Mary E. Marshall's Blog, page 15

How (NOT) to Be a Leader – You Have All the Answers

This week we continue the serialization of, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, in preparation for the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy. We hope you will enjoy Chapter 6 – You Have All the Answers.

Sent: Wednesday, July 4 at 10:08 pm

From: CEO

To: Executive Team

Subject: Mind Map Session

A reminder to everyone that tomorrow is our mind map session for our new product line. Please be prepared to discuss all your ideas related to the subject. Don’t bring any notes because I want to see how much you can retain and think outside the box.

After the session, I’ll expect a full report from each of you so we can compare the takeaways.

As the leader it’s your job to have the answers because you don’t pay your people to think, you pay them to do. You will waste valuable time and money struggling to execute other people’s flawed ideas, so keep your people focused on your vision, and tell them exactly how to do what needs to be done to get there.

How do you get all those answers? Well, it’s tricky, but you get them from your team without them knowing about it. One sure‑fire method for extracting ideas and answers from an unsuspecting team is to facilitate a mind‑map session. You can learn more about this technique by Googling it and spending thirty or forty seconds reading about it, but essentially, it’s a method to solve problems without participating in the solution yourself. Bring everyone together and put the problem on the table. Go around the table making each person write the next thing they think about as it relates to the problem.

Keep doing this with each person pinging off the one before them—somewhere in there someone will come up with a good idea. Your job is to pluck out that good idea and start the process again by mind mapping off that. You do not need consensus or agreement as to whether or not the idea is a good one; instead, take immediate credit for it by saying something like, “That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’m glad you agree.” Or, “I was hoping someone would bring that up; it’s so obvious to me.” Then rinse and repeat.

Everyone but you should have been taking copious notes as you instructed them to, so once the mind‑map session is complete, you can select the best notes with the most detail and assign the implementation of the solution to that person. You now have the ability to take credit for the process, the ideas, and the masterful delegation of the work that lies ahead. This is leadership at its best.

If you’re concerned that the person you delegated your ideas to doesn’t feel validated or feels like you’re taking credit for their work, simply follow up with some positive, leaderly reinforcement statements. You can say things like:

You know you’re my favorite right?
Did you see how I was leading you to that answer?
I love how you enhanced my original idea.
It’s great that you learned from my brainstorming techniques.
I’m impressed that you noticed that I gave you the answer in my questions.

Remember: have all the answers and keep the pecking order in check, and you will always be seen as the smartest person in the room.

Let’s Get Real

As the leader, you don’t have all the answers, and righteousness only makes you wrong even when you’re right. Your job is to empower others and be the facilitator or mentor for a better solution by leading the team to their own solutions, not corralling them to yours. When someone comes to you with a problem, first ask them what solutions they have thought through. Tell them you are happy to talk it out with them, but you want them to come up with an answer or two and you’ll help work out the best solution. When you mentor your people to the right answer rather than solving the problem yourself, they’ll feel more empowered and confident to find solutions in the future.

Great leaders encourage the contribution of ideas and solutions from their teams and commit to helping see them through to ensure their success. Don’t try to prove them wrong or hunt for opportunities to say, “I told you so.” Occasionally you will need to support ideas that you might not entirely agree with, but if and when those ideas fail, you will fail together. You would want the same if you asked your people to follow through with something you felt strongly about that failed or had a different‑than‑expected outcome. Remember: the only thing that’s worse than failure is failing alone. And that is the result of righteousness.

Download this chapter for free – How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Chapter 6

The post How (NOT) to Be a Leader – You Have All the Answers appeared first on Mary Marshall // CEO Coach.

How (NOT) to Be a Leader – It’s All About You

This week we continue the serialization of, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, in preparation for the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy. We hope you will enjoy Chapter 5 – It’s All About You.

Sent: Tuesday, December 31 at 4:00 pm

From: CEO/President

To: Gary B., VP Sales & Marketing

Subject: My feedback

I understand that you wanted me to wait for you on this, but that didn’t seem like a good idea to me. So, while you were on vacation I went ahead and had the agency present me with their concepts for the spring campaign you asked them to work on. I’m leaving you this feedback since I’ll be on my semi‑annual cruise when you get back—this way you can make revisions for me to look at once I’ve recovered from what I’m sure is going to be a nonstop party!

