Leadership Series: Solo Leaders!

[Readers:  Set forth below is the next article in my "Leadership Series."  This article was written by Michael R. Hoffman, a business strategies coach.  As you will see, Mike describes important leadership principles, even when leading only oneself.  Of course, if you were to successfully implement the ideas that Mike advances -- principled decision-making, self-understanding, clarity of thought, effective execution, and very hard work, you soon may find that others have lined up to follow.  If you would like to connect with Mike or explore with him some of the ideas in the article below, don't hesitate to contact him at MHoffman@cbburnet.com.  I hope you find Mike's analysis insightful.  Regards, Roy]

Solo Leadership!

By: Michael R. Hoffman

How can we be leaders if it’s only us on the floor? And what is “leadership” anyway? Elusive, that’s what it is … at least in definition.

I’m a sucker for the Barnes & Noble business section.  It used to be a simpler world there; but now the sections have sections . . . Management, Marketing, Personal stories, Self help, Trends, etc.  What doesn’t have a section however, is “Leadership.”  Can you imagine . . . no leadership section?  Who knows why, but my guess is that ‘leadership’ is woven into all the ‘disciplines’ . . .  and what the heck is leadership, anyway?  If it were that easy, why are there so darn many books, articles, treatises, on the elusive subject  . . . in all the sections?

I once saw this definition of leadership: “We must turn around and look behind us – if there’s anyone following us, we then must be their leaders.”  Even Peter Drucker says, “a leader is someone who has followers.”  So . . . how can we be leaders if there’s no one following us?  I’m a business strategies coach, and many of my clients are running solo practices – even if they’re in a firm of scores of other practioners, selling or providing similar services.  They run their own little businesses, requiring all the same considerations that any business faces . . . personnel, budgeting, marketing, resource allocation, profits, prospecting, etc.  Even if there is “no one else in the room” to listen, we have to lead . . . ourselves!  A daunting task, especially because we have only ourselves to answer to, and only ourselves to hold ourselves accountable.  We leaders can have managers, managing partners, executive committees, etc.; but at the end of the day, it’s ourselves we have to answer to.

We’re in business.  We have to create customers.  To Drucker, that’s what business is all about.  We are knowledge workers, and as such, we are expected to get the right things done.  He chides: “Brilliant men are often strikingly ineffectual; they fail to realize that the brilliant insight is not by itself achievement.  They never have learned that insights become effectiveness only through hard systematic work.”  He continues, “While some rush around in the frenzy and busy-ness that very bright people so often confuse with ‘creativity,’ the plodder puts one foot in front of the other and gets there first, like the tortoise in the old fable.”

So who’s going to make sure we “get the right things done”?  WE are.  And who’s looking to make sure we do?  No one, really – just us.  And that, I maintain, is ‘leadership.’  Our leadership requires that we create our mission and vision for our practice.  WE do that.  That takes leadership.  ‘We the leader must define the mission, establish it clearly and visibly.’  The leader in us sets the goals, priorities and our standards of practice.  We the leader must be the ‘trumpet’ that sounds the clear sound.  As leaders, it’s our responsibility!

We must realistically examine our strengths so we can play to them as often as possible.  Usually, that’s when we’re happiest . . .  ‘most effective, getting the right things done’!  We have to explore our weaknesses, and decide if they’re keeping us from the progress we want to achieve; if they are, we have to employ our leadership to polish them up, improve our skills.  To return for a moment to Drucker, he maintains “if leadership is not charisma or a set of personality traits, then what it is, is – work.  And responsibility.  The effective leader is, ultimately, the responsible party.  And she must earn trust.  Leadership is a busy business . . . and we, the professional, come to work every day – to lead, even tho’ sometimes we’re the only ones in the room.

We are leaders because we have needed to hone our strengths and competencies.  And leadership rests on the talent to do what others can’t or find hard to do, even poorly.  But mostly it all boils down to hard work . . . tedious, unromantic and mundane.  The essence of our leadership skills rests on performance . . . and so leadership is the means to that end.  Don’t you set your own goals, your own priorities . . .  your own standards? THAT’s leadership.  You design them yourselves . . . chart a path . . .  set your direction and then work . . . hard.

