Leadership Lessons

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has become a go to resource for other CEOs looking for tips on how to turn around their organizations. When asked, he offers four simple but important lessons he's learned and suggests others apply: 

1. Don't be a "know it all," be a "learn it all." 

2. Bring clarity, not confusion. 

3. Create energy. 

4. No excuses. 

As a leader do you model these? Are you continually looking for new ideas, new approaches and new perspectives even if they challenge what you think you already know? Do you simplify things and create laser like focus for your teams?  Do you inspire and energize your team?  Do you help your team overcome barriers and find creative ways to get things done? 

Walking Backwards

Almost every day I take a walk around the neighborhood where I live. I have a regular route I take. It feels comfortable and predictable. I know the sights and sounds I'll encounter along the way. 

A couple of days ago, for no real reason, I turned the opposite direction when I got to the end of my driveway. I found myself traveling my normal route "backwards." Initially it was a little disorienting. The farther I went, however, the more I recognized the difference it was making. I was noticing things I had not seen before even though I have walked by them hundreds of times. I was taking things in from a new perspective. Things looked different. Not better or worse, but different. After the initial disorientation it was exciting and refreshing to see things in a new way. 

In what ways as leaders do we often find ourselves operating in routines? We get comfortable with the familiar. We like the predictability. We develop unintentional habits. We find what works in one situation and stick with it. 

How much more effective might we be if we occasionally stepped outside our routines? What new perspectives might be get? What might we see that we've been missing? Could we reinvigorate some of what we do with some exciting and refreshing new ideas?  What would happen if we walked the route we walk each day as a leader, but did it "backwards?" 

Four Most Important Words

 

Being Respected Rather Than Being Liked

Writing on INC.com  Deborah Grayson Riegel highlights the important distinction between the behaviors of leaders who want to be liked vs. those who want to be respected. 

Leaders who want (and often need) to feel liked tend to: 

• Seek attention and approval
• Engage in gossip rather than giving direct feedback
• Try to please everyone
• Make promises they can't keep
• Keep strong opinions to themselves
• Flood people with credit, compliments and praise
• Play favorites but pretend they don't
• Use information as leverage
• Assign people tasks they enjoy rather than assignments that stretch and challenge them. 
• Focus more on how people feel than on achieving outcomes.

Leaders who recognize the importance of being respected, with or without being liked, tend to: 

• Tell the truth even when it's unpopular 
• Explain their thinking behind difficult decisions
• Acknowledge the elephant in the room, even if they can't fix it
• Say no when they need to
• Be open-minded and decisive
• Give credit to others when its due
• Tolerate feelings of disappointment, frustration and anger in themselves and others
• Hold people accountable for their results
• Be consistent and fair in setting rules and expectations
• Set and honor boundaries for themselves and others
• Deliver negative feedback directly and in a timely manner
• Apologize when they make mistakes and move on  
• Model the behavior they expect from others

Take a look at the list and identify which behaviors most reflect who you are as a leader. Are you more interested in being liked or respected? If you find yourself with more of the behaviors in the "liked" list, could you be more effective if you focused more on respect? 

Thinking About Failure

Most of us thrive on optimism. We look at situations and try to imagine the best possible outcomes. If we constantly focused on what could go wrong we'd live a pretty gloomy life. We'd also be a person others would not want to be around. Our life would be filled with anxiety and we'd likely be too afraid to act. You certainly don't want to go there but there are times, however, when thinking about failure and what might go wrong can be helpful. 

Next time you plan a project, whether it be a facility upgrade, a new activity or some other change, take just a few minutes to consider the worst case scenario. You've looked at what could go right. It's why you're moving ahead with the project. Spend a few minutes considering what if your assumptions are wrong. What if things don't work out. 

It's easy to get caught up in the positive side of a project in an effort to sell yourself or others on it. There's an excitement to something new that leads us to look at the upside while ignoring the potential pitfalls. Considering what could go wrong offers the following advantages: 

1. If you anticipate problems you may be able to make adjustments to prevent them or at least create a contingency plan. 

2. When you look at both the positive and negative sides of a project there are opportunities to learn. Assessing the potential risks might uncover potential problems whose solutions may actually improve the project. 

