Thinking Out Loud!: June 2019

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Executive Presence: You have the SKILLS, now you need a STRATEGY!

I know you. You’re a go getter. You go get it and bring it back on a pallet. You bring home the bacon and the eggs with a side of mimosas! You are incredibly skilled and capable, however, too few people recognize you for such. This has me thinking out loud that it is time for a strategy!

Now I also know what you’re thinking. What has happened to Dr. “servant leadership is the only viable leadership strategy” Faulkner with all the trimmings of humility and being other-centric?!? Trust me, I am still here, and, by the way, it still is! That’s the point and perhaps my different take on establishing an executive presence strategy since in my version, it is predicated on the belief that if you focus on adding value FIRST, the recognition will follow!

As a review, what does it mean to have Executive Presence? According to Jun Medalla of Business Insider, these traits line up as:

Composure – being self and other aware.
Connection – the able to not just communicate but to connect with others.
Charisma – the ability to influence others where you are!
Confidence – in your abilities and comfort in your interactions.
Credibility – simply knowing what you are talking about.
Clarity – the ability to communicate purposes and passions so that everyone understands
Consideration – for others and their perspectives.

ALL of the above can be learned and practiced and I would wager you got the basics covered! Remember, a confident presence is more about who you ARE versus what you DO or SAY. So far so good? Of course, and that is more than half the equation and as I often say, if you truly do your best, it will always be more than good enough!

But we still need a strategy to move forward. I recently reviewed a book by Paul Warriner called the Recognition Book: 50 ways to stand up, stand out, and get recognized. Combined with some of my own ideas, a strategy focused on building executive presence is built on 3 key foundations:

Who you ARE – I referenced this in the above discussion. Know who you ARE in terms of your unique personal brand which is made up of your style, personality, knowledge, expertise, etc. I often encourage individuals (and organizations) to create a unique and memorable brand by answer the following three questions.

What do you VALUE?
What do you DO BEST?
What do you want to be KNOWN FOR?

How you treat OTHERS – treating others with courtesy and respect is an incredible impact multiplier. It’s just classy! I recognize that some ultra-competitive ladder climbers may experience short-term gains, but inevitably they will flame-out, mainly because their teams will leave them and no one wants to work with them. At the end of the day, it is the ladder builders who eventually get noticed and rewarded for their efforts. Always remember that no one is successful unless a lot of other people want them to be!

The VALUE YOU PROVIDE – this is where we really get into the “how to’s” of a strategy and Warriner provides some great ideas:

Take on organizational volunteer and community engagement roles
Meet an unmet need within your team. Some extra work that everyone knows needs to get done but no one has yet to step up for.
Represent and network on behalf of your organization – this can be at an event, presenting at a conference, serving on a board or community organization on behalf of your organization.
Mentor and help on-board others. Remember, executive presence is a 360 proposition, including not just senior leaders but peers, younger team members, and other stakeholders.
In turn, be willing to be mentored and coached. Many organizations have internal mentoring programs and spending time with a senior leader will provide invaluable insights.
Stay relevant and current by investing in your own professional and personal growth.
Be fully present in prepared for meetings giving everything and everyone the attention deserved.
Be constructive and positive when others are being negative, sarcastic and cynical. Trust me on this one, leaders worth following are looking for true believers!
Contribute to discussions and feedback forums in a solutions-oriented manner. Even if a good idea has been presented, add to it!
Walk through the room slowly. This is a habit proposed by author and leadership expert John Maxwell. Essentially, when he is about to speak in front of a large audience, instead of hiding out backstage somewhere, he walks around the crowd introducing himself and thanking them for attending. In a similar way, instead of just running into your office first thing in the morning or sitting down at a meeting, say hello to folks and introduce yourself to newcomers.
Present and carry yourself well. This speaks to the traits of what executive presence is but I often heard that you should dress and comport yourself for the job that you want not just the job you have!
Be punctual – these days one of our most valuable commodities is time and nothing lets someone know you value them as to when you value their time.
Share credit and take responsibility – how you handle yourself when things go well and even when things go bad will say a lot about you and people will notice.

Now you may be thinking, “hey, I do a lot of this already” and that’s the point. Building executive presence does involve a strategy but it is not one that is contrived and manipulative. It stems from who you are and what you do. The premise is along the same lines as John Maxwell’s book on Influencing Others. Essentially how we build influence is NOT by being manipulative or conniving, but by being just a really good person!

