Focal Leadership

Leadership

The man or woman behind a leader

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leader shadowThe term ‘leader’, can sometimes get in the way of understanding the man or woman behind that title or designation. Just because someone is called a leader shouldn’t define them inconsistently from the man or woman that they are.

For example, being called ‘the leader of the free world’ is a very big accolade and responsibility. But the man or woman behind that title is more important than the title itself. Having a title without a nature and disposition to match it opens a person to ridicule and mistrust.

Being called a leader at work is a privilege and carries significant expectations. He or she needs to set an example, be an inspiration, communicate a vision, know how to mobilize others, and be respected for their achievements. People who are called ‘leaders’ and who do none of these things should do some serious naval gazing. There are some people who realize their short-comings, chew on humility, get some development, and apply themselves to be better. There are also some who can’t recognize their deficiencies and need others to coach and steer them towards improvement. And there are still others who just don’t care that their personality and performance doesn’t match the title, regardless of how many screaming voices, disconnected colleagues, and associated carnage lie in their wake.

The minute a person’s negative personality traits detract from effective leadership is the time for action, especially for those subject to that leadership. Say something! Rise above the negative and be your best! Work hard at trying to turn the tide! If all else fails – move on! (Don’t be a victim!)

Every person is unique, and every man or woman can bring something unique to good leadership. It may be compassion, ambition, influence, understanding, drive, or eloquence. The list of leadership virtues is long. For any leader, the important thing is to know their differentiators and allow these to flourish. The existence of leadership competency models can be helpful to promote certain behaviors, but they can also squeeze the individuality and uniqueness out of leaders. For a leader to be authentic and compelling, he or she needs to be themselves. The transparency and vitality of a leader is often what makes them attractive and effective – not their conformity to a model.

Consider the Wikipedia description of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” – a short tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, no one dares to say that they do not see any suit of clothes on him for fear that they will be seen as “unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent”. Finally, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” There are many leaders who find themselves in a similar position – they think that the title of ‘leader’ defines them, but everyone sees the man or woman behind the clothes of that title. For some leaders this is not a pretty sight, for others they truly are arrayed in a suit that befits the title.

5 reasons why poor leaders still exist

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leaders monsterI have often wondered why poor leaders still exist in such profuse numbers. With the emphasis on performance management, leadership development, feedback, and engagement surveys, it might be expected that the world of ‘big data’ would rumble poor leadership.

Let me offer five reasons why poor leaders survive and sometimes thrive in today’s workplace:

1) They know how to hide from their bosses

Not everyone is two-faced. Some people have more than two faces – especially leaders. They know how to suck up to their bosses and hide their poor leadership behavior. While they demonstrate autocratic and bullying behavior with their teams, they might practice a sycophantic, patronizing, and duplicitous persona with their bosses. They know how to turn it on, how to hold power over their subordinates, and how to create an illusion of being a good boss.

2) They create boundaries that others don’t cross

For some reason, a leader’s team can sometimes take on the character of their flock, herd, or tribe. Others don’t cross boundaries out of misplaced respect, parochialism, or fear. They consider that another leader’s team has nothing to do with them. The leader’s leader may just have their eye on delivery and results rather than the health of the workforce – leaving it to the team leader to get the most out of their employees. This situation can give rise to the leader treating their team members inappropriately.

3) They see employees as ‘resources’

“We can always hire someone else”. Is everyone expendable? Or should leaders invest in nurturing, developing, and encouraging their employees. Of course, the term ‘human resources’ is common in today’s workplace – but leaders who focus on the word ‘resources’ rather than ‘human’ are less likely to value their employees in a way that extracts commitment and engagement.

4) No-one confronts them

Confronting a poor leader is a sure way to call out their inappropriate behavior. It can of course carry risk. Weighing the risk of provoking better leadership against retribution or resignation, is one worth considering. A leader’s leader should of course be willing to call them out on poor leadership. Employees also carry a responsibility to stand up for being treated with respect and value.

5) They aren’t developed

Surprisingly, some poor leaders just don’t know any better. They may lack emotional intelligence, management skills, or have never had great role models. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the organization to provide a development environment to build better leadership capability. And this shouldn’t wait until leaders are in their roles – develop them for the roles they will be holding in the future.

