Do or Die Roles for Every Senior Leader (Michael Warden)

Being the senior leader of an organization is a tough job. Of course, if you are a senior leader, you already know this. People at all levels of your organization regularly place a diverse array of expectations on you and your time. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on how you should do your job and even what your job should be. And they don't mind telling you (and/or everyone else) when they don't think you're doing it right.

In such a cacophonous environment full of disparate and often opposing demands, it can be difficult for senior leaders to discern just where the lines should be drawn between their job and everyone else’s. Regardless of the size of the organization or the specifics of your particular org chart, what are the roles all senior leaders must fulfill in order for their organization to thrive and grow? Opinions vary—so here’s mine: a list of a few of the roles that I believe are essential for all senior leaders to hold.

1. Keeper of the Mission & Vision for the organization:
Part of your role is to champion the Mission & Vision of your organization and to ensure the team is always moving toward those ends. Because Vision leaks and Mission slips out of focus over time, you have to make it your job to keep the Mission front and center in your people’s eyes, and keep casting vision for the better world you’re all trying to create by pursuing it. And while you should consistently avoid micro-managing your people, in any area where you see the Vision or Mission not being effectively pursued and honored, you have full authority to step in and make whatever changes are necessary to bring that area back in alignment with the Mission & Vision.

2. Keeper of the Values:
Another part of your role is to continually promote and champion the core values of the organization. Every action you take, every conversation you have, every request you make of your team needs to be clearly grounded in and motivated by one or more of your organization’s core values. Anything you’re doing that can’t be directly tied to your core values in this way—either drop it or delegate it to someone else. As the visionary leader of your organization, you are the embodiment of the values. If you don’t live them, who will? As with Mission & Vision, anytime you see the values not being honored in a process or project, you have full authority to step in and do whatever is required to see that the core values are not undermined.

3. Voice of Reality:
Many leadership experts say the chief job of a leader is to “define reality” for those they lead. Another perhaps more useful way to say this is simply “naming what is going on.” Part of the role of Senior Leader is to help the team see the truth of where they are and what needs to happen next to move forward. In this sense, you become like the “red dot” on the map in the shopping mall, identifying “We Are Here.” This defining work includes several areas, such as where we are financially, where we are relationally, where we are with respect to our Mission, Vision, & goals, where we are in relation to our values, and so on.

4. Developer of Teams:
In particular, the core leadership team of the organization. Part of your role is to lead, coach, and mentor the core group of leaders who report directly to you and have significant oversight over the organization as a whole. For you to do this effectively, this team must be filled with people who you believe in and trust and who (like you) think in terms of “we” instead of “me” (in other words, Stage 4 Tribal leaders). You have full authority to choose those team members that you know you can work with and who have the appropriate skills for this role.

5. Chief Encourager and Celebrator:
Senior Leaders are typically wired to always be pushing forward toward the next challenge, so this can be a tough role for them to fill. But celebration and affirmation for a job well done is a critical part of every senior leader’s job. You must be the champion and cheerleader for those you lead—frequently encouraging them as they move toward a goal and regularly pausing to reflect on both victories and defeats and celebrate success as well as lessons learned. This rhythm of engagement and reflection/celebration is essential to your team’s overall health and critical to your role as their leader.

Source and full article here.

Sobre Visão

Baseado em uma palestra de Jeff Henderson

3 Níveis de Compromisso com a Visão em sua Igreja ou Organização

Nível 1 – As pessoas tem compromisso com a visão por se beneficiarem dela.
Nível 2 – As pessoas tem compromisso com a visão e contribuem com ela, desde que não precisem se sacrificar.
Nível 3 – As pessoas tem compromisso com a visão o suficiente para se dedicarem de coração a ela.

Observações

Nosso papel como líderes é guiarmos as pessoas do nível 1 ao nível 3.

As pessoas do nível 1são geralmente as que reclamam.

Mais sobre visão

Visão não é informação. O que as pessoas pensam: “não me dê informação, eu já tenho informação o suficiente; me dê inspiração”.

Visão é um exercício diário: o que eu fiz hoje para implementar a visão?

Como começar um movimento

Comece onde você está.
Comece com o que você tem.
Faça o que for possível.
Líderes que comunicam bem a visão são bons contadores de histórias.
Seu papel como líder é convencer as pessoas de que elas estão perdendo algo por não participarem deste movimento.

Covey sobre estar Fora do Rumo

A verdade é que todos estamos fora do rumo a maior parte do tempo, todos nós - cada pessoa, cada família, cada organização ou cada voo internacional para Roma. Ter isto presente já é um passo significativo. Mas, para muitos de nós, o sentimento de esta fora do rumo traz um sentimento de desânimo e desespero. Não precisa, nem deveria ser tão deprimente. Sabemos que estamos fora do rumo é na verdade um convite para nos realinharmos com o norte verdadeiro (os princípios) e nos voltarmos para nosso futuro" (8 Hábito, pp 237-238)

Começar pelos Resultados

De "O Oitavo Hábito", p 238:

"A chave do princípio do alinhamento é começar sempre pelos resultados"

Devemos sempre começar pelos resultados:
1. Que resultados queremos obter em todos os níveis?
2. Estamos atingindo-os? Sim? Não?
3. Como eles se comparam com os padrões de nível mundial?
4. A partir disso, é fundamental definir "placares" (metas) e alinhar a organização e equipes para atingir os objetivos
5. Ter paciência: "O alinhamento de estruturas e sistemas com os valores e a estratégia é um dos desafios mais duros de todos os líderes e gerentes, simplesmente porque sistemas e estruturas representam o passado" (p 241), as "vacas sagradas" (uma delas pode ser o simples comodismo)