DASHBOARD GROUP

Archive for 2010

The Rear View Mirror – part 2

In Leadership on March 14, 2010 at 8:25 pm

Last week, I wrote that “leaders, by definition, have followers.  The question for you to consider is why they are following.”

Based on the feedback I received from “followers” of all sorts, it became clear that many leaders are abusing their roles.  They are really dictators, not leaders.  So, I decided that we needed to continue on this theme.

So, I’d like to challenge all leaders to examine themselves and ponder another question: “Why should people follow me?”

And the answer needs to be something more compelling than, “because I’m the boss.”

Drop me a line with what you come up with.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

The Rear View Mirror

In Leadership on March 7, 2010 at 9:42 pm

Growing up, one of my favorite movies was The Gumball Rally, a 1976 comedy inspired by the actual Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash held by Brock Yates.

In the movie, the Ferrari team hires a professional driver, played by Raul Julia, to give them a competitive advantage. The first thing he does is tear off the rear view mirror, and utters a line with many leadership implications.

“The first rule of Italian driving … what’s behind me is not important.”

And having driven in Italy, I can tell you first-hand that many Italian drivers take this lesson to heart.

The corollary for leaders is not what’s behind you, but who.

Leaders, by definition, have followers.  The question for you to consider is why they are following.

Are they following because they have to?  After all, you’re the boss.  They have no choice.

Or, are they following because they want to.  Because they believe in you and in your vision.  Because they are convinced that your strategy is the right one.  Because they have deemed your mission to be worth the investment of their life?

So, leaders, take a look in the rear view mirror … because who’s behind you is really important.

You can watch the trailer for The Gumball Rally on YouTube here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y-8Cq7wib8

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

Reading the Signs

In Alignment, Leadership on March 1, 2010 at 7:33 am

High-performance leaders see things that others don’t, and see them before others do.  They have an uncanny knack for “reading the signs.”

Some of the most common signs include:

  • STOP.  What should you stop doing?

A recent client was discussing a major, multi-year initiative designed to transform their organization and their industry.  I asked the CEO, “Since launching this initiative, what have you stopped doing?”  The answer was nothing, but they have since launched a complete project review.  I suggest you do the same, with the intention of stopping the good in order to invest in the best.

  • CURVE AHEAD.  What is changing in your market?

Every one of my clients is facing some kind of change in their industry segment.  For some, it is price pressure from new market entrants.  For others, it is new, game-changing technologies.   Or radically shifting customer requirements.  So, the key is to build an organization that is both aligned and agile.  In my opinion, this kind of aligned agility may be the only real sustainable competitive advantage.

  • DEAD END.  Are you simply heading in the wrong direction?

Some organizations have ignored some of the warning signs.  They are driven by historic inertia.  Their industry segment underwent a massive shift years ago, but they were not able to change.  If you are heading towards a dead end, you don’t need a mild course correction, you need a U-turn.

  • FORK IN THE ROAD.  What are the critical strategic decisions ahead?

Yogi Berra said, “When you get to a fork in the road, take it.”  Many organizations are facing a major strategic decision.  One that requires making a real choice.  Should we go left … or right?  If this is you, compile all the information you can.  Test all of your assumptions.  Seek wise counsel.  And make the right decision.

Every leader has to read the signs.  High-performance leaders read them and respond.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

Don’t follow me – I’m lost

In Leadership on February 22, 2010 at 8:03 am

Have you ever tried to follow someone to a party who didn’t know where they were going?  27 U-turns and a few near-misses later, you finally arrive at your destination.

Far too many employees are trying to follow leaders who don’t know where they are going.  The employees are willing to follow, even willing to go the extra mile, but eventually give up because it is too frustrating.

To be fair, in these turbulent times, it can be difficult to know what to do and where to go.  But as they say, “that’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

The most important thing a leader needs to do is be clear.  High-performance leaders see things that others don’t, and see them before others do.  So, get your executive teams together and take a long, hard look out the windshield and read the signs.

  • How clear is your windshield?  Is it all buggy and grimy, preventing you from seeing clearly?
  • How is your direction?  Are you heading the right way … or the wrong way?
  • How are the road conditions?  Any potholes ahead?  Any detours?
  • How is the traffic?  Any competitors passing you like you are standing still?  Are there open lanes that you can pull into?  Any slow-poke competitors that you can pass?
  • What is out on the horizon?  A long straight autobahn with no speed limits … or a windy mountain road with no guardrails?

And if you aren’t really sure where to go, perhaps it is time to stop and ask for directions.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

2020 Vision

In Vision on February 15, 2010 at 8:03 am

In last week’s post, I challenged leaders to have a clear and inspiring vision of what you want to your organization to be someday.

