- The Leader's Challenge:
- The First Ninety Days
- by David A. Bratton
- Contents
- Introduction
- How They Did It
- High Performing Leaders -- Their Characteristics
- Behaviour Skills of the High Performing Leader
- High Performing Leaders
- How High Performing Leaders Get Started
- Step One -- Sizing Up the Situation
- Step Two -- Getting To Know the Organization
- Step Three -- SITNA Alternative
- Step Four -- Developing Your Vision
- The Shift
- Most effective leaders have continually faced new challenges in
their careers. As their career has progressed they have moved through a series of more and
more responsible positions to the point where they are among the ranks of the leaders of
Canadian business. Along the way they make an important shift in behaviour from doing
things for others to getting things done by others as they move to positions of
responsibility for leading and directing others.
-
- The trouble is that these leaders are rarely given direction themselves. Instead, they
get an office, a staff and a series of tasks to perform. The usual coping mechanism is to
impose some kind of order on their world. The order is based on everything they've done in
the past because that's where their experience is rooted. They use their past to
structure their future.
The inherent risk in this strategy (and the reason that the
failure rate is so high for new executives) is that they will
continue in the past when new and different behaviours are necessary
for success in a new situation.
The question then becomes "as a new leader how do I break out of
this dilemma, quickly and effectively, during the first few months
in a new assignment?"
Well, the answer lies first in your level of awareness of how others
are perceiving your appointment. For instance, the higher you go the
more visible you become. The people that hired you are looking you
over to find validation from your performance that they made the
right decision.
Your new staff is looking you over to see what kind of leader you'll
prove to be and whether you can live up to your advanced billing!
That includes individuals who may have been in the running for your
position or who may have <b>thought</b> they should have gotten the
job.
The organization at large has heard a lot about your appointment
through rumours, newspaper articles and some limited company
information. So they are interested in your performance as a leader
of the management team.
If you've been brought in from the "outside" (heaven forbid!) the
public, or at least the financial community and your industry
cohorts are keenly interested in whether the organization made the
right choice.
Finally, as you discover more about the situation you've been asked
to fix, you are looking yourself over, wondering whether this was as
good an opportunity as it seemed when you first discussed it.
High profile in the initial stages -- you bet it is!
So who's going to advise you how to get started and what to do in
what order to get off to a good start. The answer, of course, is <i>nobody</i>!
You know that the usual practice is to have a short chat with you,
wish you the best and leave you to sink or swim. Whoever in the
world created that expression anyway? You're not a rock nor a
marathon swimmer. You are a human being trying to exercise that
elusive quality called <i>leadership</i>. So let's get on with it
and try to figure out what to do.
The phenomenon of leadership has been the subject of extensive
research over the last several decades. Two basic dimensions have
been identified, relationship-oriented behaviour, and task-oriented
behaviour. The former dimension, pertaining to more equity and human
relations has been the focus of behavioural science research far
more often than task behaviour or specification of performance
standards. The managerial importance of directing effort in
appropriate directions has been quite overlooked until recent times.
High performing managers, people who in successive positions had
attained outstanding levels of performance have a number of things
in common. One key factor was a common pattern in the way these
executives settled into their jobs -- in determining and
communicating feasible objectives during the so-called "first 90
days".
How They Did It
The first thirty days were characterized by open discussions with
members of the department, by actively listening to various points
of view of problems and opportunities. During this period the high
performing leaders were sizing up the situation and implicitly
building relationships with executives and staff.
The next sixty days were marked by discussions to test out
alternative objectives and plans, assessing feasibility, obstacles
and support. The ninety days usually ended with a radical change in
behaviour, from listening to directing. The direction to employees
came in the form of a thank you for input and assistance followed by
a statement of the objectives for the organization during the next
performance period. From that point on, the achievement of the goal,
with a gradual opening up of relationships as time and goal
achievement went on.
High Performing Leaders -- Their Characteristics
High performing leaders are goal-oriented with an ability to size up
the performance possibilities in a situation, and to communicate a
sense of direction. They have a common ability to manage attention
through vision (objectives) and to communicate that vision in
meaningful ways.
Jack Welch, Chairman of General Electric is a prime example of a
leader who successfully manages through the effective use of vision.
