Recognizing Resistance

While our first reaction to resistance to change may be to quash it as quickly as possible, resistance is not necessarily all bad. Any change brings resistance with it, whether the change is positive or negative—so it’s unrealistic to think you will ever eliminate resistance. Resistance is inevitable, even when the change is positive and will make the lives of individuals brighter. When brought out into the open, resistance can help us surface problems, find errors, or improve on ideas. But resistance can only be managed when it is overt. If you can’t see it or hear it, you can’t manage it.

Not following through on commitments is a form of resistance. You can probably see clearly how this resistance might sabotage your efforts toward your goal.

Our resistance is brilliant. It continually takes new and different forms and is quite good at disguising itself and finding new ways to outsmart us.

Resistance will keep us from achieving what we want and need. Worse than that, resistance has the power to sending us and our businesses careening in exactly the opposite direction.

Whether you are a leader in an organization or in your own life, anytime you find yourself in a change situation, you will find resistance. If you don't, you are not looking hard enough. It is the way of things. You will resist. Your staff will resist. Your boss will resist. Your clients will resist. Potential employers will resist. Your family will resist. The higher the stakes, the more resistance you will find.

If we are not aware that resistance is at work, resistance wins. Your only hope of overcoming resistance is to expect it. But even that isn't enough. You also have to value it and embrace it. You have to work with your resistance, not against it.

You have to get intimate with resistance. And that starts with recognizing it. Here's what you want to look for:

Obvious resistance is easy to spot:

Refusal

Arguing

Disruptive behavior

The most powerful forms of resistance are usually much more subtle:

Anger

Becoming very busy with something else

Bringing up other issues

Compulsively checking your BlackBerry or iPhone

Confusion

Criticism

Feigning acceptance, without asking necessary questions or working out the details

Finding reasons to be removed from the task

Frustration

Getting distracted and not completing

Getting sick

Irritation

Not being available

Not getting started

Offering misleading information

Silence

Surfing the web

Oh yeah, and forgetting.

Which of these do you do?

Which do you see the people you work with doing?

Which do you see in your clients?

Start noticing the signs of resistance in you and the people around you.

Remember resistance is very creative.

Accountability is Key

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years (which actually may turn out to be a good thing,) you will be very aware that the world economy has been going thru some pretty rough patches. The doom and gloom reporting of the media reminds us daily that we are suffering a global recession that could take years to end.

If you are familiar with Spencer Johnson’s allegory called Who Moved My Cheese? you could be forgiven for thinking that your cheese definitely got moved!

Now, most of us will have some opinion of how this sorry situation came about. Hot contenders for blame range from the greed of the financial institutions to the inadequacies of the lending processes, from the outrageous bonuses promised to bankers to Joe Public who went way over his credit limit when he borrowed money to buy a house he just could not afford.

Whilst financial institutions are challenging and/or grudgingly accepting proposals for increased regulation of compensation and bonuses, many of them (including some of those heavily bailed out by government) are complying with new rules to reduce bonuses whilst increasing base salaries to compensate staff that would lose out.

We have to retain good staff, of course!

Accountability is Key

Let’s put the word “Accountability” on the lab table and dissect it so that we can explore the complete understanding of the word.

Business Dictionary defines “Accountability” as:

Obligation of an individual, firm, or institution to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.

My old copy of The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines “Accountable” as:

Responsible; required to account for one’s conduct (accountable for one’s actions).

Which is echoed in the online version of The Compact Oxford English Dictionary.

So, in the great scheme of things, whatever happened to accountability?

Personal Accountability

When I was a Project Manager – I was responsible for delivering projects within the triple constraints of project management, whilst the upper management was ultimately accountable for liability, direction, vision etc. However, I held myself personally accountable to the client, their relations, to myself and to any higher being who might be interested.

When I moved into the consulting sector I began to understand more of accountability for sales revenues, for knowing about my territory and customers needs, and for being a responsible and honorable representative of my company. I understood that commissions (i.e. the cash in my pocket) would increase or decrease in line with my activities and results, so that I was also accountable for my take home pay.

Organizational Accountability

When I became a senior manager I learned more of operational accountability and performance bonuses, both individual and for team achievements. I had “soft” targets about how I did my job, but the cash still followed the overall revenue and profit budget locally, regionally and at a corporate level.

