executive coaching

The Leadership Challenge: Accountability – 5 Tips

August 4, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Have you ever sat in a meeting and heard the leader swear that from now on things were going to be different? How exactly is this “different” theme going to be carried out? Well, the leader swears again that they’re going to start holding people accountable. Accountable for what is one question you might be asking? Another question you should be asking is who is going to hold the leader themselves accountable? In this post, we’ll take a look at leadership accountability and provide five tips to better leader accountability efforts… Enjoy!

This Isn’t Oprah (It’s not even Ellen!)

I’ve seen a lot of leaders as an executive coach and leadership development coordinator. I’ve been fortunate to work with some really great leadership at Fortune 100 to Main Street organizations. Along the way on this leadership development journey, one aspect has rang the “failure” bell of many a leader looking to do good but ending up with bad results. That one aspect… Accountability. Accountability as a leader has at its core the ability to “count” on someone for doing something.

Too often leaders like their stakeholders to do what they say, but not as they’ve done (or are planning to do). In other words, some leaders are great at spouting off advice/hyperbole/recommendations to their stakeholders when all the while they should be heading their own advice. Unfortunately, Oprah (or Ellen) never show up in their workplace to ask them those really “hard” questions to get the leader to stop and reflect on what will/won’t work (You know those really hard questions… The ones that make you stop, think, and cry as you blubber out your response to Oprah).

5 Tips to Enhance Leadership Accountability

So what is our leader in development to do?(You are a leader in development, continuously learning, right?) What follows are five accountability tips for leaders searching to achieve better results:

Tip #5: Establish Expectations

It’s awfully hard to hold yourself/your stakeholders accountable if you don’t establish expectations. What are you going to do, by when, with what resources are expectation (or goal) setting basics. But begin to overcome the leadership challenge of accountability by beginning with the outcome, or the end in mind.

Tip #4: Determine Action Plans

As Marshall Goldsmith says, what got you here won’t get you there. However, if you know where there is and you don’t establish an action plan to get there you might as well not set out in the first place. Having an action plan that clearly establishes how you will get to your expectation outcome will provide you with a roadmap, one that if followed correctly and the current situation (market factors, competition, customer engagement, etc.) remains the same.

Tip #3: Identify Key Performance Indicators

You’ll need to know if you are to stay the course originally outlined, or pivot as needed to better overcome the situation identified. I know a leader that never measures his outcome until the end. They perceive the measurements to be some kind of leadership cherry on top of the sundae, when in reality it turns out being something a lot less savory. Knowing what your measurements are and taking them at routine moments can assist in letting you know where you are, how far you’ve traveled since the projects inception, how much is left to go, and identifying change in course moments.

Tip #2: Forget Hope

Hope is great when wishing for a gift to come true. It’s perhaps a deadly moment when it comes to organizational health. Simply put… Hope is not a strategy. As such, eliminate hope and the leadership challenge gets a lot easier.

Tip #1: Accept Ownership and Responsibility

You want others to follow you. You want to see things through. You’ll need then to roll up your sleeves and insure that the initiative gets done. While this doesn’t mean that you need to do every task associated (you should still look to delegate), it does mean that you’ll want to do everything possible to make certain the initiative is completed on time as expected.

SUMMARY

In this post we looked at leadership accountability. The leadership challenge at hand can be a daunting one, but putting into practice the five tips discussed can greatly enhance accountability for both leaders and stakeholders.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Vacation

July 15, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Each year you’re afforded the opportunity to take a vacation. Some do it to unwind, others to see a far off distant land, but the vast majority don’t even bother (See my previous post on Fear of Missing Out or FOMO by CLICKING HERE). In this post we’ll take a look from a leader’s perspective on this whole vacation hubbub and identify if you are better or worse off as a result of taking vacation… Enjoy!

Decrease Vacations = Increase Damage to Relationships

How much time do you take off every year? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? A new study shows that Americans are taking less vacations than ever before. The study shows that on average Americans take 16 days per year. Furthermore, the study reflects that taking just a few more days per year could lead to making you happier. The study was commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association (CLICK HERE to see a press kit for Travel Facts and Statistics).

The results could be disastrous. Spending more time at work and less time with your family for the majority of us leads to damaging those relationships at home (There also could be parallels drawn to relationships at the office, productivity therein, etc.). So what’s the poor leader to do in such situations? In other words, to vacation or not to vacation?… That is the question!

