Tag Archives: communications

Lessons Learned from Bad Bosses and Misguided Leaders

It is sad to admit, but many of us have had bad bosses or have followed misguided leaders. Moreover, we have probably been in those situations more often than we would like to admit. However, I am here to tell you that although you experienced unwanted stressors, not all is lost. If we reflect on those experiences, we can come to believe and yes, say that bad bosses are not necessarily roadblocks to leadership development (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). Instead, the lessons learned will help us become a better boss and/or leader.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner (1995) believe that our best strategy for working with bad bosses or leaders is to treat them as we wish to be treated. We need to deal with them in an assertive, but not confrontational manner, and, at the same time, remain positive about ourselves. Kouzes and Posner argued that bad bosses “may not be pleasant to work with, but they can be great examples of what not to do” (p.331).

So today, I will begin to address five things I have experienced from bad bosses or leaders. I will also offer commentary on what not to do, or better yet, offer possible options to consider in your role as a leader or a boss.  Let us begin with my five bad leadership pet peeves. 

  1. A leader or boss who lacks strategic vision and execution skills.
  2. A leader or boss who takes credit for the ideas or works of his or her subordinates.
  3. A leader or boss who fears the competitive spirit of his or her subordinates and therefore, stifles the growth of new and potential leaders.
  4. A leader or boss’s leadership style that is not suited for the people or organization he or she is leading.
  5. A leader or boss who leads from the premise of what is best for him or her; not what is best for the organization.

 So not to overwhelm I will discuss one item per post. Let us look at number one.

 A leader or boss who lacks strategic vision and execution skills

How many great ideas have been stunted and organizations on the verge of decline or failure because of a lack of strategic vision and/or execution skills at the top? In most organizations, ‘the vision thing’ is one of the key responsibilities of the CEO or the boss. Vision requires knowing your organization, listening to your staff and to your customers. It also requires networking with your peers and studying both the industry and political tealeaves. What happens, unfortunately, is that after a few years on the job, the chief stops learning. He or she gets comfortable. They have arrived, tenure so to speak, and so they stop doing their homework or even worse, they refuse to learn new things. Continual education or lifelong learning has been forgotten or “I will get to it when I can” and can never comes.

 The chief becomes too busy. The chief will send someone else in the organization to the critical conference or training and he or she can be informed later. “I have been here a long time; I have seen it all.” “There is nothing new to learn; it is a phase or an old trick with a new name and a new twist.” Wrong.  Our world is ever changing and these changes affect organizations. In such a fast-paced global environment, the chief must pay attention to how the world’s changes are affecting the organization and influencing the customer that the organization serves.

 It is at this very moment that the boss should be envisioning where he or she wants to take the organization and how he will get there. However, in her mind, the whole idea of strategic planning is drudgery and ‘I am doing it because it is forced upon me by policy or by the board.’ Hence, a strategic planning process is conducted, but not much thought was put into the planning process and therefore not much will come out of it; like an inspiring future vision, a plan and the means to execute our vision/plan. The most likely scenario was an agreement to keep the same vision that has been around for many years, the one that has lost its purpose, outdated in a fast-paced competitive environment.

Strategic visioning and execution skills do not come naturally. It requires the chief to be a vigilant student and observer. It requires him to ask questions of his staff and his customers. It requires him to compare his organization to the industry standard. It will require the chief to do several things listed here:

  • subscribe and read industry trade magazine(s) and related trade and business magazines and newspapers;
  •  stay on top of current events by reading the local newspaper; especially for insight into local politics, local business trends, and the impact that the local community and its politic is having on your organization’s customers;
  • obtain feedback from your customer and make it easy for the customer to provide feedback. Give the customer an opportunity to give feedback at any time. Nevertheless, it is still critical to conduct formal feedback surveys, probably at least twice a year.
  • allow you staff to offer feedback, without repercussions, and be willing to try out some of their recommendations or suggestions and finally;
  • be willing to listen to your trade association members and the community at-large. It is impossible for you as chief to gather all of what is going on alone.

 With these various feedback mechanisms, a leader can begin to formulate ideas for a strategic vision. As the editors of Harvard Business Review OnPoint, remind its readers: “vision doesn’t come from divine inspiration. It comes from research, thoughtful discussions, reaching out, and looking inward” (p.2).

One way to look inward is to conduct a SWOT Analysis. SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threat. The SWOT strategic model is an excellent tool and can be used for early stage charting of the company’s execution process (who, when and how). The execution is all about accountability; it is not to point fingers, but to work as a team to live out the vision and to assure success in serving the customer. Nothing frustrates me more than to be given a clear vision of where we need to be, but little or no actions are taken to get us there. We are in a stalled mode. We have to process our strategy more. Let us together get on with it. External threats are real; timing for right opportunities is limited. Let us execute.

