To Finish out 2009 with a good laugh

As we close out the year, I thought it would be appropriate to pass along some humorous thoughts as to what NOT to do as a leader. We’ve all been guilty of many, if not all, of these at times. I would appreciate hearing your feedback and experiences along these lines. Happy New Year!
HOW TO BE A TRULY INEFFECTIVE LEADER

1. Never give recognition for a job well done. This will keep people guessing as to
what you think and will help them to feel unappreciated. This will help to minimize
future efforts toward excellence and ward off the expectation of salary increases on the
part of your people.

2. In public, take credit for the team’s accomplishments. This will motivate people
to seek credit for themselves and help to create a competitive/cutthroat organizational
culture. This will minimize a team spirit and keep people dependent on you to resolve
interpersonal conflicts.

3. Pour added responsibilities on the shoulders of high impact staff members
without sufficient authority to accomplish them. This will help to kill initiative, and
prevent high achievers from outshining you and eventually getting your job. Because
they feel manipulated and used, they will seek employment elsewhere, thus eliminating
the threat that they are to you.

4. Make promises that you do not keep. By putting no promises in writing, you can
use executive authority to win any disagreements as to what you actually said. This will
will also help to remove the burden of following through, so that you can focus on more
important things.

5. Hire people who are similar to you in their thinking, gifts, strengths and
weaknesses. This will help to dispel questions, disagreements, and creativity. This
will, in turn, help to keep people feeling comfortable, stifle change and the associated
stress. It will also help your organization to preserve its reputation as holding on to the
past.

6. Dummy up the monthly statistics. This will prompt people to feel great about what
is happening, even though it really isn’t. It will also pave the way for setting huge
goals, which are impressive to others—even though they will never be reached.

7. Give people inflated reviews, so that they have an exaggerated view of their
performance and progress. This will help to eliminate the need for setting goals, for
which you would have to hold them accountable.

8. Refuse to confront difficult realities about others and the work environment.
This will eliminate a great deal of stress for you as the leader, as you can overlook the
weaknesses of others and not have to deal with inefficiency, mediocrity, and sloth in the
work environment. Most importantly it will help you to be popular with your people.

Copyright Reality Ministries llc, 2009

9. Give people responsibilities, and interfere by taking over when they do not
accomplish them in the time and/or way that you prefer. This will keep people
dependent on you, and stifle their initiative. It will also help to prevent others from
surpassing you in their achievements.








































Copyright Reality Ministries llc, 2009

Leaders sacrifice

Leaders are servants whose primary focus is helping others to be successful in route to the fulfillment of vision. As we know, this involves such skills as listening, encouraging, and when necessary confrontation. During this holiday season when we consider the birth, life, and death of Christ, we are reminded that true service is demonstrated by sacrifice of time, personal convenience and preference for the benefit of others. What have you learned about sacrifice in your leadership of others?
Have a Merry Christmas!!

Accountable to Anyone?

The recent revelation regarding star athletes together with that of political leaders, have prompted many of us to give consideration to the issue of moral authority as it pertains to leadership. It is much easier to see the connection with one in an official leadership role as in the political arena. In large measure they lose their ability to lead because of their immoral behavior. But what about someone in a position like star athletes, who have major influence on others by means of their athletic accomplishments? In such a situation, can performance be separated from personal morality? There are many who feel that they have no responsibility to the public for what they have done, and that it is merely a private matter that they must address with their families. As far as they are concerned, others have chosen to look up to them as role models rather than expecting them to meet a requirement, such as reporting to a boss or submitting to a spiritual authority. However, the reality is that success in the public arena puts people in the spotlight, especially with young people, so that they do have a degree of accountability whether or not they are willing to accept it. They should ask themselves what impact their choices will have on their followers. What are your thoughts on this issue?

Trust

November 30, 2009 Trust has been defined in many ways. Henry Cloud writes that to trust is to be careless, meaning that you do not have worry about yourself with that person, because he is going to be worried about that too. Warren Bennis calls it the emotional glue that binds followers together. Someone else has defined it as assurance that another has my best interests in mind. Needless to say, trust is essential for effective leadership. It is the foundation for meaningful relationships and effective teamwork. What are ways that we as leaders can build trust? One way is to operate with consistency between our words and actions, between what we do in private and in public, what we say to others in their in their presence and about them in their absence, and/or how we operate in everyday situations and when we are under pressure. In essence, living with integrity is essential for building trust. What has helped you to build trust with others, specifically as a leader in an organizational framework?

A Thankful Attitude

Reflecting more on characteristics of effective leaders in this Thanksgiving season, it has occurred to me that an "attitude of gratitude" is extremely important. Such an attitude begins with humility, as was demonstrated by Jesus Christ. He laid aside his rights as God in obedience to His Father and service to others. A huge pitfall for those in leadership roles is that of an entitlement or rights mentality that "demands" respect and focuses on the perks and privileges of one's role. Such an attitude hinders appreciation toward both God and others. On the other hand, a thankful attitude is demonstrated by words and expressions of appreciation toward others regardless of their position or status. It is also demonstrated by overlooking insults and the lack of appreciation from others. Thankful leaders view themselves as "privileged" people. What do you think?