Meet Leader Mike… He “Vacations”

One of the leaders I worked with on an executive coaching and leadership development program years ago exclaimed proudly on the vacation topic “I vacation. I will bring my laptop and cell to the beach with me and work, while the family frolics in the ocean.” In other words, Mike planned on spending his family vacation working. Mike’s logic (if that’s a good word) for working on vacation stemmed from two primary points:

In order to get/stay ahead he needed to get/stay connected to what was going on back at the office.
It was his tremendous appetite for work that allowed his family to go on vacation in the first place, so they should appreciate it!

I remember trying to imagine what his kids thought of the scenario? I’m certain that they blew it off as “That’s just our Dad and they way he’s wired” or “Quite frankly, we’d rather have him tied up with work rather than engage with us!”

The Benefits of Vacation

I’ll admit, I’m a terrible vacationer. Have lead several ventures the pressure I feel is incredible and I at times can very much relate with Mike. If as a leader you don’t do something, and there is always something to do, you will fall behind. While I’m not saying that you can’t delegate work off to stakeholders in the organization, but we all know that there are certain business moments where no delegation can do.

But a few years ago my wife reminded me that vacations can actually be beneficial for you. Vacations are supposed to provide you with the “down time” needed to refresh your leadership batteries. Vacations are a time that can allow you the opportunity to reunite face-to-face with family that typically you don’t see outside of the Holiday Season. Vacations are also a time or you to be a kid again (Remember those stress free times?)

SUMMARY

So I’m going on vacation! I’m going to take two (2) days off and recharge my batteries. I don’t plan on having this be “down” time for me though. Instead, my refresh/recharge moment is going to come by attending a professional association’s conference. My plan is to come away from this vacation with new strategies, new network relationships, and new methods to take the business higher. I also plan on coming away with great memories created from spending some high quality time with my wife. I’ll report out on my findings… Wish me luck!

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may enjoy several of the other posts I’ve recently written:

The Leadership Challenge: Motivating Stakeholders

July 13, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We all want to get ahead. But how can you get ahead if you don’t get noticed? If recognition eludes you, Ben Parr of DominateFund in his new book “Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention” outlines 7 ways in which you can capture someone’s attention. Here in is a summary of that work… Enjoy!

Attention is Currency (Very Valuable Currency!)

What if you never got noticed for the work you did? What if you walked around your office not as the leader you are, but as a ghost that no one could see/hear/touch? I’m guessing that if you weren’t noticed for even the most trivial of tasks completed, there would be no recognition. No recognition would lead to no job promotion. No job promotion means no leadership assignment. No leadership assignment would make getting out of bed optional!

If you think of attention as currency, then you can quickly surmise that the value of attention holds more than any money, any possession, or just about any thing that you could think of. In Ben Parr’s new book, he culminates 1,000+ studies on how one can captivate attention in others. These studies spanned psychology, neurology, economics, and social studies. Furthermore, he interviewed leading thought leaders in those fields, and even other far-flung fields such as Magic’s David Copperfield. Herein are Ben’s identified 7 triggers which captivate attention from others:

Attention Trigger #1: Automaticity

Think of the actions that automatically cause you to respond by directing your attention. While this used to be someone calling out for “Help!” Today, these automaticity moments are actions that not only draw attention, but cause a lowering of the “defense shields” like extending a warm cup of coffee/tea on a cold day.

Attention Trigger #2: Framing

We are a product of the world around us. What might otherwise be considered the social conditions or proof typically have a way of biasing our behaviors. Calling these moments out are what’s at the heart of framing.

Attention Trigger #3: Disruption

A violation of what we come to know as our expectations or norms is the trigger of disruption. The Expectancy Violations Theory from academia spells this out, and anything out of the norm (or what we expect to be the norm) calls for our attention.

Attention Trigger #4: Reward

There is an old saying that men will kill in order to be rewarded with badges (or buttons, or something like that). The self-satisfaction of receiving awards actually has a deep-rooted physiological base with the neurotransmitter dopamine causing us to feel pleasure. This pleasure pursuit will cause attention to be in the self-satisfaction direction.

Attention Trigger #5: Reputation

Spokespeople that have a high Q score are the ones that typically are chosen to represent products/services in media. Why? People perceive them to be more trustworthy. Similar to the Authority principle whereby we believe those with high (real/perceived) credentials.

