Deer In The Headlights

I live in rural America. Seeing deer is common. Some people think they are cute and others think they are nothing but a problem. What ever your point of view, the last place you want to see deer is in your headlights when you are driving home after a long day at work. The result is that you freak out. They freak out. And it is highly likely that some one or some thing is going to have a very bad day.

During interesting times and in the trough of chaos, people can at times act like deer in the proverbial headlights. They are overwhelmed by all that is happening around them. They are not sure where to go next. They finally bolt and often run into everything that they are trying to avoid, causing problems upon problems for all involved.

But what can leaders do about this?

First, leaders need to recognize that most employees just want to come to work and do their job. And at the end of the day, they want to feel like they have made progress and gotten recognition for a job well done. Most employees are focused on getting stuff done.

Leaders on the other hand are often focused on big questions and the future. They assume the day to day is getting done and hopefully done well. They, on the other hand, are trying to figure out if the business model is sustainable, are the resources arriving at the right times and are we really meeting the needs and expectations of the customers. In essence, they are big picture focused.

Then, after hours of this level of thought and reflection, these strategic leaders meet tactical employees and share. They talk about strategy, trends, the future markets, growth of the company and often the numbers. This broader context is perfectly clear to these leaders.

But for the day to day employees, this is all new territory. They are not aware of the big picture. They zoom in to solve daily problems rather than zoom out to look at the strategic intent of the company. So, when they finally move from being unaware of the bigger picture to being aware of the bigger picture, they naturally become overwhelmed. They start asking powerful questions like “Do I still have a job?” or “Is the company going under and I need to get out now?” This lack of big picture focus is not their fault. It is just not their focus on a daily basis.

The upshot of all of this leader and employee interactions during interesting times and a trough of chaos is deer-in-the-headlights behaviors. It’s normal. It’s what all of us do when we are overwhelmed and can not process what is happening around us. In simple terms, we fight, run away or just stand there in shock. And then someone is going to have a very bad day.

However, I have observed fantastic leaders who avoid this normal stage of the trough of chaos. First, they do not do a big picture data dump on employees. Instead these leaders focus on creating focus and clarity. Second, through routine strategic level dialogues, they explain what is and is not going to change so people understand that there is a line of continuity through all that is happening. And finally, they help all involve understand what are the priorities each quarter. Again, they create focus and clarity over panic and fear. The result is fewer deer-in-the-headlights moments, and more people who come together to solve tactical and strategic level problems.

This week, remember that the deer-in-the-headlights response is normal. We all are doing the best we can with the information we have. And remember to create clarity. When we focus on purpose over fear, people will make the right things happen every time.

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

Manage Endings and New Beginnings

I was surprised when they called and asked me to come and teach a workshop called "Coping With Chaos."

Being a small urban hospital in the central part of the United States, they had been achieving moderate success by expanding their services with new clinics to meet the needs of their aging community. They also had focused on becoming more user friendly with a higher level of patient/customer service.

"What happened?" I inquired.

"We are going through a very rough time," the head of HR replied. "We experienced a time period of low census, and some people in executive positions panicked due to the numbers. So we closed one wing of the hospital and merged the medical and surgery floors for a more efficient use of our resources. I hope you can come soon.”

Fortunately, my schedule had an opening, and I agreed to come.

The morning I arrived to teach, I was surprised to find only 18 floor nurses at the workshop. I was told that I would be seeing 20-30 supervisors and part of the management team, along with only a couple of floor staff. As the day progressed, however, management never showed up, and only one supervisor dropped in for 35 minutes over lunch.

About an hour or so into the workshop, the root of the problem surfaced. Many of the floor nurses had not been against closing the wing; they simply wished it had been done in a respectful manner. As one veteran nurse of 19 years put it, "I came on shift at 11:00 p.m. at night to find a sign posted on the door of the wing of the hospital. It read: ‘Closed. Report to Third South. If you have any questions, put them in writing to the Nursing Executive before 7 am.’ We knew that the census was low. We just wish we had been included in the decision-making process and treated with respect.

"It was obvious once it had happened, that management had been thinking about this change for quite some time before they did it. Around here, nothing moves particularly fast. Why couldn't they have provided us with advance warning, or asked us for our insights into formulating these changes? We would have helped, but this method of decision making doesn't exactly encourage trust and participation.”

