How Do Leaders Improve The Cascading Of Key Information? Part #2

Picking up where we left off last Monday, let’s continue exploring the subject of over-communicating key messages and the the cascading of information. 

Most of the time, this subject is defined by the person in a leadership position. They are the sender of the information while the employee is the receiver.  When we shift our focus from sending to receiving, we realize something important. We, as leaders, assume that the receiver can understand the message, internalize the message, and finally embrace the message. This is a huge cognitive leap. If they only hear the message once, it is a miracle that this will happen at all.

However, the receiver will not do any of this if they believe the leader is not “serious, authentic, and committed to what they are saying” according to Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012). Furthermore, communication of this type needs to be a “structured but interpersonal process.” As he points out, there are three keys to cascading communication, namely message consistency from one leader to another, timeliness of delivery, and live, real-time communication.

So where does this message and communication process start?

The simple and yet power answer is at the end of every meeting. When we pause at the end of of every meeting and define what we have committed to, we build a foundation for clarity. Then, we as leaders have to skip e-mail, voice mail, and random chance meetings to ask questions, and instead focus on face to face and live interactions. 

Nevertheless, let us not forget that everything depends on “cohesiveness and clarity at the top.” Without this, communication issues will always be a problem.

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

How Do Leaders Improve The Cascading Of Key Information? Part #1

Recently during a senior team meeting where we were discussing problems related to getting information cascaded in a clear and consistent manner, I was asked the following question: “Is this a people issue or a communication issue?”

My response was “Yes.”

Any time I hear issues related to cascading, I think back to the book that caused this word to enter into the lexicon of  business leaders across the country, namely Patrick Lecioni’s The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable, (Jossey-Bass, 2000). To review the four disciplines, they are the following:

1. Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team.

2. Create organizational clarity.

3. Over-communicate organizational clarity.

4. Reinforce organizational clarity through human systems.

The concept of cascading is part of discipline #3, namely “Over-communicate organizational clarity.” Here the author focuses on four key points to make this happen:

- repetition

- simplicity

- multiple mediums

- cascading messages

What many leaders forget is that cascading begins with clarity. What we are cascading starts with what we are over-communicating. And over-communicating starts with clarity about identity and direction. Cascading is a people and a communication problem but most of all it is a clarity issue. If you are having problems with cascading, you have to realize that you are actually having problems with clarity.

This week, ask yourself the following two questions:

- Does my leadership team agree on our identity and direction?

- Are they able to communicate this information in a clear and concise manner?

Answering these two questions is the precursor to over-communicating organizational clarity.

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

Building a Unified Whole - part #2

Whenever I interact with a struggling organization, I will inevitably discover a struggling senior leadership team. The two go hand in hand.  And while it sounds simplistic, the first key to success is to build a cohesive leadership team.

Yet we have to realize that there are three kinds of leadership teams. The first is the Command & Control Leadership Team. This is the traditional, top down structure where all of the connections that matter are the ones between workers and their managers.

The second form is the Command of Teams model. Here, everything is structured for small teams, and all of the small teams operate within a rigid super structure, reporting up to the senior leadership team.

Finally, there is the Team of Teams model. Here, the relationships among teams resembles the closeness among individuals on those teams. It is dynamic and highly interactive. It also is quickly able to deal with technical and adaptive problems.

Yet, whenever we talk about teams, I think back to what Patrick Lencioni, wrote in his book, Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying The Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors (Jossey-Bass 2006). As he explains, “I strongly believe that building a cohesive leadership team is the first critical step that an organization must take if it is to have the best chance at success.” However, Lencioni points out the following about problems that occur: “Silos are nothing more than the barriers that exist between departments within an organization, causing people who are supposed to be on the same team to work against one another…. In most situations, silos rise up not because of what executives are doing purposefully but rather because of what they are failing to do: provide themselves and their employees with a compelling context for working together.” 

My challenge to you this Monday morning is twofold:

First, what is the “compelling context’ for working together in your organization at this time period?

Second, how well do you think this is getting cascaded down clearly into the organization?

The answers are worth pursuing if you want to succeed moving forward.

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

Creating, Communicating & Cascading Clarity - part #2

So how do I create a clear message as a leader?

