31 Days to Becoming a Better Leader

Day #21: Team Action Planning

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. –Confucius

This is the step for making things happen. It’s the integration of strategy into performance. The team goes into action with the steps they have created, that they now own, you have approved, and all is transparent.

In this step, the accountability mechanism isn’t you. The accountability now rests with the team members themselves. Peer-to-peer accountability is stronger than top-down process management. You can have both, but you don’t need to be the daddy or mommy of the group. Let them manage the mutual accountabilities. It’s their performance that matters.

If the team doesn’t perform, it becomes quite evident as to where the problem lies and with whom the issues rest. In this model, everything is transparent.

Here’s the process:

1. Gather the team – Convene a session for the purpose of creating an action plan to achieve a monthly milestone under a short-term goal for the year. If you haven’t set monthly milestones yet, it’s time to do that. You can do both in a single session.
2. Create a working space – I use a storyboard sprayed with repositionable mounting glue and paper from the printer cut in half. The paper will stick to the cardboard you get at the art store or office supply. It’s a 36×48” tri-fold black report board.
3. Print out the Short-Term Goal you are working on and place it on the board.
4. Print out the current milestone for the month. Plan ahead for the upcoming month.
5. Brainstorm a list of to-dos (action steps) to reach the milestone.
6. Combine ideas that are practical for one step and create a new note.
7. Place the items on a board with the header, “Action Item” or “Action Step.”
8. Write the name of a “Responsible Person” for each item.
9. Define an Action Date – start date, draft date, completion date, phase one completion date, etc.
10. Transcribe the notes and send them to the group.

Tips:

1. You facilitate the process and team members create the content.
2. Appoint a person to transcribe the notes.
3. Do not allow cell phones or computers.
4. Set the next meeting before you adjourn.

Using the process empowers the team for action, sets accountabilities, highlights opportunities for coaching, and creates momentum.

If the team sets the action items, there should be action dates each week moving toward the milestone. The weekly reporting exposes uncompleted tasks that limit your progress.

By the way, keep your name off of any action that someone else can do so you can supervise.

Now, get out of the way and let them perform.

Next: Day #22 – Flash Meetings

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Day #22: Flash Meetings

The longer the meeting, the less is accomplished.  –Tim Cook

Flash meetings are a methodology that I didn’t invent, like most of the stuff I teach, and is likely not a common enough practice for many people to be aware of either.

A flash meeting is like the name implies – it’s short and, hopefully, over in a flash. Many times, the meeting is conducted with everyone standing. People are less prone to wasting time when standing.

The purposes for the flash meeting methodology are the following:

• For you as leader to stay apprised as to what’s happening at all times;
• For the different group members, company leaders, committee chairs, etc., to stay connected with others in the organization to maximize effectiveness;
• To expand a shared responsibility in the culture;
• To set a pattern for regular communications;
• For you as leader to have a chance to connect any variances in performance before they get too far out of control;
• To manage expectations, lowering the potential for unnecessary conflict;
• To lighten the workload for each team member by realizing others bring value to the work of every other team member;
• To build relationships within the team.

Here’s the basic pattern for a regular (I suggest weekly) flash meeting:

• Start promptly at the time scheduled (don’t wait for latecomers to arrive);
• Have a visual posting for proceeding with the set of deliverables scheduled for review;
• Set the reporting order and move directly through that order;
• Ask each person to stick to reporting and not providing lots of data or discussing minor details, unless those details add value to the report;
• Each person acknowledges the completion of the previous set of deliverables, or asks for assistance in solving problems that prevented the completion of those deliverables, and then shares the deliverables for the next meeting;
• Share what’s needed from others on the team and ask what others need;
• Rotate through the entire group with the same reporting pattern;
• Once the reports are complete, set individual meetings between group members or yourself and others to manage details or to mentor. Don’t provide harsh or major corrections in the group; save that for individual conversations.

Flash Meetings:

• Keep them short and frequent – daily or weekly, if there’s enough to accomplish. 
• Have a visual with deliverables posted and to record new deliverables.
• Lead the meeting by letting team members report.
• Let the accountability for results reside with the group members; if that isn’t effective, then meet individually with people not performing up to exceptions. 
• Keep the work focused on the organization’s goals and monthly milestones.
• Enjoy the relationships and celebrate success whenever appropriate.

