Uncensored - 8 Steps to Responsible Leadership

Cisco has been in the news this month as chief executive, John Chambers, admitted in a memo to employees that Cisco has lost its way (http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/04/05/read-cisco-ceos-mea-culpa-no-excuses/). To show shareholders he’s serious, Cisco shut down the Flip video camera business and promised to undergo an organizational restructuring. Chambers promised “tough decisions in the wake of recent lapses in execution,” as The New York Times reported.

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Cisco says that it will “exit aspects of its consumer business.” The announcement comes just one week after Cisco’s CEO sent out a memo confessing to severe issues with slow decision making and a lack of “discipline” at the company.

One can’t help wonder, what happened? Shareholders may report loses at Cisco and unsound or slow leadership, however I’m wondering if we are looking in the right places. Perhaps in Chambers memo there lies a clue…”Our strategy is sound. It is aspects of our operational execution that are not. We have been slow to make decisions, we have had surprises where we should not, and we have lost the accountability that has been a hallmark of our ability to execute consistently for our customers and our shareholders.”

In 2009 according to the Wall Street Journal, Cisco Systems Inc. posted a 46% drop in quarterly profits. While that news would make most managers faint, Chambers took action and promised to get Cisco back to double-digit growth. His strategy involved moving the company into more businesses. The report states, “He (Chambers) has decided to replace Cisco’s top-down decision making with committees of executives from across the company. Some teams provide strategic advice and evaluate the progress of these projects. In total, Cisco now has 59 internal standing committees.”

At the time Chambers stated, “We are moving to collaboration teams, groups coming together that represent sales, engineering, finance, legal, etc. We now do that with 70 different teams in the company. So we’ll have a sales leader go run engineering. A lawyer go run business development. A business development leader go run our consumer operations. We’re going to train a generalist group of leaders who know how to learn and operate in collaboration teamwork.”

At the time, what seemed slightly nuts to many were innovative to the rest. In 2009 I wrote that this was either the most brilliant plan ever devised or the most insane. Either way Chambers created the platform necessary for responsibility and change. And so he did.

Now Chambers finds himself in a position where his consumer business has not fared well and as he said, “We have disappointed our investors and we have confused our employees.” Was this from poor collective decision making by 59 or more standing teams or more run amuck; or was this Chambers and his senior teams’ leadership that has put the company in such jeopardy?

Only the annals of history will prove whether or not Chambers has either been a wonderful risk taking CEO who has taken responsibility for his actions, or a poor executive who has made a flurry of choices that has put the company in great jeopardy.

What is bothersome about Chambers memo is not once does he apologize for putting the company at risk. He does not say that as the leader of this organization it was actually his responsibility to lead well and strong without shutting down divisions, laying people off and now undergoing a corporate restructuring.

This is emblematic of Nokia CEO’s Stephen Elop’s “Burning Platform” memo, which took severely to task the company’s growth and direction without providing concrete steps on how to get to a destination plus without taking proper accountability.

Let’s go back to leadership basics. One of the cornerstones of leadership is responsibility. Even if you close the company at the end of the day, if you took responsibility for the doors closing then you are indeed a leader.

As renowned author Jim Collins said in his leadership book, “Good To Great,” about stellar leaders, “They look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.”

How do you take responsibility:
1. Say I'm sorry
2. Stay clear of excuses
3. Acknowledge your part
4. Control your reactivity
5. Be accountable - you have chosen your behavior and now you must live with the consequences
6. Learn from your mistakes
7. Take proactive steps to change your behavior
8. Don't beat yourself up - this does nothing to change the situation or bolster your self esteem

I'm extolling a basic leadership virtue – responsibility and advocating for every person who reads this to take it and do so with gusto. Taking responsibility is not pretty, however you will sleep better at night if you do.

Momma Becomes CEO or Can She?

This week the management-consulting firm McKinsey & Company released a report on the barriers to women advancing in corporate America. One of the main reason was inadequate career development. It’s not that organizations are not making some effort, it’s that they are not making enough. According to the Wall Street Journal, for example, “only 11 chief executives of Fortune 500 companies are women, down from a peak of 15 in 2010. “ Well that’s certainly better than in 1995 where there was only one CEO among the ranks of the top Fortune 500 companies.

McKinsey also cited a report by the non-profit research group Catalyst Inc. that stated 37% of lower level and middle managers are female, while only 26% of vice presidents and other senior managers are women at Fortune 500 companies. In other words, women are great in low to middle management, beyond that well…leave it to the guys!

Being a bit partial because I am a woman, it’s curious why women are not advancing faster. "By increasing the number of women who make it from middle management to the vice presidential level, corporations could vastly improve the odds for building diversity in top management," the report added. Even a 25% increase in the ranks of middle-management women reaching the next level "would significantly alter the shape of the pipeline," it said.

Are we not promoting our female counterparts? And if we are, how much, how often and are we really looking for opportunities for women to advance? How many companies truly have programs devoted to the advancement of women. Seems as if women are sometimes lumped into the corporate diversity bank and then pray that promotions will come with hard work.

It’s up to organizations to put a careful spotlight on grooming and growing women. You may ask…why women? Why not men? Women are simply not viewed in the same way as men. When a pregnant belly walks into the room leading the way for the woman carrying the belly, how can a woman possibly be viewed on the same rung as a man? A woman does have children, requires taking leave to actually have the children, takes time off to take children home from school or the doctor, etc and some women don’t even come back to work after giving birth. Women have multiple roles at work and at home, piling on the workload more and more in some instances with little to no help.

Joanna Barsh, a McKinsey senior partner who co-wrote the report said, “companies need to spend more time coaching women and offering more leadership training and rotation through various management roles before their ambitions sour….companies are not systematically watching these women at the middle management level and putting in programs that would help them develop and get over the next [promotion] hurdle."

Barsh further explained that the rarity of such help partly explains why women’s ambitions decline over time and barriers become insurmountable especially for working mothers.

The McKinsey report advocates having strong programs specifically tailored to training, developing and coaching women. The report also suggests that companies work harder to shift the internal culture that limits opportunities for women and instead have the performance of top managers measured on their ability to groom, grow and promote female talent.

This is certainly a critical idea because if people are not incentivized, women will fall by the wayside. The future of our young girls is in jeopardy. For all of the girls who want to work hard to be just like their mothers we are giving them a dim view of their career potential. It’s time for us to foster a culture of inclusion not only for women, for everyone. We’ll see evidence of this when diversity sits at the executive levels and not simply white men in pinstripe suits.

Even Warren Buffett Requires More Questions

How do you balance trusting your people with stepping in and asking more detailed questions? Ask legendary billionaire, Warren Buffett. Buffett has recently come under scrutiny when his former lieutenant, David Sokol at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., resigned.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, it turns out that Sokol was buying shares of a chemical company one week before he suggested that Berkshire Hathaway buy the company, which they later did.

Improper action? Depends who you ask. Sokol said carefully that he didn’t think he did anything wrong and the trades were not a part of his decision to resign. Mr. Buffett echoed Sokol’s sentiments.

