Humor in the C-Suite

What's so funny?

Executives know there are opportunities everyday to display humor and yet, more often than not, they pass them by.  Why?

Before you owned a company, led it or managed one of its divisions, did you have a better sense of humor than you have or allow yourself to exhibit now?

Countless numbers of corporate leaders could be making a huge mistake by keeping their sense of humor under wraps.

We all personally know leaders who, when away from the C-Suite are funny and liberal with a smile, (accompanied by a good snort now and then,) but for some reason, hold back from displaying the same with their colleagues, competitors and customers. Truth is, they are also under-utilizing a prized leadership skill.

"A jest often decides matters of importance more effectively and happily than seriousness."

-  Horace

You understand I'm not talking about what some mistake to be humor when it is crude, vulgar, cynical, sarcastic or directed at an unassuming and indefensible colleague.

We're talking about the wide range of skills needed by every leader, no matter what the battle. It just so happens that the sense of humor each of us either have been born with or developed over our lifetimes, seems to be forgotten or deleted from the portfolio of skills required to lead.

No doubt there is a time and place for everything, just as there is for the use of one leadership skill over another. Lately I've been asking CEOs about their sense of humor and most believe that their natural ability to find humor, even in difficult situations, is something to keep guarded.

I disagree with them on that and urge every business leader who shares that sentiment to reconsider. There's plenty of serious stuff in every day to be serious about, but you know what? An alert, lively and genuine leader also knows there is, or ought to be,  plenty to smile about too. It's all in a days' work.

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid

Lead with Your Strengths...

But learn to use both hands...

ONE OF A KIND

Greg (A.) Harris enjoyed a 14-year baseball career in the major leagues playing for 9 different teams beginning with the New York Mets in 1981 and throwing his last pitch in a Montreal Expo uniform. To date, there is no other major league pitcher on record who was a 'switch pitcher.' For the uninitiated, that means he could throw a baseball with either arm just about as effectively with either.

Game rules during his stint didn't allow for him to utilize this unique skill but as he was closing out his final season with the Expo's, he was allowed to do so. On September 28, 1995 and in the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds Harris retired Reggie Sanders pitching right-handed, then switched to his left hand for the next two hitters, Hall Morris and Ed Taubensee, who both batted lefty. Harris walked Morris but got Taubensee to ground out. He then went back to his right hand to retire Bret Boone to end the inning.

As spectacular a feat this is, my guess is that you have forgotten of or had never heard of Greg Allen Harris. Beyond that, it may matter little to you that he had this unusual athletic ability. (For the record, Pat Vindette, a kid from Omaha is now playing in the minor leagues that can 'switch-throw' with either arm at 90 mph.)

 

Pat Vindette

Had Harris even been allowed to 'switch-throw' during games while in the league, my guess is that he would still naturally favor his stronger right arm. Opponents eventually would figure out how to deal with the 'switch-pitching.'

USE WHAT WORKS

Business leaders also tend to "throw' with their strong arm or manage to their perceived and or recognized strengths. While that may seem the natural thing to do, a bigger problem is that most leaders rely on that strength far too often. Staying with the baseball analogy, it could be likened to a pitcher who has a great fastball or 'slider' but little else. Simply put, a pitcher with a versatile array of pitches outlasts and outsmarts his opponents more often than not.

Robert Kaplan and Robert Kaiser, in their recent release, Fear Your Strengths, do a masterful job of helping leaders understand what a lack of management versatility can mean and the impact it can have on organizations.

"Strategically oriented leaders are lauded for their aggressiveness and vision, but often criticized for not being sufficiently grounded in reality. Operationally oriented leaders are admired for their focus and their ability to systematically drive the organization toward its goals, but they are frequently faulted for having tunnel vision and a lack of strategic boldness. Although it may seem that that these are inherently different and mutually exclusive kinds of leaders, they are in truth prime examples of lopsided leadership. They are leaders who overuse one set of strengths at the expense of under-using others."[1]

Most leaders will resist the notion that their approach to leading and management is, well, lopsided. As a result of depending solely on their strengths, they, more often than not, approach the thorniest of challenges with the same mind and skill-set.  They tend to 'over power' the opponent, challenge or issue in a way that is satisfactory in the short run but detrimental to the long-term objectives of the company.

Kaplan and Kaiser found that there is a distinct difference in results between companies whose leaders lack versatility and those whose leaders have developed a diversified 'portfolio' of skills with which they effectively lead.

