The Person In The Mirror

“Success or failure in this job [as a leader] is essentially a matter of human relationships,” writes Robert Woodruff, former CEO of Coca- Cola Company.

John Maxwell builds on this idea in his book, Winning With People: Discover The People Principles That Work For You Every Time, (Nelson Books, 2004). As he writes, “All of life’s successes come from initiating relationships with the right people and then strengthening those relationships by using good people skills.”

“The most useful person in the world today,” writes Stanley C. Allyn, “is the man or woman who knows how to get along with other people. Human relations is the most important science in living.”

Maxwell notes that the first step to building, maintaining and strengthening relationships is to understand “The Mirror Principle”, namely “The first person we must examine is ourselves.” As he explains: “The first person I must know is myself - self-awareness. The first person I must get along with is myself - self-image. The first person to cause me problems is myself - self-honesty. The first person I must change is myself - self-improvement. The first person that can make a difference is myself - self-responsibility.”

I agree 100% with Maxwell and urge all of us this week to take stock of the person in the mirror. This is the pathway to becoming better people and better leaders.

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

Preparing For Transformation

“The challenge for leaders in every field is to emerge from turbulent times with closer connections to their customers, with more energy and creativity from their people, and with greater distance between them and their rivals”, writes William Taylor in his book, Practically Radical: Not-so-crazy ways to transform your company, shake up your industry, and challenge yourself (William Morrow, 2011). And I agree 100% with him.

As we move through this stage of the global pandemic, many senior leaders and their teams are deep into strategic level thought and planning. Most want to emerge strong, prepared and primed for more growth and profitability. Some are even using the word “transformation” as they prepare for the future.

When I participate in these strategic level dialogues, I am remind of the “Five Truths of Corporate Transformation” that William Taylor wrote about in the aforementioned book. As he explained:

- “Most organizations in most fields suffer from a kind of tunnel vision, which makes it hard to envision a more positive future.

- Most leaders see things the same way everyone else sees them because they look for ideas in the same places everyone else looks for them.

- In troubled organizations rich with tradition and success, history can be a curse - and a blessing. The challenge is to break from the past without disavowing it.

- The job of the change agent is not just to surface high-minded ideas. It is to summon a sense of urgency inside and outside the organization, and to turn that urgency into action.

- In a business environment that never stops changing, change agents can never stop learning.”

At this point, we know there is a lot of pent up demand in the market place and there will be a lot of competition to meet the needs of the market place. We also know there are high expectations for companies to offer outstanding customer service. High performance expectations are part of returning to normalcy.

With this in mind, all managers and leaders need to remember one other key point that Taylor made: “Forget the question, What keeps you up at night? The bigger question is What gets you up in the morning?  What keeps your people more committed than ever, even as the environment gets more demanding than ever?”

This week answer the above two questions for yourself, and then meet with your team to discuss your answers. Invite them to answer these questions, too. If we seek to be transformational in a post global pandemic world, we need all involved to be moving in the same direction and for the same reasons.

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

Timeless Insights

As someone who loves to read, I am always on the hunt for a good book. Recently, I have been rereading some books on leadership to glean new insights or to relearn some core concepts at a deeper level. One such book I have re-explored was written by Max De Pree and is called Leadership is an Art (Dell Publishing, 1990).

Inside this short book are three timeless insights that have gotten me thinking. The first insight is that leadership is the art of "abandoning oneself to the strengths of others”. Long before the Gallup Organization did their research on strengths based leadership, De Pree grasped the concept from his own experience. I love his use of the word “abandoning”. It makes the whole concept deeper and richer.

The second timeless insight is “The signs of outstanding leadership are found among the followers.” I have seen this numerous times and it is amazing. When followers are engaged, thoughtful, committed and collaborative, it is a reflection of a special working environment. And it points out that all involved have experienced some exceptional leadership.

The third timeless insight is the following: “the art of leadership: liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.” I love how De Pree frames up this definition as liberating people to do what is required. And at the exact same time, he defines the parameters for this action by the words “effective and humane.” Over the course of 35+ years, I have learned and relearned how powerful the action of liberation is for leaders and followers.

