Orchestrating Success

Effective leaders are not always right. They ensure that leaders on their teams are. Leading is empowering others. - Hugh Ballou

As leaders, we follow what we have been taught by habit, and mostly out of ignorance of what else to do. We respect those who have impacted our lives, unintentionally feeling obligated to do so. In my case, it's a part of that inherited behavior of desiring to please others, whether it's the right decision for me or not.

Being transparent means being vulnerable in many instances. If we are insecure about anything, then being transparent and vulnerable is a challenge.

There is a sense of false security in being autocratic, in that we control the flow of information, make the decisions, manage how things happen, and lead by the influence of power and, not, personal influence.

It's far more difficult to lead collaboratively than authoritatively. So, why change?

Being transparent fosters energy in any group and allows others to own the outcomes and to establish peer-to-peer accountability. Transparency is, in fact, a primary leadership skill.

Transparency is a valuable leadership skill:

1. To build trust: This is aligned with the Transformational Leadership trait of authenticity. Being authentic includes being transparent, if you adopt this style of leadership. Team members can trust a leader who doesn't pretend to be something that he or she isn't. This trust allows for relationships to grow organically, like ensemble happens with intentionality in musical groups. The leader must guide and nurture that process, but not control it. The musical conductor guides the process and allows space for others to function up.

2. To focus on relationships: Insecure and autocratic leaders are focused on themselves and not on others. When leaders pay attention to team members and constantly work on relationship, it's apparent and brings energy to the team. Reversing this paradigm allows the leader to have the bandwidth to pay attention to what others are doing, how they function, and to observe behaviors.

3. To reframe influence: The leader who leads from the position of power and authority (I'm the Chairman and I make decisions) stifles group thinking, sidetracks creative collaboration, and intimidates others. We reframe from "Push" to "Pull" leadership.

4. To encourage collaboration: If the leader has all the answers, then there's no reason for others to participate. Transparency is knowing and sharing the truth, which is that you don't have all the right answers. Rather than always being right, ensure that the team is always right, or that they learn from mistakes so that their competency is constantly growing.

5. To foster authenticity: The last, and most impactful Transformational Leadership trait is to model what you preach. Being authentic means showing how to be authentic. When you don't know, share that with the team. Nobody can have all the right answers. Model this trait and it will impact how others respond to you and other team members.

This is certainly not a comprehensive treatment of the topic. It's intended to stimulate thinking and inspire a new paradigm for leading.

Do you agree?

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The Transformational Leader Effectively Delegates

A common leadership challenge is defining how to empower teams to function at a higher level, producing more quality results. This is an opportunity to effectively manage one's own schedule by getting things off the schedule that someone else can do.

Delegation does not mean delegate it and forget it. Delegation does not mean micromanaging, either.

Delegation is a high-level leadership competency that continues to improve as the skill is rehearsed over time. Do not expect instant perfection. Do not expect every delegation to work out flawlessly. Do not give up or give in. When you delegate, do not let the item come back to you.

Steps for effective delegation:

1. Shelve your ego - You are not the only person who can do everything the best way possible. Delegation is a strength of leadership and not a weakness. Embrace delegation and master the skill.

2. Define what you should not do - This is Transformational Leadership trait #1. Now is the time to practice what you preach. By getting things off your list of responsibilities and to-do list, you become more efficient with your work and can support others as well. Some things, however, cannot be delegated. Those things that cannot be delegated are typically fewer than we first think, so spend time defining what you want to delegate.

3. Ask for what you want - You have defined the goals for the organization and know what needs to be done. Do not assume that others are clear on what you want done. Do not assume that people will automatically fill in the gaps. Wasting time is the result of waiting for people to "get it." Just ask.

4. Delegate the deliverable - Do not dictate the process. You have capable leaders on the team, so let them create the process. You can, however, ask if they need ideas or information to be able to complete the deliverable.

5. Set parameters and limits - Identify the boundaries as to the person's authority, responsibility, and accountability. Define what they should do and what they should not do.

6. Set check-in points - This is not micromanaging. Setting times to measure benchmarks along the way allows for coaching and affirmation during the process. Sometimes team members think that asking for information is a weakness. You are promoting collaboration, not dependence. Define these check-in times when the task is delegated.

7. Show appreciation - People will be personally invested in the result and in the process they create.

8. Be patient - Manage your own anxiety. If you are anxious, that negative energy will infect the team, and your ability to think clearly, as well. Observe how things are working. Nurture the process. Give it time to work.

Tips:

1. Give it time - Remember that you are the expert and the person with the assigned task may not be as capable. Give them time to succeed. Give them time to learn. It will take more time at first. It's worth it in the long run.