"Versatility defined as striking a balance on both the forceful-enabling and strategic-operational dimensions accounts for about half of what separates the most effective leaders from the least effective leaders."[2]

LEADERSHIP PERFECTION DOESN'T EXIST

Kaplan and Kaiser have compiled a database of executives that numbers close to 7,000 and they admit there are few leaders among them that have developed a complete repertoire of operational, strategic and visionary skills. Understandably, those that rise closer to the top of the list have long-lasting success that wears well over time.

As they see it, there are three primary steps that leaders in pursuit of versatile excellence must take.

1.)           Accept Yourself

                "You must unflinchingly reconcile yourself to the reality of who you are and how you lead."[3]

2.)           Test Yourself

                "The stimulus of new experience outside your comfort zone can slowly but surely redefine and shore up the structure of your self."[4]

3.)           Offset Yourself

                " There is great good in working on yourself. In addition to the practical benefits, it’s a way of retaining your youthful energy. The moment you stop growing is the moment you grow old."[5]

When I first came across Fear Your Strengths, it was the following line that convinced me of the need to discuss this thought process at all;

“A whiff of brutal clarity, if it’s based on reality, is an essential component of leadership.”[6]

There's no time like the present. Get going!

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid

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[1] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B. (2013-04-01). Fear Your Strengths (BK Business) (pp. 27-28). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

[2] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B.; Fear Your Strengths (p. 35).

[3] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B.; Fear Your Strengths (p. 86).

[4] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B.; Fear Your Strengths (p. 89).

[5] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B.; Fear Your Strengths (p. 92).  

[6] Kaplan, Robert E.; Kaiser, Robert B.; Fear Your Strengths (p. 25).  

Job Description for Owner and CEO: "RUN THE COMPANY"

Drawing from my own experience, whether leading a division of or building from scratch, no one, including myself, ever asked what or how my job was actually defined. I was there to "run the company." Wasn't that obvious?

In the ten years since leaving a nearly 25-year career in sell and buy-side investment management it has occurred to me that many, too many, of us have led and defined our roles by assumption rather than by clarity. We just "ran the company."

LACK OF DEFINITION

In either case, that of a business owner/entrepreneur or executive that started out lower on the ladder and now is in the C-suite (or facsimile thereof), to my surprise, a great many have found themselves with the responsibility of either running a company or a significant division of it without a clear idea of who they are, why they are and what they are determined to do and how.

In my role as adviser  counselor or coach; common questions I ask of those depending upon me are meant to get leaders to focus on a few very important things.

·         Who are you?

·         What's your job description?

·         Who wrote or defined your role?

·         Are you functioning in that role, as described?

·         How do you see yourself?

·         Have you written your own description of that role?

·         Why not?

We could go on and on with an endless list of questions like these. It just surprise me to find that in virtually all cases, (non-scientific) leaders plow along doing what they believe is expected of them while rarely thinking about the need to clearly define themselves and the role that is not only expected of them but the role they want to play within their organizations.

Once a leader clearly defines who they are and why, they then ought to do the same for each one of their Direct Reports.

WE NEED A...

For the sake of this discussion, let's assume the owner or CEO is the one that decides a position needs to be filled. A discussion with the in-house HR professional follows. Perhaps an outside search firm is engaged. The leader has something in mind and ultimately someone is going to write a job description and initiate the search.

Would you be surprised to learn that it isn't uncommon for the professionally drafted Job Description and the reality of what the CEO wants don't match? There may be two primary reasons why that happens. One, the Owner/CEO hasn't clearly defined their own role and the second becomes as obvious; they haven't personally and clearly defined the role of the talented individual they are seeking.

               

RECRUITING  v. COACHING

Imagine a Head Coach that sends out talent scouts without clearly defining the precise athletic skills, qualities and demeanor of the talent they want. We're all too familiar with athletes that were said to be "the most sought after" but for whatever reasons don't fit or simply flop. Why does that happen?

There are numerous reasons. When and if the Head Coach leaves the search up to others while not clearly defining themselves, their objectives and exactly what they expect of the assistants, and ultimately the athletes, the results speak for themselves.

