Posts Tagged ‘Coaching’

12 techniques to boost your leadership competence:

  1. Set clear overarching objectives for you and your team.
  2. Analyze the internal and external environments, as well as the evolving situation.
  3. Consider multiple scenarios and courses of action before making a decision.
  4. Formulate a clear and direct mission and communicate it openly to your followers.
  5. Surround yourself with the right people and involve them as much as possible in analysis and decision-making.
  6. Ask for advice from followers, peers, and superiors and consider multiple perspectives in your analysis and decision-making.
  7. Break your plans into actionable steps and tasks and assign these to specific individuals on the basis of their competencies, talents, and developmental requirements.
  8. Ensure your subordinates have the resources needed to do their respective jobs and support them in their tasks.
  9. Communicate your plans and intentions clearly and directly.
  10. Question your followers frequently to know what they know, understand, and believe.
  11. Designate priorities and the focus of effort for all your plans and intentions.
  12. Follow up to ensure effective and efficient implementation of your guidance and direction.

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.

There was a movie that came out about ten or fifteen years ago called Changing Lanes, starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. The two main characters get in a feud over a silly thing that escalates into general mayhem for both, affecting their lives and their significant others. At one point, Jackson’s character is conferring with his AA sponsor (played by William Hurt), who tells him in no uncertain terms that he’s not just addicted to alcohol, he’s also addicted to chaos.

I’m not implying a link with alcohol or any other mind-altering substance, but I do think that many entrepreneurs and business owners are, quite frankly, addicted to chaos. This affects not only themselves, but also their relations with their families, friends, and business associates. It manifests as projects started and never finished, chasing too many rabbits at one time, inability to reach goals, failure to return calls, emails, text messages, jumping on the next management fad that will “fix” everything, etc., etc.

It’s comparable in many ways to well-known phenomenon of the “geographic cure,” to which addicts are prone. Wistfully: “If only (insert miracle cure), then everything will be perfect…”

Perhaps this comes from the fact that many entrepreneurs and business owners started out at the bottom, founded their companies, and had to learn to do everything themselves. Everything from ordering stationery to delivering products and services to clients. However, at some point, a growing company must “professionalize” and systematize processes and structures (not necessarily bureaucratizing though). Services and tasks that were originally done by passionate amateurs must be transferred to professionals who know what they’re doing so that the founder can concentrate on growing the business and expanding into new markets and activities.

Unfortunately, not all entrepreneurs and business owners seem capable of doing so. There are several factors at play, not the least of which is simple scarcity of capital to hire experts and invest in productivity. But, I also believe that the owner/entrepreneur has become so involved in the day-to-day minutia of running the business and working in it, that they don’t know, or don’t wish to, work on the business. They micro-manage and keep all the critical tasks and functions for themselves. In some instances, they actually become addicted to the adrenalin rush of constantly being in the front lines. They can’t let go and this quickly turns to chaotic management (or lack thereof).

I’ve noticed over the years that successful executives and owners who have made the transition to highly effective and efficient performance are extremely well organized. They know their strengths and limitations, focus on the former while compensating for the latter, usually by becoming associated in some way with experts who can take up the slack in vital areas that are not their best suit.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the chaotic management style of micro-managing entrepreneurs and owners translates to a lack of basic savoir faire and savoir vivre. Unreturned phone calls, unreachability, missed appointments, last minute scheduling changes, etc. A few years back, I sent my book to several CEOs of very large companies. In all cases, I got personal letters or emails back from them thanking me for the gift. You can set up an appointment with a successful executive or entrepreneur several months ahead of time and be sure they will be there when you show up for the meeting. If they can’t, they have their assistant contact you to reschedule. Why can’t the chaos-addicted managers and entrepreneurs do the same? Because they’re disorganized and living from second to second, minute to minute.

If you’re one of these chaotic business people, you need to do something about it. You must get better organized, starting by respecting the people around you, especially your business associates. If you don’t know how to do this, find someone who can help you become, as Peter Drucker called it in his book of the same name, an “effective executive.” If you want to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible, you should contact me immediately!

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.

