Ten Trend-right Leadership Skills for Today

I didn’t post any blogs last week as I had one of my bi-annual Revitalizing Business Perspectives meetings on Friday and needed to be prepared and do my best. It was a great meeting by all indications and I thoroughly enjoyed the group of quality executives who accepted my invitation to attend.

At the RBP meeting, I observed many traits of the leaders in attendance and pulled together some of my thoughts gleaned and recorded them following the all day meeting. In doing so I thought I would share what I feel are some trend-right Leadership skills that are simple but important. Many cannot be taught or bought … they are a natural skill, like work ethic.

Here we go …

1. Leadership … balanced with authenticity, respect for others, intentionally building trust … “strategic leadership.”
2. Visionary leadership is frequently mentioned when a company is on a new path, adopting a new strategy, or at a tipping point in its growth … all very important.
3. Strategic thinking and execution. “Strategic foresight”- the ability to think strategically in a visionary way. There are only a small percentage of executives who would have this innate talent.
4. Need to understand how technology is impacting organizations and how to exploit technology. This takes a thinking type executive who can envision, implement, and execute. Very powerful skill and necessary for today’s leaders.
5. Financial acumen and industry savvy/knowledge.
6. Team- and relationship-building … be able to hire and develop an exceptionally strong leadership team. You cannot succeed as a one-person player in a mid size or larger organization, and it can be a struggle in a small company. It takes a team … a constantly improving team. And teams require leaders.
7. Ability to communicate (verbally, written, by example) and presentation … at three levels … first with peers (team members); second with indirect reports (the DOERs); and third, above (with the organizations’ top leaders; the board, etc.).
8. Change-management. Leading transformation … motivated by a continuous-improvement mindset, a sense of always upgrading the organization, building better processes and systems, improving relationships, increasing market share, and developing others (leadership).
9. Although not a skill per se, integrity and a reputation for ethical conduct are highly valued. Today personal integrity and ethical behavior are important.
10. Seek EXCELLENCE … in everything! We can’t be perfect, but we can try to excel at everything we do … especially leadership.

What would you add or take away?

© Phil Hoffman 2014. All rights reserved

Dealing with Strong Willed People as a Leader

Note: This is a re-post from 2012 that still gets attention; therefore, I wanted to share again.

There are occasions when we are challenged with trying to lead someone who doesn’t want to be led. In most cases, these individuals have been strong willed all their lives. They are use to causing tension and disruption. Perhaps you know one … perhaps you are one.

There are times when a leader may determine a need to provide individualized leadership in the best interest of both the individual and the organization. Such times may occur when you have a very talented individual with special spirit and work ethic that just needs some direction and support …or possibly maturing. Sometimes you have a very bright person who has a quick mind and a fast pace that keeps them ahead of others … in this case you need to help them realize how to sync themselves with the others for their own success as well as the success of the company. With this in mind, here are some tips I suggest for leading strong-willed people.

• Clear guidelines – we all do better when we know what is expected of us. This is especially true of those with strong opinions of their own who don’t understand or know how to work within a team or group.
• Consistency is important – strong-willed people need boundaries … and they need to know what those are. This can be difficult or uncomfortable at first in that strong-willed people are challenging and are usually seeking personal attention … therefore, not only do they need to know the boundaries, but also they want to know the limits of their freedom.
• Determine boundaries – you want to give freedom within the necessary boundaries. Once guidelines and expectations are established, allow followers to express themselves freely within them.
• Choose your battles wisely – it is best not to cross a strong-willed person on issues of little importance to the team or organization. They are going to challenge you and you need to let them express themselves so you don’t kill their spirit. At the same time, you have to maintain your authority as the leader on matters of substance and importance.
• Show respect – strong-willed people ultimately want to be heard, and they are most resistant when they aren’t allowed to express themselves. Learn what matters to them … what they are passionate about … and give credibility to their opinions. In fact seek it, but maintain boundaries for what is best for the group and organization.