               

BEST LEADERS TAUGHT BY BEST COACHES

"The breakthrough companies we visited were filled with great coaches - people skilled at helping people do their very best."[1]  Keith McFarland includes a great discussion on the topic under the heading, "The No. 1 Job Of A Leader: Coaching" in his terrific look at high performing companies in Breakthrough Companies. McFarland there notes that, "If managers focus too much on getting the right people on the bus, and not enough on developing the people they already have on the bus, you can bet that bus is headed for some kind of fender bender or worse."

As we all pay more attention to this need and responsibility for leaders to reconsider who they are and why they do what they do, it is critically important that leaders also accept the responsibility they have to clearly define themselves, what they expect of their Direct Reports and finally, to give clear definition to what their company is and why. No one in the HR department can or should be doing this for them.           

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid

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[1] The Breakthrough Company; Keith McFarland; Crown Publishing; p.214, 215

Leadership Lyrics

Songwriter's Lessons on Innovation, Creativity and Ingenuity

Whatever your preference of music happens to be; are you one that gives much thought to what it took to write and produce your favorites songs? My guess is that most of us don't.

COMMON THREADS

There is, however,  a leadership lesson to be taken from songwriters of all genres. To prove my assertion, pick up a copy of Paul Zollo's Songwriters on Songwriting (Expanded Edition; De Capo Press 1997). The book is a compilation of Zollo's interviews with the likes of  Pete Seeger, Willie Dixon, Livingston & Evans, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Carole King, K.D. Lang and many, many more. All approach their craft in their own unique ways and all have written songs of untold numbers that have never been heard or popularized. The common thread is that they wrote, some often, some not so. At times the music came first and the lyrics followed or vice versa, but they wrote.

Willie Dixon, who died at 75 in 1990, and known by many as the "Father of the Blues" wrote thousands of songs. Like so many things, the 80/20 rule applied to Dixon's originals and the relatively few that produced royalties once well-known artists recorded them.

David Crosby on the other hand admits that songwriting hasn't always come easy and unlike his good friend Neil Young, Crosby's songs came few and far between. Zollo attributes Crosby's patience in the process  as the key that unlocked the likes of "Wooden Ships" and "Deja Vu,"  songs that catapulted Crosby, Stills and Nash to fame in the late 60s.

DIFFERENT PATHS

While Dixon and Crosby worked from opposite ends of the creativity process, both produced their results based upon personal experience while acknowledging that not everything that came to mind, heart or soul was going to meet with success.  Keep in mind that the floors of songwriter kitchens, basements or music rooms are littered with "failed" compositions.

CEOs and business leaders that come to the conclusion that innovation and great ideas can be nurtured through a disciplined process, in many ways, go about it as songwriter's do. Willie Dixon told Zollo that his "blues" were all based upon facts and contrary to the tendency for most to think of the "blues" as songs of woe and lamentation, Dixon's tunes were predominantly filled with joy and hope of better things to come.

Crosby, on the other hand, told Zollo, "I can't legislate a song into being, it just will not happen for me. I can make a space for it to happen, and sometimes it will come and fill the space." Innovation comes about this way as well. In the same interview Crosby went on to say, "I'm sure we don't really know how the creative process works...you know it comes every which way."

ONGOING CHALLENGE

Many leaders I've spoken to and work with struggle with innovation, creativity and ingenuity and yet all of them realize that without these, there may be little or no future to contemplate. Today an internet search of the word "innovation" brings back 80 million 400 thousand results. It's obviously an important topic that has provided fodder for an endless stream of how-to blogs, posts and white papers, not to mention complete MBA course offerings.

The fact is that we will continue to talk about the ongoing need to innovate, create and ingeniously bring new products and services to market and we will do so in many different ways. Business leaders that have yet to successfully unleash the creative, ingenious and innovative minds within their organizations should at a minimum, learn a thing or two from songwriters. Perhaps Crosby put it best when he said he couldn't "legislate (insert 'innovation, creativity or ingenuity') a song."  But, when he made a "space for it to happen," in time he'd find that space to be filled.

Quite simple, isn't it? Provide the space and buy out the time. Collaborate when necessary. Play it one way. Try it another. It doesn't matter how many attempts end up on the drawing room floor. What matters is that you and those with you are frequently writing new scores.

Jim Naleid is a Life-long Entrepreneur, Change-Agent and Thought Leader, Managing Director of Naleid & Associates and Regional TEC (“The Executive Committee”) Chair leading a group of executives to become Better Leaders, Making Better Decisions with Better Results. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimnaleid