Thoughts on Growing Leaders – The Source of your Future.

By Charles E. Wilson, consultant of Adams Associates

A leader’s success can be determined by measuring the maximum utilization of the skills and abilities of those within the span of the leaders influence. It is not what we intend, but what we do that makes us useful. Developing leaders expands and enhances the future of your organization. The more people you lead, the more leaders you need. All too often we make the decision to carry the leadership load ourselves and neglect to grow other leaders through training, delegation and mentoring.

Your Performance Management and Strategic Competitiveness processes likely includes the development and implementation of commitments, decisions, training and actions in the market place that are specifically required for your organization to achieve desired competitive business advantages. The result is gaining delighted loyal customers, increased market share, and increased profitability.

Sounds like a great plan, but how do we actually execute it successfully without cloning ourselves? You can’t expect others in the organization to actively adopt these objectives without “owning” a share of the pie. How can we get more of our people involved as active stakeholders in these processes and removed from a life of quite desperation? Let us explore this question.

Today’s Realities for Changing Competition includes these observations.

•         Competitiveness is achieved when your organization successfully develops and implements a value creating Strategic Plan to grow the business. This includes the growth of people.

•         Desired Business Results and Improved Profits occur when your Executive Management Team develops a strategic business plan beyond that of what your competitors are implementing. The plan must provide benefits which your competitors are unable to easily replicate. All in the organization must understand the plan and own the processes towards achievement of the objectives. Speed, new technology, cycle time, reduced error rate, faster decisions, better decisions, service, new market, new customers, more efficient, size, advertising, finance,

•         Having current and accurate, data driven, customer critical criteria. We must gain an understanding of the voice of our customers written expectations and verbal desires (verified by customer behaviors) regarding the products and services our businesses provides them. Again, all in the organization must understand and be committed to the achievement of our customer’s critical criteria. Most will reduce this to the customer relations department and miss the “opportunity” boat entirely.

•         Mapping your processes end to end to discover “needs for improvement” areas based on your customers critical criteria. The people who work in these processes have more information and understanding of the processes than any mapping can divulge. They are the subject matter experts and the source of your improvement strengths. Experience is the greatest worldwide University – no other degree compares to one from EU (Experience University) . Include the SME’s (Subject Matter Experts) in mapping processes.

•         Coupling Strategic Plans and Six Sigma Deployment is the best methodology to outpace your competitors and increase profits. People need to be trained in theses processes and then empowered to actively participate in developing and achieving the plans. Most of us desire to be valued for our contributions. Few are affirmed as “leaders”. Most are required only to carry out a function or task.

Listed are some affects of the current Global Competition.

•         Goods, services, people, skills, and ideas travel freely across all geographic borders. This newsletter is an example of the free exchange of ideas.

•         A virtual reality is the spread of economic innovations around the world.

•         Making political and cultural adjustments are required in order to remain competitive on the global playing field.

•         Technological change, exchange, and networking are part of the active ingredients in the current global competitiveness process.

•         The information age is “here and now” – another virtual reality.

•         There is an increasing and rapidly spreading knowledge intensity and skill transfer taking place globally. Tap into your most precious asset -- your people.

Performance Management of Strategic Plans coupled with Six Sigma processes, can provide businesses with sound, distinct, and renewable tools and techniques to take control of gaining competitive advantages. Bottom line – these two active ingredients (Strategic Plans coupled with Six Sigma Processes) when mixed properly – will provide businesses with the advantage of gaining delighted customers and increased profits. The problem is that without developing the leadership potential of your people, no amount of strategic planning or creation of objectives will acquire the desired business results you seek. Leaders build your future – we should develop leaders at every level and not just by title. How will you harvest this gold? What action will you take?

Six Sigma Breakthrough Performance Improvement and Strategic Flexibility

•         Strategic flexibility suggests that you plan and execute performance management, strategic plans, and deploy breakthrough performance improvements as a set of process capabilities to be used in response to various demands and opportunities existing in a dynamic and uncertain competitive environment.

•         Strategic flexibility involves coping with uncertainty and the accompanying risks. Growing leaders will provide your organizations with the ability to aptly respond to those global or local demands and opportunities – today – tomorrow -- and into the future.

A few Observations regarding current Global Competitive Environments

·        The global competitive environment is assumed to determine business strategies and financial returns.

·        Global competitors control similar resources and pursue similar strategies, thus advantages have a short shelf life and must quickly be renewed.

·        People are your greatest asset. We must hone leaders at every level to implement our strategic plans. They must have a constancy of purpose, be trained, and be flexible for meeting the needs of all stakeholders across the entire organization. The more people you lead – the more leaders you need.

·        Organizational decision makers (leaders) must be committed to acting in the best interest of all stakeholders. Developing people is part of this process.

Achievement of your Desired Business Results requires the growth of leaders

Typically, in the six sigma deployment process, it is the project manager and team members who will execute improvement gains. What about the other people in your business – why can’t they carry part of the load? No matter what improvement process you elect to use, it takes people to gain the desired business results. Tap into this valuable source of your future and begin to grow leaders at all levels.

Acquiring and keeping good people is important to all businesses. Those closest to the leader determine the success or failure of that leader. An organizations growth potential is directly related to the potential of its personnel. We should sponsor and mentor potential leaders to help carry the load. These new leaders will attract other potential leaders – a ground swell of collective and collaborative efforts begins to flourish. Those managers that mentor potential leaders will multiply their own effectiveness.

Develop leaders to expand and enhance the future of your business. Success always comes with a price tag. Not developing leaders also comes with a price tag in the form of missed opportunities, unmotivated people, poor decisions, paralysis of analysis, and confusion. The capacity to develop and improve people’s skills is what distinguishes leaders from their followers. Commit to modeling, actively participating in extending your desired business results, and developing those that you lead.

Leadership flourishes and functions on the basis of trust. Trust in our leaders implies they are accountable, reliable and predictable. Trust is built and is not often freely given because of title, rank, or ownership. For most of us, trust in others is based on consistency of all points or no points at all. While position implies some trust actions quickly demonstrate whether it is deserved or not.

Mentoring leaders and successors takes a good deal of personal time and training. Providing those you mentor with a clearly defined purpose helps them to be enthusiastic about their future. Creating opportunity, adding freedom to perform, providing security to succeed or to experience failure, are the seeds for growth and empowerment.

Create a road map consisting of the potential leader’s ambitions, dreams and goals to guide them on their life’s journey of growth. The time you spend mentoring others is an investment into their future. Taking time to share and believe in others will motivate them and release their potential. Consistency is crucial. Personalize the potential leader’s journey. What will you do?  We hope you elect to do the radical thing – serve others. The returns are astonishing!

Adams Associates
10A Bayou Rd
Lake Jackson, TX 77566 
1- 979-297-5198

cadams@adamssixsigma.com