Blog

The Leadership Challenge: Are You Climbing the Leadership Mountain?

November 26, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: How do you envision your job as a leader? One of the leaders we work with at Tip of the Spear recently answered this question with a metaphor: Leadership is like climbing a mountain. If that’s the case for you also, then ask yourself; Where are you climbing to? Where are you on the mountain? Are there days where you make progress, or did you regress? Who’s helping you along the way? Will you ever reach the summit? We put together the following post to share our thoughts on how ascending ‘’Leadership Mountain’ can be conducted effectively/efficiently/effortlessly… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge- Are You Climbing the Leadership Mountain? — George Leigh Mallory, Stakeholders, and Sherpa (His ‘Executive Coach’) prepare to climb Mount Everest (1922)

Preparing to Climb

Climbing leadership mountain can, and should be considered quite the leadership development task. While most leaders would prefer to start at the base camp level and simply work their way up, unfortunately this would spell disaster. The reason for this disaster is that climbing leadership mountain actually needs to begin in the preparation phase. In other words, you’ve got to get yourself in position to climb before you ever take the first step on the mountain. Preparation should consist of accomplishing the right physical, mental, rest, and stress states.

Base Camp

So you’ve arrived at Base Camp. Perhaps this is your first leadership assignment, a new role within the same organization, or perhaps a fresh start at a new organization. Regardless, know that the decisions you make in the first 100-days will spell disaster or dictate success for you. The direction of your climb, the goal per day, etc. will play a key part in your climb.

The Climb

The climb itself is typically one of ups, as well as downs. You will visit many crevasses, determine that the steepness of the grade is not climbable, and even encounter climate change that will attempt to push you off course. Determining your best plan forward (or up as it would be) is almost as crucial as who you have around you.

Where are Your Stakeholders?

If you’re going it alone, you’re going to have limited success. Business requires a team, sometimes one that’s close by (proximity) and other times geographically removed (a long way away!) Either way though, their ability to climb with you should be determined pre-climb, as well as periodically throughout the climb. Their own leadership development moments should be addressed along the way.

Do You Have a Sherpa?

If you’re the most experienced climber on the mountain, then you probably will still need/require/want a Sherpa to assist you. We typically engage in executive coaching (our offerings are titled Centered Executive Coaching) with experienced C-Suite Leadership as well as those identified as ‘high potentials’ within organizations looking to grow their own. We’ve identified goals, established dashboards (metric measurement tools for organizations), and insured that progress was made so as to accomplish results on-time and on-target!

Reaching the Summit

The goal of any climb is to achieve the summit. But what then? A leader who masters such climbs recently reported to us that there’s always another mountain to climb. It’s a response in like-kind to that of the ‘Why did you climb the Mount Everest?’ question posed to George Leigh Mallory in 1923. At the time of his Mount Everest climb, no one had ever achieved the summit – the highest peak on the planet. After two failed attempts in 1921 and 1922, he informed the New York Times reporter that asked ‘Because it’s there.’

Summary

So you’ve decided that you’re ready to climb ‘Leadership Mountain’ have you? Here are a few Centered Executive Coaching questions that we’d have you consider:

Centered Executive Coaching

Why are you climbing ‘Leadership Mountain’?
What’s in it for you?
What plans will you make before your climb?
What contingency plans will you prepare for in your climb, just in case things don’t go as planned.
Who is going to help you during your climb?
What happens when you make it to the top (or if you don’t make it this time, as George Leigh Hillary never made it)?

If you’d like to know more about the Tip of the Spear Ventures’ Business Advisory Services, including Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development through The Leadership Challenge methodology, and our award winning Communication Skills Training for Leaders Series use the CONTACT US page of this website.

The Leadership Challenge: They Want You To Fail! 8 Leadership Tips to Overcome Failure

November 25, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We’ve all heard the failure-to-success stories that propel us with optimism. For example, Steve Jobs fired from Apple, reloads at Pixar and ultimately returns to take a bight out of the Apple (and the World’s economy for that matter!) It’s with sports fanatic revelry that leaders who overcome failure are hailed, right? After all, who doesn’t like the long-shot coming from behind to win it all! But why did the leaders fail in the first place? What if it was from everyone wanting them to fail? With this in mind we put together the following post, along with eight (8) tips to help you, the leader, overcome… Enjoy!