As we progressed, many feelings came out that needed to be expressed. So I pushed my teaching notes aside, and we dove in. But it was during lunch that the real healing began.

"We know what is most important," one floor nurse began, "Our patients and their care. We are willing to work hard. We just ask for a little more support and kindness. I guess we will have to start by supporting each other." Through hugs, tears, and open sharing, they worked through the changes and moved on.

At the end of the day, I reported what had taken place during the workshop to the HR Director. Her response was: "I know that these are valid insights, but they won't change how we do things. We have to run a lean ship now that change is coming so fast."

While I could recognize the external factors that led to the decision, it was also clear to me that employees were giving their all to do the right thing for the patients. At the same time, they were being denied meaningful strategic level dialogue and input into decisions that had a direct effect on their work lives.

Remember: Leadership without strategic dialogue is demoralizing and will not transform challenges into achievements. When faced with significant challenges, leaders need to manage endings as well as new beginnings.

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

Change Is The Only Constant

Right now all across the country and around the globe, change has become the only constant, and people are reacting in a normal and dynamic manner. Thus, leaders at all levels need to routinely engage in more strategic level dialogues to create continuous clarity and focus. The challenge is that few people understand what is a strategic level dialogue and why it is important. 

In the beginning, think of a strategic level dialogue as a free flowing conversation about context, strategy and operational excellence. The goal is to help people improve their capacity to build, define, share and engage at a more strategic level. When they better understand the why and how elements rather than just the what to do next elements of their job, they can then make new and better strategic choices and transform those choices into consistent communication and action at both the strategic and operational levels.

Nevertheless, many leaders say they are too busy to spend time visiting with people. Now I know that many of them are getting caught in the trap that things are more important than people, but few recognize that the time spent visiting with people in a strategic level dialogue allows their colleagues and partners to better transform awareness and understanding into commitment and responsibility.

Still, I can hear someone in a management and supervisory position telling me that it would just be easier to simply tell people the strategy rather than  engage in a dialogue about it. Here, I refer them back to the work of James Belasco and Ralph Stayer from their book, Flight of the Buffalo: Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead. As they wrote, "The primary purpose of strategic planning is not to strategically plan for the future, although that's an important purpose of the exercise.  It is primarily to develop the strategic management mind-set in each and every individual in the organization. The purpose of the process is not only to produce a plan. It is to produce a plan that will be owned and understood by the people who have to execute it."

We as leaders have to recognize that in many companies, there are dual operating systems, i.e. one for day to day business and one for the design and implementation of strategy. It is the second one that is focused on continual development and communication of strategy. This is the one that will create a strategic mindset, the unification of understanding about context, strategy and operational excellence. When this takes place, we have the potential for creating strategic ownership.

So, how do we actually do a strategic level dialogue? First, it can happen any time and any where. Over coffee or over a meal, the key is to start with some excellent questions like the ones I shared last week in this blog.

Once you have asked a question, listen carefully to the answers. As the late Stephen Covey reminded us, “seek first to understand and second to be understood.” Build a common ground and perspective, and remember to connect everything back to the strategic nexus the union of mission, vision, values and the strategic plan.

Given constant change is the new normal, now is the time to hold more strategic dialogues. Can you afford to have less clarity rather than more clarity in your organization 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

Leadership & The Four C’s

More and more this summer, leaders are reporting to me that they are outside their comfort zone. Whether it is the warp speed of change that is happening right now, the digital economy, or that everything now is connected to the internet, they are just not feeling very comfortable and ready for the short and long term challenges before them. They tell me that there is little balance in their days, very little sense of order, and very few moments of predictability. In short, their world is more chaotic than they like. 

At times like this, leaders need to focus on the Four C’s, namely building clarity, confidence, connections, and commitment. 

The first step is to define clarity. Whenever this topic surfaces, I always turn to the first book that focused on this subject, namely Patrick Lencioni’s The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, Jossey-Bass, 2000. Here, he explains that a healthy organization minimizes the potential for confusion by clarifying the following:

- why does the organization exist?

- which behavioral values are fundamental?

