Month: October 2018

Too often, we look at people who we deem successful as having been successful their entire lives. We also assume they live a life full of confidence.

Thank goodness there are people like Tom Hanks to set us straight. Speaking last year on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Hanks revealed that he was plagued by doubt: “There are days when I know that 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon I am going to have to deliver some degree of emotional goods,” and he’s not always ready to deliver.

You must learn to overcome self-doubt, he says. “[Y]ou cannot sweat too much the possibility that you are making a … mistake.”

Confidence emerges from accomplishment. The challenges may be new and seem overwhelming but for most of us, there is something from our past that may give us the impetus to take on something new. A kernel of confidence emerges and so we plow ahead.

Failure comes when we give into defeat. Refusing to give in and pushing forward requires determination. Great leaders are those who leverage failure to achieve success.

First posted on SmartBrief on 1/20/2017

When times are tough, people want to see their leaders act. Bold statements make headlines but actions provoke results. If an action is to be sustained, it must be reinforced by what followers do. In my new book, Lead By Example, 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results, I discuss some of the ways leaders act for the benefit of the organization.

Manage by inclusion. It’s human nature to seek input from people we know best. Leaders are no different, but they have an obligation to seek out alternative points of view. Failure to do so leads to unilateral thinking, that is, everyone adopting the same point of view. That may be good for cheerleading squads, but it gets organizations into trouble. One way to avoid this trap is to make certain that people feel free (as well as safe) to voice opinions contrary to prevailing thought. That will only happen if the leader goes out of her way to seek alternate approaches.

Delegate for results. Pre-schoolers don’t mind being shown how to do something once or twice, but pretty soon they want to do it themselves. The same goes for those you lead. Give people directions but never tell them how to do something. Let them figure it out for themselves. Nowhere does this apply more than in setting goals. As a colleague of mine says, “Delegate for results, not tasks.” That is, tell people what needs to be done, but do not give them a to-do list.

Make a decision. If leaders truly are to propel the action, they must make decisions. Consultation with others, as discussed, is vital, and so too is deliberation. But sooner than later someone needs to pull the trigger when it comes to big decisions. Acting deliberately and decisively is essential to achieving intended results.

Another aspect of action is a leader’s behavior. How a person leads is often as important as what a leader does. The way a leader communicates, delegates, supervises and recognizes matters. People are not inclined to follow someone who is simply going through the motions; they want a leader who thinks about the impact of his decisions on others. This is especially true in times of crisis. Leaders accomplish little by themselves; they need the actions of others to succeed.

First posted on HBR.org on 10.15.2008

“I don’t think you learn anything from winning. You just jump up and down, it’s wonderful, it’s fabulous, it’s glorious. But losing — there’s a deeper music in loss.”

Author Pat Conroy, who passed away in 2016, said that in an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross in 2002 about his book “The Losing Season.” The book chronicles his time as a basketball player for The Citadel, a South Carolina military academy.

As Conroy says, losing may teach us more than winning does — when you listen to your own inner voice.

And here again is where Conroy offers good advice. “I had to listen to my voice. I had to find confidence by listening to me because I could not find it listening to [others].”

Leaders, too, need to follow their own inner voice. Call it an inner compass that is one part moralistic — pointing toward what it good — and another part motivation, stirring us to action.

Taken as a whole, such a compass stimulates a leader to persevere in times of hardship.

First posted on SmartBrief on 12/30/2016

A colleague of mine, Scott Eblin, likes to ask a question when speaking to groups of high-potential executives. “How many of you are, or have been referred to as, the go-to person in your organization?” Nearly all hands go up. While this is good, such self-identification does not tell the whole story. As stated in a new white paper developed by his firm, The Eblin Group, “expectations become broader and more nuanced and complex with successive promotions… the go-to person style become less and less tenable.”

Clearly leaders need help in developing behaviors that will help them succeed at higher levels of management. New research by the Eblin Group identifies five key behaviors that high potential leaders identify as important to successful senior management positions. “[T]hese are the positive behaviors that make ‘go-to people’ the go to people.” Let’s take them one at a time.

Strong desire to see team succeed. Leaders put the team first. That means they put people in positions to succeed and recognize those who achieve. This mindset begins with a desire for success as well as the authority to make things happen. That’s where leaders come in. They act for the good of the team.

Mental acuity and engagement. You need some smarts to be a senior leader but you also need to put those mental powers to good use. You need to engage the interest and passions of individuals. You need to help them see the vision and discover their role in fulfilling it.

Stamina/energy to perform. Management is a tough job. You possess a capacity for hard work. Smart leaders also realize that their survival depends on staying focused. Many do this through exercise and eating right. A leader’s ability to be in charge demands peak performance; stamina plays a role.

Positive image for the organization. The higher the position the brighter the light shines. Yet how many times have we witnessed senior corporate leaders wilt when the heat is on? The current financial crisis is a major case in point. Senior leader after senior leader proved that the “emperor had no clothes” when questioned about financial practices at their institutions. Accountability is critical for those at the top.

Openness and honesty in communications. Respect for others begins with being straight. Withholding critical bits of information, failing to give feedback, and hiding bad news are venal crimes that should strike any manager off the list for higher consideration. Rather look to those who share information and use it to help people succeed.

There is an underlying theme in four of these behaviors and it is this: leaders accomplish little by themselves; they can accomplish much by working with others. Those who are in positions of identifying and grooming next generation leaders would do well to select managers who know how to achieve results through the actions of others. Competency will get you promoted one or two rungs on the ladder; working with and through others will open doors to senior leadership.

First posted on HBR.org 11/13/2008