New Blog: Flight Level Leadership

If you've enjoyed reading the posts in Great Place HR, I invite you to follow my rebranded blog, Flight Level Leadership.  Up and running since April, 2011, the blog provides weekly insights into key leadership issues.

http://flightlevelleadership.blogspot.com/

Flight Level Leadership builds upon the foundation set by Great Place HR, helping to create great workplaces through great leaders. I'm applying my many years of aviation experience to provide a unique and interesting twist to the topic of leadership excellence.

Follow me and enjoy!

Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit

A reader of my recently published book suggested that I weave flying into my blog. That posed a bit of a challenge, given that my blog is focused on helping companies create great places to work. Flying is a passion, one that has been part of my life for more than 33 years. It's wondrous and fulfilling, but I failed to see any relevance for those who seek information to help companies be the best they can be. And then, it came to me...

Great leaders are the magic ingredient in the recipe for creating great places to work. Without great leaders to develop and sustain an environment of trust, efforts to build a great workplace will fall short. A work team will be inspired, motivated and propelled to success through outstanding leadership. Conversely, if the leader is lacking in skill or engagement, he or she will drag the team down, leaving them stalled and disillusioned.

The cockpit is a great place to learn lessons in leadership.

There is indeed relevance for my flying passion to the world of great places to work, because leaders exist everywhere in the world of aviation. In fact, the aviation industry has concentrated heavily on improving the cockpit work environment, through techniques such as crew resource management (CRM.)  CRM has been successfully applied in many other work environments, such as surgical suites, where team interaction is critical to success. It may sound magical, but CRM is, in fact, nothing more than an adaptation of proven leadership techniques. 

To start my shift in focus, let's look at a few leadership lessons learned from many years in the cockpit:

1. Communication is key:  Effective flight crews rely on solid communication. Unless a team frequently flies together, good communication is the only way that one crewmember can understand what the other is thinking or might need during any phase of the flight. In larger workplaces, open and frequent communication streamlines work, avoids confusion and enables team members to rise to the needs of others in the workgroup. Team members must ask for what they need. Human beings - even those who lead - are not mind readers. It’s important for leaders to stay connected, but it's equally critical for work group members to speak up.
2. Structure supports success:  Checklists are the backbone of aviation. They're used religiously during many phases of flight, even by pilots who have logged tens of thousands of hours in a specific type of airplane. Why? Because structure - the routine of carefully following a pre-action checklist - ensures that nothing is missed. When chaos rules, leaders can support work teams by adding a measure of structure. Clear work plans, well-understood tasks, and a solid focus on expected outcomes are examples of the many ways that leaders can infuse a measure of structure for their teams.
3. Look beyond the obvious: One of the early lessons learned by any pilot is to take a step back and scan broadly. Take, as an example, the task of preparing an airplane for flight - known as preflighting, in aviation-speak. Student pilots learn to use the aforementioned checklist in connection with broad-scanning when they are preflighting. Take a large view of the whole airplane as you walk toward it - don't just tick off the checklist items. In the business world, we speak often of a big-picture focus. Details are important, but learn to use them and the structure that they bring, in connection with a broad view of the project and the desired outcome.
4. Keep the coffee brewing: Flight crews often train in simulators, where challenging situations can be safely created for accelerated learning.  I recall a simulator lesson with my flight partner, who happens to be my spouse. Our instructor created many system failures, yet we worked together to ensure a safe and uneventful landing. Along the way, we added a bit of fun to the demanding task by commenting, “we need to keep the coffee maker going, no matter what, lest our passengers revolt.” Of course, there were no passengers in this make-believe environment.  What’s the parallel for business? The little things matter. Great leaders don’t have to do great things. None of us needs to be Superman or woman, with cape afloat in the breeze. We can often instill trust by ensuring that the little things – like the coffee maker – keep humming along.

Many useful leadership tidbits can indeed be gleaned from the world of aviation. In my next blog, we’ll explore a few leadership lessons from the hangar. To whet your appetite, here’s a hint:  "Put down the screwdriver and go to lunch."

Off Topic - Why I Wrote an Aviation Book

My blog is focused on helping organizations maximize their strengths to become great places to work. However, I am stepping slightly off topic to explain why I wrote a short book about aviation. There are some connections to my standard topic, though and I hope you will find the insights to be of value.

Like many people who publish blogs, I am a writer at heart. Writing comes naturally to me; words generally flow easily from my head to my fingers. Put simply, I love to write. Publishing a book has been a long-held dream.

