Associations, Volunteerism and More

You would have to be living under a rock over the last few months if you hadn’t heard something about a professional football player named Tim Tebow.

Tebow is the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. The reason he’s been much talked about over the last few months is he is not the traditional NFL quarterback. He is left handed, doesn’t have a strong arm, is considered more of a running quarterback than a “pocket passer”, and some would say he wears his faith on his sleeve. Oh yeah, and since he became the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, they have won so much they made the playoffs – even though they were only playing him originally because the playoffs seemed out of reach.

Well last night Tebow and the Broncos did it again. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Clearly, Tebow is special.

I have been listening to all the sports pundits talk about what makes Tebow special. Even some traditional news outlets have picked up the story. While he is certainly a skilled athlete, most agree his skills are not superior to many other quarterbacks in the NFL.

Some may say it’s his religious faith. I commend his beliefs but I suspect there are many other professional football players with similar beliefs.  So what is it that makes him special?

I can tell you what it is and I’ve never even met Tebow. It’s LEADERSHIP.

Tebow’s teammates believe in him. They are willing to follow him anywhere. They are willing to give everything they have in pursuit of the common goal (winning the game) as they see him doing the same thing. And guess what. Here’s the part you haven’t heard before.

He believes in them.

Too often we talk about great leaders as these strong personalities that people are drawn to and for whom they are willing to give their all. I believe many great leaders have those strong personalities. I believe one of the characteristics of a great leader is one who has committed followers. People who believe strongly in the leader.

However, if the leader doesn’t share that commitment, belief and faith in his followers, he will not be a leader for long. Think about the people you lead every day. Do they believe in you? Of course they do. Do you believe equally in them? If not, think about why not and what needs to happen for you to share the belief.

Great, winning organizations have great leaders and great followers who believe equally in each other and the goals they are trying to reach together.

Annually on December 31 people all over the world celebrate the arrival of the new year. Many people use this time as an opportunity to reflect on the happenings of the past year – think about things they did well, things they could have done better. At many companies this time of year is used to evaluate the performance of employees over the previous year.

Many people also use this as a time of goal setting for the coming year – looking forward to new opportunities. This is my favorite part of the new year’s arrival. While I think it’s important to measure past performance, you can’t get very far ahead by looking backward.

So, here are some of my business and personal goals for 2012:

1. Increase total company revenues by 10% through new customer acquisition.
2. Create efficiencies in company systems to reduce total employee time worked by 10%.
3. Develop program to identify qualified candidates for employment. Reduce time to acquire new employees by two weeks.
4. Work out a minimum of three times weekly.
5. Eat dinner with my family every night I am in town.

Did you notice anything about my goals? They are all SMART – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Timely. It’s important to make all your goals SMART – it will help you make sure they are appropriate and will allow you to know when you’ve accomplished them.

What are some of your business and personal goals for 2012?

Leadership is the topic most addressed in this blog. Leadership is certainly an important topic. However, it’s also something I am fascinated with personally. I am interested in learning what great leaders do to become great leaders. I am interested in what makes leaders fail. All this interest is because I am on a journey – a leadership journey. I am constantly practicing to become a better leader.  My guess is you are too.

Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company agrees that practice makes perfect. Mr. Conant recently published a book titled, “Touchpoints”. I am putting the book on my 2012 reading list.

An article about the book I recently read indicates that Conant believes its vital for leaders to understand what the people they are leading are thinking and what they need in order to accomplish their organization’s goals.  Conant re-connected his team during the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 by walking around and talking to his employees.  Through this process, he learned what his employees were thinking.  He was able to re-focus the organization based on these findings and engage his employees in their direction.

Conant believes great leaders don’t focus on themselves but on those they lead.  He suggests leaders should ask themselves three simple questions.

1.  What does the organization need?

2.  What can others do to help it?

3.  What must I do to make certain we are on track?

The answers to these questions may be complicated and they may even evoke additional questions.