Buffett is coming under fire from those who believe he may have been too trusting of Sokol and did not ask enough tough questions when presented the opportunity to purchase Lubrizol Corp and when Sokol divulged that he owned shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway is a company known for high ethics and integrity, and as the Wall Street Journal reported, even Buffett “once told government-securities regulators that company directors should be “Dobermans” in demanding financial disclosure from managers and auditors.”

Buffett selects his people carefully and then let’s them do what they do best. This makes sense, however when does a leader step in and ask more questions and take responsibility for a potential risk to the organization? Checks and balances work in large-scale organizations when the systems and processes hold risks at their minimum. However when the systems are faulty then the risks are greater. Sometimes the system can simply be, “did we ask enough of the right questions to understand all sides?”

Careful and continuous examination and re-examination of your systems, processes and procedures allows you to propel forward rather than be slowed down. Perhaps this incident at Berkshire Hathaway is a wake up call for such a re-examination to take place and signals to all wise leaders that you are as good as your last question.

Merging? Don’t Forget the Peeps

AT&T recently announced it would buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. If the deal goes through, AT&T would become the number one wireless company in the United States. The Wall Street Journal estimated that the combined entity would be about a third larger than the country’s current leader, Verizon Wireless, and would have more than twice the subscribers as Sprint Nextel.

This development has spurred many people into action. As lobbyists, politicos and shareholders are campaigning and debating, the Federal Communications Commission (which has the power to kick the deal to the curb) is wrestling with the issue of how to expand access to mobile broadband services while keeping competition healthy.

AT&T is doing what it can to ensure the merger passes. The company has a history of strong influence in legislative decisions, as the Wall Street Journal recently reported: “Since 1989 AT&T has been the top corporate donor to members of Congress, shelling out more than $46 million in campaign contributions to both Republicans and Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics… Last year, the company spent $15.4 million on lobbying in Washington. It had 93 lobbyists working on its behalf, federal lobbying records show.”

In all of this jockeying to ensure the merger goes through, one core element that is rarely mentioned is the “people impact” – or what effect the merger will have on the employees within these companies. It’s challenging to undergo a transition and oftentimes the people impact is most overlooked. And still, people are resilient. As Jim Collins artfully stated, if you have the “right people on the bus,” they will ride the tidal waves of change with you.

Although this may be true, people don’t just spring back effortlessly from major changes. Many different kinds of people impacts should be considered when an organization goes through change, including: how will roles and responsibilities change, who will be in charge of what, how long will the change last, what is the roll out plan, how soon will employees feel the impact, which jobs will be lost, how will innovation be impacted, etc.

An article in The Journal of Business & Economics Research, entitled “Telecommunications Mega-Mergers: Impact On Employee Morale And Turnover Intention” (by Keisha Chambers, PhD, Capella University, USA and Andrew Honeycutt, DBA, Anaheim University, USA), states: “Only 30-40% of all mergers and acquisitions are successful..., The key element to the success of a merger or acquisition is often overlooked, that key element being, human capital.”

If you chart the annals of AT&T’s past, it becomes clear that the company does not have a shining record of restructurings. While AT&T still needs the FCC’s approval in order to carry out the merger, in order for the company to ensure the merger is successful, it must win the support of its people. On top of that, in order to fully integrate the two companies, AT&T must coordinate vision, mission, business units and strategies while harmonizing leadership and management styles and structures and cultures. If you thought mergers were only about money and gaining a competitive edge, think again.

A merger is a transition. In any transition, whether large or small, there are high-level, key steps that you must take to ensure that your strategic plan foremost considers your human capital:
1. Culture integration – Be mindful that there are two cultures being integrated into one. How far will you maintain or absorb the cultures of one or both companies? Which norms and values will be merged? How can you inspire unity with your new-found entity when one company is absorbed into another?
2. Culture patience - be willing to spend the time to create a new culture that utilizes the best of both companies.
3. Honesty is the best policy – be honest with all employees about the transition. People will be most concerned if they will still have a job.
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate – let employees know what is happening every step of the way and anticipate critical messages ahead of time.
5. Engagement – remember that transitions make it tough for employees to stay engaged. Not knowing what will happen next can create frustration and resentment. When there is a lack of positive morale, good people often leave the company. Consider innovative ways to continue to invigorate employees during these sensitive times.
6. Temporary systems – think about what temporary systems you can create to give employees a foundation that offers comfort when they feel lost and confused.

By creating strategies that consider how transitions impact the workforce, organizations can gain a competitive advantage. When cultures are integrated properly, the new organization may gain critical skills, which determine success in today’s competitive market. With that, good business is guaranteed.

Burning Building of Leadership

This week Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop sent a sobering email to his employees about the state of Nokia’s business. The memo (http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/02/09/full-text-nokia-ceo-stephen-elops-burning-platform-memo/) has been widely published and quoted and is now renowned as the “Burning Platform” memo. In his opening, he shares the story of a man working on an oil platform in the North Sea who woke up to find his platform on fire. With seconds to react to save himself, he jumped 30 meters into freezing waters. Although in ordinary times no one would do such a crazy thing as jump into icy waters, however he was living in an inordinate time where his platform was on fire. Elop stated, “We too are standing on a ‘burning platform’, and must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.”

In reviewing the memo, yes it is a wake up call. Most employees don’t get in their inbox a big ol bell ringing loudly that says “we are on a burning platform, jump or die!” I’m all for honesty to employees. In fact we are in sore need of more of it. Honest dialogue would in itself be a wake up call. However positioning is key. You can say anything to anyone as long as you say it in a way people can hear it. At a time when the ship is sinking, people want reality, however they also want a dose of inspiration – not hype, inspiration. They want vision and leadership – someone who can show them that although we may be down, it’s going to take a lot to turn us around and I am asking for your support to do so.

Only the last few sentences of the memo asks employees to help change the sad state of affairs of Nokia. “The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story. Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same.”

Elop is on the right track – honesty is wonderful and enlightening, however if you are going to pour cold water on the troops, it’s great if you also give them a towel to dry off and inspire them to what’s next. Leadership skills include the frank words you say, and even more importantly, also includes building people’s confidence to provide a motivational environment so they seize hold of the opportunity in front of them and fly.

Bold Leadership - As Easy As Re-Engineering A Company

Risk and bold choices are what distinguishes a stellar leader from just a person in the crowd. The retailer Gap recently decided to shift management with the objective of reviving a renowned brand with lackluster sales. Perhaps an indication that Gap was in sore need of new management was the attempt to revitalize the logo with a "fresh" new look and appeal and then yanked the logo off of the market one week later. Kind of a now you see it and now you don't move.

Also what contributed to the switch in leadership were sobering statistics. According to Business Week, “It’s been six years since Gap North America has posted an annual increase in sales at stores open at least a year, a prime measure of a retailer's health. During December, the height of the holiday selling season, Gap North America same-store sales dropped 8 percent. That's in sharp contrast to the average 3.2 percent gain at all U.S. retailers. Sales at the U.S. unit are down almost a third from where they were in 2004.”

When putting new management in place, Gap took a different approach by putting unlikely candidates into the job. This is either a genius move or an egregious error which would clearly be more severe than pulling a logo.

