Permission to Production - Engagement

Moving from Permission to Production requires employee engagement.  Engagement encourages ownership, enjoyment, and teamwork.  Ownership creates an atmosphere of responsibility, creativity to improve the process, and a focus on organizational success not personal.  Teamwork couples individual strengths with organizational objectives establishing unlimited potential.  Enjoyment produces a superior work ethic and self-motivation.  I hate to date myself too much but Loverboy recorded a song in the 80s, Working for the Weekend.  If that is the environment in your organization, your employees are not engaged and you are limiting your organizations potential.

How do we get employees engaged?   Tom Rath and Barry Conchie in their book Strengths Based Leadership discuss a survey that asked two questions:

·         What leader has the most positive influence in your daily life?

·         List three words that best describes what this person contributes to your life.

The top four answers were (leadership ladder equivalent  in parentheses)

·         Trust (Trust)

·         Compassion (Employee Engagement)

·         Stability (Consistent Results)

·         Hope (Effective Communication)

These four things are what we have been discussing on this blog.  We said moving from Position to Permission requires Effective Communication (Hope) and Trust.  People want to believe in something ; to  hope the future will be better than the present and they want to place their trust in those they follow.  Moving from Permission to Production requires Consistent Results (Stability) and Employee Engagement (Compassion).  Stability comes when communication and action consistently align and compassion requires engaging those you lead on a daily basis.  I don’t have the statistics that the John Maxwell, Jim Collins, or Tom Rath have, but I can take their research and apply it nearly verbatim to the leadership ladder.  It is a proven process, backed by experience and statistics!

Permission to Production - Consistent Results

Moving from Permission to Production requires consistent results, results that align with the effective communication that moved you from position to permission.  You don’t have to save the world or do more that you are capable of, simply communicate effectively what you intend to do then do it.  Am  I losing some of you because of the depth of that statement?  Look, I’m not trying to state the obvious or oversimplify this step, but we live in a world where dishonesty is commonplace, deception is advertised, and  we are inundated  with false promises of washboard abs and get rich quick schemes.  What all of these things have in common is an effectively communicated message without the ability to deliver results creating temporary followers who will leave as quickly as they came.

Why do  leaders communicate a message or a direction for an organization then fail to deliver?  What is the driver behind working hard to effectively communicate a message that can’t produce measurable results?    Avoiding conflict, pressure to make a change, self-centered leadership, or setting unrealistic expectations are possible answers that coupled with our fast food society, where instant gratification is king, encourages leaders to provide grandiose prose (instant gratification) rather than an executable message.   The problem is when our communication conflicts with our actions it launches us into a head on collision with conflict. Followers want to hear a message they believe in but will only continue to follow if the results align with that message.     

Can it be any easier, effectively communicate what we believe then execute to produce results consistent with our message?  If it was only that easy.  We say integrity is non-negotiable but we stretch the truth on our tax return, we say the organization is the most important but we make decisions for self-promotion, and we say that money isn’t our driver but we would quite our job if we won the lottery.  Our innate desire for self drives our daily conflict between our message and our actions.  As we gain control over self,  the daily conflict is diminished and we begin to live our message.  if we hope to keep followers, we must produce results that align with our message. 

Driving Excellence by Mark Aesch

Mark Aesch, the CEO of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), describes in his book Driving Excellence how to take an organization driven by mediocrity and drive them towards excellence.  Prior to his tenure, this organization was operated like a standard government agency, no accountability, no desire to achieve, and beholden to the union.  Aesch was able to bring a private sector mentality to a public agency and transform them from an underachieving, dysfunctional, and spendthrift organization to a budget conscious and efficient one.

