Leadership Done Right

Brandon W. Jones

Leadership Done Right Blog

Three Lessons Learned From a Great Leader

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In 2001, I lived in Cypress Hills, NY. During that time, I was a full-time volunteer service missionary in a two year program. As a service missionary, I was given a partner that I worked with all the time. Each missionary partnership was part of a district which was composed of four to eight service missionaries.

Three Lessons Learned From a Great Leader

The Great Leader

Two to three districts were grouped together to form a zone, and there were 16 zones within the mission. The leader over the whole mission was called the mission president. For my area the mission president was Larry Spackman. He was a very successful businessman from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

There were also leaders amongst the missionaries. The leaders were responsible for either a district or zone of missionaries. The leader’s responsibility was to motivate and encourage the other missionaries. In addition, the leader had to make sure the missionaries were following the standards of missionary conduct.

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Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

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A few years back I had the opportunity to interview the CEO of a major company. When I did the CEO interview, some of his answers were very insightful so I thought I would share them. I interviewed him for an MBA management class that I just finished taking.

Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

Interview

1.  What is your educational background?

B.S. Accounting

Certified Public Accountant

2.  What is your personal definition of success?

For me, success is a journey. I believe you need to determine what it is that makes you want to get up in the morning and then do everything possible to become the best you can be at doing it. While making money may be a part of it, I believe you have to determine what you are going to do with the money when you get it. I believe I am successful if I am happy and I’m making a difference in my chosen career and in the lives of others. I am aware of and appreciate the many individuals that have helped me along the way towards any success I have achieved. [Read more…] about Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

Building and Sustaining Self Confidence

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One challenge that many people face in becoming great is their own self-doubt. How can you overcome your own doubts and thoughts of discouragement?

Self Confidence

I would like to suggest some things I have found useful in overcoming self-doubt.

  1. Know your strengths and weaknesses
  2. Continuously Work to strengthen your weaknesses
  3. Don’t be afraid to try
  4. Know that after many tries with failure, you will eventually find success.
  5. Do your very best and know that God will take care of the rest.
  6. Believe in yourself
  7. Write your goals and work to obtain them.

Here is a video that shows someone who has overcome their own self-doubt.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1slCeIAruE0]

This video has been around for a while, but Paul Potts is a great example of overcoming self-doubt and taking a chance.  As most of us, he had challenges with self confidence.  By realizing his strengths, he was able to overcome his doubt.  He took a chance by auditioning for Britian’s Got Talent and now he is very successful and is able to do what he is best at.

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Sounds Of Silence

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As the article, “Sounds of Silence”, points out, there are many times when organizations don’t create an environment that is conducive to constructive criticism. What does it take to set up a system that encourages feedback from the employees to the management? What can be put in place within a system to eliminate the system communication barriers? Is it possible to have a strong leadership team within an organization and still be able to have the good communication from the bottom up?Sounds of Silence

The Sounds of Silence

I think that the answer is yes. It is possible to have good communication from the bottom up if the right system features are in place within a system. One system feature that could be put in place to facilitate the communication from the employees to management would be management forums. During the management forums, the employees would be able to ask questions of the middle and upper level management teams. [Read more…] about Sounds Of Silence

Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves

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The article, “Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves”, spoke about the importance of changing yourself before you encourage others to change. I am a strong proponent of changing from within first and foremost. People are always talking about change. People are always trying to change others. It is very easy to find all the faults and mistakes in others while it is more difficult to find areas to change yourself.Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves

Changing Ourselves

Some of the best leaders are the servant leaders. They have a great ability to change first and then expect others to change. I am continually trying to be a better servant leader. A true servant leader does two things. First, they lead by example and change themselves and then they humbly help others to change themselves. [Read more…] about Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves

Treadway Tire Company Case Study Review

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In the case study, “The Treadway Tire Company:  Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant”, there were many problems within the Treadway Tire Lima factory plant. All of the problems were caused by the inefficient system that was in place.Case Study Review – The Treadway Tire Company- Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant

What We Can Learn From Treadway Tire Company

Most of the lower level leaders within the company were either under trained or not trained at all. Three things that could have been done to fix the system would be an organized training system within Treadway Tire, less pressure on the foreman and supervisors for immediate results on things that were outside their control, and shorter shifts. [Read more…] about Treadway Tire Company Case Study Review

The Men’s Wearhouse: Success In A Declining Industry

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The case study, “The Men’s Wearhouse: Success In A Declining Industry,” discussed some of the techniques used by The Men’s Wearhouse during the late 1990’s that helped them to be successful through what was a recession. The management team put their people as their number one priority.

Men’s Wearhouse

In an industry where people put their marketing and selling as the focus of the organization, it was unusual for Men’s Wearhouse to place their people as their number one priority.The Men’s Wearhouse - Success In A Declining Industry

Currently we are facing one of the deepest economic recessions that we have had in a very long time. With the current situation, it is very common for layoffs to occur and people to be unemployed. This brings up the question of whether or not people are still the most important asset in the workforce.