- what specific business are we in?

- who are our competitors?

- how are we unique?

- what are our plans for the future?

- who is responsible for what?

For leaders this summer, the above list of questions is a great place to start when seeking a new level of clarity. Reflect deeply on each question, and write out your answers. Then, sit down with your leadership team and share your thinking. The subsequent strategic level dialogue will generate a strong foundation for the future and help when things feel chaotic outside your comfort zone.

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

Dealing With Continuous Change - part #2

In a world of constant change and now continual transformation, many leadership teams are stuck in analysis paralysis. Often quoting to me the phrase, “we must inspect what we expect,” one major problem is that they inspect too much, and hold unrealistic or unclear expectations. For these leaders, short term wins are not planned but called short term wins only after something has happened. The win is an after thought because people in multiple positions in the organization can not measure their progress. It is just work, work, and more work this spring. 

At the exact same time, many leaders and leadership teams are not building horizontal collaboration across their organization. People do not recognize that collaboration is the sum of a multitude of behaviors from working together on a one to one basis to managing teamwork during project implementation. One key to success from my vantage people is that collaboration takes place best after strategic level dialogue.

To help your team not get stuck, I first encourage you to clarify your collective and individual areas of focus. Line of sight is critical. 

Second, make sure all bi-directional communication is timely and accurate. This means working less from a place of command and control, and more from a place of clarity, commitment and connection.

Third, recognize that project management must result in system integration and systematic execution. As Ron Adner wrote in his book,  The Wide Lens: A New Strategy For Innovation, Portfolio/Penguin, 2012, “The real question is not if it can be done, but when. Not just when will we be able to complete the project, but when will we be able to align the necessary ecosystem for the complete value proposition to become a reality. The question of if speaks to success in the abstract. The question of when speaks to return, to attractiveness, to viability in the concrete.”

This week engage in more strategic level dialogues and focus more on why and when rather than if and maybe.

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

An Epidemic of Micro-management

Routinely now, I am encountering the same problem over and over. Like a family physician during flu season, the symptoms are all the same. The prescription does not vary much from person to person or organization to organization.

In a nutshell, here is the problem. From the leader’s point of view, the organization is not moving fast enough strategically and their teams are being consumed by operational minutia. From the followers’ point of view, their boss is controlling or micro-managing every thing down to the last detail. Anger and frustration are rampant. Trust is on the decline and cynicism is on the rise. Every one believes that the other person needs to be fixed.

As a consultant and executive coach, I am reminded of something that Michel Godet shared in the May-June 2012 issue of The Futurist magazine when he wrote, “... everything that pleases us is correct and what bothers us is wrong.” So many people in management positions right now aspire to this leadership philosophy. They approach their organization, strategic change and their staff from a correct vs. wrong, black vs. white perspective. All that pleases us as leaders is good and all that disrupts us or bugs us is wrong.

This line of thinking or philosophical approach to people and organizational change is dangerous from my perspective. It reminds me of an old saying: “for the hammer every problem resembles a nail.” Yet, we must recognize that the same tool does not work for all problems. The same goes with a black and white perspective on people and change. All of us are way more complex and dynamic to flourish in such a simplistic world view.

The first solution on the leadership side is to teach people new and better ways to lead. Micro-management has killed creativity and excellence in so many situations. On the other hand, lack of strategic perspective also has yielded poor decisions on a regular basis.

So when encountering this kind of situation as a consultant and executive coach, I take out my proverbial prescription pad and write the following: “engage in more and regular strategic dialogues until a larger perspective is shared by all.”  When we explore a broader strategic perspective, i.e. the environment around the organization and the environment within the organization, we yield fresh insights and new understanding. When we routinely see wide, far, deep, different and together, we strengthen the capacity for all to make better decisions.

This week step back from micro-management and put down the hammer. Share more and listen better. The future starts today.

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

Preparing For Change

Change is in the air this summer. Large and small organizations across the country are restructuring their org charts, redesigning operational systems to be more efficient, planning for the future, and actively considering a variety of mergers and acquisitions. All with the hope that these actions will give them a competitive advantage.

Initiating major organizational change at these levels is a big deal. It should not be done on a whim or a lark. It should not be ego driven. Hopefully, it has been well thought through and connected to the organization’s strategic nexus.

