Real Leaders Don't Boss Page 7

  Listen attentively.

  Display high integrity in everything you do.

  You Can Do It, Too

  You, too, can become a great leader by connecting with your employees. Some actions that can help entrench and enrich your leadership include:

  Learning to shift gears quickly if necessary.

  Doing what you say you will do when it comes to employees. If you promise to do something, follow through and follow up.

  Not allowing others to draft your major messages. The voice of a communication must be from the leader.

  Being sure your staff members are effective communicators, too.

  Being tech-savvy and not afraid to use technology to your advantage. That goes for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, too.

  Giving your employees and staff the tools and the training they need.

  Setting specific standards for interaction/communication between employees, staff, and leaders.

  Takeaway

  Philanderers, racists, bullies, and egomaniacs with anger-management problems have no place in today’s workplace, especially among the ranks of leaders. Not only do they undermine employee morale, but they also sabotage a business’s success.

  Real leaders must pay attention to the personal needs of their employees. Real leaders create a work environment—a climate or culture, if you will—that enables their associates to flourish.

  Millennials bring unique and outstanding talents to the workplace. Real leaders must learn how to tap into those talents.

  The 21st-century global marketplace requires an evolution of leadership strategies. With businesses operating 24/7 and across nations and the world, leaders must stay connected to their employees by every high-tech and traditional means possible, from social media to face-to-face visits.

  Business leaders would do well to emulate the U.S. Marines’ high standards of conduct, including traits such as the ability to adapt and the willingness to take risks, operate frugally, demonstrate courageous conviction, discipline, and inspire employees.

  Today’s leaders must be willing to take their businesses into uncharted waters in order to reap big rewards.

  Bosses can learn to be leaders, and it starts with a willingness to shift one’s attitude from domination to consensus-building.

  Chapter 3

  Real Leaders Communicate

  Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.

  —Charles Dickens

  The ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important ingredients for a real leader. Yet true and honest communication has fast become a lost art in today’s digital age. Instead, it has been replaced by high-tech devices and third-party mouthpieces that actually derail real interaction, and fuel the demise of communication. How many CEOs—or anyone else, for that matter—write for themselves, or make time for face-to-face contact with subordinates or even an old-fashioned telephone call? Even if CEOs do meet with employees and managers, how many actually listen? The answer today is not many.

  In our global, plugged-in, tuned-in, digital age, face time may seem a bit unwieldy. However, face-to-face meetings as well as communiqués and speeches written firsthand are proven techniques for effective communication by real leaders.

  This is the “e-age” for communication: we have software templates, texting and instant messaging technologies, ghostwriters, PR experts, and downsizing experts all acting in the name of time-saving efficiencies. Even multi-million-dollar deals come down to back-and-forth texting between executives, with the lawyers and accountants left to work out the details later.

  These days, a top-level executive may have occasional meetings or even regularly scheduled get-togethers with high-level staff to discuss company matters. But in how many of those meetings does he or she give undivided attention or demonstrate a genuine interest about what’s being said? Not many. And, when it comes to a CEO actually writing his or her own communications, you would be hard-pressed trying to find one. Again, bosses are many; leaders are few.

  Using all stand-in communication is wrong, as is using all digital—whether it is talk, Tweets, blogs, video-conferencing, or statements written by third parties. Although plenty of top executives have the requisite blogs, and still more Tweet, few write their own content, whether it’s blogs, Webpage greetings, presentations, letters to the editor, or messages to shareholders. Today’s executives rely too often on their in-house or outsourced public relations team, legal department, administrative assistants, or external consultants to draft their formal documents as well as their brief notes. According to London’s Financial Times international poll of 750 executive bloggers, only two of 10 senior business executives actually write their own blog posts.1 Noel M. Tichy, noted author, professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and former director of the GE Leadership Development Center in Crotonville, paints an even more dismal picture of today’s communication disconnect: “Ninety percent of CEOs have someone else write for them.”2 Relying on the excuse “I’m too busy,” or perhaps “I’m too important,” the corporate world has lost the art of communication.

  Not every chief executive subscribes to the philosophy of diminished discussion. Some strive for more, even though this often involves herculean, time-consuming efforts on their part. Blaise Simqu of Sage Publications is a chief executive who regularly connects with the people in his organization—no matter where they are. A firm believer in personally modeling the behavior he expects from his employees, Simqu also recognizes the importance of being home on weekends with his family. That is a real leader. Who would not want to work for a leader who preaches and practices balance for himself and his associates?

  In the public sector, where real talk is rare, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held his first press conference on April 27, 2011. Actually it was the first ever press conference by a Federal Reserve chairman. Bernanke may not have said anything new in his landmark appearance, but it was an unprecedented step toward more communication, not less.