Innovation, Customer Relations, and Growth

I would like to answer with a resounding YES! People are the source of innovation, customer relations, interaction, and growth. This case pointed out three principles that the Men’s Wearhouse followed that would greatly help people in today’s economy. The three principles are:

  1. Maximize the individual’s self-esteem
  2. Servant leadership is to listen carefully and to demonstrate understanding
  3. Management should ask for help in solving the problem

If each of these principles were followed in today’s economy, we may have not had the recession that we currently have. In line with the first principle, when the individual’s self-esteem is maximized, the collective morale of the organization increases. As the morale increases, it is very important that the people know where to direct their motivation.

Motivation

In order to direct the motivation in the right way, the second step must be followed. Management must follow the principle of servant leadership. In addition to listening carefully and demonstrating understanding, a servant leader must go and be with the people they lead. By being with the people they lead, they are able to create a stronger working relationship. The leaders are also able to lead by example when they are with those they lead.

Problem Solving

The third principle is to ask for help in solving the problem. By taking suggestions from the workforce, the management team can gain additional perspectives. With the additional perspectives, it is possible to make a much more educated decision.

Each of the three principles helps to emphasize the importance of the people within the organization. The people are the most important asset of any organization. The people are the source of the success within the organization. Without the people, the buildings and clothes are just buildings and clothes. People are essential for an organization to function properly.

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The Layoff

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As the case “The Layoff” pointed out there are a few different options that can be looked at prior to any action. The approach that Robin brought to the table was too narrow. He should have gone to the other executives and brought up the financial situation and then said, “How are we going to fix this situation?” By putting the problem on the group he is making everyone figure out a solution. In addition, he would be working to bring the team together.The Layoff

The Layoff

The approach that Robin should have taken, in order to maintain high morale within the company, would be to have layoff’s be the last resort. He should have looked at more options for recovering from the financial struggles. One way that Robin could have handled the situation would have been to cut the executives’ salaries before layoffs would occur.

Group Think

He should have made each person come up with solutions to the problem. There is a tendency for people in the group setting to begin to do group think. To avoid group think, he could have everyone go to their offices and think of several ideas on their own before going over ideas as a group. If he did that, he would have to set a minimum number of ideas that everyone had to come up with before the meeting so that everyone would be forced to be creative.

In order for this method to work, Robin would have to require everyone in the group to bring their ideas to the table in a large brainstorming session. From that point, they would be able to narrow down the ideas to the most feasible option and proceed from there.

By forcing the executive team to come up with their ideas individually, each one of the executives would have to formulate their own stance. They would not be able to jump on the backs of the more dominant personalities in the group and resort to group think.

Overall, the approach that Robin used to resolve their financial crisis was too narrow minded. It seemed as though many of the executives didn’t care that much how they did the layoffs because it wouldn’t affect them personally. Robin needed to make the financial position of the company a problem for whole team to solve.

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New Wine, Old Bottles

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In the article “New Wine, Old Bottles”, Stephen R. Covey described three steps that must be taken for a leader to go from an authoritarian leader to a servant leader. First I will show the three steps and then I will explain my feelings about each step.New Wine Old Bottles - Stephen Covey

The three steps are:

  1. Build a new relationship – go from a vertical relationship to a horizontal one.
  2. Create a new psychological contract or performance agreement – be upfront with all expectations especially in the five areas mentioned.
  3. With the transfer of power and responsibility for results, the leader becomes the servant and a source of help.

In the article, Covey presented the different steps, but he didn’t give specific techniques for applying the steps. I will attempt to explain how to apply the three principles.

Step 1: Build a new relationship

This is a very valuable leadership technique. In the article, Covey presented the idea of going from a vertical to a horizontal relationship. I would like to suggest a few ways of applying this technique. First, it is very important to explain to the employees the roles of the leader as more of a guide and less of a judge. In explaining this role, it is essential to explain that there are certain consequences for specific behaviors. [Read more…] about New Wine, Old Bottles

Good Leadership Requires Executives to Put Themselves Last

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Good Leadership

The article “Good Leadership Requires Executives to Put Themselves Last” shows what leaders of today must do. In today’s world, there are so many people out there willing to deceive others to make a quick dollar. This is especially sad because in the past the motto of society that a man’s word was his bond. Now it is getting to where a person’s word means almost nothing. In order to be a good leader it is essential that the leader is honest and forthright.

Good Leadership

Honesty

In this article, Michael Leven understood the importance of honesty. The other leaders he associated with did not understand the importance or value of their word. Michael Leven realized that in order to be a good leader he had to put the shareholders first. He even lost his own money by putting the shareholders first. His example was a good example to follow because he put others first.

True and Good Leadership

In a leadership role it is very important to put others first. It is also very important to be a servant leader. Leaders are not better than the followers; they are just at a different spot on the same journey. The leaders should have the attitude that they are there to help others to succeed. The leader is successful when their followers are successful. With this approach, the leaders are there to serve there followers. By serving others, they must put themselves last to be successful.

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