leadership – SOLUM SERVICES

Risk It!

Winners take risks. They are unafraid of loss. The balance of gains over losses motivates.

Psalm 20:6: Now I know that the LORD saves (brings out of trouble, restores, and strengthens) His anointed; He will hear him (and respond to his rallying call for help) from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand (the hand of power and ability, the hand at which Jesus represents His). 7: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses (some trust in their riches and alliances and abilities and mental acuity): but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. 8: They (our enemies and all those who trust in their own strength) are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

Winners are not afraid of losing.

They are willing to take risks necessary to succeed in life.

Life means risk. Life means taking chances that cause loss. Loss of friends, loss of co-workers, loss of status, loss of power, loss of control, loss of understanding of those important to you, loss of money.. all these are losses a winner decides at times must be risked. “No pain, no gain. Know gain, know pain.”, some would say. Life means risk. Risk means loss. Risk also means winning.

Edison risked until he found the right element for light bulbs. Once on a comment that it took fifty thousand tries before he got results, he explained, “Results? Why I have gotten a lot of results. I know fifty thousand things that won’t work.”

Ray Kroc became an outstanding business leader. Yet, for years he failed at every business attempt. It was so bad his wife was ready to leave him on his last venture. Seems he sold out everything to buy a few hamburger joints owned by some brothers named McDonald. You guessed it. That was the start of the McDonald’s chain of restaurants that made the Krocs multi-millionaires. Winners keep trying. (By the way, his wife stuck it out.)

Those secure in Jesus are unafraid of risk because they know He will back them up. They know they can make a mistake and be put back on track.

Psalm 37:23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way. 24: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 25: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26: He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed.

Take Inventory

Pensive?

Trying to make a decision?

What is it?

Write it down. Write down the good and bad about it. Pray about it. Listen to God. Commit it to Him. Decide. Don’t let fear hold you down.

Make Application

Write what you are going to specifically do in the next 30 days about this.

Pray To Be Bold

Father, encourage me. Strengthen me to take that step of faith in Your leading. I am weak, Father. I fail. I am made of grass and wither in the noon sun, but You cause a shadow to cover me. Let the cool breathe of Your Spirit blow over me and freshen my day. Though I fall, I will get up and go again. You will cause me to succeed.

3V Decision Criteria

Posit this! Every action you take, every thought you make should be measured against the 3V criteria. Validity, vitality, and veracity need to mark your reputation and the reputation of your organization or business. Consistent failure on any of these over your history will eventually mean failure of your endeavors. You may make money, fulfill the purpose of your non-profit, and have fun without them. You are not successful. You will fail or your successors will fail.

As a leader, ingrain these in your psyche. Your personal reputation and continuance depend on them. When others doubt you (and they will), your ability to face the mirror in the morning and be true to yourself is what will move you forward in life. When you revel in victory, the congruence of these in the actions and intents that took you to the mountain will sweeten the taste. When you struggle with results, the confluence of these bolsters confidence better days await.

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. William Shakespeare

Validity

A valid thought or action is in the right time for the right reason. Every venture has a sequence and a rhythm. Today may not be the right moment to launch a new product line. It might be a good product, but the operation is not ready to support and the customers have not been informed.

An invalid is someone struggling with a disabled portion of the balance. An invalid action is the same. It struggles in some measure due to imbalance. Something is wrong with the preparation or timing or maybe the idea itself.

Be valid in your actions and thoughts. Match the time and reason.

Leaders struggle with this concept. Our vision for direction and purpose can overwhelm our ability to move with right time and reason. Continual steps out of time will cause others to doubt your leadership. Do all you can to ensure this is the right time and reason in relation to the people, progress, priorities, processes, projects, tools and technologies, and products and services. (Five Ps).

Progress and priority are factors to assess when testing for validity. Are other factors aligned to make this work? Has sufficient progress been made in all areas relative to support? Is this a priority that will happen? Is there commitment?

Be valid as a leader.