Poor leaders exist in most organizations. Of course, ‘poor’ might be relative, in that one person’s poor is another person’s atrocious. It might also be that a poor leader in one organization is an excellent leader in an even worse environment. There is however no excuse for poor leadership. The best way for leaders to know if they are poor or good is to ask their boss, team, colleagues, clients, and even friends. Why not ask someone today what sort of leader they consider you to be?

Talent – do you have any?

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talentTalent – a natural aptitude or skill. Inclusive thinkers say, “everyone has talent”. Organizations often have talent programs, talent pipelines, and talent reviews. So, does everyone have some, but just in different amounts?

My opinion is that everyone has talent. Organizations need talent in certain skill sets, aptitudes, and abilities – but not everyone has these in the same amount as others. People choose different careers because their talents lie in different places. A skilled carpenter is incredibly talented, but they might make a lousy CEO, and vice versa. A ballet dancer has artistic talent, which differs from a football player who might have physical talent. A teacher is talented in enabling kids to learn. A parent is talented in expressing love and security to their children. And so on.

I differ from the standard definition of talent, in that I believe talent can be learned as well as being innate. I don’t think that works in every circumstance. For example, I will never be a good ballet dancer – even with years of practice! I have very little sense of timing, I am not built to dance, and I would just look ridiculous! I will never be a great violinist (I did try at school – it was terrible!) But, I think I could learn to play the violin with intense practice, even to the extent that you might comment on my talent.

I think we measure talent in very narrow bandwidths in the workplace. Talent pipelines tend to be based around leadership. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I have also implemented talent pipelines based around technical capability – something that would cause most organizations to die if they didn’t have it. So, if you’re in an organization that only measures talent by the ability of someone to take the next job up the hierarchy, think hard about creating talent pipelines around other strategic capabilities that make your organization successful.

Organizations sometimes use a 9-box or 4-box grid when conducting talent reviews. Individuals are plotted into a poor, average, or good box, based on a mix of performance and potential. I’ve often thought how harsh and simplistic this is, (although I would still use this tool as a way of guiding a conversation). If someone falls in the “wrong” box, that could strike a death knell to their career. And yet, if someone falls in the “right” box for consideration as a next level leader, their “talent” can be massively simplified in its measurement.

Measuring talent can be done in a more sophisticated and accurate way than a crude 9-box grid. It can be assessed over time using various technical, attitudinal, and leadership measures. It can be informed by the employee’s manager, peers, and clients. Insight can be gained through psychometrics, experiences, results, and interactions. Scorecards and achievements can be built over time. Discretionary effort can be observed. Extra-curricular activities can be considered when looking at broad capability. Projects, committees, and workshop outcomes can provide valuable insight. Application of training, white papers, and volunteering all speak to potential. Feedback and observation also help paint a picture.

Talent assessment is best when it is considered around a balanced scorecard, weighted differently by critical competencies appropriate to the target talent requirement.

When a leader’s behavior masks the culture

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culture maskThere is a lot of focus these days on progressive and positive culture being a differentiator for organizations. And rightly so. But this sort of culture, without consistent and complementary behavior, can’t exist. Organizations can run all the education programs they like, place posters on walls, and talk about the great culture, but if leaders don’t exemplify the culture – it is like pouring water into a leaking vessel. If a leader’s behavior masks the culture in a negative way, this speaks louder than all the corporate messages about a healthy culture.

“She/he is a right b***h to work for”. A comment I heard about one of the senior executives in an organization. (I have kept it gender neutral, because this doesn’t matter). This organization has invested heavily in making culture a major reason for their raison d’être and prides itself on the efforts made to generate a climate of healthy and correct attitudes/behaviors. Many employees would speak commendably about the culture of the organization in open session, but the water cooler conversations tell a different story.

The difference between reciting cultural mantras and experiencing cultural application is massive. The old adage of leaders “walking the talk” springs to mind.

