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.

Resolve to Invest in Your Leadership

It's that time of year again when many of us make New Year's resolutions.  The turning of the page at the stroke of midnight on December 31st provides a point at which many of us believe or aspire to a new level of performance at a personal or professional level or both.  Unfortunately, the rate at which these resolutions are kept and the extent of actual achievement falls far short of the inspired vision that created them.  In fact, some studies have identified that of those people who have made resolutions less than 10% will actually see them through in the course of the coming year. 

In the context of your leadership what have you resolved to do differently (and presumably better) in the coming year?  If you are an individual and a leader possessed of any degree of personal humility you would recognize that there is always opportunity for improvement.  Think back in the past year to those moments in which your leadership was challenged, where you struggled or were frustrated with getting results or getting results in a timely fashion, and even in those circumstances where you spent more than a few sleepless nights challenged by a key decision with seemingly no right answer.  With the benefit of hindsight what would you have done differently?  What skills or experience are going to better equip you for the challenges to come in 2014?  What are you going to do differently to better prepare yourself?  What are you prepared to invest in becoming a better leader?

As a TEC Canada Chair and an Executive Coach, I've engaged with many leaders, both formally and informally in the past year.  It's been interesting to note that, despite the diversity of industries and differences in years of experience of these leaders, the issues they face are often are quite similar.  Moreover, as leaders they also consistently struggle with the fact that they don't have a confidential resource at their disposal to bounce ideas off of, to express their own doubts about a plan of attack, or to simply have a forum to "talk-out-loud" without fear of being judged.  Most recognize the value of such a confidential resource or forum but not all avail themselves of the opportunity to engage such expertise.  Why?  There are a range of reasons that do come up but two of the most common are Time and Money. 

Considering those objections to engaging a confidential external resource it seems to me these leaders are undervaluing an investment in themselves and their leadership.  Given the fact these leaders are making decisions sometimes valued in the millions of dollars, impacting on hundreds or more staff, and countless more clients or customers, it seems to me that an investment in ongoing leadership development and support would make for a quite positive ROI calculation.  So while I can assume that a majority of leaders have implicitly or explicitly made some "resolutions" about how 2014 will be better than 2013 they may not be giving themselves all the ammunition they need to succeed.  And maybe they get lucky and are part of the 10% that make it despite all barriers, obstacles and challenges.  However, I'd like to think that for a few dollars and few hours of support each month those odds of success turn decisively in your favor.

Resolutions can provide you with a great personal vision.  Turning those resolutions into reality and success benefits from you - The Leader - making a commitment to truly investing in yourself.  Engaging with an objective and unbiased sounding board that will help you assess the past, build on your strengths, set clear and specific goals, and help you stay accountable to your plans - this is what makes a resolution and your leadership development a reality. 

As a leader, you one of the greatest assets your organization has.  Your Time and Your Money (and that of your organization) are precious commodities.  Invest this time and money wisely and to good effect.  In the context of your responsibilities you owe it to yourself and your organization to continuously sharpen your leadership acumen.  It's about you and it's about your leadership.

Resolve to invest in your leadership in 2014.
______________________________

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.

It's The Thought that Counts - Redux

I just recently read an article that suggested that the annual Christmas party was the one last best opportunity in the year to boost or salvage one's employee engagement scores.  At one level I couldn't help but chuckle at this perspective - as if one kick-ass party was going to somehow undo an entire year of not paying attention to a company's most valuable and portable resource.  To me it's somewhat akin to saying that I could be a horrible husband or parent all year long and somehow overcome that with a great anniversary or birthday present.

On the other hand, I could also appreciate and buy-in to the perspective of making sure that as a leader we truly show up in an authentic and sincere fashion at this time of year.  That we take this time to truly demonstrate our appreciation for our staff, our team, our co-workers and our fellow human beings.  And perhaps that from this spirit of giving we could hold ourselves in that spirit for the year to come. 

Last year, I wrote an entry focused on how we as leaders do or do not show up at this time of year, and whether we demonstrate with any authenticity our appreciation and commitment to our staff.  With some minor edits I have reprised that entry for your consideration.

