Not just communications

Henry Luce, founder of Time and Fortune magazines, shares this insight: “Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future. It is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight.”

He’s so right isn’t he? I think the same is true for leaders – their careers involve continuous exercise in foresight.

So I went to Boston for my yearly brain upgrade. I traveled thousands of miles just to attend a leadership course. But the travel was well worth it.

The learning experience was great. I met many participants from all over the world. We studied business cases and did activities that enriched my leadership understanding. And I’m so excited to share my learnings in my sessions!

The great thing about brain upgrade is that, the more ideas I learn, the more ideas I can teach and even implement. Plus – I got a chance to walk the Harvard campus of the new NBA sensation Jeremy Lin.

The Wharton School of Business and Gartner research firm once polled a group of senior leaders on why they thought their big ideas didn’t get implemented. Interestingly, many of the top obstacles cited were related to neglect of leadership basics by managers and their employees:

(1) Poor or inadequate information sharing between people and business units responsible for execution (communication).

(2) Unclear communication of responsibility and/or accountability for execution decisions or actions (communication, accountability).

(3) Lack of feeling of “ownership” of a strategy or execution plans among employees (goal setting, accountability).

(4) An inability to generate “buy in” agreement on critical execution steps or actions (communication, trust).[1]

In order to effect change, the leader should first manage the self and then articulate the change initiatives. But things don’t usually happen this way. What usually happens is, people see a memo, they attend the meeting, they look at the PowerPoint presentation, and then they walk out of the room more interested in updating their Facebook page than in applying the important change initiatives the organization needs to embark on in order to stay competitive.

Would you be surprised to know that the solution to this is a basic approach?

When the leader set clear goals with his or her managers and teammates, when the leader communicates to them openly and honestly, when the leader personifies what he or she says, or as most would say “Walk the Talk” and which I’d like to call “Live the Lip,” when the leader holds himself or herself accountable for hitting the goals, the natural byproduct is this: trust within the team is built, and the leader is valued and appreciated. Meanwhile, lack in any of these areas will derail team members and destroy the entire team over time.

Leaders need to park their ego on the parking lot, roll up their sleeves and demonstrate the way to work. Trust is built in the small things we do everyday, not in passionate speeches that fizzle out when the rallies and events are over.

It takes time to build trust, but it takes just one wrong move to destroy it. At the end of the day, it’s the leader’s character that matter, not just the communications skills.

(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong developing your leadership skills this March 28-29 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.) –Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star)