This is a wonderful book to read and I hope you touch base with it as we recover from this global pandemic. In the midst of our busy days, it is good to pause, reflect, and understand that there is the science of leadership, and that there is the art of leadership, too.

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

Leadership Requires Courage

Many years ago, I read a book by James Autry called The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance (Prima Publishing, 2001). In it, he states that “Leadership in service of others requires a great deal of courage.” I have reflected on this many times because it is too easy to think of leadership as a reward for hard work rather than a responsibility. Patrick Lencioni wrote a whole book on the subject of leadership as a reward vs. a responsibility called The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate their Most Important Responsibilities (Wiley, 2020). It is nice to see two thoughtful individuals arrive at the same place.

Autry’s focus on service to others is defined by some very important characteristics of leadership. As he writes:

“Leadership is not about controlling people; it’s about caring for people and being a useful resource for people.

Leadership is not about being boss; it’s about being present for people and building a community at work.

Leadership is not about holding on to territory; it’s about letting go of ego, bring your spirit to work, being your best and most authentic self.

Leadership is less concerned with pep talks and more concerned with creating a place in which people can do good work, can find meaning in their work, and can bring their spirits to work.

Leadership, like life, is largely a matter of paying attention.”

As we enter the later part of this summer, I believe we need to sit down with young leaders who are new to the position of manager or leader and review step by step the above five sentences. We need to unpack them and explore what is the key idea within each sentence. We also need to discuss what are the core behaviors that make the idea a reality over time. This level of dialogue is vital if we expect this group to help position their teams and the company for a positive 2022 and 2023.

P.S. Now is the time to sign-up for the upcoming Fall 2021 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable on September 22 - 23, 2021. We will be meeting in-person at the Brown Deer Golf Club & Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa. 

Here is the agenda for your review:

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

8:30 am - Arrival & Visiting Time

9:00 am - 10:15 am - How do we recover organizationally from a global pandemic?

10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break

10:30 am - 12:00 pm - How do we lead with strategic thinking rather than reactive operational problem solving?

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

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - How do we plan for the future when the future is still so unpredictable?

2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Break

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - How do we empower others to move forward during this recovery period?

4:30 pm - Adjourn

Thursday, September 23, 2021

9:00 am - 10:15 am - How do I recover personally and professionally from a global pandemic?

10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break 

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

12:00 pm - Adjourn

The price for the full Fall Roundtable is $ 295.00.

The price for the one day Fall Roundtable attendance is $ 200.00.

Here is the link to the registration form:

https://chartyourpath.com/VTA-RT-Details.html

I hope you and your team are coming!

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

Making Wise Choices

Before Patrick Lencioni wrote The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive in 2000 and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team in 2002, he wrote an earlier book called The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable (Jossey-Bass, 1998). While this book was not as well-known as the previous titles and did not become a best-seller, it still contained some important insights which many leaders this summer need to explore.

The book focuses on five temptations that every person in a leadership position faces on a regular basis. They are as follows:

- choosing status over results

- choosing popularity over accountability

- choosing certainty over clarity

- choosing harmony over productive conflict

- choosing invulnerability over trust

In each of the above temptations, leaders have a choice. The difficulty is that many times we do not think before we choose. We just choose to get things done, and move quickly on to the next thing on the list.

This summer, following the advice of Lencioni in the above book, I hope you will “make results the most important measure of personal success”, “work for the long term respect of your direct reports, not their affection”, “make clarity more important than accuracy”, “tolerate discord as tumultuous meetings are often signs of progress while tame ones are often signs of leaving important issues off the table”, and “actively encourage your people to challenge your ideas…. as a CEO, that is the greatest level of trust that you can give.”

We all have important work to do this summer. Making wise choices is the first step.

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

Navigating the Complex

According to Virgina Satir, the influential American author and psychotherapist who is recognized for her pioneering work in family reconstruction therapy,  wrote that highly functional people tend to do the following:

- see and hear what they see and hear, rather than what they are supposed to see and hear.

- think what they think, rather than what they are supposed to think.

- feel what they feel, rather than what they are supposed to feel.

- want what they want, rather than what they are supposed to want.

- imagine what they imagine, rather than what they are supposed to imagine.