Vitality

A vital thought or action is full of energy and passion and purpose. It fulfills the destiny and design of the organization or operation. It takes energy. (Energizers)

Leaders need energy in constant measure. How painful is it to watch a leader with a great opportunity to implement a valid solution and yet they do not have the force of life to execute? It happens. We let our passion and purpose become diluted by invalid action and distress. Don’t. Stay on track. Keep your energy up.

Vitality is easier when you are working with purpose and design. It is tough to support an initiative that does not fit the purpose of an organization. You’ve been involved in those. They stifle creativity and stymie progress. Some board member wants to please a friend and asks you to run in circles to help them out while critical issues lack attention. It sucks away vitality.

Veracity

A veracious thought or action is marked by integrity, ethicality, and honesty. It is true to all involved. There is no hint of injustice, unfairness, or dishonesty. Now this is a tough one to hit in today’s business and community environments. It is worth all the effort you can give it.

Disconnect on this item is huge. Hypocrisy is evident when your corporate intent is simply words on a page for marketing and recruiting.

Be the same leader at home, at work, and in the community. Do what you do in the best interest of the other person. “You can have anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar. ““Treat men exactly as you would like them to treat you.” Jesus of Nazareth

Be direct with communication. Be transparent. You don’t have the latitude to dispense everything you know to everyone you know. That is a matter of right discretion. You do have the requirement to be authentic and considerate.

Summary: Every leader will be judged by results. Results will be consistently productive when you tend to validity, vitality, and veracity.

Manage Well: Eclectic Tips on Excellence by Philip Larson

Link: http://amzn.com/B00JG0M1BG

Energizers

Where do you get your energy? Consider that question. Consider the alternatives. Are you being robbed of energy by concerns and consternations at work and home? How do you replenish energy depleted by stress? High performance requires high energy.

Multiple times today, I’ve been asked by managers where I get my energy and how I keep my energy and have I always had energy. While speaking at the Association of College and University Printers, the question kept being asked. These are some great people. So, I committed to answer.

Energy comes from fulfillment of purpose. Give yourself to your heart passion. If your schedule at work and home is blocking pursuit of passion and purpose, energy will drain and not come back. Take 30 minutes a day to work on your passion. Give yourself the energy you need. If you can find a way to live your passion, that is going to give you the highest amount of energy.

Energy comes from right balance of work and play. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a lagging lady. Get out and play. Make time to do what you love to do. Read, relax, soak in the sun, fish, golf, chess, or whatever is enjoyable. Do it. Schedule it.

Energy comes from helping others achieve their goals. All of us like to grow. Most managers love to see their staff grow. It is what we do. It is an internal driver for a good executive and manager. Block off a few minutes this week to help a staff member conquer a project or gain some training.

Energy comes from right people environment. Do you have acidic people surrounding you? Cut off the pain. Some acidic workers cannot be cut off. They might be your boss. Limit your time with energy draining whiners and complainers and over controlling types. Love yourself.

Energy comes from rest. Get it. Get all you need. It will enhance productivity in all the other hours.

Energy comes from exertion. Yes, you need to get good exercise. Work out when needed and let energy flow in the hard moments.

Energy comes from pace. Your job and life have a biorhythm and a pace. Find it. Manage it. Respect it. When it overflows, step back and get it back on track.

Energy comes from storage. Store it up. Don’t spend yourself out every day. Save some for tomorrow.

Energy comes from release. Release your thoughts. Forgive and forget the problematic situations and people of the day and start tomorrow new.

Energy comes from spiritual connection. Take care of your heart along with your mind and body and relationships.

Every executive and manager needs to manage their energy. Your staff and your customers and your family and friends depend on you to have great stores of energy at right moments.

Where do I get my energy? I love my life, my friends, my family, the business of consulting, the businesses I serve, operations and communication business, and many activities in which I chose to participate. That is the answer, chose to participate. Choose energy over worry. Go ahead, own the future, it belongs to you.

