One of the greatest casualties of today’s pace of work is thinking.
Many leaders move from meeting to meeting, respond to an endless stream of emails, and race from one deadline to the next. Somewhere along the way, thinking quietly disappears from the calendar.
Everyone walks around with stories about what they can’t do or won’t try. These narratives are usually based on limiting beliefs. Some of these beliefs stem from experiences they had years ago; others are concocted based on false assumptions strung together more recently.
Experienced managers routinely make decisions that are essentially black and white. But have you ever noticed that how you execute those decisions can make a difference in outcome? Think of this as “shades of black”, which is really about nuances. You know that you’re functioning within the realm of black, but which black is it? A couple of my clients have shared concerns about dealing with key vendors due to major changes occurring in the vendors’ companies. One vendor is going through a substantial reorganization, and another has experienced the firing of its most senior officers without any apparent succession plan in place. Both vendors are swimming in chaos. My clients are continuing to do business as they always have, but their situations have been fraught with challenges. Even though they have no control over either situation, they are receiving the residual runoff of their vendors’ discontent and fears. Do you ever long for simpler times when change occurred only occasionally? Do you even remember times like that? Those days are long gone, but strong managers need to know how to deal with tumultuous change for themselves as well as in leading their people. It’s that time of the year where you’re wondering what the heck happened to the year…how did it go by so quickly…. and … how am I going to complete everything that I committed to do in 2023? Well, there are about 80 days left in this year. The biggest challenge is falling into the trap of trying to do everything that you didn’t accomplish all year. If you turn into a whirlwind, you might make a little progress on several things, but may end up feeling dissatisfied because you didn’t get a great result on an important initiative. This topic has come up with clients several times in the past few weeks. For example, one executive who is preparing for retirement wants to hire someone to manage operational issues in the company. He hadn’t thought of this as succession, but that’s exactly what it is. When you hire for succession, you’re not just thinking about hiring a competent person to fill a position. You’re considering a longer-term leader for key positions in your company or department. As a leader, you’re always “on”, whether you want to be or not. Sometimes it seems like everyone is observing your actions and making judgments. And, of course, these judgments are usually made out of context, without full information. This comes with the leadership territory and as such people want to see confidence, decisiveness, and consistency in their leaders. Two months of the year have whooshed away and before too much more time passes, it’s worth taking time to look at what you’ve accomplished so far this year. Are you on track? Are you pacing the way you expected late last year when you finalized your plan for 2023? What has changed and how are you accommodating those changes? CEOs who aspire to spectacular growth have expectations of nothing short of exceptional results from their leaders. They rally these leaders with optimistic views of the future and eyes on the rewards that will be given for achieving KPIs and other metrics. Strong leaders take the nod and push their departments forward with similar focus. The drive for growth is pushed down through the organization where outstanding results are expected consistently.Shades of Black
The Ripple Effect of Change
Transcending Constant Change
The Power of One Strong Goal
Are You Prepared for Succession?
Leadership Decisiveness
Are You Flexibly Working Your Plan?
Did You Miss Your Exit?
