business leaders

Keeping Your Head in the Game: Leadership 2021

January 6, 2021 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

It’s a new year, and the pundits are calling 2021 the Year of Transition. If anything has changed, it has been that we have acclimated to a new way of working and living.

There are definite perks to this, but there have also been major drawbacks which have caused us to abandon much of what we know and adopt a learner’s mindset out of necessity.

Admit it – it’s been rough. Many of you reading this are tired. And some of you have called me, asking me how you can get your head back into the game.

What does it take to reenergize and motivate you as leader so that you can lead your life and work in 2021?

I work primarily with top executives to recreate future, working with their respective teams and companies, and also in small leadership groups where CEOs can put their heads together to share experiences and ideas. When we work on meeting the future, motivation of self is a hot topic.

And here is what we know: the head game of motivation requires that you focus on three things:

1. Purpose

Energy and engagement come from purpose. After weathering the initial shock and challenges of 2020, your physical and mental stores may be depleted. Revisiting your purpose is a first necessary step to picking back up. Why do you lead? What impact do you hope to make? What legacy are you seeking to create? If you keep pushing forward but cannot answer these questions, you will be headed for burnout. I invite you to take time to reflect on this. Call a coach or trusted advisor and talk through this. Because anything sustainable starts with purpose.

2. Direction

Know where you are headed. It is true that long-term planning is no longer valid due to the volatility and uncertainty around the future of work. Instead, one must use shorter-term planning to head in a general direction, and continuously bench against the changes in the business landscape. Keep your organizational vision at the forefront as you acquire the personal agility needed to meet goals and objectives. This particular step requires that you also open up to the perspectives of others. Seasoned leaders are comfortable doing things in the familiar way. And the word familiar is one that will not be used often in 2021.

3. Synergy

Leadership has been lonely, but then, we haven’t learned how to share it very well. Leading forward now requires the shift from “me” to “we,” for connection, mutual support and collective accountability. Inviting your executive team to share the vision is a first step, but the next is to allow them to share in greater responsibilities – the kind that ignites their purpose, as well. Raising the tenor of team energy is the magic we need to create great things together. Where do you start? Begin with a conversation around this topic. Ask for their ideas and feedback, ask what it would take for them to get excited around the idea. I believe this might be one of the most meaningful brainstorming you will have experienced for a long time – and it can yield great fruit.

My wish for you in 2021 is to know that you have what it takes (I know some of you question this at this time). My challenge to you is to rediscover your purpose and direction, and to create that synergy that will lift you up, as well as your team, so that you can move confidently to meet the future.

© 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.

Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Leading the Executive Team Post-Crisis

August 12, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

The immediate crisis is over. And although you are still rapidly recovering revenue and rebuilding operations, you now need to bring greater stability to the organization.

Your team’s quick response to meet the crisis is to be celebrated. But the approach will not work well in this next stage of change.

This means your team needs to change the way they operate. And given the different business landscape, the way we used to operate will no longer work.

It’s a different world – and we must work differently together.

So, if you are expecting your team will simply “fall back into place and get back to work,” think again. A lack of intentional rebuilding on your part will result in confusion, misalignment, conflict and a great potential to lose top talent.

Your team must reinvent itself at this point in order to perform effectively.

Where do you begin?

1. Look back to move forward.

Bring closure to this period by celebrating the successes of the team in having moved through the immediate crisis. Set some thoughtful time aside for this and make sure you invite the team to give their input. Talk about what the experience was like for them, what they needed to shift or change in order to get the work done. What did they learn?

2. Chart a purposeful path forward.

Recognize that as a team and organization, you cannot pull back. Much change occurred during the immediate crisis. People were asked to stretch, do differently, products and services were delivered in different ways, much more. As you chart a purposeful path forward, what needs to be examined? Incorporated? Altered?

3. Set the operational pace.

Restate the organizational vision to shift the team lens to the long-term. Then, roll back to the short term, asking what this means – what the focus should be – for the next 3-6-12 months, How can the learnings you discussed be incorporated?

4. Charter how you will operate together from this point.

Articulate who you are as a team. What do you know about your abilities and potential? How can you put this to use, and how will you align and coordinate your decision-making as you set out onto the new landscape together? How will you measure success? Handle critical communications? Accountability?