Meetings are focused on outcomes, build relationships, create team energy, and build the influence of the leader.

Next: Day #23 – Avoiding Micromanaging: Coaching and Mentoring

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Day #23: Avoiding Micromanaging: Coaching and Mentoring 

A coach has some great questions for your answers; a mentor has some great answers for your questions. – Anonymous 

The most deadly activity I see, and the most common as well, is micromanaging. It’s the “BOSS” syndrome. Telling people what to do isn’t effective in today’s world. Learning to delegate is one of the most difficult skills for today’s leader to master. We have seen others show up as BOSS and command the space by telling everyone everything to do. Once the BOSS leaves, people typically do whatever they please and accomplish just enough to get by. What happens when the leader isn’t present is the test of true leadership.

My definition of BOSS: when you spell is backwards, you get “Double SOB!” This doesn’t inspire a high-functioning culture.

Delegate and assist in the completion of the tasks. Here’s what’s required for effective delegation:

• Clearly define the desired end result.
• Provide information for achieving that result.
• Provide needed information along the way when asked.
• Respect the individual.
• Mentor as necessary for subject matter expertise you have.
• Set time-activated report times with specific results.
• Get out of the way.

Don’t confuse coaching with mentoring. 

• Coaching is mostly asking questions and assisting the team member in increasing their own leadership skills. A coach never provides answers or tells anyone what to do.
• Mentoring is providing specific information and skills for achieving something. The mentor is a subject matter expert and knows not only what they want accomplished, but also the information and skills to do it. The mentor is primarily a teacher.

If you didn’t notice, the last bullet point in delegation is … “Get out of the way.” Leaders often get in the way and limit the performance of team members.

Next: Day #24 – No Job Descriptions

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Day #24: No Job Descriptions

A job description is a form invented by HR departments to validate their job. It has taken form as a list of tasks, which is a form of micromanaging.– Hugh Ballou 

I love to borrow the quote from a colleague of mine that the Job Description is an invention of the HR department, which is the department of Human Remains. That’s not very flattering. HR professionals are important watchdogs for compliance in organizations. In fact, organizations without this department are in jeopardy of breaking the law. So, it’s really not a joke. It’s just bad practice.

Having no document is worse than having a bad document, however, not much worse. Having a checklist of tasks is the document I have mostly seen. It’s not a document that inspires high-performing team members to do their best.

A new best practice for my teaching is developing a “Position Description” for a specific job or position within an organization. The elements of this document are also the checklist for hiring employees, consultants, or board members. It’s a description of an area of performance with specific exceptions clearly defined.

Here are the elements for a Position Description:

• Title of the Position
• Describe the Position in a Few Words
• Competencies Needed
• Role and Responsibility
• Culture Fit – Alignment with values and principles
• Performance Expectations – updated monthly or quarterly

What’s important here is that a person has a performance track. You, as the leader, guide them on that track. The role and responsibility might be “to create and implement…” or “to manage…” It’s a very specific track for their work, but not defining every single thing they are expected to do in that job. If the right person has been engaged for the right match in performance, then let that person define how he or she will accomplish said deliverables over time. Point people to end results, and not to activity.

Next: Day #25 – Evaluations

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Day #25: Evaluations

If you are building a culture where honest expectations are communicated and peer accountability is the norm, then the group will address poor performance and attitudes. – Henry Cloud

Evaluations are how we examine the progress or value of a program or activity and/or job performance. Frequent evaluations help to determine whether or not we leaders and our teams are on track for a predetermined objective.

Evaluations serve many purposes and show up in many forms. The leader must decide what to evaluate and the meaning of that evaluation. Once the evaluation is done, then the important decision is what to do with the data.

What to evaluate:

• Team or board performance – self-evaluation is very revealing and mostly productive.
• Employee performance – the annual review is destructive and dysfunctional. Establish continuing evaluations.
• Yourself – get a peer group to provide you with feedback and not just a group of “yes” people.
• A strategic plan or any plan.
• Any process, event, performance, or individual.

