May 19, 2012

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4 Risks that Exaggeration Poses to Your Leadership

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

How many of these statements, or statements like them, have you used;

  • “That was the best (event, class, earnings quarter, meeting) we’ve ever had!”
  • “This promises to be the best (baptism service, board retreat, youth outreach, stockholders meeting) ever!”
  • “There is an unbelievable sense of momentum and excitement building in our (church, company, ministry, club)!”

If you find that these types of hyped-up, hyperbole-filled statements are creeping into your leadership communication, watch out. Your leadership could be taking hits that you’re not even aware of.

As a leader you must certainly project optimism. But when you cross the line into hyperbole, you run four significant risks:

1.   You can be seen as inauthentic

Let’s face it. Not every event can be the “best ever”. If you use this kind of language excessively people will start to see you less as a leader, and more as a pitch-man.

Remember, you need to cast vision, not sell a ShamWow.

 2.   You can lose credibility

You know that service you described as the “best ever”? Well guess what. Your people were there, and they know it wasn’t the best ever.

When your communication creates a gap between what your people know to be true, and what you claim to be true, you start to lose credibility.

 3.   Young people start to tune out

At a recent INNOVATE leader’s forum, Greg Hochhalter, senior pastor of Sherwood Park Alliance Church in Alberta, made this important observation. Young people today have their radar on “full alert” for anything that smells like hyperbole, exaggeration or hype.

You can’t afford to alienate this group with your communication.

 4.   You create a culture of “desperation”

As a leader your words have a powerful ability to form and shape culture.

When your communication is flavoured with constant hype you are creating a culture of desperation. For your followers it’s a short walk from desperation to suspicion.

Because of my own optimistic nature, I’ve learned that I need to be vigilant to ensure that hyperbole doesn’t creep into my own communication.

And I would urge you to be just as vigilant.

Because if you can keep away from exaggeration and hype it will be the absolutely greatest thing ever.

(In case you missed it… that was hype!)

How do you keep from over-hyping your communication?

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Discipline, Failing, Featured, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,

4 Measurements Leaders Need to Weigh, not Count

April 10, 2012 By 3 Comments

Leaders measure.

It’s part of what we do. It’s in our “DNA”. We want to know how many, how much, how often, how far and how fast.

These measurements tell us how much progress we’re making and how much distance we still have to go before achieving the goal.

But effective leaders also know that in addition to these metrics which require counting, there are also vital indicators that require WEIGHING.

They know that while counting tells you some important information, that’s often only the beginning. The complete story is only found when you take the time and invest the leadership effort required to weigh less tangible data.

Here are four scenarios that call for weighing, not just counting.

1.   When you need to rally support around a cause
Counting may tell you how many are “on board”, but effective leaders will want to know WHO is on board. “Do I have the influencers on side?” In other words, effective leaders measure the weight of the voices.

2.   When you need to reverse a trend
Counting may tell you which way the trend is heading (giving is sliding, attendance is plateauing, etc). But effective leaders want to know who is leaving (and who is coming), and who has stopped giving (and who has increased giving). These are questions of weight.

3.   When you need to respond to criticism
Counting may tell you how many complaints have been received. Effective leaders, though, want to know where those complaints are coming from in order to determine how much validity they might carry. They want to weigh the source of the complaints.

4.   When you need to know “who has your back”
Counting may tell you how many senior staff showed up for work today, or how many board members make up a quorum. Weighing, though, tells you who you can count on when the going gets tough. Effective leaders weigh levels of support among key stakeholders.

Is counting important? Absolutely. Just be sure your measurement doesn’t end there. If you really want to understand what’s going on behind the numbers, learn to develop the ability to weigh, not just count.

Because very often “who” is more important than “how many”.

What other areas do you find necessary to weigh, not simply count?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Metrics Tagged With: , , ,

How a Secret Agent Can Help Build Morale

August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As leaders, it is critical that we have an accurate read on the emotional condition of those we lead. So, let me ask you: “How good are you at reading the emotional temperature of your organization?”

Early on in my leadership I discovered that not only was I a very poor discerner of the moods among the staff, but indeed I failed to recognize that my very presence tended to “skew the data”.

When I walked into a room and cheerfully asked a group of people “Hey, how is everybody?” and they responded, “Just GREAT!” I was naive enough to believe them.

I didn’t have the leadership maturity to recognize that people will usually tell you what they think you want to hear.

And I would make my way to the next meeting convinced that everyone was happy, that everyone was working hard and that everyone was as sold-out to our vision as I was.

But one day a trusted member of my team came to me and said, “You know Scott, there’s some cranky people on the staff these days.”

I was stunned. How could these people who were giving me Cheshire Cat grins and exuberant “thumbs ups” possibly be cranky?

The reality was, and is, that it’s almost impossible for a leader to accurately gauge the emotional temperature of a team through casual conversation.

Sometimes it takes a secret agent.

My solution was to assign this trusted teammate with the task of letting me know where and when there was trouble brewing. I wasn’t looking for this person to eavesdrop on conversations or to go behind people’s backs; simply to let me know the real mood of the team.

My secret agent would keep an ear to the ground, discerning the general emotional temperature of the team. And when things were turning sour, this person would let me know.

The result was that I became much more accurately aware of the mood of the team while there was still time for me to respond.

Don’t miss this; it is critical that we have an accurate read on the emotional condition of those we lead. When we get this right we can see our teams accomplish great things.

How do you get an accurate “read” on the emotional temperature of your team?

Filed Under: Development, Leadership, Ministry, Strategy, Tension, Wisdom Tagged With: , , , , ,

How Leaders Know When to "Be Still"

February 4, 2011 By 3 Comments

Last night I was reminded of a powerful leadership truth as I read the story of one of the great leaders in the bible.

The timing of this reminder couldn’t have been better.

I was reading the account in Exodus where the Israelites were trapped at the Red Sea, with the armies of Pharaoh thundering toward them. In the midst of the people’s panic, Moses stood before them and delivered this timeless leadership truth:

scott and amy“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Ex 14:14)

Every Kingdom-building leader knows this to be true, at some level. The key is knowing when to embrace it.

That moment arrived for me earlier in the day as I spoke with my daughter Amy via Skype.

Amy is spending a year with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Townsville, Australia, which was directly in the path of Cyclone Yasi. This category 5 storm was packing winds of 300 kilometres per hour, described by Queensland’s Premier Anna Bligh as bringing  “…scenes of devastation and heartbreak on an unprecedented scale. This cyclone is like nothing else we’ve dealt with before as a nation.”

As a father there was nothing more I wanted to do than to somehow ensure my daughter’s safety. But there was nothing I could do, other than to commit her to God’s care.

I needed to embrace this leadership truth. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

I’ve learned there are three indicators that it’s time to let the Lord do the fighting:

  • When the situation seems hopeless.
  • When your resources seem useless.
  • When your leadership seems powerless.

Allowing God to fight for you while you, as a leader, are “still” before him is not the same as giving up, throwing in the towel, or passively succumbing to overwhelming circumstances.

Indeed, being still before God is an active leadership stance, and can be your most potent strategic weapon.

How do you know when it’s time to “be still”?

Filed Under: Action, Leadership, Tension Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,