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COVID-19 Leadership: Are You a Success or Failure? 3 Action Areas!

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The Point: Grade yourself on your COVID-19 Leadership – Are you a success or a failure? You work your entire career to build your leadership brand. Day after day, week after week, and year after year you put forth a valiant effort (or, what we’d like call your “Blood, Sweat, and Spears!”) However, it only takes a moment to wipe out your leadership brand. And with the pandemic gripping the economy, the spotlight shined brightly on your leadership brand. Are you a success or failure so far? In this post, we’ll explore COVID-19 Leadership and determine if you are a success or failure as well as provide three action areas… Enjoy!

COVID-19 Leadership – Are You a Success or Failure?

As we prepare to turn the corner into 2021, I would ask are you a success or failure during these COVID-19 Leadership times? The Greek Philosopher Socrates is quoted as saying “Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.” 2020 was supposed to be a difficult year for leaders at all levels, as forecasters predicted an economic slowdown a year ago in 2019. Well throw on top of that economic financial recession the suffering and death resulting from the pandemic. COVID-19 has been a time where leaders have potentially experienced both of Socrates tragedies… Simultaneously!

If your heart’s desire as a leader is to be the best leader possible, the actions you have taken and are taking in response to this most disruptive leadership challenge will shape your leadership legacy. You may have achieved success in previous years, making what now seems like the “right” call (or decision) after “right” call. When times are good, it’s easy to get it “right” as a leader. However, now that we’re in a medically induced recession, the “wrong” call or decision is all too common.

The Reason It’s Lonely at the Top – Decisions

Leaders who consider themselves as employee-focused and friendly found themselves in the unenviable position earlier this year of making “tough” decisions. But some leaders chose to make these “tough” decisions actually an “easy” decisions or easy way out of bad business decisions. For example, after considerable review of their organization’s financial performance, many gathered their team members on virtual conferences not to announce a way forward but to share their decision to furlough (i.e., fire, layoff, dismiss) otherwise loyal associates with little to no sensitivity. Worse yet, some other leaders elected to adopt the strategy of “no action” and did nothing (Yes, doing nothing is a choice and therefore a decision). It was only a small minority of leaders who elected to pursue the aforementioned way out or forward (Truly the “tough” decision!)

As the pandemic gripped the globe, I was asked to act as an outside leadership and change consultant on several C-suite level COVID-19 taskforces for our clients. In this role, I had a front-row seat on vastly different crisis leadership approaches. Those differences prompted me to ask the C-suite leaders I worked with what they were learning as a leader from the pandemic. Not only were these C-suite leaders eager to discuss their strategies and insights, including their uncertainties and fears, but they also wanted to hear what other leaders were doing (Perspective on not only successes, but failures as well). These discussions seemed positive, productive and progressive, allowing the C-suite leaders to reinforce certain behaviors moving forward as well as discard others. With doubt, uncertainty, and a lack of clarity we both found value in taking the time to reflect and strategize for a better tomorrow today.

The Power of Zoom

These C-suite leader conversations as measured through Zoom-metrics have consisted of 2,000+ Zoom meetings and 200+ Zoom webinars being conducted on a variety of topics (Leadership, Change, Strategy, Accountability, Delegation, Sales + Business Development, Marketing, Human Resources, Operations, and Finance). C-suite leader attendees were from a variety of industries (Automotive, Banking/Finance/Insurance, Biotechnology + Pharmaceutical, Government – Federal and State, Retail, and Technology – Hardware and Software) representing for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and were geographically dispersed across North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East.

It’s important to note a finding that presents itself in these difficult leadership times, that being leaders – especially high performing ones – are extremely harsh critics of their own performance. While most organizational stakeholders (representing company peers and subordinates) would gage the C-suite leader’s performance as Above Average on a five-point Likert scale (Excellent, Above Average, Average, Below Average, and Very Poor), most C-suite leaders ranked themselves as Below Average (with the harshest of critics ranking themselves Very Poor). That’s right, these seemingly superior C-suite leaders who during previous times reflected little/no self-esteem or self-image issues, now during COVID-19 were convinced that they were not leading up to their fullest potential (perhaps the key is developing “self-compassion” skills as Margaret Wehrenberg Psy.D. shares in her Psychology Today article titled, “What to Do When You Are Your Own Worst Critic”).

