Jul
27
Character sets the foundation for leadership
Filed Under Leadership Practices, Personal Leadership | 2 Comments
Leadership can never be divorced from the individual. And as a leader, you cannot impart what you do not possess. This is why “the main ingredient of good leadership is character”…
“The main ingredient of good leadership is good character. This is because leadership involves conduct and conduct is determined by values.” - Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
Whilst many place value in titles and positions, it’s behaviour that wins people’s trust and respect. One of the foundational leadership principle is that leaders need to model the behaviours and attitudes which they expect from others. The example set by leaders are most powerful when grounded in values and when leaders live their values in their own authentic manner. When is comes to values they are most effectively demonstrated by your behaviour, words count, but not nearly as much as your deeds.
Good leaders lead from the front. They take the initiative to go first. People follow a person, before they buy into a strategy and plan. People need more than grand idea. They need to seen the idea lived in the flesh.
- Do you set the example by aligning your values with your actions?
- Do you lead from the front?
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Values, Character, Behaviour, Management, Example
Jun
24
Anecdote posted on David Maister’s podcast on earning trust and it’s importance to business. The fact is that leaders cannot lead without trust. Maister identifies four dimensions to trust, the first three can cause trust to increase:
- Credibility - about words - I can trust what he says. This is about tangible, professional expertise.
- Reliability - about actions - I can trust her to do something. Are you dependable and behave in certain ways?
- Intimacy - about emotions - I feel comfortable discussing this with that person. This is about the ability to relate to people one to one. It is the dimension that people fail on most often - it has high consequences if we get it wrong.
The fourth component, self orientation, reduces trust:
- Self-Orientation - about motives - the extent to which we can trust that someone cares about certain things. This relates to the extent to which we can focus on the other person in the relationship rather than ourselves. Selfishness, self-consciousness, need to appear on top of things or to appear intelligent, a long to-do list that distracts us from focusing in the moment etc are all things that keep us focused on ourselves rather than the other person.
These four dimensions are a useful way to assess our own behaviour. Are we instilling trust? Do we have integrity in our words, actions, emotions and motives?
Technorati Tags: Trust, Credibility, Integrity, Character, Leadership, Management, Business
Jun
8
Perseverance: The characteristic that separates the successful from the mediocre
Filed Under Leadership Practices | 1 Comment
More and more I am realising the importance of perseverance to effective leadership. There are so many different obstacles and barriers to attaining our vision and purpose in the world today that without perseverance we will fail to make a meaningful difference in the world. Perseverance is what’s requires to face failure and then to get up again to fight another day. Douglas MacMillan in his article “Why Failures Can Be Such Success Stories” finds that…
“To err is human. But to persevere is a feat that often separates the successful from the mediocre…. In business—as in sports, politics, and the arts—many of the greatest and most influential leaders share a history of failure. Automaker Henry Ford and animator Walt Disney both stumbled badly with early business ventures. Early in his career with General Electric (GE), Jack Welch caused an explosion that blew the roof off a building. Not long after taking Apple Computer (AAPL) public, founder Steve Jobs was ousted by the very man he recruited to lead the company.
Psychologists say it’s not simply the fact that these people learned from mistakes that led to eventual success. It’s also the resilience they displayed in getting past those potholes. Failure can be "informative rather than demoralizing. It tells you what you may need to do to make it," says Albert Bandura, the Stanford psychology professor who in the 1970s pioneered the social cognitive theory of self-efficacy—an inner belief in one’s ability to succeed.”
As you’re faced with the weeks and months ahead make a decision to persevere, to never give up on your vision, to never settle for second best, make the decision to press forwards, to be determined to overcome and archive your purposes. Make a decision to believe in yourself, to believe that you can do what you set your mind to, that despite setback, you will get back up and continue. It’s that fact that you fail, which makes you a failure. It’s when you stay down, it’s when you decide not to get up to try again…… that’s what makes you a failure!
It’s settled then…..
Quitting is not an option!
Technorati Tags: Perseverance, Failure, Fail, Leadership, Self-efficacy, Success
May
5
Leader: Who do you intend to be?
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“Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’” —Max De Pree, Herman Miller
As leaders we spend a lot of time focusing on action, on getting results. To do this, most of us track our actions with a “to do” list of some sort. However, great leadership is more than just getting results, it requires us to act from a deep sense of who we are. To have a foundation integrity and character that inspires and motivates others to trust us and in turn take action. As leaders it’s important that we manage our action, with a “to do” list, as well as our being, with a “to be” list. ThirdAge blogger Doug wrote a great post on creating a “to be” list. He describes these two domains as follows:
Being and doing - these are the two domains of human existence. A person’s ‘being’ is their boundless, timeless natural self. Their ‘doing’ is the expression of that nature within form (activities) and time. Being is our ‘identity’. Doing is our ‘career’. When we are most healthy and vital, we connect identity with career - who we are with what we do. Conversely, those with careers completely disconnected from their natural self eventually experience ill-health and exhaustion. Clearly, being and doing are equally important for creating and maintaining a fulfilling and meaningful existence.
Dong recommends a great way of improving our being by using a weekly “to be” list, which describes how we intend to be this week. At the end of the week we can review our list to assess how well we did. Here’s my to be list for this week:
- To peach what I practice (yes this is the right way round)!
- To take accountability and to hold others accountable.
- To be optimistic and inspire hope in others. South Africa is facing high levels of uncertainty at the moment and people need hope and encouragement.
- To praise and encourage others.
Here’s the challenge:
- Spend some time thinking about who you want to be this week.
- Take this moment to create your own personal to be list for the week ahead?
- At the end of the week conduct a personal review the progress you’re making daily towards your “to be” characteristics. Then review your list and your progress with a trusted peer.
- Make the necessary changes based on the feedback you receive.
- Post a comment on this post on how well you did or how useful the exercise has been.
Technorati Tags: Doing, Being, Identity, Action, Results, Character, GTD, Getting Things Done, Lifehack, Lifehacks, Leadership Development, Leadership, Management, Personal Development
Jan
27
Building the character of our future leaders…
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The Center for Creative Leadership newsletter had an interesting article "Don’t Give Up On Leadership Character" discussing the development of leadership character. Character a critical foundation of great leadership, in fact, character is the hallmark of all great leaders. Character is important as sound character inspires trust….
"People of genius are admired. People of wealth are envied. People of power are feared. But only people of character are trusted." — Arthur Friedman
Programmes that focus on leadership development usually over emphasise the development of various leadership techniques and methods, with little or no attention given to the development of character. It’s no wonder that one of the most common leadership failures today, are failures of leadership character, and not a failure of technique or method. So how do we ensure that we are developing the character of those we mentor? By incorporating the five E’s of character development into our programmes and mentorship…
The Five E’s Of Character Development
It’s the responsibility of leaders to create the environment that encourages the development of character. The article recommends that the following five E’s, to be considered as a means for character development:
- Example: Leadership by example leverages the natural human tendency to emulate the behavior of individuals held in high esteem. A leader’s behavior sets the standard for the entire organization.
- Education: Leaders and organizations should find ways to discuss the importance of character, the potential pressures on and challenges to character, and the short- and long-term implications of a lapse of character. Education might include discussions of case studies and scenarios that involve difficult moral or ethical choices.
- Environment: The organization’s culture is shaped and developed over time by the actions and values of people in the organization. Senior leaders can establish an environment that is open to character development by creating a clear, detailed, practical set of organizational values and by ensuring that everyone in the organization lives those values.
- Experience: Senior leaders should ensure that high-potential employees are given "stretch" jobs and assignments requiring them to make difficult choices, which can help them better understand and develop character. These experiences also provide good indications of the character strengths and weaknesses of those who might become the future leaders of the organization.
- Evaluation: Clear expectations regarding patterns of behavior need to be established and communicated. Leaders can then use feedback sessions and performance evaluations to gauge their progress, reviewing specific instances when their character was challenged and either stood fast or cracked.
This list is a great means of creating an environment that encourages the development of a person’s character. Remember, that….
"The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Oct
5
The Paradoxical Commandments
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by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001
Technorati Tags: Character, Poem, Leadership, Inspiration, Quote, Integrity
Sep
24
The three key components of a compelling vision…
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An article "The Vision Thing: Without It You’ll Never Be a World-Class Organization" by Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner discuss the three critical factors exhibited by all world-class organisations:
- Clear vision and direction championed by top management
- Trained and equipped people focused on implementation of the agreed-upon vision and direction
- Established recognition and positive consequence systems that sustain the behaviors and performance that the vision and direction require
In their article they focus on the importance of a clear vision for leaders and their organisations, making the following observations:
- Vision and direction are essential for greatness. In world-class organizations, every-one has a clear sense of where the enterprise is going.
- Vision helps people make smart choices be-cause their decisions are being made with the end result in mind. As goals are accomplished, the answer to “What next?” be-comes clear. Vision takes into account a larger picture than the immediate goal.
- Vision is important for leaders because leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.
- Without a clear vision, an organization be-comes a self-serving bureaucracy. The top managers begin to think “the sheep are there for the benefit of the shepherd.” All the money, recognition, power, and status move up the hierarchy, away from the people closest to the customers, and leadership begins to serve the leaders and not the organization’s larger purpose and goals.
- When people share and believe in a vision of what the organization can be, they generate tremendous energy, excitement, and passion. They feel they are making a difference. They build a strong reputation for excellent products and services. They know what they are doing and why. There is a strong sense of trust and respect. Managers don’t try to control. They let others assume responsibility because they know everyone shares the vision and is clear about their goals and direction. Everyone assumes responsibility for their own actions. They take charge of their future rather than passively waiting for it to happen. There is room for creativity and risk taking.
Three Key Components of a Compelling Vision….
