Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

Increasing Your Influence

Three Commitments to Effective Leadership

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commitment
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Are you committed to being a leader?

You have the title. You have the area of responsibility. You’re in a seat that allows you to make key decisions for the larger picture.

Moreover, others have deemed that you have both the competencies and character to lead well.

But what about your commitment?

Without commitment in three key areas, abilities are not enough.

In my engagement with leaders, I will work with them to assess their leadership competencies, their character, and their commitment. Most often, they can readily articulate their strengths – and many are keenly self-aware of their vulnerabilities. When we discuss character, this is often a more reflective time in our conversation, for this is not a question that surfaces as much.

Then, I approach their commitment. Most everyone quickly affirms they are committed, and some may even feel softly affronted that I’ve even asked the question. “If I weren’t committed, I wouldn’t be here,” quipped one. “They don’t pay me enough, but I still sit in this chair!”

It’s at this point that I invite them to reflect on three areas of commitment and to explore where they might need next to grow.

1. Aspiration.

Aspire to a vision. How old is your vision? Is it still relevant? And does it still inspire you to action? If not, it’s certain that your people are not inspired, either. Take the time to revisit this in light of where you and your company are today. Then, review your direction and strategies to ensure they support it best.

2.  Engagement.

Get involved and find solutions. Dive into the many issues that face you as leader, your business, and your industry. Use the appropriate brain trust to turn old ideas upside down and to come up with creative solutions to problems. See the gold in continued growth for yourself. Admit and examine those areas within the company that require refinement or redirecting. Recognize the merits of collaboration as you examine industry challenges and decide to become part of the thought leadership that provides the answers.

3.  Sacrifice.

Be willing to make sacrifices in pursuit of the vision. If you have been in leadership many years, or your business has been long established, there may be pockets of complacency that impede your ability to move ahead. These may not be readily apparent, so as you share the vision anew, make sure that this is shared at all levels of your organization. Ask each area of responsibility, then, to perform a litmus test by examining systems, processes, and protocols to see if these best support the vision and its direction. Then, define the behaviors and attitudes you want to see that reflect company values. What needs to shift or change? What needs to go, or be adopted? Remaining “in place” with what has always worked is a sure sign that you are not staying current – and by default, you could be on the way out.

In essence, commitment in these three areas requires that you roll up your sleeves and do the hard work required to lead well. I challenge you to use this framework as you consider the effectiveness of your own leadership, and that of your executive team.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Three Ways to Increase Your Team’s Execution Skills

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Three Ways to Increase Your Team’s Execution Skills
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Many parts of your job are important, but among the skills that leaders must possess, execution rises to the top.

It’s simple. Unless you can execute, the work doesn’t get done. It’s tough to stay focused on your own priorities, and when you add oversight of your executive team and their performance, things can get complicated.

What gets in the way of your team’s ability to execute – and what can you do about it?

Use the following checklist to see where you need to put a system, process, or behavior in place to get things done:

1. Planning

  • Does your planning session reflect clear goals, deadlines, and assigned responsibilities?

Valuable time is wasted when clarifying these components are ignored. Your executive team members certainly know their areas of responsibility well. But they may not be eager to take on additional work, especially if the project under discussion has pieces that touch multiple areas. And when this is the case, your planning session may suffer from “Bystander Effect.” This social psychology phenomenon says that that when a group is faced with a crisis or critical question at hand, each person in the group will assume someone else will take care of it (and perhaps look the other way!). Your role as leader is to make sure these pieces are well-defined – and well-assigned!

  • A chief piece that you as leader must own is to drive accountability.

What will the process be for reporting on a particular initiative or project? What essential information will you need to receive in updates so that key issues aren’t buried, or meetings aren’t consumed with minutia? In other words, how will you know the work is being done? And finally, you must define to your team members how you want them to report back to you so you aren’t chasing them for answers.

2. Prioritizing

  • You and your team will need to reassess your workloads, and make sure all agree as to any shifts in focus.

If taking on a new project, revisit expectations about other work that is already scheduled. You will save time and team morale by holding a quick meeting to discuss what timelines on other projects each feels needs adjusting and come to a shared agreement on these items. Otherwise, left to individual decision, one team member’s adjustments may adversely affect another team member’s expected outcomes.

