Month June 2014

Why Leadership Really Matters

Steve Keating Leave a comment

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Top performing, passionate people still need direction, focus and a purpose. The most common source for those three prerequisites for success is an effective leader. Without effective leadership even top performers lose the motivation the use their skills and abilities.

They can get simple direction from a manager, they can even be somewhat forced to focus but their purpose becomes clear only when there is a vision to work towards. Vision casting is a prime responsibility of an effective leader.

People will put forth effort for mere money… for a while. Money alone however has proven to be a poor motivator for top performers. People are most productive when they know that they are making a difference. Working towards a vision shows them where and how they can make a difference.

If the vision can’t be articulated by the leader then there might as well not be a vision. If the vision isn’t shared often then that too is nearly as bad as not having a vision at all.

Leaders are role models as well – good or bad. They should not expect to see more effort from their people than they are willing to offer themselves. They should not expect better decisions or more prudent risk-taking than they put forth as leaders.

If you’re in a leadership position then you absolutely MUST know that your people are watching you… always. They watch to see if your words match your actions. (They do what you do, not what you say) They watch to see if you’re committed enough to the vision and if they determine that you’re not then they will not commit to you.

If they cannot commit to you then they will not commit to the vision. People, especially top performing people, commit to a leader before they commit to the leader’s vision.

The energy that makes good people top performers turns on itself without direction, focus and purpose. When that happens top performers go sour, become ineffective and they eventually leave the leader…. or worse, they stay with the leader and simply stop performing.

Leadership matters, it always has and it always will. Without effective leadership even promising top performers will struggle to reach their potential.

If you’re in a leadership position then you not only have the opportunity to lead, you have an obligation to lead. If you can’t or won’t meet that obligation then you owe it to your would be followers, and even to yourself, to step aside and let a real leader take over.

Leadership for the Ages – Conclusion

Steve Keating 2 Comments

Not admitting to the differences between generations will not make the differences go away. 

If you’re going to do more than just occupy a leadership position, if you’re going to actually lead, then you’ll have to understand and use those differences.

One of the challenges in writing a series like this is that in the interest of time you almost have to use some generalities in your writing. When I finally get around to writing my book on leadership I promise I’ll add more specific detail.

If it is true that each generation is different, and it is true, then it is also true that there are differences within each generation as well. So many differences in fact that I couldn’t list them all, even in a book.

As a leader it is incumbent upon you to know those differences in your people. The fact that they come from a particular generation can give you some idea as how to lead them but it is a picture  painted in shades of gray. To truly lead you must have a picture of your people painted in vivid color.

This is a picture not painted with a brush but with information. It requires information to truly know your people. To acquire the type of information needed for this picture you’ll have to talk WITH your people, not TO them. It will help immeasurably if you’ll listen too.

I frequently recommend to leaders that they periodically conduct innerviews with their people. No, I didn’t misspell that… I mean innerview, not interview. An interview  is something you do when hiring someone. An innerview is something you do when you really want to know them.   

It is maybe a five minute conversation about the person you’re innerviewing; it gives you the opportunity to discover what’s important to them, what motivates them, what their goals and objectives are. You’ll better understand their specific values and background. You’ll know how they want to be led and they will know that they and their ideas matter to you and their organization.

If you can invest 5 or 10 minutes a day to talk with the people of your organization, everyday, with all generations, you’ll lead more effectively than you ever thought possible.

The number one concern I hear from leaders when I share the “Innerview” concept is the time required to do it. 5 or 10 minutes a day, everyday. I’m amazed by the number of “leaders” who tell me they can’t afford the time. 

Really?

If you don’t have the time to invest in your people then you simply don’t have the time to lead. You may need to move out of the way and let a “Kid” take over. I’d rather have an experienced leader who truly leads than an experienced person who merely occupies a leadership position.

So, feel like leading today? Then go do an innerview.

Leadership for the Ages – Part Five

Steve Keating 5 Comments

The future is a pretty sneaky thing. It just kind of creeps up on you and before you know it you’re actually living in it. Except that it’s not the future anymore, it has become the present.

Thirty years ago when I was preparing to write a workshop on cold-calling it occurred to me that I didn’t know that much about the subject. So I took a 3 month part-time job selling cellphones because at the time cellphones were selling for $3000 and up and most sales were the result of a cold call. I figured to learn cold calling in a hurry by selling phones. (I did)

The visionary owner of the company I was selling for predicted a day when people would be able to call you anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world, whether they knew where you were or not. Just by having one phone number for you they could reach you anywhere. I have thought for years how amazing that would be if his vision ever became reality.

