Category Archives: Leadership

consensus building, Leadership, Responsibility

Another Conference Call?

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Is it just me, or have conference calls become so pervasive that they are beginning to hamper a team’s ability to get things done? Perhaps I am dating myself, but I do recall when conferencing circuits and services were expensive and were reserved for important topics and meetings. With the increase in the availability of conferencing capabilities, it seems that both the number of conference calls and the number of attendees in the conference calls have skyrocketed.

Conference calls are useful leadership tools. They provide the opportunity for a great deal of information to be exchanged in a short period of time. They provide a forum where issues and concerns can be identified and dealt with quickly. They also seem to provide the opportunity for the dreaded “group think”.

With everybody on the call, and with everybody expounding opinions, eventually a group solution can evolve, unless the call is well managed and led. It is natural to try and take all opinions into account. However too many diverse ideas and inputs can have a tendency to conflict and weaken a direction instead of strengthening it. A leader must remember his responsibility to lead on a conference call, instead of allowing the call to take on a direction of its own.

Conference calls can also have the affect of distributing risk associated with decisions and responsibility. The idea here is that if everyone on the conference call agreed, then everyone shares the responsibility for the outcome. If the outcome is good, this is fine. If the outcome does not produce the desired results, then having everyone share the responsibility for the decision is the same as having no one having responsibility for the decision.

I am a proponent of the association of responsibility and authority when it comes to decision making. That means that the leader is vested with authority to make the requisite decisions, and is held responsible for the results their decisions create. It seems the trend in conference calls is for the decision to be moved from the leader to the conference call attendees. This may result in a decision eventually being made, but it also results in no one having responsibility for the results that are created.

Conference calls can be excellent tools for leaders to use in order to make intelligent decisions. It seems that instead of being a means to an end that they have in fact become the end themselves. Instead of being a tool to enable a decision to be made, that they have become the decision forum itself.

As long as the leader understands their responsibilities, a conference call can be a good tool. However it seems that the trend today may not be in that direction, and every time I get another meeting notice I can’t help but think – another conference call?

Communication, Leadership, Strategy

It’s Not “What”

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We have all attended senior management “all hands” meetings. These are invariably the meetings where senior management fulfills its obligation to try and communicate with the rest of the business. These meetings have the potential to really inspire the team. The reality is that they usually do not.

All hands meetings are usually appreciated for the attempt by management to communicate to the team. It has been a while since any of us has been graded on effort alone. We get reviewed on results. They can also be easily interpreted as management fulfilling its obligation to meet its self measured object to “communicate” with the team.

Much of the issue lies in the content presented to the team in the all hands communication session. There is usually a review of the group’s performance. This is good. Everyone wants to know where the team stands with respect to its goals or targets, and how it is doing with respect to previous periods. This provides the team with an overall frame of reference for their performance and position.

What follows is normally a review of “what” is to be done next. What the next goal is. What is yet to be done. What needs to be improved. When I hear this sort of information I am reminded of the satires of war movies where the general addresses the soldiers preparing for battle and tells them.

”Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take that hill. When we’re done there, we’re going to take the next hill. After that we’re going to take the next hill. When we get up on top of that hill, we’re going to look around and see if there are any other hills we want to take….”

Objectives are great. Now everyone knows “What” the team is going to do. Everyone probably had a good idea of what they were going to do next before the meeting. The team now wants to hear How they are going to achieve the goal. Which resources are to be used. Who will have leadership responsibilities. In short, they want to hear a high level review of the “The Plan”.

An all hands meeting where you do not communicate the organizational strategy or plan is almost akin to telling your organization that you don’t have a plan, even if you do. I have stated in the past that if you provide your team a blank page (no information) chances are that you will not like the story that they will write on it. That is the case here.

The individual members of the team need to at least understand the high level aspects of the team strategy, so they can internalize them and create their own individual strategies and goals that support and contribute to the team goals. By providing more than just a “what” is needed, and including a little more of “why” its needed and “how” we propose to get it, you can turn an all hands meeting back into a much more useful management tool.

Leadership, Responsibility, Roles

Make Music

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I would like to think of myself as something of a musician. I have actually been up on stage at a few venues (including The Hard Rock Café) and performed in various bands and even got paid for doing it. I guess that minimally qualifies me as a professional musician.