                Aesch makes several good points like create a culture of no ego, embrace accountability, and foster a culture of analysis and action.  But the concept that I found the most unique was his discussion of decision making.   He says there are two types of decisions, tough ones and sad ones.  “Making a business decisions is not like choosing which house to buy or what color car to get.  These decisions are rooted in subjective judgments that largely defy external guidance, whereas business decisions are mainly objective calls.  By implementing sound strategy with a quality measurement system and a commitment to continuous improvement, leaders can almost always determine what the right call is, and unlike football, they don’t even need an instant replay. Truly tough calls – in the sense of intellectually difficult, puzzling, bedeviling – are few and far between.  And yet many decisions that we perceive to be objectively right and in line with the truth tear our guts out when we make them (as we always must).  These are sad decisions”.  We need to differentiate determining what to do, the decision, from the action required, the implementation of the decision.  When we combine them, decision making with action of implementation,, it clouds the truth and results in the decision being subjective, based on our emotions.  This makes us perceive the decision as tough because we don’t have facts to backup an emotional or subjective decision.  Listen, decision making is something we all face and we could save ourselves significant stress and consternation if we can make objective, fact based decisions and shy away from subjective, emotional ones.

Position to Permission - Trust

In the last post we discussed the first stringer connecting the position and permission rungs, effective communication.  The other stringer is trust.  When you communicate with people in a way that connects with them there is an element of risk involved on their part.  Their decision to give you permission to lead hinges on can they trust you to deliver.  We live in a world full of disappointment, frustration, and hurt.  People are unwilling to risk additional disappointed unless they can manage that risk by finding a reason to trust you, a reason to see you as different from the rest.  Leaders need to take this responsibility seriously.  It is an opportunity, an honor, to be afforded permission to lead.  It isn’t a right we as positional leaders are granted but rather an opportunity given to us by those we lead.  

The challenging part about trust is it takes time to build and an instant to destroy.  As parents, we see this with our kids.  When they enter the different phases of their lives, we give them additional responsibility accompanied by trust.  That trust was built over years but quickly evaporates when they make a mistake.  Then the process repeats.  The same is true for leaders.  We build trust over time and need to be aware that when we make a mistake and break that trust, we move back to being positional leaders and must rebuild our trust account in order to be allowed or granted permission to lead again.

Shaping our kids into productive adults, leaders of tomorrow, future boat rockers, are the greatest and most challenging leadership opportunities we will face.  Ironically, it is the most natural place to stay a positional leader because our kids depend on us and can’t easily change families.  Our families see us when we’ve had a tough day at work, in the morning before the first cup of coffee, and when we just want to have some “me time”.  Picture for a moment the joy when your children finally grant you permission to lead.  Wow, what an opportunity that comes with enormous responsibility.  The same wow factor accompanied by humility in light of the tremendous responsibility is how we should view every leadership encounter that progresses to being granted permission to lead.  Take it seriously, pursue it with vigor and don’t be content with being granted permission to lead but rather strive to move quickly down the rung to production where the picture you’ve painted and the words you’ve spoken come together in tangible, measurable results.

Position to Permission - Effective Communication

The first stringer connecting the position and permission rungs is effective communication.  People will give you “permission” to lead them if you can effectively communicate, if you can connect with them.   Can you paint a picture for people where they can see themselves in your message?   This time of year the concept of moving from position to permission through effective communication is played out every night on the television.  Presidential candidates hit the campaign trail and try to effectively communicate why they are the best person to lead our great country.  They start as positional leaders.  Why, because everyone starts as a positional leader, even the president of the United States.   What is a campaign?  It is their opportunity to broadcast a message that will resonate with us and provide a connection which will result in us voting for them, effectively giving them “permission” to lead us.

What does effective communication look like?  Is it a charismatic and passionate speech that leaves you awestruck?    Is it a heartfelt talk or fireside chat that tugs at your core?  Is it short and sweet, an only the facts discussion?  The answer in all three cases is maybe.  It isn’t the delivery that qualifies your communication as effective; it is the connection it makes.  We said before that everyone is different so how you connect with people is different as well.  So what is the key to connection?   We need to find common ground, believe our message, and allow participation in the process.  Many leaders make the mistake of confusing connection with being likeable or with telling people what they want to hear.  That is not connection, it is positional leadership.  In the next post we will discuss the other stringer connecting position and permission, trust.