In 1978, I took a flight lesson - followed by another, and more still. Within nine months, I held a pilot's license. My husband, Roger obtained his pilot's license less than two years prior; together we flew throughout the Northeast and even as far as the Bahama out-islands. Flying provided us with a perspective on life that few people ever know.

Unlike writing, flying did not come easily to me. It was a challenge, every step of the way. I worked harder than most to earn my private pilot's license and the same is true for every rating that followed. As a result, flying bolstered my confidence in ways that no other life experience has yet matched.

In 1991, my family moved to Maine when I was offered a position as VP of HR at a regional healthcare system. Soon after the move, Roger launched an aviation business in the community of Auburn-Lewiston. Measured by population, the area is the second largest in the state, and is home to a reasonably good-sized airport. Through sheer perseverance and an unwillingness to listen to the naysayers, Roger built the business into one of the most respected aviation companies in Northern New England. When the business was in its eighth year, I left my job at the healthcare system to help manage the now sizeable company.



Beechcraft King Air B-100
The aircraft featured in The Flight Level Chronicles

My years with our company were, without question, the most enjoyable of my career thus far. I wore many hats: pilot, chief marketing officer, head of HR, government relations liaison, hangar sweeper, toilet cleaner and more. Roger and I frequently flew together, especially after we sold the company and spun off a one-airplane charter operation with our Beechcraft King Air. Along the way, I kept a diary of sorts, recording some of the most interesting flights and memorable characters that we were privileged to fly. Those recordings became the basis for my book, The Flight Level Chronicles.

Writing this book brought me back to an interesting time in my life. Through this process, I am experiencing valuable lessons that one can apply to daily life, business, leadership, or organizational transformation.

1. Pursue your passion. Everyone says it, few of us do it. There's always a reason to put off the "want-tos" in favor of the "must-dos." Pursuing my passion has improved my writing, taught me the nuances of publishing, introduced me to online marketing, and, like flying, has given a boost to my confidence.
2. Listen to your fans - but listen more closely to your critics. Family and friends served as pre-readers for my book. The praise felt wonderful, but real improvement came through honest, candid feedback.
3. Understand what you want to accomplish - and why. Some of my readers asked, "Who is your audience?" Others asked, "What is your goal; why are you writing this book?" Understanding the answers to those questions was critical to making the book the best it could be and determining what, if any, post-publication plan to implement.
4. Even great can always be better - but focusing on perfection can hinder success. I am a near-perfectionist, a bit of an obsessive type. I read four proofs of the book and each time, I found a word to change, punctuation that wasn't quite right, or tense that wasn't consistent. After the fourth proof, Roger instilled a bit of reality. "You will always find something to change," he said. "If you continue on this path, the book will lose the voice and the charm of the author. Just let it go." And I did.

Finally attaining my goal, holding my tangible, published book in my hand is a dream come true. I will be honored if you'll read it, either in paperback, Kindle or Nook format. If you find the book enjoyable, I will be even happier that I was able to provide you with a pleasant diversion through the pastime I truly love to pursue.

The Gift of Time

I have been spending quite a bit of time recently talking with leaders in various organizations. My information quest seeks to identify what leaders need most from their organizations. Here's what I've learned:

1. Universally, leaders want to be great - not just good, but great.  Not one person has stated or even implied, "Don't bother with support; I'm quite happy being mediocre." Most leaders do see themselves as good leaders, each believing that he or she gives the best effort each day. A desire to improve, a willingness to learn and a commitment to the team is consistently evident among the cross-section of leaders I've encountered.




Leaders are consistently asking
 for more time to be leaders


2. Every leader has more to do.  Job responsibilities have expanded horizontally or vertically, and sometimes in both directions. This is true even in the few organizations that avoided layoffs during the Great Recession. Companies that were in survival mode are transitioning to growth mode and all are hesitant to add staff. Doing more with less is the norm; leaders are directing larger numbers of staff and in some cases, supporting the team by performing staff-level work when necessary.
3. Leaders have a hard time saying "no."  Staff members need help. Bosses need help. Leaders, with a desire to do their best, rarely say no. Instead, they stretch themselves thinner and thinner, in an attempt to satisfy all.
4. The little things go first. As leaders work to juggle priorities and manage time, some activities fall from the list. Out of necessity, leaders resort to doing less of what they perceive will have least impact if undone. The list often includes informal chats with staff, brief check-ins on project teams, self-development and time for personal reflection.