A real vision statement reveals what business a company is in. It identifies not just the products or services offered, but the company’s core reason for existence—its purpose. It focuses organizational energy. A real vision statement provides broad guidelines for how to proceed in fulfilling the organization’s purpose, and a real vision statement offers clear pictures of what success looks like. We have found three elements that constitute a compelling vision:
- Significant purpose: What business are you in? Purpose is your organization’s reason for existence. It answers the question “Why?” rather than just explaining what you do. It clarifies—from your customer’s viewpoint—what business you are really in…… Great organizations have a deep and noble sense of purpose—a significant purpose—that inspires excitement and commitment. When work is meaningful and connected to what we truly desire, we are able to unleash a productive and creative power we never imagined.
- A picture of the future: What will the future look like if you are living according to your purpose? A picture of the end result should not be vague. It should be something you can actually see…… Your picture should focus on the end result, not the process for getting there.
- Clear values: How do you want people to behave when they are working according to your purpose and on your picture of the future? Values provide guidelines on how you should proceed as you pursue your purpose and picture of the future. They answer the questions, “What do I want to live by?” and “How?” They need to be clearly described so you know exactly what behaviors demonstrate that the value is being lived. They need to be consistently acted on or they are only good intentions……. Most organizations that do have values either have too many values or they are not rank ordered. Research shows that people can’t focus on more than three or four values or those values will not really have an impact on behavior. Also, values must be rank ordered to be effective. Why? Because life is about value conflicts. When these conflicts arise, people need to know which value they should focus on.
"A vision is compelling when it helps people understand what business they’re really in, provides a picture of the desired future, and offers value guidelines that help people make daily decisions."
A clear and compelling vision for a leaders and their organisations is of vital importance. Looking at these three components of a compelling vision. How compelling is your vision? How compelling is the vision to those who work for you? How compelling is the vision for your organisation? Is it alive? Is it lived daily? Is it talked about? Is it being passionately pursued?
Technorati Tags: Vision, Leadership, Purpose, Future, Management, Business, Values, Success
Sep
17
I found and interesting article from The Josephson Institute entitled “The Character of Leadership” in this article Warren Bennis discusses the importance of character for leaders.
“Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, assertive or sensitive. It’s about having a particular set of attributes — which all leaders, male and female, seem to share. And chief among these attributes is character…… the noble mission of the leader can’t be used to justify the means. In the leadership arena, character counts. I’m not saying this casually. My convictions about character-based leadership come from years of studies, observations, and interviews with leaders, and with the people near them.”
Most organizations evaluate their executives and managers using these seven criteria:
- Technical competence or business literacy (knowledge of the territory)
- People skills (capacity to motivate people)
- Conceptual skills (ability to put things together)
- Results (track record)
- Taste (capacity to choose terrific people most of the time)
- Judgment (ability to make wise decisions in a fog of reality and uncertainty);
- Character (integrity to walk the talk).
“Of all these, we know the least about judgment and character, including how to ‘teach’ them. That’s a shame, because I’ve never seen a person derailed from a position for lack of technical competence. But I’ve seen lots of people derailed for lack of judgment and character. The stakes are high for the individual, the organization and the country, so it’s worth knowing more about the character-component of successful leadership.”
What is Character?
“Character isn’t a superficial style. The word comes from the ancient Greek verb meaning “to engrave” and its related noun meaning “mark” or ‘distinctive quality.’ Character is who we essentially are. I also believe, however, that our character is continuously evolving. Unlike some of the Freudians, I don’t think character is fixed at age six. I think we continue to grow and to develop. The corollary of this is that the process of becoming a leader, to me, is much the same process as becoming an integrated human being. I see a real connection between what it takes to be a leader and the process of character growth……. one way to define leadership is as character in action.”
Warren Bennis highlights the following important aspects of character based leadership..
Vision
“Leaders create a vision with meaning – one with significance, one which puts the players at the center of things rather than at the periphery. If organizations have a vision that is meaningful to people, nothing will stop them from being successful. Not just any old vision will do, however; it must be a shared vision with meaning and significance…. A vision can be shared only if it has meaning for the people involved in it….. To communicate a vision, you need more than words, speeches, memos and laminated plaques. You need to live a vision, day in, day out — embodying it and empowering every other person to execute that vision in everything he or she does, anchoring it in realities so that it becomes a template for decision making. Actions do speak louder than words.”
Purpose
“I can’t exaggerate the significance of a strong determination to achieve a goal — a conviction, a passion, even a skewed distortion of reality that focuses on a particular point of view. And the leader has to express that determination, or purpose, in various ways….. Michael Eisner once told me that Disney didn’t have a ‘vision statement,’ but rather a strong ‘point of view’ about the Disney culture. When making big decisions, Eisner says, ‘the strongest point of view almost always wins the argument.’”
