Will
the Real Leader Please Stand?
By
Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(1016
words)
Today’s
organizational leaders have much working against their success. Sometimes
leaders can be their own worst enemy. However, this is not cause to crawl
under a rock and hunker down for the duration of these difficult times.
Sure, the press almost daily is exposing yet another dishonest corporate
executive, especially in the financial industries, but that’s not you.
Business enjoyed a good half-decade run, following the 911 recovery, and
here we are again up to our, rear-ends in alligators. Today, more than
ever, is the time for action—for demonstrating to your employees that
you have a plan—even if you don’t. Get out of sluggishness and into
action, today!
Make
Your Rain Making Visible
Similar
to the Native American rain dances of old, they were never performed in
isolation, but in view of the tribe; to give the members of the tribe
hope—your people need to see you leading the charge in action, not just
in words. To build confidence within the people of your organization, they
have to visually see your efforts to turn things around, including your
personal rain making efforts. This gives them the hope they need to
persevere during the current cuts, challenges, and fears caused by
today’s economic realities.
This
lesson was learned at Mitsubishi Motor Sales of North America, in the
early 1990s—the executives learned the hard way; wasting one entire year
in their efforts to change the organizational culture. The lesson learned
was simple: people believe what they see, not what they hear. The
executives were telling everyone what they wanted to happen but were not
living the vision themselves.
Similarly,
a friend’s mistake has always stayed with me. He and his investors went
bankrupt on a golf course project in the 1970s. Their 20/20 hindsight
revealed that their mistake was that of spending their money building the
golf course before they built the club house. Potential members could not
see the progress from the earth moving in the distance so many decided not
to act on the special pre-opening offer; money the group badly needed to
finish the project. Most people have to see it to believe.
What’s
Old Might be New
Robert
Rickenbach, owner of a fiber optics connector fabrication company
discovered that the railroad in
India
could use his connectors in a different application than for which they
were originally designed and opened an unexpected international market for
his company. What about you? What unexpected, or explored, markets could
benefit from your products, services, and other offerings?
In
your effort to develop new markets, new applications, and/or new products
and services, how much time have you spent? It has been said by persons
wiser than I, that most people spend more time planning their vacation
than they spend planning their life. What about the success of your
organization? How much time have you spent in REAL product/market
development strategic planning sessions? For most, not much is the honest
answer.
Who
can help? The quick answer is: your suppliers, your employees, and your
customers. Sometimes innovation is a happy accident and sometimes it is
the result of intense organizational processes, individual champions, and
intellectual properties—and most times, a result of tireless hard work.
What are you doing to innovate?
Back
in the mid-1990s I served as a trainer for the Dunn & Bradstreet
Foundation, delivering full-day public seminars throughout the
USA
. One of the exercises I conducted when doing a seminar within a company
required an unorthodox approach to problem solving. Interestingly, it was
never the organization’s leader that came up with the solution but
rather others generally in administrative or support positions. Proof for
me that leaders need to encompass all in their organization for solutions
to today’s pressing challenges.
Your
Responsibility and Accountability
Let’s
face it; nobody really enjoys the mirror being brought up close. However,
in times like we are now facing, that is exactly what is needed. No matter
how good a leader you might be, you know that you can do better. And, if
you are a lousy leader, you are unlikely to be reading this article.
Listed below are some of the pitfalls, conscious or unconscious, to
leading in a recession:
-
Not
being aware of the depth of your organization’s situation.
-
Not
having a “rainy day” contingency plan.
-
Not
being open to innovation in market, product, and process.
-
Not
honestly looking in the mirror.
-
Living
off past glory.
-
Expecting
others to act as rain makers.
-
Hunkering
down expecting the current economic situation to quickly blow over
like a tropical storm.
Your
“to do” list should include the following:
-
Honest
evaluation of your organizations current situation through the
traditional SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)
analysis process with your company’s stakeholders; first your
employees, then with your suppliers, and last with your customers. Oh
yes, and LISTEN! Generally the SWOT analysis is done only in the
bubble of the executive suite, thereby missing needed additional
perspectives.
-
Step
it up and lead the charge, even if it is only activity for
activity’s sake. Activity begets enthusiasm, if positioned correctly
and your employees see that you are putting in the time.
-
Look
to other industries for answers in as much as you can adapt ideas. It
is foolish to think you can adopt, however adaptation is an important
form of innovation that will serve you well.
If
your organization is zipping along, perhaps you have already conducted the
steps necessary to thrive? Perhaps this article is merely an affirmation
that you are on the right track? However, if your company is
struggling—it might mean that your leaders, or you, have been asleep at
the wheel. The good news is that there might be enough time to turn things
around and put your company back on the productive path. Plant this thought in your subconscious mind: your
employees have been there for you, helping you to make your organization
what it had been. Don’t you think you owe it to them to show up and
rebuild? It’s their livelihood also!
Copyright
© 2010 Ed Rigsbee
#
# #
As
an internationally recognized keynote speaker on partnering, alliance, and
relationship ROI, Ed Rigsbee helps corporate and non-profit audiences to
end the anxiety of lost opportunities and unfulfilled promises and get
what they say done. Ed Rigsbee, Certified Speaking Professional, has been
fumbling, bumbling, and stumbling his way through the organizational mazes
of for-profits and non-profits for over four decades. For the last two
decades, Ed has been an observer, researcher, and teacher; helping
organizations of all sizes to build successful internal and external
collaborative relationships. In addition to serving corporate and
non-profit clients in their partnering, alliance and relationship ROI
needs, Ed also serves as the executive director of a (501 c 3) public
non-profit charity. Ed has authored three books and over 1,500 articles
helping organizations to take full advantage of their potential. Contact
Ed, through www.Rigsbee.com for
assistance and to access a number of his complementary resources for doing
better.
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