5 Transitions Great Leaders Make That Average Leaders Don't

The secret to leadership is there aren’t any real secrets. The best leaders have simply gone to school on improving their tradecraft. While the capabilities possessed by the best leaders might seem otherworldly to many, they are merely the outcome of hard work, experience, perspective, and yes, a bit of luck. The best leaders have just learned to make certain transitions that less effective leaders curiously remain blind to.

Some leaders hit their stride early in their career, others find their path later in life, and regrettably, far too many leaders never seem to get their footing. Great leaders discover pivot points and transitions that create a certain rhythm and balance, while average leaders tend to be somewhat tone deaf and awkward. We all recognize great leadership when we see it, but many fail to see what it is that actually makes the leader great. Following are 5 key transitions great leaders make that average leaders do not.

The best leaders recognize a common purpose, shared values, and aligned vision are the hallmarks of any great organization. These three elements set the foundation for a sustainable culture. Leaderswho fail to bring people together around these three constructs sentence their company first to the chaos of mediocrity, and ultimately to the pain of obsolescence. Great leaders create culture by design, while average leaders allow culture to evolve by default.

A lesson lost on many is profit doesn’t drive purpose, but purpose certainly drives profit – great leaders understand this; average leaders do not. Leaders who are driven by profit will find they may be successful for a season, but they’ll eventually come to realize a pure profit agenda is not sustainable over the long haul. Great leaders make the transition from profit to purpose and are handsomely rewarded for doing so. A unified purpose can endure all things.

People First– Leaders are nothing without people. Put another way, people will make or break you as a leader. You’ll either treat them well, earn their trust, respect and loyalty, or you won’t. You’ll either see people as capital to be leveraged or humans to be developed and fulfilled. You’ll either view yourself as superior to your employees, or as one whose job it is to serve them, learn from them, and leave them be better off for being led by you.

The best leaders don’t put people in a box – they free them from boxes. Ultimately, a leaders job isn’t to create followers, but to strive for ubiquitous leadership. Average leaders spend time scaling processes, systems, and models – great leaders focus on scaling leadership.

Develop Awareness– Great leaders are self aware, organizationally aware, culturally aware, contextually aware, and emotionally aware. They value listening, engaging, observing, and learning over pontificating. They value sensitivity over insensitivity and humility over hubris.

Leaders who come across as if they know everything haven’t fooled anyone – except themselves. 

Great leaders avoid the traps, gaps, and blind spots average leaders so easily step into. Leaders who choose to live in the bubble of their own thinking rather than understanding the benefits of seeking others input and counsel make things harder on everyone. The willingness to allow your positions and opinions to be challenged is a sign of strength not weakness. I’ve often said the most powerful and overlooked aspect of learning is unlearning. Leaders never willing to change their mind ensure only one outcome – a lack of growth and development.

Shun Complexity– Complexity is a leader’s enemy not their friend. Great leaders live to eliminate or simplify the complex, while average leaders allow themselves and those they lead to be consumed by it. Complexity stifles innovation, slows development, gates progress, and adversely impacts culture.Complexity is expensive, inefficient, and ineffective.

I’m not minimizing the fact we live in a complex world, and I’m not suggesting that profit cannot be found in complexity. But great leaders understand opportunity and profits are extracted from complexity through simplification, not by adding to the complexity. While many think it was Einstein who said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” the statement was actually borrowed from Leonardo de Vinci – both gentlemen were correct.

Get Personal– If I only had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say, “It’s not personal; it’s just business.” Great leaders understand nothing is more personal than leadership, and they engage accordingly. The best leaders understand a failure to engage is in fact a failure to lead. 

Average leaders remain aloof and distant – great leaders look to know and care for their people.

Average leaders are viewed as business executives, the best leaders are viewed as great human beings.The best leaders understand it’s not a weakness to get personal, to display empathy, kindness, and compassion – it’s the ultimate strength. Peak performance is never built on the backs of others, but by helping others become successful. Treat your people as if your life depends on it – it does.

The reality is anyone can lead, but very few lead well. Will you just show up for work and check the box, or will you lead well? Thoughts?


 

Mike Myatt,

Small Business Comebacks

Juli Oliver got into the business of professional organizing because it matched her high-energy personality. Since she launched her company, OrganizeNY, in 2005, she's had a steady stream of long-term clients. But by the end of 2009, in the depths of the recession, business was dropping fast and so was her morale. By January 2010, business had slowed 80% from the previous year.

