Copyright 2005 Bea Fields
www.CoachVille.com
Leadership is any influence relationship that
brings about
change…this can be a teacher/student relationship, a
parent/child relationship, a politician/citizen
relationship, a business owner/employee relationship, a
community leader/volunteer relationship and peer/peer
relationship. These ten guiding principles can support
leaders in becoming trusted by their followers and for
withstanding the challenges of today’s ever-changing world.
(1) Leaders must be willing to be highly visible
during
crisis.
Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart...Their greed
and fraud
have further eroded trust in people around the world, and
as a result, corporations and business owners are now
operating with a brand new set of rules. Building trust
requires a special effort on behalf of the CEO or Business
Owner to communicate openly, honestly, and often…especially
during crisis or tough times. During a crisis, the
stakeholders want to hear from their leader…they don’t
want
to hear from his or her spokesperson. They not only want to
hear from the person at they top…they want to engage in
open communication that involves the sharing of information
and ideas, and they want to know that their voice has been
heard. During turbulent times, it is important to take
advantage of all types of opportunities for communication,
including open forums, task forces, breakfast meetings, the
media, one on one meetings, and stakeholder surveys. More
formal forms of communication strategies include the 360
degree feedback assessment or a full communications audit
(which may take 2-6 months to complete.) The goal is to
communicate openly and often and to continue assessing your
communications program every day to insure that a culture
of trust is being maintained.
(2) Leaders must be willing to take a stand-
based on their
vision and their values.
This does not happen in a vacuum…leaders
must be willing to
admit that they need strong support from an executive coach
or a strong mentor who can guide them to doing the tough
internal work required to shift their thinking and to get
off the ego trip that many leaders live . They must be
willing to carefully explore their values and how they can
move their companies in the direction of a vision that is
unwavering. This takes boldness, and a leader’s stand must
be nailed into the ground and secured with cement...the
stand must be so strong that the leader does not become
“wishy-washy” during tough times and in the face of
controversy. Consistency is key, and the leader must know
and believe in his or her stand on a very deep level...from
the heart...not because the public relations director or
Chief of Staff told him or her what to do or say. This is a
genuine stand that is driven by the leader's authentic
value system that never changes.
(3) Leaders must be willing to be fully engaged
with the
four focus areas of their being: physically, emotionally,
mentally and spiritually.
These areas of being must also be congruent with
the
leader's environment. Leaders of today must be willing to
be fully engaged...physically fit, emotionally balanced,
mentally tough, and spiritually centered. Leading a strong
life is a quest that many leaders run from, because it can
be tough, but it is crucial if he/she wants to engage
followers in a way that is trusting. I cannot help but
think about Tiger Woods when I think about leaders being
fully engaged. He is an example of a world leader who is a
model of what I am describing. His body is fit, his mind is
sharp, his emotions are solid, and his spiritual presence
is inspiring. He is being followed by young men from all
corners of the world and viewed as an inspiring model and
mentor in the world of golf.
In addition to strengthening the four areas of
being,
leaders must be willing to create a strong
environment...one that is congruent with leading a strong
life. The environment must be clean, clutter-free and
optimized for speed, efficiency, and effectivness. The
people and network surrounding the leader must be moving
forward and fundamentally strong, and the activities
leaders choose must point to a life that is built for
change and is rock solid. If the environment is not
congruent with the goals a leader seeks, her resources,
energy, and effectiveness will become drained over time,
and people will no longer be willing and loyal followers.
They will seek a stronger leader to turn to for direction
and hope.
(4) Leaders must be willing to build deep pockets
of social
capital by designing a network based on diversity.
In the book "Achieving Success through Social
Capital",
author Wayne Baker advocates the building of networks based
on diversity, In chapter 2, he states: "Diversity provides
the benefits of multiple perspectives on problems,
protection against groupthink, and enhanced ability to
collect, process, and digest information. Management teams
with members from diverse functional background, for
example, perform better than homongenous management teams."
Building a diverse network is a crucial step in leaders
being able to build a strong business and personal life. It
is not uncommon to see leaders develop homongenous
networks...known commonly as cliques. This is a dangerous
approach, because the network does not develop the arms and
legs it needs to reach the four corners of the globe, to
get the resources and knowledge it needs, and it can
actually cave in on itself, pulling the company down with
it. By reaching into different cultures, ages, geographical
locations, educational backrounds, and belief systems,
leaders can build networks that will yield the biggest
results and that will be sustainable over time.
(5) Leaders must be willing to overcome the growing
tide of
cynicism in the business world and define an upbeat style
of leadership.
In the article “A Prescription for Leading
in Cynical
Times” authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of
the Leadership Challenge discuss this in detail. Cynics are
evident in every company in the world. They usually believe
that human conduct is motivated by self- interest, and they
have a disbelief about the integrity of others. They have
high expectations of the world, and they are continually
disappointed when the people in their lives don’t meet
those expectations. To begin working with this challenge,
leaders must be willing to drop their own cynical "The
World Stinks" attitude and develop the qualities that
others say are important to leadership such as integrity,
competency, the ability to relate, visioning, inspiration
and the drive the build a thriving and cohesive team.
(6) Leaders must be willing to push the edges
of
innovation.
I want to begin by talking about the difference
between
innovation and creativity. William Coyne, senior vice
president for R&D at 3M once described the difference:
"Creativity is thinking of new and appropriate ideas
whereas innovation is the successful implementation of
those ideas within an organization. In other words
creativity is the concept and innovation is the process."
Innovation always involves treading into uncertain waters,
and entering a new territory can be challenging, even for
the most creative of thinkers. Yet falling behind can be a
great deal worse than taking the risk to stretch and grow
into new markets with new ventures. If companies are to
move into the future, leaders must be willing to push the
edges of innovation each and every day. Executing an
experimental venture requires planning, and it requires
revisiting ideas that your company may have put on the
shelf years ago, and whose time has now come. It is about
zeroing in on the best possible strategy, discovering what
systems are needed and what processes will be required to
get the job done and to come out on the profit side of the
venture. Your new offering should meet the demands of your
customers and should be an improvement over the way things
are currently being done. As Nike says “Just Do It.”
Start
today to begin the process of innovation, and see what
comes about for the future of your company…you may just be
surprised!
(7) Leaders must be willing to show their employees
that
they love and care for them.
There is one truth in life that I firmly believe:
With the
showing of love and concern, people begin to feel wonderful
and more worthy, and their productivity will triple in an
environment that is loving. The book “Love is the Killer
App” by Tim Sanders focuses on what it takes to create a
true “Love Biz” by the giving and showing of compassion,
resources, and knowledge without the expectation of
anything in return. People will do business with people
they like, and this “Love Cat” way of doing business
often
strikes an uncomfortable chord with leaders who are
insecure about their own abilities or who view a show of
love, empathy, and compassion as a sign of weakness. People
have to know on a very deep level that their leaders care
about them, their future, and their growth. With this
loving approach to leading, the talent in organizations
will grow, and a sense of self confidence and commitment
will inspire individuals at every level of the company.
(8) Leaders must be willing to listen to the
grapevine and
then build a sense of community based on what he/she hears
in the grapevine.
One of my favorite leaders in my local community
is Dan
Landis, the Director of Sales and Marketing for St. Joseph
of the Pines, a life care community in North Carolina. He
is one leader who I see as truly being bold…he actively
places himself every day in the middle of the firing line.
He spends much of his day talking to residents, sitting
down and eating lunch with them, and stopping them in the
hall to simply ask “How are you…What can I do for you
today? What are the problems you are having? How can I
help? ” He does not stop with the residents. He goes on to
exercise this same approach with employees of St. Joseph of
the Pines. Dan is a leader who is developing a very deep
understanding of the collective issues and desires of the
customers of St. Joseph of the Pines…both the employees and
the residents. He is building a sense of community based on
shared values, and he is taking people to places they have
never been before. Not only does he listen…he acts,
bringing quick solutions to the problems he hears and the
desires he knows are in the hearts of the people he leads.
Every company has a grapevine, and it is not
uncommon for
companies to have a grapevine that spreads negative
messages, complaints, and rumors. These messages and rumors
can seriously undermine the morale of any company. Leaders
must be willing to do as Dan Landis does…listen to the
grapevine, and use it as a feedback mechanism to highlight
key issues that customers and employees consider relevant
enough to whisper about at the water fountain and in the
community. Leaders can also use the grapevine to monitor
which employees and customers are more likely to pass
information along, so that the impact of the grapevine can
be reduced.
(9) Leaders must be devoted to continuous improvement.
Leadership development is mandatory for CEOs
and Executive
Team, but it is also a necessary part of training for every
person in the organization. So many business leaders of
today see leadership development as "fluff" and “soft”
but
the truth of the matter is that leadership development can
improve bottom line profits and productivity. By listening
to an employee who is on the front line, and acknowledging
her value, a leader can create loyal internal customers and
can bring innovative ideas to the table which can grow a
company by leaps and bounds. By strengthening team
communication, a leader can create a sense of purpose,
loyalty, and long-term commitment to the organization. One
thing to know about leadership development is this: Leaders
must not ask her followers to do what she is not willing to
do. . Many leaders will hire training for their company and
will then refuse to attend the training because they “don’t
need it or think they are beyond it.” This is, in my
opinion, completely out of integrity. The leader must first
be a model of what is expected in the area of training,
development, and improvement, and must be willing to fully
participate in a training that the front line is asked to
attend. The leader must develop a culture that sends the
message that leadership development is not another
undesirable task but a new and fresh way to go about work.
(10) Leaders must have a plan.
The late Christopher Reeve once said “If
you don’t have a
vision, nothing happens.” Strategic planning is about the
future impact of decisions made today, and leaders must
have a plan that examines the necessities of today and
tomorrow in light of the organization’s vision, mission,
values and goals. It is not uncommon to find organizations
that either don’t have a strong strategic plan, or they
have a plan that is sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
This makes absolutely no sense to me. Leaders must realize
that to fully implement change, to satisfy customers, and
to promote teamwork from the top to the bottom of the
organization, strategic changes must be made that are
driven by a clearly articulated vision, mission, and
purpose. Once the strategic plan is written, leaders can
then take the steps necessary to insure that all
stakeholders are in alignment with the strategic plan and
that they are moving cohesively in the direction of
fulfilling the vision and mission of the company. Many
organizations will buy a “canned strategic plan” written
by
an expensive consulting company, and they will try to fit
their round peg in the square hole of the canned plan. This
is a BIG MISTAKE! Leaders need to understand that the
strategic plan is a collaborative process implemented by
key stakeholders in the company, and the CEO or Business
Owner must be involved in this process. With a strong
commitment and an experienced strategic planning coach or
facilitator, a company can create a solid plan which meets
the needs and demands of all stakeholders.
