Because of the technology available to us, information travels at great speed. Truth, misinformation and assumptions also travel quickly. Without clear communication and connection between individuals and groups the misinformation can give impetus to the wrong direction or wrong conclusions about moving forward. Today’s business teams are globally located in different time zones with differing cultural norms. However, I have found it’s not the only situation in which quality communication and connection are difficult. This problem has been present even when teams are located in the same building. What is needed is a change in leadership mindset; the adoption of a different perspective and a reordering of priorities that support quality communication, collaboration and engagement throughout the organization

It is critically important that executives be more than just the boss, they must be a role model for leadership in order to motivate and drive their organization to achieve at a higher level.

Here’s what I mean:

When You’re Just the Boss

The boss is someone who sets the strategic plan and the team does what they can to satisfy and deliver results. Communication goes on without true connection because each person has a hidden agenda that is not approached. The hidden agenda of the team is to maintain their position and to hope that the boss will notice what they do. The agenda of the boss is to have the implementation happen and for the team to do what they are told to do. Communication and follow up does not occur so the team wonders if they are right about the conclusions they make.

This may seem to be an extreme scenario; and most bosses would deny that is their position. However, it is quite often what is experienced by the team, regardless of the boss’s intent.

In my experience working with leadership teams, while the boss is at least somewhat appreciative of the team, they often complain that their team does not own the strategy or are not strategic in their thinking. Yet, it is often the boss who needs to connect in a more meaningful way with the team members to engage them in the strategy, foster ownership, and get them thinking of creative solutions. Team members typically report their boss does not create time for interaction or follow up on decisions.

Most team members want to please the boss, however, they are not informed often enough when they do something well. When issues or concerns arise they may not be approached and resolved in a productive way because blame or a sense of being patronized is what is perceived by the team.

Result: the strategic process misses the creative input of the team who are often vying for position with the boss. Often what needs to be done is seen as a requirement rather than a creative opportunity because the team has not been engaged. Because there is lack of communication regarding issues or completions, the flow of work is interrupted or stalled.

This can occur at high levels in any organization.

When You’re The Leader

Communication and connection with the team is seen as a priority, not a soft skill or something to do at a dinner or a party. Regular connections occur which relate to strategic planning, implementation and individual development. This means that regular 1:1 meetings include the elements that go into a Performance Review, on an ongoing basis, and are tied to specific actions and results within a strategic plan.

The top priority of a leader is to hold the vision and strategy intact, while others bring forward results. If there are issues regarding results, they are addressed with the team as they occur. This allows the leader to attend to their own peer-leader relationships, enhancing the overall business performance of the organization. Delegation is seen as a priority, and there are integral processes set up for Strategic Planning, Accountability, and Solutions that are inclusive in accessing the resources of the entire team.

As a leader, the accountability process becomes a working solution with collaboration and partnership rather than competition. Accountability includes ownership which is established at the beginning of an initiative or set of goals. Leadership includes perceptiveness of the team members so that specific areas are addressed when necessary. This can now be done more effectively because time has been given for the creation of quality connection and trust within the team.

Leading inspires others to achieve more. Being just the boss can actually impair the engagement process of your team which will diminish progress, and sabotage your success.

If you have a leadership question or challenge you’d like to share, be sure to leave a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you!

~Patricia

Purpose, Values, Brand Promise and the BHAG create the foundation of strategy and execution, which of course is driven by the people in the company. In the past, and currently in some businesses, the process of creating roles, job descriptions and skill-sets has left out the most important aspect of employee success within your business.

Today, on the eve of the New Year, I am encouraging you to take a different approach to your hiring process. Consider the qualities you are looking for in a candidate, and make those qualities the most important aspect in hiring new employees. In a recent newsletter published by Gazelles International Coaches, they highlighted an article in Harvard Business Review, “How Southwest Airlines Hires Such Dedicated People”. The Southwest Airlines premise is that “we talk about hiring not for skills but for three attributes, a warrior spirit (that is desire to excel, act with courage, persevere and innovate); a servant’s heart (the ability to put others first, treat everyone with respect and proactively serve customers); and a fun loving attitude (passion, joy and an aversion to taking oneself too seriously).”

The following attributes correspond to a list developed from Jim Collins and through Gazelles International Coaches. The definitions are based on my experience with leadership teams and on the descriptions I have developed for these qualities that are essential in hiring for success.

1. Will –  which would include success, focus on solutions, accountability and the willingness to do what it takes to achieve goals on a daily basis.
2. Values – matching core values to the values and culture of the organization.
3. Results – clearly knowing what the results expected of the role are as well as what qualities are essential in the individual to achieve results.
4. Skills – last on the list because these can be coached and trained.