In January I received a phone call on my cell. It was from a friend from Minnesota who was in Phoenix for the winter. He was wondering if I could fill a tee time on the following Friday if I was going to be in town. I told him I was not going to be in town, in fact, I was standing in the middle of the ancient city of Pompeii. He called my Minnesota phone number, from Phoenix and reached me, instantly, in Pompeii. Italy.

The future had snuck up on me. I never saw it coming.

So it is with many of my “Middle” friends, the “Kids” generation has snuck up on us, they have arrived and are ready, well maybe not ready, but certainly willing, to take over and lead us all into the future. 

And one day, in the future, they most certainly will.

The “Kids” generation or as most people call them the “Millennials” are the group born after 1980. The “Kids” are the first global-centric generation, having grown up during the brisk growth of the Internet and the expansion of global terrorism. They are absolutely the most resilient in navigating change and they have a deep appreciation for diversity and inclusion. 

With remarkable gains in technology and an increase in educational opportunities during the 1990s, the “Kids” are also the most educated generation of workers today. They also represent the most team-centric generation since the “Dads,” as they have grown up at a time where parents scheduled much of their lives with sports and recreational activities to keep them occupied while their “Middles” parents focused on work. 

One of the characteristics of “Kids,” besides the fact that they are masters of digital communication, is that they are prepared to do well by doing good. Almost 70 percent say that giving back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities.

The “Kids” are not the most patient of the generations and are often surprised, disappointed, and even annoyed when the older generations, the “higher ups” don’t act on their ideas because they haven’t figured out that the “model is changing.”

The “Kids” NEED feedback, and whether positive or negative, the feedback needs to be structured in a way that leaves no room for misunderstanding. Feedback needs to be clear and specific in order to be effective with this group. 

To be productive they need to know and buy into their organization’s vision. To feel valued, they need to know their role in achieving that vision. 

More than the “Middles” and “Changers” the “Kids” are especially eager to progress in their careers and are seldom willing to wait three to five years for a promotion. Organizations and companies that want to develop this next generation of leaders need to develop in-between steps and titles, so “Kids” can meet their need for career advancement.

According to a 2012 survey by staffing agency Adecco, 68% of recent graduates identified good opportunities for growth and development as one of their top professional priorities. Assigning challenging projects and sending “Kids” to training conferences will be especially helpful for those “Kids” workers interested in learning and growing their skills.

This generation, more than any other, needs flexibility. With their technology skills they are essentially able to work anytime from anywhere. Let them! Let them if you expect to keep them. A 2012 study of this generation by Griffith Insurance Education Foundation discovered that “Kids” will sacrifice pay for increased vacation time and the ability to work outside the office.

To my fellow “Middles” leaders and even leaders from the “Changers” generation you should know that the future is upon us. The “future” looks pretty darn young, too young to be serving us hamburgers much less occupying the office next door. But nevertheless, the future is here. These “Kids” happen to make the future look pretty good too!

Leaders of today can work against the future and lose or work with the future and succeed beyond their time. It is a choice all leaders will have to make. Choose well!

Leadership for the Ages – Part Four of Some

Steve Keating 4 Comments

No generation has a monopoly on what’s right. It would behove leaders from every generation to keep that in mind. 

The generation I call “The Changers,” the ones born between 1964 and 1980, were shaped by the fall of the Berlin Wall, Watergate, Desert Storm, the energy crisis, technology, and the internet. As the first generation of kids where both parents were likely to work they are more independent than the generations before them. They have seen their parents down-sized, right-sized and let go after sacrificing everything for their company. They’re less loyal to their employers and expect to change jobs. Sometimes often.

They expect fast gratification, and they’re technically savvy. They need feedback and recognition, but don’t want a lot of rules. The “Changers” want flexibility and freedom at work. They’ve seen a ton of corporate and political corruption, which has left them pretty skeptical. While for a time “The Middles” generation didn’t trust anyone over 30, this generation has some issues trusting anyone over 50. 

Because “Changers” naturally place a lower priority on work, many leaders from the “Middles” generation think that these workers are not as dedicated. There is no real evidence of that, in fact, the research would simply show they are dedicated differently. They are more willing to take on challenges and are known to be highly adaptive to job instability in the post-downsizing era.

They were also the first generation to grow up with technology. That seems to be why this generation cares more about productivity and less about the number of hours spent on the job. Because they best understand how to maximize and leverage the new technology, they value a balanced lifestyle and equality on the job.

This generation isn’t better or worse than the ones that came before. They aren’t better workers or worse. They are just different. Their life experiences have provided them with a different set of values. 

These different values can cause conflict. When one generation attempts to lead another their value systems influence and guide their leadership style. The values they have built throughout their lives can make it tough to be objective. As humans, we are biased towards our own values, that isn’t right or wrong, it’s just the way it is.

As a leader, when conflict does arise, you need to put your biases aside. So if a “Middle” and a “Changer” are having conflicts with each other, and you’re a “Middle” leader, you can’t naturally side with your fellow “Middler,” just because you share similar values. You need to be objective, understand the differing values of each person involved, and lead according to the circumstances and the people involved.

Leaders adjust, the great ones have different “styles” and methods. Just remember, leaders adjust themselves, not rules or principles. 

If you’re going to lead cross generationally then you need to understand this: if you’re in a conflict with someone from a different generation it’s very possible that they are not fighting you. It might be you fighting them. You’re trying to change their values, trying to make them into something or someone that they simply can’t be. It’s a fight that Authentic Servant Leaders know they cannot and should not win. 

Improve your leadership by using who and what your people are to their advantage and to yours. You’ll grow, they will grow and your organization will grow as well.

Leadership for the Ages – Part Three of Some

Steve Keating 2 Comments

In my last post we looked at the leadership you’ll find from the “Dad’s” generation. In this third of what’s likely to be a five post series we’ll look at the group best known as the “Baby Boomers” or as I call them “The Middles.” This is the group born between 1946 and 1964, I was born right in the middle of those years, hence the name “middles.”

This generation, my generation, was the first to actively declare a higher priority for work over personal life.  The “Middles” generally distrust authority and large “systems.” Our values were shaped by the civil rights movement, Viet Nam, and for a time, run away inflation. We are mostly more optimistic and willing to change than “Dad’s” generation.

We’re also known to some however as the “Me Generation” and that moniker is probably well deserved. If the “Dad’s” invented Minute Rice then it was the “Middles” who decided that a minute was way too long a time to wait for rice, or nearly anything else for that matter. We do tend to want everything NOW. That need for instant gratification can sometimes show up as a sense of entitlement. It is never good for someone in a leadership position to have any kind of sense of entitlement, it tends to send followers running for the door. 

My generation, “The Middles” have had their retirement plans changed, not really changed, more like ripped from them. The dot.com slaughter and the Great Recession have caused many of my generation to consider when and even if they will retire. 63% now say they will work at least part-time in retirement to replace lost savings. 

That can make a person a bit bitter and a bitter leader is a bad leader. A very bad leader. 

My generation embraced the value of having to sacrifice to get ahead. All that sacrifice makes us very loyal to one another. We’ve seemingly always understood the value of a solid effort and have had no issue with working to earn everything we receive. 

All of this has shaped our values into what they are. I believe “The Middles” are a great generation in their own way. But too many leaders from my generation also believe that “our way” is the only way and that can make it very difficult to lead. 

Authentic Servant Leaders to not apply their values and their value system to those they lead. To be an effective leader in 2014 you must lead people according to their value system, not yours. 

Leading others according to their values is not a sign of weakness on the part of the leader, it is a sign of caring and intelligence. 

Let’s say that you have a team member, someone you lead, from the “Changers” or “Kids” generation, and their work hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm. Each day you watch them turn off their lights and pack-up to head home at 5:00pm. Their work for the day is done, no big projects due or deadlines approaching but you question their loyalty and work ethic anyway. 

Your question doesn’t stem from their lack of performance, it stems from you applying your values to them. Remember, for us “middles” “work” is a place to go, for “Changers” and “Kids” it is something they do. 

The “problem” here really lays with the leader, not the follower. 

Authentic Servant Leaders seek first to understand and know their people. They know they can’t truly lead a person until they know the person they are leading. 

On another note, to my fellow “Middles,” maybe we can learn something from the “Changers” and “Kids,” go home and see what you’re missing. These youngsters just might be on to something. We’ll find out in the next post of this series!

Leadership for the Ages – Part Two of Some

Steve Keating 3 Comments

In the first post of this series we looked at the one key characteristic that all leaders must have. They must have integrity. Without integrity they can try to lead every day of their lives and it’s unlikely that anyone will truly follow. That’s true no matter what generation the follower comes from.

In this post, we’ll look at the four generations together and start to look deeper at the first group. 

