Are Your People Living Your Organization's Mission?

The preeminent responsibility of leadership in any municipality, governmental agency, industrial company or business organization is to craft a crystal clear vision and mission that is subsequently lived out each and every business day.

 

While your organization’s mission statement may be elegantly framed and bear a prominent placement on a wall in the executive office suite … Do the people in your organization actually understand what the organizational mission is? And do they know how to “live” it out on a daily basis?

 

Simply stated, do they understand their role in the mission and how to implement it?

 

Take a moment to carefully consider the following mission statement from a top Fortune 100 company:

 

Conoco-Phillips (a leading international petroleum company)

 

Mission: “As one of the largest publically held energy companies, our mission is to increase supplies to consumers through actions and investments that simultaneously build value for our shareholders.”

 

If you were an employee of Conoco-Phillips, you would no doubt find yourself hard pressed to understand in your specific job role “how” you personally make a valuable contribution toward the achievement and fulfillment of the company’s mission.

 

More than likely, you are going to have the distinct impression that your job is nothing more than to make money for the shareholders. So much for answering the question of every employee on the payroll… “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM)

 

As an employee, you might also be asking what “actions” am I supposed to take?

 

In stark contrast, consider the straight forward mission statement of Liberty Tax Service which is experiencing rapid growth and fully expects to overtake H&R Block as the #1 U.S. tax service by the year 2020.

 

Mission: “Set the standard. Improve every day. Have some fun.”

 

As an employee, understanding how you directly contribute to the fulfillment of the Liberty Tax mission, company success and personal success is fairly easy to grasp:

 

Set the standard. Know what you as an individual employee are capable of doing.

 

Improve every day. Continue to learn and improve, then set your own performance expectations a little higher every day.

 

Have some fun. Enjoy your work and the people that you work with.

 

It is certainly not difficult to understand which organization is going to have happier workers that are more engaged and more productive, while experiencing increased employee loyalty and retention.

 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of organizations worldwide regardless of their business classification or size, invariably craft mission statements that are wordy, vague, complex or overly ingratiating.

 

Of the Fortune Global 100 companies, perhaps the best mission statement of the lot comes from #27 Daimler Benz (Mercedes) which simply states its company mission is “To produce cars and trucks that people want to buy, will enjoy driving and will want to buy again.”

 

If your management team and front line workers are struggling to achieve your organization’s mission and goals, and your organization is experiencing continued employee turnover and lack of employee engagement...

 

Then you may have to look square into the organizational mirror and ask the prerequisite question… Are we merely advertising our mission as a statement or are we “living” it out every business day?

 

If you need assistance in bringing your organization’s vision, mission and people to life, we’re here to help.

Copyright © 2016 Developing Forward Leadership | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

Timely Leadership For A Changing World

Over the many years of traversing up and down the Interstate 95 corridor, I am often amused by the cheesy yet catchy billboards that are utilized by South of the Border as part of its innovative marketing campaign.

 

The one particular billboard that always grabs my attention very simply reads “What is old… Is new again”.

 

What a creative way of conveying the subtle yet powerful message that no matter how many times you may have visited Pedro in the past, that there is always something new awaiting you at South of the Border.

 

While life in the 21^st century revolves heavily around what happens to be the latest and greatest, there are those isolated moments when something old remains timely and current.

 

An excellent example of this phenomenon, is a literary work that has remained timely for nearly eighty years… “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

 

In his masterful work of 1937 Napoleon Hill writes:

 

“We who are in this race for riches, should be encouraged to know that this changed world in which we live is demanding new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders, new inventions, new methods of teaching, new methods of marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the radio, new ideas for moving pictures. Back of all this demand for new and better things, there is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”

 

How fresh, timely and original Napoleon Hill’s words remain. His thoughts have served as potent fertilizer on the seeds of imaginations for countless generations of leaders and innovators who have furthered our collective way of life for nearly a century.

 

What seeds of imagination are currently fermenting in your organization and in the minds of your people? Is your organization, its leaders and your people fully prepared to embrace the challenge of change that new ideas, new ways of doing business and new ways of serving customers will demand of you?