Before one undertakes strategic level actions, I often encourage leaders to undertake some initial work as recommended by Dan S. Cohen in his book, The Heart of Change Field Guide: Tools and Tactics for Leading Change in Your Organization. Harvard Business School Press, 2005. He recommends the following steps be taken.

First “take the temperature.... You cannot start real change without a realistic picture of the internal climate of the organization.” Too many times, I have seen leaders skip this stage and end up having to back track on what they want to do. In our rush to make change, we often forget that the capacity to plan does not always equal the capacity to execute.

Second, “identify the hurdles.... cultural barriers to change should be identified and addressed early in the change process.” If there is one thing that more and more leaders will miss this summer is the understanding that culture is the source of the magic and the mojo in their organization. It can make or break change in a heart beat. If not managed well, culture can shut down and/or stifle creativity. Status quo does not tolerate fools.

Third, “talk to the people in the trenches.... the rank and file often know more than their bosses about the real needs, real problems, and the potential solutions because they live and breathe them every day.” Strategic dialogues this summer are vital to organizational success. We, as leaders, need to listen carefully to employee’s concerns, needs, fears and worries. If our answer to their concerns is that “if you do not like working here, you can go work for the competition,” then the best people will leave and the front line employees will only do the minimal level of work rather than their best.

From my vantage point, the first steps to successful change this summer begins with doing an in-depth strategic analysis, knowing your own gut and defining what is and what is not negotiable. Furthermore, it involves having the courage to ask both employees and customers for feedback about quality and service delivery, and then having the fortitude to listen even if it is not positive.

This summer many organizations will make mistakes. Hopefully, how they start strategic level change will not be one of them.

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

The Real Work of Leadership and Change

Last night, I was reading the May 2011 issue of Fast Company magazine and came across an article called “The Twitterfly Effect” by Linda Tischler. The essence of the article is about how the Rhode Island School of Design hired a new president, John Maeda, in December of 2007 who was charged to “define the school’s relationship with a new era of digital technology and global society while preserving the best of the school’s culture and mission.” One of his first goals was “to establish a more open form of leadership, in part by using digital tools to help spark conversations.” These tools included launching a president’s blog, tweeting and having a personal Facebook page. On the March 2, 2011 after the release of a new strategic plan designed around a more interdisciplinary framework for undergraduate studies, the RISD faculty voted “no confidence” in the president and the provost.

As he explains in the article, “his cyberstyle leadership was a misstep at a conservative campus battered by the recession.” He also acknowledges that “he understands that social media can only take you so far in redesigning leadership. All those great hopes for leading by blogging, tweeting, and emailing proved inadequate to the gritty business of persuading an actual living, breathing constituency to follow his direction.” As he continues, “... now I realize that what I thought could work in the digital era doesn’t have the same impact locally as it does globally. People don’t want more messages; they want more interactions. There’s no perfect memo where you can press SEND and get connected, or Facebook group you can join to be committed.”

Now he is leading in the “old-fashioned way: building relationships one at a time, having coffee with faculty, jogging with students late at night, offering free pizza as an inducement to get them to show up and talk. These interactions are time-consuming, high-bandwidth, interactive, fiscally expensive and unscalable.” In short, he is building trust, buy-in, and community.

When I read this article, my first thought was “when did building relationships become old-fashioned?” Of course, they are time-consuming and interactive. Relationships do take time, energy and commitment because they are relationships. Commitment, buy-in and trust are investments. What you feed, grows is not fast but it is powerful.

My second thought was that this man needed a good executive coach who would have pointed out on day #1 that people bond with people before they bond with a strategic plan. A fine executive coach could have advised this college president that having a clear sense of direction is powerful, but it is worthless unless people are willing to follow. Every good leader needs good followers. However, the best leaders know that the best followers are actually partners and colleagues rather than simply lemmings running in a specific direction.

Finally, social media has its place in change. Recent world events have proved this point on numerous occasions during the last 12 months. However, cyber-leadership is not the foundation for sustainable change. Cyber-communication can help but we are people first and foremost. We follow people and this means we need to have time and space to engage with each other.

