Maybe it's NOT my Responsibility

I've recently been experiencing a significant challenge in my personal life.  In truth it's something that I probably have been dealing with - in better or worse fashion - for the past ten years.  Unfortunately, it's come to a bit more of a head in the past year.  At the same time it was also vigorously pointed out to me by one of my trusted confidantes that perhaps I'm taking too much of an ownership position on this particular issue and by doing so not only am I doing great damage to myself (e.g., emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, even physically) but I'm not permitting or even demanding appropriate engagement and involvement of others in the situation - others who probably have a better chance of addressing the situation on a more permanent basis than if I come to the rescue every day.

It was a hard message to hear.  By my nature I am a problem solver, a fixer, and as soon as an issue is presented I go into fix-it mode.  I can't help myself.  In essence, I presume that by someone simply experiencing an issue or venting about a challenge it is tantamount to an invitation to come to the rescue.  You need not worry about explicitly asking for my help or input.  I'll be engaged from the moment you complete your first sentence.

This personal "ah ha" moment caused me to reflect on the number of scenarios that have been presented to me in my coaching engagements over the years.  Frequently I'm helping my clients make sure that they understand what is truly in their control and what is not.  Just as frequently, we are also working through how we can establish appropriate ownership over the issues and challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.  For most of the leaders I have worked with, they have risen to their positions precisely because they can be relied upon to get things done, to make things happen, and to solve problems.  What they discover as they rise through the ranks though is that the same tools, techniques, and behaviors that made them successful in the past can actually be very detrimental to their future success.

Adhering to an approach of "I Solve All" leads to a significant number of negative impacts for any leader.  For one, the types of issues and challenges that one faces as you move up in an organization become more complex, sensitive and time consuming.  Your ability as an individual to successfully solve these problems on your own becomes significantly more challenging - even impossible - unless you adopt new tactics.  Moreover, if you are unable to change tactics you will almost certainly find yourself incapable of dealing with multiple tasks and issues at the same time.  You simply don't have the time or physical capacity to deal with multiple issues or challenges simultaneously.  It's not to say that we don't try to make it happen.  Often we congratulate ourselves - and are congratulated by others - for giving 110% or more, working longer hours and weekends, and dragging ourselves in while sick, to achieve the impossible.  As I noted for myself in my personal challenge, this often leads to being physically worn down and/or emotionally spent.

Just as significant, on a personal level, as you become known for or cement your position as a leader who solves all problems and takes on all comers, is the fact that "success" begets more work.  Your desire to be of service and/or your inability to say no actually doesn't help you make progress.  The more problems you seemingly solve, the more likely you are to be presented with more opportunities to be of service of others.  This not only leads to the personal exhaustion and frustration noted above, it quite frankly could put your own position/career at risk.  If you are so busy solving the problems of everyone else, it might be noted that you are not effectively carrying out your own duties.

Aside from these personal impacts, many leaders also need assistance understanding how their helping/servant approach actually does a disservice to the organization and the individuals that report to them.  In the desire to be of assistance, to make quick progress on issues and move on to the next challenges, the long-term impact is that we do not enhance the capacity and capability of our subordinates to solve and hone their own problem-solving skills.  In essence we are stunting their growth and the ability of the organization to grow and be more successful.  It may seem more challenging to mentor, support and develop capacity in our subordinates in the short-term, but unless we take that time we inevitably will continue our firefighting management throughout our tenure.  Pay now or pay later never held more true.

I'm a huge believer in the servant-leadership model, but the key here is to determine and evaluate how best to serve your staff and your organization.  And it may not be by jumping at every opportunity to solve a problem.  You might just have to overcome your innate desire to help and assist.  You might just have to pause long enough to figure out what is going to be the best long-term solution to the presenting problem.  And I know I have much to learn in this regard as well - both personally and professionally.  Your role - my role - as leader is not just to solve problems but to build capacity of the team for their benefit and for the long-term benefit of your organization.

Sometimes good leadership means asking more questions and saying NO more often.  That approach is not easy but the path of strong leadership seldom is.
______________________________

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.

Selecting Your Executive Coach - Redux

The leaves are turning, Autumn is upon us, and Winter is just around the corner.  The change of seasons also signals what has become an annual tradition - a number of requests and interviews related to engaging me as an Executive Coach.  In a few circumstances, this follows the pattern established by large organizations relating to their annual intake for their leadership development program.  For other individuals, it represents a return from summer hiatus and a desire to refocus and ramp up their commitment to achievement of personal and professional goals.   I've seen and been a part of a variety of coach selection processes in the past several years.  I've also been on both sides of the selection process - picking an executive coach for myself and being selected by others to be their executive coach.  What I have experienced is that the processes - and the quality thereof - are as varied as the individuals and organizations involved.

