The Blog

Laser-focused and timely distillations
of what's working now in leadership.

Are you leading by consensus? What's that costing you?

As a consultant who goes from company to company helping to build sales results and improve executives’ leadership skills, I am seeing more and more organizations that are stuck. The leaders want at least the senior executive team – if not everyone – to agree with the company’s direction … and when they don’t have a consensus, they may take no big actions at all!

That’s a shame.

business man signing contract

As a leader, it’s part of your job to make decisions, and it may or may not make sense for you to be completely transparent about the basis for every decision you make.

In a detailed examination of this important topic, McKinsey Quarterly’s “The dark side of transparency” points out that while both buyers and sellers giving each other ratings may work well for Airbnb or Uber, transparency inside organizations may overload your employees, and create endless debate with no real resolution. I’ve personally experienced “analysis paralysis” in action as individual salespeople spend as much time “gaming” compensation plans as they seem to spend in real selling activities.

You have to be careful what you incentivize people to do because they’ll probably do it. If you empower everyone to comment on everything, everyone will have an opinion, and many will seek to share theirs. That’s not the same as real forward momentum in the business.

Here's the reasoned examination of the risks of transparency from McKinsey & Company that I mentioned earlier. Especially valuable: the story of a Canadian company that worked for a year, trying to create “a fair bonus system based on pre-established KPIs,” only to find that employees reported seeing the new system as less fair than the CEO’s previous practice of awarding bonuses on the basis of his personal beliefs about the value of each employee’s contributions to the business!

The CEO sought something that sounds like a no-brainer: a rational and transparent process for determining how bonus money would be allocated. The problem, in the end, was that although employees acknowledged the increased transparency, their perceptions of the fairness of their bonuses under the new bonus program was significantly worse. Even the employees who got as much or more bonus money than they’d received the previous year reported that they were significantly less satisfied with the new bonus system.

The data collected by the company tells us the employees felt the new bonus process was a critical evaluation, rather than an unexpected gift --- and the new transparency highlighted those who got bigger bonuses, triggering envy!

So what did the Canadian company do? Senior management put in a lot of additional work, meeting with employees to explain how the new bonus system worked. Looking back, executives say they wished they’d run the new bonus system as a “phantom” for the first year, telling employees what they would’ve earned under the new plan, and collecting their feedback.

The bottom line: get clear on the change you want to see and work through how you might achieve the change. Test the best options by running some “what if”-type scenarios. Realize that you don’t have to rush the decision – don’t decide just to be rid of the project. But don’t be afraid to make a decision. Consensus is an impossible ideal, and waiting for it can stop your organization in its tracks.

Are you confident?
It’s a simple question.

And, it matters BIG TIME, especially if you’re a woman, or if you lead women, or if you want your organization to succeed.

According to recent research, companies employing women in large numbers outperform their competitors on every measure of profitability.

And, while men overestimate their abilities and performance, women underestimate both.

Yet, their performances do not differ in quality.

This recent research by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, two journalists, set me back on my heels.

In an article titled “The Confidence Gap,” they write that women, specifically, lack confidence in important aspects of their professional lives.

So if you ARE a woman, or if you seek to LEAD women,

or if you are a living breathing professional in today’s world,

the article’s major points are worth keeping in mind.

Here is a small sample of the many points made in the research:

“Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions, they predict they’ll do worse on tests, and they generally underestimate their abilities.”

“A review of personnel records found that women working at Hewlett Packard applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100% of the qualifications listed for the job. Men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60% of the job requirements.”

“Lack of confidence informs a number of familiar female habits. Take the penchant many women have for assuming the blame when things go wrong while crediting circumstance – or other people – for their successes.”

If you subscribe to my Smart Boss e-newsletter, you’ll know that leaders count on me to distill what’s working now in Leadership and frame the most important data into ideas that can be put straight to work. I’ve distilled some of the most pertinent, actionable details from the Kay/Shipman research—19 points in all—in this LinkedIn publication, "Are You Confident?".

Leaders: Do You Calendar Your Follow-Ups?

Half my consulting practice involves improving people’s selling efforts. And in that work I warn everyone:

Systematic, methodical and timely follow-up is key to success in selling.

Research tells us that people who don’t know you, don’t know your services, and don’t care will often say “no” as many as 5 to 7 times before they say yes to your offer. So you’ll often have to find reasons to reconnect, to keep yourself and your offering top-of-mind without being irritating, giving yourself the best chance that your prospect will act.