Frankly, I hate the creative. I get that it’s strategic and the messaging targets our new demographic, but I just don’t think the ideas are good ideas. The headlines sound like something my ex‑wife would say and I just can’t get that out of my head. Also, I’ve never liked yellow (studies show that most men don’t so I’m not sure why you chose it) so the color scheme has to change.

Also, I haven’t had the time to tell you this, but I’m up for a Marketing Innovation Award this year. I thought it would be more impactful to have the CEO on the nomination instead of VP of Marketing. I’m sure you’d agree. That said, it’s important that they get this creative where I want it. I can’t be embarrassed by shoddy creative at this prestigious award ceremony. The one category missing from my awards list is marketing, so I’m planning on winning this year.

Make it happen for me buddy!

Now, this is putting your best leadership foot forward! It takes courage to tell it like it is. Ask for what you want. Better yet, demand what you want and expect nothing less. Remind yourself daily that this organization would not be what it is today without you—your intuition, your gut, your determination, and your selfless commitment to excellence. Your people need to know that the organization is a direct reflection of your exacting standards and yours alone. So, make sure everyone knows where your bar is, then revel in watching them try to reach it.

As the ultimate leader, it’s also important to make sure that your team understands that your calendar comes first, and you need think time first and foremost. Once you’ve established this, it won’t be a surprise to them if you are unavailable when they need you or if they are forced to re-engineer schedules for their own teams, vendors, or others. These are the problems you pay them to solve, so let them solve them. You simply don’t have time to do their thinking for them.

Recognition—your recognition—is an important way both to secure the hierarchy you’ve worked so hard to achieve and to keep your competitors and other industry leaders believing that you are running the show (see Chapter 14: Managing Your Personal Brand), so be careful to give credit where credit is due: to you. You’ve paid your dues to get where you are, now reap the rewards!

Remember, it’s all about you. If it wasn’t for you, there would be no them.

Let’s Get Real

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: People with narcissistic personalities really believe that the world revolves around them. They lack all ability to empathize and they have a deep and desperate need to keep the attention and focus on themselves.

This disorder is expressed through arrogant and self-serving behavior and a lack of empathy for others. Narcissists need to be admired, revered, and respected at all times and often display overly confident, egomaniacal, and manipulative behavior. People with this disorder often times have lofty unattainable goals of fame or fortune, and they demand that those around them also work toward those goals.

Congratulations! If the email at the beginning of this chapter sounds like you, we’ve just saved you a ton of money in therapy fees trying to figure out why nobody really respects or likes you. And, if you don’t recognize and change your behavior, that won’t be the only expense you’re likely to incur. Narcissistic behavior in leadership is one of the most common causes of dissent amongst employees. Where it’s present, more often than not an employee may love the company, love their job, but ultimately their disrespect and dislike for you causes them to run for the hills.

Empathy is the key word here, and lack of empathy is at the center of narcissism and narcissistic behavior. Great leaders are empathetic in that they have the capacity to understand, share, and prioritize others’ feelings and emotions. Your level of empathy is directly related to your ability to understand not only the needs of your employees but the needs of your customers. In the case of your organization and those you lead; you will not be able to build a cohesive team or gain trust if you lack empathy. In the case of your customers, without empathy, you will not be able to create business strategies for products or services that satisfy them.

So maybe it is all about you. Because if you’re a narcissist, it’s your lack of empathy that will lead to the failure of others and your business.

Download this chapter for free – How (Not) to Be a Leader – Chapter 5

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How (NOT) to Be a Leader – I’m Sorry…What?

This week we continue the serialization of, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, in preparation for the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy. We hope you will enjoy Chapter 4 – I’m Sorry…What?

Sent:  Monday, September 6 at 11:14 pm

From: CEO

To: Bev

Subject: What’s up?

Bev, you wanted to tell me something? Just leave me a note with whatever it was. I’ll let you know if it needs a response.