The big word this all comes to is responsibility.  The leader is ultimately responsible . . . your achievements, your failures, your courage to proceed; and then sometimes after all those ‘victories,’ you return to no parades, no balloons and streamers, no standing ovations . . . just the thrill of knowing that you did it!  Remember ABC’s opening to its sports programming – “The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Defeat”?  Leadership is tough sometimes.

Finally, leaders – especially solo leaders, have to manage their own professional lives.  And it can’t be simply “chasing” the next ‘deal’, the next case, the next assignment.  It’s an entire “mosaic” we solo leaders weave.  Leaders must keep themselves engaged, productive and learning.  It’s an imperative that we know ourselves well . . . what are our most valuable strengths, and what is there about ourselves that can become an obstacle to progress.  We need to know not only how we learn, but how we work with others and how we can add to the trust that needs to be present in all our professional relationships.  The thing that often drives us to “be our own person” and work only for/by ourselves, is the very thing that can de-rail us most quickly.  We have to be responsible for ourselves . . . but oh the joy as we succeed!

If you haven’t read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, consider including it in the next few weeks.   May I end with a quote from his chapter on ‘Level 5 leadership’: “Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company (a great book of business, a great practice).  It’s not that level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest.  Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.”  And it’s up to us to be responsible, effective and accountable for the results.  Leadership!

What Do Your Employees Think? Leadership Series # 7

Readers: Enclosed for your consideration is the seventh article in my Leaderhip Series. This article, written by the CEO of Restaurant Technologies, Inc., Jeff Kiesel, illustrates the impact a leader can have upon those around him/her. I am hopeful that, as I did, you will find Mr. Kiesel’s observations insightful.

For additional information on Jeff Kiesel and the work he has done at RTI, I have included a link to a recent article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. See: http://www.startribune.com/business/109317574.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU.  Regards, Roy

What Are They Saying About You At The Kitchen Table?

By: Jeff Kiesel

As the CEO of Restaurant Technologies Inc. (RTI), I frequently hold skip-level roundtable discussions with our employees. Our employee base varies from executives capable of managing businesses several times our size to hourly employees who fix our cooking oil management systems. During a pre-dawn roundtable discussion at one of our depots, an hourly employee told me that his previous night’s dinner conversation was about me. My response was intrigue, honor, embarrassment…but before I could respond, several more of the attendees chimed in with similar remarks. This was clearly an “ah ha” moment about leadership responsibility.

The breadth of leadership topics and analysis grows continuously. Leadership is complex, multifaceted and defies simple explanations or descriptions. I will not endeavor to add to the definition of leadership but instead will focus on a leader’s responsibility.

A leader’s responsibility is to move his or her organization to achieve positive results. I stress positive results to distinguish true leaders from others who “lead” destructively. Examples of those who lead destructively include the obvious suspects of megalomaniac political or military leaders that destroyed countries and societies, but also those folks in organizations who influence others to work against organizational success.

I’d like to stress responsibility versus goals since responsibility encompasses a broader context. Goals are concrete achievements that typically are time bound and within a defined framework. My view of a leader’s responsibility encompasses the achievement of stated goals but includes creating the culture, strategy, operating environment, and path to achieve repeated success – with success being defined as achieving the organization’s goals and the individual’s goals within the organization. Organizational success without the individual’s engagement, ownership and pride will tend to be a one hit wonder versus a sustainable, winning organization.

Responsibility “What’s”- Culture, Strategy, Operating Environment

The frequently quoted maxim of “culture eats strategy for breakfast” dictates a leader’s priority, especially when one enters a new organization. An organization’s culture needs to be in sync with its mission and definition of success. In our fast-paced environment, a top down, hierarchical organization, with few making the decisions for many, would not work. We would be out of sync with the 24×7 world we live in; out of sync with our younger employees who strive for involvement; and, at RTI, out of sync with the 24×7 service we provide to our customers.

