Posts Tagged ‘business’

Leaders must take their responsibilities

Posted: April 20, 2015 in Leadership
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The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation just released its report by an outside investigator into star radio host Jian Ghomeshi’s execrable behaviour. Beyond confirming that Ghomeshi was a class A a__hole, we’ve also learned that managers knew about it and did mostly… nothing.

This is not an HR problem. It’s a leadership problem, a management problem, an ethical problem! Leaders set the ethical tone of an organization. What they accept will be deemed acceptable; what they reject, will be deemed rejectable. Poor leadership breeds poor management and poor leadership, and it also breeds questionable actions.

I call this the “license principle.” Leaders provide a license for certain types of behaviour and attitudes, even if they don’t act that way themselves. Refusing to deal with a workplace bully like Ghomeshi just because he’s a star provides a license to others to act in the same manner and fails to protect those that are the target of the bully’s ire.

A fundamental leadership principle that I learned in the Army requires that leaders care for the welfare of subordinates and followers. CBC management failed in this mission while tacitly encouraging bullying and favouratism.

Richard Martin is The Force Multiplier. He brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty. 

© 2015 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Lead by example

Posted: April 12, 2015 in Leadership
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The following extract from my book, Brilliant Manoeuvres, is as relevant as ever:

Followers will model their behaviour on their leaders, especially if they, the followers, have little experience of the undertaking. The leader sets the tone for the entire organization by how he or she thinks, acts, speaks, and decides. If the leader is weak and indecisive, the whole organization will often be of the same complexion. If the leader acts ethically and with integrity, then this attitude will tend to permeate the organization. The leader gives a license to his or her followers to think and perform in a certain way; so all actions and words must be assessed for their impact on followers, superiors, peers, and those the organization is meant to serve. In the final analysis, the leader must be worthy of the loyalty, confidence, and respect of followers, because they will mimic the leader’s performance.

  • Have you ever been forced to work for or follow a leader of dubious competencies and integrity? How did you feel? How did your co-workers feel? What mechanisms did followers adopt to compensate for the leader’s weaknesses?
  • Conversely, have you ever had the pleasure to work for a leader who was competent and who provided a superb example of professional excellence and ethical integrity? What was it like? How did you and your co-workers feel and act? What were the mood, morale, and cohesion like?
  • Are you always a good role model and example for your followers and peers? Are you truly worthy of their loyalty, confidence and respect at all times?
  • Skills building techniques:
    • Make a list of all the leadership qualities and practices that you have always admired. Decide to apply these to your own leadership in a conscious and deliberate manner.
    • Make a list of all the poor leadership practices that you’ve always disliked in others. Observe yourself in action and try to avoid these practices in yourself.
    • Look at your speech, decisions, actions, and performance from the perspective of others, especially your followers. What do you think they expect in a leader? What do they need in a leader? Work to balance their expectations and their needs in everything you do and project.
    • Have you ever said one thing but done the opposite? Why did you do so? How could you have avoided it? What will you do to avoid it in the future?

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
General Dwight D. Eisenhower

I’m never too busy to discuss your needs or those of anyone else you feel may benefit from meeting or talking to me. So feel free to contact me at any time!

Ask me about my new Battle Procedure Briefing for business.

Richard Martin is The Force Multiplier. He brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2015 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Build and sustain morale in your team or organization

Posted: March 23, 2015 in Leadership
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Morale is the willingness to fight and to make the sacrifices needed to succeed and win. Many people confuse morale with mood. They think that if people are complaining or they are in a bad mood that automatically indicates bad morale. That may be the case, but not necessarily. In fact, people can be in a bad mood BECAUSE they have high morale. They want things to go better and are angry or momentarily discouraged because they aren’t. It’s up to leaders and key influencers to recognize this difference and to not let the momentary lapse get to them.

Signs of good morale:

  • Optimism
  • Realism
  • Cooperation and mutual aid
  • Hard work and sacrifices
  • Constructive criticism
  • Confidence in self and leaders

How is the morale is your team or organization?

  • Do you sense that people in your company have hope?
  • Is the language they use optimistic and hopeful, or pessimistic and despairing?
  • Are people making plans for the future with themselves in the plans, or are they instead making plans to abandon ship?
  • Do people have a lot of idle time, or are they working on ways to continually improve the organization and its performance?

Richard Martin is a Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2015 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Keep your followers informed of the mission, the changing situation, and the overall picture.

Posted: September 1, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the 10th of these principles.

  1. Remember that people aren’t mushrooms. They don’t grow better in the cold, damp, and dark. Be ruthlessly honest and open about the real situation.
  2. Ensure everyone understands the mission and end state, so they can exercise their initiative when the inevitable changes occur.
  3. Assume that there will always be friction in the execution of plans and procedures and work to minimize it.
  4. Provide ongoing feedback and status updates so people know what is going on.
  5. Inform your followers and other stakeholders of important information they need to know.
  6. Inform people on a “need to know” basis.
  7. Make regular rounds “at the front” and ask people for their opinions, what’s happening, and their understanding of the situation.
  8. Correct mistakes and misinterpretations quickly and effectively.
  9. Kill rumours ruthlessly and quickly with accurate information.
  10. Be prepared to exploit successes and breakthroughs.

