Leadership

I believe in giving people I lead autonomy. I fear micromanagement. I trust people to perform, especially those that I know can.

That said, like everything else in life, too much of something is a bad thing.

In the written portion of my 360 review, completed in November, were these competing lines:

“Alex does not micromanage.”

“He needs to hold people more accountable at times.”

Welcome to the Dichotomy of Leadership.

Looks like I need to become a better leader!

As the authors argue in the book mentioned above, too much autonomy leads to all sorts of problems in an organization: Too many leaders, or people who feel like they can set the direction, poor execution (hence, the autonomy criticism), and silos (people so “free” that they don’t feel the need to consult with other groups).

(Note, micromanaging leads to several problems as well. So, it is by no means the answer).

My failure was not clearly outlining what the mission was. Sure, direct reports knew what I expected to a degree. But they had latitude. They had freedom to focus on several initiatives, rather than clarity on the mission the COMPANY needed them to execute.

Worst, they had the freedom to delay.

To counteract this, and to create the organizational clarity, I am spending time writing KRAs (Key Result Areas) that outline (bluntly), what the focus should be, and when things must be accomplished.

As the leader, it is my job to construct the game-plan and ensure that the team is focused, and executing it. What distinguishes this kind of leadership from micromanagement is that it still empowers the individual the to execute the mission in a way that aligns to their strengths.

With clarity on the mission, it is also easier to hold people accountable.

The fact that things were, to a certain extent, “murky,” last year, is one of the reasons I received the criticism stated above.

Lesson learned.

Onward.

I had to cancel lunch with a friend of mine last week.  Her response was enlightening:

“Give yourself the time back. Even if you just take it for yourself.”

Today’s truth:  Leaders rest.

It is that simple.

Find time to rest this holiday season.

I will do the same.

The truth: Leaders shouldn’t strive to be popular. Legends became legends by sacrificing popularity for the sake of doing what was right.

Who was the most unpopular President of all-time? Gallup might list several modern Presidents, but what about Abraham Lincoln? How many other Presidents saw half the country secede from the Union?

Martin Luther King Jr. was also not very popular when he was assassinated in 1968. In fact, according to a Harris poll, 75% of Americans disapproved of MLK in 1968.

Yet, how many leaders would list either Lincoln or MLK as leaders they would like to emulate?

The truth is we will never emulate them seeking popularity.

Leadership always challenges status-quo, and always initiates positive change.

The reality is that these things are never popular.

The reality is that resistance always follows.

Lincoln saw emancipation as non-negotiable.

MLK envisioned “the city upon the hill,” where children of all races played together.

Neither were willing to compromise.

Neither gave in to the resistance.

Both were assassinated because of it.

And both are legends today because of the change they initiated.

Leadership has never been a popularity contest.

A buddy of mine recently told me about his experience at Marine Officer Candidate School. 

“The drill instructor would get on us if we tried to help other officer candidates carry their gear.  We had to lead ourselves first.”

What would change in your life if you led yourself first?

Would you spend your time differently?

What would you stop?

What would you start?

Let’s not misapply the lesson above.  Officer Candidate School is training.  In an actual battle, there may come a time where a leader has to carry the load for a time.

But, notice that this is momentary.

Nobody is effective carrying the load forever. As the clock turns toward the end of another year, now is a good time to reflect on everything you are carrying.

What needs to change for you?

If your pace is not sustainable, change course before it’s too late.

Lead yourself first.

Most people fail to set goals because they don’t begin the goal-setting process early enough. Here is a way to avoid that:

1. Open up a blank note on your iPhone. If you don’t have an iPhone, a sheet of paper will do fine.

2. Think about themes: Faith, Marriage, Family, Work, Health. Begin scribbling down generic goals in those areas.

3. Create 10-15 of these total.

4. Don’t feel like you need to finish today, but don’t over think these either. You are brainstorming!

5. Revisit this list throughout the month of December. Give yourself time to think, revise, and commit.

6. When you’re ready, commit to your goals. But remember, they can always be revised in 2019. Like any Waze directions, a new route may become advisable along the journey.

I witnessed something beautiful Sunday at the Bears game.

