Can you be a Leader and a Friend?

In the Star Trek The Next Generation episode, titled "The Defector", Commander Data acts out a scene from "The Life of Henry V" on the holodeck of the Enterprise.  The notion is that by exploring the works of Shakespeare he will be better able to understand the human condition.  Data's director and mentor in this endeavor is Captain Picard.  The scene in particular focuses on the King passing himself off as a commoner to be amongst his troops on the eve of a great battle.  At the conclusion of this particular dress rehearsal, Data expresses confusion about the King's behavior - "Captain, why should a king wish to pass as a commoner? If he is the leader, should he not be leading?"  In that regard it seems to me that Data expresses a widely-held view amongst not just followers but also amongst those who lead - leaders must stand apart and perhaps even be aloof if they are to be effective.  Picard's response is even more compelling, however -  "Listen to what Shakespeare is telling you about the man, Data. A king who had a true feeling for his soldiers would wish to share their fears with them on the eve of battle."

From my very first job as a CEO in 1986 I can recall being chided for being overly familiar with my management team and my staff.  Many in my community, my Boards of Directors, and even members of my own management team would often express concern about my engaging manner and style.  They took issue with me playing golf with my staff, being part of the hospital slo-pitch team, being part of the hospital hockey team, inviting people over to my house and even the notion of idle chats in the hall or sit downs in the cafeteria.  In many if not most cases, we didn't discuss "business" but rather would discuss a whole range of other topics - new stories hitting the front pages, family events, and anything else that might come to mind.  Did that make us friends.  In some cases yes, in other cases no.  Regardless, this type of interaction certainly broke down barriers and reduced or eliminated preconceived notions about "Management" and "Staff".  I believe the relationships I developed allowed me to better understand the challenges my staff and my organizations faced.  I even ultimately developed some great relationships with previously intractable foes.  This effort certainly generated greater trust and credibility in me from those that I led.  Ultimately, it allowed all of us to be more on the same page moving forward particularly when times were tough.

Amazingly enough, even though nearly 30 years have passed since my first leadership role (Yikes!) I still hear about and see the same adverse reaction to leaders having anything more than "business-focused" engagements with their staff.  Often times this means executive isolation in the C-suite or a strict adherence to rules and regulations so as to not have the appearance of favoritism.   But as Picard's quote reveals, there is a great deal that a leader can gain from being amongst and with his staff.  Moreover, what the quote also starts to touch on is the critical role that trust between leader and followers plays in being successful in a leadership role.  If you can inspire trust as a leader you are in fact going to get better results, increased morale, enhanced creativity, loyalty and retention.  In contrast if you can't foster trust - or in fact engender mistrust amongst your staff - you can be assured of a range of negative results. 

In case you see the above commentary as the rantings of Star-Trek enamored geek let me first refer you to the 2002 work of Patrick Lencioni, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team".  In this work and in subsequent writings, Lencioni described and expanded upon what holds a team back from achieving high performance.  The critical linchpin that Lencioni identified - which was the core and base of poor performance and team dysfunction - was the Absence of Trust.  This manifested as an unwillingness of team members to be vulnerable and authentic in their group, unable to genuinely share with their colleagues, and lacking the opportunity and safe environment in which to admit mistakes and weaknesses.  Without a strong basis of trust, teams could hope to engage in constructive conflict, achieve shared commitment to goals, hold themselves and team members accountable for performance, and never achieve the results that they desired.  In all respects developing this trust comes from the tone set by the leader.

This concept of trust, however, is not new or a recent invention.  Starting in 1983, Kouzes and Posner began a research project in leadership that would ultimately lead them to write several acclaimed books ("The Leadership Challenge", "Credibility") and identifying the five leadership practices of successful leaders.  At the heart of their research and conclusions was that a leader must know their followers and speak their language.  People must believe that you understand their needs and have their interests at heart.  Only through an intimate knowledge of their dreams, their hopes, their aspirations, their visions, their values is the leader able to enlist their support.  I don't know about you, but it seems to be a well nigh impossible task to achieve that kind of understanding of your staff and followers if you don't spend significant time with them, earning their trust, building your credibility, and perhaps even becoming a friend to more than one or two of them. 