Gap’s Chief Executive Officer Glenn K. Murphy appointed Art Peck to become the company’s new president. A recent Business Week article revealed how Peck, began his first blog post, “Who am I?...If you Google (GOOG) me, you won't find much…That’s right. I’m not a merchant." Gap hired a business guy. Peck has an MBA from Harvard, spent many years at the Boston Consulting Group and has been at the Gap since 2005 helping craft international strategy.

In addition to Peck’s unorthodox appointment on February 2, Murphy appointed Seth Farbman as a new head of marketing. Farbman was the worldwide managing director at advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. Pam Wallack , another improbable executive candidate and virtually unknown within Gap, was promoted to run the new Global Creative Center. For first time the design, production, and marketing teams for the brand will be under one umbrella. Wallack was the creative director for Gap's kids and adult clothing at its San Francisco headquarters and is moving to New York to take on this post.

Peck says his first priority is "to understand what's keeping us from being more consistent. We have to put clothes in our stores that our customers emotionally connect to. That's … a statement of the profoundly obvious. If we don't do that, nothing else matters."

Yes, his words were obvious and refreshingly honest. Gap does not have time to waste considering the economy, competition and fickle consumer loyalty. Only time will tell how the executive suite shake up will have impact on bottom line sales. However Gap is taking a page from Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios who also chose unorthodox moves to revitalize a slacking studio with a big brand.

When executives make bold moves and take large-scale risks, they demonstrate to employees to do the same. How many of you would line up to work for an organization that fosters attributes such as creativity, innovation and broad thinking? The Gap is accepting applications…

Negotiating Your Yes

Cheryl Richardson, a renowned life coach, inspired the topic for this post. Recently, on her website, Cheryl wrote, "I quickly made a list of ten things to say yes to, ten things to say no to, and then things that contribute to a great life, overall" (http://www.cherylrichardson.com/newsletters/week-41-spontaneous-wisdom-101010-lists-that-make-life-better/). Her top ten list of tips to help you have a great life got me thinking...

It’s human nature to say ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no’ especially when saying ‘no’ would require a tough conversation. Unfortunately, conceding to unfavorable requests can create problems, putting you in a situation that requires you do something that you don’t want to do and, ultimately, is not good for you.

We rarely take time to create a list of our important workplace ‘no’s’ and ‘yes’s’. So, how do we know how to respond to others’ requests? ‘No’s’ should be given to those situations or circumstances that are not supportive for you or smart to do. The critical ‘yes’ should be reserved for situations that help to engender a positive working environment, create more value for your company and clients, bring increased profitability and productivity or simply give you more energy.

My experience in partnering with the best leaders within international media and entertainment organizations has led me to develop my own top twelve list of the best practices of when to say ‘yes’ and when to run for the hills:

Twelve things to say YES to:
1. Giving greater value to your organization
2. Getting to know what’s most important to your colleagues
3. Asking questions for understanding
4. Mentoring others
5. Connecting people
6. Building relationships instead of networks
7. Creating opportunities to learn
8. Knowing your audience before you communicate
9. Building and leveraging your brand
10. Taking breaks in the day
11. Developing your boss
12. Stepping up to opportunities that stretch you

Twelve things to say NO to:
1. Neglecting yourself and your people
2. Running on emergencies (yours and others)
3. Implementing change without a twelve-month communication strategy to generate employee buy in
4. Pushing yourself when you are exhausted
5. Launching into a tough conversation without preparation
6. Delaying swift action with a non-performer
7. Holding a meeting without preparation
8. Blaming and resenting others
9. Creating goals without an understanding of how they fit into the broader organizational actions, plans and priorities
10. Harboring negative thoughts
11. Refusing to ask for feedback
12. Delaying implementing a development plan that betters YOU

Create your own top ten lists and begin putting your words and intentions into action. These steps will give you more power to showcase your leadership and set you up for success!

How to Instantly Influence

One of the key qualities of leadership is the ability to influence others with your words as well as your actions. It’s true that “actions speak louder than words,” however words are what triggers movement and momentum. Words are vital to mobilizing people and instilling confidence in them. How can you ensure your words have more meaning and power?

Below is a three-step formula you can use to become an influential communicator:

1) Know thyself
Do you get up every day, gaze at yourself in the mirror, grin and say, “good morning, fabulous!”? Whether or not you begin your morning with a shout out to your greatness, you should take time each day to refine your image and make an effort to get to know yourself. Learning what makes you tick is what will allow you to deepen your communication with others.

Each of us has particular behaviors and values that drive us. Learning what your behaviors and values are keys to powerful communication. Consider this…

Behavior = How you express your attitude

Values = What drives you

Behaviors + Values = Communicating with impact

Which behavior style do you exhibit? Are you more Assertive or Persuasive or Stable or Analytical? We all possess each of these styles, however we always lead with one. How do you know which one you favor? Think about how you behave when you get stressed. Understanding all the behavior styles and moving effectively between them will allow you to communicate more effectively with other people, by communicating from their perspective.

What are your top two values? Your top two values drive everything you do and must be present to ensure your happiness and productivity. Are you driven by the need for knowledge, return on investment, harmony and balance, power and control, giving back/volunteering/being of service or by a codebook of a systematic way of living?

If you have trouble identifying your behaviors and values, ask your Human Resource team to provide an assessment to help give you greater definition and understanding.

2) Know your value
Everyone can stand out. You already do, you just don’t know it yet. Starting right now, you must begin thinking of yourself as a walking brand. Your value extends beyond your job title, function or description. You are a brand, so you must sell yourself by showcasing your value to others.

If you look at the logos of Starbucks, Gap, Lakers and Hershey’s, their associated images and words will evoke in you a feeling or an emotion. It works the same for you - your brand is your name and image. If I called three of your colleagues and said your name, they would all have a picture in their mind of who you are and what you stand for. You are a walking brand. Most of us are clueless about how our brand appears to others. Why remain in the dark? Turn on the light and take a look at yourself!

3) Know your audience
Who are your internal and external customers? Who are the people you serve? In order to best serve her clients, my dear and trusted peer, Debra Valle, asks them to supply her with a list of information, including: age, education, title, department, location, challenge, life stage/style, hobbies and interests. Salespeople do the same because they are aware that the more you understand about your audience, the more you can tailor your “pitch.” The better you know your audience, the greater power you will have to build relatability and relationship.

Only when you know the people you serve can you begin to truly serve them. Once you know who you are and what your brand is you can serve your audience in a far more meaningful way.

How will you put this three-step formula to work for you this month? Practice, practice, practice. Consider the Los Angeles Lakers. The players practice basketball every week even though they already know how to play basketball. Why should professionals practice weekly? To improve their game and increase the chances of making winning plays when the pressure and stakes are high. Practice makes you more proficient. How can you practice being a proficient communicator?

Innovation from the Experts

I love INC Magazine. The articles they feature are right on target and thought provoking. Most of all, you actually want to read the articles and not just scan briefly through them. John Warrillow, an angel investor in a number of start-up companies wrote an article recently about getting inspiration from great innovators of our time.

