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What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part VII

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The Point: While there are a gluttony of behaviors/actions you should be doing as a leader, we thought it would be interesting to take a typical Tip of the Spear contrarian view of what you should STOP doing as a leader. As such, the following seven (7) part series was developed based on executive coaching conversations had with leaders. In reviewing these leadership behaviors/actions, see if you see a little bit of yourself in the examples provided (No doubt you know several leaders besides yourself guilty)… Enjoy!

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part VII

Leadership Winning – The Double-Edged Sword

As we head into this, the seventh and final post on “What You Should STOP Doing as a Leader” I thought that it would be appropriate to share why we’ve come on this journey. This series was developed as a result of an interview I participated in recently for a leadership publication. During the interview, I was asked one question that really resonated with me: “What’s the number one (#1) problem that you see universally when you work with leaders?” Keep in mind, I’m fortunate to work with some very bright/focused individuals (You might want to call them Type “A”). My answer was a leaders misguided notion of “Winning” at all costs.

Regardless of the situation/context/stakeholders present, the number one (#1) issue I see is leaders that want to win all the time. Not win as in baseball one out of every three… Not win as in the lottery one in a bazillion… But to win each and every time. This obviously is a leadership double-edged sword moment! By wanting to win, inevitably someone else loses. There is no “win-win” only“win-lose.”

As a Leader… You Make the Call!

Here are two scenarios of Leadership Winning, and I want you to make the call (reminiscent of the old ABC Monday Night Football spots):

Scenario 1: You and a group of colleagues are flying into San Francisco for a pitch presentation. In making the reservations, you’d like to rent a vehicle through Hertz (Yes, you are a Hertz Gold Plus member, and membership has its privileges!) However, your entire team has been traveling to/from San Francisco for the last several months, and along the way they’ve had several “bad” customer moments with Hertz, so they want to use Avis instead. You succumb, allow Avis to be the rental car choice for the trip, and sharpen your vision in preparation for why this should not have been the groups choice. The check-in at Avis goes fine, a little slow for your taste, but fine nonetheless. Likewise, the vehicle is nice, not super clean or dirty, but just fine. The car gets you from point A to B, and back to the Airport (point C). Return happens again just fine (But a little slow for your taste). So what do you do? You make the call!

If you’re like most of the leaders I work with in executive coaching, you’ll nit-pick the entire experience for flaws. “Fine” in your leadership definition playbook is kind of non-committal… It’s neither great nor poor, but in the purgatory of suspended judgment (i.e., Bad in your book… After all, you’re in search of excellence!)

Scenario 2: Here’s another example, perhaps a bit more closer to home if you’re a leader that is kept awake at night because of work. You’ve had a less than stellar night of sleep (Read that as less than your typical 3-4 hours of sleep. You do only get 3-4 hours of sleep, right?) Rather than toss and turn, you get up and start working on several initiatives. In the morning, which ultimately comes hours later, your spouse/significant other/friend/roommate awakens and tells you how tired they are. What’s your reaction? You make the call!

If you’re like the leaders I work with as an executive coach your response is probably something along the lines of “You’re tired? You are tired! I’ve been up since 1AM, and you’ve been sleeping like a baby… What do you have to be tired about?”

In your drive to “win” at all costs as a leader, in both professional and personal settings you are out of order/balance/looking at things wrong (Are there really any boundaries that separate your professional and personal lives? No wonder you have no balance!). But ask yourself… “Exactly what am I winning at here?”

Can You Win as a Leader by Losing?

The moral of these examples, and this series for that matter, is for you as a leader to achieve victory more often than failure… To win more than you lose. Key to achieving that goal is to recognize that sometimes, you may very well be more successful (read that as you’ll win more) if you lose on purpose. A loss or failure is a prime opportunity to quality control your processes, insure measurements along key performance indicators are taken/are accurate, and course correct as appropriate. If you’ll take the time to stop, breath, and think before you act you’ll still maintain your power position, be in better control of yourself, and achieve more of your goals.

