How do leaders move from being a functional leader to an enterprise level leader? - part #1

It was at the end of a large group meeting when he stood up to share: “Here is what I have learned, unlearned and relearned…” And he began to speak. I turned from watching him to watching those gathered. The audience was engaged and focused. His comments were clear and to the point. In reality, I didn’t know if I was going to cry or smile. 

Finally, after years of coaching and endless hours of discussion about strategic level topics, he had found his voice. He claimed his knowledge and artfully blended in his experience. He spoke his truth. He displayed executive presence, that rare combination of being confident and calm, being present and attentive.

In his book The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, the late Stephen Covey notes there are four roles of leadership, not leadership as a position but instead “as a proactive intention to affirm the worth and potential of those around us and to unite them as a complementary team in an effort to increase the influence and impact of the organization and important causes we are part of.” For Covey, these four roles of leadership are:

- modeling (conscience): set a good example.

- pathfinding (vision): jointly determine the course.

- aligning (discipline): set up and manage systems to stay on course.

- empowering (passion): focus talent on results, not methods, then get out of people’s way and give help as requested.

The big problem right now is that we are moving functional leaders into enterprise level leadership positions and they are doing very poorly. Technically they can do some things, yet they are failing in other areas. In particular, they are not thinking and acting strategically.

Individuals with an enterprise level mindset can do five things very well. First, they can live with the discomfort of uncertainty and ambiguity. Second, they can make connections and realize that it is all about making connections, i.e. connecting people to purpose, connecting people to people, and connecting people to outcomes. This level of connecting gives purpose and meaning to the work we all are doing. Third, they can be a map maker and a traveler at the same time. Fourth, they can be vulnerable and learn to live with vulnerability plus handle the risks that come with the choices being made. Fifth, they are willing to show up and participate even if they know they might fail. 

This week, remember Covey’s four roles of leadership and keep coaching people to have an enterprise level mindset. 

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

How do leaders position an organization successfully for the future? - part #2

Positioning an organization successfully for the future comes down to three solutions.

First, one needs to remember Packard’s Law. Recognizing that big does not equal great, Packard’s Law states that “no company can consistently grow revenues faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth with excellence.” I first found this in Jim Collins’ book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009. 

What we as leaders need to recognize is that we need different networks of people to be successful with different kinds of work. Herminia Ibarra in her book, Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader, Harvard Business Review Press, 2015, recommends we build three kinds of networks for different kinds of perspectives. The first is an operational network which helps us manage our current internal responsibilities. The second is a personal network which boosts our personal development. The last is a strategic network which focuses on new business directions and the stakeholders you must get on board to pursue these directions. As she explains, “… your strategic network is made up of relationships that help you to envision the future, sell your ideas, and get the information and resources you need to exploit these ideas…. A good strategic network gives you connective advantage: the ability to marshal information, support, or other resources from one of your networks to obtain results in another.”

With the right people in place and leaders with the right networks, I am reminded of the research by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce and Bruce Robertson in their July 2003 Harvard Business Review article called “What Really Works”. This group published a five year study that they called “The Evergreen Project”, which “examined more than 200 well-established management practices as they were employed over a ten-year period by 160 companies.” This research enabled the authors to distill which management practices truly produced superior results. Their conclusion is that without exception, companies that outperformed their industry peers excelled at four primary management practices:

- strategy: devise and maintain a clearly stated, focused strategy.

- execution: develop and maintain flawless operation execution.

- culture: develop and maintain a performance-oriented culture.

- structure: build and maintain a fast, flexible, flat organization.

The Evergreen Project concluded that these companies also embraced two of four secondary practices: talent development, innovation, leadership, and mergers and acquisitions.

The second solution is to create clarity around the five most important questions. First captured by Peter Drucker, they are the following:

- What is our mission?

- Who is our customer?

- What does the customer value?

- What are our results?

- What is our plan?

Too many times during the last year, I have encountered leaders and organizations that do not have a clarity when it comes to answering the above questions.

The third solution is to achieve consistent, forward progress. As we all know, consistent forward progress, i.e. growth, makes a profound difference. Typically, the performance markers or KPIs signal this is or is not happening. However, the first step is a commitment to the proposed strategy that will create the consistent progress. In order to check whether or not this is in place, ask your management team if they can successfully answer the following question: What are we committed to achieving during the next 10-15 years whether or not the world is turbulent or not turbulent? Clarity and commitment are interrelated.

This week, remember Packard’s Law, answer the five most important questions and check to see if you have strategic commitment and clarity within your core team. 

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

How do leaders position an organization successfully for the future? - part #1

It had been a good day of training when I walked up to the second floor to sit down with the CEO in his office to share my thoughts. As I explained to him, first, you need to unpack the organization’s mission statement as the majority of people who are currently in leadership positions were not around when it was first created back in the mid-90’s. I know this because they do not reference it in their language when describing what is most important. If they do not use the language of the mission statement, then they are not using the mission statement in their work as a leader.

Second, you need to make sure you are cascading clarity in order to increase focus rather than fear about making mistakes. When I asked those in training what was the definition of success, they replied “making the CEO happy”. Quality customer service was a distant third in the group discussion.

Third, you need to connect coaching with goals and professional development rather than coaching as punishment. Currently, coaching is infrequent and mostly a complaining session.

Fourth, you need to define your brand better. If today’s leaders can not articulate a concise message about what they want the organization to be known for within the communities where they offer services, then today’s problems are just going to get bigger.  As a wise leader once told me, “the past is the prologue.”

He thanked me for my comments and we explored the key words within the mission statement that needed to be leveraged more. Then, he shared an observation and a question with me.

His observation was that “Our culture is not as constant as it should be. Our key leaders are not as strong at building that culture as they should be.” And his question was “How do I change this? Because what I am doing currently is not work very well.”

As we discussed his observation, the following line from Jim Collin’s Good to Great came to mind: “Confront the brutal facts but never lose the faith.”

There are three problems within the business world currently, namely cognitive dissonance, hubris born of success, and chronic inconsistency. Cognitive dissonance is the disconnect between what we believe in our minds and what we experience or see in reality. As Marshall Goldsmith in his book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, Hyperion, 2007, explains: “the more we are committed to believing that something is true, the less likely we are to believe that the opposite is true, even in the face of clear evidence that shows we are wrong.”

The second problem is hubris born of success. Hubris is historically defined as the excessive pride that brings down a hero. “Great enterprises,” notes Jim Collins in his book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009, “can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward, for a while, even if leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline.” Problems can occur “when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they loose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place.” I agree with Collins that “many organizations are loosing sight of the true facts that created their success in the first place.”

The third problem right now is chronic inconsistency. Again referencing the work of Jim Collins in his book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, HarperCollins, 2011, the big question is the following: “Does your primary flywheel face an editable demise within the next five to ten years due to forces outside your control - will it become impossible for it to remain best in the world with a robust economic engine?” As he explains, “The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change; the signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.”

When we zoom out and look at the bigger picture this spring, we continue to operate in a VUCA environment, which is a term borrowed from the US military. It stands for a work environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As Jim Collins and Morten Hansen pointed out in the aforementioned book: “… instability is chronic, uncertainty is permanent, change is accelerating, disruption is common, and we can neither predict nor govern events. We believe there will be no “new normal.” There will only be a continuous series of “not normal” times.”

At the same time, we continue to struggle balancing continuity and change at the day to day level and at the strategic levels. The challenge for many leaders this spring is to balance continuity and change, plus innovation and transformation.

The upshot of this big picture is that we must continue to execute on our strengths. “Success for our company is not going to take a new strategy or an entirely new business model”, notes Blake Nordstrom. “Instead it’s taking what we already do well and continuing to execute those strengths.”

This week, I encourage you to watch out for cognitive dissonance, hubris born of success, and chronic inconsistency. Now is the time to execute on our strengths. It will make a world of difference in a world that feels chaotic.

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

Make Your Bed

I read a spectacular, short (125 pages) book last night by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) called Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life …And Maybe The World (Grand Central Publishing, 2017). Admiral McRaven served thirty-seven years as a Navy Seal and commanded at every level. As a Four-Star Admiral, his final assignment was as Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces. Currently, he is Chancellor of the University of Texas System. 

This book is based on his May 21, 2014 address to the graduating class at the University of Texas at Austin. During this original speech, which went viral with more than 10 million views, Admiral McRaven shared the ten principles he learned during Navy SEAL training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also through the rest of his life. 

For those who want to change the world and/or your circle of influence, this is an inspiring resource. His core tenets and the subsequent stories are powerful and moving. Therefore, I give it my rare, “run, don’t walk to your local book store and check it out” recommendation. Happy reading!

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

A Time For In-depth Reflection

During the last 30 days, I’ve had a couple of time periods in the office when I have chosen to push back from the piles of work on my desk, and to stare out the window. Looking east, I can see that the warm winds from Kansas are turning the grass to green. I can see the daffodils and tulips pushing up through the fresh layers of mulch I spread on the flower beds a couple of weeks ago. I can see the rhubarb breaking ground and the maple trees flowering. Spring has returned to the midwest, and the land is reawakening to new shapes, sounds, and colors of the season.

I have chosen to take these moments of quiet reflection for a specific reason. With the massive amount of complexity that is taking place in the nation at this time period, I have met with numerous leaders during the last 60 days who are overwhelmed, deeply concerned, and very troubled by the current course of human events. They want to continue to make a difference as a leader and they are equally wanting their organization to make a difference in the lives of those they serve. But, between the pace of change, a rampant case of decision fatigue in the midst of uncertainty, and an overwhelming desire to work on the organization and not to get sucked into the weeds of daily crises and daily reactions to crises, they struggle to get everything done and they struggle to maintain perspective. Some have asked me privately during executive coaching sessions, “What can I do to regain a sense of balance, clarity, and focus?”

Now the typical consultant answer would be to focus on the creation of strategy, talent development, and the maintenance of a healthy senior leadership team. And, in most cases, this would make a major difference in getting the organization back on track. However, I am not always one who gives the typical answers or asks the typical questions. Recently, I have shared the following.

First, remember the famous Tolkien quote: “Those who wander may not be lost.” So, when was the last time you stepped away from your desk and gave yourself permission to wander? 

The response has always been a quizzical look to this idea, and then the asking of another question, “What do you mean?”

As I explain, back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, people were encouraged to do MBWA, i.e. management by wandering around. I’ve been around long enough that I can remember this ancient history first introduced by Tom Peters.  It was a hot trend at the time.

In simple terms, we were encouraged to step away from our offices as managers and leaders, and to get out into our organizations. We were encouraged to meet our staff, to catch them doing things right, and to build relationships with them. 

Furthermore, we were suppose to have open doors and to walk through them to where the real action was taking place, namely the interaction between the person served and the person serving. We were to get our feet on the ground and to see if the mission was being lived daily, or to discover if it was just another document hung on the walls and laminated in plastic.

Now I know that time is a major issue these days for most people in management and leadership positions. People are feeling pressed to get everything done. And e-mail surely has not made things easier. The promise of the 30 hour work week has not materialized. Instead, we are swamped by being copied on every little thing, and overwhelmed by massive amounts of trivia.

But this morning, I think we need to step away from the computers and to quit trying to lead and live at the speed of software. Instead, we need to embrace the perspective that Michelangelo had, namely that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue. 

At times like these, our jobs as leaders is to step away and go to where the mission is real.

We need to wander again with a purpose.

We need to contemplate the un-carved block. 

We need to seek the beautiful statue within the stone.

We need to witness the organization’s core purpose in action.  

We need to sit and stare out the window, reflecting on all that is happening.

We need to rediscover silence.

We need to embrace possibility in the midst of change.

We need to find our hearts, our passion, and our original love for the work we do.

And then we need to give ourselves permission to rekindle this fire.

We need to rediscover burning brightly rather than just burning out.

We need to return to carving the statue rather than simply sweeping up the dust and shavings.

We need to become purpose driven rather than simply driven.

We need to become better people committed to serving other people.

We need to find the meaning within the work and not just find more work.

This week, I encourage all of us to carve out some uninterrupted time for in-depth reflection. It is time to rekindle hope, perspective and new possibilities.

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