How to Be Extraordinary as a Leader

I owe any success I’ve had in business leadership and management to a few amazing people I worked for over the years.  These pillars modeled-the-way for me and saw enough in my abilities to spend time providing close-in coaching and helping me see for myself what they saw in me.  My relationships with these leaders helped forge my core beliefs related to being a great leader; for that I will be eternally grateful.  Here are those beliefs that make up my core value-set on how to be extraordinary in business.

Belief #1.   Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average leaders see business as a conflict between companies, departments and work groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered.

Extraordinary leaders see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

Belief #2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average leaders consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship."

Extraordinary leaders see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

Belief #3. Management is service, not control.

Average leaders want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality.

Extraordinary leaders set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

Belief #4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average leaders see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary leaders treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

Belief #5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average leaders see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people.  As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary leaders inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it.  As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

Belief #6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average leaders see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late.

Extraordinary leaders see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

Belief #7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average leaders adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary leaders see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

Belief #8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average leaders buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary leaders see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

5 Practices and 10 Commitments for Leadership

In The Leadership Challenge, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner write about the five practices and ten commitments for effective leadership. Their work has stood the test of time. While the context has changed over the years, the content of leadership hasn’t.

 Key Take Aways

Here are my variation of the themes and key take aways:

§  Lead by example. Set an example for others to follow. Practice what you preach. You reap what you sow. What you do comes back to you. Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Take a stand. Stand for something. Find your unique voice.

§  Create an inclusive picture. In Steven Covey terms, these would be avoiding the "scarcity mentality". Have an abundance mentality. At work I see turf wars when there’s a scarcity mentality. The solution is to frame out a bigger space where everybody gets to play.

§  Practice continuous improvement. The Japanese term is Kaizen. Focus on small, incremental improvements. Build momentum from small wins. Start with something small. Success snowballs.

§  Lift others up. In Covey terms, this would be help others find their unique voice. Find the good in others. Leverage the unique values that others bring to the table.

§  Live with passion. Link passion with results. Celebrate the small wins. No good deed goes unrewarded. What goes around, comes around. Stop and smell the roses.

 Leadership in Action

Kousez and Posner write:

"The Leadership Challenge is about how leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations. It’s about the practices leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards. It’s about leadership that creates the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable success."

 The Five Practices of Leadership

Kousez and Posner identify the five practices:

1.     Model the Way

2.     Inspire a Shared Vision

3.     Challenge the Process

4.     Enable Others to Act

5.     Encourage the Heart

The Ten Commitments of Leadership

Kousez and Posner identify the 10 commitments:

1.     Find your voice by clarifying you personal values.

2.     Set the example by aligning actions with shared values.

3.     Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling activities.

4.     Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

5.     Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow and improve.

6.     Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.

7.     Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.

8.     Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.

9.     Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence.

10.   Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

 Practices and Commitments

Here are the commitments mapped to the practices:

Model the Way

1. Find your voice by clarifying you personal values. 
2. Set the example by aligning actions with shared values

Inspire a Shared Vision

3. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling activities. 
4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

Challenge the Process

5. Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow and improve. 
6. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.

Enable Others to Act 

7. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. 
8. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.

Encourage the Heart

9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. 

10. Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

Get the Book

You can get The Leadership Challenge on Amazon:

Workflow Facilitated Collaboration: Cost, Competitiveness and Continuity

Collaboration means working together in a joint intellectual effort. More than 60 percent of the workforce believes colleagues can help them do their jobs better. Collectively, this means extending the potential of the enterprise. Companies have spent trillions on information management systems but that investment would mean little if it does not enable teams to collaborate, work smarter, connect to more resources, improve productivity, reduce time and travel, improve efficiency, and save money.


The primary parts of modern business collaboration reveal something about its power in transforming the enterprise. Let’s look at the four pillars of successful collaboration:

• Messaging — Enables teams and individuals to communicate and manage their interactions in an auditable manner. This is important for compliance and replicating success. In effect, it is establishing a proven template.
• Real time — Speed is crucial in collaboration because information and processes must be timely.
• Team — The group effort demands strong ties to the unit because only through teamwork will collaboration help people work smarter and drive business benefits by deepening valuable relationships, making better decisions faster, spurring innovation, and reducing costs.
• Social Networking — Represents the newest pillar in collaboration, where individuals share knowledge not only within the team, but the company itself.

