YOU CAN TEACH LEADERSHIP--TREAT IT LIKE A TRADE

TEACH LEADERSHIP LIKE A SKILLED TRADE----BE THE MASTER TEACHER


Most of us will say leadership is both an art and a skill but we forget to teach it as a tangible skill.
And you, as a top leader, are the best person to teach your top talent.

It does demand some self awareness on your part.
Easy enough to get if you are bold enough to ask others about your impact.
And it does demand sharing parts of your role--meaningful parts of your role.

Here is how skilled artisans are taught:

l.  They watch the Master 
2. They do the work with the Master
3. They do the work alone and the Master watches and gives support and feedback.
4. They do the work alone

Think of how you might make these steps explicit with each of your direct reports.  Or with your named successor.  These steps are indeed used to develop talent  but often with a rather vague approach.  Make it clear as a development/ apprenticeship pattern.

l.  Watch me do the analyst call.
    Here's what I want to accomplish.
    Talk with me after to share observations.

2.  Next time, prep with me for the part on logistics.
     I will ask you to speak about investment in systems.

3.  The 3rd Quarter you will prep and present on the ROI on the logistics 
     investments.  I'll support if needed and critique after.

4.  You handle the logistics at BOD and Analyst calls as needed.  Be ready to 
     present each quarter. 

The blind spot here is that we can get too tied up in our underwear (a quote from many leaders I worked with)  about leadership skills. It can be made too esoteric.  Treat it like an artisan skill and be the Master Teacher.  You are anyway, so you might as well do it consciously.  You'll get more of what you want. 

DOESN'T ANYBODY RETIRE ANYMORE?


I don't mean in the sense of people finding second careers or soul satisfying initiatives after leaving their formal life's work.
As an aside, that has actually become a burden to quite a few worn out people who now have to chase after meaning and recreation with the same vengeance they did work. 

And then there are the people thrust out of a company a bit
too early for retirement who, still have full tilt boogy energy and have to find a new path for it.  That's not retirement.  That's talent looking for a place to land.

I'm talking about good old fashioned retirement.  You work and develop with a company for 30- 40 years.  You identify with it.  You are proud of it or exasperated with it. Like family.   You have clothes with its logo on them.  Your retirement is planned by the Human Resources crew. No surprise. It is announced gracefully.  There is a celebration, a lunch, a speech, a letter.  The cycle of your work is completed.  You feel honored for your time and contribution.  You don't feel like a fool for being loyal.  And you are done.  You relax.  You suck in spending a little and take it easy.  You get together with other retirees once a year for a company sponsored lunch and you actually want to go.  That kind of retirement.

Now it's more the down sized, right sized, kicked out people who get together.
I know the retirement watch was at best trivial, so what do I think is missing?
What is it I don't want you to be blind to?

I guess this is it.  Don't be blind to:

The fact that you are not proud of abrupt leave taking of your people.  That you own the action.  And therefore, you may avoid the right kind of good-by.

The benefit of continuing fondness for your organization by people who have left.  That fondness is good for organizational health and connection to the community and internal pride.

The reality that leaving an organization without choice is like divorce or 
being a victim of power.  It hurts and knocks people for a loop.  

Your own feelings that might  be quite compromisd.  You've broken an implicit expectation.  So get clear about what you regret and what you don't

The moral demand that anyone who has given you long service deserves your respectful good-bye.

That's my point(s)!

YOU ARE CONTAGIOUS.

Your moods, your energy, your strategic stance, your words.  Your people emulate  them either out of admiration for you or because copying power helps them get power.  

So know when to put yourself in quarantine.

Because what is within will truly surround you.

It takes constant alert self-awareness or a good colleague who lets you know when you need to stay in your office for a while.

Until you can sit at the big people's table again.

Even CEO's need time outs.

IT'S YOUR TASK TO ASK

You just may be the dumbest person in the whole organization or the least able to learn.

The white noise that surrounds you is the roaring lack of real feedback that allows you to know your impact and adjust it.

It is your task to ask for this information and to do it in such  a way that it makes it easy for  people to talk to you honestly.  And even then  know that it is skewed information.

If someone has the nerve to come to you with  important negative feedback, then probably they have thought about it for at least three months, talked about it with at least five others for corroboration and reached the  point of talking directly with you.  The irritation or pain finally outweighed the intimidation factor.  And this is true if you are the most approachable,open and tolerant CEO.  Your position simply weights too much.  

Positive information is equally awkward for  people to give.  I mean, you are in charge of the goodies and flattery does work.  It's hard not to be seduced.  And if the positive recognition is sincere, it's harder to give for fear of being seen as kissing up.  

So my two cents is listen to the negative with a multiple of five and to the positive with a negative multiple of three.  Magnify the negative and reduce the  positive to begin to get a realistic picture.  Three for the positve because it is easier to give than the negative.  Takes less courage.

It is your job to make real conversation about the business and your impact easy and  productive.

Ask specific targeted questions about your impact.  Don't wait for the volunteer.

It really is your task to ask. 

HERE IS AN ODD BLIND SPOT TO THINK ABOUT

Most organizations have task forces and major projects and one-time summits and ad hoc committees working on a regular basis.  They contribute to move many goals forward.  I'm raising the caution to look at how many are at work in your company and how close are you to what they are doing.  Are they superfluous or have they taken over running the company. Neither is OK.  What do you as top leader want and expect from them?


Here is food for thought.
Are projects doing the most interesting work in the company?
If they are, are you giving enough time to guiding and supporting them?
Is the work of your major functions diminished by the "extraordinary" working groups?
Where does the major energy and oomph of your company reside?
Do functions get the boring day to day work and cross-functional groups get the crucial business building work?
If so, do you need to look at your structure?  How could a different structure support the work that is now "extra-ordinary" to fold it into the mainstream?
Are the same favored high potentials put into this project work?
Do you need that talent fully engaged in the day to day?
Are Initiatives killing your core business?
Is your core business  so stuck that you are tilting at windmills hoping for a lucky hit with special initiatives?


New projects and initiatives can be invigorating if the content is right and the resources managed well.  They can also create organizational fatigue and become a drag on the business.

So food for thought on a possible odd blind spot.