Servant Leadership: It’s not for the Faint of Heart

Today we have a guest blog from Shannon Bruce:

As business evolves and change accelerates, developing as a servant leader is vital. Servant leadership is a distinguishing factor among high performing organizations that engage cohesive and collaborative teams that leave a lasting impact, not only in productivity and profitability, but also in the way they engage and serve those they influence, both within and outside of the organization.

So what is servant leadership and what does it take to become one?

While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in “The Servant as Leader”, an essay that he first published in 1970. Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world. For more information about the essay and Robert Greenleaf’s concept,  click HERE.

In my role as an Executive Coach and Group Leader for Excell Puget Sound Kitsap, I have the opportunity to meet with Executives and CEO’s regularly. In building our group, I am seeking those who are life-long learners committed to growing and developing companies that are successful in both relationships and results. In essence, I’m looking for servant leaders who recognize the value of humility and acknowledge that receiving support and accountability from a group of like-minded peers isn’t considered weak, but is actually a sign of strength.

I had the privilege of meeting this type of leader this week. Bruce MacDonald, President and COO of Applied TechnicalSystems models servant leadership from the moment you meet him. He is a man of high integrity, warmth and humility who gets results. Leaders in his company have high regard for him, and as I network in the community, he has been recommended as a person to meet by several other leaders in Kitsap County. Bruce has made a life-long commitment to developing his skill set in this area and during our inspiring conversation, he shared the following insight with me and has given me permission to share these tips with you. This list will help you decide where your opportunities for growth are as you develop as a servant leader:

Eight Things Those You Are Privileged To Lead Have a Right to Expect From You

• To know your character.  If I follow you, will I know who you really are?  Will you deal with me with integrity?
• That you’ll take the time to explain your vision.  What’s the future and where do I fit?  Is there a place for me or will you simply “use” me?
• To never be left in isolation.  Will you be there for me?  Will you care for me?  Will you care about my needs?
• To be heard.  To whom will you listen?  When you’re busy and overloaded, will I still be heard, taken seriously and appreciated?
• To be trusted.  Can I take initiative without fear?  Will my ideas be rewarded and encouraged or will I be regarded with suspicion and distanced?
• To be given an opportunity to grow.  Will I be encouraged to be a lifelong learner?  Will my gifts be increasingly identified and expressed?  Will I be developed?
• To be held accountable.  Will I be fairly evaluated for my performance?  Will I be held to the highest standards for my life?  Will you show me how to do it better and be patient while I learn and self-correct?
• To be the object of grace.  Will I be forgiven even in the face of shortcomings, inadequacies and failure?  Will I be lead with kindness?

That’s What Followers Have a Right to Expect of You – So Don’t Let Them Down!

Servant leadership is not for the faint of heart as the list of expectations above indicate. It requires a willingness to be transparent and to take risks, to have empathy and curiosity and to communicate openly and consistently.

How would you rate yourself as a servant leader on a scale of 1 – 10, with “1” being not at all to “10” being I regularly and consistently show up as a servant leader each and every day without exception? What action will you take to develop your skills as a servant leader? And who will hold you accountable?

SHANNON BRUCE

Shannon Bruce, PCC is a Professional Certified Coach and current President and CEO of StoryBridge, Inc. of Kitsap County. She has been in the professional coaching industry for over 11 years working in many capacities as an Executive and Leadership Coach, Team Coach, Facilitator and Trainer. Her diverse background also includes 13 years as a CPA with Ernst & Young, Corporate & Regional Operations Management in the wholesale distribution field, and entrepreneurship launching multiple business start-ups.

Shannon considers herself a Catalyst for Culture Change who is an “out-of-the-box” thinker looking for new and life-giving ways to enhance business results and team relationships. With her corporate background and coach training, Shannon understands the needs of both “people” and “profit” to help companies produce more with less. Her true passion & mission is “going into companies” to “create communities”.

Living in Bremerton, WA with her 13-year old daughter, Shannon enjoys quality time with family and friends in addition to reading, exercising and hiking.