There is no truth to the belief that great leaders are born that way and that you can’t really develop or acquire the competencies for leadership. This belief stems from a self-limiting, fixed mind set. The first leadership principle—to achieve professional competence—tells us what to achieve, the second leadership principle—to appreciate one’s strengths and limitations and pursue self-improvement—tells us how to achieve it.

The growth mind set is essential for learning, growth, and development in any field of endeavour, and certainly this is the case for leadership. We grow by challenging ourselves and overcoming resistance and obstacles. The growth mind set as applied to leadership consists of what I call the Four Pillars of Leadership Excellence. These encompass the goal of development (objective standards), the power of example (role models), the understanding of objective performance and behaviour (self-knowledge), and the subjective awareness of performance and behaviour in action (self-awareness).

One of the most powerful concepts for leadership development is the “learning curve.” Learning occurs over time as we invest resources and effort in acquiring and honing new knowledge and skills. Learning starts when we become aware of a need for improvement or the potential to move to a new level. Learning itself is a cyclical process based on feedback. We need to act in order to generate results that we can then observe and assess against indicators. We therefore need objective standards and role models to emulate and to measure our progress. Prudent, calculated risks are the fuel of development. If progress is to continue on the road to development, then the learner must jump to a higher learning curve.

Just like an army on the offensive, you need a clear objective and mission. You also require a deep appreciation of your strengths so you can leverage them to the hilt, complemented by a realistic appraisal of your limitations so you can overcome or mitigate them. Your most powerful strength is your personal center of gravity. From the perspective of leadership, strengths can be any particular skills, attitudes, or elements of knowledge. Personality or character traits can also be strengths, as well as natural proclivities or talents, such as intelligence, visual and spatial abilities, and sociability. Strengths come at the intersection of things you do quickly and easily, you’re trusted and recognized for, and you’re passionate about. Once you’ve identified your center of gravity, you must then exploit it as much as possible, in concert with your other strengths, so you can achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness as a leader.

It’s not enough however to play offence. You must also be able to manage your limitations and weaknesses so they don’t overwhelm your strengths and make you ineffective. I talk about managing limitations, because it’s probably impossible to eliminate them completely. All we can realistically do is contain them and mitigate their effects so they don’t hinder us excessively. I call this playing defence, because we don’t always have the initiative or the luxury to concentrate on all areas at once.

Techniques to Energize Your Leadership Development

  1. Adopt and nurture the growth mindset.
  2. View your successes and failures as feedback for learning.
  3. Study the objective standards of your field, profession or organization.
  4. Observe and emulate positive role models.
  5. Acquire self-knowledge to assess your leadership against objective standards.
  6. Develop self-awareness so you can witness your behaviour, thinking, and performance on a moment-to-moment basis and adjust these accordingly.
  7. Create a vision of how you wish to lead in the future, and then determine what competencies and traits you will need to achieve that vision.
  8. Assess your past performance as a leader so you can draw lessons learned for now and the future.
  9. Identify where you are on the learning curve for the particular competencies you need in leadership. Are you at the initial awareness stage, making rapid progress, reaching diminishing returns, plateauing, or in decline? What is needed to move to the next stage of leadership competence?
  10. What is the next learning curve for you? What are the most likely risks and opportunities you face when making the leap to the next curve?
  11. What are your top leadership strengths and your center of gravity? Develop a strategy to exploit your center of gravity.
  12. What are your top leadership limitations and vulnerabilities? What is your strategy to manage these limitations, depending on the situation and the people you are leading?

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have been focusing on each of the 10 leadership principles I learned as an officer in the army. This the 6th of these principles.

  1. Get out of your office and talk to your followers, colleagues, and other stakeholders.
  2. Ask your followers about themselves.
  3. Have a regular “platoon commander’s hour.”
  4. Every once in a while get in the “snake pit” and answer questions from your followers.
  5. Ensure your followers have the best training, professional development, leadership and resources they need to carry out their missions.
  6. Ensure your followers’ creature comforts are reasonable and taken care of.
  7. Ensure fairness and reasonable equivalence in privileges and amenities across your team or organization.
  8. Provide regular feedback.
  9. Monitor the mood, morale, and cohesion of your team or organization.
  10. Care about the person, not just the position.

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.

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.

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.