One of the most engaging speakers at the recent Global Leader ship Summit (GLS) 2019 was business guru, Patrick Lencioni. From the beginning of his speech, he grabbed my attention and never let go. His leadership nuggets were hard to swallow even though they were necessary medicine. Honestly, I guess I was a little bit conflicted because sometimes I don’t want to be a leader, sometimes I feel inadequate to the challenge. While I know that I have leadership potential and responsibilities, sometimes the struggle doesn’t seem worth the price.
The theme of GLS 2019, an international leadership conference based on Christian principles, was “Everybody has influence.” Strangely, Lencioni challenged this notion by saying, “I think a lot fewer people in the world should become a leader.”
That runs counter intuitive to the notion that we all have leadership potential, and all we have to do is try harder. But maybe some people will never make good leaders.
Lencioni explained that why people lead makes all the difference. If you lead for the wrong reasons, your leadership will be flawed. He broke it down to two major ways of thinking – rewards or responsibilities. If you lead because you have earned it and want to enjoy the fruits of your labor, he suggested you may be reward focused. If you lead because you want to be in charge, you are likely reward focused. And if you want to decide what tough jobs you don’t want to do, you are a rewards focused person. Lencioni suggested that these people make poor leaders because they ultimately are just in it for themselves not the organization or its mission.
The other way of thinking about leadership is recognizing the great responsibility you have and being willing to do what it takes to succeed no matter the sacrifice. Leaders have to be willing to do the tough jobs, make the hard decisions and sacrifice so that the organization can thrive. While leaders may be in charge, they have to be the ones to rise to the challenge.
Lencioni stated, “Why be a leader? If your why is off then the how’s won’t matter.” His GLS speech is based on new material that is coming out in a book to be released in 2020 titled, The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities.
The five core areas that many managers or leaders fail to tackle usually results in a company or organizations not reaching its full potential. These areas are a must if you are going to succeed as a leader. But they are not glamourous. They are tough and require the boss to do uncomfortable things. If you find yourself avoiding these areas, maybe you need to rethink if you have the commitment and desire to truly be a good leader or manager.
Uncomfortable Conversations
When you are a leader sometimes you have to say the things that nobody else wants to say. Sometimes this is you confessing your own failures or weaknesses. Sometimes this is confronting employees with their poor performance or areas that need improvement. Sometimes you need to rally workers to rise to the challenge of a competitor that is eating your lunch.
Unfortunately, these are not easy conversations. Many leaders try to delay, dodge or push off these conversations to others. They may come up with excuses like, “I don’t have the time or energy for that.”
Lencioni stressed that “Leaders must be willing to have messy conversations… If leaders aren’t willing to do those messy things, then they shouldn’t be leaders in the first place.”
A leader focused on responsibility sees these problems and is willing to address them. Lencioni explained, “Conflict is the pursuit of truth and the best possible answer.” That means that though these conversations or meetings may be hard, they should also be centered on a better solution for the employee, customers and the organization. You may have to push employees to get the best out of them. We all have a tendency to work toward complacency.
Lencioni stated, “To be a good leader, you have to be slightly unreasonable.” Not that you are completely unrealistic about your expectations. But you must be willing to push people a bit beyond what they want to do. Your job is to inspire them to work beyond their comfort zone to strive for improvement.
Managing Their Direct Reports
Closely related to the first point, leaders must be willing to manage their direct reports. But many leaders claim to be too busy to do that. They have their own work to do. They may say, “I hire good people that don’t require management.” Or they may think, “I don’t want to come across as a micro manager.” There is a big difference between managing every detail and managing people in general.
Everyone needs some guidance now and then. Employees, even good ones, can lose their motivation.
A lack of management input can cause workers to feel isolated, lose track of the goals or feel abandoned. It is best to provide more than an open-door policy. It is best for managers to initiate conversations, just checking in to see how things are going or what can be done to help.
Managers don’t have to spend long with each direct report. Just stopping by briefly, sending an email or even an encouraging text can make a world of difference. Don’t just stop by when something is wrong. Try to speak words of life when things just went great. All types of feedback are needed – both positive and constructive criticism or guidance.
Lencioni declared, “The CEO more than any other person in an organization must manage his or her direct reports, or no one else in the organization is going to do that well.”
Running Great Meetings
Many leaders hate meetings, but they need to change their attitude towards them because meetings can be their time to shine. It is kind of like a quarterback hating playoff games or a surgeon hating surgery. That’s what you get paid for. Meetings are a manager’s Superbowl.
Lencioni warned, “Bad meetings lead to bad decisions.” The wrong things get funded. The wrong person is promoted or empowered. The wrong solutions get tried. Bad meetings can suck the life out of an organization or company and stifle passion and creativity.
But good meetings can do the exact opposite. After years of research in the field of business, Lencioni suggested, “Meetings are even more important than we ever thought. Most leadership occurs when you are sitting with your team around a room.”
Lencioni has written an entire book on how to run better meetings. The biggest mistake he suggests that so many leaders make when it comes to meetings is the lack of focus. There are different reasons to have a meeting. And if you try to do too much, you won’t do anything well. Meeting stew is the best way to stifle the life out of a meeting.
One of the best ways to help your organization get back on track is to take a different view of meetings. Lencioni suggested, “If leaders say they don’t like meetings, then they don’t like leading.”
Team Building Activities
Some people may think of team building activities as a waste of time. But they are absolutely necessary to build culture and relationships. It’s more than just a puzzle or a trust fall. It is an opportunity to see how people react and how they work together. It creates a sense of play and fun. These activities are great to allow new leaders to emerge if some of the typical leaders take a step back.
Of course, a leader’s attitude toward these activities makes all the difference. If you are a buzz kill, nobody will get much out of the exercise. The top managers have to be behind the effort.
Repeating Yourself
Nobody likes to have to repeat themselves over and over. But it is an important part of communication. Repetition leads to remembering. That is why they tell you three times where you parked when you go to Disney World.
People need repetition to get on board the agenda. You need to be patient and continually redirect the team back to the goals. It is easy to lose focus and let the tyranny of the urgent get in the way of long-term goals.
Lencioni teaches that the CEO should also be the CRO, otherwise known as the Chief Reminding Officer. As a top leader, you have to repeat yourself constantly and not get bored with that message. If employees are drifting, it is up to managers to get them back on track. You will need to gently remind them of the objectives and help them identify how they can make these activities a central part of their work focus.
So, did you hate doing any of these five key areas? If so, you are probably human. Do you refuse to do any of them or try to avoid them at all costs? If so, you probably aren’t going to be a good leader. Being an effective leader starts with serving those underneath you. Consider how you can tackle those areas where you are weak and work with other managers to improve these critical leadership functions in your organizations. Remember it all rises or falls on leadership.