 

Every now and then however I have had the pleasure of associating with “real” musicians. These are the people who have “the” talent. They can play. I understand music theory and application. I enjoy practicing, learning new works and with time can master most techniques, but I recognize that in some instances I really don’t have “the” talent that will elevate me to the exalted levels of a “real” musician.

 

I have also learned that I don’t care.

 

You need to enjoy making music. It is something I want to do. I have found that I would rather be the weakest player in a very good jazz combo than the best player in a garage rock band. I have been both. Being the weaker player in the better group doesn’t embarrass me. It motivates me. I find I work harder, to get better, to not let down my band-mates, and that the final product that we produce is always better.

 

You also learn that being a musician requires a certain amount of interpersonal skills. I have been in a few bands that were pretty good, but could not survive more than a gig (performance – I have to use band “speak” lest people think I am really not a musician) or two simply because they could not get along. The band needs to understand the personal arrangement in much the same way as they have to understand the musical arrangement. Not everyone can be “the” leader, and not everyone can solo at the same time.

 

It is said that the band “Cream” (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce) were three virtuosos soloing all the time. They were great, and in some cases spectacular, but they couldn’t hold it together either, and quickly broke up. They have reunited some forty years later for a few concerts, but think of all the spectacular music that didn’t get made.

 

I found that bands I was in, where the members brought down their personal desires to solo and lead made better music. The final product (at least for me, and I think them too) was ultimately much better, and much better received by the audience. There is a time and a place to step forward, but not everybody can do it at once.

 

You want to be in with musicians that smiled. Making music is fun. You are getting to do something that not everybody gets to do. It should be a pleasure. It is something to enjoy. If you are not having fun, if you can’t find the enjoyment, even in the practice and the mundane aspects of making music, than you shouldn’t be doing it.

 

I do have fun. I hope my kids see that I do and that they do too, some day. I was well out of college before I learned to enjoy it, but I did.

 

I play the bass. As I said I would like to call myself a bass player, but that might insult some of the bass players out there who can really, really play. I know my role. The bass is a transition instrument which helps connect the melody (guitars / keyboards – chords) to the rhythm (Drums – beat). I try to be the best bass player I can within the group, whether I am playing a simple repetitive riff, or improvising a walk through changing keys and chords. I enjoy them both.

There is a musician joke that holds very true for me.    Who is the guy standing around with all the musicians?…..The Bass player.
 

I also practice the bass. I try to learn new songs, new styles, and new techniques. The Jazz group I am currently in is playing several old standards, but in varying new and different styles. Old standards that were written to be played as a “swing” sound new and are interesting to play as a “Tango” or “Bossanova”. It seems that with music you can continue to take the old and make it new again. It helps keep you, the music and the band refreshed.

 

I would like to thank the other members of the band I am in. Gene (keyboards), Jay (Guitar), and Billy (Drums) – Thanks. I am having a ball. I hope you guys will continue to let me play in the band.

 

I guess a lot of the same ideas associated with making music would also apply to business, wouldn’t they.

Leadership, Reorganization, Team Building

Don’t Ask – Do Tell

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I think we have all be in organizations that have implemented reorganizations. Some of us have been through it several times. We have seen some good ones and we have seen some not so good ones. In most instances difference between a good reorganization and a bad one depends on the first steps taken by the new leader. Those first few statements and actions by the new leader set the tone for the new organization.

 
Those leaders that took a little time to meet and understand their new team showed they were taking the time and interest to understand what the team faced. A team will normally respect this approach. Those that took immediate actions showed they had a plan and were going to be decisive. The team will again normally react positively to this approach as well and look for the logic and goal associated with the changes.

Then there are those leaders whose first action is to question their team.

They will ask if the team has the competitive drive, the talent, the training, the spirit, the desire, etc (pick one or more) to accomplish the task or challenge that is in front of them. This is not what a team needs to hear from its new leader. The team does not want to hear the leader questioning their capabilities or mind sets.

A team wants to see those attributes in question, in their leaders. They want to see it in statement, action and deed by the leader. The members of the team don’t want to be questioned about their own commitment or attributes. An organization is a reflection of the leader. A new leader needs to be dynamic in setting both the new structure and clearly annunciating the organizational goals and expectations.