That’s easier said than done.

A recent trip to the eye doctor reminded me just how rare 20/20 vision is.  According to Dr. Tim Johnson of the University of Iowa, only about 35 percent of all adults have 20/20 vision without glasses, contact lenses or corrective surgery.

And according to my (admittedly unscientific) research, only about 35% of organizations have 20/20 vision as well.  Most suffer from some sort of vision disorder, such as:

  • Myopia – Also known as nearsightedness or shortsightedness, is where organizations can see near-term issues, but can’t see long-term issues.  This is chronic in publically traded companies, who often focus only on “making the quarter.”
  • Tunnel Vision – Where organizations can’t see anything to the sides.  Often, they get blindsided by market shifts and discontinuities.
  • Illusions – Where organizations see things that are not based in reality.
  • Delusions – Where organizations dogmatically hold to beliefs that are false.
  • Hallucinations – Where organizations see things that simply are not there.

Job one of every executive team is to clearly articulate a vision of where the organization is going.  After all, if the executives don’t know where they are going, how can anyone follow them there?

So, if your organization is suffering from some kind of chronic vision disorder, consult a trained professional.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Delusional Pipe Dreams

In Vision on February 7, 2010 at 8:40 pm

I love Jim Collins, and Good to Great is one of the best business books ever written.

Many organizations have adopted his ideas, including the “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” or BHAG concept. But, in most organizations, their Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal is really a “Big, Hairy, Audacious Delusional Pipe Dream.”

These are the corporate equivalent of New Year’s Resolutions – easy to set, but darn near impossible to keep.

I prefer to see organizations take a radically different approach, one that differentiates between a vision and a goal.

First, they should articulate a big and inspiring vision. Such as, “we want to be the market share leader in our segment.”

Next, they should develop one overall SMART goal. Specific, such as “grow revenues to $3.6M by 12/31/2010.” This is specific, measurable, and crystal clear. It can be easily communicated and everyone in the organization can understand how they fit in. It can be broken down into a set of intermediate goals, such as a revenue target for each month between now and 12/31/2010.

In addition, it can be tied to other metrics which are leading indicators, such as the number of new proposals submitted every month and the overall win-rate. You can align the rest of the business processes, such as the reward and recognition system, to the goal, thus reinforcing its importance.

And assuming that people in the organization feel that the goal is realistic and attainable, they will sign up to achieve it. There is nothing more de-motivating than to have your CEO set some delusional goal that everyone knows can’t be achieved.

So leaders, have a clear and inspiring vision of what you want to be someday, but set a specific and measurable goal for what you want to achieve this year.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking. Accelerate Your Results.

The More You Stay the Same … The More They Will Stay the Same

In Leadership on February 1, 2010 at 8:08 am

Jean-Baptiste Karr, the French journalist and satirist first penned the phrase, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” which is loosely translated as “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

In organizations, the phenomenon I observe most is executives who give lip service to change, but in reality, never really change.  Thus, the more the senior executives stay the same, the more the rest of the organization will stay the same as well.

Senior executives bear a disproportionate share of the responsibility for the culture and performance of an organization.

Why?  Because the senior executives actions (good or bad) are magnified disproportionately – maybe 10X –by the rest of the organization.

  • If the senior executives work well together as a team, the organization will be a consistent top performer.
  • If the senior executives have a common vision, the entire organization will align behind it.
  • If the senior executives articulate a clear and compelling strategy, every department will do their part to execute and deliver it.
  • However, if the senior executive team is a little dysfunctional, the organization will be very dysfunctional.
  • If they are very dysfunctional, the organization will be a disaster.

Unfortunately, many senior executive teams have been highly dysfunctional for years … and wonder why their organizations are not performing up to their potential.  Step one is to confront reality and take responsibility.   Perhaps the CEO needs a reality check.  Perhaps a few of the executives need to go.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

Can This Team Be Saved?

In Teamwork on January 25, 2010 at 8:16 am

Last week, I ended with a reference to the Ladies Home Journal column called, “Can this marriage be saved” and wondered if we needed a new column called, “Can this team be saved?”

Well, consider this the first installment.

When I meet people, I ask them to tell me about their organizations, and the senior executive team.  Often, they’ll joke and ask if I want them to “lie down and start at the beginning?”

I’ve heard all kinds of things, like:

  • Our CEO has a different strategy every day … he has A.D.D.
  • Our CEO is incredibly out of touch … but refuses to listen to anything negative.
  • My vice president walks around the office bad-mouthing the other executives.
  • Our executives fight all the time … I’m not sure they agree on anything.
  • One of our VPs is totally passive-aggressive.  He is calm in the meeting but goes off the reservation afterwards.

