Living and Working in Turbulent Times

“The challenge for leaders in every field,” notes William Taylor in Practically Radical: Not-so-crazy ways to transform your company, shake up your industry, and challenge yourself, William Morrow, 2011, “is to emerge from turbulent times with closer connections to their customers, with more energy and creativity from their people, and with greater distance between them and their rivals.” 

Clearly when one steps back from the daily grind and looks at the bigger picture, we are clearly in “turbulent times”, and we have important choices to make as a result.

As Taylor continues, “We are living in the age of disruption. You can’t do big things if you are content with doing things a little better than everyone else.”

Our challenge then as executives, managers and supervisors is to create organizations that can cope with disruption and still stay focused on the right things.

As Ilya Prigogene, Belgian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate noted from his work on dissipative structures, complex systems and irreversibility, “stability is not balance but change,” 

So what is the problem?

Management guru Jim Collins puts it this way: “The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.” 

If you are seeking to avoid mediocrity and chronic inconsistency in your organization, then now is the time to sign up your key people to participate in the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. We need more leaders at all levels who have the capacity to think strategically and who can execute effectively given the challenges before us.

For more information about this unique learning experience, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html

Turbulence and disruption are not going away. Having an improved capacity to deal with it is the right choice to make at this time period.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Temptation of Modest Aspirations

Routinely now, more and more companies are struggling as they plan for the future. People are sitting in meetings talking about where they want to be in 2018 and 2020. They are eager to be the best in their field and for everyone in the company to be passionate and unified in delivering this mission. The rally cries are to “confront the brutal facts” and “go big or go home.” It all sounds so exciting and motivating until one common problem shows up, namely that everyone wants harmony through out the entire process.

Effective teams who plan for the future, and effective leaders who help make those plans become real understand that airing ideological differences with passion and having tumultuous meetings is a normal part of strategic planning. While avoiding personal attacks, effective leaders and teams do engage in regular and in-depth strategic dialogue where conflicting ideas are explored and debated.

However, many organizations are experiencing strategic paralysis because they do not want to take the time or make the effort to create this depth of clarity.  They are afraid feelings will be hurt. So, instead of dealing with the real issues, they choose the easy out and seek modest aspirations rather than dealing with the complex strategic challenges before the organization. 

Given the above, we need a new generation of leaders who know how to lead people through the world of strategic and organizational change. We need leaders who understand how functional teams work, who recognize the right choices to be made, and who can create positive forward momentum. We need leaders who are playing to win rather than simply playing to avoid difficulty.

If you are looking to build this kind of capacity in your organization, then now is the time to enroll these individuals in the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through this challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which will improve their ability to be become better strategic and operational leaders.

For more information on how to register for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html

Planning for 2018 and 2020 are important activities.  Now is the time to make sure you have the leaders who can plan effectively and implement those important plans once they are ready.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

A Quick Reminder

Friday, December 6, is the registration deadline for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

We will meet for this unique learning opportunity at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Coralville, Iowa on the following dates:

- March 4 - 5 - 6, 2014

- May 6 - 7 - 8, 2014

- September 9 - 10 - 11, 2014

- November 13 - 14, 2014 

If you and/or members of your team are interested in the 2014 training, then please click on the following link for more information: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Or you can click on the this link for the registration form: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2014-From-Vision-To-Action-Leadership-Training-Regist.pdf

I look forward to your participation in the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

What Great Leaders Know

Every year, I meet thousands of people in leadership positions. Whether we cross paths in training sessions, conferences, meetings or executive coaching sessions, the best of the best all know one simple fact. Great leaders do not create followers. They create partners and colleagues.

When people come and work for a company, they bring two things with them, namely their willingness and their ability. The former is based on their commitment to, and motivation for the work. The later is based on their knowledge and skills. Hopefully, they will have a supervisor, manager or leader who can build on their talent and help the individual make progress and be successful. 

However, after decades of working with great leaders, I have learned that these individuals also do two other things with their employees, namely offer support and perspective. Both of these elements significantly influence people’s willingness and ability.

Our challenge this late fall into early winter is to help good leaders to become great leaders. We need them to learn to work effectively and efficiently, not just keep everything and everyone under control. This means that they must create clarity about the standards we all hold and clarity about the mission. In short, they need to learn a form of leadership which will result in people becoming engaged and feeling like they are a valued member of the team.

One way to help good leaders to become great leaders is to enroll them in the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through this challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to be become better leaders.

Now is the time to sign people up for this unique and in-depth learning experience.  For more information on how to register for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Great leaders are role models and mentors. They inspire people and guide them to a whole new level of performance. If you are seeking people who will create partners and colleagues, then now is the time to get them involved in the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Building Capacity For The Future

Nearly every strategic plan I have reviewed or helped write in the last 12 months has had a section on building capacity for the future. For some, this is based on the realization that key leaders have been, and will continue to retire. For others who are wanting to grow and expand their business, they have realized that they do not have the bench strength in place to support their strategic initiatives. Finally, some companies have realized that they can not continue to offer excellent service because they are loosing key people due to poor leadership. What ever the starting place, nearly every one wants more and better leaders. The difficulty is that few are willing to holistically understand the implications of such a commitment to the future.