A new leader needs to step in, and up and clearly state what the needs and goals of the new organization are. The leader should not ask the team if they have the requisite attributes. The leader should tell the team they have the attributes needed to achieve the desired goals.

It is a small but very important difference in getting a new organization going.

Character, Leadership

Sometimes You Are Wrong

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When I was younger my dad had 2 rules for life around our house: Rule 1 – Dad was never wrong. Rule 2 –Whenever dad was wrong, see Rule 1. This worked pretty well until I became a teenager, and like all teenagers I knew better….usually…I thought.

 

In business however, unlike my formative years, no one gets to be right all the time. We all work hard to make sure we are right as often as possible. It is the way you matriculate upward in management. Being right more often than not is a hallmark of the successful manager. There are times when despite your best efforts, you are not right. What you do now will tell many people a lot about your character as a leader.

 

If you are wrong, accept that things did not go as you had planned. It happens. Don’t equivocate – “We were 75% correct”. Don’t try and spin doctor the results – “We met our commitments, but didn’t reach the objectives…” Learn from it.

 

Identify what did go right,and also identify what did not. Specifically identify what needs to be done in the future to assure that when the same or similar issues arise in the future,the outcome will be different. The idea is to focus on the future and not waste cycles trying to explain, or bury the past. What is learned and assimilated into the business and how it is prepared to move forward is far more important than the protection of your ego over some perceived “failing”.

 

If at some point it turns out that you are wrong, despite however unlikely an occurrence this is believed to be, identify the issue, get it right and move on. In both the short and long term it will be better for you and the business for you to be the leader that corrected the issue and moved forward, and not the manager who tried to recast the past.

 

My dad still likes to remind me about Rule 1 though.

Leadership, Priorities, Teamwork

Beware of the Tiger….Team

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There are many corporate animals in the organization, but one that has the potential to do so much good, also has the capability to cause significant harm. That corporate “animal” is the Tiger Team. Tiger Teams normally evolve from some sort of issue that has lingered unresolved for a significant amount of time. When senior most management’s frustration with the current problem owners group’s inability to drive a resolution boils over, they will create the Tiger Team. This is when scarce resources will be thrown at the problem.

 

Every manager has a reasonable idea of who their best performers, problem solvers and go-to for solution people are. These are also usually some of their busiest people. When a problem reaches a certain age, or criticality, it is usually these people who are called on. They become members of the Tiger team, and begin work on the solution.

 

In many instances this will be the end. The team will form, the team will work, and the team will solve the problem and move on. Case closed.

 

However in some instances Tiger Team members can be drawn from one group to help solve the problems of a second group, and placed under the temporary management of someone from a third group. There are now at least three members of management (and possibly more) that feel they have at least some claim to that resources time and the prioritization of their work.

 

Unless reporting lines are very clearly drawn, and work is very clearly prioritized, some of the most highly regarded resources in the organization have now been put in a very difficult situation. How are they supposed to arbitrate between the demands of so many different members of senior management? If they were working close to or at capacity before, which work will be delayed based on the additional duties required by the Tiger Team? If left on their own to decide, whatever direction they choose will leave at least one and possibly more managers unhappy because their work requirements were not met.

 

The key elements of a successful Tiger Team are the understanding by all members of the entire organization what the work priorities, and the leadership priorities of the Tiger Team are with respect to the entire organization. If the work of the Tiger Team takes temporary precedence, then the leadership of the Tiger Time also needs to take temporary management precedence. This is sometimes a tricky situation when the resources in one group must be provided to help solve the issues of another group, and their current accompanying work deliverables must be temporarily de-prioritized.

 

Without the clear establishment of responsibilities and priorities, a Tiger Team has the potential to turn into an exercise in trying to herd cats, with about as much opportunity for success.

Humor, Leadership, Management

Read the Management Book Satires

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In this Blog I have refered to several management books as good reference material on how to conduct both sales and your business. Despite our best efforts we invariably will find ourselves in a position that can only be described as comical. Someone will ask you a question, or senior management will give you an order that will cause you to stop, and look for the hidden camera that must be around to capture your response. It is times like these that make me glad that I have read some of the very good satires of management books.