Let me put at least one qualifier out there on this leader and friend concept.  You are the leader - whether as supervisor, manager, director, vice-president or CEO.  This means you have duties and obligations that may put your friendships in jeopardy at certain points in time.  You are obligated to make the tough choices as required.  Ultimately, you can't put your friendships ahead of your moral, legal and ethical obligations.  Everybody needs to understand the parameters under which you ultimately have to function as a leader.  Just as in other parts of your world, some of your friends will be more understanding of the realities that you face than others.  Hopefully, however, based on the foundation of trust and credibility you have established by being present, available and truly engaged with your staff you may get cut a bit more slack than if you were the aloof, distant and omnipotent leader that some see as the pinnacle of success.

So, yes being a Leader and a Friend is possible and from my perspective and experience quite logical (as Commander Data and Commander Spock might both say).  Build your trust and credibility by being amongst your followers, understand their challenges and let them understand yours.  The results might surprise you. 

A footnote:  I have a confession to make.  I've taken this concept of friendship at least one step further in my career.  I met my wife through my work.  Being that I was a member of the senior leadership team in my organization and she was a front-line supervisor in the same organization you can imagine the gnashing of teeth and the pulling of hair that ensued.  Both of us thought long and hard about exploring a relationship and I went so far as to consult with Human Resources and my Ethics resource.  The relationship did in fact proceed and turned into the love of my life.  More to the point of this entry there were many issues to navigate in respect of ensuring clear separation of decision-making and considerations of "friendship".  However, I will say with strong conviction, that my leadership benefited enormously by the perspective that my supervisor-wife brought to me.  She was able to clearly tell me when our stated organizational values failed to translate to the frontlines.  She was able to clearly tell me when senior leadership was on the mark or out-of-touch with reality.  We clearly had a mutual trust and friendship that I leaned on while we worked together and she helped me be a better leader.  
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Can you lead from behind? Or the side?

One of the privileges I've had over the years, both as a senior leader and as an executive coach/consultant, is that I've had the opportunity to get to work with some truly amazing leaders and aspiring leaders.  Many of them are possessed of similar qualities and characteristics - drive, energy, passion, idealism, and a strong desire to make a difference.  Given the opportunity and the leeway, they grow, develop and achieve some amazing results. 

As one might expect or imagine they also often share some of the same frustrations.  One issue that comes up quite frequently is the challenge they face in their organizations in not being allowed to make full use of their skills, abilities and energy.  They are often being held back by the "leaders" above them.  As a consequence their organization does not get the full advantage of their energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to take on more responsibility. 

From my vantage point there's real risk to the organizations as a result of this style or culture of leadership.  In some cases, these highly motivated and capable individuals become so frustrated by their current reality that they actively seek opportunities elsewhere.  So rather than consciously building and supporting a succession planning pipeline these organizations are often unconsciously encouraging voluntary departures of these highly motivated and capable individuals.  A huge loss of potential and a huge cost to have to subsequently hire external candidates to fill leadership gaps into the future.

So can you let your followers or aspiring leaders succeed?  And what kind of environment do you have to create to keep them engaged in the short-term and for the long haul?  In many cases the answer to these questions comes down to doing the opposite of what you might be doing right now.  From my discussions with these stars in the making there are various leadership behaviours that inadvertently - or deliberately - suppress the drive and energy right out of their future leaders or that drive these leaders right out of their organizations.

First off, if you are truly self-centered leader than there is not much beyond this that you are really going to pay attention to.  If it is really all about you then I expect that affording the opportunity for others to grow, develop and demonstrate their skills is already being seen through a lens of how will this benefit your own standing.  Not much advice I can provide you with because we are just working off of a different playbook.  As for those reporting to you, the best advice for them might be to persevere, learn what they can, and seek out more fulfilling opportunities as they arise.

