Ross's Blog

I’ve witnessed the scene many times.  Out of town corporate executive comes in for a tour.  The executive has a staff meeting so the troops can feel good about what’s going on with their company.  The executive would stand in front of the team and absolutely “blow smoke” up everyone’s tailpipe, basically telling everyone what he thought they wanted to hear and being evasive about questions he didn’t want to answer. The executive would leave town feeling really good about his performance while the rest of the team simply rolled their eyes and went back to work.

You can get elected to office by telling voters what they want to hear.  In business, inauthentic leadership is obvious to team members and quickly erodes trust as well as morale.

Being authentic basically means being genuine, even when you have to share difficult information.  It is far better to make someone mad by delivering unpleasant news than it is to deceive people with half truths and platitudes.  Being genuine might cost you short term pain, however the payoff in building trust in you as a leader is well worth the investment. Here are six ideas on how you can build a reputation as an authentic leader:

Understand who you are as a leader.  Authenticity starts by being yourself. Warts and all.  Understand your strengths and weaknesses as a leader.  I strongly encourage all leaders to undergo assessments to better understand their leadership style and help identify gaps that need to be addressed.  The LEA 360 is an excellent assessment for that purpose, as it will help you understand yourself by comparing your own view with that of how your team members see you.

As you end each day, ask yourself:  “Was I true to my values today?”

Live your values.  Most organizations have written mission, vision and values statements. However in many cases, those statements are simply writing in a plan that gathers dust on a shelf or takes up space on the hard drive.  Speak your values every day.  Relentlessly communicate them to every team member.  Most importantly, challenge yourself to live them out in everything you do.  As you end each day, ask yourself:  “Was I true to my values today?”

Say what you believe.  Sounds like a no-brainer doesn’t it?  Funny how insincere compliments and political correctness can distort reality.  Straight talk and honesty may not always be appreciated at the moment. However, your transparency will build your credibility.  You can be tactful and truthful at the same time.

Execute in every day activities.  Authenticity isn’t something you save for big events or staged moments deigned to make yourself look good. You want to take advantage of all those opportunities; however you will really develop authenticity by carrying it out in the daily course of business and personal interactions.

Shine in adversity. This is when your team needs your leadership the most.  If you’ve practiced authenticity on a daily basis, your team will look to you, have confidence in you and, most importantly, follow you in the times of crisis.

Take initiative. Demonstrate your willingness to tackle tough assignments. Dare to go where others are unwilling to tread. Be proactive about identifying new opportunities and challenge your team to get engaged.

Like everything worth pursuing, being an authentic leader requires a daily investment for life. If you are committed to building trust through authenticity, you find reap the dividends of a profitable leadership career.

At least half of all managers in the United States say they don’t trust their leaders.  A lack of trust leads to conflicts, breakdown in teamwork, loss of productivity, decline in morale and an unengaged workforce. 

One of the biggest causes of trust breakdowns is the feeling that leaders are hiding information from them. I believe transparency or the willingness to openly and honestly share information and feelings is the foundation on which trust in leadership must be built.

Employees have a radar that can tell if you are faking it.

The television station that I managed for many years had an interesting physical layout in that sales and administration were on one side of a “u” shaped building and the operations part of the business (news, production, engineering) were segregated in a separate wing. The physical separation made natural rivalries between those two parts of the business even more severe. There was little or no communication, mistrust and general dislike among the departments.  It was common to refer to people as being on “this side” or “that side.”  When I became general manager I sought to break down those barriers by first sharing information about important sales projections that had never been seen by people on the operations side of the building.  The simple act of sharing led to more open conversations and better understanding between departments. It was the first step in building positive relationships between teams that barely co-existed for years. 

Here are some steps you can take to building transparency and trust in your leadership:

Share information – When Mark Leslie became CEO of Veritas Software in 1990, he recognized that shared information helped everyone buy into company strategy.  He hosted weekly employee gatherings where he would go over important information and eventually started monthly meetings for global managers where he would update the team on earnings projections and other information.  He also understood that sharing information cut down on rumors and office politics.

Be Authentic – Employees have radar that can tell if you are faking it.  Leslie says that if employees suspect that, trust will collapse. Promote values that reflect your character and the mission and vision of the organization.

Encourage feedback, even if it is negative.

Listen – A genuine willingness to listen to team members will do as much to build credibility and trust as anything.  Encourage feedback, even if it is negative.  People want to be heard and will have greater trust in you if they believe you embrace the importance of listening.

Be Visible – Author John Maxwell promotes a concept he calls “Walk the Halls Slowly.”  Take time to have a visible presence among your team members.  I often found my ability to tackle strategic planning and writing projects is greatest in the morning.  I tried to set aside part of my afternoons to go from office to office and catch up on happenings in various departments.  I rarely made those visits with any kind of agenda.  It was time to listen and enjoy informal conversations.  The visits sometimes turned into coaching opportunities or mini brainstorming meetings, all of which helped me stay connected to the team.