Movement on the Leadership Ladder

The challenge in moving from rung to rung is you can’t apply a formula or follow a recipe.  We live in a fast food society that expects things to happen quickly without much effort.  Leading people requires heavy lifting.  Breaking News, people are unique and different.  I learned this lesson growing up with a father who taught college physics.  He would study the material he was teaching year after year.  I finally asked him why he felt compelled to study after teaching for twenty plus years.  Had physics changed over the years?  His answer is the key to understanding how to become a better leader. He said, everyone learns differently and in order to reach each student, I need to completely understand the material.   What works for teaching one person may not work for the next.  Great leaders are lifelong students, focused on understanding the intricacies of leading people.  What works for leading one person or organization may not work for the next.  That is the challenge of leading. 

Becoming a better leader requires developing a set of skills or filling your leadership play book with an understanding of what plays work in different situations.  As Liam Neeson says in the movie Taken, “…But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career...”  You won’t become a great leader overnight.  Leading people requires book smarts and street smarts developed over time.  You can’t learn by just reading or just working in the lab.  What I am trying to do with this blog is provide you the classroom portion of leadership.  But it will be pointless unless you get into the game and play.  You have to be willing to jump in, sink or swim.  That is where the real learning occurs.  You might fumble a few snaps but you will also throw a few touchdown passes!!

Leadership Ladder - Position

I will continue to build on the previous posts in developing the concept of viewing leadership opportunites against the backdrop of the leadership ladder.

Every time you accept a new position, change roles within your company, or bring new people into your organization, you begin as a positional leader.  It doesn’t matter how successful you have been in your previous job or how much your reputation precedes you.  You ALWAYS start out as a positional leader.  The question or decision you have to make is will I take the easy road and stay a positional leader or am I willing to invest the personal and professional capital necessary to be better, to move down the ladder.  Positional leadership is the starting point, the beginning, the entering argument, the entry level job.  It is not designed to be a place where you stay for any length of time but merely a place to begin.  The tragedy is that many people stay positional leaders.

When you become a parent, you are a positional leader with your kids.  You know this is true because what parent hasn’t said, “You will clean your room because I’m you father and I am telling you to clean it!”  Confession time, I’ve been there and done that.  The room gets cleaned this time but you have to go through the same routine every time because they are following you only because of the POSITION you occupy.  They have no choice.  Parents that stay positional leaders are puzzled by the fact that their kids don’t solicit their advice later in life.  Against the backdrop of the leadership ladder, it makes perfect sense.  If you haven’t moved down through permission to production, you won’t have developed the relationship necessary to be a people developer or mentor.  The same is true in your organization.  People will follow you if you occupy a leadership position because they value their job.  However, you will spend your time managing them, motivating them, and maintaining the status quo.  People expect positional leadership but they desire something more. 

Leadership Ladder

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying and associated answer, “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time”.  Leadership can often be viewed as an elephant - massive in size, complex in relationships, slow to change directions, and life-long in impact.  Can you break leadership into bite size pieces or is this one of those times where the cleaver saying is purely that, a cleaver saying?   The leadership ladder is a tool that will help break the challenge of leading into bite size pieces, breaking down the overwhelming nature of leading into smaller segments that are easier to comprehend and apply. 

If you were to search the Internet for leadership ladder, you would find many images that differ in their number of rungs or what each rung stands for.  However, they find common ground in their shape, vertical stringers with horizontal rungs connecting them, and function, starting at the bottom and climbing up.  The leadership ladder you see below differs in shape and function from both an actual ladder and a “typical” leadership ladder.  I’d like to take complete credit for this, but that would be both dishonest and poor leadership, so I will give John Maxwell the credit for the different rungs of the ladder.  What you see below is a modified version of Maxwell’s leadership ladder to drive home the two differences mentioned above:

·    Different shape:  The top rung of the ladder has the most people and each subsequent rung has fewer.

·    Different function: As you grow as a leader, you move down the ladder, becoming less not more visible.

I will let you digest the picture, and in subsequent posts I will describe each rung of the ladder and how to move between rungs.

Are Leaders Made or Summoned to Lead?