We strive for an engaged and informed team that works well cross-functionally. We have our 5C’s as our stated Values (see below) by which we hire and give performance feedback and we strive for an “And” culture to demonstrate our inclusiveness and cross-functional orientation. “And” refers to resolving the typical challenges organizations face, such as operations And sales; headquarters And the field, etc.

A leader’s responsibility to influence culture takes time, deliberation, engagement from others and constant attention. Trust in a leader’s commitment to the organization’s stated culture is very fragile, and a leader must have constant vigilance to model the culture. A misstep here will set back, or even destroy, culture formation. When I first arrived at RTI, I needed to gauge the current culture and determine the pace of change that the organization could digest. I asked all employees to respond to five questions:

1. What are five great things about RTI?
2. What are three things that need to change at RTI?
3. What do you hope I do? Why?
4. What do you hope I do not do? Why?
5. Please provide any advice.

The responses were varied but indicated a clear sense of pride in what we do and our people. And there was a strong sense of culture but it was ill-defined. Step one was to submit a straw man of our desired Values to a team of managers to get feedback throughout our organization. That is how our 5C’s evolved, which are on each of our business cards and displayed throughout our company:

Customer: “We exist to serve our customers. We treat both external and internal customers with prompt, consistent and exemplary care.”

Character: ”We do what’s right with the utmost integrity and candidness – we do not waiver.”

Commitment: ”To both business and personal success, continuous improvement and positive change.”

Courage: ”To act, to speak, to participate, to dream, to decide, to take initiative, to lead.”

Community: ”We are committed to embrace a diverse community within that cares and contributes.”

We strive to live these values and it is the responsibility of our leaders to emulate these values each and every day and in every interaction with our team, customers, vendors, investors, etc. Our 5’s Values are the basis of our culture. We see our values as a competitive advantage to attract great employees and provide great service to our customers. We continually strive to improve both our employee and customer retention (>97%) metrics.

Setting an organization’s strategy is the responsibility of its leader. Where the organization competes; how the organization positions itself to compete; what is the definition of success; how the organization measures itself, etc., are just some aspects of strategy that must be clearly defined and communicated throughout the organization. Strategy needs to be complex enough to be successful in a changing environment and competitive landscape yet simple enough to be communicated and executed. Our macroeconomic environment is certainly different from when we formulated strategic plans a couple of years ago yet our fundamental growth strategies have remained intact. Our growth expectations have been reduced but our target markets and new product plans remain the same.

What has changed dramatically has been our communications and operating environment.  By Operating Environment, I mean the “how” of executing one’s strategy. Our current operating environment evolved as our culture changed and the pace of change within our industry quickened. We went from weekly four-hour executive team meetings to twenty-minute daily huddles. We expanded the size of our Operating Committee (key managers who report to executives) and increased the frequency of our meetings from two to four meetings annually. We also increased the complexity of topics discussed during our Operating Meetings as our managers grew in their sophistication and capabilities.

A leader’s responsibility to the “what’s” of culture, strategy and operating environment is to monitor these organizational elements, ensure they are in sync, and anticipate the evolution of these “what’s” to enable the organization to grow and develop. This creates a dynamic organization which can become and sustain success.

So the kitchen table test would be if your team can describe your culture in a positive manner and articulate your strategy and its execution to his/her family members who know nothing about your organization.

Responsibility “How’s” – Authenticity, Consistency and Communication

Each leader has the responsibility to define how one leads. Authenticity is being true to one’s self and style. Leaders will need to adapt to audiences and situations but cannot cross-over into being manipulative. Similar to the fragility of exemplifying an organization’s culture, leaders lacking authenticity run the risk of losing organizational followers. People in the organization want to see the leader as special, but also as a real, human being who can relate to his team. None of us is perfect and by showing yourself as a leader comfortable in your own skin, your self confidence is displayed more fully. Your team will likely develop even more respect for you if you are genuine and not playing a role.