If you are stuck and seeking to find answers just ask yourself...what would Richard Branson do? What would Steve Jobs do? The theory is by putting yourself in the mindset of renowned innovators, you will begin thinking like one. A small Finnish company called Pomarfin put themselves in the space of wild innovation. They were manufacturing shoes in Estonia to lower costs, however they were competing with companies in Asia who would manufacture the shoes at a much lower cost. What's a family owned business to do? Expand their innovation quotient.

Clearly Pomarfin could do what many companies have done in recent years, manufacture overseas for much less cost or look for another way to keep their production in Europe. Pomarfin's decision speaks to the essence of a risk taking innovator - they decided to niche aggressively by selling a new product with a new target...made-to-measure shoes for high net worth men who hate shopping.

This new brand entitled "LeftFoot" was a clever idea from Pomarfin. They thought they would install a foot scanner in all retail stores that sold its shoes. Easy...a well to do man comes knocking, the retail clerk scans the man's left foot with a LeftFoot machine, the image uploads to a server in Pomarfin's manufacturing plant that would create and ship these unique pair of shoes customized to the man's feet. When he wanted to order another, all he would do is go online. Easy! Not so much...

Pomarfin needed retailers who would want to install a scanner in their stores and scan customer's feet. May not be the most pleasant experience for a retail clerk, however the idea is worse for the retailer who would lose the customer to an online store.

LeftFoot started building their own retail stores and still needed traditional retailers to fully cover the market. As my dear mentor always tells me...you know you will be successful because others before have done it and can light the way. LeftFoot only had to look no further than to the music and publishing business for a model. They would pay a royalty for life fee for every new pair of LeftFoot shoes a customer purchased when referred by the retailer.

Can you imagine if all you had to do was take one action and then you would get paid for life with no effort? That's how the retailer's looked at the offer. The retailer referred the customer, got payments for life and didn't even need to stock inventory or pay for more support staff. Retailers signed on without hesitation. Now LeftFoot has retailers set up throughout most of Europe and Asia.

Very innovative, yes? They key to LeftFoot's success was their willingness to be highly innovative and to think differently about their delivery and customers.

Thinking differently is an easy phrase to say and more challenging to do. And still...is it better to sit idle, or to model those who have come before us - the great innovators - who look at a challenge as simply another opportunity. Where can you think differently? Where is your opportunity to pioneer, to innovate and to become the next Bill Gates of our time?

A Life Preserver When Work Piles Up

While at a charity dinner last week, I heard several executives discussing how one of the greatest opportunities they face today is managing getting things done. As work piles up, expectations grow despite the decline in available resources. It’s a tough situation with no clear solution. One executive illustrated the dilemma well, telling how when he went to his boss to get help, his boss simply replied, “Get it done.”

Hmmm…. Is this kind of response helpful? Not really. Although we accept the reality of budget cuts, we don’t adjust our expectations accordingly. Instead, demands continue to soar and expectations to meet and exceed organizational goals continue to exist. Bottom line, what do you do in such a situation?

The book “Execution: The Art of Getting Things Done” by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan helps to provide some insight. Although not a new book, the text is still highly relevant and something that should be required reading for every leader who wants to get things done.

The authors explain how to “get it done” by describing execution as a “systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, questioning, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability. It includes making assumptions about the business environment, assessing the organization’s capabilities, linking strategy to operations and the people who are going to implement the strategy, synchronizing those people and their various disciplines, and linking rewards to outcomes.”

I define execution as “getting things done, systematically and with swift action with people.” The key words here are swift and with people. Getting things done is not simply about speed; it’s first and foremost about leveraging your people and including them in the process thoughtfully. After all, they are the ones who will need to execute your plan. Ultimately, execution is about a new way of thinking and acting, which can be accomplished by the following:

1. Connect what is most meaningful to organizational priorities – not everything is important. You must figure out what is and what isn’t. Avoid the tendency to make every new thing the emergency of the day and leave the really important things to the last minute. Plan it, prioritize it and then act on it.

2. Toss out the lingo – jargon gets in the way of getting things done. Every organization has its own unique style of language, and not everyone speaks this unique slang. For example, I had a client who didn’t understand what the words “big picture” meant because everyone around him used the phrase differently. You’ll save time by making sure you define everything clearly and universally from the start.

3. Right people in the right jobs rely on your right words and right actions – it’s not enough to have the right people doing the right jobs. It is your responsibility to align what you say with what you do. It’s challenging to believe someone who does not align their words with their actions.

4. Responsibility first, blame last – take responsibility for everything -- period. Doing so will make you a better leader and, more importantly, a better human being.

5. Advocate, pursue and mobilize change – change can be a dreaded term because people don’t like when the boat is rocked. Go ahead and shake it! The more dynamic the workspace, the more the organization can grow. Stagnancy only hinders the growth and output of people and the organization.

6. Impeccable coordination – as Fred Kofman notes in his book “Conscious Business”, coordinating well and with those inside and outside the company will define you as a leader. The better you coordinate, the stronger your rise to the top in your career will be and the more sound your organization’s output will be.

7. Act quickly with those who don’t perform – not everyone is competent enough to be in their current positions. Although it’s good to offer people opportunities and coaching, if someone is not performing, you must move them out and do so quickly. If you don’t move fast, you only hurt you, your employee and the organization. And if you are afraid to hurt your employee, remember a job someone can thrive in is better than one to just survive in.

8. Link strategy, people and operations – as Charan and Bossidy state eloquently in their book, you cannot have a thriving organization without these three things being critically tied together. Each one functions with the others. Focus on all three with equal measure.

A final thought -- you probably put a lot of time and energy into developing your strategy and operations, and that doesn’t mean that you are putting the same effort into developing your people. Your people are your greatest asset. Unless you leverage, nurture and care for them deeply, with responsibility and accountability, you may lose your strongest competitive leverage point.

Don’t Be Passed Over and Pissed Off: Learn to Lead

Recently diversity was celebrated as part of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's events and conferences for 2010, including the annual meetings for such cable diversity groups as Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and the Walter Kaitz Foundation . What’s most interesting about all of these gathering was the one theme that stood out - “leadership.”

The question of concern, which is applicable to all industries today, was: how will you develop and hone your leadership to guide your people through this ever-changing business landscape? Spanning such diverse topics as mentoring, developing leadership and the bottom line, being strategic, producing multi-ethnic content and programming, developing multi-ethnic high potentials and more, diversity really boils down to one thing – people. In the words of Eric Hawkins of Discovery Networks International, “Who makes organizations run? People. Who ensures a culture is innovative? People. Who continues to keep us competitive? People.”

Well said by Eric. After all, even if you are talking about programming, marketing, digital, or any field of business, it’s all about leadership. Leaders are the ones that spearhead organizations, make decisions that affect what goes on cable/television and the Internet, and create an environment for employees to be creative, to innovate and to feel valued and motivated to do their best.