Trust
“Real leaders, and people of strong character, generate and sustain trust. I can’t overemphasize the importance of encouraging openness, even dissent…. Leaders must be candid in their communications and show that they care. They have to be seen to be trustworthy. Most communication has to be done eyeball to eyeball, rather than in newsletters, on videos, or via satellite. One of the best ways to build trust is by deep listening. People’s feeling that they’re being heard is the most powerful dynamic of human interaction. Listening doesn’t mean agreeing, but it does mean having the empathic reach to understand another…… To trust others, to have confidence in them, people of course also need to see evidence of competence……. Yet another indispensable aspect of character, and leadership, is constancy……. Before they can trust a leader, followers have to know what to expect. So sometimes leaders have to put off their grand ideas or glorious opportunities until they have had a chance to convince their allies of the ideas’ value. In business, as in politics, the effectiveness of a decision is the quality of the decision multiplied by the acceptance of it….. What all these behaviors and skills surrounding trust add up to is integrity, and that means character.”
Action
“What employees want most from their leaders is direction and meaning, trust and hope. Every good leader I have spoken with has had a willful determination to achieve a set of goals, a set of convictions, about what he or she wanted the organization to achieve. Every leader had a purpose. Remember what hockey great Wayne Gretzky says, ‘It’s not where the puck is that counts. It’s where the puck will be.’ Character counts because, in the leader, character is having the vision to see things not just the way they are but the way they should be — and doing something to make them that way…… Leaders have a bias toward action. They have the capacity to convert purpose and vision into action. It just isn’t enough to have the great vision people can trust. It has to be manifest in some external products and results. Most leaders are pragmatic dreamers or practical idealists (even though those descriptions may seem like oxymorons). They step up and take their shots every day, perhaps knowing that ‘you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,’ to borrow another line from ice-rink philosopher Gretsky…… ‘Strike hard and try everything,’ wrote Henry James. You’re never going to get anywhere unless you risk and try and then learn from each experience. Leaders have to play even when it means making mistakes. And they have to learn from those mistakes….. Companies are the direct reflection of their leaders. All the leaders I know have a strongly defined sense of purpose. And when you have an organization where the people are aligned behind a clearly defined vision or purpose, you get a powerful organization. Effective leaders are all about creative collaboration, about creating a shared sense of purpose. People need meaningful purpose. That’s why we live. With a shared purpose you can achieve anything. And that’s why a central task for the leader is the development of other leaders, creating conditions that enhance the ability of all employees to make decisions and create change. The leader must actively help his or her followers to reach their full leadership potential. As Max De Pree once put it: ‘The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers.’”
How do you go about becoming a good leader?
“Figure out what you’re good at. Hire only good people who care, and treat them the way you want to be treated. Identify your one or two key objectives or directions and ask your coworkers how to get there. Listen hard and get out of their way. Cheer them. Switch from macho to maestro. Count the gains. Start right now”
Highly Recommended Reading..
If you haven’t read any of Warren Bennis’s books I would strongly encourage you to do so. He has authored more than twenty-five books, many of them on the topic of leadership. Some of my personal recommendations are:
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Books, Vision, Character, Purpose, Action, Integrity, Warren Bennis, Business, Meaning, Significance
Sep
5
Leadership is a choice
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“I neither started the project nor suggested it. I simply responded to the call of the people for a spokesman” – Martin Luther King, 1958
A the core leadership is a choice. In the same way that Martin Luther King responded to the situations he found in his daily life. We too are faced with situations that require us to make a choice. Everyday we’re faced with the a leadership choice. A choice to lead, to accept responsibility, to live authentically, to be an example to others, of the change we want to see in the world.
Have you made the choice to lead?
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Choice Character, Management, Business
May
1
Character results in the following leadership behaviours
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We all instinctively know that it’s impossible to be an effective leader without strong character. When talking about the the importance of character one of the frequently asked questions are “what exactly do we mean by character?” and “how does a leader of character behave anyway?” An article from CIO.com provides some clues, based upon the research conducted by the Center for Leadership Solutions published in the book The Extraordinary Leader. Character, described as people having high integrity and is exhibited in the following behaviors:
- Making decisions based on what is best for the company versus personal gain.
- Stating opinions honestly.
- Delivering on commitments.
- Taking a stand on tough issues.
- Being approachable and asking for feedback.
- Treating everyone the same.
- Trusting and working collaboratively with others.
- Being emotionally resilient in changing situations.
It is these behaviours that result in someone having integrity, which seems to me is the foundation of character. So, how do you measure up?
Technorati Tags: Character, Integrity, Management, Book, Leadership
Feb
11
Seven failings of really useless leaders
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Keys to leadership lie within from TimesOnline discusses some of Steven Sonsino’s insights on the failing of leadership, he believes that:
“it is quicker, easier and more effective for us as managers to stop doing the things that demotivate people than it is for us to bolt on radically new techniques from acknowledged inspirational leaders…….People the world over are more likely to be disaffected, disengaged or demotivated by their managers than motivated or inspired.”