Execution in itself is a full topic; see (http://www.upwardedge.com/2009/03/executive-supervision-part-iii.html) and I hope to bring you an extensive topic on execution later. However, for now, execution consists of communicating the strategic vision to everyone. Breaking the strategic vision down into specific, measureable objectives and given the right resources to makes it achievable. Assign objectives to key staff members, track the objectives and have formal reviews to hold people accountable and to facilitate problem solving; again, this is not to point blame, but to work as a team to assure successful outcomes.

 Remember there are uncertainties in our world and gearing an organization for future survival takes a vigilant, studious and curious leader. Consider what happened on Wall Street and the many Fortune 500 Corporations several years ago. Although they employed the “best of the best” quick profits and greed overtook disciplined execution and strategic planning, which led to organizational failures and financial losses.

Organizational survival takes leadership that is ever vigilant, learning and studying business trends, industry directions, and economic and political pulses.  A bad boss often forgets this. A bad boss has no vision and blames bad execution or lack of results on others. A competent boss and a visionary leader will communicate the vision often and to many and will establish a mechanism to assure a successful execution process.

========================================================

*Kouzes, J.M & Posner, B.Z. (1995). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Company.

 The Editors. (Winter 2010). Make a difference. Harvard Business Review OnPoint, 2.

Like This!
5
Posted in Coaching/Mentoring, Leadership, Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Executive Supervision, Part V: Coalition Building & Effective Communication

Financial and human resources will continue to be at a premium in the foreseeable future. Therefore the executive leader needs to use all available resources to meet the organization’s mission. Building coalitions with other organizations and utilizing effective communications are necessary competencies during these economically lean times.

The Federal SES (Senior Executive Services) guidelines define coalition building as the ability to influence and negotiate. Influence and negotiation requires a person who has the ability to persuade others and to build consensus; to establish cooperation from others to accomplish desired goals and to facilitate “win-win” situations (January, 1998). This definition embraces several of Covey’s principles, such as, “begin with the end in mind,” “think win-win” and “seek first to understand then be understood.” Simply put, the leader must envision what he or she wants out of a mutual agreement and that the desired outcome will result a win-win resolution. A successful outcome can only happen if the executives “seek first to understand.” This will require the executive leaders to genuinely listen to each other and to instinctually know that if genuinely listened to they will have the opportunity “to be understood.” If these competencies are genuinely practiced, more often than not, the negotiating executives will facilitate collaborations and form partnerships that align with each executive organization’s mission and bottom line.

Another competency necessary for building coalitions and moving an agenda forward is “political savvy.” This will require executive awareness of “politics” both in the executive’s organization and in the community at large. In other words, the executive must approach each problem situation with a keen understanding of the politics in his or her organization as well as the political reality of the community at large. Political savvy requires sensitivity to timing. No matter that something is the right thing to do, it must not be hurried; there is a right moment for implementation. It is my impression that President Obama is doing this with “the don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as it relates to gays serving in the military. Although the president intends to change the current policy; he has not yet acted. I believe the president will fulfill his promise, but he is waiting for the right time. Just like the president, all executives must be able “to identify the internal and external politics that impact the work of the organization….approach each problem situation with a clear perception of organizational and political reality…and recognize the impact of alternative courses of action” (Guide to SES Qualifications, p. 36, January, 1998).

Although rarely mentioned as a tool for effective coalition building, marketing and promoting of the organization’s services is invaluable. Many governmental and nonprofit organizations often see this as an unnecessary waste of limited resources because the people they serve will come anyway. However, I have learned that marketing and promoting are keys to building coalitions. When other organizational leaders are aware of your organization’s accomplishments they will want to be part of the success. In my experience, marketing and promoting your organizational services builds influence, collaboration and resources. Often, the resource gained comes in the form cash money because the community is excited to contribute to your organization’s mission, but more importantly to your organization’s success.

The second competency to discuss is effective communication. Without good communication skills, both oral and written an executive will have a difficult time articulating the needs of the organization and the wonderful things it does for its customer and the community. The executive must be aware of his or her communication strengths:

  • are you better and more persuasive as a public speaker, or
  • are you more persuasive with the pen?

Regardless of the communication format, the executive must be comfortable and use personal style to his or her advantage. Communication, especially written communication, must be convincing, well organized and expressed in a clear concise manner. Effective oral communication will require the speaker to facilitate dialogue, to be an effective listener, to come across as genuine and to clearly articulate and to clarify information.

To be effective and successful the executive must be an effective communicator and have the willingness and the competency to build coalitions. The executive cannot do this alone. It is imperative that the leaders’ lieutenants are also skilled communicators and competent at collaborating and coalition building. As I said at the beginning of this post; collaboration with others in this economy may be the only way an organization can survive and thus, the organization leadership team must do their part.

Like This!
2
Posted in Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment