Self-Interest to Shared Commitment

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Before there can be accountability, there must be commitment. Commitment is taking ownership of a challenge, being responsible for resolving it, in alignment with your company’s goals and values.  It reflects an obligation, by leader and team, to improve something that makes a difference.  And because it requires the assumption of risk, commitment is much more than consensus. Commitment requires that your team grasps why a goal, strategy or action is necessary, and is willing …

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Sustaining a Strategic Focus

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The leadership mandate is: The leadership challenge is to develop an operating style that fulfills this mandate while effectively managing persistent, short-term, changing priorities that demand attention.  If your team’s time is consumed with resolving urgent issues, then the vital, longer-term improvement work goes undone; you’re always reacting, not leading. Key to sustaining a productive balance between short and long-term priorities is consistently integrating strategy into team discussions.  Certainly, there are times when leaders must …

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It’s Better In-Person

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The most productive scenario for effective communication is a one-on-one discussion or small team meeting; it provides the best opportunity to ensure that the message being heard is the same as the message being spoken, making the message actionable.  Every other communication method is a compromise, driven by circumstance or preference.  According to communication experts, less than 10% of our spoken words are heard and understood; about 40% of message comprehension is due to how …

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Thinking Cross-Functionally

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When considering how to improve their business performance, leaders typically discover that doing so requires an assessment of policies and activities outside their direct authority, the inputs and outputs which enable the functional work that is their responsibility. The most productive and enduring improvement initiatives are those that solve persistent business problems impacting multiple, connected functional departments. Soliciting their peers to join them in the diagnostic and remedial journeys of these collaborative, cross-functional improvement efforts requires that …

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Inspiring Is Not Cheerleading

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The prime directive for leaders is to improve things – results, SOPs, team performance, policies, etc. It’s why leaders are hired. It’s what differentiates leaders from managers; management competency is the stepping stone towards leadership. To motivate action by their teams in response to this directive, leaders employ two skills more than any others – they influence and they inspire. Influencing involves leaders leveraging their knowledge and experience, and engaging openly and transparently with their …

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Challenging the Normal

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A new business is laser focused on earning and keeping customers. The promise-makers and promise-keepers in the business are well aligned in their appreciation of customers because survival depends on getting the next order. As the business grows, it seeks to capitalize on what has enabled its success, so procedures are standardized and structure is added to manage those procedures, with the objectives of sustaining efficiency and managing risk. With good intention, lots of internal, …

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Securing Team Commitment

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Commitment to a goal or strategy is more than just acknowledging one’s agreement – it’s a complete buy-in. To be truly committed to a plan, team members must have clarity about what the plan is and why it’s the best way forward. For team members to acquire clarity, they need the opportunity to contribute their opinions and ideas during the decision-making process. By thoroughly exploring alternative approaches, the team can better see, and then decide, …

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Lessons From the Change Lab

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Change projects are time-consuming, demanding from those involved an investment of discretionary time that most don’t have to invest. Among the barriers to success are disruptions to be navigated, resource constraints to be overcome, and the egos of affected stakeholders to be managed. So, when your team and you are developing and implementing your change initiative action plan, these lessons can help overcome your barriers to accelerate your progress: – Choose a project leader: While …

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Motivating Change

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Pursuing change is as much a matter of the heart as it is of the head. Data is necessary for the rational analysis of, and planning for, a pending change; these are functions of the head. But data does little to address the heart – the emotional disruption, uncertainty, discomfort, or fear – that is integral to implementing change. When motivating your team to drive a change initiative, or to implement a strategy, revealing only …

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Becoming More Agile

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In last week’s post, we reviewed the characteristics of an agile business – customer centricity, decentralization, and a small team focus. If you’re the leader responsible for strengthening these attributes in your business, how might you proceed? Pursuing agility compels changes in mindset and behavior, as well as to policy and process. Leaders expect that resistance to these changes will be a natural first reaction; emotions will be triggered and barriers will rise. Concerns about …

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