by john on April 14, 2010
We hear many bits of advice on ways to lead effectively. I admit, I am one that offers up some of those items. I can sometimes get confused as I listen to others, read articles, and reflect on my own leading experiences. Great ideas on leading, leadership, communicating, executing, decision making, trusting, mentoring, building up people; but what does it all mean?
Balance or Spinning?
I have heard the advice about having balance in life. Applying this notion of balance to our discussion on leading would lead us to conclude there can and should be a balance in how we lead and apply the multitude of tips we receive on leadership. The first picture that comes to mind is that of three plates spinning on top of three sticks. Balance then becomes the action of keeping each of the plates spinning and balanced on their respective sticks.
The constant spinning and returning to each of the plates to insure the right amount of pressure and attention is placed on each one can be daunting. I suggest a simpler approach to leading.
Not Easily Broken
It is said that three strands of a cord are not easily broken. Instead of three plates, if we approach leading with the idea of three strands, it may be a simpler model to maintain. Strands in a cord are pulled on with the same pressure at the same time. The balance is built into how the cord or rope is made.
Likewise, a model for leading needs to have this same principle built into its core framework. The model for leading I am developing and recommend being adopted as an effective and accessible framework consists of three strands: People, Performance, and Purpose.
People
Business is conducted with people. Whether it is people insuring a machine or certain portion of a manufacturing line is operational, or building a castle out of stone, people are involved. Today, as before, people are the key to creating and manufacturing the products we wear, eat, live in, drive in, walk in.
Performance
Gaining feedback and understanding the impact on what is done in business and any situation where there is a leader and those being led is critical for improvement. Sometimes it is good to have feedback to simply know that what was planned actually happened.
Purpose
It is difficult, if not impossible, to continue for any length of time doing something without the knowledge of why it is being done. Another aspect of purpose to explore is meaningfulness of why something is done.
It is our thesis that this three-stranded model of leading can accommodate the many facets of leadership development currently being discussed. We will expand on this model of leading with a series of articles to follow. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.
What have you found to be effective in balancing different aspects of leading others?
Tagged as:
Leading,
people,
performance,
purpose
by john on January 20, 2010
Leading a team should promote the continuance and growth of the team, in other words, scalability. The mission or purpose of the team in this case is long term, with a desire to see its continuance beyond a project with a specific completion date. However, even in the case of project-focused leadership, having a continuity plan where the project continues in spite of the leader becoming suddenly unavailable is critical to the successful completion of the project.
How can we replicate ourselves as leaders in a way that fulfilling the mission of the team continues beyond our involvement? How can we grow the leadership base to expand the influence of the mission overall?
Span of Effectiveness
Leaders can effectively lead and support anywhere from six to twelve followers. As the team grows beyond this point, intermediate leaders are necessary to have in place in order to provide personal guidance and support within the organization. These intermediate leaders must then add another layer of leaders as the organization grows (or in order to grow the organization).
Pouring into ones direct team is time consuming. It requires tremendous effort. This cascading leadership structure of a team provides opportunities for leaders to develop at various levels of responsibility within the team.
Leadership Qualities
Qualities of leadership activities that will produce a growing and scalable team include being intentional, integral, and inspirational.
Intentional
Continually looking for opportunities to share, expand, and promote the missional aspects of the team is something that cannot happen by accident, but must be intentional. Training and mentoring followers to pick up a leadership role at some level insures there is no sole reliance upon any one individual leader. An intentional approach also becomes self-fulfilling since the mission of the team is top-of-mind in the leader and the continuously growing population of intermediate leaders and followers.
Integral
Activities of a leader are to be focused on fulfilling the mission of the team in such a way that they are woven into the fabric of the organization. It becomes a way of life that is shared with the followers. Connecting the dots of understanding how activities support the fulfillment of the mission is necessary for followers to make sustainable commitments to the team. Also understanding how certain activities can be detrimental to the mission is important to successfully accomplishing the team’s objectives.
Inspirational
The mission and purpose of the team should inspire people to stretch beyond what any one person can accomplish. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. The mission of the team should be sustainable, withstanding the test of time and scrutiny of rational thinking. It should be grounded in reality.
There is such a strong belief in the mission the leader cannot help but be excited and motivated. The leader must understand and live out the mission and purpose of the team on a daily basis. This way of living and leading is contagious and inspires followers to go beyond self-imposed limitations.
Fulfilling the Mission
These qualities should be promulgated throughout all levels of the team. Constantly asking the question of oneself as a leader, and of your followers, drives the fulfillment of the mission in a lively and dynamic way.
How is what you do as a leader furthering the growth and expansion of your team and its mission?
Tagged as:
expansion,
growth,
Leadership,
mission,
team,
training
