Do, Reh, Me, So, La, Fa, Tee, Do… or at least that’s how I remember it.  3rd grade music class with Mrs. Peterson.  The first time I was ever introduced to formalized music and singing different parts.  I spent plenty of time in church and understood the concept of “making a joyful noise” with the congregation, but my music teacher was showing me something different.

I grew older and left music classes in middle school  and then came back to them in high school.   Once I was in varsity choir, I learned something incredible.  I learned that when everyone sings their part at the right time and on key, a beautiful cacophony of sound is created. A wall of  emotion in different layers that allows the listener to close their eyes and experience depth and elegance.

What most people understand,  but sometimes forget is the rehearsal and preparation needed in order to create this experience.  It is important to understand how much goes into finding harmony because the same structure can be used to build a world class company.

Harmony is defined by Princeton as:  congruity of parts with one another and with the whole.  Harmony in music allows for there to be multiple people singing different notes at the same time as part of  a greater sound.  Sometime people can be singing different words at the same time, too.  The purpose of a composer is to tie all of it together to create a focused experience for the listener.  In order to tie everything together, a well written plan must be created in the form of sheet music.

Leaders should provide the same type of written plan for their team.  Here is  a quick guide for creating harmony in your team:

• Identify the theme of your piece: What is the goal of your team? What are your values? Write them down.
• Who sings what part: Talk to your team.  See who is a bass or soprano.  Don’t make a tenor into a alto. Put the write singer in the  right place.
• Rehearse!:  Meet with each team member to discuss the plan.  Meet one on one and in groups.  Individual training and rehearsal as well as group training is critical to the success of a team.
• Give everyone their part in writing:  Provide written direction and updates to your team regularly.

I was sitting at lunch.  I was having a bad week and was looking at my plastic plate piled high with chicken fingers and fries.  I love chicken fingers.  They are a great passion of mine.  I sat across the table from one of the managers in my firm.  I knew what lunch was going to be about-  he was going to complain about the company, about his place in the organization and decisions that he did not understand.

I could feel his negative energy creep into my psyche..  I was beginning to pile on.  I started to complain more and more.  It was a feeding frenzy and we were both pissed off by the time I had finished my strips.  It was now time to go back to work.

So there it is…  negative begets negative…  I guess we all know this.  But I am curious about why we were both negative.. We were both PASSIONATE about our frustration. What happened that allowed us to get to this point?

The funny part is that we spent considerable negative energy because of our positive passion for our company.   Both of us wanted our firm to be better.  We were proud of what had been built and what we had contributed. What was missing??

Could it have been vision?  I have come to the conclusion that many firms do not have a clear vision.  Vision:  A focus on overall goals and a road map we could all follow.  Without a clearly communicated purpose, a company is the same as a boat listing in the waves.

A Pirate’s Life for Me!

Think about an 18th century pirate ship.  Consider a ship that has a group of senior officers who have defined their goals.  The ship sails the seas with a clear purpose.  The Captain and his officers explain to their crew how each of them is critical in achieving specific goals for the journey.  The men on board understand how they contribute to the cause and what their ultimate payoff is when they reach their goal.  From the cook to the man in the crow’s nest, each person is playing a role.  There is a vision and a purpose for each person.

Now consider the boat that is not clear in purpose.  The captain tells his crew that they will sail… generally in “that direction”.  The crew is expected to perform their jobs to keep the boat and team in line each day.  From time to time, the boat may encounter a ship to plunder or an island to explore,  but there is no focused direction.  There is no plan to troll waters rich with the King’s ships.  Just to sail and to do what the captain says as soon as he says it.

At some point, the crew will begin to mutter… they will begin to question their need to wash the decks or get up early to man the lookout.  The crew will lose their passion to push ahead and at some point they will eat their chicken strips together venting frustration over the captain, officers and their decisions.  Passion for success turns into negative frustration.  Engagement is lost and a mutiny is at hand.

Mutiny! Vision is Core to Engagement

Line of Sight

It is crucial to provide line of sight for your team.  Line of sight is simple-  Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance?

How does a company or team keep an employee engaged through line of sight?  Here is the bottom line-  your team and your company need to focus on overall goals.  It is incredibly simple. Leadership includes setting goals.

Once a team has goals for the year or for the quarter, then each member should be presented a road-map of  how their daily tasks contribute to those goals.  I personally like having annual ‘Outlooks’ with employees.  These are very different than the ‘review’ structure that many companies use.

Outlooks

An Outlook should be done at least once a year. It is written and should be very simple in structure.  There should be a focus on the future rather than past accomplishments.  Outlooks take into account company and team goals and align those with employee desires, strong suits and goals.  Being able to focus on what makes each person great and providing a way to line that up with the team provides a strong path for everyone to succeed.