Thx.

As the leader, you need to pretend to listen to your people, but really, you’re using your time much more productively. There is a lot of talk these days about leaders being good listeners. But really that’s just BS because leaders are good tellers. Your people are looking to you to tell them what to do. Besides, what could they possibly have to say that you would be interested in hearing?

The current buzz word is active listening. In fact, inactive listening is actually more productive and more suited to a good leader. (Note to self: get a trademark on that phrase. Brilliant!) What this means is that you appear to be listening but you’re not. First, it’s important to look at the other person for a least a couple of seconds of the exchange, but God forbid, don’t try to make eye contact because that’s just awkward and weird. Once you’ve made that initial head shake of listening, just drown out that annoying voice with thoughts about what else you have going on.

This is a great time for you to look around your office and think about what needs redoing or redecorating (it’s always important to have a sharp‑looking office), make your shopping list, or consider the things you really need to do (like make that appointment to get a haircut). When you’ve had enough of the patter and your lists are made, break out of your thoughts and say, “Give me the bullets, please.” This way the other person will have to summarize, and you’ll get the gist of whatever they were blabbing on about.

If, for some reason, you can’t seem to grasp what they are saying or you just plain don’t care, ask them to summarize it in an email and send it to you so you can “think on it.” This always works well, and they are so pleased that you not only listened but think it’s worthy of a follow-up email. And don’t worry, there’s no need to actually read or follow up on that email. Remember, you’re a very busy leader.

Another great strategy for inactive listening is to let the person go on and on, and when you’re bored, say, “I’m sorry, what?” This lets them know you were paying attention but want them to repeat a point. It definitely shows them you care, and empathy is always a sign of a good leader! And the best part is, it’s only three words, saving you from actually having to have a conversation.

Always remember that when someone comes to talk to you, they really came to listen to you. They want to hear what you have to say on whatever subject they’re talking about. You’re the expert—why wouldn’t they want to listen? So, after you’ve let them go on for a few minutes, cut them off and offer your words of wisdom on the subject, even if you don’t know what the hell they were talking about. They just took up your time, now they can listen. And if they’re loyal, they’ll pick up a few tips they can use.

When sharing your wisdom, be sure to give as much or as little detail as you want. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear your own voice. You might even sound more brilliant than you already thought you were, and that’s always a pleasant sound. If you don’t know the subject well, make stuff up because most people are sheep and they don’t want to know the truth, they just want to know what you have to say and hear how you say it. Use big, generic words that are nonspecific and that can be applied to anything and anyone: words like fantastic, great, amazing, terrific, and huge.

There are a couple of pitfalls you want to avoid in inactive listening. First, never get too interested in the topic unless it’s gossip about someone that you can use for your own purposes down the road. If it’s gossip, press the talker for all the dirt they have because, as the leader, it’s important that you know this and it’s important that they know they can come dish to you anytime, like whenever they get a juicy tidbit.

The second pitfall is actually listening. You can get caught up in what the other person is telling you and actually forget that you don’t care, which then makes them think you care. This is the death knell for a leader. It means you let your guard down, and they might think you are actually learning from or interested in something they have to say, which makes you weak. So, if you find yourself actually interested in something they are saying, look at your watch and let them know you have to go so they have a minute to wrap up. Tell them to send you a summary of whatever they were talking about, and if it’s good, use it at the next management meeting as your idea. Gets ’em every time!

Let’s Get Real

As a leader, your job is to listen. People will not follow you or respect you if you don’t care, and listening is a tangible way of caring about the speaker. Your job as a good leader is to mentor and teach all the time, and if you don’t listen, you cannot possibly know how to mentor someone. This is empathy in action, but empathy doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to take action on someone’s behalf.

Your instinct will be to solve whatever the problem is, but that’s not listening. Listen, ask questions, and help the other person solve the problem by talking it through. You can only do this through active listening, and there is no faking it. Active listening means not waiting to talk and not playing the tape in your head of a similar incident that you can share. It means being fully present to what’s being said. It means having empathy and also listening to what’s not being said. Ask questions, really trying to understand where the speaker is coming from and understand what they want or need from you. As a leader, it’s also your job to learn, and the more you listen, the more you learn.

