Leadership Articles

(Powerful leadership lessons are found  everywhere.  In a sporadic series of blogs, I am going to explore the people that taught me those lessons.  Some will be expected, others may not. Thanks for reading!)
 
Although it was a day I would not want to wish on anyone, I’m glad that it happened to me. The lessons it taught me about leadership still influence.

Summer 1994.  I was racing to find a parking spot because I was running late for a meeting. Again. Found an open spot under the “L” tracks between two cars much nicer than mine.  But then, that wasn’t hard since mine was a bright turquoise Pontiac Sunbird with a horrible orange pinstripe.  It was cheap and I was broke.
 
I pulled into the spot and finished my last minute prep. Tied my tie, slicked back my hat head and grabbed everything off my back seat to throw in the trunk.  It was my last minute ritual.  I was frantic and late, but still needed to make sure my stuff was locked in my trunk. As I was putting my prized possessions away I noticed a man walking by my car.  He was watching me.  But, I looked like chicken running around with its head cut off.  People starred when I was doing my frantic “I’m late and need to get ready” dance.  I didn’t think anything of it.
 
Finally done, I closed my trunk and picked up my briefcase to run to my meeting.  As I walked around my car towards the sidewalk I heard footsteps behind me.  Before I could turn around I felt an arm around my throat.  It was huge. Breathing was getting hard.  It was pulling me under the tracks. I grabbed on to a girder and held on for dear life.  As I wrapped my arms tighter around the girder I felt something sharp against my throat and heard a voice say, ” You feel that. No give me all you got”
 
Being a broke recently graduated college student, I didn’t have much.  But after a little pain, I gave it all away.  Watch from my father, ring from my uncle, necklace from a friend and all the money I had.  Luckily he didn’t take my car.  He did take a big piece of my pride.  In return he taught me a few lessons that I still carry with me today
 
1. Be prepared – No matter what you are doing, be prepared. Leave enough time to get things done properly. Most mistakes come from our lack of preparation and not thinking through possible scenarios.  I could have picked a different place to park if I had prepared a little better.  If I was completely ready for my meeting, I would have avoided being where I was.  My stuff would’ve been put away already. Leaders need to be prepared.  Of course you can’t be prepared for every instance, but knowing what you want to happen is a great place to start.  People want their leaders to know where they want to go.
 
2. Pay attention to your surroundings – Don’t be so oblivious to your surroundings that you miss things.  Watch carefully.  Look for cues that may give you insight.  It is vitally important that you look at non-verbals to help you assess what people’s motives are.  I should have seen my mugger watching me, but I was oblivious to him. Now I take in my surroundings and watch for what people are not saying to help me decide how to react.  Leaders have to master their surroundings, physical and virtual. Leaders can see who they need to influence, convince and avoid.  
 
3. Don’t be frantic – When push comes to shove, don’t panic.  When you are rushed and frantic, you are libel to miss things and get sloppy.  Take it easy and be calm.  If you are calm, the people around you will be calm.  More importantly you can think more clearly.  Your decisions are better and the outcomes are too. Take a deep breath and relax.  People want leaders that aren’t spooked at every turn.  They don’t want a robot, but being calm under pressure is a key leadership characteristic
 
I’m more vigilant and safer now because of that man. I am a better consultant and leader because of him too. Although I wish I had that watch back, I’m grateful for the lessons.
 
Where have you learned unexpected leadership lessons?

Anil Saxena is the President of Cube 2.14, an organizational development consulting firm that works with clients to increase both customer and employee engagement while decreasing turnover, improving customer retention, and increasing profitability within organizations.

Saxena is a certified High Impact coach and trainer and a Joint Application Design facilitator. He is also certified by both Rush Systems and IBM as a focus group facilitator. He is an inaugural member of Northwestern University’s Learning and Organizational Change program, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Is the hyper competitive nature of education hindering team success?  For the most part, education is (and has been for some time) an individual endeavor.  The emphasis is put on individual test scores, presentations, papers, etc.  Every so often, there are group projects.
 
Generally, these are not graded on how well people worked together, just on the end result.  
 
My daughter loathed working on group projects.  Not because she didn’t like people. Each “group project” had a common theme.

1. The group would be randomly assigned.
2. One person would do most of the work,
3. One person would do some and
4. The rest let that happen.
5. There was always one person that actively did nothing.
 
