A Leadership Interview with Colonel John Garrity

Posted by chuckc on Apr 27, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

Yesterday at the monthly Leadership Seminar I had the privilege of interviewing retired United States Army Colonel John Garrity. I met John when I spoke to Leadership Oak Ridge. Since then I have spent a fair amount of time with John talking leadership. To get an outline of yesterday’s seminar click here. The following is a condensed version of the leadership quotes/principles of my interview with John.

1. “Be a professional”

• What would the most professional person in my role do in this situation?
• Great reminder that professionalism is needed in every leadership situation

2. “All praise goes down and all pain stops with me”

• Give/share praise with team members
• Give credit for success to others
• Take responsibility for team mistakes

3. “It’s easy to sit in the staff office”

• In challenging times lead from the front
• The team gains strength form seeing the leader “in the battle” with them
• Get out in the field

4. “When in doubt – attack”

• If you are uncertain regarding your next leadership step – keep moving the team forward
• It’s easy to get “stuck” while waiting for clarity

5. “Restate priorities at every opportunity”

• Remind the team of the vision often
• Restate what is most important

6. “A bedrock of integrity”

• The foundation of leadership
• A leader with integrity earns trust

7. “It there is a distraction that is work related – fix the problem”

• Eliminate unnecessary distractions that would prevent a team member form achieving the best performance

8. “I signed the letters”

• The weight of leadership
• The leader takes responsibility for their team

Colonel Garrity did a terrific job of making the above leadership quotes come alive with vivid stories from his experience as a military leader. If you are in east Tennessee make plans to attend the next leadership seminar on May 17.

Visual Management

Posted by chuckc on Apr 25, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

Recently I had the opportunity to visit with an exceptional business leader, Mike (not his real name because I haven’t asked permission to identify him or his organization) who shared with me his team’s use of visual management.

Let’s define visual management as displaying key organizational metrics as a means of:

• Keeping important measurable objectives in the fore front. In Mike’s setting, charts and spreadsheets provide yearly, monthly and daily progress updates. In fact, a couple of times a day each team within the business provides a “real time” standup report on that day’s results.

• Encouraging and challenging team members. In utilizing visual management, results, good or bad, are displayed. This daily display of results serves to encourage and recognize strong performance. It also serves to challenge and address the causes of less than desired results.

• Promoting organizational transparency. With visual management there is no question about who achieved their goals. Does each chart tell the “full-story” – probably not. But it’s a great start for organizational transparency with regard to results.

The key metrics that get measured and posted will vary by each team/organization. It may be sales, profit, returns, visitors, orders processed, reading levels, yards per carry, etc.

Would your team benefit from visual management?

Effective Leaders Engage Others

Posted by chuckc on Apr 20, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

A leader’s desire and ability to engage others is a critical component of effective leadership. Leaders engage others by:

• Initiating conversations with organizational stakeholders

• Leading with questions rather than answers/opinions in team meetings

• Inviting input/feedback in team sessions from more reserved/reluctant team members

• Casting and recasting vision at every opportunity

• Taking the first step to improve a strained stakeholder relationship

• Providing mentoring/development opportunities for high potential/selected team members

• “Leading by walking around.” Drop by different departments/work stations to have a casual (relationship building) or input gathering conversations

• Schedule regular (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc.) one on one meetings with key team members

Add to this list. In what additional ways should leaders engage others?

Morale of the Leader

Posted by chuckc on Apr 18, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

As leaders we know the morale of our team is extremely important. The team’s overall morale is a combination of culture and each individual’s morale. Morale has a significant impact on a team’s performance, both positive and negative. Low morale might be seen as detachment, low energy, easily frustrated, lack of engagement in team activities, etc. Good leaders will recognize and often engage those with low morale seeking to assist them while accelerating a return to a better/more effective state. Its part of what good leaders do, they know the condition and help those they lead.

What happens when the leader is struggling with low morale?

Perhaps a series of recent setbacks, tough personnel decisions or simply the prolonged weight of leadership has taken its toll and the leader is battling a case of lowered morale. Let’s define morale as a temporary emotional condition influenced greatly by circumstances. Because leaders are more like thermostats than thermometers their morale is likely to have a fairly quick team impact. The following are a few suggestions for the leader:

1. Gain perspective. Every leader needs a few confidants inside and outside of the organization that with whom they can express their frustration and struggles. It’s so easy to lose perspective when you are in the middle of the battle. Enlist a confidant’s point of view.

2. Recharge. Smart leaders have an ongoing strategy to “sharpen the saw” as Stephen Covey says. However, we often will neglect ourselves when focused on a heavy leadership load. This has an impact over time. Give attention to:

• Rest
• Exercise
• Spiritual renewal
• Family

3. Get back in the game. Again, low morale is not clinical depression. For this post, the cause of the low morale is largely circumstantial. After a leader has gained perspective and recharged a bit it’s time to push forward. Perhaps you are facing a daunting leadership challenge, start by taking one step forward. Significant changes begin with the first step. Refocus your leadership.