Download this post for free – How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Chapter 4

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How (NOT) to Be a Leader – You’re the Smartest Person in the Room

This week we continue the serialization of, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, in preparation for the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy. We hope you will enjoy Chapter 3 – You’re the Smartest Person in the Room.

 

Sent: Monday, July 25 at 8:30 am

From: CEO

To: Executive Team

Subject: My Ideas

Meet me in the conference room at 9:00 am as I have some great ideas of mine that I want to share with you.

One of the benefits of being a great leader is always being the smartest person in the room. It’s important to maintain that brilliance and, more importantly, to make sure everyone else sees it. After all, if the rest of them were as smart as you, they’d be in charge, wouldn’t they? Look at where they are and where you are. Pretty easy equation.

So, let’s talk about how you stay on top of this amazing gift you have to impart: your perceived intelligence. First, flaunt it at every step. For example, if there is a meeting or conversation going on and you know even a little bit about the topic, jump in with a random factoid (it doesn’t need to be a factual factoid, however) that shows you’re the expert. When you spout factoids of your own making (loudly and with confidence and authority) no one will dare question you. And if you do it repeatedly, you’ll build the muscle memory that helps them remember that everything you say is true.

If someone dares contradict you, stand your ground, for this is brilliance in and of itself. Defend, defend, defend. A leader never gives any ground as doing so would cause those you lead to question you, which is completely unacceptable.

Occasionally, you will find that some in the room have more education than you or others, in rare cases, might even be right. The way to deal with them is twofold: First, ask yourself why you hired them in the first place, and never make that mistake again. Second, reassert your dominance through volume and interruption immediately. Let them continue talking, but interrupt by randomly peppering them with questions so that they become flustered. Then tell them to get their facts straight next time and leave it at that.

Another approach for dealing with this type of annoyance is to be very quiet while they talk. Let them finish, then slowly start clapping your hands. When you have everyone’s attention, say to this person: “You get the gold star today. I was purposely waiting for one of you to come up with the right solution and you did it! I knew the answer, but I wanted to see if any of you were fast enough to pick up on my clues.” This will blow them away every time, and you get to claim their idea while maintaining your status as the most brilliant person in the room. Mirror, mirror on the wall, why do they even try?

The final point on maintaining your brilliance is that you need to be very careful when hiring. You do not need anyone smarter than you around, so if a candidate seems even remotely better educated, more knowledgeable, more experienced, or in any way smarter than you, don’t hire them. Never ever hire anyone who might be perceived as smarter than you. Why risk it?

Let’s Get Real

Great leaders recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and surround themselves with talented team members who complement those strengths and weaknesses and those of other colleagues. Growth and innovation are born out of everyone learning from one an­other in a never‑ending cycle of mentorship. If you are arrogant enough to believe that you have all the answers or are always right, you will stunt or prevent both the personal enrichment of your people and the positive evolution of your organization.

Your job as a leader is to focus and shine light on the contributions of others, not yourself. If you need validation and seek it from within your organization, you may not be ready for true leadership. Genuine leaders are validated by facilitating others’ success. If you need a pat on the back, reach right around and give it to yourself. Good job!

Download this post for free – How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Chapter 3

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How (NOT) to Be a Leader Chapter 2 – One-to-Ones: You + You = 3

This week we continue the serialization of, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, in preparation for the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy. We hope you will enjoy Chapter 2 – One-to-Ones: You + You = 3.

Note to self: Set recurring one‑to‑one meetings with myself

So much happens in the daily life of a leader that it’s important that you carve out time for yourself. As we’ve discussed, the best answers come from you, so why not spend some time working on that? And when we use the word work, it’s not really work, because, let’s face it, those good ideas just come to you because you have an above‑average if not brilliant brain, right?

It’s important that you make it a weekly recurring meeting, preferably on a Friday afternoon, say, after lunch. Schedule at least three hours because you don’t know how long the process will take each week.