So Yes, the Christmas season is upon us once again!  If you are like me that usually means the typical scramble to get those last minute gifts, prepare for family visits, or send off Christmas cards.  It is also the time of year for work-based Christmas parties and events.    In my experience these have taken on many forms from unit-based social events, to Board/senior executive formal functions, to larger team-based gatherings at a local restaurant, and even holiday-themed meals provided for free to all staff during the Christmas season.  What some may fail to realize is that these events say a lot about the organization's or the individual leader's commitment to staff and can send strong messages about the reality of employee engagement in the organization. 

I recall from painful experience a year in which budget and optics caused my organization to cancel what had been a long-standing event - the annual tradition of offering a free meal to staff in the week leading up to Christmas.  Given the nature of trying to serve hundreds of people at 3 or 4 points in the day the food provided was delivered in buffet, industrial style production - hot food dished out cafeteria-style, with cake or squares for dessert, and your choice of juice or coffee.  There certainly was cost, but not extravagance.  Staff social committees put forward their best effort to provide entertainment for these functions as well so there was music, caroling, and contests to encourage socialization and camaraderie.  What I believe staff also enjoyed was the fact that very many of their managers took turns serving out meals at the event.  This included senior executives as well.  A colleague of mine and I made a particular tradition of taking on the night shift - which if memory served was 1 or 2 in the morning.  Staff were generally impressed that we made the effort to come in at night to put in a couple of hours of work and engage in conversation with them.  And we both thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Modest cost but an investment that paid off many times over in connecting with staff.

Needless to say the cancellation was not well received by most.  It was a challenging decision to make.  Some believed that public perception as much as cost supported the decision to cancel.  If there were budget challenges for the organization how could we justify spending dollars on a staff Christmas meal?  Others believed that if competitors were making similar decisions we had no choice but to follow.  However, for most management and staff it was not a warmly received decision.  Many felt it diminished the hard work and sacrifices of all staff.  Many felt that this was the one true reward and recognition that they received in a year and now it was gone.  Others may have taken the tradition for granted and it simply became an entitlement.  Nevertheless the cost to the organization in terms of goodwill was not insignificant.  We definitely came across as Scrooge-like.

What also went by the way that year was any formal lunch time gathering of management teams.  All of my managers would have gotten together at a restaurant or some other venue to have a buffet style meal, socialize, and listen to me give greetings of the season and thanks for a year's hard work.  Other senior executives would have done similar things with their direct reports.  That was no longer on the table.  I could have chosen then to forgo any annual Christmas gathering of my team.  However, it's not that easy to just give up these types of events if you really believe in rewarding and recognizing your team.  With the support of my direct reports and my family we decided to take a different approach to celebrating Christmas - we opened up my house over two days to a potluck style celebration.  What did this mean?  Well mostly it meant parking challenges for my neighborhood and space challenges in my house with upwards of 100 people attending each day enjoying each other's company and culinary creations.  It was a house full to the brim of Christmas spirit!  Adversity turned to celebration!  What could have been a season of discontent was turned into a huge positive team-building event.  The comments that my wife and I received from my management staff were overwhelmingly positive.  Many even suggested that this home-based event become the new Christmas tradition.  The team was strengthened that day and the Christmas spirit was alive and well.

I also kept my own more intimate work-based Christmas celebration going.  For probably the last 10 or 15 years, I have invited my immediate direct reports and their spouses over to my house some time in the Christmas season.  Again all the food is home-cooked with contributions from all.  More importantly for me, I have always used the occasion to individually recognize each of my team members with a gift - paid for by myself - that I believe spoke to their individual achievements or reality in the past year.  I put hours of thought into each person's gift.  Sometimes this related to a singular event, sometimes to their particular personality or character, or perhaps some key accomplishment - personal or work-related - that was noteworthy.  In all cases, the gift giving was preceded by a mostly humorous, and always heart-felt, presentation on my part.  I believe this was warmly received by my colleagues precisely because it demonstrated that I paid attention to their efforts throughout the year and thought enough about each one of them to put in this individualized effort.  Our success was made possible by their individual and combined efforts.  It certainly would have been easier and less time-consuming to give them all a gift card to Chapter's, or give them some corporate swag, or something equally as generic.  I also could have assigned the task of getting these gifts to my support staff or similarly had them make arrangements for the party.  After all, I was a senior executive and could have pulled out the "I'm too busy or important" excuse to support the delegation of work.  But I don't see that it would have had the same meaning for any of us.  And the reward I got for the effort was the laughter, the tears and team building that came from this Christmas tradition.  I enjoyed it and got energy from the effort!

