Leadership Skills - The Inside Track

One of the most provocative topics in present business is leadership. Managing, motivating and directing organizations is challenging, however, guiding personnel is more challenging. Recent research abounds on helping leaders motivate and improve morale, and most solutions fail.

While the available research is useful, it encapsulates issues denoting immediate change. The primary challenges are that in order to change results, beliefs must change, and further change can result from an event such as training or a workshop. Organizations, employees, and notably behavior will not change with one program. Changing beliefs requires a process. This helps stimulate attitudes and beliefs. When organizations develop a process methodology, silos decrease, productivity increases, and morale improves.

During our 15 years of research with hundreds of small and multinational organizations and business leaders, we find a lack of process. We believe that business functions similar to athletics; they both require commitment, energy, and practice. Leaders must take new processes, allocate accountability and time, and apply process principles. We developed PRACTICE to assist leadership deployment.

P – Personnel Comes First
The vital asset of any organization is an employee. Internal stakeholders are the nucleus of organizational function and production. Loyal core provides results and profits. Leaders must acquire, develop, and communicate to the core. Organizational culture exemplifies employee assets. Personnel retention and morale are higher when culture focuses on employees. Loyal employees like loyal clients assist in profitability.

R – Relationships with key Stakeholders
A study by the Corporate Leadership Council reveals the tremendous impact managers have on an employee’s level of commitment. It is imperative to note that individuals do not leave companies - they leave poor managers. Failure to build inter-office and departmental relationships contributes to negative morale. Research shows that taking time to build relationships with employees through personal interaction is a key step for high morale. Employees need to feel trust and respect.

A - Attentiveness to Strategy
Many leaders pay many large consulting firms, exorbitant fees for strategy. The only problem, the research remains in an office bin or shelf. The problem with strategy is two-fold, 1) executives that do not understand or believe it and 2) a failure to communicate the strategy to all organizational stakeholders. Strategy cannot sit on a shelf. Similar to blood through veins, strategy must produce within all functional levels. Failure to communicate speed, direction, and fuel consumption eventually leads to a tragic crash or a lost vehicle.

C – Communication Essentials
Research into leadership illustrates an interesting correlation with famous and egregious leaders. Ironically, both groups exemplify superfluous oratory. Leaders understand the need to communicate. Announcements good or bad provide feedback required by employees to understand purpose and direction. A failure to communicate is a failure to lead.

T – Talent Acquisition
1. Start with the right people. No firm we work with ever hires on a proactive basis. Most firms conduct employment searches reactively. Seek employees that fit with the organizational culture and with the obligatory skills. Never wait!
2.    Hire for skill – Talent is innate. Organizations hire for personality and behavior first and skill second. Skill is not interchangeable, behavior is. A great hire might have a wonderful temperament and lack the skill to plug a socket into an outlet. I recall a five star hotel that hired another level of housekeeping to repair floors. Hire the right people for the right job and lower costs.
3.    Look at best practices from best people – Management focuses on “fixing those that cannot” rather than “improving those that can”. Icons of performance exist in your organization. Discover what they do right and encourage others to emulate it.
4.    Passion – In the 1980’s Sylvester Stallone appeared again as Rocky this time with a theme, “Eye of the Tiger”. What a great metaphor for valuable talent. Seek to acquire talent that truly loves work.

I – Investments in Assets
Investment in the number one asset- people is vital. Never terminate training when results lower, rather increase them. The time for improvement is when things need improvement not when they are working well.

C – Cultural Strategies
Leaders develop the culture and those that do, have skin in the game. Apple UPS, Southwest, and many others illustrate an uncompromising need to serve clients and treat employees well. Develop cultures that strive for greatness not adversity.

E – Evolving with the Enigma
Organizations are enigmas just when you gain a resolution they change. Organizations must be open to and flexible with change. However, doing so requires critical, consistent, and collaborative analysis. Obtain a team that provides honest feedback, timeliness, and insight.

Similar to the athlete striving for perfection, leaders too must practice to alleviate imperfections. The best leaders constantly evaluate, seek success, and adopt new methods of improvement.

© 2008. Drew J. Stevens. All rights reserved.

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Advice from Peter Drucker…

Upon completing a recent article, I am perplexed. I advocate much like Peter Drucker that the reason to be in business is to create customers. The article I am referring, “How CEOs Should Work with Customers” appears to suggest that CEO’s do not have the time to spend with customers due to a myriad of other items on their agenda. I concur they are busy, we are all busy, however, if executives lose focus from the most vital asset of any organization then it questions strategy.

With recent economic volatility and exasperating increases in customer pay, it is imperative to note that perhaps the eye has gotten off the ball. Organizations today must practice and exemplify customer orientation. It is the customer that pays the utility bill and the customer that supplies salaries. That said why is the client not the focus of all activity within organizations.

Organizations today must conduct themselves thus:

1.    Refrain from the mission statement foolishness. Stop paying lip service to customer experience and live it. Mission statements are as useful as the paper scribed if they are not abided. Decrease the chasm but developing a customer service culture.
2.    Time. Executives and all staff must spend time with clients. There is no metric establishes percentages, however it is useful to spend time and as much as possible with clients. Customers require vendors they can trust and respect. The relationship grows when customers know you.
3.    Talent. Executives must begin to hire talent and create customer services exemplars. Organizations such as Southwest Airlines and Apple exist for one thing- the customer. All talent work synergistically to provide a proper customer experience.
4.    Focus groups. Many companies utilize these effective feedback loops and others not. One cannot build product without client involvement. Apple’s success in both the iPhone and iPod stems from insightful feedback.
5.    CBWA. Customers by Walking Around. A tremendous concept exemplified in the early 1980’s and since forgotten. Executives gain insightful intelligence by meeting with differing clients, with a variety of needs to decide future products, development and marketing strategies.
6.    Communicate. Avatars of successful customer service consistently strive to communicate messages. The proliferation of the Internet and other technologies facilitates communication customers welcome the competitive intelligence.

Customers are assets and require that treatment. Giving them time, understanding their needs and listening to concerns are methods all executives must use to remain competitive.

2008 Drew J. Stevens Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Posted in CEO challenges, Communication Training, Customer Relationship, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service Training, Drew Stevens, Drew Stevens PhD, business selling, cusotmer service training, customer loyalty, customer retention, customer service, customer service consulting, customer service ideas, customer service seminars, customer service skills, effectiveness, good customer service, great customer service, improve customer service, marketing, marketing help, organizational success, organizational techniques, organizational tips, productivity techniques, sales and marketing, sales effectiveness | No Comments »

Training Is a Must for Performance Improvement

I advocate training but not for training sake. As many readers know my emphasis is two fold, those that treat training as an event. Individuals cannot change behavior in a six-hour training session. Like biting fingernails or twirling hair, training requires habit changes. Training must be a process that requires several sessions, perhaps years rather than a one-time kudos.

Nothing is more irksome then hearing the CEO or HR professional from a multi-billion dollar organization state there is no money in the training budget. Human Capital is assets not liabilities. The current trend traced to economics is rote with excuses of cutbacks. Typically, training budgets are the first line item.

My doctoral work and a recent article written by Jorina Fontelera indicate the need to train employees. Training when conducted consistently, helps with both worker productivity and morale.

Posted in Drew Stevens, Drew Stevens PhD, Employee Performance, Expertise, Human Resource Management, Management, Performance Management, Uncategorized, effectiveness, efficiency, improve customer service, job training, productivity, productivity techniques, workplace performance | No Comments »