Bridging Leadership Lessons from the Workplace and Those Experiences Shaping Today's Youth and Tomorrow's Leaders
Part of the continuing series on the The 3 Pillars of Impact: Varsity Edition where we focus on connecting the 3 Pillars to creating a culture of winning in the locker room. When I decided to adapt my 3 Pillars of Impact to be used by coaches and their teams it ended up being a straightforward process to adjust the wording and focus on the key principles that so easily crossed over. I have spent so many years sharing the concepts with others, the words flowed out. While the sports world has long been the poster child of autocratic, command & control leadership styles, they have embraced the trend towards a more servant leadership approach, much like corporate America. The impact that leadership author Jon Gordon had on Dabo Swinney and Sean McVay was well documented as they led their teams to a National title and a Super Bowl, respectively. They engaged their players to connect them to the larger purpose of the team. P.J. Fleck, the football coach of the University of Minnesota, wrote a book called Row the Boat that promotes a never give-up philosophy. I use his quote, “On bad teams no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead.” This drives home the importance of buy-in of the players and the impact they have on the culture. WHO LEADS THE TEAM When I first engage a team, my first question is “who is your leader? Who leads this team?” The response almost always is the head coach. As I restate my question, a few might speak up and throw out the name of a captain. I pause, scan the team to make sure that we are locking eyes and in that awkward silence I ask, “why not you?” Most of the challenges that a team faces are not caused by the coach. Therefore, expecting the coach to be the solver of all problems is not practical and can actually cause additional problems for the team. Problems can be addressed but many times it is only surface level solutions that tend to make them seem to go away when times are good. Then, when there is a rough patch, or when teams are under pressure, the problems will resurface, and chances are they will be bigger than before since it was never properly addressed. If you are going to solve a problem, you need to get to the root cause. That will take the entire team to aid in identifying the root cause. More importantly, it will take the team to then work together to address the fundamental problem at the root so that it doesn’t grow back. THE 5 CHALLENGES INDIVIDUAL VS TEAM I rewatched the video this morning of Shaq talking about his conversation with Kobe Bryant. Shaq told Kobe that there is no “i” in the word “team” and Kobe responded colorfully that there is an “m” and an “e”! This is probably the oldest and most prevalent issue in forming a great team. The individual player puts their own success and goals ahead of the team. I want kids to focus on themselves when they are developing their skills. I want them to work with a selfish energy and commitment to be the best they can be. The better they are as an individual will only benefit the team when they come together and commit to playing for something bigger than themselves. I tell kids that “I don’t care who scores as long as WE score.” Being a shooter is different from being a maker. Being a maker is different from being a scorer. Doing things that result in a score is what being a scorer is about. Making the extra pass. Setting a screen. Keeping the floor spaced. Occupying a defender. Knocking down the open shot. Or being a team player. SOCIAL MEDIA HYPE TRAIN While social media is only a blip in the historical timeline of media, the desire and impact of media on players and a team is not. Waiting to see the newspaper article written up in the newspaper or to what your name on the radio has fed many an ego long before X or Instagram were conceived. As a team, can you put the hype aside and focus on the growth of the team? Highlights may be great for clicks, but it doesn’t show what coaches and recruiters really want to see. There is not a coach worth their salt that EVER signed a kid based solely upon a highlight video. It may make them take a closer look, but it is their work ethic, their ability to make their team better and their character that really turns the heads of the recruiters. ECHO CHAMBER Along with social media getting you some likes; you can also see the “likes” happen by those who are around you. The kids will complain and take on the status of a victim and those around them reinforce that feeling without any real knowledge of what is going on. “You’re right, coach is a jerk. I don’t know why he isn't playing you. He must not like you.” Many times, it starts at home. I see it more and more starting with youth sports and carrying over into high school. The helicopter parent managing their child's success can’t come to grips when their little baby struggles. Ironically, these same parents can recognize when other parents or kids are being irrational but not with themselves and their own situation. “I WANT” VS “I WILL” Many a night, this discussion happens among dads over a favorite beverage while rehashing a game. Dads evaluate their kids based upon clouded, and revised memories of their own playing days as a youth. “I don’t understand. They just don’t want it.” Does that statement of frustration sound familiar? Having been guilty of this myself, I learned over the years that most every kid does want it. They all want to win. They all dream of hitting the last second shot. Of making the key stop on defense. They all want to be lifted on the team's shoulders and celebrated. They all want to be great. But very few will do what it takes. Very few have THE WILL to commit to being great. That is the