Category Archives: Honesty

Five Key Thoughts and Principles of Leadership (Part 1 of 5)

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During a recent executive education program we led, the CEO of the organization came to have an informal discussion with the participants.  The focus of the executive education program was to build additional perspectives and capabilities as the organization was preparing itself to continue to lead in a highly volatile market.  The CEO started off by noting that nothing that the CEO was about to say was new, because they had heard these five key thoughts and principles from previous town hall meetings. I asked if I was able to take notes and share the nuggets, which was granted.  I’ll outline these five key thoughts and insights in a series of posts, starting with the first thought from the CEO.

1-KNOW WHO YOU ARE- You need to know what you believe, your sense of right and wrong, what makes your heart sing, what depresses you, what makes you angry, and what makes you happy.  If you don’t have personal clarity in your own mind, it will be more difficult for you to be a leader and have others follow you.  If you don’t know where you are, its hard for you to know where you are going.

How do you do that? Start with your personal belief set-spiritual, political and everything in between.  Nothing is necessaily right or wrong. But it is VERY important for you to clearly think this through.  You might be asked to articulate this. What are your underpinnings?  If you get fog or vagueness, you are missing the boat and you are less effective as a leader.

You’re NOT selling your point of view but you may be forced to look at right and wrong (ethics).  You must be prepared to articulate what the red lines are for you.  This is the foundation-immutable, anchors, immutable principles for integrity.  Finally, be careful how you deploy your beliefs but do not depart from them.

 

5 tips to effectively leading your team.

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Back in 2008, the Wall Street Journal published an article that shared five tips for effectively leading your team, irregardless of whether your team members were boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, or those just coming out of college (some call Gen Flex). These five tips include:

  1. Avoid surprises, especially when it comes to performance coaching,
  2. Be clear about what you want and expect. If you’re not clear about what you want, you can’t expect others to read your mind.
  3. Listen to what they are saying, verbally and nonverbally.
  4. Keep it loose. Try to keep it informal, rather than a formal performance review.
  5. Be prepared-keep notes on what was shared and what you agreed to do, along with what your colleague agreed to do.
Hite also found some interesting differences among the generations:

What lessons have you found that work especially well in effectively leading your teams?

8 Keys for getting the most out of leading your team

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Jennifer Reingold wrote an intriguing article on leading your team. She outlines 8 key practices.

1.      Think big with talent.

2.      Be honest and accountable.

3.      Empower the  person closest to the action.

She also outlined some possible ideas to think about when performance review time rolls around. These are some questions you might ask:

  1. Did you achieve your organizational goals?
  2. How did you perform against expectations?
  3.  What are your management skills?
  4.  How are you in working with peers?
  5. How are you at innovation?

Source: The Secret Coach, Jennifer Reingold, Fortune magazine, 7/21/08

 

What do you think? Are there any missing elements from Ms. Reingold’s article that you find are critical in leading your team?

Yes, But Can They Trust You? (Part 3 of 3)

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My previous two posts have focused on trust as a leader.  I’ve focused on one of NC State’s Poole College of Management professors, Dr. Roger Mayer. Dr. Mayer’s research on trust focuses on three elements: ability, benevolence, and integrity. I have linked the previous posts on ability and benevolence.

The final leg of trust from Dr. Mayer’s research is integrity.  Integrity focuses upon dependability and consistency with values and principles that others find important.   Dependability and consistency is basically doing what you say you are going to do over a prolonged period of time.  Yet if you act dependably in ways that your team does not value, you lose integrity. For example, you lack dependability and consistency if you are flitting from one initiative to another to a third based on the latest book, article, or management fad you’ve read about.  At the same time, if you act consistently in a way that is contrary to what your team values, then you have little to no integrity in their eyes. This is a critical part of culture.

In future posts, we’ll share some specific examples from GEN Shelton and senior leaders from a variety of backgrounds (public service, private and corporate practice, collegiate, and youth).  I’m interested in your examples as well.

What was a situation where you saw a leader demonstrate one or more of the three legs of trust (ability, benevolence, and integrity)?

 

 

Yes, But Can They Trust You? (Part 2 of 3)

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Last week, I outlined Dr. Roger Mayer’s work on trust. He notes that ability is one key factor of growing trust as a leader (click here for part one on ability). In his work in executive education programs at NC State’s Poole College of Management, he notes that many participants want to learn how to create a culture of innovation and trust. He notes that while ability is critical, the second of three factors on growing trust as a leader is benevolence.

According to Dr. Mayer’s research, benevolence relies upon empathy and selflessness.    Empathy focuses upon the relationship between you and the other person. You have to take the time to learn about the other people on your team, their interests outside of work and what is important to them.

Selflessness focuses upon your intentions and motives.  Are you perceived as a “glory hound” or one who hogs the credit for any success? Do you attempt to shift blame if there are any negative impacts on the team’s work?

How have you seen some of the best leaders with whom you’ve worked demonstrate selflessness and empathy?  I look forward to your comments.