Ultimately, regardless of organizational circumstances, I believe that any leader can demonstrate an ongoing commitment to staff, to engaging their team, and building a strong culture.  It does take effort, it does take creativity, but ultimately it really is all about sincerity of commitment to others.  As the leader you set the tone for the culture you work in.  You build the culture by all of your actions, both large and small.  You build the culture by how you treat and work with your colleagues on a day-to-day basis.  You build the culture of your organization by your level of engagement and interest in your staff.  You demonstrate by the level of your effort how much your team really means to you.

There is no better time to demonstrate your commitment to your team than at Christmas. 

After all, it's the thought that counts.
______________________________

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 Your Organization's Culture Survive its Next Leader?

Several weeks ago I was a guest at a retirement function of a long-standing leader of a prominent local organization.  Not surprisingly, there were many accolades and a few good-natured barbs directed towards the retiring executive.  Similarly, there was an expression of both sadness and joy on the part of the retiring leader themselves - pride at the many years of accomplishments and challenges overcome but similarly a true sense of loss in preparing to be apart from a team and not being able to continue to see through the next round of major initiatives. 

Just as there is transition for the individual leader there is also a fair degree of uncertainty for the organization.  For those "left behind" they now begin to wonder what will the new leader be like?  What will change?  How will this impact us? How will this impact me?  These questions and anxieties don't just play out when an Owner, President or CEO transitions out of an organization.  At a frontline level, staff can also feel real anxiety when their supervisor, manager or director move on to new roles.  For better or worse, the leader - President or supervisor - has established a certain way of getting things done for the entire company or for simply their unit.  The leader has created a culture or sub-culture that people have become accustomed to.

For the purpose of this entry, I'm assuming that the culture the departing leader has created is in fact a positive one - a culture that has not been enforced but rather has been fostered and grown over time, that is characterized by great teamwork, open communication, strong employee engagement, great morale, strong customer satisfaction, and a record of success that comes from a strong values base and a can-do attitude.  The unit, division or organization has a great reputation, is a magnet for both clients and prospective hires, and stands out as being a great place to work.  It is a benchmark for other organizations or other parts of the same organization.

By all metrics this is an entity and culture worth preserving, growing and emulating.  And because its been performing so well one might believe that the reasons for its performance and capability might be well understood.  And because it has been performing so well one might believe that particular care might be taken selecting the right leader with the right qualities to build upon that success.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

I've experienced or seen a few situations where a strong, dynamic, values-based, performance-oriented culture was lost because of errors in selecting the next leader.  In one example, a CEO was hired into a newly created organization which was the result of a forced merger of at least 10 different smaller entities.  At the outset of this CEO's tenure there was a real possibility of continuing division along community and service lines.  The reality was that less than a year later this organization was a benchmark amongst its peers - a united leadership team, commonly-held vision and values, significantly improved relationships and partnerships with its unions, empowered and energetic staff, open communication, and above all integrity of character and decision-making.  In addition, the CEO and the rest of the senior leadership took strong steps in succession planning with a focus on sustaining long-term gains and success into the future.

Unfortunately, when that CEO determined it was time to move on to bigger challenges and opportunities the Board failed to adequately consider these succession planning efforts - or perhaps didn't buy into the culture of the organization that had been created.  The Board selected an external candidate as the next leader. In hindsight, it is now clear that the factors that had led to success for the organization and that established a strong performance-based culture were not understood or appreciated by the Board.  The new CEO had a far less open approach than the organization was used to.  Decisions were made by him alone or by a very small circle of advisers.  Empowerment, flexibility, autonomy, and integrity became more challenging commodities to come by.  The result was a relatively rapid departure of a number of "bright lights" in the organization.  They moved on.  They looked for other opportunities to continue their careers.  Within a short time the former culture - and successes - of the organization became a historical footnote.