difference between “I WANT” and “I WILL”. A team that has established a culture of winning isn’t necessarily made up of a team with every kid being an “I WILL” kid. But it has enough. They have enough “I WILL” kids so they don’t have to stand alone. They have enough “I WILL” kids that can influence the “I WANT” kids to do enough. To step further out of their comfort zone than they normally would. LEADERSHIP ISN'T COOL Another reality issue for parents is that leadership isn’t always cool. Their selective memory doesn’t recall that leadership WASN’T cool when they were kids either. Somehow, they forget that they probably called a friend or teammate a brown-noser or a teacher’s pet. Today, they are called “try-hards” or “sweats” or maybe they are “selling”. Honestly, my son to dad translator probably needs a daily software update to be aware of all the new phrases, but you catch my drift. Deep down we know, as adults, that this is all about insecurities and fear. Again, easier to recognize in others than in us, but that is another topic. This is why an environment that allows players to lead and most importantly allows players to fail is critical for a culture of winning. Remember, FAIL is First Attempt In Learning. Whether in a company or on a sports team, there is a continual uphill battle to build a culture of winning and success. Those challenges come from external and internal factors and are not solved by one person. The challenges are experienced by a team and therefore must be overcome by the team. It is through the team that a culture is built and through the team that winning will occur. It’s a team-built culture that wins, Beyond Today.
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Part of the continuing series on the The 3 Pillars of Impact: Varsity Edition where we focus on connecting the 3 Pillars to creating a culture of winning in the locker room. When I decided to start writing a blog, I made a conscious decision to maintain a connection between leadership in business with leadership in sports. I try to write in such a way as to be relatable to either environment and going as far to use sports examples in business focused posts and vice versa. Many times, it is not clear whether the focus of the blog is business or sports leadership and that is intended. When I first created the 3 Pillars of Impact, the training and talks were almost solely focused on the business world except for the occasional example where I use a sports analogy to help with clarity. But I always knew I would eventually adapt the concept to the sports world as the 3 Pillars of Impact are the foundation to building a culture of winning at both the high school and collegiate levels. In this post, I will introduce to you the Varsity Edition of the 3 Pillars of Impact with subsequent posts in the coming weeks to provide more detail on how they can be applied to your team. Facing the Challenges In my 3 Pillars for the corporate world, I talk about the Leadership Gap that exists and how it drives the Leadership Challenge that executives face. In the Varsity Edition, my focus is on the Challenges to a Winning Culture. P.J. Fleck said “On bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead.” On a sports team, you don’t have the same hierarchy you find in the corporate world and the challenges tend to be more internal than external in nature. “On bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead.” - P.J. Fleck
Breaking out the SWOT I enjoy introducing the SWOT Analysis to the players. For most of them, this is their first time using this tool. It’s a powerful tool to self-assess as an individual, work with coaches and teammates for 360* feedback, or to evaluate the team as a whole. The twist I introduce is to make it more than a static assessment by analyzing your internal strengths and weakness versus the external Opportunities and Threats. Based upon the analysis of these relationships, we create Action Plans that can lead to Skill Training, Practice Plans, and/or Coaching Strategies. 3 Pillars of Impact: Varsity Edition The Pillars themselves are the same in the Varsity Edition as in the corporate version. But how they are described and what is being emphasized is a little different to fit the environment. Again, I will dig deeper into each of these Pillars in future posts. Courage of Challenge
Driving Home the Culture of Winning Ultimately, if you want to build a Culture of Success at work or a Culture of Winning in the locker room, it starts by making sure the 3 Pillars are in place. Before I introduce the 3 Pillars of Impact in my talk, I get the team to share their perspective of what a Great Team looks like. What do they act like? What do they stand for? It is always enlightening to get the feedback from the team, to watch the dynamics as you seek input from the younger members of the team as well as the older, more acknowledged leaders. Once I have reviewed and discussed the 3 Pillars of Impact with the team, I then revisit what a great team looks like. It’s interesting to see more clarity in their answers. They can describe the behavior in greater detail. You can see that they are relating to what it needs to be as well as understanding what it can be. "Every team wants to win. Every player wants to win. Every coach wants to win. But it's the teams that honor what goes into winning and work at those things every day that will be highly successful." - Coach Shaka Smart As I wrap up the discussion, I come back to the "I Want" vs "I Will" concept that was introduced at the beginning during the Challenge to a Winning Culture discussion. Some straightforward questions drive home my point and reinforce what it takes to establish a winning culture. I ask for a show of hands to each of these questions:
That last question leads to the main takeaway for the team. It is an I WILL document which helps each of them build an action plan to commit to their team’s success. The first step of any journey starts with action. Remember, it’s not the "I WANT" but the "I WILL" that creates a Culture of Winning, Beyond Today. This post is a companion piece to last week's Ready or Not, Here I Come. I hope this will serve as a reminder for anyone out there going through a transition. From a job, a relationship, or even something as simple as a change in perspective. Doubt and negativity can always creep in if you let it. You have a greater impact on people than you realize I have written many times about the power of IMPACT and it is in situations like this that it becomes visible. It is not just the former coworkers that reach out and share an obscure story or memory from our past, but people in the community at large that reach out. And not just to me but to my wife and share with her their thoughts and feelings. Your circle, outside your inner circle, is bigger than you think It was amazing how acquaintances or past relationships will reach out to connect, share and help during this time. Some people want to hunker down and pull the inner circle a little bit tighter to keep others at bay. When people reach out to you, they are not being nosey to find out what happened and spread gossip. They care about you; they want you to know they care about you and the vast majority honestly want to be there to help you out if you need anything. Wow! Think about that. The culture of a company is bigger than the individual It doesn’t matter how you see the world or how you live the world within your circle of control. The culture of the company moves forward, and the reason is that it isn’t found on the walls, in the building structure or in the products that are produced. It is in the behaviors, values, and attitudes of the people. Therefore, the culture shift begins with the employees - for good or bad. My advice to my former employees was the same as when they were my coworkers, Leaders Lead. You can’t delegate culture, so continue to live it with your actions. The day fills up fast It’s on you now. There is nobody to delegate to and you are responsible for the beginning, middle and end of the project. You don’t walk down the hall to the supply cabinet, you head into town. One of my big complaints about the workplace is how poor managers allowed BUSY to replace PRODUCTIVE. People being active doing things doesn’t really matter if it is the wrong thing. If it isn’t moving the company forward toward their shared vision, then it probably isn’t of value. You now have to manage yourself, your actions, your priorities, your thoughts, your output. Be careful and don’t let your day become full of reorganizing the closet…again! While the distractions are many, you gain clarity as to what are the distractions When part of the company, you feel a responsibility to the overall culture so it is easy to get pulled into things that are outside your area. Now you need to lock onto your own Strategic Vision. Your own Purpose and Why. Once you do that, it becomes obvious if an activity is aligned to YOUR purpose or not. Don’t let anyone discount your worth Most of the time, people feel embarrassed when a change happens and when it is outside of your control, you feel helpless. It’s easy to adopt a victim mindset and feel sorry for yourself with a “why me” attitude. People are not looking down their noses at you nor are they judging you. If they are, then their opinion doesn't matter. Remember, your value isn’t built on the opinions of others. I am not my job. I am the husband of Jenny and the Father of Zach, Megan, Trey, and Ethan. The ego is dangerous It is the opposite to the previous one. If you have too much pride, you will miss the opportunities to grow, learn and feel. You shut down others, ignore the situation, and miss out on the friendship, love, and compassion that is being shared by others. The ego can force you down pathways and conversations that are not beneficial to you or others. Be aware, self-reflect, and seek out the advice of those you love and trust to make sure that you are staying grounded. Faith in God is legit! I shared last week about how I had not been listening for so long. But His word was loud and clear and has kept me afloat which has enabled me to be there for others during this time. Once your eyes are opened again, you not only see Him in your life, but you clearly see Him in the lives of others and sometimes they need that reminder as well. Your leaving might be more uncomfortable on the ones who stayed What do you say? Do you call? Do you text? Do you wait for them to make the first move? No, we are not talking about a first date, but how do you approach someone that is no longer at your company? Will you just be a painful reminder? I get it. I always struggled on what to do and typically, I wouldn’t do anything. I just went on about my business. Now that I’m on the other side of the equation, I wondered why I had so much trepidation to reach out and share. But I understand and it’s alright. Life Doesn’t Stop Ultimately, that is the summary of this post. Life. Doesn’t. Stop. It continues to move forward and trying to hold on to the past is a recipe for a sad and lonely life. I don’t want that served up to me. Be ready to hop on the train and move forward. You can always take time to reflect as you are looking out the window at the passing landscape. To remember fondly about where you have been but also to dream about where your life is heading, Beyond Today. After 30 years with the same company, I found myself in the position of preparing to transition to something new. While it was shocking to most, it wasn’t completely unexpected to me.
