Leader on the Home Front

I recently received a glowing annual review for my performance from my board of directors. I had also received some compliments from various staff members for my visionary leadership. Beyond this, I had experienced some success in some initiatives with other leaders. All in all I was considering myself to be a pretty good leader. Then I had some discussions initiated by my wife regarding my leadership on the home front. The marks were not so high out of the limelight with the person, who knows me the best. This raises an important question: What is the essence of true leadership? While it certainly includes one’s performance in the workplace and one’s efforts in the public arena, it also encompasses how one operates in private with those who know us the best. One word to describe this is integrity. A verse of scripture that comes to my mind along these lines is Psalm 101:2: I will live a life of integrity in my own home. How would those who know you the best evaluate you as a leader?

Accountability and Results

One of the challenges in organizational leadership is that of holding people accountable for performance and results. What adds to this challenge in a Christian context is the perception that God is the One who gives the ultimate results. While this is certainly true, the reality is that God works through the gifts, abilities, and efforts of people to bring about those results. A person’s performance is a composite of those efforts in achieving agreed upon goals and results; effective leaders provide accountability for such in order to determine both successes and needs for improvement. They keep the focus on results with limited concern for how those results are achieved. They concern themselves with performance issues only when desired results do not come about. Micro-managers, on the other hand, focus on the minutia of day-to-day efforts, and lose sight of the bigger picture. How have you learned to provide accountability without slipping into micro-management?

Do Leaders Need Encouragment?

In my recent involvement in a CEO event I was reminded of the need to be around other leaders for mutual encouragement and learning. Most of us left with a desire to do it more often. Leaders tend to be initiators and in some cases pioneers, who are focused on implementation with limited desire for meaningless meetings. They need safe places to interact about the “stuff” of leadership. One of the issues that came out of this time was the need to develop next generation leaders, who will lead the way when many of us are off the scene. Effective leaders operate with foresight and a desire to leave a lasting legacy of other leaders. Jesus Christ led the way with His investment into the twelve, the three, and the one. Should not each of us be doing the same? We mustn’t allow busyness in leadership to hinder the development of future leaders. Your thoughts?

REALITY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

Reality
Leadership
Institute 2010-11


Organizational Leadership taught by South Carolina’s top
Christian Leaders!

Deadline to apply is
July 15th.!!



While organizational leadership can be very rewarding, it can also be a very difficult and lonely road at times. An added challenge is that of maintaining a vibrant testimony as a Christian leader in facing realities, such as pressure, difficult staff issues, managing financial resources with integrity, etc. The purpose of Reality Leadership Institute is to encourage and equip Christian leaders and business people for greater effectiveness in the workplace. This is a nine month program, in which participants meet once a month to address various leadership issues. Sessions will be led by well-known Christian leaders with proven expertise and credibility in specific areas. The Institute will run from September to May with a limit of 18 participants per year. To obtain an application for the next class, contact Lisa Driggers at ldriggers@olivergm.com or call Lisa at 803-254-6470 x 1001.

Are you a Winner or a Whiner?

Recently I have been reflecting on the differences between what I refer to as whiners versus winners. Both see the need for change, expansion, etc, but the differences are related to how they view such situations and what they do about them. Whiners tend to focus on obstacles to action, the reasons why action cannot be taken, and as a result they complain, but do very little. They become paralyzed by fear of the unknowns associated with change and/or failure. They frequently use terms, such as but or if only. Winners, on the other hand, tend to view situations as opportunities to be pursued. They operate by faith, so that they think of what can be. They think in terms of solutions rather than problems. Winners are resilient. At the root of the differences between these two groups of people is the God factor. What makes one group winners is that they operate with confidence in God that causes them to view situations through a different lens than that of whiners. The most effective leaders fall into the category of winners. How would you evaluate yourself? What are your thoughts on this?

Communication

As I have observed quality leaders over the years, one skill that they have is effectiveness in communication with others. While they might not be charismatic, as we tend to define it, they do well in several areas of communication. One such area is clarity. They put much effort into insuring that their expectations are understood by those whom they lead. They are also clear in verbalizing important information, such as organizational mission and vision. They do not rely primarily on e-mails or memos. This helps to prevent confusion among their people. They also communicate honestly, so that there is no question where they stand on particular issues or where others stand with them. This helps to provide security for people and to prevent erroneous assumptions. While effective leaders seek to be as sensitive as possible in their communication of truth, they are not driven by a desire to please people. Another aspect of high quality communication is getting back to people, who are relying on their leader’s response. This helps to prevent frustration in the work environment. What are your thoughts on both verbal and non-verbal communication as a leader?