2. Believe in positive results - Most people function at a higher level when they know that there is emotional support. Believe in the person and let them know that you care and believe in them.

3. Keep relationship as the key connection - We all have a different sense of responsibility when the relationship is important. Always work on relationships with everyone on the team.

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You have inherited a lifetime of tribulation. Everybody has inherited it. Take it over, make the most of it and when you have decided you know the right way, do the best you can with it. - Murray Bowen

Over the past 8 years of study of Bowen Systems, I have gained specific knowledge that helps me with my work with organizational leaders in many fields. What I didn’t use in my work previously, is defining Guiding Principles. I used to work with people defining organizational and personal core values. Now I realize that core values are great, but they are static definitions and not active statements for decision making, both personally and for teams.

I’ve adopted the following top 10 list for going one more step in defining the principled leader.

Ten tips for being a successful principled leader:

1. Develop and follow personal Guiding Principles: Leaders are primarily influencers. This step is crucial in being the person of influence. Creating and utilizing guiding principles in writing is the key. By the way, when these are shared with people who matter, they are more effective. Accountability is empowerment and collaboration.

2. Align personal core values with organizational core values: Over 90% of the leaders that I begin work with cannot define their core values. These are the foundation for strategic planning and the start for developing guiding principles. Define personal and organizational values and then compare. If these are not in alignment, then you cannot be successful.

3. Always remain in integrity: Integrity means always doing the right thing and doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Once perjured under oath in a court of law, all your testimony is worthless. It only takes once of not being in integrity to cancel out your reputation.

4. Manage conduct and language: You are the leader and you can do whatever you please…not exactly true! You can choose to conduct yourself in a nonprofessional manner or to use abusive language or to swear. There are consequences in those choices, however. If you are a person of influence, then how do you want to be perceived and who do you want to influence? Every action and every word counts. There is no eraser for bad conduct or bad language.

5. Focus on giving value: Nobody likes a person who must win all the time, and nobody wants to listen to a person who only talks about themselves. There’s a reciprocity in giving value to others. Good and bad things come back around to each of us. Ask what others need and soon they will be asking you the same.

6. Take responsibility for personal mistakes: Blame is not a good leadership tool. Typically leaders cause problems that they blame others for. Step up to owning your own gaps and consider mistakes a learning opportunity. Be transparent or your team members will show you that they know you aren’t perfect. Remember, perfect is the enemy of good.

7. Seek consensus and not compromise: Consensus is a decision worked out through group process and backed by relationship. It’s not win/lose. It’s not a power play. It’s not demanding your own way. It’s not compromise. In a compromise, everyone gives up something and it is perceived to be a lose/lose result. Consensus is win/win or no deal.

8. Associate with people of integrity: We become like the top 5 people we associate with. Our income reflects that of the crowd we hang with. Our influence is amplified by the friends we keep. Is your sphere of influence adding value to your end game? Are you bringing value to theirs, as well?

9. Make principled decisions and not feeling decisions: Murray Bowen has been quoted as having said, “It’s ok to have empathy for someone, but you must get out of it quickly.” Feeling sorry for someone doesn’t help you or them. We get anxious when guided by emotions, and make feeling decisions rather than thinking decisions. Always check yourself when making important decisions.

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for more information on The Napoleon Hill Foundation and for resources, so to http://naphill.org

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We sometimes make a plan (entrepreneurs keep a lot of ideas in their minds and don’t always make a written plan to share), and sometimes we create action items for the plan, and sometimes we connect the plan to implementation.

If we do those things, then we raise the bar substantially on succeeding. That puts us into the top 10% of leadership excellence.

Check my recent podcast 04, Creating Your Plan for Success, to see my thinking on what’s missing for successful organizational leadership.

After completing the planning and action plan activation process, it’s critical to have a plan for continuing improvement and accountability.

Many times I will interview a leader who pulls out a dusty document and admits that the plan has been dormant, or only partially used. The strength of the plan is in the integration with team performance. As the old saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

We succeed because we create intentional followup systems and processes. Here’s my 5-step process for following up on the plan:

1. Create and Share the Plan: Having a written document that is distributed, complete with action items, champions, and deadlines, is the beginning. Next, commit to continually evaluating the plan, the progress, and the implementation.

2. Evaluate: Establish a frequency for evaluating the plan. If you have a 5-year plan and update it every six months, then you always have a 5-year plan. It’s one plan migrated over time. Evaluate what’s working, what needs to be changed (or stopped), and what different things to add. Minor evaluations can be scheduled for the action plans and milestones along the way, however a major evaluation must be put on the calendar with the buy-in from the entire team.

3. Revise: If it’s not working, then change it. This sounds logical, however so many leaders get stuck in a rut and can’t see the way out. Commit to change what’s not working.