As teams embark on collaborative efforts, there is a perpetual lifecycle of collaboration. This lifecycle also reveals the importance of workflow. There is a series of steps in collaboration, facilitated with workflow:

• Awareness — becoming part of a working entity with a shared purpose
• Motivation — driving to gain consensus in problem solving or development
• Self-synchronization — deciding as individuals when things need to happen
• Participation — participating in collaboration and we expect others to participate
• Mediation — negotiating and collaborating together to find a middle point
• Reciprocity — sharing and expecting sharing in return through reciprocity
• Reflection —thinking and considering alternatives
• Engagement — proactively engaging rather than wait and see.

The organization benefits throughout the collaboration lifecycle because it is financially healthy decision-making. The benefits of collaboration include improving the bottom line by addressing cost, competitiveness, and continuity.

First, collaboration cuts costs by reducing personnel, travel, and infrastructure costs by up to 80 percent. That is funding that in turn can be used to help grow the business. Bringing the right people together to create, share, discuss, and manage information and facilitate innovation means more productivity for less cost.


Second, collaboration makes an organization more competitive by increasing efficiencies, planning, and responsiveness. Personnel are empowered to be creative and participate in solving issues so business moves faster. And, controlled agility is built into collaboration with workflow. Fewer people need to be involved in the delivery or routing of documents, thus reducing the likelihood of lost or improperly routed information while insuring that the documents get to the right people as quickly and directly as possible. In addition, workflow-enabled collaboration reveals missed or overlooked variables that could lend greater value to the enterprise.

Third, collaboration is good for business continuity because it fosters improvement and enlivens operations. The carbon footprint is reduced. Audit trails are more easily followed. The company, through workflow and collaboration, builds an adaptive culture and agile enterprise that can duck and weave in the worst of economic times. Organizational know-how is captured for the future while establishing proven, bottom-line-driven processes that can be repeatable and teachable, perpetuating company capabilities. In addition, collaboration helps address compliance, eDiscovery, and Disaster Recovery.

So You Want to Be an IT Star

Success is not easy or simple. Even in the best of times, workplaces are fraught with changing conditions, political jockeying and limited room for advancement. And these are not the best times. Yet some IT staff manage to get noticed—and in all the right ways. What are the secrets of their success? How do some IT leaders manage to shine? Beyond the basics—energy, enthusiasm, passion for the work—four important behaviors can help catapult you to success.

Be good to your end users. First things first: If you want to get ahead, don't make people feel stupid. This advice can be especially important for IT folks, whose technical expertise can create a danger of doing just that.

People outside of IT won't necessarily understand tech speak, so you need to present information in a manner so they understand technology and what it provides to the company. You need to be able to translate technical information to them in the manner they can understand and assimilate and in a way that shows the benefits to the big picture.

Understanding how technology fits into users' lives is key to creating innovative IT solutions. Thinking hard about how to help someone else understand what you're saying may seem obvious for important presentations; doing it day in and day out may prove more challenging. But don't dismiss those small, cumulative interactions. In those daily interactions lie many opportunities for you to distinguish yourself by your energy, enthusiasm, and likability. This way, when a more senior job opens up, the support to put you in the position is there—not just from your boss, but also from other senior leaders. To make sure your likability quotient is high, focus on being open-minded. Make it a point to really listen to what someone is saying and process what you're hearing. Doing so conveys respect, and you also are likely to develop solutions you wouldn't have otherwise. End-user problems—large and small—are opportunities to build relationships that can advance your career. It's all in how you handle those situations that makes the difference. Don't make an end user feel dumb for not understanding; make them feel good about coming to you and asking what the problem is.

Go beyond the walls of IT and learn the business. IT leaders who want to move up must become business-savvy. Not just so you can talk the talk. Without understanding business users' work lives, it's impossible to deliver optimum technology solutions. I credit much of my own success with understanding how IT fits into my end users' work processes. It is a basic business truth that IT staff who want to climb the ladder must also become intricately involved in other areas of the business. It’s critical to educate your end-users on technology. My philosophy on the subject to my staff is clear: get involved with business users; go door to door and meet with them and their teams. I want my team to "give the customer some tool they may not even have thought of, that they can look at it and say, Wow, I'm glad we came to you." That's only possible if you understand how other groups are run and the challenges they face. Developing such a rapport also helps discourage the tendency of business users to create a shadow IT department. Key point: if you don't solve their problems with good solutions, they will go around you!