Creating the Hero Experience

Today we have a guest blog from Earl Bell:

While coaching Little League baseball during May of 2006, a nine year old boy taught me a very memorable lesson about the power of creating a hero experience.  On our first day of practice, I asked each player to write down what they wanted to accomplish by the end of season.  Most answers were fairly predictable; i.e. they wanted to pitch in a game, learn how to hit a baseball, etc…. but one boy wrote down; “I want to be a hero!” 

Now that was interesting…  I asked this boy what being a hero meant and he replied…  “To get a game winning hit and have everyone cheering for me!”  That’s simple, right?

Well, nearly three months later, this young boy hadn’t gotten a single hit in game.  Most ball players would have been discouraged and want to quit.  Instead, this young boy showed up each day with a smile on his face, simply glad to be playing ball with his friends and I really enjoyed having him on the team.  Fast forward to the first game of the post-season playoffs and during the top half of the last inning, our team was down by one run but had runners on 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd base with two out. Guess who comes up to bat?  Yep, you couldn’t have written a better script.

I called a time-out and walked over to home plate to ask this boy if he knew what time it was?  With a slight smirk he replied, “7:15 pm and time for a pinch-hitter?”  I said, “Nope – it’s time for you to be a hero - and it is totally going to happen, because I believe in you…“ With a whisper, I reminded him of his pre-season goal and then said, “This is your time!”  With a look of determination and an impish smile, an amazing thing happened when our little hero cranked the ball, and I mean hard, deep into left field.  When the dust settled, our hero was on 3^rd base, having driven in three runs.  Everyone was going crazy (even the other team) and the smile on this young boy’s face (and his parent’s faces too) could have lit up the sky at that very moment…  Well, guess who signed up to play baseball next year with a couple of friends?  Yep, you’re right!  So what does this have to do with business?  In a word, “EVERYTHING!”

Imagine building a business where a key business strategy was to create heroes.  Customers become repeat buyers and your advocates when they realize their hero experience (whatever that might be in delivering your product or service.)  If you aren’t creating hero experiences for customers, is this acceptable to you or instead a big business problem?

So here are my questions for you…. “What percentage of your customers or clients would say that you deliver the hero experience to them?”  If you do not know the answer, my question to you is, “why don’t you ask? What’s the harm?  My guess is that you’ll learn a few things along the way, and you’ll be glad you did…

EARL BELL

EARL BELL is the author of, Winning in Baseball and Business, Transforming Little League Principles into Major League Profits for Your Company, which provides a roadmap to success for leaders that desire to build thriving companies in a very competitive 21^stcentury business environment.  Earl believes that “everything you need to know about business, leadership and team building can be learned from Little League baseball.”

Earl conducts workshops, coaches and consults with owners, business leaders and their teams, teaching them how to dramatically reduce the time it takes to improve profitability, customer experience, employee engagement and company value, while simultaneously increasing discretionary time and reducing both stress/employee burnout.  He believes the secret to winning in baseball, business and life can be summarized in a simple formula:  Winning = Service + Humility. His motto is that Winning in Business is a Team Sport!

Earl has served in the Chief Financial Officer role for numerous companies throughout North America. His personal passion is youth sports and he has coached 28 teams since 2002.  Earl is a CPA, graduated from SU (Seattle University) with a BA in Accounting and from the MILL (Mercer Island Little League) with a Master’s in Youth Baseball.

Earl Bell can be reached at  earl@earlbell.com and 206-420-5946

Training do it yourself or find good training vendors

This past week, a client and I were talking about “buying” and/or “building” his management team.  My experience is that training is not a strength for small companies (revenues of less than $250M). 

It is not a strength because it is not a high priority and resources for in-house training would represent too large a percentage of gross revenues.  It is questionable if it should be a high priority.  There are some necessary skills and tools that a small company requires on a part time basis and this is where training budgets for small companies should be focused. 

Time after time, I sit with CEOs and business owners who believe in investing in employee training, even training and adding resources for their managers, and yet only focus on technical/tactical skills. If your company is growing, I can say with some certainty that the way you do what you do now is, at some point, going to need to change.  How will your staff know when to change systems and processes? What are their strengths and weaknesses as people/managers?  How will they improve in these areas? 

Some CEO’s, that I meet, tell me about how they do nothing regular, consistent and frequent about growing their own skills, tools and capabilities.  In practically the same breath, the very same CEO’s have said that their employees aren’t ready for where their company is heading.  I usually ask if they are ready and they tell me they are. 

