All posts by Steve A

I have made a lot of mistakes.

Some of them were pretty spectacular. While formal training, my master’s degree, and supplementary reading have taught me the theory of leadership, my mistakes have taught me more than I care to admit.

My first leadership lesson happened when I was barely six or seven years old. I was a voracious reader, devouring comics, magazines, superhero books, and war stories. The best of all were the Hardy Boys books. I wanted to read every single Hardy Boys story. One day, I went into the drugstore in our small farming village and spotted a Hardy Boys book I didn’t own. I didn’t have the money for it, so I slipped it under my shirt and walked out. On the surface, it was a small act—but however you slice it, it was stealing. 

When I got home, of course, I got caught. A shiny new hardcover book couldn’t just appear in our house without everyone knowing about it. I was taken back to the drugstore to confess to the store owner. My dad waited outside while I went in. I made my way to the rack of books, returned the stolen book to its rightful place, and left. Dad asked if I had spoken to the owner. Keeping my backside in mind, I told him the truth. 

I was turned around on the spot and, once again, escorted back into the store to “face the music.” I admitted my wrongdoing and apologized. To my surprise, the store owner only scolded me gently. More importantly, he thanked me for owning up, returning the book, apologizing, and acting “like an adult.” 

The trip back home felt like my own green mile. I was sure I was heading to the gallows, but it was over—my dad left it at that. Looking back now, I cannot recall ever hearing about the incident again. 

The lesson I learned from that ordeal was this: when something is over and dealt with, it’s done.

Managing Issues Effectively

As a leader, your most frequent challenge will be managing the issues that inevitably arise when dealing with people. Try to remember—and consistently encourage others—to cooperate. Ultimately, your value as a leader will be judged by the performance of the people who make up your Team. And their performance will reflect your total personality, attitude toward life, and particularly your approach to people. Your success or failure will be a direct result of how well you align your organization’s goals with the career goals of your people and deal with any friction caused by misalignment.

The following suggestions will help you achieve results:

1. Focus your attention chiefly on results rather than the activities you think will get you there. Everything should be about results.

2. Plan and organize effectively.

3. Communicate objectives properly, with time targets, established measurement systems, and designated accountability.

4. Establish performance expectations so all concerned will be focused and will know how their performance will be measured.

5. Communicate a “results-oriented” attitude to encourage people to develop self-reliance and confidently achieve their goals.

6. Motivate people to their peak achievement.

7. Be creative and help others develop their creative potential.

8. Track all progress so that what is planned is achieved.

Get eight suggestions to improve how you motivate

How Do You Measure Up When It Comes to Issues Management?

Read each statement or question below.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “never” and 5 meaning “always,” mark an “X” where you think you are today.

Then, mark an “O” where you would like to be.

Consider the above article and commit to one thing you can do to improve your score.

How many open-ended, idea-prompting questions do you ask every day?

Do you ask more questions than you give orders or provide answers?

Recently, I worked with a client, and we explored the vital topic of curiosity as a leadership attribute and questioning as a behaviour.

At the start of the work, most individuals assumed their ratio of questions-to-orders/answers would be high.

Read about why leaders need to be curious.

It was their belief they were curious and used open-ended, provocative questions about customers, markets, competitors, processes and so forth. One manager offered, “It’s my job to help them think about the possibilities, not provide the answers.“

Imagine their surprise when a survey of their direct reports demonstrated that their directives and answers significantly outnumbered questions.

I was once called out for blathering instead of listening. I was disappointed to admit that I tended to opine and answer rather than stimulate thinking through listening and questions.

Moving the ratio in the right direction became a developmental exercise for me.

And here’s why I believe this is so important.

Questions are the Seeds of Ideas and Innovations

In a world drunk on the speed of change and filled with uncertainty, the right questions provoke thinking and give way to actions, experiments, and ideas that provoke more questions and beget more ideas.

As the leader, you set the tone for curiosity in your team. Questions free people to think, speculate, and follow threads to strengthen some aspect of the business.

Read about the power of silence in conversations

What Is Your  Ratio?

