Leaders Need to be Brave

I have a favorite coffee mug.  When I use it, I am reminded of a brave leader, Linda Samel. 

Our paths crossed about 10 years ago when Linda took over the food service program for the school district.  It was mid-year and she was moving from running a single school food service operation to managing the district’s food service program consisting of 20 schools.

Linda was a humble and quiet person who always thought the best of people.  She was uncomfortable being in the spotlight and always gave credit to others when the light shined her way.

The new position was a leap for Linda.  It required managing a complex two million dollar enterprise operation, leading 90 food service employees, forecasting a program a year in advance and understanding the complex needs of the school district.

These challenges were significant but the biggest one for Linda was making the tough decisions that involved food service staff and their livelihoods. Linda had come up through the food service program and knew many of these employees personally.  She identified with them, a difficult position for a leader.

In spite of her trepidation, Linda faced all of the challenges without hesitation.  She gathered information, talked to the staff and then moved resolutely toward decision making.  Linda delivered bad news in person. Given her nature, it was difficult for her to make the decisions affecting staffing but she knew it was what her job required and she didn’t shy from the responsibility.  Linda was a brave leader.

As I worked with Linda I appreciated her deep concern for students she had developed during her career in food service.  Linda was committed to helping children be successful by giving them good food to eat, both appetizing and nutritious.  She knew that school meals were keeping some students from going hungry. Linda’s concern for students was her motivation to help overcome any personal challenges she faced.

Linda made the decision to leave school food service.  She left on her own terms and without any reservation about her commitment to the students.  We were also sorry to see her go but we felt we were better at our jobs for having the opportunity to serve with her. 

Leaders need to do what is right, not what is easy.  Members of the group or employees expect leaders to be brave.  This is not an option if the leader wants to foster credibility and trust.  Leaders need to have the courage to make the tough call; to be like a rock in the river when the current is pushing hard.  

Linda was brave when facing her last and final challenge. She gave me the coffee mug as on office present one year for Christmas.  Every time I use the mug I draw inspiration from Linda’s example. 

Walking the Talk Key to Being Credibile

As a Second Lieutenant in the Army in the mid 70’s I was privileged to know First Sergeant (1SG) Willie Crowe.  He had a small stature and spoke very softly with an accent that reflected his rural Florida roots. He spoke in a quiet and concise manner but when he spoke everyone listened.  His troops respected him, even the soldiers who screwed up.

Upon my arrival to the unit, 1SG Crowe took it upon himself to train me.  He showed me how to inspect equipment, the barracks and the mess hall and how to evaluate training. At the end of my training 1SG Crowe told me that I needed to figure what was important to me and how I would demonstrate that to the soldiers. He said soldiers would observe me and draw their own conclusions about what was important and if they could trust me enough to follow me. 

1SG Crowe’s message struck a chord with me.  Talking about what is important is not enough.  You have to ‘walk the talk’.  Mark Twain said it well, “Actions speak louder than words, just not as often.” I took that advice to heart and tried to figure out if my priorities were consistent with my actions.  I asked others for their input.  It was tough to hear when I was told my actions didn’t match up with my statements.

Understanding what is important to a leader along with demonstrating that consistently over time and across situations is fundamental to gaining followers.  The leader in choosing to say something is important must set out to demonstrate that it is actually important.  Here are a couple of examples. 

Providing great customer service requires the owner to be personally involved with this process.  The staff needs to see the leader modeling how to interact with customers, to receive coaching on better ways to service customers and to be recognized for providing customer service well. Saying customer service is important and then disappearing into the office with little customer interaction tells employees that customer service is really not important.

Wanting feedback as the boss is much easier said than done.  Challenges exist to getting this accomplished – fear of telling the boss bad news and the requirement to follow through. If the leader truly wants feedback there are steps that have to be taken – build effective relationships with employees, control your reaction to negative information and follow up in a timely manner to resolve problems identified as a result of the feedback.  This may include a need for the leader to change a behavior.  This is a lot of work but not completing these steps will tell employees that the leader is not serious about receiving feedback.

