This month's theme:
Six Christmas crackers to launch you into 2010
Welcome to the December edition of Sharpening the Axe.
So here we are at the end of what’s been one of the toughest years for decades.
There are many reasons why some companies are more able to ride the storm than others, but strong leadership is an obvious candidate. After all, leadership is easy when the going is good: it’s when times are bad that it truly matters.
All the people I’ve interviewed for Sharpening the Axe this year have been very clear about what makes a strong leader. So, since the end of the year is always a good time to reflect, I thought I’d take a look back at some of their thoughts on leadership.
The interviewees all come from different backgrounds, lead different organisations, and face different day-to-day challenges. However, when asked what makes a good leader, the same traits appear time and again: honesty, integrity, and openness. Willingness to listen and take on board criticism. The confidence to admit when they don’t know the answer. The self-belief to surround themselves with experts. Good communication to get people on board. Being able to deal with poor performance – even when that means telling someone they aren’t right for the organisation.
1. Own up if you don’t know the answer
I believe that good leaders are inspired and inspire those around them. I wrote about inspiration in the January newsletter against the backdrop of Barack Obama’s inauguration – an inspiring event in itself.
Former Boots CEO, Richard Baker, was certainly an inspiring interviewee. He talked about the importance of leaders knowing their strengths and their weaknesses, and of hiring people who “are brilliant at what you are not.”
When you are at the top of a company, it takes guts to admit you don’t know and that you need help.
However, the majority of people I’ve interviewed all share Richard’s opinion.
2. Listen to feedback
It seems to me that those who have self-belief, who listen and take on board criticism, suffer far less from anxiety than those who ignore opinions and suggestions from those around them.
Lord Peter Imbert, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, told me that he believed, “leadership means listening to criticism with a preparedness to change.”
No-one likes to be criticised. But we have to take care that our resistance to it isn’t a cover for denial. I used the DERAC model in the June newsletter to illustrate how listening to feedback helps us to change and grow:
D is for denial. ‘That’s not how it was!’
E is for emotional. ‘You always slag me off!’
R is for rationalising. ‘You must understand that I had to do it that way’
They are all aspects of denial.
It is only when you:
Accept the feedback of others that you can
Change
3. The power of communication
The importance of communication - being transparent about where the business is at, and very clear about the direction it’s going in, was also high on the agenda for my interviewees.
Richard Baker took over a company in which the senior team was completely insulated from the rest of the company. They rarely went out to visit the factories or stores. Richard changed that on day one.
“You cannot afford the message to become mixed and confused as it gets passed on,” he told me. “Technology has made it easier to communicate simultaneously and directly to everybody at the top of the organisation. You can use online videos to communicate with all your employees. The power of communication is very important.”
Sainsbury’s CEO, Justin King writes a monthly news-sheet of his own personal thoughts to every one of his store managers. That’s despite the fact he has three or four layers of managers in between.
Lord Imbert chose to appoint ‘disciples’; people who were respected by the workforce to go out and spread the message.
However, as Richard pointed out, “Communication is two-way. You also have to get out and listen.”
4. Can you make the tough decisions?
Jon Chaloner, headteacher of Glyn Technology School, Epsom, and Harold Gittelmon, MD of Harding Brothers, both talked about the importance of challenging poor performance head-on.
In my article in September’s newsletter, ‘Take the path of most resistance’, I asked if a business leader could afford to take the easy path.
I wrote that taking the path of least resistance in business means avoiding confrontation and facing up to issues. Not confronting things head-on, such as underperformance for example, is a major reason why organisations fail to deliver optimum performance.
Yet too many managers shy away from taking tough decisions on individual performance.
Jon admitted that, in his last job, he’d worked around underperforming colleagues instead of tackling the problem and that he was determined not to do it again, “Now I ensure staff perform their roles in the way I want them to. If they can't then they have to take on another role, or leave. Seeing this in action sent out a massive signal to all staff. They saw that I was prepared to tackle staff underperformance head-on.”
Suggesting that someone should move on isn’t an easy task, but it should never come as a surprise to them. As Jon said, “Before getting to that point we would have given them all the support available to try to make it work."
Harold told me he had managed-out underperforming people who were never going to reach the desired standard and who were holding the business back.
He revealed that some people had been relieved the company had taken the initiative because they knew they weren’t coping. However, he admitted that others were, “delusional about their abilities” and were more difficult to manage out.
5. Supporting and developing people
All the interviewees agreed that people should be given the support to develop before it reached the difficult conversation stage. It was interesting to hear slightly different approaches to development.
Richard Baker advised “put your best people in the best jobs where they are likely to win. Don’t spend your time trying to develop them away from their faults. Focus on what they are good at and give them more and more to do.”
Jon Chaloner inherited a team of senior teachers who were all very comfortable in their roles. They had achieved a degree of success doing the same thing year after year, but Jon was concerned they might not be able to transfer to other areas of responsibility.
He set about adjusting their job descriptions which reinvigorated and renewed their passion. "My head of sixth form had been doing that job for years. His role change refreshed him and he is a completely different animal," he told me.
Harold uses another method to improve performance. He upgrades the quality of the next person recruited for a particular department. That makes sure mentoring skills are available to help improve performance.
“In any upgrade that makes the team fit for purpose the trick is to hire for as far into the future as you can reasonably foresee,” he told me.
6. How open are you prepared to be?
Harold Gittelmon, was probably one of the most open people I’ve met. It was clear that he’s like that with his teams as well.
He told me that he is very emotion-led, and although he counters it with his analytical side, he tends not to disguise his feelings. Consequently, people usually know his mood.
However, while his transparency shows people he is human, he’s careful not to show panic in case it causes panic in others.
“I like to think I come across as enthusiastic, passionate, excited, and happy. When those things are missing, I'm perceived to be under pressure,” he said.
I ended the interview by writing that I firmly believe being authentic in today's business world is crucial – particularly with so much spin going on from so-called leaders. If you're not genuine, people will see straight through you and they won't follow you. I also think it takes great maturity to be open and honest.
I then posed a question to you good readers - is letting people see you are vulnerable too and that you don't have all the answers a great strength or a weakness? Should you adopt a different persona in the office and keep vulnerabilities to yourself?
So are you brave enough to be open and transparent, hire people who know things you don’t, listen to feedback, and tackle poor performance head-on? Do you communicate the company’s direction and goals clearly and effectively, to all staff?
And above all, how will you inspire your people in the year ahead?
With that thought I’ll wish you a happy relaxing Christmas, and a very successful and inspiring 2010.