TRUST

Aug

2023

Keys to Effective Delegation

As a business leader, you understand the importance of delegating tasks and trusting the process. It can be difficult to manage every aspect of what you lead, so it’s important to recognize when you need to delegate some of your responsibilities to someone else. Delegation can be challenging, but when done correctly, it can be incredibly beneficial to the success of your business.

Clarity

When delegating tasks, be clear and concise about what needs to be done. Outline the job that needs to be completed, the timeline for completion, and any specific requirements or criteria that need to be met. This will ensure the task is completed correctly and within the time frame needed. It’s also important to communicate your expectations for the task. This gives the person you are delegating to the best chance of success.

Trust

One of the most critical aspects of delegation is trust. This may require you to take the time to get to know the person you are entrusting the task to. Ask them questions about their experience and skills, and find out how they would handle different situations. Provide them with smaller tasks to test them and grow your trust. When you’ve determined this person is capable of handling the task, you can know they will complete it correctly and on time.

Feedback

Provide feedback and support to those you have delegated tasks to. This helps ensure tasks are completed to the best of their abilities, and that the team is working together efficiently and effectively. If you have provided clarity on what you expect up front then feedback will communicate how well they are meeting your expectations.

Patience

Remember, trust is earned over time, so be patient and consistent. Don’t expect perfection; mistakes will happen, and that’s OK. When they do, teach, correct, and encourage them so they feel empowered to continue to stretch themselves. Showing respect and understanding will go a long way in building trust and creating a successful delegation relationship.

Which of these areas do you need to grow in with those you lead? Need help thinking into your leadership and growth? Contact me for a no-cost to you coaching session. Keep delegating and lead well.

Aug

2022

Being Liked as A Leader?

When I sit across from leaders, we often discuss their interactions with the people they lead. Leadership is all about inspiring and getting the most out of people. Management is concerned with systems and processes.

I think of the Law of Buy-In from John Maxwell’s book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership which says:

“People Buy into the Leader, Then the Vision”

Let’s examine three ways people can buy into you as a leader. Each has its own value. Decide where you are strive to see your team.

Loved

When I’m saying loved I am not talking about this superstar, swooning type of perspective of you as a leader. I am thinking of the type of love that respects the leader and assumes their best intent.

Think of your children or another family member. Regardless of what has happened in life on some level you love that person. They may tick you off, but you know their heart is good and you assume the best from them. You don’t completely sever the relationship just because of a frustrating moment.

Leaders who love those they lead assume the best and respect them. The same is often returned to them as the leader.

Liked

Let me be honest. I love my wife of twenty-two years completely, but some days I don’t like her . . . and I am sure the feeling is mutual. 😊 When we are liked as a leader people want to spend time with us. I would suggest something draws people to us.

At first it may be charisma meaning our ability to connect with people. Over time as people get to know us, do they like spending time with us? There can be a limitation to being liked. If as a leader we value being liked too highly, we can’t lead.

As leaders we must make difficult decisions people will not like. If we are always trying to keep people happy or be their “friend” we will never gain their respect. Ultimately we will limit our leadership. Liking is a part of the equation, but cannot be the most important factor.

Trusted

If we are honest, as leaders we like to be in control. Maybe you started what you lead and feel a lot of ownership. Maybe you struggle to let go of a responsibility because you don’t think anyone can do it as good as you. As leaders our people need to trust us, and we need to trust them.

Jim Burke the former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson said:

“Trust is absolutely key to long-term success.”

I won’t go into how to build trust. That is for another day. For the sake of this blog, trust is when we are willing to completely let go of control and give a responsibility to another person with little compulsion to over manage. As a leader do we trust our people? Do your people know you trust them or do they feel you are always hovering over them?

Trust takes the most time to build and is quickly lost. The foundation of building that trust as the leader is consistency. Consistency in action, follow-through, and communication to start.

Evaluate these three areas and even question your team this week on how they see you. Do they love/respect you? Do they like being around you more often than not? Do they feel controlled or trusted by you? Need help thinking into this? Contact me for a powerful coaching session at no cost to you. Keep growing in these areas to help you lead from a healthy spot and lead a healthy team. Lead Well.

Nov

2021

Learning Leadership from A CIO

I was sitting in Starbucks across from Andy Dalton, the CIO of CREA an organization based out of Indianapolis. This is a man who has served multiple years in the non-profit sector as well as in the marketplace in multiple roles. We started our conversation discussing the difference leading in those two arenas, but I will save that discussion for another day.

A large portion of our time I was learning the key leadership principles that have helped him lead over the years. His principles are rooted in what he calls his coaching style of leadership which I will discuss in further detail in a later blog. Let’s dive into his key principles.

Understand Your People

Because of his coaching style of leadership Andy has found it critical to understand the people he leads. As a non-profit leader for over a decade he did not have the power to let people go. He had to develop the true skill of a leader: the ability to influence. Zig Ziglar once said:

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

This idea applies to understanding your people as a leader. When we seek to understand and meet the needs of those we lead and not seek to get, then we will be able to inspire them. As we know our people we can more effectively lead and motivate them.

Build Trust

I would suggest this is the linchpin to his leadership approach because we discussed this idea at length. One of the many ideas he mentioned was living out the open-door policy. We have all been there, someone comes in and we are busy. Do we stop, look, and listen to the individual talking to us? When we do, we build trust because they see we care enough to stop and listen.

I explored with Mr. Dalton other ways to build trust and some of the following suggestions surfaced:

Plan mutual experiences with your team
Share about personal experience with what you are asking them to do, for both trust and credibility
Delegate in a way that demonstrates trust and not micromanagement
Believe they are giving their best
Advocate for them

These are some of his suggestions which provide an excellent list to evaluate how we are doing at building trust with those we lead.

Speak Truth with Grace

In her book Radical Candor author Kim Scott discusses the balance between challenging directly and caring personally. This is the tension Andy discusses when he suggests speaking truth with grace.

Each of us leans by default one way or another. Some of us have no problem speaking directly, but may need to season it with a little care and grace. On the other hand, others may want to please people so much they shy from speaking truth. A healthy leader will learn how to navigate the tightrope of speaking truth with grace.

Understanding Yourself

One trait of highly effective leaders is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings: empathy. Andy has found that as leaders understand themselves and are more self-aware it enables them to be more empathetic with those they lead. I would suggest the hardest person to lead is the individual we look at in the mirror every day. As a leader we must journey within to understand our triggers to be able to empathize with others when they are emotionally triggered.

I realize this is a warm and fuzzy idea, but essential. Leaders who empathize with others also resonate with those they lead. This emotional intelligence helps us connect with those we lead. When we connect people are more willing to follow us.

How are you doing in each of these areas? Need help thinking into any of them? Contact me for a 30 minute no cost to you thinking partner session to help you grow in one or all these areas and therefore lead at a higher level. Lead Well.

Jun

2021

Learning From A Special Needs Leader

I was talking with a woman who gets joy in being with people, specifically serving those with special needs. Kelly Hartman, CEO of Insights Consulting based in Indianapolis, IN is an authentic woman of great passion and purpose. Not only does she run Insights, but is also the founder of the non-profit organization Outside the Box which was founded in 2008.

She has spent decades serving in multiple leadership roles before becoming the CEO of Insights Consulting. While talking she described herself as a social entrepreneur who became CEO by accident. This leader of a Top Ten Best place to work in Indianapolis has a few principles that guide her leadership.

Do Business for Good and the Money Follows

Kelly leads a mission driven organization with an experienced leadership team and realizes the need to be profitable, but does not allow profit and money to be her focus. She believes if you do the right thing the money will follow. I think of this as the Golden Rule idea. If we treat others the way we would want to be treated results will follow.

With that being said, Kelly finds that since money does not drive her decisions she takes more risks. The mission is central to the organization therefore they will innovate and attempt new strategies to keep the mission moving forward. What helps her keep her staff turnover low, innovation high, and still maintain a profitable organization? The next principle helps us understand.

Flip the Organizational Chart

Picture the hierarchical top-down business structure and flip it upside down. This is how Kelly leads. She maintains as few layers between her and the front line for a couple reasons. First, she enjoys connecting with her staff and clients . . . that is why she entered the industry. Second, with fewer layers communication is fast and clear. This environment creates the ability to maintain an innovative culture that can rapidly execute plans and address challenges.

Trust the Team

The structure she created is based on Don Miguel Ruiz’ book The Four Agreements. Each of her staff agree to the following behaviors with one another:

Be impeccable with your word
Don’t make assumptions
Don’t take things personally
Always do your best

As these four agreements are lived out by herself and her team, the trust among team members increases. These four agreements create the foundation of trust: credibility. Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Truth About Leadership state:

“If you are going to lead, you must have a relationship to others that is responsive to their expectations that you are someone they can believe in.”

As Kelly and each team member live up to these four expectations the members believe in one another and trust one another so the team functions at the highest level possible.

As we closed our time, I asked her for a major leadership lesson. She used a simple illustration:

“Turn the hallway light on to see the other opportunities.”

While leading we can get stuck in the darkness of the day to day and feel in a rut. Imagine walking down a dark hallway full of doors, but the darkness prevents you from seeing the doors. When you turn on the light you see the doors of opportunity and can explore them. Surround yourself with other people who challenge you to think differently and therefore open doors of opportunity.

What about you? How are you leading? Do you trust your team and truly listen to them? What is one action step you can take from these principles. Are you not sure how your team really is doing and want to create an environment to assess your team? Contact me about to discuss facilitating The Leadership Game to build and assess your team at the same time. Lead well.

