Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

Trust

Do You Have an Absentee Leader on Your Team?

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Do You Have an Absentee Leader on Your Team?
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Absentee leadership is rarely discussed, but it is perhaps the most destructive of all poor leadership types. It can do more to compromise employee engagement, morale, and productivity than other faulty leadership styles.

Unfortunately, it is also the most difficult of the styles to detect, which means you may have one on your team right now.

How can you detect whether you have this element in the executive circle? And what can you do about it?

Also called an emotionally disengaged leader, an Absentee leads in title only. They are people who are perhaps promoted into management because they did great work in their previous position, and they enjoy the perks and rewards of their current elevated status. However, they do not put in the hard work of engaging with their team to provide direction and support. You might say that they deplete the organization’s value because they are taking from it, but not investing back into it.

This affects the teams and individuals in their area of responsibility in a much more insidious way because absentee leadership behaviors can cause confusion in roles, conflict between staff, and increased stress leading to work and health problems.

Symptoms that you have an Absentee on your team can include:

  1. End runs for answers.

Do you have employees from a specific area within the organization that continue to come to you for answers? Ask yourself why. Allowing or even supporting this disempowers their leader and crowds your calendar. If you have not encouraged this dynamic, it may be that these employees are not getting answers from the person who should be supporting them. Don’t fall into the trap of giving a quick and easy response to these queries; instead, make time to sit with the leader who should be supplying answers and share what you are noticing. The goal of this exercise is not to punish the employees, but to explore why they are not getting answers. Deep dive on this one.

  1. Increased conflict or interpersonal problems.

Do you have employees or an area within the organization that cyclically erupts? This is a reflection of unmanaged emotions and a lack of ability to negotiate relationships. If this is a trend, it is a reflection of someone allowing this to continue. I would call this an Absentee leader, since the leader is either aware of the situation but steps back from confronting, or they are unaware, which is worse. Again, this requires a conversation and some coaching around expectations. You’ll need to stick closely to the Absentee during a corrective period to monitor their progress. Absentees can disappear easily in the company crowd. They are generally nice people who don’t make noise, which allows them to hide behind other more evident company challenges.

  1. Team grumbling or low performance.

When conducting employee forums or interdepartmental meetings, do you notice that dissatisfaction is expressed from the same corners every time? Is there a team that is known for its compromised performance? A chronic poor attitude or behavior in either individuals or team is a clear sign that someone is not present for their team, providing coaching, corrective feedback, and upholding expectations. Again, your approach would be the same – to sit with your Absentee and outline what you are observing, how it is impacting others and the company, and to define clearly what you want to see. Monitor, monitor, monitor.

This topic is worth careful study if you want highest ROI from your executive team.

The impact of absentee leadership on job satisfaction outlasts the impact of both constructive and overtly destructive forms of leadership. This costs your company not only now, but in future, since best efforts to turn this around take time.

And at a time when your focus needs to be on leading the organization into the future, you can’t afford to compromise.

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.

Why Human Experience Trumps Employee Engagement

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Why Human Experience Trumps Employee Engagement
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What’s so important about human experience in the workplace? Well, everything.

If you are looking to retain great talent, to reinforce healthy and positive culture, and to rise above the competition, then helping your employees find meaning in their work is non-negotiable.

But aren’t you doing this this through providing a great employee experience? No.

Employee engagement initiatives continue to take main stage to respond to and encourage employee motivation, commitment, and the quality of contribution at work. A lot of money and energy have been poured into these endeavors, but we aren’t seeing the results we had hoped for. Why is this?

The truth is, employee engagement initiatives aren’t working, because we feel we can elevate employee engagement by providing attractive perks and rewards. And these don’t respond to the real need.

Recent research findings from Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends examines this challenge. The writers show that employee motivation is driven by career, purpose, and meaning from work.

This means we need to enhance the human experience for each and every employee. Impossible task? Not really.

We simply need to help the employee answer the following questions:

  1. Do I belong to the team, to the organization?

Who are we and why do we belong together? As leader, you can work with your team members to answer these questions through the way you define and live your mission and shared values. See the article “Does Your Team Live Up to Its Values” for a great way to make this come alive.

  1. Am I safe?

Do I work in a trusting environment with individuals whom I respect and who respect me? Every employee must feel they can work together with their team without doubt or reservation, and to know team members can count on each other. This means ensuring a culture of high trust. How well do you and your company measure up? Take the time to examine the components of trust and see where your energy and efforts need to focus – this one thing changes everything at the individual, team, and organizational levels.

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.

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  1. Do I make a difference to the larger picture?

Am I able to use my gifts and strengths in a role allowing me to contribute in a way that makes an impact? Ensuring right job fit and design is just part of this. Reinforcing the contributions of the individual means to teach your employees to recognize the efforts of others and to express this as part of your culture. When was the last time that you told a member of your executive team how they made a difference to the larger picture? Your culture must reflect this at all levels.

  1. Together, do we bring something of value to the world?

Do we as a team and company contribute something that makes a difference to the world? Ask yourself why your company exists. If the answer to your “why” is to make money or products, then you are in trouble. How does the service or product your business offers make a difference for your customers? What are they able to do, live, enjoy that they wouldn’t otherwise? The answers to this must be understood and communicated regularly to your entire employee base. For a refresher on how to define this, read Sinek’s book Start with Why, or see his TED talk “How Leaders Inspire Action.”

  1. Is there room for me to grow here?

One of the top concerns of a thriving CEO is to define and articulate clear career paths within the company to inspire and motivate your employees. These CEOs also make sure that their learning and development efforts include relevant personal and professional growth offerings. How do your L&D efforts measure up? And if you think your employees can’t take time for this, think again. Best companies are making sure their people have this available through regular face-to-face and virtual instruction with a coach approach to ensure that true learning occurs. The rewards are exponential.

What kind of human experience are you offering to your employees?

I suggest that as you start out on the path to providing something of great meaning and value, that you begin by personally answering the five questions above. Walking the talk will not only help you to integrate human experience as culture, it will also help you to personally become more motivated and engaged as you lead these efforts.

© 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.

Do You Have an Accidental Leader on Your Team?

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Do You Have an Accidental Leader on Your Team?
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Do you have a team member who has stumbled into leadership? You know, that person who, because they are talented, has been pushed to promotion at every turn.

This is a problem, because accidental leaders are often elevated without being provided the proper support.

That’s why many of them fail.

How can you tell if you have an accidental leader – and how can you help them to succeed?

Recognizing your accidental leader

You have a team member who has been promoted because they were talented at a functional specialty. Or someone above them in the hierarchical structure has left the business and they have been asked to fill the gap.

But your accidental leader is floundering, now. Even though they have area-specific skills, they struggle with core competencies and interpersonal relationships. They may have a challenge managing multiple pieces, or they have not gained the respect of his reports. This slows down an entire area of operation.

Your accidental leader has a limited shelf life and time is running out.

If you are like most companies, your organization is full of good people in this situation, and their lack of ability is compromising your ability to do business.

How can you turn this around?

The components to successfully developing their leadership is the same, whether you are intervening with one accidental leader or several.

  1. Co-design their 90-day plan.

Work with your accidental leader to outline the focus of their first 90 days. This plan should include targeting short-term wins to build reputation, steps toward long-term goals for focus and traction, important activities for visibility, and key stakeholders to include in their initiatives to build influence. The plan allows you to mentor them as they make progress, pinpointing any areas that require a teaching moment.

  1. Provide the right kind of support.

The accidental leader needs support through formal and informal training. Coursework addressing important elements of leadership such as communication, influence and agility should be included. The new leader should also be paired with a seasoned “buddy” who helps them to learn the ins and outs of being on the executive team, fast-track strategic networking, and serve as a sounding board.

  1. Fast-track their potential through sponsoring them.

You, as seasoned leader, can help them to gain great credibility by being their sponsor (some refer to this as “champion.”) Moving beyond mentoring, a sponsor is an advocate invested in a protégé’s success. Advocacy can take the shape of positioning the accidental leader and opening doors and facilitating career-building opportunities for the new leader.

I help companies implement this approach on both individual and large scales, and the results are remarkable. Top leadership reports higher performance, increased trust throughout the company, and a renewed confidence around taking the organization into the future.

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.