Category Leadership Styles

It’s tough economic times in my home province of Alberta due to a halving of the price of oil, yet there is a cautious consensus that things are stabilizing and people are starting to hire and grow.

Read more about talking to your people in tough times

As people start to hire, they are surprised to realize that there is as much business risk in growth as there is contraction; but what do leaders need to get the full advantage out of growing?

There is a minimal competitive advantage gained from strategy, technology, finance or marketing. These disciplines are essential as they can set one company apart from another, and knowledge of each has become ubiquitous and democratic. Any size organization has unlimited access to the best thinking and practices around those subjects.

The one remaining untapped, simple, reliable and virtually free competitive advantage is a healthy and robust leadership culture.

A leadership culture can eliminate politics and confusion from the environment, cause productivity and morale to soar and prevent good people from leaving. The most brilliant organization in the world can fail if it does not have a leadership culture – look at Uber.

I’ve seen it repeatedly when a healthy leadership culture will always find a way to succeed because it will tap into every bit of human intelligence it has. I have led volunteers & staff to respond to some of the most significant disasters of our time by unleashing human talent.

Why haven’t more companies embraced and reaped the benefits of a leadership culture? 

Quite frankly, it’s hard. It requires real work and focused discipline. Therefore it has no appeal to those looking for a quick fix.

But the biggest reason is that it requires courage. 

Leaders must be willing to confront themselves, their peers, and the dysfunction within their organization with honesty and persistence. They must be prepared to walk straight into uncomfortable situations and address issues preventing them from realizing their potential.

Read more about leading with courage.

What exactly does an organization have to do to develop a leadership culture? There are three simple but complex steps:

1. Build a Tight Leadership Team – Get the organization’s leaders to behave in a functional, cohesive way. If the people responsible for running an organization act dysfunctional, that dysfunction will cascade into the rest of the organization and success.

2. Create & Communicate Clarity – The second step for building a healthy organization is ensuring that the leadership team members are aligned and clear on the organization’s existence and the highest essential priorities. Leaders must eliminate gaps between them so that people have complete clarity about what they need to do to make the organization successful.

Then over-communicating that clarity. Leaders build a culture of leadership personally and consistently repeat themselves and reinforce what is important. This action sets leaders of healthy organizations apart.

3. Reinforce – Leaders must ensure that any process involving people, from hiring and firing to performance management and decision-making, is designed to support and emphasize the organization’s success intentionally.

Can an organization with a healthy culture of leadership fail? Yes. 

When politics, ambiguity, dysfunction and confusion are reduced, people are freed to serve clients, solve problems and help one another in ways that will leave unhealthy organizations behind as you turn the economic corner. 

Healthy organizations recover from setbacks, attract the best people, repel others, and create opportunities that, at the end of the day, create an environment of success.

If I were to ask you to imagine a heroic commander of a 100,000-man army, what would your mind’s eye see?

Would you picture a 42-year-old, awkwardly tall, pear-shaped, over-weight guy?

Could you imagine someone who was a failed teacher, a failed insurance salesman and a failed real-estate developer?

Well, that was Lieutenant General Arthur Currie.

During WW1, Currie was the Deputy Commander of the Canadian Corp during the Battle of Vimy Ridge and became the Commander of the Canadian Army in Europe. Postwar, with his high school education in hand became the Principle of McGill University.

This isn’t a retelling of a great moment in Canadian history. It is a story of a relative under-achiever who rose to face an unbelievable challenge and the lessons for the rest of us mere mortals.

There is only so much space in history for an Eisenhower, Churchill or Caesar and history is replete with unnamed regular folks like us who work hard and play our parts in achieving greatness.

Here are five characteristics demonstrated by General Currie, and all people, who become great leaders in their own time & right?

Uncompromising Integrity. Do not cut corners or cheat. Though others may be smarter, more forceful, and more creative, never compromised in your work and life.

Read about moral courage

Work Hard. Often when others play or waste time, continue to work. Feel like they are stealing from the company unless you give your best efforts.

Be Personally Responsible. Never blame employers and employees or complain because someone else in the organization was recognized or received a promotion.

Be Decisive. Know that slow decision-making is poor leadership and that analysis paralysis can kill an effort. Instead of living in fear of making the wrong decisions, move forward just as soon as you have sufficient information, not complete information.

Read about making decisions

Read. Good leaders read books, articles, and anything they could to make them a better person and a better leader. Ordinary men and women became extraordinary through constant and continued learning, regardless of the sacrifice.

Like General Currie, most of us are not the smartest, the best educated, or most articulate.

But Like Currie, we can hold high principles & work hard, and through these character traits, we common men and women can become extraordinary leaders.