I’ve talked a lot about Top Grading as a way to look at the leaders, managers and staff within your organization, and I’ve found it to be a very helpful tool in the hiring process. (For more information on Top Grading I recommend Brad Smart’s Book, “Top Grading (How to Hire, Coach and Keep A-Players”) The most important aspect of the book I’d like to highlight for the purpose of this article is seeing how A-players, B-players, and C-players are described and how you can use the system practically to create an A-player corporation:

An A-player is high in performance and in demonstrating core values. A B-player is high in core values but lower in performance, a B/C-player is high in performance and low in demonstrating the values, and a C-player is low in both.

There are challenges and methods for bringing B and C-Players up to the A level: B players can be coached for better performance and demonstration of core values; B/C players need to be warned about bringing up the demonstration of core values; and C-players may have to be let go unless there is immediate and significant improvement. But spending time to encourage and bring up performance and core value awareness and action must have a limit so that results can be achieved.  Avoid the C-player trap which is defined as spending an inordinate amount of time trying to bring that person up and often neglecting the expansion and challenge for A players.

Recently, during a Leadership Team Workshop, I  worked with a team  of leaders using this process to help them define the performance and value demonstration of their teams, and gain a clearer idea of how to proceed for better results. They found the process extremely valuable as it gave them a precise road map for creating greater success, accountability and cultural strength within the organization and alignment in their teams.

So, again, I strongly encourage you to incorporate the Top Grading process into your hiring and strategic planning process for the New Year to create greater results for your organization in 2016. In the meantime, I’ll be continuing the discussion in future articles, so please stay tuned.

As always, if you have a question, challenge, or success story you would like to share, please be sure to leave a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you! – Patricia

Would you like to join a leadership class to discuss and to learn more about Topgrading and its implementation for your organization? If you are interested contact me to learn more about the format and results that are possible.

That article began with these questions:

1. How can I develop a team that will not need to talk to me and still move forward?
2. Why do we have a great strategic plan and then only get a fraction of execution of that plan?
3. Why don’t the functional leaders of this organization work together more effectively?
4. How can we engage people in our vision and make it their own?
5. There is no one who can take my position at this time, and I am not sure the people that are on my team can be the ones.

I would like to postulate that the most important aspect of leadership development in 21st century business is the ability to create leadership at all levels. Top leadership cannot afford to continue to have only a small percentage of people leading a large number who have not learned to express their leadership, nor use information about the vision of the organization to affect their conversations and decisions.

We all know that communication is key, yet how can we define communication so that it affects results? In the Rockefeller Habits the first and most important question is: Is the Leadership Team Healthy?

The first area to look at is the top leadership team to assure that the coming together of that team creates positive changes in the people, strategy, execution and cash position of the business.

When you decide to make meetings a priority, execution improves almost immediately. I was invited into a large Fortune 500 company because one of the top teams was having difficulty due to continuous conflict that was exaggerated by lack of effective communication and collaboration.

The plan that I proposed and delivered included individual confidential interviews with specific questions relating to team effectiveness, leadership and collaboration. I interviewed the Vice President team leader and the direct report leaders who each lead a team of managing leaders within the manufacturing plant. In addition, an initial day-long meeting was scheduled with the leadership team, followed by four monthly meetings over a period of 6 months.

The results have been very positive with the team working together in a new way, with a sense of empowerment, effective communication, and results that have created greater accountability and rhythm in the manufacturing area.

The first meeting consisted of using the Rockefeller Four Decisions Methodology and some communication exercises that began to get past the conflict and focus more on the strategic direction and core values of the team, and of the larger business.

The most effective and important part of this process is to allow team members to go beyond their own personal concerns, and to access their leadership and their contribution to the business as a whole.

In the Execution Module, the most important aspects are: priorities, metrics and meeting rhythms.

Have you struggled with meetings that lose focus and seem to accomplish nothing or less that you planned?

Would you see the advantage in having meeting rhythms that would create better, faster decisions?

The rhythm refers to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual contacts of the functional teams in the organization, starting with the top leadership. You can start to reshape the effectiveness of your meeting rhythms to conform to the real time of your business.

Daily Huddle-–These serve to Synchronize the Team. They are short, no longer than 15 minutes, and can be shorter. They are designed to bring forward issues that need resolution but do not necessarily need to be solved on the spot. The format is short and allows each person to speak and to talk about the day, what is up, and if there is any place where they feel stuck

Speeds up business, insures teamwork, and heal relationships

Weekly Meeting—Focus and Collaboration: These serve as a status and update session for the leadership team and other departmental teams.

Monthly Meeting— Learn and Solve: This meeting includes the top leadership and the next level to provide information and to review progress. These meetings, along with the huddle and weekly meetings, address the strategy and progress, as well as provide a leadership opportunity for the management staff to give them a sense of progress and of their contribution to the overall strategic plan.