During the WICT conference, I was on a panel entitled, “Leadership and the Bottom Line”, and all of my fellow panelists – Nomi Bergman, President of Bright House Networks; Margaret Lazo, Executive Vice President in Human Resources at NBC Universal Television; Jill Smart, Chief Human Resource Officer at Accenture – all encouraged the participants to grow, nurture and cultivate leadership skills in order to become the most relevant and essential element of their organization.

Easy to say, and not so easy to do. However investing in yourself and your leadership ensures that you avoid what Jacqueline Welch of Turner Broadcasting, Inc. called, “POPO – ‘passed over and pissed off.’”

To avoid being POPO, here is a top ten list of some of the most useful and relevant tips for advancing your leadership:

1. Go international - Take a short-term or long-term international assignment to understand the international marketplace. After all, if your organization makes money globally and your employee pool is global, wouldn’t it help if you had global experience and understood this landscape well?

2. Seek and enlist a champion – Ask someone inside the organization to be your “champion.” This person can advocate on your behalf, give you advice and promote you consistently. Whoever you ask needs to be trained to understand what opportunities you are seeking (aka, what is your “sweet spot”) and what to say about you. A champion may be someone who emerges from working jointly on projects or who takes notice of the good work you are doing or simply someone you ask for help. In any case, get one!

3. Business strategy – Understand the business you are in and the company you have joined. Be sure to listen and participate on earnings calls, join affinity groups and become a well-rounded student of your organization and business.

4. Applied formal and informal learning - Being a life long learner is critical to advancement. This enables you to have an open mind and learn different disciplines and points of view. Naturally, learning makes you smarter, and applied learning will effectively make you stand out.

5. Professional presence – At Diversity Week, Dr. Tonya Cornelius from ESPN emphasized the need for leaders to know and leverage their brand. Know what people “see” in you when you walk in a room and how others think of you. Hone, develop and manage your brand.

6. Scrappy wins - Become a “scrappy” leader. Be resourceful and do what you need to do to get the job done, e.g. devise innovative ideas, enlist departments, which never worked together before, hire people with non-traditional experience.

7. Stand out – Win people over with your ideas, performance, goals and mission. Allow people to see all parts of who you are.

8. Measure your success – Learning how to use and devise metrics will set you apart from the rest. Consider how it sounds to say, “the campaign was a success” versus “78% of our clients voted this campaign as being the key driver of their business, increasing revenue by over 50%.” Which one impresses more?

9. Pay it forward – Mentor, look for places to champion others, give constantly with a clear consciousness wanting and asking for nothing in return.

10. Know who you are – Great leaders are self-aware, drive with authenticity, know when to ask for help and are always true to themselves.

Pick one of the top ten and go for it full force. Take your leadership and your career into your own hands, because if you don’t, no one else will.

Secrets to Managing UP

Managing up is critical to thriving inside of organizations. Although not spoken about regularly, if you don’t manage up well you simply will not rise through the ranks. Managing up is an art, a science and a skill.

It’s important for all managers and leaders to be managed. One of the hidden agreements an organization provides you is this…you’ll be managed and led AND you have the responsibility to also lead and manage those who report to you as well as those above you. Just as your boss invests in you, so too must you invest in your boss’ success.

Investing in your boss means, as the book “Managing UP!" by Michael Singer Dobson, Deborah Singer Dobson states, “being listened to and having your ideas respected. Getting your decisions in a timely fashion. Having the kind of influence that helps get your job and your mission accomplish…. it also means helping compensate for your boss’s weak points. Everyone has them.”

Tis true…we all do have faults and sometimes expecting your boss to be all things to everyone is as big of a mistake as expecting the same of our spouse.

Consider some of the most common mistakes that effects managing up and how you can remedy them:

1) When my boss doesn’t agree with me, I know this causes a rift between us.
Truth: You don’t have to like or agree with your boss in every situation. You are both on a team and are paid for the execution of the goals of the organization. You may have similar and opposing views in how to accomplish these goals, and that does not mean your career is in jeopardy. This just means you are two different people.
Word from the coach: When you have a differing opinion, you may not have all the information your boss does to make decisions. That’s fine. It’s time to read between the lines, ask deeper questions and come to an understanding of what is needed.

2) I know my boss and consider him/her a friend. Therefore, I know what kind of support my boss needs.
Truth: Most people don’t know how to manage up and can only make assumptions about their bosses’ needs. Eradicate speculation and start communicating.
Word from the coach: Ask your boss how he/she wants you to communicate with him/her. What materials does he/she need to see from you? Schedule meaningful one-on-ones with clear agendas and expectations. Ensure your meetings handle core issues clearly and honestly. Meeting just to meet is never beneficial for anyone. Make sure you create agreements that outline how you will communicate in times of bliss and crisis (know that the crisis times are the ones that will test your relationship).

3) Not keeping your boss in the loop.
Truth: We think we are good at keeping our bosses updated but our bosses probably need to know way more information than we think they do. “Sheltering” them only keeps them in the dark – now it’s time to turn on the lights.
Word from the coach: A former boss of mine, Ellen Cooper (a communications expert), once told me, “‘Closing the loop’ is one of the most important assets of any great communicator.” Ask yourself, is there a piece of information I have that my boss needs? Anticipate your boss’s needs by always offering updates, even if you believe the information is trivial. Nothing is trivial and should something ever become unimportant, you can count on your boss to tell you (you can make this an agreement between you both).

4) Being reluctant to ask for feedback
Truth: Hardly anyone likes to hear brutally honest - hit you over the head - feedback. Although we often say we want to grow, it’s tough to hear the real truth. Unless we ask for it and are willing to listen to honest feedback, we won’t know where we have room to grow and develop ourselves. Keep in mind, it’s not always easy for our bosses to give us feedback and they have to take feedback from their own bosses, too.
Word from the coach: Ask and ye shall receive. Lose the fear. Growth requires some degree of discomfort. Showing a willingness to become uncomfortable, hear the truth and act swiftly on it will be what differentiates the good from the great.

5) Bringing problems and no solutions
Truth: Problems or “issues” brought to your boss without solutions simply look like complaints. It’s never good to be perceived as a complainer.
Word from the coach: Whenever there’s a problem, try to consider at least three alternative solutions. If you get stuck, ask for help from your peers. If you still find yourself completely void of ideas, be transparent. State upfront to your boss that there’s an issue that requires his/her attention and that you have done your best to consider all possible solutions but haven’t found the best answer. Lay out the issue and brainstorm together.

6) Not managing your boss’s perceptions
Truth: All bosses have inherent perceptions about how work should be done. Some of these perceptions may be from their own past work experience and even performance reviews. Examples include things such as: getting your work done quickly shows you can work well under stress; coming in early and staying late shows commitment; coming in on the weekend to finish a project demonstrates diligence.
Word from the coach: Most of these perceptions are not spoken but rather implied. Managing these perceptions is critical to your success, so get them out in the open, talk about them and negotiate them. Supervisors would rather you get a project done well rather than finish it in two minutes. Sharing with your boss the process and progress of your work product helps to eradicate unspoken of perceptions.

