4 posts tagged “leadership”

9 Fun Things To Do In Developing Your Leadership
by Kenny Moore

For 15 years I lived in a monastic community as a Catholic priest. I now devote most of my time to Corporate America working on executive development, change management and organizational healing. Actually, the jobs have proven to be quite similar - except the pay is a lot better now.
Employee surveys increasingly confront executives with three major issues: nobody trusts; employees don't believe in senior management; and workers are too stressed out to care. Problems with trust, belief and caring. In my monastic days, we referred to this quandary as a crisis of Faith, Hope and Charity. I believe the problems confronting leaders today are more spiritual than fiscal.
It strikes me as a bit unfair to expect engineers and accountants to be masters of the spiritual domain. So here are nine fun ways to get you started.
1 - Become a better communicator by keeping your mouth shut.
Communication improves when you learn to be quiet and listen. This is no small task in a dominant business culture that says the ones that speak the most (and the loudest) win. The more effective leaders are the ones who can let go of their need to defend, explain and justify - and simply be present to the pain and imperfection in the company. It's only after employees have said all they wanted to say (or "emptied" themselves) that they become open to hear anything that you have to offer. I find it downright saintly to find a leader who has some comfort level with silence.
2 - Eat lunch in the cafeteria.
You can find out more about what's going on in your company by noshing with staff than by reissuing the Employee Survey. Just grab some cafeteria delicacy, plop yourself down at a table of co-workers, introduce yourself and say:0020                "So, how's things going?" Resist the executive temptation to correct, solve, judge and reinterpret. Employees feel affirmed when you ask for their opinion and actually make room for a response. While you will hear some plain old moaning, you will also hear about practices that are frustrating employees and hindering operational performance. In a short time, perhaps just by making a few calls, you'll be well on the road to eliminating some unproductive behaviors ... as well as improving employee trust and hope - two spiritual qualities that directly hit the bottom line.
3 - Send hand written cards.
Sit down and actually hand write a note to someone. Real pen; real paper - no E-mails. It's seldom done - and it's powerful. Spend the first 15 minutes of your day writing personal notes to people who are doing the right things. Saying thanks has become a lost art in the frenetic world of 24/7. It's a morale booster that costs pennies. You are not only responsible for the quantitative side of the business. You're also responsible for the qualitative piece. You're accountable for the "heart" of the company - its maintenance and healing. Valentine's Day has now become your domain. Use it by sending lots of Valentine cards; sign them "from someone who notices your good efforts."
4 - Say a Prayer.
The work of a leader is spiritual: building trust; inspiring staff; fostering creativity. You'd be foolish not to ask for all the help you can get - and prayer is a good way to start. Prayer can also improve that much needed executive skill: humility. It's often only after you've arrived in a leadership position that you realize that you're really not "in charge" of much. Success, both personal and corporate, is largely dependent on people and things outside your control. Humility is merely the willingness to recognize it. Prayer also gives you a chance to apologize. It helps to say, "I'm sorry" to the Gods for things you, your employees and company have done wrong in the quest to succeed. Who knows, maybe the reason the company's in a slump is because nobody's apologized to the Divine? As a leader, it's now part of your job.
5 - Meet with coworkers in their cubicles.
While you may be more comfortable having staff meet in your office, it's more valuable to leave and meet them where they are located. Leadership is not about your comfort, but that of employees. The rarefied air of the executive suite can become toxic. I also think of it as giving a sort of "home court advantage." An insightful leader meets people where they work, accepts them for their unique gifts. Also, the symbolic value of seeing you mingling with the troops improves trust. General Patton used this effectively and won many a battle by the loyalty his troops had for him.

Alter ego
6 - Spend quiet time with yourself.
A leader's value is determined both by whom she is as well as what she does. Spending time doing nothing increases your awareness and creativity. You become better able to respond rather than react. Being still, even for a few minutes each day, provides the foundation for becoming less operational and more strategic. You see the bigger issues, the underlying conflict, the creative approach that will take the organization to the next level. The Gods bestow the gift of wisdom, not in the maelstrom of activity, but in the silence within.
7 - Visit art museums.
Leadership is not only a science. It's also an art. What better way to develop this aspect than by spending time with the "masters?" Tell your staff that you'll be gone for the day. Remind them that they're in charge. Then take off and walk the corridors of your local museum. Even if you never took an art appreciation class, you can still amble among these solemn halls and ask yourself fun questions like: How can my organization be more creative? What can I do to reward more risk taking? What are some unmet needs that might expand the business? And, my favorite question, what would I do if I knew I wouldn't fail?
8- Increase tolerance for opinions that drive you wacky.
The future never arrives as you expect. Breakthroughs show up as irritating distractions to your defined business goals. Leaders with vision seek out discordant voices and surround themselves with people who challenge basic assumptions and traditional ways. Experiment with expanding your sense of humour so that you can play with those who see the world differently. Being able to question commonly accepted business practices and living with the ambiguity that this produces is the fertile ground for divine revelation.
9 - Work on the impossible.
One of the things I learned in the monastery was: just because something is impossible, doesn't mean you don't have to work on it. (Why else would I have been required to take the vow of celibacy?) Some of what a leader is required to work on will not be accomplished in his lifetime. That's what vision, brilliance and legacy are about. To those overwhelmed by this task, I give you the words of my old religious superior: if you think you're too small to be effective, then you've never been in bed with a mosquito. It is your task to explore and initiate impossible efforts that will serve the next generation. You have an executive responsibility to take politically incorrect stands in service of the long term corporate common good. Practicality and common sense be damned when it's clear what implausible work needs to be accomplished. The poet Theodore Roethke said it well: "What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible."
Worried that this will negatively impact your career? Don't. Since the work is "impossible" everybody will have very low expectations - so even making a little progress makes you look like a star. Likewise, because most of your peers will run headlong away from this challenge, you'll have little competition ... and the Gods just may come to your assistance giving you great surprise and success.
Finally, mixing God and mammon makes good business sense. Employees have many God given talents that they want to contribute, if someone would just lead the way. Thomas Aquinas, the medieval saint, once said: "Without work, it is impossible to have fun." The world of business is undergoing a radical transformation that is inviting the spiritual assets of the workforce into the hallowed halls of commerce.
Now go and do what any self-respecting leader should! Put yourself out in front of this transformation ... and take credit for starting it all. And be sure to have some fun while you're leading

Charity begins at home but not true leadership!

THE title of “My son’s father” for the poet Dom Moraes’ autobiography need not have just been a glib turn of phrase. It could also have been Dom’s way of making the point that the literary reputation he had forged after becoming the youngest winner of England’s Hawthornden Prize for creative writing owed essentially to his pen and was not in any way attributable to his being the son of Frank Moraes, one of India’s leading journalists and editors in the first two decades after Independence.
   One was reminded of the importance of not just being a father’s son while going through an interview with N R Narayana Murthy. Mr Murthy was asked about the Infosys founders’ decision not to allow spouses or children to work in the company even if they were talented. Mr Murthy’s answer was that “No matter how correct we are, if our family works here and a decision goes in their favour, people might raise objections. At this point of time in the history of this country, it is very important to conduct an experiment and create an example. It is definitely unfair to our children because our kids are in Yale, Harvard and Stanford. But it is better that there is unfairness to a few if it benefits a lot of people. In a civilised society, a few people have to make sacrifices so that the majority benefit. In a professional company, it is better that you do not give opportunities to your own kin...Leaders have to set an example.”
   The tragedy of modern India is that most leaders do not set such an example. The rationalisation that talent should not be ignored just because the person in question is the leader’s son has been used to perpetuate dynastic control in almost every sphere. Political parties, whether of the national or regional variety, use this rationalisation to perpetuate family rule even if the ascent of the founder of the dynasty was due to her or his qualities being recognised by a genuine leader who could look beyond kith and kin. Mahatma Gandhi saw such leadership qualities in Jawaharlal Nehru and praised him in almost purple prose as being “sans peur et sans reproche”—without fear and without reproach, in short the perfect knight.
   However, today, in almost every sphere of life, the leader tries to perpetuate control by installing his kith and kin in positions of power. At the intensely competitive level of international sports, such dynastic control is not possible since the kith and kin can get shown up instantly on telecasts screened across the length and breadth of the country. In other spheres, the leaders who are chosen on the basis of their pedigree tend to live in the past and glorify the founders of the dynasty so as to perpetuate their position. And the rank and file fall in line, none of them realising that a visionary leader is someone who breaks with the past and moves forward into a better future. The next Mahatma need not be a Gandhi and the next Narayana Murthy need not be a Murthy!

INTEGRITY IN LEADERSHIP  By  Peter Drucker

THE proof of the sincerity and seriousness of a management is uncompromising emphasis on integrity of character. This, above all, has to be symbolized in management’s “people” decisions. For it is character through which leadership is exercised; it is character that sets the example and is imitated. Character is not something one can fool people about. The people with whom a person works, and especially subordinates, know in a few weeks whether he or she has integrity or not. They may forgive a person for a great deal: incompetence, ignorance, insecurity, or bad manners. But they will not forgive a lack of integrity in that person. Nor will they forgive higher management for choosing him.

   This is particularly true of the people at the head of an enterprise. For the spirit of an organisation is created from the top. If an organisation is great in spirit, it is because the spirit of its top people is great. If it decays, it does so because the top rots; as the proverb has it, “Trees die from the top.” No one should ever be appointed to a senior position unless top management is willing to have his or her character serve as the model for subordinates.
   Action Point: Evaluate the character of the CEO and top management when considering a job offer. Align yourself with people who have integrity.

I N T E R V I E W   with  MARSHALL GOLDSMITH 

Marshal Goldsmith

‘Indian CEOs more receptive to new ideas’

   WITH rising scrutiny from regulators and the media and increased board activism, life for CEOs is becoming difficult and uncertain. Marshall Goldsmith is one of the most successful executive coaches in the world. He has coached the heads of companies like Ford Motor, Glaxo SmithKline and is well known in companies like Toyota, Motorola and Boeing. Goldsmith, a practising Buddhist, draws a lot of inspiration from Buddhism. He spoke on about CEO coaching and leadership issues.

 Excerpts:

What’s your job like?
My clients are leaders — one half of them are CEOs and the other half aspiring to be one. There were times in the past when I failed. It happened because I had this hallucinogenic belief that I can improve others if given a choice. But now I believe my stuff works only if the person is willing to try. My coaching is not intellectual or technical that it needs to be updated. It has to be given a fair chance and the CEO has to be willing. The demand has been growing. I have coached some of the most successful CEOs.
   Coaching is hard work — it’s challenging helping people to deal with issues. I also teach and enjoy it. Writing is the hardest bit — but I think it has the broadest and biggest impact. Several million people have read my books.
What do you think is the biggest problem that CEOs are grappling with?
They have this need to be always right and believe how smart they are. Even here in my class in Hyderabad (at the Indian School of Business), when I asked my class where do you count yourself in the organization, 60% said they considered themselves among top 5% in their groups. Leaders are too hung up on winning. But there are times when not winning is worth it. There is a price to be paid for winning — and sometimes it isn’t worth it.
Can you tell us about a behavioural flaw you often see in leaders?
It happens often — there is this young smart executive who comes and shares his idea. You say great idea and then tell him “why don’t you add this to it”. As a leader there are times when you want to add value. You might have improved the quality of the idea by 5%. But what you have also done in large measure is that you have taken away the ownership of the idea. “It’s no longer my idea” — that executive says to himself.
How much do you think all this reflects on one’s personal life?
What you are at work certainly affects life at home. If you are stubborn and opinionated at work it is highly unlikely that you would be any different at home. The need to prove how smart they are and constantly listening to others saying how smart they are literally shuts a lot of CEOs out from a lot of real stuff.
You have been interacting with CEOs closely. What are the big changes you see?
Globally, the role of a CEO has changed a lot. In the US, salaries have gone way up and tenures have come down. And there’s more pressure. The role of the press has become more critical. If you are a CEO today you ought to be many things simultaneously. One of my clients who is No 2 to the CEO once said “it means I have to watch everything I say”. It is like being always on stage.
Does it show in the way CEOs are managing?
Leaders today also work far harder than in the past and there is no job security. Earlier it was much easier to keep coasting even if you weren’t driven as a CEO. But today it’s much tougher — you have to be psychologically much more committed to it.
   It has got to do with globalisation — it is a highly competitive environment with competition coming from all over — Vietnam, India and it is very tough to maintain your edge. Also, the growing reach of technology in one’s life means that a CEO today ends up working 68-80 hours per week.
How do you pick a good coach?
The biggest problem is the ego of a coach. In situations I have failed I think it was because of my ego. I think the focus should not be on the coach but on the client. Nobody gets better because of great coaches but because of great clients. Coaching isn’t a function of great coaches but great clients. Success or failure is not about me but about people.
   I like measuring things — and I think the most effective way to measure my work is to get paid for results, not my input. How much time do I spend is a very bad way to measure my work.
What’s your take on India and Indian leaders?
In the last 20 years I have seen dramatic and exciting changes in India. It is evolving into a global power and the socialist environment is giving way to a capitalist one. India and Asia hold a special place for me. This is where Buddha came from. Leaders here happen to be very good and are quite receptive to learning. One thing I keep saying — teachers are as good as their students. I find that Indian leaders today are much more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago and receptive to new ideas — much more than even the US ones. While at a macro level things may be different but at micro level, leaders across the world face similar kind of challenges.
What’s your new book about?
Successful people often believe that the behaviour that got them there will take them to the next stage, failing to realise that their success has come in spite of their behavioural flaws or that their behaviour is preventing them from realising their potential. This book (What got you here won't get you there) helps people identify and break the bad habits that are getting in their way.