I have the best job in the world – I get to meet high perfoming, fascinating people all the time – clients, candidates, partners, leaders of all kinds - and learn their unique success stories. I always want to know what kind of business environment gets the very best out of people and teams. The answer is almost always a version of the same theme:
“Give the people what they need to succeed and just let them do it”
In the great new leadership book, TOP Box Leadership by William C. Sproule, these themes are explored in a highly compelling fashion. The book informs, teaches, and entertains as Sproule captures the essence of macro-management by showing how gathering the best Talent, setting the right Outcomes, and defining clear Parameters for team decision-making leads to great teams and exceptional results…and then the leader needs to get out of the box and let people do their jobs. I strongly recommend this book to leaders in any environment.
Sproule’s book highlights a subject that totally fascinates me – the conscious choice about the culture within a company. This is one of the most compelling learnings for me as I work with all kinds of companies in helping them build and improve their leadership teams. I believe that the culture of a company, and I define that as “what really matters here”, is fully under the control of the leaders in a company. Sproule’s book suggests a disciplined way to establish a successful culture, and it starts from the leader.
It seems to me there is nothing more important than creating enough freedom for smart people to do what they think is right. Now, admittedly, this is a bit hard to argue…a little like saying “freedom is a pretty good thing” (a quote from my favorite movie – Field of Dreams). However, it’s the source of organizational freedom that I think really matters, and why I believe that culture is in the control of true leaders.
If a leader wants to allow his people to think freely, and thereby get the most from their contributions, it’s not enough to just empower them (do you notice we don’t hear that word a lot any more in business writing?) It goes further than that. The leader has to really trust the people on his team – to genuinely believe that everyone is pursuing the same goals. If there is a doubt about this alignment, the result is the dreaded disease we all hate in business…politics!
Think of the image of pulling a rope together. A leader’s job is to LEAD definition of the rope and what is on the other end (process and goal, or Parameters and Outcomes according to Sproule). Also, there must be clarity on the makeup of the team pulling the rope (Sproule’s concept of Talent). However, I believe the key ingredient for this to actually work is a prevailing trust that binds the people with each other, along with both goal and process.
A leader who cannot engender trust is likely afraid of losing something – perhaps it’s control, maybe it’s credit, or it could even be identity. However, any of these reasons means the leader will never really be able to get the heck out of the way and let people be great. In seeking outstanding results and long-lasting success, focusing on process will never get us to the promised land unless a foundation of trust keeps the sands from shifting under our feet. Trust begets greatness.
I’d love to hear what you think about this. After all, everybody sees important things like this in their own distinctive way, and thank goodness for that or things would be really boring!
Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.
Recommended Resources: TOP Box Leadership – William C. Sproule www.topboxleadership.com
Sincerely,
Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 29, 2010
Relationship Story -- Being Ourselves – Bravery or Necessity?
Is it brave to be real? We all have a choice to make every day – are we going to be ourselves, or are we going to fake it?
Many of you may have read my last story, “Our Legacy in the Stories People Tell” (copied below); a comment from a dynamic entrepreneur really hit home as the perfect topic for a follow-up to that story. He said: “Interesting how you are so open personally with your client base and referral sources - definitely brave of you!”
I thought about this a while and realized that sharing thoughts and observations about my life, the business world, and the great relationships I have is, in fact, rather personal. But why do it this way?
I was reminded of three people who have influenced me with their unique ability to be themselves – maybe they will make you think of similar people in your lives:
There was Captain Ed Whelan who I worked with when I was just getting started as a business unit leader in my corporate life. He had been a career officer in the Navy and I was lucky enough to benefit from his mentorship during his second career. I still remember how comfortable he was in his own skin – he naturally made everyone around him comfortable as well. He tried hard to help a fairly clueless young leader understand the benefits that authenticity might offer me – clearly he believed that was the kind of leadership people really wanted. While I wish I’d been able to listen better back then, I have never forgotten his message.
Then, over the past 12 years, I’ve been learning from the passionate and authentic leadership of Janice Kraus, the Founder and Producer of the nonprofit Stagelight Family Productions, a youth theater program in Orange County. My daughter and thousands of other kids like her have received a huge confidence boost from the experience of performing and being part of a great team effort, so the benefits for the kids are unmistakable. However, it is Janice’s authentic and uniquely personal leadership that makes the program a true community. The experience is not just for the kids – the unique culture of trust that Janice creates is inspiring to parents and kids alike.
And now, in recent years, I have been able to work alongside a great volunteer leader who inspires me with his own special brand of authenticity - Rick Donahue, the Board Chairman for the YMCA of Orange County. Rick has an uncanny way of allowing his natural realness and seek-no-credit approach to bring out the best in everyone. He is always able to laugh at himself – he obviously has great self-awareness and quiet confidence – and he disarms much of the anxiety that can easily arise in such a group. Also, because of his passionate external focus on our charitable mission, he makes everyone uniquely comfortable and inspires a common passion in all of us.
So, is it brave to be real or must we be real to be truly effective?
These three examples are a lens for looking at ourselves and they help me know why being personal is a necessity for me – besides it just feeling right, I also know I’d be a terrible fake (I’m not a good enough actor!)
Give yourself the gift of thinking about people in your world who are great at being authentic. You never know, there just may be a nugget of brilliance there that can teach a great lesson.
Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.
Resources:
Stagelight Family Productions – www.stagelightproductions.com
YMCA of Orange County – www.ymcaoc.org
Sincerely,
Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/
Many of you may have read my last story, “Our Legacy in the Stories People Tell” (copied below); a comment from a dynamic entrepreneur really hit home as the perfect topic for a follow-up to that story. He said: “Interesting how you are so open personally with your client base and referral sources - definitely brave of you!”
I thought about this a while and realized that sharing thoughts and observations about my life, the business world, and the great relationships I have is, in fact, rather personal. But why do it this way?
I was reminded of three people who have influenced me with their unique ability to be themselves – maybe they will make you think of similar people in your lives:
There was Captain Ed Whelan who I worked with when I was just getting started as a business unit leader in my corporate life. He had been a career officer in the Navy and I was lucky enough to benefit from his mentorship during his second career. I still remember how comfortable he was in his own skin – he naturally made everyone around him comfortable as well. He tried hard to help a fairly clueless young leader understand the benefits that authenticity might offer me – clearly he believed that was the kind of leadership people really wanted. While I wish I’d been able to listen better back then, I have never forgotten his message.
Then, over the past 12 years, I’ve been learning from the passionate and authentic leadership of Janice Kraus, the Founder and Producer of the nonprofit Stagelight Family Productions, a youth theater program in Orange County. My daughter and thousands of other kids like her have received a huge confidence boost from the experience of performing and being part of a great team effort, so the benefits for the kids are unmistakable. However, it is Janice’s authentic and uniquely personal leadership that makes the program a true community. The experience is not just for the kids – the unique culture of trust that Janice creates is inspiring to parents and kids alike.
And now, in recent years, I have been able to work alongside a great volunteer leader who inspires me with his own special brand of authenticity - Rick Donahue, the Board Chairman for the YMCA of Orange County. Rick has an uncanny way of allowing his natural realness and seek-no-credit approach to bring out the best in everyone. He is always able to laugh at himself – he obviously has great self-awareness and quiet confidence – and he disarms much of the anxiety that can easily arise in such a group. Also, because of his passionate external focus on our charitable mission, he makes everyone uniquely comfortable and inspires a common passion in all of us.
So, is it brave to be real or must we be real to be truly effective?
These three examples are a lens for looking at ourselves and they help me know why being personal is a necessity for me – besides it just feeling right, I also know I’d be a terrible fake (I’m not a good enough actor!)
Give yourself the gift of thinking about people in your world who are great at being authentic. You never know, there just may be a nugget of brilliance there that can teach a great lesson.
Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.
Resources:
Stagelight Family Productions – www.stagelightproductions.com
YMCA of Orange County – www.ymcaoc.org
Sincerely,
Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/
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