Winning usually has a wonderful effect on low morale. Lead your team to a win, even if it’s a “small win.”

What do you do when you are struggling with low morale?

Accessibility Part II

Posted by chuckc on Apr 13, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

In Wednesday’s post I discussed the need for leaders to have an accessibility system. We defined accessibility as the ease in which a stakeholder (team members, customers, supplies, board members, etc.) can have interaction with you.

Accessibility is likely an ongoing tension to manage for most leaders. Even if your current system is working effectively, it will need modifications when the context (your role, responsibilities, size of the organization, etc.) changes.

I have found the need to balance my desire and responsibility to have a high level of accessibility for stakeholders with the need to lead our team forward, achieve priorities and manage my calendar/time. Recognizing that context is vital when discussing accessibility the following are the accessibility guidelines I attempt to function within as I lead a staff team of 14 at Faith  Promise Church , current executive coaching clients who desire and merit accessibility, and when I led Oak Ridge High School (a school of 1500 students and 160 staff).

Accessibility Guidelines/Thoughts

• Develop a culture when people schedule appointments. Most situations, with proper planning should not be an emergency. Keep in mind that even using an appointment system, you may not be the correct person in the organization to meet with someone. For example, when I was a high school principal a parent would call and request a meeting with me. In 99% of the cases the correct administrator for them to meet with was the Vice-Principal who worked with the freshmen class.
• A good portion of my daily schedule is filled with meetings.  However, it is still necessary to develop a system for people who want to see me that don’t have an appointment. I utilize the following guidelines.
  • My bosses – immediate access
  • Direct reports 
    • If my door is open (this means whatever I am working on can be interrupted) – immediate access. If my door is closed (whatever I am working on cannot be interrupted) and it’s urgent (defining urgent will require some coaching) – immediate access.
    • If my door is closed and it’s not urgent – come back or schedule an appointment.
• Team members (not direct reports)
  • If my door is open my assistant serves as the filter (she may be able to provide the needed assistance) and communicates the likely need for brevity.
  • If my door is closed – would require an emergency to interrupt. Schedule an appointment.
• Customers – see team members
• Others – most likely would require an appointment or redirection to someone else.
• Email/phone calls – your daily volume changes the context. I try to return all phone calls within 24 hours. Emails are typically returned within 24 hours, sometimes 48. Occasionally it is necessary to acknowledge receipt of the email and indicate it will be a few days before you can get back to them.

Final Thoughts on Accessibility

• We lead people, we have customers/clients – if I err I want to err on the side of being accessible.
• You can reduce your appointment requests by getting out of your office. Be visible within the organization. I had tons of 3-5 minute hallway conversations with students and teachers that provided the needed assistance and eliminated the need for an appointment. Another benefit to this strategy is that you are able to make first-hand observations regarding functionality within the organization.
• Offer informal group meeting opportunities. Perhaps for coffee or a brown bag lunch gathering. I had a monthly “breakfast with the principal” where I provided doughnuts and juice. Any student could drop by, ask any question they wanted, hang out or head to class. I loved the student interaction and the students appreciated the easy accessibility.
• Walk slowly through the crowd. If your organization has large gatherings (in my world this would be/has been weekend services, concerts, ball games, etc.) these are great opportunities to be accessible. Again, interact with these stakeholders.

In order to be the most effective and provide the desired level of accessibility, leaders need to establish an accessibility system/culture.

What is your accessibility system?

Accessibility: Developing Your System

Posted by chuckc on Apr 11, 2012 in Leadership | 2 comments

How accessible are you?

How accessible do you want to be?

Accessibility has many facets. For this post, accessibility is the ease in which a stakeholder (teammembers, customer, supplier, board member, etc.) can have interaction with you. Leaders are busy. Most are very busy. People, both internal and external to the organization, want/need interaction with organizational leaders. For many leaders the requests are greater than the available time. In many cases much greater. What do you do? Where do you draw the line?

What’s your system?

This question may strike at the heart of your leadership philosophy. What type of responsibility do you have to interact with various organizational stakeholders?

Your system should include:

• Internal Accessibility
  • Do people need an appointment to see you?
  • Does anyone have “walk-in“privileges?
  • Depending on the size of your organization can everyone even get an appointment?
  • Is there a different standard for your direct reports, your boss, board members, etc.?
• External Accessibility
  • How do your customers interact with you?
  • Do you take appointments from suppliers?
  • What about electronic communication? Does every email, phone call, text message, receive a reply?

The conversation on accessibility is a component of a larger conversation about priorities and time management.

On Friday I will share some of the strategies I have used and are currently using regarding accessibility.

What other considerations should your system include?