What POWERFUL Leadership Looks Like

A 2-Part Message (Plus a Bonus Article)

By Liz Weber

Contents The Power of a Leader’s Respect ................................................................................. 1

People Power .................................................................................................................... 3

Bonus Article: What Are The Deliverables? ............................................................... 6

About Liz Weber ............................................................................................................... 8

What Powerful Leadership Looks Like | The Power of a Leader’s Respect, People Power, & What are the Deliverables all by Liz Weber, CMC, CSP are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at: http://www.wbsllc.com/blog/copyright-attribution

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The Power of a Leader’s Respect

It’s a really neat experience to watch management and teambuilding theories prove

themselves true. It’s incredible to see the power a leader has just in his or her subtle

behaviors to either develop a team or to crush one. It’s amazing the power a leader’s

respect has on team performance.

Recently, I had the chance to guide one of my client’s through their Strategic Plan

update. Now the cool thing isn’t that they even cared enough to update the plan; the

cool thing is what the leader did and didn’t do during this process. Two years ago,

when I worked with this client to initially develop their plan, they had a different

“leader.” That leader had been in power for over 20 years. He’d run an organization

that fulfilled its mission, yet its management team always seemed a bit on-edge. When

I worked with them on their original plan, I found out why.

During those work sessions, I saw the leader demean select senior staff members in

front of their peers. I saw him allow some to come to the sessions unprepared – or not

at all, yet he’d chastise others if they weren’t prepared ahead of time for the next

several sessions. I also saw him agree with the group while we worked as a team, but

then unilaterally change the plan after the sessions. The team’s input meant nothing in

the long run. The leader didn’t respect their input enough to agree to it for the long-

term or to implement many of their ideas. He didn’t respect their ideas. He didn’t

respect them as team members. He didn’t respect them as individuals. Needless to say,

the planning process soon became an unwelcome exercise for the team. The plan was

never completed correctly and most of the senior team never saw the end product that

the leader had approved. It wasn’t the plan the team had developed in the work

sessions. It wasn’t a plan that anyone used or cared about. It wasn’t a plan. It was just

a document.

Two years after that experience, the new leader asked me to help update the plan. The

new leader had been a former senior staff member. However, this time around, he

mandated full participation by senior staff. During our initial work session, he

challenged his senior staff to be honest, share their ideas, and help him develop their

plan. He told them, “This is your plan. I’m just responsible for ensuring it gets

completed. But you have to believe in what we develop here.” Subsequent sessions

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included input and challenges by all team members – including the leader. Senior staff

members were comfortable challenging his ideas and he challenged theirs. There was a

lot of joking, idea generation, planning, energy, and – respect.

The true extent of his respect for the team came to light when the leader had to miss

one of the work sessions due to a family emergency. He didn’t cancel the session or

reschedule it. He told the team to handle it. Upon his return and review of that

session’s accomplishments, he approved everything the team had done – no questions

asked. He liked what had been produced and he told the team why.

In just four solid work sessions, the shambles of the prior plan were re-evaluated,

brought up-to-date where necessary, and trashed where needed. New ideas flew

around the room and became a solid, clear, focused three-year plan.

Their plan is terribly aggressive. Their plan is going to challenge the team and the

leader to make some incredible initiatives into functioning realities. Their plan is going

to propel that organization forward and position it to deal effectively with an aging

workforce and an ever-changing future. However, their plan is their plan.

The leader showed the team respect before, during, and after the process – and the

team produced. The power of this leader’s respect built a team and changed an

organization.

Do you respect your team enough to change your organization too?

© Liz Weber, Weber Business Services, LLC

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People Power

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I had the opportunity to provide the keynote address at a client's annual team meeting

in New York recently. For most organizations these types of events are honestly, quite

boring and attended only by those employees who couldn't come up with a believable

excuse not to attend. This organization, however, is different. Their employees are

different, and their success and growth rates are different. Why? They believe in the

power of their employees.

I started to get an idea that something was different, when a few weeks before the

event, one of the branch managers shared that she and her entire team look forward to

the annual meeting every year. Wow. That's weird.

I also noticed a difference, when a few days before the event, I picked up the phone

for a conference call with the senior management team. They didn't realize I was

already on the line.

I heard laughing, giggling, and then the Vice President of Administration saying, "Hey,

hey, now we have to behave. We'll be talking to our speaker here shortly." Laughing by

senior management? That's surprising.

The difference almost stunned me when I walked into the presentation hall. All of the

employees were there. They were smiling and laughing. Many were hugging their

colleagues from the branch offices who had only just arrived. They were congratulating

one another on specific accomplishments they'd achieved. They introduced themselves

and each other to me. In doing so, they'd say things such as, "Liz, this is Terry. He is

the manager of our Juno branch. He has completely turned that operation around. He's

done a great job for us." And this introduction would be made by one of their peers -

not one of their superiors! They appreciated each other as team members. This was

truly amazing!

