Leadership

Of course, you can video conference.

But, so can everyone else.

Not everyone can do face to face.

Not everyone can connect.

Not everyone can look someone in the eyes.

Not everyone can leave their family and go.

Not everyone can set aside every other distraction and commit to the person in front of them.

Of course, the project might be fine without the face to face.

But isn’t something more than the project at stake?

“I can’t sell you that,” said the agent in the Lufthansa Senator’s Lounge. I was traveling with two co-workers and my status only allowed one guest entry into the Club. Since we had a four hour layover, I was in the buying mood.

“I don’t understand,” I replied.

“You purchased your airfare through one of our partner airlines and my system only allows me to sell club tickets using a Lufthansa ticket code,” explained the agent.

It was shortly after 7 a.m. in Germany, middle of the night back home, so I thought I was hearing things.

“Really?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I cannot sell you an entry ticket, but you can come in with one guest.”

“And leave my other friend to fend for himself?”

We passed and had a wonderful breakfast, together, at a nearby restaurant that was happy to take our money.

This friendly agent is not the villain of this story. On the other hand, systems that make no sense whatsoever, are.

The question to ponder is whether there are things team members on your team cannot sell? Can, for example, a customer service representative sell when a buyer wants to buy? Can an engineer offer a design service, or a maintenance apprentice offer to get a quote on an item? The latter happened to us a few years ago, now we are debugging the mold and getting ready to run production.

Thank goodness our apprentice didn’t wait to follow the “sales system,” or “protocol,” that we (don’t) have. We would have missed our opportunity.

So, here is a good rule of thumb for team members: Use the brain God has given you and serve other human beings.

That’s it!

This isn’t rocket science after all.

And it apparently isn’t the airline club business either.

To be someone worth following, you have to know exactly where you are going. People do not follow someone who is unsure where they are going. While this seems like a basic idea, even elementary, I have discovered that it is much more difficult in practice. In fact, it is a leadership principle that many nod in agreement to, but only a few execute because it requires discipline.

Here are two examples of areas where knowing where you are going is vital.

The Organizational Direction

The leader must be crystal clear on where the company is headed and how it’s going to get there. While this is obvious, or should be, it isn’t easy. If you have ever found yourself with a bunch of executives in a conference room charged with the task of developing a unified strategic direction, you probably know that this isn’t easy. It is easy to have a general consensus at a broad level. For Hoffer Plastics, that may mean “let’s keep making custom injected molded parts,” but that is hardly specific enough. Better would be for the leader to stand up and say specifically where they think the organization needs to head. This can entail what markets you are going to participate in, geographical locations you are going to be active in, or it can have to do with internal rally-cries like implementing a new ERP system or improving organizational health. The point is that it has to be clear, compelling, and communicated frequently. In doing so, I have learned that following Simon Sinek’s advice to Start with Why is always the way to go because people need to know WHY this direction matters to THEM.

For instance, we decided a couple of years ago to go all-in on the development of a recyclable pouch. To do this, we had to work with a German UltraSonic company to revamp one of our proprietary products. This entailed making changes to a large injection mold that had just been commissioned with our previous (now out-of-date) design. I reminded everyone in earshot that we were doing this because we had committed to being stewards of the plastic parts that we develop. This meant that we aim to be better stewards of the natural resources we used while manufacturing parts. It goes hand-in-hand with our belief that the customer is the hero, and we are the guide. So, given that belief, we wanted to work with converters (pouch makers) who were serious about being better stewards of plastic, so that we could give new moms a product that was recyclable (baby food pouches being the primary targeted market). Thus, when the product designer flew over to Germany (something they did more than once), they knew what they were working on was not only important, not only mattered to them —designing parts that improve the lives of others is why they are on the team–but they also knew it was the decided upon direction of the company.

The Vital Performance Metrics

The leader must also clearly know and communicate what constitutes a successful outcome for a team-member. Given that we work in a day and age where more data is available than ever before, what metrics matter most? I ask these questions because I often hear leaders sound vague in their appraisal of their direct reports. There is a lot of “I feel like so and so is not doing a good job,” (or the reverse!), instead of “based on these metrics, so and so is doing a great job.” See the difference? It is the leader’s job to do two things here. First, decide what those metrics are (It should go without saying that these metrics should be something the direct report has control over). And next, they have to communicate exactly what these metrics are to their direct reports. I like to do this by writing Key Result Areas, which outlines what success looks like in PLAIN ENGLISH (emphasis on PLAIN ENGLISH).