5. Lead with resolve.

Because uncertainty is now part of the norm, keep your eyes on vision, knowing that strategies and initiatives may change in order to reach it. Consider how you as a team will adopt an explorer’s mindset as part of your culture. Remember how, together, you weathered the last storm and weave this into your group narrative. Use this as a tether in future tough times as a reminder that as a team, you faced the seeming insurmountable and rose victorious.

If you are intentional with these steps as part of your organizational transition, you will reap the benefit of stronger commitment and engagement on the part of your team. Once you do this, encourage each of the team members to replicate this process through the organization with their own teams.

To your success!

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Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Does Your Leadership Need More Social Capital?

July 1, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

Do you, as a leader, have the social capital you need to get the job done? Influence with others is paramount to leading.

How can you tell if you have enough? And if not, how do you go about building it?

Sarah, chief operating officer of a hospital, was the newest member of the C-suite. The board had highly recommended her, thinking that her previous experience with change management at another healthcare system would support their vision for growth.

Several months later, however, Sarah had not been able to meet her short-term goals. The rest of the executive team blocked her efforts with every move she made.

Mark, the CEO called me. “It’s as though they are out to get her,” he said. “She has a great plan, and I support that, but the rest of them are stalling her. What do I do?”

“Mark,” I said, “It sounds like she hasn’t taken the time to build up social capital.”

“Social capital?”

“Yes,” I said. “The influence to bring them along. Building relationships with them, developing trust, sharing norms and values so that when she needs something done and you support it, they work with her to accomplish it.”

“Well, great,” Mark said. “I don’t know how she is going to do it, now. One of the board members mentioned this morning that he had supported her candidacy. Evidently, he saw her last week and she updated him. He now thinks the board may have made a mistake in recommending her. Yet she is doing what I’ve asked her to do. Short of pulling power and demanding that everyone comply, what do I do?”

“Here’s the deal, Mark,” I responded. “Power is not as straightforward as you think. If you approach it in that way, Sandra loses all credibility as she hides behind you. And you create resentment on the part of the others – a slippery slope for a team’s commitment to the business.

“Power is complex, Mark. And in this case, it is relational. How Sandra builds her relationships will be key to her success – and to your retaining top talent across the team.”

“Please help, Patti. I can’t afford to lose credibility with my board and my executive team. And I certainly can’t afford to lose top talent. Sandra’s good. I think we just need a leg up.”

Mark then had me attend an executive team meeting, then later introduced me to Sandra, who quietly shared that she felt defeated and ready to quit.

“I guess I jumped in with big plans and didn’t take the time to build relationships, first,” she said.

“You are pretty astute,” I answered. “Watching the dynamics in the executive team meeting was like witnessing a shark frenzy. And you were the bait.”

“In my last position, all I had to do was to video call one of the satellite offices and talk with the director for a few minutes. Their workload might be almost impossible, but we worked well together to shoulder through. It was that way throughout the system.

“I guess I haven’t taken the time to get to know the others. The board gave us a pretty aggressive plan and a tight timeline. I thought the way was paved. But I thought wrong.”

“Let’s talk about what we can do from this point,” I said. “If you are willing, I would like to work with you to turn this around.”

Sandra agreed to give it her all. Then, we got to work.

Six months later, Sandra was on a much different and better footing with her colleagues. And they were on their way to expanding the hospital’s reach as they had needed to do.

What did Sandra do? She learned to apply five things that all leaders must incorporate into their way of leading:

1. Recognize that power is dictated by your interactions with others.

The relationships and alliances you create can be of major support to you when you encounter potential points of resistance. The resources, information, and help you need should be within the circle you forge over time. Important to note is that before people will commit to a stretch demand, they need to trust and know you, and to feel that you have their interests in mind and that you will support them when they need your help. To come to this point, you need to cultivate the relationships carefully, hearing of their interests and needs, and seeing how you can help them.

2. Assess the landscape before you dive in to make big changes.

Look at your long-term goals and objectives, your short-term wins, and any other priorities you have been handed. Who are key stakeholders in the areas that will be touched by the changes you need to make? Who is likely to resist? And why? If you can map out the web of those potentially affected by your efforts, you can then put together a plan to start bringing them along. And it’s true that we “don’t know what we don’t know.” As you begin speaking with those you feel will be affected, as them who else you should include in conversation around the topic. You can quickly build your networks in this way.

