Responsibility is a reflection of freedom, not control.
Any obliging of oneself is responsible to the extent that it is an act of freedom. If coerced, forced or manipulated, the responsibility shifts to the controlling party.
Leaders mistakenly believe that they can delegate responsibility without granting the freedom to choose. “Do this and do it in this way.”
Some even wonder why their assignment is not greeted with more enthusiasm and appreciation. Bewildered by the ingratitude and (more…)
“You will hear no excuses from me!” is our watch word here at Bold Enterprises. My coaching clients know with what passion I insist that the key to changing your leadership results lies in changing yourself.
Every once in a while, we catch ourselves sabotaging our own efforts: not following through, side-stepping difficult issues, under-selling ourselves, and so the list goes on.
Unwilling to blame others or make excuses, we need tools to help us examine what we are doing that is not serving us well.
Check out this post over at Slow Leadership, On Besetting Sins and Accepting Fake Success. An insightful analysis of “missing the target” as a leader. Whether dealing with a single misstep to correct or a developing character flaw that is undermining your effectiveness, make the series of questions at the end of the post your own.
You can change the world if you are willing to begin with yourself.
On your side,
– Karl
When finding one’s way through the forest, it can help to get to higher ground for a vantage point from which to get some perspective.
The final segment of our podcast series on strategic planning has to do with perspective. Perspective and multiple perspectives at that.
The more angles from which you can view a plan, project or issue, the more options you give yourself. Stepping back for the big picture. Zooming in on the particulars. Walking alongside an emerging and unfolding scenario.
Listen in.
What are three ways employees under 35 are motivated differently than those older? How does (or does not) your workplace deal with these differences?
Leaders often assert that they are “big picture” people and can’t be bothered with details.
But perspective does not work that way.
Beside the fact that any time a leader says he or she can’t be bothered with something, it is a significant clue that they are out of their element and making an excuse.
We are learning that there are more perspectives than merely the traditional forest versus the trees, or whether I’m standing in my shoes or yours.
What about the perspective of an unfolding future? Whether standing still or in motion ourselves, life, relationships, technology, laws, personal health, our competitors, the economy are all changing around us. As the future unfolds, how and where do our choices fit in and become part of what takes form?
How, as a leader, do you pay attention to an unfolding future and consider its implications to your business?
What about the perspective of human development and maturity? However sound our organizational charts and however well-defined our job descriptions, the individuals who embody those lists are continually developing, learning and expanding their capacities.
How, as a leader, do these individual developmental trajectories inform your planning, business development, and/or strategic thinking?
What other perspectives should we be considering?
What distracts and overwhelms me when I try to focus are all the voices.
The projects that shout for attention. The connections that whine about their perceived neglect. The calls still unanswered, the thank-you notes yet to be written, and the mail lying unopened, all cry out for my time and energy.
And while all that is urgent make their incessant demands, the dreams quietly begin to fade before I have a chance to capture the essence of their initial power and vitality.
Hence the attraction of being freed to focus on the present. But focus can’t happen in a vacuum. There are too many voices with too many persuasive arguments clamoring like email spam or celebrity paparazzi. I need the perspective of the past and the future to inform the present. To help me sort through the voices. To find my own voice in the tumult and then to speak up and declare what I choose for today.
Catch up on the entire Strategic Planning series here.
Yesterday and tomorrow help us choose a better today.
In this week’s podcast conversation, Claudia and I discuss how we have freed ourselves to focus on the present. Reflectively learning from the past and actively designing the future frees me up to laser focus on the present.
Instead of being buffeted from all sides by the demands of the moment, my perspective provides criteria for making choices. Criteria enable us to rank priorities. Priorities enable us to schedule tasks.
Become a more strategic planner today. Listen in.
How would it affect your schedule if your busyness were actually a symptom of being overwhelmed?
In the best spirit of No Excuses Leadershipâ„¢, I’m delighted to find Lisa Haneberg over at Management Craft suggesting that leaders might recognize for themselves when it’s time to move on.
My favorite Question of the Week for leaders to ask themselves is: “How might you be a part of the problem that won’t go away?” I like it so much because it points to the heart of leadership effectiveness, which is self-awareness. Knowing how you show up at work and the impact your presence, actions and words have on others.
“Be WITH the team, or change teams,” Lisa exhorts. So many of us make the mistake of making our own vantage point our sole frame of reference for evaluating the big picture. But a vantage point is just that… one point among many. Is it because we have more power that we get to let ourselves off the hook and blame the team for missed goals, petty in-fighting, or poor customer service?
I think not. The leader is always ultimately responsible for what happens on the ground. No excuses.
If we haven’t talked recently about the challenges you are currently facing, let’s do so. Give a call or shoot me an email. Your contribution is too important to ignore.
On your side,
– Karl
I don’t even want to look at my work today.
A good sign that I need some space. Fortunately, it’s Saturday and with the kids off from school, I won’t be able to pick up my work if I wanted to.
There are other times, though, when I’m so full of new ideas and unfinished projects and return calls to make that I can barely see straight. It’s when I feel like there are no options that I have learned there is one option I must be sure to act on.
Get some space.
A long walk along the beach will usually do it. The salty breeze, the endless horizon, the simple colors of blue water, white foam and brown sand. The space creates room inside me for the dreams and responsibilities, feelings and tasks, relationships and deadlines to move around and reorder themselves.
Not a conscious exercise but a hidden phenomenon taking place in the background while I am otherwise occupied ducking an errant frisbee or digging for sand crabs or counting sailboats.
I then go back to work. And am ready to do so, because I go with refocused eyes and a refreshed heart.
What do you do to get some space?