The Bears chose Retired United States Marine Corporal Kyle Carpenter (Medal of Honor Recipient) as their honorary captain, which meant that he walked with the other captains to midfield for the coin-flip. As Kyle left the field my friend elbowed me and said, “I flew cover for Kyle in Afghanistan.”

This revelation didn’t shock me. After all, my buddy is a man’s man, a Marine, and a hero. Obviously, I knew he served over in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“An RPG just missed us,” he went on. “It is cool to see Kyle here.”

A few minutes later my buddy leaned over the railing and shouted to Kyle as he made his way to the tunnel. With an assist from our great seats, they were able to connect as only fellow Soldiers can connect. A few words were exchanged, and we both were able to shake Kyle’s hand.

And then Kyle’s dad, having overhead that my buddy flew cover, said something that I have been thinking about ever since…

“Thank You.”

Veterans Day might have been two days ago, but we would be wise to do likewise.

Thank you to all our Veterans.

I write frequently about how leaders need to encourage their team.  So, instead of writing another post about encouraging the team, I thought I’d share a real-life example.  What follows is copy from an actual email I sent to our team.

My goal in writing the email was twofold.  First, I wanted to use a real-life story to illustrate why our customer’s needs matter.  I felt this reminder was needed because our team was working hard, in some cases around the clock, to meet customer needs.  With the extra work, I was starting to hear griping about how busy we were, and how crazy some of the demands were.

Next, I wanted the tone of the email to be encouraging.  I wanted the reader to be reminded of our togetherness, and that I am not “above” the struggle.  As I share below, I can lose my way if I am not careful.

Some of the details were edited for confidentiality purposes.  I included the quote at the end with permission, as my friend Matt sent his testimonial in for our corporate website update (You would do yourself well by buying some YumButter this week!).

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Good afternoon,

What I am about to write is admittedly idealistic, wordy, and possibly a little cheesy.

I also believe it to be true.

Two weeks ago, I stood inside what was by all accounts a large “freezer” at one of our customers.  As I glanced at the thermometer, the dial read 48 degrees.  How could people work 8 hours inside here, I wondered?  I was shivering, and yet, there were about 10-15 fellow human beings packing yogurt pouches into cardboard boxes due to ship to grocery stores all over the county (all with Trust-T-Lok on them by the way!).

Why would they do such a thing?

Turns out, their customer’s demand was growing.  And as crazy as this may sound to us, the only way to meet their customer’s need was to utilize an old filling machine that had no “automatic packing,” so pouches had to be hand-packed after they were filled.  Given the product being yogurt, the “freezer” was the only safe way to make this happen.

I share this story for two reasons.

First, we primarily exist in the B-2-B world (business to business).  Thus, our job is to make sure that we help our customers (fellow businesses) get what they need so that they can serve their customers (typically consumers like you and I).  As I tell the sales team regularly, these people are the hero.  We simply help them (guide them) to better outcomes.  This hopefully means that our high-quality parts get to their destination when the customer needs them, and ultimately help them increase their efficiency, profitability, and market-share.

I warned this was going to be somewhat idealistic.

Why does this matter?  It matters because we are in the business of improving the lives of our fellow human beings.  Remember how people were inside the freezer working?  They were there because they needed the work (i.e. money) to put food on their table (why else would one work in a freezer?).  Manufacturing matters because it helps people do this.  And because of this, every single job at Hoffer Plastics matters.  Without excellence from everyone, we will not achieve the mission described above.

And all of us, customers included, rely on us achieving that mission!

Second, and I am almost done, I share this story because it serves as an example of what our customers are willing to do to satisfy their customer needs. They’re all in, and when we are at our best, so are we.  We go the extra mile because it is in our collective DNA as a company to go the extra mile.

To this end, I admit that sometimes our customers ask us to do things, that in the moment, may feel crazy.  And even though I believe every single word written above, I confess that there have been situations, especially when I forget that we manufacture for other human-beings, where I complain about those very requests.  This kind of behavior is shortsighted, however, because without customers worth complaining about, we would be out of business.

Once I remember this necessity, and remember that every other Thursday is in actuality “customer appreciation day” (i.e. the day the customer tells us how much they like us when we all get paid), things begin to normalize again.

