Your Legacy

With the passing of the infamous and legendary performer, Michael Jackson, I have been thinking a lot about legacies. For someone like Michael Jackson, there is plenty of documented evidence to seal his place in history. From epic music videos to great humanitarian efforts, Michael Jackson has impacted millions of people across the globe. After watching hours of footage about the singer’s life, there is one thing that I cannot forget. His life was no accident. His greatness was on Purpose. Michael Jackson set out to be the best and therefore he was (and still is) in so many ways considered the best.

My question to you is: what are you setting out to do? Are you leading on purpose or by accident? I am not talking about managing; leading is tremendously different. I am talking about setting goals and setting your team up to win, getting to know your team and building on their skills. Responsible leaders build bridges. Bridges between YOU (the leadership) and them (the team). In order to build that bridge you must open the lines of communication and be willing to do the work after the talking is over.

Set out to be great. Set out to be the best. Decide how you want to be remembered and start making steps toward Your legacy.

Responsible Leaders Set You Up to WIN

As a responsible leader, you need to understand the idea behind quick wins. These are small victories on the way to a BIG change. As you well know, change is gradual and can sometimes take years to draw to completion. There has to be some type of mechanism in place to keep the team motivated. As a leader, it is your responsibility to keep the morale of the team up and the momentum moving in the right direction.

If you (the leader) promise that the first cost reduction will come in 12 months and it occurs as you predicted, that’s a win. In small companies, the first results of an effort are often required (by management) in about 6 months. In big organizations, some wins are required by eighteen months.

As a responsible leader, you must understand the characteristics of a good quick win in order to ensure your team gets them. A good quick win has three characteristics:
1. It’s visible; people can see for themselves whether the result is real or just hype. Unfortunately, people are more apt to see the negative than the positive. It is your job to showcase the positive as often as possible.
2. It’s unambiguous; there can be little argument over the result. There doesn’t need to be a lot of interpretation. It needs to be crystal clear what the results are and the benefits of said results.
3. It’s clearly related to the change effort. NO wasted effort! Nothing ruins a team’s morale more than to think their leader is wasting their time just to get kudos. Ensure that every task has a purpose. Make your team’s efforts count.

Quick wins help organizations in several ways. Here are the top 4 ways they help (By the way, as responsible leaders you should know all the benefits of the wins you try to implement):
Quick wins…
1. Provide evidence that sacrifices are worth it: Wins greatly help justify the short-term costs involved (this helps to keep management happy). They show people that their sacrifices are paying off as well as build team morale.
2. Help fine-tune vision and strategies: Quick wins allow YOU (the responsible leader) to validate your ideas. What is learned can be extremely valuable. Sometimes the vision isn’t right. More often, the strategies need some tweaking. Without quick wins, such problems can appear far too late in the game.
3. Keep bosses on board: Provides management with evidence that the change effort is on track. From middle management all the way up to the board of directors, if they lose faith, the effort is in DEEP TROUBLE.
4. Build momentum: Turns neutral spectators into supporters and reluctant supporters into active helpers.

Bottom line, teams want to thrive even in these days of great change and stress. The problem is most teams are not patient enough to wait years to see the fruits of their labor pay off. As a responsible leader, it is your job to ensure your team does not feel like their work is in vain. You to have build into your project schedule those quick wins for your team, for yourself and for your organization as a whole. If you do, you will establish yourself as a true leader. And that is what you want, isn’t it?

Getting Things Done Responsibly

These days, companies are finding themselves in the middle of a big dilemma.

Responsible leaders are finding themselves out of jobs because for some reason their teams are not producing. So what’s the problem? Is it a hard business environment these days? Yes. Of course, change is coming faster than ever also. Often times, when leaders fail to deliver on promises, they are often accused of trying to implement a flawed strategy. The truth of the matter is strategies fail because they are not executed well.

Without execution, strategic thinking breaks down, learning adds absolutely no value, and people don’t meet their stretch goals. What you get is a change for the worse. Failure is inevitable. Failure tends to suck the energy from your organization. Constant failure destroys it.

These days, responsible leaders are being more practical. They want to take their organizations to the next level.

As responsible leaders you have to ensure that execution is a part of a company’s strategy and its goals. It’s the link between goals and results. Having said that, it is your job to ensure execution happens. If you don’t know how to execute, the whole of your effort as a responsible leader will be less than the sum of its parts.