Again, I held myself personally accountable for the well being and development of my staff, but their pay and bonuses would be awarded based on mutually agreed targets. All of us were subject to a corporate ruling that poor results = low or zero bonuses and the possibility of a pay freeze until the next year. Each year we would receive the rules that would be applied to our particular situation, changed as necessary to reflect corporate drivers. After all, if the corporation did not survive none of us had jobs!

One year we had achieved very average local results, so although the profit margins were not badly hit, the management performance bonuses were negligible. Another year we did ok in some departments and the staff all received good bonuses, but overall the corporation’s operating results were below projections so the management’s performance bonuses suffered.

Yet another year we massively exceeded all our operational targets nationally and received substantial rewards in line with the annual guidelines, even though other international subsidiaries suffered because their results were not up to the mark. Our local performance had boosted the overall corporate outcome on that occasion, allowing bonuses to be paid.

Did we retain our good staff, even in the lean times? Yes we did, because each of us took ownership of the part we had to play in the success of our worldwide team, as well as locally.

Nobody likes to be blamed for bad results and as leaders the buck might really stop with us. By acknowledging our own levels of accountability and clearly identifying to our team the expectations for their deliverables, we are more likely to stay ahead of the game and maybe even spot new cheese (opportunity) in times of change.

What are you personally accountable for? 

Are you willing to stand up and be counted when something goes wrong – then take corrective actions whilst learning from the experience? 

And when things go right, do you also try to learn something from the experience and pass that knowledge on? 

Do your team members also know what they are accountable for and understand the consequences of their performance in relation to themselves and to the wider organization?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Leadership in an Evolving World

When I first ventured into the private sector corporate world, I was living the dream. As the years started flying by, it did not take long before I became a little confused. As I prepared to promote in the old system, I was told how I needed to change if I ever wanted to lead people. I needed to act like a leader. It seemed I was too close to those around me and therefore unable to discipline them. I felt my bosses did not notice how my shift was the most cohesive, highly productive in the company and how I knew each member of the department personally and cared for them. How could I be wrong? The guys would do anything I asked of them because they knew I had their best interest in mind. I did not know or understand that I was learning/practicing a form of leadership. I was just being me. It still somehow escapes me that people will follow my visions. I am humbled. I tell you this, not to boast, but rather make a point,

“Leadership is how to be, not how to do” ~ Frances Hesselbein

One statement new employees seem to always make is “I want to be in a department that has potential for advancement”. This is coming from a rookie that hasn’t worked a day yet. You have to ask yourself, “Why do you want to be in charge?” Do you really have an understanding of the responsibility associated with being the leader? Those that follow you are directly impacted by your vision and influence. The allure of leadership is somehow mixed up with the notion that with it comes power. The reality is that with leadership comes great responsibility, usually not seen or taught in classrooms. Personal leadership influences organizations with associations to the culture, another topic for discussion later…

Servant leadership is the style du jour. ”I feel my time has come.” I don’t have to change or act to fit into a now recognizable style. I have learned a lot from my past leaders, mostly how I was not like them, and that’s OK with me. I really did learn a lot. I watched the impact that the leaders had on those around me. The old style was effective in producing exactly what we outlined and usually nothing more. That was OK as well. We served up a pretty defined product that really did not need much more than that. Today’s communities and economy demands more of the same profession. The leaders in my business are striving to change the traditions of the past with people who grew up learning how they should act.

Authentic leadership must be a reflection of the real you, not an act.

Servant leadership is not the only effective style. I will argue the most effective is the one that is sincere. Steve Jobs had been followed as an authoritative dictator. It’s hard to argue that his style of leadership was not effective. He was passionate about his pursuits, and he did not act like most CEO’s in the biz. He is one of my favorite CEO’s, not for his leadership style but for his drive and passion. I would have followed Steve Jobs (as a boss); because I would have believed what he told me. That’s another topic, trust, the foundation of leadership which would validate the sincerity.

The followers are there, they are all around you looking for the real deal.