4. Recommit: We will most likely have to renegotiate roles and responsibilities along with timelines. We can’t assume that everybody will just roll into the new model. Ask for a commitment to the revisions.

5. Implement: Establish a new action plan to address revised objectives and revise the accountability metrics for staying on track.

This process must happen face-to-face with the planning team. The integration of planning and performance is an intentional framework of the culture.

What happens outside of the details of the planning documents is the most important and overlooked dynamic. We are creating a New Architecture of EngagementTM in the process.

Those who follow up will win!

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An effective leader does not have all the answers, but asks good questions.

In the beginning, people think vulnerability will make you weak, but it does the opposite. It shows you're strong enough to care. - Victoria Pratt

Lead by ExampleBeing vulnerable is a strength of leadership, not a weakness. We think that being strong means that we are not vulnerable, not transparent, and basically not honest with those whom we lead. In fact, when we are not transparent, people know it and want to prove to us that they know it.

The autocratic leader holds secrets, uses power, and has all the answers - this equates to being the "Boss."

Rather than being "bossy," the Transformational Leader builds leadership skills in team members by nurture, engagement, questioning, and any activity that enables team members to use their thinking skills.

A large part of Transformational Leadership, as a style of leadership, is authenticity. Do what you say. Do what you ask others to do. Be genuine. Be ethical.

Transparency is related to, but not the same as, vulnerability. The transparent leader is open, direct, and vulnerable. This includes the authentic statement, "I don't know." Pretending to know and providing an answer or solution that is made up, and not authentic and not accurate, is deadly. If teams do not trust the leader, then there is little or no open, honest, and direct communication. In some cases, teams will try to prove the leader to be wrong.

The Transformational Leader empowers, engages, equips, and inspires leaders on teams by open transparent communication based on relationship.

Here are some thoughts from others:

As James Jordan puts it, "And he talked at length about being authentic and vulnerable with your singers, so as to get to the soft, immaculate heart of the music for an emotional, rapturous performance." (1)

Henri Nouwen says, "Let’s not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular." (2)

Cal Turner, Jr., former CEO and President of Dollar General, shared with me that he was able to be transparent with his team of managers in telling them that he had the vision for the company, but didn't have the skills for getting there. That's where they could fill in with their skills. He pointed out that leadership is basically identifying the gaps and finding people to fill in those gaps. (3)

"After spending the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, shame, and worthiness, I’ve come to believe that leadership has nothing to do with position, salary, or number of direct reports. I believe a leader is anyone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes." - Brené Brown (4)

The pastor, corporate leader, conductor, and professor all advocate vulnerability from different perspectives.

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The More the Leader Controls the Group, the Less Effective the Results Become

My friend and colleague, Larry Dill, hired me to develop a world-class music program in Huntsville, Alabama. When he called to invite me to consider the position, I asked him, "Where's Huntsville?" I was in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time and had very little self-awareness of smaller places.

I went to check out the position and, after much consideration, accepted the job. I did so mostly because of Larry. He showed up as a visionary and passionate leader. He showed up to empower the skilled members of the team he put in place. He showed up to model the results he wanted to see.

I can remember sitting in the conference room on numerous occasions, planning programs six months ahead. During many of these sessions, seemingly insurmountable challenges arose. Larry would ask the team a question, presenting how to solve the problem. He would then sit quietly as the team discussed, debated, and defined ideas to answer his question. At the right moment, Larry would simply and calmly interject his comment: "I've heard enough. This what we will do."

He listened, observed, and processed the information coming forth in the meeting. He had a highly competent team. He did not control the process or the conflation of ideas. He, however, remained very much in charge. He demonstrated a high competence as a leader.

The value in planning ahead is that teams can be more creative and effective. Work is more energized and focused. There is less confusion and less destructive conflict.

The paradox in leadership is that by doing less, Larry got more accomplished and helped the team be more productive and creative.

If you are working too hard, maybe you are doing too much. The first trait of Transformational Leadership is to define what to let go of. If you have too much to do, think about this polarity. Do the opposite.

Hmmm...that's counterintuitive and goes against the work ethic that many leaders have been taught. Well, if it's not working, then change it.

Define what is not working. Write it down. Define why it's not working. Define all the potential solutions. Look for solutions that are similar and can be combined for strength. Develop an action plan based on what you discover in this process. The final solution might not be what you had initially expected.

Remember to think about systems. Transformational Leadership is a system - a thinking system, and not a feeling system.

How will you approach your team next in problem solving?

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Balance…or Not!

I’m writing a new book. I’m thinking of calling it Adrenaline as a Way of Life. Or maybe I’ll try Time: There Will Never be Enough of It, So Squander What You’ve Got. Here’s a sneak peak at my chapter outline.

