Hey CEOs, This Isn’t Rocket Science

Written by Kimberly

Are you tired of hearing about all of the ways you can make your company a “win-win”?  Yea, I know the jargon gets old.  But the goal shouldn’t.

As much as I don’t like jargon, business leaders can achieve a win-win in their organizations.  It’s not difficult but does require effort and accountability from the rest of management.  A splash of empathy always helps too.

CEOs need to shift their focus from their customers to their employees.  I’m not crazy and I get that it’s the customers and ongoing business development that keeps the lights on.  What’s hard to see (and I’m sorry to say that I’ve seen it first hand) is when companies put a higher priority on customers and numbers than they do on their employees.

It’s not a difficult concept.  When employees are happy, customers will be happy.  When customers are happy, the bottom line will take care of itself.  On the flip side, do you think employees will go overboard for a customer when they don’t feel they’re being treated fairly?  Think they’ll burn that midnight oil for you at crunch time?

Leaders and CEOs have a lot on their plates.  When it comes to how to treat people right, maybe this seems like an overwhelming undertaking.  I understand that too.  But it doesn’t need to be complicated. 

Good leadership MUST start from the top so that it can trickle down to the rest of management.  This is not negotiable.  The responsibility of providing good leadership shouldn’t fall on HR’s shoulders because HR doesn’t run the company — the CEO does.  HR should be coaching and promoting good leadership styles but at the end of the day, it has to start at the top.  So now that we have that clear, here are a few basics:

• Listen to new ideas.  You never know who will come up with the next “big” one.
• Provide good feedback.  People want to know how they’re doing.  It is a big deal.  Don’t take it for granted.
• Celebrate the little victories publicly.  It’s free and goes a long way.  Trust me.
• Be sure that folks are learning from mistakes.  If they’re not, take action.
• Don’t get hung up on surveys.  Leave your office and visit the trenches.  You won’t melt if you mingle with the underlings, I promise.
• Communicate and communicate more!  People feel valued when they know what’s going on in the organization.

Get out of the board room, ditch your ego and apply that basic psychology and some common sense to your leadership style.  Be sure the entire management team is doing the same.  Rinse and repeat.

In an environment that needs change, it will be slow but you will see a positive difference.

The Leadership Skills Needed in Global Companies

I think this article that was published on TalentBar December 22nd has great value to anyone who manages a global company as you look to identify and grow managers and leaders.

The Challenge: Increased Globalization

In today’s borderless marketplace, it is becoming more and more common for managers to have responsibilities that include teams in multiple countries, regions and even continents. Besides the obvious logistical and technical challenges this poses, there are also numerous people–related challenges. Fostering collaboration, aligning organizational objectives with departmental and individual objectives, and motivating others to perform is hard enough when you see the people you manage every day and speak a common language. When you don’t, the task can feel impossibly daunting.

Key Leadership Skills:

The Ability to Manage Remotely
In a globalized business environment, leaders must learn the skills necessary to manage from afar. The most successful leaders understand that micro–managing employees is counterproductive. With a geographically dispersed workforce, it isn’t even an option. As such, global business leaders must have the ability to manage, develop and empower others to make business decisions that are not only sound but closely aligned with over–arching organizational goals.

It is fundamentally important that remote employees understand what they are working to accomplish and how it relates to the larger organization’s objectives and strategy. Culture and language differences increase the likelihood of miscommunication, and distant employees don’t have the luxury of walking down the hall to seek clarification. It is therefore imperative that global leaders be skilled at surfacing and testing assumptions in ways that encourage active dialogue rather than passive compliance in an effort to ensure understanding and foster agreement before they ask employees to execute their plans.

Creating Trust and Commitment
For a long–distance working relationship to succeed there must be a great deal of trust and commitment between both parties. These attributes must be earned over time through consistent and deliberate demonstration. Being a leader of a global business requires the ability to foster trust and credibility in ways that do not depend on having proximate relationships. This ability requires a deep understanding of individuals since intuitive skills are not enough. Managing from afar, global leaders cannot rely on ‘reading’ someone’s reaction. They must be able to understand and anticipate universal, but often unspoken, needs and interests. They must also be skilled at communicating in ways that resonate deeply and assure employees that their interests are being considered and protected.

Self–Awareness
Self–awareness is the foundation for any leader’s development and is critical to their ability to achieve success. Leaders who are responsible for motivating and managing people on the other side of the world must possess advanced leadership ‘soft skills’ – skills that are not mastered by reading books or attending seminars; skills that are sustained through continual feedback and reflection. Leadership ‘soft skills’ are developed through hard work that begins with self– awareness. Leaders who understand and are honest about their own needs and interests as well as their strengths and weaknesses will be far more able to convincingly speak to others in ways that build and foster trust and commitment. To develop these competencies, many organizations are leaning heavily on tools and systems that provide immediate feedback. These tools, such as 360–degree feedback, break through powers of denial and help leaders align their self–awareness with others’ perceptions. Unfortunately, these tools, which can be extraordinarily beneficial to leadership development and overall organizational strength, are typically used too infrequently.

Giving and Receiving Feedback
It is no longer sufficient to receive an annual performance review that vaguely links our actions over a 12–month period to the organization’s performance and results. These reviews fail to teach us how our behavior directly impacts others – and the organization – on a daily basis. In an era when organizational change is constant, feedback should be equally constant. To truly develop self–awareness, leaders need opportunities to receive feedback about their behavior and management ability in ‘real–time’. The power of this ‘in–the– moment feedback’ is well documented in psychology and has proven to be one of the most effective ways of evolving behavior. Many people don’t feel comfortable or skilled enough to freely give and receive candid, and often personal, feedback. Yet, fortunate leaders receive it frequently in more structured, albeit less natural, forms designed to build their self–awareness and further develop their interpersonal skills. Leadership development programs provide opportunities for leaders to practice giving and receiving feedback through videotaped interactions, role plays, and candid discussions. There is perhaps no more powerful reality check and learning tool than having a group of peers stop a videotape of their manager talking to a subordinate and say, “There! Do you see what you just did? When you do that, it causes people to not want to follow you.” The more opportunities leaders have to give and receive this kind of feedback, the more likely they are to model it for others in their organizations. Over time, this can transform an organizational culture and help equip individuals with the self–awareness and interpersonal acumen they need to perform and succeed, which ultimately benefits the organization.

Do you agree or disagree and what are your opinions on this subject?