The present is a reflection of past decisions, and the future will reflect what we are doing today.

There are two simple truths in the world of leadership. 

First, nearly everything we are doing today in the business world and in our personal lives is a reflection of the decisions and choices we made five to seven years ago. Most of those decisions and choices have been forgotten. They are just water under the bridge. Today, what we experience is the sum of our past decisions and choices.

Second, the decisions and choices we are making today and in particular this summer moving toward this fall will significantly influence the life and work we will be doing five to seven years from now. Our future is a reflection or today’s decisions.

When we grasp that the year 2019 is a reflection of the decisions we made between 2012 - 2014, and that the decisions we make this year will define and influence our life and work in 2024 - 2026, then all of a sudden we need to slow down and be more thoughtful. Our choices need to be less random or rushed. Instead, they need to be filled with clarity of intent and more purpose-driven. We need to be more careful on so many levels.

When I meet with young leaders and explore these two truths with them, most are blown away by the magnitude of this perspective. They get it and they realize how rarely we actually sit down and think before we make decisions that have long term impact. But with support and encouragement, many people can reclaim their ability to do thoughtful decision-making because they recognize that today was once the future, and that tomorrow will one day be today.

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

What is the connection between organizational history, culture and meaningful work within successful organizations? - part #1

As we sat down for dinner, I realized that I had not seen her in quite a while.

“So how have you been?”, I asked her.

“Overwhelmed” was her response. “I’ve had to work on all four pillars of the organization, namely people, structure, systems and culture.”

“It’s been painful,” she continued. “These are good people. We are good people, but we have no control over all the changes that are taking place. It is waves upon waves of unforeseen variables and choices being made by people who do not realize the impact of their actions. It breaks my heart to lead through such difficulties.”

“I am so sorry you are having to go through this,” I responded.

And she wept quietly at the table. They were tears of grief, tears of anger about stuff over which she had no control, tears of letting go of control, tears to finally be with someone who gets the pain of leadership and tears of realization that it is going to get harder before it gets better.

Right now, life is dynamic, not linear. We can not control so much that is going on and yet we have to move forward together through the pain.

Since the Fall 2018 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, I have learned three important lessons. First, we need to pry ourselves away from screen time interactions and analysis, and reconnect with people, mission and meaningful work in person. Dashboards tell us some of the story but never the whole story. As Gregory Boyle in his exceptional book, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship (Simon & Schuster, 2017), reminds us: “Everything that counts can’t be counted.” There is a time and a place for fast leadership, but I believe we need to invest in slow leadership, namely the work of building and maintaining key relationship. Metrics help, but relationships are the foundation of successful action.

Second, we need to remember that deciding something and doing something are two different things. We have lost track of this in the work of fast leadership, particularly in our work with younger leaders. “I sent the e-mail” is not executing a decision.

Third, organizational culture, once established, can not be solved by reductionism. Trying to change group behaviors through individual goal setting, measurement and accountability will only work so far. We forget that our organizational culture reflects our collective behaviors. For example, you can not remove the ingredients within a baked cookie, i.e. the culture. You can not undo things to change things; you can not move backwards to make it better. Instead, you have to start over. This must be a re-founding by returning to our identity/purpose, reclaiming what we still believe in, a reclaiming of what gives meaning to what we are doing and what we aspire to be. It all depends on the values we embed at the start of this process.

Therefore, it is time for leaders in large and small organizations to engage in restorative processes. We must restore and/or build new processes where people feel confident and smart again. We need processes where we make sense of what formerly made us feel overwhelmed. We need experiences where “We are all in this together” takes on new meaning.

The first way to do this is to engage in more strategic dialogues. The goal of a strategic dialogue is to create strategic awareness, strategic understanding, and strategic perspective, which will result in better strategic choices and operational choices.

Strategic dialogues are a capacity building exercise. An effective strategic dialogue is the combination of three elements, namely education, awareness, and the building of commitment. Successful strategic dialogues are often facilitated so the leader or leaders can just focus on listening.

