How I Stopped Whining and Started Leading

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Learning the Secret to Solving the Problems Leaders Have

New Job – New Leadership Challenge

It took just one month out of college to discover a secret of leadership.

I had worked at WUCF-FM as a college student being as it was the campus radio station at the University of Central Florida. I was on-air talent, producer, News Manager, and other roles. When I graduated, they had a need for a Radio Manager – a professional who would oversee all operations of the station. They weren’t offering a lot of money, so people who were much more qualified for it than me turned their noses up at it.

I got the job.

Problems Begin

Just a few weeks in I started to have some substantial problems with one on-air talent who had a certain disregard for some station policies. The problem festered until I went to the General Manager and complained in an exasperated voice about how I thought I needed to fire this guy.

I won’t forget what he said.

The General Manager, his name was Keith Fowles, puffed on his cigarette and then turned to me and said “No!”

That’s not the significant part. He followed that up with this.

“Paul, you can’t fire him because the problem is of your own making. Firing him won’t fix your problem, it will simply eliminate one symptom of it.”

And then he said what stuck with me all these years.

“Remember this: management creates all the problems. Management is also the only one who can solve the problems.”

It made perfect sense to me! I hope you see it too!

The Secret Sauce

Still today, I use the brief and pointed phrase to share with leaders all over ….. with a little twist.

Poor Leadership creates all the problems. Excellent leadership is the only way to solve the problems!

[tweetthis]Poor Leadership creates the problems. Only excellent leadership can solve the problems![/tweetthis]

You see, it doesn’t matter what the symptoms of your problem are today they had their source in poor leadership decisions. When we make poor leadership decisions we create situations that negatively impact our team’s performance and growth. And I can personally say I have been guilty of many of these decisions like what you see here.

Adding the wrong member to the team
Undeclared expectations on team members
Not equipping the team to achieve excellence
Not removing unproductive members
Failure to challenge individuals and the team to perform
Changing performance targets
Not recognizing excellent performance for individuals and the team

And the list could go on. While each of these sounds like a management problem – and in some cases management plays a part – they are actually leadership problems. What makes them leadership problems is that they involve decisions and not necessarily process. If I add the wrong member to the team because I wanted to fill the role quickly, or I didn’t ask the right questions, or I ignored the red flags, then that is a problem with the decisions I made and not the process. In other words, the process didn’t necessarily fail me, I failed the process.

Using the Secret to Move Forward

Once I came to terms with taking responsibility for my role in the problem, I was in a much better position to resolve it.

I would like to say that we made friends and everyone lived happily ever after.

No.

But we did manage to co-exist and he actually went on to do some cool stuff for the station. Stuff that likely would not have been done if I had just fired him in an attempt to fix my problem.

Do you agree with the statement that “poor leadership creates all the problems and excellent leadership is the only way to solve the problems”? What philosophies have you learned over the years that have helped you?

Leave comments here, or text me at 321-355-2442 or email me at psimkins@BoldlyLead.com with your thoughts.

Why Leaders are Learners – Part IV

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Double-Dose of Leadership

We had the benefit at the 2014 L2:Learn-Lead simulcast to hear from John C. Maxwell twice. He opened the proceedings, which I documented in the post Why Leaders are Learners – Part I, and then closed it with another talk. This was an excellent close for many, who left raving about what they learned from this. I did too!

Leaders are Learners By What They Ask Themselves

John emphasized that the first place he looks to ask questions is to ask questions of himself. The questions we ask ourselves direct us — and sometimes re-direct us — to keep us focused on our vision and goals. They help us determine if we are improving, if we are making an impact, and if we are truly leading.

Asking yourself questions on a regular basis helps keep the main thing the main thing. It keeps us from majoring in the minors and getting lost in the details. It helps us maintain a big picture view.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Am I investing in myself?

When we take time, energy, and money to invest in our own growth, we prepare ourselves to lead more effectively, to be a more productive contributor, and primarily to unlock more of the potential in others.

[snaptweet]It doesn’t get any better for my people until it gets better for me.[/snaptweet]

This requires DAILY, INTENTIONAL growth. I call it being a 1%er.

[snaptweet]Focus on growing yourself by just 1% a day.[/snaptweet] That seemingly small 1% compounds quickly and soon you find yourself doing great things before you realize it.

Three Investment Indicators

MY SELF-IMAGE – How do I perceive myself? Do I truly believe in myself? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?
MY DREAMS – Do I have BIG dreams of what I want to achieve? Are they scary and yet exciting? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?
MY FRIENDS – The Law of Environment kicks in here. Are the people around you encouraging and uplifting? Do they challenge you? Do they add value to you? Are you able to encourage, uplift, challenge, and add value to them? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?