For example, for our Director of Operations I might write a large goal of “reducing waste” as one of their 3 goals, and then spell it out with very specific bullet points: “A winning outcome will be our internal PPM (parts per million defects) being 20% less than 2018” (I’d actually give that exact figure in a private KRA!). I won’t stop there, but will list another 4-5 bullet points as to what winning looks like. The point here being that knowing what the end goal is (reducing waste), and what the specific outcomes are needed to win, this team-member and I will have clarity on that direction we need to go to ensure success.

Whether it is the direction of the organization, or what metrics matter to individual performance, a leader needs to communicate with crystal-clear clarity. So, our aim should be to become the “Waze” of giving directions towards success.

Then we will be someone worth following…

Every Wednesday this October, I am sharing one thought or idea from Dr. Henry Cloud. I wouldn’t be the leader I am today without Dr. Cloud’s books, teaching, and guidance from afar. This content comes from the EntreLeadership Podcast. Not only do I listen to the EL podcast every Monday morning at the gym, I strongly believe you should as well. The content is simply can’t miss material!

Accountability

Early in his interview with Alex Judd, Dr. Cloud has a different take on accountability. Rather than fixating on the fact that something wasn’t done, Dr. Cloud instructs leaders to ask why it wasn’t done in the first place?

If you are like me, you might dismiss this advice because it seems simple.

It isn’t.

Getting to the root cause often takes asking simple questions over and over. Asking why something was done might uncover a problem you did not know you even had.

My encouragement this week is to ask the questions the smart leaders won’t allow themselves to ask because they’re “too obvious,” or “too basic.”

The next time someone on your team does not get a task done in time, uncover what held them back from doing so.

Next Wednesday, I’ll share what Dr. Cloud thinks is the one question every team-member asks before following others.

Please subscribe to Bald in Business so that I can send encouragement directly into your mailbox.

This week’s #Baldinbusiness post of the week examines partnerships and was written on an airplane after a week in Europe developing partner relationships. Tip of the day: Always reflect in real-time. I have found that writing down my reflections make them last.

What makes a good business partner?

I asked myself this question over the summer as we have been exploring different international partnerships. What follows are some ideas that I jotted down during that process, which as I write is still ongoing.

You will notice that very little of what follows has to do with the “what” of the partnership (i.e. injection molding for our industry). This portion IS important in any industry, for you want to partner with someone capable. But capability does not make a good partner, it only makes a partner capable in that given field. So without further ado, here are some of my thoughts —Feel free to add your own in the comment section.

I always want to examine a potential partner’s worldview. For instance, how do they talk about challenges? Are they always the victim? Or do they talk about conflict, event defeat, from a personal accountability standpoint? For example, are they blaming policies, the President, bad luck, or their team? An occasional rift aside, a pattern here is problematic because the first time something goes wrong in the partnership —and things always go wrong at some point —they will blame you!

If the person has any kind of authority, how do they talk about people that report to them? Do they belittle them? Do they come across as someone sitting on a throne? Depending on your views, and your company’s culture, that may not be a deal breaker. For me, however, it is because it does not coincide with our core values of family, integrity, service, and trust. And make no mistake about it, two partners with dissimilar core values will NOT thrive together.

Another indicator of values is how they talk about their spouses, assuming they have one, or their loved ones. Do they represent the best of those not present, or the worst? Again, this is most likely how they will represent you, and your company, when you are not there. And 90% of the time, you won’t be there!

Finally, pay close attention to how a potential partner behaves when they are not necessarily “on” (while driving, at dinner, etc.). This is where they may potentially let the guard down and show you their true character. Do they obsess over the smallest slight on the road? Are they committed to working hard, or partying hard? Are they self-controlled, or do they spill the beans?

The trip I was on when I created this list was with a potential partner who is an incredible human being. They spoke about others with grace, worked hard, and were a tremendous host to our team. Their expertise was apparent when we visited their plant. But more importantly, I witnessed them shaking hands with everyone, and knowing the names of everyone. It not only felt like “us,” but I also liked being around this person. And that’s the last point of this post…

Don’t become partners with someone you do not like. Whatever you are partnering in will, at some point, have challenges. So, is your partner someone who will make those challenging situations more challenging? Choose wisely.

Please subscribe to Bald in Business so that I can send encouragement directly into your mailbox.

One of the tenets of leadership should be constant improvement as people tend to follow those who are always getting better. Thus, every situation has potential to teach you lessons that apply to leading other human beings if you are willing to learn from them. This is especially true in parenting. Here are examples of lessons I have recently learned from parenting, and how I will implement them into my own leadership. I am sharing them here to give you an example of how I do this in hopes that you begin to glean lessons from the situations you experience.

The first scenario I’ll share is applicable to all three of our kids, but I’ll share it from Will’s perspective because he is the “Energizer bunny.” “Dad, after dinner can we play ____ (insert golf, baseball, hockey, or some other high energy activity here)?” is a common question he asks. This summer, this has meant that I have had to choose to find energy when being jet-lagged, change clothes to something I can sweat in when it was hot outside, and often be okay with multiple showers per day —thank goodness I don’t have to do my hair! While this is hardly revolutionary —kids have wanted their parents’ time and attention since the dawn of time —the point is applicable to leadership. I don’t know about you, but I often have so many tasks to get completed in a certain day that I don’t feel like I have any extra time to spend with others, especially others who haven’t scheduled an appointment. So this summer, when someone has been standing at my door wanting “just a few minutes,” I have intentionally chosen to say yes more frequently. Often, people just need a few minutes and this validates their worth on the team.

The second scenario perhaps only applies to parenting as words do not mean that much to adults —I hope you read that statement with the sarcasm that it is intended! Our middle child, Ben, is changing a lot over the last few months. Baseball, Kindergarten, and other new abilities that he is discovering—it is all exciting. As with all change, however, it also comes with moments of frustration, difficulty, and even setbacks. There have been swings and misses, and even creative attempts to come home from school via suspect “stomach pains,” all because school was getting boring, or as he put it, “because he missed Mommy” (probably both true and a pretty good sales tactic, but I digress). There have also been moments where he has demonstrated that he is “getting it,” like when he was at Will’s birthday party and he never complained about not getting anything himself, and instead was genuinely happy for his brother’s happiness as he opened gifts from all his friends. Not only were Sarah and I humbled, even challenged by this demonstration of loving others, we were proud. So we told Ben this in front of his two siblings that night at dinner. We did this by naming exactly what he did, thanking him for it, and then added our emotion to it. “I am proud of you Ben.” The question I asked myself that night as I put Ben to bed was, when was the last time you caught someone doing something you were impressed by at Hoffer Plastics? Did you tell them you were proud of them? Did you name the behavior and share the insight? In a society constantly growing more at odds with one another, affirmation is becoming a rare commodity. To be someone worth following, you need to be someone that is loving. So I challenge you to ask these questions of yourself.

Finally, the lesson I have learned with our independently minded three-year-old named Sadie is to always ask questions. The question that I often ask Sadie —and not one I would recommend leaders to ask at the office! —is whether I can hug her? To my unbiased opinion, she is the cutest three year old on the planet. She is also my only little girl. I’ll blink twice and she will be 13, and probably will hate the rules I have about social media and whatever device is cool in ten years. So I have to milk this for all it’s worth right now! What I have learned is that asking her for permission shifts the power to her. Naturally, she says no to me a LOT —and I always encourage her to keep saying no to boys for the next three decades. But then I ask the follow up question, “how about in 30 minutes.” To Sadie, 30 minutes might as well be 2023 so she always says yes, but this allows Sadie to “hug” on her time and only when she is ready. The point here to leaders is that authority can sometimes be used to get what you want, but this isn’t the sort of thing people worth following do. Rather, they ask questions and solicit buy-in. After all, a big hug 30 minutes later is preferable to a forced hug now.

Lessons are all all around us if we just pay attention. So pay attention and learn this week.

I write these words shortly after completing my Bible reading for the day (James 1) where James challenges the readers of his short letter to be doers of the Word (James 1:22 being the oft cited example, “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”). This reading got me thinking about leadership. Why do leaders fail to act? What follows are two excuses that I have observed, and, regrettably, used myself. They aren’t the only excuses, but by identifying them, I hope you can avoid the pitfall (inaction) they produce.

The first excuse is the age old, “I don’t have time for that”—whatever “that” is. I have noticed that this usually applies to personnel issues that are not major, like someone not showing up to a meeting on time. When something like this comes up, I am tempted to say, at least internally, that “I don’t have time” because I have various responsibilities that are more important (product development, sales calls, operational issues, etc.). But, addressing these issues IS THE JOB OF LEADERSHIP (caps intended). Think about what happens when the leader does not address one small issue. For example, the often-late person does not get the feedback, most likely continues in the behavior, and thus gets viewed MORE negatively by their teammates. People begin to grumble, factions are created, perhaps other people also start to arrive late—after all, no one is going to do anything about it. None of this is good for the overall team, so how doesn’t the leader —in this case me!—have time for it? Or said differently, which problem will take more time to address: the minor late problem or the full-fledged team dynamic problem that results from someone always being late to meetings? Obviously, the latter.

Another example of inaction comes when the leader needs to process an issue for an extended period of time. “Let’s get all the facts,” may be a smart strategy, but it can easily lead to inaction when it morphs from fact finding to “I don’t want to make a decision.” Let’s call this what it is, a delay tactic, and no organization thrives using delay tactics. While I don’t struggle with this one as much as the example above —my struggle is often making a decision too quickly before all the facts get in —I have seen this play out in our organization. One of the root causes being the human desire of self-preservation, meaning waiting to act until one is absolutely sure of the decision’s success. While I can appreciate this to a certain extent, it slows down the forward momentum of the organization. Thus, when I see this going on, I need to make time (there “time” is again) to address it. I also have to make sure that the person realizes that making a “bad call” is not going to cost them their job. In fact, usually making a “bad call” is better than making “no call,” simply because the latter is more confusing. Making “no call” is akin to standing with a golf club in your hand and never swinging. It’s better to take the swing and miss, than miss the opportunity to take a shot.

The point of this post is to remind leaders that we need to be people of action. Using excuses like, “I don’t have time,” or “I need to process more,” can be detrimental to both the growth of us as leaders, and the organizations that we lead. Therefore, make a mental note this week to pay attention to if and when you use those two, or other, excuses to delay action. Delaying action can be the right call, just make sure it is, and not some lame excuse for inaction.

I write these words from a conference in Barcelona the day after learning that one of our team members passed away over the weekend. He left work Saturday morning, and from what I gather over here, had an event that led to his passing over the weekend. It was only a month ago that we celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company.

While my personal focus needs to be on the talk I am giving in less than twenty four hours, it is hard to focus during times like these. Loss always has a way of helping us prioritize what matters. Suddenly, all the things that felt so important last week seem less so. Of course, from a business perspective they are still important, but they aren’t life and death. Life and death are outside the scope of what we do.

And this is why I ache right now. As I prayed for this person’s family this morning, and imagined the grief they are currently going through, I ached. Scripture says to “mourn with those who mourn,” and as I process this loss, there is no other path forward. Mourning, of course, is not an isolated activity. And this is why, here in Europe, I long more strongly than usual to be back at Hoffer Plastics. I want to be there for, and with, our team members as we all deal with this loss.

It is also times like these where I am grateful. At the risk of making our company sound better than it is, here are some things I am grateful for:

I am grateful for Dave. He was the guy that always picked my mood up on my morning walk. He was completely reliable, completely positive, and always working hard. I can imagine walking through Plant 5 years from now, hopefully, and still thinking about Dave.

I am grateful for my sister, Charlotte, and Jim, our Director of Manufacturing. Upon hearing the news Sunday night, they both showed up at midnight to tell 3rd shift the news in person. As family, we treat others as we would like to be treated.

I am grateful for my sister Gretchen, who came in early Monday morning to meet with 3rd shift team members as they grieved.

I am grateful that my sisters had grief counseling on site by mid-morning. Sudden loss like this needs to be processed with the help of professionals.

I am grateful that we ache. Aching and hurting happen because there was genuine loss. It isn’t fun, but we lost someone worth aching over.

I am grateful that in a family business the tasks of leadership can be shared. With my dad on vacation, and myself in Europe on business, I am grateful for this. But leadership is more than the family, so I am grateful for how all our leaders (too many to mention here) moved yesterday as we, together, processed this loss.

Given the scheduled cadence of this blog, I won’t publish this post for about four weeks. By then, I am sure there will be the usual amount of business challenges. I am also sure that we still will only be at the beginning stages of processing this loss.

The next time your company goes through a loss like this, remember this post. Remember what you are grateful for. Remember to mourn with those who mourn, and remember to shoulder the load of grief with fellow leaders in the company.

Business loss is temporary. You can always start a new product or new company.

Human loss, however, is real.

I am feeling the realness of this loss as I close this post.

I chuckle when I ask others if they would like to work with their siblings because I usually get a sarcastic response in return. “We would kill each other,” I often hear. My sisters and I have chosen to do exactly this, and we haven’t killed each other yet! All kidding aside, this has made us all better leaders. While I could – and maybe someday will – write a book on this topic, what follows are three lessons that I have learned working with my sisters, lessons I believe that are helpful for all leaders.

The overarching lesson I have learned can be summed up this way: when in doubt, talk it out. There is nothing worse relationally than “assuming.” Assumptions can often lead one to think the other person has motives that, in reality, they do not. The closer the relationship, the more this is so as we often mistake proximity for knowledge. Thus, my sisters and I have made it a point to intentionally get together and talk through issues (NOT just when they come up). We have a quarterly meeting on the calendar, and another meeting set for every other week throughout the year. We do this so that we have a rhythm of meeting in our schedule. Otherwise, our natural tendency is to avoid difficult subject matters. A rhythm of meetings ensures that we have space to talk about everything. This takes a lot of intentionality, but it is what has helped us grow our relationships to where they are now.

The next lesson is to talk directly with each other, rather than processing an issue with another family member. We have come to call this “triangularization.” In other words, if I have an issue with one sister, I shouldn’t go process the issue with the other sister (creating a “triangle” and putting the other sibling in-between). Rather, I should go talk directly with the sister I have the issue with. The implications for leadership with this one are rather easy to see. For, a leader should never process an issue they have with someone they lead with another person on the same team. It is always best to talk directly with the person you have the issue with.

Finally, working with my sisters has taught me to give others the benefit of the doubt. The three of us made a covenant that we would “assume the best” in each other, and that we would give each other extra servings of grace. It is inevitable that when talking about key business initiatives, like succession planning, that we will say things that we wish, in retrospect, had come out a little different. But by living this virtue, I can record that we have never had a MAJOR relational conflict because we have given each other the benefit of the doubt. We even went on a Disney Cruise with our spouses and kids over Spring Break, something some non-working siblings even cringe at! The point is that we have given each other grace — work is important but life is more than work – and that has allowed our sibling, and business, relationships to grow the past decade.

To be 100% clear, I do not claim my sisters and I have a perfect working relationship –whatever that is–, or that we have figured it all out. We have not. If anything, we are at where we are at because of a TON of prayer, a TON of intentionality, and a TON of humility. I am proud that we have each laid our egos down, the best we can, and have found a way to work and lead together. This will continue to be a daily occurrence for us to succeed for the, hopefully, decades to come.

Business is hard, whether you work with siblings or not. These three principles will help you create more relational peace in the midst of the expected, even inevitable, business challenges.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you have a child that is getting 2 A’s and 1 B and one C on their latest school report card. Which class would you have them focus on? This question has sort of become akin to the “are you a glass half empty or glass half full” question as it reveals a mindset that could make a significant difference between mediocre and excellent performance. At least that is what Marcus Buckingham has convinced me of after seeing him speak multiple times, and after finishing his latest book, which I now recommend, entitled, Nine Lies About Work.

Buckingham has become known as the “strengths” guy, and so he challenges parents to focus on the 2 A’s in the scenario above because this is where the child’s apparent strength lies. This assertion is one that, admittedly, I meet with clenched teeth because a “C” often feels unacceptable, especially if it is given because of a lack of effort. But Buckingham isn’t talking about effort; he’s talking about legitimate strengths and weaknesses. In other words, he is talking about trying your best and still getting a C vs. trying your best and getting an A.

I recently had experience with a change of mindset thanks to my golf coach John Esposito. I sought his teaching after having a miserable go with my wedge game in 2018. It had turned from mediocre, to downright lousy, and I had become a headcase in the process. Espo, as his players call him, advised me that I had three strengths with regards to my wedge game. My grip was perfect, my back swing modeled a tour pro (his words not mine), and I was talented enough to make this shot repeatedly. Next, Espo changed a few things with my stance and follow through, but then challenged me to simply use my eyes and imagine where I wanted the ball to land. In other words, he was telling me to stop focusing on my weaknesses (the results of the shot, whether I would hit it fat or thin, or fearing all the above), and focus rather on softly putting the ball where I wanted it. All this while believing I could because of the strengths Espo had outlined in his analysis of my game. While it is early in the season, and not every wedge shot I hit is perfect, the results are beginning to speak for themselves.

This experience, coupled with Buckingham’s research on strengths, has challenged my leadership. Why is it that I often want to work on people’s weaknesses, rather than work with their strengths? As I have learned in my golf game, a subtle refocus on what one does well can pay dividends in their performance. It is the leader’s job, therefore, to not only find the strengths in others, but voice affirmation behind them. We need to encourage followers to double-down on what they do well, trusting that our bench is deep enough with people of different strengths to fill in for any gaps or weaknesses. Unlike golf, business is a team game, and multiple people can hit different kinds of “shots.” Our job then is to build people up so that they can be as good as possible with their “shot” of specialty.

So let’s reconsider our mindset and focus on building people’s strengths, and not trying to correct their weaknesses.