Common Grounds: Solving Workflow with Leadership

Quality is best managed by leadership.

The conversation with a commercial manager of multiple in-plants was revelatory. His responsibility covered a variety of situations of business and higher education where management had been sourced. Each instance had a mix of team members who were employees of the institution or business and team members working for the commercial sourcing group. Few of us ever have to work in such a complexity. One of the shops experiences continual quality issues. Vision What is promised and proofed sometimes does not match what is delivered in color consistency. Every shop has to solve this in their workflow. Yet, no shop can ever claim to have final resolution. Why?

Can quality be 100% managed by workflow? Policy and procedure and process never resolve every issue. It is the team member performing the task that must apply discretion and excellence. Machines glitch. Chemical mixes fail. Papers absorb and dissipate moisture. Files are changed two seconds before a run. People forget to communicate changes. All of these items impact workflow. The finest workflow fit to the greatest team and equipment and software and supplies does not accommodate for all variances or all combinations of variances.

Priority and pressure pre-empt. They do. An angry customer can fluster the best of press operators. A haggard executive can shift priorities on a job in process in order to take care of the urgent. When the job is restarted not all the conditions are the same. What was going to be on time is now threatened as a rush. Content may shift due to final edits and the customer overlooks the slight but critical impact on the final piece as they sign the proof and rush out the door at 4:30pm for a piece due the next morning. “Well you signed it!”, just does not please the customer after they have handed out the goof at their most important meeting of the month.

Quality is best managed by leadership. Some things are taught and some things are caught. Leadership is best taught by being caught. A production team will reflect the tenor and approach of the leader. If you’d like to have impeccable workflow then start with impeccable leadership. What you do in the shadows will be done in the light. How you handle decisions needing discretion will lead them when you are not there.

Proactive: Leadership looks beyond the specific request to the heart of the need. Instead of overlooking a mistake on a proof by a customer, a leader reviews with the customer and asks qualifying questions if something seems amiss. That is caught when a manager does an employee review or barters with a vendor or approves a request for time off. Do you give that example at all times? Then expect team members to apply during production.

Responsible: Leadership is ownership. A leader will listen to a dissatisfied customer, personally apologize whether involved in the job or not, and give a reliable expectation of correction. That is caught when a manager takes the heat for the mistake of another department with no bad remarks.

Supportive: Leadership undergirds in tough times. A leader will stay an extra few minutes to make sure the next shift fully understands the job in process. That is caught when a manager cheerfully goes over to help a customer stuff envelopes when last minute changes threaten a mailing.

Customer Best: Leadership cares. Care means I want the best for the other person. A leader will make sure all the pieces of an order are packed so no damage can happen in shipping. That is caught when a manager opens the door for someone whose hands are full at the front door of the company.

Summary: Plant management is a 24/7 leadership opportunity. How you live in the hallways will flow over into your shop. Cutting corners with vendor contracts will come out in cutting corners among layout artists. No workflow quality check will replace quality leadership example.

COMMON GROUNDS: These tidbits come out of daily consternations, comments, and concerns of real managers doing what you do.

This article focuses on the operations and communications levels of the operational pyramid.

Let’s talk: Phil Larson or Shepherd Consulting OK

Busting Barriers: Two Tips To Activate Leadership In Others

Phil Larson, Director Shepherd Consulting and Community Transformation Initiative

Every leader is challenged to develop leadership in key followers. It is frustrating to look out and yearn for true leadership in our team. Yet, we find that people today don’t stay with any company for any length of time. Leadership takes time. You can get long term commitment. It is possible. You have to do things differently.

One of the greatest managers of all history, Solomon, put it this way in his comprehensive book on managing life, relationships, business, and government, Proverbs:

To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,

To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—

Good Goals: Seems like a good objective. For centuries others have read Solomon’s snippets of wisdom. Solomon transmitted what he knew to others that were managing his affairs.

Sun Tzu attempted the same objective from the Chinese war lord perspective and penned, The Art of War. It really is much more about living than dying. It is about managing and relationships in a turbulent society. He was intent in training others.