It is such thinking that convinces one to work in a freezer to begin with.

To be sure, we get it right often.  So, I’ll close with this message I received from a customer yesterday afternoon:

“Hoffer plastics is a true expert partner to us, which has allowed Yumbutter and Tribe 9 to continue being a leader in pouch innovation across the nut butter industry and beyond. They are a delight to do business with and highly recommend them to anyone looking seeking out the best injection molders in the market.”

Embrace that comment.

You earned it.

Someone recently asked my opinion about how my local church conducts its weekend services.  I told this person that while I would prefer some changes be made, I take the vow I make every September – to submit to the leadership of the Trustees, Elders, and Staff -very seriously.  Therefore, my opinions are only that, opinions. So, as long as our Church leadership continues to teach God’s word, I can set my preferences aside, and fully submit to the leaders’ authority.

Here is today’s #TuesdayT:

One cannot be an effective leader unless they have areas in their life where they are submitting to the leadership of others. Submitting to the leadership of others is a necessary ingredient of leadership, because submission requires humility.  Humility is the ability to think about yourself less, and others more. It is the realization that others’ ideas, like the leaders at your local Church, or your Executive Team at work, may be better than your own.  Finally, it is the ability to submit even when you don’t think those ideas are.  Or perhaps, especially when you don’t think those ideas are.

This matters in leadership because often the best ideas are not your own.  Without humility, you will miss these, and lose your effectiveness.

So, let’s practice humility this week.

Let’s become the kind of person other people want to follow.

(A friendly reminder: Many of us will have the opportunity to practice this kind of humility as the election results roll in this evening. There is nothing humble about spewing venom on social media.  Nor, is anyone “converted” to your thinking via a social media rant. Post wisely, if at all).

I often dream about managing a major league baseball team. While I imagine the job would be more difficult than most baseball fans think, I’d enjoy the rhythm of the baseball season.  Think about some of the advantages: clear definition around who wins and who loses, the games have a definitive end to them, so do the seasons, and the players all work towards the same result.  Baseball purists may argue that team chemistry is important, and assuredly it is, but managers never deal with players questioning what other players are doing (although they may question their contribution level). For example, the first-basemen isn’t wondering what job the centerfielder is doing out in the outfield.  Not only is it clear that he is playing centerfield, it is also clear that the first baseman needs the centerfielder to play their position so that the team can get three outs and get back to hitting.  Interdependency is a given in baseball, as it is most other sports.

Is interdependency a given in our organizations?

Given the volume written on corporate culture and teamwork, it obviously is not.  Silos, for one, are a symptom of an organization that is not working interdependently   They’re an indicator that group A does not trust group B, and may be even suspicious of them.  “We are better off doing this ourselves,” is a common phrase for this team.  “They don’t get things done on time.” Or, “we are always waiting on that department.  If they delivered on time, we’d really be rocking.”

To be clear, I am speaking from experience.  I have heard those things said at Hoffer Plastics, and it always irritates me.  It irritates me because we have really good people on our team.  People who work their tails off.  So, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Given that it sometimes is, here are two actions leaders can take to help resolve this issue.

First, leaders need to push decision making downward throughout the organization. Craig Groeschel made this point at the 2018 Global Leadership Summit while discussing necessary leadership qualities, and his point resonated with me because our manufacturing culture has historically been built on the “expertise” of the few. In fact, there is a list of “first names” everyone recognizes – a characteristic of an “expert” culture.  To be clear, there are many positives to the “expert” culture – problem-solving, accountability, and performance (you can’t be an “expert” if you don’t perform after all!), and it has worked well for us at times.

Like anything, however, there are problems with it.  For one, it eventually places a lid on future growth.  For if you are relying on a few “experts,” you can only take on so much. It also creates a lack of interdependency.  This happens when groups, even teams, wait to hear what the “expert” has to say about a matter or issue.  The organization can even wind to a halt as it waits for the “expert” to save the day, or simply fix the problem.  God forbid if the “expert” goes on vacation.  Who allowed that!   The point here is that when the team is waiting, the organization is not moving forward.