Jun

2020

Learning from Leaders: Dana Pittard

I was talking with West Point graduate and author of the book Hunting the Caliphate. Major General 2-star (retired) Dana Pittard had spent time in 85 countries and served the United States in many ways. My objective was not to learn his many stories, but learn the leadership principles he has determined work for him over the years.

At a young age Dana gravitated toward relationship roles such as running and attaining the role of class president as a freshman in high school. This desire to lead was not centered around a hunger for power, but from a desire to care for people. This theme is evident in his top three leadership principles.

Compete against a standard not a person

He had me thinking immediately on a competitive versus creative mindset as we discussed this idea. While discussing this he shared that if everyone competes against a standard it creates four benefits:

Everyone can win. When the standard is common for all team members the goal can be achieved by all and even exceeded.
If people are not fighting for one reward and are ultimately working toward a common goal, this will encourage an environment of teamwork.
Servant leadership. Every member has the same goal so the leader assumes the role of chief helper. The leader is continually asking his people and himself “how can I help.”
Combine all three of these and team members learn the skill of negotiation. Instead of seeking win/lose they compromise to find a win/win.

People and Trust

As we talked, he highlighted the reality that leadership is all about trusting OF people and trusting IN people. As leaders our job is to not control, but guide everyone toward a common direction. When defining leadership Mr. Pittard said leadership is:

“unifying a group of people for a common purpose whether they want to go there or not.”

Unifying.

This requires building trust and solid relationships. When discussing this concept, we explored the idea that as a leader receives more authority because of their position they should be more of a servant. The leader’s goal is to help everyone else be successful and by laying down our need to control or have all the credit we are able to achieve that goal. Through genuinely serving others leaders will naturally demonstrate their trust of and in the people they lead.

Inclusion

I had not heard the story of the spider versus the starfish, but this illustration clearly demonstrated the difference between a long-term leadership approach and the opposite. Think of a spider and a starfish. If you cut off the head of a spider . . . it dies. On the other hand if you cut off the arm on a starfish it regenerates. Which type of leadership lasts?

Starfish because it is not completely dependent on the leader. The flat structure lasts and maintains continuity even in organizations with high leadership turnover such as the military. This flat structure creates an inclusive environment where communication flows easily and everybody’s skills and talents can be optimized.

These are Dana’s top three principles. There is more. . . . his most important lesson learned, but I will have to save that for another post. My question to you is: which of these three do you need to work on? How are you at creating a culture that values people and if you are doing well at this, what can you do better? Not sure, let’s talk and discover if a tool like The Leadership Game could help you evaluate your team in a non-threatening and engaging way. In the meantime, lead well.

Jun

2018

Leading in Fog

“I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust.”

Mother Teresa

I was washing the dishes and listening to a talk that applied to business when the person being interviewed stated the above quote. I paused the lesson and had to reflect. I am a recovering perfectionist and this hurts me when it comes to leading others into action.

As a child I never had to have clarity. I’m sure if I asked my mom I didn’t sit on the floor thinking of all the possible consequences of trying to stand up and take my first step. I’m pretty sure I tried, failed, got up again and kept trying until eventually as I followed the process I got it and am now an expert at walking. The only clarity I had was that I wanted to move faster and probably I figured the “big people” use two feet so maybe I should. I would guess I also trusted my parents wouldn’t let me get hurt or I learned the fall wasn’t too bad and that built my trust.

What happened?

It seems as we get older we trust less because we want to control everything, but can we really control everything? Being in control and having complete clarity and control is great leadership, right? Maybe our need to control and have perfect clarity holds us back. Here are three ideas that can help us lead others better even when the picture is not perfectly clear.

Have a plan. When we were toddlers we had a plan . . . take one step and then try to take the next. That was about as clear as it probably got in our small brains. As leaders we must have a plan and a sound one that makes reasonable sense and maybe has been proven if what we are trying to lead has been done by others. BUT . . . do we hesitate because the plan isn’t perfect or mistake–proof? As one of my mentors Paul Martinelli who is president of the John Maxwell Team says: a plan could just be one step.
Let Go. Control . . . that could be a whole post in itself. As leaders we like to be in control (or at least feel like it). In our need to have control I wonder are we failing to trust? Trust others, trust our instincts, or trust that if we go to a meeting where we do not know anyone there will be a positive outcome. In letting go of our desire to control we are able to free ourselves to lead in our strengths as well as empower others to do the same.
Trust. Who do we trust in? Is the source of our trust worthy of it? When I was in college I saw a quote on a professor’s desk: “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” George McDonald. As a leader when we trust someone else we are truly empowering them. Entrusting another person will enable them and you to have greater clarity of purpose and direction.

What about you? Do you hesitate to act until you have a perfect plan or are you willing to move into action and even enable those you lead to move into action so that clarity will come? What do you need to let go of in your leadership at work or home today or simply trust, move and believe clarity will come? Lead well.