In my opinion, “old fashioned” strategic dialogue and relationship building takes place best in person, not over the internet. As Napoleon said so many years ago, “Don’t talk to your troops until you can see the whites of their eyes.” I believe we are wired for relationships and we all want healthy relationships with others. Nevertheless, we only form relationships by being interactive with others on a regular basis over time. This dialogue process happens on multiple levels, e.g. seeing, hearing and feeling, rather than simply being connected to an internet feed.

John Maeda learned some important lessons as a new college president at the Rhode Island School of Design. We, thanks to Linda Tischler’s fine article, also have the opportunity to learn and relearn some important lessons about leadership, too. Old fashioned relationship building does make a difference in the short and long term process of finding direction in the midst of change.

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

Young Workers: Tourists or Natives?

Right now many companies are looking for excellent and talented young people. They want to recruit and retain them so that they have a strong capacity to meet the ever-changing, and hopefully improving, market conditions. And these same companies are running into some unique problems as they hire them.

First, many of the young people they are hiring keep looking for their next job even while starting their new one They see this practice as normal and productive. They are constant explorers seeking an ideal career.

Second, when they are hired, they instantly expect the company to provide them with flexible working conditions so they can continue to have time for family, personal passions, and commitments.

Third, these same new hires want to bring their own computers, PDAs and cell phones to work, and to use these systems rather than the company provided IT solutions. They believe that their systems are superior to the ones at the office. And many times, they are!

Fourth, many young people bring their parents into the work environment. Being used to consulting their parents on a daily basis in regards to work and personal problems, young people continue this pattern much to the consternation of their supervisors and managers, let alone HR professionals.

Fifth, they expect to use their personal social media connections, e.g. Facebook, Skype,Twitter, etc, to solve problems, improve team work, and deliver better results. Many of them are light years ahead of their employers when it comes to this form of communication and use social media to find short cuts to common work problems.

Sixth and final, they expect their new employers to make all work exciting, passionate and significant. They detest drudgery and boredom. Routine is stupid and fixed schedules are an alien concept.

The result is that some companies believe young workers are more like tourists than natives.

Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman in their book, When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work, HarperBusiness, 2002, told us this was going to happen nearly a decade ago. Ron Alsop in his book, The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the millennial generation is shaking up the workplace, Jossey-Bass, 2008, noted these same problems in greater detail, and explained that this is the new normal for the 92 million Millennials entering the workforce.

Our choice as senior executives is simple. We can follow our limbic minds and freeze, flee or fight these changes, or we could engage with these young people and learn. These young people, who are showing the common traits of being entitled, optimistic, civic minded, impatient, multitasking and team oriented, are not the problem as much as the future. While employers are benefitting from their technology, multitasking, and teamwork skills, but bristling at their demands for flexible working conditions, their desire for frequent feedback and guidance, and their hope for rapid promotion, we as leaders need to engage with them in regular strategic level dialogues. We, young workers and senior executives alike, are all at the awareness stage and we need to move to the understand and collaboration stages in 2011.

This week and this spring, realize that there are multiple generations in the work place at this time period. Visit with the “tourists,” and get to know them. They are the employees and customers of the future.

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

The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #2

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #2

Sunday morning: February 21, 2010

Dear friends,

The purpose of a strategic dialogue is to define and infuse into the organization clarity about three things. As I mentioned last week, the first is strategic context, namely why are we making changes within the organization. While everyone knows that organizations change and change often, these day I continue to discover that many people do not understand why the changes are taking place within their specific organization. The result is limited sustainable movement forward and often the rise of significant turf battles.

The second goal of a strategic dialogue is creating clarity about strategic direction, namely where are we going. Leaders need to connect the aforementioned why element with the where are we going piece of the picture, i.e. the importance of vision which I shared earlier this winter in one of my previous Monday Thoughts Weekly E-mails. When the organization's strategic plan plus the vision and mission are connected to the need for change, there is the opportunity for people to focus and take ownership.

The third part is organizational philosophy, namely how are we going to move in this new direction. For me, exploring organizational philosophy creates clarity about how to apply the vision, mission and core values. It is the taking of the intangible organizational philosophy and turning it into a mental framework that everyone knows, understands and owns in order that they can achieve optimal performance, all day and every day. The problem with many leaders this winter is that they are trying to create clarity about these three parts by the power of their ego or position, rather than through strategic sharing and listening.

