Decipher the Stone - Principle-Centered Leadership - part #1

Quality and empowerment are not complete without principle-centered leadership. The notion of principle-centered leadership was first introduced into the literature in 1990 by the late Stephen R. Covey. Over time, many people have built on his original thinking and called it by many other names. Still, from my perspective, Covey was the one who defined the concept. 

As he wrote in his book by the same title, “Principle-centered leadership introduces a new paradigm - that we center our lives and our leadership of organizations and people on certain “true north” principles…. Principles are not invented by us or by society; they are the laws of the universe that pertain to human relationships and human organizations. They are part of the human condition, consciousness, and conscience. To the degree people recognize and live in harmony with such basic principles as fairness, equity, justice, integrity, honesty, and trust, they move toward either survival and stability on the one hand or disintegration and destruction on the other.” It was powerful thinking thirty years ago and every bit applicable to today’s challenges.

From my perspective, when the principles of trust and respect join with the principles of integrity, justice, and equity, leaders can unify quality and empowerment into a sustainable, strategic and operational platform for long term success. For the development of this integrated foundation to take place, the leaders of a company must sit down and deeply reflect on the mission or purpose of the organization. They also must recommit to the core values that guide daily actions at all levels. With a deep understanding of and commitment to being mission-driven and values-led, principle-centered leadership can flourish and be the catalyst for synergy. It is the combination of the commitment to principles and people, over authority and control, that creates new and better outcomes.

This week, reflect on the above quote and write what are the core principles that guide your life, be they at work, at home, or in your community. You, too, can be a principle-centered leader and principle-centered person, no matter what your job title.

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

Decipher the Stone - Empowerment

Along with the concept of quality which I explored last week, the second concept which is no longer discussed on a regular basis is empowerment. Between 1986 - 1995, the word empowerment was rarely used or even mentioned. Then in the mid-90s through to the turn of the century, it was the buzz word and a very hot topic amongst leaders. According to all of the best-seller books and strategic level conversations taking place at the time, empowerment was the answer to all our problems. “We just need to empower people” was the rallying cry.

However, during the early years of this new century, fewer and fewer people talked about empowerment and in particular empowering people. This happened in part because the concept was corrupted by poor leadership behaviors and totally dysfunction teams. It was power without choice and many times positional power that was used against others. Clearly, empowerment was not the solution for all our problems. 

Still, I have meet empowered leaders and empowered teams that are making a difference and generating quality outcomes. These people have confidence in their ability and their knowledge to rise to the challenges before them. They also have confidence in their team and their company. They believe they can make the right decisions and they believe they are role modeling what is most important.

At the same, these empowered people and teams make effective and thoughtful choices about how to create quality outcomes and meet their goal obligations. They also believe they are engaged in meaningful work. With the above in mind, I believe it is time we reclaimed the concept of empowerment. 

First, I believe empowerment is the by-product of the correct alignment between structure and shared values.  John Paul Lederach wrote in his extremely thought-provoking book called The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005), “Structural history and personal biography are connected.” The history of who reports to whom over time impacts our perspective and understanding. The same is true for who works with whom within a team setting. When people in leadership positions tolerate poor interpersonal behaviors amongst their direct reports or on teams in combination with role modeling these same behaviors as well, then those who report to them or work with them will focus less on making effective decisions as much as try to stay off their supervisor’s radar screen. Nobody wants to be seen as the problem or to be blasted for poor outcomes caused by other peoples’ lack of attention, clarity or action.

Second, the foundation for empowerment is the same foundation for continual quality outcomes. When people know and are supported to generate quality based outcomes within a work place that is based on respect, trust, and cooperation, then empowerment creates optimism, hope and courage to face the challenges before them. Empowerment allows for the development of ownership and, over time, innovation to be the norm.

This week, remember that quality and empowerment are interconnected. People, not just systems, make empowered acts and quality outcomes a reality.

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

Discover the “Rosetta Stone” of Change

In 1799, during the Napoleonic occupation of Egypt, a Frenchman discovered the Rosetta Stone near Alexandria. The Rosetta Stone commemorated the ascension of Ptolemy V to the Egyptian throne in three writing systems: Greek, cursive Egyptian, and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. 

Subsequent study of these inscriptions lead European scholars to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time, thus providing access to a much broader view of history through the translation of ancient Egyptian texts. The Rosetta Stone facilitated the understanding of the ancient Egyptians’ unique world view previously obscured from modern explanation. 

Many people in leadership positions right now know their organization needs to become more nimble, flexible and agile doing the next two years. They recognize the importance of shared values, clarity of strategic intent, and the importance of building a high degree of trust and collaboration within and between teams. 