  • Time-block your own work into a calendar.

Executives who don’t do this often complain that “the real work gets done when everyone else leaves the building.” Granted, peace and quiet is important, and unexpected interruptions can slow things down. But it is sadly more often the case that executives stack meetings back-to-back on their calendar, and then wonder why they cannot catch up. Block out time each day to work on your responsibilities – or someone else’s priorities will steal that time from you.

3. Performing

  • This is most often where I find executives stall.

If you have completed steps 1 and 2 above, but you still feel stalled, it may be due to an unconscious fear around completing your assignment. If you find yourself ready to work but frozen, ask yourself these questions: “What do I fear as I look at executing this project? Do I know what the next step is? Or am I fearful I will fail? That my work won’t be good enough and others will discount my credibility?” A time management system is often touted as the answer to procrastination. But behaviorists know that in many cases, stalling is an indication that the executive is worried that he or she will actually complete the task at hand! Fear of measuring up, or on doing so well that one is assigned even more responsibility in future, can be at the basis of poor performance.

Where do you need to fine-tune your own team’s ability to execute? And are you as leader on top of your game when it comes to holding them accountable? I look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experience.

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

The Courage to Lead

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The Courage to Lead
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Character does matter. And courage, as one of its virtues, is vital.

Many a person placed in a position of authority or power has fallen due to a lack of courage. And they have, in many instances, also damaged the lives of countless others under their leadership.

How does courage play into leadership?

Courage means making bold decisions under conditions of uncertainty – or standing up to oppose potentially bad decisions.

Consider Alan Mulally, who turned Ford around from impending doom to a viable, profitable company. When Mulally arrived, Ford was unwilling to address the issues that were sinking it. Further, the organization was losing $18 Billion that year. In order to bring Ford’s operations and infrastructure up to speed, Mulally borrowed $23.5 Billion, convincing the Ford shareholders to put up its stock and the famous Ford Blue Oval as collateral.

Courage means having the confidence to act in difficult situations.

Mary Barra, General Motor’s chairwoman and CEO since 2014, addressed an angry Senate investigating committee immediately following her appointment. The Senate was examining deaths from failed ignition switches on Chevrolet Camaros. Barra took full responsibility – a bold and risky action. GM subsequently recalled more than half a million cars affected and paid more than $120M in settlements. Moving forward, Barra took the company’s products from problematic to high quality, earning the business a new reputation of excellence.

Courage means taking risks, coloring outside the lines, trying new things. It means growth, exploration, innovation – and so much more.

The first step toward developing more courage is to identify where, when, and in which situations you feel your courage falter.

Do you need to flex when it comes to confronting a chronic, damaging situation? Deciding to cut losses to render the business healthier? Acting more quickly and decisively when faced with moral issues?

Avoiding the tough stuff only postpones the inevitable.

Maya Angelou once said, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”

Where might you flex more of yours?

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Mutiny on the Executive Team

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Mutiny on the Executive Team
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Do you pride yourself on leading a cohesive team? Or are there rumblings of mutiny?

Team revolt may sneak up on you unless you are alert to the factors in your own leadership that breed this.

Signs that such trouble is brewing can include team members contesting your decisions, questioning meetings, and team silos.

When team members don’t trust their leader to lead, they will discount him or her, and attempt to lead as a group (or more than one group!) instead.

Here are common poor leadership behaviors that cause this.

  1. Poor decision-making practices.

Asking the team for input when you have already made your decision.

Getting others’ opinions when you have already made up your mind is a nasty surprise to those involved. This move will quickly diminish trust in you since your team members will spot this and feel you are disingenuous. Don’t ask unless you really want some additional perspective.

If this is you, ask yourself why you feel the need to ask others if you don’t really want to consider their opinions. Is it because you feel the need to be seen as inclusive or collegial? Show them they are valued? Come up with genuine ways to meet these needs.

Making decisions on the fly without investigating the whole picture.

Nothing says “poor decision-making” like making a decision based on a quick and partial picture. This also erodes trust and your team will be reticent to come to you with challenges, for fear you may make a hasty decision without considering all the pieces. If you find you are making decisions in this way, you are probably in chronic “fire-fighting” mode. Take a deep breath, gather the rest of the necessary information before acting.

Involving people in decision-making who don’t need to be a part of the process.

Many meetings veer off course when leaders pause to make quick decisions on an agenda item that should just involve just one or two people. You may think you are saving time, but others are held hostage while you dive into the weeds.

The result is that meetings needing just 60 minutes can last up to 3-4 hours. This is a poor allocation of scarce resources (your team and the work they really need to be doing instead of sitting in such a meeting). It says, “I don’t respect your time,” and/or “I can’t manage appropriately by having a separate meeting about this.” (For more on conducting productive meetings, see McKinsey’s article “Want a Better Decision? Plan a Better Meeting!”)

  1. Fear of confrontation.

When a leader allows a disruptive personality or situation to fester without confronting it, others lose respect

Such behavior says, “I am not in charge, I am not in control.” This is compounded when your team members bring the situation to you as critical and ask you to fix it, since it is within your scope of responsibilities. If you fear confrontation, please get help. It may be a matter of just not knowing how. For more on this, see the article “Why You Don’t Have That Critical Conversation.”

  1. Lack of accountability.

Are you able to make decisions and to confront situations or personalities that need your attention?

The third behavioral culprit that can cause your team members to lose respect for your leadership is that of a lack of ability to hold others accountable. Aren’t sure this is you? Reflect as to whether you have a chronic complaint about someone or something that keeps occurring, even if you have addressed it. This will steer you toward those areas or people whom you are not holding accountable.

If you find yourself making the statement, “I’ve tried time and again, but s/he persists in _______,” this is a clear indicator. Are you someone who equates holding others accountable with meting out punishment? Think again. For a great three-step process to holding others accountable, see Jonathon Raymond’s article “Do You Understand What Accountability Really Means?”

Before mutiny begins to stir on your team, reflect on these points and ask where you might make some personal improvements. The stakes to your leadership are enormous, and results from making the necessary adjustments are exponential.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Three Micro-Connections to Increase Positive Team Culture

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Three Micro-Connections to Increase Positive Team Culture
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Human beings need connection.

The workplace suffers from a lack of it, due to the demands and pace of the work at hand. Virtual and semi-virtual teams are hit harder than those who occupy the same physical space.

Suggestions such as more team building and socials fall flat. They not only require time from busy schedules, they are often impractical, sporadic connections; and, thus, are not enough to build bonds and trust.

Without bonds and trust – the results of human connection – your team will experience lowered engagement, minimized trust, and a lack of commitment (and you know the kinds of things that come from that!).

How can you rectify this?

The five-minute morning huddle, whether in-person or virtual, is a good start. However, grouping to communicate and keep each other informed does not satisfy the deeper hunger to connect.

Three Micro-Connections

The good news is that there are three micro-connections you and your team can immediately adopt that will strengthen powerful human connection, and which require no more time on anyone’s part.

These micro-connects, when not incorporated into your behaviors, are actually the first things to suffer in a fast-paced work environment. Check yourself on how well you are doing with them now – and seek to increase them in all your interactions.

Here they are:

  1. Increase your eye contact.

When you are in a conversation with others, do you find your eyes wander? Be intentional about your eye contact with the other person. Becoming comfortable with eye contact is a first important step to connecting on a deeper level. It says, “I recognize you. I’m present and paying attention to you.”

  1. Monitor your tone of voice.

Do your tone of voice and pace of your words reflect stress or hurry? If so, you are implicitly communicating that you don’t have time for the person on the other end of the conversation. Take quiet stock of this the next time you speak with people, especially when on the phone.

  1. Begin each conversation with a personal connection before diving into business.

Take 30 seconds to a minute and ask the other team member how they are, how the week is going, or another personal “connection” that shows you care about them as a human being. Re-establish connection before diving into the agenda at hand. This is a big one for most busy executives – and a big “miss” if they don’t incorporate it.

These three micro-connections will support a more positive, caring team culture that says, “You belong. You are important.”

They bring meaningful validation, which is something we all seek.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.