Before deciding what is important, leaders need to ask themselves how they are going to demonstrate that importance.  As a result of doing this a leader may be confronted by the reality of not being able ‘to walk the talk’ because of too many competing demands.  If that happens, the leader should ask if it is truly important.  Trying to cut corners by not demonstrating the importance will undermine the leader’s credibility and the trust the leader needs from their followers.  What is important should be captured in a short and simple list and be communicated and demonstrated consistently.  Otherwise, it is difficult for others to follow.

I ran into 1SG Crown many years later.  He had been promoted to Division Command Sergeant Major, a very senior position.  He hadn’t changed a bit.  He had a junior officer in tow and he was instructing her about the role of officers.

Helping Others is Critical to Effective Leadership

As I hurried down the hall many years ago I shuddered at the problem I faced.  A million questions were racing through my mind.  What had happened?  How did the budget get so out of whack?  The more I looked at the problem, the worse it became.  After I walked into Bruce Moyer’s office, my boss, and gave him the bad news, Moyer listened intently to my explanation of the budget problem and asked a couple follow up questions.  He grabbed a pad of paper and asked me to join him at a table. 

For the next two hours, with Moyer leading the way, we hammered out a strategy to get out of this crisis.  He reached into his bag of experiences and found the tools that could solve this dilemma.  Throughout the process, he maintained a positive outlook, encouraged comments and checked for understanding.  At the conclusion of the work session, he looked at me and told me that this plan was going to work and not to worry about it anymore. 

I learned a lot that day about how managers need to be helpful.  My expectation (and what I deserved) was to have my head handed to me.  I learned later that Moyer had chosen not to go down that road because he knew what I needed at that time.

Being helpful as a manager takes many forms.  It is ensuring that the employee has what they need to be successful.  For a new project, this starts with a clearly defined outcome.  If the manager is unsure of the outcome, how can the employee expect to get the project moving in the right direction?  In addition to providing direction, resources are required.  This includes such basics as time and equipment.  Also, the manager needs to be committed to the project by continuing to be engaged, available and approachable.

In order for managers to be helpful in day-to-day operations they need to be aware of what is going on so they can be there to offer assistance when necessary.  One of the ways to accomplish this is to have an on-going dialogue with each employee.  This allows for the manager to stay engaged and review the work process and observe the employee.  Are things on track?  How is the employee morale?  By doing this ‘check-in’ employees are more apt to engage the manager when problems arise.

Inevitably using a helpful approach will generate challenges.  One of these may be an attempt by an employee to place the task, ‘the monkey’, back on the manager.  If this happens, one approach is for the manager to insist that the task remains the employee’s responsibility.  Another potential obstacle is the time and flexibility required to tailor the help specifically to the individual.  Some employees are risk averse and therefore need more reassurance.  Others are independent and want to run with the project so the managers may want to pull back and let this happen.

Employees want to be challenged but they need resources and they don’t want to feel left alone to complete the task.  They want to be able to turn to someone and receive help.  Not to do their job, but to review the work accomplished so far, answer questions, and offer suggestions and encouragement.  Ultimately work results remain with the manager and one of the methods to maximize these results is by being there to assist the employee achieve the best outcome.

Recognizing People for the Their Contribution

As a young second lieutenant my first Army assignment was a remote location in northern Greece.  Captain Bob Metzger was the unit commander.  Our mission was to secure sensitive equipment.  It was a 24/ 7 job that involved armed guards, fencing, lights and detailed security procedures.

One of the soldiers assigned to the unit was Private Johnson.  He might have been all of 19 years old.  His job was to keep all the generators working.  Normally we would have a more experienced soldier, a Sergeant, for this critical duty. 

One night in the middle of a violent storm we lost power.  As the duty officer I held my breath waiting for the generators to kick on.  They started and stopped, started and stopped several more times and then they died.  Without power for our security lights we needed to have 100 soldiers set up a perimeter around the storage area.   

We found out that the power wasn’t going to be restored for a week so we had to get the generators running in order to have lights.   The problem with the generators required parts which were at least 3 days away.  While we were without power, the 100 soldiers had to remain in the perimeter guarding the secure area all night. 

