Archives 2023

So many objectives – so many failures

That’s the refrain of leaders everywhere.

The business objectives they need to meet to be successful in their jobs are taking longer than planned, costing more than budgeted or failing outright.

Why do good objectives go bad?

My clients say the ten most common mistakes that cause their good objectives to go wrong – and the coaching solutions I helped them with to solve these costly problems.

Mistake No. 1: Not Assigning the Right Manager. Typically, more time is spent fighting for resources than finding the right person to lead. Too often, managers get picked based on availability, not necessarily skill set. This is a severe mistake as more projects failed because of the wrong manager than could ever be blamed for lack of resources.

Solution: Choose a manager whose skills best match the requirements of your objectives.

Mistake No. 2: Failing to Get Everyone On Board. Too often, objectives fail because they don’t get enough support from those affected by and involved in the project. Usually, the manager:

1. It didn’t make clear what everyone’s role was.
2. It didn’t describe the payoff when the objective was achieved.
3. It didn’t tell how each person’s contributions would be evaluated.
4. Failed to generate a sense of urgency.

Solution: The project manager should start by calling the team together and delivering a presentation about the objective and its importance to the broader organization.

Read More: How to Communicate

Mistake No. 3: Not Getting Executive Buy-in.

Solution: A ship without a captain soon runs aground. Somebody at the higher levels of the organization needs to own the objective and be personally vested in its success.

If the objective isn’t crucial to your boss, ask yourself why it should be meaningful.

Mistake No. 4: Putting Too Many Objectives on the table at One time. Most managers think that they can start and work on every objective at the same time. In reality, multitasking slows people down, hurts quality and, worst of all, the delays caused by multitasking cascade and multiply through the organization as people further down the line wait for others.

Solution: A good first step to stop productivity losses is to reduce the objectives you are working on by 25 percent. Though counter-intuitive, reducing the number of open projects increases completion rates.”

Read more about priorities.

Mistake No. 5: Lack of (Regular) Communication. Communication is the most crucial factor of successful objectives; without regularly communicating, the project will fall apart.”

Solution: Schedule time each week to review progress and stick with it. Regularly scheduled meetings and communications processes help to keep everyone on the same page and work flowing.

Mistake No. 6: Not Being Specific with the Scope of the Objective. Any objective that doesn’t have a clear goal is doomed. Mission creep is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to your project. If not handled properly, it can lead to cost and time overrun.

Solution: Define the scope of your project from the outset and monitor the project by continually asking if our work is contributing to the objective’s success.

Mistake No. 7: Providing Overly Optimistic Timelines. The intentions are noble, but missing deadline after deadline will only lead to distrust and aggravation.

Solution: Add a buffer — some extra time and money to your project.

Mistake No. 8: Not Being Flexible. While you may think of your plan as the bible that leads you to your goal, listen to new information and suggestions that come up along the way.

Solution: Step back and take a fresh look at the overall project, review how things have gone so far, and how you can improve.

Mistake No. 9: Micromanaging Projects. New managers commonly treat their job as an enforcer, policing the team for progress and updates.

Solution: Set expectations from the start that there will be regularly scheduled updates to advise the status and progress expected and encourage them to vocalize any issues.

Read more about micromanagement.

Mistake No. 10: Not Having Defined Success.

Solution: The first thing a manager should do is to ensure what will be considered a successful completion of the objective. Understanding what success looks like ensures everyone walks away satisfied at the end.

 Do you feel overwhelmed at work?

If yes, you are not alone. According to a recent Deloitte survey of 2,500 organizations in 90 countries, two-thirds of managers say they’re overwhelmed.

This is a problem; your responsibility is to ensure the company succeeds.

The result is that managers and leaders take on too much work. A survey by eVoice found that 44% of entrepreneurs reported wearing five or more hats in their business at any time.

The answer is to delegate more effectively.

Delegate so you can spend more time on strategic decisions.

You should delegate every task that DOES NOT move you closer to achieving your objectives.

But how can you decide which tasks to delegate and what you should keep control of yourself?

Jenny Blake, in a Harvard Business Review article, suggests we conduct an audit using the six T’s to determine what tasks make the most sense to offload:

Tiny: Tasks that are so small they seem inconsequential to tackle, but they add up. They are never urgent, and even if they only take a few minutes, they make you out of the flow of more strategic work. For example, they are registering for a conference or event, adding it to your calendar, and booking the hotel and flight — on their own. These things may not take much time, but they all add up.

Tedious: Relatively simple tasks are not the best use of your time and can (and should) be handled by anyone but you. For example, you manually input a 100-item list into a spreadsheet and colour-coding it or update the KPIs in your presentation deck.

