The Leader's Pocket Guide

John Baldoni

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780814432327
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Leadership

The Leader's Pocket Guide provides readers with on-the-job expertise to inspire and direct them on their professional journeys. Organized into three sections--self, colleagues, and organization--this useful guide spurs leaders to be ever growing in their careers, and includes lessons on major leadership concepts like why integrity should be your employees' most highly valued trait, how to lead in a way that empowers others to manage, and why you should identify, commit to, and live by six words. With 101 indispensable tips and tools to explore, you'll learn how to deliver inspiration, demonstrate character, develop confidence, communicate with authority, think critically, foster innovation, connect with others, resolve conflicts, add buzz to your leadership brand, coach for development, recognize achievement, instill company-wide purpose, and overcome adversity. Augmented by up-to-date research on the role of leaders and the expectations followers have for them, this pithy, powerful, and portable guide contains energizing action tips, clever formulas, self-assessments, and thoughtful places for deeper reflection to spur you toward becoming a top leader in your industry.

ORGANIZATION

“No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.”

—PETER DRUCKER

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO LEAD an organization? A commitment to service, specifically a willingness to put the organization first so that it succeeds.

In good times this is a straightforward proposition; it is less challenging to be in charge when the wind is at your back. In fact organizations in such times can be said to lead themselves.

But when the winds shift and times become tough it takes a leader who can provide the guidance that others need. Such leaders are purposeful and driven. They know the mission and are committed to fulfilling it.

Such leaders are ones who work through others, not over them. They bring people along giving them the resources they need to manage and succeed. Such leaders spend time coaching their people, directly when they work one-on-one with employees and indirectly when they create conditions for the entire organization to succeed.

What does it take to lead an organization? The commitment to making the positive difference for oneself, the team, and the organization.

Research Says…

According to 2011 Hay Group surveys of 4 million employees globally,

74% say:

“My immediate supervisor’s behavior is consistent with our company’s values.”

72% say:

“I have trust and confidence in my immediate supervisor.”

62% say:

“I have trust and confidence in this company’s senior management team.”

60% say:

“Day-to-day actions of management where I work are consistent with their words (e.g., they ‘walk the talk’).”

Employees around the world hold their leaders to high standards. And as this research indicates, behaviors of senior leaders do not match behaviors of employees’ own managers. Delivering the level of leadership that employees demand is a leader’s responsibility.

54.	How to Instill Purpose in Your People

PURPOSE IS THE FOUNDATION LEADERS use to create vision, execute the mission, and cultivate values that hold people accountable.

Purpose is what shapes the culture—its beliefs and organizational norms. That foundation is essential, because it opens the door for an organization to focus on what it needs to do to succeed.

Leaders instill purpose by communicating it through their behaviors When employees see their leaders doing for others—especially when it comes to the heavy lifting—any excuse they may have for not participating is negated.

Organizations need employees who are engaged; that is, they come to work with a sense of purpose that comes from knowing that what they do matters to others. When employees are engaged in their work, they enjoy what they do and are more productive.

Purpose is not something that should be allowed to sit on a shelf to be admired. Rather, it should be a catalyst for stimulating creativity, engagement, and strategy in ways that drive results.

55.	Make Your Leadership Relevant

PURPOSEFUL LEADERSHIP DEPENDS UPON RELEVANCY and connection. Leaders can consider three factors: context, circumstance, and consequence.

Leaders need to be flexible and apply a leadership style that fits the situation, as posited by author and organizational theorist Paul Hersey.¹ Here are some guidelines:

Context determines plan of action. Executives need to know the backstory, that is, what happened before they arrived on the scene. Sometimes it requires digging and asking lots of questions. For leaders of long tenure, knowing the context is second nature. They live it every day. Knowledge of the situation and its context sets the stage for what the leader does next.

Circumstance—the current situation—determines your degree of involvement. Crisis calls for bold actions. For example, if a new marketing program fails to generate sufficient awareness, the chief marketing officer should handle the situation. If multiple marketing initiatives fail, the CEO needs to find a solution quickly. He or she should take charge and find a new senior marketing executive.

Consequence is what happens when a leader acts. With apologies to Sir Isaac Newton, not every leadership action has an equal and opposite reaction. Very often a CEO decision is designed to turn the enterprise around or keep it on course; a frontline manager’s decisions are the equivalent of trimming the sails. A CEO who makes too many decisions not only creates lots of activity, specifically churn, he also undermines the authority of other senior leaders.²

Considering context, circumstance, and consequence is a good way for a leader to determine how involved to be and what style to employ.

Think About…

The ways purpose provides focus, direction, and goals to employees and teams.

Have you ever been a member of a purpose-driven team? How did it feel? Can such an experience be replicated? If so, how?

What one thing can you do personally to instill purpose in others?

How can you use your next off-site to think about ways you can engage the power of purpose to help your organization focus on achieving intended results?

56.	Connect Authentically

THE ONE-TO-ONE AUTHENTIC CONNECTION is essential to creating genuine followership, and it behooves leaders at every level to cultivate it one colleague at a time.

Be the first to break the ice. Too often I have seen CEOs stride through a row of cubicles or a shop floor without looking from side to side, and if they make eye contact with some employee, they stare back without a hint of a smile. That sends a strong signal to an employee that “you don’t matter.” Rather, find ways to converse. Get ready to speak up.

Keep it light. The conversation opens with a light note, something about the weather or the work they do. Smile as you speak. Once you have built a sense of rapport, you can continue the c...