Now, not being surprised isn't the same as being ready! At 53, I wasn’t ready to retire. Our youngest son is a sophomore in high school and while I had been working towards a “Plan B” I was not ready to execute a “Plan B.” One day your blog post on Establishing Trust and Integrity at Work is being shared on the corporate website and the next you are changing your status on your social media. But as I have always said, “it is what it is” and my lecture on the Circle of Control was never more relevant. That day and the weeks that followed, were filled with people reaching out to me and I believe most were surprised about my calm and reassuring demeanor. My response just came out naturally, “sometimes God speaks to you, and you choose not to listen. Sometimes God shows you a path and you choose not to look. Sometimes God decides He has had enough, and He doesn’t care that you are too stubborn or too scared. It’s God’s plan and He decided it was time.” The next morning, I wake up at my normal time and begin my routine. In the NY Times Wordle game, my word was COACH! The following day, my morning verse was: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." - Psalms 32:8. It was reassuring to see His message. That week, I officiated the wedding for a young man that I used to coach when he was a kid. I also continued to livestream my Inside the Huddle interview with our High School coaches. I moved forward with my life because my life was moving forward. The next week I’m giving a training class on the 3 Pillars of Impact. The following week I’m watching the most incredible sunset (see the pic!) on the shore of the Pacific Central Coast, with nothing but gratitude in my heart for the blessings I have and continue to receive. The following week I was in Chicago at a Quartz Event IMPACT Manufacturing Leadership Summit , sharing my story of Impact while stressing the importance of executives to walk the walk and put the 3 Pillars of impact into action. During the two weeks following my departure, I had so many people reach out to me; former coworkers, friends, and casual acquaintances. They shared their sadness and confusion, warm thoughts of encouragement and advice, they provided contacts and even job offers. You quickly realize that your life really is about impact and the breadth of the impact is not always obvious. I was listening to an Audiobook titled The Big Goal System. One of the speakers was Krish Dhanam and he had some profound statements that I want to share here: “Success if not who you are in relation to the person sitting next to you. Success is who you are in relation to where you began and what you began with.” “Your career is what you are paid for, your purpose is what you are made for.” He finishes by saying, he is not his job and declares that he is a husband and father and states the names of his family. What a statement! I am not my job. I am the husband of Jenny and the father of Zach, Megan, Trey, and Ethan. Wow! That is a testimony. You may not be ready when events happen that force you to transition. It may not be part of your plan, but it is part of God’s plan. When you take a moment to reflect, you quickly realize that you are ready. That you are equipped for the next leg of your journey. That you are not alone. I am not my job. I am the husband of Jenny and the father of Zach, Megan, Trey, and Ethan. Ready or not, I am ready to move Beyond Today. Our high school basketball season started last week. Our youngest son has been anxiously awaiting the first game of his sophomore season. He isn’t nervous… just excited about the opportunity to once again compete alongside his friends in the sport he loves. It got me thinking about how incredible it is when you are young. The excitement of the newness of the season ahead, where there is no record yet, there are no trials or tribulations, everything is pure and open. It is all about what CAN BE and not what IS. Prior to the season, my son spent a lot of time in preparation to be the best player and teammate he could be by focusing on:
I then was thinking about why it is so hard to recapture those feelings as an adult when you are in the workforce. But then I realized, those feelings still exist, we just don’t recognize them in the same manner. As an adult, you prepare for a project or your job in a similar manner.
