Category Archives: Leadership

The Rhumb Line

1 Reply

In sailing, the rhumb line refers to the navigation direction, the line between two points, getting from here to there. Before we can get there, we have to figure out where there is, or what there is, or who there is. Without the destination, we have no rhumb line to guide us.

We spend a lot of time figuring out how we are going to get there, without thinking about where it is we want to go.  And, taking a team along with us.  Will it be fruitful to travel there? What lies at the destination? Will arriving be worth the trouble along the way? And, there is always trouble along the way. So, when you pick your destination, aim high.

Who You Hang With

Leave a reply

“You have collected the data, what you know, from people around you?” I asked a rhetorical question.

Sebastian pursed his lips, “That’s where I get my data from,” he replied.

“So, what you know, is what people have told you?” Same question, different words. “And, not just the data you collect from your team, but what people tell you about other things. What you want, your strategy, guidance and ideas. As you look at the people around you, it makes a lot of difference who they are. You cannot pick your parents, often cannot pick your school teacher, but as we go through life, we do select the people around us and who we depend upon to share their view of the world. It’s the reverse of the old adage – if you lay down with dogs, you’re going to get up with fleas. Take care who you hang out with. Do these people have your best interests at heart? Do they want to help you get where you want to go? Do they even know, or care to find out where you want to go?”

Most Important Variable

Leave a reply

“But, shouldn’t we start with the great management books in the literature?” Leonard questioned. “I mean the great management books, not the mediocre, not the lousy ones. Those people have tried and failed, tried again and finally succeeded. Shouldn’t I pay attention to how they did it?”

“How they did it, might be instructive,” I replied. “IF you were in those exact circumstances, at that exact time and IF you were who they were. But you’re not. You expect all things to be equal. Your circumstances are different, your time is different. Most importantly, YOU are different. The cogent variable is not the step-by-step instructions. The most important variable is YOU.”

The Way It Works

Leave a reply

“So you are not so high on reading books about leadership?” Leonard pushed back. “You read books on leadership. Are you saying that I shouldn’t listen to you. After all, you are the teacher.”

I smiled. “Yes, I read books. And, you choose whether to listen to me or not, it’s your choice. I know for a fact that I cannot teach leadership or management. It doesn’t happen that way. I also know, for a fact, that leadership or management can be learned. That’s the way it works.”

Real Life

Leave a reply

“I just read this great new book on leadership,” Leonard reported.

“Great,” I replied. “It’s always good to feed your head with new ideas.”

“No, I mean, this guy really hit the head of the nail. I think this will help me get the to root of some of the problems I experience with my team,” Leonard said. “Do you want me to tell you the ideas?”

“Nope,” I smiled. “Information on how to do something may be helpful, but it’s the application, the implementation that is more important. Rather than you tell me the great ideas in the book, go back to your team and apply those ideas. Next week, you can tell me how the ideas worked in real life.”

Watch What They Do

Leave a reply

“I’m not sure I get it,” said Rolando. “I talked to my team, asked them to explain how they would solve the problem. They gave me really good answers. Almost perfect. I left and came back. They were still struggling with the problem, trying to fix it the old way.”

“If we really want to understand someone,” I replied, “as the leader of the pack, can sit down and have a conversation. We can go really deep. A conversation is very expedient. But, if you really want to understand someone, watch what they do. Often, we can talk a good game, execution is a different story. The best measure of performance is performance.”**
—
**Shades of Lee Thayer

Long Term Consequence

Leave a reply

“Clarity, competence, habits, conscientiousness. There’s more?” Mariana asked.

“I told you that making performance necessary was not a simple sleight of hand, or even a hat trick of three,” I said.  “The most powerful element of necessity is consequences. And, I am not talking about pizza for the team for a job well done. Necessity becomes a part of a person’s life.  Long term consequences. Over a decade, the difference in a person’s life has to do with clarity of aim, competence to perform, positive habits that build momentum and conscientiousness to persist toward the goal, in spite of obstacles. That difference is the consequence that matters in our quality of life.

“For you, as a leader, you must surround yourself, build your team with people who see performance as necessary. Not only for your goals, but for their own personal aspirations.”

Necessary Habits

Leave a reply

“More?” Mariana repeated.

“Yes, understanding necessity is not a simple salvo,” I replied. “It’s more complex with several factors. We have talked about clarity. You, as the manager, cannot make something necessary unless its standard is clear. The second element of necessity is competence. You cannot make something necessary for a team unless the team has the requisite competence to meet the standard. The third element is habits.

“For something to be necessary, there can be no choice. Yoda says there is no try, there is only do. The team cannot choose to perform to a standard that it necessary, they must be in the habit of performing to that standard, because it is necessary.

“Habits are routine, grooved behaviors in pursuit of the goal. We have good habits and bad habits. Good habits support our pursuit toward the goal. Bad habits support our travel away from the goal. Even habits are a part of necessity. We do not choose our habits, our habits choose us. Movement toward the goal requires a set of necessary habits. Your choice is only whether to move toward the goal or away from the goal. Aim high.”

Increasing Customer Service

Leave a reply

Regina was proud, “We just got an increase to my annual budget for my customer service team.”

If you engage with your customers through email, you can use various tools like timetoreply to improve response times instantly.

“Oh, really?” I replied.

“Yes. Two years ago, we had a small team and our customer service scores were 1-2 on a 5 point scale. Not good.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“I spent a lot of time working on how we respond to the various glitches in our product and warranty claims. Turns out, there were five problems we had to deal with most often, so we trained hard on those.”

“And?” I nodded.

“And, our scores improved. I got the green light to hire ten percent more to the team. Last year, we actually won a customer service award, averaging 4.8 on our scores.” Regina was bursting with pride. “And, this year, I got the go-ahead to really ramp up the head count on my team.”

“Regina, did you ever have a conversation with your operations team to talk about the five things that created so much customer service traffic?”

A Position of Power

Leave a reply

“Where do you think your power comes from, as a manager?” I asked.

Angelina thought. “Part of it comes from my position. I get respect from my team, because they know I am their boss. That what I say, is the way things go.”

I nodded, and watched.

She continued, “But, frankly, that’s not the way it happens. Just because I am the boss, sometimes doesn’t mean anything at all. I feel like my mother saying – Because I said so.”

“Why do you think you were promoted to manager? So you could have power over your team?” I pressed.

After a moment, she replied. “I don’t feel like I have that power.”

“But, you do have power. For an incompetent person, that power comes from the outside. That power comes from position. For a competent person, that power comes from the inside. It is an internal discipline that everyone sees.”