7 Secrets to Leading Through Turbulence

I chartered a sailboat for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. It was clear, sunny, and we could see the shores of St. Croix, when the captain invited me to “take the helm.”

Even a former farm boy can steer the boat in calm waters. I felt more important than I was. But…

Leaders matter most during storms.

Turbulent times and threatening circumstances call for skillful leadership. People depend on you. Challenging times make or break you and those around you. Rise up.

Your response impacts their response.

7 Surprising secrets to sailing in rough seas:

1. Give power don’t take it. Tough times paralyze powerless people. Stifle your inner control freak!
2. People feel most powerful when they feel in control. I still remember the feeling of holding the helm. I wasn’t doing much but I felt in control. Focus on controllable behaviors not uncontrollable circumstances.
3. Ramp up compassion; tone down harshness. Embrace the tension between tender and tough. You tip toward one or the others. Cling to both. Exceptional leaders call for excellence in compassionate ways, for example.
4. Deal quickly and decisively with lollygaggers. Do it for the good of the team. They anchor everyone. Give ultimatums to half-hearted foot-draggers. “You have one week to get on board or I’m throwing you over the side.” Crews cheer when sluggards walk the plank.
5. Respond to hand wringing naysayers by asking, “What can we do?”
6. Say everything you can say. Information is power. The more information you give the more powerful they feel.
7. Create predictability when times are unpredictable. Establish rituals. Schedule a Wednesday morning meeting to track progress,  adapt plans, and create wins.

Bonus: Stand on deck more than ever. Be seen: walk around more, touch base more, stop in more.

Added resource: “10 Ways to Navigate Turbulence.”

What does leading successfully in turbulence look like to you?

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One Choice that Informs All Others

Unable to choose is unable to move. Choices enable movement. Unable to choose is another way of saying stuck. Successful leaders make decisions.

Everyone who’s stuck
lives with choices waiting to be made.

Fear of choosing is fear of losing opportunity.

Fear of missing out is the reason you miss out.

The critical first choice:

The choice that informs all others is who to be not what to do.

First choices enable action.

Choosing what do before deciding who to be means you’ve caved to external pressure.

Answer “what to do questions” by clarifying who you want to be. What to do is an event. Who to be guides the journey.

First choices involve who to be.
Second choices explain what to do.

First choices are relatively easy. But, if you’re not sure who to be, ask, “How do I want to be known?”

Benefit:

Identity off-sets external pressure with internal strength. Success demands you become bigger than challenges. The only way to be bigger than challenges is to know who you are.

Warning:

Choosing “what to do” before “who to be” means you’re pushed around by circumstances and activities.

Identity determines function.

Comfort:

Chill out. Life changing choices are often insignificant and unplanned. For example, Jay Elliot stopped at a diner after a new job fell through. At the diner he met Steve Jobs. Jay became a Sr. VP at Apple. Stopping for something to eat changed his life.

Chill out. Most choices aren’t final they can be unmade.

Four decision making tips:

1. Choose forward-leaning. Avoid the comfort of going back.
2. Identify real problems/challenges. Keep asking, “Why.”
3. Connect with people of experience and expertise.
4. Focus on what can be done. Any fool can find reasons things won’t work.

What decision-making tips can you add?

How can leaders choose who to be?

The Top 10 Performance Factors for Teams

Image source by Vojko Kalan

Memo to the new team, 2/23/13:

Raise your hand if you love wasting time on:

1. Meaningless drivel.
2. Frustrating stagnation.
3. Superficial relationships.
4. Worthless discussions.
5. Trivial decisions.
6. Mediocre results.
7. Mundane impact.

If wasting time excites you, create dysfunctional teams.

Members of dysfunctional teams:

1. Dread meetings.
2. Can’t wait for meetings to end.
3. Return to meaningful work after meetings.

Functional formation path:

New teams follow predictable formation paths; forming, storming, norming, and performing. Tragically, many teams never perform.

