How to be a new leader?

by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jan 13, 2017 | Brazen Leader, Miscellaneous Business Topics

I was asked this question on Quora:

I have never been in leadership but I want to be a leader. How can I achieve this target?

Though straight-forward, your question has some depth of thinking…

Two things to start:

1. Be a leader where you are. Demonstrate leadership, empathy, support, advocacy for others, etc. wherever you are. Leadership, in its true form, doesn’t need a business card.
2. Make sure your boss, and others in the food chain, are aware you would like to advance and at some time move into leadership. It’s important for them to know—the floors are littered with employees who were expecting someone to just “recognize their potential” and promote them extemporaneously. It happens, but don’t live your life expecting it. Take action and let someone know.

Now, to be promoted, I tell people to be mindful of the Three P’s for promotion… for you to be promoted:

• Performance. Yours must be top-notch. Maybe not the best, but certainly well above satisfactory. You’ve got to demonstrate discretionary effort, above just doing your job.
• Potential. You’ll need to demonstrate that you can do more. By doing more, by asking to do more, by accepting almost anything that comes your way, by requesting and embracing any learning opportunity, etc.
• Position. You can knock #1 and #2 out of the park, but there still must be a position to promote to, or you cannot move. This is where your patience will be tested, and you simply must rise to the challenge. If someone is promoted “over” you, your performance, attitude, etc. cannot falter. Even if you were unjustly skipped. Keep the performance top-notch, and your behaviors positive.

Be Brazen.

Leaders–Dance with who brung ya…

by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Nov 8, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Miscellaneous Business Topics

Not too long ago, I worked with a group of division presidents for a fast-growing company. Two things struck me as interesting, and somewhat of a paradox: First, they were all reasonably successful in their jobs (and their jobs were substantially the same, just different geographic regions). Second, they were all incredibly different. Yes, they each had similar behavior characteristics, such as intelligence and work ethic. In other areas, such as sales, marketing, people management, organizational skills, strategy, planning, and do forth, they were all over the charts.

So what? Well, I’ll tell you “so what.” You hear a lot of garbage about understanding your “strengths and weaknesses,” and then you’re supposed to work on your weaknesses. Let’s look at it differently. How about we assume that succeeding in a position can be done in any of several different ways, using a variety of skills. Using that reasoning, you don’t have strengths and weaknesses, you have learned skills and skills you have yet to learn.

Wow!

So, then, we should then simply “learn more skills,” right?? No, no, no… We should, instead, clearly identify our skills, since we know that we can succeed with them, and work on improving our strengths! That’s right, improve our strengths, since we already know that they work for us. Learning new skills is time consuming, and depending on application, may or may not work for us the way they work for others.

Now, this logic assumes current success, so don’t confuse this with those managers who are clearly unsuccessful, though I would argue this could help them with their improvement also.

In other words, as Bum Phillips (retired Houston Oilers coach) would say, “Dance with who brung you.” Use the skills you have — improve and hone them to a razor’s edge — and continue your increasing levels of success. Over time, identify some additional skills you would like to pick up, and develop a plan to learn them in a reasonable time and fashion.

But don’t break what works.

Be Brazen…

Timeless Leadership Marches On

by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Nov 2, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Miscellaneous Business Topics

Leadership is Timeless

I’m a military veteran.

As such, I frequently read old military books, discourses, and papers to compare corporate leadership today with historical military leadership. The similarities are astounding.

A 1941 book published by the Military Service Publishing Company is one such work. Edited by the staff, it has no specific author, but is a compilation of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and directives from a stream of notable military leaders. Some — just as an example — include the likes of General J.G. Harbord, who began as a private in the Spanish-American war, achieved prominence as General Pershing’s Chief of Staff, and later commanding the USMC’s 2nd Division before assuming the Chairmanship of the RCA Corporation.

Just an example of the caliber of input for this book…

In this book, Chapter II discusses “Orientation.” Of course, it is meant to apply mostly to new officers at a new post or assignment. Truth is, the advice given there — some 65+ years ago to junior officers — is as appropriate today for first time managers as it is senior-most leadership.

Sections and brief summaries include:

Your Brother Officers:

The commissioned officers of the U.S. military are a cross-section of the American Public… as a group, they are subject to the same ambitions, variations in viewpoint, and human frailties as the people they serve.

This, of course, matches up with our corporate situations today. Managers and leaders have different backgrounds and experiences, bringing different thought-processes and judgment. When harnessed for the common good, this is an excellent trait, one we should exploit, not suppress. Different thinking means more choices. More choices usually means better decisions. Or, as many would put it — embrace your weirdness.

Performance of Duty:

In the military, the performance of duty to the limit of one’s capacity is a fetish. Striving for perfection is more than a figure of speech… as you demonstrate your capacity for additional responsibility, it will come to you; be not impatient… there is much to learn.

Wow, is this apropos or what…? Work hard, smart, and consistent. Do what you say you’ll do. Make well-thought decisions. Those of you who have achieved significant corporate rank: Did you get there through politics, trickery, and slight-of-hand, or was it hard work, diligence, and sacrifice??

This stuff really works.

Get Out, or Get in Line:

Mind your business. If the concern where you are employed is all wrong, and the Old Man a curmudgeon (I like that word), it may be well for you to go tell the Old Man, confidentially, privately, and quietly, that he is a curmudgeon. Explain to him that his policy is absurd and preposterous. Then show him how to reform his ways, and offer to lead the effort to cleanse the faults. Do this, or if for any reason you should prefer not, then take your choice of these: Get Out, Or Get in Line.

If you work for a man, in heaven’s name, work for him! Speak well of him, think well of him, stand by him and the institution he represents.  If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth more than a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage, why, resign your position and, when on the outside, damn to your heart’s content.

This quotation is so appropriate in corporate management today that it needs no explanation, segue, or pithy remarks from me. Simply put — work for whomever you work for. Grammatical errors aside, you get my point. Don’t we all get tired of those who work “for” us part of the time, and “against” us the rest?

Importance of the Word ‘NO’:

As an officer, many questions will come to you for decisions… the choice you make in the mere act of saying “yes,” or “no,” may constitute the measure of your success.

A weak man can say “yes” to troublesome situations, dissipating the efforts of the whole. An unwise man can say “no,” and by mere obstruction, cause the failure of the unit. It takes a happy combination of courage and wisdom to be able to say “no” at the right time and place.

Simply put, our most significant, regular responsibility — day to day and strategic — is making decisions. Anyone can make the easy ones… they seldom take forethought, intellect, or wisdom, since they are usually painfully obvious and accolades are near. No, they pay us for the hard ones. The lonely decisions. The times when we make the “right” decision in the face of dissent and conflict, and where the easier decision is to abide with consensus. That’s why they pay us the bucks, and give us these fancy business cards.

Adaptability:

Adaptability is required. Leadership is a new and different life. He must be equally quick to detect and avoid those things which are abhorrent to military life… the road to recognition and fame may lie ahead. How well and how quickly the opportunities are embraced depends upon the promptness of adapting himself to the new horizons the career provides.

You can’t always spell out the details of a leadership role in a nice, convenient job description. Our worlds are dynamic, fluctuating, and ever-changing. We’ve got to know when to “stay the course,” and when to turn on a dime. All the while keeping those looking to us for leadership engaged in our path. This is what sets us apart.

I only provided these today for two reasons. First, a reminder: Leadership — it’s theories, concepts, and approaches, really haven’t changed since the beginning of man. Yes, some applications of principles have evolved over time, given our changing workforce, demographics, and societal norms. The real concepts and basis of leadership, however, remain constant.

And lastly, we can learn a lot from simplicity. Sometimes we make this stuff too hard, when we could get to the same place — maybe even a better place — with approaches that embrace simplicity and ease of thought.

Be Brazen.