First, the leader decides:

• What to evaluate.
• How often to evaluate.
• Why the evaluation is necessary.
• Who does the evaluating.
• How the data will be used.
• The process used in the evaluation.
• The rules of conduct in the evaluation – is criticism expected?

Here’s a simple format for use in group evaluations of themselves, events, plans, or activities:

• Affirmation and Measuring the Good – What did we do well? or What went well? (What to KEEP.)
• Identifying the Underperforming Areas or Activities – What needs changing? or What needs upgrading? (What to STOP.)
• New Things to Consider – Brainstorming things or activities we didn’t utilize before (What to START).

Next: Day #26 – Hiring Staff and Consultants

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Day #26:Hiring Staff and Consultants

Having the wrong person is worse than not having a person at all. – Hugh Ballou

It’s possible that I took the above quote from someone, but I can’t find a source for it. It’s so true, however. We hire someone for a position because we need someone by a certain time, and we hurry the process, making a quick judgment without the proper attention to the process and to the signals they send. We need to listen carefully with our eyes and ears to precisely worded questions.

The person working with us or our organization represents our organization. The brand image is at stake with each person representing us. We hire for skill and skip over checking to see if that person fits the culture we have so carefully nurtured. A proper search process takes time and energy and requires focus on the critical success factors.

Here are some basic concepts for finding the right person:

• Clearly define what is expected – describe the basic duties.
• Isolate the exact skills needed for performance and bullet point those skills.
• Define the character and personal traits needed – leadership skills, communication skills, analytical skills, etc.
• Develop an application form to include the information needed and ask for a résumé.
• Read both the application and résumé, highlighting things that jump out to include those items in future questions for the applicant.
• Search online to see what shows up, especially on social media.
• Schedule the first interview and include other decision-makers, but not too many people.
• Develop open-ended questions to reveal how the applicant sees reality, solves problems, thinks creatively, understands the nature of the work and culture, and how they approach and deal with conflict.
• Define the scope of work, commitment hours and energy expected, and salary and benefits.
• Determine if there’s a desire on both sides to move forward with the process toward a decision for engagement.
• Make the offer in writing.
• Define a start date.
• Sign an employment contract or other type of agreement.
• Begin the assimilation process with a defined mentor or point person.

This is a very important process that many organizations have not mastered or even developed a sufficient level of competency in applying to the decision. 

Next: Day #27 – Managing Time

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Day #27: Managing Time

Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days. –Zig Ziglar 

This is a funny title, because we can’t manage time! We can, however, manage our use of time. We all have the same amount of time every day. Not all of us use it wisely or even to our best interest.

My definition of a leader is a 3-part definition. A leader is a person who:

1. Gets things done – it’s not activity, it’s accomplishment.
2. Knows how things get done – either you know or you figure out how.
3. Influences others – basically, a leader is an influencer.

Here’s my list for getting more done in your normal day:

Stick to your goals

After all the time and energy you spent defining goals and then setting monthly milestones, please honor those as commitments to your own success.

Manage priorities 

In the book The Tyranny of the Urgent, by Charles Hummel, we learn now ordinary and unimportant tasks become urgent. It’s better to manage urgent things as important items in life, rather than tending to unimportant things that have become urgent because we didn’t prioritize them. Set priorities to be able to tend to important items with your full attention when they are not urgent and stressful.

Define what not to do

You have created a plan for your work in the system I have defined in this series of podcasts. If you know what you are supposed to be doing and understand the importance of those accomplishments, then active the word “no” for yourself and others. This leaves time to deal with unexpected priorities that come up from time to time. It’s interesting, however, that fewer unexpected urgent things come up when you are managing the priorities.

Use your calendar

Plan activities on your calendar when you need to be physically present, including the to-dos in your office. Those are the “nows” of the day. Those don’t include the time between each “now” and the time after each “now” to take notes and time-activate decisions and actions. Plan your day in 25-minute segments with a 5-minute break to move your body. Sitting all day is deadly for your health.

Eliminate distractions

Playing music in the background is a major distraction for me. I am a musician and the music grabs my attention. When conducting a musical ensemble, I have realized that when I move my hands in conducting, even that ordinary, necessary, and expected movement takes brain power. I lose about 40% of my ability to hear because some of my brain is focused on the movement of my hands.

