Lee Ellis's Blog, page 269
July 9, 2016
What’s Your Leadership Tilt as a Parent? See This Infographic
What is your leadership tilt? Or even as a mom or dad, what’s your leadership tilt as a parent?
Check out Lee Ellis’ infographic entitled “Find and Balance Your Leadership Tilt to Achieve Your Goals”, and comment where you naturally lean –
View it on SlideShare
July 8, 2016
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, July 8, 2016
“As a manager your job is not to teach people talent. Your job is to help them earn the accolade ‘talented’ by matching their talent to the role.” – First Break all the Rules, Buckingham and Coffman
July 7, 2016
New Fox and Friends Interview – the Stark Realities of Leadership Accountability
Watch Lee Ellis’ new Fox and Friends interview last Friday on the stark reality of leadership accountability. See if you agree, and please share your comments – thank you!
July 6, 2016
5 Leadership Barriers to Better Clarity
By Lee Ellis
Have you ever had to fight for clarity in a meeting or conversation? Early on in my military training at Air University, our professors who taught speaking and writing courses told us repeatedly to “fight for clarity.” When lives are at stake while flying multi-million dollar pieces of equipment, clarity was crucial for us.
Clarity in the Crucible
Having spent several years in the crucible of the Hanoi POW camps, I grasped the concept of clarity in a literal way several years before I fully understood it in a classroom setting. With the guards patrolling the compound, it was a daily battle just to keep our limited covert communications flowing. And with so much on the line, clarity was essential for alignment on strategy and tactics as well as encouragement and support. In chapter 5 of my upcoming book, Engage with Honor, I share the vital role it played in the camps and the pain that came when it was missing.
Clarity in All Situations
Clarity is essential in all situations. It’s easy to see the problems when a sports team doesn’t have a clear message. For example, in baseball, what if the batter misses the sign and the runner at first gets thrown out on what should have been a sacrifice bunt? In football we often see the problems when a player or two miss the call, and the play blows up from the start. In a more typical workplace culture, it may be more subtle but can be even more disastrous. So, though clarity may be crucial, it’s almost never easy.
Why is Clarity So Hard?
“Clarity is difficult because we’re dealing with humans—not machines.” [Tweet This]
To understand the battle, here are some of the challenges we must overcome:
Low Priority. We’re too busy and don’t recognize how important clarity is and just neglect it.
Bad Assumptions. We assume that others see the world that we’re seeing and therefore don’t understand that they don’t have the right picture.
Unfocused. Some leaders don’t take the time to focus and decide what they want to happen—what success will look like.
Lazy. Sometimes leaders are too lax in their approach, figuring that somehow it will get done. They think that they can give a few instructions, withdraw from the process, and then one day it will all be completed.
Fear. Some leaders resist clarity because they fear the responsibility of holding others accountable—which, at times, means being firm and risking “negative emotions.”
Yes, it’s a battle, but gaining clarity is worth fighting for. It reduces the fog and ambiguity that undermine high performance. It brings understanding, alignment, and positive energy. It opens the door for synergy and teamwork. Clarity is really a 360 degree challenge, but for now let’s looks at it just from a top-down perspective.
How Can You Get Clarity?
100,000-foot level. Clarity about mission, vision, and values is crucial to building a culture of synergy and accountability. Unless these are hammered out at the top and then pushed down to the lowest levels, the culture will never be strong. Consider the success of Southwest Airlines’ more than forty years of consecutive profitability. Their culture has remained consistent on mission, vision, and values and it permeates to the lowest levels. Compare the success of Delta’s merger with Northwest and the difficulties seen in United’s merger with Continental. It’s all about clarity and alignment at this highest level.
50,000-foot level. For the sake of discussion, consider this level as standards and policies for the industry and organization. Enron and Arthur Anderson lost clarity and focus on these points, and they’re no longer in business. The NFL has struggled in recent years to gain clarity about player behavior on the field, in the locker room, and in domestic situations. Similar challenges can be seen in most every area of endeavor, probably due to a decline in clarity about standards and accountability in our culture.
25,000 foot level. This level is about policies and processes for the leader and the team. How do we work together? What do we expect of each other?
15, 10, and 5,000-foot levels. This level is about the specifics of the task or project. What will a successful outcome look like? What problems will be solved? What resources are available, and what ground rules or assumptions are in place that need to be considered?
When you look at clarity in these few levels, you can see that it’s not easy.
“It takes diligence and courage on the part of the leader to provide the clarity that people and teams need to successfully perform their assignments.” [Tweet This]
The Reward
The rewards for clarity are great—extending beyond celebrating success of the immediate task. In the process, everyone is growing in accountability and professional development. Envision current and next generation leaders growing together. Now that’s a goal really worth fighting for.
LE
Watch the Trailer for Lee Ellis’ upcoming book, Engage with Honor – and sign up for e-updates.
July 5, 2016
The Trailer for Engage with Honor – See Inside
We’re building up to the release of Lee Ellis’ new book, Engage with Honor! Please watch the trailer and pre-order your copy at EngageWithHonor.com
July 4, 2016
Happy Independence Day – Remembering Those Who Serve
“On my 3rd tour to the Middle East now. Read [Leading with Honor] and it gave me perspective that I’ve been able to share while teaching and certifying evasion and escape plans to some of America’s finest. Thanks for writing this book colonel, and thank you for you service.” – JG, CPT, IN, USA
July 3, 2016
On This Day in Leadership History for July 3, 2016
On this day in leadership history in 1962, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He also became the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Why was he able to crack this ceiling in this period of history?
Robinson’s character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation which then marked many other aspects of American life. He also had an impact on the culture of and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. Lead with character and courage, and wait for the results in your own leadership!
Jackie Robinson – Wikipedia
July 2, 2016
Inspiring Clip for Freedom – A Time for Choosing
Remembering and celebrating our past heroes that have defended our freedom as Americans and committed to being an influence for freedom in life and work. Watch this inspiring clip, and Happy Independence Day Weekend –
July 1, 2016
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, July 1, 2016
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” – General George S.Patton
June 30, 2016
This is the best definition of servant leadership that I’ve ever heard – See Inside
This is the best definition of servant leadership that I’ve ever heard—be inspired today! Commander James Stockdale USN, one of my senior leaders in the prison camps of Vietnam, practiced “servant leadership,” the belief that leaders should prioritize the needs of followers, long before it was popularized in business circles.
He wrote in Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot (Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 1995): “A leader must remember he is responsible for his charges. He must tend his flock, not only cracking the whip but ‘washing their feet’ when they are in need of help.” The approach frees the flock to look out for each other and the greater good.
In a 1981 address to the graduating class of John Carroll University, Stockdale encapsulated his POW leadership: “From this eight-year experience, I distilled one all-purpose idea. . . . it is a simple idea . . . an idea that naturally and spontaneously comes to men under pressure. . . . You are your brother’s keeper.”
This is an excerpt from Lee’s September 2016 release entitled Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability – Learn More