If you are like most leaders I have worked with your understanding of executive coaching is pretty basic.  You are not quite sure what coaching is and sometimes you are not quite clear on what you want to achieve by engaging an executive coach.  Some of the most common reasons that I experience in individuals looking for a coach is that they are trying to overcome some personal or professional challenges (e.g., it's lonely at the top, barriers to professional advancement) or their organization is supporting coaching for their leaders.

Regardless of motivation or understanding, the next crucial step is trying to figure out how to select an executive coach that is right for you.  In my opinion, this is an effort that requires as much time, thought and process as we put into hiring any staff member, contractor, architect, or other professional resource.  I say that with a thought that all such other processes in your organization are approached with due vigor and diligence.  In many respects, there should be even more effort and structure to selecting an executive coach as what's at stake is your leadership effectiveness.  And in my opinion without effective leadership all other resources in an organization are vastly underutilized or even squandered.

So how can you maximize the opportunity available to you by getting access to and support of an executive coach?  How can you ensure that you choose the right coach for you?  Here are my top  factors and processes - not necessarily listed in order of importance - in making your best executive coach selection decision:

Number One:  get access to a bio or resume for a variety of coaches.  Get a sense of who they are and their track record.  Approach this just as you would any other recruitment process.  You are hoping to have a number of options to select from and to do that you need more than a few examples to choose from.  Your decision may even be informed by the multitude of samples and approaches you see coaches taking in responding to your requirements.

Number Two:  just like in any other recruiting process, try to gain some clarity for yourself in what you want an executive coach to do with and for you.  By way of analogy, it's a pretty daunting task to go looking for a Chief Financial Officer or IT Director if you have no idea what tasks you want them to focus on or what education and skills you need them to have.  The same holds true when selecting your executive coach.

Number Three:  following from above, make sure that the executive coaches that present themselves for your consideration are in fact qualified - by education and experience - to provide the requisite level of service that you are looking for.  I'll demonstrate my bias here in that I believe that qualified coaches are graduates of a program that establishes them as Certified Executive Coaches (CEC), are active members of the International Coach Federation, and tangibly demonstrate a commitment to advancing their coaching acumen.  They are well-trained and have an excellent track record of ongoing professional development.

Number Four:  get references from their current or past coaching clients.  If they have been able to have positive impact on others it's quite likely that these other clients will be more than willing to speak about their experience with you.  If the coach in question is on LinkedIn, look for endorsements and testimonials from their clients.

Number Five:  take the time to interview at least two to three prospective coaches.  Ask them your key questions.  Ask them to describe in detail their coaching process.  Ask them to describe in detail their successes and their failures (e.g., toughest assignment, learnings, whether they have been fired from a coaching engagement).  Ask them how they stay current in their coaching practice. This is a critical selection decision for you - take the time to get this decision right!  Make this a true and effective interview.  Don't speed-date your way to a decision.

While selecting your executive coach is a very personal decision one tactic that I have seen work well is some form of panel interview or input.  I remember one client in particular who involved a number of his direct reports in the selection process.  We do this in any other number of recruiting and selection processes so why not with an executive coach? 

Number Six:  be wary of coaches who over-promise or offer to solve your problems.  While you are definitely looking for confident and competent coaches with a track record of helping clients to identify, clarify and address your challenges, be clear for yourself that it is YOU who sets the agenda for the engagement, you are the one true agent of change, and you have the power and expertise to set your future direction.  In my opinion, if you are feeling that you are getting the hard sell than it's time to walk away from that engagement. 

Number Seven:  consider this an investment in your personal and professional leadership.  What is that worth to you?  What is it worth to your organization?  It may appear more than a bit self-serving on my part, but be wary of coaches who offer bargain-basement coaching rates.  While price is never a guarantee of quality (see other points in this list) it should give you pause to consider what you might be signing up for.  There may be a reason you can get coaching for less than the going rate.

Number Eight:  connection, connection, connection.  Despite whatever skills, qualifications, and references any coach might have, if you don't feel a connection to a particular coach I'd suggest not contracting their services.  This is an individual that you are going to have to feel completely comfortable in revealing all of your fears, anxieties and challenges.  You are going to have to be ready with this individual challenging you in each session and during the term of your coaching engagement.  If you don't feel a connection move on to other options.  This is about YOU and no one else.

This is a critical decision for your leadership.  You want the best resource available to you.  Don't settle.  Your executive coach can be one of your best resources in advancing your personal leadership so put in the time and effort into the selection process.  After all, it's about YOUR leadership.
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
President & Co-Founder
BreakPoint Solutions
Executive Coaching and Business Consulting

gregh@breakpoint.solutions
780-250-2543

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.