Understand the organization's structure and goals. If you want to move up the ladder of success, you need to create strategic IT. To do that, you need to know what top management values. Every company has a culture and those cultures reward different things. Key to moving ahead is knowing what to prioritize. This means, for example, knowing which projects to volunteer for and how to promote them to those above you. Knowing what the business defines as valuable is increasingly important the higher up you go so you've got to understand goals, and how IT can be used to achieve those goals I recommend not just looking for ways IT can create value but also being responsive when opportunities present themselves. One place where this comes into play is the IT budget. Managing IT like a P&L is key to moving up in the organization. IT should be adding value and helping differentiate the business. However, that's not possible if an IT leader's goal is simply saving money. Build into that budget what you need to do to create value.

Build Trust with your boss Trust is the glue that binds relationships together inside and outside of work. Without it, moving up is virtually impossible. And honest communication is a huge part of building trust with your manager. Share the good news—and the bad. Avoid the temptation to sweep bad news about a project or assignment under the rug. You may think you're sparing your boss but my experience has been that it's better to overshare than to undershare. The trick lies in knowing when and where to share information. Sit down and talk to your manager about how to communicate when problems come up. Most leaders don't like when information feels filtered, like something is being hidden but want to know what's going on. The last thing anybody wants is to be broadsided. Information sharing, when it comes right down to it, translates to respect. I think that it's very important to use chain of command in place and not circumvent your manager. It's his or her job to make you look better to the organization. And if you don't have that kind of trust you should look for someone you could have that with.

How to Ace an Executive-Level Job Interview

You've been contacted by an executive recruiter about an opportunity to interview for a position at a successful company. The job the executive recruiter describes sounds perfect for you. You want the position so badly, you dream about it at night. To make your dream a reality, you need to ace the interview.

That's easier said than done. Job interviews are one of those occasions when you just have to be perfect. You need to spin a good story out of your work experience, but your story can't be too detailed or carry on too long. You need to appear relaxed, but you can't come off as too relaxed. You need to practice your responses to typical interview questions, but in the interview, your responses can't seem rehearsed. It's like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Everything has to be just right. And it's tricky.

Obviously, you've got to learn as much about the company and the people interviewing you as you can. The more you know about the hiring manager, the more comfortable you'll be talking with him or her. Similarly, the more you know about the company, the easier it will be for you to present yourself as the answer to the company's prayers.

This story walks you through the interview process, from preparation to follow-up. You'll get tips on how to make a strong first impression and answer interview questions, and you'll learn the verbal and nonverbal communications you should employ—and avoid—so that you can ace the interview.

Prepare
Interviews are designed to assess whether you, the candidate, can do the job at hand, whether you'll spring into action once on the job, and whether you fit with the company's culture and management team. To prepare for your interview, you should anticipate what questions you may be asked and craft quality responses to them. You should be prepared to answer the following questions:


What are your strengths? You should highlight the strengths the company needs to address its current challenges.

How would you describe your management style? You could say something like, "I used to prefer a top-down management style, but I've found that when I involve people in a decision it's easier to get their commitment and almost always results in a better outcome."

Why should we hire you? Again, explain how your strengths align with the company's needs.

How much money are you looking for? Be careful of this trap. If you ask for too much, you knock yourself out of consideration. If you ask for too little, you sell yourself short. A good tip is to quote third-party research and answer with a range. An even better approach is to ask the interviewer about the company's compensation philosophy (e.g., What are the components and how are they adjusted?)

You're certain to be asked about failed projects, so don't get caught off guard when the hiring manager tosses that one your way. Be honest without being defensive and beware of giving phony-sounding answers, such as "It really wasn't my fault," or "I warned them it wouldn't work."

When telling your interviewer about projects that went off track, be sure to describe the smart corrective action you took, the end result and the lessons you learned. For example, you might describe how you proactively involved others: "As soon as I saw that we weren't going to meet the customer's deadline, I immediately called a meeting with everyone on the project. We were able to renegotiate with the customer and minimize our losses. Ultimately the customer respected our honesty and was able to work with us on a solution." (For more advice on how to answer questions about failed projects, read Interview Questions to Avoid.)

Your interviewer will also ask you about your biggest flaw. Mention only one and describe the steps you've taken to correct it. For example, "I'm not good at speaking in front of groups, but I enrolled myself in an executive presentations program and have gotten much better."

Beware of mentioning flaws without realizing it. For example, if you say that you seek to avoid conflict at all costs, your interviewer might think you can't deal with conflict or that you have a "head in the sand" management style. Similarly, if the interviewer asks you if you've implemented a specific software package and if you haven't, don't say, "I haven't done it, but I can learn." That's the wrong answer.

