2-20-10 Tiger and His Apology

We all saw Tiger Woods apologize today. I know, some of you don’t care, but the fact is, it DOES matter to many people. For me, I’ve always felt that it was none of my business what he (or any other public figure) does in his personal life. But….. There all things that we, as executives, can learn from his debacle. Some of which I’ve mentioned here before, but all of which bear repeating.

First, apologize when you hurt someone. Fortunately, most of us won’t ever have to do it in front of the cameras like Tiger just did. But the fact is, there will be times in our lives that we have to apologize for our behavior. Part of the apology is making sure that you clearly take the blame --- and not shifting it to others. Tiger was perhaps a bit late with his apology (at least in public). Apologies are always better served early rather that late.

Second, no one is entitled to anything. Let me repeat that, we ARE NOT entitled to anything (1-25-10 Shoulda Told Me #5). Tiger admitted that he had gone beyond playing by the rules, feeling that he was entitled to live the life he had created. He is certainly paying the price now. Granted, most people don’t always play by the rules. Yep, I’m guilty of that too. The difference is that successful executives are VERY careful as to which rules they flout. And, they work diligently to change the rules that are stupid, or useless, or outdated.

Third, your private life is never quite as private as you think it is. For Tiger and for many executives there is a constant blurring of the line between private and public lives. There is a very fine line between the two (2-10-10 A Fine Line), where your personal or private life will ultimately reflect on your public life.

As a corollary, I have been impressed by Tiger’s attempt to shield his family from the public glare. He is absolutely right, his wife and kids shouldn’t have to suffer the public scrutiny because of his mistakes or even because of his success. For the executive, how many of you have drug your spouse to events because “it must be done”? Sure, there are times when our families need to participate in our professional lives. But remember, your career is your choice, not theirs.

Fourth, Tiger demonstrated that it is okay to get help. Whether it is a professional, structured program or friends or your pastor or your spouse, it doesn’t matter. What matters is reaching out to someone that can give you perspective and, if necessary, the whack upside the head. (2-8-10 Shoulda Told Me #6).

Fifth, Tiger talked about seeking balance in his life, between the public, the private, the spiritual, etc. As a public figure or as an executive, this is a difficult task to do. But with balance between our jobs, our home, our church, our volunteerism, our school, etc., we will truly are better people to be around. (2-17-10 Balance)

And finally, you have to have a plan for the future. This is especially true for when you make a mistake. Perhaps Tiger was a little thin on his future plans in today’s press conference, but you could see the beginnings of his plan. And even when we aren’t working off a mistake, a vision/plan is still critical. As I’ve mentioned before, the skills related to setting a vision are the exclusive purview of the executive (1-8-10 I Have a Dream). This is not something that you can delegate to anyone else. And, having a plan applies in your personal life as well as your professional life.

Cheers!

2-15-10 The President

Happy President’s Day! This holiday has me pondering the whole idea of being a president. I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to be the President of the United States. And if I separate the policies from the person, I’ve always admired those folks that actually have the fortitude to be the President.

And while most of us will never be the President of the United States, or a president of a company, or even a president of a local special interest group (think president of the knitting circle) --- there are things that we can all learn by watching these presidents. And I’m NOT talking politics here!

If you go back to my model of executive skills and traits (12-30-09 Morphing to a Model), you can see that any of these presidential position holders exhibit most, if not all, of these skills and traits. But today, some stand out in my mind.

First, in order to become a president, you have to set a vision for whatever organization or group you want to lead (1-8-10 I Have a Dream). Our presidential campaigns do a great job of giving the candidates the opportunity to lay out this vision. (Even though we all get REALLY tired of the campaign by the time elections finally roll around!) For the president in the corporate world, setting the vision is probably the most important function that this particular executive will perform.

Second, the president is ALWAYS under the microscope or in the glare of the media (2-10-10 A Fine Line). As a president of a nation or even a president of a company, you can never separate your personal life from your public life. You are always “on”. No doubt that this can be wearing to the individual. But, in the case of our President, it is a choice that he has made…. And has to deal with.

Third, when you are president, everyone is a critic and an expert on your job. You have to work with supporters and detractors. You can’t ignore either of them as both sides are required to make your vision come true. You must have a network that you can go to in order to put the policies and decisions in place. As president, you aren’t the “doer” of the organization or the nation. The executive execution skills are critical here (1-13-10 Execution Skills -- Now go DO something!) as are the networking skills (1-4-10 Let’s Talk).

And finally, as president of anything, don’t expect immediate satisfaction. It isn’t like being the mechanic that builds a 737 every 6 hours. The president of an organization can’t expect to see results in the short-term. He/she can only be persistent (1-18-10 Executive Traits) and follow his/her vision. And if fortunate, will see the results by the end of his/her term.

So while most of us will never be a president, we can definitely learn something from observing the President of the United States, the president of a company, or even the president of our homeowner’s association. And even better, we can take those learnings and apply it to our own executive position.

Cheers!

1-20-10 Questions, Questions……

Okay, now you have seen the whole model that I developed for Executive Skills and Traits.

I’ve talked about the executive functions related to communication, people, vision, and execution --- as well as the skills needed for each. I’ve also chatted about the executive traits show in the model.

If you would like to re-look at each of the posts, here are some links.

12-30-09 Morphing to a Model
1-4-10 Let’s Talk
1-6-10 People…. Yep ya gotta have some skills
1-8-10 I have a dream
1-13-10 Execution Skills -- Now go DO something!
1-18-10 Executive Traits

So now, I would love to hear from you…

1. Did anything in the model strike a chord with you?
2. How does this model fit with your industry?
3. If you are currently an executive, how does this fit with what you experienced?
4. If you are an aspiring executive, what is the “scariest” part of the model?
5. If you are an observer of the corporate life, what do you think?