Research has shown that employee engagement increases when people feel they have the information they need to do their job.  There is also a direct relationship between transparency and increased productivity.  Leaders with a history of transparency and the resulting trust that grows out of that also find team members more willing to embrace change and better able to embrace difficult decisions that often have to be made.

There is a saying I learned during a social science class in college: If you overuse strength, it will become a weakness.

I learned this the hard way in real life.

Early in my career, I developed a reputation as a “get things done, no nonsense” manager who got results by driving myself and my team members hard.  Upper management promoted me because they saw the positive way in which team members responded to my tough love approach.  What I failed to understand was that too much “tough” and not enough “love” eventually demoralized the team, which finally rebelled.  My strong authority tactics were ignoring the legitimate individual needs and rights of my team members. It was an eye-opening and painful experience; however a wonderful learning opportunity that became one of the best things that happened in my leadership career.

It is easy to overuse a tactic that has made us successful.  People who are driven for success can put too much pressure on themselves and others.  Strong-willed, independent thinkers often ignore or discourage input from others.  People who are in tune and sensitive to their team member’s feelings can be procrastinators when it comes to making tough decisions.  It is incumbent on leaders to be aware of blind spots in their own leadership style and that of their team members.  Here are a few ways you can detect those blind spots:

1)      Be aware of potential trouble during the hiring process.  Don’t just focus on the bottom line results that candidates bring to the table.  Ask questions about how they achieved their success. Just because they were successful in another environment or position doesn’t necessarily mean they will be successful in the new position.  For example, great sales people often don’t make great sales managers.  They may know how to close the deal; however they often stumble when it comes to managing team members.

2)      Have a continuous feedback loop. Be attuned to trouble spots and provide support in helping managers and leaders improve their performance.  Identify appropriate training opportunities.  Work with your managers to co-create action plans that will offer them the opportunity to fully develop their skills.

3)      Use assessments. This should be done in the hiring process, and is also a valuable tool in performance management.  The DiSC or Myers Briggs assessments are excellent tools to help people understand their own communication style and that of people around them.  You can use those tools to educate team members on how to utilize different approaches in managing people, based on how each individual is wired.  There are also a variety of excellent 360° assessments that provide feedback on how other team members view a colleague.  Those can be difficult to receive, however can be a valuable learning experience if managed properly.

4)      Be sensitive to differences. We are not all wired the same.  Managers who use a cookie-cutter approach with every team member will inevitably fail.  This is particularly true in this era where we have three distinctly different generations in the workplace.  Leaders should understand the differing viewpoints and priorities of their diverse workforce.

Awareness, communication and education can help you and your team to manage strengths in a way that allows good leaders to develop a balanced approach in how they use their strengths, and do so in a manner that delivers maximum results. 

Like everyone else, I have a pretty good inventory of strengths and a few glaring weaknesses.  I have well developed listening skills, which are essential in my role as a coach and consultant.  I am a pretty good writer, and consider myself something of an expert at time management.  I am lousy at sales.

Where should I focus my time?  Should I (a); spend most of my time capitalizing on my strengths as a listener and a writer, or do I (b); attempt to bolster my sales skills to generate more business?

The correct answer is both “a” and “b.”

There has been a growing school of thought in recent years based around strengths management, popularized initially by the Father of Strengths Psychology, Donald Clifton.  There is ample research to support a strengths management approach, including:

• People who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs; and
• People who focus on their strengths are three times more likely to say they enjoy a good quality of life.

It makes sense to focus on our strengths.  We are happier and more productive when we spend time in areas that are our strengths.  Organizations benefits from having team members that are placed in positions where they can best use their strengths.

However, we can’t and shouldn’t ignore the weaknesses. As an executive coach, I can point to many instances where an employee who excels in a particular area often times has glaring shortcomings that have the potential of derailing their career and sabotaging the efforts of the rest of the team. Those weaknesses have to be addressed.

There should be a balance between focusing on strengths and systematically attacking weaknesses.  A great place to start is to develop a list of your strengths and weaknesses.  Here is part of mine:

Strengths                                                        Weaknesses

Listening                                                           Sales

Writing

Time management  

(Trust me, I have far more weaknesses, but this is a blog not a novel, so brevity is important not to mention less embarrassing).

 My skills in listening were developed during my years as a journalist, where I learned to “read between the lines” and to interpret what was not being said. As I was considering career options later in life, I realized that my skill set was a good fit for coaching.  I also use my writing skills as part of my marketing strategy, i.e. blogs and magazine articles on leadership development and career growth issues.

I also understand that it is tough to build a business unless you can continually develop new business.  I can’t afford to ignore sales.  Options for me include:

• Hiring someone to help make sales calls
• Training
• Focus on the parts of sales that I do well, i.e. networking

I also know from my expertise in time management that a most effective technique is to do the most challenging things on my to-do list first.  As a result, I often tackle sales issues first thing in the day or week.

The bottom line is; play to your strengths and understand your weaknesses.  Develop a balanced approach to building on what you do well and overcome shortcomings.