Others have done the same. My bookshelf is full of snippet books from great managers and leaders. The lessons of great men and women can give us guidance in tough situations.

Time Counts: But, if no one stays the task to work out the wisdom and be developed in the fine nuances, you simply lose your investment. They move on and build another business that may in fact take away from your business. Astute business managers are not happy when they lose the value of an investment in either people or property. People are not property. They have wills and emotions and desires and must be treated differently.

Tip One:

Be Loyal: Handle Conflict Up Front and Fast The common business practice of today is to demand loyalty from staff, yet make decisions without being loyal to them and their families and lives. Making the legal decision is not always a loyal decision. Listening to accusations and gossip concerning staff without direct clarification and consultation is not a position of loyalty but fear and low self-confidence and politicking of the negative kind.

“The first job of a leader—at work or at home—is to inspire trust. It’s to bring out the best in people by entrusting them with meaningful stewardships, and to create an environment in which high-trust interaction inspires creativity and possibility.” ― Stephen M.R. Covey, The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything

Greatness: A great leader for whom I worked early in my career came into my office with an anonymous letter. It accused me of some indiscretions. The letter had gone to the president of the company. We had been in a turnaround organization situation where hard decisions were being made daily. Of course people were not in 100% agreement. Of course people are people. The prior management of the company had been prone to politics and finger pointing. Everyone knew that and knew how to trip the wires to get what they wanted. This new management had better integrity; otherwise, I would not be working for them.

Openers: The leader’s opening comment set the stage. “Phil, before you read the letter you need to know that both the CFO and I told the president that this does not sound like you.” He started from a position of loyalty and honesty and open communication. We discussed the contents, who might have sent it, why they might have sent it, was there anything I needed to adjust in managing, and moved on. The company came out of a chapter 11 situation in record time and we all enjoyed our time together. Loyalty and trust were the words of the day and the owners received great benefit. I would go to work beside this man again in a minute if the opportunity arose that was mutually beneficial.

Dear Failure, I am writing today…. Failure on this point costs dearly. Typical management style would have been to have secreted the letter into the unofficial personnel file, brooded over the contents, discussed it with others, and promoted politics. That is how most organizations roll. Yes, you do. Admit it and quit it. Little birds leak that style into the hallways and the entire organization suffers loss of key staff at the most inopportune moments. Disloyal behavior in the board room promotes disloyal behavior at the point of customer contact. It is not a secret. Get real and get honest.

Tip Two:

Go Ahead And Share Insights: All of us have insights gained in leadership. Most of us hold them close to the chest and make upcoming leaders dig them out like some buried treasure. Why are you leaving leadership undeveloped by forcing them to guess? Are you afraid you are wrong about what you know is right? Take a few minutes every day to intentionally leak leadership.

An Amazing Gift: Last year my team brought me an amazing gift. It was thirty-one leadership wisdoms they had learned from me over the course of the prior three years. They could repeat them and could apply them. They made them into a flip calendar. I was amazed and humbled. It shocked me that they had discerned so willingly tips of leadership and management and relationship and had integrated them into their work and home habits. Somehow, great leaders had taught me to be open with wisdom and it was building other leaders. Pass it on.

Starting Right: My mind goes back to my first assistant supervisor position. One day I went into the manager’s office somewhat nonchalantly for a meeting. He looked me direct in the eye from across his desk. “Phil, go get a pen and paper and come back. Don’t ever go into a meeting with a leader without expectation of receiving instruction, noting it, and being responsible to follow up.” Now, he probably said something different, but that is what he communicated. Wow! I listened and have repeated that wisdom hundreds of times to those for whom I’ve had responsibility to develop as leaders. Leak leadership. Do it intentionally.

