How do effective leaders plan when the future is so wildly unpredictable? - part #2

After many months of being actively involved in facilitating strategic level dialogues and strategic planning, I have learned the following:

First, that I agree with John Paul Lederach in his extremely, thought-provoking book, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005) when he wrote: “Structural history and personal biography are connected.”

What many people do not know is that I collect org charts when working with a client. I have some that are over ten years old when I sit down with a client for a visit. These charts tell me a story of past strategic choices and operational decisions. They also give me insights into what is going on.

For example, let us all remember that people bond with people before they bond with the plan. The history of who has reported to whom over time impacts their level of trust in the planning and execution of any plan, be it strategic or an operational plan to deal with COVID-19. Therefore, we must understand structural history because it is impacting people’s perspective and the stories they are telling themselves and others about what is happening now and what will happen in the future.

Second, when it comes to planning in wildly unpredictable times, we, as leaders suffer from “the fallacy of centrality.” As Robert Sutton pointed out in his article, “How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy” (Harvard Business Review, June 2009), the fallacy of centrality is based on “the assumption that because one holds a central position, one automatically knows everything necessary to exercise effective leadership.”

As he goes on to explain, the result of this fallacy is the generation of a “toxic tandem”. “People who gain authority over others tend to become more self-centered and less mindful of what others need, do, and say.” This problem “is compounded because a boss’s self-absorbed words and deeds are scrutinized so closely by his or her followers.”

From my perspective the other outcome of this fallacy is a complete lack of “contextual intelligence”. As Tarun Khanna explained in an article called “Contextual Intelligence” in the September 2014 issue of the Harvard Business Review, contextual intelligence is “the ability to understand the limits of our knowledge and to adapt that knowledge to a context different from the one in which it was acquired.”

Given the above, leaders need to address deficits in four areas as outlined by Robert Sutton in his article called “How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy” (Harvard Business Review, June 2009). They are:

Predictability: Give people as much information as you can about what will happen and when. If shocks are preceded by fair warnings, people not only have time to brace themselves but also get chances to breathe easy.

Understanding: Explain why the changes you’re implementing are necessary. Don’t assume you need to do so only once.

Control: Take a bewildering challenge and break it down into “small win” opportunities. In situations where you can’t give people much influence over what happens, at least give them a say in how it happens.

Compassion: Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Express empathy and - when appropriate - sorrow for any painful actions that have to be taken.

As Sutton points out so clearly, “People don’t embark on careers to feel powerlessness. The whole point of work is to achieve outcomes and have impact.”

Jim Mattis in his book that he co-wrote with Bing West called Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead (Random House, 2019) explains: “When you are engaged at the tactical level, you grasp your own reality so clearly it’s tempting to assume that everyone above you see it in the same light.” As he continues, “If you as the commander define the mission as your responsibility, you have already failed. It was our mission, never my mission.” As he concludes, “I was taught to use the concept of “command and feedback.” You don’t control your subordinate commanders’ every move; you clearly state your intent and unleash their initiative.”

This week, figure out how you are going to overcome the four deficits of predictability, understanding, control and compassion so that you can unleash the creative initiative within all of your teams.

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

Bring the “Lost Tribes” Home

There are four pillars to a successful organization, namely people, structure, systems and culture. They are supported by a strong foundation of mission, vision and core values.  

Most leaders like talking about people, systems, and culture. They also like talking about the alignment between these elements and the mission, vision and core values.

Few leaders like to talk about structure. Who reports to whom is not a hot topic. But, given all I have heard and seen this winter moving toward spring, it is time we think deeply about structure.

First, does your structure match your strategic intent? We work hard on clarifying our strategy through in-depth planning. Then we make the mistake of assuming that our current structure is the right structure to execute this strategy. 

Recently, I have discovered that the problems many organizations are having related to executing their strategy and integrating it into their day to day operations is not a culture or systems problem, but a structural problem. The wrong people and the wrong teams are reporting to the wrong person. We forget some days that there is a time and place to reorganize in order for the strategic intent and goals of the organization to be successfully executed.

Second, we have to ask another and more difficult question, namely do we have the right people in the right places within our organizational chart? When the structure is right, I have also seen that sometimes the problem is a classic “right person in the wrong seat on the bus”, using an old Jim Collins phrase. I also have discovered that we sometimes have the “wrong person in the right seat of the bus.” Both of these are connected. The result of either of these problems is that some teams and departments start to feel like they are the “lost tribes of Israel wandering in the dessert for 40 years.” 

I had never heard this phrase before until a CEO I had worked with for many years pointed out this problem. As he said to me that day, “We need to bring the lost tribes home.” And he was 100% correct. 

Effective integration of quality, empowerment and principle-centered leadership requires us as leaders to not let any people, teams or departments to feel like they are lost tribes wandering in the desert.

This week, sit down and reflect on whether or not your organization’s structure is in full alignment with your current strategy and on-going strategic intent. Second, check to make sure you have the right leaders in the right spots within the chart. And finally, make sure there are no lost tribes within your organization. This is not easy work, but is the important work that leaders need to do.

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