Impact of the Why

The last post was a challenge to focus on the “why”.  Leadership is about creating experiences that develop the “why” into strong beliefs resulting in the needed actions for success.  Our teams can perform even better when we intentionally plan experiences, beliefs, and actions.

Experiences drive the beliefs.  Our teams need to experience an event or environment strong enough to frame the belief necessary to commit them to the outcome you need.  We need to intentionally plan and create experiences with a desired belief in mind.

Beliefs drive the behavior.  Think about the things you volunteer your time.  We act because we believe what we are doing will make a difference in some sort of outcome – for the person we are helping, for the cause we are serving, or (selfishly) how we are seen.  Our beliefs drive our behavior.  Strong belief will create committed actions.  Connecting the “why” through experiences for our team will shape the beliefs to help our team move from involved to committed and strengthen consistent action.

What next?  There are three things to review: 

• Leaders need to review and select the critical beliefs to ensure that they have identified the correct ones to strengthen the behavior needed.
• Leaders need to review the current environment to see if there is something missing that would result in stronger beliefs connected to the “why”. Some experiences or events may need formal scripting because without the script, they will not occur consistently enough.  Scripting will help create habits.
• Leaders need to ensure their behavior is in alignment with the beliefs and environment they expect.  The Apostle Paul challenged his readers in the New Testament to follow his example and to practice what they learned from him.  That raises the bar high – can you issue that challenge?

There will be times when the wrong people are in the wrong seat (and maybe even on the wrong bus!).  But if we start by looking at the environment/experiences we are creating and the beliefs that are resulting from those experiences we can increase the opportunity for a culture to evolve with internalized behavior instead of one that is dependent on consequences.

Focus on the Why

Too many times, I think, we focus on the “what”.  We get absorbed in the “what” because it is easy to explain, measure, quantify, and compare.  Unfortunately, we leave outsiders to interpret the “why” for us – and it is generally not correct.  The result is they never quite understand the “what”  because they have a false picture of the “why”.  

Focusing on the “why” creates synergy.  It enhances clarity, purpose, and passion.  Clarity makes it easier to understand the “what”.  Purpose provides the framework for people think creatively and improve the “what”.  Passion ignites when there is a reason for the “what” and the “why” connects with personal values and beliefs. 

Leadership is about creating experiences that develop the “why” into strong beliefs.  It’s about empowering people to live out the beliefs that are aligned with the “why”.  When everyone believes and values the “why”, the “what” will be stronger than ever imagined.

Standout Assessment

Marcus Buckingham has earned the reputation as one of the gurus of the philosophy of maximizing your strengths.  A few months ago he added the Standout Assessment as an online tool to learn more about the roles you are gifted towards.  The book will be released this fall to explain the assessment in deeper detail.

Buckingham’s Standout Report adds value in three ways:

·        It provides a prescriptive viewpoint of your strengths/roles and how to use them for maximum effectiveness.  It helps you identify those situations that you really perform best.  Strengthfinder is more descriptive – it helps you put words into play that help you articulate what you do best and describes the strengths.  It also provides a high level affirming perspective of what you do.  It leaves it to you to explore the strengths.

·        It provides guidance for the individual on how to utilize the respective roles to be successful in their job – as a leader, as a manager, in client services, or in sales.

·        It can provide career guidance with more specific insight as to what situations you may find the opportunity to maximize your skills.

The Standout Report provides you with your rank order of the 9 roles Buckingham identifies and zeroes in on your top two. The assessment provides insights to your top two roles individually and then as a combination – how they work together.

The added bonus to the new Standout report is that TMBC can collect your team assessments together and present the results in a summary.  This can be done after everyone takes it individually as well, according to the website.

Which is better, Strengthfinder or Standout?  Both of them have great value and I have found them both extremely helpful in understanding what I do best and how I think, understanding more clearly what I add to a team, and providing realistic insights on how I can improve my performance in various roles.  Self-awareness is an important key to a leader’s success – this is one more tool for the leader to learn and grow.

More information on Standout can be found here.