Time-Consuming: Although they may be significant and even somewhat complex, tasks are time-consuming and do not require you to do the initial 80% of research. You can quickly step in when the task is 80% complete and give approval, oversight and direction on the next steps.

Teachable: Tasks that, although complicated-seeming at first and possibly comprising several smaller subtasks, can be translated into a system and passed along, with you still providing quality checks and final approval and, for example, teaching one of your direct reports how to draft the presentation deck for the monthly all-hands meeting and even how to be the one to deliver those updates to the team.

Terrible At: Tasks that not only do not fall into your strengths but an area where you feel unequipped. You take far longer than people skilled in this area and still produce a subpar result. For example, designing those PowerPoint slides for the team meeting.

Time Sensitive: Tasks that are time-sensitive but compete with other priorities; there isn’t enough to do them all at once, so you delegate an essential and time-sensitive task to be done parallel to your other project-based deadlines.

Once you have decided what to give away, learn how by reading “The #1 Secret “ & 4 Tips You Need To Know To Delegate.”

In the most recent Better Leader Inner Circle, we discussed developing your personal transition plan to become a better leader.

But where you want to end up MUST be aligned with your values.

You see, no one is perfect. Not you, and certainly not me.

None of us is all that we could be. At the core of any successful change is a compelling need to create something different – to move toward something desirable. 

I wanted to be better, but my drinking was getting in the way.

My desire to be a more effective leader had to be rooted in values.

Once I understood my values, I used them as the foundation for a Better version of myself.

This is as true for organizational and work cultures as yours.

Hear my story by clicking the video below:

And learn more about when my values clashed with my being better:

7 Steps To Leading in A Crisis: Don’t Be an Ass

Increase Your Emotional Intelligence To Be a Better Leader 

The legendary poet and activist Maya Angelou once said about herself: “I have written 11 books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’ll find me out.”

Are you faking it until you make it?

Can you move past the imposter syndrome to the following levels of personal confidence and, thereby, the next level of leadership competencies?

You need to understand a few inalienable thoughts.

To transition successfully, leaders must become good students of their own experience and remain open to adapting their mindset and behaviour.

The 50-Percent Rule

The 50-percent Rule goes like this:

Half of what made you successful in the past is essential to success in your next role.

And half of what made you successful in the past won’t help in your next part and may get in the way of success.

The thing is, no one can tell you which half is which!

Transition Traps

Without attending to the 50-percent Rule, leaders easily fall into any of the following transition traps:

• The big speech.
• There’s a new sheriff in town.
• I know what good looks like.
• Get stuff done at any cost.

Trap No. 1: The Big Speech

The big speech is precisely that: trying to be articulate early on, tying the business and yourself into a nice bow.

The trap is that you, the leader, mentally check the box that you have been clear, but everyone else remains in wait-and-see mode or thinks, “I’ve heard that before.” 

Trap No. 2: There’s a New Sheriff in Town

Some leaders intend to be candid about their expectations, ensuring everyone knows who is now in charge. They may think they are telling people how to be successful.

If the leader isn’t clear on what distinguishes high from underperforming, they drive honest conversation underground and foster a rumour mill about who might be in the doghouse—or worse. 

Read More About the New Sheriff

Trap No. 3: I Know What Good Looks Like 

Ironically, leaders can fall into this trap precisely because they desire to share best practices. The first time a leader in transition offers benchmark comparisons of how similar issues were handled at their last company, people listen attentively. But by the fourth or fifth time, the same people discretely roll their eyes or mentally recite the benchmark story they have heard too many times.

The trap is that leaders isolate themselves from the people they want to work with.

Trap No. 4: Get Stuff Done at Any Cost 

As you up your leadership game, you may commit to driving the change that previously could not be achieved. You may start leaning on people until the shift occurs. Progress may be realized at the cost of creating a reputation for being unreasonable and dismissive.

By falling into this trap, you will be forced into investing time in rebuilding your brand, re-establishing relationships, and discovering ways not to alienate everyone around you. 

What can you do?

For all of your positive aspirations to be the leader you want to become and your people deserve, you can fall into almost every trap imaginable.

It’s impossible to avoid hearing about AI these days.

From those who praise it to those who warn about an impending apocalypse because of it, there is no shortage of opinions or predictions about it.

Instead of discussing AI’s pros and cons or capabilities, I will try something different in this post.

Today I will interview an AI by asking ChatGPT questions about leadership!

What do you think about ChatGPT’s responses?

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We explored how to talk to your people effectively during the July Better Leader Inner Circle session.

However, most experts agree that 70 to 93 percent of all communication is nonverbal, so how do we model effective communication?

Enjoy this 6-minute clip where we dive deep into modelling leadership communications.