3. Gather insights from your stakeholders and invite them to help you co-create solutions.

Respect the history and perspective that others bring and remember that co-creation means that the parties involved will have more buy-in and support you to much greater extent. This will also help you to leverage relationships with others, as you will have advocates “in the field.”

4. Build your power network with intention.

Map out your network, identifying your dependencies both inside and outside the organization. Decide to systematically strengthen these relationships according to those upon whom you rely, those who rely upon you, and who controls various resources and support.

5. Take time for reciprocity.

How can you create value for those who are in your network? Can you connect them with others to help them realize their goals? Can you serve as a co-creator, even if you don’t have a stake in the initiative, but can lend brain trust? Decide what you can do to bring value to your relationships and do this systematically. As transactional as it seems, a spreadsheet to track your power network and the touches that you make with them to build social capital can serve extremely well.

How can you begin to build your own social capital to get things done? Or to strengthen one that has served you to this point? Personal power – influence – is key to leading effectively. Take time to fortify your power network to help you move effectively into the future.

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Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

The Untapped Potential of Your Middle Management

May 13, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

You can quickly improve the organizational health of your company by focusing on the potential of your middle management.

But if your culture doesn’t recognize this as important, you are headed for trouble.

How do you redirect so that you strengthen your future?

Three steps.

Make leadership development a high priority.
Know how to develop your emerging leaders.
Address prickly roadblocks that stand in the way.

Following are three real scenarios from former clients.

I hope these help you to see where you might improve your own process and mindset.

1. Make leadership development a high priority for your organization.

Tom had led the company for years, and it had done well. Then, he was diagnosed with a heart problem. Although the prognosis for recovery was excellent, his doctor informed him that he would have to take off a considerable amount of time in order to work a wellness program.

The company was in a bind when Tom called me. He had never gotten around to putting a system and process in place to develop those high potentials who might have stepped in to help bridge the gap.

Now what?

If he left to care for his health, the business would be in trouble. If he didn’t, he would seriously jeopardize his health.

Tom and I worked together on an interim plan to support his absence, and a way to stay in communication with him on the large-picture items.

I then coached his executives to the plan as they stepped into the new responsibilities assigned to them. I also helped coach them as a team on a regular basis to keep things cohesive and smooth.

However, this was challenging. The executives all experienced steep learning curves, with corresponding bumps in the road, which presented some tense moments. We worked through it, and Tom was able to return some time later. Quite happy that we moved through this critical time, I shared with Tom that the company could have experienced a much smoother and more effective transition, had he worked with his HR department to implement an ongoing plan for leadership development.

2. Know how to develop your emerging leaders.

Rebecca ran a tight ship. She, along with her executive team, believed fully in leadership development, and they approved large budgets year after year to support succession planning. But they were not seeing the results they wanted.

Rebecca intuited that the talent was there – why weren’t those programs working for them? They were on the cusp of cutting the entire budget for learning and development. Meanwhile, some of her best middle managers were voicing complaints that they were not moving up the leadership ladder. Engagement was waning.

When Rebecca called, she said she was only calling because another CEO colleague had pressed her to do so. “I’m ready to bag investing in leadership development,” she said. “I’m only reaching out because Tim says you get results.”

After exploring what she and the team had implemented, I congratulated her on placing development as a priority. I also pointed out that the programs in which she had invested were not carefully customized to her company, its culture, and its needs.

We did wind up working together and I am happy to report that we turned things around by identifying development initiatives that would support organizational goals, a way to support growth ongoing, and systems and processes to undergird this. I’m just sorry we had to work hard to reanimate engagement because of prior wasted efforts.

3. Address prickly roadblocks that stand in the way of leadership developments.

Mark had been waiting in the wings for years for Jack, the seasoned CEO to finally retire. Jack allowed him to run daily operations and to field the heat that comes with leading a business.

There was one problem, however: Jack also kept Mark and the executive team from truly stepping into their own power to improve organizational health.

He would run interference when Mark attempted to hold employees accountable. He would halt Mark from moving forward with initiatives that would keep the company highly competitive because, Jack said, “We have never done that, before.” Mark was quietly seeking another leadership position elsewhere – and so were some of his best executives.

