GROUNDED SERVICE
A blog for all the reluctant leaders who know what needs to get done, step up to shoulder their responsibility, and make a difference
FOREWORD
This work is intended to be a concise handbook for emerging and experienced leaders to provide a reality based systematic approach towards rapidly developing or enhancing competency and coherence in leadership. Key references are cited and the intent is to provide a few new ideas framed in the backdrop of concisely summarized great works the reader should further explore on their journey of development.
1. INTRODUCTION: Getting Results
After being critical in the foreword of oversimplification of complex systems I will immediately launch into a simplified modelling of something highly complex. This is a common practice in science and engineering in order to be able to take a complex problem and at least reduce it to complicated and make design decisions. The skilled engineer or scientist makes the right simplifying assumptions, AND is aware of the limitations and dangers inherent in those assumptions and when the model will break down.
2. HOW TO DRIVE COHERENCE AND QUALITY - post 1/2
Three key areas will be described in how to develop strategy and engagement.
1. Getting the right people on the bus (to quote Jim Collins (Collins, 2001, Jim Collins - Articles - Good to Great)
2. The leader’s role in strategy
3. Leading by example
Through the execution of these elements of leadership your team will become more cohesive and have a sense of coherence with respect to the goals the organization is pursuing. This cohesiveness and coherence are inspiring and result in an increase in energy level from the team.
2.cont. HOW TO DRIVE COHERENCE AND QUALITY - post 2/2
The development and implementation of strategy is the most important accountability and responsibility of the leader and of leaders in general. Does this mean the leader does the strategic planning in isolation in their ivory tower? No! (except in very small organizations, and even then debatable) The strategic planning process should be consultative with the entire organization, and at minimum actively involve the leader’s immediate team.
3. How to Develop Competency post 1
The recommended practices around building of competency are the most applied and action-oriented of this handbook. On an individual basis, and for many organizations the building of competency is a worthy result to pursue in and of itself.
High functioning teams need to build a high level of mutual respect and a connectedness with each other and their leaders. Essentially one of the things that is happening in the application presented below is that people within the organization are constantly being recruited; recruited into continuous improvement of themselves and the organization.
3 cont: Leading By Example
Continuation of leading by example with subsections on:
Work Load Management
Removing the Training Wheels
Flexing Your Style
Be Available (but not too much!) and Pay Attention to Interfaces
3 cont: Leading By Example 2
Be Available(but not too much)
Don’t Micromanage and No Stupid Rules
Always be Teaching and Learning
Contemporaneous Error Correction
Empathetically Listen
Be Grateful Publicly
3 cont. Leading by Example 3
OODA Loop
Leadership Capital Account and Leading Without Authority
Get Detached and Beware the Streetlight Effect
3.2 Mentoring and Coaching
Mentoring and Coaching
Performance Management, Measurement and Review
Perverse Incentive
Discernment and Judgement
4 How To Build Capacity
Key concepts on how to build capacity are explored with analogies to other areas in life:
-Leading by example
-Importance of rest and self care
-Progressive overload
-Nutrition and physical training
The complete graphic of Generative Aligned Action is presented