Attention Trigger #6: Mystery

I love a good mystery… Ok, truth be told I despise them. As do the majority of my friends (like attracting like, right?) But there is a certain amount of suspense that goes into the not “knowing” what will occur next. This not knowing is exactly what’s behind the mystery trigger.

Attention Trigger #7: Acknowledgement

Our need for validation and empathy from others is cited as one of our most basic human needs. Apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, where this need is not present, we will pay more attention to those that complement than those that do not for example.

SUMMARY

So how can you best motivate stakeholders? In leadership development and executive coaching sessions I would have to agree with Ben’s findings (It would be a shame if we didn’t, after all he spent countless hours researching and writing on the recognition topic! By the way, in case you didn’t notice that was an example of Trigger #7: Acknowledgement). By seeking to implement one or all of the seven triggers identified your stakeholders should soon report off the chart levels of engagement, 360* reviews where you are operating at expert levels as a leader, and the business operation should be spinning like a top.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

July 11, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: I see a lot of different types of leaders at Tip of the Spear (Yes, not all leaders come in one size/form/fashion!) However the one character trait of a leader that I’ve recently I encountered is The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). FOMO can cause you as a leader to head outside of your comfort zone. FOMO can also be the leading cause of crippling you/your organization. So in this post, whether you are leading the charge at a startup, a turnaround organization, or simply looking to lead better we take a look at the Fear of Missing Out… Enjoy!

The FOMO Curse: Often Wrong… Never in Doubt!

I recently interviewed a leader for one of our Centered Executive Coaching programs. By all outward appearances, this leader could be seen as extremely smart, driven, and in the right business place at the right time to succeed. They had taken a startup idea through the creation, formation, launch pad through lift-off phases with success. Granted, there had been a few tree tops clipped at time of departure, but the organization appeared to be flying steady and heading to an apparently great destination.

However the leader sensed a difference. Perhaps she sensed a difference not in the organization that they built, but a difference in themselves. Gone were the days where all-nighters fueled the belly of the business beast. Gone were the days where all-hands were on deck to solve whatever problems arose. Gone was the common thread mentality that we might be “often wrong… but never in doubt!” The leader self-diagnosed themselves with the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

FOMO + Technology: A Deadly Combination

A few behavior “layers of the onion” lower the reasons for her FOMO were more evident. “I feel like I have to be everywhere all the time!” she said. Throw on top of that spread-thin moment her fear that the organization would not be able to capitalize on the latest/greatest innovations or business trends.

“What if we’re building the next generation offerings and no one wants them?” was a fear that kept her up at night. These fears were fueled by her continual checking of technology. We barely made it through an hour and a half together without her checking her iPhone, answering a text, responding to a phone call, looking at the latest KPIs on her organizations dashboard, responding to Facebook or Twitter, etc. It was maddening to witness, let alone be the person these moments were directed at.

Let’s Be Honest About FOMO

In researching the FOMO topic, one thing became abundantly clear to me: Technology might be fueling the fire of FOMO (For a great article on the topic and how Social Media adds to the FOMO plight, view this article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10ping.html). However, the tip of the spear pierces directly at a leader’s fears of disconnection and dissatisfaction. Such fears drive leaders to make decisions they often wouldn’t make or ones entered into blindly. While there certainly can be a tabulation of how such poor decisions impact individuals and organizations, the leaders responsible for them furthermore fear the acts necessary to stop making them.

FOMO is the new/improved version that your mother always warned you about, that being keeping up with the Joneses. You remember the good old days where if the Jones got a new television or car, those that chose to race with them would soon follow suit and make similar purchases (Typically of a bigger/better variety!) There is good news though… If you’re a leader who is aware of what you are doing, you can curtail the tendency. Illuminating the decision to be made, considering potential directions to take with it (as well as contingency planning for what may go wrong), and then determine if the course of action is really worth pursuing at all can help break the FOMO-curse.

SUMMARY

In this post we took a look at the Fear of Missing Out. FOMO can cause you/your organization to stray off course from what made you great. FOMO when coupled with technology can gain a deadly stranglehold. Knowing that a FOMO-moment is at hand and acting appropriately can cure you of the ailment. Perhaps your mother was right (again!)

Sam Palazzolo

Maximum Impact Leadership: Step 7 of 7

July 9, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: I’ve seen a lot of leaders come, and I’m certain I’ll see a lot go in the future. But what is it about the “best” leaders that we can share with you? The “Best” Leaders one way or the other always have maximum impact on their organizations, their industries, and the world! The following seven (7) part series was developed from coaching conversations at Tip of the Spear and plays an integral part in our Business Advisory Services (Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders Series). In Step 1 of 7 for Maximum Impact Leadership we looked at your ability to ask questions. In Step 2 of 7 we looked at your ability to secure feedback from those questions by listening. In Step 3 of 7 we looked at your ability to think of what is being said. In Step 4 of 7 we examined your ability to thank others for their feedback. In Step 5 the opportunity arises for you to respond (but do so at your own peril!) In Step 6 we look out how you can best engage your stakeholders and take action! I hope that you’re able to implement these seven (7) “best” practices for maximum impact leadership… Enjoy!

Recall that in Step 1 of 7 of developing your maximum impact leadership, you are asking stakeholders to provide you with feedback on how you can be the “best” leader possible. You’ve asked several key questions that drive towards that destination. In Step 2 of 7 you needed to do the easy part of listening (or difficult part, depending on if you read the post!) In Step 3 of 7 we took a look at ways in which you could “think” differently (or at least this should have been different from your current thinking habits. In step 4 of 7 we realized that thanking is as much a part of the leadership equation as doing. In Step 5 of 7 we looked at how you should respond in a short, positive, targeted, and to the point manner. In Step 6 of 7 we summed up how you can engage your stakeholders and position yourself for action.

Follow Up / Follow Through

Step 7 of 7 in our Maximum Impact Leadership formula is to follow up and follow through. If the secret to real estate is location, location location.. Then the secret to Maximum Impact Leadership is follow up, follow up, follow up, and follow through! Similar to responding to a stakeholder with “Thank You” was short, positive, targeted, and to the point, so then is follow up and follow through.

Stakeholder Centered Coaching

In our Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching initiatives, part of the program is for leaders and stakeholders to meet on a monthly basis to share progress on behavioral actions identified for improvement.

Their conversations, sometimes held formally during one-to-one (1:1) meetings or less formally at the coffee pot during a business break typically always sound the same and go something like “You know Ms. Stakeholder, thank you again for providing feedback on my 360-degree assessment a few months back. Recall how I stated a few behavioral changes I was looking to make based on such feedback and asked for your assistance periodically in keeping me on-time/on-target. I was wondering if in the last 30-days you saw any behavior change in those areas as well as how I can further change for the better moving forward?”

Results Matter

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve conducted well over 500+ Executive Coaching initiatives with leaders all around the world. I’ve noticed something encourage for us all during those conversations… While I might have been the apparatus for change, the conduit was the leader and their stakeholders. In other words, I provided the structure and established with these leaders the criteria for change. However, it was up to the leaders and their stakeholders to actually create the results.

So if results are what you seek, and maximum impact leadership is a destination you believe you should be heading for, you now have the recipe (or 7 steps) to take you there.

A Word to the Wise… Get a Coach!

I’m a DIY’er (A “Do It Yourself’er”). I was fully engaged in my youth devouring everything I could get my hands on to read on topics of leadership, management, success, etc. Here’s what I found, and perhaps this is where you are to: There is more information available and no “one size fits all” recipe that’s applicable to you as an individual. I won’t say that it wasn’t without much effort/energy expended on my behalf (Read that as I not only tried really hard, but took action). Unfortunately, my efforts/energy were ultimately not rewarded until I got smart.

My Father always used to compel me to work “smart” and not “hard” when I was younger (Yours too?!?) I was certain that he was imploring some Protestant Work Ethic mind-trick on me (even though we were Catholic). In the end, with quite a few dollars spent and somewhat no closer to my goals I grabbed yet one more book. The message resonated with me, and so I reached out to the author to see if they were available for a quick call. To my surprise, he called back and suggested that I work with him in an upcoming class he was teaching on how to grow a business. So now you know the “rest of the story” (Thanks Paul Harvey) and you won’t have the pain/suffering involved in attempting to find your own way. Bottom Line: Get an Executive Coach to help you!

SUMMARY

Ask, listen, think, thank, respond, engage/act and follow up/follow through with the stakeholders around you for maximum impact leadership. I hope you enjoyed the many leadership development lessons and executive coaching moments shared during this Maximum Impact Leadership series. While it might seem intuitive to most, the actual step-by-step process can be daunting to accomplish. So what will you do now in your leadership development journey?

Sam Palazzolo

executive coaching

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