However, they are struggling to figure out how to create this depth of clarity and action throughout their organizations such that it is sustainable, i.e. a flywheel for positive focus and momentum through the current and emerging challenges. In short, they feel like they are trying to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics without the a Rosetta Stone.

When I listen to a diverse number of people in leadership positions share and explore what they are doing that is working and what they are doing that is not working, it has become clear to me that we must decipher three key concepts this winter, namely quality, empowerment and principle-centered leadership.  We must create a new level of understanding and rediscover the common threads that unite these key concepts. In short, we need to discover a “Rosetta Stone” of change for this new decade.

This week, I encourage you to sit down and reflect about what you know to be true about quality, empowerment and principle-centered leadership. Then, over the coming weeks, we can bring my thoughts and your thoughts together into a greater whole.

Happy New Year!

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

How Do Leaders Empower Their Culture? - Part #2

The concept of empowerment grew in popularity between 1993-95. At that time period, driven by numerous best selling books on the topic, there was a growing interest in empowering people. By the mid-90’s, empowerment was the buzz word on lips of everyone in executive and management positions. All of these leaders wanted to be empowered and then empower others.

Upon reflection, empowerment at that time period was mostly about power, namely who had it and who used it. However, having taught, coached and consulted throughout the entire time period, I kept pointing out that empowerment had to do with a different word, namely evolution. 

If we look the word empowerment up in the dictionary, it dates back to 1622, and is defined by the following two definitions:

- a process of change in a certain direction as in unfolding, 

- a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state as in growth.

For something or someone to be empowered, I have learned that there needs to be an unfolding process and then growth for empowerment to be experienced and utilized.

The unfolding process begins with the building of a trust environment on all three levels, i.e. personal, strategic and organizational. It also begins with a recognition that the Moment of Truth, i.e. when the goods or services are actually provided, reflects a moment of decision. At times, we forget the insight Kevin Cashman wrote about in his book, Awakening the Leader Within: A Story of Transformation (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2003): "Our lives are the sum total of all the decisions we have made to date."

The growth process begins with the utilization of a clearly defined goal setting process that integrates with a clearly defined performance management system. John Doerr in his book, Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs (Portfolio, 2018) writes: “A two year Deloitte study found that no single factor has more impact than “clearly defined goals that are written down and shared freely. . . . Goals create alignment, clarity and job satisfaction.” 

From my experience, leaders who empower their culture are focused on building systems that create and maintain focus over time about what really matters to that company, i.e. mission. Then, all involved concentrate their efforts on making it happen all day and every day.

This week, I encourage you to link your goals to the company’s broader mission. And then, help others to do likewise. This is the foundation of empowerment and an empowered culture.

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

How Do Leaders Empower Their Culture? - Part #1

Not too long ago, I was meeting with a mid-level manager about the implementation of a new way to do customer service, i.e. a whole new service delivery model, including a new position plus a new TO to match the new service delivery model. He was deeply frustrated, not with the model, the position or the TO changes. He was frustration with not being heard as to his concerns about the speed of the implementation process and not being included in the process of defining the new KPIs to determine implementation success.

“I hear your frustration,” I responded, “and let’s pause for a moment. I can not change the pathway of how we got here. There are many leadership lessons that you and I can learn from what has taken place.

Now, given we can’t change the past, let’s look at what to do moving forward. First, can you tell me what is the goal or strategy that is driving all of these changes?”

What followed was a journey of understanding the WHY factors, not just focusing on the WHAT, i.e. what had happened. Some days we do not get to choose how things unfold and yet we have to continue to move forward effectively. One key to this process is to make sure we as a leader, no matter what level we are within the company, can create clarity. And in this situation, we also need to connect that clarity, e.g. about the new model and TO changes, back to the overall strategy and goals within the current strategic plan.

When I am dealing with situations of this nature, I think of Herminia Ibarra and her book, Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015). In it, she writes: “… the quality of a leader’s idea is not the only thing people consider when making up their minds about whether to engage with a leader. Naive leaders act as if the idea itself is the ultimate selling point. Experienced leaders, on the other hand, understand that the process is just as important, if not more so. How they develop and implement their ideas, and how leaders interact with others in this process, determines whether people become engaged in the leaders’ efforts.”

Ibarra’s formula for success comes down to the following: the idea + the process + you = success in leading change. What we have to remember as leaders is that, as she continues, “… the you part always trumps the idea and is the filter through which people evaluate the process.” In short, it all boils down to the quality of people’s relationships with others before they engage in making change. This depth of clarity about the importance of alignment with overall strategy plus building healthy work relationships is what leaders do every day to empower their organization’s culture.