My guess is many leaders don’t get it right the first time either.  But, if leaders are willing to practice, practice, practice, eventually they will git it right.

Are you on a leadership journey?  Are you practicing to become a better leader every day?  Feel free to share some of the leadership lessons you are learning with the folks reading this blog.

Leadership is an elusive term.  There is no specific training program one can participate in to learn to be a leader.  No single leader has all the characteristics that could be emulated to become a leader.  There is no finite list of values that defines a leader.  So, perhaps leadership is more personal, a positive relationship one person inspires in others.  And if it isn’t something that can be learned in the same sense we learn mathematics or science.  I believe it can be practiced and developed at different levels.

I believe everyone has the potential to become a leader.  But like a muscle, what we do with leadership potential is the difference between being a poor to average leader and being a good or even a great one.

Every industry has many leaders and many more people who have the ability to lead.  But now is a difficult time to be a leader, and as a result fewer people are stepping up to lead.  It’s difficult right now because leadership requires time and energy many of us think we don’t have.

Over the last three years, many industries and businesses have faced so many challenges that we are exhausted trying to do more with less.  We are challenged daily to find new business opportunities.  With no end in sight, it’s a difficult time to develop your leadership muscle.  But if you don’t, who will?

When you boil it down, there are a few key reasons to choose to lead:

1.  At its most basic, you need to be a leader so you can provide for your family and the families of your employees.

2.  Being a leader means you will help shape the direction of the industry in which your company competes.

3.  Being a leader provides gratification that you are giving back to an industry that has given much to you.

These are all great reasons to become a leader.  Think about this though – if you don’t become a leader, will your business survive?

Associations, Volunteerism and More…that’s the title of this blog. But truth is, most of the time it’s about leadership. Through this blog, I have tried to initiate discussions of the characteristics of great leaders and show examples of both good and bad leaders. I like exploring leadership with you. I like it even better when something written in this blog strikes a chord with you and you comment about it.

I read an interesting article today about leadership. I’d like to share it with you. (Click here to read it)

In the article, the author explores the makings of a good leader by providing three examples from the world of sports (something I enjoy).  Her thesis is interesting – there are many qualities and characteristics we all look to find in great leaders.  But the most important one is hardly ever mentioned – the followers.  What makes a great leaders is the willingness of the followers to let that person lead.

Her example of a current great leader (probably by just about any definition) is Tim Tebow.  Tebow is the inexperienced, and under-qualified quarterback of the Denver Bronco’s who has led his team to five straight victories.  Tebow’s teammates seem willing to follow him anywhere!

Of course followers won’t let just anyone lead them.  Leaders must demonstrate they have integrity, confidence, clarity and decision-making abilities.  They must earn the trust of their followers.  All great and sustainable leaders have earned and maintained the trust of their followers.

Certainly people cannot become leaders without the characteristics necessary to earn that trust.  However, no matter what abilities a leader has, if he doesn’t have followers, he isn’t a leader.

Last Thursday I participated, like most of you did, in the great American tradition – stuffing my body with more delicious foods than I should have, talking with my family about what’s going on in our lives and the world, and napping in the recliner while “watching” football games.

Of course that’s not really the tradition is it?

The tradition and true reason for celebrating Thanksgiving is to do just that – give thanks. I won’t go into a history lesson here but if you need a refresher course, click here.

The last few years have been challenging ones for many people in this country and throughout the world.  The number of people without jobs in the US is staggering.  Many of those with jobs live under the constant stress and pressure that their job may not exist tomorrow.  The financial strain put on most families as a result of the weakened economy over the last few years is significant.  Overall, we are in unchartered waters and struggling to swim.

Yet we have much to be thankful for.  I was reminded of this from my three year old son.  While having a family meal the day before Thanksgiving, he reached out his hands and stated, “we need to pray and give thanks”.  We of course asked him to lead the prayer – and he reminded us of what’s important in our lives.