Strategic sharing is different than just telling people what to do and why to do it. First, it begins with a foundation of mutual respect. Recognizing that all involved have the potential to discover the answers to challenging strategic questions, leaders who do strategic sharing come as equals to the conversations. As Ken Blanchard wrote years ago: “We all have pieces.... The world and its problems are too complicated to go it alone. Together is better.”

This level of sharing is built upon a foundation of strategic listening. While many leaders get caught up in tactical problem solving mode, those who listen strategically look for the overall flow of the conversation and the organization's understanding of what is happening. It is from a place of listening that something unique happens. As Stephen Covey reminds us: “Real listening shows respect. It creates trust. As we listen, we not only gain understanding; we also create the environment to be understood. And when both people understand, both perspectives, instead of being on opposite sides of the table looking across at each other, we find ourselves on the same side looking at solutions together.” In short, strategic sharing and listening help the organization move past the paradigm of leaders and followers. It generates the opportunity to not get caught in the victim place of us vs. them, and instead generates a collective "we".

This week remember: Leaders must engage the heart and mind as well as the hands when seeking to turn a challenge into an achievement. For those who want to explore strategic dialogues in greater detail, I suggest you check out the From Vision to Action booklet called “Turning Challenges into Achievement”. You can find information about it on our website:

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

Have a wonderful week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257

Leading Through Complexity: The Core Four Actions - Part #4

THEME: Fall 2009 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable Report

FOCUS: Leading Through Complexity: The Core Four Actions - Part #4

Monday morning: November 16, 2009

Dear friends,

The last of The Core Four Actions seems simple but it is a complex leadership activity. As it states, “What you provide, activates and energizes.” The first verb, “provide”, focuses on what we supply or make available to those who report to us. To understand what leaders make available, we first need to understand the concepts of “activate” and “energize.”

The word “activate” means to “to set up or formally institute (as in a military unit) with the necessary personnel and equipment.” I like to think of this in the context of making sure you have the right people with the right equipment working on the right problems. Think Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their book, First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Simon & Schuster, 1999, where they explain the importance of matching talent with opportunity.

The word “energize” means “to put forth energy” or “to make energetic, vigorous, or active.” When we dig deeper into this concept, an important clue to it’s meaning is found in the definition of “vigorous” which means “to make strong.” When something is energized, it is made stronger and often with this increased strength comes an intensity of feeling and commitment.

So when implementing the fourth of the The Core Four Actions, many leaders think about creating SMART goals, realistic timelines, short term wins, functional and cohesive teams, empowered people, and continued talent development. Everyone of these is mission critical to short and long term success but they only deal with the surface. When leading through complexity, there needs to be more.

First, with complexity comes confusion. Therefore, successful leaders create clarity around what is our competitive advantage. They recognize that customers choose us for a reason. They delve deeply into this reason and make sure all know it and remember it when days are full and busy.

Second, with complexity comes overload. Therefore, they prioritize work and clarify who is responsible for what and by when it needs to get done. The combination of these two factors limits confusion and reinforces the focus on factors that make a difference.

Third, with complexity comes arrogance and hysteria. Some people tend to down play the difficulties and think it is no big deal while others go nuts and blow everything out of proportion. Therefore, leaders provide opportunities for in-depth strategic dialogue where they do not shy away from constructive ideological debates and conflict. This level of communication strengthens the organization and helps it to avoid the “hubris born of success”, a term from Jim Collin’s recent book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009.

Finally, with complexity comes sloppiness. Working outside their comfort zone due to complexity, some people do not always get everything done or done well. Poor leaders let this slip by and do not take notice. Exceptional leaders provide a structure so that all are held accountable for their behaviors and actions. This is very important because it does not let a precedent get set which could end up becoming a cultural norm.

When we as leaders embrace the fourth of The Core Four Action, namely “what you provide, activates and energizes”, we are position the organization for sustainability in the midst of complexity.

This week reflect on what you provide different groups of people and the organization as a whole. Does it activate and energize?

Have a fantastic week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257