What Five Old Ladies Teach Us About Leadership

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Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker

Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 m.p.h. He thinks to himself, “This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!”

So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies — two in the front seat and three in the back, wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?”

“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “you weren’t speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.” “Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly … twenty-two miles an hour!” the old woman says a bit proudly.

The State Trooper, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that 22 was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error. “But before I let you go, Ma’am, I have to ask… Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this whole time,” the officer asks.

“Oh, they’ll be all right in a minute, officer. We just got off Route 119.”

The old lady driving the car had her fellow passengers terrified. She had mistaken the route number for the speed limit. Your actions as leader have an impact on those around you. You can lead and inspire your people in magnificent ways or you can scare them to death. Here are three things we can learn from the story.

Leaders set the pace

Mary Kay Ash said, “The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.” She’s right. You set the pace as the leader. Getting everyone on the same page is important but getting everyone up to speed is critical. If the leader perceives that the people are going too slow then he or she will get frustrated. If the people sense that the leader is going too fast then they will get frustrated. See what’s wrong with this picture?   As a leader it’s important to find the right speed so that everyone can succeed.

Leaders chart the course

Knowing where you are going is important. As the leader you set the course by clearly articulating the vision and by everyone understanding their mission in making it come together. Roy Disney wisely observed, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” Chart the course, communicate the vision, and never confuse the route number with the speed limit.

Leaders can make adjustments

Once pulled over, the old lady realized the error of her way. As a leader it’s important not to let your pride or ego get in the way of making adjustments when necessary. Your plans may look great on paper with your team is solidly behind you, but when circumstances on the ground change you must be prepared to make adjustments when needed. It was William Arthur Ward who said, “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” As a leader it’s important that you know how to adjust the sails.

Closing questions for your consideration

  1. Have you set the right tempo for everyone in your organization to follow? Are your team members up to speed as they should be? If not, why? How soon can they?
  2. Is the vision and mission of your organization clear to everyone system-wide? How often is it being communicated? Does everyone know how their specific role contributes to the vision and mission being fulfilled?
  3. Are there any adjustments in your organization that need to be made? What about blind spots and who can help you identify them?

 

© 2014 Doug Dickerson

 

 

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3 Rules Leaders Should Not Implement

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Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirits. – Studs Terkel

The late Erma Bombeck once put out a list of widely read “Rules” that was quite popular at the time. Some of them you might recall. Here are a few of my favorites: never have more children than you have car windows; seize the moment, remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart; never go to a class reunion pregnant, they will think that’s all you have been doing since you graduated.

While that list is rather light-hearted and humorous some rules can be stifling as it relates to the operation of your organization. Let’s be clear at the onset; policies and procedures are necessary and this is not about chunking your manuals out the window. Systems operate best when they follow a prescribed course of procedure.

In his book, “It’s Not About the Coffee,” Howard Behar (past President, Starbucks International) pens a fascinating chapter about independent thinking. Behar writes, “We want people to take charge instead of blindly following a rigid set of rules from a book…unfortunately, in many cases the rule book goes too far- it tries to tell people how to be instead of explaining what we’re trying to do. Rules don’t empower, they dispower people. We need recipes, not rules.”

Operating policies and procedures need to be known and adhered to and should be subservient to the person performing them and not the other way around. Yet when rules go too far it can have unintended consequences that can do more harm than good. From the chapter I surmised three rules that leaders don’t need to implement if they want their people and organizations to be successful.

Rules that restrict creative thinking

Unleashing the best and brightest people in your organization begins when you free them from burdensome rules and regulations that hold them back. “Ideally, management should never tell someone how to do something or what to feel. If people’s every last action is dictated to them, they are robbed of their dignity, and the company is robbed of its soul,” writes Behar.

When you give your people the liberty to think, feel, grow and experiment they will surprise you with their ingenuity. When you have more recipes being developed than rules being followed then the possibilities for success are multiplied. Your organization can be incubator for growth and unlimited potential or it can be place where ideas go to die. Which do you want?

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Rules that control behavior

Ideally, your rule book should operate more like a play book. It should contain plays you can call and be filled with options for any scenario that puts you in a position you to score. Behar’s analysis is a timely challenge for managers and executives. He writes, “Instead of writing manuals that lock people into dehumanizing behavior, we should focus on outcomes we want and the reasons behind them…creating tool books instead of rule books grows people’s spirits.” Consider the difference; if your leadership style is to simply be the “keeper of the rulebook” then it will be difficult for your people to grow and reach their full potential and your leadership will be diminished.

When you place your focus on where you are going and why (your vision and purpose) and the growth and development of the people who will take you there, then the rule book must become your play book. When you grow your people’s spirits you won’t have time to worry much about their behavior.

