Tag Archives: Job Skills

So you think you are a great leader? Well here is a challenge! Part 3!

Posted on 13 April 2011 | Leave a comment
Arsenal V Manchester United: Football Fans: Ch...

What do they love?

Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion. Georg Wilhelm

In my last two  posts, I discussed how I started to think about leaders I’ve worked with and what the good ones had in common.  And that the more I thought, the more their success seemed to mould itself around the answers to a few relatively simple questions.

I thought of six main questions which of course then lead on to a number of subsidiary ones.  I asked the first two main questions on 8th April

Do people know why they are here?

Do you share the thinking?

and the second two on 11th April

What counts with you?

Are your managers up to the challenge?

Here today are the last two questions!

Do you really know what do they care about

Do you know what the people in your team are genuinely passionate about?  When was the last time you saw that spark in the eyes which shows real passion?  It may have had nothing what so ever to do with work.  What about when they are talking about the favourite soccer team.

Do you ever see anything like that when they are talking about work?

Perhaps not but there will be kinds of work,  and things  associated with work, that mean more to them than others.

You need to know those who work closest to you well enough to know what they are interested in! It is then up to them to do the same thing for their own team but you can ask if they have!

If you can, find roles for your team that aligns their work with their interests.

Occasionally, that can mean taking a risk and putting someone in an area where they don’t have much experience. But if performance in another role makes you think they can succeed in the new one, it’s usually worth it!  Their passion will fuel a strong desire to learn and grow. Once they’re up to speed, that passion can become a strong driver of innovation and growth.

Do you trust your people and do they know that?

One of the best things you can do is to let your managers know that you trust them and that you don’t intend to interfere in the day to day management of the organisation.

If they are any good, they will breathe a huge sigh of relief and double their commitment to you and your vision!

If you don’t trust them, you need to sort it out with them or move them out.

You won’t find that passion and commitment to the vision that I talk about above without trust.

Without trust your organisation will not deliver the superb performance that you crave.

Have the honesty to know if the real issues with trust are about you and not them.  If that is so, it is up to you to change yourself before you try to change them

So that is my list.  I’m sure it is by no means exhaustive?  What would you have expected to see?  What would you like to add? It has been quite a journey and I would love to hear from you

Wendy Mason works as a consultant, business coach and blogger. Adept at problem solving, she is a great person to bring in when that one thing you thought was straightforward turns out not to be! If you have a problem talk to Wendy – she can help you – email her at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)7867681439


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So you think you are a great leader? Well here is a challenge! Part 2!

Posted on 11 April 2011 | 1 Comment
A helicopter is taking off Greenland Ice Sheet
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Mark Twain
In my last post, I explained how I started to think about leaders I’ve worked with and what the good ones had in common.  And that the more I thought, the more their success seemed to mould itself around the answers to a few relatively simple questions.

I thought of six main questions which of course then lead on to a number of subsidiary ones.  I asked the first two main questions on 8th April:

Do people know why they are here?

Do you share the thinking?

The two questions for today are below and the last two should be here on Wednesday (13th April 2011)

What counts with you?

If you are a leader, you concentrate on the big picture.  When you stray into what you consider “essential” detail,  you need to be very clear what you mean and what the consequences might be!

If you have good people, the right governance regime and clarity about the goals; why would you need to dabble in the nitty gritty of day to day administration? Much better to stay up in your helicopter surveying the overall  country and deciding where to lead next!

When you dabble among other things you erase the confidence of your managers both in you and to a certain extent in themselves.  They will feel you don’t trust them to do the job they are employed to do! Besides, being a good leader doesn’t necessarily make you as good a manager as them!

If you don’t have good people, then make sure systems are put in place to train or replace them.

If you don’t have a governance regime that can stand up to scrutiny, then you need to do something and fast.

And yes, you do need to make sure that vision of yours has been turned into clear and achievable goals!

I know you can create a culture of performance by setting aggressive goals and holding your managers accountable for delivering them.  But if those goals are so aggressive  they fail constantly, they will give up trying and, if they are any good, they may move on pretty quickly.

Make sure your targets are a stretch but achievable.  And reassess them regularly because the world moves on.  They can scaled up or down

Are your managers up to the challenge?

This carries forward the issues raised above!  Have you got the right people in your senior management seats?  You need to be clear about the answer!  If you are new to the organisation. take stock of all the talent you have available and if necessary reshuffle the deck!

You need a  good team to have a chance of success. Don’t keep someone around just because they’ve been there a long time! You won’t achieve your vision if you don’t have managers who know how to manage! But give people a fair chance to succeed and be prepared to invest in good people.

Well,  that is plenty to think about for Monday! I’m still wondering if there is a leader out there who is brave enough to share your answers.  If there is I’d love to hear from you.  As I said before, I think honesty and bravery are key characteristics of great leaders and it’s not enough to be just good enough when it comes to leadership.

Related articles

Wendy Mason works as a consultant, business coach and blogger. Adept at problem solving, she is a great person to bring in when that one thing you thought was straightforward turns out not to be! If you have a problem talk to Wendy – she can help you – email her at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)7867681439

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So you think you are a great leader? Well here is a challenge!

Posted on 8 April 2011 | 3 Comments
Left: CARL VENNE, Crow Indian Tribal Chairman ...

CARL VENNE, CROW INDIAN TRIBAL CHAIRMAN AND BARACK OBAMA

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”   Japanese Proverb

I started to think about leaders I’ve worked with and what the good ones had in common.

The more I thought, the more their success seemed to mould itself around the answers to a few relatively simple questions.  Well actually those simple questions lead on to others more complex of course!

I’d love to see some of the less successful leaders I’ve known ask themselves some of these questions occasionally – I wonder whether the answer they’d give would be completely honest !

So I’ve decided to post two main questions today for you to think about over the weekend, two more will appear here on Monday (11th April 2011) and the last two should be here next Wednesday (13th April 2011)

Do people know why they are here?

Do you really share your vision?  Yes, I know you have a vision statement or some kind of grand statement of intent!  Yes I know it is on the intranet and, sure, it is at the front of your annual report!  It looks brilliant doesn’t it?  And you and the board thought the consultants you commissioned to develop it were pretty impressive.  But what do your people really think about it?

Yes, they can probably rehearse the words!

If they can’t you have real problems and a lot of work to do.

But let us assume they know the statement, do you talk to them about it?

Do you flesh it out and make it real?  Do you walk the talk – do you live the vision every day in your own work?  For example, if you say you are going to be a “listening” organisation, how good are you at listening?

If your vision doesn’t really mean anything to them what are you going to do about it?

Do you share the thinking?

One of your key responsibilities will be communicating new initiatives and strategy changes.

But do you go to your team with fully formed ideas without giving them the chance to contribute.

If so, how do they react? Are they defensive – do they resist the change you want to make?

What do you think would happen if you gave your key people an informal heads-up about the change you plan – let them know some of the reasoning behind it?

I suspect they would be grateful and even if they didn’t like what you plan to do they could begin to get used to it! That means when you make your announcement to the wider world they can back you up, at the very least!

If you shared an idea while you were forming it, they could add their thinking to your’s.  They might even warn you about that old elephant trap out there that you know nothing about, yet.  Wouldn’t that prevent some embarrassment?  You know what I mean don’t you?  You can remember last time?

Their contribution should be valuable, make your ideas stronger and should make your strategy easier to deliver.

When you can’t avoid springing something on your team, do you explain why and take the time to let them know the reasoning behind the decision?

Well, that is quite enough for a Friday post!  Plenty to think about! But I wonder if there is a leader out there who is brave enough to share your answers.  If there is I’d love to hear from you.  You see I think honesty and bravery are key characteristics of great leaders and it’s not enough to be just good enough when it comes to leadership.

Related articles

Wendy Mason works as a consultant, business coach and blogger. Adept at problem solving, she is a great person to bring in when that one thing you thought was straightforward turns out not to be! If you have a problem talk to Wendy – she can help you – email her at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)7867681439

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Handle with care – bad news for the boss!

Posted on 14 March 2011 | 1 Comment
A Meeting with the Boss

Image by David Panevin via Flickr

I’ve written here before about giving bad news! Delivering bad news to anybody is difficult, but delivering bad news to your sponsor or line manager is one of the toughest and most stressful things you  will do in your working life!

It doesn’t matter whether or not it is your fault, it is still uncomfortable.

Regardless of  whether the failure is your fault, it can be embarrassing.

If you have an open and positive relationship with your boss so much the better, you can talk about handling bad news before you have any to deliver.  Be wise and see if you can reach an agreement in the early stages about what to do when things go wrong!

If you are unlucky enough to have one of those bosses who always reacts badly when receiving bad news,  it will need careful handling,

So when something has gone wrong – what can you do?

  1. First, don’t put off delivering bad news until the things get worse. Most problems left unresolved get worse over time, so waiting to tell the boss doesn’t help the situation.
  2. Gather as many facts as possible! You will probably be asked several questions about how it happened. You should be able to give a convincing, honest and well-informed answer!
  3. If possible you should also have a convincing plan to put things right.
  4. If it means a delay to delivering your process, programme or project, be clear about what that means in terms of time, resources and ultimate delivery.
  5. If there are increased risks, show how you plan to mitigate them.
  6. Deliver the message clearly and directly. If you have made a mistake or forgotten something, it really is better to confess and apologise.
  7. Don’t stimulate a blame culture. Try not to deliver bad news in a way that embarrasses the boss and reflects directly on them.  Don’t start playing the whose to blame “tit-for-tat” game, if you can avoid it.
  8. If some one more junior in your team made a mistake then stand by them – it’s your team! But don’t defend the indefensible!
  9. Try to deliver bad news in private if possible. If you have to report the problem to a board then try to have word with your boss and/or the chair beforehand and agree how it will be handled.
  10. If you can, follow bad news up with good news and go on to talk about success.

Remember that we have all made mistakes including your boss.    But make sure you learn from this experience! If you got something wrong and you are trying to do a good job, make sure  you have all the training you need and that you have sufficient resources.   If you don’t, then speak up and show that you intend to do all you can to make sure you have no further bad news to deliver!

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The World Needs You! There has never been a better time to be a Transformational Leader

Posted on 9 March 2011
leadership4

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Transformational and ethical leadership, together with emotional intelligence, are the key factors in emerging leadership culture. There are now real incentives for doing the right thing and real penalties for doing the wrong one. There has never been a better time to be a Transformational Leader! The world has never needed them more! Continue reading →

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