SUMMARY

So in this post, the final post in the series “What You as a Leader Should STOP Doing” we covered leader’s desire to win, which may/may not always be the best option. Think of it this way: Have you ever won the battle, but still ended up losing the war? With “big picture” focus and end-game results in mind, determine your course and prepare to course-correct. One of the clients I worked with was famous for saying “I know that I want to depart from here, and get to there… But I’m not exactly certain with 100% accuracy where ‘there’ will end up being. What I do know is that it won’t be here.” Remember to stop, take a deep breath, and think about your true direction forward for ultimate results!

Sincerely yours,

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

 

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part VI

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The Point: While there are a gluttony of behaviors/actions you should be doing as a leader, we thought it would be interesting to take a typical Tip of the Spear contrarian view of what you should STOP doing as a leader. As such, the following seven (7) part series was developed based on executive coaching conversations had with leaders. In reviewing these leadership behaviors/actions, see if you see a little bit of yourself in the examples provided (No doubt you know several leaders besides yourself guilty)… Enjoy!

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part VI

Crushing Creativity

An associate comes to you with a “new” idea that they want to implement. This idea represents their view on how things could be better (Read that as reflecting operational improvement efficiency, higher revenues, decreased expenses, increased customer advocacy, etc.) When this new idea is presented to you, what do you do? If you’re like most leaders, you ask the question “Why?”

In Centered Executive Coaching sessions I frequently talk with leaders about how it is that they cultivate creativity. After all, you do want new/exciting ways to do things in your organization, right? In session after session, conversation with leaders across borders/cultures, typically the response comes back regarding the first question asked as “Why?” While you’re attempting to get to the heart of the matter, or reasoning, what your stakeholders hear instead of the curiosity of your question is “Defend yourself and your position which isn’t good.”

Implementation Effectiveness

Implementation effectiveness is a simple mathematical formula I developed that has (A) the quality of the concept/idea multiplied times (B) the commitment level to implement. Now the quality of an idea can be quite difficult to measure, but let’s base success criteria off of key performance indicators that have traditionally working in the past as well as other items that need to be considered because of the innovation. Commitment level consists of the individual’s ability to see things through to implementation/feedback loop. Keep in mind that this too can be challenging, primarily because implementation may/may not consist of the individual alone (in other words, there might be actual “leadership” moments where they’ll have to get others to follow along!)

Leadership Pause – Stop, Breath, Speak

So if your stakeholders are put on the defense immediately through your use of the question “Why?” what should you do? In researching the effectiveness of interviewing questions, the suggested decreased use of “Why?” should be replaced with anything but! Try using any of the other 5 W’s and H instead.

Along with this new interviewing style, as a leader it is important to break, or pause, take a deep breath, and think before you speak.

Too often I encounter leaders that simply want to rush to judgment when it comes to creative ideas that are submitted. Part ego driven (As a leader, you do have your ego under control don’t you?), and part “best interest” focused moments of creativity soon become disengagement areas for your stakeholders, and a “Why bother?” attitude prevails.

SUMMARY

So in this post we covered that leaders should stop crushing their stakeholders creativity through asking questions that rob the individual. Instead, encourage creativity through the proper use of interviewing and implementing the Leadership Pause – Stop, Breath, Speak (Don’t forget to Think before speaking!)

Sincerely yours,

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part V

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The Point: While there are a gluttony of behaviors/actions you should be doing as a leader, we thought it would be interesting to take a typical Tip of the Spear contrarian view of what you should STOP doing as a leader. As such, the following seven (7) part series was developed based on executive coaching conversations had with leaders. In reviewing these leadership behaviors/actions, see if you see a little bit of yourself in the examples provided (No doubt you know several leaders besides yourself guilty)… Enjoy!

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part V

The Age of the “Yes” Person (Man/Woman)

As a leader, I want you to think back on your climb to the top… Think back to the people that were around you when you were at what’s call it “Base Camp.” That is to say, when you were first starting your career. In your leadership development program (You did have a leadership development program, right?) f you were to look to your left, and then to your right, no doubt neither of those two people would be present in your company (nor in leadership positions in their respective organizations if they/you have moved on).