For the next few days, keep a log of the number of times you ask open-ended, exploratory questions (“Did you finish that work?” doesn’t count!) versus issuing answers or directives.

If your ratio is skewed toward the questions, keep it up. If not, here are some question prompts to put to work as part of your developmental activity.

7 Questions to Stimulate Curiosity on Your Team

1. “What if?”

• “What if we develop a new product that eats our old one in the marketplace. Will it eat the competitor’s as well?”
• “What if we changed this process to empower our employees to make decisions directly with customers without seeking approval from a manager?
• “What if we changed our view of who our real competition is in the marketplace?”

 2. “What do you know that is new?” Former GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, upon first meeting someone would ask, “What do you know that is new?” and took the time to listen to the answers.

6 essential questions that are good for children & employees

3. “What do we need to know to make this decision?” Most decision-making processes are fraught with incomplete data, opinions, and biases. This simple question challenges groups and individuals to consider a problem before making an informed choice.

4. “What does this mean for us/our customers?” I use this question liberally when changes in the external environment, industry, or competitor announcements send everyone into panic mode.

5. “How would you approach this situation if you framed it as an opportunity instead of a problem?” This question forces people to move beyond their defensive mode and into the world of possibilities.

6. “What events in markets and technologies will change everything? This question moves people beyond the four-wall and inside-out thinking.

7. “What are the real burdens our customers hire our products to remove?” Reframing questions about what your products and services do to resolve customers’ problems is a great way to rethink your innovation efforts.

 Read about leadership regrets.

Closing Thoughts

If you ask more open-ended, thought-provoking questions, the number of ideas people and teams generate will grow.

Of course, you have to bring those ideas to life.

But for the moment, focus on asking more and directing less.

And see where it takes you.

Remember, your curiosity is contagious.

I have worked with dozens of companies and organizations, addressing team and organizational challenges.

I am always surprised that most leadership teams have no idea who their ‘First Team’ is.

The ‘First Team‘—best articulated by Patrick Lencioni—is the idea that true leaders prioritize supporting their fellow leaders over their direct reports. They are more responsible to their peers than their individual or “Second” teams.

One of the first areas I address in our client consulting sessions is organizational clarity.

I need to know if the executive team are on the same page regarding foundational concepts of their business.

How do these teams answer questions such as: Why does this organization exist? What is our strategy? What are our goals? Etc.

Confusion and hesitation begin to plague an organization without clear, consistent answers to these questions.

Read more about to create leaders, not followers

Creating alignment at the executive level is essential to building and maintaining a healthy organization.

Imagine employees’ frustration navigating the politics and confusion caused by misaligned leaders.

The slightest bit of daylight between executive team members can overwhelmingly impact employees below.

The Six Critical Questions

In our sessions, I facilitate the exploration of the following six questions:

• Why do we exist? Beyond making money
• What do we do? What is it we exist to do?
• How will we behave? What are our core values
• How will we succeed? How do we make the best decision?
• What important work do we need to achieve right now? The one thing that, when accomplished, will significantly advance the company
• Who does what? Roles and responsibilities

Like in much of leadership, these questions may appear simple on the surface but are profoundly difficult to answer.r

And even more challenging to adhere to.

Test your Team

Many executives assume that they are on the same page as their peers, but this is not the case once they get in a room together and openly discuss these concepts.

Interested in conducting a simple but eye-opening experiment?

Have your team members sit together.

Give everyone a sheet of paper and five minutes to write down their answers to the question, “What do we do?”

Have each person read their answer out and listen to each answer in silence.

Read more about the power of silence.

I think you will be shocked by the discrepancies amongstyouru leadership team members.

Then consider this …

If the key leaders in your organization are not in agreement about “What do we do? How on earth could anyone else understand?

Seize the Advantage

If you ensure your team and company are clear and aligned from the top down on the answers to these six critical questions, you will have an insurmountable advantage over your competition.

Innovation is the lifeblood of success.

Organizations that can adapt, embrace change, and foster creativity are poised to thrive. Yet, amidst the demands of day-to-day operations, many organizations are stuck in a routine cycle, clinging to familiar practices and struggling to break free from the shackles of repetition.

