How do leaders create an understanding of a problem and buy-in for the solution?- part #1

In some companies, preparing for strategic planning involves numerous power point presentations to middle management. Recently, I was with one company, sitting in the audience of middle managers in a darkened room, when the VP came up and started to talk about their upcoming strategic planning sessions. When he finished early and there were no questions, I was asked if I had any comments to make. I came to the front of the room and asked the VP to return to the second slide in his power point presentation. It was about creating an improved value proposition for the customer. I turned to the large group of middle managers and asked the question: “What is the difference between a customer and a partner?” The room erupted into a very active strategic level dialogue with great debate about what the words “customer” and “partner” meant. No one agreed and people did not understand the definition of "value proposition" either. 

Weeks later, it happened again with a different company. This time a VP gave a power point presentation related to the upcoming roll-out of a new performance management system. Again, they ended early and asked me to comment. Again, I went to the front of the room and asked if we could go back in the slides to the one that talked about cascading goals. Then I turned to the room of managers and asked the question: “What is the difference between a goal and an expectation?” The response was similar and intense dialogue with little agreement followed.

Right now, we are getting so busy as leaders, dealing with details and participating in endless meetings, that we have forgotten to be architects of meaning. An architect of meaning focuses on building clarity about the strategic nexus and focuses on explaining why this work is meaningful. At the same time, the leaders needs to be a translator who focuses on building clarity about context outside of the organization. It is the combination of the two, architect and translator, that sets the stage for employees at all levels of the organization to understand the problems and challenges before the organization, be they operational or strategic.

Along this same line of thinking, we as leaders often forget that understanding a problem can be a complicated process. While the most common cause of failure related to dealing with problems, as noted by Ron Heifetz, Ronald, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, Harvard Business Press, 2009, is treating adaptive challenges as if they were technical problems. Furthermore, we as leader often forget that most problems do not come neatly packaged as either “technical” or “adaptive.” Often, for example, adaptive challenges can have significant technical aspects.

This week, remember to be an architect of meaning and a translator for your organization. This will help all involved understand better what are our problems and our challenges.

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

The Role of the Leader - part #1

It was a busy meeting and there was a lot to cover in the allotted time. I was meeting with the CEO, and two SVPs. The CEO was constantly working two cell phones and the SVPs were equally distracted. I asked the Core Four Questions to discern what was going on, and why they were having problems with organizational change. Those questions were the following:

1. Who will lead?

2. Where is the vision and who has it? 

3. At what pace do you want to go?

4. What should not be lost during the journey?

My analysis to the CEO close to the end of our time was that they suffered from a weak vision, a lack of a clear strategic direction, and not much sense of what is operational excellence. In particular, they had many operational silos, and not a very clear understanding of the difference between operational leadership and strategic leadership. This led us into an important discussion revolving around the following question: What is it that only a leader can do?

When I teach this subject in the From Vision to Action Leadership Training, I focus on the following elements. First, leaders need to be people who care, believe, and are faithful. This is a disciplined act, not just a random action taken to fill time between important meetings. This is a genuine act and is part of the work of leadership that revolves around continuous relationship building and relationship maintaining. This is not an interruption to work, but, in reality, it is the work. 

Second, leaders need to be architects of meaning. Given they routinely confront paradoxes and wrestle with deep questions about organizational direction, they need to build an understanding of the macro and the micro so all involved know where they fit into the process and the plan. As Simon Sinek wrote in his book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action. Portfolio, 2009, it begins with clarity of WHY: “You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do.” Second, it requires the discipline of HOW: “Once you know WHY you do what you do, the question is HOW will you do it? …. HOW we do things manifests in the systems and process within an organization and the culture.” Third, it continues with the consistency of WHAT: “Everything you say and everything you do has to prove what you believe. A WHY is just a belief. That’s all it is. HOWs are the actions you take to realize that belief. And WHATs are the results of those action…”

This week work on being a better architect of meaning, and make sure you and your team are all clear about WHY, HOW, and WHAT. It will make a world of difference as you move forward through these complex times.

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

Become an Architect of Meaning

Every day, leaders are confronted with big questions such as Who are we?, Where are we going?, and How are we going to get there? Their answers to these questions are very important. People count on them to make operational and strategic decisions. 

Most leaders answer such big questions with what-we-need-to-do-next oriented answers. They focus on “go here” and “go there” answers. However, the best leaders do something different. They give purpose to the answers. They explain “why” more than “what.” As a result, the answer and the work have more meaning. The best leaders build understanding rather than simply awareness.

