Leadership Post : Management and Intergenerational Leadership Coaching, Employee Engagement, and Performance Management Training

“There are going to be times when we can’t wait for somebody. Now, you’re either on the bus or off the bus.” – from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

The morning the news broke about the “rift” between General McChrystal and President Obama, my husband asked me what I would advise the President if I were his coach.

At first I thought this is the President of the United States we’re talking about and not just any leader in a Fortune 500 company.

Then I realized that there is very little difference between the advice I’d give the President or anyone else.

So, here’s my advice to both leaders and followers and, especially to you President Obama, should you read my post. Hey, you never know!

Differing Views

A leader should always listen, acknowledge and carefully weigh what everyone on the team has to say and then make a decision that he or she feels is the best decision based on the information he or she has received.

This process should never be rushed as often happens when leaders feel pressure to respond quickly. Leaders need to make and take time to reflect and stand firm about this.

 On The Same Page

In order for any initiative to succeed – whether it is a war or to do an acquisition - everyone involved has to be on the same page.

They must not only share the same vision, they must be committed fully to its execution – and I mean fully committed. From my perspective it was clear that was not the case between the President and General McChrystal.

 Be Transparent

Once the decision has been made, thank everyone involved for giving input and make it crystal clear (no pun intended) as to why you believe your decision is the best way to go.

Speak individually to those who disagreed. This will make them feel that their input was heard, considered and acknowledged. It’s also an opportunity for you to assess who is really with you or just giving “lip service.” Did President Obama miss the signals?

Don’t Say It Unless You Mean It

If you don’t agree with the decision and know in your heart that you cannot support the decision then you must say so.

As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, “are you on the bus or off the bus?” If you’re not, then you must leave.

Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry In Public

Followers should never, ever say they support a decision and then do everything they can to undermine the leader and the decision, as was the case with McChrystal.

The most egregious thing the General did was to air his disapproval of the President’s agenda to his troops as well as not stopping them from sharing this information in public and in his presence.

Who Has The Final Word?

In the end, the leader is the leader and he or she makes the final decision whether you like it or not. You don’t have to agree with it, you just have to support it.

It was apparent that General McChrystal had to go and I was not at all surprised when he resigned. He should have done it sooner.

If you are reading this President Obama and you like what I’ve written and want a coach, let me know.

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I recently met with a colleague, Laura Mindek, who attended the National Human Resources Planning Society conference in California. Laura is past president of the New York affiliate and she and I both served on its board for a number of years.

I asked her what was her key take away from the conference and what are the challenges facing Chief Human Resource Officers (CHRO). She spoke about two:

1. CHRO’s Need to Focus On The Global Big Picture

The U.S. is competing with everyone from everywhere for everything – specifically, against smart and hungry countries like China and India who are no longer doing just the repetitive administrative work that we outsource.

2. Companies That Survive Will Reinvent Themselves

Companies that reinvent themselves will be the ones that are successful.
Strategy will still be important, but reinvention will come at an operations level, particularly from middle managers collaborating on breakthrough ideas.

So what are CHRO’s to do to help their organizations meet these challenges?

How To Compete Globally

The prediction is that by 2020 China and India along with Russia and Brazil will be the dominant centers of economic influence.

CHRO’s need to help senior management wake up and get their heads out of the sand. They need to educate their leaders and create a sense of urgency so they can start preparing to be competitive before it’s too late.

Today, companies need leaders:

• Who know how to adapt quickly to meet the demands of the global marketplace and have a “speed to market” mindset, and
• More importantly, see the bigger picture.

Just like people, companies tend to be either Introverted (focus inward) or extroverted (focus on the external world). From my perspective, most U.S. companies are way too introverted.

Ron Heifetz, senior lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and author of Leadership Without Easy Answers, captured it well when he said that leaders tend to get “swept up on the dance floor.” On the dance floor you usually only see your partner or those people dancing closest to you. In order to get a broader view – global - one needs to “get on the balcony” where they can see the entire dance floor. Leaders must also be able to move back and forth between the dance floor and the balcony in order to adapt.

So, wake up America and get on the balcony before it’s too late. Are your leaders “on the dance floor or, “on the balcony?”

How to Survive and Reinvent Yourself

Innovation most often comes from those on the front lines who are closest to the work and the customers. Until recently it was difficult for information to make its way around an organization to reach the masses.

The advent of Web 2.0 and social media tools such as blogs, wikis and internal social networks have helped companies capture and share knowledge and create common communities where all employees can access and share information easily.

The best companies are already preparing for the future by using social media and social networking to collaborate and accelerate innovation.

Companies such as P&G, Lego and Boeing allow employees to share information and knowledge for the purposes of R&D, the implementation of more innovative products and services, more effective marketing and working smarter.

McKinsey conducted a global survey of 1700 executives who reported using social media in a variety of ways:

• 41% use social media internally
• 34% use it to connect with customers
• 25% use it to work with external partners and suppliers

For more information about how companies such as Deloitte, Cisco, JetBlue and Nokia are using social media, I highly recommend that you read Jeanne Meister and Kelly Willyerd’s new book, The 2020 Workplace. It’s chuck full if ideas on how you can tap into the collective wisdom and knowledge of your employees to help you innovate.

Is your company taking advantage of all Web 2.0 has to offer?

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