  Whether or not an executive believes in real communication, it can and does net important results. If you communicate and connect with employees, no matter how volatile an issue or situation, any confrontation is manageable, and outcomes will be more successful.

  The Art of Connection

  Make the effort to know your audience, the competition, and your adversaries, and outcomes likely will be more consistent and predictable. Robert Laverty, former president and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital System based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was never arrogant or cruel, but always modest. He was self-confident without being cocky, and he not only knew how to connect, but he also understood the value of communication. I worked with him, and one late afternoon at the hospital, I met with him just prior to a meeting he had scheduled with the medical staff. The meeting was to discuss an important strategic opportunity for the hospital, and Laverty wanted medical staff support for the plan. Up until that point, doctors had indicated their concern about the pace of change—too much new building and too many plans to build new facilities and establish new programs. I asked Laverty if he was worried about his ability to persuade the medical staff to embrace his plan. He responded, “If I can’t convince them, I don’t deserve to be in this job.”

  Laverty knew that the impending discussions would likely be heated, but he also understood how to communicate and connect with physicians. He knew he could deliver. A master communicator, he prevailed in that meeting. The hospital’s medical staff embraced the changes, and Laverty, the medical staff, the hospital, and the community ended up winning with the resulting expansion plans.

  Bob Laverty exhibited leadership traits that are the lore of management books. He had an incomparable ability to conceive and articulate a vision. He could “see” into the future of the organization and plan effectively to succeed in that future. And, he kn
ew how to charm others into pursuing his visions. He understood that no vision will reach fruition if it is not shared and owned by the team charged with executing it.

  Laverty also understood what management gurus such as W. Edwards Deming and Sakichi Toyoda knew: the importance of management by literally walking around. I recall clearly the first time he suggested I accompany him to one of the patient floors in the hospital. He was the first CEO who taught me the importance of visiting the patient units at different times of the day and night to get to know the staff, to better understand their challenges and the special calling inherent in working in a healthcare setting. In many ways, he understood both patient and staff needs and how best to meet them. The esteemed Northwestern University professor Phillip Kotler would surely have called him one of the best marketers in the entire healthcare field as Laverty understood both the art and science of the profession.

  Another superb communicator and leader I encountered during my first years in Ann Arbor was the vice president of academic affairs at the University of Michigan, Allan Smith. I probably learned more from him than anyone else I have ever worked for. He was genuine, humble, and unpretentious, and he always had time for others. My first encounter with him is a testament to that.

  Shortly after arriving at the University of Michigan to pursue my doctoral degree, my wife, Joan, and I were walking across Regents Plaza in front of the administration building as Smith and university president Robben Fleming walked out. At the time, we had no idea who they were. We must have appeared lost because both men smiled at us, stopped to introduce themselves, and asked us if they could help us. After I introduced myself as a doctoral student who had just arrived from Pomona College in Claremont, California, Smith offered to meet with me in his office to see if he could be of any help. It didn’t matter that we were strangers; this real leader openly and without hesitancy took the time and offered to make more time for someone else. From that chance encounter, I spent the next year as a staff assistant to Smith.

  I received a priceless education observing how a great leader has extreme patience. Despite a blistering schedule, Smith always made time for those who sought his counsel. He literally gave 100 percent of his attention to the person or persons he was with at the time. No matter what, he never became angry or vindictive; he never appeared ruffled and was always genuinely pleasant, polite, and kind. He could and did charm everyone with this incredible warmth, intelligence, and undivided attention.

  As Smith, Fleming, Laverty, and other real leaders understand, real leadership requires real, live communication, not the texted, Tweeted, or e-mailed thoughts, words, or interpretations by someone else in your name. An e-communication is often necessary, but expressing your own thoughts and ideas in face-to-face, honest, two-way talk—body language and all—overshadows its poor unemotional cousin.

  Former Dow employee Jerry Benson related the following anecdote from his tenure at Dow Chemical: “Leland Doan, as president of Dow Chemical, when he would walk by a management employee in the hallway, would often ask, ‘How’s business today?’” That simple question, posed in a casual way, forced the employee to measure his or her current situation in terms of both past and future goals. More important, coming from the company’s leader, the question reinforced a personal connection and commitment on the part of the leader as well as the employee. It’s a great question to ask yourself daily—and those around you if you are in a leadership role.

  Write It Yourself

  Real leaders author their own thoughts. Sure, they may have a bit of help from an assistant or a PR expert to refine their work, but the thoughts, direction, approach, and attitude of real leaders belong to them. They write their messages, period. Admiral Zumwalt may not have written the final copy for his “Z-grams,” but you can bet that he had plenty of input on the ideas, approach, and attitude expressed in each of them.