So, can teams like these be saved?  Unfortunately, the answer is, “Maybe … IF they are willing to do the hard work required to change.”  Many will say that they are willing to change, but give up when the going gets tough.

The first step is a brutally honest assessment of the organization’s performance.  If you are losing market share and heading downhill fast, you have to face the facts.  If your executive team is passive-aggressive, you have to call it like it is.

The next step is to engage some outside help.  An outsider can be the voice of reason.  They can be the referee when meetings get hostile.  They can hold people accountable.  Of course, you have to give the outsider the authority to play this role.

Finally, you must “get the wrong executives off the bus.”  This can be really hard, especially when an executive has been part of the team for a long time.  Even harder when the executive is “delivering the numbers.”  But, you have to deal with the problem people, because they bring everyone else down.

I’ve been part of this process many times, both as a consultant and as an executive.  Reflecting back on my experience, the success rate is about 50%.    Not great … but not hopeless either.

Stay tuned for details about a new web site dedicated to this issue:  www.canthisteambesaved.com.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

1+1+1+1+1+1=3

In Leadership, Teamwork on January 18, 2010 at 6:19 am

In Jon Katzenbach’s well researched book, Teams at the Top, he differentiates between “single-leader working groups” and “performance-driven teams.”

And in my experience, we need a third category, “Dysfunctional, non-working groups.”  In these groups, the sum is less than the parts.

Too often, the most dysfunctional team in an organization is the executive team.  In fact, the employee engagement research suggests that most employees do not trust their executives to do the right thing.

These groups are characterized by low trust, infighting, back-stabbing, and undermining.

At the executive meeting, everyone is partially checked-out.  They don’t fully engage, but wait until after the meeting to start undermining the decisions.

They complain about the other executives behind their backs.   Executive A is convinced that Executive B is “the wrong person on the bus,” and vice versa.

There is also a decided lack of accountability.  Since no one owns anything, no one takes the heat.

Often every executive has a different compensation plan, each driven by different performance factors.  Sometimes, the compensation plan creates a zero-sum-game where it is impossible for everyone to win.

Growing up, my mom subscribed to the Ladies Home Journal, which featured a column called, “Can this marriage be saved?”

Maybe we need a new column, “Can this team be saved?”

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

“But he has nothing on!”

In Leadership on January 11, 2010 at 6:20 am

Perhaps one of the greatest management lessons ever written was The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen.

You all know the story.  The King buys a new, custom-made suit from two swindlers posing as weavers.  The suit was to be made of a material that “possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid.”

Although it is a sham, everyone is afraid to admit it, for fear that they themselves would look stupid.  Even worse, they are afraid to tell the king.  Only a little child breaks the chain of self-deception, and even then, the King refuses to listen.

Many organizations suffer from exactly this problem.  The CEO loves himself more than anything else.  He chases fanciful new ideas, convinced of their brilliance.  He hires only yes-men who will tell him what he wants to hear.  And he creates an environment where everyone is afraid to tell them the truth.

Often, like the king, they even refuse to listen to the wisdom of an outsider, who like the little child, has no reason to lie.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins admonishes us to “confront the brutal facts.”

Maybe now would be a good time to reexamine your organization.  Have you created an environment of self-deception?  Are people afraid to tell you the truth?  Do you “shoot the messenger?”

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

For those who want to read the whole story, you can find it here:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes

Why Smart Executives Fail

In Leadership on January 4, 2010 at 3:06 pm

Over the course of my career, both as a consultant and as an executive, I have worked with dozens of smart leaders who failed.

Some of these executives drove their organizations into the ground, some created massive morale problems, others simply failed to face reality. Most simply refused to listen.

A great book, Why Smart Executives Fail, by Sydney Finkelstein, is a fantastic, fact-based look at this problem. I highly recommend it for the rare leader who is serious about building a high-performance organization. (In my experience, most executives simply don’t care about their organizations, they only care about themselves.)

Here is a great quote that nets it out:

“We discovered that precipitous business failures are caused by four destructive patterns of behavior that set in, without anyone noticing them, well before a business goes under. These four syndromes involve (1) flawed executive mind-sets that throw off a company’s perception of reality, (2) delusional attitudes that keep this attitude in place, (3) breakdowns in communications systems developed to handle potentially urgent information, and (4) leadership qualities that keep a company’s executives from correcting their course.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins speaks of the “mirror and the window” when describing the behavior of Level 4 leaders.

Maybe it is time for all of you to take a long, hard, and brutally honest look in the mirror.