So, why do some leaders, despite voicing support for innovation, shy away from it in practice?

This is not limited to the entry-level or the boardroom, but it often strikes hardest in mid-level management. These managers are the bridge between the strategic vision of top leadership and the execution of plans on the front lines. They are entrusted with maintaining the status quo and driving innovation and improvement.

Let’s take Maya.

She’s a mid-level manager who repeatedly expressed her desire to see “out-of-the-box” thinking from her team to get faster, higher-quality service. She and the team’s schedules are filled with weekly back-to-back meetings, leaving no time to nurture or evaluate creative ideas. The one brainstorming session she organized last month was a rushed 30-minute virtual call on a Friday amidst an already hectic day interspersed with urgent emails and calls.

The result?

You guessed it: ideas were safe, familiar, and anything but innovative.

The Battle Against Repetition

Leaders like Maya, often unknowingly, lead teams that become world champions of acting like we did yesterday.

In the realm of work, this means adhering to practices because “that’s how it’s always been done.” It means churning out reports in the same format, holding meetings without clear agendas, and avoiding any method or idea that deviates from the norm. There’s an implicit safety in repetition; it’s familiar, predictable, and rarely questioned.

But here lies the paradox: by seeking refuge in the known, we shut out the innovative and the new, stunting potential growth.

Understanding Reluctance Towards Creativity

So, why do some leaders, despite voicing support for innovation, shy away from it in practice?

• Risk-Aversion: Creative ideas are, by nature, untested, which makes them risky. Many leaders fear the repercussions of a novel idea failing, especially in front of senior leaders or the team.
• Time Constraints: True creativity isn’t instant. It requires time for thought, discussion, and even disagreement. The daily hustle, especially for mid-level managers who must manage multiple tasks and do their work, makes it challenging to carve out this space, particularly when the pressures of your day-to-day life tell you that “you don’t have time for this.”
• Look For Base Hits Instead of Home Runs: Some might believe creativity is only about ‘big ideas’ and grand innovations. They overlook the more minor, incremental changes (sometimes called ‘little c’ creativity) that can lead to substantial long-term benefits.
• Resisting Change: It’s human nature to resist change, especially when current systems seem to be working “good enough.

 Read about Resisting Change

Questions to Guide Creative Thought

For managers looking to harness the power of creativity within their teams, reflecting on these guiding questions can be transformative:

• Re-Visit Assumptions: “Why do we do it this way?” Challenge the status quo. Reassess ingrained practices to see if they still serve your team’s goals.
• Establish the End Goal: “What are we ultimately trying to accomplish?” Clarify the endgame. Understand the core objectives to ensure that innovation aligns with the bigger picture. You can use a tactic like the “5 Whys” to get at the source of the issue and ensure you’re solving the right problem.

Read about the ‘5 Whys’

• Brainstorm: “What do we think can solve this?” This is not the time for negativity (that comes later). Encourage an open platform for ideas where No’s, But’s, or “We already tried that” are momentarily set aside.
• Combine Ideas: Once ideas are on the table, look for intersections where combining them could lead to more effective outcomes. This is sometimes known as looking for the “1+1=3” ideas.
• Prevent Overthinking: “What if we only had 30 days? What if this were easy?” Imposing constraints can often lead to more ingenious solutions.
• Identify Hurdles: “What would prevent this from happening? What could go wrong?” Recognizing challenges upfront, potentially through Red Team exercises and frame changes, allows for better planning and resource allocation.
• Strategizing Solutions: “How can we overcome these barriers? What resources are needed?” Convert challenges into actionable steps.
• Action and Commitment: “Who is doing what, and by when? How will we know we’ve succeeded?” Define responsibilities and success metrics to track progress through written action plans.

Embracing creativity isn’t about discarding everything you know. It’s about allowing space for new possibilities.

For mid-level managers like Maya, the challenges are twofold: finding time amid the chaos and having the courage to venture into the unknown.

To all such leaders: Take a step today. Dedicate just an hour this week, free from distractions, to brainstorm with your team. Utilize the guiding questions above.

Listen, truly listen to their ideas.

You may find the seed of the following significant innovation for your organization in that hour.