Johnson got busy that night working on the generators.  Metzger visited with him, encouraged him and provided support.  Johnson worked through the night, the next day and into the second night without stopping.  After much trial and error, he came up with a homemade remedy by using a part from one our kitchen stoves.  The generators worked, we had lights and we no longer had to have soldiers out in the perimeter all night.

There was a lot of relief as we could get some much needed sleep.  The next day, Metzger got all of us together where the generators were located.  He spoke about the generator problem and commended all of us for pitching in and keeping the area secure.  He then asked Johnson to come forward.  Metzger presented Johnson with a piece of plywood with a group picture of all of us and a copy of the make shift repair part attached to the board.  Across the top, Metzger wrote in magic marker – “The nights the lights went out, you got us up & running.”

I can still remember the look on Johnson’s face – he beamed.  He stood tall.  Metzger had touched him.  Johnson displayed that award in his barracks area.  Each time a new soldier was assigned to the unit, part of their orientation was to hear Johnson tell the story about the night the lights went out.

Making the award took Metzger less than half an hour. He was aware of Johnson’s fear of letting us all down.  The award was unique and reflected Metzger’s relationship with Johnson and knowing what it would take to recognize him.  The positive effect for Johnson and the rest of us was priceless.

To recognize someone you have to know the person, know what the person accomplished and the type of recognition which moves them.  While awards are one way to do this, a simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way.

Appreciation, acknowledgement, praise, thank you, some simple gesture that says, “I care about you and what you do” encourages us all.   

Saying 'Yes' Means Saying 'No'

One of the frequent problems I encounter from both managers and their employees is a lack of clear priorities.  When this topic comes up I see eyes roll and I hear voices drop in resignation. These workers are strung out trying to manage more and more items on the ‘to do’ list.  The sense of being overwhelmed permeates the conversation.  

Back in the late 90’s I was a general manager for a service company. We were awarded a contract to provide a new service in another part of the country with the project kick-off just 30 days away. To meet the deadline required a total commitment by management on this one project.  My boss, John Schaeffer, understood the project requirements and he allowed us to focus on just this project.  He made sure that we had everything we needed.  Schaeffer kept other things from getting in the way.  Most importantly, he gave us permission not to do other unrelated tasks but rather give them to him to handle.  As a result of the ability to focus on the new service, the project exceeded customer expectations and we were awarded more contracts. 

Managers are responsible for establishing and maintaining priorities.  They are accountable for sustaining the effort by safeguarding employees’ focus on the priority.  To do this, managers need to say ‘no’ to other demands.

Saying ‘no’ to an additional requirement is foreign to some managers.  These are the same managers who are finding themselves and their staffs pulled in too many directions.  Effective managers evaluate a new requirement in light of existing priorities/ resources.  When it doesn’t pan out to take on the new task, they communicate no by saying - ‘I can’t support this request at this time’; ‘We are already committed on a high priority’ or ‘Working on this new project will require me to modify work on this other priority.’  As far as being concerned about telling the boss these things, most managers want to hear the truth as it helps avoid doing something that doesn’t make sense.

An analogy for setting a priority is asking employees to do something hard, for example asking them to climb to the top of a mountain.  If the manager decides that after they get half way of the mountain to tell them this is the wrong mountain (priority), expect the following reactions – anger, frustration, loss of confidence.  Most critical, manager credibility takes a hit.

 

If something is going to be added to the pile of things to do, then something needs to come off the pile in order to free up resources for the new task.  If a shift in priorities is required, the manager needs to be deliberate so employees understand the new priorities. 

 

Saying ‘yes’ to a priority, means having to say ‘no’ to other tasks.  Doing this will produce better results by focusing on the priority task.

To Be a Better Leader Takes Practice

Several years ago, my daughter became engaged. After getting over the initial shock, my wife shared with me that we should take ballroom dance lessons to prepare for the father – daughter dance. My immediate reaction was to run away from this as fast as I could. My wife let it rest for a while but she brought it up again. To avoid dance lessons I developed a list of demands - private lessons, Monday evening & not expensive. I thought I had dodged this idea again.