 


Stanley Bing has two great satires out on books that I have recommended. “What Would Machiavelli Do?” and, “Sun Tzu Was a Sissy” are great examples of what really good management content can become in the wrong hands. I would be very surprised if you have not run into a manager as described in these books. It also gives you an idea of what can happen when fundamental principles are practiced (or twisted) to the extreme.


 


That also brings us to Scott Adams and the quintessential “Dilbert”. Despite its skewed view of business and management, I have learned many things and seen many truisms in Dilbert. I have also caught myself in more than one instance where I was going to act or say something that could have been featured there.


 


A broad sense of humor is essential for leadership. Without it we run the risk of becoming a characterization of what a good manager should be. Characterizations and satires help us to understand what the extremes of a good thing can look like. They also help us laugh, and sometimes the best thing to laugh at is ourselves.

Adversity, Communication, Leadership

When the Going Gets Tough – Communicate

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There will always be tough times in business. It is the cycle of things. As leaders we should be working to minimize and avoid them, but sometimes they can’t be avoided. When things get tough, our natural tendency is to keep quiet, keep our head down and work harder. That is not the right response for the business leader facing tough times.

 

When times get tough the business leader needs to go on the communications offensive. You must communicate your issues and your plans to improve the situation, and the progress against those plans to the senior leadership team. It is best not to wait for them to ask. If there are issues and you wait for management to ask you, or worse yet tell you what to do, it will compromise your ability to lead your team.

 

On the other side of things, your team will also recognize when there are issues with the business. You will need to communicate openly and often with them to make sure that they are aware of all aspects of the situation and what their respective roles in it will be going forward. If your team is left with a blank page (no information) the story that they will write will not be the one you want.

 

While open and significant communication may not correct the issues that are driving the hard times, it will significantly contribute to making sure that they do not get worse. People can and will understand that tough times occur. Knowing what is happening and what their roles in it going forward are key aspects of creating and implementing the solution to tough times.

Culture, Fear, Leadership, New Assignment

Fear and Change in the New Assignment

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Every time I have been taken a new assignment in a new organization, the first question that was asked of me was “What are you going to do first?” My answer was invariably the same one. I would reply “I am first going to learn”. I would give this answer to both the people I reported to, as well as the people that reported to me.

 

It is good to come into a new role with a rough idea about what may or may not need to be done. This helps you create the first action plan. What normally happens then is that both your preconceived ideas and your plan rarely survive the first encounter with the actual business realities of the assignment intact. It is then that you learn why the situation is in the state it is in.

 

Machiavelli noted that the two principle ways to govern a new organization were to either go live amidst the existing leadership structure, or to destroy the existing structure and replace it with your own. I have been in corporate cultures where both approaches have been the norm. The team replacement culture usually breeds a business culture of fear, whereas the more inclusive approach will create a more constructive environment for the business.

 

I have found that my personal preference is to go and locate amidst the existing structure. In this way you can facilitate and speed up your learning process regarding the business. The existing team will always have some stake hold in the existing structures and processes of the business, but in general they will also know that a leadership change has been made for a reason. That reason is to usually change the direction of the business. This is usually easier to do with a team that is familiar with you instead of one that is afraid.

Decisions, Leadership, Team Building

Sometimes You Check Your Ego at the Door

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Ego is a powerful force in business. It drives us to work harder, to succeed, and to do our best. It is a key element in the makeup of a successful sales and business leader. Without it, losing the sale or missing the numbers would be much more tolerable. Good enough would in fact be good enough.

 

However no one is infallible and no one has the market for good ideas and decisions cornered. It is a good manager that will make a decision and move forward, but it is a good leader that will recognize when a better solution than their own has been provided, and adopt it.

 

Our egos will make it hard for us to accept that we are either wrong, or that someone else may have thought of a better way of doing things. Always be prepared to defend your decisions and directions. However it is equally possible that those that are questioning you are not correct, but do not dismiss them out of hand.

 

A review and discussion of different points of view will serve several functions. People want to feel that their input is valued and heard. Different points of view make the overall business stronger by removing blind spots associated with too many similar points of view. If they are not correct, they have had their say and will be stronger supporters of the current directions.

 

If they are right, you have to check your ego at the door and acknowledge it, and then make the changes that are for the betterment of the business.