The Profit (Double-Entendre)

Marcus Lemonis of CNBC’s ‘The Profit’ show weekly identifies a business that is failing, sometimes more miserable than others, strikes a deal for ownership stake after putting down his own money, and then works to help the company rise from the proverbial economic ashes a la The Phoenix. The fairy tale ending ensues… The business owner (typically small family owned) primarily reduces stress and debt, organizations head in a different direction, and Marcus gets filthy rich! Roll the end of show credits!

But what if the family actually acted to undermine Marcus? What if like most organizations there was the typical in-fighting and employee undermining or stabbing in the back? What if they wanted him to fail?

Who Wants You To Succeed?

As a leader you have the dubious task of getting out of bed each morning, getting dressed, and looking yourself in the mirror and providing your best Lombardi-like pep talk. Here’s one of those pep-talks a leader I work with provides himself with daily:

“Good morning handsome! Today, you will be unstoppable. Others will try to get in your way. However, you will overcome their obstacles to achieve the goals that you’ve laid out for yourself. You are smart, talented, and great at what you do for a living. I love you… Go make it a great day!”

From the above, you could look at this as perhaps the narcissistic moment of the post. Or, you could look at this as the intended direction which is typically the only person that wants you to succeed is… Drum roll please… Yourself!

8 Leadership Tips To Overcome Failure

So what can you do as a leader to overcome failure? We polled those we currently work with and assembled the following 8 leadership tips to overcome failure.

Leadership Tip #8 – Own Your Leadership: You simply must walk your talk as a leader. If you don’t… How can anyone else? Perhaps more importantly, if you don’t own your leadership why would anyone want to assist you in leading?

Leadership Tip #7 – Find Peace: If you know who you are, where you are going, and have a plan for how you will get there find peace in what you’re attempting to do. Nervousness makes for an interesting comedy sitcom, but not the best leadership moment.

Leadership Tip #6 – Trust Yourself: Similar to Leadership Tip #8, if you don’t trust yourself why would others trust you. Perhaps the single-most important element of leadership is the trust others have in you. With it, you’ll achieve great things. Without it, well we’ll see you on The Profit!

Leadership Tip #5 – Listen Actively: If you are a leader that speaks all the time and spends none of it listening to your stakeholders (as we recommend in our Centered Executive Coaching programs), you’re not going to have many follow you. After all, why would they if you don’t get their input? You’re probably doing everything yourself anyway!

Leadership Tip #4 – Think Critically: I hesitated when the first leader brought this up (There were more than one!) Here’s why: If the goal of a leader isn’t to think critically, how are they thinking? Perhaps another way of saying this is to think objectively to arrive at solutions.

Leadership Tip #3 – Influence for Engagement: If your workplace is like many of the leaders we work with at Tip of the Spear, there is a spirit of disengagement. Use the principles of influence to get engagement.

Leadership Tip #2 – Be Positive: Inevitably, the chips will not fall in your favor. Do not let that cause your attitude (which determines your altitude) to drop.

Leadership Tip #1 – Communicate with Influence: In Leadership Tip #3 we talked about using the principles of influence to engage those around you. In order to do so, you’re going to need to communicate with influence!

SUMMARY

Why not right your own television series each and every day? A television series played out in real life where you, the leadership hero, is victorious in everything you do! I hope these 8 leadership tips to overcome failure allow you to achieve more.

If you’d like to know more about the Tip of the Spear Ventures’ Business Advisory Services, including Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders Series use the CONTACT US page of this website.

The Leadership Challenge: Do You Exercise Your Moral Muscle?

November 20, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: As a leader, you will be tested. These tests will not rate your IQ as much as your moral fiber. Who are you? What are you all about? When people come into contact with you, what do they remember? What do you want them to remember about you? If you don’t have the ‘moral muscle’ to stand up to the daily grind that often accompanies leadership, then you need to put yourself first and make the time to exercise! In this post, we’ll take a look at one of our coaching clients who experienced an opportunity to flex his ‘moral muscle’ and in the end, display its strength… Enjoy!

We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do… We’ve Got Spirit, How About You?

Dennis Deaton at Quma Learning has written a great piece, titled ‘The Ownership Spirit’ that acts as part manifesto, part instruction guide to a better life. Whether you are a leader or follower, Deaton would instruct that if you can identify your one grand ‘key’ you’ll be able to take control of your circumstances. He moves beyond works such as ‘The Secret’ inasmuch not only do your thoughts become things, but if you take responsibility for your actions, and perhaps most importantly own your mistakes and learn from them, life will become much more rewarding.

Moral Muscle

It was Deaton who in a recent email brought to light the concept of ‘moral muscle’ and the inherent need to exercise it. Similar to most muscles, if left without activity a state of atrophy sets in. This state of atrophy leads to further deterioration and ultimately does not leave you in your best position to make moral decisions moving forward (be those decisions quick, or more elaborate/thought-out ones).