It doesn’t matter if you are at work preparing for a big meeting or hitting a deadline, or you are a high school kid preparing for the first game of the season, you can experience a gambit of emotions:
Everything is before you, full of potential and unspoiled. Next Play What if we could keep that same attitude throughout the season? What if we actually could play, live, and/or work in the moment? In sports, coaches continuously use phrases such as:
But is it only a catch phrase? When things go south, coaches have a tendency to “react” instead of “respond” to the situation. That results in a negative attack versus a positive correct or adapt. As a leader, what is your response at work? Do you show frustration? Do you become critical? So, you focus on what went wrong versus the “next play?” Keep the Preseason Vibe Let’s go back to our first game of the season. The first day of school. The first date. The first day at work. The story has yet to be written. What if we could maintain that outlook in the middle of the season? In the middle of the project? Not a review of what has gone wrong. Not the weight of a two-game losing streak. Soak in the incredible power of potential. The fresh outlook that everything is possible and still in front of us. That there is ALWAYS more to the story. That there is another chapter still to be written. Socrates said that “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” When you talk with your team, is the focus on “What we need” or “What we did”? Maintain the excitement of the preseason throughout your seasons of life. Adopt a mindset that you will Be Better Today, knowing that there is always another chapter to be written. Embrace that growth mindset, that sense of ownership, to carry that optimistic and enthusiastic mindset Beyond Today. Let’s be honest, it’s never easy when someone points out to you that you are not the expert. Whether or not it’s true doesn’t really matter, but it really attacks the pride and even more so when you are a young, new manager. Now imagine having the Founder of the company who changed the industry with his patent, look you in the eyes and say, “Tom, you see, you’re not an expert.” I don’t know if his spider senses started tingling or if it was the sound of my jaw hitting his office table that made him realize I was crushed, but he immediately reassured me that this was a good thing. He went on to say that because of this, I wouldn’t get sucked into my own biases and the need to provide solutions that the hard-core scientists and engineers would. He said my lack of expertise would set me apart from others so I could ask questions, read the room, and trust the team. But he didn’t say it would be easy. Prepare to be Overlooked While they may not go as far as disrespecting you, it might be possible that they discount you and don’t see you as a threat, so they are ambivalent. This isn’t a bad scenario as everything you do will surprise them. Your progress and insight will increase your impact to the team and gradually they will become a big fan. Don’t Carry a Chip Just because you know that they don’t see you as an expert, you can’t carry that chip on your shoulder. If you do, it can cause unnecessary conflict and tension on both your work team and among your leadership peers. You will be tempted to prove your worth and value which at its best will be annoying and at its worst will be seen as lacking integrity trying to be something you are not. Don’t Be a Pushover While you can’t fight every fight, you don’t have to let people discount you with every breath. It’s tempting to retaliate with a witty comment about “if they know so much, then why are you not in charge?” but you know that it will go south really quick. Subtle opportunities to reinforce what you are bringing to the table while highlighting the impact it has on the team, is a way to align both of your efforts to support the team’s goals. Your Value Will be Questioned This will happen by both the leadership team and your team. Many managers work their way up through having expertise in their field. Their reputation and status are based upon what they know. I recall a story shared at a conference by a Senior Facilities Executive, where he described having a disagreement with the Senior Executive leading their Technology department. The Technologist dismissed the solution proposed by the Facilities lead with a simple comment, “you see, our group has the “big brains.” Oh, and those reporting to you won’t be happy either. People who are experts tend to measure themselves on what they do and accomplish, not necessarily on impact. How can you, someone who clearly doesn’t know anything about this, lead them? You will need to demonstrate your value over time, by embracing their expertise and thriving in the role of leader. Use your skills to remove obstacles so your team can create a bigger impact. Build Connections Initially, I focused on maintaining grassroots contacts across the company. Technician level people that were the heart of the workforce that I could count on to share the pulse of the employee with me. Plus, it gave me “street cred” when I would make comments or ask questions because those employees would vouch for me. There was a transformational moment for me when I was transitioning into upper management. The owner approached me and was critical of my approach to build key connection points within the group. My first instinct was to become defensive. But as we talked, I gained clarity that his point was that the single connections moved too slow and wouldn’t serve as well in the larger organization. He