it's about the HOW

Conventional wisdom would tell us that leadership is about WHAT gets done and management is about HOW things gets done.  I would like to posit that leadership is as much about the HOW as it is the WHAT.  I have watched people in leadership positions get the WHAT accomplished, but the HOW is so out of whack that people get hurt or the WHAT is not sustainable.  I believe that the HOW provides a basis for the WHAT getting accomplished, and sets a tone for the organization that creates a certain type of culture.

So what does the HOW of leadership include?  Here are a few thoughts:

• ENTHUSIASM - this is not an over-the-top Pollyanna type of behavior; it is about being emotionally engaged in what one is saying and how one is behaving, especially with a group of people.  Being enthusiastic for your organization and the mission is noticed by those whom you are trying to lead.
• QUESTIONS - the leader must be asking good questions in order to know what is happening in the organization...and outside the organization.  Being a good question asker (and then a good listener) shows interest and helps the leader to shape the conversation.
• POSITIVITY - in the midst of everything that might be happening, the leader remains positive.  Different from enthusiasm, the positive leader reminds him/herself and others around them that today's crisis is preparation for tomorrow's opportunity.  Putting the smile on one's face is an important aspect to being recognized as the leader - and helping others get through tough times.
• MEET - find time to pull people together and talk.  While informal meetings are important, formal meetings help you clarify your thoughts and ideas as well as keep alignment and clarity in place.  Don't be afraid of meetings...and by that I mean PRODUCTIVE meetings.
• GREET - work the room, no matter where you are.  For many leaders this is very difficult, as it tends to sap their energy.  Get over it - and have your energy sapped.  People want to meet you - and you need to meet people.  Become a glad-hander...in the best sense of the term.
• STORIES - have a handful of stories ready to tell that symbolize the mission and vision of the institution.  Find these stories...practice telling these stories...and then use them whenever possible to get your vision across to others.
• AUTHENTICITY - be yourself.  If you love to laugh, laugh out loud; if you tend to cry at the drop of a hat, it's okay to cry; if you like to have a good cocktail, invite your friends over for a drink; if you wear your faith on your sleeve, talk about it with others; if you tend to be reserved, its okay to be quiet from time to time.  Whoever you are, however God made you, be that person.

The list could continue - and you might have others to add.  Feel free to do so below.  And next time you are in the process of getting the WHAT done, stop and ask yourself if the HOW of getting it done is aligning with what you believe about leadership and about your organization.

lead by example

Earlier this week, I was asked when I would be writing my next blog by my good friend and consistent blog-reader Carrie Leising. Having a busy week, I asked if she would ghostwrite this week's blog for me. Her thoughts below were both humbling and inspiring to me - I hope they prove to be a learning tool for you...

Don Christian leads by example when he writes his column for his blog every Friday. When he missed a Friday, I asked him about it and he asked nme to ghostwrite one for him because I am an avid reader of the blog. I laughed it off, but when I woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning, it hit me on the head. I got out of bed, brewed a cup of strong coffee, and knew that I had to write about a leader who leads by exaple and is the real writer of this blog - Don Christian. Here's why...

1. Don is ethical in what he does and goes about doing things in a transparent manner. It is important that leaders remain ethical at all times because they are being watched and observed in both positive and negative lights daily, even hourly.
2. He's dedicated to the message of leadership and his work. His personal mission in life is Christian education and this permeates everything that he does at Concordia University. A leader has a passion for what they do and they do it well.
3. He does what he say he's going to do. Concordia University's MBA program has been in the works for many months. Then, just last month, the program came to fruition and is off to a great start with 40 students. Don's leadership effort and that of those around him made this program a reality. Don set the example for others to follow.
4. He constantly reads...on leadership, on life's greatest works, both ficton and non-fiction alike. Reading strengthens leaders and pushes them to grow in wisdom, in perspective, and to think critically of the world around them. Check out the right-hand column of this blog for some titles to whet your reading appetite.
5. He genuinely listens. In leadership, hearing the message is critical. Often, leaders miss hearing the true message. Listening is critical to success and building relationships that leaders need.
6. He consistently builds people up. Teaching students and others around him (and by writing this blog), he is an example of how leaders can influence others by doing so with positive reinforcement and support.
7. He has time boundaries. Leaders know how to make good use of their time and respect other's time. It forces leaders to effectively share a message efficiently.
8. He has good timing. Leaders know when the right time is to approach certain topics or messages and push them through to the constituents or audiences that need to hear it most. Don is an advocate of Christian education and developing Christian leaders and his timing is impeccable when it comes to sharing that with others.
9. When he has a message to share, he shares it with the right people or delegates it to others to spread to the right people, i.e. his askig me to write this column for this week. Thus, I am finding myself suddenly immersed in following his example and hopefully leading others to do the same.
10. Don also knows when he can't do it all. It's important for leaders to remain humble and gracious, while recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses. Relying on others, like asking me to write this blog, is a smart way of continuing the dialogue on leadership within our community.

Thank you, Don, for the opportunity to share my bit on leading by example. I hope it has fulfilled you and your reader's Friday morning dose of inspiration on leadership. Ghostwriting isn't so bad after all...

Carrie Leising serves as a development officer at Concordia University Texas where she been for almopst three years. She has a MBA in not-for-profit management from the University of San Diego.

the need to read

I recently returned from a four week vacation on the coast of Maine, where the orders of the day include a lot of reading - I prepare months finding the right books, deciding what to read and how much time to devote to my reading. Each year, my wife and I ship up a box of books that will occupy us for the time we are at our summer haven. This year, the box was lost in the mail...so we had to use local resources like the library, the used book stores, and our good friends at amazon.com. I ended up reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged; more recently published books including both The Secret Life of Henrietta Lacks and An Organic Manifesto; Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses; Gibert Martin's 1000-page biography Winston Churchill: A Life; and the first two volumes of Marcel Proust's 6 volume epic novel In Search of Lost Time. It was a good vacation as it allowed me to read several tomes I had been putting off for awhile.

Returning from vacation put me back into the "read when I can find time" mode, which always has me reading several books at one time. As I looked at the stack of books on my present reading list, I was struck by the fact that I tend to read in areas in which I am presently involved. The following list will tell you more about what I am presently thinking about and doing:

• Business Leadership: A Jossey-Bass Reader...preparing for teaching in The Concordia MBA
• The Effective Executive in Action (Drucker)...attempting to change how I lead and manage the multiple programs and people in the College of Business
• Afghanistan: A Military History (Tanner)...all of our Freshman are reading The Kite Runner as they come to campus this fall
• Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (Nussbaum)...CTX is going through a curriculum transformation and defining how a liberal arts education shapes our students
• Mere Christianity (CS Lewis)...trying to understnad how the cardinal virtues shape leadership
• Ulysses (James Joyce)...began this book toward the end of vacation and trying to finish it as this point

Someone coined the phrase "leaders are readers" (and the other truth that "not all readers are necessarily leaders"). I believe that's true as reading allows one to learn and to enter the world of others. I am a firm believer that great literature - especailly great fiction - allows the reader to more fully understand the human dilemma, and become more empathetic through the process. Reading great fiction is engrossing - and fully transports the reader to a different time and place...and yet, it is most often one's own time and place also. To read Proust is to look into one's own past...to read Tolstoy is to know that we too can experience the same issues and situations...to read Steinbeck is to catch a glimpse of how others survive the drama of life. Reading this type of literature is not easy - nor is it always relaxing - but it is rewarding. So...what are you reading right now?

Just Talk to Me

Have you ever wanted to look at someone and say to them, "Just talk to me...just ask me a question...just make good conversation." Several times this past week, I wanted to say to those who work with me, "Just talk to me...I understand you might be stressed, busy, confused, upset...but just talk to me." Why is it so difficult for people to approach another human being and just talk to them? Here are a few thoughts:

• when talking to others, we might be afraid of what they might say
• when talking to others, we don't really want to admit what we did or feel
• when talking to others, we can't control the direction of the conversation
• when talking to others, we will have to expose ourselves, which is incredibly scary

The importance of talking with others is that misunderstandings can get cleared up very quickly - whether I have not met someone else's expectations...or they have not met my expectations - talking with them helps to clear the air and promote understanding. Talking with people allows for both parties to be heard. Talking with people builds trust. Talking with people creates community. Talking with people promotes understanding. And all of that can create a great place to work - and to live.

So how can we more regularly and successfully talk to people? A few action items:

1. When what you experience from others does not meet your expectations, begin by believing the best. If you can't believe the best, confront quickly.
2. In confronting quickly, do so with a spirit of inquiry, i.e. that you may not know everything and that you want to find out what really is happening.
3. Develop a habit of asking questions rather than making statements. And WAIT for answers from others.
4. Put away your guns when confronting others - assume they are acting in the best interest of the organization (or relationship) and follow #3 above.
5. Put away your defense mechanisms - when others come to talk with you, listen intently and be willing to admit you might be wrong.
6. Similar to #5, develop an attitude that says you might be wrong at times, and that in talking with people you can actually learn something.
7. Summon the courage to talk to others, even when it feels scary. Initiating that conversation is often the hardest part - once it gets started, it becomes much easier.
8. Prepare ahead of time - consider what you want to say, what you want the other person to know, and what questions you need to ask. In my most difficult conversations with people, I will write out exactly what I want to say and sometimes read it verbatim to them.
9. Trust that talking to people is a good thing, and that because you have taken the first step in creating this conversation, good things will come out of it. You will, in essence, be the hero!