For those of you who have a more altruistic bent, let your next generation of leaders exercise their skills, abilities and competencies.  This may seem a particular challenge to a current leader when your followers have skills and abilities that you don't.  We've likely all had this experience.  We may have risen to our current leadership role more by experience and learning the ropes than through formal training and preparation.  And this experience and on-the-job learning took place in a very different set of business circumstances than we are now dealing with.  We may not have been afforded or taken the opportunity to learn new skills or otherwise upgrade.  Now we are finding that those who have been hired after us may in fact have some greater capacity or capabilities than we have.  We can choose to be threatened by this reality or take on a true leadership role by fostering and utilizing these skills to the benefit of the organization.

Provide your budding leaders with clear expectations and objectives.  Its a tough environment to work in when you truly don't know what the specific targets are, what authority you have to make decisions, or what limits there may be to one's sphere of influence.  This becomes a recipe for frustration.  Give your budding leaders the clear parameters in which they can exercise their authority and allow room for their drive and energy to make a difference.  There is probably nothing more frustrating than to have the rules of engagement constantly shift on you. 

Similar to the point about clear expectations above, resist the temptation to micro-manage the efforts of your aspiring leaders.  If you have set clear goals and established some no-go zones, allow your people to achieve the goals set in a fashion best-suited to their leadership style.  It's more than likely that they won't do it exactly as you would have done it.  Sometimes they may even be more efficient and effective than you would have dreamed.  Perhaps they are going to come up with an innovative and inspired effort that you and others can learn from.  Perhaps they will make a mistake along the way too.  Use those as opportunities for learning and growth rather than as an excuse to jump in, take over or otherwise curtail their development.

Finally, stay consistent in your approach.  If you have given your next level of leaders a set of expectations, been clear about goals and objectives, set some targets make sure that at the first sign of adversity that you aren't pulling out the rug from under them.  Don't be a wimpy leader.  Not only will this prove to be a frustrating leadership development exercise for your follower, you are likely to do more than a bit of damage to your own leadership credibility.  Be consistent.  Stay the course. 

Ironically enough, by learning to lead from behind or the side you are likely to enhance your reputation as a leader in your own right, get better results for your portfolio or organization, and create greater human resource capacity in your business in both the short-term and the long haul.  It may take greater strength on your part to support your developing leaders than just jumping in and taking over but I believe you'll find the benefits worth the effort.
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Compassionate Leadership

On December 5, 2013, the world lost one its truly great leaders - Nelson Mandela.  One of the most striking aspects of his life and his passing were the accolades that echoed from around the world and from a variety of political circles.  Nelson Mandela's leadership and legacy transcended cultures, extended well beyond his country and Africa, and likely will continue to serve as inspiration for many for years if not generations to come.  This was certainly not always the case.  Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life.  At points in time he was denounced as a communist and a terrorist.  Ultimately, however, he stayed true to a course and his cause and gained international acclaim for his activism and leadership, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. 

There are certainly those far better positioned than I to expound upon the particular leadership style and qualities of Mandela. However, one quality that stands out for me is the compassion he demonstrated for those that persecuted and imprisoned him.  Aside from a life spent as a second-class citizen in his own land, Mandela also endured 27 years of imprisonment and more than a few of those years virtually cut off from his family and the world.  Mandela could easily have become embittered and vengeful during this time.  He could also just as easily given in to desires expressed by many of his followers for justice for all past wrongs.  He certainly could have fallen into the same pattern as other resistance leaders upon assuming power and exacted swift and bloody justice on his former foes.  The fact that he did not is testament to his personal integrity, his commitment to a strongly held set of personal values, and a compassion for his jailers and countrymen.  And not only did he not simply restrain himself in this regard, he in fact became friends with and came to be revered by many of his former adversaries.