A Leadership Fable

Over the years, as I've progressed through various organizations and leadership roles I have had the opportunity to learn from and experience (directly and indirectly) the different styles that individual managers and leaders have brought to their roles.  Now, as an executive coach, I have had more opportunity to hear about either the challenges or inspiration that leaders bring to their followers on a daily basis.  More than ever what astounds me are those leaders that believe in the use of an iron hand, an unyielding adherence to "the rules" and even outright intimidation tactics with the expectation that this will somehow result in positive results - for their business units and/or themselves.

I'll admit that an early stage of my career, when I was inexperienced and learning a lot of lessons the hard way, it was quite convenient and reassuring to fall back on my title and authority as CEO and enforce discipline, mandate compliance with my directions, and otherwise suppress dissent.  It seemed easier to fall back on such authority when experience and knowledge were lacking, while pride and fear were at a premium.  As I've said many times since that first leadership role in particular with the benefit of 20+ more years of experience and the opportunity to learn from others, I'm amazed my board of directors at the time didn't fire me in my first year.  I can't say that I would have been as generous with my learning curve as they proved to be.

This reflection has been prompted by the current (ongoing?) experience of my peers and clients as they continue to manage in environments that don't exactly inspire and motivate.  As individual leaders themselves or as front line staff they have described too many of their bosses as draconian, manipulative, untrustworthy, and sometimes just downright mean.  Without a doubt there is method to this madness.  I've seen and experienced this type of leadership before.  The intent is to keep others off balance, reduce confidence of team members or colleagues who might otherwise present some sort of challenge, and to otherwise maintain or advance the career aspirations of themselves.  At the very least the intent is to ensure that the weakness of the boss doesn't see the light of day or establishes the basis by which someone else (e.g., a direct report, another division) can be blamed for lack of performance.

But surely there is a more rational and less destructive way to achieve one's leadership aims.  And there is.  Humility and self-awareness are good starting points!  Moreover, this is not just as a result of a new leadership theory that has come to light and been marketed in bookstores and business schools around the world.  Rather, there is a leadership fable that establishes the basis for learning if we are prepared to heed its lessons.  It goes as follows...

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger.  Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said:  "I see a way to decide our dispute.  Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger.  Given to bluster, the Wind demanded to go first, so the Sun retired behind a cloud and the Wind began to blow.  As the Wind blew the traveller pulled his cloak tighter about himself and hunched lower so as to be able to continue making progress.  The Wind redoubled his efforts, summoning all his strength, but to no avail.  The harder the Wind blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak around him till at last the Wind was spent and gave up in despair.  Of course, the Wind suggested that the Sun give up as well as the cause was obviously hopeless.  The Sun smiled and thanked the Wind for his concern, but came out from behind the cloud nonetheless.  He let his rays fall down upon the traveller and gradually the warming heat became too much for the traveller who took off his cloak and  proceeded to walk upright and happily on towards his destination.  The Wind for all its effort and bluster had been defeated by the quiet glory of the Sun.

Could the "leadership" of the Wind prevailed given more time, energy or resources? Quite possibly.  None of us can personally sustain the kind of battering that can come from a hurricane and such a storm definitely makes its mark.  Even the strongest of us can eventually be beaten down.  We remember and remark on such storms for years to come, but mostly for the destruction it wreaked on the lives of those it impacted.  Not necessarily the kind of legacy we as leaders would aspire to - I hope.  Interestingly enough, if we take the analogy further, we sometimes do see some positives from these destructive storms/leaders as people band together to survive or recover from the experience.  In contrast, I warrant that we do aspire to be more Sun-like once we have had the ability to work with and be led by someone that shone their light on us, allowed us the freedom to work and grow, and ensured that the journey to our goal was spent enjoyably and productively. 

So as a follower you can choose to be battered by your personal Wind-like leader on a daily basis.  You might even look to others to pick up the pieces for you or even put their own cloak around you until the latest gale passes. You can choose to pick up the pieces of your work life each day and rebuild as we typically do after the tempest has struck once again.  Or perhaps today, or tomorrow, you make a different and harder choice, to either stand up and hold on to your cloak and stand for what you believe in or to pull up stakes and move to a different, less disaster-prone environment that allows your "home" to be built on more solid foundation.  And make no mistake, those are hard choices to make for anyone particularly when you feel invested in your work and those you have worked with for some time.

As a leader, you too clearly have a choice as to whether you lead like the Wind or the Sun.  Do you wish to be feared for your destructive power or do you wish to be respected for the positive environment you can create?  Both can be effective in their own way.  The question is whether you can sustain the effort required under either regime, how concerned you are with building a truly engaged team, whether you can achieve desired results when you are not realizing the potential of your team (or constantly rebuilding it), and how other more powerful forces might start to perceive your "success" over time.

And there always is a more powerful storm than the last one...
______________________________

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.