Once employees understand what the overall goals are and how they are being provided an opportunity to contribute to those achievements, engagement can begin.  Without a clear and focused vision, company goals will be difficult to define and Outlooks may not be effective.

Do you have a vision that is clearly communicated?  Is the vision of the company lined up with each employee’s greatest attributes and passions?

Here I am again- sitting at the computer and trying to understand how a leader emerges…  how they work… where they find their energy… their patience… their knowledge…  I am looking for a map.  I need to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’…  I realize…  I realize… I realize….

I realize it is NEVER that easy or everyone would be a leader.

I think back on the great leaders of our time.  I consider the leaders I have known in my life.  I conclude that with few exceptions, there were fundamental, specific portions of their lives that attention and focus were always paid.  I can summarize these areas in a few bullets:

• Spiritual Health
• Physical Health
• Learning and Growing
• Having a Plan and Setting Goals
• Friends, Family and Your Spouse
• Personal Financial Security

I have been trying to focus on all these areas in my life at once for the last year or so.  Not that I was not already living these pillars in some fashion before, but I have recently focused all my energies on these 6 pillars above all else.  I will tell you that I have seen great improvement in all areas of my life.

WHAT! I'm the treasure? What a ripoff!

There are countless studies on the positive developments that people encounter when they employ a focus on just one of these areas in their lives.  The key for living leadership is to create a solid foundation for each of these areas and then create habits, making it easy to adopt your habits into a lifestyle.

Let’s take a look at how each of these areas can help you focus as a leader.

Spiritual Health - Evan Carmichael discusses spiritual health for leaders in his blog- “Belief in a higher power (whatever your devotion) propels an individual towards the ideal self. Spiritual beliefs provide a doctrine that forces us to examine our own actions and motivations against a core of morality”. Nuff Said.

Physical Health - It is no secret that you feel better when you are in shape.  Harvey Mackey from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis discusses some of the positive aspects of health on leadership in a recent article.  He quotes Maj. John Patrick Gallagher, “Self-discipline and being able to perform under pressure and exist outside our comfort zone would be the key that unlocked our success (as leaders).”

Learning and Growing - There is no need to quote anyone here.  We all know that the more you study, work and understand the great minds of business, management and leadership, the more effective you will become as a leader. I strongly recommend books on CD from the local library, setting a reading list in Amazon or borrowing books from other leaders you may know.

Having a Plan and Setting Goals - This cannot be stressed enough.  When you envision your goals you are more likely to achieve them.  A Mental Rehearsal study discussed by Wright State University examines basketball athletes who mentally imagine their shots as well as physically practice the shots.  ”Research has found that a combination of “imagined practice” and actual practice often results in better performances than those achieved with preparation that relies solely on actual practice.  In addition to athletics, studies have shown that imagined practice improves performance in diverse contexts that include communication, education and clinical and counseling psychology.”

Friends, Family and Your Spouse – People need people.  We are social animals.  It is critical for leaders to have a safe place to go and talk and unwind.  Most leaders have a strong system of family and friends.  It is true that some drive out their closest relationships as they dive deeper into their leadership role, but those are more often the exception than the rule.  Great examples of American leaders with strong families are FDR, John Kennedy and George Bush.

Personal Financial Security – Leaders cannot focus on their companies, constituents or teams if they are not able to take risks with their career.  It is critical that leaders keep their personal finances in order so that they can focus on the job at hand. Leaders should not worry about risk or money.  Being solvent creates a more stable marriage and allows for a strong family life.

Taking all of these pillars and implementing them into you life will take time.  But the more you act like a leader and make a little time in each day for all of these leadership fundamentals, the easier it will be to exude leadership and live the journey rather than search for the end of the map.

The Story of Stanley-

So there he was sitting in the small conference room… We have all been there as managers or employees.   There are many reasons to be there:

• Our boss wants to meet with us
• We need to meet with a team member
• Performance is a problem
• There is an issue…

He closed his eyes and waited for his team member.  Stanley had been to see the accounts of his problem person at the request of the clients.  Stanley had pulled his team member into meetings to help him get organized repeatedly.  Stanley has had complaints from other team members about  performance.  There were official write ups and hour long phone call that were not on the record.

Sound familiar?   Are you Stanley? The 80/20 rule is in full force with this employee.  There are many interpretations of this rule.  F. John Reh discusses the 80/20 rule on About.   ”Pareto’s Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of you work that is really important. Don’t just “work smart”, work smart on the right things.”