So what is execution? It’s about getting things done. It’s about turning your goals into reality. Execution is essential to strategy. You cannot attempt to implement a strategy without taking into account the organization’s ability to execute that strategy. In other words, you can’t have one without the other. Execution lies within the three basic business processes: the people, the strategy and the operations. The responsible leader of the business and his or her leadership team are involved in all three. Actually, they are the owners of the processes.

In its most basic sense, execution is a way of exposing reality and acting on it. Most companies don’t face reality (go figure). That’s the number one reason they do not execute well. Responsible leaders understand this definition of execution and they are ready to work with their teams and companies to achieve better results. As a responsible leader making responsible decisions, DECIDE to do the work.

Work with your team to implement and execute the strategies that you know will take your organization to the next level.

Tough Times Call for Responsible Leaders

Due to the ever-changing economy, many responsible leaders will have to make huge changes in how they manage. Today’s challenges demand a deep look into the operational details of your business with lots of hands-on involvement. It’s not enough to sit at your desk anymore, read status reports, and direct your team. You need a deep understanding of what’s happening with your customers and in your own office. I’m not saying to abandon the big picture and strategic thinking, but these days every responsible leader has to be involved, visible, and in daily communication with his/her staff. Your new thought process has to be: hands on, team player. You need information that is up to date and from the source.

Responsible leaders should have an understanding of how tight credit and the threat of job losses are changing staff and client behaviors. Get up, get out and learn! At the very least, work with your staff that is close to customers and clients. All of the information you gather needs to be shared and analyzed in order to identify patterns. More importantly, you need to see the big picture. Ask yourself: How is one thing affecting many others?

In this environment, any lack of focus, urgency, or flexibility will hurt your company. Only by joining people as a team can you obtain focus, urgency, and flexibility, making the decision-making process faster and better. These days, the quicker you make informed decisions, the better off your company will be. As responsible leaders it is your job to make the big decisions as well as see the big picture. Without your team to help, how do you expect to do your job?

Responsible Goal Setting for Today’s Businesses

Responsible leaders understand that once stated clearly and communicated to the organization, goals align people’s energy. When they’re linked to rewards, they have a powerful effect on people’s behavior as well. Goals set the tone for decisions and actions that follow and greatly influence the results that get delivered.

The goals in which I am speaking have to be of the right type and magnitude to be achievable. And above all, the goals must reflect the opportunities in the world today. I like to call these goals Responsible Goals.

You can’t set goals by looking in the rearview mirror at what was accomplished last year and adjust this year’s numbers. You also can’t go by what is being projected for the industry or the economy. Responsible goals should reflect the opportunities that lie ahead and what is possible for your business as it moves forward. Responsible goals must be clearly defined with specific time frames. Then you must be willing to adjust them as the world changes and the opportunities and organizational capabilities change. Responsible leaders have to be insightful, strategic and most of all flexible.

Responsible goals are also tied to how the business is positioned. In a complex and rapidly changing economy, the nature of the goals as well as their importance may need to be dramatically different. Change happens, and responsible leaders have to keep their eye on how it affects their goals. Even if the goals aren’t adjusted quickly to fit with the changing times, you can adjust the rewards that are tied to them.

Keeping goals meaningful and the organization on track to achieve them under the conditions we are facing today is challenging but very possible. Responsible leaders are up for the challenge. Are YOU?

Making Leaders

Most companies today are struggling because they have promoted technical experts into leadership roles. Bad decision. Why is this a bad decision? I will tell you why. Most technical experts do not understand the responsibility that goes along with being a true leader. They know and understand how to be technical leaders, not necessarily how to be responsible leaders.

Responsible leaders cultivate their judgment skills. Allow me to explain.

It is your responsibility, as a leader to get things done; not do things yourself. Your ability to deliver results depends on how well and how consistently you grow other leaders. How will you do that? Judgment. It takes skill to judge people accurately, imagining what each person’s potential could be. You then must take the initiative to provide opportunities for them to not only contribute to the organization, but also to be tested and hopefully grow.

Responsible leaders are held accountable for the growth of their team. If you do not develop your team, how can you expect those individuals to produce the high quality products you need in order to meet deadlines and deliver over and above what is expected. Let’s face it; over-delivering is what it takes to remain on top these days. In a time when the norm is no longer the norm. We all have to step up our game and deliver better quality products and develop top-notch teams. As responsible leaders, YOU must plan to be successful and deliver quality 10 times out of 10. No exceptions.

Success comes with execution and execution comes with a willing and able team. It is YOUR job as a responsible leader to create that team.

