VALUE

Aug

2020

Learning Leadership From A Naval Officer

I was on ZOOM reconnecting with a high school friend of mine who went to the United States Naval Academy. He is in his final years of service to our country and after catching up a little I wanted to learn his top leadership principles.

Commander Brett Holdiman has been in the cockpit of a plane for most of his naval career. Although there is a standard ranking approach to leadership within the military structure, leadership looks different when airborne: the superior/subordinate structure submits to the person who has the flight lead position regardless of rank. This concept is at the foundation of the first of his three leadership principles.

Creating Value in Others

As a member of the John Maxwell Team, I get this. Putting people first is the approach John lives out in his leadership style. I had to ask Brett what he meant by this idea of “creating value.” When leaders create value in others, they recognize they do not know everything. Since this is reality, Brett found two keys to make his teams feel valued.

During the early years of his flying career, Brett realized he had much less experience than those he led. He had a lot of education, but by the time he finished flight school, some of those he led had up to six years of experience in their area of expertise. He recognized the need to trust his people and make sure they knew their job matters. As leaders, these two habits create a culture of feeling valued by those we lead.

Create an Environment to Safely Speak Up

As we discussed leadership, Brett explained the difference in flight management compared to standard leadership. Any good aviator knows that 100% of the missions they flew would not go as briefed. A part of the flight management process is situational awareness and assertiveness. Whenever Brett was airborne, he knew he did not see the entire picture in front of him…there simply too much information to digest. But the same held true for his wingmen. This fact highlights the importance of trust within his flight. It created an environment where everyone was comfortable enough to speak up in the event he was missing something, even when they were a lower rank or newer pilot.

During the heat of a mission, the importance of rank decreases drastically and leadership is flattened. The flight leader’s job is to be certain everyone feels safe to make their voice known. This happens well before take-off. As they go through their flight plan process (which I described here), an environment where others can speak up and share a dissenting view will potentially prevent deadly mission errors. This appropriately assertive culture starts before the mission, carries through the mission, and ultimately develops a healthy team during the mission.

Failure is a Path to Proficiency

None of us likes to fail and failure on a critical mission is not an option for Brett. There is a place, though, where Brett and his fellow aviators can safely fail…mission rehearsal. During this time, lives are not on the line and identifying key learning points during every flight debrief is critical. As leaders, we must have ways for our team members to test new ideas, fail, learn, grow, and try again.

Brett said they expect problems during every flight. Instead of running from them, however, challenges and obstacles are embraced, debriefed, and learned from. Their safe place to fail is during training. Similar to an athlete whose practice impacts performance, these Naval aviators must practice as if the mission is real so they are ready for anything during the real mission. As an organizational or team leader, evaluate your structure to determine where people have room to safely fail and learn.

The common theme through all three of these principles is an idea that has been ingrained in him from his training:

“The biggest resource in any organization is the people that make it run.”

What about you? On your team, in your organization, in your family . . . are people first? If you are a task-oriented perfectionist do you allow room for healthy dissent, mistakes and have a culture of care for your people? If you do not in one of these areas, what do you need to do today to move toward healthier leadership in one of these areas? Need help thinking into it? Contact me for a no cost thinking partner session to think into your leadership. In the meantime, Lead Well.

Feb

2020

A Four-Letter Leadership Word

Love is necessary for effective transformational leadership. Stick with me a minute. I know this sounds like a soft skill that could have nothing to do with leadership. Think about this though. Who is one of the best leaders you have had?

Was the individual harsh and overbearing?

Was the person kind?

Was the person a mixture of both?

Both are necessary and provide “tough love.” Accountability and standards are necessary in combination with discernment on when to provide the room to grow and forgive. Take a moment with me and look at these four ways to demonstrate “love” in leadership.

Learning

“Learning . . . seeing the world simultaneously as it is and what it can be, understanding what you see, and acting on your understanding.”

Warren Bennis

A leader who is a learner will seek to understand those he or she leads. One way is to understand their communication style and adjust how we deliver our message in a manner they can hear. If you want to invest in learning your communication style then go here.

More often than I want to admit, I overreact and jump to conclusions before understanding a situation. As leaders we demonstrate love and build improved connection when we slow down to learn about the situation. Instead of assuming the worst, I need to take time to understand all sides and then make a conclusion. This exemplifies what Bennis stated above.

Optimism

“Avoid entertaining the concept of the worst, for whatever you take into your mind can grow there.”

Norman Vincent Peale

I naturally tend to see the challenges of a situation, therefore I understand optimism is a choice. Leaders must accurately assess the situation, but then see the possibilities. When we have that picture we paint a picture for those we lead to help them see how they can positively contribute to achieving the vision.

As Peale suggests we want to focus on the possibility instead of the worst because where our focus goes our mind stays. When our minds stay more focused on the challenge than the solution, we get results in line with that focus. As leaders we have a challenge to help others see the possibilities even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Value

Tasks need to be accomplished in order to meet a goal, and people are the ones who perform them. Effective leaders help those they lead understand their value by first helping them see their personal role in the bigger picture. Another great way to help them understand their value is by identifying their strengths.

After identifying those strengths, position them for success by having them working in their strengths often. When this occurs not only are they more personally effective, but they are utilizing their most valuable assets for the organization’s overall benefit.

Encouragement

Blanchard and Zgarmi developed a process of leading called “Situational Leadership.” I suggest this model provides practical application to the idea of encouraging those we lead. According to the model individuals need varying degrees of support and direction. As leaders who care about those we lead we will come alongside others to encourage, equip, and eventually let them perform on their own. When we are leading with the appropriate amount of encouragement, we increase their confidence and performance.

As you look at these four areas which area can you strengthen this week? As leadership expert John Maxwell says “leaders develop daily not in a day.” What is one way you will develop today? Lead well.