Quarterly Meeting— Full Day: Priorities and Critical Numbers: These serve as directed review, communication and education opportunities, and create the sense of teamwork at all levels.

The four meetings above are the recognition of the 13-week cycle of each quarter for the whole organization.

Annual Meeting—Reviews the year and plans for the upcoming year.

I highly recommend Scaling Up by Verne Harnish where these meetings are discussed more fully. The Rockefeller Habits and Four Decisions are a very effective way to scale up your business and to increase results. I find this way of expanding business and of creating a culture that develops leadership and accountability to be effective and practical.

I hope this month brings great results and connection for you and your team!

As always, if you have a question, challenge, or success story you would like to share, please be sure to leave a comment. Also, if you are interested in an opportunity to experience this methodology, please let me know. I would enjoy hearing from you! – Patricia

I believe that the Collaborative Leadership Four Meeting model is the best for creating greater cross functional goal achievement with an organization, and more effective project management among leaders and their teams. Effective communication is an essential part of this collaboration, and meetings that communicate goals and initiatives must be deliberately structured to encourage input and maximize engagement.

Creating engagement and buy-in – perhaps the most important part of our meeting model is the Introductory Meeting. This is where team leaders set the new tone and expectations for meetings going forward.

Here are the steps for your first Introductory Meeting:

• Discuss the concept of using meetings to move into greater connection, accountability and solutions. Emphasize that practice shows that taking time to develop better communication, partnership and sharing of possible solutions will move strategic plans and goals forward with greater speed and empowerment for all involved.

•  Ask them to use the time between this introductory meeting and the first of the Four Meetings to consider what is going well and what is presenting a challenge to them.

•  This is a time to introduce the idea of presenting a report that has a focus on a win, as well as a current challenge, as a way of effectively utilizing the meeting and the team. This will replace the usual business report that is often read without comment. It sometimes takes some time to get people comfortable with the vulnerability of talking about challenges

•  This is an opportunity for the leader to demonstrate by having an example of what’s going well (a Win), and a challenge that is being presented; and what a next step might be. You can let them know that no one will question during the presentation. You can use ½ hour to have everyone give the same communication. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The important element is the communication and the willingness to do something different to enhance results.

For one global organization I work with, this model moved regional vice presidents and directors to greater communication and accountability, which resulted in creative solutions coming from everyone. The trust in the meeting and communication process, created greater trust with each other and in working together. Leaders now talk to each other more regularly. In addition, engagement in the strategic plan and implementation increased as the members of the team communicated more frequently with each other to create planning, and to share ways to move forward more effectively.

One VP told me that he used the model to lead his own group, and to assist his leadership team to manage their work teams to meet the goals that were set by the business. Trust to be authentic and to share the truth became easier and productive.

This change in focus can create some discomfort as people move out of the comfort zone of protection and presenting a good picture. A leader must assure team members that challenges are part of growth which allows us to step into new territory with a sense of support rather than being judged and evaluated personally.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

• Make Collaborative Leadership and team alignment a priority and communicate that to your team

•  Set up a team meeting to discuss and to introduce the process

•  Know that the team alignment process with a consultant and with the team during regular interaction will take time which will be made up by creating more efficiency and implementation with a new mindset

•  Give yourself as the leader the coaching and reflection time to develop new goals based on the fact that 21st century business demands collaboration

•  Be open to new ways of thinking and doing and to your own leadership expansion

•  Know that empowerment of the members of your team will create more time for strategic thinking and interaction with other business leaders

Stay tuned for more on the Four Meeting Model; we’ll be taking a closer look at the elements of the First Meeting next time.

Would you like to see the Four Meeting Model in its entirety? Request a copy here: Send me a copy of the Collaborative Leadership Four Meeting Model.

Do you have a leadership question, challenge, or success you would like to share, please be sure to leave a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you! – Patricia

I recently spoke with a fellow consultant who has invited me to speak to a group of CEO’s about Collaborative Leadership and about how to keep the leader involved with the team as they move forward on the implementation plan. It is important to allow the leader the opportunity to consult and to hear progress rather than to enforce accountability. In collaborative leadership, accountability is a supportive process created through accountability partnerships where there is an opportunity to report action steps , discuss and solve challenges and finally to celebrate completion.

So often teams get lost in the action process and are not encouraged to seek support especially in some highly competitive situations. The accountability partnerships change this. These partnerships are created in the second meeting of the four meetings mentioned above:

• Each team member selects someone that they have not had that much opportunity to work with.
• They set up a schedule for a 15-30 minute meeting with the partner and create several goals that they are working on during the next week.
• The meeting occurs mid-week to see how everything is going.
• Then they report back to the team during the next full meeting about completions and challenges.

For full description of the Collaborative Leadership/Team Alignment process be sure to visit the Library Page of  our website and select the article entitled, The Full Team Alignment Process, pdf.