The Power of Service

When you think of the word “serve”, what comes to mind? Do you think of a waitress or some other form of pleasing others? Do you think of leaders? If not, you should. The truth is responsible leaders are servants. “Servants to whom?” you may ask. Servants to your team, that’s who.

The real question is not to whom, but how. How can you lead responsibly and still serve your team (as if leading is not hard enough)? In order for you to be a responsible leader, you have to recognize that there are 2 key tasks you must fulfill.

The vision and the execution.

It is your responsibility to communicate what the organization stands for and wants to accomplish. Just as kids look to their parents and players look to their coaches, people are looking to you (their leader) for guidance and vision. In this role of a visionary, you are behaving like a responsible leader.

Now that they know where they are going, people will now look to you (the leader) to fulfill the second task of responsible leadership. The Execution! How will you get the team to the finish line? I’ll tell you how. You will become a bridge builder. As a responsible leader you will try to find out what makes people perform well and bridge the gap between their performance and your vision. That’s when you begin to make positive impacts on the lives of those around you. When you make an impact on your team, you are making an impact on the entire organization as well.

So you see; it’s not that bad. As responsible leaders you understand that the only way to truly have an impact on any organization is to serve the people in that organization. You know that it is your responsibility to leave the organization better off than before you arrived on the scene. You are there to service your team and to build bridges.

What type of bridge you will build is totally up to you.

Responsible Pillar #4- Don’t Just Go to Bat For Your Team, Hit Some Home Runs

It is your responsibility as the leader to listen to and speak for your team. Most teams want to believe that “if push comes to shove”; you will speak up and defend them. You have to represent the team and their concerns. Now more than ever teams must establish a sense of trust with you, their leader, quickly. They will go the extra mile and push through many obstacles if and when they see you are willing to do the same.

A responsible leader is simply a liaison. Your role is to listen to your team and voice any concerns up the chain as appropriate and vice versa.

Today, most teams are trying to stay focused on work instead of the many rumors of downsizing and layoffs. It is critical that you do all that you can to keep your team from getting distracted. How do you do that? You should be truthful with your team and do what you can to ensure them you are working on their behalf to keep the team in tact. Be truthful with your management as well. Explain that your team is struggling to concentrate when the company is going through so many changes. Who knows, maybe you can suggest a fireside chat with upper management. Giving your team the opportunity to voice their concerns.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to gain the trust of your team. Sometimes that’s all it takes to hit a home run. Simply listen and create opportunities to alleviate stress. That is the job of a responsible leader.

Responsible Leadership Pillar #3-Know Your Team Inside and Out

You, as the leader, have the responsibility to get to know your team. I am not talking about in a social setting, but professionally. What are their career goals? What motivates him/her to excel? Without knowing these things, how are you going to effectively lead your team? Getting to know your team can pay huge dividends. If your team trusts that you are interested in who they really are, they will want to work harder for you. Also, getting to know who aspires to be in your position someday will tell you who you may be able to rely on during these tough times.

In this time of distress you must work with each team member to emphasize the critical need for stellar performance and ensure each is equipped to maintain composure under incredible amounts of pressure. Who are we kidding folks? Times are hard and we as responsible leaders have to be real with our staffs. Pressure is being placed on all leaders to increase productivity. We are being asked to do more with less.

It is your responsibility to work with your team and determine who will be able to step up to the plate and deliver your team’s next home run when the game is on the line.

Responsible Leadership Pillar #2-Developing Your Team For Today

It is the responsibility of the leader to develop his/her team for right now, not for someday. The leader must be able to provide a skill analysis of each member of the team to determine strengths as well as areas of development. The leader must instill a sense of accountability within his/her team emphasizing constant performance measurement and analysis to show increased productivity. The team should always assume their leadership opportunity will come today. Therefore, the emphasis has to be on preparedness. The leader is responsible for preparing their team for increased responsibility and accountability.

Think of it as a football game. The starting quarterback has just been injured in the big game. You, the coach, are now looking at the bench at the 2nd string quarterback. You ask yourself, “Is he ready? Did I prepare him for this?” If you have done your job as a coach/leader, the answer is a resounding YES. So with confidence you have no problem sending him in and expecting the very best outcome possible.

It is the same with responsible leadership. You are constantly preparing for the big game and these days that game happens everyday. We are in a time when everyone must bring his or her “A” game in order to survive. The example you set and the skills you cultivate in your team will determine the outcome of the game. If you are a responsible leader, you will always be victorious.

Responsible Leadership Pillar #1-Build Your Team

It is the responsibility of the leader to build his/her “Dream Team”. What skills are needed and how will you interview in order to determine if the candidate has the skills to succeed during these tough times? Can they make the tough decisions? Will they be able to lead during adversity and still report progress and productivity?

