Searching For A Better Way

As leaders and managers, we are in back to back meetings every day of the week with a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of files, lap top or iPad in the other. As we race to the next meeting, our smart phones are chirping away, reminding us that we have more e-mails and text messages to read, phone messages to listen to, and assorted other meeting and deadline reminders to recall. With no time to go to the bathroom, let alone coach, think strategically, or plan for operational improvements, we just keep moving forward, hoping that tomorrow will be better than today. As one executive told me recently, “If this is success, it sucks!”

Every day of the week, we live an overcrowded life wishing and searching for a better way to lead and manage. We also are smart enough to know that it will take a great deal of learning, patience and effort to change. The first step to breaking out of this pattern begins with accepting there is a problem and then choosing to live less in the “everything will get done at the last minute” way of life. It also begins with structured learning.

One place many people have turned to over the years is the From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Here, they learn new ways to deal with old problems and successful ways to deal with new problems. Through comprehensive training that meets once a quarter and a set of structured readings in between, participants gain the skills and perspective to become better leaders, who make better plans and who implement those plans even when they have to run into the normal but difficult stages of organizational change. 

If you are tired of running in circles and sitting in non-productive meetings, then please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html. Racing hither and yon can be exhausting. There is a better way of leading.  I hope you can join us in March for the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

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

Big Ideas For 2013

“Knowledge workers are now untethered, able to perform tasks anywhere at any time. What do the best of them want from your organization?” asks Tammy Johns and Lynda Gratton in their very good article called “The Third Wave of Virtual Work” in the January-February 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review. 

As the authors point out, there have been three major waves of change over the past thirty years about how knowledge based work has gotten done. “First, home computers and e-mail spawned an army of freelancers, offering both workers and employers new flexibility. Next, mobile technology and global teamwork made it possible for full-time employees to work anywhere and anytime without forsaking career progress and development within their companies. Now new ways of providing community and shared space are ameliorating a side effect of virtualization - worker isolation - and driving increased collaboration.”  

As they further explain, “A major focus of the third wave’s new technology is to give workers the feeling of being in a shared environment. But virtual platforms can only go so far.... organizations and workers are also investing in a return to colocation of colleagues in the real world. “ Sometimes, these new co-working locations are called an “urban hub” or “work hub,” a well-appointed space for mobile workers. Think of it as “a frequent-fliers lounge without the airport” that features couches to worktables to boardrooms. Some of these work hubs are organized around particular communities of practice like web and game developers, writers, social entrepreneurs or inventors.  It provides them an opportunity to “rub elbows” in a community setting with creative and supportive people.

To capitalize on this third wave of change, the authors suggest that employers should rethink their compact with workers on five fundamental dimensions:

- “the value of the relationship with a larger enterprise”

- “the settings in which work is done”

- “the organization of workflows and how individual contributors add value”

- “the technologies used to support higher achievement”

- “ the degree to which employment arrangements are tailored to individuals”

As we move from wave one, virtual freelancers, to wave two, virtual corporate  colleagues, and on to the third wave, virtual coworkers, remember that these same workers feel they lack a sense of community and the richness of collaboration. With weaker social interaction and fun, these untethered workers are seeking neighborhoods and communities where they can recapture the best of what they had before globalization, “when citizens of communities felt their mutual dependence in every working moment, and connections were deep.” For those of you thinking about the future and starting strategic planning this year, I highly recommend reading this article. It is definitely worth the time and effort. Here is the link: http://hbr.org/2013/01/the-third-wave-of-virtual-work/ar/1. 

For those of you are wondering whether or not you have the capacity to execute on the big ideas you will be exploring in 2013, then I suggest you read the following article called “Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills” by Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland in the same January-February 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review mentioned above. As they explain, “The storied British banker and financier Nathan Rothchild noted that great fortunes are made when cannonballs fall in the harbor, not when violins play in the ballroom. Rothchild understood that the more unpredictable the environment, the greater the opportunity - if you have the leadership skills to capitalize on it.” Through their research at the Wharton School and at their consulting firm involving more than 20,000 executives to date, the authors have identified six skills that “when mastered and used in concert, allow leaders to think strategically and navigate the unknown effectively.” These skills are the following: the ability to anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align and learn. “An adaptive strategic leader - someone who is both resolute and flexible, persistent in the face of setbacks but also able to react strategically to environmental shifts - has learned to apply all six at once.”

This article describes the six skills in details and includes a delightful self-assessment that will enable you to identify the ones you need to improve. This is a good article and will help those of you who are planning for the future to make sure you have people involved who can apply all six skills at once. Here is the link to this article: http://hbr.org/2013/01/strategic-leadership-the-esssential-skills/ar/1

 If you do not have people with this degree of capacity, then I encourage you to enroll your key up and coming people in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training which will help them improve their skills in all six areas. Here is a link for more information about this unique learning opportunity: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html

Planning for the future is important. Now is the time to think about big ideas and to make sure you have the capacity to execute them when the time is right. Be prepared; the future is just around the corner.

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

Three Keys to Leadership

I have been told that when you enter US Marine Corps officer training you are taught the following three keys to leadership: know yourself, know your job, and know your people. Having taught leadership for many decades, these three keys are a lot more difficult than they first appear. 

First, to truly understand how you think and work takes great depth of reflection and effort. James M. Kouzes  and Barry Z. Posner in their book, A Leader’s Legacy (Jossey-Bass, 2006) write: “There’s solid evidence that the best leaders are highly attuned to what’s going on inside themselves as they are leading and to what’s going on with others. They’re very self-aware and they’re very socially aware.” The challenge to being a leader is to understand yourself and to understand how you solve problems. 

Second, every day you are a leader there is a job to get done. Some days this changes minute to minute. However, the best leaders know that the mission, the core purpose of the work, should not change. Being mission driven and values centered is one of the foundations to being a fine leader. 

Third, it takes a tremendous effort to know your people. And as a leader you have to come to terms with the following insight by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their book, First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently (Simon & Schuster, 1999): “People don’t change that much. Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough.” As they note, great leaders and managers capitalize on this insight and try to help each person become more and more of who they already are.

One way to become a better leader is to participate in the 2013 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. 

When one strives to be a better leader, knowing yourself, knowing your people and knowing your job is essential. For when these three keys to leadership are in place, we have a sound foundation for further organizational transformation and success.

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

Talent Management and Preparing For The Future

As the negotiations related to the fiscal cliff take place, numerous companies are reviewing their current strategic plans and exploring a wide variety of contingencies in order to be well prepared for every possibility. One challenge from my vantage point as I listen and participate in these in-depth strategic dialogues is whether or not these same companies have the internal talent to execute each strategy or contingency plan they are exploring. 

Over the decades of doing this work, I have learned that strategies and contingency plans will come and go. Market share and profits will rise and fall. At times this will happen due to factors beyond our control.  But an organization that has a self-renewing team of first-rate leaders will always be prepared for whatever challenges come their way.

However, according to a 2008 study by McKinsey & Company, 59% of senior managers fail to spend enough high-quality time on talent management. As the authors of the report state, “Companies like to promote the idea that employees are the biggest source of competitive advantage, yet the astonishing reality is that most of them are as unprepared for the challenge of finding, motivating and retaining capable workers as they were a decade ago.” As I see it, many companies are eager to be well positioned on the other side of the fiscal cliff, but may not have the intellectual capital to generate sustainable results. 

Russ Banham in his article “Human Capital: Achieving Alignment - How to get your people behind your business objectives” in the November/December 2012 issue of the Chief Executive magazine, writes, “Ensuring that human capital is aligned with business goals - and vice versa - has become critical of late, given the recession’s axe-wielding impact on labor.” With numerous companies worried that they might lose top talent, the challenge is to develop high-performance staff before, during and after the strategy development and implementation process.

Furthermore, with the talent pipeline being squeezed by retiring Boomers and new entrants who may not have all the required skills to meet the coming challenges, this process of talent development and then talent management may not be very easy. One key to solving this problem is to create a culture at the management level which is built on a foundation of constant learning, particularly given the need to stay productive as we move through another period of turbulence and potential chaos. However, we have to accept the fact that 59% of senior managers do not have the time, and I believe, the energy, to focus on talent management.

One unique solution to this problem is to enroll your key people in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.  Here they will learn important information about leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change. With new perspectives, understanding, and capacity to execute in these vital areas, senior leadership will have a renewed pipeline of high quality talent, all who will be ready, willing and able to meet the challenges of the coming three years. 

Friday, December 7, is the registration deadline for the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. If you and/or members of your team want more information about this unique training opportunity, then please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

If you and/or members of your team want to register for the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, then please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2013-From-Vision-To-Action-Leadership-Training-Regist.pdf. 

With the future being so uncertain, now is the time to get prepared. The From Vision to Action Leadership Training is a good place to start.

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

Building a Strong Bench

Quite a few years ago, John Maxwell wrote a wonderful book called The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001). In it, he shared The Law of the Bench: “Great teams have great depth.” As he explains, today's bench players may be tomorrow's stars. The success of a supporting player can multiply the success of a starter, particularly when there are more bench players than starters. Furthermore, a bench player placed correctly will at times be more valuable than a starter because a strong bench gives the leader more options. Finally, he explains a strong bench is usually called upon at critical times for the team.

However, these days many organizations have little to no bench strength and very tired starters who could use better support from their bench. While this may seem like a chicken vs the egg challenge, with the question being “which do you develop first?”, the true answer is “both.”  We need our current starters to become better starters and we need very good bench strength to meet the upcoming economic and customer challenges of 2013 - 2015.

One unique way to solve this problem is for key people on your team to enroll in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This in-depth training meets once a quarter in 2013 and covers the topics of leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change.

For more information about this special training opportunity and how to register, please click on the following link:  http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html.

If you are currently concerned about the bench strength within your organization, then now is the time to build it before you need it. The future is just around the corner.

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

Prevailing Against Extreme Odds

Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen in their book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, (HarperCollins, 2011), wrote “... we believe the future will remain unpredictable and the world unstable for the rest of our lives, and we wanted to understand the factors that distinguish great organizations, those that prevail against extreme odds, in such environments.”  As typical to their work, they did extensive research and analysis to answer the question “Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?”

What interests me this morning is one of their discoveries about leadership. The common myth in corporate America today is that successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries. However, Collins and Hansen discovered a contrary finding in their research. As they wrote, “the best leaders we studied did not have a visionary ability to predict the future. They observed what worked, figured out why it worked, and built upon proven foundations. They were not more risk taking, more bold, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons. They were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.”

With so many unpredictable and turbulent causing events happening around the world, our challenge this fall as leaders is to proactively create the future rather than to predict it. One unique pathway to doing this is summed up by John Maxwell’s The Law of Explosive Growth: “To add growth, lead followers - to multiply, lead leaders.” As he writes, “Leaders who develop followers grow their organization only one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiple their growth, because for every leader they develop, they also receive all of that leader's followers.”

If you and your organization want to prevail against extreme odds and create the future, then now is the time to enroll key people in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Meeting once per quarter, this year long course of study focuses on effective leadership, strategic planning and execution plus organizational change. Through an in-depth and integrative curriculum, participants are immersed in current research and real world solutions. For those of you who want to create great results on a consistent basis, then now is the time to become part of the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

For more information on how to register, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html I look forward to hearing from you during the comings days.

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

Working On, Not Just In

One of the defining characteristics of a good leader is their ability to work on the organization, not just in the organization. While this may sound simplistic, it often is much more difficult than it appears.

