are all your products supporting the strategy?
  • Are there products that do not support the strategy today and are not expected to do so in the future?  Should they be dropped?

People:

• Review each of group of your direct reports.
  • Are they on track to their goals?
  • How close are they to their goals and what can you do to support them?
  • Review the groups for non-performers.  What can you do to support their success or is it time for them to move on?
  • What does each group need right now that will move the entire organization to a successful year?
  • Make a list of those performers who are less than 40% away from their goals for the year and focus your energy on this group in particular relating to support, education and coaching.
  • Through individual conversations with all direct reports surface any issues that they perceive in the organization and work with the respective parties to resolve these issues. Report back to your people on the solutions or if there is no solution work to create an understanding around that fact.

These are just a few thoughts to consider for upcoming mid-year reviews though certainly not a complete list… The most important thing you can do at mid-year of any annual business plan is to take yourself out of the game long enough to give it a thorough review. Course changes and adjustments or at least making certain that there should not be any is very often the difference between a mediocre year and a great one.

It can be puzzling and frustrating for a manager to get followers to take action and create desired change. Personally, I find it usually takes 18 months to create a large change in an organization. That is the time it takes for the majority to accept the new way as the way. Here are a few points that I would make:

• Identify what the “end game” is. If we all make this change what are the benefits and opportunities the change will create.  Be as clear as you can be with this statement.

• Identify steps that will take the group to that desired end and speak about them clearly.

• Work with your leadership team and get their buy in first. They will help spread the message in an official way.

• Work with small groups of unofficial leaders in the organization next and get their buy in. Help them understand the reasons for the change; give them clarity around the “end game” and the steps to take. They will help resonate the message across the organization.

• Reinforce the message in every way and at all times possible. Tie everything you can to the new “end game”.

These are just a few thoughts on getting your message out. You can’t just say it one time and think that everyone is going to get it or follow your lead. The group has to hear it often and individuals have to really understand the steps and the “end game”.

The current economic environment has made doing business difficult in nearly every industry in the United States and across the globe.  When business is particularly difficult the difficulties can and will be compounded if your top sales people lose confidence due to the impact of the stressed environment.  As they lose their confidence they can directly and indirectly communicate the low confidence level to their customers which can cause a general downward spiral effect as it relates to results. It is critical as the leader that you maintain high momentum and a balanced approach to the issues and opportunities that the company has before it.

Two thoughts come immediately to mind.  First, do all you can do to communicate the facts in a balanced way and second, make sure you communicate more frequently with all of your employees especially those on the front line facing the client.

On facts, unfortunately, the media in our country does a great job of presenting sound bites.  These attention getting sound bites may be our undoing some day; I certainly hope not.  You, as the leader have to dig behind the sound bites and truly understand the situation.  Once you understand the situation, you must spend time communicating clearly and cleanly as many facts as you can.  I don’t mean playing the role of Poly-Anna.  The facts you present must be balanced.  There is much written supporting the idea that humans can endure much if they can gain an understanding for the situation and identify with an outcome of some sort, even if it is not optimal.  There is always another side to any situation and if your reports can identify with the issues at hand and process to the other side they will endure the total situation with greater confidence. 

You will not know all.  You can only work with the facts and that is just what you say.  And that is what you work with them to do as well when they are communicating with their customers.  Presenting a balanced situation with facts that you know and being clear that there are always unknowns in any situation is critical.  I have often said, “I hear all of that too, but here are the facts we know right now.  We must separate the background noise from the facts.”  Once your producers are able to start to see the difference between fact and sound bite they can communicate messages to customers in a similar way. 

Secondly, communicate, communicate, communicate!  There are few times when a leader can communicate too much and chaotic situations in difficult operating environments are the most key time to do so.  Part of communicating is simply being visible and available to employees and direct reports.  You can particularly emphasize being available to appropriate degrees on off-hours.  You may never get a call, but if a key player in your organization is having a particularly frustrating time, they may need to talk and if you are available, it will help now and further deepen your long term working relationship with that individual. 

Further communicate in different ways.  You will certainly make presentations in meetings in front of large groups, but you also want to have the one-on-one conversations and small group gatherings more often when stress on your employees is high.

So, dispel the noise, focus on the facts and communicate like crazy and your people will respond with greater confidence and drive results.

One of the most difficult things that can happen to a leader is for a key follower to disappoint.  Whether they leave the team, perform poorly or behave badly it can shake a leader’s own confidence in their ability to select and develop people; a critical leadership responsibility.  When this happens and it does to even the best of leaders consider the following:

• Look at the situation as unemotionally as you possibly can.
  • With the unemotional eye, decide if you would have done anything differently. 

• With the unemotional eye, decide if you would have done anything differently. 
  • There are times when even strong individuals make critical miss-steps due to the pressure of a very difficult operating environment.
  • With this knowledge, what would you have done differently to help them handle the stress?

• Look at the reason the individual made the decision.  Look at the individual’s skill set and emotional intelligence.
  • Do these two areas connect?  Is the reason the disappointment took place connecting with a missing skill set or lacking emotional intelligence?

Over the lifetime of a leader there will be disappointments.  Sometimes the leader makes the mistake and sometimes the individual does, most of the time both.  Regardless, there is something for each to learn with every situation.

The leader will grow stronger when they review the incident with an unemotional eye and with an understanding for the environment and the capabilities of the individual.  The more experience with disappointments the leader has the more wisdom they earn.  Although, it is always hard when one of your own disappoints, there is always something to learn from the situation that will make everyone involved better in the long run.  The most important thing is to take the time to understand just that.