Everyone's a Leader

Many times when I speak to people about leadership, they say, “I am not a leader.” I then ask them the following questions, and if they say yes to any one of them, then I say YOU ARE A LEADER:

Are you married? Then you are a leader. It does not matter if you are if you are the husband or wife. You are leading in some way, no matter how small.

Do you have kids? Then you are a leader. Your children will look to you for direction and in many cases their lives will be shaped by what they see in yours.

Do you work? Then you are a leader.  Whether you are an employee, a supervisor, or a manager, you are leading those employees who work alongside you or who report to you. I believe that the front desk receptionist is also a leader. People are influenced by his or her attitude and character, and some will emulate what they see.

Do you have friends? Then you are a leader.  Your friends are looking at you and your influence is being felt. You can influence them in many ways, so don’t take your leadership lightly.

The question then becomes ‘what type of leader are you?’ There are good and bad leaders. I am sure for every good leader you can name, you can equally name bad ones.

Leaders influence and, as result, people will follow.

So, what kind of leader are you, or what kind of leader do you want to become?

Stretch Yourself

One of my pet peeves is when people just do enough just to get by. I think they cheat themselves and others when they don't stretch themselves to be their best.

When I worked for Owens Corning, the management team would get together to develop our operating plan for our respective regions for the following year. Part of the operating plan was to develop goals that would support our plan. During this process, a manager would invariably develop goals that would not challenge his/her team.  We called it "baking the plan," which meant that achieving those goals was a sure thing.

When this happened, the rest of the management team would challenge the manager to develop "stretch goals." These are goals that are designed to provoke managers to push not only themselves, but also their teams to raise the bar on their performance.

Leaders challenge others to be their best. If left alone, many will only do what they are told or only what they think there are able to do.

Good leaders always look for ways to encourage and challenge their teams to rise above mediocrity.

Good leaders demand that their teams stretch their abilities to achieve results they never thought they could achieve.

In weight training a good trainer will get you to do just one more push up and lift that weight just one more time.  In order to achieve excellence in anything you will need to stretch yourself beyond your self-imposed limits, and when you do, the achievement will be so much more satisfying.

Don't just get by, STRETCH YOURSELF!

Uninformed and Out of Touch

A corporate newsletter goes out from the CEO to the workforce, touting the greatness of the company and how it is the market leader.  It talks about revenues being up and expenses being down and the bright future of the company.  If you are working for this company what do you do with the newsletter?  If you are truly working for a great organization you probably share it with your family with a sense of pride.  However, if you are one of the 33% of employees who hate their job and are actively looking for a new one, you probably chuck it in the trash.

Many leaders are so out of touch they think everything is hunky dory.  CEOs and other top executives often do not know what is going on at the ground level of their companies.  One of my favorite television series is Undercover Boss.  The premise of the series is that a top executive goes undercover in his/her own company to see what is really going on in the organization.  Many times it is an eye opening experience.  On one episode a CEO stated in front of his employees, “I thought sitting behind a desk in Michigan I had the right to say we take care of our people, I have learned firsthand that the people take care of this company.”

Unfortunately, I believe there are too many top executives who could care less about how the people in their organization feel about their company or its leadership as long as they are meeting the company’s goals.  Little do they know, there are good employees at risk of quitting or are suffering in silence.

I recently read an article that stated:

• 1/3 of the employees are looking for new jobs.
• Many employees are suffering from low morale.
• Employees are dealing with unrealistic expectations placed on them by their companies.
• Employees are asked to do more with less and for less.

With the costs associated with the acquisition of new employees, companies need to pay more attention to the overall satisfaction of their people.  

If you are a leader in your company and you are looking for ways to improve the overall morale of your employees, consider the following:

• Where feasible, conduct consistent one-on-one meetings with your employees at least monthly.  This check-in lets them know you care about them.  (Important note: let them set the agenda). 
• Set realistic expectations.  Ask for their feedback on what is expected of them.  If this is not done, you will find out pretty quickly whether they are aligned on what you expect.
• Allow them to utilize their strengths.  If not, they end up performing tasks because they must if they want to work, but they hate it.
• Supply them with the tools they need to get their job done.
• Work with your employees to establish goals, both personal and professional, and metrics to help them measure their progress.  Good employees want to know that what they do matters to the company.
• Reward people for performance and hold them accountable for not meeting their commitments.  Rewards are more than just money.  Find out what motivates your employees and, as appropriate, reward accordingly.

Complacent leadership can dramatically impact the profitability and sustainability of your company because it may lead to the loss of great employees.

When you neglect your A+ employees, all you are left with is a bunch of uninspired and unhappy people; however, showing your employees how much you care about their growth and development will result with a highly charged, innovative and committed workforce.

What are you doing as a leader to maintain the morale of the people you lead?

The Value of Appreciation

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." William James

Undercover Boss is one of my favorite television shows.  For those of you who have not seen the show, it takes a CEO or other high level executive of a large company and places them under cover in their own company.  This gives the executive a better view of what is going on in the organization from a ground level perspective. 

