Originally published at jimcanterucci.com
In spite of
We advise leaders throughout the organization to lead well In spite of… No matter what the barriers thrown in front of them by strategy, market, or leaders above them, lead well and innovate through the barriers.
Executive Sponsors
When speaking to change leaders, the number one question is, "How do I get better executive sponsorship for my change initiative?" I tell them it's their responsibility to set things up properly so they can in effect, tell the sponsors what they need them to do and to manage the process well.
Obviously, I believe that taking responsibility and leading from where you are is important.
The senior team
Let's focus for a moment on the senior leadership team. Leaders throughout the organization often feel disconnected from the senior team. It's a special, private club. What happens at that level?
Senior leaders are leaders too. Senior leaders need to develop. You need to deal with issues. You need to work together as a team. You also need to be the chief executive of your own team all the way to the front line employee.
Our work with executive teams called Executive Leadership Focus is a powerful process where we help integrate The New Leadership Normal with big impact. Here is an example.
In one of our Executive Leadership Focus sessions we had a new hire executive from outside the company who took over general management of one of the major divisions. He went through the typical intensive interview process of course, including a session with me. He was very sharp and experienced.
After watching the Executive Leadership Focus process for a bit, the 'new guy' brought an issue to the table. It had to do with an employee who made a mistake that cost money and relationship problems with a big customer. Everyone around the table knew about the issue. This new executive gave a quick status and explained how he was going to handle this. He came from a tough manufacturing company environment.
His proposed approach was tough as well. He was going to teach the employee who made the mistake a lesson and use him as an example.
There was a noticeable silence in the room. A vacuum of palpable tension sucked the air out of the room. I realized instantly that this was a defining moment. Time seemed to be ticking by in slow motion.
Then the dam burst. The entire room erupted in very loud, simultaneous voices explaining that the approach he proposed was not the way it was done around here.
You see, the culture of this very successful company is very supportive and caring, focused on growing leaders, while simultaneously tightly managing the numbers and productivity.
The new executive quietly took the feedback, asked a few questions and revised his approach.
He brooded the rest of the day. I was worried about him.
At the end of the day he asked for the floor. No one knew what he was going to say.
He thanked the team for pouncing so energetically on his approach. He told us that the reason for his gratitude was that if he hadn't experienced what he had earlier that morning he likely would have been asked to resign in about six months because he would have been operating opposite of the organization culture and would not have known otherwise.
He was grateful to avoid the frustration, waste of time and the damage he likely would have caused. What's that worth? Likely in the millions. Footnote — The 'new guy' is still in his position and has been very successful growing his division.
The power of an effective senior leadership team is enormous. We'll focus on this perspective in future articles here.
A few tips:
- Open the books — share what happens at the senior team level.
- Answer the Why question — your team needs to help you prepare for interaction with your senior team colleagues. Help them understand what you need and importantly, why you need it.
- Share problems — you and your colleagues are all dealing with similar issues, just different flavors. Get comfortable being vulnerable.
- Work on real issues — focus on what's best for the company, suspending the natural desire to protect your turf.
- Go deep — go beyond the staff meeting and deal with issues in a deep way, together.
- Focus on 60/40 — cross boundaries to create comprehensive solutions.
- Look for strategic partners — while working on issues identify how you can benefit from partnering with the talent in the room. Who knows, the marketing exec may have a great head for financial analysis.
- Bring direction to your team — provide the latest thinking from the senior team to your departmental team to keep the connection.
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