Steven identifies the following “seven failings of really useless leaders”:
- Killing enthusiasm through micromanagement, coercion and disrespect;
- Killing emotion by being aggressive, lacking empathy and not supporting work-life balance;
- Killing explanation through incomplete or inconsistent communication;
- Killing engagement with limited team goals and an insistence on managers dictating objectives;
- Killing reward by rewarding the wrong things or doing it in the wrong way, for example, by offering a cash bonus to someone who is not motivated by money;
- Killing culture, for example by ignoring differences in working cultures when managing mergers between organisations or by “punishing risk-taking” while trying to introduce a culture of innovation; and
- Killing trust by making unfair decisions when hiring or rewarding staff.
These are great insights for leaders and managers. What’s interesting to me about Steven’s insights is how obvious they are and how quickly we overlook these basics.
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Engagement, Motivation, Inspiration, Business, Communication
Dec
17
Make Christmas Matter
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A study on The World Distribution of Household Wealth by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) was released on the 5th of December 2006. For the purposes of the research wealth was defined as:
“We use the term in its long-established sense of net worth: the value of physical and financial assets less debts. In this respect, wealth represents the ownership of capital. Although capital is only one part of personal resources, it is widely believed to have a disproportionate impact on household well-being and economic success, and more broadly on economic development
and growth.”
The research highlights include:
- The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth.
- The richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.
- The research finds that assets of $2,200 per adult placed a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution in the year 2000. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world required $61,000 in assets, and more than $500,000 was needed to belong to the richest 1%, a group which - with 37 million members worldwide - is far from an exclusive club.
- Wealth is heavily concentrated in North America, Europe, and high income Asia-Pacific countries. People in these countries collectively hold almost 90% of total world wealth.
- The study finds wealth to be more unequally distributed than income across countries. High income countries tend to have a bigger share of world wealth than of world GDP. The reverse is true of middle- and low-income nations. However, there are exceptions to this rule, for example the Nordic region and transition countries like the Czech Republic and Poland.
- A small number of countries account for most of the wealthiest 10% in the world. One quarter are Americans and another 20% are Japanese. ‘The USA and Japan stand out because they have large populations and high average wealth.’
Another interesting aspect of the research for me was exploration of the “super rich“, the number of US$ based millionaires and billionaires in the world. The research found that the “relationship in the range from $250,000 to $5 million appears stable and remarkably well approximated by a Pareto distribution….. Fitting a Pareto distribution in this range and extrapolating to the highest echelons of the wealth distribution, yielded the following predictions for the number of high wealth holders and the super rich”
| Wealth ($) | >Number above |
| 1 billion | 499 |
| 100 million | 15 010 |
| 10 million | 451 809 |
| 1 million | 13 568 229 |
Explaining the above table the report states that, Thus extrapolating our upper tail leads us to predict 499 dollar billionaires in the year 2000. The number estimated by Forbes magazine for the year 2000 was 492.
Reflecting on this research, it’s clear that you and I are probably on of the 10% richest people in the world! Compared to the majority of the world’s people, you and I are rich. To gain a graphical representation of how your income compares to others in the world you can do so at this website and see how you stack up. There is a verse in the Bible that says something to the effect that “to whom much is given much is required“. It seems to me that you and I have been given much. The lead me to as the question, “What are we doing with this gift?” Thinking about this question in my own life, I have decided to contribute to a credible charity to help make a difference in a small way in the life of someone less fortunate than me, I would like to encourage you to do the same. Listed below are two organisations that are worth supporting, to help make a difference in the life of someone less fortunate this Christmas.
Make Christmas Matter
The idea behind Make Christmas Matter… is to enable South Africans to support accountable poverty eradication programmes, while reaffirming the real meaning in celebrating Christmas.
Make Christmas Matter enables South Africans to revive the true joy of giving and receiving by making our contribution to a brighter and better future an integral part of celebrating Christmas. The campaign makes it easy for you to make a real difference in uplifting lives, and ensures that the funds do reach accountable, registered non profit and bona fide community-based organisations.
ONE
ONE is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans - ONE by ONE - to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united as ONE to help make poverty history. ONE believes that allocating an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world’s poorest countries. ONE also calls for debt cancellation, trade reform and anti-corruption measures in a comprehensive package to help Africa and the poorest nations beat AIDS and extreme poverty.
So why not time time to get involve and contributing to one of these worthy causes….!
“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” - Roy L. Smith
Technorati Tags: Christmas, Leadership, Management, Charity, One, Giving, Community
Dec
17
Building Leadership Character
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Character is an important part of the practice of leadership. The December CCL newsletter featured an article “Building Character: Strengthening the Heart of Good Leadership Don’t Give Up On Leadership Character” which discusses the the key components of building leadership character based on the book by Gene Klann, Building Character: Strengthening the Heart of Good Leadership“. Based on the book, the newsletter provides the following character building advice:
To develop leadership character, leaders should focus on their behavior, make small adjustments over time and commit to consistency.