Richard Martin is a Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Develop your followers as a team and employ them to their capabilities

Posted: August 25, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the 9th of these principles.

  1. Practise new procedures and for new types of operations if at all possible.
  2. Conduct regular after action reviews and seek to incorporate lessons learned.
  3. Develop or incorporate complementary competencies within your team or organization.
  4. Make sure everyone understands fully the mission, intent and plan before going into action.
  5. Provide training or education for individuals and groups if they haven’t done it before or they don’t current have all the qualifications.
  6. Give your subordinate leaders a certain freedom action to accommodate individual and team differences.
  7. Encourage moderate levels of internal rivalry and competition.
  8. Monitor morale, mood, and cohesion closely.
  9. Work on continuous and never-ending improvement.
  10. Be generous in praise and quick to correct mistakes or misinterpretations.

Richard Martin is a Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Make sound and timely decisions

Posted: August 24, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the 8th of these principles.

  1. Understand the trade-offs and advantages of delegation and participation. Bring others into your decision-making and planning if you have the time, they have the expertise, and you need to get them involved to ensure their full commitment.
  2. Decide when you’ve got sufficient (but not complete) information or knowledge.
  3. Consider multiple options and compare them against all relevant decision factors and your objectives.
  4. Focus your personal leadership efforts on the most critical aspects and delegate the rest.
  5. Break big problems down into smaller ones and assign them to subordinate leaders or teams.
  6. Never keep more than 1/3 of the available planning time for yourself and ensure you leave at least 2/3 for your subordinates to make their own decisions and plans.
  7. Consider alternative courses of action as potential contingency plans if your initial estimates or assumptions prove incorrect.
  8. Start planning for subsequent developments once the current operation is underway.
  9. Incorporate risk management and mitigation into your decision-making and planning. Consider worst-case and best-case scenarios.
  10. Assume you don’t have all the information or knowledge you need. In other words, there is always uncertainty and you can’t prepare for every possible contingency.

Richard Martin is The Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Develop the leadership potential of your followers

Posted: August 12, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the 7th of these principles.

  1. Realize that everyone is expendable, including you.
  2. Assume that all your followers are potential leaders until they prove otherwise.
  3. Leadership can and must be developed.
  4. Match responsibilities to knowledge and skill levels.
  5. Remember it’s easier to teach knowledge and skills than to change attitudes.
  6. Create a professional development framework so everyone knows what is required and expected in order to progress.
  7. Stimulate your followers intellectually and emotionally.
  8. Challenge your followers, especially if you think they have high leadership potential.
  9. Provide ongoing coaching, mentoring, training, and feedback.
  10. Tell people where they stand.

Richard Martin is The Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Lead by example

Posted: July 21, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the fourth of these principles.

  1. Take your profession seriously and be a model of professional competency and development.
  2. Assume everyone is looking to you and will imitate you in your comportment, demeanour, and words.
  3. Walk the walk and talk the talk, but remember that actions speak louder than words.
  4. Own up to mistakes and errors, and correct them immediately.
  5. Follow the golden rule. Respect goes both ways.
  6. Be willing to make hard decision and to justify and explain them if necessary. Don’t just “rule by fiat.”
  7. Be firm but fair. Explain your decisions when they concern people directly.
  8. Know what you stand for and make sure others know it also.
  9. Be honest with yourself and others.
  10. If you don’t know, say so. You can always find out or ask for someone’s advice or input.

Richard Martin is The Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Seek and Accept Responsibility

Posted: July 14, 2014 in Leadership
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I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the third of these principles.

  • Volunteer for important missions and responsibilities.
  • Plan ahead when you have a new mission or responsibility.
  • Get out of your comfort zone. If you’re not at least a bit nervous, you’re not taking enough risk.
  • Learn about and try out new approaches.
  • Take the blame when things go poorly, and praise your team when things go well.
  • Remember that no one is shooting at you.
  • Responsibility means being able to answer for your decisions, actions, and behaviour. Responsibility = accountability.
  • Put your attention on what you can control and either manage risk for the rest, or forget about it.
  • Risk should only be accepted with a corresponding chance of reward.
  • As a leader you’re part of “the system,” and represent the institution. So you can’t blame “the man” because you’re him.

Richard Martin is The Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

Achieve professional competence

Posted: June 30, 2014 in Leadership
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In the next weeks I will be focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the first of these principles.

I always like to say that competence is the heart of leadership. Remember that competence consists of 3 domains: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

  • People want to follow leaders who are competent and able to lead them to victory.
  • The idea that you can be an effective leader while being a so-so manager is a myth. Leaders must be effective at planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling.
  • Be clear on your objective(s) before considering the factors and making a decision.
  • Make decisions as fast as required, but not so fast that you rush headlong into the first course of action that pops into your head.
  • Consider multiple courses of action before making a decision.
  • Surround yourself with the right people.
  • Create a strong team and organization.
  • Communicate clearly and directly.
  • Follow up and ensure effective and efficient implementation of your plans during execution.
  • Designate your main effort and give it the resources and attention it requires.

Richard Martin is The Master Strategist and Leadership Catalyst. An expert on strategy and leadership, Richard brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to thrive and grow in the face of rapid change, risk, and uncertainty.

© 2014 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

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