Some leaders claim that they can get work done in a coffee shop. I find the people very distracting. I do my best work in a quite place with no views to tempt my imagination. When taking frequent breaks, I can enjoy a view, cup of coffee, or exchange with others for stimulation.

Learn the art of delegation and USE it

I have already spoken about delegation. I have not suggested strongly enough that it is essential for any leader. When leading a nonprofit, engage volunteers. They have a passion for what you are doing, so let them realize that passion and help you achieve the organization’s goals. 

Have an accountability partner

This is not your spouse or best friend…Find a person who will tell you what you need to hear and not just be nice.

Care for self

Be sure to get plenty of sleep and exercise. An alert mind is a high-functioning mind and one that’s less tolerant of time-wasting activities. Pace yourself and schedule breaks to walk around. You must move. Sitting is not healthy.

Next: Day #28 – Managing Stress

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Day #28: Managing Stress

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency. -Natalie Goldberg

Stress is our internal scripts telling us lies. We can manage everything if we believe we can. We can manage our own emotions. If stress is an emotion, then it can be managed internally.

Move from feeling to thinking whenever you see that emotions are taking over your being.

Worrying is not a productive leadership skill. Empathy, worry, fear, anxiety, and the like are emotions that leaders can push out of their conscious minds. The conscious mind has a choice. Choose what to think about. Both positive and negative thoughts go directly to the subconscious mind, which has no choice but to receive them. It’s the subconscious mind that runs our bodies. We can choose what to feed the unconscious mind.

Napoleon Hill interviewed 500 successful businessmen introduced to him personally by Andrew Carnegie. He discovered their secrets to success and developed his principles for success. He also discovered that they all had a positive image they could plant in their conscious mind that would offset a negative thought. He discovered that the mind can’t hold a negative and positive thought at the same time. It’s our choice to implant positive thoughts to control how we function. It’s not easy; it’s an acquired skill strengthened over time with practice.

If the leader is anxious, then that anxiety spreads to the others in the culture. If the leader remains calm, then others remain calm. We manage our own emotions, therefore, we influence others to do the same.

Ways to handle stress:

1. Think About the Importance of Your Goals– See the future in full color HD. It’s a picture of your success. You don’t have time to worry when you are heading toward your goal.
2. Address Stress Directly– Stress has many causes. One certainly is conflict. Many leaders avoid conflict at all costs. This is wrong. Approach conflict immediately and directly while remaining calm. You’ll be surprised how much more you can accomplish when remaining calm.
3. Find a Quiet Place and Breathe– This sounds simple. It is simple. Be quiet and breathe deeply. In with calm air, and out with anxious air. Breathing helps bring calm to your spirit.
4. Exercise– Yes, sweat is great for stress. Find a place to exercise and don’t be shy. Move and change your location. Move away from your desk for a change of pace and find an aerobic routine.
5. Sleep Enough– I need 8 hours of sleep every night – no exceptions. When I sleep, I’m better at managing my emotions. To stay emotionally balanced and physically healthy, get enough sleep.
6. Count Your Blessings– Remember what matters, and maybe what caused the worry is not important after all.
7. Focus on Your Faith– I read Christian scripture for feeding my spiritual self. This gives me hope and strength for my day. Whatever your faith is, practice it each day.
8. Surround Yourself with Competent, Positive Framing People– Talk to people who have a good outlook on life. Share openly and listen to their comments. It’s important to have others around us.

Leaders are always working on self. We never reach a plateau and stop growing.

Next: Day #29 – Support Groups

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Day #29: Support Groups

No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.-Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill, in his book Think and Grow Rich, gives many examples of “mastermind” groups. This is another type of accountability and advocacy support. Regular meetings of this team will help you pool the best thinking skills of each member and the result will be greater than the sum of the parts. This is the definition of synergy that Stephen Covey uses in his writings.

When you can combine skilled thinking and customize the output to solve your life challenges, then you are one step ahead of others who are just trying to keep up.

The individuals in your thinking and resource group can be people of like mind from similar professions, or people with different goals but similar leadership principles. You can also choose a variety of individuals from different professions who have different work styles. Your group must, however, be made up of people whom you trust, and with whom you can share your innermost thoughts. Each member of the group must be successful and continuously seeking to be more successful. Choose people whom you want to be around and would like to emulate. They must also believe that one can harness the combined spiritual force to focus spiritual energy on the prescribed goal.

