IMPROVING LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE!
by Mike Manes
This is the sixth in a series of articles by Mike Manes on managing organizations and leading people. The first article created a management “Jambalaya” using various ingredients — “leftover” ideas that still apply in the world of people and work. The other articles use the same series of ingredients and a fresh approach to create nutritious food for thought.
DISCLAIMER
This is one man's view/opinion of leadership. It ain't right and it ain't wrong; it's just an opinion. The fact is that, all too often, leadership is studied in terms of personalities, policy, and performance — and all too seldom as a process. Leaders vary. Elvis, Jesus, Joan of Arc, Idi Amin, Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr. Bill Clinton, George (W. or H. W.) Bush, Napoleon, and Miss Jones, the Master of her Cub Scout pack, are all leaders. Although they're diverse as a group, leaders share one common denominator: Followers! This is the one absolute of leadership, says management guru Peter Drucker.
This article focuses on the process and roles of leadership, not the policies, personalities, or performance of leaders.
IMPROVING LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, trying to define pornography, stated simply, “I know it when I see it!” Leaders are like that, too. If I try to define “leader” and then compare a list of recognized leaders to this definition there's almost always a conflict. The love that was Jesus is at odds with the hate of Idi Amin. Hitler was the antithesis of Martin Luther King.
Dig deeper and the “ideal” of leadership becomes harder to define. Some leaders have serious personal character flaws, yet make and implement effective policies. Some leaders are paragons of morality and virtue, yet ineffective in their role of leadership. Some leaders have admirable character traits and proven leadership skills; some fail both as individuals and as leaders.
Some are smart; some aren't “the brightest crayon in the box.” Some stand tall. Others can't stand at all. Some are handsome — some homely. Some articulate well. Others fumble with language. Some talk the talk. Others walk the walk. Still others do both.
Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Communist; black, white, red, yellow, or brown; doctor, lawyer, or Indian chief: All can be leaders if, and only if, they have followers. We can spend the balance of this article negotiating a definition of leadership or we can agree that “we know it when we see it” and consider ways to be more effective in our leadership efforts.
Look at what leaders do (the process of leadership), or should do, and forget categorizing them by size, shape, color, personality, etc.
Peter Drucker indicates that the “one absolute of Leadership is followers.” Max DePree suggests that the “first role of a leader is to define reality.” According to Henry Kissinger, “the task of the leaders is to get people from where they are to where they have not been.”
Based on these observations, the leadership process is simple: It involves defining a current reality or starting point (where we are today); establishing a future ideal (where we want to go); and then mobilizing, organizing, and energizing people to follow the leader in the venture.
The roles of the leader include Dream Catcher, Security Guard, Organizational Architect, Environmental Engineer, and Coach. This article will discuss each of these roles, then offer questions to enhance the effectiveness of the leader in filling them.
A word of warning: Improving as a leader can seem overwhelming. It's a lot like “eating an elephant.” The most effective (and probably the only) way is to cut it into bite size pieces.
DREAM CATCHER
Even if you don't know what a dream catcher is, you've probably seen one. They often hang in the office or home of an aging Baby Boomer (a.k.a. old hippie) or from their rear view mirror. This Native American artifact looks a little like a spider web with a hole in the center on a circular frame, usually with feathers or shells hanging from it.
Although the legends vary, the premise is that a Dream Catcher captures your dreams and holds the good ones for your use, while letting the bad ones go.
A leader needs to create or capture a Vision (a future ideal) of sufficient grandeur to attract and motivate followers and must have a commitment to that Vision and the discipline to pursue it. Leaders and their Visions are about a better tomorrow. Leaders are selling hope. If they promise no better than the status quo — where will they find followers?
I know what you're thinking: Saddam Hussein didn't “sell” hope, he “peddled” fear. I'd suggest that Sadaam's inner circle consisted of his followers, with the vast majority of Iraqis as were their captives. The fear and torture the dictator created took away all hope — except that of mere survival.
If you want to lead, you need followers. To gain followers find, sell, and deliver hope: A better tomorrow.
Questions:
- Is your Vision real and of value to your followers?
- Is it like Goldilocks — not too big, not too small, but just right? Be bold, but not ridiculous (JFK had a vision to land on the moon, not the sun!).
- Would you “chase” your Vision as a follower?
- Is this Vision the best expenditure of the resources available?