When my daughter would go to the teacher to complain, the teacher would tell her:

• Just talk to them
• Work it out as a team
• That’s part of being on a team
• It’s important that you figure this out
 
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT NO ONE EVER TAUGHT THE GROUP HOW TO ACT AS A TEAM.

But why?  Is there any job that is done in isolation anymore? Can anything really get done that isn’t completed by a team?  Teachers don’t talk about HOW to work as a team. Unfortunately, its not something we just know how to do!
 
BUT WHY SHOULD WE LEARN ABOUT HOW TO WORK IN TEAMS? ARE TEAMS IMPORTANT?

Simply put, teams improve organizational effectiveness.
 
“No organization can function without teams. Even a sole practitioner, with the exception of a hermit on a desert on a desert island, is dependent on a network of collaborative relationships…Just as mortar binds bricks together on a wall, teams are the mortar that hold organizations together. The whole point of an organization is to is to create value by collaborating collectively” Peter Honey, Teams and Teamwork
 
SO WHAT IF WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO WORK IN TEAMS! WHAT IS THIS COSTING US?

If almost everything that is accomplished in organizations is done through/by teams, not teaching our children about how to work in teams effectively is exceptionally detrimental to the health of all organizations.
 

1. Make sure teachers know how to educate/train students on the fundamentals of teamwork.  Let’s start with a definition to help all of us.

There are hundreds of definitions and acronyms trying to define what teams are.  But one of the best I’ve heard lately was from a recent LinkedIn question:

AND
 

◦ What does it mean to be a team member
◦ How to be an effective member of a team
◦ What does it take to lead a team
 

3. Shift the focus from individual to team recognition

a. Make sure we are taking the time to share the importance of teams.
b. Discuss how to work well on teams
c. Watch movies about teams with your children – (Please check out the site that lists these movies for some other killer blogs on teams and teamwork)
▪ Miracle
▪ Remember the Titans
▪ Invictus
 
There are probably many other options or ideas that can be developed.  But, the point is, working on teams is an essential skill that we all need to improve.  It starts with our children, but carries on into adulthood.
 
What else can we do to ensure children are learning about teams in school?  
 
Anil Saxena is the President of Cube 2.14, an organizational development consulting firm that works with clients to increase both customer and employee engagement while decreasing turnover, improving customer retention, and increasing profitability within organizations.

Saxena is a certified High Impact coach and trainer and a Joint Application Design facilitator. He is also certified by both Rush Systems and IBM as a focus group facilitator. He is an inaugural member of Northwestern University’s Learning and Organizational Change program, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

(Powerful leadership lessons are learned from everywhere.  In a sporadic series of blogs, I am going to explore the people that taught me those lessons.  Some will be expected, others may not. Thanks for reading!)
 
Being a parent is probably one of the most effective ways to learn. Maybe it’s because I had no idea what I was doing and yet HAD to be successful at it.  Maybe it was the fact that you REALLY did have someone’s life in your hands.  I’m not entirely sure, but being a father taught me more about leadership than almost any experience I’ve had.  
 
My daughter is a smart, accomplished young adult now.  Although I’m not completely objective, others tell me that my wife did a great job raising her. Every day with her gave me insight into leadership.  Although there were many lessons, here are the top three:
 
1. BECAUSE I SAID SO IS NOT A CALL TO ACTION

Although its hard to believe, telling someone to do something they don’t understand, don’t want to do and/or don’t feel comfortable doing because you told them to is not inspiring.  I know, shocking, right?
 

Who would have thought that he was talking about parenting?  Really!  The greatest resistance we got was when we demanded our daughter do something or forced her to do something.  Even when she was very little, helping her understand why we were asking her to do something allowed her to see the end game.  It clarified rationale.  People want to know why they are being asked to take on a task.  Treat them with the respect and let them know.  Once they understand that you are doing things for their best interests or the greater good, you’ll earn their trust.  Then you can make requests that’ll be fulfilled without question.

2. EACH MEMBER OF THE TEAM’S OPINION COUNTS, NO MATTER THEIR RANK
 
When making a decision that will affect the team, it’s vital to gather everyone’s insight about it.  Although you may not use all of it, you can and should talk to everyone.  It is often surprising the ideas that come from the least expect members of the group.