Does This Ever Happen To You?

One of our clients at Tip of the Spear recently faced a moral dilemma. This C-Suite leader was contacted by an executive recruiter about an ‘opportunity’ that might be right for someone in his network. As things turned out, the ‘opportunity’ was ideal for none other than him (Shocking, right?) All of our leaders high potential recognition, leadership development, even our Centered Executive Coaching initiative had prepared him to take full advantage of the opportunity that was now at his proverbial ‘doorstep’.

Moral Muscle Fatigue

There was only one problem (Ok, there were multiple problems, but for our sake we’ll boil them down to the most important one)… In a word, it came down to what our C-Suite leader would describe as a test of his ‘moral fiber’. You see, our leader had been with only this organization for his entire career. “They took a chance on me, bringing me in as an entry-level analyst with little/no applicable experience. While I might not have had the fanciest degree from the best college, my tenacity coupled with leadership development allowed me to put myself in the best position at seemingly the right times throughout my career here. How could I leave?” The decision to stay versus go weighed heavily on the leader’s head and heart. He was fatigued beyond belief for one of our Centered Executive Coaching sessions.

Moral Muscle Meets Moral Compass

In the end, our leader decided to stay. His organization was none-the-wiser, as he never used this recruitment to better his position with organizational leaders. Instead, he chose to come away with many lessons learned. After asking himself “What can I learn here?” he realized the following (Obviously a condensed list):

My current company has provided me with so much.
The skills learned here are valued highly by others.
This is the organization that I want to retire at.
The people I work with are my family.
I will review future opportunities to see if they are better ‘fits’ for me at that time/place.
Money isn’t everything (but it sure helps!)
Who I am will not change, regardless of where I work/who I work with.
I need to strive to do my best work every minute of every day.
I will inspire others to achieve there best.
I will prepare my ‘moral muscle’ by exercising it daily through reflection/meditation.
While I won’t look back with regret, I will look forward with anticipation!

Summary

Our leader reacted in rather typical fashion, or perhaps atypical depending on how you look at it. While he wasn’t too concerned about this ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ passing him by, he was confident that he had made the right decision at that time. Ask yourself if you were given the same opportunity how you would react… Would it be different? Would it be the same? What would you consider? Would your ‘moral muscle’ come to assist/fail you?

If you’d like to learn more about the Tip of the Spear Business Advisory Services, consisting of our Leadership Development programs using ‘The Leadership Challenge’ methodology, Centered Executive Coaching programs centered with Marshall Goldsmith’s Stakeholder Centered Coaching methodology, or are Communication Skills Training for Leaders series please use the CONTACT US page of this website.

The Leadership Challenge: Conducting Post-Mortem Reviews

November 18, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: If you’re like most of the leaders we work with at Tip of the Spear, you’re moving forward. Sometimes you’re achieving your goals on-time/on-target, others you seem to be failing forward… Either way, you’re moving ahead! So this got us thinking… What if there was a way in which we could move forward faster after implementing a new initiative (i.e., change)? Our solution: The Post-Mortem Review. In this post we take a look at the post-mortem and how it can help you as a leader… Enjoy!

The Post-Mortem Review

As a leader, you have a specific focus at your organization. Typically, we see that as identifying future direction, establishing alignment around the proper course, and insuring that you arrive on-time/on-target. But what if you don’t arrive on-time/on-target? Will you boldly establish new direction/alignment and head off again? Will anyone follow you?

Measure Twice, Cut Once

When we started with the Centered Executive Coaching initiative at Tip of the Spear, we knew that we were on to something different in the executive coaching/business consulting world. One of our executive coaching clients at the time asked why we were asking so many questions, and what the ‘metrics’ were to either support/determine baseline measurement. The reason was that we were measuring not only where we were at, but more importantly establishing goals for where we wanted to go during our initiative.

The Initiative Launch Sequence (ILS)
With the start of any new initiative, there typically is a flurry of excitement (and cause for pause if there is resistance to change). The typical Initiative Launch Sequence (ILS) consists of the following steps: Conception, Projection, Development Planning, Production. In our leadership development programs we typically set the tone that while there is much preparation needed for such launches, you not only need to establish a goal time period for when results will be achieved, but most importantly when you will begin/start the initiative! We’ve seen way too many leaders waste time prepping/planning/preparing only to never start (or start way too late!)