A second example with the loss of culture is less dramatic but no less challenging.  Historically, an organization with a long values-driven history but perhaps less dynamic leadership than one might have expected and hoped for.  Nonetheless, the strong values base had in fact helped create an element of competitive advantage in the local marketplace and helped sustain the organization's existence through some rather dramatic changes in its business environment.  Like the previous example, however, the Board seemingly had less appreciation of the strength of the existing organizational culture while at the same time being sensitive to the less than dynamic leadership they had historically had.  They were intent on rectifying this and were also intent on growing the enterprise.  For this purpose, they identified a need to hire a leader from outside the organization with the requisite vision to move the enterprise forward.  Unfortunately, the same leadership characteristics of charisma, energy, and self-confidence that seemingly commended this leader also masked some less than desirable characteristics. 

The results?  The organization did in fact grow and there continue to be plans for more growth.  The public perception of the organization remains somewhat intact, but perhaps as much due to low performing competitors than to any real enhancement in performance.  The impacts on the organization's culture have been more clear - staff engagement results have dropped, teamwork between service lines has declined, there is limited if any trust in official internal communications, morale is low, and the competitive advantage that once existed in recruitment and retention is less pronounced if there at all.  Fear within the workplace is a growing reality with few if any prepared to openly question decisions or the basis upon which these decisions have been made.  Leadership of the organization has become increasing isolated from the frontline. 

Two very different examples.  Two very similar results.  In each case a strong, performance-based culture was negatively impacted by one decision - the hire of a new leader.  In the first case, the new leader was too insecure and weak to work within the strong, inclusive and empowered decision-making culture that had been created.  Making decisions in isolation for fear of being challenged ultimately led to the loss of many key personnel, the relatively rapid departure of this particular CEO, and a mortal wound to the organization's performance-based culture.  In the second case, the stated values do not seem drive current decision-making.  Key personnel have left or remain physically present but otherwise disengaged.  The organizational culture is certainly not what it once was and in many respects it bears more and more resemblance to the competition in its marketplace.  The competitive advantage it once had is being eroded.

Two very different examples that look at the impact of a leadership hire and the failure to truly consider the existing culture - and what it takes to maintain such.  The lesson of these tales, however, is just a relevant at a frontline level.  The selection of a supervisor, manager, director or any other role must explicitly consider alignment of leadership skills, style, and character if there is a desire to sustain and promote a positive work culture that has been the hallmark of the work unit in question. 

It's about leadership and if you don't pay attention in making these critical leadership decisions your culture will be immediately, inevitably, and perhaps irrevocably impacted. 
______________________________

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.

Leadership at the frontline

This past week was one of those weeks where a number of unrelated events came together to build a theme in my mind about leadership.  I've consciously tried to pay less attention to the healthcare world from whence I came over the past year while expanding my executive coaching and consulting practice.  However, I can't help but see the headlines and twitter feeds describing another change in healthcare senior leadership in Alberta.  The best analogy I can paint is slowing down to see a car accident even though it really doesn't involve you.  That being said, this is not a entry about healthcare per se.  What's said here applies in many other industries and sectors.

AHS replaces interim chief executive after only one month

Leadership at Alberta Health Services in state of flux

By Jamie Komarnicki and Reid Southwick, Calgary Herald November 16, 2013

I've also been taking a coaching course and this week we were tasked to post a review on an article of our choice.  I choose the article "Silence Kills - The Seven Crucial Conversations® in Healthcare.  Those in healthcare are probably quite familiar with the content and those in other industries have their own experience with the reality described by the article - mistakes, incompetence, broken rules, lack of support, poor teamwork, disrespect and micromanagement all tolerated and accepted in silence.  The consequence of this culture of silence is a range of adverse patient episodes, including medication errors, hospital-acquired infections, and other mishaps.  Similarly the workforce is afflicted with poor morale, low employee engagement, and high turnover.  Pick another industry or business and you liable to find a similar version of this healthcare study.