So, what is it like to work in an organization that parades a healthy culture, but where leaders demonstrate contradictory behavior. At best, hypocritical. At worst, demoralizing. Another old adage seems to apply in those organizations – “do what I say, not what I do”. There are the face-to-face conversations and completely different behind-the-back conversations. A culture with a sunny side and a dark side. Employment with a healthy front and a poisoned experience.

Why don’t leaders behave the way the culture advocates. Power is one reason. For some leaders, their power and position become a corrupting influence on their behavior. They are all smiles with their colleagues in the leadership team, but turn into witches or evil wizards when facing off to their subordinates. (A timely Halloween reference). Some leaders show absolute compliance and supportive behavior in certain settings, and yet behave like tyrants or dictators in others. Let me illustrate – “collaboration” is often held up as a virtuous behavior for positive culture. Leaders in the organization will wax lyrical about the virtues of collaboration. But when he or she becomes autocratic and uncollaborative, what has happened. Their personal behavior traits have over-ridden the aspired cultural traits.

Leadership behavior goes deep! It springs from personality, learned-traits, experiences, beliefs, family-norms, alternative cultures, and many other sources. When an organization espouses a culture that exemplifies the best behaviors, attitudes, and convictions, it needs to work hard on the leaders who must lead this culture. Perhaps more than anything an organization needs to promote an atmosphere of permission to call out counter-cultural behavior – led from the top. Employees also need to have courage to confront, with the backing and protection of the organization that this will not result in negative repercussions.

So, leaders – ask for feedback, listen to the good, bad, and ugly. Be honest with yourself. Hold a mirror up to your behavior frequently. Hold culture conversations regularly with your teams, encouraging everyone to be candid with positive and negative examples. Above all, ensure that you treat everyone with the respect and admiration that a positive culture advocates!

Leadership by numbers

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leadership numbersLeadership is not easy, but you can follow five simple principles:

First LEAD YOURSELF
It’s tough leading others if you’re not leading yourself well. What do I mean by that? If you’re not looking after yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, then those you lead will get second best (or even worse). When you lead others, you need clear vision and a healthy outlook. These are best developed by leading yourself to the best of your ability.
There are times when leaders struggle. The best two things you can do at times like this are; admit it and ask for help. Being vulnerable and not being too proud to share it makes you a stronger leader – and your followers will thank you for it. Asking for help is one of the best thing a leader can do – you are not self-sufficient, and relying on others can bring out the best in you.

Second LEAD THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU
Leadership reach is finite. The best way to impact the most people is to invest in those closest to you. Whether that’s family, friends, or work colleagues, the same applies. This is true in the context of organizations, sports teams, churches, and pretty much any other group. If you can invest your energy in those closest to you, empower them to influence others, and build a strong first-line team, you will be leading well. Building trust and confidence with your immediate team will be infectious.

Third LEAD THE LINE
Being an example is one of the best things a leader can do. Showing up when the going is tough. Being positive when others around you are being cynical, or rising to the challenge when others are offering negative appraisals. A leader is courageous and prepared to face the head wind when others are looking for shelter. A leader doesn’t immerse him or herself in details, theories, or speculations – but stands up and is happy to be counted. A leader is aware that others depend on him or her, and takes this responsibility seriously.

Fourth LEAD WITH OTHERS
A leader doesn’t need to feel lonely or isolated. Yes, there are times when a leader will forge ahead to discover safe passage for others. But a good leader often surrounds him or herself with a team who add strength and diversity to his or her own skills and judgment. Your leadership is stronger when others share their strength with you. A good leader is often in the company of those who feel the benefit of their leadership.

Five LEAD THROUGH
Leadership is about follow-through. It’s not about leading when you feel like it, or when the going is easy, or when others are with you. It’s about setting a goal, following a plan, and delivering results. There’s nothing more deflating than a leader who jumps ship, or doesn’t deliver, or simply doesn’t care. A good leader leaves a destination and arrives at a new one – even if he or she must change course a few times along the way.

Leaders often benefit from a coach to keep him or her mindful of the five principles above. A coach can keep a leader honest and provide feedback if any of the principles appear out of line. Most of all, a leader is a better person for having a set of principles to live and lead by.