It works something like this:

• Choose people whom you respect and learn from those who are successful.
• Set the size of the group. 4 to 6 is ideal so that there is time for everyone to interact.
• Meet regularly, weekly or bi-monthly, but often enough to be effective.
• Set the length of the meeting. One hour works unless a meal is included.
• Set a schedule that allows time for each person to share and stick to it.
• Each person should talk and share both the good and bad.
• Each person should listen and respond to others.
• Allow time for group interaction through brainstorming, evaluating, and strategizing.
• Appoint a process person to keep time and monitor participation.
• Ensure that each member is committed to the common goal.
• Challenge each other to stretch because of this group.

Choose a group of people who have similar aspirations. If you are interested in programs that target those in need, choose people in the social services field. If you are interested in attracting donors, choose people with strong financial skills. If you are interested in missions… well, you get the idea.

Make your list of prospects and call them in order of preference. Stop when you have a large enough group to begin. Set your sights high. Choose people who are successful and with whom you wish to associate. After all, transformation begins with a vision. Choose someone who has seen and fulfilled a vision. Transformational Leaders begin by transforming their own lives.

Set a time to meet that will work for everyone and enforce it. Set a timeline for how long the group will exist, and then dissolve the group at the end of that time or recommit to another schedule of meetings. Begin on time, end on time, and keep your schedule. However, life does not offer us challenges in equal doses or in set time allotments. If someone in the group has a large problem or major concern to share, then begin the meeting by negotiating 1 or 2 minutes from several other members to have extra time to work on that individual’s special needs.

This is accountability in high gear! It may not be your style. Push yourself to get out of your comfort zone and share your goals. You will be an inspiration to others.

Next: Day #30 – Have a Coach

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Day #30: Have a Coach

I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach theirmaximum potential.

–Bob Nardelli

Why do you need a coach?

1. Personal Awareness – Locate and address deadly blind spots.
2. Improve Leadership Skills – We don’t know what we don’t know.
3. Build Confidence – We need a cheerleader and accountability partner.
4. Sound Out Ideas – We can solve more problems if we have a confidential advisor to be a sounding board.
5. Gain Objectivity in Perspective – See how others might see things and get a different take on things.

Successful people have a coach.

Those who continue to struggle try to figure it out on their own.

An effective coach isn’t free. When you pay for the service, you get more value.

I serve as a coach to many types of leaders. It really doesn’t matter what their discipline is, they still lead. Good leadership is good leadership. It doesn’t matter where it’s applied. A leader in charge of an organization must have the overall vision for the organization in mind at all times. The big picture is not clouded by the details of getting to that vision. A coach assists in keeping that perspective. Leaders mustn’t settle into an alternate reality. A coach assists in bringing that reality to the forefront for us.

My particular unique value is in the integration of strategy into performance. Most effective leaders think like entrepreneurs, and not like managers or people that log in hours and go home. We have a passion for something and will accomplish that very special something. Building a road map to success (strategic plan) is the first step. Next is taking that plan and making it become a reality. Both of these activities are more difficult than they appear.

We can’t do our own strategy. Period. We need outside advice on the things we know best. We have subject matter knowledge; however, putting that knowledge into a format for implementation is a separate skill. We are too close to the information to be effective in developing a comprehensive plan. The proper assistance of a coach will help in gaining the clarity of options for your vision and even create a more direct pathway to fully achieving your mission.

In the implementation of the strategy, we struggle, and struggling wastes time and money. Having a confidential advisor who understands the structure of human potential in an organization will bring more value than the cost of the service.

Coaches are different, so interview several and note how you respond to their questions. In my world, coaching is listening and asking the right questions.

If you want to try me out, register for a 25-minute power session and see if it works for you. To get on my calendar, go to http://HughCalendar.com There’s no obligation and no pressure to buy. We must be a good fit for it to work for both of us.

There’s no worksheet for this episode. Refer to episode #23 to learn about the value of having a coach. Having a coach empowers us all to be a better coach.

Next: Day #31 – Continuing Improvement

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