Month 2 Summary
Last month, I ended with a poll that hadn’t closed yet around toxic working environments. This was literally a great way to end the year with a question that drove some decent engagement. Over 80% of the responses received either are or have been in a toxic environment. As easy as it is to feel alone in your struggles, remember -- you're not. It doesn't mean that you can't break out of it! Only 12% of that 80% still says that they're in one now. On one hand, Larry Imgrund chimed in to thank his current leadership at Khoros for being great. On the other, DeAnna Abshire had some choice words about leaders who let power go to their heads. "so much that playing the role of a Bully in the workplace. Especially, toward women. Was dismissed because ai (sic) stood up form yself after being told, after 2 years of doing the job, that it was not a fit for me."
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” —Jim Rohn
Admittedly, it’s hard to be “everything” as Jim, the entrepreneur, indicates.? There’s no doubt that there are times where I personally have been rude, weak, a bully, lazy, timid, arrogant and/or with folly.? I can simply hope that it’s been excessively rare that I have been a few of the above at the same exact time.? Leadership isn’t about perfection, it is about #progression .? It is about #learning . It is about doing the best you can and then improving upon that.
As leaders, it’s super simple to say “I know everything, so my words are the only thing that matter.” The problem is it’s wrong.? Even if you know ‘everything’ there is to know about a particular choice, there are variables you likely don’t know about – whether it’s the motives of everyone involved, where it’s the nuances of the day/time, whether there’s something that has an undercurrent of impact.? Listening to what your teams, your employees, your customers, your peers and your bosses have to say lets you not fall into the trap of “all of the above”.??
What I would tell someone who feels that they’re failing in doing all of the above is that you’re going to stumble – the question is how you recover and make it better the next time so you don’t stumble over the same thing as you did last time.??
Improve daily.? #progressnotperfection (it’s on my whiteboard and has been for 2 years).
Normally, I follow the previous post with a poll. I diverged from the norm this week and asked people to chime in about the challenge of #leadership and how you may have #failed at something in the past. A great way for people to learn how to lead is to see where others have made a mistake in leadership.?? Regretfully, I didn't get the engagement that I was hoping for but I did start with my own #failure & what I #learned :
Somewhat recently, I was expected to work cross functionally with another team. Those who know me realize that this is what I love doing – the failure, however, was in my approach. I forgot the key lesson of working this way, especially with a team that was drastically different than mine or even my executive’s.? I approached it with “this is best for the customer and the company”, but neglected to consider what that individual’s team was mandated with.? The result? Hard feelings, a hard battle, and a mediocre outcome. ? I learned and was reminded that Dale Carnegie remains right? – “"Connect with core desires" of the other person and you can influence better.?
If you have a story of your own, please follow the link above and add your thoughts! The post isn't "closed" to new comments by any stretch.
I did get comments from Larry Imgrund and Jen Jackson though! Jen said "It's a fine balance of being passionate about outcomes, and mindful that each leader has a charter. Sometimes they align for the greater good, sometimes they do not. Having compassion and being open to listen and discuss I think are such powerful tools in our toolbox. While I love a good "strong" conversation, I think a thoughtful approach is always best." while Larry learned a different lesson from decisions that were made with an eye towards learning. "The insight I got from it in general is to understand failure is a part of the process, take what you learn with empathy and apply that to your decision making going forward. Doesn't guarantee you won't fail again but it does display growth as a leader and a human."
January 4th Post (EXTRA)
You don’t need a title to be a leader. –Multiple Attributions
This has been said by hundreds of people, but it really is accurate. Leading has nothing to do with title, it has to do with how you convey, think and execute. Here are some examples of “non-leaders” who picked up the mantle of leadership without the active responsibility.? There are dozens more, but here’s a set of 10 people that exceeded expectations when they weren’t managers by title. Some have taken on the mantle and others have not.? For those that want to become leaders/managers in title, this might give you some ideas.? I thought I’d finish January out with some positivity – feel free to tag someone in the comments if YOU know of someone who leads without a title or has in the past. ? Due to space and # of characters, I’m putting all of my tags in the comments as well!
All of these people have spent time stepping out of their comfort zones, taking the time to learn and then lead people around them, helping drive for change that was well beyond the basics of “this is my job”.? I’m proud to have worked with all of them – and many more of their caliber – but hopefully this will give some people more ideas of how to challenge themselves on leading without a title.
Andrea Carroll - As a systems business analyst, she has helped the business rethink and refactor how to use some of the tools that are in place.? Her willingness to say “no, that’s not the right thing to do, but this is…” is a great example of leading without title.
Dennis Nelson - As Designer & Trainer, Dennis had zero responsibility to lead change.? Because of his infectious enthusiasm and attitude, he was able to help transform how new hires were brought on board and how the team thought about training.? Leadership isn’t just about driving employees, but also making their jobs better.?
Katie Silguero - As Program Coordinator, Katie helped re envision how we thought about customer NPS surveys and executed on the feedback.? Thanks to her creativity, we were able to make a difference based on direct customer impact.
Lingxiao Sun - As a Technical Account Manager, Eric literally kept our APAC region afloat from a technical support and TAM perspective.? His focus on customer solutions helped us build a trust with our customers.
Maddison Holt - As a Support Desk Program Coordinator, Maddie was instrumental in rethinking and reworking our at risk customer programs.? Her initiative helped bring a focus on developing metrics and playbooks that are still in place 3+ years later.
Meg Hahn - As a product manager, Meg led by truly understanding what our customers needed. She’d fight internally for the best solutions that would meet the customer’s needs and tell stories effectively to champion for change.? Her persistence held us accountable for making a difference.?