Unfortunately, they often are the reason their company gets stuck and does not grow to the next stage because they think that their job/role is not changing, even though they realize that everyone else’s role is, or should be.  Most Business owners/Executives believe that their company is a pyramid, not a bad metaphor. 

The Business Owner/CEO sees themselves sitting at the top of the pyramid, their direct reports (management team) sit below them and the “worker bees” complete the lowest and largest segment of the pyramid. 

When their business grows, they think that the bottom of the pyramid gets larger (more workers but the upper part does not get wider/bigger or that the total of the pyramid grows upward larger/higher). 

Many of the problems that businesses have in scaling, comes from this view. It does not take in to account increasing complexity/size of the total organization and does not include demands on the upper and top of the pyramid.  

What really happens?  Using the ‘pyramid’ metaphor, the two upright walls of the pyramid grow out and up (think larger structure everywhere: base, sides and height).  When it grows, the business does have a larger base of workers. What is significant is that the business grows up as well as out.  It becomes more complex and it demands a more talented, trained and professional management staff and CEO/Owner. 

As a business grows, it not only needs more line workers, it grows in complexity.  It must create/use more complex and robust process tools and the management, including the CEO, must grow their skills, sharpen and add management tools and expand their abilities to address the increased complexity.  

So, if you want to get to or stay at the top of your game.... how will you invest in your skills to lead, communicate, strategize and execute on more complex levels?  What do you do to invest in yourself? 

If you have grown and run companies that are much larger and more complex then your present company, perhaps you can devote yourself to training staff in-house.  On the other hand, if you spend too much of your time on this valuable activity, when are you going to run your company? 

The dilemma is a fairly easy one for me to answer, as an executive, one of my roles is to mentor, coach and teach people who report to me.  My role as mentor/coach is focused and limited and not a substitute for an intensive focused program.  I am always learning and want to continue growing professionally.  To continue my professional growth, I undertake a number of activities, which include being coached (challenged and supported). 

 I have yet to work in a company that has the resources to provide high level executive development programs, so I look for programs and opportunities to strengthen my skills, acquire new ones and expand my repetoire.  At the same time, I urge and challenge my reports to do the same. 

What are your favorite ways to make sure you grow professionally? 

Is Your High Performing Employee More Trouble Than He or She is Worth? 10 Questions To Help You Evaluate

Today we have a guest blog from Lauren Owen:

As leaders, we want and need employees who bring talent and drive to their jobs. Yet sometimes it is these very same traits that can lead to a lot of time and energy spent dealing with the conflict they create with other employees.  Worse yet, their behavior can damage your company's reputation, lose clients and drive away valuable employees.

The classic example is the super talented, uber-competitive sales person who has the "win at all cost" attitude and uses it to win, and win constantly. Your challenges as his leader range from on-going friction and resentment among colleagues because he doesn't "play nice" or blows off deadlines for projects he feels are not a part of his job, to him cutting corners around compliance or regulatory issues that can legally expose your entire company.

The star player gets results for sure, but at what cost?  Is the trouble she creates worth it to you and your company? There are no easy answers here, but I offer a few questions to ask yourself:

1. If this person is in sales or account management, do you find yourself wondering who "owns" the relationship? In other words, if this person left would your clients go with her? 
2. Do you have a non-compete in place that provides legal protection if he left? If he holds technical or propriety knowledge, do you have a non-disclosure in place? 
3. If he's a sales person, how would you rate your relationship with his customers? Excellent? Good? Poor? Or non-existent? 
4. Is the conflict with other employees due to the high performer's own high standards? Are these standards that should be emulated and upheld by others? Is it "truth-telling" for the good of the company? 
5. Or, is the behavior really bullying? Is the conflict due to behaviors that ignore or flaunt company values and culture?
6. Do you know or do you suspect that you have lost other good employees because of this high performer?
7. Do you find yourself with a gut feeling that you are being "held hostage" by this person?
8.  Do often wonder what would happen to the company if she left? Are you afraid that no one could do the high performer's job? 
9. Are you not doing anything about the conflict and other incidences because you fear conflict and/or do not want to "rock the boat"? 
10. If you had the choice whether or not to hire this person again, what would you do? 

