Leadership – Page 5 – New Horizon Partners

Leading by Listening – Part 2

Listening builds strong relationships. In the first part of this article, we focused on the importance of listening in team settings. Teams are more effective when the leader facilitates group discussions in which the entire team is working together to build a strong, shared knowledge base. In this second part, our focus is on the importance of listening in building interpersonal relationships, one-on-one listening.

Effective leadership is built upon a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Leadership is a gift given by followers only upon the development of this relationship of trust and respect. Listening is one of the most important tools in building such relationships; it is one of the best ways to demonstrate respect for the other.

In our busy lives, it is too easy to rush from one task to another and from one meeting to another, without spending the time to know and understand the people around you. When we rush past the people around us, be it team members, coworkers, or our spouse, we give the impression, perhaps only subconsciously, that they are not important enough to be heard or understood. (That might even be built on a character flaw of a lack of humility or respect for those around us.) On the other hand, if we truly desire to build or grow in relationship, we must develop our understanding of the other person. This includes an understanding of such things as what is important in their lives, where are their struggles, how do they think, how satisfied are they with themselves or their situation, etc. We can develop this understanding only through conversation, with an emphasis on listening to their hearts. This is a deeper listening than simply hearing their words but requires perceiving or drawing out their thoughts and emotions.

Even on a day-to-day basis, drawing out input from individuals on suggestions, conditions, and so forth, even just a “hey, how are you doing?” conversation, provides a feeling of inclusion and being valued. Such conversations build relationship and job satisfaction.

The basic ingredient in these efforts to build relationship is listening. This listening requires the following ingredients:

Investing the time. It does take time to stop and have a meaningful conversation with the people around us but, if it is considered an investment, it will pay back with interest over time.
Demonstrating a sincere interest. This interest is driven by positive character traits such as recognizing the value of each individual and considering relationship and the development of people as highly important.
Listening to understand. Effective listening requires the development of specific skills in which we seek to explore and discover the deeper meanings behind the thoughts and words of the other.

Do you consider listening to others to be of importance? What skills or tools have you developed, or do you need to develop, to do so effectively?

See another article on a similar subject, “Be Quick to Listen.”

Leading by Listening – Part 1

Listening builds more effective teams. Listening is a key skill of leadership and the best leaders learn to listen well.

Two of the presidents of the USA, that many consider the best, are great examples of leading by listening. George Washington, during the time that he served as commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, consistently called together his staff and leading generals, to consider the strategic moves of the army. Only after hearing from all of those around the room would Washington express his opinion and guide the group to a decision. When he became the first president of the United States, Washington continued this practice with his cabinet, drawing out their collective input on policies and decisions that he needed to make.

Abraham Lincoln serves as another great example of leading by listening. Upon his election as the 16^thpresident of the United States, Lincoln asked his major political rivals to serve on his cabinet. Thus, he was able to hear and consider a wide range of opinions and benefit from the wisdom of some of the best thinkers of his time. (For more about Lincoln and his cabinet, see Doris Kearns Goodwin’s excellent book, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.”)

Too often we see people in leadership positions (not necessarily fitting the definition of being a leader), who believe that they are in that position because of their intelligence or their ability to force their will on those around them. Rather than become a leader, these people become a dictator or a “know-it-all.” Rather than building their team, they cripple their team. When the leader’s voice is the only one that matters, the team can simply defer to whatever the leader says or become a group of “yes men.”

Leading by listening can be described as the practice of always seeking the input of those around us in every important discussion or decision. Leading by listening requires that the leader draw out the thoughts of those around them. Leading by listening is not just a matter of hearing but often requires active listening skills to draw out deeper thoughts.

The benefits of leading by listening are many, including the following:

Better information – Leading by listening provides better information. One of the goals of most teams is to combine the intelligence of the group and draw out and meld together the knowledge of each team member. By doing so, the team is more likely to define truth in the area of interest. The habit of listening makes it standard practice to seek every bit of information that can benefit the group’s discussion.

