I'M SCARED AND I'M SERIOUS

I write this every week to remind top leaders of things that slip to the background during their incredibly busy and demanding work and to point out blind spots that can come with power. So what? So why? So how?

Right now when I look at the governmental and political leaders of our globe
I am scared. I imagine you are too. You see leaders who lie, who use power for self-aggrandizement, who do not care about the people that supposedly lead and who are willing and sometimes wanting to kill to keep their crooked power.

You are the leaders who have a chance to counter balance people's trust in people of power. You are the role model for use of power for the people in your company whether you want to be or not. This may be an extra burden. I think not. I think enlightened leadership works for profit and engagement and health in any organization. What do I mean by enlightened leadership??

I think you know and I think you want to be this kind of leader AND I think it takes disciplined self-awareness because many of you don't have it in your DNA unless you worked in a system where it was embedded.

--Watch the shortcuts that you take that your people can not. Be what you want them to be and do. (parking,perks,affairs,exceptions to the rules, expense accounts,etc)

--Share power. Give it away. It comes back wonderfully healthy and energetic. This means being very good at executive delegation. Give important work away.
Not as a big plop in some one's lap but with support and gentle overview.

--Do not punish. Course correct, talk straight, let a person go when necessary,
make tough decisions. Do not punish. It will infect your company with fear and resentment that lives underground and acts as a cancer.

--Know that you are not your power. You really find that out when you lose it, but you are you in a powerful role. Big difference. Many world leaders have not clue about this and they are pathetic----and dangerous

--Remind yourself that power is the ability to get something done. It is energy, not ego. It is shared energy.

--Share any bounty with everyone. Don't make a special class of people who serve you blindly and get extra goodies. Yes, I'm saying be democratic.

I have occasionally cringed after posting a blog, wondering about the moral tone rather than a pragmatic tone only. No more worrying. I hope to be pragmatically helpful but your leadership matters more today than it did yesterday. Government has failed in leadership. Church has failed in leadership.  You have the chance to teach by modeling the kind of leadership you would like to see in the world. Your turn.

THE COMPETENCE DILEMMA

 I just spent quite a bit of time with a three year old. And I had work to do (from email response to weeding to cooking to shopping to writing)
So, she had to do the work with me. She used her own computer to find letters. She managed the wheel barrow. She cut veggies. She watered plants.  Of course, she did the work at her own level of capacity, but that level got better and better over a week's time. She got prouder and prouder and wanted to 'work' more everyday.

Made me think. It is so rare that people at work feel the kind of competence that makes them want to work harder and do more. One of the key consequences of transitions of any kind is a sense of incompetence. And our companies are in perpetual transition. Never having a sense of finished accomplishment kills the pleasure of competence as well. Not 'knowing' that one's particular contribution created a fine result kills the competence productivity cycle. Slogging through hard work knowing that it won't be good enough can bring a sense of competence to a dead halt or slow entropy.

Think about it. What can you do in your company that reminds people of their competence, that gives them a breather to enjoy accomplishment, that lets their skill grow and grow, that gives them a chance for solid achievement even if the goals keep changing or are truly ridiculous. How do you grow a sense of competence in your company so that it is intrinsic and grows organizational capacity?

DON'T LEAD WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS

This may be heresy for me to say but--focusing on leadership skills is not your most important priority. If you are doing what is most important, then your lack of leadership skills will be forgiven, laughed at lovingly and become part of the company narrative.

Most important?
--Loving and enjoying and digging deep into the business even when it is a
   tough tough time. People like to work with and for people who love their work.

--Being nice matters intensely. People have a good bull shit buzzer for nice. 
  They smell quickly if the niceness  is real. Nice means kind, friendly, aware of       
   the contributions of others, accessible and tolerant.

--Being trustworthy may be the most important. We are so cynical and so 
   hungry to find someone worthy of our trust. Do you keep your word? Do you 
   honor confidences? Are you willing to lose some power or perk in order to
   maintain your values? I can't tell you how ungrounded most companies are 
   due to trying to do difficult work in an atmosphere of smoke and mirrors.

--Being unrelenting about fairness. The question of fairness is always in play
  for top leaders---compensation, opportunity, access, communication, being
  heard, parking spaces, office space, and on and on. You are the fairness 
  keeper.

--And lastly being optimistic but not foolish or spinning a false story. 
  The ability to create a positive atmosphere for hard work in tough times is
  essential. Failing out loud and in public and then shrugging and putting it all 
  in perspective makes the whole enterprise ring true and creates energy.

So you don't delegate well. You run a lousy meeting. You don't always follow-up.
You talk too much or too little. You are late with performance conversations.
On and on. You can make lots of mistakes with leadership skills and be forgiven.
But betray any one of the above qualities and no skill will make up for the
inner good heartedness that great leaders carry in them.

THIS TOPIC DESERVES A BOOK

It is Independence Day in the United States. This led me to think about what a radical experiment was initiated with the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Self government of the non-elite. Everybody entitled to search for their own happiness.

I happen to think these same principles create the best work environment in companies. I've worked in several. It takes a particular type of leader.
The writers of the US Constitution wrestled heartily about whether the average person could have useful options and power. It was an exciting dilemma to manage.

And still is inside your companies. You do lose some control. You do have more mistakes. You do have to have a high tolerance and trust of people working without overly close supervision. You do have to be committed and not waver with every period results.  You have to have checks and balances like budget and values and clear, clear strategy and goals and good mile stone management. Other than that, let your people go— to learn and be excited and accountable for themselves and their commitments. Let consequences teach. Don't invent punishment or reward. This radical experiment of self determination and involvement is where an extraordinary "lift" comes from.
Takes a revolutionary courage.