We will only invest in ourselves if we can honestly rate ourselves high in these areas.

2. Am I investing in the right people?

Do they influence others? Who do they influence? How many do they influence?
Do they have potential to grow?
What is their attitude and competence level?
Chemistry Factor – Do they fit into the formula? Do I like them? Do others like them?
Passion Factor – Do they have a genuine passion for what they do? Are they motivated?
Character Factor – Do their character traits fit in with the character traits I desire for my team? Are they grounded? Trustworthy?
Values Factor – Are their values compatible with the team or organization (or my) values? Critical to have this for the right culture within your team or organization.

[snaptweet]Culture eats vision for lunch![/snaptweet]

Team Work Factor – Are they able to fit in and perform well as part of the whole? Or are they a lone wolf?
Support Factor – Are they supportive of other team members and organization objectives? Can they support and complete me?
Creative Factor – Can I count on them to seek out creative solutions to challenges? Can they find possibilities out of impossibilities?
Options Factor – Can they give me options?
Ten Percent Factor – Can they give me the last 10%? All the fruit is in the last 10%. Can they stay for the harvest?

3. Am I genuinely interested in people?

Leaders see more than others see and see before others see. Do I really care for others? If so, I can use my advantage to add value to others. If not, I will only use it to add value to me.

Where did you find yourself on this? What questions do you ask yourself regularly? Do you set aside time to think?

Add your thoughts and comments below.

Why Leaders Are Learners – Part 3

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Rich Leaders and Learners

Tim Sanders was the third speaker at the L2:Learn-Lead event on October 10, 2014. Tim was the “Maverick CEO” of a company called NetMinds and is a former Yahoo executive and a noted author and speaker.

Tim’s emphasis was on People-Centric Tools for Leadership. Here are some notes from his talk at L2.

Talking about purpose, he remembered a book he read titled Working the Room by Nick Morgan. Nick said that the only reason for giving a speech was to change the world.

If you don’t want to change the world, then get off the stage. -Nick Morgan

Success is not a destination, it is a direction: FORWARD.

The Modern Leader Needs to be Able to Lead With

A Clear Mind

To Unclutter and Clear Your Mind

Reduce your sources of information. Own the first 45 minutes of your day and avoid email and social media. Spend the time in devotion and reflecting on someone who helped you in the past and think of someone who will help you.
Create a culture in the workplace that is upbeat and hopeful and action-oriented. Remember that culture is a conversation about how we do things around here.
A Clear Mind is an educated mind. READ DAILY books and periodicals of significance that help you grow.
Remember if you let your calendar get full you will be an ineffective leader. You need time to think; to be curious.

Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it killed the competition. -Sam Walton

A Creative Tendency

Most issues in a company are design issues, not people issues and need creative solutions
He has found that highly successful salespeople have creative projects within their life.
- Creativity = Problem Solving
Make NEW mistakes
Trust people
Policy is the scar tissue of an organization.

If you have to rely on policy, you need a corporate cultural change.

A Compassionate Way

You can only effectively lead those you love.
Treat everyone like family

Mentorship is a program of highly effective leaders, not HR

Learn to listen without power – give empathy

What I like about Tim Sanders is that I believe he “gets it”. Tim has learned that motivating through fear, dismissal, and non-emotional focus just doesn’t work for any extended period of time. Either people burn out or they become totally disengaged.

Work is personal.

You can’t spend 1/3 or more of your day in one place and not have it be personal. As a result, the rest of our lives are influenced by what happens at work and what happens at work is influenced by what’s happening in the rest of our lives.

If you want to create sustainable productivity and empowering employee engagement, as a leader you must spend time learning about your people. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears. You don’t have to solve their problems, in fact if you do then you are doing them a disservice; but you do have to know where they are and what’s going through their minds.

That’s how a modern leader achieves success.

What do you think? Is there a “fine line” between relational leading and task-orientation? What would be your two-word theme for how you lead?

Learning the Key to Success

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New World Order

There’s no doubt about it, we live in a complex world. And in this global economy it is important to be flexible; to be able to quickly respond to the changing demands of our society and our economy. Adapt to change or else. It’s the reality of the new economy – grow or die.

There is nothing in between.

The Learning Organization

The best way we grow is through continual learning. Peter Senge, in his book The Fifth Discipline, advanced the principal of the Learning Organization. Basically, a learning organization is one that engages all the members of the organization in continual learning. They recognize that as everyone learns, the opportunities grow through greater knowledge and capability. These companies invest in their people to move them and the organization forward.