I have watched several friends work hard in serving up what they had learned in leadership classes only to experience failure in application. Understanding the tenets of leadership is essential to shaping “how to be.” The best advice I could give today’s upwardly mobile service leaders is, “Don’t act, just be.” This understanding will likely take time to set in, just as it has for me. I am continuing to follow education in leadership, because I am trying hard to make sure I don’t screw this up. If I have people actually following my vision, I better be right and I can’t be acting.

And one more thing, I am still living the dream. Maybe that has something to do with it as well.

Leadership Communication Strategies

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.” ~ James C. Humes / Former  speechwriter (for US Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan)

Although some might argue there is science behind communication; and they would be correct... communication, and more specifically leadership communication, is more art than science.

Leaders must communicate consciously if they want to get the most out of the people they lead. Far too many leaders, the 44% that recently reported they were unhappy with employee performance, practice unconscious communication.

If you are desirous of raising the bar on performance in your business, here are three proven communication strategies that will transform your work environment:

1) Define and Communicate Your “Championship Game”

From the first day of training camp everyone that is part of an athletic team at any level from little league through the professional ranks knows the ultimate objective and vision for their team is to reach the Championship Game (for baseball, it’s the World Series, for football, it's the Super Bowl, and for soccer, it’s the World Cup, etc).

It is the inspiring vision to win the championship that keeps everyone focused, doing the right things for the right reasons so they can contribute to the team’s success, while also being able to reap the well-defined, and not so-well defined, individual and collective rewards and opportunities that come with their contribution.

Many managers complain about having to light a fire under their people to motivate them to follow through on anything beyond the minimum job requirements. Investing some time and energy to identify ways to communicate to motivate in a way that inspires their people and lights a fire within them, is a much better use of a manager's efforts.

This approach can make a difference in a very short amount of time.

2) Address Issues Promptly, Directly and Respectfully

Communicating in this manner eliminates three of the 7 deadliest sins of leadership and  workplace communication. Too many organizational leaders take too long to address issues, respond to questions, and suggestions from their team members, peers, superiors, etc. This is procrastination. It is unprofessional, offers an air of incompetence in decision making and damages respect and trust.

The best leaders address issues promptly.

Even better leaders address issues promptly and directly to the individuals to whom they need to be addressed to. They confront issues head on at the source. Because of a lack of positive influencing communication skills, less adept leaders fall into the procrastination pattern for fear of confrontation, or practice an even more trust and respect damaging practice of addressing issues generically in team meetings that should be more directly delivered one-on-one to individual perpetrators.

They fear the confrontation often because they have experienced previous attempts escalating into conflict or negative interactions, which have caused defensiveness, hurt feelings and resentments.

Much of this can be due to the leader’s inability to address confrontational conversations in a respectful manner. This again, reverts back to a leader’s skill level in positive influencing communication skills.

Champion level leaders have the communication skills to do all three extremely well. They address issues promptly, directly and respectfully and get the results they need while, most importantly, building a team culture of mutual respect with high levels of trust leading to high levels of performance.

3) Create a Forum/Outlet for 2-Way Communication and a Feedback Loop

Communication is always among the top three issues or problems identified by employees in organizations. The challenge with this generic, vanilla statement is that there are too many aspects of communication to fix the problems.

It must be more clearly defined.

In a recent client project three different teams in one focus group identified communication as an organizational problem. Yet, each defined it differently from a completely different context.

One simple way to resolve this issue is to create a formal forum for communication that includes a two-way feedback loop.

This sounds much more complicated than it really is. It simply means that regular, structured meetings are facilitated to bring issues, problems, ideas and suggestions to the fore for company leaders to address and respond to.

There are four key steps for doing this successfully:

1) Schedule meetings at regular and consistent times

2) Invite a cross section of participants representing the various departments, divisions, etc.

3) Collect ideas, chunk them into related categories and prioritize

4) Create a system through which company leaders can respond to every item in a reasonably timely manner.

Often company leaders are leery of developing this type of communication process for fear of the meetings devolving into gripe sessions. These fears are valid and can be eliminated by doing these three things:

1) Setting clear guidelines at the outset,

2) Ensure that all ideas and suggestions are articulated in a positive, constructive manner, and

3) Following through with prompt feedback on all ideas so that those contributing feel as if their contributions were taken under consideration and were valued (it is perfectly okay to say “no” to an idea as long as it comes with a credible reason).