likened it to transplanting a plug of grass and waiting for it to take hold and spread or putting down fresh sod. That conversation enabled me to expand not only how I build connections, but why connections are important. Lean in to it Embrace it. Double down. Own every part of it and put your faith in your team… who ARE the experts! Give them the opportunities to showcase themselves to management. Coach them on delivery and support them as they navigate presenting to management. With your leadership peers, you can stress the importance of empowering teams, how you practice trust, and the importance of using good communication to build connections. Leverage it to Receive Grace You can’t use it as an excuse or crutch, but you can, on occasions, leverage it to have others extend to you grace. “As you know, I’m not an expert…” or “we knew this was going to be a learning curve…” or maybe, “As I continue to get comfortable in this role…” But let’s be very clear, if you use this too often, you are reinforcing their concerns and fears. This is ONLY effective when you are actually making progress. Never think less of yourself for not being an expert. While your expertise may not be in a specific functional area, you need to grow your expertise in the traits that make you a leader: Builder of Trust, Being a Connector, Empowering Others, Sharing Your Vision, and Being a Servant Leader. By focusing on the employees, your expertise will grow, and you will be an expert, Beyond Today. While I’m publishing this on Halloween, it isn’t meant to be scary like the H.G. Wells classic, The Invisible Man or like the forgettable comedy, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, but a continuation from last week's blog, 3 Leadership Gaps to Close in 2024. Employee engagement has been a challenging factor that continues to decline for companies across the globe. Studies by Gallup show a decline to a 32% engagement level in U.S. workers in 2022 with only two in 10 employees feeling connected to their company culture. In a December 2022 report published by Hubspot on Hybrid Work, found that only 34% felt a strong connection to their coworkers. I spoke about this at the IMPACT Leadership Summit in October and I highlighted 4 things you can do as a leader to be more visible:
BUILD CONNECTIONS I chose to set expectations when I first made my introduction. I would call every potential employee that we intended to make an offer to and explain my expectations for them as a future employee, which became the basis of my 3 Pillars of Impact. Before they started work, they knew who I was and what I stood for as a person. I started writing a column for the company's internal newsletter and then established my own blog. I wrote about leadership and personal experiences at work which helped them relate to me as they learned about insight on specific situations. We used videos to give updates on big and little things we called Operations by the Numbers. SHARE YOURSELF You need to be more than your title; you need to open up and give them a glimpse of who you are as a person. In the blog, I also shared life lessons from the personal side. Challenges I faced as a father and husband. I shared my failures, some of which were painful and embarrassing, but by being vulnerable and transparent, I demonstrated that it was okay for them to struggle as well. I began mentoring people across the company as well as former employees. While we had a formal internal mentoring program, I also elected to do informal sessions as well for those who wanted a safer and more personal connection. A former leader in HR, Amy Skyles, started a micro mentoring program which was similar to “speed dating” that allowed a broad interaction between a variety of people that opened the door for future discussions between employees and leaders. I created and gave formal training directly to employees on topics that I felt were critical to future success like Leading Change, Planning with the End in Mind, and the 3 Pillars of Impact. By sharing experiences in such a manner, it enabled me to interact directly with employees from across the company, connect with them in small group settings, and hear their feedback directly. ENGAGE WHERE THEY ARE You can’t build the connections from the comfort of your executive lounge or from your office. You need to walk where they walk. Connect with them by engaging them where they work. We started the Tsungani (Cherokee word for excellence or above all others) that was essentially our weekly meeting to promote Operational Excellence. It didn’t take long before groups from across the company were attending as we focused on awareness and alignment. Because of the broader appeal of the meeting, we changed the name to WIN the Day and used these meetings to connect employees to the larger purpose of the company vision. In Operations, we implemented Gemba walks that we converted to virtual during the pandemic to help maintain connections. It continued to expand including groups and teams from outside of Operations as the value became apparent to employees and management. Our Waste Watchers program, which combined Kaizen with Lean waste activities, became a must see monthly event that would be attended in person as well as virtually as employees shared the ways they eliminated waste and would capture the financial impact. The highlight was the addition of the 2 second lean videos, which became a fan favorite as the employees competed on entertainment value so they could receive recognition at the year-end Oscar style event. TRUST & INTEGRITY IS BUILT FROM YOUR