Consistency is not a glamorous aspect of leadership but critically important. Woody Allen is often quoted that “99% of success is showing up” so I dare say that “99% of leadership is being consistent”. How you run meetings, how you react to situations, how you interact with different people in different roles, when you show up to work, etc., is being observed by multiple people each and every day. Being consistent sets a tone for the organization and a level of predictability that is very important to the culture and operating environment of the organization. An erratic leader causes wasted time and energy on ‘meetings before the meetings’, ‘temperature checking’ before interaction with leaders, and haphazard decision making patterns. Consistency, the outcome of being emotionally constrained and disciplined in focus, streamlines an organization’s ability to operate.

Communication, like consistency, is an everyday responsibility. Once you get tired of repeating the same message, chances are the message is just then getting properly articulated throughout your organization. Repetition of messages is a critical responsibility to ensure culture and strategies are understood and taught. Whether the message is transmitted verbally, in written form, via power point, in stories, in examples and/or fed through other messengers, the message must be consistent and persistent throughout the organization. I have found that establishing a consistent communication pattern is an effective way to make sure the organization is prepared to listen and it establishes a level of accountability to you as a leader. For instance, our 8:30 a.m. stand-up executive team meeting was established to build relationships and constancy. I send out a weekly email to the entire RTI team each Friday which is highly anticipated by our organization. I frequently get several suggestions each week for information to be shared in that weekly email. I am sure being mentioned in the weekly email gets discussed over the kitchen table.

Responsibility “Wants” – Decision, Staying Ahead, Challenging

A leader’s responsibilities are many and complex. They are demanding from a continuous learning perspective as well as requiring self-discipline. A leader must invest to be slightly ahead of the organization with respect to strategy, operating environment and understanding the pace of change the organization can digest. In short, a leader must want to lead and take deliberate actions to be successful. It’s as much of a decision as any combination of DNA, circumstances or collection of experiences.

To positively lead a continuously successful organization requires its leader to be thoughtfully ahead of the organization. A leader must spend time taking the pulse of external influences in order to anticipate how changes could affect one’s organization. Managing and balancing the internal and external pace of change is required for the organization to stay in sync. A leader’s responsibility is to be intellectually curious and make the time to understand the external environment.

Pushing the organization to be better than it is and creating a challenging environment so each person brings an ever-rising “A” game to work is the responsibility of the leader. A leader must want to instill the desire to strive within his/her organization. By translating the organization’s potential in clear messages, a leader can engage a person intellectually and emotionally. This capability can electrify organizations by aligning organizational success with individual success.

The kitchen table conversation could get a little heated if someone feels pushed beyond their capabilities. But if done properly, that is a transitory conversation. Just as a rubber band, once stretched, never goes back to its original dimensions, so it is with people. A leader’s responsibility includes creating organizational and individual tension that will have positive impact. A leader must want to deal with those uncomfortable, transitory times when the organization is transitioning.

Responsibility – the Followers’ Perspective

The kitchen table analogy works if you want to keep the “end in mind”. A leader’s responsibility is to positively lead an organization that can achieve sustained success. Kitchen table discussions will track the organization’s progression through both difficult and successful times. The path to organizational success is never smooth and predictable. The environment changes, with positive and negative impact. People change within organizations, again, with positive and negative impact. Customers’ tastes evolve and organizations need to adapt. And sometimes leaders just get things wrong and you have to recover, change course and move on. And during all of this change, the kitchen table discussions continue.

So, as a leader, what do you hope the tone and content of those kitchen table discussions will be? I’m sure we all want to be discussed as someone with a definite point of view for achieving organizational success, and the conviction and commitment to achieve that success.

Actually, it’s our responsibility to ensure the kitchen table discussions are conducted in just that manner.

Leading Professionals, Article Six in the Leadership Series

[Readers:  Enclosed is the sixth article in my Leadership Series.  This article was written by Paul G. Mahoney,  Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law.  Dean Mahoney's accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but a few highlights are worth noting.  Dean Mahoney joined the Law School faculty in 1990, after first working at Sullivan & Cromwell in NYC.  Prior to private practice, Dean Mahoney clerked for Judge Ralph Winter of the Second Circuit and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.   Dean Mahoney became the Law School Dean in 2008.  Additional information regarding Dean Mahoney is available at: http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/faculty.nsf/FHPbI/1186861.

