"Being A Leader Is Not An Easy Job"

STCerri International e-Zine/Newsletter

Greetings!

I know, I know. Where have I been?

A lot of you have given me great compliments regarding my e-Zines. Thank you. You have also asked me where have I been lately. A lot has been going on. I have been very busy...

* I have three public workshops scheduled for September in Colorado
* I presented a keynote at the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
* I will be starting an on-line-coaching programs (watch for it next week)
* Plus other stuff that is too much to detail
* and I took a vacation

AND I am back to writing my e-Zines.

In this e-Zine I want to address leadership and management and the communication of that leadership and management to direct reports in a meeting.

Be well,
Steven Cerri

P.S. Feel free to pass this e-Zine on to a friend.

Note: If you have missed any of my previous e-Zines/newsletters you can find them archived at: Archived e-Zines/Newsletters

Leading Is Not Easy

Many "organizational executives" (also known as managers and leaders) try to find ways to "inspire" their teams especially in important meetings. They attempt to find ways to "motivate" their direct reports or, at the very least, ensure that they are not "demotivated".

Most would-be managers and leaders get caught up in believing the drivel that is often put forth regarding management and leadership and how to convey those qualities.

The usual verbal "catch phrase" we hear sounds like this: "leaders inspire" and "managers perspire" . Or we may hear, "leaders know what to do" while "managers know how to do it". It is all just nonsense.

Manager versus Leader
Those of you who have read my e-Zines know that I do not differentiate between management and leadership.

Many people believe management and leadership to be two very distinct capabilities, they are; and two independent capabilities, they are not. My first-hand experience is that management and leadership are actually two sides of the same coin.

That is, leaders who cannot and do not competently manage will fail as leaders AND managers who cannot and do not competently lead will remain middle mangers until they get passed over enough times to leave or are fired.

It is true, one must "usually" become a manager before they can be a leader. This is generally the path with the highest probability of success. So the young engineers in the crowd, do not be so anxious to be labeled a "leader". First be a good manager.

However, once on the path of management, an engineer who is a manager must at times, lead and vice versa, in order to be successful long-term.

So for the remainder of this e-Zine I will use the following definitions:

* Manager-Leader are those who understand that management and leadership are two sides of the same coin. They understand that managers must lead and leaders must manage.
* Organizational Executives are those managers or leaders in organizations who still assume that management and leadership are distinct and independent capabilities.

The Manager-Leader can be the president of the United States, the CEO of a corporation, a middle manager or a supervisor. All will, at times, need to display the qualities of both management and leadership in order to be successful.

Of course the challenge is that management and leadership are taught traits. No one is a born leader. (For a full explanation of why this is true you will have to review my previous e-Zines.)

"The cream rises to the top"
Some Organizational Executives believe that the best way to inspire their direct reports is to tell them as little as possible and let them work it out for themselves. This approach is referred to by many names, such as:

* "empowering your direct reports"
* "cream rises to the top and therefore, the best employees will rise to the occasion"
* "trial by fire"
* "do not micromanage your direct reports, let them manage themselves

This form of leadership is often wasteful of talent and generally does not work. Organizational Executives who use this approach generally do not understand motivation and are therefore, ineffective at it.

"Tell them what to do and then watch that they do it"
Some Organizational Executives will take the opposite approach and decide that the best way to get results is to "tell" their direct reports what to do and then watch them to ensure that they do it. These Organizational Executives often get labeled as "micromanagers", generally something thought to be avoided. There is not much motivation here, just a lot of direction.

"Bring in the Big Guns"
Another approach often used to motivate the team is to quote the great authors on management and leadership. This often entails quoting professors from Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other well known business schools, or authors on management and leadership who have been on the "best sellers list".

Or, the Organizational Executive will quote philosophers or religious leaders.

They throw in everything but the kitchen sink in an effort to find a way to motivate their team.

Unfortunately even the "Big Guns" and their quotes and words of wisdom often fall on deaf ears.

Designing a presentation to motivate the team
I have had the opportunity to witness many an Organizational Executive give a presentation in which they attempted to inspire their direct reports by quoting prominent authors and professors on the subject of leadership and management.

The unfortunate part of all this was that, while the speaker thought it made sense to quote Harvard scholars on management and leadership, the scholars quoted had never managed a day in their lives. And while the phrases quoted made sense to the manager-leader, they failed to move the team.

How do I know? I saw the looks on their faces. The heads tiled down toward the floor. The people looking at their computers in front of them, instead of paying attention, and the general apathy in the room. No one took notes. No one even made a comment or asked a question.

The professors and so-called experts who are often quoted usually have only "observed" the managers and leaders they say they have researched. In many cases, the professors-turned-authors and gurus never interviewed the managers and leaders they quote, but rather sent their students to observe and interview the practicing executives. The students then returned with their observations and the professors used the notes to write their books. This is a common practice.

Based on these second and third-hand "observations" the professors often speak with presumed authority about what "they observed" and what they learned about management and leadership.