If you, as a leader, are seeking to create a coherent and comprehensive understanding in your organization, then do the following.  First, remember that past strategic choices were made with the best information possible; they were seen as the “right choice” at the time. 

Furthermore, everything we are doing today reflects past choices. Some of those past choices were good and some might have been poor, yet all of them were choices, typically based on the best information possible. Even choosing not to do something is a form of choice. Our challenge as leaders is to help people understand these past choices. This will give all involved perspective about what is happening now.

Second, we must remember that past strategic choices created both impact and precedence. Exceptional leaders are clear about these two elements and often explain them in greater depth to all the members of their team.

Third, current strategic choices are harder because leaders have to contend with more variables and more constituencies and stakeholders than ever before. Ram Charan, interviewed by Melinda Merino, for an article called “You Can’t Be a Wimp - Make the Tough Calls,” Harvard Business Review, November 2013, states that good decisions require “perceptual acuity,” namely the ability to see change coming,  “qualitative judgement,” which allows leaders to formulate and select the right options, and “credibility” which helps them gain acceptance for decisions. Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis in their article called “Making Judgement Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, October 2007, explain that most judgement calls arise in three domains - people, strategy and crisis. “Good judgement is grounded - in all three domains”, they explain, “and throughout the process - in four types of knowledge: self, social network, organizational, and contextual.”

Given the current strategic choices before most organizations, it is important to role model being an architect of meaning, namely one who builds awareness and then understanding of the significance, importance, and purpose of change. Realizing that people learn more from role modeling than communicating, my challenge to you this week is practice living the mission, vision and values rather than just speaking about them. Then, you will see what happens when you become an architect of meaning.

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

Leading With a Good Heart - Part # 1

Parker Palmer in his book, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life, Jossey-Bass, 2004, reminds us that many years ago at the first sign of a blizzard on the Great Plains, farmers would run a rope from the back door to the barn. They did this because they all knew stories of someone who had wandered off and been frozen to death, having lost sight of home in a whiteout while still in their own backyards.

Today we live in a blizzard of another sort. The degree of anxiety and frustration within the home and the work place is overwhelming. People are feeling lost and wondering what to do next given the economy. Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich in their book, The Why of Work, McGraw-Hill, 2010, write that as the economic recovery slowly takes place, many employees are experiencing an “emotional recession because they have not found sufficient meaning in their work lives, a condition that reduces productivity and commitment.”

From my work with leaders this past summer and fall, I see this blizzard, and this emotional recession taking a huge toll. Over and over, I listen to good men and women who are living a life which is compartmentalized and divided with little soul, spirit and passion. For example, recently I listened to an older executive complain about how his company was setting strategy without including the people who worked directly with the customer. In the midst of this absurdity, he just wanted to return to a time period in his life where the work that he did actually made a difference and was meaningful.

As fall turns into winter, we need to reclaim our work and our ability to lead with a good heart. We need to become leaders who are less fragmented and more whole. We need to become leaders who actually lead.

The first step in this journey back to wholeness begins when we reclaim being architects of meaning. We need to remind others that it is OK to love what you do and it is OK to grieve through the difficulties of this time period. Furthermore, it is OK to be passionate about projects or the mission of the organization. Finally, we need to tell people that it is OK to be tough, but loving.

During a retreat this past summer I listened as Bill Dodds, President of Optimae LifeServices, shared with those gathered that a leader needs to be both a builder and a destroyer. They need to build the people and the infrastructure for the present and the future as well as a destroyer of the dysfunctional parts of the organization that no longer work or support the movement toward the future. But at the foundation of all this work, noted Bill, is the need to have a healthy core, namely a sound mission, vision, and core values plus a well written and adaptable strategic plan. With these tools in place and the right people on the team, an organization can move forward in the midst of its challenges.

We all know that the degree of leadership effectiveness is dependent on three things working together. First, we as leaders need the enthusiasm and dedication of the followers. Second, we need good plans and intelligent strategy which are supported and acted on by followers. Third, we need quality people who work together as a team. In short just like a company, we as leaders need a healthy core too.

This winter there will be more blizzards, and the rope from the back door to the barn will be essential. Nevertheless, this week think about Bill Dodd’s perspective and build a healthy core in your company and in yourself before you need it. In short, remember the old Boy Scout motto: be prepared. The future is just around the corner.

Have a great week,

Geery

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