Ask people the question, “Are leaders born or made”, and the overwhelming answer is made.  Ask people the question, “Are leaders made or summoned to lead”, and most people would say huh? Leonard Sweet wrote a book called Summoned to Lead in which the basic premise is leaders are neither born nor made but rather summoned, called into existence by circumstances.  He goes on to say those who rise to the occasion are leaders.  He believes vision is a worn out concept and that the whole leadership thing is demented, that the future needs more ears than eyes.  If you were to go to the library and spend a few casual minutes browsing through leadership books, you would quickly realize Sweet is in the minority.  But is he wrong?  Haven’t you ever found yourself in the right place at the right time, where you were left to decide should I help or mind my own business?  Was that your moment to lead?  We think of the heroes that are presented to us in tragic situations like September 11, 2001, natural disasters, or war.  Every time they are given an opportunity to speak they say the same thing, “Anyone would have done what I did”.  Really, would they really or was the person seizing the moment to be a hero, being summoned to lead?   

In general, I subscribe to the John Maxwell theory that leadership is influence, nothing more or nothing less.  However, I can’t discount the fact that I believe we are purposeful beings created to fulfill something bigger than surviving day to day.  Can leadership be a summons to influence people at the right time and in the right circumstance?  Why did I pick this moment to discuss Leonard Sweet’s book written seven years ago?  In light of the recent reflections ten years after the devastation in New York, Washington D.C, and Shanksville, PA, I believe we are all summoned to influence people around us and that we all must be ready to rise to the occasion when the circumstances require, whether it be a tragedy like 9/11/2001, the birth of a child, change that has to be implemented in your business, or standing up for a cause.  I’m not sure if leadership is influence or if we are summoned to lead by circumstances.  But I do know that you will either be influenced by people or be an influencer of people.  That is a decision each of us will make at some point.  For me, I want to be an influencer of people, helping others to more productive in whatever endeavor they choose.  How about you?

Boat Rocking Leadership - What is it?

It is an early June morning with a crisp breeze blowing out of the North.  You are in your new Triton fishing boat on Big Twin Lake along with several other fishermen.  If you sit quietly in your boat, it will be hard to differentiate one fisherman from another.  But imagine, if you would for a minute, what would happen if you suddenly stood up in your boat and started rocking it side to side - maybe laughing or hollering loudly?  This serene, calm day on the lake would quickly turn into chaos.  Other boaters might be puzzled by your behavior.  They might assume you had a crazy night on the town or Attention Deficit Fishing Disorder (ADFD).  You would look different. Why?  The normal way to fish is patiently, sitting quietly until the fish are ready to take the bait.  Passive fishing is the “Right” way to fish.

            Boat Rocking Leadership looks different.  It breaks the status quo of “normal “leadership we have grown accustomed to by putting organizational goals ahead of personal, casting vision void of self promotion, developing relationships in order to mentor subordinates, and leaving a legacy long after you have retired.  Boat rocking leadership is about influencing your family, community, and organizations in ways that exceed your wildest imagination. 

            The key to Boat Rocking leadership is the integration of leadership concepts and ideas into your daily life - to live leadership rather than try to be a leader! Knowledge is important in every aspect of your life, but applying that knowledge to achieve maximum effectiveness is critical in becoming a better leader.  Knowing that stopping a team’s running game is a key to winning the game is good, but applying that knowledge and actually stopping their running attack will win you the game.  Knowing that investing is important for future financial stability is great, but choosing the right stocks, mutual funds, etc. is critical to establishing a secure financial future.  Knowing that raising your kids is an incredible responsibility is important, but actually investing the time and energy in a chaotic world is critical to them becoming productive adults, and knowing that vision, character, integrity, mentoring, etc. are all necessary qualities for a leader is important, but living leadership daily in the face of new and difficult challenges is critical if you desire to ha an influence in the lives of the people that surround you.

Why fight against the leadership status quo that says, “Do what is best for me regardless of the cost to my organization or family”?  What’s wrong with maintaining the leadership status quo?  Economies are crumbling, unemployment is rising, and moral failings are the norm; the church has been reduced to irrelevant and insignificant.  What’s wrong with the leadership status quo?  Maybe a better question is what’s right with the status quo!  We need leaders who aren’t looking for solid footing but rather are willing to push through uncertainty, are focused on doing their best NOW and trusting the future will take care of itself, are willing to stand up in the boat when everyone else is shouting sit down, and even willing to take risks that might result in falling out of the boat!  In my humble opinion, falling out of the boat is better than NEVER standing up.  Let’s be BOAT ROCKERS!!!!