The Power of Short-Term Wins

“My team is not working very well together. What should I do?”, asked the young team leader.

“Did you clarify whether or not you are building a team or a single leader work group?”, I responded.

“Yes, a team.”

“Did you choose the right people for the team?”

“Yes. I carefully choose each one and made sure we had SMART goals to work with.”

“Wonderful; I am impressed. Now, did you set them up for some short-term wins as they worked on their SMART goals?”

“Opps. I forgot about the short-term wins. I need to go back and look at our timelines and action plans. I think I have us working too hard and too fast without any noticeable progress until way out in the future.”

“Don’t worry,” I remarked. “It happens to the best of us.”

Many young leaders forget that short-term wins create forward momentum, build confidence and undermine cynics and resistors. First coined by John Kotter in an article called “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” in the March-April 1995 issue of the Harvard Business Review, short-term wins require careful planning and thoughtful execution. Many young leaders get so focused on doing something and getting it done that they forget the importance of short term wins.

For those of you who want to read more about short-term wins or coach someone about this subject, I encourage you to read the following short piece on John Kotter’s web site <http://www.kotterinternational.com/kotterprinciples/changesteps/step6>, or check out the aforementioned article <http://hbr.org/2007/01/leading-change-why-transformation-efforts-fail/ar/1>. Either way, helping young leaders improve their short-term wins will make a major difference when working with struggling teams, departments or the whole company.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

A Wonderful Book

The other night after getting everything done on my To Do list, I realized that I had a free hour or so before bed time. While I could have filled it up with watching TV, I instead picked up a book that my wife had given me for Christmas and began to read. As I moved through the opening pages, I was completely captivated and realized that I had stumbled on to an excellent and thought-proving resource.

Written by Joel ben Izzy, The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness (Algonquin Books, 2003) is a true story about a storyteller who loses his voice and believes he’s lost everything. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer, a usually treatable form of cancer, in the summer of 1997, Joel awoke from surgery with a strange complication; he could not speak. However, an encounter with his old teacher shows him that he has been given a great gift. Their meeting leads Joel ben Izzy on a journey into the timeless wisdom of ancient tales - a world of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, lost horses and buried treasures. In the end, he discovers many insights, including what he believes is the secret to happiness.

As one who loves to listen to a good story as well as tell one, I was very moved by this book about a storyteller who loses his voice. In my line of work, I have never experienced this and yet can very much image the challenges this would create in my work and my home life. The pain, the grief and the difficulty would be horrendous.

Yet as I read through this marvelous book and the wonderfully delightfully ancient stories blended into his story, I came away feeling uplifted and inspired. The style of his writing, the depth of his thoughts, and the quality of his story telling reminded me of the book called The Other 90% by Robert K. Cooper. However, in The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, Joel ben Izzy does not blend in brain research or leadership material as much as share a deep understanding of the personal journey through change.

While I read many books and articles on a regular basis, this particular book has grown on me during the days since I have completed it. Most of the books I read are related to work and thus I take in-depth notes on them. I currently have 97 of them annotated in my computer so I can reference them during executive coaching sessions or when I am designing a seminar. However, this book I will not annotate as much as reread parts of it on a regular basis, and keep thinking about what he wrote.

For those of you who are coming to the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable on April 12-13 in Des Moines, I know I will be sharing at least one of the “ancient tales” from the book with all of you. It is a delightful one and I have been smiling all week thinking about it. Until then, I highly recommend this book and strongly encourage you to read it.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Racing Hither and Yon

On any given day, many of us are in back to back meetings, carrying a cup of luke warm coffee, and a stack of paperwork and files from one room to the next. As we race to catch up, our smart phones are chirping away, reminding us that we have more e-mails and text messages to read, phone messages to listen to, and assorted other meeting and deadline reminders to recall. With no time to go to the bathroom, let alone coach, think strategically, or plan for operational improvements, we just keep moving forward, hoping that tomorrow will be better than today. As one executive told me years ago, “I know I am going to have a heart attack, but I don’t have time in my schedule for one today. Maybe I can make an appointment for this in two years.”

On any given day, many of us know there must be a better way to live and work. However, we also are smart enough to know that it will take a great deal of learning, patience and forgiveness. It begins with accepting there is a problem and then choosing to live less in the last minute lane. It also begins with structured learning.

One place many people have turned to over the years is the From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Here, they learn new ways to deal with old problems and successful ways to deal with new problems. Through comprehensive training that meets once a quarter and a set of structured readings in between, participants gain the skills and perspective to become better leaders, who make better plans and who implement those plans even when they have to run into the normal but difficult stages of organizational change.

If you are tired of running in circles and sitting in non-productive meetings, then please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html. Racing hither and yon can be exhausting. There is a better way of leading. I hope you can join us in March for the 2012 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

The Importance of Disciplined Leadership

Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen in their book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, HarperCollins, 2011, note that “we cannot predict the future. But we can create it.” Based on their research, they believe the future will remain unpredictable and the world will be unstable for the rest of our lives.

The common perspective during times of uncertainty, chaos and turbulence was that successful leaders were bold, risk-seeking visionaries. However, Collins and Hansen point out that “the best leaders we studied did not have a visionary ability to predict the future. They observed what worked, figured out why it worked, and built upon proven foundations. They were not more risk taking, more bold, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons. They were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.”

As we all navigate through this prolonged period of uncertainty, more people need to get away from the daily grind, and explore the larger perspective. Through a disciplined approach to key subjects, they need to explore with others what is and is not working and build on this foundation of understanding.