At the same time, I continue to experience enthusiasm and energy from a number of my coaching clients dedicated to making a difference in their chosen field.  Most of them are approaching their work with very aspirational goals and objectives.  It is important to note, though, that they are not just aspiring to achieve leadership positions or new roles simply for the sake of personal advancement.  Rather, they are quite sincere and committed about making a difference for the system and for the clients or customers they serve.  They are optimistic, idealistic and passionate in their hopes and dreams for their respective organizations.  This is despite - or perhaps even because of - the current challenges in their work environments.

The last piece of the puzzle in this confluence of unrelated activities was finally getting around to reading "Strengthening Credibility - A Leader's Workbook" by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.  I've read their previous works, was impacted by their perspective and have been using their lessons ever since.  I was also extremely fortunate to personally learn from James Kouzes in a healthcare leadership seminar in the early 90's.  Some key statements out of their recent work struck me and ended up providing context to all of the above circumstances.  Excuse me while I quote at length from the very beginning of their latest book:

"...we found that credibility is not based on job titles or hierarchical positions but with the

human being in the leader's shoes.  Above all else, we found that leadership is personal.  It's not about the corporation, the community, or the country.  It's about you and your relationship with others.  If people don't believe in the messenger, they won't believe the message.  If people don't believe in you, they won't believe in what you say.  And if it's about you, then it's about your beliefs, your values, and your principles.  It's also about how true you are to your values and beliefs." 

This one paragraph put into perspective all of the seemingly unconnected circumstances and events noted above.  What it told me is that, despite the turmoil in any industry or sector or business or organization, we all still have the opportunity to lead in the positions we are in.  As a leader at the frontline of any organization, and perhaps as close as possible to the C-suite without actually being in it, you have the leadership opportunity to positively impact and support those staff who work with you.  You have the power to lead them to the best of your ability.  Yes, your information is imperfect and incomplete.  Yes, you may not have access to all the resources you would like or require to do the best job you believe you and your staff are capable of.  Ultimately, however, you can still make a positive difference in your sphere of influence.  And maybe, just maybe, through your authenticity, integrity and consistency you can extend that sphere of influence and move the needle of performance just a little bit every day.

Is this just pie-in-the-sky thinking?  Some would have you think so.  Some would have you buy into the notion that as a frontline/mid-level leader you really are nothing more than a sailor in a rowboat simply trying to survive the North Atlantic during a tempest.  If you happen to make progress from Canada to England it's only by sheer determination and luck. That you have no power to impact your surroundings and the best you can hope for is to not get fired.

By contrast I have seen very good frontline leaders achieve remarkable things under the most adverse circumstances.  Frontline leaders who had to work with very poor building infrastructure, either crumbling around them because of age or far too small for the volume of work they had to deal with.  Frontline leaders who didn't get all the budgetary resources they needed or had to deal with ongoing staff shortages.  Frontline leaders who had to deal with a variety of "difficult-to-deal-with-yet-powerful" people.  Frontline leaders who had to navigate the realities of strong unions and all that potentially entails about managing staff performance.  Yet these leaders, had fully engaged staff, on budget performance and higher customer satisfaction ratings than any of their peers.  Why?  How?

What accounted for these remarkable results?  I believe it goes back to the very heart of the Kouzes and Posner quote.  The staff of these leaders believed in the "message" because they believed in the "messenger".   These messengers/leaders had (and have) credibility with their followers because they have truly engaged and partnered with their staff, have a set of shared values that they adhere to consistently when making decisions, have worked on supporting and developing staff over time, and ultimately have helped to foster a sense of purpose and hope despite all the challenges.  Above all the messenger and leader has been amongst and with their followers during their trials and tribulations.  There is a personal connection and even a camaraderie with their staff.

Ultimately that's what leadership is all about.  It's personal, it's about you and it's about how you show up every day.  Show up and be authentic.  That is your real leadership challenge.
______________________________

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.

It's not Them, it's You - Redux

A lament that I've often heard from many leaders is "Why don't my staff get what we are trying to do?"  The context for this can relate to many things - a focus on developing new products or service offerings, a desire to enhance customer service capability, a shift in emphasis in strategic direction, or any number of other "big-ticket" ventures that a leader undertakes.  Regardless, the long and short of the story is that things are not going right and certainly not as well as the leader expected.  In fact, rather than succeeding the initiative is actually failing.