10 high performance factors for teams:

1. Buy-in based on acceptable agreement. Go all-in based on 70% or 80% agreement. Express disagreements but leave all reservations in the meeting. When two people agree 100% of the time, one of them isn’t necessary. Waiting for 100% agreement means you’ll always be waiting.
2. Individual responsibility. Everyone grabs the rope and pulls. Reject drifting and drifters.
3. Honesty. Say what you think clearly, kindly, and respectfully. Going along to get along equals mediocrity.
4. Accountability. Ignoring nonperformance guarantees no performance. Avoid dancing around people, it’s dysfunctional.
5. Clear, agreed upon patterns for narrowing options and making choices. How will you make decisions?
6. Trust. What happens when others are honest?
7. Preferred communication channels. Email or phone, for example
8. Pursue results. What are you accomplishing? All talking informs doing or its wasted time.
9. Create momentum by building on wins. Wins are platforms not easy chairs.
10. Ask awkward questions. Dance with elephants before they crush you. Don’t expect perfect answer, however.

High performance is never a gentle accident.

Successful teams:

1. Trust.
2. Argue.
3. Commit.
4. Follow through.
5. Celebrate.

Above list inspired by, “5 Dysfunctions of a Team.“

How much do you want to matter?  High performance teams make you matter more.

Added resources:

“The Three Pillars of High Performance Teams”

My leadership coach Bob Hancox sent me this “Team Decision Making Tool.” Informed consent is enough.

Pattrick Lencioni’s pyramid of “5 Dysfunctions of a Team.” (Image source, me)

What team performance factors can you add?

I Don’t Butt Heads with the CEO of Zappos

Image source by Hana Muchova'

Many CEO’s are told what they want to hear, rather than what team members really think. That’s a foolish way to avoid butting heads with the boss.

I asked Jamie Naughton, Speaker of the House for Zappos, to talk about a time when she butted heads with her famous CEO, Tony Hsieh. Jamie indicated that issues don’t escalate to head butting.

“There’s no argument, ever. If I don’t like something, then I just say it.”

How to avoid butting heads with the boss:

1. Establish disagreement-rules. Ask your CEO how he best receives disagreement.
2. Fully align with organizational values.
3. Advocate for the organization not yourself.
4. Say what you believe not what’s expected.
5. Disagree early, clearly, politely, and specifically.
6. Constantly communicate. Express opinions when you have them. Flare ups occur when issues build up.
7. Once decisions are made, grab an oar and row, regardless of your position.

Bonus: Add positive options.

Butting heads and who decides:

“The best thing about Tony as a CEO, as a boss, … He will give direction. He will give advice. … He’s going to be part of the conversation but he’s not the decision-maker.” Jamie Naughton.

Corporate teams fear CEO’s because CEO’s make too many decisions. Jamie explained that her boss would never make a decision about phone systems or sponsorship opportunities, for example. “Why would he approve a sponsorship when we have a marketing team who’s trained?” Jamie Naughton.

“He’s – Tony Hsieh – not going to interfere with my department because I know it best. He’s going to offer suggestions and I take it or leave it.” Jamie Naughton.

What suggestions do you have for disagreeing with the boss?

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Bonus material: Jamie Naughton in her own words. (6 min.)

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Connect with Jamie:

Jamie Naughton works directly with Tony Hsieh as the Speaker of the House for Zappos.

LinkedIn

Twitter: @Jamstar

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Needy Leaders

I can still find my way around grocery stores but I don’t do the shopping anymore. I used to see young moms with toddlers tugging on their pant legs. It was cute to me but not always to them.

You can love someone and, at the same time, hope they leave you alone, at least for a while.

In leadership, somebody’s always tugging. The more they need, the more important you’ve become. Or at least it seems that way.

Needy leaders need to be needed.

Needy leaders make themselves central and indispensable. They’re always signing off on the next order of #2 pencils and paper for the copier. Feel the power!

Needy leaders need to:

1. Bask in the spotlight of admiration.
2. Exercise authority.
3. Control. Supplicants make them feel powerful.

Effective leaders give what needy leaders need.

Needy leaders need things that prevent leadership.

Beyond needy:

1. Get in touch with neediness. Whisper, “I’m needy,” in your own ear. Talk it over with trusted advisors. The more you see it, the better you’ll be at step two.
2. Give what you need. Act otherwise. When you feel the need for praise, give it.
3. Accept frailties. We never improve what we can’t accept.
4. Welcome support. Needy leaders reject support, they can’t look weak. The more I move away from neediness the more support rises around me.
5. Develop structures and systems that free. Establish boundaries, and let the children play.
6. Enable more; control less.
7. Authorize.

