Leadership on the Field of Play

There will be occasions when you will simply have to take the helm from the team and steer the ship.   When this happens it is good if there is a protocol that lets everyone understand what is happening and why.   Otherwise, the team will feel disenfranchised, and perhaps even untrusted and undermined.   Early on in my presidency, my team and I worked out an agreement as to how we would operate as a group.   In general we would work by consensus.   Our disagreements stayed in our meeting room, and once we left the room we spoke as one.   That was rough, especially for me.   It meant that sometimes my own opinion needed to be subjugated.   Ugh. Additionally, each team member had designated areas of responsibility where they made decisions and reported back.   We expected that they would keep us looped in, but they were empowered to act for the team. We all agreed on one major item.   If we could not reach consensus, or if the dec...

Discipline is undoubtedly a key to good leadership.   It is also undoubtedly a subtle trait that is difficult to define and master.   It entails adhering to sets of rules and systems of behaviors with integrity.   It provides a frame of reference for how you interact that both you and your team can count on as you work together.   Importantly, it provides a basis for common understanding for you and the team.   This is particularly crucial when tough decisions have to be made.   An example: About mid-career, I was running a set of relatively small campuses for a university.   On one particular day I was explaining to an about-to-be ex-employee why I was not renewing his contract.   The reason was simple:   He just couldn’t bring himself to follow the rules, even though he knew them well, and he knew that the rest of the team and I played by the rules. He argued his case for noncompliance admirably.   I countered that in order to ser...

As a leader you will find yourself challenged on a daily basis.   Whether you are confronted by stiff competition, the vagaries of the economy, or your chief organizational antagonist (read: pain in your butt), you need to temper your response. When you feel that you are under attack, the natural reaction is to counterattack.   This approach might feel right and good in the short term.   But in the big picture, it is often more effective to take a stand that establishes your position beyond the immediate situation. Look past the battle to the war. As an example, my institution was approved by multiple accrediting agencies.   On one occasion we had successfully passed all of the requirements for accreditation with an agency after a great team effort.   The agency informed us that although we would be accredited, it was not going to make a formal announcement of our status because it thought we were too controversial, and an announcement would unsettle their ...

In previous posts I have talked about communication channels in organizations.   Depending on the structure of the organization and the leadership styles therein, there are many variations on the structure of formal internal communication.   But leaders need to be mindful that there are many informal communication channels in any organization.   These channels come in several varieties.   For many years my institution held an annual retreat.   Hundreds of employees gathered to share information and insights.   The days were filled with formal presentations and seminars where updates and future plans were discussed.   But most evenings were left open for informal gatherings and shared libations.   Often the most productive and informative exchanges took place over a beer and soft rock.   This was a time to share frustrations, best practices, and rumors. These informal meetings were essential to the culture of the organization and helped t...