Preparing for an Uncertain Future

Today, we live in a world where three technological tsunami’s are hitting us at the same time. The first is the smart phone wave with five billion people around the world already using mobile phones. The second is the social networking wave where nearly one billion people are in Facebook’s network. And the last is the cloud computing wave, the subtle but significant shift in capability. As all three waves crash upon the shores of current business practices, we as leaders must be better prepared and more strategic in our planning. To help us all begin this process, I encourage you to read “CEOs Tackle Technology” by Jennifer Pellet from the January/February 2012 issue of Chief Executive magazine. Here is the link: http://chiefexecutive.net/ceos-tackle-technology

Next, I encourage you to read the following short blog post by Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company magazine, called “Are Your Learning as Fast as the World Is Changing?” from the Harvard Business Review web site. His comments on vision, innovation and networking are superb. Here is the link: http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2012/01/are_you_learning_as_fast_as_th.html

Then, I recommend you watch the 30 second video of John Kotter answering the question, “How do you inspire a team that has failed?” His answer is very practical and helpful for those who are struggling. Here is the link: http://www.30secondmba.com/question/motivating-forces?video_id=f2a15e1e4708f

Finally, for all of us who are planning ahead, I encourage every one to remember that Patrick Lencioni’s new book The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business will be out on March 20, 2012. It would not surprise me if a variety of people will have read it before the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable in Des Moines on April 12 - 13. Here is the link for this new book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-advantage-patrick-m-lencioni/1104677299?ean=9780470941522&itm=8&usri=patrick+lencioni

Here, too, is the link to the registration form for the Spring Roundtable: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2012-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf

Happy reading as you wrap up the first month of 2012! I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the Spring Roundtable.

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

People and Teams

Once a young leader figures out whether they are building an actual team or a single leader work group, most want to charge forth and make things happen. As an executive coach, I often have to slow down these eager beavers and remind them that figuring out what kind of team to create is only a part of the journey. The next step is to figure out who is going to be part of the team.

Regularly, excited young leaders want to pick a variety of people, put them in a room, call them a team, and give them their marching orders. I, on the other hand, have to remind young leaders that who is on the team will greatly impact the effectiveness of what the team will do. Therefore, I often ask young leaders to answer the following questions:

- Do you have confidence in each prospective person who will be on the team?

- Do you have confidence in the way they make decisions?

- Do you have confidence in the way they role model?

- Do you have confidence in the way they learn?

An effective team is made up of effective people who can make decisions, role model healthy relationships, and learn. If we put the wrong people on the team at the start, then we have guaranteed that the team will become dysfunctional. If we put the right people on the team at the start, then we pre-position the team for success.

As more experienced team leaders know, the foundation of every team is trust. With the right people on the team, trust can grow, develop and propel a team to new levels of creativity and action. If you are coaching a young leader on building trust and building a team, then I recommend you and they read the following resource: Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Jossey-Bass, 2002. With clarity and the right people, effective team work is possible.

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

Spring 2012 Roundtable

Now that the recent snow storms have passed and there is the possibility of sunshine for today, I just wanted to give you a friendly reminder that the “Early Bird Special” for the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable is set to expire on Wednesday, February 1.

If you sign up between now and 2/1/12, the price will be $ 275.00 for the two days and $ 175.00 for a single day. Here is the link to the registration form:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2012-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf.

Please write “early bird special” on it when you send it to me.

After 2/1/11, the registration price will be $ 295.00 for the two days and $ 195.00 for a single day.

Here are the details for your review:

Date: April 12 - 13, 2012

Place: Courtyard by Marriott in Des Moines/Clive, Iowa

Agenda:

Thursday: April 12, 2012

- 8:30 am - Registration

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - Navigating Through Prolonged Uncertainty

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

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Maintaining Operational Excellence During Constant Change

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

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Building a Learning Organization

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

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Improving Front Line Supervisors Effectiveness

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn

Friday: April 13, 2012

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - A Return To Personal & Professional Balance

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

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

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn

Recommended Reading: Collins, Jim and Morten T. Hansen. Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, HarperCollins, 2011.

Hope you can come!

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

Not All Teams Are Created Equal

Within the first couple of executive coaching sessions with a young leader, I am certain we will end up discussing the subject of building a team and/or leading a team. It is a given because when groups of people come together, problems often arise.

As a side note, if you think you are the first one to encounter the challenges of people working together, then I encourage you to read Thucydides’ book called “The History of the Peloponnesian War.” Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ and considered by many as a classic and one of the earliest scholarly works of history, the book is an account of the war between the Peloponnesian League lead by Sparta and the Delian League lead by Athens. The conflicts between the two empires over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 b.c. in northern Greece, and the entire Greek world was plunged into 27 years of war. Thucydides applied a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this exhaustively factual record of the disastrous conflict that eventually ended the Athenian empire. As you read through it, you will realize people have struggled for many years.

Now back to coaching young leaders about teams, the first step in the process is to help young leaders define what kind of team they are wanting to build. On first blush, this may seem simplistic. However, many young leaders talk team but what they really want and expect is all involved to act like a single leader work group.