Better perspectives – Leading by listening can reduce bias and provide a well-rounded understanding of any given issue. For example, a team member with a financial background might provide information from a cost/benefit perspective while a team member with a HR background might think in terms of the impact on people. The practice of listening reduces the risk of decisions that aren’t well thought out.

Better buy-in – Leading by listening means that each team member has at least had a voice in the discussion. If the discussion is handled skillfully, each team member has an opportunity to contribute and can, at least, see the logic behind a decision, even when that decision is not in line with their choice. Having participated in the discussion provides a higher likelihood of buy-in, even when one has argued for a different path.

Better collaboration – Leading by listening draws the team together, providing greater unity and increasing the collaboration within the team. When the team has had the opportunity to fully participate in the discussion and decision-making, they are more likely to support the decision through the people and resources available to each of them. Of course, this collaboration and support is also dependent upon the culture of the organization.

Better development of people – Leading by listening provides opportunities for team members to develop and present information and to participate in the decision-making process. These opportunities lead to the development of valuable skills and growth for these team members, opening opportunities for advancement and further development in the future.

Better relationships – Leading by listening provides opportunities for engaging and developing understanding of the people around us, thus leading to relationship growth. More on this in Part 2 of this article, in which we focus on listening in one-on-one exchanges.

Leading by listening does not make decision-making a democratic process where the majority rules. In the end, the results of any decision are the responsibility of the leader, so the leader must have the final say in making the decision. At times the wisdom and experience of the leader might lead to a decision counter to the majority of the team or against much of the evidence presented in the discussion. The effective leader is able to make such a decision and to explain the rationale behind it in light of the group discussion. But leading by listening results in better decisions and a more effective team.

As a leader, how much effort do you put in to listening to your team? Is your team in the habit of deferring to you or waiting to “see which way the wind blows” before they speak?

See other similar articles such as “Leaders Speak Last” or “The Smartest Person in the Room?”

Good Leadership Requires an Open Mind

While managing people can be described as assigning and monitoring tasks, leading people is based on a relationship of influence that is built upon trust and respect for the leader. Demonstration by the leader of strong, positive character traits is what establishes trust and respect. One of the key traits of effective leadership is openness. American scholar and author Warren Bennis, considered by many to be the pioneer of leadership, describes openness as the ability to listen to ideas that are outside of one’s current mental models, and then be able to suspend judgment until after one has heard the ideas of others. Openness can also be described as the willingness to consider every element of “what is”.

Openness indicates an inclination to accept input from various sources and to make decisions or to make changes based on that input. Establishing openness as a character trait requires the demonstration over time of this willingness to hear, understand, evaluate, and take appropriate action based on input from sources outside ourselves. The full process must be consistently demonstrated. It is not difficult to hear input from others, but properly evaluating and changing course based on the input of others can often stretch us.

Openness keeps us and the organizations that we lead from getting stuck in a well-worn rut. It counters the NIH (not invented here) attitude. It breaks down barriers and sparks innovation and energy.

There are some human tendencies that make openness difficult, and some are especially so for personality types that tend to be leaders. Some of these tendencies are:

The fear of not being right. We grow up in a system of “right” and “wrong” answers and tend to believe that we always have the right answer.
The fear of risk or failure. Success is good and failure is bad. We tend to believe that being in control avoids potential failure.
A need for order and rules. People value routines, traditions, and established practice. Openness requires the ability to embrace doing things differently.
A reliance on logic and realism. People make sense of the logical. Sometimes openness requires examining what may on the surface appear illogical.
A limit on human relationships. Being busy doing business often means focusing on numbers and processes. Openness requires that we step away from the processes and increase our human interactions.

We can think of openness in three dimensions, all of which the best leaders exhibit. First, we can demonstrate openness about ourselves. Secondly is the ability to accept and even seek diverse input from the people around us. Finally, the third dimension of openness is seeking input from the external environment.

