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ARTICLE: WHAT’S THE BUZZ?
by Marcia Daszko
(Excerpt, Commencement address, Naval Intelligence, July, 2006)

Organizations are challenged with many similar issues. They include: too much to Do, Do, Do; lack of strategic direction; complexity, out-of-control chaos; not enough resources; lack of work and information flow; silos and turf wars; stress and blame; challenging customers with unknown/changing needs; uncertain futures; miscommunication; the world is moving too fast; lack of strategic direction; impact of sharply increasing health and legal fees; and, fears and greed.

As in decades past, too many executives try to lead with applying the latest buzzword concepts, tools or fads. In a crisis, they seek the quick fix or latest “flavor-of-the month”. These rarely work for the short-term and certainly not for a sustainable, competitive advantage for the long-term.

But as Dr. Deming (the revered statistician who led Japan’s transformation to global competitiveness and who helped save our auto industry in the 1980’s) asked, "How could they know? Best efforts and hard work only dig deeper the pit we’re in."

So how are we doing? Too many American executives are caught in old beliefs and embrace easy fixes. In the past decade, an intense focus on mere problem solving and project management has catapulted companies into a practice of operational cost-cutting and only bottom-line focus at any cost! The results will be deadly for the American economy, and we must pull out of our downward spiral of reactions.

Instead, the response is simple, but not easy. Leadership thinking and action must transform so that American organizations can survive. Instead, leaders must commit to strategic, provocative, visionary conversations. They must think and converse before they react. Reaction and being “proactive” has become a mindless mindset. Instead, leaders must engage and become interactive with a focus on learning and listening, without a hierarchy. This interaction must be with employees, customers and suppliers, and even competitors; all make up One system! To ignore any sector is to run the race with blinders on.

Some of the easiest BUZZ that people get caught up in are: benchmarking; "best" practices; individual accountability; rank and rate; fire the bottom 10%; gap analysis; SWOT; measure mania; rewards and incentives; merit pay, Six Sigma; performance appraisals; open door policy; and, change and performance management. Real leaders need to stop these "best practices." They need to optimize organizations instead with a solid theoretical foundation of management.

So what are we missing? What is our leadership thinking? Remember, survival is optional. We can learn about Profound Knowledge, the knowledge that will give us a foundation for new growth, competitiveness, and leadership, or we can stagnate and die.

Leaders, who are committed to transform and create a sustainable future for their organizations, must personally transform their thinking (challenge old beliefs and practices and adopt new ones) and lead their organization based on a philosophy of management.

Transformation happens when people managing a system focus on creating a new future that has never existed before, and based on new learning and a new mindset, take different actions than they would have taken in the past.
If more leaders let go of the buzz, less organizations will get stung!

Book Review:
LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE
"If you read this leadership book, you can throw all of your other books on leadership away." What a powerful statement that can easily get one’s attention! It was made a few years ago by MIT professor, Dr. Edgar Shein at a workshop being held on Cape Cod.
Amazon lists more than 11,000 leadership books on its web-site, so what book could possibly receive such a tribute? LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE by Ronald Heifitz and Marty Linsky received the acclaim. In 2002, Heifitz was also the author of another thought-provoking book, LEADERSHIP WITHOUT EASY ANSWERS.

Absent in these books are lists of “qualities or traits or values of a good leader.” What works in LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE is the authors’ ability to go right to the core of the pertinent thinking of leaders and address why it’s tough to be a leader.

Leaders wrestle with complex issues and Heifitz and Linsky help leaders think about the perils of leadership. They state, “it is tough to lead because you question people’s values, beliefs and habits; you tell people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear; and, while a leader sees a promising future, others may see the losses you are asking them to sustain. People don’t resist change; they resist loss. Leadership requires confronting people with loss and getting people to grapple with hard realities".

At the core, LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE describes the courage and knowledge it takes to lead. The authors are direct in pointing out that leadership is not the same as authority and it does not come with position. It requires adaptive change, which forces the organization to change or it will decline. It creates risk, conflict and instability, yet people want the opposite: protection and stability. It stimulates resistance.

The authors take on the topics of trust, loyalty, responsibility, fear, grace, and remaining true to your purpose. It details the reactions people will have with leaders moving the organization into the future and the approach that is needed. The authors articulate with such clarity the challenges of leadership and the leap of faith that must prevail. It is a must-read for today’s leaders.

For other critical resources,see www.mdaszko.com. Click Articles for a Recommended Bibliography about other important books.