Rules that hinder personal growth

“There’s no better feeling than being encouraged to fully use your abilities,” writes Behar. “You will find your work far more satisfying, and you’ll encourage that same satisfaction in others. Everybody wins. The more we know ourselves and our goals, the fewer rules are needed.” This point is simple yet profound. Your people need more encouragement not more rules.

Fostering a culture of personal growth and development comes when a leader makes it a priority by removing unnecessary rules, by empowering his people, and caring enough to get out of their way. When leaders place more value in rules than relationships then victories are harder to come by and are fewer in number.

The challenge for you as a leader as it relates to rules is to find the right balance between what’s needed and what’s not, if they help your organization or if they hurt it, and ultimately, do your people need the rule to succeed? Your task as a leader is to know the difference.

What do you say?

 

© 2014 Doug Dickerson

 

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Five Ways Leaders Lose Their Focus

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The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear. – Brian Tracy

Writing in Reader’s Digest, Carol Mann tells the story of golf immortal Arnold Palmer as he recalled an important lesson about self-confidence. It was the final hole of the 1961 Master’s tournament, and Palmer had a one-stroke lead and just hit a very satisfying tee shot. Palmer felt that he was in pretty good shape. As he approached the ball, he saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. The friend motioned him over, stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations.” Palmer recalls that as soon as he took his hand and shook it, he lost his focus.

The next two shots he hit the ball into the sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. He missed a putt and lost the Master’s. “You don’t forget a mistake like that,” Palmer recalled, “you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again.”

Learning how to keep your focus is an important leadership skill to develop. But yet it is one of the hardest to master. Countless distractions coupled with the never ending demands on your time make it a challenge. How leaders lose their focus is important information. Being aware of these common distractions can help you be a better leader.  Here are five ways leaders lose their focus and why it matters to you.

Bogged down in the details

It can be hard to focus on the big picture if you are mired down in the micro details of all of your operations. While it is important to be in the loop you have to empower and trust capable people to help you with the details. It’s normal to want to be informed but when you are mired down in the smallest of details it begs the questions – who’s steering the ship?

Improper delegation

This is where many leaders fall short and where most of them burn out. When the leader is of the opinion that he or she can do the job better by themselves it could be causing more harm than good. Let’s make the assumption that you have surrounded yourself with quality people who are capable of doing the work associated with your organization. Leaders lose focus when they do not empower these people to do their jobs. Delegation at its best will allow you to focus your time and energies where they are most needed. The secret is to empower and release the people around you.

Lack of organization

An unorganized leader is an unfocused leader. It is not so much about the proverbial cluttered desk as it is the personal disciplines that bring order to your life. If you tend to fly by the seat of your pants, if you are reactionary instead of proactive then these are all problematic traits that cause you to lose focus. You can overcome this by bringing order to your day. Keep a calendar. Schedule important calls and appointments and stick to it. Beware of the “tyranny of the urgent” and do not fall into the traps that can easily disrupt your day. Strong organizational skills will keep you focused and serve you well.

The need to be a people pleaser

In all fairness we all want to be liked. But if you are consumed by a need to be liked, you will quickly lose your focus as a leader. Your job is not to be liked. Your job is to lead. That being said; be friendly. But be careful not to get to the place where you are consumed about your popularity so much that it is affecting the decisions you make and it causes you to lose your focus on what is most important. You can’t lead with integrity if you make decisions based upon whom it pleases or displeases.

Gadgets

Technology is great isn’t it? The progress we have made in recent years has made our world much smaller and our work a lot easier. I am sold on the wonders of our technology. But take a look around your place of business or glance around the conference table the next time you are in a meeting. We are all wired up but in many ways are very disconnected. Our technology for all of its benefits has contributed to a strong lack of focus on many fronts. Let your technology serve you but do not be subservient to your technology.

What do you say?

© 2014 Doug Dickerson

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Leadership Minute: Everyone’s Important

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Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, ‘Make me feel important.’ Never forget this message when working with people. – Mary Kay Ash

This is perhaps one of the cardinal rules of leadership. When you understand that people want to feel important and that leadership is about people then you are on your way to understanding how leadership works. So often we focus on the mechanics of leadership that we fail to understand this most important point. Without people leadership does not exist. Make every person you come in contact with feel like the most important person in the world. Once you do, you are on your way to becoming a great leader.

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If you enjoy reading the Leadership Minute, you will especially enjoy reading Doug’s books, Leaders Without Borders & Great Leaders Wanted! Visit Doug’s website to order your copies today.

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Website: www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com

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