The first dimension, openness about ourselves, requires a strong level of both self-awareness and self-acceptance that tells us where we have the capacity or need to change some part of our character. This input might come from self-examination or from other people. Those with openness about themselves are not only able to accept input from others, but they actively seek feedback. Open leaders want to know how they are perceived and how their communication is received. When open leaders receive personal input, they consider how they can build appropriate change into their character.

The second dimension of openness is the ability to accept input from others regarding organizational direction and decisions. This openness gives team members the ability to freely voice their opinions and to provide any relevant input. Rather than people wondering “which way the wind blows” before speaking up, they know that their input will be accepted and valued.

The third dimension of openness is seeking input from the external environment. This refers to seeking information from a wide range of sources and being creative in making the connections to potential impact or implications for the organization. This requires open eyes and an open mind to recognize important input.

While there are those human tendencies that make some people struggle with openness, effective leaders are naturally open because of the other character traits they possess. If you desire to be more open, the best way to grow openness is to work on improving these other traits in yourself.

Be people-oriented. Before we can value ideas from other people, we must first value those people.
Be curious. An open mind is a curious mind; look for information and seek input and opinions.
Be forward thinking. The closed mind dwells in the past. The open mind ponders the future and its possibilities.
Be engaging. Openness draws others into an exchange of ideas.
Be inspiring. Expressing the desire for and the value of the thoughts of others makes them feel respected and lifts them up.
Be credible. Seeking the best input from all available sources and not just relying on our own thoughts gives confidence to the team that we are able to lead them to a positive future.
Be engaging. Openness infers a frank exchange of ideas that requires a dialogue of exploration and evaluation.
Be responsive. Expressing the value of the ideas and appreciation for them demonstrates the open mind and open heart of a leader.

Openness is a process as well as a choice, requiring a level of both confidence and vulnerability. It often necessitates some transformational growth. It also requires consistent practice to build an environment in which people recognize and are willing to step into the openness. It is a choice because it requires stepping out of a leader’s comfort zone. In the busy flow of business, it requires that one take time to seek input, to weigh its value, and to appropriately change course.

The culture of an organization generally reflects the character of its leadership. Openness on the part of the leader demonstrated over time develops into openness in the organization. As this openness is woven into the fabric of the organization’s culture, it breaks down barriers and encourages collaboration. The best ideas from within the organization then surface to improve products and processes. As they do so, the organization becomes a more satisfying place to work.

Are you able to keep an open mind in most situations? Where do you find this challenging?

(Note: This article, or one very similar, was originally published in a monthly leadership blog that I wrote for PolymerOhio Manufacturing Solutions.)

Leadership: Reward or Responsibility?

People have different perspectives on what leadership is. People also have different motivations for seeking a role as leader. Some of those motivations are self-focused and others are focused on others. Some see leadership as a reward, some see it as a responsibility.

For some people, the motivation to achieve a leadership role is status. They crave the respect and admiration of others and hope that it will come with the title of CEO, president, or some other leadership role.

For some people, the motivation is money. They crave more money; perhaps more than they have or more than people around them have. With higher level positions in organizations comes larger salaries and benefits.

For some people, the motivation is power. They crave the ability to give orders and make demands, the power to tell people what to do rather than being told themselves.

For some people, the motivation is simply seen as a reward for hard work or accomplishment. If they work harder anyone else in the organization, then their view is that surely they deserve the recognition of being named to some leadership role. Perhaps this is driven by some need for an assurance of self-worth.

All of these motivations listed so far are driven by self-focus. They are based on some internal need. Achieving a role that might seem to be leadership, when driven by self-centeredness is actually more of a badge to be worn rather than a role to be achieved. The person that achieves or seeks to achieve a position of leadership as a reward is not, in fact, a leader. When given a role that might seem like leadership, they continue to operate for their own best interests.

