A Road Map For This Summer

We were talking on the phone when he said to me, “I get your point that we are no longer in the emergency phase of dealing with COVID. My question to you is a simple one. What should we be doing this summer to be better prepared for what’s next?”

“First, recognize that COVID has sucked all the oxygen out of the room,” I replied. “During the emergency phase, we had to focus on day to day operations. We had to survive the crisis. But now that we are in the adaptive stage related to COVID, we need to think again about the strategy of the company. Where are we going? How are we going to get there? What’s it going to look like? These questions need to come back on the radar screen otherwise we will be caught in an endless cycle of reactivity which is not good for you as a leader, and not good for the company.

So, with that in mind, I encourage you to read and discuss with your team the following article: Heifetz, Ronald, Alexander Glasgow, and Marty Linsky. “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis”, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2009. The article will not solve all your problems, but it will give you and your team some common language and perspective as you move into the next three months. And having common language and perspective will give you and the team the ability to think creatively about operational problems and strategic challenges.

Next, it is time to plan and execute an After Action Report related to the first 90 days of COVID. They key to success when you read about how to do this (see my 4-14-20 blog on this subject) is that the process needs to be facilitated. This gives you as the leader the chance to think and listen carefully to what is being said rather than tracking the conversation and making sure everyone has had a chance to speak or clarify their thoughts. Whether that person is me or someone else, make sure your facilitator is knowledgable and capable of holding the space for safe and thoughtful dialogue. The goal here is to capture lessons learned so you can be better prepared for the future.

Furthermore, it is time to set up and then hold an in-depth strategic review. We need to evaluate the entire strategic plan and determine if it is still viable given the current internal and external environments. Recognizing the high degree of unknown variables within the market place for the foreseeable future, you may need to create a Bridge Plan (see my 4-22-20 blog on this subject) which spans the next 6-9 months. This new plan will allow for maximum flexibility in a complex operating environment.

Before you build a Bridge Plan, I encourage you to read the following book: Weick, Karl E., and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. Managing The Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007. As the authors write, “The ability to deal with a crisis situation is largely dependent on the structures that have been developed before chaos arrives.” Since the chaos has already arrived in the form of COVID, it is time to think carefully about what new structures need to be put in place to assure we are better prepared before another crisis comes into play. 

For me, I think one of the core messages of the book is the importance of resilience. As Weick and Sutcliffe note, “No system is perfect.... The essence of resilience is therefore the intrinsic ability of an organization (system) to maintain or regain a dynamically stable state, which allows it to continue operations after a major mishap and/or in the presence of a continuous stress.” As they explain, “The hallmark of an HRO [High Reliability Organization] is not that it is error-free but that errors don’t disable it.” Recognizing that COVID is not a short term error, we must become more resilient in spite of the continuous stress of COVID plus the resulting economic uncertainty that it has created.

I also recommend you sit down with two different groups of people, namely your senior team and your marketing and communications team. With the former, it is time to develop an internal communications plan about the company’s direction during the coming 6-9 months so all employees are clear about what is most important and where they should focus. This will increase engagement, clarity and confidence in the company. It will also help you re-recruit your best players so they do not seek or accept new employment offers when the economy picks back up again.

With the later group, I recommend you develop an external communications campaign for all customers, partners, and shareholders. This will help people know you are clear about what is most important, and that you are moving forward in a productive and resilient manner given all that has happened. Market confidence in a company is as important as internal engagement.

Next, in mid-summer, I would plan on holding two table top exercises, using a military term, as a senior team. During the first exercise, I would explore in-depth the following question: How will we handle round #2 this coming fall, i.e the return of COVID plus a new flu strain which could result in a possible return to shelter in plan orders? The second table top exercise should explore the following question: What should we do if the economic fall out from COVID is a 3-5 year problem rather than a 6-12 months challenge? Both exercise have the possibility to anticipate problems before they become real problems and to generate real time solutions that could impact current operations and future choices.

Finally, starting this week, I would commit to holding routine and in-depth coaching sessions for the next 120 days. The emergency has passed and day to day operations are stable. Now, we need to help people reflect on what happened and prepare them for the future. Skill based coaching, and mindset based coaching are needed so people can maintain balance, perspective and focus. If you do not have the capacity to do this internally, then consider partnering with an external executive coach who knows you and your company. The key is to not let this important one-to-one work slip to the back burner. If we want better results moving forward, we need to invest time and energy into creating better people. As noted before, “The ability to deal with a crisis situation is largely dependent on the structures that have been developed before chaos arrives.” Routine coaching is one of those important structures.

I hope I have not overwhelmed you with what I would do this coming summer. But if you want to be well prepared, both operationally and strategically, for the fall and 2021, then now is the time to get to work.”

“That was a lot,” he responded, “but you have given me a road map for the summer which is practical and specific. Thanks.”

“My pleasure. That’s way I am a part of your team. I look forward to when we visit next.”

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

Words matter in the world of leadership and change.

Every day people in leadership and management positions speak and share at the individual, group and whole company levels. What they say and how they say something is routinely discussed, explored and interpreted over and over by all involved. 

Sometimes the result of all this communication is clarity and other days it is confusion. Most days, the listeners pick and choose the parts of the message they like, and then dump the rest.