One final note about why you should focus on building executive presence – mainly because a lot of people need you to! Believe me, there are far too many ladder climbers out there being the squeaky wheel representing their own narrow interest. We need the ladder builders to have a seat at the table so that they can advocate for their teams, tell senior leaders what they need to hear, propose solutions that are right versus just expedient, and make things better because that is what leaders worth following do!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I invite you to contact me.

Yours in leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

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Sunday, June 23, 2019

The 5 Heroic SHOULDS of Servant Leaders.

The heroes of the new millennia will be servant leaders, quietly working out of the spotlight to transform the world – Ann McGee Cooper and Duane Tramwell (Hero as Leader to Servant as Leader). What a great quote from Ann and Duane! I have often written about servant leadership, but I have become more and more convinced that the only viable leadership approach left to salvage our businesses, schools, universities, hospitals, and governments is that of Servant Leadership. Therefore, more and more I have been thinking out loud about what Servant Leaders ARE, KNOW, and DO!

It is my belief that leadership manifests in those three ways:

Who we ARE – this is about our character, out values, and our habits as individuals. The best leaders have a clear since of who they are but they are always looking to improve. They are constantly monitoring and calibrating their motives and attitudes to be on solid ground with their mission, their people, and their own integrity.

What they KNOW – I have often heard it said that leaders are learners. In fact, if you study the habits of some of the more well know entrepreneurs, you will find they are voracious consumers of information, books, and perspectives. They are constantly reinventing themselves and not resting on old information but seeking new frontiers of knowledge. Effective leaders are always learning in order to be effective with their teams and their roles.

What they can DO – Obviously, effective leaders have a bias toward action. They are experimenters and doers. They have tremendous amounts of credibility with their teams because they have learned the processes and strategies to implement and execute ideas. From basic organization to more complex project and people management skills, leaders worth following are always updating their own skill-sets.

With these dimensions in mind, I would propose that truly skilled servant leaders should KNOW they can DO the following and are able to do so because of who they ARE.

Listen without Judgement – in far too many conversations, we are evaluating instead of just listening. I once heard author and pastor Andy Stanley say is best when encouraged leaders to not “how” an idea to death! Often when eager and gifted team members bring ideas forward, our first reaction is to get into the “hows” such as “how are we going to do that, how are we going to pay for it, or how are we gong to find the time to do that?” Instead, we should start with “wow!” as in “Wow, that is a great idea or Wow, I really appreciate your initiative!” See the difference?

Be Authentic – as leaders, we need to be authentic and real to our teams. That does not mean we wear every emotion on our sleeve, but we never try to portray an image but be the leader we want to be! The leader that cares more about people than things, takes most of the blame but shares more of the credit, and that admits mistakes and makes things right.

Build Community – great leaders know how to build community in the workplace, but they know it is not easy. They have to focus on:

The people they gather

The value they want to intentionally add

The direction and strategies they set to create community

If all the above are in alignment, then the possibility exists to build a caring, supportive, and accountable community (versus the dumpster fire that too often typifies most work environments!).

Share Power – this is tough for many. But leaders who are emotionally mature and secure have no problems with this. They know the best way to lead an engaged and incredibly productive team is to allow members to “own” their work and, subsequently, their results! Simply put, this takes courage on the part of the leader. Primarily because their own leaders are hesitant to do so! Heroic leaders who know they should share power and do so out of habit, usually experience incredible returns on such an investment.

Develop People – finally, and speaking of investments, the best ones you can make as a leader is to invest in your team members. Developing others may not be the only factor in personal and organizational success but I can guarantee neglecting to do so will be a primary source of failure! Heroic leaders intentionally develop their team members but in a way that is customized to their goals, learning styles, and personal strengths. Robert Greenleaf, the founder of Servant Leadership, often wrote, the best way to determine if someone is an effective servant leader is to observe if their followers are happier, wiser, stronger, and better off due to the efforts of their leader.

As leaders, there are many things we should be doing but I would like to encourage you to do the difficult things, the inconvenient things, and the heroic things. Anyone can lead at baseline, but it takes a special person to lead at a higher level because they simply have a higher calling to do so!