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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 It is true that long-term planning is no longer valid due to the volatility and uncertainty around the future of work.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.

3 Crucial Questions Leaders Need to Answer for 2021

December 30, 2020 By Patti Cotton Leave a Comment

I hope you have been able to enjoy a safe and meaningful holiday, and that you have this week as a reflection period, as well. Contemplating key questions in order to move forward well in 2021 requires dedicated focus.

Here are 3 crucial questions leaders are currently asking themselves. Can you answer these? And if not, do you have the plan and support you need in order to do so?

1. What should virtual or hybrid work look like for us in the future?

A lot of leaders still hope that as the devastation of COVID is addressed and managed, that all will get back to “business as usual.” However, many of the ways we have had to work this year were already on the horizon as possibility. The virus simply accelerated this. As we move forward, we recognize that working virtually has not only been in place for some time in many businesses, but it is now something that the rest of us need to accept.

Beyond physical logistics, we need to address the potential impact this will have on our ability to deliver; to productivity and outcomes. Culture will need to be considered (see point #2 below). Ways of communicating are important – but what we communicate in order to get things done will need to change, as well. Cultivating soft skills in connection and all things relational will become more important to success.

2. How can we cultivate and maintain a vibrant and positive culture?

Culture is a company’s mission, vision and values in action. Much of this has been eclipsed by the constraints of COVID and having to scramble to work virtually in many cases. Moreover, as we return to work, it will not be as we knew it, but as we create it going forward. Considering virtual and hybrid work environments, how will you keep your organization’s culture vibrant and alive? What will need to change or be implemented in order to create this? Focus on individual, team and organizational behaviors, as well as the processes and systems needed to provide a supportive framework.

And as we move from a knowledge-based mindset to a learner’s mindset (pivotal for meeting the future!), how can you implement a program that supports culture at all levels of the company? This is an oft-neglected part of typical planning, but key to the spirit of belonging and desire to contribute; employee morale, engagement and productivity.

3. What skills and abilities does my executive team need now in order to meet the future?

Your strategic plans dictate what capabilities your team will need in order to execute. Identifying these and putting a development program in place is non-negotiable. You will want to use a blend of proven techniques and modalities that allow your executives to apply their learning to their work. Online learning is here to stay and is just as effective as in-person learning when well executed. How will you identify your needs, what programs are most effective, and how you will receive support to make sure the learning is integrated?

Beyond the individual team members’ growth, however, focus needs to be given to the team as a body. Include the team behaviors and norms you need to see in your own team in order for them to trust each other, to execute together at highest levels. How would they assess trust on the team? Are team members aligned and coordinated in their execution? In their ability to communicate and resolve conflict? Without putting a plan in place to respond to these questions, the best team can become fragmented or siloed, depending on what your organization is facing.

As you read this, what key components will you need to integrate into your planning for 2021? Designing a framework that supports both short and long term is crucial.

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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.

Leading to Recovery While Managing Response

April 1, 2020 By Patti Cotton 2 Comments

Your full attention and energy have been called to manage the current crisis. By now, part or all of your workforce is working remotely. Your executive team is alternating “home days” with “office days” to meet social distancing edicts.

Your entire management team is working on ironing out the systems and protocols that need to help you deliver service to your customers during this critical time.

But are you leading to recovery while managing response? If you aren’t already examining how to reinvent yourself and your business to meet the “next normal,” you need to shift gears now.

This begins with vision.

If you can envision the new normal, you can already lay the groundwork to meet it. You certainly know who your customers are and what they need from you at present. But can you anticipate what will they need, once this crisis has passed? The ability to look ahead and project what is likely to happen with customer behaviors and desires will help you define the future of your business. Make sure you are careful to access resources to help you project this. Pool your energy and brain trust with a few other forward-thinking leaders on a regular basis to stay current and sharpen your abilities to anticipate.

Plotting a course for the future, now, is paramount.

This may seem challenging when you are dealing with a crisis, but it’s actually the only smart thing to do. Most organizations are drafting plans that allow them to return to “business as usual.” They are doomed to fail. There will be no returning to ways of operating that we have known in the past. Those who recover and thrive understand this and are seeking to reinvent. This means that if you can respond to current demands in a way that also lays the groundwork for the envisioned future “normal,” you will have moved your organization ahead. Think about how regulatory and competitive environments in your industry may shift. Does this change your thinking around an action you might take so that you not only survive in the immediate, but you also pave the way to thrive?

You are positioned well right now to make change.

The fact is that managing change is never easy. But current conditions have placed the business world in a situation where all must take bold action and take it now. People are looking to make sense of today. They are seeking leaders who embody confidence and character, even if they don’t have all the answers yet. Employees are rallying to the cause as they work together in new ways to deliver service. Your customers are looking for the human part of your business presence and your support.

If you will look to the horizon toward anticipated and yet unseen vistas, while leading the organizational charge to move forward, your business will be primed to succeed.

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership: 3 Essential Gears

What makes up excellent leadership? The essential components that go into leadership must all work together, or they begin to wear on one another and bring things to a stop. Learn how to keep them running like clockwork. Sign up to receive the complimentary infographic.

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.

When Your Executive Drops the Ball

September 18, 2019 By Patti Cotton 1 Comment

Every leader has encountered a situation where one of his executive team members has messed up. It happens.

The problem is, in the heat of the moment, if the blooper is big, we might tend to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

Statements such as “I can’t believe you did that!” or “What were you thinking?” can really shut down any further dialogue. They can also fuel negative emotions and shame. These don’t help the situation.

What can you do to avoid creating more problems?

How can you respond in a supportive and proactive way so that the two of you can work from mess to solution?

Here are three questions that make this simpler than you think, helping you to turn a “bungle” into a positive coaching opportunity.

1. Focus on desired outcomes.

Pause. Breathe. Then, ask yourself, “What outcome do we need to achieve here?” This will help quell your emotions and keep dialogue productive.

2. Focus on the future.

Ask your executive, “What do we need to do from here?” This allows the executive to see that you are working as a team. At the same time, you are encouraging your executive’s critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities.

3. Focus on support.

Follow with the question, “How can I help?” Reinforce your show of support and your confidence in the executive’s ability to move forward.

The way you handle crisis can be alienating or team-strengthening. You’ll also be modeling this for others, fostering trust and support for growth in your organization.

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership: 3 Essential Gears

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.