Personal Growth

Personal Growth

While as an organizational leader, we should be leading the way in coaching our staff and at very least encouraging the development of our boards. Who is responsible for our personal growth? On one level, we grow through the fulfillment of our responsibilities especially as we confront difficult realities and challenging situations and people. For example, I have learned huge lessons in the process of addressing employee discipline situations. On another level, we can grow through the constructive crisicism of other people; if we have teachable attitudes. Of course this necessitates placing ourselves around others who care enough to be honest with us.
Another way, however, that we can grow is by developing personal growth plans to grow. This involves setting specific goals and exercising discipline in fulfilling these goals. What kind s of things are you doing productively to insure your growth as a leader?

Procrastination

I am a fairly urgent person, sometimes to a fault. However, there are times when I put things off, hoping that they will somehow go away or that maybe someone else will handle them. We have all worked under leaders, whose motto must have been, “If I put things off long enough people will forget or they will no longer be issues to address”. Unfortunately that usually is not the case. Instead their procrastination or avoidance leads to frustration for those whom they lead or “assumptions”, such as their leaders not caring enough to respond to them in a timely fashion. One of the reasons that I procrastinate is a concern that involvement in a particular issue or with a particular person is that I do not want to get bogged down with details. What I have learned to do along these lines is to require people to merely tell me what time it is (the major points of a project or proposal) rather than telling me how the clock works (the details). Another reason that I delay in taking action is that I am fearful of what I have to encounter, such as addressing a disciplinary issue with a staff person. Over the years, however, I have concluded that putting such action off only makes matters worse when they are addressed. What prompts you to procrastinate in aspects of your leadership of others, and how have your learned to deal with it?

Delegation

The Webster definition of delegation is the assignment of responsibility and authority to another.

Among the reasons why we fail to delegate to others is the fear of losing control or that someone else may do a better job or a worse job. Another is impatience and the un- willingness to take the time to teach or coach another person. And yet delegation done in the right way benefits all concerned: The one delegated to grows by handling new responsibility, the larger entity benefits as things are done more efficiently, and the leader is freed up to focus on what only he should be doing. One big error that I am prone to fall into is the failure to empower (provide with authority) others to get done what I give them to do. Without adequate authority people can feel used and frustrated. Another error of which I can be guilty is the tendency to abdicate instead of delegate. In this case, I dump responsibility on to others to get it off my plate rather than passing it on to them for the benefit of them and/or the organization. What lessons have you learned about delegation? How have you determined what things you should delegate to others versus keeping on your plate?

Decision Making

Leadership necessitates that decisions be made, and how a leader goes about that is a reflection of his/her leadership style. Dictatorial leaders tend to reserve decisions for themselves, viewing themselves as having a market on wisdom & truth. They show limited confidence in others to make decisions, and as a result the growth of others is limited. Servant leaders, on the other hand, while recognizing that certain decisions can only be made by them, involve others in key decisions as much as possible. Viewing themselves as developers of people, they provide people with both the opportunities and the space to make appropriate decisions. At the same time, they are willing to make the tough calls rather than pushing them off on others or avoiding them in the hopes that the need will go away. It seems to me that the factors that play into entrusting others with the authority for this responsibility are trust and proven capability with smaller responsibilities. How have you addressed the challenges associated with decision making in your arena? How do you determine which decisions should be made only by you without the input of those whom you lead?

Corporate Culture

In his book, The Top Ten Mistakes that Leaders Make, Hans Finzel defines corporate culture as the way insiders behave based on the values and group traditions they hold. He presents some excellent ideas on the topic. George Barna does likewise in his recent book Master Leaders. In my own experience, I have discovered that the biggest issue affecting culture is that of values. A huge challenge for me has been determining existing values when I enter an organization and from those which need to be preserved, eliminated or replaced—and how quickly. For example, in one situation I discovered that the concept of compassion, which was so vital to our organization, had to be redefined. Then over a period of time the new definition had to be implemented and modeled, so that it would become part of the fabric of the culture. What have you learned about organizational culture from your experience?