You can have this meeting with yourself anywhere: over a mani‑pedi or a good massage, on the golf course, at a bar, in your car, literally anywhere you happen to be. The purpose of booking the room at your club is so that it looks like you’ve thought this out and take it seriously. The important part is that you get alone with your thoughts and really assess how you’re doing as a leader. Ask yourself the following questions:

How would you rate yourself on your leadership skills overall? (Remember, giving yourself a negative rating or being humble is for losers.)

Good
Above average
Excellent


What good examples of leadership do you have from this week (that you can claim credit for)?
Who had a good idea that you can use?
Who questioned your leadership?
What persistent problems should you blame on one of your team?
Who might need to be taken down a peg?
What can you brag about this week (leading by example)?

You’ll be surprised by how quickly the answers come to you, and you’ll have a whole set of action items to move forward on. But don’t get carried away. Don’t bother writing all your ideas down, especially if you’re doing the mani‑pedi one‑to‑one (your hands will be occupied!). You’ll remember the best ones and know what to implement next week because it’s what comes naturally to you.

Most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself. Self‑reflection is about basking in the good, not criticizing yourself for perceived errors. Having a one‑to‑one with yourself is about reinforcing why you are the leader and how you got there. Relive your glory days in your mind and remember that you’re still that person. Boost your confidence by reveling in all you own, all you’ve done, and how much your people love you. You’re their leader and they know it!

This is a time to recharge your leadership chops by thinking about yourself. This will, by extension, help your team, but first and foremost it’s for you. If there were someone else in the company who had better ideas than yours, that would be a threat, so there’s no point in bringing anyone else into this brainstorming session. Your one‑to‑one with yourself does also shows your team that you take your job seriously: that you give considerable thought and attention to the leadership challenges of the day.

Occasionally you can use this time to read up on the latest trends in leadership or your industry, but don’t make this a habit. Remember, you know what to do by either looking backward or at what you feel in the moment so there’s no point in paying too much attention to forward trends. Let someone else be first to work out the kinks. Nonetheless, you will want to take a business book or magazine with you, so it looks like you pay attention to this stuff. Make a point of showing it to your executive team. One of the butt kissers will read it and tell you all about it, so what’s the point of reading it first?

So, get away, refresh, and remind yourself weekly why you’re a good leader!

Let’s Get Real

A one‑to‑one with yourself happens every minute of every day. Carving out fake time for it just reinforces that you do not value others’ opinions and that yours is the most important in the room. One‑to‑ones with your team members are valuable, both for getting help and insight and for giving them. If you always have all the ideas, your team will be fearful of offering opinions, and eventually, they will stop. Teams that don’t discuss new ideas, or that only discuss those of their leader, eventually, fail.

Getting insights from as many people as possible and distilling the information down to what’s useful is a sign of a good leader. Coaches, mentors, and board members can all be very helpful in your leadership role. Having your own assumptions challenged by others will lead to better outcomes. Your team can be encouraged to challenge your ideas, and the result is learning for the entire team and, almost always, better ideas. The right insights are not always yours.

Download this post for free – How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Chapter 2

The post How (NOT) to Be a Leader Chapter 2 – One-to-Ones: You + You = 3 appeared first on Mary Marshall // CEO Coach.

How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Flaunt Your Wealth, You’ve Earned It!

In the spring of 2017, Kim Obbink and I co-authored a book called, How (Not) to Be a Leader Volume 1, the first in a series of hilarious “how–not–to guides” for new leaders looking to avoid common pitfalls of leadership. This book will help leaders understand what they can do to be better leaders by first understanding what not to do. I am excited to share the next two books, How NOT to Build a Great Team and How NOT to Create a Winning Strategy, have been written and will be published this fall. To celebrate the upcoming books we will be serializing and giving away a chapter each week from the first book via my blog. This week we are hoping you will enjoy Chapter 1 –  Flaunt Your Wealth, You’ve Earned It!

Sent: Sunday, July 9 at 2:31 am

To: ALL STAFF

From: CEO

Subject: I was robbed! In late tomorrow.