- Focus on Behavior Leadership character shouldn’t be an abstract or vague concept. “Leadership character is about tangible behavior,” Klann explains. It is what leaders say and do - regardless of what inner qualities they may possess or thoughts they may cherish - that determines their reputation and good name. By focusing on behaviors, then, leaders can build and strengthen their character. They can learn how to speak and act in ways that reflect positive character qualities such as courage, caring, self-control, optimism and effective communication. “None of these attributes is innate, and all five of them lie at the heart of effective leadership,” says Klann.
- Adjust, Don’t Overhaul Of course, changing behaviors isn’t always easy. “A behavior that a person has practiced for several decades will not change overnight,” Klann explains. “However, most people can see when there is an advantage to changing certain behaviors and can take action. Typically, adults change their behavior to gain something positive or to avoid something negative.” The key is to go about change in terms of adjusting behavior, rather than expecting wholesale, instant change.
- Be Consistent “A leader’s reputation is based on his or her behavior over time,” says Klann. When a leader’s pattern of behavior consistently reflects strong character, the result is greater respect and trust and stronger emotional connections between such leaders and their employees.
The Five E’s Of Character Development
How can leaders establish an effective process of character development for themselves and for their subordinates? CCL’s Gene Klann says to follow the “Five E’s.”
- Example: Leadership by example leverages the natural human tendency to emulate the behavior of individuals held in high esteem. A leader’s behavior sets the standard for the entire organization.
- Education: Leaders and organizations should find ways to discuss the importance of character, the potential pressures on and challenges to character, and the short- and long-term implications of a lapse of character. Education might include discussions of case studies and scenarios that involve difficult moral or ethical choices.
- Environment: The organization’s culture is shaped and developed over time by the actions and values of people in the organization. Senior leaders can establish an environment that is open to character development by creating a clear, detailed, practical set of organizational values and by ensuring that everyone in the organization lives those values.
- Experience: Senior leaders should ensure that high-potential employees are given “stretch” jobs and assignments requiring them to make difficult choices, which can help them better understand and develop character. These experiences also provide good indications of the character strengths and weaknesses of those who might become the future leaders of the organization.
- Evaluation: Clear expectations regarding patterns of behavior need to be established and communicated. Leaders can then use feedback sessions and performance evaluations to gauge their progress, reviewing specific instances when their character was challenged and either stood fast or cracked.
This sounds like a good leadership book, it’s rare to find a book that provides solid and practical advice on building one’s character. Definitely a book on my “to be read” list for 2007.
Technorati Tags: Character, Leadership, Management, Books, Business, Book, Principles
Dec
10
Consistent leadership action and behaviour requires a clear leadership philosophy. Why? Well, because your leadership philosophy determines how you react to people and how you react to situations. Your leadership philosophy affects your behaviour and ultimately your leadership effectiveness. So what exactly is a leadership philosophy? Encarta defines philosophy as the:
- examination of basic concepts: the branch of knowledge or academic study devoted to the systematic examination of basic concepts such as truth, existence, reality, causality, and freedom
- school of thought: a particular system of thought or doctrine
- guiding or underlying principles: a set of basic principles or concepts underlying a particular sphere of knowledge
- set of beliefs or aims: a precept, or set of precepts, beliefs, principles, or aims, underlying somebody’s practice or conduct
Our leadership philosophy is a set of beliefs and principles, that strongly influence how we interpret reality and guide how we understand the way the world works. It’s our philosophy, our understanding and interpretation of leadership, that affects how we react to people, events and situations around us. How we think, determines how we behave! Steven Covey described this as the power of the space between stimulus and response:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Stephen Covey
How we choose to respond, in the space we’re given, between stimulus and response, is greatly affected by our understanding of leadership, that is, it’s affected by our leadership philosophy.
The Key Components of a Leadership Philosophy
Research by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, described in their book “Built to Last” has shown that enduringly successful organisations have a clear leadership philosophy, the authors call this an organisation’s core ideology that they describe as:
“core values and sense of purpose beyond just making money - that guides and inspires people throughout the organisation and remains relatively fixed for long periods of time”
At it’s core, a leadership philosophy consists of a key set of beliefs, describing:
- What you believe about people…
- What you believe about life….
- What you believe makes groups and organisations effective…
These three belief systems are expressed in our values, an ultimately how we behaviour, resulting in our unique leadership style. It’s these beliefs that guide how we choose to respond to people and situations. To be effective as leaders, it’s useful to create a personal leadership philosophy that is clear and helps to guide our actions. I suggest that all leaders take the time necessary to write down their personal leadership philosophy, which should contain the following components:
- A Significant Purpose: What are you about? What business are you in? What’s your purpose? Are you passionate about your purpose? Is it clear?
- A Compelling Vision: Where are you going? What will it look like when you get there? Why should others support it?
- Inspiring Values: What are my core values? What guides your actions? What guides your decision making?
- Guiding Principles: What are my guiding principles?
Once you have written them down share and teach them to others around you. A clearly communicated leadership philosophy helps build trust amongst constituents.