Benefits of the Learning Organization

The result is a more empowered organization, one that is flexible enough to adapt, developing a mindset of creative solutions; it’s been proven that the more we learn the more creative we become. Employees collaborate more, there is improved employee morale, they are more productive, and you create an ongoing legacy, so that when the inevitable happens and someone moves on to another role, there is someone ready to step up into that role.

[snaptweet]Sustained success and profitability come from intentional continual learning. There is no substitute or shortcut.[/snaptweet]

How do we get started on becoming the learning organization we desire to be?

Just think DIME:

DAILY – Growth has to occur on a daily basis. I often talk about being a 1%er and this is what it is all about, growing yourself by just 1% a day. That doesn’t sound like much, but over time it compounds and at the end of a year you have grown yourself over 365%. As the saying goes, by the mile its a trial but by the inch its a cinch. This does not necessarily have to be formal learning every time. It could be something as simple as having the team reflect back on the day and talk about lessons learned.

INTENTIONAL – Too many times we chase the next SHINY OBJECT; the seminar announced in a mailing, a book or video someone recommended we get, without really knowing whether it meets our needs or the needs of the organization. Chasing the shiny object is not a growth plan, its a random series of events. We have to be more intentional about choosing the growth path that best meets our immediate needs.

MISTAKES – Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Give your employees permission to go out and make mistakes without fear of punishment. It is from our mistakes where we are going to learn some of our best lessons about how to move forward.

ENGAGED – Get engaged with this learning process. Encourage your employees to engage with one another so that not only do they learn from their mistakes but also from the mistakes of others. This can significantly shorten the learning curve and allows us to move forward at a much quicker pace to become the dynamic learning organization that is prepared for the future.

How are you learning? How often? How do you determine what you have learned? Share your comments below.

Zombie Nation Revisited – Engagement is the Cure!

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Are You in a Zombie Workplace?

Okay, it’s a little dramatic but it also brings to light a growing trend in the business world today.

Crashing economies, cutbacks, layoffs, and uncertainty leads people to become less engaged in the workplace.

Last year, I wrote about a Forbes magazine article that quotes a Gallup survey stating that over 70% of U.S. workers are less engaged in the workplace.

70%!

If that doesn’t shock you, it should! If you are a small business owner with employees, it should also scare you.

Your Business is in Danger

As a business owner, you are especially vulnerable to the consequences of dis-engaged employees. Teams grow divisive; managers treat employees badly; employees treat each other and customers badly; office theft goes up; productivity goes down drastically.

These people come and they go, they do the 9 to 5, they grow through the motions and do the minimum work to get by, and are not fully engaged.

Everyone loses.

LEADERS are to blame.

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership -John Maxwell

Six Rules of Engagement

If you are a leader in your environment, here’s some things you can do to fix that and help prevent the zombification of yourself or your employees.

KNOW YOUR SELF – Too many times, people don’t realize THEY are the problem. You have probably worked for a leader who blames lazy employees, ethnic, racial, or generational cultures, bad economies, and a myriad of other reasons for why things aren’t going well. If you are a leader and your people aren’t following, YOU are the problem. Fix it.
GROW YOUR SELF – This is how you fix it. You can’t change them, you cannot change things like the economy or anything else beyond your control. What you can do is change YOU. Learn to become more optimistic, learn to develop the characteristics that you are seeking in employees. When I was a manager, I used to brag about how I made a point of hiring people better and smarter than me. That was so wrong. I couldn’t possibly do it. You attract what you are, not what you wish. If YOU grow, you’ll find yourself getting the kind of people you desire.
KNOW YOUR PEOPLE– Connect with them. It’s through relationships that people build trust, respect, and more like they are a part of things when they feel connected with you. When you can answer the three questions everyone asks in virtually ANY kind of relationship, then you can connect and influence them and they will become engaged. The three questions you must answer are:
- Do you CARE for ME?
- Can you HELP ME?
- Can I TRUST YOU?
FOCUS ON THE STRENGTHS – Yours and the people you work with. Focus on how you can best use the strengths they have to compensate for your weaknesses and help accomplish the company’s goals. That’s what a TEAM is all about.
REWARD THE BEHAVIORS YOU WANT – Not a lot of people do this. They spend more time rewarding they don’t like, but you want to spend time rewarding the behaviors you desire. Empower people, trust people, encourage people to accomplish the things you want them to do.
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION – when necessary; which is not the same as impulsive action. Don’t react impulsively, take the time to think about the appropriate response and then take the action now. People will respect you more for taking considered, decisive immediate action than if you hem and haw or you are impulsive.