I can’t believe that some THUG had the audacity to reach down through my sunroof and steal my things right out of my car! My Tiffany bag was on top of my Armani suit bag and they took everything! I’m unbelievably devastated. Need to file a police report first thing in the morning. Thank God for Lloyds of London.

Do not underestimate the power of perception. It’s important that as a leader you portray yourself in a light that others not only look up to but aspire to. Wealth, particularly material wealth, is a symbol of success, so be sure to take every opportunity you can to display your wealth. This will be proof to others that, if they simply work as hard as you do, and are as smart as you are, they too can also (someday maybe) have the things that you have. It’s a stretch, but let them dream.

Let’s start with how you look and how you dress. All aspects of your appearance should be attended to weekly. This not only indicates that you have the money to do this but that you also have the time. Your subordinates will feel honored that their hard work allows you to take good care of yourself, so be sure to mention your weekly self‑care appointments and always make these appointments a priority over all else.

When assembling your office wardrobe, there is one rule of thumb: brands, big brands. Dressing in brands that are normally reserved for Hollywood’s rich and famous will quickly set you worlds apart from your staff. This is just the start in making your personal lifestyle both aspirational and mysterious. A general rule of thumb is to wear $3,000 to $5,000 top to bottom every day (not including accessories). This means high‑end name brands only, not department store garbage. And of course, for that special meeting with the venture‑capital crew of the opposite sex, nothing says power like classic black with a big red statement. Diamonds on your ears or cuffs, not on your finger please, because when you need money, you need to look available!

Now, on to your residential status. You absolutely must live in the most affluent zip code in your city. Your home should be very large. These points are non-negotiable for a leader for many reasons, the first and most important of which is that you need a suitable place to hold all company parties. Holding company events at your home is a sure‑fire way to keep the appropriate distance from your staff. Again, your job is to be a role model of material success. Only you can create this persona, so do it well and do your best to overdo it! Really, if you go big here, you can’t go wrong.

If you have children, make sure that it appears as if they are well cared for by someone other than you. This will ensure that others see you as someone who is simply too impor­tant and busy for day‑to‑day matters. In fact, doing this makes you look like a master of outsourcing. But of course, have the requisite children to make it look like you actually care about something other than yourself. Make sure your home staff is present and scurrying about during any company event and that they address you as Ms./Mr., not by your first name (if only your company staff would do this!). Also make sure that your company events are catered by only the best, that there are fresh flowers in every room, and that (for that extra zinger) you have hired a valet to park your company staffs’ Hyundais far, far away. Remember: your primary home is a showpiece for your staff and your business colleagues, your vacation homes are for you.

Lastly, let’s discuss your car. Eighty thousand is the minimum you should expend on this extremely important investment. And make no mistake, it’s an investment. Nothing screams success like a top‑of‑the‑line Mercedes (no more than two years old and leased so you can upgrade regularly). It’s not just a three‑pointed‑star logo, it’s a symbol of innova­tion, performance, and design. Just. Like. You. And don’t forget to have an assigned park­ing space with your name or title on it. Your investment needs a spot of its own, and you need to show everyone how it’s done!

Wear it, live in it, drive it, baby! If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll not only be a great leader, you’ll look and act like one too.

Let’s Get Real

Please. Be humble. Flaunting your wealth will alienate you from your staff. Make no mistake, they may ooh and ahh at your fancy digs, but they will secretly and absolutely hate you and see you as nothing more than a haughty snob. The greatest leaders of all time have been those who care passionately and genuinely about the well‑being of the people they employ. If you only care about your personal gain, please go do something else that doesn’t include employing people. You’re making it too hard for those who actually care.

Leadership is not about what you have, it’s about what you do. The more emphasis you place on things, the less your employees will care about you and what your company is trying to do. They want to work for a company whose mission is bigger than making you rich. If it’s all about making you rich, they will either decide to leave or they will make sure you don’t stay rich.