SECURITY GUARD
The leader must protect the Values, Vision, and Mission of the Organization. Attempts at change invite attacks from the marketplace and from status quo advocates inside the system. Beware of sabotage.
Questions:
- Who's involved in the process? Who's committed to the Vision?
- Does activity focus on positive productivity or on camouflaging attempts by status quo advocates to “kill” the new?
- Is process in your organization used as a tool to leverage your strengths and relationships or as a weapon to destroy innovation/change? Beware of this rallying cry against your Vision: “Great plan, but the devil's in the details.” Rephrase this as “God (the opportunity) is in the details.” The details are the “facts”/reality. The handling of these facts determines whether the devil or God lies in the details. God is good; the devil is bad. Go with the good!
ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECT
As a leader, you must build an organization and processes to support your followers in venturing into the future to pursue your shared Vision. The foundation of the organization will be the Values that you establish. The “ceiling” of this structure is the rainbow and the pot of gold at its end — the vision and mission . The systems, processes, and job functions are the infrastructure — the framework for tomorrow.
Questions:
- Is the foundation (your values) large, stable, and strong enough to build on? Will it support the future?
- Does the “rainbow” provide enough of a challenge to sustain your efforts? Will your followers stand on the foundation and reach for the “rainbow”?
- Can you design the needed infrastructure? Will you do it?
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER
In this role, you must detect and dispose of toxins in your organization and the environment in which it exists. To be effective, you need healthy people and a healthy organization. Bringing a toxic person into a healthy organization will weaken it. Bringing healthy people into a “sick” system will infect them. Root out the poison!
Questions:
- Are the Vision and Values of the organization compatible with the Organizational Culture and the individuals in the organization? If so, continue; if not, begin abatement immediately (changing a culture is extremely difficult).
- Are your people willing and able to pursue the Vision within the Values? If they're unwilling, create environmental changes that allow them to motivate themselves toward the Vision (you can't motivate people — motivation is internal to each person). If they're unable, offer them training and development.
- Is your organization living, learning, and growing — or is it dying on the vine?
COACH
This role focuses on concrete, applied leadership in the trenches. The leader/coach must know the Vision and Values, create a team whose Mission is to pursue the Vision, hold the team accountable to these Values, and take responsibility for the results.
Building the team requires recruiting and positioning the right people in the right roles. A coach must develop, train, condition, discipline, etc. each player individually and all players as a group.
Coaching involves equal parts of preparation and execution. Coaches know the positions and what must be done in each role. They understand how to refine or adapt each role based on the player and the opposition. However, coaches don't get on the field; they work from the sidelines.
Coaches know the strengths and weaknesses of their players in the context of the team, the schedule, and each game. They mix and match positions, timing, plays, strategies, and tactics based on who's in the game. Coaches are master contingency planners — able to deal with injuries, fumbles, scores, and changes.
Coaches can focus a team. They know when to test a rookie, when to overlook an error, when to give a compliment, and when to ignore a misplay. They understand that the “whole is more than the sum of the parts.” Good coaches understand their game. Great coaches understand and teach life .
Although coaches can address the obvious, more importantly, they can discern the difference between a good result based on a mediocre effort and a less than desirable outcome based on the best effort. Coaches know when to “kick butt” and when to hold a player up who wants to fall down. Coaches ignite fires in the souls of their players and calm their spirits when needed. There's more — so much more. Bad coaches are forgotten, good ones remembered, and great ones loved.
Questions:
-
- Do you have the right players in the right positions?
- Is the team prepared for the schedule (your competition)?
- Are the players in condition? Are they ready, willing, and able to perform?
- Do you know the competition as well as you know your own team?
- What are your contingency plans? Are you planning for tomorrow as well as today?
- Are you testing rookies and preparing veterans for retirement?
- Do you celebrate victories, learn from defeat, and use what you've learned?
- Is this about a game or about life?
CONCLUSION
Recently I was talking with a frustrated friend named Floyd, a salesman who works with bureaucrats. He's trying to bring them from their mindset of bureaucracy and tasks and into his entrepreneurial world of people and their needs. Floyd is struggling with the effort.
Finally we agreed – “Business isn't about the work; it's about people.” That bears repeating: Leadership is about people!
Michael G. Manes can be reached at Square One Consulting, 625 Weeks Street, New Iberia, LA 70560, cell 337-577-3885, e-mail [email protected], or visit
Login or
Register (for FREE) to gain access to thousands of other great articles.