"I never slow down or stop," says Oliver, 34. "Not having anything to keep me going was a very strange feeling. It was awful. [But] I knew I couldn't sit inside my home every day and mope around."

For Oliver, finding ways to socialize with other small-business owners was invaluable in changing her attitude, which helped her make a business comeback. Today, her revenues are back to pre-recession levels.
Here are five steps to get in the right mindset for a business turnaround.

When Oliver's business slowed down, she started going to more networking events for women and small business owners, while raising awareness of her business through social networks and daily-deals sites.

"[Business] started to pick up because I kept fighting the recession and I kept promoting myself and getting my name out there," she says.

If you don't have one already, create an advisory board you can consult about business challenges, says Condren.

"Talk to people who have been there and done it and fallen through the same hole," says Mark Parkinson, a Somerset U.K.-based business psychologist and author of Using Psychology in Business (Gower, 1999).

Step 2: Avoid naysayers and watch what you feed your mind.
It's easy to start and end your day watching the news, but beware of the negative messages you're getting from headlines, says Condren. She suggests limiting your news intake to once a day. "You want to stay current and skim the headlines, but stay away from the rest of it," she says.

Read something inspiring instead, ideally just before bed and right when you wake up. "The last thing you put into your mind before you go to sleep is what you are going to focus on," says Condren. She recommends books like the 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (Warner Books, 2003) and The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman (Miramax, 2004).

Step 3: Get up and move.
Exercise is one of the first things people skip when under pressure. But when we are feeling stressed our body produces noradrenaline, a stress hormone that can affect our attention and quality of thinking. Exercise spurs endorphins to counter the buildup of stress hormones in the body. "Literally, your brain does work better if you exercise. The quality of your thinking is improved," says Parkinson.

Even if you can't make it to the gym, you can still find small ways to incorporate exercise into your day. Condren suggests taking a few flights of stairs instead of the elevator or simply walking around the block to get your blood pumping and help clear your mind.

Step 4: Keep learning and stay on top of industry trends.
While solving day-to-day problems can be all-consuming, taking the time to learn about new aspects of business is an important way to stay focused on solutions -- not just your problems. Condren suggests starting simple, like reading an article related to an area of business that's been giving you trouble, taking a half-day workshop or attending an industry conference.

If you don't have the time or money to spend at a conference, consider online educational videos. Not only can they get you thinking about your business in new ways, they can help you stay current in your industry. "Instead of watching the news while you're cooking your dinner that evening, listen to a home-study course," Condren says. "You have to stay current, or you will feel left behind."

Step 5: Be your own cheerleader.
Studies have shown we remember uncompleted tasks better than we remember what we've accomplished. But even if you're faced with a never-ending to-do list, Condren says it's important to remember everything you've already accomplished. For example, if a client sends over a complimentary note or you close a major deal, print out the email or document and put it in a file you can turn to when you're feeling discouraged. Also, update your resume, even if no one else sees it, as a reminder of your achievements.

It's tapping back into your passion for the business that will ultimately help turn it around, says Parkinson. "You've got to remember all that positive stuff that got you fired up in the first place," he says. "It's like falling in love. You've got to remember what it's like and then you might want to do it again."

Jane Porter

Jane Porter is an associate editor at Entrepreneur.com in New York City.

17 Essential Content Templates and Checklists

 

By far, the most popular post we have ever published at the Content Marketing Institute is 10 Must-Have Templates for Content Marketers. Though this post is almost two years old, our readers still seem to clamor for this type of information and advice. 

To that end, we wanted to provide a refresher on the most popular templates and checklists shared by the CMI team and our guest contributors. Some of these are “oldies but goodies” that we included in the first list, and others are new. All are intended to simplify some part of the content marketing process — and all can be customized to your particular needs. 

Buyer-focused resources
Buyer persona template: The first rule of content marketing is that whatever you create must be relevant to your audience. Here are tips on how to create a buyer persona:

Content mapping template: If you sell something with a complex sales cycle, you’ll need to map your content requirements to stages in the buying cycle. 

Content and process organization
Content marketing team and workflow checklist: You can’t create a successful content marketing program if you don’t have the right skills, resources, and experience on hand to support your efforts. Learn more about the essential roles and recommended processes for building your team and workflow plan.

Editorial calendar template: To keep all of your content projects planned and organized, you’ll likely want to develop an editorial calendar. This template will serve as a great starting point.

Content kick-off checklist: For a content project to succeed, all stakeholders — from the client to your content creators — need to be on the same page. We suggest answering these 15 questions before you start any project.

