The Challenges of New Leadership

Change is a good thing, right?

Businesses and organizations refine and adjust their strategy based on many things, including the changing needs of their client-base and the market place. One of the most significant catalysts for change is new leadership.

Once the announcement of a new leader is made, the change process begins. 

And then, all the people say, “Oh, joy; a new leader who will want to change everything.”

As they say, change is never easy. There are multiple upon multiple studies showing that just the idea of change causes fear and stress for those involved. However, sometimes new leadership is not just necessary, but also vital to organizational growth and, even perhaps its very survival.

New leaders, be they CEOs or mid-level managers, certainly bring their own personality and management style to the top of the table. If they come from outside the organization, the most valuable asset they bring is not their education or years of experience, but a perspective quite different from those on the inside.

Good leaders know that recognizing and utilizing differing perspectives to make decisions about what must be changed is crucial. The difficulty in implementation comes from team members with the “We’ve Always Done It This Way” mentality, and those mired in GroupThink. Without trudging down the rabbit hole discussions of those two issues, I think it is safe to say that they have their own particular challenges which require situation-specific actions to address.

When I began my career in the early 1980’s, organizational leaders based decisions on input from their division or department heads, who gathered data from their subordinates in a very controlled fashion. Employees worked 8am – 5pm (or 9am – 5pm), Monday through Friday, and spent evenings and the weekends with their families.

Thirty years later, more Millennials are moving into positions of leadership, and facing an ever-evolving multi-generational workforce with different, and often competing, demands for engagement and working conditions. The younger generation not only expects, but demands to have a seat at the table and expects to move to another company in a few years to take the next step in their careers. They also don’t want to watch the clock, or be constrained by having to be in an office every day.

Older workers, such as those from the Greatest Generation and my Baby Boomer generation need to feel respected for the knowledge and experience for which we have worked so hard for many years to earn. We also need a seat at the table, or at least know that the new, younger leadership has heard and acknowledged the issues we bring to light. Like the younger crowd, I love working from home, but I also like the idea of having evenings and weekends free.

The leadership challenge with a multi-generational work force is finding a way to meet the differing needs, while building a cohesive and open organizational culture that allows and encourages employees to be passionate about their work and their organization’s success.

In the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell from his book, My American Journey,

"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."  

Stepping into a new leadership role is an exciting experience. It is an opportunity to develop a vision for excellence and innovation, and to share that vision with an actively engaged organization. All leaders face challenges, however, it is their response to those challenges that determines their success.

If you have been a new organizational or business leader, what words of wisdom would you share with those who want to be, and one day will be, a new leader?

NOTE: This post also appears on LinkedIn.

Before founding her own consulting firm in 2013, Dawn Gannon served as a respected project management and administrative operations professional in the military, higher education, and women’s healthcare fields for 25 years. She holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Organizational Management from American Public University, is a contributor on LinkedIn, and the author of the Management in Motion blog.

Dawn currently serves as the Past Chair of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Women’s Council, and teaches health and safety classes for the American Red Cross. As an infertility survivor she has been a featured speaker within the Fertility Community, and written numerous articles on the topic of childfree living. 

On Being the New Guy or Gal

Photo Credit: Bing Images

Over the last several weeks, and in the weeks to come, many people will fill one of the most dreaded positions in life – The New Guy or Gal.

From a college freshman’s or tranfer’s perspective, being the new guy or gal on campus is exciting and scary at the same time. For many, it’s the thrill of being on their own for the first time, and yet at the same time it seems daunting. Having worked many Move-In Days over my career in higher education, for the first time parents, their hearts are filled with pride, but also breaking as their child leaves home for the first time.

From the new hire’s perspective, it is also exciting and just a bit scary as well. Although they know they can do the job, and do it well, many wonder how easy it will be to absorb the organization’s culture quickly, and make new friends in the workplace. Let’s face it, identifying and deciding where you fit into the political climate in the organization without knowing all the back stories is one of the toughest choices you will have to make.