ACTIONS The first three ways that I wrote about being visible are examples of the actions that employees see. It’s the walk to the talk that is sorely missing from most “leaders” today. Every engagement you have, every connection you make is an opportunity for you to showcase and build trust. To demonstrate and reinforce your integrity. Or it’s the opposite. You don’t engage. You disconnect because you don't share yourself. You reinforce the lack of trust in leadership because your actions are not visible. You don't walk the walk. The days of blind trust and position authority are over. If you want an engaged workforce, you need to be an engaged leader. It’s the connections you make as a leader that makes you visible Beyond Today. I recently gave a talk on the 3 Pillars of Impact with the focus being on leaders actually walking the walk and putting the Pillars into action. During the talk, I spoke about the challenge facing leaders today is closing the gap between the vision of the organization and where the employees are operating. While this leadership gap has always existed, heading into 2024 highlights the evolution of the gap. We talk about the “post covid” impact as if the virus was the cause for a lot of the changes, but this really wasn’t the case. We have a generation hitting the workforce that grew up with social media and influencers. A generation who had been given phones and devices since grade school and were raised by bulldozing, helicopter flying parents. It wasn’t covid, it was us. People Need to Make an Impact This has always been the case for employees, but the difference is this generation wants to make the impact now! They don’t want to invest their time and work their way up following a leadership development plan. They could already have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media - more than your company. It is more important that THEY make an impact than for the COMPANY to make the impact. Furthermore, the impact they seek isn’t necessarily something you will find in a KPI or productivity metric. It might be on the intangible side of relationships or possibly, not even something that will show up in the business plan. The role they play at work may be their avenue to make an impact on the community, the environment, or an industry working group. Work Ethic has been Redefined We sit around in our meeting rooms complaining about how this younger generation doesn’t want to work. They don’t put in the hours to learn; they just want it handed to them. But how different is it to us when we were younger? The Gen Xers grew up with Gordon Gekko dominating Wall Street and the IPOs of the Tech Stock Boom. We all wanted instant success as well. Now, there are electronic gaming scholarships to colleges, YouTube gamers are worth millions, and teenage influencers can make or break a product depending on the way something makes them feel or look. They are still dedicating countless hours to their craft, but what they see as valuable is different from what is our definition. We are still viewing the world from our perspective and OUR definition. We view it from how we experienced life and not from the way life is today. Overcoming Invisible Leadership I said earlier it wasn’t covid. It was our response to covid and the ripple effect of that response. Shutting things down and then compensating regardless of output redefined value. We paid people to stay home, not to produce. The government went full throttle with this approach. As leaders we became invisible, both literally and figuratively, not only because we moved to a remote environment for being non-essential, but because we abdicated leadership responsibilities. We allowed our employees to move into a work from home mode without maintaining expectations of what productivity means. We failed to demonstrate leadership coming out of the pandemic when we allowed the “new normal” to gain a foothold because we were too weak to fight the battle. As we face high turnover rates, lower employee engagement, an inflationary economy with low productivity, it all comes back to our ability as leaders to connect the employees to the vision. Close the Gap by Making Connections If we think about the 3 leadership gaps highlighted above, all of them fall back on leadership and our ability to make connections. How do we connect what the company needs to what the employees need? It’s no longer about the security and pay of a job. Jobs are everywhere. How do we help employees find their impact or align their impact within the company framework? How as leaders can we provide focus for the employee to connect them to their strengths to help move the company forward? Is the story of the WHY resonating with them so that they want to put the effort into the work or are you focusing on the company and hoping that they will make the connection on their own? As a leader, are you visible? Or are you seen as some ancient ruler type of figure making your money on the sweat and blood of the workers? Do you walk where they walk? Do you talk like they talk? Is your WHY connected to their WHY? We are dealing with not only an eclectic workforce but also a hybrid workforce where building connections is more difficult than ever. That is the challenge to us as leaders. That is the leadership gap that must be overcome. The connection to the employees can’t be delegated. It can’t be assigned to a title or an organization. It can only be done by us, as leaders, making a conscious effort to build connections with the employees to close the gap to take us Beyond Today. I am an avid sports fan