To Work, Two Work: Do these two and you’ll increase your leadership impact. These are core items. They can guide you and prevent major mishaps. Sure, I can tell you stories of when I’ve violated them or seen others violate them and the destruction it caused. You know those stories. None of us are perfect. But perfect practice might just result in better performance as a leader, longer relationships with other leaders, and some real fun and satisfaction watching development of trusted leadership and sustained organizational progress.

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Lead with Solutions: Five Key Phrases To Lead

There is power in your words, Leader.

Leaders lead. We lead with our words, our actions, our intent, and our example.

Leaders lead. Leading flows from the inner core of a leader outward for followers to follow. Wisdom literature intrigues and builds me. Two principles that regurgitate in my meditative time apply here.

What is in your heart comes out your mouth.
Words carry life or death.

Uncomfortable as that may be for some, it is life and energy for leaders. Those that deny they are being led are fools looking for a place to fail. Those that accept they are both being led and leading others have matured to a grasp of reality needed for contentedness and success. Watching words is a key necessity of leadership.

One of the ways leaders lead is with the entry words they use in conversations and meetings and personal engagements. So let’s look at five phrases that lead well and lead to impact and influence.

How can we lead effectively with our entry words?

Lead #1: How do you feel about this situation? Leaders fail many times by leading with precooked answers. Try leading with a question. The conversation is headed a positive direction based on your quick and thoughtful lead. Watch out for asking how people think. That will get you 80% less response than asking them how they feel. They will tell you what they think in response to asking them how they feel. For the most part, people are less threatened when asked how they feel than asked how they think.

Lead #2: There could be some amazing benefit to this approach. You just opened the other person or group up to a positive view of what follows. Yet, you have not committed anyone to a position of yes or no. The engagement is now open to include a description of the issue being addressed, but with an expectation of a positive outcome. Lead on.

Lead #3: What worries you most about our issue? Wow. You just posed an emotional tie to the others in conversation. It is not someone else’s issue, but our issue. You’ve entered into a supportive stakeholder position and communicated you will be there to help work through the blips. At the same time, you gave the other person influence in the next steps.

Lead #4: Have you considered a possibility of option X? This is an enticing lead that suggests a solution without forcing compliance. Leadership contains an element of power along with authority. By opening with consideration of an option, meaning there are other options, you give power to the others in the conversation. It can be a big win when working with a strong leader. Some leaders place themselves in defensive stance over a position they have taken in the past. You just graced them with a way out that saves face for them and could bring them better success than a present entrenched option.

Lead #5: Having considered many options, here is one I’d like to bring to the table for discussion. Okay, this is a lead based on research prior to this moment. You’ve opened the discussion to include consideration of other options and problem barbs and even rabbit trails. It is an empowering position for all included. Sometimes an entire room will just go quiet at this point and let you lead forward. Be ready for that. After all, you are a leader.

Summary: Notice none of these leads starts with the issue at hand. All of these communicate co-ownership of the issue and the solution and confidence in a positive outcome. Avoid leading with the issue. My days are full of conversations that start, “Phil, I have a problem.” That is a position of weakness. Sometimes the individual just wants to discuss their ideas. Many times they are looking to offload the problem and responsibility. Take responsibility by leading into a solution. Leading with the solution in today’s environment can be considered pushy and too strong. Lead with compassion and listening and strength with some key phraseology that reveals intent to engage along with intelligence and ownership. Lead on, Leader.

Five Leadership Tips for Tough Times Every Mature Executive Needs to Learn.

Five Leadership Tips for Tough Times Every Mature Executive Needs to Learn.

Working as an agent of change in support of executives comes with scars and stars. The stars are the memories that have power to change us for the better. The scars are best left as lessons learned and give time and attention to heal. But, wow, when you work beside a star boss or on a star team, your life is never the same.

There are five top performing bosses and the teams that surrounded them that have taught me powerful lessons in living and management. Let me share these with you. You can grow in a minute under the right coaching. It would take a book to list all the lessons each of these leaders taught me, so I’ll just highlight five lessons that I believe every mature executive should learn.