The more essential you are, the less effective you’ve become. Successful leaders develop followers who need them less as time passes.

Tugging toddler-followers may make you feel important, but you aren’t, you’re needy.

Their neediness reflects your neediness.

They won’t act without you because you don’t want them to.

How have you handled your neediness?

How can needy leaders move away from neediness?

Three Surprising Secrets to Creating Simplicity

Fog rolled in last week in Central Pennsylvania. Warm temperatures collided with cold snow and gray mist blanked our valley. Everything slows in fog. Everything’s more dangerous.

Complexity creates fog; simplicity clears it.

Simplicity produces clarity; clarity enables confidence.

Confidence fuels progress.

Causes of complexity:

1. Fuzzy purpose. Life is more complex and confusing for those without purpose. Clear purpose informs and emboldens decisions.
2. Options. Eliminate options to shed light on future paths. Options paralyze. Say, “No,” to a few options and find, “Yes.”
3. Imagined obstacles. I’ve watched fog roll in while those doing nothing explain why it can’t be done. When exploring options begin explaining why they work. Say, “Yes and…,” instead of, “That won’t work.” Will every option work? Of course not. Explore it before you kill it.

Creating simplicity:

1. Courageously admit you don’t know. Pretending you know is the worst fog of all. Cowards pretend they know. Courageous leaders say, “Help me understand ….” Say things like, “Tell me more, or, that point seems confusing.”
2. Move forward. Stalled progress invites thicker fog. In leadership, fog doesn’t clear, you leave it behind by stepping out.
3. Listen to anger and frustration. Anger won’t show the way but it establishes focal points and illuminates unspoken values. It tells you what’s important. Foggy leaders close their eyes and feel their way around. Anger is a flashlight in the fog. If you aren’t angry about something, you don’t care about much.

The big “P” purpose:

“How was your day?”

“It was great.”

“Why?”

“I got a lot done.”

Big deal! You got a lot done. Did purpose guide doing? You always fail unless purpose guides, regardless of what gets done. Purpose is the answer to:

1. The real reason your organizations exists.
2. What you want when you stop listening to everyone else.
3. What you want others to say about you when you’re gone.
4. What’s the big deal?

What causes complexity?

How can you create simplicity, today?

Purposeful Abandonment: The Art of Letting Go

© Qrius4ever | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

You employ systems and strategies for starting, maintaining, and moving forward. Adopt systems for stopping, as well.

People who can’t say, “No,” chase all the spilled marbles at once. They’re confused and empty handed in the end. Too many yeses distract, weigh down, and waste energy.

“In order to grow, a business must have a
systematic policy to get rid of the outgrown,
the obsolete, and the unproductive.”
Peter Drucker

Abandonment conversations:

Begin 2013 with, “What do you need to stop,” conversations with key people. Ask:

1. What frustrates?
2. What drains energy?
3. What wastes time?
4. What produces small returns?
5. Which customers should be sent to competitors?
6. Is it time to stop petting a pet project?
7. What distracts from leveraging strengths?
8. What has low impact?
9. What can be stopped?

Paperwork is on many lists of frustrating, energy drainers, for example. Are reports necessary or antiquated? How much time is spent completing reports that seldom, if ever, get used?

“Planned, purposeful abandonment of the old
and of the unrewarding is a prerequisite to
successful pursuit of the new and highly promising.” Peter Drucker

You’re tough when it comes to endurance. Get courageous and tough on stopping things, too.

Abandonment meetings:

Schedule a monthly abandonment meeting. Carve off part of your business or organization and ask:

1. Do returns justify expense?
2. How much would it matter if we stopped …?
3. How are we squandering strengths?
4. How are these activities aligned with mission and vision?

Abandonment lists:

I don’t remember when I first heard, “Not to-do list,” but its genius. Make one. Variations of abandonment lists:

1. Do less of list.
2. Put it off till you’re tired and grumpy list.
3. Don’t care if it’s ever done list.
4. Have someone else do it list.

How can leaders and organizations get better at abandonment?

Six Ways to Find Your Future

The past is the future for most. Persistence and endurance assure continuity. But, more of the same won’t birth new futures. Looking back and holding on stagnates, solidifies, and congeals life like cold bacon grease.