In thinking back to those times (Hopefully they were good times), you probably witnessed an occasional sucking up. You know the action, telling the big boss that they were great, when the reality was they were far from it. Call it what you want, but you probably saw some “behind” kissing taking place (putting it mildly).

Leaders… It’s Lonely at the Top!

Flash forward to the present day… Now as a leader, you know when this sucking up is happening. So why do you let it occur? Let me ask you to consider a possible different way to frame this: Do you ever get told “No” by those that work with you? (I hope not… See Part I of this series as to why you shouldn’t!) If you’re like most leaders, you are far more likely to hear “Yes” as opposed to “No.”

So if you are constantly being praised, or sucked up to, what’s wrong with that? The problem lies in this directly perpetuates the stereotypical employee/employer relationship of those that kiss enough behind get ahead.

Leadership Isn’t a Popularity Contest

I was fortunate enough to do some work with Jim Kuzes, of “The Leadership Challenge” fame. I shared with Jim (and co-author Barry Posner) the dilemma an executive coaching client faced inasmuch his popularity with stakeholders was extremely low (read that as they hated him!) Fortunately/unfortunately, the feeling was mutual, as he had little regard for them either (He would typically say “I’ll fire all of them, and replace them within 24-hours with better people!”)

Jim gave me some sage advice, primarily that while leadership isn’t a popularity contest… It’s not an un-popularity contest either!

SUMMARY

So in this post we covered that leaders shouldn’t play favorites in the workplace. Stakeholders aren’t pets, and therefore even though they show faux-loyalty tendencies we shouldn’t reward their non-productive/results focused behavior accordingly. Instead, look for those that collaborate on initiatives and put solid numbers up on the key performance indicators board before you praise.

Sincerely yours,

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part IV

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The Point: While there are a gluttony of behaviors/actions you should be doing as a leader, we thought it would be interesting to take a typical Tip of the Spear contrarian view of what you should STOP doing as a leader. As such, the following seven (7) part series was developed based on executive coaching conversations had with leaders. In reviewing these leadership behaviors/actions, see if you see a little bit of yourself in the examples provided (No doubt you know several leaders besides yourself guilty)… Enjoy!

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part IV

Meet Barbara… She’s Great (Just Ask Her!)

Barbara was a high-potential (HiPo) in-training leader for an Inc5000 organization that was pegged to be a future leader within the organization. There was only one thing standing between Barbara and that coveted leadership position… Barbara! Here’s what she does that drives people crazy…

No One Pats Themselves On The Back Like She Does!

Now don’t for a minute think that Barbara wasn’t a hard worker, or that her work wasn’t very smart in nature. Quite the contrary… She was ideal when it came to her annual reviews. In her organization’s leadership development program she graduated in the top 10% of candidates. What was far from ideal though was her ability to self-appreciate her own abilities. In other words, Barbara was great at taking the praise for all of her/her team’s accomplishments. Worse yet was what she had to say about others…

Barbara’s Logic: Me=Good | Them=Stupid

While Barbara’s stakeholders recognized her as the productive workhorse that she was, they also recognized a decidedly ugly “chink” in the chain that comprised her makeup. Namely, after she would get done giving herself credit she would often go on long tirades about the inadequacy of those that did not participate at such a high level. In other words, Barbara was calling others stupid.

This trait of “calling it like it is” typically caused those around Barbara at such moments to cringe. It wasn’t enough that the job was done, (and done well), but the lamenting on how others were not up to her ability, couldn’t hold a candle to her work ethic/performance, and just were plain old stupid pointed to her immaturity as a leader. Questions were raised amongst leadership regarding are we spending money on leadership development and executive coaching on the right person? (Never a good question to have raised, especially for someone being considered a future leader, and HiPo nonetheless!)

SUMMARY

So in this post we covered that leaders should let their work product do their talking. And in talking, because the opportunities will present themselves, there isn’t a need to constantly praise yourself nor put down/call others stupid.