This compassionate style of leadership is not something that we are typically used to or comfortable with in our business environments either.  By way of example, I was just reading an article that described how Bill and Hilary Clinton kept track of "betrayals" in their many years of political life and how that list was used to evaluate actions on go-forward basis.  I don't believe this is in any way an isolated set of circumstances and we could easily identify similar situations with other political parties, countries and organizations.  "Might makes right" or "An eye for an eye" seem to be phrases - and realities - that continue to hold currency for many of us.  Too often it seems that we have to be in the right rather than working to make sure that the right things get done.  Too often we still believe that demonstrating compassion and forgiveness is too much of a leadership risk that will result in others exploiting our weakness.  Too often we react rather than lead.

Without doubt demonstrating and acting with compassion requires courage.  It takes courage to be vulnerable, to take a risk, to not exact retribution for real or perceived slights.  Let's be clear though, being compassionate doesn't mean that you have to have sympathy for another's position nor do you necessarily have to be a kind person.  Mandela certainly would not have sympathized with the position of his jailers nor would he have shirked from the kinds of change that South Africa had to go through in dismantling apartheid in order to be kind to his recent foes.  Sometimes hard things need to be done and said.  You have to sometimes be cruel to be kind.  And ultimately, change is and was necessary and good for all.

So what does it mean to be compassionate in your leadership role?  As Mandela's experience demonstrates, first and foremost you have to be aware of a committed to your own sense of self and your own sense of right and wrong.  You have to understand and be able to clearly articulate and stay true to a grand vision.  You have to be prepared to change and discard old notions, paradigms, and rules in order to achieve the greater good - particularly if you want to speak to more than one narrow constituency.  You have to be present with and aware of the thoughts, aspirations, concerns and challenges of those around you.  In order to do that as a leader you have to be prepared at all times to engage with those you lead - or could lead.  You have to be prepared to think with both your head and your heart, to be open to the thoughts and emotions of others in good and challenging times, and be willing to be open and honest with your own thoughts and feelings - to demonstrate your willingness to be courageously vulnerable.

Finally it's not enough to be compassionate in words.  As a leader you must ACT with compassion.  You will be evaluated by the courage of your convictions.  You may not win a Nobel Peace Prize, nor struggle for nearly three decades in a seemingly hopeless cause, but perhaps you still will leave your legacy as a compassionate leader that inspired others.
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Is A Narcissistic CEO Good For Your Organization?

Cheating a bit here with this blog, but the article noted below was too good not to pass on.  Moreover, I happened to read the article this morning after just having a conversation with a colleague of mine about disappointing leadership behaviors we have recently experienced.  Coincidentally, one of the breaking news stories today adds some further context with Governor Christie of New Jersey making apologies - and staff changes - for some political shenanigans south of the border.  But that's just one example of personal ambition getting the best of a leader.  We all have examples to share and commiserate over in our own business and political environments. 

I've addressed this issue in previous blog posts but not with quite the same focus and vigor as the article penned by Bret Simmons:

http://itsaboutleadership.blogspot.ca/2012/07/health-care-from-good-to-great.html

http://itsaboutleadership.blogspot.ca/2013/09/charisma-and-leadership.html

In the article you will see reference to a particular industry but I'm confident the conclusions will resonate in other sectors as well.  At another level the article also seems to speak to the short-term attention span of our society as a whole - we want results now without due consideration of long-term consequences.  This is true in our business environments where monthly or quarterly results often drive decisions or in our political offices where direction can shift with the latest public poll or perception of impact on reelection chances.

Enjoy the article and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

http://ldrlb.co/2010/09/is-a-narcissistic-ceo-good-for-your-organization/

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Achieving your Leadership Goals in 2014

In my last blog before the end of 2013 I identified the challenge that most of us face in achieving our New Years resolutions.  One comment that came back to me almost immediately was "Well, what does it take to be successful then!?"  I identified at least one success factor at the time, that being an external, unbiased and objective support in the form of a coach, mentor or similar sounding board.  I will reinforce that perspective again but put it within the context of a broader set of tools and techniques that can help you be the better leader you want to be.