Integrity

Last week I posed the question: What characterizes true leaders? The word true is important because it makes a distinction between those who are merely positional vs. functional leaders. True leaders are recognized as such regardless of title or position. Most of us would agree that at the top of the list of qualities of effective leaders is integrity, which stems from a strong spiritual life. Competency, commitment, and even giftedness are not valid substitutes for this attribute in a leader. It is hard to prioritize the characteristics beyond this. However, high on my list is good judgment, which includes decision making ability and sound reasoning in resolving problems. People with good judgment operate responsively rather than reactively to situations. As a result they can be trusted to handle challenges in a reasonable way. Some of this can be learned, but many people, regardless of age or experience possess this trait. I am interested in your thoughts on this.

Are You a Leader?

In some recent interaction with others about leadership, we discussed the importance of realism in assessment of ourselves and others regarding strengths, weaknesses, and limits. This was prompted by a question that an aspiring leader asked me some time back: “Would you consider me to be a leader?” My observation is that many people, especially men, do not have an honest and accurate view of themselves regarding leadership. Some of this is a result of a lack of honest feedback from others, who know and care about us. Another reason is confusion between leadership style and leadership ability. People influence others, based on how they are wired, so it does not look the same for all people. Still another might be the confusion between charisma and leadership. While there are people, who have more natural attractiveness and influence than others, the most effective leaders may not be the most charismatic people. Jim Collins confirmed this in his book Good to Great. All of this gives rise to an important question: “What characterizes true leaders?” While I have some thoughts on this, I am curious as to the thoughts of others.

Values

Values: As a result of some research that I conducted on organizational leadership some time back, I discovered several things related to values:
-People tend to be more impacted by an organization’s values than its vision.
-People learn values more by what is actually done than from what is written on paper.
-Organizational culture, in large measure, is a reflection of an organization’s values.
-Leadership has the greatest impact on organizational values and culture.
-Changing culture necessitates changing values, and the time needed to make that change depends in large measure on how ingrained the values are. The change must begin with leadership. Sometimes leaders make the mistake of trying to implement such change without a proper understanding of the values and trying to bring it about too quickly.
-Lack of agreement with and commitment to values can cause serious morale issues.
-It is the responsibility of leadership to operate in line with the values and to clarify them with others.
-If one is not in agreement with an organization’s values, he/she needs to change or possibly to leave the situation.

All of this challenges me to:
-Assess my personal values.
-Assess the values of my organization and how consistently we practice what is written on paper.
-Assess the values of other organizations with which I am a part.

In my recent reflections on leadership, I was reminded of the need to communicate truthfully to others. This can be hard, because people may not be receptive to the truth and/or we may not communicate it clearly or discreetly. One area where honesty is needed is in the communication of expectations and limits. For example, in seeking to recruit a person recently I was reluctant to mention to him that he would have to work some on the midnight to eight shift, fearing that I would lose him. With another person I had to clarify his boundaries, as he tended to take on more authority than he had been given at times. Another area where honesty is needed is in the communication of people’s weaknesses and limits, as people tend to be unrealistic at times in their evaluation of themselves. However, it does them a great service to help them to see themselves as they really are, so that they can focus on what they do best. Along these lines I recently had to convey to an employee that she was weak in the area of organization when she viewed herself differently.

In my last blog, I wrote about the leadership reality of emotionally charged issues, and the need on the part of leaders to exercise self-control rather than operating in a reactionary manner when addressing such issues. Effective leaders are able to operate with emotional balance so that they are not controlled by their passions.

Another reality that leaders have to deal with is busyness. While emotion is not a valid substitute for activity, mere activity is not a valid replacement for effectiveness. Leaders busy themselves with the most important things rather than being side-tracked by urgent
endeavors. They have the discernment to identify what should receive priority attention: What only they can and should do, and what is required by their superiors. Beyond this, they have the discipline to channel their energy in those areas, and to say no to other things, no matter how important they may appear to be. At the same time, they develop the skill of delegating to others things that need to be done, but with which they should not be engaged. This is a challenge that I face each day, and one thing that has helped me is the review of priorities and goals on a regular basis. I would like to know how others handle the reality of busyness. What is your response to Andy Stanley’s premise that less is more? By this he means that more is accomplished by zeroing in on fewer things, which are more in line with one’s strengths or what he refers to as one’s sweet spot.

Welcome Reality Leadership!

Many of your receiving this blog, have been a part of the Reality Leadership Network. As a review, I have touched upon these leadership issues:
The importance of coaching for clarification, encouragement, and accountability
The importance of character and the relationship between character and particular competencies in addressing leadership realities. While character is the most important issue, and the most difficult to address in coaching others, character alone does not make a person a good leader.
Ongoing growth in character is the best preparation for addressing the realities of leadership.

Beginning today, I will be blogging some of my thoughts on leadership that are drawn from my personal journal. I look forward to reading some of your responses to my thoughts.

One of the leadership realities that I mentioned last month was that of emotionally-charged issues. We all have certain hot-button issues that both reveal what we value and also get our juices going. While it is not bad to have things that we are passionate about, we first need to insure that these are worthy of the value that we put on them and not merely personal preferences. Unfortunately many, if not most of these issues are related to our ego in some way. We need to be passionate about the right things. Sometimes other people, who are willing to be honest with us will help us to gain a proper perspective on such issues. Beyond the what question is the how question, because such issues tend to cause emotional reactions on our parts rather than objective responses. Effective people learn how to manage their responses, so that they exercise good judgment, or as one author has called it emotional intelligence in responding to those things that trigger our emotions. We are reminded in Proverbs that A fool always loses his tempter, but a wise man keeps himself under control.