A wise person once said, most people don't do anything about a situation until they are unhappy about it least half of the time. If you are you at that half-way point, or better yet, well before it, I invite you to ask yourself these tough questions, listen to your gut, and test your thoughts and feelings with your trusted advisors.

LAUREN OWEN:

Lauren Owen, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching

Lauren works with businesses leaders who want to develop and execute succession plans, sharpen their business practices, strengthen their leadership, and create long-lasting value in their businesses. She is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Leadership Coach. She is also a leader of the Excell Puget Sound Southend Group.

(206) 427-2856, (253) 245.3518

lauren@redpointcoaching.com

www.redpointcoaching.com

Failure to Launch: 5 Reasons Product Launches Fizzle

Today we have a guest blog from Elizabeth Andreini:

Are you one of the many companies that have recently released new or enhanced products or services or are preparing to launch new offerings later this year? Recently, I was talking to a company getting ready to release several new products this fall using a product launch plan (their first ever!), I thought it might be timely to highlight five common reasons product launches fail and how to avoid that fate. Hopefully you won’t fall prey to any of these!

5 Reasons Product Launches Fail and Products Don’t Sell

1.    “It’s a Can’t Miss ‘Cutting Edge’ Product/Service!”
Sometimes a great idea (based on anecdotes from a key sales person or executive) gets turned into a product offering before the company identifies a market that really needs or wants it – and finds out after the fact there is little interest and no real market. Another issue may be that the product offering is not a high need or want product. It could be a “nice to have” offering that there is no urgency to buy. Prospects can use substitutes or “do nothing” as an easy alternative. Make sure there is a clearly identified market and prospects have a reason to buy (and buy now). Define the “complete” product offering – including services needed – before you release to the marketplace.

2.    “We Have to Release on Time!”
We all work to deadlines. Sometimes as a deadline gets closer we realize that a product or service offering isn’t ready. At the last minute shortcuts get made and things get cut – or moved into “Phase 2.” Getting to market on time is only critical if key features or capabilities are ready, otherwise prospects won’t be interested. Alternatively a company may make the target launch date but the product offering is not completely ready (and is released anyway). The company likely knows the offering isn’t market ready and isn’t fully committed to its success. Quality issues slow purchase and will result in even more problems including longer term damage to the company’s reputation. Be precise in defining what has to be in a product or service and clarify what key benefits/capabilities have to be ready – and if it isn’t ready don’t launch it. Validate the final offering against the initial requirements, communicating early on if there are any discrepancies.

3.    “Ta Da!”
The product is done and “released.” Or at least it is available for sale, but no one is ready. The company works in silos and manufacturing, sales and customer service are not in sync. Employees within the company are not trained and ready to sell and support the product. The market, and competitors, figure that out fast. Put together a cross-disciplinary launch team and ensure that all parts of the company are “Go!” before launching. Every part of the company needs to be fully trained and ready to support the product when it launches.

4.    “I Didn’t Know You Had…”
Have you ever heard a customer say, “Oh, I didn’t know you had [blank].” If you don’t effectively and repeatedly communicate to the market and prospects - as well as current customers - they may not even realize you have a new product offering until after their budget is spent. They can’t buy what they don’t know about. Have a marketing plan in pace that covers communication to all key audiences internally and externally. Communicate to all audiences that a product is coming, again when it is released and finally again after the launch.

5.    “It’s Complicated.”
Got sales training? The company gives the sales team information on the new product it is launching, but the product doesn’t get sold. What happened? Maybe the sales team doesn’t have enough information or the product offering seems too complicated which could result in lots of questions that a sales person doesn’t have the answers to. Maybe the sales person doesn’t fully understand the information provided during training. A sales person might not admit that they wouldn’t sell a product because of all the questions prospects ask, which could slow down the sale of other products. Make sure the sales team is fully ready and practiced. Quota and track sales of the new product to catch sales problems early.