Fad Diets & Servant Leadership – Listening

Last week I gave you three tips to help get out from under Servant Leadership and reclaim your role as a boss. In the coming weeks, I will unpack the characteristics that Robert K. Greenleaf developed in his “Servant Leadership” model that Servant Leaders should possess: This Week: Listening Unpacking Servant Leader Characteristics

Like quinoa, paleo and glutton free diets, when concepts like servant leadership are taken to an extreme, it becomes unhealthy and a bit crazy. That is not to say there isn’t value in Servant Leadership, but as the adage goes: if the only tool you own is a hammer, everything becomes a nail.

Proponents of Servant Leadership argue that traditional leadership needs to be reinforced by a deep commitment to listening intently and identifying the will of a group.

The will of the group? You are the leader!

As the leader, you have the responsibility to guide and focus the will of the group solely on your mission and objectives. To ensure that people are focused on the right work and contributing to the achievement of your goals, you must listen to them. But how? Use Silence.

Silence is power. With silence, we can hear what is being said but also what is not being said. With silence, it can be easier to reach the truth. (click here to read the full blog on communicating with silence) Use one of these tips to use silence to improve your conversation skills:

1. When someone has answered a question, you asked, pause.

Just as nature abhors a vacuum and rushes to fill it, most people cannot stand silence, and they will quickly fill those silent parts of a conversation with talk. You will learn the most remarkable things if you just let people talk. Everyday immigration officers prove this at the border. They ask a question, you answer, and then they go quiet and look at you. Most people prattle on about their trip, how much extra booze or smokes they have brought home, or they fidget and give off body language that says to the officer that they are hiding something.

2. Losing control of a conversation? Ask a question and shut up.

Studies have shown that a person can think twice as fast as they can talk. When you need time, ask an open-ended question and wait for the answer. Invest that time, they are talking into thinking the issue to move the conversation towards the outcome you want.

3. When someone asks you a question, pause silently.

Nobody likes a know-it-all. When you answer too quickly, people think you have not considered their question. If you are not 100% sure of the answer, pause. Then answer.

You, as the leader, must ensure every action, word, and silence must contribute to meeting your objectives. That is how best you serve as a leader!

I was a Sergeant Major in the Canadian Army.

I held the second-highest non-commissioned officer rank and had a role that I loved and aspired. It was a job of power and influence. I carried a responsibility to my soldiers and, most importantly, to my leaders.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that the Latin root of the words ‘Sergeant Major’ was ‘Head Servant.’

Once I got over the indignation of being a servant, I realized my job was one of service.

Introduction to Servant Leadership Theory

Servant Leadership is a leadership philosophy first espoused by Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 essay “The Servant as Leader,” in which he states that servant leaders are servants first and leaders later. This is in sharp contrast to what many see as traditional leaders who aspire to lead through power and acquiring material benefits.

Many management thinkers such as Blanchard, Covey and Senge have since then reinforced the Servant Leadership Theory. More recently, Simon Sinek has made millions with his Leaders Eat Last book by encapsulating the importance of service to achieve your results.

The essence of servant leadership—serve the employees first and success will follow—is thousands of years old, dating back to hundreds of centuries to India and China, the Bible and texts of Islam. In contemporary practice, it means actively listening to employees, treating them as people with needs, interests and failings, and respecting their roles in the company and the world.

Unfortunately, the concept of servant leadership tends towards philosophical musings with little practical application. Worse than that, many people read into the concept that as leaders that they must cede power and authority to their employees.

5 Ways To Free Yourself From The Philosophic Tyranny

Servant Leadership does not mean you prostrate yourself to your employees but there are everyday habits leaders can incorporate into their management routines that can have powerful results.

►Listen. Pay attention to how you interact in face-to-face conversations, large groups and meetings. Find meaningful ways to invite feedback and suggestions. (Read more about using silence)

►Appreciate. Instead of assuming people will do things wrong, shift your attitude to look for people doing things right. Learn to appreciate that no one shows up to work to do a poor job and tell them you appreciate them. (Read about saying thank you)

►Respect. Do you treat the janitor the same respect as the CEO? You, as the leader, set your team’s culture of respect.

►Develop. Do you offer your employees the tools to become the best they can be? Provide training, professional development, book clubs or other personal growth tools? Emphasize coaching over controlling.

►Unleash. People have power and energy so how can you help them develop it? Decentralizing as many decisions as possible so employees can help you achieve your results.

What’s Next?

Over the next weeks, I’ll unpack Servant Leadership in more detail.

I hope to turn those philosophical nuggets into practical and applicable tools you can use to get results.