Chapter One: E-mergency

Answer all emails at once. Do not delay. Stop whatever you are doing and answer that baby.

Chapter Two: Adrenaline is My Motivator

Save tasks that are “due today” until the last hour, better yet, the last half hour of your workday so you will have the added energy boost of adrenaline to help you complete your tasks.

Chapter Three: Be a Hog

Hog the copier. Put off using office machines until the last possible minute, never mind if your colleagues need them.

Chapter Four: Under-prepare for Meetings/Rehearsals

That way you’ll find out what you’re really made of. Can you fly by the seat of your pants? Are you great at improvisation? Can you fake it in front of a group?

Chapter Five: Don’t Bother Planning Ahead, Wait Until the Last Minute

Careful planning is over rated! Panic provides lots of energy for a task. It’s contagious too, so if you can get other people panicked about a mutual project, just think of all the energy!

Chapter Six: Don’t organize your stuff.

That last minute search for materials provides a great panic push just when you need an extra shot of adrenaline.

Chapter Seven: Run

Don’t walk, run. Run to the workroom, to the bathroom, to your car. Run yellow lights. Heck, run red ones. That gets everyone excited!

Chapter Eight: Do One More Thing

Do one more thing before you leave. That will insure being late.

Chapter Nine: Shallow Breathing

Be sure to keep your breath short and rapid. Mimic panic in your breathing at all times. Remember, you don’t have time to take a deep breath.

Chapter Ten: Run Late

Show up at the last minute, or better yet, arrive late. Increase every one’s anxiety level!

Chapter Eleven: Yell

Yell at everyone when you are running late. If there is no one there, yell at the empty house. Yell at other cars, yell under your breath or right out loud at anyone or anything that gets in your way.

Chapter Twelve: Fast

Eat in the car. Even better, don’t eat at all. Being hungry increases your discomfort level and decreases your functioning level which will force your adrenaline to kick in and do it’s magic. When you do eat, gorge on foods that are bad for you.

Chapter Thirteen: Blame

Blame other people, blame your life situation, blame the traffic, blame the stoplights, blame your mother. Blame anything or anyone you can think of for anything and everything.

Chapter Fourteen: Calendar, Schmalandar

Don’t bother double-checking your calendar for appointments. Better yet, don’t write them down in the first place. If they really need you, they’ll call you.

I wrote this as a joke in a particularly busy season in my life and shared it at a staff meeting as a way of apologizing to my colleagues for my hyper-anxious state of being at work. I wish I could say those things are exaggerations, but they are based on the truth of how out of balance my life was at that time.

This winter, as I enter a very busy season once again, I’m attempting to do things differently. Like taking time daily for prayer, exercise, good nutrition, and Sabbath rest. As an experiment, I’m going to take one workday a month out of the office to be still and pray. It’s already making me nervous but I’m determined to do it to break the habits I wrote about in my “book”.

As I attempt to regain balance in my work schedule, I hope you’ll be encouraged to do the same. May God bless us on our journey

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We give energy to what we think about. - Anonymous

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. - James Allen

Negative Thoughts

Managing our thoughts is the only thing we truly have control over, and our thoughts control our results. Managing ourselves creates a reciprocal response in others in any group emotional situation. We, as leaders, as humans, as professionals, are primarily people of influence.

Just as the musical conductor influences the performance, the leader inspires and motivates the team in sometimes very subtle ways. What we are holding in our innermost thoughts comes out in ways that we least expect. People feel what we are thinking, even when we attempt to hide our thoughts - fears, doubts, insecurities, angers, etc. Our presence is impacted by our inner voice.

Negative scripts bring negative results. Thinking about debt, debt, debt, gives validity and energy to debt. Thinking about prosperity opens doors. The Law of Attraction, defined by Napoleon Hill, is just that. We attract what we are, as stated by James Allen as well. Managing ourselves is the core of successful leadership.

This is easy to write about and talk about, however it’s not so easy to accomplish.

Another discovery made by Hill, while he was interviewing the most successful business people of his time, was that the mind cannot hold a negative and positive thought at the same time. These successful people had an image of what they wanted to accomplish and used that image to replace doubt or fear. It obviously worked. This is not denial. It’s important to pay attention to the market and determine if there are changes needed. That’s effective leadership. Changing at the first sign of a problem is not effective. Learning the difference is key.

The Law of Attraction is not about greed, as presented in the popular video, “The Secret.” It’s about hard work and intentionality. It’s about giving value and attracting the same. It’s ultimately about influence and integrity.

How can a leader influence others when not being able manage self?

Check out my program http://leaderunbound.com

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OS 042: The "Shadow" that Limits Our Effectiveness with Dr David Gruder

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