Download this post for free – How (NOT) to Be a Leader – Chapter 1

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Good Leaders Keep the Strategic Plans Alive

Yes, it’s that time of year again to dust off the old strategic plan, or goals and see how you are doing. If you’ve been doing this monthly or quarterly, or even better bi-weekly, good for you, but you are in the minority. It was Eisenhower who said, “Plans are nothing, planning is everything,” and he was right.

There are 4 key steps to keep your strategic plan alive and current:

Review

Revise

Reinvent

Repeat

I often go into companies and they are so busy doing business, meaning day-to-day operations, etc., that the goals they set out at the beginning of the year have ended up ignored. Don’t get me wrong, these companies are having some success and things are going along well, but what if more attention had been paid to those nicely laid out plans? Would they have achieved that extra 10% top or bottom line? Would they have added that crucial market sector they have been after for years? The reality is, it’s doubtful. Let’s consider why.

Continuous planning coupled with execution is one of the keys to business success. If you plan at the beginning of the year and never adjust you are always reacting to what’s happening instead of making things happen. To change this trajectory start by reviewing what you thought you wanted to accomplish this year – how did you do? What happened? What can we learn from that? The next step is to revise, change what didn’t work, and come up with some new ideas or strategies that might work. Or maybe the goal or strategy itself was not a good one, so chuck it out and come up with something more relevant.

Of course, it goes without saying that you don’t want to do this process of review and revise in a vacuum. You may be the owner or head of the company, but that doesn’t mean you have all the best ideas. The ideas are in the room. They are from your managers and employees whom you have hired and put faith in. Listen to what they have to say and shape it into a plan that everyone can get behind.

Step 3 is to reinvent. So often we are caught in our plan because of our beliefs around “what is.” It colors our beliefs about what “could be.” When I facilitate planning exercises, I tell people to think 3 years ahead and color in the picture for me of what the company looks like, who the customers are, what products are you selling and to whom, etc. But NOT based on the facts of today, based on the possibilities of tomorrow. It’s only in our belief that something can happen that it will. So reinvent the future, not by the rules or restrictions of today’s landscape, but by the possibilities not yet imagined.

This doesn’t need to be a long drawn out process, you need a competent facilitator (preferably not you, the owner or leader) and a target of where you want to go. The bones of a plan that can be implemented and an easy process for getting there. Too much complexity in the strategic plan and everyone will lose interest. Keep it simple and executable. And remember to build in your review times so you can revise and reinvent, and then finally, repeat!

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Good Leaders Know What Should Be Measured

One of my clients has been struggling with the dashboard question for a while. What to track? What makes a difference? In addition, he had a couple of partners whose interest in the “numbers” was less than enthusiastic and they simply wanted to get the work done. The CEO tried several versions without success, meaning that they didn’t really tell him anything about his business that was predictive. Meanwhile, sales just continued to bump along at a steady 5-7% growth rate, with the same challenges continuing to come around like clockwork. His partners could not understand why he was even looking at his dashboard since things were good in their minds. After a year of trying to find the right indicators, he was about to give up, when he had a thought that maybe he needed to find out what other people might want to see.

So he sat each of his partners and senior managers down and asked what they looked at each month to tell them if they were on or off track. He was actually surprised at what he heard because a couple of the indicators were in the heads of his managers, but nowhere in his spreadsheets! His sales manager said he knew if the number of leads coming in during a given month were “X,” in two month’s time sales would be a multiple of that. The CEO had wondered if the money he spent on sales leads worked and here was his answer, so he started tracking sales leads and the ratio of closed sales to leads. As time went on, he started tracking the size of the sale and several other factors to see if he could find identifiers for the ideal customers.

He found similar insights in the conversations with the installation and engineering departments. Next, he had each leader create his own dashboard with his help and then aggregated them into a single one for the company. Now each of their senior staff meetings starts with an explanation of anything that is out of the ordinary on the dashboards, what they should do about it, and then on to new business. Meetings are never longer than an hour and the team leaves energized and feeling it was a productive meeting. Interestingly, their growth rate has increased to 15-18% on average over the last 12 months. I suppose there were several factors that led to this, and you can’t say it was just the dashboards, however, I believe it was about 95% of it. You can’t affect your productivity or sales levers without first knowing what they are.