The most important thing to remember is to engage everyone in implementation and in the development of their own leadership in the process.

Do you have a question, challenge or particular success story you would like to share? Be sure to leave a comment, I would enjoy hearing from you. –  Patricia

So far I have given you tips on:

• Creating a 4 meeting jump-start process for your team
• Improving Communication to create quality connection and alignment, the four parts of speech that create partnerships with greater results
• How to create a process for accountability that can be implemented with specific actions and partnerships

Creating high performing teams in your organization through regular communication and accountability develops the roadmap for a solution focused culture; one that encourages creative thinking and innovation, producing greater results.

When your teams are solution-focused, everyone has the opportunity to participate in a proactive way to create solutions. For your next team meeting create greater collaboration by:

Present an initiative, goal or area of issue to the team that is important to the strategic plan.

1. Divide the main team into smaller focused groups that each present their piece of the project and challenges they are facing to the other groups to solicit input and suggestions.
2. Have each group create specific plans during their presentation that include implementation and immediate actions steps.
3. Encourage individual team members to meet off line with their accountability buddy to help them move forward with challenges.

When you move from an I-Pod to a We-Pod culture you lead through collaboration; understanding the primary importance of the team you are member of can carry greater potential than the team you lead. In other words, make the team of your peers a laboratory for bringing forward the collaborative culture mind, utilizing the Communication, Accountability and Solution Focus ideas as a  proactive member of your own leadership team.  Encourage solution-focus vs. blame by creating an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and challenges and have regular a forum in which to do so.

If you ‘re interested in exploring the Collaborative Leadership, High-Performance Model more in depth, be sure to check out our upcoming virtual class series starting May 15.

Do you have a solution-focus success story or challenge to share? I’d enjoy hearing from you; please be sure to leave a comment.

When I look at the essence of what this process is all about, I realize it is symbolic of the technological time we live in and the new networking opportunities that are possible. Even before the I-Pod culture became as developed as it is now, with the increase in technology, more information to digest, and teams who have global or remotes members, the essential alone quality of working in large organizations has been prevalent.

Because so much of our work is done via e-mail, we tend to work in our own pod or bubble, and have the illusion of connection, yet there is so much information and communication missing, that connection and relationship are stymied. Because our culture has become more virtual, it is essential to find ways that allow all members to experience the full advantage of being part of a team.

In the I-pod culture, where it is easy to reside, we tend to operate in the bubble of isolation. But if we have an accountability partner to discuss goals and action steps with, this bubble disappears, and the connection to other people, working either in the same region or on the same aspect of business, increases. With the increase in connection, solutions are easier to achieve.

As I mentioned earlier, accountability is a supportive process, leading to greater success. The Jump-start process helps companies go from an I-Pod culture to a We-Pod culture. Team members create partnerships that continue over time.

Below are a few tips for creating greater accountability in your teams:

• During the initial group focus meeting, each person chooses a colleague as an accountability partner.
• Partners in a 1:1 conversation set initial goals for the next three months and discuss action steps to be taken within the next week or two.
• 15 to 30-minute regular follow-up calls are scheduled between partners to go over the completion of steps, to discuss progress; what worked and what is challenging. Calls should always stay focused on action steps and goals.
• Each team partner commits to holding each other accountable, and contributes feedback or ideas when asked.

This process begins to break down the isolation barriers that exist in a highly charged, busy and challenging environment. It also gives everyone opportunities for creative thinking, which in an overall way, develops the culture for innovation.

If you’d like to learn more about how to jump-start your team into High Performance, be sure to check out the virtual, interactive class series that starts on May 15. For more information visit: Jump-Start Your Team

Do you have any accountability experiences you’d like to share? I’d enjoying hearing from you; please be sure to leave a comment.

• Introduce themselves.

• The way they see their function.

• How their function relates to the function of each person at the table.

Did you find:

• That what people said about their function, is actually how others see it? Obviously, if there are differences, this is an opportunity to establish more clarity.

• Ask for ideas on how each person’s functional area relates to the others now, and how that could be improved cross functionally to get better results?

Please share with me your first meeting experience and any challenges and successes you faced.

The Second Meeting is critical in establishing a system of consistent follow up and accountability. It should occur one week after the first and:

• Discuss any questions or issues that may have come up in the intervening week.

• Take a few minutes for each person to discuss current projects or challenges they are dealing with.

• Create agreements from each person to move forward or complete their projects.

• Set up partnerships within the group so each person is accountable to one other person for agreements.

• Discuss with partner the implementation details, and take time to set up check-in calls during the week, for 15 minutes.

• Close meeting.

Be sure to check back soon for my next two blog posts on the elements of the Third and Fourth Meetings. If you are a leader of a team or a member of a team and want to learn even more practical tools that will enhance your team collaboration and communication, contact me today.