Fundamentally, I believe that to be successful you need to treat your leadership development plan or resolutions no different than you would any major project or change management initiative.  Any successful organizational initiative adheres to a certain core set of steps to move from vision to successful conclusion.  Success in reaching your leadership development goals can be achieved from taking a page or two from this experience.

First, how have you arrived at your particular conclusions that the leadership goals that you have set for yourself in the coming year are in fact the correct or best ones?  What process or assessment have you utilized to evaluate your leadership success and opportunities for growth on a go-forward basis?  How objective and comprehensive has this evaluation been?  As with any large-scale organizational initiative, it is to be hoped and expected that the plans for the coming year have been based on some concrete evidence that the efforts planned are the best use of your available resources.  Just as with an organization-wide effort, your time and money are limited resources and you want to leverage them to best effect. 

Second, how compelling are your leadership development goals?  How compelling is your vision for change?  Without having a compelling vision for your personal development, for how you want to be different as a leader, you are unlikely to make the kind of commitment it will take to succeed.  This of course presumes that your goals are a bit more ambitious than merely getting into work 30 minutes earlier than past practice.  If you are setting ambitious or stretch goals for yourself what are you prepared to sacrifice to be successful?  What kind of personal change are prepared to endure to take your leadership to the next level?  If your leadership vision is not compelling enough you are likely to falter upon hitting that first significant barrier.

Next you need to document your plan of attack, break down your goals into smaller objectives, set milestones, and start working the plan.  You have to move from evaluation and vision to action.  Like any good strategic or project plan, you have to move your personal leadership plan out of your head and off the shelf to be of any true value.  It's at this point that you move from the grand vision to SMART statements - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-limited.  This can be a challenging piece of personal work and perhaps more so in the realm of leadership behaviors and skills.  This is why I also caution leaders not to get caught up in trying to create the perfect plan before they take action.  This is tantamount to paralysis by analysis.  Your plan should continue to evolve and be flexible enough to respond to changing circumstances while keeping your grand vision in mind.

In this plan key milestones, short-term objectives and evaluation measures must also be identified and adhered to.  It is for this reason that a well-developed written plan as identified above should be created AND POSTED IN YOUR LINE OF SIGHT to review on a regular basis.  Again, like any organizational plan, what gets measured/evaluated gets managed.  You need to provide yourself with dedicated time on a periodic basis to check in with your plan.  What goals or objectives need to be adjusted based on circumstances?  What additional effort or compensating strategies do you need to put in place to continue on track with hitting your targets?  Without setting aside dedicated time to do this you will find yourself off track - and demoralized - in no time.

Put in place the necessary supports to ensure your success.  Too often individuals (and organizations) fail to leverage all the potential resources they have at their disposal to ensure the success of their development effort.  We often - and mistakenly - assume that achieving our personal goals is merely or solely an act of will.  Conversely, we then often identify failure in achieving our goals as a reflection on our personal strength or character.  In reality, what we have failed to do is to take all the necessary steps to ensure success.  As noted above, one of they key supports you can put in place for yourself is a written plan.  The very act of committing your goals and strategies to paper increases your chances of success.  Sharing your plan with others - publicly declaring your intentions - further cements your commitments to yourself and may enlist others in supporting your efforts.

At any and all points in this process you may choose to get the support of a confidential, objective resource like an executive coach, peer advisory group or similar individuals or entities.  Such a resource can help you objectively evaluate your leadership development opportunities, support development of a robust plan, and help hold you accountable to your plan. 

Finally, make sure you build in the ability and opportunity to celebrate your achievements along the way.  This is where establishing a series of incremental steps towards your ultimate goal becomes an essential element of your leadership development plan.  You can't eat the elephant whole!  Make sure that you can experience success one small step at a time.  Otherwise you can be daunted by the enormity of the task you have set for yourself or be discouraged if you are unable to see tangible results for the efforts or sacrifices you are making.  Don't be shy about rewarding yourself in some tangible way.

Treat the achievement of your leadership goals as you would any other large scale project.  Give it the same care and attention.  You are worthy of the effort and you will benefit yourself and those you work with as a result. 

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.