Leadership

Speed Bump to Urgency, Dealing with Deniers

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During a crisis, time is of the essence.Hand sign 'Stop' (1a)

Momentum is essential and you need everyone working toward resolution, whatever direction it may take.

Your company is facing deterioration, sales are flattening.  A crisis is looming like a boulder balancing on the edge of steep slope, you are running out of cash.  You have six months or bankruptcy.

Change is a source of uncertainty.  Leadership is a necessity to navigate a through periods of uncertainty.  A sense of urgency gives purpose to people during a transition, everyone must feel the urgency and that determination must be transferred to action.  Any distraction that slows the momentum could affect the success of the change strategy.

How do you deal with the person who is disrupting change, the one individual who is slowing everyone and everything down? Continue reading →

My Day of Grace

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With the most recent anniversary of her passing last week, I’m reminded of a memory of Grace Hopper (d: 1 January 1992, age: 82), who I admired and once had the chance to meet.

As the Internet bubbles, a fragment of information sometimes percolates to the top and reveals itself in a way that generates a thread of memories that can make you feel both lucky and a little sad.

We were not close, she was not my mentor.  She was (and is) a part of my professional cultural history, a history I share with thousands of other military members in all of the services and millions of people in the technology fields.  I feel not only lucky, but honored to have spent some time with her.

The Nano-minute (US Navy photo courtesy of Chips magazine)
The Nano-minute
(US Navy photo courtesy of Chips magazine)
 How often do you get to spend the day with a (no hyperbole) legend?  I do not use the term legend lightly.  She was so renowned in certain fields that everyone in those fields study her career.  The best part of her legend was that the general public quite probably never heard of her or what she accomplished, yet her career and her work has affected almost every single person alive today.  Continue reading →

Reading Recommendation “The One Minute Manager”

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If you are just on the path to leadership and you have no idea what you should do, “The One Minute Manager” is a great start to untangle the big string ball that is leading people.

I have probably bought close to 100 copies over the years since I first read the book (you’re welcome Messrs. Blanchard and Johnson).  They have been gifts to friends, students, and mentees with whom I have shared any meaningful conversation on leadership.

Continue reading →

The Absence of Leadership

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Absent leader (1)There is no guarantee that leadership will make a company successful,  but I can almost guarantee a company will fail without it.

I had a surprising conversation with an HR director in a European branch office of a US company about leadership and its role in the company.

This person was a very experience executive, I’d estimate 10-15 years of work experience and responsible for HR policy and recruiting.  After the usual background exchange I asked about the biggest leadership challenges the company faced.  Were there issues of recruitment or development or mentoring?

The HR director looked at me and said that there were no problems, we don’t use leadership in this company.

Continue reading →

On Being a Good Leader (Recognize Performance, additional thoughts)

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I discussed performance recognition in earlier posts and have a few additional comments.

Genuine, honest praise pays dividends in morale, performance, and retention.

Reinforce the recognition.

Take the opportunity to recognize achievement at each lower level.

I mentioned several ways of recognizing performance: individual recognition, peer recognition, formal group recognition, industry awards, industry travel and conferences. Continue reading →

On Being a Good Leader (Recogize Performance) Part 2 of 2

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DSC07285b

(Continued from “Recognize Performance, Part 1 of 2“.)

It is a real challenge to be a good boss.

There are a number of actions you can take that can make you the “best boss” someone ever had.

One of the most important, and perhaps one of the simplest, means of connecting with subordinates is the simple process of performance recognition.  In a previous post, I outlined reasons why a recognition program is important.

So the question now is: how do you set up recognition program and what are the mechanisms? Continue reading →

On Being a Good Leader (Recognize Performance) Part 1 of 2

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DSC07285bIt is a real challenge to be a good boss.

There are a number of actions you can take that can make you the “best boss” someone ever had.

I believe one of the most important aspects of leadership is expressing emotion to subordinates.  It is through emotion that meaningful reinforcement (both positive and negative) is conveyed.

The key emotion is trust.

One of the most important, and perhaps one of the simplest, means of connecting with subordinates is the simple process of performance recognition.  The foundation of recognition is that underlying authenticity of the recognition.  Continue reading →