Conclusion

A properly mentored and coached individual with a strong spirit and a cultivated work ethic usually are very successful at everything they do once they “get it.” It’s similar to training a highly spirited thoroughbred horse and seeing how far they can go with their special drive.

(Note: Another subject for another time … being a team player does not always mean being a team builder. A strong willed person who is a team player but not a team builder can be a cancer on you and your company.)

© Phil Hoffman 2014. All rights reserved

Prized Executive Skills

Companies are moving toward hiring more executive level positions as the economy trends positively. This is due to two reasons. One, as noted, the economy is trending up and the other is because executives are looking for opportunities to move as they were staying put while the recession was lingering. But now some feel this is a good time to make a move if they are unhappy or they want to move up in what may look like greener pastures.

To address this I have listed five current skills that companies are looking for when they hire top executives in today’s markets:

1. Leadership … companies want leadership that is authentic … respects others … are willing to build trust and have a strategic mindset for growing business.
2. Visionary Leadership … especially when a company is on a new path … looking to adopt new strategy … or is at a tipping point in its growth.
3. Strategic Thinking and Execution … the ability to think strategically … to have foresight and able to really THINK with purpose and intention … understanding how to get and keep execution as a daily action goal.
4. Technology Savvy … able to understand how technology is impacting organizations and how to exploit technology for the benefit of the company.
5. Financial Acumen … don’t have to be a CPA but need to know how to work a P&L statement and its impact on the balance sheet … industry savvy … knowledge of how things work going forward.
6. Team- Relationship-Building … the ability to hire good team oriented people as well as develop an exceptionally strong leadership team … good leaders know that today you cannot succeed as a one-person player … it takes a team … a constantly improving team … you better build the team you want to work with to do your best.
7. Communication and Presentation … at three levels … peers (team members) … below (the DOERs) … and above (organization leaders).
8. Change-Management … lead transformation … motivated with a continuous improvement mindset … a sense of upgrading the organization … building better processes and systems … improving relationships, creating market share and developing others (leadership succession).
9. Integrity … while this is not a skill per se … integrity and reputation for ethical conduct are highly valued … very important.
10. Excellence … we can’t be perfect but we can seek excellence in everything … with a mindset of continuous improvement and excellence you can move things forward quickly and in a sustaining way.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome.

© Phil Hoffman 2014. All rights reserved

Simple Steps to Effective Leadership

The most effective executives have a knack for getting the right things done while inspiring themselves and others.

Style

The main difference in effective leadership is style … manner, temperament, and skillsets within their personalities. This is normally based on experience, personality, knowledgebase, and personal interests.

As Peter Drucker so astutely noted (paraphrased): Effective people perform only necessary tasks and eliminate unnecessary ones.

Here are some “acquired” skills …

• Time Management … effective leaders have time management skills that they have put together systematically that work for them. They know where their time goes by thoroughly managing the time that they can actually control. This takes intention and focus.
• Outside Influences … effective executives are keenly looking for ideas from others that they sense are effective … whether from their peers, or above or below. They seek ideas to improve that contribute to their effectiveness.
• Focus on Strengths … they build on their strengths … and strengths they see in others. They are consciously aware they can get more accomplished through improving their strengths than working on their weaknesses.
• Prioritize …they concentrate on the priorities. First by identifying them and then seek superior performance in the areas that provide the maximum results. They discipline themselves to stay focused on the priorities of their leadership area.
• Think Fast; Think Slow … they are ready to make effective decisions based on the urgency of the situation. They have a system they know works that entails doing the right things in the right sequence. They know that timely decisions are best to avoid wrong decisions, but they also know the importance of when, how, and why.

Art of Management

Knowing how and when to make these type of effective decisions is an art of management. Just because someone is smart, works hard, is innovative, and has experience does not mean they will be effective. They have to have good systems and practices that they follow consistently in order to be truly effective.

Consider learning the bullet points above and practicing them consistently … know where your time goes … seek contributions from others … improve your strengths … give attention to being excellent in your areas of responsibility … consciously make effective decisions.

© Phil Hoffman 2014. All rights reserved