So whatever happened to Barbara? After one successful project she once again went on a self-promoting publicity tour, accompanied by the typical deprecation of others (i.e., Calling them stupid). Unfortunately for Barbara, the party in question called stupid was a superior in the organization, and they overheard of their stupidity (One that heretofore was in her corner, and one of her biggest supporters!) As you can imagine, support was replaced by destruction, and everything Barbara had worked for at the organization that was good turned bad in a matter of a few days. Two weeks later… Barbara was given the opportunity to go be successful somewhere else!

Sincerely yours,

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part III

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The Point: While there are a gluttony of behaviors/actions you should be doing as a leader, we thought it would be interesting to take a typical Tip of the Spear contrarian view of what you should STOP doing as a leader. As such, the following seven (7) part series was developed based on executive coaching conversations had with leaders. In reviewing these leadership behaviors/actions, see if you see a little bit of yourself in the examples provided (No doubt you know several leaders besides yourself guilty)… Enjoy!

What You Should STOP Doing As A Leader – Part III

Meet Michael… He Loves Conflict!

Michael was an up and comer at one of the worlds leading organizations (Fortune 100). He preferred to go by Michael, not Mike (Perhaps that should have been a clue as to his true nature?) Long story short, he had an eye for criticism and an ever-escalating expectation level. You know the type… They typically live/die by the mantra of “What was good last month, was last month and therefore not good enough in the current month.”

When it came to working with Michael, and when times were good he was relatively snarky. When times were bad though, watch out! In one such bad moment, Michael was overheard calling one of the division leaders nothing short of an idiot, his customers a lot of trolls, and that if they continued on the current roadmap as an organization failure could/would be the only result.

Avoiding Destructive Comments

When we started working with him, Michael’s leadership team recognized him as a dedicated/hard-working individual. As a matter of fact, his work ethic was second to none. However, his ethics at work were far from desired. As such, we continued to dive into exactly what were those derailing behavioral actions that caused Michael to not perform according to established organizational cultural guidelines.

In peeling back onion layer upon onion layer, we ultimately arrived upon Michael and his unwieldy ability to speak destructively. Regardless of audience (stakeholders both in/out of the organization) were born witness to his comments. While he had been informed of this in consecutive performance evaluations, attended leadership development courses to correct, and was even provided an internal executive coach, Michaels destructive comments scorched the Earth similar to Sherman’s March to the Sea in America’s Civil War (The Years of Northern Aggression: 1861-1865).

Save Your Sarcasm

When we met with Michael, we discussed his destructive nature during our initial session… You would have thought we hit him with an atom bomb! Michael swore that his tendency to speak destructively was merely his attempt at being “transparent,” and that furthermore he received feedback in the past review that his trustworthiness was low because of his inability to share his feelings.

Working with a leader that knows they are wrong, but doesn’t want to walk/act on the right side of the street can be tricky. In this case, we chose to implement an executive coaching arrangement that had a “shadowing” technique whereby we’d simply establish the expectations of the day ahead of time, observe the leader in action, and then at day’s conclusion review what we had seen along the expectation parameters.

The results… Worse than we/he could imagine! And worse yet, if Michael was like this with us watching him (a time when leaders typically are on their best behavior!), what was he like when we weren’t there?

SUMMARY

So in this post we covered that leaders should avoid destructive comments. While having such thoughts might lead to biased work products, certainly speaking them causes actions to follow in similar suit and short order. Instead of complaining and adding to a negative workplace (read that as one ripe with disengagement), be solutions-focused and look for positive outcomes. As a wise consultant once said, “I don’t embrace excuses, I only embrace solutions!” Leave your destructive comments behind.

So whatever happened to Michael? After two more years of brain-damaging performance reviews, a number of highly qualified employees leaving the organization because of him (read that as they left because of this jerk!), and feedback from customers that he was difficult to work with, leadership ultimately decided it was time to part company with “Destructive” Michael!

Sincerely yours,

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.