7) Avoiding conflict
Truth: Experiencing conflict is not a sin. Conflict brings growth, fosters development and airs misperceptions. Yet, I found in a group session that I facilitated with advertising executives, most saw conflict as negative and something that should be avoided as much as possible. There’s a difference between confrontation and conflict. Confrontation involves hostility, whereas conflict merely arises from a difference of opinions.
Word from the coach: Before you say something that may be in opposition to what your boss thinks, set your intention. If your intention is to provide maximum value to the organization at all times, then the words you speak will echo this sentiment. If your intention is to “set your boss straight”, then be prepared for a harsh exchange of words. It’s up to you to determine the starting point…

Managing up is one of the greatest skills a manager or leader can possess. Dedicate yourself to excelling at this skill and your reputation and value to the company will be recognized -- guaranteed. Until next month!

Keeping Your Clothes On Ain't Easy

It's easy to lose your cool as a leader with so much going on, so much to juggle, so many people to be responsible for, so much information to keep present...it can be challenging to keep your composure, to know what to do next and to operate with the team in mind. Don't you just want to give yourself permission sometimes to go screaming out of the building?

Do we talk that much about losing your cool and the daily grind leading can be? Not so much because no one wants to hear it and it's not the most uplifting conversation. Betty Davis in "All About Eve" said the famous line, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night," and such is true about leading. Every day leaders are running faster than the speed of light and we wonder why motivation is one of the most critical elements for reinvigorating teams when we may need some reinvigoration ourselves.

Here's what you do when you just want to lose your cool, run out of the building or shout from the rooftops:

-It's never too late - if you read trade magazines, they are full of stories of people who have made come backs from the lowest of places. America is full of icons that continue to come back when they are beaten down the most. Have a vision and follow it and know if all seems to be going awry, turn to your mentors, to those who believe in you, they will help you to see what you are blocked from in this moment.

-Be in a place of exploration - investigate what's really happening. Sometimes our vision is clouded by our own need to fix things without the help of others.

-Don't quit on your dream - it's taken a long time to realize what you want to achieve in this life. You are experiencing a bump in the road and treat it as such, not as the end of what you desire profoundly.

-Take a stand for you - getting upset is not pretty. Oftentimes you can beat yourself up, compromise valued dialogue and make those around you wrong. Take a stand for helping yourself to know the truth of the situation you are in. Beating yourself up only does one thing...prolong the guilt.

-Do an inventory - just as you would with a warehouse full of product, take an inventory of the current situation, your strengths, the strengths of those on your team and evaluate if what you are experiencing is really the end of the world or a call to shift how you do what you do.

We may not be able to change the situation we are in, however we can shift our perception and management of ourselves and those around us. Stepping up to be a leader means you've signed up for continuous self-examination and careful mindfulness of those around you. Let's celebrate all you have done rather than go screaming from the building. There's always some measure of good in what's going on, we are required as leaders to help lift the fog to find the truth, move out of anger/frustration/resentment and take decisive action with compassion.

Make It Or Break It Leadership

One of the most common issues leaders are tackling with today is motivation - how do you maintain it or increase it. As a boss, it’s not easy to know when to push someone vs. when the employee is supposed to take the lead.

Robert Sutton, author of the New York Times bestseller The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't sites in his latest blog a research study conducted at Columbia University by Daniel Ames and Frank Flynn which “suggests striking the right balance between being too assertive and not assertive enough is immensely important to being (and being perceived as) a great boss.”

Ames and Flynn thought initially in their research that bosses who are too assertive are just too domineering and bossy and this ruins relationships with others. Yet leaders who are not assertive enough don’t achieve much of anything with their teams that they can beam with pride.

In their research they asked 213 MBA students to evaluate their more recent bosses. There was high overlap between those bosses their rated as moderately assertive and those most effective overall. The MBA’s rated those moderately assertive bosses as most likely to succeed in the future and those they would be happy to work with again.

Those bosses found not to be effective are ones that were either too assertive or not assertive enough and was cited as a cornerstone of those weak leaders more than deficits.

Ames and Flynn further state that being a successful boss requires modulating between pushing people strongly at key times and taking a step back at other times. “Being flexible and socially sensitive — knowing when it's the right time for either approach — enables bosses to be seen as motivating and engaged, but not as bullying or micro-managing,” Sutton says.

There’s a reason why being a boss is a critical role. A boss is a mentor, coach, manager and potentially leader. However not all bosses are true leaders. It takes a strong degree of emotional intelligence to carefully, strategically and compassionately motivate your team. Being a bull in a ring or hanging out in the background may move your team somewhere however over the long haul the results you desire will be non-existent.

How do you build yourself to be a better boss?
Perfect your skills in managing, coaching and leading with a keen eye to examining your own strengths. Get feedback from those who will be honest and those you respect. And get a mentor, this is one of the greatest tools you can have to shoring up your leadership. Be a lifetime learner and never live in the past. Look forward, be focused, be a realist and have profound compassion for those around you. Be “people centric” and devoted to your team’s growth. Get feedback on how you are doing and consistently improve. And after you begin to make habits out of your new found best practices, do them again and again and again. There’s a reason why on the back of those shampoo bottles they say “rinse and repeat.”

Leadership and the Bottom Line

Does coaching, managing and leading contribute to the bottom line? Yes! I'm in the midst of writing a leadership book on this subject with the commitment to prove that when coaching, managing and leading is done well, this leads to increased productivity and profitability.

Of course as coincidence would have it, in the midst of writing, a wonderful resource came knocking at my door. Tim Lohrentz of the National Network of Sector Partners summarized decades of academic research, which confirms that employee development can improve employer bottom-line profitability by increasing revenues and lowering expenses in the following six ways:

1. Increased cooperation and ability to take advantage of innovation, which can be measured by:
a. Better team performance
b. Improved capacity to cope with change in the workplace
2. Increased rate of employee retention

3. Lower rate of employee absenteeism

4. Increased quality of work or service, which can be measured by:
a. Decline in waste
b. Decline in product rejection or mistakes on the job
c. Increase in customer satisfaction or retention
d. Better health and safety

5. Increased productivity, which can be measured by:
a. Less time spent accomplishing projects
b. Increased output of products or services
c. Time savings for managers and supervisors
d. Improved capacity to use new technology

6. Increased sales

I was not completely surprised to read sales at the bottom of the list. As one trusted colleague explained...Disney does not reprimand a Castmember when the person missteps and is about to go out and be with customers. Why? Because employee satisfaction means customer satisfaction. When an employee is happy, they will treat your customers better. When the relationship is harmonious between an employee and their supervisor, this too impacts how a customer is treated.

Perhaps today instead of looking so hard to improve customer satisfaction, maybe we have to look in our own backyards first. Happy employees will change revenue, innovation and productivity. So let's keep the eye on the ball - it's the employees first. When done right the money will follow.

Art of Delegating

One of the chief responsibilities and core skill of any leader is delegation. Simple, yes? Oh no. Many executives today don’t know where to begin. However if you can learn to use delegation correctly, it can reduce stress, empower your direct reports and develop your high potentials. Conversely, the lack of delegation skills can lead to the downfall of any leader, regardless of how powerful.