COVID-19 Leadership: Are You a Success or Failure? 3 Action Areas

So, during this COVID-19 Leadership moment, do you consider yourself a success or failure? The aforementioned conversations focused on leaders, regardless of their success or failure orientation, excelling in three (3) broad action areas. COVID-19 leaders want to be known for leading with:

  1. Courage (Having created environments with effective Strategies, Action Plans, Goals, Communication, Organization Alignment, Operational Excellence, and Organizational Proficiency)
  2. Poise (Having created environments with Contingency Planning, Organizational and Team Member Prioritization Rankings, Science versus Art, and Championing Ethical Leadership), and/or
  3. Dignity (Having created environments present with Calm, Morality, Compassion, and as odd as it sounds Love)

SUMMARY

I would ask you the same questions I asked these C-suite leaders in closing:

  • What do you want people to say about your leadership during the pandemic?
  • How sure are you that you will be perceived that way?
  • Most importantly, what can you do today to ensure your desired legacy is realized now and into the future?

Sam Palazzolo PS – If you liked this article, you’ll love my “Best Leader in 30 Days!” course! In daily 5-minute or less learning lessons, you’ll be on your way to becoming the best leader possible. For a limited time, you can access the course for FREE by CLICKING HERE

The Leadership Challenge: Surveys

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The Point: We see a lot of surveys at both Tip of the Spear Ventures and The Javelin Institute (We’ve partnered with organizations to even create a few!) But a conversation with a client the other day caused us to wonder; “Why are we conducting surveys?”, “What do we do with the data surveys collect?”, and “Can we actually improve as leaders through surveying stakeholders?”. So, in this post we’ll explore the leadership challenge of surveys and as a bonus, provide three leadership survey questions you should be asking… Enjoy!

To Survey or Not to Survey… Is There Really a Question?

We met with a C-Suite leader as part of a launch of a Business Centered Coaching engagement recently. Part of the launch consisted of a review of their most recent customer surveys. Here was the data reviewed:

  • Customer Satisfaction YTD was 77% (Compared to 88% Region and 90% National)
  • Survey Responses YTD was 18% (Compared to 20% Region and 15% National)
  • Highest Scores were in Product/Service Offering
  • Lowest Scores were in Salesperson Satisfaction and Price Paid

The leader we met with was ambivalent to the survey responses. While they relished the success of product/service offering, unfortunately the leader’s operation had little/nothing to do with this metric. In other words, their offering was provided to them by their headquarter team by large. What they did have control over was their salespeople and ultimate price paid to a large extent (They could offer sales/enhancements to secure sales).

Net Promoter Score Surveys

So, with so much survey data collected, were we looking at the “right” survey metrics? I would argue that we should review Net Promoter Scores. Netpromoter.com states that a “Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®, measures customer experience and predicts business growth. … Use your NPS as the key measure of your customers’ overall perception of your brand. Because NPS is a leading indicator from growth, it provides the best anchor for your customer experience.” Calculating the Net Promoter Score percentage consists of the following series of steps:

  • Enter all of the survey responses into an Excel spreadsheet
  • Next, break down the responses on a scale 0-10 by groups:
    • Detractors (0-6)
    • Passives (7-8), and
    • Promoters (9-10)
  • Add up the total responses from each group
  • To get the group percentage, take the group total and divide it by the total number of survey responses
  • Now, subtract the percentage total of Detractors from the percentage total of Promoters—this is your NPS score

Surveys: Marketing and Sales Best Friend

Reviewing survey results along the Net Promoter Score methodology provided grim results for our C-Suite Leader… Turns out that only 20% of the 20% (4%) fell into the Promoters group. Why does this matter? Surveys can be utilized in a transparent methodology to provide insights to Marketing teams so that they can best create campaigns so as to reach more customers effectively. It’s in the “effectively” moment that Marketing teams can adjust campaigns so that more customers that will act as Promoters will purchase. In turn, Sales teams can glean survey data for training material that matter to an organization’s best customers. NOTE: Surveys should not be utilized as lead generation activities unless transparently sharing with customers such intent.

Three Leadership Survey Questions

In addition to providing insight to Marketing and Sales teams, surveys should be leveraged in similar capacity to provide insight to leaders regarding their effectiveness. As such, here are three leadership survey questions that you should ask/capture data on:

  1. What do I do as a leader today that allows you to operate at your best?
  2. What should I be doing today as a leader that would allow you to operate at your best?
  3. What should I be doing tomorrow as a leader so that you can operate at your best?

SUMMARY

In this post, we’ve explored the leadership challenge of surveys. Surveys can provide valuable insight to leaders so that they can architect successful strategies in Marketing, Sales, and Leadership (to name a few). Identifying key data metrics such as Net Promoter Scores can assist in providing insight into what your best customers desire. Desires that can lead to creating a greater volume of Promoters for the future of your organization/leadership.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – 2020 will be here before we know it, and I see some disturbing Leadership-trends taking place. If you’d like to receive a white paper I wrote on “5 Ways Your Leadership Will Fail in 2020” CLICK HERE.

PPSS – As we hit the halfway point of 2019, I’m launching my most aggressive initiative to date. It’s a 501(c)(3) that provides Executive Education and Coaching to allow you to become the BEST leader possible (NOT Good, NOT Better… but BEST!). Set to launch in July 2019, I’m allowing 20 people in my network to “test-drive” the offering. If you’d like more information, contact me at info@javelininstitute.org.

The Leadership Challenge: Narcissism – 10 Tips!

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The Point: Some leaders go far beyond the abnormal ways of functioning in leading the business… They go right into the deep end of the narcissism pool!So that got us thinking here at Tip of the Spear Ventures, what would you do with a leader that loves themselves/their work-product far more than their stakeholders/organizational output? We see this in business when the opportunities for excess are great. So, in this article we explore the leadership challenge of narcissism, along with 10 tips… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge Narcissism 5 Tips

Exercises of Leadership Excess

Tom is a mid-level manager (Vice President) at a midcap market company ($150Million in Annual Revenue). Tom exercises in a fashion described as a “leadership of excess.” To say that he is a leader, and an effective one by some measures, is accurate: he has tons of charisma, energy, and the ability to inspire stakeholders with low/no drama. But when Tom took over his department a few months back, he made the first move in a series of events that culminated in his demise, pitting stakeholders against him, each other, and a very powerful C-Suite leadership team. Tom’s role as instigator of this chaos led many to question what kind of a person he was.

Some organizational insiders described Tom as simply going mad, no longer in full control of his faculties. Others, an admittedly small faction, denied that there was ever anything wrong with him. This minority would argue that he merely operated by a very different set of rules from those that other leaders within the organization adhered to. In reality, both factions were partially right!

Whatever the case might be, Tom and his actions brings us to several interesting questions regarding what exactly makes a leader go off the rails plunging headlong into narcissism:

  • What kind of psychological processes are at work in a leader like Tom?
  • What key factors push a leader like Tom “over the edge?”
  • How does this narcissism happen, and from where does it emanate?

10 Tips to for The Leadership Challenge of Narcissism

While Tom might not be able to be saved from the clutches of narcissism, you, your stakeholders, and your organization should be spared. The following represents 10 Tips to help therein overcome the leadership challenge of narcissism:

Tip #10 – Establish a Clear Vision

Establishing a clear vision allows for the narcissistic leader the opportunity to not only align current company mission/vision/values, but in those instances where they do not yet exist create them.

Tip #9 – Establish Admiration Zones

Narcissistic leaders tend to create a following that propels them/their egos forward. Ensuring that this propulsion is well timed/well placed is imperative.

Tip #8 – Create an Atmosphere for Constructive Criticism

Abrasive outcomes best describes situations where criticisms were leveled with the narcissistic leader. The atmosphere of allowing constructive criticism to provide alternative perspectives is a much happier outcome.

Tip #7 – Provide Town Halls for Listening

Narcissistic leaders typically find little/no value in subordinate input, let alone stakeholders. If criticism isn’t well received, input from others is also minimized. The creation of Town Hall settings where feedback/input can be gathered is often beneficial.

Tip #6 – Build Relationship Opportunities

If devalue and humiliation are the cornerstone of narcissistic leadership, establishing relationship building opportunities that show care and value for others is desired.

Tip #5 – Disciplined Consistent Actions

Values often drive the narcissistic leader, regardless of how misaimed they may be in reality. Avoid leadership narcissism by recognizing signs of destruction, no values, a preponderous level of fickleness and desire to change direction often because of boredom.

Tip #4 – Build Big Business

Narcissism often manifests in leaders desiring to build an empire, leaving legacies that reflect there sphere of influence. Allow the opportunities for big businesses to be built.

Tip #3 – Empathic Energy

While leadership narcissism reflects a desire to receive empathy and understanding from stakeholders, their ability to provide empathy is void. Bridge the receive/give empathic energy canyon!

Tip #2 – Healthy Competition

“Whatever it takes” and “Win at all costs” are the mantras of the narcissistic leader. Establishing clear ground rules for healthy competition are imperative for organizational longevity.

Tip #1 – Mentor for Motivation

Narcissists love recreating themselves in others, often dictating their behavior in mentoring situations. Mentoring for motivation creates a more structured atmosphere where leadership narcissism works within carefully constructed realms where motivation is the desired outcome.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of narcissism and provided 10 tips for organizations/individuals challenged by the narcissistic leader. When are we going to recognize that narcissism is but one of the leadership characteristic potentials, that when properly classified and directed can have significantly more successful outcomes as opposed to when left to run free? If the fuel for narcissism is recognition, perhaps the 10 tips provided can create exponentially successful outcomes.

Sam Palazzolo

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The Leadership Challenge: Indifference – 3 Tips!

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The Point: We all want leaders to lead with their “skin” so to speak in the game. Leaders that are so vested in the outcome of the operation that “whatever it takes” is not only the organizational motto, but performance measuring stick for what’s the desired result achieved (and if not, why not?) But what if your leadership team, or you, are not leading by example with such effort/energy? What if you aren’t doing your part to accomplish goals? In this post, we’ll explore the leadership challenge of indifference and provide 3 tips to help you make a difference… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Indifference – 3 Tips!

I Believe That We Can Win – Banishing Indifference!

At Tip of the Spear Ventures and our private equity holding operations, we’re fortunate to see many leaders in action (and just as many leadership styles). For example, Jim is one of the platform leaders that excels. He is a leader that sets goals, accomplishes goals, sets new goals, accomplishes new goals, and on and on. Quick to provide credit for his team, his leadership style prompts those around him to excel in their own rights as well. He is truly making a difference, and cultivating future leaders for other platform opportunities with us.

We met Mark as a result of a consulting engagement in Tip of the Spear Ventures Sales / Business Development offering. Mark was quick to share “I believe that we can win!” with us during our initial meeting. But it became relatively clear quickly that Mark truly believed that he alone (“I”) would be doing the winning. Unable to engage his team in worthwhile activities, he was truly attempting to get victories where he could alone. However, an interesting point presented itself when victory was not at hand… Mark took on an air of indifference and several times sabotaged the initiatives so that if he couldn’t win, no one would!

Call Indifference Lackadaisical

While we’d love to compare and contrast the leadership styles of Jim and Mark in autopsy fashion, we don’t need to dig too deep to find the primary cause of initiative and goal death… Indifference! Indifference is defined as having a lack of interest, concern or sympathy. Indifference can also be seen as sharing unimportance for a given topic/event. Regardless of how you define indifference, ask yourself if this is what you want within your organization, your leadership team, or yourself? I’m betting that answer to all three is no (or should be!)

3 Tips to Overcome the Leadership Challenge of Indifference

Here then are 3 tips to help you overcome the leadership challenge indifference in your daily performance:

Tip #3 – Set the Course

I see so many leaders that behave in an indifference pattern because they simply are not setting the course for them to accomplish bigger/better goals. For example, if you want your performance year-over-year to be at 120%, then you’d better aim for 133% (Aim high and achieve it… Bonus! Reality might have you miss though, but hopefully still coming in above 120%)

Tip #2 – Execute

Setting goals and plans to execute in and of themselves are not enough… You have to execute! I see far to many strategy sessions dissolve into nothing getting done afterwards. It’s as if those that strategize cannot roll up their sleeves and actually do the work. No one ever said that was a great strategy and got results. Execute, execute, execute!

Tip #1 – Accountability

So you have the plan and the ability to execute, but will you hold stakeholders accountable for achieving results? If you can’t hold people accountable, and more importantly re-orient them to get back on track towards achieving goal, you have no way of achieving success (Please don’t argue with me that even blind-squirrels find nuts… Is that the business model you’re willing to follow?)

