How do leaders maintain successful teams? - part #2

One of the things I have learned from meeting with leaders of successful teams is that they role model and empower healthy behaviors. Jeffery D. Ford and Laurie W. Ford in their very good article called “Decoding Resistance to Change” (Harvard Business Review, April 2009) write that “People expect history to repeat itself - and they resist going through it all over again.” Leaders who overcome resistance focus on understanding why people are showing resistance or lack of clarity. They do not suppress dialogue but instead encourage it. They also assume they and the team will spend time in the trough of chaos and plan accordingly. They get that it is normal for things to get messy. Therefore, they role model healthy personal choices and behaviors when it does.

Second, these same leader continually try to improve their capacity to coach others. They understand, as Patrick Lencioni points out in his book,  The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012), that behavioral problems almost always precede quantitative results. They also recognize that behavioral problems “occur long before any decrease in measurable results is apparent.”

What we as leaders need to remember is that once a person “experiences good coaching, one becomes a better coach.” Peter Cappelli and Anna Travis say this is very important in their article called “HR Goes Agile” in the March-April 2018 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Richard Hackman in his book, Leading Teams: Setting The Stage For Great Performances (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) explains that coaches focus on the following three areas: the amount of effort members of the team apply to the work, the appropriateness of the performance strategies to carry out the work, and the knowledge and skill they apply to the work. Therefore, coaching can be motivational, consultative, or educational.

But as I reflect on his writing I am reminded of what Marshall Goldsmith wrote in his book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful (Hyperion, 2007). Goldsmith challenges us to “stop trying to coach people who shouldn’t be coached.” As he notes, “stop trying to change people who don’t think they have a problem” and “stop trying to change people who are pursuing the wrong strategy for the organization.” He continues by pointing out that we should “stop trying to change people who should not be in their job” and “stop trying to help people who think everyone else is the problem.” I think we must embrace his perspective and harken back to Jim Collin’s early work where he said “who before what”. From my experience, the best coaches know who should be coached and who will not change no matter how much we try and coach them. Instead, we need to coach these individuals out of the organization rather than try to coach them into the organization.

Along this same line of thought, the big thing about hiring people to join a team is to remember Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Ideal Team Player (Jossey-Bass, 2016), about the three virtues of a team player. Lencioni says that the best team players are humble, hungry and people smart. While I agree with Lencioni and have seen this in my own experiences as a consultant and executive coach, I think there is a missing element.

Last May, I read a quote by Pastor A.R. Bernard that stopped me in my tracks: “Without character, talent will only take you so far.” Upon much reflection, I realized that we, as leaders, need to talk more about character and focus more on character rather than just talent development. We need to discuss the importance of integrity, compassion, and courage during our coaching and our team meetings. We need to talk about what is commitment, faithfulness, and truthfulness. As Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree.” 

This week, reflect on the following questions: Who are the people of “character” that I have known in my life? What separates them from others? How do they engage with people in group settings that is unique? How do they role model? It is time that we follow in their foot steps.

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

On Being a Successful Executive

Everyday now, I meet more and more people in leadership positions who want to be successful. In seminars and strategic planning consultations, people will take me aside, asking for feedback and executive coaching. They ask questions like “How am I doing?”, “What can I do better or differently to be more successful?”, and “Am I missing anything which might make us more successful?” When I hear questions of this nature, I am reminded of a quote by Danny Meyer in his book, Setting The Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, HarperCollins, 2006, where he writes “the courage to grow demands the courage to let go.” Right now, quite a few executives need to let go of old ways of thinking and working in order to be more successful.

Given my work, I am fortunate enough to meet a lot of exceptional and successful leaders. Most are quite humble and all are very dedicated to the work they are doing. No two are exactly alike and yet most share some very common characteristics.

First, all of them have the strength and clarity of character to surround themselves with exceptional people who are smarter than they are. These leaders understand that they do not have to be the center of attention. They instead have to build a team where all focuses on the purpose or mission of the organization. In short, like does attract like in successful companies.

Second, these same executives network extensively so they maintain a greater perspective. These leaders know “The Law of the Instrument” or at times called “Maslow’s Hammer” which was first coined by Abraham Maslow in 1966 about the over-reliance on a familiar tool. As he said “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” They recognize the importance of generating a broader perspective in order not to frame everything up as hammers and nails.

Third, they share deeply with a select group of advisors and confidents. In this deeply trusted environment, these leaders think out loud, share their fears and worries, explore ideas, and ask for help. They know they need this time because it generates a greater degree of personal clarity and more focused action. The dialogue and analysis is a powerful way of preventing strategic blindness.

Fourth, they do not loose track of key goals and metrics. Most carry with them in hard copy or electronic version their strategic plans and their current metrics. They firmly believe in planning their work and then working their plan. They do not hesitate to hold themselves and others accountable to the goals and the metrics.

Fifth, they focus on organizational culture. They fully comprehend the notion that their strategic success is totally dependent on their organizational culture. They know that successful change, customer service and the recruitment and retention of key staff are all dependent on their culture. They grasp the powerful idea that people join companies and quit those who they report to. They recognize that the culture impacts how people relate to other people.

Sixth, they stay on-message and have a clear message. Remembering that everything gets corrupted when it gets passed down into the organization, successful executives stay on message for 3-6 months repeating over and over core themes. They also tie these core themes to successful outcomes. It may not be fancy but ask a successful leader their message and they can give it to you in a nutshell.

Finally, these same executive develop a meaningful life outside of work which includes exercise, family time, faith, and community plus personal hobbies and/or interests. They recognize and know burn-out. They also know how to recharge. Most of them manage their energy more than their time, and this makes a word of difference.

In the fast paced, multi-dimensional world that we live in these days, I am again reminded of a Danny Meyer quote from the aforementioned book. As he explains, “doing two things like a half-wit never equals doing one thing like a whole wit.” Successful executives do a whole lot of things but what makes them successful is that they do it with their “whole wit.”

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