From my vantage point, when I find an organization and an empowered culture, I really pay attention to the leaders. Those leaders who empower their culture do something that at first seemed inconsequential but upon hours of reflection, I have come to the conclusion that it is critical to their success. They are constantly networking, i.e. friend-raising, but more important they are building networks of people. They are not connecting people with just themselves as much as with other leaders within and outside the company. By constantly connecting people to people, these leaders understand that this network of connections has the potential to become a network of support for empowered action and perspective. Furthermore, sometimes this network will help people operationally focus on their internal responsibilities or their own personal or professional development, but what I notice most of all is how much this network helps people with strategic focus and understanding the bigger picture.

This week I challenge you to continue building your own network and also to helping others to build their networks. The combination of the two would be a force multiplier for all involved.

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

The Key to Empowering Culture

Routinely now, people in leadership positions want to talk with me about the importance culture and strategy. Most want to empower their culture and leverage it strategically. While I believe this is an important point and can make a world of difference, I often point out to them that 80% or more of their staff report to a front line supervisor and work side by side with a small group of co-workers. For them, this circle of relationships is the sum total of their experience with “the company culture”. For them, the company culture is always a day to day operational experience.

Furthermore, we as leaders need to recognize that if these relationships are healthy and effective then there is the potential for operational excellence, company culture and the strategic plan to become real and inter-connected. Our challenge as leaders is that we are not helping supervisors make these connections. We also are not building cultural clarity and alignment on a routine basis.

On April 10 - 11, 2019, we will be exploring in-depth the interaction between operational excellence, culture and strategy during the Spring 2019 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable. 

Here is the agenda for your review:

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

- 8:30 am - Arrival & Visiting Time

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - What is the connection between excellence, culture and strategy?

- 10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - How do leaders build cultural clarity and alignment?

- 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Lunch and Networking 

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - How do leaders empower their culture?

- 2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Break

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - How do leaders deal effectively with too many initiatives at the same time?

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn

Thursday, April 11, 2019

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am -What do successful cultural leaders actually do?

- 10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break 

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Integration and Application

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn

Location: Courtyard by Marriott in Ankeny, Iowa

Price: $ 295.00 for the two days and $ 195.00 for a single day.

Here is the link to the registration form:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2019-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf

Hope you will join me at the Spring 2019 Roundtable as we explore and seek a deeper understanding about the keys to empowering organizational culture.

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

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

The Great Leap Backwards

With so many leaders feeling overwhelmed, many are defaulting to command and control leadership as their primary mode of operation. Whenever I encounter it now, I think of it as the great leap backwards. I know most leaders are choosing this way of working with people because they do not know any other way that will work, especially when change is so constant and messy.

In seminars now, I often point out that most senior leaders are either recovering controlaholics or just plain controlaholics.  It’s what got them to this level of leadership but clearly what will prevent them from becoming an exceptional and transformative leaders.

However, the push back I get from these same leaders is consistent. They routinely point out the importance and need for organizational order and predictability. Now, I am not against order and predictability. In daily operations, these are important, but I am against the great leap backwards to command and control as the primary and only means of helping people move forward through strategic change.

As I explain in seminars, command and control is based on fear, intimidation and dominance which does not generate anything more than forced movement forward. There is no ownership of the work, just work and more work. However, what many leaders desire during difficult, complex and challenging organizational change is for people to be resilient, adaptive, aware and creative.

Yet, what they forget is that command and control as a form of leadership focuses more on stability over change, i.e. the maintaining of status quo. However, successful organizational change, and the leaders who implement it, is often based on the understanding or expectation that there is a better or more effective way of doing something. Command and control, on the other hand, is based on getting something done, and then returning to status quo.

Furthermore, command and control often focuses on lowering that which has caused a level of disequilibrium or chaos within the organization. As a result, it often begins with the what-to-do factor rather than the why-to-do factor. The result over time is that it perpetuates passivity, resistance and resentment. It also involves assigning blame which rarely results in greater clarity and commitment from all involved.

There is another way of leading in difficult times but it requires a great degree of discipline and thoughtfulness.

First, we need to focus on alignment. Leaders who comprehend the importance of alignment recognize that the interconnectedness of the strategic nexus, i.e. the union of mission, vision and values with the strategic plan. These leaders are in an agreement in thought, word and deed with this nexus and act and work in accordance with this nexus. They choose to lead others with a strategic mindset rather than an efficiency initiative perspective.

