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

Self-care is not optional in the world of leadership.

Regularly now, people are discussing with me their strategic goals and plans for 2020 and 2021. Some are even willing to explore all the way out to 2022. They all recognize that this level of thinking is complicated and complex. For many, it is an in-depth exercise into thinking through a variety of scenarios and possible problems before they actually become problems.

And in the midst of this big picture thinking, I am the one who asks a different question: If it all works out according to your best thinking, there is a phenomenal amount of work to be done. So, what are you going to do as a leader so you don’t burn-out? 

High amounts of stress comes with aggressive strategic growth and change. Burn-out is common and very difficult to recover from. Self-care is not optional if you want to be successful over time.

Many leaders have thought through all the details related to goals and objectives, leading and lagging metrics, systems’ improvements and changes, reorganizations at the structural level and the need for cultural continuity. However, many have not through how to cope with the volume and complexity of the work. 

The upshot is that many leaders will do whatever it takes to “win” at work. Yet, most have not thought through the costs to them personally. They will make it happen at work and start loosing more and more at home. Their marriages begin to crumble due to lack of care. Their friendships with others outside the family start to vanish because there is little time for being a friend. Their children start to feel like they are a burden or just one more project being managed. 

And finally, the health and well being of these leaders starts to suffer, too. With lack of exercise and continued poor eating, their health becomes a roller coaster of stress induced illnesses and symptoms. Finally, it all implodes and becomes one big mess on so many different levels.

That is why the question, “what are you going to do as a leader so you don’t burn-out?”, is such an important question. Before life goes to pieces, it is time to sit down, to define some boundaries around work, and to figure out what is a reasonable and realistic self-care plan. Good health, physically, mentally, socially and spiritually, is not optional if you want to be an excellent leader during challenging times.

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

Dealing With Accelerated Change, Chronic Uncertainty and Rampant Complexity

Being a long time executive coach gives me a unique window into the world of leadership and organizational change. Every week, I engage in in-depth and private conversations with people in a variety of leadership positions. Together, we explore their leadership challenges, organizational problems, and how to cope with these daily challenges and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. Given all that has been shared with me during the last nine months, three common themes have emerged.

First, numerous executives and their teams report to me that they are struggling with the convergence of accelerated change, chronic uncertainty and rampant complexity. The problems within this convergence are some times technical, adaptive and critical to their short and long term success.  Often, those involved feel their choices are limited and their current ways to deal with this convergence are not making a difference. Most report that are overwhelmed and deeply frustrated by it all.

Second, many of those who visit with me report that they are struggling with how their organization sets goals and executes those goals. They routinely acknowledge in private that goal setting have become a useless exercise in writing down what you already know you are going to do. Therefore, it does not move the organization to new levels of performance as much as entrench people and teams into maintaining status quo.

Finally, many leaders want to conquer this level of adversity and have themselves, their teams and ultimately their organization emerge on the other side stronger and more committed. However, most don’t know where to begin to do this level of work, personally or professionally. They want answers and they want perspective. And routinely, they feel they are coming up short.

Given how many executive coaching sessions I’ve had about the above three topics, I have decided to devote the entire Fall 2019 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable to dealing with these issues. Rather than covering five topics during a normal Roundtable, we are just going to explore three topics but in much greater depth.  With the above in mind, here is the agenda for the upcoming Fall Roundtable:

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

- 8:30 am - Arrival & Visiting Time

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - How do leaders successfully deal with accelerated change, chronic uncertainty and rampant complexity? - part #1

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

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - How do leaders successfully deal with accelerated change, chronic uncertainty and rampant complexity? - part #2

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

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - How do effective leaders do goal setting and execution? - part #1

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

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - How do effective leaders do goal setting and execution? - part #2

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn

Thursday, September 19, 2019

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - How do leaders conquer adversity and emerge stronger and more committed?

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

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn

Location: Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa

Price: $ 295.00 for the two days and $ 195.00 for a single day.