One place to do this level of work is at a From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable. Here you will find a group of dedicated people seeking to improve and transform their organizations. You also will discover individuals who want to discuss, explore and reflect on the next waves of change and consider how this will impact their work as a leader and their organization. In short, through in-depth learning and candid peer-to-peer discussions, you will explore new ideas, perspectives and solutions.

The next From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable takes place on April 12 - 13, 2012 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Des Moines/Clive, Iowa.

Here is the agenda for your review:

Thursday: April 12, 2012

- 8:30 am - Registration

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - Navigating Through Prolonged Uncertainty

- 10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Maintaining Operational Excellence During Constant Change

- 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Lunch and Networking

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Building a Learning Organization

- 2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Break

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Improving Front Line Supervisors Effectiveness

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn

Friday: April 13, 2012

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - A Return To Personal & Professional Balance

- 10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Integration and Application

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn

Recommended Reading: Collins, Jim and Morten T. Hansen. Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, HarperCollins, 2011.

Here is the link to the registration form: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2012-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf.

If you are seeking new solutions, now is the time to sign-up.

I look forward to seeing you at the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Teams and Goals

With the right people on the team, it is important for young leaders to create a high degree of clarity. The first step is to explain why the team is needed and what is the focus of the team.

Many young team leaders forget that most team members have two basic questions in mind when they join a team, namely “What are we supposed to do?” and “How will we know when we are successful?”. Creating a clear understanding about goals and metrics is mission critical to success.

As an executive coach, I often work with teams that are struggling. While there are a diversity of problems that can be happening, the most common is that a great group of people are working with extremely poor goals. At this point, I coach a young leader and the team on creating SMART goals, i.e. ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Well-written goals make a major difference in team success.

Next, young leaders need to clarify any expectations they have beyond the goals and metrics. For example, are all team meetings mandatory? How are problems to be solved when we disagree within the team? What do we do when we encounter a problem with another team? Taking time to discuss these issues and clarifying what is expected also solves problems before they become problems.

One element that young leaders also do not think about is the importance of shared learning and team coaching. The former can create a greater capacity for improved problem solving, and the latter can help a team improve it’s overall performance.

For those of you who are coaching young leaders, I encourage you to read the following three resources together:

- Developing A New Organizational Culture - http://www.chartyourpath.com/Organization-Culture.html

- Turning Challenges Into Achievement - http://www.chartyourpath.com/Challenges-Achievement.html

“Why Teams Don’t Work”, interview with J. Richard Hackman by Diane Coutu, Harvard Business Review, May 2009 - http://hbr.org/2009/05/why-teams-dont-work/ar/1

With careful planning in the beginning and on-going coaching, young team leaders can be successful. The key for them and for those who coach them is to remember one simple truth: what you feed, grows. Feeding clarity grows capacity.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Preparing for an Uncertain Future

Today, we live in a world where three technological tsunami’s are hitting us at the same time. The first is the smart phone wave with five billion people around the world already using mobile phones. The second is the social networking wave where nearly one billion people are in Facebook’s network. And the last is the cloud computing wave, the subtle but significant shift in capability. As all three waves crash upon the shores of current business practices, we as leaders must be better prepared and more strategic in our planning. To help us all begin this process, I encourage you to read “CEOs Tackle Technology” by Jennifer Pellet from the January/February 2012 issue of Chief Executive magazine. Here is the link: http://chiefexecutive.net/ceos-tackle-technology

Next, I encourage you to read the following short blog post by Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company magazine, called “Are Your Learning as Fast as the World Is Changing?” from the Harvard Business Review web site. His comments on vision, innovation and networking are superb. Here is the link: http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2012/01/are_you_learning_as_fast_as_th.html

Then, I recommend you watch the 30 second video of John Kotter answering the question, “How do you inspire a team that has failed?” His answer is very practical and helpful for those who are struggling. Here is the link: http://www.30secondmba.com/question/motivating-forces?video_id=f2a15e1e4708f

Finally, for all of us who are planning ahead, I encourage every one to remember that Patrick Lencioni’s new book The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business will be out on March 20, 2012. It would not surprise me if a variety of people will have read it before the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable in Des Moines on April 12 - 13. Here is the link for this new book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-advantage-patrick-m-lencioni/1104677299?ean=9780470941522&itm=8&usri=patrick+lencioni

Here, too, is the link to the registration form for the Spring Roundtable: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2012-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf

Happy reading as you wrap up the first month of 2012! I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the Spring Roundtable.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

People and Teams

Once a young leader figures out whether they are building an actual team or a single leader work group, most want to charge forth and make things happen. As an executive coach, I often have to slow down these eager beavers and remind them that figuring out what kind of team to create is only a part of the journey. The next step is to figure out who is going to be part of the team.

Regularly, excited young leaders want to pick a variety of people, put them in a room, call them a team, and give them their marching orders. I, on the other hand, have to remind young leaders that who is on the team will greatly impact the effectiveness of what the team will do. Therefore, I often ask young leaders to answer the following questions:

- Do you have confidence in each prospective person who will be on the team?

- Do you have confidence in the way they make decisions?

- Do you have confidence in the way they role model?

- Do you have confidence in the way they learn?

An effective team is made up of effective people who can make decisions, role model healthy relationships, and learn. If we put the wrong people on the team at the start, then we have guaranteed that the team will become dysfunctional. If we put the right people on the team at the start, then we pre-position the team for success.

As more experienced team leaders know, the foundation of every team is trust. With the right people on the team, trust can grow, develop and propel a team to new levels of creativity and action. If you are coaching a young leader on building trust and building a team, then I recommend you and they read the following resource: Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Jossey-Bass, 2002. With clarity and the right people, effective team work is possible.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257