Face Reality Executive
Posted: Wednesday, October 06, 2010
by Brace Barber
Patrol Leader Press, Inc.
How to avoid an elevated self-image not shared by peers or employees, and actually knock down one big accomplishment after another.
Make no mistake; mission planning and problem solving is hard work. That is one reason why we do not do it. More importantly, we really do not know how to do it. Planning is not something that is taught in school until you get to the postgraduate level. Even in that case it is typically a very academic process using contrived examples and scenarios, which are not very inspiring to help people use it in the real world. The military teaches planning and utilizes it as a practical part of their every day mission. As young officers, we were hammered on the smallest details of our plans and we became very good at thinking in a predictive manner. However, the military planning tool cannot be readily translated to the civilian world. As executives, we are left with our experience, education and intuition, which frankly, are no match for the complexity of the problems we face.
A study conducted by LeadershipIQ.com shows that 31% of the time that a CEO gets removed; it is primarily because they mismanaged change. The CEO was unable to adequately sell the need to change course. One of the wonderful benefits of the planning process is that it gives you very clear reasons to take one action versus another. You do not have to rely on your logic or your personal persuasion. You do not have to rely on emotion and arm-twisting, you can rely on solid analysis. Through proper planning, you identify alternatives and eliminate or modify them for specific reasons, all of which can be presented to the people fulfilling the plan; assuming that they were not involved in the process to begin with. If I told you that reaching into boiling water was not the best plan despite being the fastest way to retrieve a hotdog, would you believe me? According to this study, your team probably will not, and it may cost you your job.
As a leader you must clearly justify why one action is superior to another. When talking with employees or team members who bring different values and priorities to table, it is much better to identify and clearly explain the course of action in relation to their values and the values of the team as a whole. Most people understand the benefits of team success and how it relates to their own personal success. CEOs and senior executives can be well served by an organized planning process, which identifies and allows for the analysis of these different values.
In that same LeadershipIQ.com study it said that 23% of the CEOs were let go because they denied reality. Another beautiful part of this planning process is that reality is the central stake around which the process takes place. Assumptions are necessary, but they must be identified as assumptions and not claimed as facts. The facts, both positive and negative, need also be identified in order to create the most stable course of action, and the most compelling reasoning.
Finally 22% said that CEOs were let go because they were too much talk and not enough action. It does not matter how lofty your description of the hot dog and how it will taste with mustard and onions, your team wants to know how they can get it. It is easy for CEOs to talk about the vision and about large goals and the motivation part but frankly they are as susceptible as most to the avoidance of solid action towards those visions. They are especially hesitant to take action if they themselves know that they do not have a solid plan. Movement without a solid plan leaves them vulnerable to the criticism from the board, their peers and their employees. Unsuccessful execution will tarnish the image that they are trying to create and it will damage their ability to lead their team, which in fact they are not doing in any case.
It is understandable that a full-fledged planning process does not take place for every single initiative. Companies would become bogged down in planning and analysis and meetings and approvals as opposed to action. However is inexcusable for large initiatives and for department and company-sized objectives to not be analyzed. They should be planned in a format designed to get executives to face reality, to be able to lead decisive action, and finally to be able to justify and motivate people with real rationale as opposed to motivational speeches and un-substantive talk of values and visions.
I created the Full-Spectrum Decision Making Process specifically for executives and CEOs so they could avoid the pitfalls of poor planning.
© 2010 Brace E. Barber and Patrol Leader Press, Inc.
Brace E. Barber is the CEO of Decipherst, Inc., a material technology company operating in the defense and aerospace markets. He a director and former CEO for M9 Defense, Inc. and was the President of Tax Recovery Group, Inc. His writings include, "No Excuse Leadership, Lessons from the U.S. Army's Elite Rangers," and "Sun Tzu's Pattern of Power, The Art of War Organized for Decision Making." Brace is a 1987 graduate of West Point.
Decision Making
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