 

Your organization must possess a crystal clear vision for its future and a definiteness of purpose for what it wants to accomplish in that future and “why”. As well, your people must have the passion, skill sets and staying power to collectively achieve the organization’s ongoing mission and vision.

 

Definiteness of purpose ensures that your organization and your people recognize, embrace and act upon the opportunities that directly relate to the achievement of your organization’s goals and objectives.

 

Napoleon Hill strongly believed that definiteness of purpose was the starting point for all achievement. I would readily concur that his belief is accurate for both organizations and individuals alike.

 

Such an undertaking will require masterful leadership that is capable of preparing the organization to both plan and then flawlessly execute the action steps which are critical to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.

 

Even as you read this brief there exists an unprecedented need for new ideas, new leaders and new innovation that is greater than at any time in human history. New horizons and new opportunities lie just ahead.

 

While Napoleon Hill’s timely observations continue to endure … They also beg the question … Is your organization’s leadership truly ready for what ever lies around the next bend in the corporate road?

 

Developing Forward Leadership Development

Learn more. Do more. Become more.

People: Manage or Lead?

Years ago when our children were young, during our visit to the Epcot Center we encountered a futuristic transportation exhibit which was titled “People-Movers”. The concept pertained to how to manage the movement of large masses of people between destinations in the future.

 

In more recent times, I have encountered a somewhat similar business term referred to as “People Managers”. In a number of instances, I’ve seen this term translated as being interchangeable with Human Resource Management.

 

One of the resources I encountered on this subject stated that there were 7 specific categories of function associated with people management. More specifically, they were identified as:

 

Employee Motivation

Manage Yourself
Giving Feedback
Managing in Wartime
Organizing People  
Team Building
Recruiting and Hiring

Of the seven people management categories cited above, only recruiting and hiring are truly HR functions.

Over the course of the past decade or so, and with the aid of ever advancing technology, more and more organizations have succumbed to the practice of micromanaging every aspect of their organization including their greatest asset… their “people”.

 

All the while, companies are employing more and more robotic technology into their operations, which is at the same time serving to dehumanize/devalue their people through either job elimination,  micromanagement or people managing.

 

This should be the red flag that raises the salient question… Should people be managed or led?

 

I for one believe that people should be “led”. There are a number of reasons that I choose to take this position:

 

Employee performance is first and foremost rooted in personal “attitudes” which will ultimately result in your organization’s success or failure. It’s certainly not difficult to grasp the concept that you will attract better results with honey (leadership), than vinegar (micromanaging people).

 

Every individual has their own unique set of values & beliefs, thought patterns and personal attributes. Given the facts of human nature, none of these factors can in fact be managed by another human being. Moreover, you will be going against the grain of both the individual and organizational productivity if you try to. It would be equivalent to trying to have every employee have the same pattern of heartbeats and heart rate.

 

The single greatest issue with employee turnover and diversity in the workplace is the strong sense of not being “valued”. The truth of the matter is that people don’t want to be managed. What they truly and dearly want is to be valued and accepted as a viable member of a team.

 

How many times does industry, business and government have to practice top-down enforcement practices of rules, policies and procedures before they finally realize that it simply doesn’t get people to do great work or produce great results. To the contrary, managing people literally cripples the organization, stifles imaginations and kills creativity, for which the eventual outcome is a failure to innovate.

 

In observing and working with highly successful organizations throughout my career, I have observed many types of managers such as sales managers, production managers and office managers to name a few. As “managers”, their direct responsibility was to manage the work flow of their respective department, manage the assignment of work tasks and facilitate the directives of the organization’s executive team. Their job as a manager was entirely about managing the “processes” that made the organization’s wheels turn and which in turn generated the desired results as dictated by the organization’s vision and mission.

 

Regardless of the future destination that you are driving your organization toward, the principle for organizational success has not in spite of technological advancement changed.

 

Sharpen your focus on managing your processes, developing your talent base (people) and create future leaders that will take your organization where it wants to go.