In the article below, Dean Mahoney describes the unique challenges of leading other professionals, emphasizing themes that will likely resonate with anyone in private practice.  As with my other guest contributors to my Leadership Series, I am indebted to the Dean for his contribution.  Regards, Roy]   

Leading Professionals

By: Dean Paul G. Mahoney

            Leading a business that provides professional services such as law, medical care, auditing, brokerage or investment banking presents special challenges.  In an earlier era, these businesses were mostly organized as partnerships, both in legal form and in practical operation.  Each member of the firm was a part owner, each had a formal voice in significant decisions, and the resulting structure was non-hierarchical.  Leaders were almost always insiders who became leaders by gaining the confidence of their colleagues rather than by rising through a formal chain of command.

            While the size and capital needs of many such businesses have led to the demise of the partnership model and the growth of a more “corporate” management structure (regardless of legal form), professionals still view themselves as principals rather than “mere” employees.  Effective leadership takes this fact into account.

            A basic goal of leadership is making employees feel that their efforts contribute to the organization’s success and are appreciated as such.  In one sense, it is easier to achieve this goal with professionals.  A lawyer, doctor, or accountant typically provides services directly to the client/customer and therefore receives feedback not just indirectly from management, but directly from the end-user.  This can be highly satisfying and motivating.

            In another sense, however, leading professionals is more difficult.  They want to feel like an important part of the team not just as a producer, but also as a policy maker and a preserver of institutional culture.  Professionals expect to participate in governance even when they are not part of the formal management team.  They expect the organization’s leaders to solicit and consider their views about strategic direction, not just about their own functional responsibilities. 

            While this sounds unworkable in a business of any size, it need not be.  The key is for top leadership to be visible; to “walk the halls” and listen.  Having an office that is not physically remote sends an important signal.  Accessibility can be an important asset in any leadership role, but particularly so when managing professionals. 

            Professionals also view their organization as having a distinct culture and take pride in it.  (I’m assuming here that the organization is reasonably successful and the employees view it positively – this isn’t an article about turnaround situations).  A leader who is new to the organization must be particularly alert to this point and demonstrate a sympathetic understanding of the organizational culture.  In the professional organizations I’ve observed, the initial questions employees ask one another about a new leader from outside the organization have less to do with style or policies than about “fit.”  In other words, a central concern is whether the new leader values those traits that make the organization different from its peers.  Changes are more palatable when they are presented in a way that affirms rather than challenges the culture. 

             Can leaders of other kinds of businesses learn anything from professional firms?  I believe so.  Managing professionals virtually demands a non-hierarchical outlook.  Professional employees, and effective managers of professional organizations, view leadership as a quality that one develops by effort and experience, not one conferred by an organization chart.  Moreover, professionals are often skeptical that there exist special personality traits that allow one to inspire and motivate – they are more likely to see effective leadership as the result of the hard and diligent work of building relationships and communicating consistently and effectively.  These are useful attitudes for the leaders of any business to inculcate in themselves and their employees.

SEVEN OBSERVATIONS ON LEADERSHIP, VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE

Readers:  Set forth below is the fifth article in my Leadership Series, this one by Vice President of the United States, Walter Mondale.  More than any person I’ve ever met, Mr. Mondale is perfectly positioned to opine on leadership.  His lengthy public service includes roles as Minnesota Attorney General, U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States and U.S. Ambassador to Japan.  In these positions, he has been a remarkable leader himself and has had the opportunity to interact with leaders from the U.S. and around the world.

At the end of the article is a video of an interview I had the pleasure to conduct of Mr. Mondale.  In our discussion, Mr. Mondale expands on the ideas below and shares his insights on a wide variety of topics that touch on leadership.  I hope you enjoy his observations.  Regards, Roy

Seven Observations on Leadership

By:  Walter F. Mondale, Vice President of the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Japan

1.  Dishonesty kills.

I don’t know of anything that is more toxic to leadership than the fear that the person lacks integrity.  Lincoln once said of public esteem, which I believe is traceable to integrity, that “with it everything is possible, without it nothing is possible.”