I’d bet you’re already aware of the four generations we’re going to look at but just so we’re all on the same page let’s review. Each expert in the study of various generations has their own name for the groups but since I’m clearly no expert I’ll make up my own.

The first and “oldest” generation we’ll look at is my dad’s. So I’ll call it “Dad’s” generation. The experts call it “The Silents” or the “Veterans” but while my dad was a veteran he certainly wasn’t silent so I don’t know how both could fit. This group was born between 1925 and 1946.

Next we have my generation. The experts call my generation the “Baby Boomers” and since I was born right in the middle of that generation I’ll call that one the “Middles.” (hey, it’s my blog, I can call it what I want) This group was born between 1946 and 1964.

Next we have what the experts call the Generation Xers. I don’t understand why. You would think if they are really experts they could have come up with a name better than that. I’ll call them the “Changers” because in my opinion they changed their world, and everyone else’s faster than any generation before them. The “Changers” were born between 1965 and 1980. 

Finally we have what I call “The Kids.” I mean no disrespect with that name, quite the opposite. This is the generation of my kids and our future is in their hands. What the people of my generation messed up this generation will have to fix. I believe they are up to the task. The experts call them “The Millennials.” I’m not sure why but this much is certain: the world this group grew up in is very different than the one I remember when I was growing up, very very different. This is the group born after 1980. 

So, there’s the four generations. Let’s take a closer look at the first group, “Dad’s.” 

If events shape our lives, and I believe they do, this group’s collective lives were shaped by some big ones. WWII and the great depression come immediately to mind. They struggled to survive. The values they learned in those times are still present today. They possess a great commitment to team members and working together. They, as a group, are the best communicators among all of us. They say what they mean and mean what they say. They typically say the same thing to everyone, there are few games with this group. 

I find the concept of leading anyone from this age group to be almost ridiculous, none of us would be here but for the sacrifices of this group. They deserve as much respect as we can give them. 

Some of the leaders from the  “Changers’ and “Kids,” and sadly even some of the leaders from the “Middles” would dismiss the wisdom of this group. That is a huge mistake for any leader to make. The values they bring along with their wisdom are sorely lacking among many of today’s leaders. 

They are dedicated and fiercely loyal. They seldom waver in the face of a challenge and it’s from this group that great mentors come, to this very day. 

Any leader who discounts advice from this group, solely on the basis that “things are different now” does so at their own risk. Remember, “things” may be different but people are not. Leadership is about people, not things. Advice from this group should be considered priceless!

Leadership for the Ages – Part One

Steve Keating 3 Comments

The two most popular “theories” or “methods” or whatever you want to call them, of leadership are: treat everyone you lead the same or treat everyone you lead differently because everyone you lead is unique.

I subscribe to neither of them. Here’s mine: Treat everyone you lead the same, just do it differently. I believe that’s the most effective way to lead because people are mostly the same. They always have been and history shows us that there is no reason to think that will ever change. 

We all have the same basic needs and wants. The mere fact that we’re all human dictates that simple truth. While we all have much in common however we all also have things about us that make us different from every other person on earth. I am unique and so are you and you and you. So is everyone else. 

Some folks in leadership positions seem to miss that fact, or at least part of it. They understand that as a leader “they” are different. They know that it’s those differences that set them apart from other people and make them a leader. Then, at the same time, they lead their people as if their people were just like them. 

They assume their people are motivated by many of the same things they are. They lead as if their people have the same life experiences as the they do. They lead their people the way they, the leader, want to be led. 

That’s pure leadership folly!

In this series of posts I’ve titled Leadership for the Ages we’ll look at the differences in people related to their generations. I’ll write with broad strokes here with the full understanding that even within generations the differences abound. 

In this post however let’s look at what all generations have in common. 

They expect honesty from their leaders. They want… it’s actually more than want, they need to be able to trust their leaders. People of every generation have always needed a leader they could trust and they have always known that leadership has little to do with a title or position.

They know that leadership, actual, authentic, servant leadership has to do with caring for and about people. Regardless of a person’s age, background, motivation, or goals, they don’t care what a leader knows until they know that the leader cares. About them!

People will commit to a leader who cares about them, they will follow, they will go the extra mile. They follow leaders they trust to look out for their people’s interest. Without integrity there is no trust and without trust there is no leadership. That’s true for all generations and all cultures. 

Everyone has that in common.

In the next post we’ll begin looking at the differences in the generations and how those differences affect both leaders and followers.