Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘leadership’

Be Vulnerable, Be Honest with Your Team

Posted in business, self-improvement, tagged , , on October 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »

In order to build real trust, a person has to be willing to be vulnerable in front of others.

This is a tough one for an Asian male like me. My culture of “face-saving” is not conducive to exposing weaknesses. I’ve had friends tell me that I’m easy to befriend but hard to really get to know. In business, my leadership style has been more based on ability to motivate and inspire than on building trust and unbreakable team cohesion. I think that is in part my inability (or unwillingness) to expose my vulnerabilities.

In my younger days, this was a reaction to my upbringing and youthful insecurities. Now, I’ve finally started questioning my desire to appear infallible to others? If I really was confident in myself, shouldn’t I be able to overcome the limitations that my “face-saving” reactions cause in my relationship with friends and colleagues? I will never be one to discuss my personal problems (other than about my children) too openly. But I will try to be more honest about who I am and my vulnerabilities. I think it will help my relationships on all fronts.

My challenge to other leaders is to look honestly at how vulnerable you are in front of your teams. That answer probably directly reflects the type of team you are running.

Read Full Post »

Signs of a Great Leader

Posted in business, management, tagged , , , on August 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Leaders who I really admire are those who pass on the credit when successful but always hold themselves accountable when things are challenging. The book, “Good to Great” details how such leaders are found in companies that can make that magic leap to greatness.

In today’s difficult economic times many companies are struggling. The leadership will be a key factor of whether these companies can perform better or even survive the times ahead. Does the leader in your company blame bad results on the economy with no solutions for remedying the solution?  Do you as a leader get paralyzed with indecision during times of uncertainity, preferring just to wait out the “negative business cycle”?

Executives need to hold themselves accountable and not the environment. Amid the current economic situation, many companies still do thrive. They are being lead by people who are realistic about the state of the current affairs and have set tangible paths to success with difficult decisions, commitment and consistency.

These leaders are not motivated by personal recognition. but rather by unshakeable professional will (an unwavering focus to doing the right things for the long term of their organization). In today’s tough business climate, effective leaders will distinguish themselves even more than during times of economic boom.

Read Full Post »

Leading through Momentum Shifts in Business

Posted in Entrepreneurs, management, tagged , on August 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Momentum is a part of the ebb and flow of life. It often gets magnified in sporting events because of their intense competition format. Momentum shifts in sports can be felt and seen in the results. It’s visible on the face of players, by the reaction of fans, and even in how “luck” seems to be allocated to opposing sides — the bounce of the ball.
Well, momentum is just as obvious in work places and even your personal lives. I’ve seen momentum shift in start-up in dramatic fashion: The cadence of business picks up, the energy amongst the staff increases and a start-up finds rhythm to success. As a leader in a business one needs to recognize momentum shifts one way or another. An effective leader purposefully influences the shifts in momentum rather than just being swept up in it.
When negativity penetrates a work place because of a negative review of a product or a lay off, momentum will inevitably head the wrong way. At that point, it is not just rah-rah that will stem the tide. It is hard, honest work that will fix the issues. It is effective communication. It is a well-thought out vision that people can rally around.
All businesses have ebbs and flows. There will be good and bad days. There will be momentum shifts. How a leader handles and affects those shifts is important. Some leaders actually are most negative when things turn against them. Others offer up cheers rather than good ideas to change the situation. Effective leaders recognize that momentum has turned against them and come up with tangible plans and ideas to improve the situation and communicate them to the whole group.

Of course, the same principles apply to managing your personal lives.

Read Full Post »

Building an Effective Leadership Team

Posted in business, management, tagged , , on July 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

The most effective leadership teams are the ones that empower their members enough to challenge one another but is cohesive enough that once a decision is made everyone falls in line.

It takes trust from each member to create such a leadership team. There needs to be a transparent environment where difficult situations are directly addressed and individuals are clearly held accountable.

Many mistake a “cordial” team as most effective. These teams tend to have non-confrontational members who are unwilling to hold each other accountable. Remember you need some degree of friction to hone a blade. During challenging times, these teams have difficulties making needed changes. They also tend to have collective blind spots that make the overall leadership team vulnerable.