In a nutshell, here are some of the differences between a team and a single leader work group. On a team, the goals and agendas are set by the team based on dialogue about purpose. On a single-leader work group, goals and agendas are set by the leader in charge in consultation with a senior leader. In the former team performance is evaluated by the team as a whole and in the latter it is evaluated by the positional leader. Furthermore, success is defined by the team as a whole while in a single-leader work group success is define by the positional leader.

As I begin to coach young leaders on these critical differences, I note that teams are best for dealing with complex challenges that require people with various skill sets working together most of time to solve a problem. However, a single-leader work group may be best if the challenge before the group requires fast action and the leader already knows best how to proceed. Each path has it’s pros and cons.

For those of you who are coaching young leaders, I encourage you and they to read the following article called “Firing Up the Front Line” by Jon R. Katsenbach and Jason A. Santamaria, May-June 1999, Harvard Business Review. Here is a link where you can find it on-line: http://hbr.org/1999/05/firing-up-the-front-line/ar/1

Happy reading together!

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

There Is A Difference

Over the decades that I have done this work, I have met many people with many different titles. Some have been goofy and some have been most interesting. As their executive coach and/or consultant, I have had to remind people that a title does not make the person a good leader. A title simply conveys where you sit on the organizational chart and it can imply that you have some positional power.

In the world of leadership, you will learn that you are only a leader if someone is willing to follow you. Once they are willing to place their trust in you, then something very magical happens. And, you have some important choices to make.

The first choice is to consciously choose when to manage and when to lead. For some who are experienced, this is a very unconscious act but for many right now given this economy, they need to wake up and be more conscious of when they are managing and when they are leading.

Now some will argue that there is no difference between management and leadership. It is all an academic exercise. But more experienced people will remind you that there is a huge difference between these two actions. Marcus Buckingham in his excellent book, The One Thing You Need to Know ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, Free Press, 2005, gives the best description about the difference between management and leadership. As he writes:

“To excel as a manager you must never forget that each of your direct reports is unique and that your chief responsibility is not to eradicate this uniqueness, but rather to arrange roles, responsibilities, and expectations so that you can capitalize upon it. The more you perfect this skill, the more effectively you will turn talents into performance.

To excel as a leader requires the opposite skill. You must become adept at calling upon those needs we all share. Our common needs include the need for security, for community, for authority, and for respect, but for you, the leader, the most powerful universal need is our need for clarity. To transform our fear of the unknown into confidence in the future, you must discipline yourself to describe our joint future vividly and precisely. As your skill at this grows, so will our confidence in you.”

Over the last two years, I have spent more and more time during executive coaching sessions sharing these two paragraphs with young leaders and asking them to explore with me what each one means. For those of you who are coaching young leaders, this is an excellent exercise and it always results in a wonderful and in-depth strategic dialogue about key concepts. For those of you who are not being well coached, sit down with someone who you trust and hold this conversation. If you can not find someone who you feel will be helpful, consider investing in some executive coaching outside the organization. I am more than willing to be of assistance.

This week realize there is a difference between management and leadership. Remember that awareness is the first step to improved performance.

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

Short Articles, Big Impact

Occasionally, I read an article or blog post that has a big impact. Here are a couple of ones that I have found recently to be quite thought-provoking.

First, I recommend reading “What Happens When the Strategy Consultants Leave?” by Randy Ottinger of Kotter International. He writes about how leaders can move their organization forward after their strategy consultants have departed. It gives some fresh insights particularly if you are knowledgeable about Kotter’s 8- Step model. Here is the link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/01/04/what-happens-when-the-strategy-consultants-leave/

For those of you who are familiar with John Kotter’s book Leading Change, you will enjoy his recent post called “Success: A Breeding Ground for Complacency?” If you are wanting to seize on some big opportunities and make change happen in 2012, this is a good read for you and for your team. Here is the link:

http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2012/01/success-breeding-ground-for-complacency.html

Finally, many people have been discussing with me issues related to performance management. While there are many ways to address this issue, I think a good place to start is to read a blog post called “The Performance and Potential Matrix (9 Box Grid) - an Update” by Dan McCarthy, Director of Executive Development Programs at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He introduces a good framework for talent management, succession planning and general performance coaching. Here is the link:

http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2012/01/performance-and-potential-matrix-9-box.html

Hope this starts your New Year off with some good and thought-provoking reading, and group discussions.

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

Thoughts on Leadership, Navigation, Communication and Learning

This morning, I have been rereading a book written by John Maxwell called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow them and People Will Follow You, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998. In this book are two of my favorite laws of leadership.

The first is called “The Law of Navigation,” namely “Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.” With a web site called www.ChartYourPath.com, I think his point is excellent. As he explains, navigators draw on past experience, listen to what others have to say, examine the conditions before making commitments, and make sure their conclusions represent faith and fact. Right now, we need more leaders who can effectively navigate the seas of change.