Ironically, pushing decision making downward in the organization actually creates more experts.  In fact, I’m dying for the day when the famous list is so long nobody can remember the names on it!  It is a sign that we have created a culture of “doers,” or a culture of people making decisions and taking action.  Once they do this, they naturally realize their need of help from other people.  Thus, they become interdependent out of necessity, which is always better than the leader telling them that they should become interdependent.

The second idea, and something leaders should be talking about, is the organization’s focus.  Leaders need to reset the organization’s focus on “out there” in the customer’s hands and on the store shelves as opposed to the issues “in here.”  Before explaining this point, I want to clarify that I do believe it is the c-level’s job to “work on the business.” Hence, this necessitates that we spend a lot of time thinking about, and even talking about, what is happening “in here.”  That said, the point here is that the leaders need to set the vision so that our team focuses primarily on “out there.”  One way to do this is to always tie the internal discussion back to “out there.”  For example, remind everyone that our new ERP system matters most in how it helps us deliver parts to customers on time “out there.”  All the things it does “in here,” are just bonuses.  We need to continually voice this so that our team’s focus is always on the customer first.  Period.

In the context of interdependency, an “out there” focus helps align different business segments on what matters (serving the customer), and helps them work interdependently to that end, rather than working independently on whatever their department deems important.  See the difference? My experience has been that the more we focus on serving customer needs, the more interconnected we become as a company.  It is the ultimate rally-cry!  In fact, our best successes, often painfully accomplished, are collectively remembered by the customer’s name, and the team that helped solve the customer’s problem, rather than by the names of a few “experts.”

In the divisive world we live in, interdependency will separate the good teams from the bad ones.  Creating an atmosphere of “we are in this together” so that we can help serve those “out there,” is the job of leadership.

In came the invitation to an emergency meeting.  A prideful thought emerged that I was only being invited so that I could “make a decision.”  Isn’t that what leaders do after all?

The situation was that the customer had called with an emergency. In short, they needed parts by Monday morning because of a production change on their end. They were desperate, so it was up to us to determine if we could juggle the competing demands of other customers, and figure out a plan of action to appease everyone?

The meeting was led by an up-and-comping sales person on our team.  He had not only called the meeting, but also had assembled the appropriate team-members to address this emergency head-on. He immediately put the production schedule, and upcoming orders, onto the screen in the conference room, and took the lead in discussing the potential scenarios. The team followed his lead and discussed the implications of the potential changes to the schedule, making double sure that no customer would be impacted.  The plant manager willingly bought into making the change, but asked for help with personnel. So, our young sales person asked for help on their behalf.  The room agreed, and our Director of Operations pledged to use the available resources necessary.  Everything was coming together, and by 1:14 p.m. a plan had emerged.

It had been 14 minutes, and I had not said a single word.

While this story may be a flattering one for Hoffer Plastics, I don’t tell it to make us look good (and I can tell plenty of war stories that are not nearly as pretty or flattering.  We make mistakes, too!)

I tell this story because of what I am about to confess:

I may not have spoken a word, but I wanted to.

I wanted people to know that I had input.

I wanted people to know that my voice mattered.

Heck, that my position mattered.

Of course, I don’t vocalize these internal struggles.  But, I am confessing they’re present. I am confessing the insecurity that often lies within.

In fact, not speaking made me wonder what people thought of me.  Did they think I was disengaged, or an ineffective leader?  (These questions made me realize that I care more about what people think of me than I often think I do. Thank you, Sarah, for reminding me of that the other night…You’re right, unfortunately).

The irony is that not saying a word is exactly what leadership is about.

In fact, leaders are supposed to lead in a way that empowers others to step up and take charge…

Moreover, leaders are to become replaceable.

Being replaceable, however, is never soothing to the ego.

“You’re not as important as you thought you are,” is what goes through one’s head in such scenarios.

Isn’t it strange that one of the ways of becoming more important to an organization is by becoming less important in certain regards?

In the scenario above, our young sales person had taken the lead.

I didn’t say a word because I followed.

Setting my pride and insecurity aside, I have to say that it was beautiful to see the team, including myself, following this person’s lead.

We reached a better result because of it.