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The Leadership Challenge: Deconstruction – 5 Tips!

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The Point: If you are attempting to build leadership in your organization, you know just how difficult that can be. Who to select, what to instruct, and how to verify lessons learned/implemented are amongst the leading-edge decision points to be made for a successful leadership development program. But rather than work from the bottom of the org chart up, what if we went from the top down? In this blog post we’ll examine the leadership challenge regarding deconstruction, or how you can deconstruct top performers within the organization to identify key success characteristics to be replicated… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Deconstruction – 5 Tips!

Leadership Autopsy

Building good leaders is hard, let alone great leaders. This was the central theme of a recent client visit where our task at hand was to develop a leadership development program. What exactly makes a good leader in this organization/division/department/role? If you’ve ever struggled with identifying that those characteristics look like, then welcome to the club. Most Human Resource Managers that lead leadership development initiatives will tell you that there are typically a common core set of characteristics/behaviors that those who are successful exhibit.

So if we know what success looks like, why is it so difficult to pinpoint the individual leader who achieve success characteristics/behaviors? One potential way is to receive input from the stakeholders themselves, rather than the individual leader. While the successful leader achieves great results, they typically can’t explain/replicate their exact methodology/reasons for. This is similar to promoting the super star associate to manager/leader level and seeing their performance not translate in their new role. Why the failure? The answer is simple… They either didn’t have the same passion/skills/knowledge to do so.

Deconstruction Tip Tools

So here is a list of 5 of my favorite deconstruction tips or tools for leaders to look for in order to replicate their success:

Tip #5 – The first tip I’ll share is to conduct a behavioral assessment. Behavioral assessments are good tools that “snapshot” who you are and what you’re comprised of (One of my favorites is from Hogan Assessments). Across a constant/similar characteristic categorization you then have a baseline measuring starting point.

Tip #4 – Conduct an employee/stakeholder survey of the leader with targeted questions pointed at key characteristics (identified in their behavioral assessment) for further input on not only what is important, but the how of execution for those important characteristics.

Tip #3 – Filter characteristics that are most important to the leadership development initiative at hand by comparing supporting position level with organizational mission/vision/values. In other words, if you have a characteristic that does not support/goes against what your organization stands for, you’re better off leaving it out.

Tip #2 – Align with a top tier leadership development methodology. There are a lot of schools of thought regarding what a leader should consist of and how they should learn therein. Top programs that come to mind are any Top 20 MBA program’s Executive Development sessions. While not nearly as long (most are 1-2 days versus 2-years of MBA school), these sessions provide laser focus on important leadership development topics. Presented by faculty that are considered subject matter experts (as well as typically consultants for example organizations), there can be a great transference of leadership knowledge.

Tip #1 – Implement your program and measure success much more frequently than an annual survey. Conduct weekly 1:1 (one to one) meetings, poll stakeholders for feedback, and observe for results.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve examined the leadership challenge of deconstruction and provided five tips. While most leadership moments are worked from blank whiteboard to full whiteboard with initiative details/processes spelled out, sometimes a better approach may be to just start at the top and work your way down by deconstructing successful leaders.

 

Sam Palazzolo

www.BloodSweatSpears.com

 

The Leadership Challenge: Poor Decisions – 5 Tips!

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The Point: If you’re a leader undoubtedly you’ve come to the decision tree in the process map of leadership several times… Decide correctly and fame/fortune await you, but decide incorrectly and failure awaits. In this post, we’ll examine the leadership challenge of poor decisions and provide 5 tips to help decide correctly… Enjoy!

 The Leadership Challenge: Poor Decisions – 5 Tips!

Ready, Fire, Aim!

Meet Jane, a mid-level executive for an Inc 500 company that oversees operations. Since joining the company (she’s approaching year 4), the organization has seen tremendous growth. Part of this growth initiative is the result of Jane making what she calls good “strategic decisions” in her role. The nature of these strategic decisions stem from a similar fashion of how the CEO of the organization makes his (Think of these as “Ready, Fire, Aim!” strategic decisions… Or decisions made without any strategic-orientation whatsoever!)

The organization has grown to a size now though that requires a much more strategic oversight. With a 4x growth in employees, approaching 2x growth in customer base, and the inevitable IT support required the future simply will not allow for poor decisions, let alone poor execution of those decisions.

 

Perfect Solution or Perfect Right Now Solution?

So Jane is challenged with the decision-making that takes place in the organization. On the one hand, she knows that she can do better (She did so in her previous role/organization, which she’ll be the first to admit was 10x more professional and had a rather litigious corporate counsel act as compliance officer for the operation). On the other hand, she somewhat enjoys the Ready, Fire, Aim! decision making process. The benefits as she sees them are less bureaucracy, time consumption, and simple stress associated with conducting due-diligence required to explore decision contingency plans.