The Obsolete Leader

An old Twilight Zone episode called “Obsolete Man” provides fodder for a great discussion.  Romney Wordsworth has been called to trial for being “obsolete” – he is a librarian in a society that has done away with books, independent thinking, and valuing each person for what they bring to the world.  He is convicted and scheduled for execution.  We later find out he has a couple of other skills but never took them any further – according to his accusers. While awaiting the end, Wordsworth finds a way to bring out the worst in his judge contrasted with his own peace.  While the intent of the episode is clear from Rod Serling at the close – you become obsolete when you fail to recognize the worth, dignity, and value of people – there is another thought that also bubbles to the top.

How does a leader prevent himself from being obsolete?

Relevant leaders are readers/learners – they stay current on leadership topics and issues.  They understand the changes in their business.  They soak up the new information as it is released in journals, books, and the web.  It doesn’t mean that they adopt all new information without a thought.  But they provide a critical eye and ask if some of the new ideas could be relevant and cause a change. 

Relevant leaders value their team and recognize the worth and dignity of all.  This is essence of the message from Rod Serling, but it also is captured by Margie Blanchard in a more active way, “Leadership is love – leaders love their vision. They love their values. And [most importantly] they LOVE to serve others.”  It’s a servant leadership model that keeps the leader relevant to their teams.  That’s not to say everyone on a team will always stay, but a current and relevant leader will first look to see if there are skills that can be used somewhere else on the team before making a tough decision about who is on the team. And the process of change honors the person if needed.

Relevant leaders stay active in their field.  They refuse to be an island.  They interact with associations connected with their field.  They participate in networking events and interact with the new team members as well those that are equally tenured.  They aren’t chained to their office but look outward to see and hear how things are and give permission to their team to share reality without the sugarcoat.

Don’t let your leadership style and skills become obsolete – read and learn, be a servant leader, and stay active. 

“Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. (Philippians 2:4-5, the Message)

Overwhelmed with Information?

Everyone from customers to team members want to talk to you. Everyone from vendors to organizational hierarchy want to send things to you . Family and friends text you. You can access your email from home, your phone, and even your TV. We carry our phones everywhere and I am sure that most of us have seen them used in some most unusual places. So what is a leader to do when hit with the avalanche of information?

Divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually.  It sounds cliche', but there is a lot of wisdom in this statement.

•  Divert daily is the needed action to keep us fresh.  Divert means to "change the course" - we need to change our course daily by taking the off ramp for a few minutes to reconnect with what brings joy.  For many its a faith connection and practice to stay grounded.  For others it may be a workout to stay energized and healthy.  Whatever the activity, it should leave you feeling better and be aligned with your core values.
• Withdraw weekly is intentionally taking a step back behind the busyness, setting aside all distractions, and recharging.  The Ten Commandments called us to do this by doing our work in six days and resting on the seventh.  Make a commitment to leave the work world behind and not use it as a catch up day.  Forget the email, the to do lists, and the next week urgencies.  In addition, some withdraw weekly with a block of time when no disractions are allowed to focus on self leadership activities - planning and reflecting.
• Abandon annually is the call to unplug from all the things that tether us to information overload.  Cut the cord, take a vacation, and let your work have a vacation from you. Spend time doing activities that you enjoy without thinking about work.

Leadership takes energy.  When our energy is low we are much more susceptible to start down a path that will lead us away from our values and things that matter.  Divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually is a great way to stay energized and put you in position to lead from strength.

The Internal Network

I recently had lunch with two people that worked for the same organization but different departments. They knew each other a little bit and knew about the overall work of each other’s department.  We had come together to talk about a topic of common interest and we had a great discussion.  But then the unplanned occurred – synergy happened.

The two people found out they were working on similarly focused projects within their respective departments and didn’t realize it.  They found out that one of them had a meeting with a prospect that would tie their projects together.  They realized that another department would benefit from their working together and could be a third department partner for success. They found common friends in their different circles of influence.  They found another way to connect their networks together for the greater good of the organization.  Magic happened and I am confident that it will continue to happen.

We hear about growing a broad network, but there is a great value in creating an internal network too.  Silos and busyness prevent synergy from happening.  It’s usually not intended - but the process of creating an environment for synergy is intentional.  You can be the catalyst.

• Invite two people from different departments or divisions to lunch or breakfast to get to know them, find out more about what they do and what they are excited about.
• Engage someone from outside your project scope or normal area of work to talk about an issue you would like new ideas.
• Start a learning group made up of members from other departments and discuss a book/article on a topic of interest.

You will add another level of energy for your work and enhance your career as a leader by expanding your internal network.