 

As your valued resource partner, we stand ready to assist your organization, its leadership and your people to… Learn more… Do more… Become more.

 

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

Being In Control

 

Take a moment to harken back over your career for a moment. How well do you remember your very first leadership position? Do you recall how unprepared you felt as you struggled to positively influence and inspire the people that you were responsible to lead?

 

If most leaders were to be truly honest about it, they would have to admit that when they were leadership greenhorns, they believed that leadership was about being in “control”.

 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of virgin leaders and veteran leaders still hold fast to this flawed belief of being/feeling in control. While it is sad, it is also never the less true. According to one Harvard Business Review article on the subject, little has changed over the past 30 years. Leaders being in control is far more a perpetuated myth by supposed leadership, than actual fact. Studies reveal that leadership’s control over performance outcomes amounts to a paltry 10%.

 

For leaders to actually influence people to the point of having a meaningful degree of control over their people and work outcomes, they would first have to have actual “followers”. And like their predecessors of the last century, 21^st century leaders (with rare exception) still don’t have them. All too many leaders remained immersed in the theatre of trying to appear as if they are in control, which is a far cry from actually being in control.

 

When it comes to employees, they simply aren’t buying the theatre routine of their leadership and haven’t been for decades. It isn’t very difficult to connect the dots and see the correlation with the lack of employee engagement in present time. Workers at all levels have witnessed the absence of leadership buy-in, experienced every new flavor of the month program and felt the lack of value as individuals.

 

In considering the Great Recession and the years of its lingering aftermath, how may organizational situations literally got out of control? How many brick walls did organizations encounter that may have even threatened their very survival?

 

When a member of senior leadership steps forward during such difficult times and attempts to deliver a seemingly positive stem winding pep talk to reassure their people – how did their people actually view this all too predictable action?

 

While a handful of employees may have slept better that night, the majority of employees felt that it was either a theatrical act to whitewash what was really occurring or an outright act of deception to keep them in the dark.

 

Given that leadership’s meager ten percent control over performance outcomes is generally unable to contain or effectively correct the situations that placed it in jeopardy in the first place, the tendency is to dismiss the situation by making it attributable to the business environment, economic climate and the like.

 

This is where, when and how leadership typically fails to own up to and account for the fact that decisions were in fact made by the organization’s leadership which placed the organization into jeopardy in the first place and then secondarily failed to get the organization out of the jeopardous circumstance it created.

 

At a base level, there are two components which invariably translate into the myriad of leadership issues that organizations from business, industry and government are faced with.

 

       People in leadership roles that have never actually had any formal leadership training.

 

       People in leadership roles who aren’t sure what to do.

 

In working with a wide array of organization types and business classifications over the years, the same “true confession” story continues to surface again and again. It always goes pretty much like this…

“The more I progressed in my leadership training and development, the more I came to realize that I was a part of the problem and not just a part of the solution. This realization helped me to grasp the fact that my leadership style had been about being in control or thinking I was. Not only was I attempting to perform my own job, I was trying to perform everyone else’s work too. And if I was too busy to do their work, then I bossed them about how to do theirs in order to get it done right. When the problems inevitably arose, I blamed my people for the mistakes. Little by little over time, I retreated to my office, closed the door and endlessly wondered what to do.

 

I had become the ogre in the room who believed he was leading by control and command. As I have since learned, the people that I was responsible to serve as a leader simply showed up at the workplace every day and then left promptly on time. I gave them no reason to do any different. The fact was that I was treating them like worker drones instead of allowing them to utilize their talents, stretch their capabilities and feel safe to make an honest mistake from which we could all learn and grow.” 

 

The reality of this confession story is that it is exists in every organization.

 

As your valued resource partner, we can readily assist your organization, its leadership and your people in changing this story to one where they… Learn more. Do more. Become more.

 

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

How To Choose A Leader

In a few short weeks you will again be confronted with the awesome responsibility of heading to your local polling place to cast your ballots for the election of local, state and national offices that require authentic leadership as a prerequisite to the solemn duties of their respective offices.