Weird? Surprising? Amazing? Not really. Not when I asked how they'd achieved such a

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co-operative, collaborative, and positive environment. Their answer? Their people. They

hire right. They train right. They retain the right people. Okay, but how do they really

do this?

First, they've learned over the years that having people with the right attitude is key. If

they have employees who want to be there and who want to learn, they can educate

them on how to do just about anything necessary. Because of that, they have a 3-step

hiring process: 1) telephone interview, 2) 3-person management team in-person

interview, and finally 3) a 2-person interview with the candidate's prospective peers.

This has got to be an incredibly time-consuming and expensive process, right? Yes. But

it's amazing what will slip by the professional HR screeners and management team.

Candidates often "let their guard down" when they talk to their prospective peers.

Second, they orient every prospective and new employee to the organization's

Corporate Values immediately and continuously. These "House Rules" are then used on

a regular basis to help guide the employees' personal and professional growth,

development, and overall performance. The organization has made it very clear, what

the expectations of behavior and performance are – and they stick to them. They've

earned a reputation in the community for being a very "select" employer. But they're

the employer everyone wants to work for.

Third, they work hard. They've got a strategic plan that's shared with the entire

employee population. Each employee knows how he or she fits in to the overall plan.

Everyone has goals. Everyone is important and they know it.

Fourth, they play hard. They like challenges, but they like beating their challenges so

they can celebrate them. Several employees had prepared a video that chronicled this

past year's celebrations. They celebrated reaching a set of goals with two managers

shaving their heads. They kicked off a new sales promotion with male managers

dressing up as cheerleaders to "send the team off". They had a group of employees

sing a congratulatory song to those employees who were celebrating their employment

anniversaries. They celebrated being part of the organization and its successes.

This organization is different. It loves to play. It loves to work. It loves its people. It has

worked hard to create an atmosphere that challenges yet rewards its employees.

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Because of that, the employees love it. Because of that, the organization is successful.

That's the power of people.

© Liz Weber, Weber Business Services, LLC

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Bonus Article: What Are The Deliverables?

Improve relationships with Bender Corporation.

Evaluate Trade Shows.

Coordinate Territory Manager Travel.

If your boss sent you a memo with the above goals listed, what would you do?

A. Say to yourself, “Great! I’ll get right on these and show the boss how

spectacular I can be.”

B. Ask yourself, “These are unattainable. How am I ever going to accomplish

these?”

C. Go see your boss to clarify what she really wants.

Unless I’m so in sync with my boss that we complete one another’s sentences, I’m

going with C. Why? Because, as written, these goals are useless. Worse, than that,

they’re dangerous because they’re open to interpretation. Goal interpretation leads to

miscommunication, misdirected resources, a lack of “goal accomplishment”, and lots

and lots of frustration.

What does “Improve relationships” mean to you? If you’re the account representative

for Bender Corporation, it may mean something completely different than it does to the

VP of Sales and Marketing. Therefore, the VP of Sales and Marketing, if that’s the

person who has written this goal, has to be very clear in what will constitute an

improvement in the relationship. Will this goal be achieved if you call Bender five times

a day instead of two? Will it be achieved if you increase sales? Will it be achieved if you

reduce the number of times they call you and complain? What needs to happen to allow

you to mark this goal “COMPLETED”? I ask my clients, “What are the deliverables?”

What needs to be delivered, completed, developed, demolished, moved, installed,

increased or decreased to allow us to cross these goals off the list? Once that’s defined,

the goal is clear.

By 3/31/XX, clear the complete Bender Corporation Complaint Log concerning

warranties to a level agreeable to Bender and profitable to us.

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Ah, now we’ve got clarity. Now we’ve got a deliverable – Clear the complaint log while

making Bender Corporation happy and realizing a profit. Got it. It may not be easy,

but at least I know what you expect of me.

If the goals you’re developing with and for your staff aren’t clear and don’t define a

deliverable, you’re making it hard for your team to “deliver” success. Be clear. Clarify

the deliverables you expect of them.

© Liz Weber, Weber Business Services, LLC

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About Liz Weber

Known as The Dragon Lady of Leadership

Accountability®, Liz Weber, CMC, CSP, is an expert in

strategic planning, leadership succession, and leadership development. She creates clarity and makes leadership E.A.S.Y. Liz is one of only 12 people to hold both Certified Management Consultant (CMC), and Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designations. Liz is also the author of several leadership books including:

Something Needs to Change Around Here: The Five Stages to Leveraging Your Leadership Don’t Let ‘Em Treat You Like a Girl - A Woman’s Guide to Leadership Success Leading from the Manager's Corner

Liz's leadership articles appear in outlets globally. Contact Liz Weber at info@wbsllc.com.

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