10 Trend-right Leadership Skills for Today

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 Only a small percentage of executives have this innate talent.
4. Technology Knowledge. Need to understand how technology is impacting organizations and how to utilize and exploit technology with common sense based on wherewithal of company. This takes a thinkingtype executive who can envision, implement, and execute. A very powerful skill … and necessary for today’s leaders.
5. Financial acumen and industry savvy/knowledge. This is important for those who want to have that “visionary” trait.
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 and doers. (Good new book Team of Team by General Stanley McChrystal)
7. Ability to communicate and present (verbally, written, by example) … 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. Integrity and a reputation for ethical conduct. Although not a skill per se, these attributes are highly valued. Today personal integrity and ethical behavior are important … as well as being authentic in everything you seek to accomplish.
10. Seek EXCELLENCE … in everything! We cannot be perfect, but we can try to excel at everything you are doing … especially leadership.

What would you add or take away?

© Phil Hoffman 2016. All rights reserved

10 Doable Tips for Being a Good Leader and Managing Efficiently

I recently read an article from a top business magazine in which a successful former CEO was asked what the best business advice they had ever received. After some thought he shared the story of a breakfast meeting with a group of business leaders in Dallas at which one of the gentlemen, a folksy kind of fellow, plainspoken, who noted to no one in particular during the meeting that, “When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way. You gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again.”

While the folksy “cow quote” above covers just about every situation, I also have learned that one of the best ways to learn is from studying the advice and examples of top business leaders. This can be through books, articles, blogs, RSS feeds, or personal experiences. I thought I would share some ideas I have gleaned concerning managing when defining a problem and moving forward.

• No Control – when you don’t have control over an issue don’t waste your time fretting over such things. Leaders have a tendency to take control of things in order to be effective; however, there are things that pop up occasionally that you don’t have control of and requires adjustment. When this happens, don’t waste your time … do what you can and move on to more productive matters as quickly as possible.
• Delegate – good leaders know what and when to delegate. Easy or repetitive matters should be delegated to others. A leader holds on to those that are challenging, difficult, and most worthwhile to the situation. This is how they continue to grow and lead.
• Focus on your function – in a challenging situation, it’s important to manage the function, not the paperwork. Always keep in mind what you are to manage and stay focused on accomplishing that first. Don’t be distracted by paperwork or “the thick of thin things.” Results are all that counts.
• Manage By Wandering Around (MBWA) – Tom Peter’s taught this concept in his book In Search of Excellence … and I am a strong advocate of this tactic. It’s important for a leader to get out of their office and be amongst the people (the doers). This is how and where you find out what’s really going on within the organization. Furthermore, you will learn that it’s often easier and quicker to leave another work area (office) than to get someone to leave your office.
• Listen Intentionally – we’ve all heard that we have two ears and one mouth so listen twice as much as you talk … and that’s good advice. If you let them … if you really pay attention … you will find that your peers, your employees, your suppliers, your customers and your friends all have something of value in what they have to say … and they want to share … especially with the leader. You will miss many great opportunities if you mistakenly think others only want to hear what you think. You learn best from others … what you have to say you already know. So use listening as a learning opportunity.
• Other’s Mistakes – in line with the previous point, keep in mind that you can learn from the mistakes of others. As one of my mentors told me, “You won’t live long enough to make them all yourself. So learn from others and don’t repeat theirs.” Which leads us to the axiom “Leaders are Readers and Readers are Leaders.”
• Make your Smartphone your BFF – learn your Smartphone well … use it to the max. If used properly and efficiently it will become your best friend forever (BFF). It’s your calendar … so put any appointment or meeting in it immediately … including an appropriate date to prepare for it. It’s your rolodex … it’s your email partner … it’s your Internet connection. Don’t change devices every time a new and improved model comes out. Take the time to learn your device so you can maximize its use … to maximize your efficiency … your results. This is your connection to everything! Can’t emphasize this enough!
• Two Dashboards – create and develop a Dashboard to keep up with the key result areas (KRA) of your business. This is vital for you to stay on top of your functions. I suggest you take it a step further and have a second Dashboard for your personal life … your health, emotional, spiritual, and family life are important to your business life … give it the same attention.
• Be THE Example – to be a good leader you have to lead by example. Don’t look for your people to put in extra time if you leave early every day. Don’t fly first class or stay in four-star hotels if you expect your employees to stay in mid level or budget motels.
• Show integrity and honesty – always! Seek excellence.

© Phil Hoffman 2016. All rights reserved

How’s Your Mirror?

Have you ever considered that it’s not possible to see yourself as others see you?

First, there isn’t a perfect medium and frankly, when it comes to ourselves we process what we see when looking at ourselves differently than everyone else does. And social media has added a whole new dimension to the theater of media … and life in general for that matter.

We make that mistake with our mirrors at home or out in public as well as the ever-present mirror in our mind of what others might be saying about us behind our backs, especially on social media. We miscomprehend how we look in a video or how we come across in a written note or blog.

When we see a group picture, be it two, three or 25 … we immediately look at ourselves first. When we pass a mirror on the wall, we check to see if we have spinach in our teeth or if our hair is askew … yet we fail to see how horrible that wrinkled and out of date seersucker suit we have on looks on us. When someone posts a comment or review on something we’ve written, or built, or created … we dissect it, looking to see if they “got it” the way we intended it … or did they see it in a way that gives us the assurance that their vision of us is the same as ours.

No one really understands our self narrative, no one cares that much about us … no one knows what it truly takes to be us … and don’t really care to take the time to get to know us that well.  That nugget of truth we may be looking for simply isn’t there, no matter how hard we look in the mirror.

As a friend use to say, “No one is as bad or as good as they think they are.”  Nevertheless, each of us is unique in our own way … and that’s a good thing.

© Phil Hoffman, 2016

Avoiding Costly Crisis

The sense or ability to anticipate a problem in its early stages is an advantage for some entrepreneurs. Stopping a problem in its early stages saves money and resources and is often as good, and sometimes far better than paying extra when it becomes an emergency.

Being hesitant in addressing a looming problem, or worrying about looking indecisive or imagining the possible repercussions that may result can be costly.

A financially sound company allows the decisive executive to pull back an incorrect decision to stop and avoid problems or fix it while it is still small.

A financially strapped company on the other hand often has the insecurity of worrying about making a mistake, therefore, fear of making early corrections due to fear of costs and making a correction too quickly. It such situations it is not usual to wait until something becomes an emergency because they don’t feel they have the time or resources (dollars) to spare. This can become Expensive!

This gives an advantage to the financially sound company with an intuitive executive leader willing to make a corrective decision timely.

© Copyright 2016 Phil Hoffman