Work on Smart things!  Smart Things! Like the 10 other team members Stanley did not have time to talk with for two weeks as he was on-site trying to save the problem employee’s clients.  He thought back to the first time he realized his team member was going to be difficult.  There were so many things Stanley wanted to say….

Could we focus our attention in a better place?

Here is the meeting Stanley wished he could have had:

“We have a problem and the problem is you.  You are not getting the job done and if you do not step up, we will fire you.  Your lack of attention to detail and continued denial that you are the problem is dragging down the entire team.  I have spent most of my employee management energy on you and your problems while neglecting the people on this team who are doing a great job and deserve my attention.  If we have any further issues, you are gone. ”

Leaders cannot do that-  some do-  but more often than not that type of leadership is not effective.  What we as managers need to realize is that when we decide it is time to make a change with a problem team member;  the ripples of positive change are going to be huge.

You could hire another employee with a better attitude for less than your problem person was making- You could use the difference in salary to reward the members of the team that were working hard.  By eliminating a poor performer you show the team that mediocrity is not tolerable.  Remember that when you make a change like this you save the company’s relationship with your clients, allowing you to keep the best team members on staff because you maintain your revenue.  You are now  free to meet with your best employees to work on making them better and not trying so hard to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Managers need to focus on those that can be saved.  This type of management will make the difference in how you help your team, reward your best employees and grow a world class organization.

I have found that I gain a different view of how I perform as a manager when I grow as a father, husband and a human being.  It was a very enlightening lesson.  The truth is I used to separate who I was as at home and who I was at work.  I used to call this the Spiderman theory.  My thoughts were that I had to be a different person when I was at work.  I walled off my personal life from the office.  I built a boundary in order to be tough at work so I could “better lead” my team.  This strategy was very ignorant. Breaking down my walls in order to bring a personal, human and a gentle touch to my leadership style would have been a better use of my efforts.

I have seen managers take the Spiderman theory too far in either direction.  No manager will ever tell you there needs to be total transparency between their job persona and their home life.  It is important to know your boundaries.  CopyBlogger discusses personas in regard to blogging-  but ther is value in the comment  ”If you are a student of psychology, or human nature, or good old fashioned common sense, you know that we play different “roles” in different contexts throughout the course of every day. We are, in reality, a string of personas that each step forward depending on context, (Copyblogger.com, 2007).

I will say that the lessons learned in my personal “role” are some of the most directly applicable to my management “role”.  Lessons about dealing with teenagers- dealing with your spouse, understanding personal finance… all of these require a deep focus on what you are hearing and how your are being heard.  These lessons are built around communication and perspective.  Ah!  There it is… perspective…  Which is the core of how people react to situations and decide if they need to be Peter Parker or Spiderman-  right?

Here is a great story I heard at Church last weekend-  I have looked all over the Internet and have not seen the originator of the story-  so I will paraphrase what I was told.

Who's Cookie is That?

A seasoned traveler had arrived at the airport.  She had her carry-on bag, book and smart phone.  She arrived at the airport with plenty of time to grab a snack and relax before boarding the plane.  She stopped at the cookie shop on the concourse near her terminal and picked up a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

She found her terminal and grabbed a seat to wait for her flight.  She reached into her cookie bag and grabbed a cookie.  Almost instantly-  she heard the cookie bag begin to rustle and the man next to her took a cookie out and ate it.  Our traveler became enraged!  What nerve!  Maybe it was a mistake… she kept her calm and internalized her frustration…

A few minutes later, the cookie bag began to rustle again.. her neighbor had taken another cookie.  She reached in angrily and grabbed another for herself, noticing there was only one cookie left.  She was furious.  How could this total stranger just eat her cookies!  People are so rude!!

Suddenly the bag rustled and the man reached in- taking the last cookie.  He then proceeded to break the cookie in half and left one half on the top of the bag and then walked away!  WHAT?!?!?  How could anybody have such nerve!   Our traveler was so angry she was about to explode.

The terminal attendant came on the PA to let everyone know it was time to board.  Our traveler grabbed her broken cookie and reached into her carry-on to find a napkin when she realized…  her cookie bag was in the carry-on.  It was full of cookies…..

Perspective…  Remember that your people are always looking at things from their point of view.  If you fail to understand where they are coming from-  you may present the wrong persona.  Be mindful that one person’s cookie theft may be another person’s act of generosity!

It is now 2010…  I look back on 2009 and cannot believe what had to happen for our firm to come out without having to lay off anybody.  There is truth that many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) grew in 2009 due to outsourcing, but many stayed flat and did all hey could to stay in the black.  We stayed flat- mostly because we chose to invest in our business with items like a building and a cloud network and training systems.  I digress…  My point is that we as a company seem to have weathered part of the greatest economic turn down in a lifetime without losing anybody and gaining infrastructure for a better work place.  One word-  BLESSED.  The point here is-  companies who have made it into 2010 are fortunate and smart.  Some would argue they have an obligation to consider community involvement.

