This is Part 2 of a 6 part series on transformation leadership. In Part 1 of this series, I laid out five great New Year’s resolutions for Executives for 2013. In this post, I offer some practical suggestions for Resolution #1: Be a better leader in 2013.
Understanding the Leadership Role of the Executive
As noted in my previous post, perhaps the most important role of an executive in any organization is to set the direction — and the tone — for the organization. But is that enough to be good leader? Not at all! It takes a lot more than vision to be a good leader. It takes action.
You cannot lead by memo. Just signing your name to a vision statement, strategic plan, or policy isn’t going to make things happen. You need to demonstrate your commitment by providing the time and funding to turn your vision into reality. Furthermore, you have to truly BELIEVE in what you sign in your executive capacity. If you don’t believe in your vision, you are likely to make decisions and take actions that are counter to your stated vision or direction. Very quickly, your employees will realize that the thing you signed is nothing more than a fancy piece of paper.
Leadership is not a spectator sport. Coaches don’t win football games or baseball games by sitting on the sidelines, passively watching things unfold. They are actively engaged every minute of every game, always with an eye towards a championship. Good leaders do the same thing, staying engaged with the day to day business without losing sight of the long term vision. Of course, if you are leading a major transformation, it can seem more like a rugby game than a baseball game. It’s fast paced, and messy, and can be very confusing. Like any good team captain, you need to be on the field with your team, getting dirty and taking your hits.
Leadership is more art than science. It is relatively easy to acquire knowledge about leadership. A simple search on the internet will turn up hundreds of companies offering to train you to be a leader. And you can certainly learn many of the skills that are needed to be an effective manager and leader. But becoming an exceptional leader requires more than knowledge. It requires a lot of practice – and a good deal of heart. Consider the difference between the drum major of a marching band and the conductor of a symphony orchestra. Almost anyone can learn to set the beat for a marching band. But it takes a lot of knowledge, practice, and heart to integrate the different instruments of an orchestra into a memorable musical moment.
Here are four things you can do in 2013 to improve your leadership.
Create a Clear Vision for your Organization
Having a very clear vision for your organization is the first step. Some people have the natural gift of vision – Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Sam Walton, Ray Kroc, and Mary Kay Ash. These larger-than-life business leaders not only created global enterprises from humble beginnings, they changed our language, our culture, and our world.
For the rest of us, vision is something we have to work at. And most of us cannot – and probably should not – try to create this vision on our own. We need to engage others in helping us create a clear vision – our employees, our customers, and our board of directors. And we may want to look outside of our own industry for new ideas and fresh ways of thinking about building our business.
Your vision or strategy should be very clear and easy to communicate. When you return to work after January 1st, try this simple test. Walk around your office and ask different employees at all levels of the organization this question: “Why are we here?” Listen to what they tell you. Are they able to articulate a vision or mission for your organization? Is it consistent with your vision? Is it consistent from person to person? Or are you getting a variety of different or contradictory answers? Believe me, if you employees are confused – so are your customers.
If you don’t have a clear vision or strategy for your organization, you need to create one – soon. Otherwise, your organization will keep doing what it is doing – with the same results you had last year.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Once you have a clearly defined vision or strategy, you need to start turning it into action. If there is one skill that all good leaders have in common, it is that they communicate their vision with their employees and their customers – personally and repeatedly. And, like the real estate mantra of “location, location, location”, it bears repeating three times – communicate early, communicate often, and communicate consistently.
The vision for your company should permeate every aspect of your organization. Your vision is intended to attract the kind of customers that can make your organization grow and be profitable. Consequently, every communication with your customers and prospects should reinforce the message. Your website, sales collateral, marketing campaigns, letters, emails, and even phone calls should contain messaging that reinforces your vision. When is the last time you really looked at the content of these marketing and sales communications? Are they creating the kind of image for your company that will lead to your success? If not, this might be the perfect time to align your marketing and sales communications with your vision.
The same is true for your internal communications. Your employees can’t read your mind. Left on their own, they will do what they think is best, whether it matches your intended direction or not. You need to take every opportunity to reinforce your commitment to your vision and to help employees understand what you expect from them. Talk about the vision in your weekly staff meetings. Refer to the vision whenever you write a memo or establish a new policy. Walk the halls on a regular basis and just talk to employees about your vision and ask them for ideas to make it happen.
Participate Every Day in Every Way
While preparing this post, I came across a recent article in Inc. magazine by Les McKeown entitled 4 Ways to be a Leader Who Matters. While all 4 ways contain valuable advice for leaders, the one that really struck home with me was the fourth: “Model more than you share.” Mr. McKeown goes on to say the following:
“Seeing it isn’t doing it. Sharing it isn’t doing it. Only doing it is doing it.”
Being a good leader means being a good follower. You need to be able to follow your own vision. Regardless of what you write on paper, the true strategy of your company is reflected in the decisions you make and the actions you take on a day-to-day basis.
Take stock of your own decisions and behaviors. For example, if safety is important, don’t routinely ignore your own safety rules. There is nothing more damaging to a safety initiative than an executive who won’t wear the required safety equipment in the plant. If a flexible response to customer demands is essential to your success, don’t set up your manufacturing operations to be inflexible. If your business is characterized by a long sales cycle, then focusing all of your attention on the 10-day sales report is counter to your vision. If developing new skills in your employees is a stated priority, then failing to fund the necessary training is a tacit admission that it isn’t YOUR priority.
Your employees will model what you do — not what you say. So, if you want new behaviors in your organization, you will need to start by changing your own behaviors.
Be Patient about Your Impatience
Leadership is about action. And action is about change. But change takes time. Many executives are impatient about the length of time it takes to implement a new initiative. Impatience isn’t a bad trait – in fact, constant and repeated attention by the executive to the initiative is an important aspect of driving it forward. But a good leader will practice “patient impatience.”
When it comes to transformational change, there is no “magic bullet”. Vision and strategy are long term commitments, not short term tactics. Executives who constantly change the direction of the company in their search for a quick fix create confusion and frustration for their employees — and for their customers. If you have a tendency to do this, make a resolution to stick to your strategy for one year. You will be providing your team with the leadership they deserve and you might just surprise yourself and find the success you have been seeking.