Leadership Inspiration – Cronyism and the Unaccountable
“The opposite of accountability is not indifference; it is cronyism.”
Author Unknown
Leadership Inspirations – Attitude
“Attitude is the foundation and support for everything you do. It’s the key element in the process of controlling your destiny.”
Keith D. Harrell
Motivational speaker, America’s Attitude Coach
StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 28 – An Interview with Ken Blanchard, author of Leading at a Higher Level
StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles published on the StrategyDriven website.
Special Edition 28 – An Interview with Ken Blanchard, author of Leading at a Higher Level examines how world-class leaders create a compelling vision; ensuring their employees know who the leader is, where they are going, and the values that will guide the journey. During our discussion, Ken Blanchard, author of Leading at a Higher Level, Revised and Expanded Edition: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations
- the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a high performing organization
- what the High Performing Organization (HPO) Scores model is and how it can be used to identify organizational performance improvement opportunities
- using Situational Leadership to foster improved individual and team performance
- establishing and reinforcing individual accountability
- what differentiates servant leadership from traditional leadership approaches and why this approach is so powerful
- benefits of developing and communicating a leadership point of view
Additional Information
In addition to the incredible insights Ken shares in Leading at a Higher Level
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About the Author
Ken Blanchard, author of Leading at a Higher Level
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Adjusting Your Character Settings: The Authenticity of Leadership
If you are a member of Facebook, then you may be aware that the default privacy settings are being changed. I don’t lay awake at night worrying that someone is going to do something awful with the information that I post on Facebook, but I took the recommendation to adjust my settings so that only my “friends” can see my wall, photos and have access to any personal information on the site.
After I did this, I noticed that a friend had posted a link to directions for changing the settings. I was thankful to get the extra help because there was one setting that I had forgotten. But as I read down through the very long document, I was dismayed at the length some people will go to customize their privacy settings. I understand the need to protect your identity and all of that. But so much of this document alluded to adjusting settings to protect your image with certain people.
[wcm_restrict]For instance, it stated that if you didn’t want your mom to see your profanity riddled posts, then you could just easily turn off wall posts to your mom, but she could see your photos. Or if you don’t want certain people in your workplace to see the photos for you getting wild at the beach, then you can secure this one album so that only certain groups can see the pictures. This customization of privacy settings could eat up a whole evening. Who would have so much to hide that they would need to miss 30 Rock just being sure certain people were seeing the right (or wrong) side of them?
I suppose this bothered me even more because of the number of high profile cases lately where a celebrity/athlete/politician fell from their pedestal simply because he or she ended up being far different from the person the world thought they were. I stand not in judgment of these sorry souls, but am left wondering why they would ante up their marriages, family, friendships and livelihood for a shot at a secret lifestyle that could lead to their ruin. Can you really know anyone these days? Is anyone trustworthy and authentic?
The truth is, we as humans are so complex. As multifaceted individuals, there is a side of you that shows up when you are with your friends, and then there is the one that shines as a parent. There is even a side that pops up at work, but really nowhere else. The characteristic of being multifaceted reminds me a diamond’s surface. With a genuine stone, the surface is brilliant, radiating light as it is turned from side to side. But when the core of the stone is of poor quality or worse, a fake, then even the best cuts in the surface will make it look cheap, flat and dull. The only way to know for sure if what you’ve got is the real deal is to bring it to the light and expose to scrutiny. If life is lived in an authentic way, then the light is welcoming because if gives the opportunity to shine due to its genuine and pure nature. But for those that have so much to hide, those that make a habit of deception, this light exposes the truth about their integrity, authenticity and character.
In survey after survey about leadership, respondents list honesty, integrity and trustworthiness as the most important attributes for leaders. And whether you’re in the boardroom or the breakfast nook at home, your people- your employees, your family, and your friends- are going to expect that the person that is standing in front of them is the real deal. So what about you? Are you the reflecting the light of a high character and integrity, or is your light dulled due to frequent indiscretions and deceit. One of the best gifts you can give to your people this year is a thorough self-examination and a willingness to make tough changes if necessary. This is the year to step into the light… and shine![/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]
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About the Author
Shelli Stinson is the VP of Business Development at WealthBridge Connect. She brings experience from education, sales and marketing as well as project management. Most recently, Shelli was the employee wellness manager at Northern Kentucky University. In this position, she learned how much influence that leadership has on the physical, emotional and mental wellness of employees in the workplace. After graduating from NKU with a Masters degree in Executive Leadership and Organizational Change, she joined WealthBridge Connect. In this new role, she hopes to influence businesses to invest in their employees through comprehensive leadership development initiatives, promoting healthier and more productive workplaces- from the top down and the inside out.
Decision-Making Best Practice 6 – Follow-up Assessments
Decisions, both large and small, define an organization, its culture, its direction, its public image, and ultimately its success or failure. Each decision and the process of making and executing on it provide all those involved with a new experience from which to draw upon when making future selections. Organizations, however, are living things; people come and go, memories fade, and circumstances change. Therefore, in order to fully benefit from the hard won and often expensive experience gained through decision-making, a mechanism must be in place to gather, assess, and then make available these lessons learned.[wcm_restrict plans=”49252, 25542, 25653″]
Principles of Effective Follow-up Assessments
A well defined post-decision assessment process maximizes the amount of insightful knowledge gathered and the effectiveness of imparting that knowledge to other organization leaders. Such a decision assessment process is most effective when it:
- occurs sat a predefined time following the decision; balancing the evaluation team’s ability to assess decision outcomes (longer-term) with ability to gather critical information regarding situational conditions, individual judgments, and decision reasoning before nuanced memories fade (short-term)
- evaluates decision reasoning and actions taken against established expectations
- assesses impacts to the organization’s culture, relationship with key stakeholders (employees, shareholders, government agencies and regulators, suppliers and vendors, and customers), ant public perception
- includes input from all significant decision-making process participants
- reviews the decision-making process; asking questions such as:
- How readily did the organization recognize a decision needed to be made (degree of situational surprise)?
- How were solution options identified and risks assessed?
- Did participants identify all reasonably available options?
- What was the level and quality of contribution by multidiscipline team members?
- Was the speed of decision-making appropriate for the risk involved and the rate of situational evolution?
- Were decision communications clear? Did decision communications reach their intended audience and were they accurately interpreted?
- Were implantation resources, including skilled personnel and material/component/tool resources available and acquired?
- Were follow-up actions implemented as intended?
- Were decision response mechanisms employed and appropriate adjustments made as conditions changed?
- examines the mechanical processes performance including mathematical calculations and decision logic
- determines the degree to which outcomes aligned with decision objectives and if those outcomes resulted from the decision and actions taken or in spite of those actions (the result of circumstances beyond the influence of the organization and/or simple luck)
- is performed by someone or group outside of the decision being assessed but well informed of the decision and trained in the decision-making process and accompanying practices
- documents lessons learned and makes them readily available and easily retrievable
- communicates results, updates processes, and incorporates lessons learned into training programs
Final Thoughts…
Aggregate the lessons learned across decisions made over time to help readily identify programmatic improvement opportunities with the decision-making process and supporting training courses. These assessments can also be used to measure the effectiveness of decision-making training and applications of lessons learned by evaluating whether or not decision errors are repeated.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”49252, 25542, 25653″]
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