Holidays have always been a source of stress for my family.  Where to spend them, how to allocate time to all members of the family equally, etc.  After a very heated discussion, my daughter piped up and said, “Why don’t we just have everyone here.”

Simple AND genius.  Very powerful solution that made sure everyone was satisfied.

Although not every idea is golden from every person on a team, it is critical to listen.  The best ideas come from the most unexpected places.

3. TRY TO MAKE EVERYTHING FUN

Okay, it’s hard to make filling out Travel and Expense paperwork fun.  But, my daughter made a game out of just about anything that was mundane or boring.  Whether is was cleaning her bathroom or straightening her room, she did those things with a certain sense of joy.  It almost made them look fun.  Not to say that getting her to do some things wasn’t a chore, but in the end she made those tasks work FOR her.  She became very good at them and almost looked forward to them as a time to reflect or relax her mind.  Sounds funny, but it works.  I started to that with team meetings, performance appraisals, project updates, etc.  Surprisingly enough, it worked.  My team started to pick up on it.  Needless to say, “administrivia” was never the same again.

I’m a more thoughtful and pleasant leader because of being a father.  Luckily for me, I listened and learned from her.
 
Where do you learn unexpected lessons of leadership?  What relationships provide you with valuable insight?

Anil Saxena is the President of Cube 2.14, an organizational development consulting firm that works with clients to increase both customer and employee engagement while decreasing turnover, improving customer retention, and increasing profitability within organizations.

Saxena is a certified High Impact coach and trainer and a Joint Application Design facilitator. He is also certified by both Rush Systems and IBM as a focus group facilitator. He is an inaugural member of Northwestern University’s Learning and Organizational Change program, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

There’s a huge difference between being a manager and having the title of “manager.” Real managers are leaders, role models who set good examples and go to bat for the people on their staff.
 

1.    THE LONELY OFFICE

If your team members aren’t coming to you with new ideas, it may be because you have the tendency to shoot them down or pick them apart in an attempt to add value. Employees want a leader that supports them, and a large part of that is hearing ideas and concerns, and actually taking them into account when developing strategy and policy.
 
After enough unsuccessful attempts to be heard, employees will simply stop bringing ideas to the table (or find another avenue for their voices to be heard). When this happens, “managers” become cut off from their teams, and any respect for their authority is all but lost. To be an effective manager, you have to have an open ear for your staff, and more importantly, you have to take the concerns of the team into consideration when making decisions that affect them.

If you ignore your team, eventually they will start to ignore you in return.

2.    EXCUSES
 
Does your meeting attendance seem less than satisfactory? Do your team members always seem to have something else to do? If you’re getting more excuses than attendees, it might be a sign that your employees aren’t finding value in your presentations.

Are the meetings collaborative efforts or one-man-shows? To keep meetings interesting, it helps to have at least a portion that’s interactive – foster a discussion instead of a lecture.

3.    FORCED LUNCH
 
If you have to force people to go out to a company lunch, there may be a serious, serious problem. Company excursions like this are supposed to be fun, but an overbearing or overly strict manager can take all the enjoyment out of it. While these types of get-togethers can still be business related, part of the point of getting out of the office is to loosen up a little bit. If you aren’t allowing this to happen, then it’s pretty likely that no one is going to volunteer to make the special trip.

4.    THE SLOW LEAK

If employee retention is a problem, it might have more to do with you than the employees – especially when tenured or highly skilled team members are seeking other means of employment, despite your best efforts to keep them on staff. If incentive packages, raises, or other perks aren’t keeping the best and brightest satisfied, it might be time to look in the mirror for the problem.
 

Being a real manager takes a unique combination of abilities, but it CAN be learned. Managers of every industry should make a point to build rapport with their teams – a work environment that revolves around mutual trust and respect. The relationship should ultimately be symbiotic – each role being filled with the support of the others. It’s the manager’s job to make sure this type of environment is facilitated through his or her jurisdiction.
 

What are you doing to bring your team together?

Anil Saxena is the President of Cube 2.14, an organizational development consulting firm that works with clients to increase both customer and employee engagement while decreasing turnover, improving customer retention, and increasing profitability within organizations.

Saxena is a certified High Impact coach and trainer and a Joint Application Design facilitator. He is also certified by both Rush Systems and IBM as a focus group facilitator. He is an inaugural member of Northwestern University’s Learning and Organizational Change program, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.