I'm new to blogging. But, I'm sure I'll learn as we go.
In my humble opinion, leadership is not an enigma. It's all about creating and valuing relationships. Simple enough!
Over the past few years I’ve made the statement that those responsible for overseeing the performance of others within organizations should adopt the thought process whereby we manage resources and lead people. People are not resources.
The organizational leadership transformational process can begin at the frontline level without corporate mandates. And if we expect to make a difference frontline leaders have to accept the fact that there is no one waiting in the wings to save us. We have a passion for developing our staff; we want to help them 1) discover their passion and 2) become innovators and 3) be successful. I'm of the opinion, that leaders find meaning and joy in their ability to make a positive difference in the lives of others. When you succeed, we succeed!
I've already started a grassroots process and I'm looking for other innovative leaders, and associates at every level, who would like to collaborate and contribute to this space in an effort to extend our collective knowledge. We have our work cut out for us. I hope to attract some of the best minds (like yours) in leadership practice across multiple disciplines. We have to move away from theory and into experimentation, implementation, practice and refinement.
Everyone is invited to contribute both questions or comments.
History: The leadership development model started as a school project. I initially conducted a pilot program at IceTown in Riverside for the figure skating academy. The pilot was a success. Thereby, I pioneered a grassroots leadership development effort in October of 2006 within my business unit. These efforts are still underway today. The method I devised incorporated a unified shared leadership development approach consisting of several of my peers and our department director. Given there was no case study for this model we had to take a chance. Within one year the professional growth of staff members was evident, though not easily quantifiable at the time. However, the corporate challenge, as usual, is addressing the impact on profits. As of late, I've been tracking bottom line effort in terms of cost savings or cost avoidance more closely in the hopes that it will help others identify what to look for in the future.
Sidebar: Over the past few months, I've come to realize we (today's leaders) don't have a vocabulary that readily speaks to the 21st century leadership framework of the future. We are still drawing from current management terms. For example, you don't call a really, really fast airplane a "really really fast airplane" you call it a "jet" and people get it. No further explanation necessary. Thereby, if I shared with you the terms I've used to date it would take you down the wrong path. I did come up with one new term; Innovative Hot Spot - where people come together in an impromptu fashion to discuss the latest idea or technology in an effort to further devise its usefulness or feasibility relative to the task at hand. Innovative Hot Spots are easily identifiable by lots of collaboration and positive energy whereby the ideas of all are respected and welcomed. Okay, long example. But, hopefully you get the idea. Please feel free to modify.
Thanks for allowing me to ramble and not expecting perfection!
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Congratulations on your first blog page Gaynell :D Hope you'll meet great leaders & innovators through this channel.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gaynell for sharing your blog with me. Innovation is definitely everyone's responsibility.
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by...looking forward to more of your posts. :)
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Gaynell--you've commented that you've been challenged to measure your success in terms of impact to the bottom line of the organization. I understand that this is a traditional measure of success, but I would challenge you to use a different standard of measure. People don't work solely for money, and neither do corporations. There must be other measures by which you can gauge the program's success (or lack of success). When you are learning a new language, it's tempting to fall back into old speech patterns, but you make more progress when you just dive in and start talking to people who speak the new language.
ReplyDeleteI believe you bring up a great point Bernadette. Success is a multi dimensional term. At many times in the work force I have saved compnanies money but have not felt successful. Also, I maybe haven't saved much money and felt very successful. As leadership develops and evolves possibly success and how it is defined should evolve as well?
ReplyDeleteHow the bottom line is accomplished in my hubble opinion has a great impact upon whether a company is successful or not. How the corporation is viewed both publically and internally should also be considered. I say this because the bottom line isn't the only thing a company needs to make through difficult times. The work force of the company needs to be healthy and intact and they as well as customers will need to believe in the character of the company in order to continue business during times of financial crisis. So, maybe in deciding whether or not programs such as this will affect the bottom line or not corporations would need to look beyond the dollar as Bernadette is suggesting. Thanks Gaynell for always striving forward.
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
ReplyDelete~ Albert Einstein :)
Organizational success depends on how well its' strategy aligns with the demands of the environment and how well it's able to build the capabilities and resources needed to execute this strategy. These capabilities and resources involve processes,infrastructure, people, partners, leadership, governace, organization and culture. The value of this success is reflected in the bottom line.
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ReplyDeleteWow! These are really good comments. Everyone appears to be on the same page. Between the three thoughts I think I see a pattern forming. From Nick’s comment, if the organization has not expressed its strategic intent then any measurements would be difficult. From Mark’s comment, personal satisfaction and profits don’t necessarily align. From Bernadette, perhaps it would be best to blaze a new trail, come up with new critical success factors more relevant for our 21st century business environment that seeks to focus on the triple bottom line and not just profits. From Pam, well let’s just say I’m surprised. But, I definitely get your point.
ReplyDeleteChallenge: So, let’s say there is no (published) strategic frontline leadership development initiative in place and you had to measure the level of creativity and passion you bring to work each day. What visible signs would others witness in you that they could directly tie to your personal growth and success? Would these signs be different for everyone or would there be a common group theme? How, is your work environment different from others who just show up and do what they are told (no imagination, creativity, passion, etc.)?
I agree that there will be an overriding impact to the bottom line. But, in the end that gets meshed up into a more aggregate number and your individual efforts may have gone unnoticed if we can’t identify what 21st century leaders need to consider and/or be on the lookout for. Initially this may not equate to a hard core dollar value. But, something is different and something is better, but how do you define it.
People's perceptions are influenced by various factors such as culture, values, personal bias, prejudice, frame of mind and reference, etc. Hence, what's important to one person may not necessarily be to another. People are unpredictable, complex and emotional beings. They are sometimes driven by emotions rather than facts and logics. It is therefore important to have an objective measurement of success rather than a subjective one.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to add to my previous blog that tools such as EPDS are good for measuring success and accomplishments objectively. Other ways of measuring individual success include job position, education and income level, etc.
ReplyDelete-"All humans are good willed people."
There are many ideas on what constitutes or defines a great leader. None of these ideas are wrong or right. The qualities, traits or characteristics that one associates with great leadership are based on the individual's life experiences, culture, beliefs and value system. One person may define so and so as a great leader, but another may not necessary agree. Hence, great leadership comes down to the fact that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Now the question is what constitutes leadership beauty? In simple terms, leadership beauty is the values that the followers obtained or are obtaining from the leader. A follower may see a leader as "ugly" or "bad" if the follower is not obtaining any value from a leader or if the negative values that the follower obtained, or is obtaining, from the leader outweighs the positive values and vice versa. Since everyone's values are different, a great leader must, therefore, strive to understand each of his/her followers and their needs. He/she must treat his/her followers on a case by case basis, providing values and meeting their individual needs, whatever it may be. Maslow Hierarchy Needs (Self-actualization, Esteem, Love/belonging, Safety and Physiological) can be used as a guide to understanding each follower’s needs. However, it’s sometimes difficult to understand and meet the needs (or all the needs) of everyone, especially in a large group setting. In addition, leaders must create a balance between conflicting needs of his followers in the face of scarce resources. At any rate, the higher the understanding and the meeting of each follower’s needs, the higher the rating of the leader.
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