Leaders are Guided by their Leadership Philosophy
Two leaders who lead using completely opposite leadership philosophies to lead their teams is effectively discussed by Harvard Business School, Professor Scott Snook, who asks, “as a leader Is it better to be loved or feared“? He underscores his point with the following leadership examples:
Bobby Knight, also known as “The General,” is the head coach at Texas Tech University. He’s a fiery, in-your-face taskmaster who leads through discipline and intimidation, which some critics say goes too far. Knight was fired from a long career at Indiana University for grabbing a student, and prior to that he was filmed clutching one of his own players by the neck. And then there was the infamous incident during a game when Knight tossed a folding chair across the court to protest a referee’s call.
Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, leads the men’s basketball program at Duke University. Instead of fear, Krzyzewski relies heavily on positive reinforcement, open and warm communication, and caring support. For Coach K, “It’s about the heart, it’s about family, it’s about seeing the good in people and bringing the most out of them,” says Snook.
The Results?
Different styles, yes, but the results are similar: After long careers, both have similar win-loss records for their teams and are acknowledged as top coaches in the collegiate ranks. So what do Knight and Krzyzewski tell us about leadership?
What you believe about human nature, says Snook, influences your leadership style. “If you believe people are fundamentally good-good meaning that they’re trying to do their best, they’re self-motivated, they want to perform-then your fundamental leadership style will be one way. It will be empowering them, getting obstacles out of the way, and setting high goals while maintaining standards.
“If you believe people are fundamentally bad-if you believe people are constantly looking to get over and get by and won’t do anything unless they’re watched-then you’ll tend to lead with a very transactional management style that’s built primarily around rewards and punishments. Tight supervision, a controlling type of leadership style characterized by a great deal of social distance between leaders and led.”
The Key Lessons?
- Effective leaders understand their own assumptions about human nature.
- How you lead (leadership style) is influenced by who you are (self-awareness) and the demands of the situation (situational awareness).
- Expanding your self-awareness, situational awareness, and ability to adapt your leadership style increases your overall range of effectiveness as a leader.
The primary lesson for me, is that leaders need to gain clarity about, their leadership philosophy, style and behaviour. How clear are you about your leadership philosophy? Are your actions guided by your leadership philosophy? How big is the gap between what you say and what you do?
“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Business, Philosophy, Style, Basketball, Vision, Values
Dec
3
The more I read about leadership and as I observe leaders in organisations I’ve come to believe the Russian proverb that “A fish rots from the head.” as true and found that it applies equally to organisations. An organisation is the shadow of the top leader. An organisation and a team is only as successful as it’s leader. John Maxwell calls this “The Law of the Lid“, which states that:
“Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness…… Leadership ability is always the lid on personal and organisational effectiveness.”
Show me a frustrated team and I’ll show you a weak leader.
Show me an under performing organisation and I’ll show you a weak leader.
Show me an apathetic church and I’ll show you a weak leader.
Show me a losing team and I’ll show you a weak leader.
But…..
Show me a focused team and I’ll show you a great leader.
Show me a high performing organisation and I’ll show you a great leader.
Show me a passionate church and I’ll show you a great leader.
Show me a winning team and I’ll show you a great leader.
“The spirit of the organisation is created from the top” - Peter Drucker
Organisations and teams require great leadership to thrive and succeed. It seems that far too often organisations are over-managed and under-led. The leadership at the top of an organisation is of paramount importance. I’m still amazed at the lack of focus on an organisations top leadership and what truly astonishes me is the lack of urgency when it comes to removing poor performing leaders. All too often poor leaders are left to destroy customer relationships and staff morale. Leadership has be held to a higher standard, especially when is comes to their character.
I cannot over-emphasise the importance of selecting the best people for top leadership positions. How do we ensure that we select the righ people for top leadership positions? Peter Drucker in his book “The Daily Drucker” gives the following advice, “I always ask myself, would I want one of my sons to work under that person? if he is successful, then young people will imitate him. Would I want my son to look like this?”
“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.” - Larry Bossidy, Former CEO, Allied Signal
Mark Howell of Strategy Central blog posted a set of questions for selecting team leaders, from the book Mavericks at Work (I have modified the origional questions to make them specific for leaders). When looking to appoint leaders in your organisation, can you answer the following questions:
- Why should great leaders join your organization?
- Do you know a great leader when you see one? Here it is. Do you have a clear idea of how a great leader acts? What they do when under pressure? How they respond to a challenge? Can you describe it?
- Can you find great leaders who aren’t looking for you?
- Are your leaders great at teaching great people how your organization works and wins?
My advice to organisations is firstly, act swiftly to remove poor performing leadership, do not wait until low staff morale or poor performance forces your hand. Secondly, spend the time necessary to select the right leadership properly, placing character first.
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Character, Business, People
Debt Consolidation free quote
Dec
3
Leaders are NOT parents!