There are, however, many positives to being the New Guy or Gal. Here are just a few:

1. You walk in the door with a totally open perspective; one that isn't colored by all the back stories. You see possibilities where others see closed doors. While walking in the door and spouting all your “we shoulds” is not the best way to make a good impression, taking notes of ideas you have, and then sharing them with your supervisor or others once you have been in the position for some time – or better yet, are asked – shows creative thinking. Before sharing your wisdom, however, be sure to look at every situation from as many perspectives as possible and then determine if your idea truly has merit.
2. By truly embracing this new challenge with an open mind and excitement beating in your heart, you walk through the door and begin exploring all the possibilities, including new skills, knowledge, colleagues, experiences, and friends.  Who doesn't need these in life?
3. If you make a mistake early on (which you will, of course), people tend to pass it off as being – you guessed it – the New Guy or Gal. You learn from your mistakes, take steps to ensure you don’t make it again, and tuck that lesson into your portfolio of Life Lessons.
4. You have a front row seat to learn about yourself, how you react (or don’t) in new situations, and gain a better understanding of what is acceptable to you and what is not. While those around you also learn about you, the person who benefits the most is you. The more you know yourself, the better able you will be to make decisions, take chances, and enjoy the experiences life has to share with you.

While the list isn't all inclusive, I think you get the point. Starting a new phase in life, regardless of what it is, is always exciting and somewhat scary. It’s what you do with those feelings that determine how you use the opportunity of being the New Guy or Gal.

By the way, please feel free to add to the list and share with everyone.

Good Luck!

Editor’s Note: This post also appears on LinkedIn.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected project management and administrative operations professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is a contributor on LinkedIn, the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

Why Kindness Matters in Business

In the 1970’s, singer Nick Lowe lamented (quite successfully) that being cruel to be kind is a good thing.

While that may be true when ending a relationship, and I’m not saying it is, kindness – not cruelty or meanness – most assuredly matters in business.

I recently observed examples of both kindness and meanness in business situations, and for the life of me, I could not understand the necessity of, or reason for, the meanness that was exhibited.

Yes, in business, the goal is to get ahead of the competition and to reach or exceed your goals. However, believe it or not, how you get there is also vitally important.

Professionally, your most valuable asset is not your education or experience; it’s your reputation.

If your actions or in-actions lead to the presentation of a mean person or organization, your reputation within the business community will quickly begin to reflect that demeanor, whether or not it is actually true.

Clipart from Bing Images

As Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

Think about the businesses you work with, or the products/services you purchase. Do you spend your hard-earned money on businesses and people with good reputations, or those with bad reputations?

Have you ever stopped using a product, service, or business because they were involved in a negative incident? I know I have, and I know many others who do as well.

We've all heard, and probably said at one time, “Business is a dog eat dog world.” Yes, it certainly is.

In my "Who Am I?" blog, I referenced the “It’s not personal, it’s business” philosophy as exhibited in the movie, You've Got Mail. Yes, again, it’s business.

However, being kind to the person or people you are doing business with takes less effort than being mean. By being kind, I don’t mean ignore the business opportunity your competitor doesn't see or cannot take advantage of that is also right in front of your face.

It means simple things like promptly returning emails, phone calls or texts. It means letting people know that you received the information or request they sent to you, and providing an approximate timeline for a response.

It also means not embarrassing, demeaning or belittling your competitor or colleague in front of others – ever.  These behaviors are not only unprofessional; they are mean and uncalled for.

In the words of former First Lady Barbara Bush, “Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.”

Editor’s Note: This post also appears on LinkedIn.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected project management and administrative operations professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is a contributor on LinkedIn, the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

I Quit!

Your VP for Research and the Associate VP of Marketing have both resigned in the last 30 days to take positions with different competitors. 

Disappointing, yes; but nothing to worry about, right?

However, your HR Director just left your office after sharing startling statistics on employee retention, which suggests that very few stay with your company for more than 2 years, especially in the Research and Marketing departments.

What is going on, and why hasn’t this been brought to your attention before now? Or, has it and you just didn’t understand what was actually being conveyed?

Perhaps you should talk with your remaining leadership team members, and ask your HR Director to initiate an employee survey to ascertain employee satisfaction and solicit feedback for improvements. 

Based on the information already provided, it seems certain that an organizational strategic change initiative is in order. Maybe it’s the politics, or the culture, or the work process itself. Maybe it's a little bit of all of those, and more.

For example, a friend came to me recently for advice on how to deal with some issues she was facing at work. Since we have been friends for a very long time, she knew I had faced similar challenges, and wanted validation for the options she saw as viable for her particular situation.

It seems the politics in her organization have completely taken over good management practices. Until now, she has done her best not to participate in the games her colleagues seem to enjoy and clearly benefit from based on the promotions and frequent public “at-a-boys” they receive, while she and her efforts are overlooked. 

Regardless of her qualifications and superior work performance, her unwillingness to play the game has cost her two promotions and given rise to the perception that she is not a team player. 

As we see it, her options are: 1) start playing the politics game and build additional strategic relationships within the company so that she is seen as a team player and can start getting the recognition for her efforts, or 2) find a new position with a different company.