Or, if you’d like more specific and direct help to improve your approach to leadership communication to transform motivation, morale and performance in your organization, feel free to contact me.

Leadership Complexity

Coping with the complexity of today’s business environment is not about predicting the future or reducing risk. It’s about building the capacity, in yourself, your people, and the organization to adapt continuously and learn speedily, in order to maximize the chances of seizing fleeting opportunities.

Here the core distinction we want to play with is the distinction between thinking about predicting the future and thinking about the dispositions in the present. This shift is incredibly hard to think your way through, but it’s a way we act all the time. For example, think about planning a family reunion. If you work with a “predictive” world view (from a simple or complicated view of what a family reunion might be), you might create a proposal for the event, listing core outcomes you would have the event deliver. You might send that out to family members, get buy in from the most important decision-makers, and then work to deliver against your targets. To get buy-in you might have to create targets that avoid what most people name as the last reunion’s major disasters: when the teenage cousins spiked the punch and got great aunt Clara drunk and when the twins fell off the deck and Brad broke his arm. In order to avoid these terrible things, you create a no-drunkenness target and a safety-first target. You eliminate all alcohol and call around to venues to check on their safety standards.

I am guessing this is not the way you would think about it. Our minds often turn naturally to complexity thinking when dealing with family events even when we spend most of our work time pretending we live in a complicated world. We are more likely to learn from the past about what the system (in this case the extended family) is disposed to do. Teenagers are disposed to push the edges of the adult world in helpful and unhelpful ways. Little kids are disposed to use energy, often physically. The grown cousins are disposed to tell stories about being kids together. And, so on... How could you take your current knowledge of the system to create a family reunion that was the most fun, without risking life and limb?

Here’s the next part of complexity theory. Now that you understand what the system is disposed to do, you create ways to attract the behaviors you want and repel the behaviors you don’t want. Teenagers like to push the boundaries of adulthood? You could create ways for them to engage that freedom without access to alcohol. Little kids need to burn energy? You’d put the reunion someplace where little kids could play whether it was sunny or raining. This is obvious, right?

So, why is it that when we are planning a corporate retreat, we don’t think that way? We tend to create project plans, outputs, targets. We tend to ignore the ways the system currently acts (and why) and instead focus on our aspirations for the system—the way it rightly should be acting. We put our energy into defining the future rather than understanding the present and what holds us in unhelpful patterns (and what might create more helpful ones).

Imagine planning a retreat with a complexity approach. You’d need to learn lots about the individuals and the patterns of their interaction and work. You’d need a sense of what sorts of things brought out their best and what sorts of things brought out their worst (here my ideas about biggest selves and smaller selves are one helpful lens). And you’d need to experiment with ways to create the conditions you wanted. You couldn’t get it right every time—especially if you were trying to do something that hadn’t been done before. But what evidence do we have that the complicated world of targets and outlines gets it right every time? By considering the “safe-to-fail” approach, you can think about risk and reward in whole new ways.

Make a list, describing things that are simple? Or complicated? And even more complex? Now just begin to check your mindset about them. Are you treating them differently? In what ways?

Leadership is NOT a set of Behaviors

Often in leadership circles, we place those who achieve success on pedestals and we talk about what they did right. We study their actions. We admire the decisions they made and the opportunities they have had. We learn from them and they challenge us.

Do you ever notice that some of these people never fail? They seem to never make a mistake or if they do, we only hear about it because they are telling us about their success overcoming that failure or learning from it.

Are you ever tempted to compare yourself with those people? “I could never do such and such,” or, “I would love to have the chance to do that with his resources and her connections.” Do you find yourself comparing often?

Comparison is a deadly trap. It can keep us from believing we are qualified or capable. It can cause us to flinch, hesitate or stop doing what we know we should.

However, when it comes to leading from who you are — let’s call that character-based leadership — comparison wastes energy. Character-based leaders are imperfect. My character is not perfect. If your character is perfect, you can stop reading here.

So, if you focus on perfection, you will get discouraged, because perfection seldom happens and never happens for long. Or you will choke, trying too hard. Or you might freeze, engulfed by fear. Aim for perfection and bank on discouragement, dissatisfaction, broken relationships, frustration and worse.