One quick caveat - sometimes it doesn't always work as you would like it to. There have been many times when I have attempted to talk to someone, and the conversation falls flat on its face. The problem does not get resolved and the relationship is damaged. That's the risk we take when trying to talk to someone. However, I believe the rewards are amazing, and I will risk the few times conversations go bad for the many times they go well - and life is better because of it. At work, on boards, with friends, and at home...it just seems better to go and talk to someone.

meetings, meetings, meeting

Yesterday I sat through three different meetings, all of which were valuable and enjoyable. I am one of the few people I know who actually enjoy meetings - well, at least those that accomplish something. People in a position of leadership need to meet - they need to be calling meetings and they need to be attending meetings. If you are invited to a meeting, by all means GO to that meeting - how else can you have any type of influence. It just hit me that the ones who often complain the loudest are the same ones who never attend meetings...or at least never speak up at meetings (there are exceptions - those who speak up at meetings (read "complain") and never offer solutions).
So if we are spending our time in meetings, we might as well make them the best meetings possible - whether we call the meetings or whether we are attendees. Here are a couple of suggestions for those of us who run meetings:

1. always have an agenda - and if at all possible send it out ahead of time. Wouldn't life be wonderful if everyone who attended meetings came prepared? Pre-planned agendas allow for that to happen.
2. always have a purpose for the meeting - of course, that purpose will shape the agenda, so maybe this should be #1. Wouldn't life be wonderful if at the end of every meeting all the participants could say "we accomplished our purpose."
3. always start and end on time - people's time is valuable. Sometime add up the cost of a meeting you are in by figuring out the hourly salary for each person in the room...you get the idea. Wouldn't life be wonderful if at the end of every meeting people could say "that was really worth our time and effort!"
4. always engage everyone in the room - remember that the meetings is not yours alone - it should belong to the group of people assembled...they should own it as well as you. Of course, they can't own it without an agenda and a purpose, and they need to be prepared. Expect people to come prepared and hold them accountable. Wouldn't life be wonderful if everyone always came to meetings with something to talk about and add to the discussion.
5. create an atmosphere of trust - nothing can be worse than sitting in a meeting on "pins and needles" wondering what bomb is going to go off next - or whether people can say what is really on their minds. As a meeting leader, sometimes you may need to pause and ask, "is there anything else that needs to be said?" and then be quiet. Wouldn't life be wonderful if everyone could speak their mind at meetings - in a way that is honest, true and respectful of those around the table?

A quick word to those who attend meetings but may not be in charge of the agenda and purpose - you still have a crucial role in making meetings productive and valuable. A quick list for meeting attendees:

• prepare - read the agenda, do your homework, and come with questions. If there is no agenda published, assume what the agenda will be and come with the approriate materials
• take notes - that way you will follow up with what needs to be done and you come to the next meeting with a list of things talked about and decided on by the group
• ask questions - try to get the group to go deeper on subjects by asking questions about the topic at hand
• stay awake and alert - if that means standing up and/or getting a cup of coffee, do so unabashedly
• share humor - nothing creates a sense of camaraderie more quickly than laughter. Feel free to insert a joke here and there
• offer your opinion - if attendees do not talk, then the leader will fill the void...and nothing is worse than a meeting where only one person talks
• set the tone (1) - get there early and engage with people in the room. If people are talking with one another before the meeting begins, chances are they will keep talking during the meeting
• set the tone (2) - if you are in a situation where it is approriate, offer to begin with a prayer or blessing. If you cannot do that, offer to share an idea you recently heard - and then ask others what they think about it. Five minutes of discussion around something other than the agenda buidls trust among the group members, allowing them to be more open during the meeting

WOW! 8 ways to influence meetings even if you are not in charge. Go ahead - try it sometime - and see what can happen as you influence meetings toward a greater good. And be sure to read Death by Meeting: A leadership fable to solve the most painful problem in business by Patrick Lencioni. It is a MUST read for those of us who lead - and attend - meetings.