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of indifference, as well as provided 3 tips to help you as a leader succeed. No one ever said leadership was a game that wouldn’t require focus, effort and energy. I see way too much political-correctness and leaders playing nice without wanting to go after their goals. Indifference is the kiss of death when it comes to leadership, so leave that out of your leader success equation!

 

Sam Palazzolo

 

The Leadership Challenge: Flexibility – 5 Tips!

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The Point: If you’ve ever taken in a Cirque du Soleil show you know that the pure athleticism of a cast member is simply mind-boggling. It bears repeating… Mind –boggling! Mix several of these cast members into the choreography of the show itself and it can be sensory overload (almost inducing a nauseous state!) In this post we’ll examine the leadership challenge of flexibility and provide 5 tips so that you as a leader can be more Cirque-like in your leadership pursuits… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Flexibility – 5 Tips!

I Have to Do What with My Phone?

Is there anything better than taking in a show in Las Vegas? In full transparency, I’m fortunate enough to call Las Vegas home and am 100% biased. I simply believe it’s the best city on Earth! After all, who has better entertainment, restaurants, and night-life than LV (I’ll recognize NYC, but…)? And nothing is better than going to see the Cirque du Soleil shows. From KA at MGM, Michael Jackson at Mandalay Bay, The Beatles at Mirage, “O” at Bellagio, the list goes on and on… Each of them fantastic in their own right.

As different as each of these shows are, there is a core athleticism that remains the constant benchmark. The cast members are not only in fantastic shape, but the choreography highlights just how fantastically athletic each one is. Another constant is a need for safety for each and every cast member. So with safety in mind, each show starts off with a “kind” way of informing the audience to please shut-off your cell phones (NOTE: Videos/Photos are forbidden!)

5 Tips for Leadership Flexibility

I recently took in the “O” show at Bellagio, and it did not disappoint! I was left mouth-opened (ironically in the shape of an “O”), gasping for explanation as to how the cast members were able to pull-off the many choreographed scenes that were performed. In a word, I was stumped!

So it’s with this show in mind that I began to ponder “What are the leadership lessons that can be learned from such an amazing production?” Here then are 5 tips for the leadership challenge of flexibility, Cirque-style:

Tip #5 – Sometimes It’s Going to Rain!

To say that the “O” Cirque show has water in it is like saying there is oxygen in the air… It’s everywhere! And just when you think you/the cast members are safe water presents itself again and again. So know this much as a leader, it is going to rain (or the elements are not going to cooperate). It’s not a matter of if, but when… So prepare yourself for the elements.

Tip #4 – You Better Be Flexible!

The Cirque cast members, as previously mentioned, are each gifted athletes, with strength and flexibility. So as a leader you had better be prepared to flex your muscles and be flexible when those unplanned business situations arise.

Tip #3 – Eliminate Noise (No Cell Phone Utilization!)

I previously discussed the cute way in which audience members were requested to quiet their phones. Likewise, as a leader sometimes you’ll be better off if you go and sit in a quiet conference room by yourself to actually think (and breath) about what you are going to do. Think of this as a strategy session for one!

Tip #2 – If You’re Scared, Say You’re Scared and Jump In!

The highlight of the “O” show for many is the high-divers that jump to what appears to be their peril, but in actuality land in a very wide/deep pool of water. I guess that old New Orleans phrase of “If you’re scared, say you’re scared” can come in handy for the leader that needs to get over whatever is presenting the obstacle-of-the-moment so that they can move on.

Tip #1 – Enjoy the Moment!

Nothing, and I mean nothing, gave me greater joy than to go see the “O” show with loved ones (I’ve actually seen it twice!) It was in this second viewing that I was able to take in more (See my sensory overload comments earlier) and really notice what was taking place all over the stage. As a leader, you’ll be pulled in a multitude of different directions in what appears to be simultaneous instances. When this occurs, and I know it will be difficult, you need to remember to smell the roses and enjoy the moment.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of flexibility, brought to life through the magical Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas. While you/I might never look like a Cirque performer (I’m still attempting to!), hopefully the five tips presented will provide you with some insight into how you can be the best leader you can be (Or at the very minimum, jump from a high-dive into a pool!)

 

Sam Palazzolo

 

PS – If you have a leadership challenge you’d like me to explore, please drop me a line and let me know!