 

What is your personal and professional responsibility when it comes to choosing a leader?

There are hundreds of characteristics, attributes and qualities that great leaders can embody and exhibit. However, no single leader could ever possess all of these various characteristics.

As you live out your personal and professional life you will be presented with ongoing opportunities to participate in the selection or election process for governmental, business workplace, civic and church leadership.

 Following are some key considerations and questions that you would be wise to weigh carefully as you execute your personal and professional responsibility of selecting future leaders:

Does the individual consistently tell the truth and then conduct themselves in an honest and principled manner? 

Is the individual reliable, faithful and trustworthy? Does he or she actually do what they say they will do?

Does this individual honor their commitments to spouse, family and their organization? 

Is this individual genuine and authentic? Are they the real deal?

Is this individual generous to others, especially those who are in need?

Does this individual communicate and exhibit sound reasoning?

Does this individual exhibit high moral, ethical and spiritual character?

Is this individual fiscally responsible? Is he or she conscientious about paying their financial obligations?

Is this individual a good communicator that respects others while being kind, considerate and gentle? Is he or she a good listener?

Is this individual humble and well grounded? Does he or she treat others with dignity, appreciation and a spirit of service?

Does this individual consistently extend common courtesies to others?

Is this individual careful? Does he or she thoroughly review all of their options and carefully consider the ramifications of his or her decisions?

Does this individual exhibit self-control in his or her habits?

Is this individual prepared to be an appropriate example for others to follow? Does he or she live by these same standards of personal and professional conduct?

Does this individual know how to relax, have fun and make others laugh without having to resort to inappropriate content, coarse jokes, crude language or stories?

Does this individual exhibit patience and life balance? Is he or she even tempered or are they easily irritated?

Is this person a bridge builder and a peacemaker who seeks to forge mutual beneficial long term relationships? Does he or she avoid arguments and pursue constructive ways to resolve differences?

Does this individual bring out the best in others?

Does this individual inspire others to learn more, do more and become more? Does he or she help others to develop their potential?

Does this individual accept full responsibility for their errors and mistakes? Does he or she show remorse, make amends and do all that they can to make the situation right?

Is this individual genuinely modest? Does he or she focus on the accomplishment and achievements of others rather then their own successes?

Does this individual interact and work well with others and exhibit good judgment while executing well thought out decisions that demonstrate wisdom and fairness?

Is the individual fully prepared to stand up for the truth and then follow through by doing the right thing… No matter the personal or professional cost to themselves?

Does the individual share and support your values or position with regard to the matters or issues at hand?

At a personal level you may have other points or perspectives for evaluating or scrutinizing potential leadership. Regardless of how you ultimately make your leadership decision, it remains your personal and professional responsibility to thoroughly evaluate, examine and test leadership candidates. It is extremely important that you observe both their behaviors and body language, as this will provide far greater insight into the candidate than their mere words.

Also, take the time to also thoroughly review all available information including resume, website, social media and public records. In the case of public elections, be sure to review all available campaign materials. 

Lastly, as a leader it is incumbent upon you to continue to apply these characteristics, attributes and qualities to your personal and professional life… And to those whom you lead in all the arenas of your life to do the same.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2012-2014 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC.

Leadership In Conflict

Issues of conflict arise within an organization week in and week out. The important question is… How effective is your leadership in dealing with and then resolving these situations?

 

Leaders who fail to appropriately master conflict on their watch ultimately permeate the tension and stress in their organizations while hampering their own careers. Interestingly enough, many leaders actually feel more courageous and internally settled when it comes time to confront the issue or individual that is at the forefront of the conflict.

Often times, leaders who are confronted with an issue involving conflict actually find themselves conflicted about how to handle the issue that is facing them. This self-confliction invariably results in approaches that yield ineffective outcomes… for example:

They assert their authority and attempt to win regardless of the impact it may have on others. In the process, they fail to consider “what might work” for the others involved.