Within a strategic dialogue, focus on three areas. First, explore strategic context or if you do not like that word then use the words “strategic landscape.” Here, I encourage you to answer the question: Why are we moving forward? The big picture outside the organization needs to be explored and in particular, explain how the customer has and has not changed over time.

Second, explain strategic direction by answering the question, Where are we going? As leaders, we do this by connecting the why from above dialogue with the where of this question. In particular, explain how the company’s strategy has changed over time in order to meet the changing needs of our customers.

Third, explain the strategic nexus or philosophy by answering this question, How will we do this? Being mission-driven, and values-led means there needs to be  alignment and interconnection between mission, vision and core values with the current strategic plan. In particular, explain why the company’s mission and core values have not changed over time. 

For leaders to do the above successfully, they are going to need to get very good at the following two behaviors: sharing over telling and listening over responding. Now, some of you may be thinking what is the difference between sharing vs. telling and listening vs. responding? Mutual respect is one major difference. When leaders choose to share and listen during a strategic dialogue, there are no leaders or followers. There is no us vs. them. There is instead a collective we.

From my experience, this level of work requires leaders to utilize deep listening. This is a way of hearing in which we are fully present to what is happening in the moment without trying to control or judge it. We are hearing others with an open mind and a compassionate heart.

When we engage in restorative processes, we must engage in routine coaching in order to build capacity. From the person who is being coached, this means they are feeling heard. From the person who is doing the coaching, they must show up and be present. It is more transformational coaching rather than technical coaching. 

For coaching at this level to be successful, there needs to be the right environment for coaching. Many leaders think we are in sync with our environment, but actually it’s at war with us. As Marshall Goldsmith points out in his top-notch book, Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts - Becoming the Person You Want to Be, (Crown Business, 2015), we think we control our environment but in fact it controls us. Our environment changes us, and a changing environment will aways change us. Therefore, if we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us. And the result turns us into someone we do not recognize.

From my experience, the right coaching environment is one where certain elements are not changing, namely ample time, an uninterrupted space,  mutual respect, deep listening, two way dialogue, and active note taking.

Furthermore, when we engage in restorative processes, we must also engage in regular feedback. Feedback is vital to coaching. However, feedback is rarely given because it can make the coach and the person being coached uncomfortable. Returning to the aforementioned Goldsmith’s work, we forget that a coach is a follow-up mechanism. He or she instills accountability. At the highest level, a coach is a source of mediation, bridging the gap between the visionary Planner and short-sighted Doer in us. The Coach meshes our inner Planner with our inner Doer.

This week think deeply about strategic dialogues, restorative processes and how to take your coaching work to the next level. Given the dynamic world we are living in, this level of leadership is sorely needed.

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

Goal Setting and Decision-making are Interconnected

When working through the trough of chaos in the midst of interesting times, everyone is setting goals and trying to get them accomplished. Some days there are spectacular results and other days we are mediocre at best. So what is a leader to do?

First, set SMART goals, i.e. specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. This sounds easy, but it is not easy. Most of the time when I get called in as a consultant to figure out why things are not working right within a group or a company, the problem is with the goals. They are not written clearly or are so broad that doing anything will result in “success.” In situations like this, the goals are accomplished but nothing actually got done or changed.

One small secret to successful goal setting is to create planned short term wins. Remembering the research of John Kotter in his book, Leading Change, short term wins build confidence and clarity for longer term outcomes. They also help you as the leader deal with the common problem of complacency where everyone is comfortable with a dysfunctional level of status quo rather than doing the true work of in-depth change management and execution.

The other problem with goal setting is that it is directly connected to decision-making. Most leaders think that decision-making is the singular act of making a decision. The best leaders understand that it is a four part process of preparing to make a decision, making a decision, executing a decision, and then evaluating the decision to see if it worked out effectively. This four step decision-making framework could also be translated into a four step model for setting goals, i.e. preparing to set goals, setting goals, executing the goals that are set, and finally evaluating the goals that have been set.

For us here today, the intersection between goal setting and decision-making revolves around the idea that the goal of setting a goal and making the right decisions is not just to get something done. The goal of these two steps is to build shared commitment and shared advocacy for future goals and future decisions. Anyone can get something done. The best leaders want you to get it done and in the end feel like you have accomplished something worth doing. This level of ownership and confidence of the process and the outcome helps you, the leader and the company take on the inevitable next round of problems.