True and effective leadership is a calling to a position of responsibility. It is not focused on what the leader is or does or can do. It, instead, is a recognition of the character and ability of a person to commit to serve others. Those who lead out of a sense of responsibility operate based on the best interests for those that they lead. In leading others, a true and effective leader recognizes his/her responsibility to communicate clearly with, to develop and shape, to guide and motivate, and to care for those that have either been placed within or have sought to be within the leader’s influence.

Do you view your leadership as a reward or a responsibility? How do you best fulfill that responsibility?

The Focus of Feedback

The purpose of feedback is to identify specific actions or behaviors on the part of a person or group in order to encourage more of or less of that action or behavior in the future so that we might mold future actions or behaviors toward a vision or goal for the future of that person or group. In other articles we have discussed the importance of feedback and described what feedback looks like. In this article we will describe the specifics of those actions and behaviors that should be the focus of feedback.

A simple “thank you” or “nice job” can have great value, but if that is where you stop, then you have missed the opportunity to shape the future. People appreciate affirmation; they might appreciate challenges. But general statements, while generating some emotion, don’t have much impact on future performance. Feedback, to be effective, needs to identify specific action or behaviors. We might identify specific actions or behaviors to be repeated or discontinued or we might identify these specifics as examples of the sorts of actions or behaviors that we want continued or corrected. Either way, pointing out specifics clicks a switch, so to speak, in the recipient’s brain, as opposed to a general statement that tends to float in and out.

We often say, “Feedback is best served warm”, meaning that the more immediately it is provided, the better it is recognized and internalized. For example, identifying the specifics of a particular presentation as the meeting ends or as you walk out the door with the presenter has much more value than feedback a day, week, or month later. Again, it is a matter of what sticks in the brain. Immediate feedback can easily be recognized and linked with the action or behavior in the mind of the recipient rather than searching the mind for a recollection of that specific thing.

Feedback that identifies specific action or behaviors with clarity can provide great benefit, but only when we also identify the impact. This impact might be positive or negative. It is best if the impact includes both your personal reaction and the link to a larger vision or goal, either an organizational vision or a vision for the feedback recipient.

Now, finally, to the focus of the feedback. As we talk about feedback, we continually refer to specific action and behaviors. The best way to demonstrate the focus of feedback is to provide some examples, including some poor examples and some better examples. Here I will focus on making it specific, with the assumption that in actual practice the identification of the specific action or behavior is the first part of a sentence or a discussion that goes on to describe personal impact and organizational impact as well as expectations for the future (see Three Steps to Effective Feedback for more on the content of the process).

Not poor feedback but rather better feedback by being specific.

Not “nice presentation” but rather “the logical flow of your slides” or “the way that you laid out the last three slides” or “the confidence in your voice” or “the stories that you told that captured our attention”, etc.

Not “your presentation left a lot to be desired” but rather “the ‘hmm’s’ and ‘ugh’s’ as you speak make you sound unsure” or “slides 3 and 5 had too much info to digest” or “it seemed like you steamrolled over Tom’s questions”, etc.

Not “nice job” but rather “I saw the way that you were careful in packing that customer’s purchase” or “thanks for spotting that out of spec part and stopping production” or “your production is up by 25%”, etc.

Not “you have a bad attitude” but rather “I noticed that you spoke to Mary in a demeaning and disrespectful way” or “I noticed you rolled your eyes when I spoke to you” or “you seem to be angry lately”, etc.

Not “you have a good attitude” but rather “I appreciated that you were the first to volunteer to stay late” or “I saw the way that you encouraged the rest of the team” or “the way that you engaged with that customer brought a smile to their face”, etc.

The more specific that we are in feedback, the better the recipient will understand the actions or behaviors that we are hoping to encourage or discourage. Specificity also makes it obvious that we are noticing and that the feedback is sincere. Therefore, our feedback will be more effective, assuming that it includes the other two steps of identifying the impact and setting expectations.

How effective is your feedback? Are you noticing and identifying specific actions and behaviors?