The leader assumes a parental state in dealing with the conflict which results in them fault finding and then blaming others for their potential shortcomings. They may find them self looking down over the rim of their glasses, possibly pointing their finger at others and uttering things such as “You should have…”, “Why didn’t you…” or “If you hadn’t…”

Leaders may have developed the habit of viewing situations solely from the perspective of their world and consequently lack the appropriate empathy to consider how the conflict may be affecting others that are involved in the situation.

The leader may react impulsively to questions, rather than take the appropriate time to think matters through and provide a skilled and articulate response.

Leaders may avoid being honest regarding how they feel about a given situation. In some instances, they may even resort to emotional outbursts in order to mask the negative feelings which they may harbor.

If the leader is not cognoscente enough to maintain appropriate respect for others at all times, then there is a high likelihood that they will inadvertently lead others to feel that they don’t respect them.

Leaders often tend to add to the process of over analyzing the issue at hand, rather than effectively focusing on the creation and implementation of an appropriate solution.

It is ultimately every leader’s responsibility to engage conflict situations with a “constructive” approach that will bring clarity to the situation, identify critical issues, stimulate strategic thinking and foster creative resolutions.

 

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

The Leadership Gap

Does your organization have a fail-safe leadership development and succession plan firmly in place?

 

According to a recent study by the Deloitte University Press, it is highly likely that your organization is caught in a “leadership gap”.

 

86% of the organizations that were surveyed stated that leadership development and succession planning in fact constituted an “urgent need”. However, only a mere 13% of these organizations held the conviction that their organization was doing an effective job of preparing for their next generation of leaders.

 

The critical challenge that H.R. departments find themselves confronted with is how to address the differing leadership needs throughout the various levels of their organization. In one regard, performance oriented millennial candidates seek a fast track to meaningful leadership roles.

 

On the other hand, mid-level leaders require enhanced opportunities to broaden the scope and depth of their abilities as a precursor to future leadership advancement. When it comes to senior level leaders, it is imperative that your organization maintain a serious commitment to mentoring its younger generation of leadership candidates. Senior leaders must be able to transcend generational diversity while freely sharing their experience and inherent knowledge of the organization, its nuances and potential pitfalls.

 

It is also critical for the senior level and executive leaders to demonstrate their buy-in to the leadership development and succession planning process. This tier of leadership needs to be actively involved and thoroughly engaged in grooming future up and coming leaders.

 

Additionally, your organization must comprehend that succession planning encompasses every level of your organization and extends far beyond its top executives. Attrition, competitor recruitment, injury, health issues and death far out number retirement as a consideration with respect to leadership succession.

 

The retirement or sudden loss of a competent leader not only creates a void, it directly impairs the functionality and continuity of the organization’s leadership dynamic. At the heart of the leadership development and succession planning issue lies the realization that qualified workers will in time succeed their supervisors, who will in turn succeed mid-level managers, who as well will succeed your organization’s senior executives.

 

A crucial key for successive leadership development and succession planning is the cultivation an appropriate mindset on the part of every member of your organization, from the organization’s boardroom to its boiler room.

 

Leadership is clearly the #1 talent issue of organizations globally. Business, industry and government find themselves hard pressed to develop leaders at all levels of their organizations.

 

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live!

Copyright © 2014 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

The Lack of Readiness

Do you and your organization constantly find that you are scrambling in an attempt to complete projects on schedule or meet other deadlines on time?

 

During my recent attendance at a high profile training event, I had the opportunity to observe a wide variety of people and organizations scrambling to get their act together at the very last minute. In one instance, I watched as the person who was responsible for arranging the catering for a three hour social event received a phone call 45 minutes into the event from the host facility informing him that all of the food which had been contracted for had already been consumed by the attendees.

 

The first thought that popped into my head was my old Boy Scout motto “Be prepared.” Undoubtedly, some valuable lessons resulted from this unsettling experience. It also serves to raise the question… How prepared are you, your organization and your people to meet your responsibilities?

 

Sadly, most organizations and their people simply don’t deal with tomorrow until tomorrow. The problems that occur, the important details that fall through the cracks and the failures that they experience, are invariably due to a lack of readiness.