These recurring themes are escalating into a crescendo from leaders to their organizations. "If you truly want to help us be good leaders," they say, "Give us more time."

Good leaders need time so that they can develop the skills needed for a breakthrough to greatness. Great leaders rely on time as a critical strategic element in their toolkit.  Yet, even these great leaders are asking organizations to review the pace of change, assess projects, and reorder priorities so that they can get back to basics. Basics include face-to-face communication with staff, personalized interactions and caring dialogue. Back to basics is all about allocating time to laugh, enjoy each other, and function as a cohesive team.
The senior leaders of the very best organizations are taking notice.  They are listening and evaluating, determining how best to balance the very real need to maintain constant forward momentum with a renewed focus on the human element.

In the meantime, leaders can benefit from reading and reflecting upon two great articles: 

1. Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time, by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy, published in the Harvard Business Review, October, 2007.
2. No Work-Life Balance? It's Your Fault, by Rachel Emma Silverman, published in The Wall Street Journal blogs on April 7, 2011.

Reflections from the 2011 Great Place to Work Conference

I recently enjoyed two days of idea exchange with many of the best companies to work for in America. The 2011 edition of the annual Great Place to Work conference was hosted in Denver, Colorado. The event centers on content-rich keynote addresses and meaningful workshops. Unlike many HR conferences, there is no cavernous vendor hall or constant pitches for the latest commercial product designed to solve every workplace dilemma.

This marked my third trip to the Great Place to Work conference and as has been the case in the past, I came home not with a goodie bag full of plastic desk toys, but with actionable best practices to adapt for my organization. Here are a few of my key takeaways from this year's event.

1. Never Rest: Even organizations that are already recognized as best places to work need to be constantly attentive to their employees. The best of the best do not bask in their accolades. These companies are constantly striving to maintain high levels of employee engagement and ensure ongoing employee satisfaction. The rewards are high workforce retention, excellent customer satisfaction and industry-best financial performance.




Employee perception is the real driver of best place status


2. Listen, Clarify, Listen Again: Best place status depends largely on the perception of the employees who work for the organization. It is possible to win workplace awards that are simply a stamp of approval for a well-written application. Truly meaningful awards, such as Fortune's Best Companies to Work for in America depend on input from a random sample of employees. The single best way for an employer to understand and respond to employee needs is to listen continuously. A future blog will take a closer look at tools and techniques used by the best of the best.
3. Adapt, Don't Adopt: Building upon the strategic importance of listening, it is important to respond to the specific needs of the employees within the organization. It's tempting to grab the latest glitzy employee benefit, but any action taken to improve employee engagement must resonate with your staff.
4. Basics First: Maslow's Hierarchy has survived over time for a reason. It's accurate and it works. Companies on the road to attain best place recognition must start with an audit of the basics. In workplace terms, these are pay, benefits and environment. Ensure that these elements solidly address the needs of employees are positively perceived before introducing more sophisticated perquisites.

There were many other learning points from this conference. The most valuable experiences were gleaned from small group or one-on-one conversations with colleagues willing to share what has worked for them and what has failed. Continuous learning is a hallmark of best places, and there is no better way to learn than to dialogue with organizations that are constantly striving for excellence.

You Get What You Measure

"Results-Driven, Solid ROI, Quantifiable Outcomes"

When these terms are used to describe a leader, the reaction is likely to be very positive. These phrases conjure up images of a successful "producer,” someone who accomplishes goals and gets things done. The individual may contribute greatly to the bottom line of the organization. Who wouldn't want such a person as a company leader? The reality is that many organizations don't - and most shouldn't.

This is bold statement is intended to evoke strong immediate response.  But step back from the surface of the description above and look a bit deeper.  The discussion concerns leaders and a few key qualities are missing from that superstar profile. Absent from the descriptive terms are the soft qualities of a leader, attributes that are more difficult to effectively measure. They include:

1. Compassion: A great leader cares about people. While an overuse of compassion hampers a leader's ability to manage difficult developmental conversations, some degree of caring has to manifest itself in the leader's daily interactions with staff, peers, clients and superiors.  The antonym of compassion is arrogance. That attribute that has toppled many otherwise "successful" individuals.
2. Sense of Team: The workplace is increasingly complex. Matrix work relationships are common in many organizations. Most organizational projects require support from cross-functional experts. Those who cannot operate comfortably and effectively in a team environment will struggle to succeed as leaders.
3. Trust: The single most important attribute that any leader must possess is the ability to win - and retain - the trust of direct reports and others. Trust is the capital that sustains a leader when the inevitable difficult times emerge. Employees will listen, accept and follow a leader through the darkest times if that leader has consistently demonstrated that he or she can be trusted to do what's right for the group as a whole.