99% of the conversations I have about the future are actually about the past. Creating the future is recreating “glory days,” for most. It’s foolish and futile.

Modifying the old past never creates new futures.

Memories without dreams are anchors.

The future is made by those who face forward, not backward. Stand on your glory days. Forget reruns.

Warning:

Blame destroys your future. Your future begins when you own your past.

6 ways to find your future:

1. Embrace ignorance. The unknown has more potential than the known. Everyone who pretends they know when they don’t, repeats the past.
2. Reject past methods and strategies. In a turbulent world, methods that become moral imperatives destroy new futures.
3. Build new relationships. Your future is about people not projects or accomplishments. Current relationships maintain stability; new relationships disrupt and extend. Treasure both.
4. Embrace social media. Meet people succeeding where you wish to succeed.
5. Overcome timidity. 70% to 80% certainty is enough.
6. Systematically build the future alongside the old present. Once your future is strong enough, release the old and embrace the new.

Failure to let go is the reason you haven’t moved forward.

Point of stability:

Focus on values. New futures disrupt. Values stabilize.

Values guide as you go without determining destinations.

Without clear values, you’re adrift.

With 2013 peeking at us, how can leaders take steps to create the future?

10 Ways to Navigate Turbulence

Catastrophe is one decision away during turbulence. Reacting makes you look like a fool, eventually.

Wise leaders respond to turbulence; fools react. Reactions are passionate but uninformed. How many times have decisions outrun information? Ouch! That hurts.

Successful leaders respond; failures react.

“Make it go away,” reflects self-serving reaction. “What caused this,” begins organization-serving response. Circumstances control reactionary leaders; they feel pushed around. Principles guide responsive leaders; they face into the wind.

Establish direction before solving issues.

10 Ways to respond to turbulence:

1. Define smooth sailing. Is smooth sailing an option?
2. Predict duration. Is this a squall?
3. Explore intensity. Is this a hurricane?
4. Examine history. How long has this been brewing?
5. Who or what is at the center? People who consistently cause turbulence won’t solve it.
6. What behaviors, attitudes, or circumstances instigated turbulence? Should they stop or continue?
7. Describe the best next step? Forget perfection.
8. Are you navigating by the stars or controlled by the wind?
9. What new turbulence does the next step create?
10. Is public response warranted?

Bonus: Identify, support, authorize, and follow champions who lead through turbulence.

Hard truth:

Sometimes the ship should sink.

Any organization determined to save itself has lost sight of its mission. It’s not worth saving. Think of all the bureaucratic organizations bailing water to stay afloat.

Turbulence purifies and clarifies. Every response to turbulence clarifies the value you bring and how to bring it best. If you don’t bring value you deserve to sink.

“… In a free market the only way to do well is to do well for others.” Gary Hamel

How can leaders navigate turbulence?

How Leaders Frustrate Others

Last week, I frustrated someone, again. I thought I learned my lesson but old habits die hard.

There’s always room for improvement, from my point of view. Nothing’s ever done. I’m tempted to add to or modify projects while in progress. It feels great to me. I’m adding value.

Modifying project outcomes, after jobs begin, doesn’t excite people like it excites me. “Could we?” and, “What about?” are great before projects or tasks begin; frustrating after.

Completion is more important than minor improvement.

Don’t modify current tasks, finish them. Modifications confuse and hinder. People start wondering what they’re doing and what you want. They say, “I thought we were…?”

Checking tasks off is better than stopping to tweak them.

Process:

Improve processes, don’t change deliverables. Suggestions that simplify tasks and speed completion are welcomed. Improve oars in the middle of the stream, don’t modify destinations.

Application:

Complete tasks. Arrive before changing direction. Completing tasks is more important than tweaking outcomes. Minor corrections do more damage than good.

Changing:

Know the difference between minor corrections and necessary course adjustment. Jump in quickly to avoid unforeseen rocks or storms, otherwise, hold the course.

Avoid costly mistakes; allow minor imperfections.

Save the day; forget minor adjustments. It’s ticklish to know when to step in. Err on the side of trusting good people.

Context:

This post concerns day-to-day projects and tasks, not strategic goals.

How can leaders add value when projects are in process?

How do you decide to step in or stay out?