I had a little bit of a reprieve until my wife found a dance teacher who met all my requirements. I was trapped. I had to go, but at least I wasn’t obligated to continue after the first lesson. At the initial dance lesson my biggest fears materialized. I couldn’t dance and I felt incredibility awkward. I was about to tell my wife that I wasn't going back when she preempted me by telling me that our daughter was very excited to hear about the dance lessons. The next time she was home she wanted to practice. I was stuck. There was no way I was going to disappoint our daughter on her special day.

The next lesson was worst than first because my apprehension about taking lessons had turned into reality. However, my wife was patient and the teacher knew how to coach me – build my confidence, get the simple steps going, let me fail and learn from my mistakes. After developing a bit more confidence and starting to be almost comfortable, the teacher told me it was time to get on the dance floor with other dancers and encouraged us to go to a dance. How do I avoid this?

There is a parallel between this story and trying to enhance leadership skills. At some point a manager is going to realize that they need to improve their skill set in order to deal more effectively with the challenges they face. With such an epiphany many of us are taken back. Denial and avoidance can set in as we try to work around the deficient skill. We are reminded over and over of this shortfall in our leadership skill set. It won’t go away.

At some point we may resign ourselves to addressing the need. We seek advice or read a book. But despite this preparation we remain hesitant to take the next step and put it into action. Why? Our reluctance to put into practice the new skill is partially attributable to the anxiety of doing something unfamiliar, the sense of awkwardness and the fear of failure.

It can be helpful to gather information and seek suggestions. However, to learn the new skills, you have to practice it in your work setting - you have to ‘get on the dance floor’. Eventually you muster enough courage to overcome those obstacles and try the new skill. There you feel insecure and conspicuous with a strong desire to flee. Most likely the initial attempts will be met with a sense of failure. Only through repetitive practice in the work setting do we acquire a new skill.

There are multiple requirements to achieving a change in your leadership skills – having a feedback system, understanding the mechanics, including coworkers in your efforts. All of these are important. The critical step to improving a skill is practice until the awkwardness dissipates and the skill is acquired.

One last note, we continue to take dance lessons. Our teacher wants us to learn how to tango. I’m not worried about it.

Being Easy is Relative

When I started my business, I decided I could save some money by developing my own web page. I kept encountering phrases like, 'easy to use' and 'you'll be up and running in no time'. Needless to say, none of it was easy.

I kept running into jargon - domain name, hosting - that didn't make sense. I tried the on-line help and had the same experience. Finally, I called technical support and asked for help. They used lots of web speak which was frustrating. After walking me through the web page design process, the results didn't work because the company was having technical difficulties. I called back a day later and was told to discard the process I was instructed to use previously. So, we started the process all over again.

What is easy for one person may not be easy for someone else. I can recall when I’ve asked to have something done which I thought was easy, to only find out that there were significant problems encountered. These challenges led to delays in completing the task and frustration by the people trying to accomplish the task. I was unaware of these problems until after the task was completed or had gone badly off track.

I tried to apply these lessons by using the mental phrase, 'It is always easier when someone else has to do it'. This helped me to remember that it is important to include the person who has to accomplish the task in the planning discussion. I found that when I did this the likelihood of accomplishing the objective increased significantly. Sometimes the plan I thought would work was greatly modified as result of this process. The resulting plan ended up being more complete, realistic and had buy-in from those who had to execute it.

This planning process led to better results with fewer challenges. I sought out the folks who had to carry out the task to both recognize their efforts and to find out what challenges presented themselves. This interaction produced even more lessons learned and facilitated better planning for the next project.

Using this method doesn’t eliminate all the potential problems but it does help significantly to reduce the chances of them occurring. It takes time to do this but I have found it well worth the investment. There might be concern that this process will lead to modification of the objective or the deadline. Yes it can, but only if you choose to after weighing all the information. By simply being involved in the planning process, higher levels of commitment by those who have to carry it out will be realized.

Using the approach of including others in the planning stage will return much better results. And after all, this process is easy.