In one of the last episodes the executive of one of the featured companies said that he went undercover to see what could be done to make the company more profitable and efficient.  However, after meeting and working with the people in his organization he quickly recognized that it was more the people and not necessarily the process that makes a company successful. 

During the show there is a segment when the executive speaks directly to the camera and gives his/her observations on how the day went.  During this time, most have an epiphany that their organization is made up of many hard working and dedicated workers whose work goes unheralded.  They have a greater appreciation for the “spokes in the wheel.”  The employees become more than a number.  There’s a face and a story to everyone working in the company. 

In the final segment of the program all of the employees featured during the show are brought to headquarters, not realizing they are going to meet the undercover boss.  In just about every case the undercover boss surprises the employee with either a promotion, money to donate to charity, a family vacation or some other form of appreciation.  When interviewing the employee after meeting with their boss, the one thing  that seems most meaningful to them is how important it is to be appreciated.  More than money or a promotion employees want to feel and know they are appreciated. 

Why is genuine appreciation so important?  It lets your employees know that they are valued and that you really care for them.  Appreciation recognizes the value and contribution of the people in your organization.  Gratitude authentically expressed is critical to the continuous engagement of the employees within a company. 

If you are a leader in your company, do you feel appreciated?  If not, how does it make you feel?  

Underground Leadership

"Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them".  Unknown

With underground temperatures in excess of 90°, thirty-three miners endure tremendous hardship for over 69 days.  During this time they had to fight an assortment of feelings and fears.  Would they make it out alive?  Would they see their families again?  For many of the men their true character was revealed to those underground with them.

One man’s character and leadership emerged, foreman Luis Urzua, as the group’s leader took charge from the start and was instrumental in their survival. This was especially true in the traumatic 17 days before they were discovered.

Immediately after the collapse, Urzua took charge. He began to draw up the orderly rules that would serve as guide in their underground existence, including rationing the small amount of tuna fish and milk available so that it would last longer.  It was a hierarchy to which the men were already accustomed, and they responded to his leadership.

Have you ever been faced with adversity?  How did you respond?  Did panic set in?   Were you looking out for the well being of others or for yourself?   I will be honest I am not sure how I would have responded.  I would like to think that I would have been Luis, immediately mobilizing the men, encouraging them and letting them know that we would get through the ordeal.  His dedication to his fellow miners and his impeccable leadership was the difference between life and death.  It is also important to note that Luis was also the last person taken up from the group.  He saw the well-being of all those under his leadership before he considered his job done.  That's what leaderships is all about!

What are some of the characteristics displayed by Luis?
How would you like to implement those qualities in your own leadership?

Real People

Undercover Boss is one of my favorite shows on television.  It is about various CEO’s of major companies who go undercover in their own organizations to see how they operate at the field level.  


While undercover, they take on low level tasks to experience the work they are asking their employees to perform.  They often find that the job is harder than they thought.  In one of the last episodes, the CEO of an airline was trained to remove sewage from the plane’s septic system with unfortunate results.  The CEO’s not only experience hard work, but they come to hear personal stories from their employees.  They hear stories of loss and struggle.  They also hear stories of triumph and courage.


At the end of the episode they bring the employees to the company’s headquarters and reveal their true identity.  It is heartwarming to hear the CEO’s express their appreciation to the employees they have recognized as being integral to the company’s success.  The CEO’s will then acknowledge and reward each employee for their contribution to the company.  Sometimes it is with a promotion, a paid vacation or some other reward.


After viewing several episodes I observed that all of the employees were extremely grateful for the acknowledgement of their efforts.  It’s at this time I usually begin to tear up, especially when the employees express their surprise that anyone from leadership would care about them on a personal level.  “They do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  Unknown


As a leader it is important that you never lose sight of the people whose “shoulders you stand on.”  Leadership is always about people.  Without people who will follow? 

The Blame Game

A few years back our company was in a deep decline. Revenues were down and sales were extremely slow. The cause of the problem was poor decision making and a lack of understanding of our business. The general manager in charge of the largest division of our company made several decisions that accelerated the decline. As the Vice President, I was asked by the CEO if I would take over the division, and I gladly accepted the challenge.

I proceeded to implement a new strategy for the business and within several months we began to experience a significant turnaround. I made the best decisions I could, but not all of them proved to be successful—sometimes you learn through trial and error. When something I tried failed, I did not point to the prior leader as an excuse for my failure.

Leaders accept the blame when we fail and give the team the credit when we succeed.

As a nation we continue to endure an unemployment rate of 9.5%, crime, war, poor educational system, homelessness, foreclosures, etc. Politicians on both sides of the aisle claim to have all the answers. Meanwhile many Americans continue to suffer through one of the greatest downturns in our country’s history.

When asked why things are not turning around, our elected officials continually blame the prior administration’s policies and the mess they inherited. Even if there is truth in that position, it should not have come as a surprise. After all it was clearly evident that our nation was in trouble and none of our problems were hidden from those who said they had the answers to setting the country on a new course of prosperity. When it did not happen they merely blamed the prior administration. They were elected on the promise of “Change”.

If we are ever going to extricate ourselves from this morass, we as a nation need to come together and work through issues that continue to divide us. We must be willing to be held accountable for the actions we take and the decisions we make, not play the blame game.

