3-29-10 Tornado!

As I type this, the tornado sirens are going off. Yes, I live smack in the middle of tornado alley. And no, there is not a tornado on the way. Every Monday at noon (weather permitting, of course), the tornado sirens sound off all over our community (and in many of the businesses as well). Why? Well, what good is an emergency system that doesn’t work when you need it? So, each week, we test our system to ensure that it works properly.

So what the heck does a tornado siren have to do with the executive? Emergency preparedness is something that every executive should give some thought to. I realize in my last post about disaster preparedness, I didn’t do a very good job of tying it to the model for executive skills and traits (3-1-10 Earthquakes and Such). And, if you will remember from the executive skills and traits model, within the execution function, there are several relevant skills….. Manage change and ambiguity; Manage fragmentation and rapid pace; Delegation (1-13-10 Execution Skills -- Now go DO something!).

Certainly, in a disaster, you will be managing at a very rapid pace. As the disaster unfolds, you will feel as though you need to be many places at once. And while you can accomplish a lot on your own, you definitely need to have done some prior delegation so that others on your team are effectively executing their part of the plan.

The information you will be getting is going to undoubtedly be fragmented and oftentimes, will be ambiguous. You can’t wait to have perfect data in a disaster. But you can take a moment to do an internal evaluation of the pieces of data. Tuck away those datum that your gut or your brain tells you aren’t relevant for the moment. And then act on the data that you believe is relevant.

Ultimately, in a disaster mode, you are managing change. If you have done your preparations, the change won’t be easy, but it can be manageable.

Of course, many of the other executive skills and traits will come into play as your particular disaster unfolds. You will be called on to communicate both internally and externally. Your people skills will be tested. And your strategy skills, if you have taken the time to put together a disaster recovery strategy, will certainly be demonstrated.

One final word on disaster preparedness and recovery. As I said in my previous post on the subject, you WILL have to deal will a disaster sooner or later. In addition to having a plan or strategy, you have to practice. Remember those fire drills in school? Well, yes, they were important. So important, that you should have translated that practice to your business.

And to answer your question….. Yes, I’ve lived all my life in Kansas. And no, I’ve never seen a tornado on the ground. But, yes, I’ve dealt with the aftermath of one at work. It isn’t fun. But it is survivable.

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!

Participant Observations (or the inside skinny)

If you have been reading along with me, by now you know why I did the research, background for the research, what the research was, and some preliminary results. Today, I’ll take a look at some general observations made by the participants.

The participant observations came as I was analyzing the data by demographic category. For example, within the execution function, the only intersection of agreement between males and females was the ability to be decisive. As related by one executive, “many/most times decisions are elevated due to lack of a clear-cut ‘answer’. Being able to listen to opposing arguments and make a decisions is critical to executive leadership. If it was easy, the team would have already decided”. But I also learned that as important as being decisive is also to have the skill to delegate not only a task but also the decisions related to the task. So the “skill” isn’t a narrow focus on decision-making. It is expanded to acknowledge the need for the executive to understand when he/she should step up and make the decision as well as know when to delegate the decision to other levels.

When I analyzed the results based on the level of the executive respondent, I discovered that within the vision function, there is clear agreement that as a person moves into the executive ranks, he/she should must also move from the day-to-day (or tactical) management to a longer-term or strategic view. One executive told me, “in my first executive assignment, I focused on solving day-to-day problems and the organization I led did not have a clear, well-communicated strategy. This limited the effectiveness of the organization and sent the wrong signals about what was necessary for long-term success”. Clearly, it is important for the new or aspiring executive to figure out how to make the transition to strategic management.

Within the functional organization demographic, I found agreement that the new executive must have, and use, the skills of empowerment and teaching/mentoring. The responses relative to this went from the purely practical (if you don’t empower, you end up doing the day-to-day stuff), to the more esoteric idea of ownership and buy-in. One executive summed this up very well, “if you are the smartest (or busiest) person in the organization, you probably need to make some changes”. Wise advice, indeed.

One theme I heard, over and over, in the structured and in the open-ended questions was relative to the communication function. These executives could not stress enough the need to have the skill for establishing interpersonal relationships, which they tended to use interchangeably with the skill for development personal networks. In addition, they approached this need via varying avenues. For example, one executive discussed the need to create a sound network within his/her peer group -- “I wish I had been more incisive about the fragile egos and personalities of existing executives”. Solid peer-to-peer relationships would have allowed him/her to ask questions or challenge ideas without creating defensiveness. Another application of the networking skill concerns getting work done through the “right channel” within the organization -- or more specifically, getting the right support to get an idea moved forward. “At the executive level, decisions often get made based upon trust and relationships. There aren’t always policies, procedures, or protocols in place to drive decisions that need to be made. They’re based upon a mutual trusting relationship.” Clearly there is a need for the new and aspiring executive to carefully (and honestly) build his/her network of relationships. This idea of building your network is clearly a critical factor for the success of an executive.

Next time? How the conceptual model morphed from a concept to a final model for executive skills and traits.

Cheers!