For any question, a factual response isn't enough. You have to engage the interviewer with stories that make the facts compelling. When you're interviewing for executive-level positions, the hiring manager is looking for someone who communicates well, who's not going to be an embarrassment at a board meeting, and who can lead and inspire his or her staff. Rather than describe the functions for which you were responsible, describe incidents that illustrate how you handled problems and opportunities—and the bottom-line results. Create scenes, characters and action, but stick to the OAR model to avoid too much detail and digression:


O: What was the Opportunity or challenge you faced?
A: What Action did you take?
R: What were the Results?

Practice your responses with the aid of video, audio, a mirror or a trusted friend who'll give you honest feedback about how confident and knowledgeable you sound and look. You have to come across as spontaneous rather than rehearsed. Pat answers such as "I am a participative manager" or "I am a workaholic, working day and night until a project is done" can make you sound like an automaton. Don't go over the line that separates a polished answer from a slick one. In other words, don't try to sound like a superhero by beginning every sentence with "I", "Me" and "My" or by overstating your role.

Memorize key facts and dates—both about the company with which you're interviewing and your work history—so that you don't have to dive into your briefcase for the information.

Finally, don't think of yourself as an applicant for the job for which you're interviewing. You're a unique solution to the company's business problems. Thinking of yourself as a solution will give you confidence in your ability to help the company meet its strategic goals, and your confidence will resonate with the hiring manager during the interview. Thinking of yourself as a solution will also help you define your role in the new company, negotiate the compensation package you deserve and gain acceptance as a peer when you start working with the management team.

The Big Day
The day of the interview, arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of time. While you wait, think of yourself as the solution the company needs and assure yourself that the interview is going to go well. You should also use your time to observe employees coming and going: Do they look happy to be there?

When you're brought into the office or conference room where the interviewer is waiting for you, walk in with a smile on your face, your head up and your shoulders back. Shake the interviewer's hand firmly. Repeat his or her name with a smile when you're introduced. Repeat the interviewer's name at appropriate opportunities throughout the conversation. Everyone responds to hearing hisown name. It makes the interviewer listen more intently.

Don't sit until you're asked. Given a choice of seats, avoid the sofa. You'll sink into it like quicksand. Choose a hardback chair. Sit upright with your hands on your knees. Don't cross your legs or your arms. Crossed limbs unconsciously signal defensiveness.

While the interviewer speaks, show you're listening carefully by nodding your head and thoughtfully rephrasing her sentences. Make certain you understand the questions she's asking. Don't assume they're the ones for which you rehearsed answers. Try to divine what's behind each question. For example, the interviewer may ask if you've handled an SAP conversion, but really she wants to know how smoothly the conversion went, if was on time and within budget.

If you're unsure how to answer a question, take time to reflect on it or ask a clarifying question to give yourself more time to form an answer.

As you interact with the interviewer, stay lively. Gesture often and naturally. Smile at the least provocation. Smiling helps you feel you're doing well. Look the interviewer in the eye. If you're being interviewed by a group, maintain eye contact with everyone, one at a time, changing with each point you make rather than scanning the audience.

The interview is going to go well and you're going to feel increasingly relaxed. But take care not to become too relaxed, which can lead you to make a careless comment or acting too familiar. You should remain deferential throughout the interview. Don't say anything negative about your present employer, even if invited. Discuss compensation only if asked.

By the end of the interview, you'll probably be asked if you have questions. Whether you're invited to ask questions or not, always ask a few:


What are you looking for in candidates for this position?

How would I be measured?

What challenges would I have to tackle first?>/li>

Don't ask for any information about the company that can be found with a simple Internet search.

When the interview winds down, ask if the interviewer got the information he wanted. Offer to provide more information, especially if the interviewer hasn't asked you about something in your background that you believe is important to the position. Don't offer references until you're asked for them.

The end of the interview may be your last chance to make it clear you want the job. To do so without sounding desperate, make a positive statement of interest, such as, "I am vitally interested in this opportunity. Are there any concerns you have about my candidacy for the position?" Also ask about next steps. The first impression you make is the most important one of the meeting. The impression you leave at the end of the interview ranks second.

The Follow-Up
Take notes about the meeting as soon as it's over. Note areas where you feel you didn't answer adequately so that you can reinforce the subject matter in your follow-up correspondence. You'll also want to remember who said what as you plan the follow-up process.

Send a letter thanking the interviewer for seeing you, expressing once more why you're a good fit for the job and offering to provide any additional information the hiring manager may need.

Keep following up, methodically but without being a nuisance. The job often goes to the person who wants it most.