I recently interacted with an organization longing for better results while defending the use of antiquated and ineffective methods.  A few in the group were using creative ideas to gain effectiveness, while many were looking to disparage innovation.  I left wondering why complacency was king.

Factors influencing complacency:

1.  Emotional attachment to past methodology; emphasizing processes over results.
2.  Psychological fear of the future.  Potential future may be worse than current reality.
3.  Misunderstanding of client’s values; mistaken belief that client culture is static.

Creativity overcoming complacency:

Effective risk management; frequent evaluation of progress towards results.

1.  Accepting the need for change; when current practice is not producing desired results, change must happen.
2.  Honest assessment of client’s values; staying abreast of client’s changing culture.

Even when current practices are effectively meeting needs, leaders must stay aware of recent or impending changes impacting clients.  The more quickly you can identify those changes, the better positioned you will be to respond to meet their need.

Especially when current practices are ineffective, leaders must initiate change by creatively looking for solutions.  Assessing the situation, integrating risk and evaluation is step one in implementing effective change

Creativity doesn’t merely ask the question, “What can we do different?”  Creativity should answer the question, “What can we do better?”

Conversely, what will you fear in 2012?  While fear can either be a noun or a verb, it most certainly has an active life in many people.  And you will either be motivated by fear or faithe.

Depending on your chosen source of news and economic projections you have an idea of what to expect in 2012.  Do you fear the unknown or are you choosing to faithe it?

The Hebrew proverbs reads, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.”  What you allow your mind to dwell upon becomes your reality.  Certainly, there are things beyond your control.  As you consider your level of influence and leadership, activate faithe.

Jesus was confronted by two blind men wanting to see.  Jesus‘ answer to them remains a challenge to us all.  “Do you faithe that I can can make you see?”  Their response revealed what they were thinking within themselves.  They replied in unison, “yes!”  Faithe was activated.  And Jesus responded, “It shall be done to you according to your faithe”.

What is your current reality for 2012?  Dwelling on fear may lead you to failure.  Dwelling on faithe will lead you to a future with hope.  Think faithe.  Have a year where faithe reveals reality.

Learning to lead without walls demands asking, seeking, and knocking.  These three skills will grow the leader to develop people on task, not merely task oriented people.

Ask a powerful question.  What three words best describe how you feel about…?  Powerful questions allow people to reflect and then respond.  Leaders should be able to diagnose skill sets.  Asking open-ended questions not only communicates concern.  It also helps the leader better understand current skills and current motivation.

Seek win/win.  Robert Winger’s book Winning through Intimidation describes what happens too frequently in the workplace.  The most intimidated loses.  I recently was interacting with a potential client who wants to change the culture in her organization.  She has identified that her strong personality and work ethic have produced a healthy bottom-line.  At the same time, she is concerned that some of her personnel keep a distance because they fear the do not measure up.  She has discovered an intimidation factor that is keeping some personnel from developing.  And she is willing to make significant changes in order to develop people.  Win/lose is not acceptable to her.  She is rightly seeking win/win.

Knock on doors.  Good leaders keep an open door policy.  Great leaders get out of their office and walk among their people.  It is not enough for people to knock on your door.  Your direct reports will develop faster as you go to where their work happens.  And when you go, look to catch them doing something right.  News that leadership is making the rounds travels rapidly.  Knowing the leader is looking for positives build morale.  Furthermore, team members take ownership of responsibilities and share ideas for improvement.

Leadership that seeks to understand and help people thrive by walking on common ground breaks down the walls between leaders and direct reports.  What are you doing to break down the walls?

Fear seems to almost paralyze us and if it doesn’t do that it certainly causes us to hesitate…to doubt…to put off some things we either really want to do (like follow our passion or dream) or think may be too risky (like follow our passion or dream!).

This past week we had a group of wonderful college students at the ranch for a day of leadership development.  The day had a positive impact on all of them, some more than others.  I had three students come up to me afterward and they not only hugged me, the held me, seemingly not wanting to let go.  Each of them, through their tears of gratitude, told me that we had helped them overcome some lifelong fears through their experiences that day.  They felt released…set free…to follow their dreams.  Wow!

When Jesus started his ministry he restated Isaiah 61:1-2 which, in part, says “He (God) has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners”.  So, how about the rest of us?  Shouldn’t we feel released…freed, as well?  You bet we should!  Let’s put fear aside and go for it as leaders, spouses, parents, friends, and people who have been set free.

By managing personnel and implementing policies and procedures, leaders earn their living by making difficult decisions.  Sometimes those decisions are not appreciated.  Often times they are not understood.  Leaders who work to build individuals and teams live in the tension of risk and reward.  I regularly meet with leaders dealing with what seems to be a poor ROI.

With finances and personnel, get rich schemes do not work.  Leading demands consistent investment and patience to see ROI over time.  Loving the life of a leader requires living with the assurance that most people can and want to develop.  Developing people requires constant awareness of their progress on assigned tasks. Making the investment will make you richer.

Have you leveraged time and energy into people, hoping to see great ROI?  Be passionate, patient, and persistent as you track return.  Loving the life of the leader requires knowing the majority of your investments in people will produce positive returns.  Do you fret that your investments are not growing fast enough?  Or do you love the life of a leader, knowing that building people is a process?

]]> http://www.leadership4thefuture.com/loving-the-life-of-a-leader/feed/ 0 http://www.leadership4thefuture.com/leadership-150-lessons-from-1861/ http://www.leadership4thefuture.com/leadership-150-lessons-from-1861/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:00:15 +0000 Mark http://www.leadership4thefuture.com/?p=369 Dead men tell no tales.  Really?  Have you ever read the Gettysburg Address?  The leadership of President Lincoln still tells tales.  In Lincoln on Leadership, Donald Phillips gives excellent advice on how to lead in difficult times.  However... Read more

The people I interacted with are men and women well qualified to fill the big shoes they wear.  Most people highly respect them for what they do and who they are.  And still the level of insecurity is alarming.  Why are many of today’s leaders beset with insecurity?

Below are five reasons:

1.  Lack of time to adequately process decisions.  Leadership demands more than the ability to make quick decisions.  Leadership for the future requires the ability to accurately predict the ramification of decisive action.  In a day when acceleration and multi-tasking are the expected norm, taking time to process outcomes is frequently sacrificed.  Result = collateral damage.
2. Lack of time spent with direct reports.  Whether it is ivory tower leadership or distance supervision, too many leaders do not know their direct reports.  Leaders must know what direct reports are doing, how well they are progressing, and what can be delegated or removed when new tasks are assigned.  Less with more has it’s place.  It also has it’s limitations.  Leaders frequent snapshots of their team and of each employee.  Otherwise leaders are uninformed.  Result = guesswork.
3. Poor communication in the midst of change.  I talked with an executive last night about a new initiative in his organization.  He told me he had more information from a supporting department than he had from the strategy department.  And he is tasked with communicating the initiative to hundreds of employees!  When information is power, lack of proper communication leaves people powerless.  Change must continue.  When beginning the implementation stage, communication must be broad and frequent.  Without it success is jeopardized.  Result = confusion.
4. Lack of time to reflect renew mental focus.  Leaders need the consistent visionary 30,000 foot view and the occasional detailed 6 foot view.  The lack of margin that most leaders maintain keep them on a harrowing ride, racing to the heights to see the big picture and plummeting to the ground to glimpse the details.  The pace of leadership is often unrealistic.  Leaders inevitably either flameout or crash.  Without reflection vision is blurred.  Result = uncertainty.
5. Lack of personal recreation to replenish physical energy.  I recently conducted an informal survey of leaders sleep and exercise habits.  The average amount of sleep was slightly less than 6 hours per night.  The average amount of exercise was slightly more than 6 minutes a day.  Those are not good numbers.  95% of the world’s population need 7-8 hours sleep each night.  100% of the world’s population needs 30 minutes exercise a day.  Expending without recouping is foolish.  Result = depletion.

The combination of collateral damage, guesswork, confusion uncertainty, and depletion does not lend itself to secure self worth.  Without secure self worth secure leadership is impossible.  To lead today for the future you must address the issues above.

How secure is your leadership?

If I could show you how you can become an outrageous success, would you be interested?You see, human beings are naturally happy when everything negative is removed. It’s like trying to hold a beach ball underwater. As soon as you let go, it pops back up to the surface.

via 10 Things That Hold You Back from Outrageous Success – by Dumb Little Man.

Completely separating your work life from your personal life requires shutting down one aspect of life in order for the other to proceed uninterrupted.   Doing this creates stumbling blocks in both. When a team member is having problems in their personal life it will affect their work. If the expectation is to ignore the issues going on, it reduces focus even more.  Suppressing personal issues on the job requires constant energy. The same is true at home.  It is a good practice to positively debrief the work day with your spouse.

Engaged leaders know the benefit of taking interest in the personal lives of their team members. This does not have to be a time consuming task. Asking good questions and practicing deep listening is a skill-set effective leaders need to develop. Questions like “What one word best describes things at home?” “What is something you are looking forward to this weekend?” Questions asked with an expressed interest in the response are very effective.

As a leader, It is not your role to be the personal problem solver of issues not directly related to work production.  But awareness that personal life and work life overlap communicates concern to teammates and creates a sense of trust and safety in the work environment.  This result in increase employee focus, higher productivity, and greater fulfillment at work.

Matthew Green holds a BS in Corporate Communication.  His passions include working with people to impact community transformation.