Honestly, these days it’s not so much about the skill set that one possesses as it is about what they do with that skill set and the composure one has under stress. Leaders have to figure out a way to articulate what is really needed to successfully work on a team. For instance, as the leader of the team you must drive home the fact that it is all about increasing productivity and decreasing costs. That’s the bottom line. How well a person is able to network and create winning relationships within a team setting is not at the top of the list. Let’s face it, we are in dire straights and need to act as such.

Planning a team these days has taken on a new dimension. If a company is willing to spend the money to hire new staff, they will most definitely expect a high return on their investment fairly quickly. As someone who has the power/authority to build this “Dream Team”, think long and hard before entering the interview process about the types of people you will need to get the job done. My guess is you will need people that are strong leaders themselves and that know how to deliver results. As a leader you will want this type of person on your team. As a responsible leader you will already have several of these people on your team. How do I know? Well, it’s simple. Responsible leaders know what they need to be successful and they work hard at grooming others in order to get it.

Having said that, I only have one question: Are YOU a responsible leader?

March Madness

March Madness is almost over and we are about to embark on the Final Four in NCAA Basketball. As I watch the games and see the young men and women play their hearts out in hopes of being the national champion, I am reminded of leadership.

“What?” you may be thinking. “How is leadership similar to basketball?”

Well I’ll tell you…

I am not thinking about the game itself but what comes afterwards. The NBA Draft is really where the similarities lie. As I think of how scouts are watching the talents of the young athletes, I think of the way leaders should analyze their prospects.

One of the primary responsibilities of a leader is to develop those around you into great leaders. How are you going to do that if you have not selected the right candidates?

If we think of it in terms of basketball, it is essential that we select the right players for our team. If we pick the right people, the possibilities are endless, but if we choose poorly we may live to regret it.

As a leader, you must have the forethought and insight to identify candidates that are not only intelligent but also have a sense of character and integrity. Remember, this person will have to be a team player first and must be seen as a leader by the other players.

If they have the natural talent to lead and sincere concern for the development of their teammates, you may have found a winner. But if the player you selected is a “ball hog” and likes to take credit for the team’s work, you may be in for trouble.

So the next time you are looking for candidates for your team, remember March Madness and select wisely. You just may be selecting the next champion of your company. Whether it turns out to be the case or not, it’s YOUR responsibility to organize the draft and make the pick(s) you can coach for the next few seasons.

Fear of Change

Most people who have been through difficult and very bad change efforts tend to draw bad conclusions when the first thought of change comes to mind. They become really suspicious of the motives of those calling for the change and worry about the repercussions (i.e., jobs loss and new management). Of course, this is not always the case but it is normal to feel that way. Actually all change is not bad and will not turn an organization upside down. Honestly, it could help significantly. Some people would like to believe that their company couldn’t be changed. Wrong! John P. Kotter of Leading Change states that change usually is associated with a multi-step process that creates power and motivation sufficient enough to take over all sources of inertia. This process is not executed effectively unless “high-quality leadership, not just excellent management”, drives it. Leadership is about motivation and communication with others, which is exactly what is needed to drive a major change within an organization. Today things are changing with the economy so rapidly that companies seem to not have the time to catch up. The secret to staying ahead of the learning curve is to prepare your team for the change and give them as much information as possible. Do not allow many surprises. Nothing can kill the morale of a team more than them coming to work to find lay-offs taking effect and they did not hear it from you-the leader first. It is natural to be a little fearful of change, but as a leader you must embrace the change and see it as an opportunity to grow. Not just grow individually, but as a team.

Leadership Assault

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership”. Many managers like to use assault tactics in their office to get people to do what they want. This technique could not be farther away from true leadership. In actuality people want to trust their managers, they want to be part of something special and they want to be led by someone with great, fresh and bright ideas. The problem is most managers are so busy stroking their own egos that they have forgotten the true reason why they are in the position. I read someplace a quote that said, “Leaders are servants of people”. I believe that most managers today do not believe nor do they understand this concept. A true leader not only understands but s/he carries that thought in their day-to-day dealings with their team. A leader makes the team feel valued and actually includes them in the decision making process. “This is so simple”, you may say. Yes, simple. So simple that most managers believe that treating their staff as equals will diminish their credibility as a manager. They could not be more wrong. It will grow them and make them better, but I guess they would know that if they were true leaders instead of managers.