The same advice is key for leaders – for the best shot at success, timely follow-up on your requests is key.

Sure, your efforts to motivate your team members are different than selling efforts -- these people work with you, and should care about you getting what you want and need.

But they're operating in the same busy workday world you are, and, in that environment some things always seem to fall through the cracks. Don’t let that happen to your requests!

When you make a request of anyone, put it on your calendar to follow-up a few days before the due date you set – or, if you didn’t set a due date, at a reasonable interval after you’ve made the request. Put that follow-up activity right on your calendar for a few days (or even a few hours) before you need the work to be done, and then do the follow-up.

How to follow-up? An email with the Subject line “(first name), URGENT!” and body copy reminding the team member of your request (or forwarding the original request, if it was emailed) should be enough to catch the eye of even the busiest person – and if there’s still time to meet the deadline, you have the greatest chance of getting their best effort right then and there, rather than their best excuse.

When you make a request of someone on your team, in theory you’ve off-loaded that work, and can turn your attention to other things. But remember that the recipient of your request may be busy, otherwise engaged, out of the office or overwhelmed when it arrives; by calendaring your follow-ups and then making an effort to reconnect with the person before the deadline, you have the best chance of getting even the busiest person to act on your request.

And if your team members are slow to respond, or your request is a big or complex one, try setting milestones on the way to completing the project and then putting follow-up activities onto your calendar for each milestone. As one very senior executive told me, “When I ask, they usually say they’re 80% complete. My experience is that it’s usually the reverse – they’re 20% complete and still have 80% of the work to do.” Building in milestones and follow-ups keeps you in the loop as to your team members’ actual progress, and can enable you, when necessary, to share your observation that progress seems slow relative to a looming due date. You can then ask what else the team member needs to do the work, and address the issue of priorities that may need to be adjusted for a favorable on-time delivery of the work.

Do You Need Someone Who Doesn’t Have a Dog in the Race?

(In other words, could you benefit from Executive Coaching?)

Would it benefit you, in your leadership responsibilities, to

have an unbiased confidante who understands the business situation you face,
talk with an experienced executive who’s been successful in growing several businesses—who will support you, maintaining complete confidentiality about anything you discuss,
and who has the experience to offer you ideas to help you improve?

If so, you may be in the market for an Executive Coach – someone who doesn’t have a dog in the race you’re running and will focus completely on YOU.

"I'm an Executive Coach." Is that just another way to say “EATS MONEY?” No. But with a little work, YOU might get to! Listen to my latest radio interview to learn a little more about that!

Executive Coaching is a catch-all term for a variety of activities that support executives, one-to-one, in achieving goals they have for themselves. It is also, sometimes, recommended for executives who experience challenges in one or more areas of their work lives. But even if you come to Coaching because it was recommended to you, it will be important that you choose to pursue it, or not, and, if you do, that you think hard about the Goals you will have for it.

Here are some Goals for Executive Coaching that have been chosen by my clients recently:

To build teamwork among the people who report to me.
To achieve a better work/life balance.
To improve my confidence – particularly in public speaking and presentations.
To feel less nervous when there’s bad news to deliver.
To move toward more of a big-picture focus, and to make time for thinking about and planning for profit improvement.
To define my purpose – both at work, and outside it, “rather than just letting things happen to me.”
To reevaluate my approach to work, to be more strategic, and to be better at delegating.
To be better at identifying what’s most important, and to let go of things that aren’t.
To make progress in dealing effectively with colleagues who aren’t efficient/organized.
To be better at coaching my staff and direct reports.
To learn how to be a role model for others.
To establish professional relationships with key corporate staff.
To serve as a positive change leader/communicator for my organization.
To implement performance excellence principles.
To accurately assess my skills and strengths for this job, and to create a personal development plan that focuses on my strengths.
To get assistance in identifying and developing a plan for the long-term health of the company.
To get support in envisioning where the organization should go.
To get assistance in becoming more effective in dealing with verbal and written communications challenges.
To get help in balancing the upside and downside risk of change, by predicting and managing personal leadership challenges.
To get support in avoiding reverting to easy, old behaviors!

Do one or several of those resonate with you? If so, why not make a plan to DO something about it? A commitment to speak with an Executive Coach once a week, or twice a month, assures that this time, you won’t just give lip service to your Goals. A good Coach is invested in your achieving the Goals you have for yourself, and will hold your feet to the fire so you don’t forget to pursue the goal, week after week, even if you only spend 1% of your working hours on it!