Content request template: Have too many content ideas, or too many requests from across your organization? Use this checklist to help you prioritize your projects, or those being developed by your team.

Content technology questionnaire: Are you considering a technology purchase to simplify your content processes? This checklist includes 14 questions to ask to make sure you select a solution that will meet your unique content marketing needs. 

Creativity and design
Readability checklist: Not all websites are created equal. Here’s a checklist to follow for designing pages that are clear and readable, and can be easily navigated by your audience.

Killer web content template: If you are creating web content, use this template to help you make sure you’re driving action on each page.

Creating valuable content checklist: As you work through all of your content ideas, keep these key considerations in mind to ensure that you will be providing value to your audience.

Title evaluation scorecard: The importance of a great title for your content efforts shouldn’t be underestimated. This checklist walks you through the essentials for creating relevant, engaging headlines that will draw readers in.

Keyword selection checklist: While quality content rules, you shouldn’t ignore SEO. Here are 12 questions to ask to make sure you are targeting the most relevant keywords for your business. 

Publication and promotion
Content publication checklist: Once you’re ready to share your content with the world, be sure to review these key steps that will help you prepare your publication for optimal reach, engagement, and ROI.

Content distribution template: Even after you’ve published, your job is not done. You need to market your content, and this template will walk you through the need-to-know basics.

Blog post promotion checklist: If you are promoting a blog post, there are lots of things you can do to position it for success. Check out our most recent list of tips to help get you started (you can also go deeper by reading our original post on the topic).

Localization checklist: If your content is targeted to audiences in different global markets, consider this checklist of tips and considerations for localizing the content you’ve created.

Content marketing success checklist: Of course, you will want to see which of your content efforts are performing best, so you can continue to deliver the information your audience wants. This checklist walks you through how to measure content marketing success.

What The Younger Generation Wants At Work - With OgilvyOne CEO Brian Fetherstonhaugh

One of the youngest and with-it industries is advertising and no where more so than the new media side. One of the smartest people I know is Brian Fetherstonhaugh, who is the CEO of OgilvyOne, the new media part of Ogilvy, the great advertising company. So it quite interesting to talk to Brian about the younger generation and how it likes to be worked with, he has got many on his staff. Over to Brian.

Brian, you get to spend a lot of time with the younger generation around the world. Have you noticed if there is any difference between them and the generation just before?

BRIAN FETHERSTONHAUGH – Absolutely. A couple of observations, the average age in our company is in it’s late twenties and in Asia and other parts of the world it is even younger. So, we have a very young population and a couple of things are different certainly from the world I grew up in. One is the convergence between work and play – this separation where you go home and your friends are outside of work, it is [now] a different environment and I think these are quite converged.

In our business, we brought back things that we haven’t had in quite a long time – Thirsty Thursdays and Wet Wednesdays where actually work-based social environments, where people can connect with others and their colleagues and sort of bring back some play into the workplace, have been really successful for us and [we have had a] tremendous response from our young employee population.

I think another massive difference is the need for transparency among the millennial employee population. It is not ok for the big bosses to have little quiet meetings and to keep things from the employee base. There used to be an acknowledged separation that those are big management conversations – that separation is no longer accepted. So the expectation from a millennial employee is almost full transparency, authentic communications, “if the company is going through hard times then tell me about them”, or “if the company is going through good times tell me about them and why that is happening.” So I think the expectation of transparency is much higher. Those are two key ones.

KM – How can you be authentic at work without being either a jerk or giving away too many things? How can you be authentic?

BF – I think that people deserve grown-up conversations on almost any topic. I think that people sometimes to either extreme: they hold back the information because the employees aren’t ready or mature enough to hear it. I think that is a mistake. On the other side I think people share but fail to manage the expectations side so I think the best leaders find a way by giving authentic information but also letting people know some of the reasons why and the consequences.

So when you have a revenue slowdown you are going to have to let people go, in most organizations. You can hide behind that and say, “New revenue’s are coming and that’s all magical,” but I don’t think that is fair to people. Certainly the best leaders I have seen will take on, “Here is what is happening with our business, here are the consequences, we will have to make adjustments in our employee talent base”, and then have individual counseling with people to make sure you get to the people you want to get to and want to be a part of the future new reshaped company – you need to get to them one-on-one right away and let them know they are safe and let them know they are valued.

But you owe them the big message, you have to tell people what is going on and one of the realizations in the social media world is even if you don’t want to talk about it, the company is talking about it. You don’t control all the information, it is out there, whether you decide to show it or not.

That’s Brian’s thoughts. Margaret Snell, a former student who now works at CGI, and I are finishing off a book, Postmodern Management: Leading, Managing , Working With People Under 30 The Way They Want To Be Worked With. Why Leading and Managing are crossed off, and that is deliberate, is because those words are too strong, too hierarchical for many of that generation.

Brian’s points on transparency strikes us as very relevant. One of the cautions I give my MBA students in our CEO Insights class, where they interact with 24 CEOs over the semester, is to realize they are hearing leadership advice from people in their 40s and 50s. How much of that advice is relevant for people in their late 20s is an important question. The world has changed enormously since the CEOs were the same age and learning some of their most lasting lessons about leadership as they took on their first leadership positions. Because they are CEOs still in the saddle much of their advice is very germane but some of the lessons of the older people must be tossed over the side.

Four Star General Martin Dempsey, current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military, in an interview related to me a famous saying in the military, “Generals Fight the Battle of Their Youth”. This equal applies to CEOs. When we were in our 20s and learning our management chops, you held information close to the chest, information was power. In a world of Google GOOG -0.26%, you simply can’t do that anymore. In fact the pendulum has swing the other way, it is far better to share information very widely, it empowers people to solve problems, look for new markets, etc., and to Brian’s point you need to be more transparent, you don’t have much choice with this generation.


 

Karl Moore, Contributor

How to Give Your Team Claws

How will you enable greatness today? That’s the question posed in this LinkedIn article by Tomasz Tunguz – a venture capitalist at Redpoint. It’s a short read, but it makes an excellent point all of us need to understand, internalize and apply to our management approach.

Consider the following excerpt:

Creativity blossoms in environments of mercilessly small teams, honest/direct/brutal feedback, and “no compromises” attitudes. Practically speaking this means deploying small teams on projects and constraining meeting sizes; empowering/trusting these small teams to make bold strides; hiring well; providing clear direction and honest feedback – ultimately enabling faster iteration cycles for better results.

In other words, when you’re leading a team, it’s not hocus-pocus magical thinking or happy coincidence that breeds success. It’s a very specific combination of responsible and directed management practices. Look closely at the words Tunguz uses. Brutal feedback. No compromises. Bold strides. Clear direction. Hiring well. These are leadership imperatives.

Think these imperatives don’t apply to you, your team or your organization? Still think that traditional employee engagement methods will keep employees motivated and productive? Think again.  The lessons are absolutely relevant for any size team, in any industry, tackling any kind of problem – whether it’s software development or patient care.  The old thinking about how to engage employees to get results (by making them happy and fulfilling all their needs) is wrong.
 Period.

If your employees are failing to deliver results, the onus is on you.  As a leader, you have to run a tighter ship! Here’s how:

Set clear expectations. Every team member should know what you expect – not only their job descriptions but also (especially!) the results you want them to deliver. They should know exactly what their contribution should be to a set of measurable outcomes.

Regularly provide brutally honest feedback. When it comes to success, failure or somewhere in between, it is your responsibility to call a spade a spade. You get to celebrate successes, but you cannot sugarcoat failures or poor performance. Sorry, but there is no award for doing their best.

Encourage personal accountability. Every team member plays an important role in achieving success. They must play their parts and then some. And this is true despite the circumstances. No excuses.

Delegate. You must allow employees to own their work and that work must get richer and more involved as time passes.  Delegation offers one of the best developmental opportunities.  The sense of responsibility and empowerment that result, fuel an inner drive and passion that cannot be imposed through a system of bribes and rewards.

Work with the willing. This is where I give you permission to play favorites. In fact, if you aren’t playing favorites, you’re probably spending too much time coddling your low performers. Find your top employees and bring them to the top with you.

 
  

Cy Wakeman, Contributor

How to use surveys to help grow your business

MIKE ALLTON

Every small business owner wants to grow their businesses, but it isn’t always easy to identify the right opportunity. Before a large corporation makes any sort of decision, they spend numerous hours and thousands of dollars on market research. Don’t let that scare you off though, as having a small budget doesn’t mean you have to skip the research phase altogether.

With a wide variety of inexpensive primary research tools available online, it is simple conduct your own survey. Done correctly, sending out a survey to current and potential customers can be a great way to unlock insights and determine a path for your business. While you may think you know what your customers really want, you may be surprised by what you can find out if you give them a chance to provide their input.