Let the conversation begin……..

Cheers!

I Have A Dream

Okay, so that probably isn’t the intended use of Dr. King’s famous words….. But you can’t deny that he was a man that could create and present a vision/strategy, right?

We can’t all be the visionary that Dr. King was, but my research shows that there are some specific skills related to the vision function that are critical to the new executive. That skill set includes: understand the big picture; create vision, mission, and strategy; and develop shared values.

In order the create the vision for his/her organization, the executive must have the skill to understand the big picture. Just how wide this picture is will depend on the organization, the company, the industry, and even the larger environment. In some instances, understanding the big picture might mean knowing how the executive’s area of responsibility fits within the larger organization. Or in other cases, the executive must know how the larger organization fits into the environment in which it operates. So the skill is not just understanding the bigger picture, but also understanding the context in which the picture must be viewed.

As for the creation of vision, mission, and strategy….. Well, the new executive should have the skill to move from the tactical, day-to-day operating environment to a more strategic, long-term view. As much as we would all like to believe (and I know that I’ve said) that the executive should stay out of the “doing” of the organization, it just doesn’t always work that way in real life. The fact is, even though you are an executive, you WILL get drawn into the “doings of the organization”. That’s okay, with two caveats. First, you have to know when to back away from the “doing” and let someone else take the lead. And second, you have to be able to fluidly switch from the “doing” to the “planning”. That is often easier said that done.

Beyond this, the new executive should have the skill to create a vision, mission, and strategy for the organization. This also means leading the effort to convert the strategy into the tactics for achieving it. It also means bringing the communication skills we’ve previously discussed to bear. Dr. King was a fine example of “selling” the vision to the people that needed to buy-in --- the people that would execute the vision.

There is also the skill of creating shared values within the organization. This is ultimately derived from setting the strategy and then communicating, as well as empowering people to achieve the goals. The thinking here is that through the common group effort, shared values begin to emerge and, over time, are solidified.

One other note from the survey…… my participants were clear about the fact that the skills related to the vision function are the exclusive purview of the executive. You should never, and I mean never, delegate the setting of the vision, mission, and strategy. Yes, you can get your people involved in the research that goes along with devising a strategy. And yes, you should get their input on it. And yes, they will be the primary doers of the tasks to achieve it. But, you are the boss. You set the direction.

Dr. King had this function nailed. He created a beautiful vision. He took a long-term view. He understood how this vision fit within the larger environment. And he created some powerful shared values. A pretty darned good leader to emulate.

Cheers!

Morphing to a Model

After all the reading, surveying, analyzing, extrapolating, synthesizing, etc….. then what? Well the next step was to use the results of all this activity to update the conceptual model into a final model of executive skills and traits for use by new or aspiring executives.

If you will remember, the original conceptual model looked like this.

I took each of the functions and updated them, based on the results of my research.

The important communications skills for the new executive include: listen, network, and speak. The skill of establishing interpersonal relationships is combined into networking, as the participants tended to use these terms interchangeably. The skill of written communication is dropped from the model, as it is clear for this population that in-person communication skills are most needed by the new executive. This is perhaps influenced by the tendency of this group to debate and discuss as a prelude to decision-making. So now, this section of the model looks as follows.

For the people skills, the ability to hire and retain people is significantly less important than the other personnel-related skills, and so is eliminated from the model. Keep in mind, that isn’t unusual for the aerospace industry, particularly in downturns. This executive team was clearly focused on the team that they already have in place. If this survey had been conducted during an up-cycle in the industry, I’ve no doubt that the results relative to hiring would have been significantly different. So now, the people skills become as follows.

Within the vision skills portion of the model, the overwhelming (indeed, almost unanimous) response was for the skill of understanding the big picture. However, this didn’t seem to preclude the other vision skills. It did lead me to understand that the remaining skills weren’t as “crisply” defined as possible. The survey comments show that the new executive must be able to transition from a tactical view of the business to a more strategic view of the business. As one executive said, “setting the vision for the future”. Additionally, it was clear that this group of execs believe that a new executive needs to not only have the skills to set the strategy, but also to communicate and even “market” the strategy to get buy-in from the rest of the organization. As a result, the vision skills portion of the model looks as follows.

The execution function portion of the conceptual model provided the greatest number of individual skills, all important to this group of execs to one degree or another.

As a result of their input, the managing change skill is combined with the ability to deal with ambiguity. Also combined were the skills related to dealing with fragmentation and working at a fast pace. One participant observed that the business world moves at a rapid pace and doesn’t always throw information or even problems in a linear, logical fashion. As such, the executive must be able to keep up as he/she moves from fragment to fragment of information.

And finally, as a result of the survey input, the skill of delegation was added to the model. This is especially critical for the new executive. By delegating the day-to-day activities, the new executive no longer participates as closely in the latest “fire fight”…. he/she instead is forced to think in a more long-term, strategic manner.

As a result of these changes, the execution skills portion of the model now appears as follows.

And finally, the executive personal traits. Most of the original list clearly resonated with the survey participants. There was near unanimous support for the honest, ethical, and credible trait. This is likely due to the Midwestern location of this organization and its associated Midwestern conservative values. It was interesting to note that while the participants felt strongly about ethics and honesty; they were, at best, lukewarm about the need for the executive to be empathetic and nice. As such, that trait is dropped from the model. The final portion of the model, executive traits, is shown below. They are listed in priority order.

Bringing it all together, the final Executive Skills and Traits model is shown below.

Of course, I have a few more things to say about this model. Next time, a further discussion of the final model.

Cheers!