Schille’s All Stars: Hard Times Bring Growth: John Schille is an incredible coach and leader. In 2004, John was distinguished as the number one CIO in the United States and his organization received the same accolade. At the time, I wa honored to be a director on John’s direct report team. The performance level of the organization was tops. The responsiveness to technical disruption was specific and on target. The vision for the future, while working with John was unending.

During one incredibly hard season of growth of a department I had been assigned to improve, I remember sitting and discussing with John. He looked directly into my eyes and said, “Phil, you’ll find that under the hardest times you look back and realize you grow the most.” He was right. I’ve remembered that lesson among many others ever since.

Guida’s Good Days: Reward When No One is Looking: John Guida has a hard compassion about him that molded me. He believed in me in extreme circumstance. We had some tough discussions as we worked alongside a great team to pull a company out of chapter 11. In 18 months, it was accomplished through amazing team effort. After a pressing year, John came into my office with a sizeable surprise bonus. By company regulation I was not eligible for bonus. It was just not that company’s style. But, here it was. John had gone up the chain for me when I had no idea what was happening.

McCreery’s Mountain: Be Gracious In All Seaons: Mike McCreey is one of the most grateful men for whom I have worked. As CFO of a struggling company, he exampled kindness and gratitude. Every Friday, when the key operational management team would meet, Mike was first to have the coffee made and served. He exemplified servant leadership.

One afternoon, I was in Mike’s office waiting for the third person to join us in a decision. His secretary came in to serve us. Mike made sure he thanked her for her act. I’m sure he must have said thank you many times a day. He turned to me and spoke in a calm and deliberate voice, “Phil, this world would be much better if people just learned to say thank you.” It was a real strength in his life.

Heil’s Salvation: Build the Man With Care: Bob Heil was a mountain of man. Heil means salvation in German. Bob lived to serve others and assist them in rescuing themselves from themselves. For two years, I was honored to study under Bob in a school he and Linn Haitz started to develop young men into movers and shakers. It was leadership intensive.

At one point, Bob and I crossed swords. I was young and impulsive and wanting to run out on my own and take the world. He was mature and sensitive and giving me ample rope to hang myself but not so much to die doing it. When I realized how stupidly I was acting, I went to Bob and asked his counsel. He immediately understood, forgave me my stupidity, and gave me great counsel. He could have responded in many ways to my mistakes. He chose to respond with wisdom in order to allow me growth. He chose to build the man in me with care and firmness.

Dryden’s Dynamics: Rest Stop Ahead: Ron Dryden has a sense of compassion and marketing and team dynamics not seen in many. I think of many of the great coaches of national champion teams when I think of Ron. Keeping a stable of stallions in motion is an art and a craft. He did it well.

Our team took on an amazing challenge. How do you take a white non-profit organization and move it to become multi-cultural while tripling the size? This was a hard task. There were many days of pains and problems. The community in which we served was racially divided and antagonistic to these ideals. My office was full of complaints and finger pointing as were the offices of the other team leaders. As the Director of Operations, I handled everything from plumbing to prisons.

Big events were common, time consuming, exhausting, and rewarding. Ron taught us to be rested going into a big event versus thinking we would rest on the other side. That wisdom has served me well over the years. Our tendency is to believe we can push to the max and then rest. Yet, what if the big event works and we harvest big on the other side in sales, people, whatever we looked to accomplish? Then we will be exhausted and unable to work the harvest of our efforts. Rest up ahead of a big thrust.

Summary: These five lessons can serve any leader. As a change agent for most of my career, I’ve been called upon to work through tough situation after tough situation. In each I’ve been able to act with growth, reward, graciousness, care, and rest. It was these leaders that developed that into me by example. Leadership is example. That is another lesson.

Contact Phil Larson, Director of Shepherd Consulting phil@shepherdok.com 405-388-8037…

Phil is a dynamic speaker, author, mentor, and agent of change. His organization works to help executives and managers achieve their goals and dreams through decisive dynamics. he is available to help you achieve your dreams.