Leadership Trends and Realities

Coach Talk: The Empty Chair

Bob Craig

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s formidable CEO, periodically leaves one seat open at conference room tables and lets all those in attendance know that they should consider that seat occupied by their customer, whom he calls “the most important person in the room.” The interesting part about many of our organizations is that on your teams there are many actual customers watching you do business every day. When we ask ‘are you customer driven’ and ‘do you have a customer focus’, I wonder how they react watching you lead our company. That Empty Chair routine is an interesting one. Wonder what would happen if you routinely had an empty chair at your team meetings, your coaching sessions, your staff meetings and made that same announcement. I wonder what the reaction would be? It would be easy to ask, “And how could that help your customers?” wouldn’t it? It could not be a one time, flavor-of-the-month kind of thing. It would have to be what you were known for... a solid customer focus. 11+ million of them all crowding into that one chair sort of beats the ‘elephant in the room’ pretty significantly, doesn’t it? 

 

Coach Talk: People Resist Being Controlled

Bob Craig

Ken Blanchard has done a significant amount of researching and writing about business issues and solutions and in his Change Management work he has this statement: Contrary to popular belief, people don’t resist change; they resist being controlled. The last time I checked, you were still a people so that probably applies to you as well. The implications for you as a leader in that simple statement are huge. We change all the time. Think about the things you have changed in just using technology in the last 3 years. You’re starting to be a minority if you don’t have a smart phone of some kind or if you can’t get on the internet any time you feel like it. We make changes all the time of our own doing, but we hate being controlled and often we throw resistance all over the place at it. As a leader that means you need to go into thinking mode when you’re needing something to change. Actually if you’re a good coach and you can ask they right questions, they will figure out the change all on their own and that is a change that stands a much better chance of happening than one you deliver like a dictator. Start practicing that wonderful art of asking questions.

Coach Talk: Transforming Leaders

Bob Craig

"I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a 'transformer' in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader."  What I have always loved about Stephen Covey is the clarity and simplicity of what he wants us to know. Since his passing, I have been carefully reading through articles from him and have started to re-read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. As you look at his quote up above, those are very simply the qualities you need to lead people. You can use them as a sort of checklist to ask yourself how’re you doing, what you need to develop. Notice that it all starts with a vision of where you’re going, what you’re doing, what is the goal. Without a vision no one follows you anywhere. Take some time today to reflect on those qualities, pick one you want to grow. Effective leaders are always re-inventing, re-learning, re-modeling themselves. Be thoughtful about it, ask your peers what quality they see you needing more of and then set about growing it. Have fun today.

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Coach Talk: Stop the Whirlwind

Coach Talk: Stuck...Overwhelmed??

Bob Craig

Are you feeling overwhelmed, stuck or do you find yourself procrastinating? Do you typically load your plate by taking on too much and expect to handle it all? Are your goals realistic or a bit too ambitious?

There are times when tipping over your plate and letting things drop so that you can start over is the best choice. Sort of like cleaning off the kitchen counter or your desk and putting only the things back that matter. Consider this plan:

Step 1: Make a list of everything that is undone or not progressing the way you want. Include things you feel pressured about or anything you feel you should, could, have to, or ought to do. Add all goals, projects, roles, routines and things you consider both minor and essential to your life.

Step 2: Drop 50% of the items on this list permanently. Yup, you heard me. Creating space to re-evaluate what you really want allows you to make a clear decision about what you choose to add back into your life.

Step 3: Deliberately reduce the emotional or time invested in the remaining 50% so that you have some “you” time and space for self–care, re-energizing, thinking, planning, having fun...If you don’t put in time to take care of yourself, even the best leader will burn out.

Step 4: Keep this list around you and only add back over time the items that you really want.

Bottom line: Choosing this strategy can be a great way to realign priorities and assist you in having more ease in your life. Doing a clean sweep can jump-start enthusiasm and motivation when focused on the things you deeply desire and choose to pursue. This can be a fun process that supports you in working smarter rather than harder. As Danielle LaPorte would say (Fire Starter Sessions. Click on link and scroll down to the video on the site): A blank page creates an open mind and an open mind innovates.