One of my clients was commenting in a recent executive coaching session that his Vice President, Bob, who has no idea how to delegate, is derailing in his position because of this key weakness. Bob is great in every other area other than delegation. As a result, Bob has not grown his direct reports. His current level of delegating usually involves phrases such as, “Sarah, put out this fire. I’ve got to run to this emergency meeting. Thanks!” Or the flipside, “It’s easier if I just do it myself. In the time it takes to explain everything, it would already have been done.”

As your responsibilities, department and organization grows, you must rely on others to produce and take initiative. You absolutely cannot do it all alone. No way, and why would you want to? We’d all like to believe we’re Superman (or Superwoman); unfortunately, that is not the case. In pretending to be Superman, we leave very skilled teammates in the dust. If you delegate properly, you free yourself to do higher level work (where your energy should be spent); you shift accountability where it should be, on all members of the team (including yourself); and you build a more resilient group who can respond quicker and faster. If you don’t help put others in the driver seat, they too will pick up poor delegation skills and the cycle will continue endlessly.

Consultant Karen Lawson states on the topic, “You’re not simply assigning work to employees that falls within their job duties and responsibilities. To delegate, you must give someone the responsibility and authority to do something that's normally part of your job.“ The key is handing someone a task, for which you are also responsible, that stretches his or her abilities.

Here’s how to do it:
1) Brainstorm
On a blank sheet of paper, draw one line down the page. On the left hand side title it “to do” and the right hand side title it “to delegate.” Make a list of all the tasks you have to get done this week. These must be assignments and tasks for which you have responsibility and ownership. Jot every single one of them no matter how mundane.

2)Review your task list and consider:
o What is administrative?
o What questions can someone else on my staff answer?
o What task can I give to someone else that would assist in their growth and development?
o What are typical tasks my team is asked to do when I’m out of the office?
o What tasks can I give to someone would require minimal explanation?

3)Put names of your staff members next to each task. When assigning, be mindful of individuals strengths, weaknesses and skills you want to specifically looking to build.

4)Prepare to communicate:
o Reason for delegating to this specific person
o Explain task to be delegated
o Ensure the person has the time and desire to take this on
o Expectations for the task and follow-up procedures
o Timeline/deadline for work to be completed

5)Follow-up:
o Schedule time to discuss their approach
o Be sure to be available for any and all questions
o You might consider assigning a different manager to oversee this task – it’s another way to expand an employee’s leadership abilities.

6)Coach and mentor – if the person is struggling in completing the task, use this opportunity as an ideal time to coach and mentor strengths and weaknesses

7)Reward and praise – as employees complete tasks, reward and praise them for a job well done.

Stretch yourself this month to delegate as much as possible. View delegation as a core skill to grow and develop your employees. And don’t forget yourself too!

Keep Your Nose Clean

Industry organizations are a great way to learn something new and receive terrific mentoring. Being a leadership advocate and a woman, I love organizations that foster leadership skills and do so for women. As someone who specializes in the media and entertainment industry, I have a deep personal admiration and respect for Women and Cable & Telecommunications (WICT). WICT is a national industry organization which was formed in 1979 and currently has over 7,000 members. It is actually the oldest and largest organization serving women professionals in the cable telecommunications industry. Their mission is to “advance the position and influence of women through proven leadership programs and services at both the national and local level.” Their “Touchstones of Leadership” guide all of their programs and initiatives and they include: know yourself, communicate, listen, connect, be a catalyst, be fearless and inspire.

WICT has made a strong impact through their twenty local chapters including the Southern California Chapter (SOCAL WICT). SOCAL WICT has been providing programs to bolster the leadership of women by such programs as their signature mentoring program, which pairs executive level women with aspiring leaders to foster their growth and development.

A key event and kick off for the mentoring program is their Mentoring Tea, which features several industry experts who rotate between tables of participants offering insights and advice to participants. I was fortunate to be one of those participants sipping tea at the Beverly Hills Hotel (I know, not a bad gig), eating scones with cream and learning about leadership in the media and entertainment industry.

The keynote speaker was Danielle Wade, VP Customer Care and Marketing at Bright House Networks. She was poised, elegant, eloquent, relatable and best yet...funny. I have met Danielle several times and what I admire most about her is her honesty and directness mixed with grace and humor.

Danielle shared several invaluable points about being a leader and succeeding. They are so great they are noted below. I hope you will enjoy these tips and put them into action:

1) Understand what you need to do to relate and be relatable

2) Find out who are the players - who has managed the "waters well"; what are their secrets

3) Have a personal Board of Directors - have varied members who deliver honest and forthright advice and feedback

4) Avoid the appearance of impropriety - keep your nose clean!

5) Represent yourself honestly

6) Test your limits - try it all before you assume you can't do it

7) Pick the things most important to you and just be them

8) Be authentic

9) Be resilient

10) Be daring

11) Be ready - you never know who is watching you at any given time

12) Pick something new to learn every year

13) Write down a roadmap of where you want to go - plan A, B and C

14)Write down three key goals you want to achieve by the end of 2010


One item Danielle didn't mention that I'll add in...be a mentor. Share your learning. Remember, great leaders pass on the learning and you too can be standing in front of a crowded room enjoying tea and scones and sharing your invaluable lessons.

Tight? Tense? Stressed? Simple Solutions for Having Tough Conversations

Talk is cheap. It costs nothing to speak, but the impact of words is often lasting and far reaching. If your words don’t match your actions, then they could have even greater ripple effects. When we search for answers to organizational issues, explanations as to why things happen and what our fate will be, we hang onto words as if they are the last slice of bread we will ever eat.

You must have heard:
• “Our people come first!”
• “We are seeking to meet the challenges of the marketplace”
• “We are in a competitive landscape”

Blah, blah, blah. That’s what this kind of talk sounds like to everyone. These clichés often waste key opportunities for meaningful communication. If you don’t seize these pivotal moments to have tough conversations, be honest, transparent and stop spinning and positioning, then your words will indeed have impact – but probably not the impact you intended.

Clients tell me when they hear words that sound like double talk they know that the speaker is either hiding something or what they are saying is untrue. Even worse is when it’s apparent that someone wants to avoid having a tough conversation and all his or her actions and body language speak exactly the opposite of what he or she is attempting to convey.

Before you speak in front of thousands, you need to learn the skills for having tough conversations one on one. If you can’t communicate to one then there’s no way you’ll be able to reinforce the message delivered to thousands. Luckily, most of us don’t manage thousands, we manage a few folks or even none. So how do you have those tough conversations?

Before you start the process of having a difficult conversation, you must evaluate:
1. Is it worth saying anything at all?
2. Is there another way to resolve this?
3. Are there other people that need to be involved?
4. Am I trying to change someone else or do I really need to shift something in myself?

For tough conversations, I have developed a step-by-step formula called the Tough Conversations B.D.A. (Before, During and After) Process. Most of my formulas are pretty simple, however the execution of them can take a lot of time, dedication and diligence. This blog will cover the “Before” process. Subsequent blogs will review the “During” and “After” processes. Here we go…

Before:
Take time to prepare for the difficult conversation. It enables you to see both sides of the issue, take full responsibility and move you to feeling empowered and secure before you have the actual conversation. Avoid the impulse to blurt out words, which can end up hurting everyone.