How might all this work for YOU, given the specifics of your job and your life? That’s a subject for a conversation. Reach me at 505.828.1788, or send me a note here.

What would it mean for you to challenge yourself to make this your best year ever?

Recent Posts

A Successful CEO Shares His Story: Why An Executive Coach?

A long-running CEO of a multinational company helps to facilitate the merger of his firm with a larger company … and then decides to move on to the next adventure. Is this a job for an outplacement service? Or might that CEO benefit from the support of an Executive Coach? Here’s what happened for that CEO…in his own words. Why an Executive Coach? Guest Post by M.F. In 2017, following a merger, I left the multinational company I was with for 27 years. I was the CEO of their North American operations for the past 11 years. From 2012 to 2016 we had an extraordinary run and the North American results were stellar. My termination was amicable. In June 2017 I took four months off, after which I decided to look for my next opportunity. This was new territory for me. I had no resume, no on-line presence. My professional network was extensive, but I did not know how best to communicate my new status. I had met Lenann McGookey Gardner of Lenann McGookey Gardner Management Consulting, Inc. three years before, as she helped our company audit the quality of our sales team. Following a brief discussion, she offered to assist me as an Executive Coach, convincing me that my new task was very similar to the ultimate sales job. I decided to forego outplacement services and work exclusively with Lenann to help me decide my next steps and how to go about taking them. Now, one year later, I am an independent consultant with a strong book of business. I am content, intellectually satisfied and my life is significantly better than when I was a senior executive. How did Lenann help me get there? Lenann forced me to remain focused by insisting on a thorough review of my progress in the job search on a weekly basis. She insisted on developing KPIs for the job search: How many key people are in your network, and how many have you contacted this week and to date? Lenann also insisted that I focus on having actual meetings rather than just communicating via email. This is absolutely key. She urged me to go to a number of industry conferences, forcing me “to get out there,” not always the most comfortable thing to do. After a few months we developed an opportunity pipeline template, and she would ask on our regular calls what the next step for each was and whether an opportunity was still live or should be closed. As of today, the pipeline of opportunities is quite extensive. Lenann was also very helpful building my resume and LinkedIn profile. This was a lengthy, iterative process. Her input was very good. It was only after a few months that we had a product worth sharing with the world. The wait was worth it. Lenann shares key relevant articles and new research in my field, and on the topics of job search, relevant HR issues and thought-provoking leadership topics. This is generally practical, useful information; she wants me to be up to speed. And she quizzes me on those articles. Of course, we would prepare together for interviews and key meetings, and debrief them to discuss the way forward. Finally, Lenann has helped me price my services as a consultant. The above steps may seem trivial, but they were not. An Executive Coach such as Lenann provides organization and focus and allows you to vent frustrations without the inevitable emotional content if you did your venting with a spouse or partner. Lenann also helped me realize that life is non-linear, that prejudices abound and that the digital world’s job search tools, which are so comfortable because they are so easy to use and somewhat anonymous, provide only a small portion of the tools needed for success. The Executive Coach’s personality is key. Lenann needed to provide direction to an opinionated senior executive. She has the ability to handle strong personalities, remained at all times very professional but if needed was firm, especially about meeting deadlines and reviewing KPIs. It helps that she herself has held senior executive roles, and that she advises many, so her connection to the business world is fresh. Weekly calls with her force a discipline in the search and her mentoring was helpful because it was thoughtful, practical, rooted in the real world and never condescending. Working with an Executive Coach, as one launches a job search, was not obvious to me. With hindsight I am very satisfied to work with a coach of Lenann’s caliber. With her help, I easily transitioned out of the unemployed phase. I am now in full control of my new circumstances. What do you think? Could the type of support this CEO received help you take full control of your career? What other ideas might work? Comment below or scroll down to schedule a time to brainstorm!
What Too Many Women Don’t Get About Business (and how you can FIX THIS!)