The leader's frustration - and mystification - at the lack of success arises because in his/her mind the initiative should be moving forward rapidly, smoothly and with a minimum of bumps along the way.  From the leader's perspective the reasons for moving forward assertively and confidently are so self-evident that there should be no reason for confusion or lack of action.  From the leader's perspective all steps that should have reasonably been taken to communicate the importance of the initiative have been taken.  From the leader's perspective implementation of his/her brilliantly conceived idea should be proceeding easily and smoothly because...well...it's just so bloody brilliant!

Yet, success is not forthcoming.  And maybe that means it's time for a change in perspective.  Maybe its not about them.  Maybe it's about you.

It's often far easier to blame others for a lack of success or progress in moving an organization forward than in taking a hard look at what we are doing or not doing as the leader.  It's personally challenging to start asking some hard questions about what role I as a leader played in not setting the organization up for success.  What steps did I not take?  What warning signs did I ignore? 

So maybe your leadership is getting in the way.  First off, like anyone else, leaders can develop tunnel vision.  We may have become so engaged with our day-to-day work that we start to lose perspective.  Despite the fact that we are specifically tasked with maintaining that 50,000 foot view - or maybe as a result of it - we can lose a sense of what else might be happening in and around the rest of the organization.  In essence, we have become trapped by our own mental box and simply can't conceive of factors or issues that might impact successful implementation of our ideas.  The facts may even be staring you right in the face but you simply are no longer able to see them.  Here's where developing a true climate of trust and confidence in your team can pay huge dividends.  The more objective eyes on the ball the better.

Related to the tunnel vision noted above is a phenomenon that I'll describe as the speed trap.  As leaders we can easily get caught up in the desire to move forward as fast as possible.  Time is money, we have to get out ahead of an issue, we have to be first to market, we have to move, move and move faster.  This driving sense of urgency, however, can cause us to plan in a superficial fashion and gloss over challenges.  More importantly, as we try to solve a problem the anxiety we feel to get on with things can actually prevent us from truly understanding the issue before us. As a result, we may not actually be tackling the real problem but only just dealing with its most noteworthy symptoms.  The adage of pay now or pay later bears listening to.  Only in this regard the currency in question is time.  Slow down to move faster and more effectively.

Leaders can also be confounded by an overconfidence in their ability to communicate.  Effective communication is never simply about getting the memo(s), emails, or newsletters out or having a grand launch event.  For any significant initiative, the leader and his most trusted lieutenants have already spent a considerable amount of time coming to grips with the whys and wherefores of the initiative.  They understand the importance of the effort not only at an intellectual level but more importantly at a visceral level.  Leaders are therefore surprised and amazed that the rest of the organization doesn't have the same level of understanding and commitment.  The reality is that nobody else has been able to spend as much time on this idea as the leader already has.  They truly don't yet "get it" because they have not yet been given the time to understand the rationale for the effort.  A leader and his support team must not only communicate but allow time for the idea to be digested.  In addition, effective communication will ensure and incorporate a feedback loop that allows a check on understanding of key messages and expectations.

Success in implementing past initiatives may also cloud judgment on a go-forward basis.  A lack of planning, preparation, and good communication may not have confounded success in the past.  A leader may have succeeded in spite of himself for a whole variety of reasons.  A fact-based analysis may not have been undertaken to help identify key learnings.  Perhaps we were saved by even worse planning and preparation of a competitor.  Perhaps we were saved by the extraordinary efforts of some of our staff.  The truth is we don't really know what factors supported success or what that success actually cost us.  The result is that a leader is unduly confident in his own ability or otherwise complacent relative to what the next effort is really going to take. 

Finally, the ability to move an initiative forward may be most fatally confounded by the organization's assessment of the leader and his/her motivations.  Ultimately, I believe that words and actions of a leader must line up over the long run.  Staff and stakeholders will commit more strongly to something if they believe it serves the achievement of the organization's stated mission, vision and values.  They will commit if they can see benefit for them as individuals and for the organization as a whole.  If, however, past experience has informed them that the leader is first and foremost concerned about his/her personal gain an integrity gap will develop and grow.  In these circumstances, the leader may gain compliance but he will not gain true commitment to future endeavours.  Staff and stakeholders will ultimately see through the motivations of a self-absorbed leader.  It may take some time, but eventually organizational performance will suffer.

