SMALL M MORAL LEADERSHIP FOR YOUR COMPANY

I've been reading and thinking about Nelson Mandela and his moral leadership that impacted the world.

My immediate reaction was to write about how moral leadership was sorely needed in business today.  Then I thought twice.  And, of course, when one thinks twice, things get confusing. 

Moral has to do with right and wrong, good and bad. Honesty.
Is that needed in a company that makes my--say--paper clips?
What's the need or benefit for a moral leader and company of integrity?

It's worth a discussion with your Executive team.
What's constitutes right for our customers?
What's constitutes wrong for our customer's
And what constitutes good and bad for our customers?
What constitutes honesty for our customers?
This is not for customers to answer in a focus group.
This is for your top leadership group to agree on as a moral standard for the
company.

Now do the same conversation with the focus on the people working in the company?

I'm always a little afraid of rigid right and wrong.  Too simple, even too simple minded.  A business doesn't need to change the world.
But it does have to have its own kind of moral standard and integrity that fits
the business it is in.  

Try the conversation to see if there is  tight agreement on good and bad, right and wrong for customers and associates.  Make the answers specific and tangible.  Don't be blind to the power behind this kind of moral alignment for your company.  I think it will take you beyond generic company values into renewed inspiration for your business.

GETTING IT DONE ADDICTION

I love getting things done
It's one of my great pleasures
I feel freer afterwards, like I've earned a reprieve

Most business leaders share my addiction 
Straining toward results gets locked into the DNA
Pushing tight deadlines is daily business

Here's the tricky part
The constant push pops rivets
There is an art to the pacing of organizational accomplishment 
You are in charge of the "getting things done" environment of your company
Don't disperse that energy by applying it to everything always
Think physics
Gather that energy for what matters most
Constant steady pressure creates a systemic resistance --kind of like results gridlock.  

ARE PEOPLE GRATEFUL YOU ARE IN CHARGE?

Gratitude for you as a leader is a great measure of the kind of job you are doing.  I have appreciated some of my bosses.  I have liked some of my bosses.  I supported all of my bosses.  

But I have been grateful for only a few.  
Here's what they did:

They trusted my style and it was not that of corporate America (whatever that is).

They gave me great breadth to use my creativity and skills.

They made sure I understood the dynamics of the business---money making, 
people systems and functions.

They set context for my work so that I could work freely.  I understood the point in time the business was in and its history.  I "got" the strategy.

They demanded good work from me.  They expected good work from me.

They had a sense of humor when things went wrong.

They stayed the course in both the business strategy and who they were.  There was no Jekyll and Hyde dynamic.

They wanted good things for ALL the associates of the business.

They took their power role with a grain of salt.

They were likable and real.

They were competent.

They kept stretching the competency of themselves and the company.

Mostly, I knew that I would like to go through tough times with them.
Now, that's a compliment.  Would your people say the same?

POWER--FROM YOUR GIFT OR FROM YOUR EGO

We talk about the need for level five leaders as described in GOOD TO GREAT by Jim Collins.  They are to be humble about their top role while ambitious for the company.   

I absolutely advocate that top leaders use their gifts fully.  No hiding them under the proverbial basket.  Let them shine.  Be as powerful as you can be using your particular talent.  Enjoy what you can get done.  Stand out.
Be exceptional.  Lead with verve.

But don't be blind to your ego who just loves to keep the focus on you.
The ego that is greedy, selfish, and dominates others.
The ego that won't let other people win.  The ego that thinks you are sooooo
unique and special.  The ego that begins to love to be served by others, that enjoys being catered to.  

It's a thin line between having powerful gifts and using them fully and being driven by an ego to be in a dominant role of status.

How do you know when the line has been crossed?

Gift power focuses on the job to be done, the art to be created, the result 
Ego power focuses on positioning and protecting the self.

Gift power like to share the gift, teach the gift, include others in the use of the gift.
Ego power likes to keep anything good for itself.  It is stingy and doesn't share.

Gift power thinks the gift is special.
Ego power thinks it is special.

Gift power enjoys the work even without reward.
Ego power only works for the reward.

Gift power is exceptional
Ego power is common


Symptoms of when your gift power is sliding into ego?
You are scared when someone achieves something extraordinary.
You pull positional power too often
You remember someone who has pushed back on you and look for a time for pay back
You expect to be served by others whether it's to go get coffee or to relieve you of the burden for preparing for a meeting
You begin to believe your own spin.




  

HAVE YOU BROKEN A PROMISE YOU DON'T THINK YOU MADE?


As a top executive, if you are lucky, you have more people ready for top
spots than you have spots.  If you are very very lucky.

Regardless, you are trying to keep a pool of people happy enough to hang around until you make a final choice of who to place in a top job.

And so it is tempting to semi-promise or declare support for more than one person for a position.  It's not in writing.  There is no formal promise.
But there are moments of overt support after a job particularly well done or over enthusiastic performance reviews or confidential collegiality over drinks.
It's also tempting to give over compensating words to a direct report after a professional disappointment.
It happens.

You think you are giving subtle indicators of possibilities for the future.
Your direct report and valuable future exec thinks you are making a kind of promise.

At the decision moment, someone will feel, at worst betrayed or at best, poorly treated.  Don't be blind to the harm you cause with pre-mature innuendo of future promotion.  It's not the way to keep high potentials or to keep them fully engaged.

The solution is a very clean and transparent promotion process which often gets to be a too relaxed process for top positions.  

Have you made promised you can't keep?  Do you have a pristine promotion process to prevent promises and betrayal?   Don't be blind to the power of every word and innuendo you put out into the workplace.  People do hang on your every word.  After all, you are the top power person. Your words make things happen.

WHAT COST EXCELLENCE??

WHAT COST EXCELLENCE?


I've been wondering about the cost/benefit ratio of  striving for excellence.
I know, I know I know all about the grandeur of human endeavor.
But I see families, sports teams and businesses pushed to a limit that doesn't add much value.  The rivets are ready to pop.

Strive strive strive.
Push push push
Grow grow grow

Take drugs to do it.
Ignore your family to do it.
Ruin your health to do it.
Be unethical to do it.

There seems to be a point of diminishing return here.
Excellence means to be extremely good.
How about just good in every sense of the word?

BEING SLOW TO LET A COLLEAGUE GO


Facing the fact that a colleague of officer level person needs to leave
the company is tough.  It can be avoided for too long.
For all kinds of reasons:
You may have hired or promoted the person.
You have skin in the game.
You may see only the best of the person's behavior.
You may be the last person to be informed about a problem.
It takes time for the gripes and gossip and poor behavior to reach you attention.

Don't be blind to the drag on other officer's energy or the dent in the company's integrity or your reputation as gullible or duped.

People looking up sometimes see things sooner and clearer than you do.
Listen and probe.  
Check all the boxes of basic good people practices with your HR exec.
Then act.  It will never feel comfortable.