3. Considering the potential for failure might make you realize the risk vs. reward of a project just doesn't make sense and maybe it's not worth doing. It's easy sometimes to fall in love with an idea and overlook the negative. Force yourself to be a pessimist for just a little while and ask some hard questions. 

4. By looking at both sides of a potential project, you'll be prepared for questions, for doubters, for those who don't think it will work. Whether you have to sell the project to others to get permission and/or funding or you just want to get them excited about it, looking at the potential problems keeps you from being surprised by other people's doubts. 

SCARF

The Open Door Policy

Most organizations have a formal open door policy. Many leaders regularly emphasize that their door is always open. The danger is when leaders rely too heavily on the open door policy.

The open door policy puts the onus on the employee to initiate communication. It says I'm here if you need me, but you must come to me. If you have a problem or need assistance come in and let me know.

Unfortunately, employees are too often reluctant to go through those open doors. They may feel asking for help makes them look weak or incompetent. They may be intimidated by the leader. They may not be able to take time away from their work.

Leaders need to remember the open doorways leads both in and out. Effective leaders don't wait for employees to come to them. They regularly get out of their offices to interact with their staff. They make a point of checking in. They practice what management guru Tom Peters calls management by wandering around.

Don't ditch your open door policy but don't rely on it to stay in touch with your staff and what's happening in your organization. Go out the door and stay in touch.

The Simple Trick to See If Someone Is a Good Leader

The Art of the Huddle

When a basketball coach needs to get his team on track he calls a time out and the team huddles. In football the huddle is where the quarterback calls the play, getting his entire team on the same page.

Doing a regular huddle can be an effective tool for leaders in campgrounds to get their team on the same page. A quick, daily gathering of key players can help with communication and coordination. The investment of just a few minutes can make a huge difference.

1. Have a clear purpose. Make everyone knows the purpose and desired outcome for the huddles.

2. Structure your content. Have a clear plan that you use for every huddle and stick to it.

3. Prepare some questions to stimulate discussion. "What are we hearing from the guests?" "Is there an area we're not currently meeting expectations?"  "Are we seeing any recurring issues with the staff?"

4. Check for understanding. Make sure your message is heard and understood.

5. Recap and reinforce. Who is going to do what.

Giving Feedback: Three Steps

The Center for Creative Leadership has developed an effective three step process called Situation - Behavior - Impact for giving feedback.

Situation - Describe the situation with specific details. What happened, when, etc.

Behavior - Describe observable behavior. Don't make assumptions about the motives behind it.

Impact - Describe the impact the behavior had on the organization and your reaction. 

Productivity Superpower

Why Employees Quit

In the tight labor market we're experiencing, retaining good employees is one of the biggest challenges we face as leaders. Keeping the talented people we've invested the time and effort to train is critical.

A 2018 study of 25,000 employees identified the top five reasons employees leave. They include:

1. Poor management performance
2. Lack of employee recognition
3. Overworked employees
4. Company culture not a priority
5. No growth opportunities 

In looking at the reasons on the list, the reality is they all point in one direction...to us as leaders. They reinforce the axiom that employees don't leave organizations, they leave bosses. Think about where you and the other leaders in your organization are in relationship to these reasons employees leave. 

• Are you the kind of leaders people want to work for?
•  Do you consistently recognize employees in meaningful ways? 
• Are you realistic in what you ask of employees? 
• Do you have a clearly defined culture that you actively promote?
• Are you creating opportunities for employees to grow and develop? 

Taming Your Time Wasters

In research recently reported in the Harvard Business Review, a study of how leaders spend their time showed they spend only 9% of their time interacting with front line employees. While we as leaders know how critical our people are to the success of our organization, it's easy to get wrapped up in all of the other responsibilities we're tasked with. Meetings, customers, projects and some many other priorities compete for our time. 

How do we carve time out to focus on our employees? Here's some suggestions on taming the things that tie us up and keep us away from our employees.

• Say no at least three times a day to tasks that don’t add value.

• Avoid your biggest time-wasting task for 30 days.

• Designate certain tasks to certain times of day.

• Prioritize important work over other tasks.