There could be probably be a few more warnings posted here about not rushing to judgment on one's staff.  The cautionary tale is one of making sure to look at yourself in the mirror first before casting aspersions on the skills, abilities and motivations of your followers.  Have you done enough to set the stage for success?  Have you provided the right tools to support effective implementation?  Have you looked at the issue from all perspectives?  In the end, it may be that it's not them that failed you.  Maybe you failed them.
______________________________

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.

Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat

The title of this blog entry comes from an image my wife and I had an artist create for our daughter's room a few years ago.  This Latin phrase roughly translates into "Fortune Favors the Bold" and so far has been a very apt description of the persona of our now three-year old girl.  She excels in finding new, innovative and bold ways to test the patience of her parents on a daily if not hourly basis.

The phrase, however, is also a very apt description for the mentality and qualities it takes to be an effective leader.  Opportunities to lead or to be successful rarely just fall into our laps.  However, too many people have exactly that expectation.  There is a notion that at some point others will recognize our skill or ability and magically anoint us "leader" or give us that next big promotion.  This is truly the lottery ticket version of leadership - one day my number will be called.  As many of us know, however, the odds of winning the lottery are somewhat less than the chance of getting struck by lightning.

Fortune does indeed favor the bold.  Opportunity rarely comes in a nicely wrapped package.  More often opportunity presents itself in a form more akin to a lump of coal.  Perhaps we are overlooked for a leadership opportunity we thought was rightfully ours.  Even worse, perhaps we are let go from an organization and are now at a loss as to where to go next.  Not many people would describe these circumstances as an opportunity.  But they are.  No different than if your own organization fails to win a lucrative contract or fails to break into a new market.  At this point of failure, rejection, and overall ugliness you - either personally or as a leader for your organization - have the choice to grow, learn and reload OR become bitter, mope and blame circumstances for the current predicament.  You can either be a victim of circumstance or take charge of your future.  It takes not a small amount of courage to take the harder path.  Adversity is opportunity.  Fortune favors the bold.

Certainly (and hopefully) you need not wait for some adverse episode or outcome to seek out opportunity.  An effective leader - whether focused on personal growth and development or the success of their organization - is always scanning the environment, evaluating not only risk but considering new ventures and angles to improve, to build new markets and products.  Leadership is about actively prospecting for opportunity.  Leadership is about being ready for and initiating change. 
Too often we hold ourselves back with our own fear of failure and other self-imposed barriers and limitations.  The current business environment may in fact help promote this risk-adverse approach.  Better to manage carefully, slowly, get all the information and try to make the perfect, mistake-free decision.  Unfortunately, while seemingly safe, this approach likely means that somebody with a bit more courage and fortitude has already beat us to the punch.  Fortune favors the bold.

The reality is that we rarely have all the information we think we need to make the best decision possible.  The world is simply too messy and complicated to expect all the information to be at hand at a time and place of our choosing.  Opportunity is won or lost on the ability to take decisive action with imperfect information.  Similarly, we delude ourselves that we will ever have the perfect plan in place that guarantees success or conversely can mitigate every risk.  An old military adage is that no plan survives contact with the enemy.  As a leader you must have confidence in your goals but flexibility in your plan if you are to be successful.  Beyond that you must also have the courage to learn, to change and adapt.  You must have humility in the face of changing circumstances and be prepared to adjust as you go. 

Above all successful leaders - and successful people in general - are not passive in the face of circumstances.  They are not content to let the currents of fate dictate their future or their level of success.  While they may be afraid, concerned, and anxious they are prepared to dive in, take the plunge, seize the opportunity.  They are prepared to struggle, to learn, to make mistakes, to adjust and make the best of their opportunities.

Make the best of your opportunities.  Push yourself.  Challenge your self-limiting beliefs.  At the end of day whether in your personal life or for your leadership role, Fortune Favors the Bold!
______________________________

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.