I can just see the comments now: why are you writing only to women? Do you think men “get” everything about business … due to their … what … superior hormones? Nah. There are 10 big issues that I’ve noticed many women in business are having problems with --and I have solutions. I have them because I’ve been consulting, helping people grow their businesses, for 25 years. I started out at Harvard Business School for an MBA, and then succeeded big-time in business. (Remember Rainbow Brite, the little doll that had the most successful launch year of any doll in history? I was product manager. Remember Xerox selling what we’d now call “enterprise software” -- to run most all aspects of a business? I was top sales rep in that company in my first year selling. Etc.) I led teams, and I helped my employers bring in big money. We brought in good profits, too. So now I “advise.” I help people understand what’s working, and what isn’t, about their businesses (and sometimes their “business” is just finding their next job). I challenge them, support them, push them a little, and make sure they’re moving toward THEIR goals. (And if they don’t have goals, I help them formulate them, first, so anything we do can be measured against their own targets.) Here are 10 “big-picture things” I’ve noticed that are hurting women more often than men in business, and the fixes: 1. Fear. Many women are afraid to really test themselves. They SAY they’re busy, and that they want to be careful not to take time away from their partners, children, pets, homes … but the truth is, they’re afraid. Probably they’re afraid of failure. Some are afraid of spending ANY money – and it’s often true that you’ll need to spend money to make money. THE FIX: don’t have a false dichotomy in your mind – it’s not true that you’re either a warm, loving person OR you’re a hard-nosed businessperson. You can be involved in business and still have time for your family and friends, if you act like an adult and structure your time properly. 2. Distraction. It seems everybody’s distracted these days. I’ve come to see it as a misguided reaction to too much stimulation. THE FIX: don’t have multiple devices in front of you. Don’t allow “stress” to drive you from one thing to the next without any real focus on anything. When you need to get some specific thing done, tell yourself, “I won’t do anything but THIS for an hour,” set an alarm, and don’t allow yourself to be interrupted. Put a rubber band around your wrist, and when you catch your thoughts wandering, snap yourself, and remind yourself that you’re not doing anything but this one thing for an hour! 3. Bad attitude. It’s been said that there’s an epidemic of mental illness in the world. Perhaps that’s true. If you have any doubt about whether you might be depressed, see a professional therapist. But if you’re just dealing with the challenges of life, stop being such a Negative Nellie. THE FIX: I like Oprah’s idea of writing down 3 things I’m grateful for every single day. Even if you don’t write them, think about it – aren’t you happy to be alive on this day? Haven’t you seen a beautiful face, or a graceful tree, or a lovely sunset? Why wouldn’t you focus on those things, rather than the things that haven’t gone your way? Where you place your focus determines how you’ll feel about your life, and the attitude you project. Do these resonate with you? Click here to read the rest of the list and join the conversation on LinkedIn!
Are you serious about leadership?

Too many people -- more women than men, it seems -- are less than excited about their leadership role. They acknowledge that leadership is their job, but they aren't fully stepping up. Leadership means taking responsibility, and it also means wielding power. It means really caring about your team members' development, challenging them to step up. And it means saying so if they don't ... or if their efforts are less-than-successful. You help no one when you step back from the leadership aspects of your job. And you're stepping back when you blame senior management for what you're asking your team to produce. The truth is that, from time to time, you'll need to ask for a push. For an extra effort. For a greater-than-usual commitment. And you have every right to expect your team to respond. If extraordinary efforts are regularly required, you need to be asking for increased headcount, and making the best possible case for that to your leadership.
How Can You Lead When You're Overwhelmed?

Overwhelm is a state of mind. Balancing a lot of competing priorities is part of the job description of most leaders, and you're likely no exception. Responding in "panic mode," however, isn't required. It isn't even a good idea. Your team learns, from you, how to respond to pressure. If you're panicking, they are likely to do so, too. Instead, find your center. Take a meditation course -- or a little bit of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) -- and learn how to center yourself no matter what is going on around you. (I knew I had this down when I learned how to lower my blood pressure right before the doctor put the cuff on me!) A quick cheat on this: take 3 very deep breaths, slowly. Breathe to the bottom of your lungs. You'll know you've done it when, as you inhale, your stomach pushes OUT. (When you exhale one of these breaths, your stomach goes flatter. Yes, that's the opposite of inhaling and pulling in your abs!) It's never productive to visibly give in to your agitation and fear on the job. If you're scared, tell a spouse or trusted friend, but remember that, to your team, you're Typhoid Mary (or Michael), infecting each of them with whatever mood you display.
Are You Badmouthing Your Clients?