 

There is a direct relationship between readiness and responsibility. Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated it this way…  “Actions springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”

 

Quite often, what you do (or don’t do) speaks louder than any words that you could ever say. The same is true of your organization and its people. In reality, while you can shoot from the hip and hope to hit something, appropriate action requires advance planning if you are truly going to hit your mark and ultimately obtain the desired result outcome.

 

In the circumstance cited earlier, the failure to properly fact find and plan resulted in a number of undesirable outcomes. Following below are a few of the more obvious and costly outcomes from this situation:

 

The attendees went from being served the good food to having a lengthy break in service, only to eventually receive mediocre substitutes in place of the originally announced menu.

 

Overall event satisfaction by the attendees was diminished in the process, which could ultimately affect registration signups for future events and potential revenue for same.

 

Clearly, the host organization had to endure the embarrassment also resulted.

 

The catering chefs and staff were greatly inconvenienced by having to unexpectedly perform addition work which was not on their schedule for that workday.

 

The host organization lost its ability to negotiate in a timely fashion for these additional services, which resulted in having to pay top price for the extra food preparation and service.

 

As a result, the host organization wound up being considerably over budget due to its short sightedness in planning.

 

Post event organizational meetings to assess “what went wrong and why” resulted in a significant usage of man hours which further resulted in lost productivity.

 

The lesson to be garnered from this circumstance is that there is simply no substitute for thorough planning. Rest assured, that even with proper planning, unanticipated things may still potentially occur. However, rock solid planning will not only better prepare you for a successful outcome, it will help you in identifying potential pitfalls and problems for which you can then develop a contingency plan (which will further assure you a likely successful outcome).

 

In the words of one of my early mentors, “Plan your work… then work your plan.” When you heed this sound advice, you will find yourself, your organization and your people adequately prepared and ready for the responsibilities for which you are collectively and individually accountable.

 

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.
 
Copyright © 2014 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Achieving Your Organization's Best

In his groundbreaking work “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill stated that “what ever the mind can believe… it can achieve”.

There are many lessons to be gleaned from Napoleon Hill’s straight forward perspective. True reality is that from where ever you are at this very moment, you can travel to any place in the world. The only prerequisites that are required is having the “want” to and the “belief” that you can.

The same holds true for your organization and every other aspect of life. Simply stated, you can not achieve a single thing unless you first believe that is genuinely possible. Moreover, you must also hold the earnest belief that you, your organization and your people have the talent, skills and capability to achieve the objectives and goals that will take the organization where it wants to go.

This is the very essence of what “potential” really is. Your organization’s vision and mission represent the mental picture of what the organization has the potential to become. As individuals, your people have dreams and goals that they want to achieve in life which are in like fashion how they view their personal potential to grow and achieve.

Perhaps no single individual personifies their belief in what was possible and what they were capable of achieving than Thomas Edison who quipped that he had found over 2,000 ways how to not make a light bulb. Clearly, Edison’s belief was well founded and remained undeterred. While Thomas Edison predated Napoleon Hill, as the expression goes “great minds think alike”.

Thomas Edison also observed “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.” Yet, depending on which research report you read, human beings on average only utilize a maximum of 10 percent of the actual potential.

As I so often point out… your organization and your people have both the capacity and the very real need to accomplish more and become more than they presently are.

All too sadly, the human species has allowed its creature comforts, pleasures of modern life and its constant craving for entertainment to result in a stagnant state of complacency that now prevents the vast majority of people and organizations from stretching themselves to new heights of achievement. 

Cartoonist Charles Schultz was a master at assessing human behavior and then depicting it with a touch of humor in his Peanuts comic strip. In one of his more serious moments he observed that “Life is a 10 speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.”

If your organization is ever going kick it in gear and advance to the next level of its potential, then you are also going to have to believe for the “best” your organization and your people have to give on a daily basis.

Performing at your best requires that you live up to your true potential as an organization, as a team and as individuals. This means having a clear picture of what your organization and people can and want to become.

Copyright © 2014 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.