The second is called “The Law of E.F. Hutton,” namely “When real leaders speak, people listen.” This is so true and so important. As Maxwell explains, positional leaders often speak first, need the influence of the real leader to get things done, and only influence other positional leaders. On the other hand, real leaders speak later, need only their own influence to get things done, and influence everyone in the room. Maxwell explores the difference between positional leadership and real leadership in the above book, pointing out that people become real leaders because of character - who they are, relationships - who they know, knowledge - what they know, intuition - what they feel, experience - where they've been, past success - what they've done, and ability - what they can do.

When we recognize the need to have more key people who can better navigate and influence effectively this year, then now is the time to sign up people with potential for the 2012 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This in-depth, year long training course encompasses four quarterly sessions and helps participants gain valuable skills, knowledge and perspective about leadership, strategic planning and execution, and implementing organizational change. For more information about how to register for this training, including cost, dates and location, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html.

Finding direction and clarity in the midst of change is vital during 2012. I hope you will join me in learning more about leadership by participating in the 2012 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

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

2012 Spring Roundtable - Early Bird Special!

Now that the New Year celebrations have passed, it is time for us to turn our sights on the 2012 Spring Roundtable!

On April 12 - 13, we will gather at the Courtyard by Marriott in Des Moines/Clive, Iowa for the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable.

Here is the agenda for your review:

Thursday: April 12, 2012

- 8:30 am - Registration

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - Navigating Through Prolonged Uncertainty

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

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Maintaining Operational Excellence During Constant Change

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

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Building a Learning Organization

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

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Improving Front Line Supervisors Effectiveness

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn

Friday: April 13, 2012

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - A Return To Personal & Professional Balance

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

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

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn

Recommended Reading: Collins, Jim and Morten T. Hansen. Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, HarperCollins, 2011.

Starting today through Wednesday, February 1, I am offering an “early bird” registration price for the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable.

If you sign up during this time period, and submit payment before 2/1/12, the price will be $ 275.00 for the two days and $ 175.00 for a single day. Here is the link to the registration form: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2012-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf. Please write “early bird special” on it when you send it to me.

After 2/1/11, the registration price will be $ 295.00 for the two days and $ 195.00 for a single day.

I hope you will reserve April 12-13 on your calendar, and e-mail me today about whether or not you and your team are coming. Then, in April when the daffodils and warm spring weather have returned to the heartland all we need to do is meet at the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable in Des Moines.

Thinking ahead and looking forward to seeing you in April.

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

A Funny Thing Happened Recently

I was sitting in a meeting recently and as I looked around the room I realized something startling. I was the oldest person in the room and by quite a few years. This was a surprise to me.

I believe that most people do not think about being old or getting older. Instead, we believe we are a “young” person. I know from experience it is a blessing to be given the gift and opportunity to grow old. However, it is quite the shock when one realizes that all of sudden everyone in the room has framed you up as “the old guy.”

Furthermore, it is a wonderful when I am sitting in a room coaching someone who is a young senior executive and they ask me to coach someone who is even younger than they are. Given how often this is happening now, and how often I work with very young leaders, I decided this winter to share some of the fundamentals that I am teaching and coaching these young people as they enter the exciting and dynamic world of leadership.

First, I recognize that some young leaders have not read extensively, or experienced many significant life events. While this is normal, there are a couple of things we need to understand whether we are at the beginning of our leadership journey, in the middle, or near the end. As I wrote in the From Vision to Action booklet called “Planning for Change” (http://www.chartyourpath.com/Planning-for-Change.html, there are some important fundamentals to remember when becoming a leader:

“First: People do care. Unfortunately, all too often people's capacity to care is buried under layers of cynicism resulting from negative experiences with work or life. But this doesn't change the reality that fundamental to human nature is the capacity to care, and to care deeply. The desire for our lives to make a difference is intrinsic.

Second: People want to engage in meaningful work. Yet, some are taught at an early age that it isn't wise to dream big, and many end up selling themselves short. We all need to meet financial commitments and to create a life for ourselves and our families. But ultimately, people prefer work that is meaningful and compatible with their talents, personalities, and values.

Being a cog in a wheel is a waste of human potential. Each of us has interests, dreams, and desires which are as varied as the colors of the spectrum. But issues of meaning matter, and a smart executive --whatever the size or scope of the organization -- knows this, and sets his or her course accordingly.

Third: People need community. We have a fundamental human need for integration, for pleasure, for accomplishment, for meaning, and for contributing outside the realm of mere self- interest. And we need the support of others.

Every person needs to know there is someone who can offer support when they fail, when illness strikes, or a child is struggling -- and, more importantly, who will take the time to listen. We need community within which to share, to tell stories, and to test our dreams. Even dyed-in-the-wool introverts appreciate the value of a few good friends!

Fourth: It is fundamental to human nature to learn throughout the life-cycle. We exercise this capacity every day. No matter what our educational background, or our intellectual or developmental capacity, we learn every day in formal and informal contexts.

In short, it is people who are our primary resource during change, and successful individuals and companies understand this. Taking time to understand the marketplace, the customer, the rules and regulations, and the competition is critically important, of course, but not at the expense of the fundamentals.”

This winter my goal is to explore the fundamentals of leadership with you and to further share more insights that all of us, no matter our age, need to remember. For now, let each of us be mindful that people care and want to engage in meaningful work. They also what a sense of community and to learn through out their lives.

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