Second, these same leaders focus on making sure they are creating the future rather attempting to control it. They understand that we are leaders and followers are really co-creating the future. It is not a “I create and you follow” mentality, but instead it is a “we create together” perspective. As Margaret Wheatly reminds us, “People only support what they create.” 

Therefore, leaders need to continually build trust and rebuild trust on a regular basis. They also need to show up, pay attention and listen carefully to others. This careful consideration of others’ perspectives needs to be taken into account, because it creates psychological safety to see what is really happening rather than what we think should be happening or want to be happening.

Third, these same leaders focus on empowerment. I think this is one of the hardest choices a leader can make, because it means giving up control which is something we often think we do, but in reality rarely do. It means choosing not to default to command and control even when the work is difficult.

The U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary defines command and control as “the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission.” What most people do not recognize is that effective command and control is based on a bi-directional flow of timely and accurate information. Yet, this rarely takes place outside military circles because most people who default to command and control do it through fear and intimidation rather than respect and integrity.

When we as leaders choose to focus on alignment, co-creation and empowerment, it means we have to work from a place of clarity, commitment and connection. And those we work with have to know why the work needs to get done, not just how and what needs to get done.

This week, do not choose to make the great leap backwards. Instead, seek a new path so we can engage in the meaningful work of building a better and more effective future for all involved.

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

The Four Leadership Mistakes We Keep Making - part #2

Picking up where we left off last Monday, let’s explore the last two leadership mistakes that leaders keep making.

First, leaders forget that getting rid of obstacles to change does not equal empowering others to act. It may help but it is not the same thing. When we get rid of obstacles that block action, we may have to deal with disempowering bosses who with hold or do not provide key information. We also may have to deal with structural barriers such as too many layers of management where people second guess and criticize actions being taken. We may even have to re-examine our performance measurement and reward systems. When we take these actions, we send a signal to others in the company that change is going to happen.

But one result of removing all of the barriers to change can be people feeing like deer-in-the-headlights, overwhelmed and fearful. From past Executive Roundtables, and previous leadership trainings and readings, we know that what we believe, experience and observe all influence our actions. When barriers are removed, some people will experience an undercurrent of fear even if the changes are good and important to be made. For these people, the devil you know is better than the one you do not know.

On the other hand, when we empower others, there has to be psychological safety which is the combination of emotional support and assistance in problem solving. This will involve on-going coaching and on-going communication and dialogue. Through this level of sharing and analyzing, goals are clarified and important learning takes place.

From my experience, empowered people have confidence in their ability and their knowledge, and in their team and their company. They believe they can make the right decisions and they believe they are role modeling what is most important. Furthermore, empowered people can make choices about how to achieve predetermined outcomes and goals. They believe they are engaged in meaningful work. In short, empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to have the confidence and clarity to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes, i.e. meaningful work.

Stephen Covey in his book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (Free Press, 2004) reports that empowerment is held back by the following factors:

- 97% - Managers afraid to let go

- 93% - misaligned systems

- 92% - Manager lacks skills

- 80% - Employees lack skill

Given the above, our choice as leaders, who want to empower more people and to teach them new behaviors, is to take the following steps.

First, we need to get better at role-modeling. We must be trustworthy, and routinely build greater levels of personal, strategic and organizational trust, plus improve our own character and competence.

Next, we need to get better at creating a shared understanding of vision, strategy, mission and core values. This will only happen if we are willing to schedule the time for a greater level of strategic dialogue.

Then, we need to get better at aligning people, systems and expectations. The better we clarify our expectations the better people will perform.

Finally, leaders often forget that building a team is not the same as maintaining a team. In the beginning, the goal of most teams is about defining a common problem and solving it. As Ruth Wageman, Debra A. Nunes, James A. Burruss and J. Richard Hackman in their book, Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes To Make Them Great, Harvard Business School Press, 2008, write that we need the right people and a compelling direction that is clear, challenging and consequential if we are seeking better levels of team work. They also point out that we need a solid structure, i.e. define exactly what the team is to do strategically, a supportive context, i.e. access to the resources they need, and some team coaching which will help them to evolve, learn, and grow over time.

But building a team is not maintaining a team. The later requires us to “build heritage relationships,” i.e. build relationships before you need them and then focus on staying connected to them once they are on the team, role modeling collaborative behavior before, during, and afterwards, making sure team leaders are both task and relationship oriented, plus helping team leaders to understand the challenges of role clarity and task ambiguity. For more detail, I suggest you read the following article, “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams” by Lynda Gratton and Tamara J. Erickson, Harvard Business Review, November 2007.

This week, practice empowering more people, doing a better job of role modeling new behaviors, and maintaining your teams. It will make a world of difference.

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