True leaders hold themselves accountable for the results of the decisions they make, good and bad.

The lives of millions of Americans are at stake. Fear and anxiety continue to dominate the hearts and minds of those who do not see a future with much hope. If we continue to seek out our own interests and not those of all Americans, Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike, we will continue to decline. Remember, this economy is affecting us all.

Are you willing to be held accountable for the decisions you make?

Smile

Today my daughter and I served breakfast at an organization in Oakland called World Impact. Although the morning was grey and dreary there was a light that shone brightly in the smile of my daughter. Despite being tired from a long late night at a friend’s sleepover party, she said she still wanted to go with me. I asked her why she still wanted to go and she said with a smile, “I really love serving them.” (When you really have a passion for an activity it energizes you, even when you are tired.)

While serving coffee and juice she flashed her smile at one of the residents who said, with a smile in return, that she made his day! It’s amazing what a smile can do to raise the spirits of a person. My daughter did not fully know the overall impact she made in that person’s life, but in a neighborhood where many of the residents have little to smile about, her smile made a difference.

In today’s world where there is so much uncertainty, hopelessness and fear, many find it difficult to smile. As a leader there will be times when we need to give the people we lead a reason to smile. In the TV series Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls, survivalist, often says that no matter how bad things get when you are lost in the wild, a fire brings warmth and a feeling of hope. I believe a genuine smile can have the same effect.

Leaders who can communicate a message of hope and encouragement with a smile will find that their teams will respond in a way that will keep them engaged even when things are going well.

Less than 15 minutes after returning home, my daughter was snuggled in her bed with a smile on her face, fast asleep.

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

Mother Teresa

Room To Grow

Like most men I know I am not really into taking care of plants. However, in my office I had a plant and for a long time it thrived and gave me a lot of visual pleasure. Over time I noticed that the leaves on the plant had begun to turn brown. I continued to water it, but to no avail. The leaves had a burned look and then began to wilt. I thought about whether I should throw the plant away.

One day a woman with a floral printed smock and a floppy straw hat came by my office bringing new plants. I asked her what she was doing and she said her company provides plants for offices and maintains them on a weekly basis. I asked her if she could take a look at my plant and let me know whether it could be saved. She took one look at it and told me the plant had outgrown the planter. All that needed to be done was to place it in a larger planter with new soil and it would recover. At my request, she placed it in a new planter with new soil and shortly thereafter the plant gradually showed signs of new life. Over the next few weeks the plant was back to full health.

As a general manager I was responsible for leading a team of over 70 salaried staff. Part of my responsibilities was to work with the various supervisors in evaluating the individual performance of their team members. During one such evaluation we were discussing one of our once-excellent employee’s work. We noticed that over the previous few months his performance had not been up to standard. In spite of our best efforts we could not turn him around and as such we had to make a decision on whether we would need to separate him from the company.

I kid you not, while sitting in my office one day I glanced at that plant that had once been dying and was now completely restored and thought of that employee. We brought him into my office and had a different conversation this time. The result was we determined that he had outgrown his position. He felt stagnated and unchallenged. It so happened that we had a manager’s position opening up that we believed he would be a great fit for, and would do an excellent job. We promoted him and sure enough he became one of our best managers.

When I look back, I think of what a shame it would have been to throw both the plant and employee out simply because I did not understand the importance of environment. As leaders it is our responsibility to mentor, coach, and challenge our employees to grow and play bigger within our organizations. When we do, we all win and we have the pleasure of watching the growth of our potential replacement.

Have you ever been in a pot too small or given someone an opportunity to grow, and how did it turn out?

Great Expectations

One day while traveling on our rapid transit system, I overheard two women talking about their jobs. During the conversation one of them expressed her total dissatisfaction with her employer, to be specific, her boss. She stated that her supervisor was unrealistic in his expectations of her. He provided no clear direction, few resources and did not appreciate her efforts. Does this sound familiar?

It is said that people do not leave their jobs because of the company, but because of the managers. The problem is that in the current market, not many are leaving their companies voluntarily, so they are more likely to put up with poor leadership, at least until the market changes.

In order for companies to be positioned for the eventual economic turn-around, they will need a highly skilled and talented workforce. The successful company will place a high value on its people process. (How does the company attract, hire and retain high quality talent that fits with its Operations Plan?). One way is a Performance Management system that consistently measures the performance of the employee.

Seven Success Factors for effective Performance Management

~ Make sure the employees know what is expected of them each and every day. The expectation should be clearly articulated by the employees.
~ Give them the opportunity to do what they do best every day, to play to their strengths.
~ Give them the tools and resources they need to succeed.
~ Develop clear goals that support the company’s overall goals.
~ Develop metrics that support and track the employees’ performance against established goals.
~ Implement a rewards system that rewards the right behaviors. Remember it’s not just about money.
~ Take the time to meet with employees individually, at least monthly, to discuss their performance and to give the appropriate feedback.

I am convinced that the two women I overheard on BART would have had a different conversation if they were exposed to an effective Performance Management system.

Do you know what is expected of you?