Consider these questions to help make sure your product launch is successful:

1. When new products are being considered, are clearly defined market needs documented, target audiences defined and a competitive analysis conducted? Are feature and benefit priorities clearly understood so the company can make accurate decisions on when the product offering is really ready to launch?
2.  Do you have the value proposition & market offering defined so that you know you are offering a “complete product” that resonates with prospects’ needs and wants?
3. Does your company have a coordinated rollout process across departments so that when a product or service offering launches all groups are ready and fully trained to sell and support it?
4. Has a communication plan been created that provides information on the new product, its benefits and pricing, to internal stakeholders as well as external audiences, including prospects in the target market as well as customers?

ELIZABETH ANDREINI

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the "secret weapon" CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and product management to grow their customer base, increase revenue & scale their business.  In addition to providing experienced executive insight and guidance, Elizabeth often works as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed tore architect marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.  

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC Accelerate Marketing, LLC
206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com
www.accelerate-marketing.com
Twitter: @acceler8mkting
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini

WHEN IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE AWARE – Taking on a new role or growing your employees

Most of us live in a world where we go unconscious from time to time.  Usually this happens out of habit or in to fear when something is new.  When we go unconscious, I mean that we do something without being aware of what we are doing…. Breathing is usually an automatic act and that’s a good thing.  Sometimes we go unconscious from boredom… (driven that stretch hundreds of times) and that may not be a good thing.   

Today, let’s talk about when it is important to be aware. In my role with Excell Puget Sound, I work with a lot of business owners.  They have usually started their companies or grown up in them, as family owned businesses. 

There are some roles, skills and ways they do things that are second nature.  You have those too.... things you do that you just don’t have to think about.  If you play golf and you are thinking about everything you do, my crystal ball says, “You are having a lousy round of golf!”

So choosing when to be aware, conscious and think about something is ultimately important.  The golf course is a bad place to try and practice. However, time at the driving range, doing exercises, thinking about what needs to be changed, modified and corrected can be very profitable time spent.  You get the idea... pick and choose when you are on automatic. 

I just watched a CEO with one of her reports.  She is really knowledgeable and good at what she does.  In this case, she was in a hurry.  By the time the conversation was finished, I noticed that the employee looked frustrated and had lost eye contact.  As good as this CEO is at reading people, she was unaware that the interchange had ended negatively.  

Here was a prime teaching opportunity lost.  The employee (I ran in to her later) told me she felt more dependent because of the directions received (translate that in to less satisfied with her job and less engaged in taking initiative).  This was a time that the CEO should have made a decision to be present, ask lots of questions and challenge the employee to come up with several solutions and recommend a course of action from one of them. 

Can you always take time? No.  If you can’t tell your employee that you either want to address the issue later or that because of time constraints, you are making a decision. At ExcellPugetSound we urge business owners to be clear about when and where you are teaching, or not.  If you are constrained, then  communicate what the impact is of tight time and do it before you “fix” a problem. 

Do you have redo’s in your company?  Do they include teaching moments and professional development?  I later suggested to the CEO that she ask the employee to raise the issue again at their weekly staff meeting and allow everyone to weigh in.  What are your techniques for getting a redo? 

Creating the future

 “Don’t worry about what anybody else is going to do….The best way to predict the future is to invent it!”, Alan Kay

How much time do you spend thinking about how to disrupt your industry?  What would it take to stand everything on its head? 

All my clients tend to enjoy what they make/sell/do. About 25% of them are thinking about how to change how people buy/use/experience what they do.  These 25% spend more time dreaming, more time looking around corners and more time focused on improving every aspect of their company. 

These are the business owners who are predicting the future by inventing it.  If you want to be one of them, here are some specific and simple activities that will increase your chances for inventing the future you desire: 

1.    Vision: The more clarity you have and the better you are able describe to others what that vision looks, feels and sounds like, the better

2.    Desire:  If you don’t want it (whatever the “it” is) it is unlikely you will get it

3.    Commitment:  What will it take to achieve your dream goal? 

If you are still ready for more, then do these:

4.    Learn to be disciplined (I did not say easy… I said simple)

5.    Learn to be curious

6.    Learn to be resilient

Alan Kay accomplished a great deal in his professional life.  So can you.  Being a Member in an Excell Group is not a sit back and be filled up classroom.  It is tough work.  Cheers to all those who take on this kind of work.  What have you found creates your desired future?