and we have spent an exciting summer with our 15-year-old son trekking across the nation watching him play basketball. The thing about competitive basketball is that you see it mirror both the best and worst of society. You see the excitement of youth, the thrill of competition, and the bonding of friends and family. But you also see ego, politics, and some of the moral dilemmas we are facing today. It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity, so sometimes you need to refresh your outlook. Overall, there is so much more positive about the experience and that is where we need to focus and celebrate. We need to foster, share, and inspire positive outlooks so that our light will shine on others. I love learning; especially when it comes at unexpected times from unexpected people. It is even more special when you have the opportunity to learn from one of your children. Because of our youngest son, I felt the need to share a couple of reminders on how you can refresh your own outlook on life. SOAK IT IN Recently, we accompanied our son on an unofficial college visit to Iowa State. It was an amazing visit as the coaching staff showed us their impressive facilities and spent time sharing their culture and philosophy of the program. When my son was asked what he enjoyed most about the visit, he responded with a smile on his face, “walking onto the court at Hilton Coliseum.” With all that we saw during the tour - the impressive facilities, the Stark Performance Center, Jack Trice Stadium, reviewing film with the coaching staff - it was the simple act of walking onto the floor of an empty stadium. The power of the moment was lost on me until we saw the photos taken by their photographer. It was then that the impact was on full display in the child-like smile on my son’s face. He stood there with the familiar feel of the hardwood under his feet like he had felt thousands of times before in gyms all across the U.S., but the size, the tradition, the echoes of past celebrations, culminated to captivate his thoughts and his dreams. The picture of him soaking it all in was an incredible reminder that in the fast pace of life, we need to take the time to soak it all in. DARE TO DREAM As we continued to look through the pictures and reflect on the events of the weekend, I was brought back to a previous blog I wrote called Little Wonders, Big Impact. But our son isn’t a little kid. He is a 6’3” 15-year-old who is still growing, who has felt pressures and challenges that a teenager shouldn’t have to face. The stress that puts butterflies in the stomachs of the parents, but somehow fosters excitement and hope in him. He is enjoying the moment. Besides soaking in the experience, he also has the audacity to double down on his dream. The focus in his eyes as he watched the Cyclone hype video on the Hilton Magic. It made me wonder what was going through his head at that moment. I reflected on watching him as 4-year-old shooting baskets on the hoops hanging on the door in the hallway. He would keep score using an app on our iPad. Watching him run up and down the court in our backyard, talking to himself, announcing the game he was playing in his head. The 15-year-old boy, who is becoming a man, has found the secret power that so many of us have forgotten… Dare to Dream. In 2010, I wrote about Not Losing Site of the AHA Moments. Of course, it was written for us, the adults, because somehow as we get wiser, we also seem to regress. It was an incredible gift that my son gave to me unknowingly; to not forget the importance of soaking it all in and to not lose the “dare to dream” mindset of your childhood. It is the innocence of youth and the potential for the future that takes you to your dreams, Beyond Today. I recently celebrated my 30th work anniversary at the same company. It has been a glorious and amazing journey of personal and professional growth. Starting off as a part-time employee out of college whose main job seemed to be making photocopies, I was able to work in various roles across the company including being a member of the executive leadership team. It was suggested by our marketing group that a great topic for my blog would be to reflect back on lessons from the last 30 years and share 30 lessons I learned during that time. I am honored to be able to share these with you.
I hope my coworkers are up for the challenge and journey to make it to their own 30-year anniversary. For those of you who work elsewhere, I wish you the best in your own endeavors and enjoying the pursuit of your own anniversaries. Instead of jumping to another job to grow, take the chance to extend your growth with the company that has committed to you. Take the chance of committing to being part of something bigger than you. Take a chance to help build and be part of a legacy. I am not my job, and my job is not me. It is part of what has shaped me and my family, just as my family and life has helped shape my job. It’s not just a job, it’s a choice to pursue a life of purpose. To show my kids that being an active participant in your team isn’t only for high school sports, but for your future life as well. I hope these lessons over the last 30 years will be passed on to others to help guide the next generation Beyond Today. |
AuthorTom Brown - a husband and a father who is simply trying to make a difference. Using my experience as a Manufacturing Executive to connect leadership from the boardroom to the hardwood to help teams grow and develop to make a difference in the lives of others. Archives
April 2024
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