The Motive for Feedback

Providing and receiving effective feedback are essential elements of leadership. On the receiving end, feedback helps a leader to learn about strengths and weaknesses or what they are doing well and where they can improve. Among the traits of effective leaders are that they are lifelong learners, they are self-aware, and they have a strong desire to grow and develop. Receiving feedback feeds all of these traits.

By providing feedback well, a leader accomplishes much in terms of both building a leader/follower relationship and guiding actions and behaviors to align with long-term vision and goals. We know that feedback can accomplish much when done well but what should motivate the practice of providing frequent feedback? Here are our top five reasons or motivations for providing frequent and effective feedback to those around you in every part of your life:

#5 – Establish and reinforce a practice of communication. Certainly, communicating freely, openly, and frequently with each of your team members and with many others is important. It is impossible to have any sort of relationship without communication. The quality of our communications is a major definer of the quality of our relationships. And feedback, when done well, is one of the best and most important means of communicating. Positive communication, of course, affirms the recipient. But corrective feedback can demonstrate the value that we place in the other person. And so, communication should be part of the motivation for providing feedback.

#4 – Build a relationship of mutual trust and respect. The leader/follower relationship is built upon a relationship of trust and respect. A person might take direction or commands from a superior, but they only willingly and wholeheartedly follow a leader when that leader has demonstrated his/her worthiness or trust and respect. Providing feedback well goes a long way in demonstrating this worthiness, so this should be a part of the motivation for providing feedback.

#3 – Encourage positive actions and behaviors. Of course, one of the primary purposes of feedback is to mold actions and behaviors to fit with or achieve a longer-term vision or goal. It is easy to spot negative actions or behaviors and provide feedback. In the hectic activity of a day it is easy to overlook the positive actions or behaviors. Leaders need to develop the habit of noticing both the negative and the positive and then provide feedback. Offering positive feedback is an expression of affirmation or appreciation, and that positive feeling encourages repetition of the positive action or behavior. Naturally we want to encourage the positives, so this is part of the motivation for feedback.

#2 – Discourage or eliminate negative actions or behaviors. This is often some people’s strongest motivation for feedback. They want to stop negative actions or behaviors that lead to wasted time or money, lead to discord in the workplace, or generally detract from the mission. And, of course, we want to get people off the wrong track and on to the right track.

#1 – Help the people around you to grow and develop. By far the best, we might even say the only proper, motivation for feedback is to offer it in the hope of helping people develop. The best leaders are altruistic; their desire above all is to help those with whom they come in contact to become better versions of themselves, to grow and succeed in life. Yes, the best leaders know that focusing on the development of others has side benefits such as drawing people into the leader/follower relationship, helping them understand and pursue the longer-term vision, and so forth. But the focus and the motivation of the best leaders, first and foremost, is to help others grow and succeed. When this is the motivation, it is generally perceived by the recipient of feedback. This motivation makes it easy for the recipient to accept and take to heart our feedback, and not just the positive. When this is our motivation, to help the recipient grow and succeed, even corrective feedback, of course offered graciously, is valued by the recipient.

What is your motivation for offering feedback? How well is it delivered and how well is it received?

First Step for Feedback: Notice

Providing feedback is an important part of leadership. Feedback aligns the actions and behaviors of team members with the vision for the organization. Team members long for feedback. Affirmation and appreciation are good but people welcome corrective feedback when it is presented well. People want to know how they are doing.

Feedback is more than a leadership skill; it is a life skill. Feedback is an important part of any relationship. Feedback is an especially important tool for parenting.

We should be providing feedback many times each day to all of the people with whom we interact. But here is the first problem: we are in such a hurry, moving from one project to another, running from one meeting to another, or just focused on all of the things that we need or want to accomplish, that we do not take the time to notice the actions or behaviors around us. There are constantly actions or behaviors happening right in front of us, but we are moving on to the next thing. So often we are too busy to notice the actions and behaviors that are taking place around us. We don’t take the time to notice and give feedback.