It's astounding to me how many people allow themselves the luxury of disliking their clients. You know how, when someone doesn't like you, you know it? So do your clients! Don't tell yourself you'll be on your best behavior when the client is present, even if you don't like him -- you're not that good an actor. Look at it this way: the client's job is to get the most service for the least money. That's his JOB, and he's going to do his job. Never resent someone for doing his job! Your job is to grow your company -- or perhaps to operate it efficiently and profitably at its present size. That involves supporting your team in getting clients and holding onto clients, being sure the work your team does for them is profitable to your firm. That's your job, and you need to be sure you do it. It simply is not true that all people buy from the cheapest supplier. Yes, there are some real "price buyers," so if you're not the cheapest provider in the market, let those people go in peace ... they're not your prospects. Don't expect your salespeople to sell them. The rest of the world is made up of price-and-something-else buyers. Find out what that something else is, and be sure your team is giving that. Use the words, "I understand that you don't want to overpay..." when your prospective client has expressed concern about the price, but understand that, if she didn't do that, she wouldn't be doing her job. Don't get resentful. Help your people build a bridge. And never ever speak resentfully about a client. They make your payday possible.
Leadership Fail

People are crying out for role models. With only a few exceptions -- the people who think no one else is as smart as they are -- most people are looking for someone to look up to. Is that you? So many little things work against your success in this: a bad attitude disrespect anger swearing lying favoritism ...you get the idea. If you were being videoed, would you be proud of the behavior you're displaying in your role as a leader this week? If not, stop it. And if you were being videoed, what behavior would you display more of? It's a video world -- will your behavior stand up to scrutiny on replay?
Who's the best leader you've ever known?

Who's the best leader you've ever known? I've had some good bosses. But I'd have to say it's Mr. Dansker, my college Journalism professor. Mr. Dansker believed in me. He thought I was a good writer. And more importantly, he thought I would go out and get the story at a time when I wasn't at all sure of my ability to do that. But he was tough! I remember him holding an assignment I'd just completed, saying to the entire class, "And here we have Miss McGookey, who writes..." This was followed by a couple of the worst sentences I have ever composed. Sentences so bad I could hardly believe they had escaped my notice before I handed them in. Mr. Dansker is the guy who noticed a 19-year-old me, and thought he saw someone special. And I felt that. He thought I could do much more than I thought I could do ... and in order to impress him, I decided to try. In the process, I learned that I had more ability than I had given myself credit for having. Mr. Dansker took an interest in me, pushed me, criticized me and encouraged me. I wasn't getting that from anyone else in the world at that time in my life. And it made all the difference. Are you playing that role for your direct reports?
O V E R W H E L M E D? A plan of action…

I used to think that feelings of overwhelm were almost always found in women. But lately, I’ve seen men, too, who feel as if they have so many urgent priorities that they are struggling to know where to apply their efforts. Too often, that results in spinning wheels and NO real progress! Here’s an effective way to attack overwhelm: 1. Get to the gym or out for a run in the early morning, to keep stress down. 2. Once you’re ready to work, think of who will be impacted if you fail to move forward on any project, and, if it’s just one or two people, call them to buy time -- renegotiate the deadlines, if you can. 3. Among the urgent projects remaining, decide which legitimately should have your attention today. If you can delegate even a portion of some projects, do so. 4. Clear your schedule of all but mandatory or critical meetings, and, where possible, designate a person to attend even those important meetings in your stead. (Ask your delegate to email their notes from the meeting to you immediately after it ends.) 5. After allowing for the meetings you must personally attend, divide up the remaining hours in your working day, assigning a block of time to each project. 6. Tell yourself you’ll put, for example, one hour into Project A, set the timer on your phone, and give Project A that full hour, no interruptions. Then put Project A aside, and move on to Project B. 7. Be sure you allocate time at the end of your day to deal with voicemails, texts and email, but DO NOT keep checking your phone or your email throughout the day. (Experts say that, when we allow interruptions, it takes us 25 minutes to get back to the place we were on a project before the interruption occurred!) 8. If at any time during the day you find yourself unable to FOCUS, bring your mind to the ONE project that is before you at that moment, and allow yourself no other thoughts. If you don’t know what to do about the project, rather than turning to another project, think about the one you scheduled for this block of time, and start making a list of possible approaches to it, small things you might do to move the project forward. Stay with the project scheduled for this time! And when the time block ends, put the project aside and move on. 9. If you have a thought about another project when you are working on the project that is scheduled for RIGHT NOW, make a note of the thought, and then return to the project you’re working on right now. 10. And at the end of the day, leave your work behind, congratulate yourself for taking a systematic approach to your day, and be kind to yourself!

The Blog

Laser-focused and timely distillations of what's working now in leadership.

Yet, their performances do not differ in quality.

So if you ARE a woman, or if you seek to LEAD women,

or if you are a living breathing professional in today’s world,

the article’s major points are worth keeping in mind.

Click the logos below for testimonials.

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Laser-focused and timely distillations
of what's working now in leadership.