A team that is too confrontational has its own problems. These leaders create dysfunctional work environments where trust is completely absent. Much of the collective energy is inwardly focused on internal conflicts rather than outwardly toward customers or competitors.

In my experience, more organizations suffer from a leadership team that doesn’t challenge one another enough. If this is the case with your leadership team then create better transparency within the group so that everyone is clear on how each member is being held accountable. Such an environment  usually provides the right foundation for everyone to give constructive feedback to one another because it’s clear what is supposed to be done and by whom.

 

Read Full Post »

Effective Leaders can Course-Correct & Take Everyone on the Journey

Posted in business, management, tagged , , on June 29, 2011 | 4 Comments »

Sometimes I envy those who are satisfied traveling alone on life’s journeys. How easy is that? You get to choose where you want to go, which route to take, what pace you want to travel. You don’t have to convince anyone else. You don’t have to build consensus.

I often think about this in business terms. One of the reasons that I’ve been involved with six startups is  for this very reason. I’m confident that I understand developing market trends, especially around digital marketing. I set the vision and off I go. Along the way, I take on partners and companions but the vision has already been set and people are joining the journey because they agree with the business plan.

Much more difficult is changing the direction of your journey midstream with a new vision. Now, you must convince people who didn’t initially sign up for the “new” vision. It has to be compelling and yet simple enough for everyone to understand. You need to be patient, persuasive, thick-skinned and articulate. And in many cases, you have to admit that the original direction that was set was wrong. Basically, you need to be a leader, which is hard work.

I respect those effective managers who are able to implement a new strategic direction that keep large organizations viable. They move people, which is the only way to move “mountains”.  This article, “Good Leaders Acknowledge What Can’t Be Done” (Harvard Business Journal), explains how  ”even when things clearly aren’t going right, strong psychological tendencies keep the average leader from admitting it and correcting course.”

The ability to acknowledge that a new strategy is needed is in of itself quite a unique skill. Then, to course-correct and effectively take a whole oragnization on a new journey would be showing superior leadership skills. Think about all the great corporate turnarounds today (Starbucks, IBM, Apple, etc), and the companies that need new strategic direction right now but are struggling to make changes (i.e. publishing companies). The difference is in the leadership.

Read Full Post »

Offer Clarity, Not Perfection

Posted in business, Entrepreneurs, tagged , , on March 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

In leadership, clarity is critical. How do you expect people to commit and follow if you don’t offer clarity?

So many times, I see companies maxing out at one level of development because it’s not clear from leadership what is the next “stair-step” in the company’s devleopment. As a leader, don’t worry about your business plan or strategy being perfect. Let me let you in on a little secret: There is NO perfect business plan. Come up with a vision or concept that is clear — and then let your “smart” team help figure out how to get there. But offer the direction.

Not having clarity in the vision stalls progress and demotivates a capable team. Leadership means leading to a certain direction, not always coming up with a detailed map.

Read Full Post »

Invest In Your Strengths As A Leader

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , on February 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Each great leader has different strengths from other great leaders. For example, history points to Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi as great leaders, but everyone would agree that their strengths were completely different.

Too many corporate leaders today, according to the book, “Strengths Based Leadership”, study past successful leaders and try to imitate them. Rather, all leaders should better understand their own strengths and learn how to leverage those even further.

Leadership is NOT about trying to be all things to everyone in all situations. Being an effective leader is investing in your strengths, while acknowledging your weaknesses. Great leaders know how to surround themselves with complementary teams.

At times in my career, I had tried to be a certain type of a leader that was not authentic. I was only fooling myself. My team knew right away that I was trying to be someone that I was not. Of course, my more successful business ventures were when I played to my strengths and built an appropriate team around me that overcame my weaknesses. We complemented one another.

A leader’s first priority should be building a great team. That means hiring people who bring different and varying skills and perspectives. Too often, we hire people who are like ourselves. Getting a diverse team to work together focused on a common vision – now, that’s great leadership and a sure recipe for success.