Leading from who we are means we must lead with and through imperfection. You can’t be someone else and be a character-based leader at the same time. One way to manipulate is to behave in a way that’s not consistent with who you are to get others to do what you want. Anyone inspired by a wrong image of the real you will disconnect when they discover the real you.

Our imperfections may discourage us but we must refuse to let them take us out of the game. Refuse to listen to that little voice in your head that tells you “Don’t screw up!” or “You always blow it in this area,” or “Remember the last time you tried this.” Genuine leadership is leadership through imperfection.

When we face our imperfection and still do what needs to be done, that’s genuine character-based leadership. We must work on our shortcomings but never let them keep us from taking action. Imperfect, genuine leaders encourage and mobilize others to do the same. They make persistence and success believable, reachable. Let’s stop listening to any voice that tells us we can’t do something. Simply decide to be the change you want to see in the world. Then act. The worst thing that can happen is that you might fail, but you’ll be who you are.

I’ll take an imperfect, transparent, giving, willing leader over a perfect, aloof, self-serving leader any day. Wouldn’t you?

Leadership Behaviors

Get it right on the inside and you will get it right on the outside. That’s good advice that is rarely followed by today’s leaders. Instead there seems to be a focus on just getting it right on the outside. This can work, but it’s probably leaving your followers feeling a little empty at best—or distrusting at worst.

When leaders focus only on their behaviors and outside appearances, they are presenting a thin veneer of leadership that can work for a short while, but which eventually breaks down—especially under pressure.

Wondering how you can get it right on the inside instead of working so hard to act in a prescribed way on the outside? Here are some ways to get started. These are based on answers to such questions as, “Who was your best boss?” and “What made them so special?”

[image courtesy of integralleadershipreview.com]

See people as assets to develop instead of liabilities to manage. Good leadership begins with a fundamental belief in people and the value that they can bring to a company. Where do you stand on this? Do you focus on people’s strengths and how to maximize them, or do you tend to focus on weaknesses and how to correct them? How does that impact your leadership behaviors?

Assume the best. People have good days and bad days. They make mistakes, exhibit poor judgment, and sometimes let you down. How do you react to these situations? What is the story that you are telling yourself about their actions? Are you assuming they had good intentions and just fell short, or does this just go to show that you were right about them all along? Your resulting leadership behavior will be very different depending on your mindset.

See yourself as a leader instead of as an evaluator. Part of leadership is matching skill sets to the overall goals of the organization. The ability to discern talent and apply it effectively is an important quality. But don’t make that the sole focus of your leadership. Instead, go beyond getting the right people in the right positions and actively work to help them succeed in their roles. See their success as a partnership between you and them. When people sense that you are on their side, helping them to succeed, they act and perform very differently than if they feel that you are primarily judging and evaluating them.

Beliefs and attitudes drive your behaviors. In today’s open and connected world, you have to be genuine and authentic. Leaders who get it right on the inside naturally display genuine behaviors on the outside that people respond to. Take a look at your leadership beliefs. Work on the inside first.

Leadership Trust Gap – Part 3 of 3

Prof Barbara Kellerman asks those in charge of leadership-development programs to question the assumptions the industry promotes:

·         Leadership can be learned by most—quickly and easily; over months, weeks or weekends.

·         Leaders matter more than anyone else.

·         Followers are secondary.

·         Context is tertiary.

She also suggests several important mindset shifts based on these assumptions:

We cannot stop or slow bad leadership by changing human nature. No amount of preaching or sermonizing—no exhortations to virtuous conduct, uplifting thoughts or wholesome habits—will obviate the fact that our nature is constant (even when our behaviors change).

We cannot stop or slow bad leadership without stopping and slowing bad followership. Leaders and followers are always interdependent.

We cannot stop or slow bad leadership by sticking our heads in the sand. Amnesia, wishful thinking, the lies we tell as individuals and organizations, and all of the other mind games we play to deny or distort reality get us nowhere. Avoidance insures us to the costs and casualties of bad leadership, allowing them to fester.

What Leaders Can Do

Leaders can become more effective and ethical by following these steps:

Remember the mission.