Registration form: 

https://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2019-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf

I look forward to exploring these important issues with you and your team this coming September, and to share with you what I have learned  about these subjects. Now is the time for us to gather and build adaptive capacity within ourselves and our teams.

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

The moment of truth is a moment of decision.

Every day, people make decisions. Customers choose products. Clients choose services. 

Meanwhile, employees can choose to follow the rules or to bend them. Senior executives can choose to define the organization’s culture through clarity and accountability, or to let it be defined by lack of attention. Managers and front line supervisors can choose to focus on quality and service, or simply to focus on control. Every day there are choices and decisions to be made.

Our challenge as leaders is to make sure the moment of truth, the time when the goods and/or services of the company are delivered, to be one based on a thoughtful and proactive decision rather than a reactive response. 

Given the challenges within society and the economy at this time period, we as leaders need to start talking and exploring again the subject of decision-making in greater depth. We need to help people utilize the strategic nexus, i.e. the sum of the mission, vision and core values in combination with their clarity about the strategy and strategic direction of the company, as a vital part of decision-making. All involved need to reference this framework and make sure they are making the right decisions for the right reasons. 

However, in the rush to get more and more things done in shorter and shorter time frames, most people make reactive decisions rather than thoughtful decisions. They do not grasp that the choices we make today create the future we will have tomorrow.

This week, sit down with your team and discuss how people can make the right decisions at the right time and with the right information. We can not afford to be getting sloppy around the moment of truth.

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

Building and maintaining healthy relationships is the foundation to successful change.

Over and over, people visit with me about the world of change. They struggle with it. They feel overwhelmed by it. And they feel confused by it.

Some authors suggest we need to suck it up and just get on board with change. Others tell us to focus on the results and the metrics. Finally, there are some authors who tell us that change is the constant and that it is normal to struggle.

I have listened to all of it, and I have watched the rise and passing of many best-seller books about the subject. Each in their own way has offered interesting tools and perspectives about how to lead, manage and move through this complicated and complex world of change.

For me, I always come back to the following perspective: Make friends before you need them. After decades and decades of working with people and companies, I have come to the conclusion that when we as leaders and as people build and maintain healthy relationships with others, successful change takes place.

Successful does not mean it will not be hard and challenging. Successful does not mean it will be less complicated or complex. Successful means, in the end, that when people support each other in healthy ways, they have the capacity to rise to their challenges, process the difficulties, and ultimately make a difference in spite of their challenges.  

When we feel cared for, respected and supported, we realize that we are stronger than we thought. And when this happens within the context of a team, a family or a community, we can walk through the trough of chaos, a sideways cyclone, the valley of bewilderment, or a pit of despair and come out on the other side stronger and more determined than ever. 

Just remember that best-seller books come and they go. People, however, who build and maintain a circle of support and perspective around themselves plus have a guiding purpose, can be the constant in the world of change. They can be the difference that is needed in the world and in the lives of others.

This week, spend time building new and meaningful relationships with people. And take care of the relationships you already have. Then, when push becomes shove in the world of change, you will have all you need to make it through to the next opportunity.

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

Clarity begins with understanding the meaning and purpose of the work.

Creating organizational clarity is a major part of every leader’s job. When working with an executive who is struggling, I routinely spend time exploring the subject of clarity. This exploration into clarity often involves discussing their answers to such important questions as “What is the strategic direction of the organization?” or “What should never change about the company as it responds to all of the changes that are taking place within society and it’s industry?” Many struggling executives believe that the answers to the these questions are based on providing an encyclopedia of information. They think the volume of content is the source of clarity.

I, on the other hand, always point out that the first step to clarity is to understand the purpose of the work. Without meaning, work just becomes one more thing to get done. Purpose-driven people and organizations always frame up WHAT they are doing by a clear definition of WHY they are doing it.

When it comes down to it, clarity begins and ends with clarity of purpose. And until we can give an answer that is clear and concise at this level, clarity will always be an elusive concept.

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