A Machiavellian cavalier attitude prevails resting on Occam’s Razor theory, where you can do what you want, when you want and simplicity rules the day. This is what she’s seen the CEO do successfully since joining the organization, and other leaders replicate/follow suit with little/no failure repercussions.

 

5 Tips to Better Decision Making

But the times, they are a changing. Expectations are higher and as one of the organization’s only female leaders Jane needs to make her best decisions. She’s previously been “called out” for making less than favorable decisions in the past (Read that as the “Good Old Boys” club didn’t like them). The following 5 tips serve to provide you, the leader that might find themselves in similar Jane-like shoes, with decision making guidance:

Tip #5 – Take It Easy

Stress is the enemy of good decision making. Take a few deep breaths, go for a walk, and clear your head. Once you’re in a better position/situation then begin to examine your decision making next steps.

Tip #4 – Take a Step Back

What should you consider that will make your decision the best one possible, aligning with mission, vision, values of your organization. There should be a litmus test applied for each decision that is to be made, starting with taking the biggest picture possible before zeroing in on details.

Tip #3 – Take Data Into Account

Figures don’t lie, but liars figure… Take data that you can trust into account when determining future courses. If you can’t get insight/perspective yourself, call on others to help.

Tip #2 – Decide!

You know that your decision is not going to materialize without a strict action planning process that includes a date which decision is to be made. Establish this target and then move aggressively towards achieving it.

Tip #1 – Follow-Up/Follow-Through with Commitments

You made a decision, so now oversee the implementation/installation of the engagement. While some leaders would look at this as job completed in status, know that it is only the beginning stages of a successful initiative (With much more work to be done in order to be successful!)

 

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve examined the leadership challenge of poor decisions and provided 5 tips for the leader looking to make their best decisions. Leadership is a difficult job at times, and poor decisions typically upon autopsy provide insight into what should be done next time through learning.

 

Sam Palazzolo

www.BloodSweatSpears.com

 

The Leadership Challenge: Charisma – 1 Tip!

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The Point: At the heart of change is inspiration. In other words, if you want those that follow you to heed the new direction set as a result of change, then they had better be inspired to do so. Inspiration in this sense is what occurs when someone is sparked to bring a new idea into being upon learning of the potential to do so. As a part of inspiration, we typically perceive the charismatic leader… A leader that looks the part, sounds the part, and acts the part. But what if you’re just trying to shift or change a minor course correction for your team/department, and not that of the organization/planet? In this post we’ll examine the leadership challenge of charisma and provide one tip to overcome challenges therein… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Charisma – 1 Tip!

Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and You?

You’re in your office early on Monday morning pouring over the metrics from the previous week, and then you spot it. There’s an opportunity to once again “fine-tune” your teams processes. While you’ve made great progress over the year, heading into the remaining months of the year you know that there’s a greater emphasis placed on metric attainment (An emphasis that could spell the difference between budget funding or no budget allocation, period!) So how do you approach this delicate conversation to inspire change amongst the team?

Far too often, leaders believe that their ability to inspire others is derived solely from their ability to present the opportunity with charisma. While being a charismatic leader can make things exciting (especially in those moments where hot air isn’t administered), leaders simply cannot live up to the expectations stakeholders have when it comes to those perceived publicly as charismatic. Let’s face it, if you have to give a Martin Luther King Jr. or Gandhi performance to inspire change you will no doubt have your hands full right from the start.

Does Charisma as a Leader Matter?

In researching the abilities of leaders that either are/are not charismatic I stumbled upon a white paper on how the brain processes the importance of change. Specifically, if surrounded by stimuli that prompts you to focus on the unimportant, somehow the important pieces of the puzzle drop into place. It’s as if the stimulus provided by the unimportant spurs subconscious actions leading towards important process improvement/modification moments.

Furthermore, if those improved process improvements/modifications are put into place, then they spur on further improvements. In other words, you cross over into a creativity meets innovation producing successful change equation!

Charisma Tip #1 – Don’t Be

So here’s the leadership challenge for charisma… If you believe that you should attempt to put on your impression of a leader that inspires you, be yourself. But in that “be yourself” moment look to provide the potential to go forward by first going backwards. How far backwards will depend on how much knowledge/deconstruction you need to conduct. Just remember… You don’t need to be charismatic like the mentor leaders that inspired you.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve examined the leadership challenge of charisma, as well as provided one tip for successfully navigating a change dilemma. It’s important to note that too often leaders get caught up in “How should I say it?” or “How should I act when I deliver my message?” moments that aren’t appropriate considerations on the road forward.

 

Sam Palazzolo

www.BloodSweatSpears.com

 

 

 

 

 

The Leadership Challenge: Love – 4 Tips!

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The Point: We’d all like to love work, but what if you not only love what you do and where you do it, but find that someone special and actually find love in the workplace in the form of a colleague. In this post, we’ll take a look at the growing leadership challenge/trend of workforce love and how to lead effectively with 4 tips… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Love – 4 Tips!

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue…

With the average employee putting in 60+ hours per week on average, this leads to little personal or private time to pursue love outside of the workplace. With options therefore limited, and the hope/desire for love springing eternal, most look within their own company structure to find love. According to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder, a whopping 40+% of employees admit to having had a romantic relationship with a fellow worker. Additionally, 31% of such co-worker romantic relationships result in marriage (No data exists for divorce rates at this time).

Don’t Crap Where You Eat

A leader at one of the organizations I work with told me several years ago that he recognizes that employees will date, but strongly encouraged them to not “crap where they eat.” The moral of her story was that relationships of the heart can go wrong for a multitude of reasons, and those reasons typically become career limiting. So why limit your career options by searching for love within your current workplace/organization.

But the love equation isn’t as easy as a series of human resource rules carefully developed/laid out in an Employee Manual, annual EEOC/Sexual Harassment compliance training events, or strong encouragement from leaders… The heart wants what the heart wants!

4 Tips for The Leadership Challenge of Love

The following 4 tips should provide guidance/folklore for those looking to overcome the leadership challenge of love in the workplace:

Tip #4 – Right could be Wrong

When in doubt whether or not to date a coworker, recognize that peer on peer relationships might be the best case scenario. If your looking to date the boss, or their peer that probably isn’t going to end well (No matter how great the beginning is!)

Tip #3 – Rules are Rules

If you don’t know the rules regarding co-worker dating, then you had better know the rules before you begin the affair of the heart. Some organizations have very strict rules regarding love in the workplace. Find out what those rules are before you get involved!

Tip #2 – What Could Go Wrong?

Identify the worst case scenario regarding the outcome from your love in the workplace relationship, then multiply it by 100x. This should give you perspective on what could be at stake (and probably will be when things ultimately do go wrong!)

Tip #1 – Business First, Monkey Business Second

Remember that your primary position in the workplace is to conduct just that… work! Important to keep work priorities in place and commitments/deadlines adhered to as you explore your love options.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve taken a look at the leadership challenge of love in the workplace, and provided 4 tips to help individuals/leaders through moments of love. While it’s not the most ideal climate to explore love options, the workplace is unfortunately the realistic option of least resistance most pursue. Leading through such love moments can be difficult, whether you’re leading a team or simply leading yourself. Remember, it can take a lifetime of hard work to create your work persona… All of which can come undone in mere moments of poor decision making!

 

Sam Palazzolo

www.BloodSweatSpears.com

 

The Leadership Challenge: Nature versus Nurture?

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The Point: Perhaps it’s a “haves” versus a “have nots” moment. Better yet, what if the Jones’s in their perpetual conquest to stay ahead of us all, are just plain better at attaining levels that the far majority of us will never “sniff” as a leader? If such rarified air and leadership levels leave you frustrated beyond all contempt, then this post is for you. Here, we’ll take a look at leadership from a nature versus nurture perspective, and if you were hoping that legacy-leadership moments could be yours “just because” you may have another thing coming… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Nature versus Nurture?

Leadership Legacy Study

The US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health report that if you have predisposal to leadership (i.e., a member of the family is a leader in an organization), you have approximately a 24% chance of likewise attaining such leadership capacity in your own career endeavors. They furthermore drill-down to share that the leadership association is with rs4950, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) which resides on a neuronal acetylcholine receptor gene (CHRNB3 if you’re keeping score at home). While the results are predominantly found in twins, there may be the likelihood (however unlikely) that singletons may have such predisposition as well. Score one for nurture!

Huh? The Leadership Challenge is What?

So with all the leadership challenges surrounding the leader of today, pile one more on top which represents the age old debate whether one is born into a leadership role or one can be shaped/prepared for them. While I’ve spent time working with many a leader over the years, some who had formal education and others that had nothing more than emotional intelligence to run on, one thing has proven consistent… It’s not who you were born from, it’s what you’re born of that matters!

Leadership: It’s Not What You Think

While certain leaders have the fortunate situation of being born into the role, the vast majority earn their stripes (or title in this instance). As such, there is little doubt in my mind that leadership is a dish best served with fresh ingredients (Score one for nurture!) In other words, leaders who have no legacy to uphold typically are afforded greater leeway and latitude, whereby those seeking to uphold such legacy are often weighted down by the burden of upholding what those family predecessors have paved (Score another for nurture!)

Regardless of what the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health purported to learn about leadership, the simple fact is that leaders typically come from a wide range of geography. As such, they have varied backgrounds and often times escalate the career ladder at their own pace. Without knowing what is, or can be, accomplished typically is up to the individual to pursue. While certain organizations provide for an enhanced leadership learning atmosphere, most leaders lead as a result of being given an opportunity and therefore learning “on the fly” or with the help of those around them.

SUMMARY

If the leadership challenge at hand is nature versus nurture, nurture prevails. In experience after experience I’ve seen leaders that are made, not born into the role succeed.

 

Sam Palazzolo