Our founders were so concerned about the inherent weaknesses of human nature that they famously wrote (in Federalist Paper # 51), “Men are not angels. . . Therefore we need auxiliary precautions”  . … “We a need a government that can control itself.”  Thus our Constitution is at once a document of liberty (except for slaves) while also a remarkable instrument for checking and balancing power, forcing the sharing of power so that ambition in one branch of government would be balanced by the ambition of another.

The same devotion to integrity is needed in all aspects of life and thus must be found in all of our leaders, public or private.

2  Respect for others.

Leadership is not about building up one’s ego; it is about building the confidence of those he or she must lead, whatever the environment.

Employees must feel the leader’s respect; must feel that his ideas are listened to and that the leader’s efforts reflect his advice as well as the advice of others; i.e., he sees his identity in that organization.  A leader must have confidence but must avoid becoming egotistical, apparently a very hard line to respect.

3.  A leader must lead.

Serious change is always tough to achieve.  For example, how does America shape its federal budget to achieve what’s needed in a fair and responsible way?  How does Minnesota do so, for that matter?  Ditto for all kinds of other societal or business challenges.  It requires thorough understanding of the issues, careful analysis of the options, and then clear and persuasive leadership on the issues.

Too many “leaders” duck responsibility, delay the tough calls, or blame others.  When I look back on my long public career, the things I feel best about are occasions when I took on the tough issues, actually took a chance.

I also believe that a leader should accept the challenge to lead on a big issue, even if it means losing.  There are worse things than defeat, not many, but there are.  If a leader decides that, no matter what, he cannot lose, then that desperation can drive an inner weakness, even deceit, that discredits the whole purpose.  Bravery is still a noble instinct.

4.  Be a believer.

A big part of effective leadership involves understanding and really believing in your cause.  If that is not true, people will sense it.  They recognize the shallow and the insincere.  But they also sense it when a leader deeply believes in an issue and is taking that chance for something bigger than himself.  A leader, or prospective leader, will get all kinds of advice about how to speak, dress, smile, organize, . . . endlessly.  This advice should be listened to but I believe genuine deep sincerity is the key to building trust.

5.  Lead a balanced life.

Leaders, if not careful, can burn themselves up in their work.  Obsession is a serious challenge.  Family, children, friends, and the need for relaxation and exposure to life are inspiring influences.  Brandeis once said he could do twelve months work in eleven but not in twelve.  Hubert and Muriel once said that politics can cost a lot but it must never cost the family.  Obsessed people usually don’t want to hear bad news; emotionally healthy leaders encourage honesty and directness.  Emotional stability is essential.

6.  Keep leadership open and accountable.

Many CEOs, CFOs, and political and administrative leaders have been destroyed by risks that could have been anticipated and prevented.  Leaders tend to emphasize control over everything possible.  Type AAA they are called.  Our nation expects them.  Strong leaders, absolutely; unaccountable leaders, absolutely not.

Corporate boards should have independent members, truly independent.  I think independent members should pick their own outside counsel to represent them and protect them from risks to their responsibilities under the law.  Corporations hate this because they know the Board will be encouraged to be more independent and more aware of their rights and responsibilities.  Public leaders should look on an alert press as an asset to their leadership.  They don’t, but they are wrong.  Most leaders who fail are victims of a knowable scandal they were unaware of or of which they became aware after it was too late to deal with it.

There is a  pronounced tendency to protect the boss from bad news, and to look down on critics and the bearers of bad news.  A good leader will resist this tendency, will encourage candor, and will honor the whistleblower.

7.  Beware of stale leadership.

Good leaders, with time, can calcify: what was once good may lose validity as times change.  Organizations typically protect the old guard.

Some leaders can adapt, bring the next generation of leaders along with him or her; others cannot.  The good Lord planned generational change, whether welcome or not, to force that change.  A  good leader will consider the proper management of change a key part of his job; it should be managed and encouraged.  Not easy.