  Consider a few advantages for someone in a leadership role writing his or her own communications:

  CEOs formulate and chart strategic direction for an organization. Translating those thoughts into writing or organizing them for personal interaction sharpens their focus, lessens confusion and rework, increases the trust of others, inspires followership, and improves outcomes.

  Putting thoughts in writing forces leaders to be clear, concise, and cogent. Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Colin Powell said: “Successful leaders know how to define their mission, convey it to their subordinates....”3

  Real leaders are also teachers. Part of the teaching process means writing down your thoughts first, then sharing them, inviting feedback, and discussing alternative ideas. Writing helps clarify your vision while it increases your credibility as a leader. CEOs who write the first drafts of their major messages are much more likely to rally stakeholders in ways no speechwriter can imitate.

  Real Leaders Know How to Listen

  The business world has no shortage of heroes past or present. These are individuals whose visions and personal values form the fabric of their missions, and help make their people great leaders and their companies hugely successful. These people are heroes who personify their values and pay attention to what others say and do. They listen to employees, to customers, and to the markets.

  We’ve all worked for or with, or heard about, the boss who’s impossible to contact. Yet every one of the real leaders you have or will read about in these pages regularly mingles and mixes with, talks to, and learns from those who are nearby. Bosses lock themselves away in their “ivory towers,” isolated from those around them; real leaders do not. That communication creates an essential awareness and connection with the company, employees, and the community that helps ensure success. It should be standard operating procedure for all levels of leadership.

  Regularly connecting and networking with others in your organization—and not only in your job strata—helps build long-term alliances and provides valuable feedback for the short and long term. If you are a CEO or executive, that means taking the time to interact with your staff and your customers. Outside the workplace, the key is being perceptive and receptive to others, and sometimes both work and leisure spaces overlap.

  Not every leader needs to be a globetrotter, but all real leaders do need to listen and be accessible. During my administrative tenures with various hospital systems, I always made a point to join doctors and nurse executives on their rounds. I did so not because I had to, but because it was a way to talk with physicians, nurses, and health professionals, and to experience the hospital both day and night. I wanted to get to know all the people working in the facility and to understand their concerns, challenges, families, issues, and problems. A hospital is a 24/7 operation, and its employees and medical staff may have different concerns depending on their shifts. The night shift is less distracted by the day’s activities, and night workers generally can better focus on the job at hand.

  This kind of communication helped me do a better job. For example, when it was my turn to serve as the nighttime on-call administrator and something extraordinary came up, I knew what was going on, who was involved, and who I could depend on to help get the problem or issue solved. My visibility in and knowledge of a particular facility day and night also boosted my credibility as a representative of the hospital in the community. To truly represent the business, you must truly know the business—and that means both its day and night operations.

  Similarly, administrators at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, were required to spend one day a month “on the floor” assisting patients and their families, medical staff, and support personnel. Such hands-on involvement led to an administrative team that was truly in touch with the ongoing issues of the facility.

  Driving Success

  You may be the best leader in the world—or at least think you are—but if you can’t enlist others in the effort, true success will prove elusive.

  When I became chief of public relations and marketing for Indian
a University Medical Center in Indianapolis, I used lessons in interpersonal dynamics to transform communications and create more open cooperation throughout our facilities. At the time, the medical center was typical of most academic medical campuses—the modus operandi was toleration between “us and them.” Doctors and staff, executives and boards did their jobs but often did not work closely with others. As a leader, I listened when and where others had not, and the efforts paid off. Most of the 300 physicians and staff ended up routinely involved in marketing, branding, and affiliation outreach initiatives, which were highly successful. Without that buy-in and expertise among the different constituencies, I doubt we would have had the substantial successes we achieved.

  Real listening involves an acute awareness of what is happening and changing in the workplace and in life. Further still, a leader is willing to embrace the needs—personal and professional—that those changes demand.

  R. Duke Blackwood, director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, is a highly approachable and expert communicator. Because of those skills, positive changes come about. He’s a brilliant fundraiser, highly innovative in program development, and enormously skilled in developing relationships with business and academia, world and national leaders, schoolchildren and teachers. His “Team Reagan” approach created an environment for his staff to succeed as a team, more than doubling the Library’s attendance since President Reagan’s death, developing award-winning education programs, and dramatically increasing the Library’s visibility. Today, the Simi Valley library is the most visited of our nation’s presidential libraries.

  Personal and Personable

  The late Fred Meijer was president and CEO of Meijer, which began as a small Greenville, Michigan–based grocery and household goods store founded by his father. He was renowned for knowing the names of all his employees and customers, and greeted them by name. Meijer recognized the connection that comes with personal communication. Even as his family’s superstore empire grew, Meijer continued to maintain that connection until his retirement, when he still would occasionally greet customers and employees, and collect carts in store parking lots.