Limit tenure in positions of power; share power.

Establish checks and balances.

Avoid groupthink; ask the right kinds of questions.

Establish a culture of openness in which diversity and dissent are encouraged.

Don’t believe your own hype; get and stay real.

Compensate for your weaknesses by hiring and delegating well.

Develop a personal support system (mentor, advisor, coach, best friend).

Stay balanced and healthy.

Be creative, reflective and flexible.

Question assumptions; get reliable and complete information.

What Followers Can Do

If bad leaders are to be stopped or slowed, followers must play a bigger part.

But many followers consider the price of intervention to be too high. There are real benefits for going along, along with real costs and risks for not going along. We often choose to mind our own business. Nevertheless, incompetent and unethical leaders cannot function without followers.

Followers can strengthen their ability to resist bad leaders by observing these guidelines:

Empower yourself.

Hold leaders accountable; use checks and balances already in place.

Find allies; develop your own sources of information.

Be loyal to the whole, not to any one person.

Be a watchdog (especially if the board seems too compliant).

Be skeptical; leaders are not gods.

Take collective action (even on a modest scale, such as assembling a small group to talk to the boss).

Luckily, more followers are stepping up to the plate, demonstrating a willingness to share responsibilities, power, authority and influence. They know that once bad leaders are entrenched, they seldom change or quit of their own volition. It’s up to us to insist on change—or an early exit.

Leadership Trust Gap – Part 2 of 3

In a perfect organizational world, we would be blessed with transformational servant leaders who are intrinsically motivated to provide benefits to their followers. But, in the real world, corporate executives are rarely that accommodating. We nevertheless expect our leaders to make things better for both the business and our careers.

Corporate leadership is simultaneously envied and disdained. We are in awe of strong personalities who take charge and earn big compensation packages, bonuses and perks. At the same time, we cannot deny that the gap between the rich and poor has been steadily increasing for decades, and the middle class has declined.

Furthermore, the financial crisis—the worst since the Great Depression—has been slow to recover. Many blame executives at our top financial institutions for eroding trust in leadership. We are left with an impression of widespread corporate corruption that continues to be amply rewarded, even when CEOs are dismissed for poor performance.

A 2011 Gallup poll confirmed that corporate America’s reputation is in tatters, with 62% affirming they want major corporations to have less influence in the future—a figure that increased 10% in a decade. A whopping 67% of those polled said they resent big business’ influence.

A survey of Fox News’ right-of-center viewers found that most overwhelmingly believe (a 6:1 margin) that corporate leaders have done more to hurt than help the economy.

Income Disparities

Most of us expect our leaders to be paid more than we receive. We recognize that they work long and hard, are intelligent and experienced, and shoulder responsibilities and risks most of us wouldn’t want.

But, has the economic and lifestyle gap grown absurdly large?

Between 2002 and 2007, the bottom 99% of American incomes grew only 1.3% a year, compared to a 10% bump in compensation for the top 1%.

Let’s look at a few examples of CEOs’ annual compensation:

·         In 2008, Oracle’s Larry Ellison received nearly $193 million

·         Countrywide Financial’s Anthony Mozilo: $102.84 million

·         Aflac’s Daniel Amos: $75 million

·         Safeway’s Steven Burd: $67 million

The median pay for top executives at 200 big companies in 2010 was $10.8 million, a 23% jump from 2009.

These examples contribute to our dislike and distrust of those at the helm. These leaders seem to grow excessively rich as the average American struggles to make ends meet.

Flawed Followers

Perhaps today’s leaders can get away with various and sundry peccadilloes because their followers fail to demand accountability.

“Leading in America has never been easy,” writes Barbara Kellerman in The End of Leadership. “But now it is more difficult than ever—not only because we have too many bad leaders, but because we have too many bad followers.”

Many of us are too timid, disengaged or alienated to speak up, making it easy for corporate leaders to do what they want—and what’s best for their bank accounts.

The leadership-development industry has become huge, with $50 billion a year spent on corporate training. Shouldn’t the curriculum include elements of followership? Everyone, including the CEO, has to answer to someone, be it a board, stockholders or a senior team.

Tomorrow, in the concluding Part 3; I'll examine some of the assumptions with the leadership development in the business world.