His vision as quoted in GE's annual report is "To be number one or
number two in any business we are in and to take quantum
leaps ahead of our competitors in technology". He subsequently
directed that GE's management development effort be focused on
LEADERSHIP and created the "work out" program to reorganize and
refocus the efforts of GE management.
Fortunately, the high performing leaders of this world have left
their mark. By studying how they tackle each new assignment you can
learn to do what they do. The pay off?
Well, the pay off for you is success and with success comes
confidence and an increase in self-esteem. Better get at it now than
to stumble just as you're getting going.
Behaviour Skills of the High Performing Leader
The traditional, rational leader sets goals and objectives
and manages against them. Policy, rules, order and professional
management skills are the concerns of this kind of leader. This
style works well in stable situations.
The TRANSFORMATIONAL leader is able to set goals and objectives, but
thrives on doing so in a period of active change. Innovation,
risk-taking and problem-solving are the skills that a good
transformational leader exhibits.
High Performing Leaders
Are conventional risk takers.
They approach each situation from an untraditional viewpoint and
give signals that they are different.
They have an ability to bring focus to situations, set an agenda
for action and send signals that "I know the pathway and I'll take
you there".
They use emotion to inspire confidence.
They use inspiration or symbolic management practices "We will be
the leaders in our industry". "We will be number one".
They have learned to use images in public speaking.
They know the importance of putting on events that can get
employees excited about doing something.
They have a remarkable ability to match the needs of the
organization by carefully sizing up the situation and taking bold
steps to improve things.
They personally show a high positive regard for themselves and
almost never worry about the downside.
How High Performing Leaders Get Started
Step One -- Sizing up the Situation
Start out by remembering that your job is not to take
personal responsibility for problems that your direct reports will
bring to you. Remember that your job is to support your people and
hold them accountable for results! Hold on to that thought with all
your might!
Step Two -- Getting to Know the Organization
Step two involves getting to know the people you manage. What better
way than to sit down with them and ask these key questions:
Tell me what you do for this organization. What are the results
of your efforts.
Tell me about the obstacles you face in trying to accomplish your
responsibilities.
Describe for me the ideal state in your mind. That is, if all was
going really well, what would you say?
Notice here that you avoid the trap of being perceived as the most
knowledgeable person. Your intention at this point is to LISTEN
to everyone's point of view. We are an over-verbalized society. To
be successful everyone thinks they must talk, to "tell and sell".
But in your case, you want to listen and learn. The
people that work for you will appreciate the opportunity to be
listened to. They inevitably want to be heard and, in fact, will
have a wealth of insight into how the organization really
works.
Subtly, but surely you will begin to get to know your staff -- their
knowledge, their hopes, their fears and their dreams. That's called
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS and is just as important as gathering
information.
As they begin to open up, their level of trust will increase and
more and more information will come tumbling out. At the same time,
you will be able to gather a sense of the issues and challenges
facing you. You can then begin the next step.
[NOTE. Talk to everyone you can. Peers, subordinates, your boss,
anyone who comes in contact, is serviced by or gives service to your
operation].
Step Three -- SITNA Alternative
You'll hear about every problem large and small. Your challenge is
to "reframe" those problems in terms of the SITNA alternative (Situations
That Need Attention). You can focus on what you are concerned
about, then engage in action planning, with participative
management. The process can turn you into a facilitator of the
procedures by which your subordinates and others participate in
developing plans to improve situations that are or may jeopardize
goal attainment.
Step Four -- Developing Your Vision
Patience in situational analysis is a virtue. But virtue must be
translated into action. Therefore, the next step is to decide for
yourself what you want to happen. Dream a little bit, allow yourself
to speculate on the best outcome for the situation. Then translate
that dream into your personal vision.
Your vision is simply a short statement of what you want. It
comes after listening and gathering information and identifying the
situations that need attention.
The Shift
Now comes the time to shift your behaviour from listening to acting
and more importantly directing the behaviour of others. It
goes something like this:
"I have listened to what everyone has told me. I have sifted it all
out with your help and here's what we are going to do."
Then take your vision and translate it into goals for the
organization. If you want to be the best, articulate what you mean
by best. If you want to raise standards then articulate the new
standards.
From this moment on your personal goal becomes one of focusing
attention on the goal or goals you have articulated. Structure every
situation based on those goals. Develop ways of tracking and
measuring movement toward goal achievement.
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