The book recites research that has found these key findings:

  1. The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths.
  2. The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.
  3. The most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs.

Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie

Read Full Post »

Moving Mountains with Leadership

Posted in business, management, tagged , , , on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

How do you lead?  

Create an authentic environment which lets people feel a part of something bigger than themselves individually — with a compelling purpose.

My happiest memories include being a part of my high school team that lost three of its first four games before getting on a roll and making it all the way to the Washington State Tournament. It was an amazing feeling to be a part of that team. I would have run through a wall for my teammates.

In 1995, I was in the King Dome with 50,000 other people when Edgar Martinez’ double scored Ken Griffey Jr. from first base to beat the New York Yankees and send the Mariners to its first American League Championship Series. I was one with 50,000 people: Incredible feeling.

In 1997, I was a part of the executive team at ARIS that offered an IPO on NASDAQ. My brother was the CEO and many of my best friends (to this day) on the executive team with nearly 1,000 employees. That was an experience bigger than any of us individually.

In these cases, each end purpose is very obvious to most. However, inside a company or another sort of an organization, the “compelling” purpose is often unclear or misunderstood. A leader needs to make that clear and rally people around it. If done effectively, authentically, people will WANT to be a part of what you are building. They will commit and be excited to be a PART of that something bigger.

If you can do that, you can move mountains.

Read Full Post »

Making Excuses for Your Management Team?

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , , on July 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Management teams say a lot about any company. Effective leaders surround themselves with great people. Such leaders understand their weaknesses and know how to augment those inadequacies by hiring accordingly. Real leaders are not afraid to hire people who will challenge them intellectually.

An effective CEO also knows when someone on his/her management team will not make the team better, and does something about it decisively. Inaction often has as much, if not more, consequences than making an ineffective decision with the right intentions.

When building an executive team and personalities are involved, a young CEO and entrepreneur may not be able to decipher who on the management team is effective and who is not. Other times, he/she do understand the shortcomings of the team but is too inexperience or immature to move quickly to fix the problem.

I’ve met with a lot of young companies and their management teams. I can usually tell within a couple of minutes whether the team has the right chemistry or not, whether the individuals push each other constructively, or whether the team is dysfunctional.

In one company, many made excuses for one of the top executives before I even met him. That was not an effective management team. Recently, I met another management team where everyone comfortably contributed to a meeting. No one person dominated, including the top executive. I knew right away that this group headed for success.

Be honest now, how effective is your management team? Are you making excuses?

Read Full Post »

Building Trust Keeps the Team Strong

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Trust. Why is it so fleeting?

Trust determines your relationships with your most intimate peeps, with your work colleagues, with strangers, with everyone. Some of us have the propensity to trust too much, others too little.

In a team environment, it is critical to trust your teammates. When a superstar athlete does not trust his teammates, he tries to do everything on his own, usually losing to the other TEAM.

In the work place, it is no different. I’ve always said that I’d take three capable and collaborative people over three extremely-brilliant people who can’t work together — or trust one another. The military understands this well, and breaks down new recruits until they are completely built back up in a team concept, learning to trust their fellow soldiers. This is because at times of extreme crisis, trust becomes critically challenged. In order to overcome difficult situations, teammates need to trust one another even more.

In the workplace, people must trust one another to build a powerful team. If people don’t trust one another, then micro-management, finger pointing, gossiping, politicking will begin to dominate. Most energy will be internally focused rather than outwardly toward customer needs or market opportunities and threats.

Building a trusting environment starts at the top. Leadership must show trust toward the team and vision. Then the leaders need to build an environment where failure is okay when trying to solve problems creatively. There needs to be a net for people who may fail, such as a good, clear escalation path and a mechanism by which each experience is used as a constructive learning lesson.

Such a strong, ever-improving team is much more scalable, sustainable and effective than a manager trying to “do it all”.

In all your relationships, do you have the foundation to build trust? In times of marital or parental crisis, your trust will surely be tested. And either you will have the core foundation to trust or you will not.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 39 other followers