In the world of leadership communication, our goal is to describe what needs to get done “simply, but without oversimplification,” to quote Marcus Buckingham, from his book. The One Thing You Need to Know ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, Free Press, 2005.

In a world of ambiguity and subtlety, creating a clear and definitive message is hard work. The pathway to creating a clear message that can be cascaded effectively begins by taking time to reflect. First, talk to someone like a colleague or executive coach and share your ideas, challenges and problems. If this person is experienced in this level of work, they can reflect the essence of your message back to you in a helpful manner.

Second, once you have your message, be very careful in the selection of your role models or examples which live up to or embrace this message. In particular, make certain that your role models are people whose performance role models the key parts of message on a regular basis.

Third, practice giving your message. Rather than coming up with a new and better speech every time, successful leaders focus on refining what they are talking about and then seeking out a diversity of audiences to whom they can share it with through out the company. As Buckingham reminds us, “Discipline yourself to practice your descriptions of the future. Experiment with word combinations. Discard the ones that fall flat and keep returning again and again to the ones that seem to resonate and provide us with the clarity we seek.”

At the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, I talked about the importance of developing a quarterly message. Many people since then have asked me how do you keep it fresh so people listening are not bored by what you are saying? First, I tell them their message needs to be one people can see, hear and feel. Second, there needs to be systematic communication, i.e. a regular system of communication like an internal company newsletter, an internal senior level e-mail plus quarterly strategic updates and dialogues. Third, there also needs to be symbolic communication which is a way to make sure the message is noted and understood in a special way. For example, if the message is about wellness, then the symbolic message may be for the leader to commit and follow through on participating in Weight Watchers to loose some extra weight.

As a leader, one must not only have a message and communicate it well but also make sure it is getting cascaded down into the organization. According to Patrick Lencioni in his superb book,  The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012), “There are three keys to cascading communication: message consistency from one leader to another, timeliness of delivery, and live, real-time communication.” 

Which ever every pathway you choose to creating, communicating and cascading clarity into your organization, I have one small tip to share with you. By the time you are bored and tired of what you are saying, I guarantee you that someone is probably hearing it for the first time given how busy every one is with issues, problems and distractions these days.

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

Positioning For the Future Growth - Part #2

Picking up where we left off last Monday, 5-2-11, there are more key steps to positioning an organization for future growth.

First, evaluate your key people and deal with your problem ones. To this day, it continues to surprise me how many leaders are not willing to deal with their problem people. They love to complain about them, but few have the fortitude to actually deal with their problem people.

When they ask me what to do about these people, I always ask them the same questions: Do you have confidence in them? Do you have confidence in the way they make decisions? Do you have confidence in the way they role model? The answer is either “yes” or “no.” A “maybe” is always a “no.” Dion Williams, Executive Director of Systems Unlimited told me he asks one additional question: Do you have confidence in the way they learn? Key people must make decisions, role model and learn. If there is any question in these three areas, then it is time to sit down with an HR professional and discuss how to proceed.

Second, implement more rigorous coaching. Too many times, coaching sessions end up being a waste of time and mostly focused on random gossip or a place where problems are managed up to be fixed. As I politely reminded a CEO earlier this winter, during coaching sessions you need to remember to ask yourself this question: “Who owns the monkey?” A coaching session is not a time for a direct report to transfer ownership of issues or challenges and put it on your back.

Third, better define your cascading messages. At the end of every meeting, ask the simple but powerful question: “What do we want people to remember and share with others after this meeting?” Remember: everything you say will be corrupted when it is cascaded. Therefore, make sure you clearly define the essence of your core message so others share it in a timely and accurate manner.

There are days we get so busy that we forget that people need to be lead and they need to be managed. Right now so many executives are under leading their organizations. They do not describe the future vividly and precisely, and they do create enough clarity about what should be cascaded and when.

Furthermore, we also are experiencing very poor management in many organizations. Let us remember that all leadership without healthy management is a disaster in the making. Successful organizations have both great strategic leadership and exceptional operational management.

This week, if you want to position your organization for the future, consider firing yourself on Friday and then rehiring yourself on Monday. Then, look at everything with fresh eyes. You may be surprised by what you discover.

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