First, wanting more and better leaders means that we have to understand that every organization has two operating systems running at the same time. The first is focused on operational excellence and the continual improvement of what already exists. The second operating system is about the on-going development, communication and implementation of strategy. It is the combination of both systems that makes a company viable over time.

However, the greatest challenge in the world of leadership training is that some people want leaders who will make the first operating system run better while others want leaders who can make the second one operate better.  A rare few want leaders who can work to improve both systems. The difficulty when building capacity for the future is that each form of leadership, operational and strategic, requires a very different skill set.  

For example, in the world of operational excellence, an individual who leads needs to be able to focus on short tern results, manage day to day details related to implementation, conserve company resources while being able to prioritize, plus maintain a certain level of consistency when it comes to systems and process discipline. In the later, strategic development and implementation, an individual who leads needs to position the organization for the future. Here, the leader needs to take the long view and maintain a big picture perspective. They need to seek ways to grow the business and expand the organization’s capabilities. They also must know how to question status quo and encourage new ways of thinking and working. In short, an operational leader needs to create an environment where people want to contribute while a strategic leader must paint a picture of the future and how to get there in a vivid and precise manner.

Second, if we are truly committed to building capacity for the future, then we must invest our time, energy and attention to doing this work. However, countless leaders report to me that they are overwhelmed by all they are doing. Time for things like mentoring, coaching and dialogue are taking a back seat to more pressing problems. They may desire doing more capacity building but often find they are simply too busy solving more pressing operational issues related to service delivery. Still, the problem is present and does not go away.

Nevertheless, there is a solution, namely the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to be better operational and strategic leaders. Now is the time to sign people up for this unique and in-depth learning experience.  For more information on how to register for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

At this time period, building capacity for the future is mission critical to success. Having more and better leaders is vital. The 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training is an important first step to developing a whole new way of doing business. I look forward to you and your team participating in this special training opportunity in 2014.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Improving Leadership And Management Is A Daily Process

Recently, I was rereading two articles in preparation for the third session of the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. In the first article called “What Great Managers Do” by Marcus Buckingham, Harvard Business Review, March 2005, the author states that great mangers “discover what is unique about each person and then capitalize on it. Average managers play checkers, while great managers play chess. The difference? In checkers, all the pieces are uniform and move in the same way; they are interchangeable. You need to plan and coordinate their movements, certainly, but they all move at the same pace, on parallel paths. In chess, each type of piece moves in a different way, and you can’t play if you don’t know how each piece moves. More important, you won’t win if you don’t think carefully about how you move the pieces. Great managers know and value the unique abilities and even the eccentricities of their employees, and they learn how best to integrate them into a coordinated plan of attack.”

Right now, as I work with large and small, for-profit and non profit, organizations, I have a discovered a common problem - too many people in management and leadership positions are playing checkers, not chess. They do not comprehend the importance of, and value to their organization of taking the time to play chess. For them, a successful business is based on every one being efficient in how they execute on their goals. Failure is not an option or a learning experience, and all feedback is one way. Furthermore, there is low psychological safety in the work place, and a high degree of accountability, resulting in no innovation, little effective communication, or respect, plus a tremendous amount of anxiety about the future and change. However, if more of these same leaders were to comprehend and understand the importance of “playing chess”, then we would see greater degrees of commitment, motivation and effort through out the organization.

The second article I read in preparation for the third session of the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training was called ““Helping People Achieve Their Goals” by Marshall Goldsmith and Kelly Goldsmith from Leader to Leader magazine, No. 391, Winter 2006. Here, the two authors explore in-depth the common problems around why people give up on achieving their goals. One problem in particular, from my vantage point as a consultant and executive coach, is rampant in the world of leadership and management at this time period. As they explain, “Managers often confuse two terms that appear to be synonymous but are actually quite different: simple and easy. We want to believe that once we understand a simple concept, it will be easy to execute a plan and achieve results. If this were true, everyone who understood that they should eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly would be in shape. Diet and exercise books are almost always at the top of the best-seller lists. Our challenge for getting in shape--as well as changing leadership behavior--is not understanding, it is doing!”

What we forget as leaders and managers of teams, departments or whole organizations is that short and long term change requires real effort. It does not happen overnight and if it did, I suspect it would not be sustainable. The solution is to better educate your current and your potential, future leaders about leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change. 

With the above in mind, now is the time to sign up these key people for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to work on the whole of the organization rather than just within the organization.  

As many of us know from experience, learning to lead in new and better ways is challenging, particularly for busy leaders. Still, if they understand why this level of learning is important, and how it will be helpful, then they will approach it as a long term investment and development process. As John Maxwell wrote many years ago, “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.”

For more information on how to register for the 2014 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Whether we are learning how to “play chess” rather than checkers, or differentiating between simple and easy, now is the time to prepare more people to become better leaders. The From Vision to Action Leadership Training is a great place to start in 2014.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257