This scenario was tricky. It was actually Mark who called me and not Jack. “What am I doing wrong?” he asked. “I’ve been here forever. I keep the company running, but I’m not empowered. I deal with problems that Jack creates because he keeps ‘pets’ around that shouldn’t be here – some even subversive to the organization.”

I worked with Mark to confront Jack about some of the decisions that he was not allowing Mark to implement, which compromised the business. Unfortunately, Jack did not want to listen.

Jack was afraid of retirement, and so he sat in his office and continued to collect the incredible salary and bonus he had enjoyed for more than 20 years.

Mark decided to leave and assumed the CEO spot at a new company. It’s been my pleasure to work with him there to develop a high-performing team. Mark’s only regret is that he didn’t move sooner. “I wasted a lot of years waiting,” he said. “It could have been different.”

Each of these cases could have been avoided. Good leaders are not born knowing how to prize and approach leadership development in a way that benefits them and their company.

How could stronger leadership at the middle management level improve your organizational health?

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Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Strengthening Culture with a Remote Workforce

April 22, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

How do you retain your company culture when you have a remote workforce?

Retaining who you are and what is important to you as a company is more challenging when you aren’t in the same physical space on a regular basis.

Yet, many companies with international teams and other remote situations have been successfully enjoying solid culture throughout their organizations for years.

How do they do it?

Intentionality.

The best companies know that culture is what makes or breaks them. Culture defines who you are as a company – your corporate identity. It sets the standard and tone for the way your workforce works together. It’s what gives people a shared identity – team, a sense of belonging. And it’s the glue that holds people together when the going gets tough.

But when people aren’t in the same physical environment on a daily basis, adopting and sharing the same tone and standards in thoughts, behaviors and actions can be challenging.

A remote or hybrid environment calls for being more “on purpose.” And this is not a bad thing. Many companies have lost their culture because they have simply taken it for granted. Setting intentionality is what will revive this, whether there is a remote component to your workforce or not.

Here are some things to consider as you seek to reinforce culture with a remote workforce.

1. Add virtual ways to share the company story and tell it often.

As you revisit your values, norms, and priorities in light of considering a remote and hybrid workforce, realize that the way you do things may change, but it doesn’t change who you are and what you stand for. At the same time, you will want to seek to make your company story memorable in creative ways more frequently and in different ways to emphasize identity. Look for seminal touchpoints to share this, such as announcing company-wide changes, annual meetings, company marketing collateral, and key celebrations. Include virtual ways to strengthen this, such as online meetings, video interviews and story markers in communications and at the bottom of email messaging, shared drives, and chat mechanisms.

2. Define what it means to live company values.

Most companies outline their values, but they do not take the time to define what these look like in action. For example, if one of your company core values is creativity, what should that look like in behaviors, actions, work, relationships, outcomes, etc.? You and your executive team should be firm on what all of your core values look like in action. Further, take the time to discuss what these might mean and how they might show up in a virtual or remote setting. Test these thoughts with your employees for feedback and buy-in – this is key. Then decide how you can weave this into your communications, your meetings and other touchpoints, and how to integrate this into your performance standards.

3. Communicate with greater intention.

This means not only increasing your communication, but heightening the way that you connect, such as using video when touching base virtually. Be sure that you set expectations around your communication methods and protocols so that this becomes part of your shared “way of operating.” Place greater emphasis on culture during your onboarding of new employees and leave time for discussion around this. Consider building in an accountability component for the direct supervisor of a new employee, ensuring that they have discussions around what your cultural markers are and how they show up in and at work. Devote intentional time for listening to the employees as well, especially in virtual meetings. Take the pulse on what their challenges are, what they are learning, and opportunities they see for improvements and working better together.

4. Reinforce the importance of each employee’s part in the company community.

Help your employees feel known and part of the team and help them to see how they fit into the bigger picture. Systematize some teambuilding exercises that help everyone to get to know them personally and vice versa, and that identify gifts each brings to the table for greater outcomes. A sense of inclusion and contribution is paramount. Be sure to capitalize on ways to recognize employees in both face-to-face and virtual settings for visibility, appreciation, and teambuilding. Consider cross-training or mentoring with different people to get to know others more rapidly across teams.

In your planning and process to define, strengthen and reinforce culture, please also remember that including your workforce in discussions at key points in various ways will pay great benefits. Allowing the entire employee base to give input means that they will also feel ownership and responsibility for the outcomes.

Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.