Another human weakness is the general behavior of not noticing all of the things going right; only when things go wrong (and often only when badly wrong) do we pay attention.

Take a moment to think about some of the many recent things that deserved feedback, but none was given. Maybe you just came from a meeting where someone gave a great presentation. Did you give some feedback that identified the best specific parts of the presentation? Or maybe the presentation lacked something. Did you identify the shortfalls, so that the presenter can do better next time? How many reports did you read today or this week? Did you provide some specific feedback to the authors? As you walk around the organization you see people doing work, some well and some not so well. How many times have you given them feedback? Are you noticing what is happening in your organization?

Let’s think now about feedback outside of work. How often do we see parents who only complain about or criticize the behavior of their children? Often it is not even what we would call feedback, but just general criticism. How much better would the parent – child relationship be if the parent gave feedback, both for the things done well and for the specific actions and behaviors that they wish to see improved. But they aren’t noticing much of the behavior.

Personally, one of the things that I try to do is to provide feedback or express my appreciation to those attendants or custodians who keep the roadside rest stops clean. I appreciate clean restrooms and there seem to be two alternatives for keeping them clean. One is to clean them myself (a task that I would certainly not prefer), the other is to encourage those attendants to continue doing the job well. So I make it a point to notice and express my appreciation for cleanliness in order to encourage him or her to keep it going.

As mentioned earlier, people crave feedback. They want to know how their performance is perceived. They want to know that they are valued, and they want to grow and improve. Feedback guides actions and behaviors towards a longer-term vision. Perhaps most importantly, feedback, when done well, can build the relationship of trust and respect that is the foundation of leadership.

Providing effective feedback is more than a quick “Great job” or “Keep it up.” Feedback involves identifying specific action or behaviors, describing the impact both to you personally and to the organization or at a higher level, and set the expectations for the future in terms of more of, less of, or keep it up. See the articles “Three Steps of Effective Feedback” and “Ten Tips for Effective Feedback” to learn more about giving feedback that makes a difference and builds your relationships.

But the first thing we must do is to open our eyes and to build the habit of noticing.

Do you have the habit of noticing, both of the positive and the negative? How many times have you given effective feedback today?

The Smartest Person in the Room?

As a leader, if you are the smartest person in the room, you need to find some smarter people.

It’s true that intelligence is important for effective leadership. It is helpful in making good decisions. It is helpful in building strong, positive relationships. It is helpful in identifying the right questions to ask. But does the leader need to be the smartest person in the room? Even if he or she is, they are best off if they don’t always show it.

Constantly being the smartest person in the room robs your team of effectiveness. There are three common scenarios for trap of the leader as the font of knowledge:

One common driver of knowledge from on high is expediency. A leader might feel that discussion or seeking input from others is simply a waste of valuable time. “Why not just get to the bottom line and move on?” Therefore, the leader is quick to offer his/her opinion.

A second common scenario is based on volume. If the leader tends to continually have the loudest (literally or figuratively) or most important voice in the room, then other voices deem themselves to be unimportant and are therefore mute. If there is only one voice that has importance, then it must be the smartest voice in the room.

A third scenario is the leader that is driven by ego. To admit that other voices might have greater knowledge or even any relative value would be an affront to the ego-driven self-importance. Therefore, this leader must only value his/her own voice. In fact, this sort of person often belittles other voices in the room to soothe his/her own ego.

There are lots of reasons why any of these scenarios are damaging to the organization. Here are just a few:

Not valuing the knowledge of others will drive away capable and intelligent people. The organization is then left with less capability in its people.
Even if they don’t leave, overpowering the voice of people leaves them disengaged and dissatisfied. Therefore, people will be less productive.
We should all be seeking to learn and grow. One of the ways to do so is to consistently seek to share in the knowledge of others.
There is knowledge and wisdom in the group. By sharing, discussing, even debating ideas, the team is likely to find greater or better answers than even the smartest person in the room could provide on their own.
By encouraging discussion and by valuing equally all members of the team, the cohesiveness of the team grows. The strength of the team leads to unity and collaboration, resulting in higher performance of the overall organization.
Effective leadership is built on a relationship of trust and respect. One of the character traits that leads to this relationship is humility. Obviously, the leader who only values his/her own intelligence is not demonstrating the humility required to effectively lead.