As an executive coach, I am constantly asking leaders to define their message and then strongly encouraging them to stay on-message. Some leaders will work a theme or message for three to six months. Others will change their core messages every sixty to ninety days. There is no one right way as to how long to stay on message. The key is to have a message that can be shared broadly with many different people and then to stick to sending it and sharing it. By the time, you as the leader are feeling like you’re a broken record, constantly repeating yourself over and over, I will assure you that people are finally just beginning to hear you for the first time.

Therefore, I ask clients to make sure the message they are sending is clear and concise. I also remind them that the listener should not need a dictionary or a United Nations interpreter to understand what you are saying. If we need to spend hours focused on understanding the message, then more likely the message will end up in the dust bin of communication, namely just one more piece of information that does not make sense and is an obstacle to getting through today and on to the next thing on the ever growing list of things that must get done.

The best leaders get this. They choose their words and their examples carefully. They want clarity to translate into unified action and positive results.

This week sit down and think through your message. Remember - words matter.

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

Dying With Our Mouths Open

Over and over, I explain to struggling leaders that many of their problems begin with their form of communication. Some just scratch their heads and look at me with utter confusion. “I communicate all day long,” one young leader recently shared. “I am attempting to create organizational clarity which can be cascaded deep into the organization. Still, they are just not getting it.” I nod and explain that the more we communicate as leaders, the less we understand.

During the first session of the From Vision to Action Leadership Training, I ask the group to read the article called “The Leader of the Future” by William C. Taylor from the June 1999 issue of Fast Company magazine. In it, Ron Heiftz states, “leaders die with their mouths open.” 

Routinely now, I see more and more leaders with their mouths open and their brains on overload.  They are running a mile a minute and spouting off a variety of confusing key messages. Their followers just watch it all go by, and then shrug and get back to what ever they were doing. They have learned that soon enough their leader will breeze through again on their way to another meeting, and focus on something completely different.

When leaders are struggling around communication, I often encourage them to pause and ask the following three questions of their direct reports:

- What is going right in our organization?

- What do you care about in our organization on a daily basis?

- What do you do that matters the most?

The key in the first question is to understand how some one views the organization.  What we pay attention to influences how we work every day.

The key in the second question is to understand what motivates them at work. On a daily basis, most people care about what they are doing. Our job as a leader is to build off of this foundation and hopefully be able to align this person with the strategy and vision of the organization.

Finally, the key in the last question is to see if the person believes in what they are doing each day. If it is just a job, then you will know it by their answer. If, on the other hand, what they do is in full alignment with the mission of the organization, then you have someone who, with the right leadership actions, can make a world of difference.

Excellent leaders know they need to talk less and listen more on a day to day basis. When they listen to understand before being understood, plus seek the input from different people and honestly value different perspectives, they are creating a powerful work place culture, one that can rise to every challenge.

This week, focus less on talking and more on listening. It will be the start to becoming an exceptional leader.

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

The Importance of Clear Communication

We were sitting in his office having just finished up a long day of meetings and inservices when he turned to me and said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you my good news. I found what I have been looking for. It took a while but I found the perfect bra. It is the right color, shape and the fit is perfect.”

At first, I was a tad bit confused. But I knew that I had heard exactly what he had said. The puzzled look on my face caused him to burst out laughing.

“That must have sounded pretty funny. Sorry about that,” he explained. “I am an old car buff, and have been working many years on rebuilding a great 1950’s era Chevy. The bra is the protective covering I will strap on the front when I drive it to area car shows.”

I then nodded in understanding and said “Congratulations.”

When we become a leader, it is critical that we focus on our communication. We have to be clear in what we say and how we say it, recognizing that information without context can be quite confusing to the listener.

At the same time, we need to be very mindful of our unspoken messages. Our body language communicates faster than our words. Often it is misconstrued, resulting in a loss of understanding and even trust.

Furthermore, we need to be more mindful when we listen to others. This requires a high degree of concentration and on-going attention to the overall flow of the conversation. Too many times, I have observed leaders who only listen to respond rather than truly listen to understand. The result is that their staff interprets their communication as not caring.

Some days however even the best of us just get too busy trying to multi-task that we forget the impact of our words. A dear long term friend caught me in this situation recently when she called me up on the phone. I was deep into a strategic planning project when I answered, and unfortunately I did not give her my complete attention.

As usual, the first thing she did was ask me “How are you?”

My response was “Not bad.”

She paused and said, “Having a rough day?”

“No,” I replied.

“Then, why,” she inquired, “are you ‘not bad’? In the continuum of life, there is terrible -> bad -> not bad -> OK -> pretty good -> good -> great. Not bad is way down and closer to the bottom than the top. Are you sure you are feeling so low?”

I realized that she was exactly right. My response was not accurate. I was actually just busy and not very focused. I amended my first answer. “I am really good. Thanks for helping me be more clear.”

After our conversation, I realized that leaders, myself included, do not always give our full attention to sharing and listening. The impact in the above situation was minor but it is critical that we as leaders are more thoughtful in how we communicate.

Creating clarity in our organizations this spring begins with being more clear and being more attentive to what we are saying and how we are saying it. Otherwise, we may end up in an embarrassing situation or having communicated the wrong thing.

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