Centered Executive Coaching Questions

However, with all this in mind the real learning moment comes not only upfront, but at the end of the initiative. Something we like to call a ‘Post-Mortem Review’. This review, similar to an autopsy, attempts to identify the following:

In reviewing unsuccessful ILS events, what went wrong?
In reviewing unsuccessful ILS events, what went right?
Was there a single ILS stage that caused potential not to be realized?
Were there multiple ILS stages that caused potential not to be achieved?
Keep people out of your post-mortem identification process!
Focus on processes in your post-mortem identification process!
Do you move from initiative to initiative, without proper post-mortem review?
What areas do you explore in your post-mortem review?
Do you consolidate lessons learned in post-mortem reviews?
Who participates in post-mortem reviews?
Are you too exceptional to conduct post-mortem reviews?
Is your leadership ego in the way of post-mortem reviews?
Is everyone speaking the truth (open/honest) in post-mortem reviews?

The Results

The results from conducting Post-Mortem Reviews have allowed leadership who actively conduct such meetings is that future results are achieved faster. There is less waste (time/money), greater production, increased alignment of personnel, and better results. The leadership challenge of conducting post-mortem reviews can be greatly relieved (and that’s a relief, right!)

If you’d like to learn more about Post-Mortem Reviews, or any of the Business Advisory Services at Tip of the Spear including Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and our Communication Skills Training for Leaders offerings use the CONTACT US page of this website.

What are Your 2015 Leadership Development Goals?

November 14, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: You have been called to lead a company that is planning to expand nationwide or globally. You have the responsibility of leading a new team, keeping costs in check, and also to select the best people from the headquarters to lead those other offices. You will obviously need communication skills and financial know-how to achieve these goals. But this doesn’t end here, because leadership development is intimately linked with an individual’s personal development. The following are some of most crucial leadership development goals that you can set for yourself… Enjoy!

#5 Be More Open

Success leads to self-confidence, and self-confidence (many times) leads to arrogance. Many CEOs consider themselves intellectually superior to others, and thus, they don’t feel the need to listen to what people have to say. In fact, we have seen some really snobbish ‘leaders’ who don’t mind cutting off a person when contradicted. But what this does is stop people from sharing their ideas with you, and you will never get any honest feedback on any professional decision that you take. This, my friends, is the ultimate recipe for corporate disaster. Try to be more open to what other people are saying for the simple reason that you don’t know everything, and exposing yourself to a variety of viewpoints only leads to your intellectual growth.

#4 Listen Like you Mean It

Following from the previous point, being open doesn’t mean that you just sit like a dummy when people are talking. , waiting patiently for their turn to get over so that you can correct or enlighten them with your knowledge. This is not the way to go. Instead, when you ask for other people’s opinions, do listen carefully. Turn towards them, look them in the eye, and continue nodding from time to time. Even if you don’t agree to what is being said, your employees and colleagues will still feel respected by these small gestures.

#3 Take Command Over your Emotions

When times are rough and the economy is in shambles, your organization will look up to for directions. Even when you don’t have all the answers, your confidence and self-assurance can help calm them down. Consider the example of Winston Churchill. His personal emotional downturns and bouts of depression are well-documented, but he was always managed to assure the people around him and give them hope even in times as horrible as the Second World War. So learn to keep your emotions under your control.

#2 Health is Wealth

The corporate world is slowly accepting the wisdom behind this adage. As a leader, you are supposed to energize and mobilize your workforce. But how you can you do that, as you are on the verge of burnout due to lack of sleep, unhealthy eating, and excessively long work hours?. Not to mention, workplace stress is on the rise. To counter all this and to ensure your long-term success as a leader, start taking care of yourself. Learn to work smart and delegate more often. Go home, spend time with family, meditate, and get a good night’s sleep.

#1 Keep Yourself Informed

Finally, a trait of successful leaders is that they are constantly learning. This is a key attribute that will help you in the face of changing business conditions. Read voraciously, blogs, trade journals, and books. Teddy Roosevelt used to read at least one book per day when he was President. I think you can manage one a every week.!

In addition, attend seminars and trade shows to meet like-minded professionals. Best of all, consider taking on a mentor to help you with leadership development.

Summary

To sum up, while corporate training and financial wisdom helps you rise the ranks to become CEO, maintaining your effectiveness as a leader depends on personal development as well, especially in terms of how you engage with people and manage your physical/emotional health.

If you’d like more information about Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services, consisting of Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development through ‘The Leadership Challenge’ methodology, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders use the CONTACT US page of this website.

Blog

Footer

Ready to Scale?