Shifting gears to my next point -

Time Magazine presented an article on Gen Y workers titled, What Gen Y Really Wants.  The article discusses that there are 85 million baby-boomers in the American Workforce.  Most of these folks will retire in the next 5 to 10 years depending on our stock market recovery.  ”Now along come the 76 million members of Generation Y. For these new 20-something workers, the line between work and home doesn’t really exist. They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are, (Time, 2007).”  Starting to see where I am going here?

Lead by Example

Gen Y employees have been raised in a world where homework and school and home and extracurricular activities are all inter-mingled.  Email and remote access and smart phones have blurred the line between where they work and when they relax.  Most of this generation is looking for a place to make an impact and find meaning.  You want to keep this workforce happy and make your company a place they WANT to work.  I discussed the topics of keeping employees through 2010 in a great management article from December 2009.

A 2007 Survey of Gen Y Workers states that 68% prefer to work where there is a volunteer program.  71% of respondents believe that companies should spend time to help match outside interests of employees to volunteer programs that the business can support.

What do both of my points mean when looking at them together?

• Many companies have been able to weather the economy and are seeing new opportunities for success in 2010.
• The new generation of workers in America is looking for more work life balance and a chance to volunteer through work

Put these items together and volunteerism should be considered a core business objective for the foreseeable future.

I feel strongly that companies should adopt volunteer programs.  It is important for a business to understand a couple of key points.  Leadership begins by example and volunteer project must be adopted at the highest levels and for the right reasons. Company executives and owners should take the time to understand what their employees want to help with and then reach out to find opportunities to get their firm involved.

Here are some quick take aways on volunteerism at work:

• Leaders should consider  building their company with values that belong to the generation that will inherit the firm (Gen Y).
• Businesses should take the time to publicly acknowledge how blessed they have been to have survived 2008/2009 and reach out to the community.
• Volunteer work provides a level playing field or all employees to interact
• Choose projects that interest the employees and community
• Do not push volunteer efforts or chose opportunities based on public relations  or personal gain
• Find advocates in the workforce and create a committee
• Give because it is the right thing to do!
• Find a place to get ideas!  Volunteer opportunities in Houston

Have you had an opportunity to be involved?  What do you think is a good project to help get a volunteer program off the ground?  Leave your comments.

I have worked for many different people and with many different types of clients in scores of disparate industries.  I have found about 4 people who I would consider to be true leaders.  This would be out of hundreds I have worked with or for.  I am truly amazed at how many of the people that are in leadership positions consider themselves to actually be leaders, though.  They believe that they are truly providing exceptional leadership to their organization.  I have seen folks who will read a book or go to a class or work with a person on leadership or management techniques and draw only their own simple correlations of success from it.  Rarely have I seen people in leadership positions ask themselves HARD personnel questions about what they should do in order to be better leaders.

I would like to chime in with a few of my personal opinions on the subject.

• Fight for your team-  Even if you are at the VERY top of the company, find something to fight for and show your team you are doing it.  Leaders lead from the front, not from the back with a stick.  You cannot expect your team to give you 110% if you are standing behind them with a stick.  Get in front and pick up the flag and LEAD them up the hill. That means fighting for their best interests and listening to what THEY want.
• Develop your team to take your place-  Good Managers delegate tactical responsibilities so they can focus on strategy.  GoodManager.com talks about tactical value in delegation. Good leaders and managers are constantly making their team better and sharpening their skills through delegation.  A leader should always want to have a person or people knocking on their door so that the leader has a place to push towards.  If a manager has no one trying to push forward and up to their position, then the company has no mobility and no opportunity.
• Follow Chain of Command-  Do not control from 3 steps up the ladder.  If you need to accomplish a goal, lead your team with your direct reports.  If you circumvent the managers you have in place, then you remove their ability to lead and are showing others you have no faith in your managers or leads.  Nothing can fracture a team like having 4 bosses.
• Continue to grow- work on your personal brand, take a class or teach a class!  The more you grow the more you will want to help others grow.  If you are not pushing for self improvement, your team may not see the need to do it either.  360 degree feedback is a must.  See what people are saying about you and make corrections if you need to.

These simple points should help get many managers on the path to becoming a better leader.  I strongly suggest looking up info in the Harvard Business Review, Jim Collins and Michael Hyatt.  There are countless resources for leadership training, but the desire must be genuine and a leader must be willing to correct their personal issues in order to find success.