Are You Out of Touch?
Even though I try not to talk about great leadership and awesome
organizational effectiveness at parties, it's in my blood and sometimes this
innocently spills into conversations. As was the case last month at a
holiday party in which I found myself on the receiving end of another story
of what I call "remote leadership".
What's a remote leader?
I say remote because the leader has usually left no remnant of relationship,
support, or advocacy related to their team.
Three REAL examples of remote leadership
1. One V.P. of Sales reprimanded a top performer for bringing in an outside
vendor on a business deal, although the vendor was actually acquired by
the company twenty years prior and the V.P. has been with the firm for
over ten years.
2. Another V.P. of Global Operations (different company) took a six week
vacation, appointed no temporary successor and told a new manager they
were on their own.
3. Organizational leaders made a FIVE DIGIT investment in creating a
strategic plan although NO MENTION was made of who would be
accountable for making the changes or how to fill in skill, knowledge, and
ability gaps for what would eventually be definite changes in responsibilities
across all departments.
These remote leadership cases were not my clients for obvious reasons nor
are these extreme; I must reveal I have lots more examples.
Let's quickly breakdown what went wrong
1. In the first case, the leader is so out of touch he / she has
unmotivated a top performer.
2. The second leader built a safe distance for herself / himself while out of
town and put all accountability and stress on the shoulders of a new
manager. Zero supervisory support left the manager standing on a trap
door of stress and confusion.
3. The third case is quite common. The people component was left out
of the strategic planning process when it's a core element that should
power and activate the plan.
Hopefully, you have not fallen out of touch in such an extreme way but it
can sometimes start small and become a snowball. It's rarely intentional, so
I've put together an easy framework for you to remember how to stay on
track.
As a leader or team member, your activities and input should:
Post the above goals where they're visible on a daily basis to keep
you on track and in touch.
Three ways to stay in touch and connected
1. Start the year out right with focused meetings on your team's ideas for
achieving personal and professional goals.
2. Open up a dialogue that will open up cross- functional lines of
communication.
3. Make it a standard norm to stay in touch with your people and get your
team's feedback on creating norms for how the team will communicate with
you, other members, and other departments.
Next, review our coaching options.
About the author:
Diana Keith, people strategist and business psychologist, works with
leaders and their teams to increase innovation, morale, and productivity.
See her website http://www.mlevelsystems.com to get your free people
strategy guide for success.
Even though I try not to talk about great leadership and awesome
organizational effectiveness at parties, it's in my blood and sometimes this
innocently spills into conversations. As was the case last month at a
holiday party in which I found myself on the receiving end of another story
of what I call "remote leadership".
What's a remote leader?
I say remote because the leader has usually left no remnant of relationship,
support, or advocacy related to their team.
Three REAL examples of remote leadership
1. One V.P. of Sales reprimanded a top performer for bringing in an outside
vendor on a business deal, although the vendor was actually acquired by
the company twenty years prior and the V.P. has been with the firm for
over ten years.
2. Another V.P. of Global Operations (different company) took a six week
vacation, appointed no temporary successor and told a new manager they
were on their own.
3. Organizational leaders made a FIVE DIGIT investment in creating a
strategic plan although NO MENTION was made of who would be
accountable for making the changes or how to fill in skill, knowledge, and
ability gaps for what would eventually be definite changes in responsibilities
across all departments.
These remote leadership cases were not my clients for obvious reasons nor
are these extreme; I must reveal I have lots more examples.
Let's quickly breakdown what went wrong
1. In the first case, the leader is so out of touch he / she has
unmotivated a top performer.
2. The second leader built a safe distance for herself / himself while out of
town and put all accountability and stress on the shoulders of a new
manager. Zero supervisory support left the manager standing on a trap
door of stress and confusion.
3. The third case is quite common. The people component was left out
of the strategic planning process when it's a core element that should
power and activate the plan.
- None of the examples look even remotely like leadership. The
people systems have become broken or never existed, and the
leaders have become out of touch with their teams.
Hopefully, you have not fallen out of touch in such an extreme way but it
can sometimes start small and become a snowball. It's rarely intentional, so
I've put together an easy framework for you to remember how to stay on
track.
As a leader or team member, your activities and input should:
- Motivate
- Support
- Impact results positively
- Add short and long term value
Post the above goals where they're visible on a daily basis to keep
you on track and in touch.
Three ways to stay in touch and connected
1. Start the year out right with focused meetings on your team's ideas for
achieving personal and professional goals.
2. Open up a dialogue that will open up cross- functional lines of
communication.
3. Make it a standard norm to stay in touch with your people and get your
team's feedback on creating norms for how the team will communicate with
you, other members, and other departments.
Next, review our coaching options.
About the author:
Diana Keith, people strategist and business psychologist, works with
leaders and their teams to increase innovation, morale, and productivity.
See her website http://www.mlevelsystems.com to get your free people
strategy guide for success.
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Article
Are you a remote leader?
Are you a remote leader?
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