Unfortunately, in most of the presentations I have witnessed, their quotes had no true relevance to what was happening in the corporation nor to the team at the time.

But the company leader or manager thought that by quoting these so-called authorities, he could inspire his direct reports to some end. Frankly it is nonsense and it seldom achieves the desired results.

People who look for quotes, short quips, and inspiring phrases to "fire-up" the team are mislead.

Management and leadership cannot be reduced to a few quotes nor to the "Top 10 Best Practices. The Organizational Executive who believes that quick phrases will move a team to action is under a delusion.

It is a constant surprise to me that people will listen to and follow, like lemmings, the words of people who "have never done but only observed".

Would you let a heart surgeon operate on you if he or she had only "observed" an experienced surgeon and not practiced as an intern?

Would you fly in an airplane with a pilot who had only watched others fly and never practiced in a simulator or taken pilot instruction from an experienced instructor?

Would you send astronauts into space for a spacewalk without hours in a swimming pool simulating weightlessness?

But people take advice everyday from people who have never done what they are advising. It does not make any sense to me.

Do This Instead
So if you are a Manager-Leader and you want to motivate your team, instead of quoting Harvard professors who have never been "in the trenches", you can take a much more effective approach.

Instead of beginning your presentation with what will sound like a lecture punctuated with words of wisdom from "inspiring leaders", a better approach would be to ask your direct reports these two simple yet powerful questions. I call them the Two Big Questions.

1. What is working well in our company from your (the team's) perspective?
2. What is missing?

These two questions will give you the insight into what is going on with your direct reports. It will give you information regarding where your team is focusing "their attention". It will give you information about where the "motivational levers" exist for your team.

For sure, if you ask these questions at the beginning of a meeting, you will not have the time to prepare a series of "inspirational charts" before the meeting. It will require you to be "fast on your feet" because you will not know exactly where to go with your presentation until you get the answers to these questions from your team. But it is only through the Big Questions that you, the manger-leader, can understand what will "actually motivate the team".

Each person is different
The Manager-Leader must understand that each person on the team is motivated in a slightly different way. The manager-leader included. You must not be looking for a way to motivate people like yourself only, but be focused on "what motivates the team?"

Talk to your team, not AT your team
When a Manager-Leader is attempting to motivate direct reports, it is extremely important to put the motivational dialogue in terms that the direct reports can relate to.

It does no good to talk about metaphors or examples that are not directly "relate-able" to the team. We must understand the motivational forces at work in the worlds and the minds of the direct reports, and these two questions provide that information.

That means that the Manager-Leader must not attempt to motivate the team based on his or her idea of motivation. The Manager-Leader must remove himself or herself from the equation.

The only way to motivate others is to understand what motivates others. In order to motivate another person we must understand the structure of their mental maps. Then it is important for us to put our motivational dialogue into the words and language that matches the motivational criteria in the mental maps of the person or people being motivated.

If we are attempting to motivate a team of people we must "cover all the bases". We must include in our motivational dialogue all the "references" that connect with all the different people we are attempting to motivate.

One size does not fit all!
So what is a better approach? What approach do I take when I want to motivate my team? How would I suggest the manager-leader behave in order to be more inspiring to the team?

First as I indicated previously, it is critical to determine what the team thinks is working well and what is missing. There are a number of ways to get the answers to the Two Big Questions.

First: in real-time. At the meeting you can ask the Two Big Questions and engage your team in a discussion. Right then, in the meeting.

Second: use a questionnaire. You can request your team's written response to the questions before the meeting takes place. This would allow you to prepare yourself and a presentation for the discussion you want to have.

Third: you can have one-on-one. Either in-person or over the phone, you can have one-on-one conversations in which you can casually ask the Two Big Questions and then use this information to prepare for your presentation. This is my preferred approach.

In this way, the manager-leader "joins" the team members in their worlds and then directs them to the world that he or she wants them to put their attention on.

This approach is much more "inspiring" and "motivating" and much more successful than quoting the latest pop-guru.

Build a bridge
Instead of the manager-leader attempting to motivate the team to head in a direction without a "bridge" from where they are to where he wants them to be, he instead joins them where "they are" and builds a bridge that allows them to confidently and with motivation, move from where they are to where he wants them to be.

This is always the most effective form of motivation and inspiration.

Quoting scholars who have no idea what your team is experiencing and relying on those words to do your job is a sure way to, after presenting your motivational talk, wonder why no one is taking the actions you expected.

Remember; motivation, inspiration, leadership, and management exist in the present, they exist in the relationship between you and your team. They do not exist in the words of scholars who have never been in your shoes or most certainly are not there in the room with you and your direct reports.

You, the manager-leader of your team, must take responsibility for your team. You cannot pass it on to someone else and then wonder why your team is not performing up to standards that were articulated by someone else. The answer is not in quoting someone who is not you, or someone who is not in the room with you and your team, or someone who has not experienced what your team is going through, or even someone who may not presently be alive.

No one ever said management and leadership were easy. They are not and no one can do them for you.


Be well,
Steven