Now is not the 

time to be complacent

Based on the resignations noted at the top of this blog and like my friend’s situation, could politics and a culture that supports promotions based on the participation in cliques be the core issue in your organization?  

Before you shake your head and say, ‘of course not,’ make sure that the survey conducted by HR includes questions about culture, politics, upward mobility and team cohesion.

Better yet, contract an organizational development professional to provide an unbiased company evaluation, and then work with them to design a strategic change initiative to address the issues revealed.

While it may appear that the culture of promotion via politics is widely accepted, it really isn't. In fact, it is patently toxic to the success of your organization!

Now is not the time to be complacent, thinking that these resignations and the data from HR are just small bumps in the road. 

Now is the time to lead by example, to take action to ensure your organization becomes the one everyone wants to work for; not the one they use to get experience and then leave for better opportunities.

  

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

What Makes a Leader Great?

All of the great leaders I have ever met or admired from afar have, are, or exhibit the following on a daily basis:

• An open and effective communicator
• Honest
• Integrity
• The respect of others
• Effective management skills

While all of these are necessary for success, what is it about a leader that makes them not good – but great? In their book, The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes & Posner attribute great leadership not to great personality, but simply and ONLY to the behavior of the individual.

Thinking once again about the great leaders that I have come across, they have also exhibited the following behaviors:

1. Having and sharing their unbridled passion for the organization they serve. Having a passion for the work you do every day is vital, not only to the success of the organization, but to yours and that of your team as well. Who wants to give their best for something they could care less about?
2. Articulating a clear vision for success. In a recent post, Intuit’s President and CEO, Brad Smith noted that thinking out loud, and openly sharing your vision for success with the entire organization and seeking feedback opens the door to dissenting opinions, which in turn can lead to fresh, new ideas and innovation. This also encourages others to do their best, and to succeed.
3. Recognizing and celebrating the success of others. Rather than taking the credit themselves, great leaders openly acknowledge and celebrate the success of those who make things happen. There is no better example of what not to do than to compare the end of the NFL championship game interviews of the Bronco’s Payton Manning and the Seahawks’ Richard Sherman. One focused on the team effort, while the other made a spectacle of himself by touting his "greatness."
4. Finally, while there are others I could mention, I’ll conclude this post with my favorite behavior of great leaders: Words are ALWAYS followed by action to support them. After all, if you can’t walk the talk, who will follow?

The answer? No one.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

How Bridgegate Shines a Light on the Power of Organizational Culture

She lied; and now she’s out of a job.

When the contents of emails between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Assistant Chief of Staff and a highly-placed Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were exposed last week, heads quickly rolled.

Now Christie is embroiled in a scandal about political payback that threatens his supposed interest in running for President in 2016, and the success of any of the initiatives he plans to lay out on Tuesday for his second term as Governor.

Regardless of your political leanings, I’m sure that at least once in your life you have found yourself asking the very same question Christie has been asking for almost a week now: “How did this happen?”

There are several other related questions that are just as important to ask as well, such as:

• What is it about the culture of my organization allows people to believe that this behavior is acceptable?
• What changes can I make that clearly state and show that unethical behavior, disregard for others, political payback and dishonesty is unacceptable?
• Is it even possible to remove politics from any organization?

While I can’t answer the first two questions without a thorough analysis of his organization, the answer to the third is unfortunately a resounding NO.

Politics, like change, is a fact of life and business. Author Gareth Morgan notes that everyone has specific interests in their personal and professional lives, and works with/uses others to promote those issues and achieve their goals.

Perhaps the answer to the third question is in the first. In his remarks on the scandal last week Christie defended the culture of his administration multiple times, pointing out that he believes he has an open, collaborative culture where transparency, trust and honesty are cornerstones.

Perhaps; perhaps not.

As Christie pointed out, for the moment “BridgeGate” appears to be an anomaly. However, corporate culture starts at the top, and is fed to the rest of the organization through the actions (or inaction) of leadership.

For example, Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director for McKinsey & Company is fighting a similar battle for the culture and reputation of that well-respected consulting company. In his effort to rebuild the business community’s trust in the company, Barton sought and has obtained the support of its board and the rest of the leadership team. Without that support, his efforts are doomed.

In short, everyone plays politics in every phase of their life, and change is inevitable. However, without strong leadership, any changes in culture or organizational behavior achieved in the short-term will not survive in the long-term.

I wish both Christie and Barton luck in their efforts.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is also a published author on the topic of childfree living.