The human resources profession is placing increasingly stronger emphasis on human capital metrics; that is, measuring the effectiveness of employee-focused strategies. In many cases, these metrics are also being applied to the evaluation of individual leader effectiveness. Organizations must guard against reliance on a preponderance of bottom-line focused metrics and ensure that balance exists. It is equally, if not more important to gauge the leader's performance on true human-focused competencies such as those listed above.

If the concept seems difficult to accept, consider two recent examples of results-oriented rainmakers who have stirred significant controversy and created chaos in human relationships within their organizations.  Lead actor Charlie Sheen is credited with a major role in the success of the television series, Two and a Half Men. However, his incredibly poor human relations skills caused his employer to terminate his contract. Warner Brothers made the difficult but commendable decision to put people ahead of profits.  So, too did Time, Inc., with the abrupt termination of CEO Jack Griffin after just six months on the job. Griffin's cost-cutting and organizational effectiveness measures may have had potential to contribute significantly to the company's bottom line, but at significant expense to its people.

Metrics and pure-dollar ROI are important, but human outcomes cannot always be fully quantified by statistical measures. Organizations will be well served to ensure that any leader evaluation system includes an effective consideration of the human side of leadership. You will get what you measure.

Leaders are the Keepers of the Culture

It is impossible to understate the importance of leaders to sustaining culture. Leaders are the face of the organization to numerous internal and external constituencies. The larger the organization, the more critical the role of its leaders.

Author and speaker Peg Neuhauser's first and now classic book draws parallels between organizations and tribes.  "Tribal Warfare in Organizations" depicts corporate departmentalization - what many of us have come to call silos - as warring tribes in action.  The organization's leaders, especially its senior leaders, are akin to tribal elders. 

Neuhaser subsequently expanded the concept in a later book, "Corporate Legends and Lore," which emphasizes the power of storytelling as an underpinning of corporate culture. In a tribal environment, the stories are handed down from elders to junior tribe members.

Consider these concepts in tandem. The organization possesses a culture, which is supported or undermined by the "tribal" sub-cultures within departments or divisions.  Every organization has unwritten rules, or stories. These strategies for survival are passed along to new employees, who must quickly learn them in order to meld and ultimately succeed.

The role of the leader includes responsibility to carry out the organization's policies and protocols, set the tone for a specific operating division and guide a group of employees. In many organizations, especially in larger ones, leaders operate with a great deal of independence. Leaders are entrusted with tremendous power, whether or not they or the organization realizes this. 

Leaders set an example that employees follow.  A strong, positive leader encourages company loyalty by nurturing staff and modeling core organizational values.  Less skilled leaders can quickly cause staff to become disengaged by verbalizing displeasure with initiatives, criticizing senior leaders and second-guessing decisions.

There are certain strategies that organizations can deploy to ensure that leaders understand and effectively execute their all-important role in cultural preservation.

1. Assess and evaluate leaders based on key organizational metrics.  If employee engagement is critical to the organization, an engagement metric must be included in the leaders' evaluation and reward system. A bottom-line driven organization should reward leaders, at least in part, on profitability. This strategy-aligned approach to leader rewards supports cultural alignment in an objective and measurable manner.
2. Sharpen the focus on leadership quality.  Some organizations display greater leniency toward leaders than toward their staff-level employees. Leaders often have long tenure and may have deep relationships across the organization. But these factors cannot be allowed to enable a leader's substandard performance.  Leaders who are not performing to standard must be addressed in an "up or out" manner. Performance improves (moves "up") or the leader moves out.
3. Identify and articulate core leadership competencies.  The organization must pinpoint and communicate the qualities and behaviors expected of all leaders.  Appropriately developed competencies will be linked to the organization's culture and provide a common framework within which all leaders can operate.
4. Invest in leadership development.  Good leaders can become great through education, experiential learning and best practice sharing. Organizations with strong cultures consistently invest in leader development, because they understand that sustaining the culture depends largely upon skilled, knowledgeable leaders.

Leaders and tribal elders share a common bond. They model desired behaviors, pass along the stories and sustain the norms of the group.  They are the keepers of culture, empowered with responsibility to preserve the past and nurture the future.