 

Start with the objectives. When you create your questions, think carefully about what information you want to be able to uncover. If you ask random or arbitrary questions, you risk fatiguing your respondents and losing sight of actionable insights. Setting goals and working backwards to design your survey will help you achieve results that you can use.

Once you are ready to start creating your questions and answer choices, make sure that they are simple, straightforward, and don’t include any technical jargon that your customers may not understand.

It is important to collect some demographic information as well; this will help you analyze your results. Use open-ended response questions sparingly; while they do collect interesting responses, they are much harder to interpret in your results.

Send your survey at the right time, to the right people. Who are you sending your survey to? If it’s to previous customers, it’s relatively easy to simply send out a quick e-mail to your database requesting that they provide their feedback. Assure them that the survey will not take long (a specific time estimate is good, to manage expectations) and explain how their comments will be used to improve your product or service.

If you want to reach a wider range of individuals to include potential customers, you can post your survey on your website, or on yourFacebook and Twitter account to take advantage of your social media followers. Many survey companies like SurveyAct will also allow you to purchase a panel of respondents based on criteria that you specify. These tools can help you reach a statistically significant number of responses, as you may not be able to garner actionable insights based on only a handful of opinions.

You don’t want to come off as intrusive or annoying so make sure that if you put your survey on your website, it doesn’t pop up the minute someone visits.

Analyze your results. You can collect thousands of responses, but if you don’t know how to analyze them properly, you haven’t achieved anything.

Let’s use this survey as an example.

Here is an example of what your survey results may look like:

At face value, there doesn’t seem to be any meaningful insights to be extracted here. But you can use filters and cross tab analysis to narrow down these results to a more granular level. For example;

• How many females vs. males are planning to buy a smartphone?
• How many customers over the age of 65 are planning to purchase a television?
• What percentage of customers who rate return policy as a very important factor in purchasing electronics are planning on purchasing a tablet?

Once you analyze the data on that level, you can retrieve many valuable insights that will help you grow your business.

Try running a survey for your own business. SurveyAct(http://www.surveyact.com) is one of several survey solutions that is currently free to use!

 Posted on Challenges In Agri-Food and Supply Chain

Bruce MacDonald

Successful Leadership Requires The Right Order Of Operation

Mike Myatt, Contributor

 

Ever heard the following statement? “Focus on the what, not the how.” While this may appear to be sage advice, it’s actually quite the opposite. I find it troubling at two levels:

 Firstly, it’s a horribly incorrect and incomplete message. Secondly, far too many people in leadership positions seem perfectly content to follow this bad advice. In today’s column I’ll share the reasons underpinning my strong disagreement with using what as a leadership driver.

If you’ve guessed my advice is a bit different from the statement you read in the opening paragraph above, you are correct. Here’s my version – Focus on the “why”, align the “who” with the “why”, and then allow the “who” to determine the appropriate course of action with regard to “what” and “how” – say that fast five times. All kidding aside, read my last statement a few times and let it sink in. The powerful difference between my statement in this paragraph, as contrasted with the one in the opening paragraph should leap off the page for anyone serious about leadership.

Don’t be in the business of business – be in the business of leadership. At its essence, leadership is the business of defining and articulating vision (why), and then aligning people (who) with said vision – these are the two key strategic elements of leadership (leadership + purpose + people = culture). The tactical elements of leadership (what and how) are best accomplished only after the “why” is clearly understood, and the “who” is soundly in place. A business that pursues a purpose driven culture of leadership will simply outperform a business which focuses solely on profit.

Much like an algebraic formula, there is a correct order of operation for leadership as well.  I developed the following order of operation more than 20 years ago, and it’s as powerfully accurate today as it was then:

“Values should underpin Vision, which dictates Mission, which determines Strategy, which surfaces Goals that frame Objectives, which in turn drives the Tactics that tell an organization what Resources, Infrastructure and Processes are needed to support a certainty of execution.” ~Mike Myatt, 1988

Leadership isn’t easy, but it also need not be overly complex – it’s bad leaders who complicate things with poor understanding and flawed delivery. Great leaders, on the other hand, are gifted at simplifying everything around them – they are focused on the right things, which allows their processes to fuel creativity and innovation not stifle them. It’s the efficiency and effectiveness of simplification that attracts and develops talent, and builds healthy cultures.

My advice is simple – While successful leaders address all four areas, the best leaders always start with why followed very closely by who. Then, and only then, do they work on the design of what and how.