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“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” - Abraham Lincoln
The Leadership Insight
Leaders can fall into the trap of seeing themselves as parents to their followers. In this leadership style leaders see themselves as responsible to care for their followers, who are limited in their ability to help and care for themselves. So leaders step in and provide strong guidance and control, to keep their constituents safe and protected, because “father knows best”. This leadership style causes followers take up the role of children, resulting in unhealthy compliance, a lack of individual motivation and initiative from followers.
As leaders we need to see people as being capable, skilled with initiative and independent. As leaders it’s our role to create an environment that unlocks their potential, empowers and enables them to act. The highest calling of leadership is the development of others, developing follower into leaders. Leaders cannot treat their followers as children and expect them to grow. As Abraham Lincoln said “You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
Action Point: Do you have a parental leadership style? Have you created an environment that encourages initiative? Are you teaching and developing followers so they become leaders? Set aside time dedicated to growing and developing people who show potential.
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Business, Quote
Nov
1
10 signs of an unsafe leader
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I previously wrote about the the affect that leaders have on their followers. An article “Are You Safe?” from Business Week Online. So, what is an unsafe leader?
“When we coach leaders of family businesses, we want them to reflect on their leadership style and how it affects other employees, productivity, and, ultimately, their legacy. We ask: “Are you a safe person?” A safe person is one that people trust. When we trust people, we decide that the benefit of interacting with them outweighs the cost to us. If the cost is too high, we don’t engage unless we have to………….. Effective leaders understand the impact they have on others. But they don’t rely on their own beliefs to make that determination. They get feedback from employees and family members. They ask questions.”
The top 10 signs of an unsafe leader is someone who:
- Bases all decisions on position and power.
- Reacts with anger and aggression.
- Looks for someone to blame.
- Personalizes failure and puts other people down.
- Never asks others for their views or advice.
- Thinks he or she is always right.
- Sees everything as black or white.
- Ignores suggestions and input.
- Is erratic and unpredictable.
- Is driven by self-interest.
Genreally leaders vastly underestimate the effect that their behaviour has on those around them. Taking time to reflect on their leadership style and how they affect others is important for all leaders.
Technorati Tags: Leadership; Trust, Management, Business, Leader
Sep
25
A leaders’ character is revealed in everyday situations
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Character is one of the key traits of practicing leaders. An article titled “CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character” in USA Today discusses how character is revealed in our every day situations. CEO’s agree that the manner in which people treat waiters reveals a great deal about their character, stating that:
“How others treat the CEO says nothing, they say. But how others treat the waiter is like a magical window into the soul.”
The CEO who first wrote about, what came to be known as the “waiter rule”, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson, in his booklet of 33 short leadership observations called Swanson’s “Unwritten Rules of Management“. One of Bill Swanson’s rules are “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person.“, he goes on to say:
“Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with….. be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles.”
The article gives some CEO examples, the one that stood out for me was this one:
Just about every CEO has a waiter story to tell. Dave Gould, CEO of Witness Systems, experienced the rule firsthand when a waitress dumped a full glass of red wine on the expensive suit of another CEO during a contract negotiation. The victim CEO put her at ease with a joke about not having had time to shower that morning. A few days later, when there was an apparent impasse during negotiations, Gould trusted that CEO to have the character to work out any differences.
“Leaders” who have a situational value system undermines trust and therefore, their ability to influence and lead others.
To lead with consistency requires that we live in alignment with our values, goals and actions. The book “Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success” discusses the necessity of “living in alignment“, they emphasize the importance of alignment in three key areas, our moral compass, goals and behaviour, illustrated by the following diagram:
Living in alignment requires that we can answer the following questions:
- Morale compass: What do you value? What are your most important beliefs?
- Goals: What do you want to accomplish personally and professionally?
- Behaviour: What actions will allow you to achieve your goals?
To living in alignment we need to build our own personal view for each of these three frames.
I think that we spend too much time focused on what we are doing, when what we really need to be focused on is who we are becoming…. To live in alignment, to have a strong set of values and to be men and woman of character we need to act from a strong sense of who we are. Failing this we drift, overly influence by what media, resulting in a watered down version of ourselves. Never realising the potential that lives within us, we live by the expectations of others and fail to lead from who we are.
What others have said about character…
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound”. - James Allen
“People of genius are admired. People of wealth are envied. People of power are feared. But only people of character are trusted.” - Arthur Friedman
“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.” - Phillips Brooks
“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.” - Dr. Stephen Covey
Technorati Tags: Personal Leadership, Leadership, Experience, Leadership Development, Personal Development, Management, Character, , Business, , Leadership, Values
Sep
11
How leaders take responsibility
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It amazes me how many people try avoid responsibility. Leaders take responsibility, bottom line! responsibility is described on Wiktionary as “The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable.” and responsible is described as being “answerable for an act performed or for its consequences; accountable; amenable, especially legally or politically.” Leaders who are not responsible shift blame and as a result become ineffective, losing the respect of their followers.
Leadership is about making choices and being responsible, it’s about being answerable for who we are and what we do. The actions of leaders matter! And because the action