This week, review the goals that you are working on this quarter. Are they SMART goals? If not, rewrite them so they are more focused and actionable. Next, ask your direct reports how they are using goals as they make important decisions. This line of inquiry will be helpful for you and for them. Remember goal setting and decision-making are interconnected.

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

How Successful Leaders Make Decisions

Given what I wrote last week about how leaders think, I want to explore in more detail the subject of decision-making which is critical to success in the world of leadership. Decisions may come in the form of strategy, people or culture. They may impact structure, systems or strategy. But having worked with many successful leaders, it is clear to me that they all make decisions in a unique manner.

First, successful leaders understand that decisions do not matter if nothing happens afterwards. Many leaders think that once they have made a decision they have solved a problem. But as an executive coach, I have to continually remind people that decisions are not action. Decisions do not equal implementation. Decisions are not the mobilization of resources. Decisions do not equal execution. Decisions are empty without action that follows.

Second, successful leaders understand that effective decisions begin long before the actual call. It starts with the ability of a leader to sense there is a problem within the context of service delivery or the context of the service environment. “Sensing and framing” is a term defined by Noel M. Tichy and the late Warren G. Bennis in their great article, “Making Judgement Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, October 2007. It is critical to decision-making as it gives the decision a foundation or reason “why.”

Still, many executives forget that there is an important next step after they make a decision. What I have observed is that successful leaders focus on mobilizing resources, e.g. people, information, technology, etc., to support the decision and to make it actually happen. The key is that successful leaders also stay involved during the execution phase post the decision by helping to define clear milestones or planned short term wins so people can clarify their progress and be successful. People do not mind executing a decision or implementing a new system or solution as long as they know they are making progress. The best leaders make sure this element is part of the implementation post the act of making a decision.

Third, successful leaders understand that relationships are not linear, especially when it comes to the successful implementation of important decisions. In a linear relationship, a positional leader will approach it from the point of view that more of variable A will produce more of variable B. Successful leaders do not approach people like they are flow charts but instead recognize that the health and effectiveness of the relationship is based on clarity through dialogue. If this level of work is done in advance of the actual decision, the usual challenges with organizational change, e.g. resistance, is reduced and the forward momentum of the organization can proceed without major complications. However, the key is to build healthy work relationships on an on-going basis, not at an episodic level.

In short, when we step back and reflect on how successful leaders make decisions, we realize that they spend significant time and energy teaching others how to think rather than simply telling them what to do. And this is one of the main reasons why they are successful.

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

The Future Is Now

Many people do not recognize that the strategic level decisions we make in the first and second quarter of 2017 will impact their company for the next 3 - 5 years. While some operational leaders think getting something done is the key to success, strategic leaders think more about plotting the course to the future, recognizing that today’s decisions have the strong possibility of becoming tomorrow’s standard operating procedures. Therefore, these strategic leaders focus more on the preparation for making a decision than on simply making the decision.

Decision-making is off seen as the act of making up one’s mind, but in reality, the best leaders know that decision-making is a four part process. First, the best leaders prepare to make a decision. They do this by determining the salient factors to take into consideration, doing an analysis of causality, and figuring out the correct decision architecture to deploy. Once this information is in place, they will make a decision. However, the best leaders are quick to point out that making a decision is not the same as executing a decision. Finally, the best leaders routinely evaluate strategic level decisions to make sure the desired outcome or solution is still the correct one.

Our challenge in 2017 is to train more leaders to make better strategic and operational decisions. One way to do this is to sign them up for the 2017 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 lead people to generate short and long term success.

For more information on this in-depth training and how to register for the 2017 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

When one steps back from the busy day to day operations, it is abundantly clear that the future is now. Our goal then is to create a high degree of clarity about who we are, where we are going, and how we are going to get there. With this level of clarity, we can not only plan for the future but also create it. I look forward to your participation in the 2017 From Vision to Action Leadership Training where being prepared is the foundation for short and long term success.

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