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When one writes hundreds of columns, certain themes show up over and over. A reason is that there are areas in leadership in which people consistently struggle to achieve and sustain great results.
Plus, there are new leaders. Close to half the people in a supervisory role are either new to leadership or are in a new supervisory role or a new organization.
I benefit from repetition and reminders. I hear or read something that jogs the memory and gets me back on track. When the student is ready the teacher appears.
For these reasons it makes sense to revisit key areas in these columns. The top areas are the same year after year: alignment (getting everyone on the same page), communication and accountability, addressing performance issues.
These are areas I keep coming back to in my own books also. I have published three books that compile tips for leaders and serve as desktop references. These are Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top and The Busy Leader's Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive, both published by Wiley, and Sundays with Quint, published by Gratitude Group Publishing. (The first is available at Amazon, and the other two are available via the Healthcare Plus Solutions Group website at healthcareplussg.com/resource/books/.)
I find books in which one can go to a chapter or section based on what is taking place especially helpful. I keep the book The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done, by Peter F. Drucker, on my desk.
But books are just one source of ongoing learning. Staying connected to people provides a plethora of opportunities to gain experience. So do articles, podcasts, conferences, and so forth.
A recent learning came from Mike Harbour. I was reading his weekly newsletter from Harbour Resources and loved a suggestion in it. Mike shared that when he was collaborating with an executive team there was frustration. The goals and vision were in place on where they wanted the organization to go, yet the results were not there. The first statement from the executive team is that it is an accountability issue. Mike then asked this question: "What do you expect your directors to do differently on Monday because of this vision?"
Mike wrote that before we call it an accountability issue, this is a question worth asking. Have we clearly translated the vision into the behaviors, priorities, and decisions we expect from each person?
People work hard and want to achieve results. They are doing what they feel will work. And at one time those things did work. Asking the question Mike suggests provides the safety of doing something different.
My cousin Al will ask a person who is struggling, "How is what you are doing working for you?" The answer is usually, "It is not." He then finds the person is open to taking a different approach. In the book, Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired, Dan Collard and I provide ways to rethink what a person and organization is doing. It helps create openness to make changes without regretting the past or changing what does not need to be changed.
I am putting Mike's suggestion into my own work. What am I going to do differently? And I am asking those I lead what they will be doing differently to improve performance.
If you have a question or a topic you want me to address, please send them to Quint@quintstuder.com. Thank you, as always, for reading.
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Quint Studer is the author of 16 books on leadership in the workplace and the community. His book Building a Vibrant Community is a valuable resource for civic leaders, business owners, and all citizens who have a stake in building a community they can be proud to call home. In Sundays with Quint, he shares a selection of his popular leadership columns for leaders, employees, and business owners in all industries. He can be reached at Quint@QuintStuder.com.