As I ponder her insights, I am reminded of something Kevin Cashman shared in his book, Leadership From The Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life (Berrett-Koehler, 2008). As he wrote, “Five leadership skills are required to navigate complex challenges: collaboration rather heroics, building and mending relationships, participative management, change management and adaptability, risk taking.” He continues by pointing out that “all significant change begins with self-change…. Our ability to grow as a leader is based on our ability to grow as a person.”

This is a major insight on so many levels because, as Virgina Satir pointed out earlier, it means we have to be more conscious about what we see, hear, think, feel and want. We need to recognize our choices because the road ahead will be filled with many opportunities to navigate complex challenges.

This week, I encourage you to reflect on one more statement by Kevin Cashman: “We lead from who we are - the leader and the person are one…. as the person grows, the leader grows.” I hope you will choose a pathway this summer that yields tremendous personal and professional growth.

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

What’s Going On With My Team?

For the last 30 days during executive coaching sessions, I have encountered many questions related to teams and team work. Many senior executives and middle managers are completely stumped on why their teams are struggling or becoming more and more dysfunctional over the course of this summer.

In order to offer perspective about such an important topic, I have had to help people pull back from the challenges of this summer and look at the issue over the course of the last three years. 

First, 2018 and 2019 were challenging times. We forget this because 2020 was brutal. Still, we need to recognize that during these two years before the pandemic teams were stretch by fluctuating market conditions and uncertainty. The result was that many teams entered into 2020 struggling and worn.

And then in March, the global pandemic arrived in full force. Highly functional teams with many heritage relationships handled the initial impact of the pandemic fairly well. They could switch into a high degree of teamwork and collaboration. They focused on how to maintain operational continuity and customer service with its mix of adaptive and technical problems.

However, most teams struggled in late March through early June of 2020. If they had any degree of dsyfunctionality going into the pandemic, it just got worse because of the need for fast execution, and in-depth problem solving.

From my vantage point, most struggling teams during the second and third quarters of 2020 de-evolved into single leader work groups. This would be a normal response during a crisis situation where time is of the essence. But the difficulty over time is that many single leader work groups actually became “a genius with a thousand helpers” mode of operations, citing the work of Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001). The difficulty of this model of operations is that the “genius” becomes a hub through which all communications and decisions have to take place. And when working in a highly adaptive problem solving period over a long period of time, the genius does not have enough time, energy or perspective to make the best decisions. It becomes reactive leadership that leads to decision fatigue and team disengagement.

As 2020 moved into the fourth quarter and then into 2021, many teams and single leader work groups plus numerous burned out geniuses continued to de-evolve. Under more and more pressure to solve problems quickly and people’s natural tendency to silo up during extended periods of high stress and low control, most teams became work groups. 

Within a work group, the members of the group interact primarily to share information or perspective, and to make decisions to help each individual perform within his or her area of responsibility. There is no reason for either a team approach or a level of mutual accountability. To members within a work group, team building activities are pointless and take time that could better be spent “doing real work.” In short, the focus is to share information and then for me to get back to getting my work done. There is no focus on collective goals or collective solutions.

This situation has been compounded by the lack of analog or face to face team interactions. With everyone meeting on digital platforms like Zoom or Teams over such a long period of time, the 2D world of digital communications has made communication between people focus on getting things done. Task management has become more important than relationship management. And this never leads to improved teamwork or collaboration.

So, recognizing that the pandemic is not going away anytime soon, and this has resulted in a massive amount of team de-evolution in combination with silo behaviors at the individual level, what do we do?

First, it is time to rebuild our teams. It is team building 101 all over again. Begin by clearly defining who is on the team and why. Next, define the purpose of the team and how they will measure progress and success. Then, clarify expectations about communication before, during and after team meetings. Finally, discuss decision-making within the team. 

Remember there have been numerous good books and articles on the subject. It is time to reread or consult these resources. The solution is to consciously focus on building or rebuilding your team. In the end, you want a highly cohesive team that focuses on collective goals and collective responsibility.

These are challenging times. Therefore, we need healthy teamwork and collaboration in order to be resilient in the midst of it all. Now is the time to create healthy teams moving in the same direction. When you do this, you and your company will handle whatever happens next in any market, against any competition, at any time.

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