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Leaders Are What They Tolerate

Recently, I’ve had several conversations with leaders dealing with performance and behaviors that are out of alignment with the company’s culture and performance standards. The conversation usually starts with “I’m going to go ahead and make an exception this one time.” There are always valid reasons for the exceptions; the employee was having difficulties in their personal life, they are a key employee, the company has no one else to do what they do, this was an aberration, etc. Believe me, I’ve said or heard hundreds of various reasons for abdicating the standards that have been set.

First, let me say that exceptions do happen. Second, they should be very rare.

The problem with making these is that it’s a slippery slope to setting a new standard. This is how cultures and organizations shift into dysfunction without even knowing it. If it’s okay for so and so to do something against the company’s standards and values, why can’t I do it? Legally, you will get yourself on to shaky ground with claims of potential discrimination if you treat people differently. We have to ask ourselves if it was important to name it as a value or standard of behavior, why are we willing to tolerate something less than?

This becomes what we now tolerate, and our values are rendered meaningless. I had an employee who was cheating on his mileage, to the tune of thousands of dollars. When the dispatcher figured it out and brought it to my attention, I was shocked. My first reaction was to say, okay, he’s the only guy I have with certain certifications, so I’ll give him a warning. I called my HR firm and they rightly said, “so it’s okay for employees to steal?” I had to let him go. Had I not, I would have completely made a mockery of our values and standards of behavior – even though it was “inconvenient” to say the least. It was, however, the right thing to do, which has always been a guiding principle for me personally.

Leaders need to be first grounded in their own values and hold fast to that line – then holding others accountable to it as well. No exceptions except in very extreme circumstances and only if it would not change the goalposts for the organization itself. In my example, it was pretty clear what needed to happen. In most, it is much more nuanced, which leads to the culture bleed. As the leader, you are the first line of defense for your own and the company’s values – don’t let anyone change those. You become what you tolerate.

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Good Leaders Include People in the Growth Plan

A recent New York Times article discussed the various ways companies can grow. The list included:

Get New Customers
Do Business Faster
Sell More Things
Hire a Team

Do you see what’s missing from this plan? Aside from the last item of “hiring a team,” there is nothing that recommends growing your people. Arguably, the author may have been focusing on very small businesses but those need to grow their people, even more, to grow with the business. The best strategies will fall flat without the involvement of those people who can actually help implement them. Conversely, the worst strategies will still get some legs with a great team trying to get them over the finish line.

What is the leader’s job? Grow your company AND grow your people. It’s not an either/or. This is even more important in today’s economy when so much of the actual product or talent leaves the building every night – professional service businesses have nothing to see if those people don’t return in the morning. So, growing the company without first working on growing your people will be an exercise in frustration.

Some leaders have challenged me on this saying that the team they have won’t get them to where they want to go, and they need to replace them. That may be true, not everyone can grow to meet your expectations. However, regardless of the team, you end up with, you will still need to devote time, money and energy to help them grow. Strategies and people can’t be separated unless you have figured out a way to have a completely human free workplace.

What does “grow your people actually” look like? It starts with having career conversations with individuals about where they want to be in 2-5-10 or even 20 years from now. How can you help them get there? Even if you have them for a very short period of time, you can be one leg of their professional journey to their destination. When you are invested in your people, your people will be invested in you. It doesn’t mean you have to pay for their education or even have a formal mentoring program, although both of those will help. It does mean you need to know what you and your company can do at this stage of their career to help them get to the next rung of their ladder – not your ladder.

Every person is willing to help you if you are also helping them. You need help growing your company and that means great sales strategies, operational efficiency, acquisition, and marketing strategies and many more. Your people are the ones to know the best routes for each of these and will happily help you out if you ask. However, if you haven’t asked them what you can do for them first, they are not likely to volunteer.

Why should your team care to help you build the best company and create a winning strategy? It takes more than a paycheck. If you can also help them create the best strategy for their career, then your relationship with them will be reciprocal which is the most engaging and motivating connection. The plans and the people can never be separated, give each equal weight.

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