He said thanks for each person in our family individually; for the health of our family members, specifically noting those who had not been well; for the food we were eating and the home we live in.  Out of the mouths of babes – right?

He reminded us that within our busy and stress-filled lives, we must take time to remember and be thankful for the important things.  It certainly was a great reminder for me.  I hope it was for you too.

Here is a list of some of the things I am most thankful for:

1.  My family

2.  My business and all our employee partners and association partners

3.  My friends

4.  The health and well being of those closest to me

Respond to this blog to share the things you and your family are thankful for this year.

Remember the old saying “There is no ‘I’ in Team”?

I love this saying – in other words, for teams or organizations to succeed it takes more than one successful person.  I recently read a Harvard Business Review blog posting that reminded me of this concept.  Click here to read the posting.

What greater example is there of this concept than the 2011 Indianapolis Colts.  This is a team that has defined success in the National Football League for many years.  This year, with one major change to their team (their quarterback is out for the season) they aren’t just under-performing, they are FAILING.

How do businesses make sure their team doesn’t fail because one key player can no longer perform?  Build your team around many successful people – not one great player and several mediocre ones. Seems simple enough.

But how does one do this?  The leadership of the organization has to make one of their top priorities recruitment and retention of key performers.  Job descriptions should be clearly defined.  Employment testing and personality testing should be used to make sure the right people are being selected and that they are assigned to the right positions.  (See Jim Collins’ Good to Great concept of the right people in the right seats on the bus)

It’s not easy.  Missteps will be made.  One thing is for sure though – if organizations don’t make a concerted effort to build a successful team of people, when their key employee leaves (and he/she will leave), the organization will suffer.  Many times organizations can’t survive these departures.

Make sure your team WINS!

Leaders are often tempted to control their organizations by managing every detail and answering every question. After all, as a leader they are primarily responsible for the success or failure of their organization right?

Wrong.

Leadership isn’t being the smartest person in the organization or the one with all the answers. Leadership is the ability to get all the people in your organization to strive to achieve a single purpose, the mission of the organization.

Great leaders lead by getting their employees to figure out the answers to key questions on their own. They accomplish this not by giving their employees the “right” answers, but by asking the right questions so their employees come up with the “right” answers on their own.

Great leaders ask questions like, “What do yo think of this”, “How do you think we should handle this situation”, “If this was your decision to make, what would you do”, “How will this decision impact our ability to accomplish our mission”?

Check out this blog for more thoughts on why leaders should ask questions, not give answers.

What do you think about this approach to leadership?

I recently came across a blog posting about the language of leadership. I think this author makes some excellent points about the “languages” great leaders need to learn to speak. After reading it, think about one great leader you have known – did he or she speak all three languages? What about a leader you have known that wasn’t so great – which language(s) did he or she NOT speak?

Click here to review the post. Enjoy thinking about the language of leaders.

As an association management professional and a business person, I spend time thinking about and planning for the future. I’m sure you do this in your business as well.

For example, you try to imagine what kinds of products/services your customers will want in ten years so you can position your company to deliver them.

I wonder what associations will look like in ten years so I can determine how we can best be positioned to meet and exceed their needs and the needs of their members. Here are some of my thoughts, I’d love to hear some of yours.

1. Volunteer time will be at an even greater premium than it is now. (We will all be busier and finding time to devote to an association will be even harder than it is today)
2. Technology will be used more significantly and more often to communicate with and among volunteers.
3. Associations will have to become the social networks of their profession or industry to remain relevant.
4. Face to face meetings of members will be less frequent AND more important.
5. Associations will have a more difficult time focusing on their mission with demands from members, volunteer leaders and the industries/professions they represent increasing.
6. Associations may find their not for profit tax status under siege as governments struggle to develop additional revenue sources.

Although I see many challenges down the road for associations, I see their continued existence as a necessity. People and businesses are going to need help in the future more than ever before and associations positioned to fulfill the constantly changing needs of their members will thrive.

What do you think?