Research has shown that the most effective leaders tend to be above average in intelligence but not extremely so. Perhaps this is because those extreme eggheads often have a difficult time relating to others. They too quickly fall into the traps described above.

The lesson for leaders here is not so much a matter of knowledge or intelligence. Rather, the lesson is about character and relationships. Effective leaders value and respect others; they demonstrate this respect in the humility that guides their interactions. Effective leaders want to grow themselves but have an even greater desire to help others to grow and develop. Therefore, the best leaders draw out the knowledge of others and make it a point to not consistently appear as the smartest person in the room.

Is your intelligence a strength or a weakness in your leadership? Do you strive to be the smartest person in the room or are you comfortable drawing out the knowledge of those around you?

Learning Agility Builds Leadership Ability

In case you haven’t noticed, the world is changing and the pace of change is forever increasing. New technologies are replacing previous technologies. Whole new industries are being created while others disappear. Career paths and job skills are often becoming rapidly obsolete. The speed of change increasingly demands that both businesses and people become more flexible and adaptable in order to survive and thrive in the business world.

Learning agility has always been an important skill of leaders but the current pace of change is making it one of the most essential. Learning agility is the ability and willingness to learn from experience and then apply that learning to successfully perform under new situations. We cannot know today what changes will happen tomorrow and how they will impact what we need to know to survive in the future. However, if we are strong in learning agility, we have the flexibility, adaptability, resourcefulness, and thoughtfulness to react well to changing situations and to be successful, no matter what life throws at us.

The speed of change increasingly demands that both businesses and people become more flexible and adaptable in order to survive and thrive in the business world.

Those who are learning agile are comfortable with the uncomfortable, able to face uncertainty and accept risks, observant and continually making connections between experience and results, flexible and ready to try new ideas, open to and seeking new thoughts, and confident in their abilities based on their experience. This willingness to take on risks and challenges is not reckless but is built on confidence and track record.

We can further break down this ability to learn from experience and the application of learning to new situations into five elements of learning agility:

Mental Agility – The learning agile leader is skilled at critical thinking and able to analyze complex problems and continually make fresh connections between bits of information, experience, and results. They are able to draw conclusions and predict results based on their information and learning.
People Agility – The learning agile leader is able to relate well to others; collaboration is strong, drawing out the experiences of others, and helping others draw conclusions and learn. They seek feedback and are open to input from others. They recognize that the information gathered from others is often not simply black or white, but falls into some shade of grey. Thus they are able to make good judgements about value and veracity.
Change Agility – The learning agile leader is comfortable with the uncomfortable. They seek challenges and learning opportunities, enjoy experimentation, and are able to weigh and accept risks. They seek alternative processes and ways of thinking rather than status quo.
Results Agility – The learning agile leader is able to deliver results in first-time situations; they inspire teams to perform in the face of uncertainty. They accept responsibility for mistakes and view them as learning and growth opportunities.
Self-Awareness – The learning agile leader is reflective. They know themselves well, understanding strengths and weaknesses and using every opportunity to grow. They are well aware of their impact on others and are willing to question others and be questioned themselves.