Michael Watkins in his recent article “The Big Shift: How Managers Become Leaders” in the June 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review, explains that becoming a leader involves navigating “a tricky set of changes.”  He calls these the “seven seismic shifts.”  As he writes, “New enterprise leaders must move from being a specialist to a generalist; from analyzing data to integrating knowledge from multiple sources; and from implementing tactics to developing strategies. They also need to transform themselves from bricklayers into organizational architects; from problem solvers to agenda setters; and from warriors intent on beating the competition into diplomats who engage with a full range of stakeholders. Finally, leaders must move out from the wings and get used to living on center stage in the full spotlight.” 

From my experience, to make this kind of transition, managers need to acquire many new competencies, particularly in the area of new knowledge and skills required to execute the business strategy in a holistic manner. One way to do this is to participate in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This year long course is designed to help people become better in the areas of leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to work on the whole of the organization rather than just within the organization. 

For more information on how to enroll in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html

Navigating tricky changes may not be easy but with the right set of knowledge and skills it can be doable, resulting in greater outcomes for all involved.

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

Teach Concepts, not Techniques

Every day I spend time coaching and teaching leaders about how to solve their current problems and how to prepare for the future. 

Every day, I battle a mindset driven by poorly written “best-seller” books which promote unrealistic, quick fixes and fast solutions. 

Every day, I continually remind executives of the John Maxwell’s insight: “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.”

Recently, while rereading the June 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review, I came across the following quote by Marcus Buckingham: “Leadership concepts are scalable, because a concept is easily transferable from person to person.... in the hands of an individual leader, a concept turns into a practice, a sequence of behaviors, a set of techniques.” 

I think the greatest challenge of coaching and teaching leadership this summer is not to default to teaching techniques. The key instead is to focus on helping people learn the core concepts of leadership. Not only are they scalable but they can become a foundation for clarity, perspective and exceptional decision-making. When managers and executives learn and share this information, they can better translate it into authentic practices, behaviors and techniques which are customized to what ever situation they are working through. 

But too often right now, I work with managers and executives who have only learned a set of techniques and thus are struggling.  They know what to do and how to do it but they do not understand why they are doing it.  This misalignment in clarity always creates skewed results.  

Therefore, I continually review the core concepts of leadership during my coaching and teaching. I choose ones that have stood up to decades of change, and transitions, especially ones that have been well utilized by many different leaders in a variety of industries. These foundational concepts not only can be scaled up but also can be leveraged to a greater benefit by all.

One way to learn these core concepts is to participate in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This annual opportunity creates clarity about leadership, strategic planning and execution plus organizational change. It gives participants a framework for helping their organization improve their performance at the personal, team and company levels. It is full of powerful concepts which are utilized by many successful leaders.

For more information, please click on the following link:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html

I hope you can join me when the next class begins in March of 2013.

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

Planning Ahead

Summer is a time to reflect and think about the future.

As Jim Collins and Morten Hansen pointed out in their book, Great By Choice, “Given this rise of complexity, globalization, and technology, all of which are accelerating change and increase volatility, we must come to accept that there is no “new normal.” There will only be a continuous series of “not normal” times.” Day after day, I visit with executives who are fully grasping the significance of this insight and realizing that they need to be more mindful in the development and execution of their organization’s strategies.

Summer is a time to evaluate the organization’s potential for improvement. 

While some executives will continue to focus on compliance, others are also evaluating the depth of their organization’s strategy, talent and capacity to execute consistently. More and more of them share with me that during the next 18 months, they know they will need to further develop a strategic mindset amongst key people, focus on operational excellence, and improve their own personal performance.

Summer is a time to plan.

With the realization that “not normal” is the new normal and that now is the time to focus on in-depth talent development, more and more executives are calling about how to enroll themselves or their key team members in to the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.  If you are coming to the realization that you and your organization need greater capacity in the areas of leadership, strategic planning and organizational change, then now is the time to reserve a spot in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. The list of those signing up has already started.

For more information, please click on the following link:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html

It is never too early to plan for the future. As we all know, it will be different than today. 

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