Leading and Listening

I heard about a study that said we hear half of what is being said, listen to half of what we hear, understand half of it, believe half of that, and remember only half of that. That says one thing to me: we need to work harder at listening. As leaders, we should make it our goal to be a more effective listener. In order to lead people, one must first understand them. You can’t possibly connect with someone if you don’t try to listen to and understand him or her. If you want to be more effective connecting with people, make it your goal to understand them. It is no coincidence that we have one mouth and two ears. That means we should listen twice as much as we talk. When we fail to listen, we shut off much of our learning potential. Good listeners pay attention to the small details. They also pay attention to what is not said. To be an effective leader, you need to let others tell you what you need to near, not necessarily what you want to hear. The truth is the higher people go in leadership, the more authority they have and the less they are forced to listen to others. However their need to listen becomes greater. “If they have not formed the habit of listening, they are not going to get the facts they need. When a leader stays in the dark, whatever problems the organization is having will only get worse”. John Maxwell is right.

We as leaders should force ourselves to listen more than we talk and try our best to understand those we are fortunate enough to lead. Those people have placed a trust in us that should not be taken for granted. They want us to listen to their goals and help them to achieve those goals. We would be doing them and ourselves a tremendous disservice if we did not listen. After all, we are judged by what others think and say of us, not what we think of ourselves. So why not do yourself a favor and help yourself by helping others.

Finding Your Voice

In today's world, it is imperative that we have a voice. I am not talking about the sounds that come out of our mouth when we speak, but a true voice. Something that we each believe and hold true. Something that resonates so deep within us that we can't help but talk about it. do you have a voice? We all do and it deserves to be heard. Some people may choose not to listen to our voice, but that is their loss. :) It is natural to want everyone to get It. We want them to understand our voice and receive our message, but that does not happen all of the time. This last presidential election was a prime example of delivering a message that some received and some did not. I watched both the Democratic and Republican Conventions in an effort to study the speakers. I found that how they delivered their message was just as important as what they said. Were they passionate? Were they strong? Did it make sense? These are all the things I asked myself. Finding your voice is just the first step. After you find your voice, what will you do with it next? I guess the question is not what will you do with it, but what you surely cannot do with it. You most definitely can not have your voice silenced. Many people intentionally or unintentionally try to silence our voices with their actions and words (especially in the workplace). Regardless of the situation, be sure you are heard.

As leaders, it is our job to assert our voice and help others find theirs. We do not want to be the type of so-called leaders that only enjoys hearing the sound of his/her own voice. If that were the case, we would not be leaders would we? People enjoy being heard. It is one of the key aspects of true leadership. Listening to others as they tell you who they are and what they are passionate about is paramount. The important question is: What are you going to do once that information is given to you? The answer is value that information and help your followers to cultivate their voice. If you do that, you will not only be seen as a leader, but you will be giving as as leader as well. Whether you are leading the meeting or simply a member of the team, remember we all have a voice and it deserves to be heard.

Leading at Your Highest Level

Ever wonder how CEOs of large companies like Houston’ s Hewlett Packard or Apple Computers succeed at leading such cutting edge businesses? Ever wonder what they have that their competitors don’t? Well, the answer is simple- leadership skills. Not just any kind of leadership, but what experts like Ken Blanchard call High Performance Leadership. Mr. Blanchard and several other scholars of management and leadership contend that the quality output of a company is directly related to the quality of that particular company’s leadership.

Leadership is about influencing others by tapping into their power and potential to impact a greater good. Leadership should not be purely about personal gain or goals; it should have a much higher objective. What is a higher objective, you may ask? It takes priority over short-term goals such as profit and is considered honorable. Leaders don’t always take employee morale and job satisfaction into consideration. For some, results are the only thing that matters. But we are talking about the next level. At most Fortune 500 companies, leadership has a higher responsibility. Developing people-both customers and employees-is of equal importance to results. Therefore, leading at the next level is all about long-term results and human connections not just the bottom line.

Bosses and Leaders

There is a huge difference between a boss and a leader. Bosses say, “Go” and leaders tend to say, “Let’s Go.” Leadership is all about taking others to the top. There is a huge misconception that great leaders accomplish big things without the help of anyone. This is simply not true. Abe Lincoln, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, Donald Trump, Sean Combs and even our new President Barack Obama (who can always be quoted as saying how he relies on the strength of his wife Michelle) have all needed the help of someone or a group of people to get where they are today. The moral of this story is simple, if you want to be a successful leader, you will need the support of many people. In other words, you will never get ahead unless people are behind you.