Change is impacting every business at every level. Leaders need to hone their own learning agility as well as build it into members of their organization. Only by doing so can we prepare ourselves and our team members for the future. Building learning agility in ourselves and in others can be accomplished through the following steps:

Be inquisitive – Ask questions of yourself and others such as: “Is there another alternative?” “What else do I need to think about in this decision?” “What are 10 more ways I could approach this?” Learning agile leaders don’t get stuck in SOP (standard operating procedure) or NIH (not invented here).
Be proactive – Look for patterns in complex situations. Practice active listening, using the phrase, “Tell me more.” Be a sponge, soaking in information from a wide range of sources.
Be reflective – Look back on decisions and understand the process, what was known and what was not known. Think through the “what-ifs” of decisions and actions. Seek input, asking for specific feedback. Ask, “What are three or four things I or we could have done better here?”
Be courageous – Take risks and be willing to experiment. Look for “stretch assignments,” where the probability of success isn’t a given, either for yourself or as developmental opportunities for team members.
Don’t be defensive – Acknowledge your failures, perhaps from those stretch assignments, and capture the lessons you’ve learned from them. Frame mistakes and failures— either your own or those of team members — as learning opportunities and gather all the learning possible.

Learning agility is essential for leadership because it provides the ability for timely and solid decisions as the world changes around us. It provides confidence to team members, as they trust in leadership and follow the model displayed. As you and your team members improve your learning agility, your organization can become more adaptable and better able to respond to business volatility, therefore becoming more competitive in the face of unprecedented challenges.

(Note: This article, or one very similar, was originally published in a monthly leadership blog that I wrote for PolymerOhio Manufacturing Solutions.)

Just the Way They Are

Meeting for breakfast with a friend and former co-worker recently, the conversation turned to a certain leader with whom we were both familiar. This leader had built a family of successful companies. It was easy to attribute the success of these companies to the culture and, in turn, to trace the culture to the character of this leader. The companies were all successful because the people within them worked hard to make them successful and they worked hard because they would follow this leader wherever he asked them to go. We observed that the people in all of his companies were eager to follow him because of his great leadership and that this leadership was not something that he had needed to learn. Almost in unison we both said, “The way that he leads is just the way he is.”

With so many of the great leaders that I know, their leadership feels easy to them because the way that they lead is just a natural result of who they are, or the character within them. Their leadership is easy for their followers to accept because it is clearly authentic, the way that they behave is who they really are.

What are some of the characteristics of these great leaders? Here are a few of the most important traits of some of the great leaders that I know:

They are authentic – Great leaders don’t need to learn a bunch of leadership skills. When they come to work in the morning, they don’t need to put on their leadership hat. Great leaders lead from who they are. They have characters traits that lend themselves to building relationships and demonstrating that they are genuine in caring about the about the people around them. On the other hand, authentic leaders are easy to follow because their team members know that they are genuine. Team members can trust these leaders because they know that what they see on the outside is who the leader is on the inside.

They are humble – Great leaders naturally stand out from the crowd but they don’t regard themselves as above the people around them. They are quick to give credit and show appreciation for all that is done by others. They are willing to roll up their sleeves and do their part in any task. Team members therefore feel valued as equals.

They respect and value others. – Closely related to humility, great leaders demonstrate their respect for each person. When interacting with those around them, they are interested in the whole person, both in the part that comes to work and the part that lives outside the workplace. Great leaders understand and accept the strengths and weaknesses of those around them and know what is important to them. Great leaders genuinely care about the person within each team member, so they have an interest in their family, their health, their satisfaction, and their long-term career development.

They demonstrate high emotional intelligence – Great leaders are strong in all areas of emotional intelligence – understanding and managing their own emotions, understanding the emotions of others, and building or managing relationships. This may be a natural outflow of the value that they place on others, but great leaders have a way of being aware and in control of their own emotions and are adept at finding ways to relate positively with those around them.

These four traits seem to be foundational for great leaders. Other important traits are natural extensions of these four, qualities such as honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, openness, conscientiousness, and so on. And, of course, great leaders of organizations also demonstrate high intelligence, strong common sense and wisdom, and decisiveness.

Great leaders often make leadership look easy and natural because it simply flows from who they are. If you do not yet have these same character traits, they can be developed with some deep character work.

What other traits do you see in great leaders? Where do you stand in terms of these traits?