1. Know whom you are speaking to before you do – analyze their behaviors and values and create a plan of how to speak from their position and not yours. Golden rule: speak from your shoes, results not so great; from the other person’s shoes, stellar results

2. Feelings aren’t facts, so separate them – most of us lead with our feelings instead of examining the actual course of events. Do not ignore how you feel, however be careful to look at what’s true and what’s not. For example, maybe George said something that hurt your feelings but had no impact on the company, the department or anyone else

3. Envision the end result – envision your relationship in the future, complete with understanding, listening and learning

4. Evaluate contribution – if you must engage in a tough conversation with someone then realize that you too have helped create this difficult situation. Looking at your part allows space for both of you to take responsibility. One way to do this is:
o Consider the situation and feel the other person’s pain completely
o Think of how it could have had a better and more productive outcome
o Make a commitment for how and what you will take responsibility for

5. Journal – a great way to understand how you are feeling about the conversation and to get real about what you need

6. Stop and ask yourself the following questions:
o Feeling - What am I Feeling?
o Truth - What is the Truth?
o Learning - What am I meant to Learn?
o Responsibility – What Responsibility can I take?
o Action – What proactive Action can I take?

Tough conversations are “tough” for one reason – they challenge people. Your mastery of them will only help you to be a better leader – one who is much more effective at getting things done and building relationships. After all, isn’t this what it’s all about? People-centric leadership!

Working Change Free

According to The Conference Board CEO Challenge Survey, one of the chief challenges of CEO's is "stimulating innovation/creativity/enabling entrepreneurship." It’s a funny thing about inspiring such attributes…unless you currently measure your people by innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, your organization is going to need to undergo a major shift of thinking, processes and procedures in order to make this happen.

Let’s face it many organizations are exploring alternative strategies to enable them to operate more efficiently and to motivate their staff to become more creative, innovative and entrepreneurial. A strong leader knows you must change your game in order to get ahead. You can't live and work change free, even though most of us would like to be on the isle of denial for many years.

When times are as tough, getting things done becomes a top priority and asking people to think and be different is key. Here are clear pitfalls to avoid…

1) Waiting to change – If you are considering new paradigms to getting things done, you should implement those disruptive changes now. Organizations thrive through a process of pursuing and demanding change. The more uncomfortable the process the better. No great strides have ever been made by remaining idle. Create an environment where people of all ranks are given permission to engage in hearty and transparent dialogue; examine organizational and individual beliefs; inflame innovation; conceive a new future; negotiate and revise cultural norms; rekindle motivation; and ignite responsibility for team action. What you get: an organization focused on culture and people.

2) Blaming others – When times are tough, it’s essential to pioneer unconditional responsibility. Claim your role in every action with humility and ensure others do the same. Align your words with your actions and make it clear what accountability measures you will take if your words and actions run out of alignment. The strength and character of your leadership and your definition of teamwork is tested by the degree of responsibility you take. You are solely responsible at the end of the day for everything you do. Innovation comes out of responsibility. What you get: leaders.

3) No talking or talking without significance - Talk is cheap, meaningful words are priceless. Create venues for unconditional honesty; demand dialogue; use language that demonstrates transparency; ask provocative questions that probe and evoke curiosity; and share information with velocity. Settle for nothing less. What you get: merciless merging of strategic plan with market/economy, also competitive analysis, proficient people and dramatic results.

4) Flaky actions, plans and priorities - Connect all meaningful actions with strategic plans and larger organizational priorities. Make everything clear. Ensure that there’s a common approach and common language. The strength and clarity of the link will determine who, how and when it all gets done. Re-examine with vigor. What you get: harmonized people, priorities and results.

5) Keeping people in their seats – It does no one any good to let poor performers languish. Create “score cards” for each employee. Provide hands on mentoring, coaching and training within a timeframe. If your employees don’t improve quickly, either move them out of the company or out of the department. What you get: performers in each role and a rigorous examination of progress.

In such dynamic times, it’s easy to go with the flow, but in reality, careful examination and investment is critical to your progress. Request that employees show up and allow their voices to be heard powerfully. This places ownership on your people and enables them to shape their future.

Align Foot Soldiers With Visionaries

No two people are alike. Even if you compare one person’s fingerprint with another they will be different, one person’s personality to another, it would be different, one person’s specific likes and dislikes, it would be different. Organizations are similar. They are comprised of people who have different traits, characteristics and strengths. The success of the organization is contingent upon the mix of people – the confluence of strengths and values mixed with those who are great “doers” and those who are great visionaries.

Every army needs a mix of both, the foot soldiers who physically engage in battle day to day and the generals who can oversee them. If you have an army with only soldiers there will be bedlam with no strategic direction and oversight. Who would oversee the overall battle and determine which moves need to be made in order for there to be a build up for victory?

A general without soldiers is a battle that is non-existent. Generals may be the chief strategists and even be the cause for fighting, however there will be nothing gained without soldiers who can execute these plans. Just imagine a general shouting, “Run up the hill!” to no one actually in the field to do the running.

Just because you have a mix of foot soldiers and visionaries, does not guarantee organizational success. Joe may be a great strategist, however he can be horrible at aligning teams. Sarah, may be wonderful at inputting financial data, however she cannot follow direction. The mix of the “right” people in the right jobs with clear expectations and accountability ensures success.

Here are some tips:
1) Appreciate everyone on your team.
A simple “thank you” or “great job” doesn’t get you far. “Thank you’s” are cheap and easy to say. If you have a powerful desire to manage your team and create a motivational environment, you’ll need a lot more than a “thank you”. Have your comments mean something. When formulating how you will verbalize your appreciation, consider utilizing the following formula:

• Details - what action was done, how they went above and beyond, how they united groups, etc.
• Jot it - write down and keep it as a record.
• Intention – what is your intention by communicating this praise?
• Environment – where do you want to give the praise? What is the proper environment? E.g. at an all-hands meeting, one-on-one weekly check-in.
• Say it - communicate your praise with enthusiasm and an eye towards developing the person.

2) Examine
You may have a great visionary who is not so great at the details. You may have someone who is great at handling the day to day and not a great visionary. You need a combination of both to succeed. Make sure you are examining each person’s strengths and ensure the role they are in sets them up for the greatest success.

3) Develop talents
Develop individual and group talents accordingly. It’s not enough to simply know someone is strong in their job; it’s critical to spend time in developing the person’s talents. The more an employee feels you devote consideration and attention to them and are dedicated to their development, the greater chances for them to succeed.

4) Constantly recruit
You never know when you will need to hire. You just don’t want to hire anyone you want the person who will be the perfect fit. Finding foot soldiers or visionaries takes time, effort and energy. Why wait until you need to fill a position to recruit and then sift through hundreds of resumes? Recruit now. Scope out the best of the best. Take them out for coffee or a meal. The least that will happen is you’ll meet a good person that you can network with in the future.

When you align foot soldiers and visionaries you get the right people in the right jobs performing at a high level. The success of your organization will soar and your people will be sought after and recognized both inside and outside of your organization.