Steven Treglown - As a Technical Support Analyst, Steven led by helping his peers learn and driving customer solutions. His drive to ensure the best possible experience helped push the department to new capabilities.?
Trey Boone - Ranging from being a support engineer to a Technical Account Manager, Trey led by position himself with the team as a Go-To knowledge center and someone who would help wherever he could.? His customer centricity led to being someone who I received the most consistent commendations from customers on over the years.
Will Russell - As a CSM, Will helped rethink how we handled account changeovers especially on those that might have a level of risk within them.? He developed and pitched a program where he would involve himself? that helped mitigate risk.? Because of his foresight, there’s no doubt that some customers were retained.
And last, but certainly not least
Zoey Kramer - I remember her first as an Analytics Intern who quickly took on improving data forecasting, monitoring, and building dashboards and reports.? Because of her partnership, zeal for learning, and willingness to step into lead a conversation or a path, she made massive impact to the team.??
Thank you all for being so amazing.
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“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” —Max DePree
Personally, I love this quote from Max, the CEO of a furniture company.? Defining reality – setting a vision – giving your teams something to strive for and understanding what is achievable and real.? Many leaders set a goal that is impossible to meet, others set one that is overly simplistic.? Neither of these extremes are helpful.? Making sure that you’re based in reality is crucial to leading your teams successful.??
Saying thank you is also an art that’s lost. Being brutally honest, this is an area that I feel I still have to continue to grow for sure. I try to make an effort to provide positive reinforcement, but honestly also know that I don’t do it enough. My tendency is to move onto the next problem, next area to resolve.? Inherently, I know showing appreciation is key – I just need to practice this more! I’ll pause briefly here to add a broad #thankyou to all the teams I’ve led that have given me experience to write anything of use here.??
So much of our time is spent on the in-between and I’ve talked about #servantleadership a few times over the past few weeks.? What I’ll add to those posts is that the point of “in between” is that this is the bulk of where you should spend your time on a daily basis.? Defining reality and saying thank you is critically important, however, those setup and reinforce success – ensuring your teams grow and can do their jobs is the key component for your success.?
I’d asked people how they tried to recognize and a lot of people responded that a quick slack/email/text is the way that they’re most likely to recognize. I think it’s a great direction to go, but honestly I’d still think about picking up the phone. It’s more personal – harder, yes. But more personal.? I’m not great at it … so maybe that’s hypocritical, so I’ll have to dig into how I can change my own behavior!?
Aditya Dutta , a head of world wide support, went with public appreciation and a digital or physical certificate along with a rewards program so that people can be inspired by those around them.? It was a great idea, although much more of a complex environment and takes some additional effort. I think that when you can do it, it’s super valuable – just don’t do it in lieu of all the adhoc recognition that makes for quick commentary!
Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. — General George Patton
This one might be a little more controversial – it’s certainly different from the quotes that I’ve been posting about #servantleadership in many ways.? That having been said, my current boss Staci Satterwhite told me a story about a CEO who basically said “There’s two choices – lead me or I lead you… and you don’t want me to lead you.”???
Although General Patton’s statement is very direct and potentially sounds harsh, the sentiment behind it really is valid.?
? Don’t just sit passively by and see what happens – Leadership isn’t being a bystander
? Do decide whether you’re in lead or follow mode – Good leaders follow both up and down at the right time.??
?Don’t let barriers get in your way - Leadership doesn’t give up simply because it’s hard or there’s a blocker.?
? Challenge status quo and force the conversation - A leader has discussions to understand why. Sometimes the answer is don’t make a change, but the answer is very rarely not asking the questions.
?? Don’t prevent your employees from come up with their own ideas - Leadership isn’t preventing thought from your teams or being the only one with the ideas.
? Guide your teams and let yourself be guided - Listening to and learning from your team is just as valuable as coaching and training them.? There’s a good chance that someone else’s experience is different than yours and their viewpoints help come up with a better overall plan.
I’ve personally made almost all of these mistakes – either doing the things I now say “don’t do” or not doing the ones that I suggest “do”.? Leadership is just as much about evolving your style and growing as it is about anything else.
My poll for January 18th really tells a solid story -- it's VERY easy to stand by and let something happen vs actively get involved. There's risk involved, there's reputation involved, and there's politics often involved. What it also says, however, is that when you don't, there's a high likelihood that you'll regret that decision if you look at it in hindsight.
DeAnna Abshire has grown and learned that allowing people to be critical of her as a person isn't acceptable. She credits Gotara for helping her learn personally as well as professionally!
A leader is a dealer in hope. —Napoleon Bonaparte
Some people will turn around and say that you can’t always be a force of positive – sometimes you have to make hard choices. This is 100% accurate.? I’m fond of telling people that part of a leader’s job is to remove roadblocks so that people can do their jobs … and then I can keep following them.? A roadblock includes technology, process, financials, etc but it ALSO includes people.? Sometimes a person themselves, sometimes other people.? The hope that Napoleon talks about is how you tell the story about where you can go, how we can be better, and how we can overcome adversity.??
I’m going to take this a slightly different direction, although I don’t disagree with him at all in the broader sense.? Sometimes, hope is ensuring that the team around you understands that, no matter how hard the situation is, that you’ve got their back to make sure that the team is executing at a high level. It is up to you to push them to see the vision and see how …
A leader will pull the team together and create that hope for a better ending that no one could have thought possible. It’s never easy, always fraught with pitfalls, but in the end, standing there saying “we did it” is an amazing feeling.
As usual, I'm going to end with an active poll that's available NOW through the next Wednesday about how you might have driven hope for your teams.
If there's a quote you love, a thought you have, feel free to chime in! Always open to learning.
Until next time....