The Leadership Gap

Leadership

 This term might be the most used and least observed term in business today. There are thousands of books by hundreds of authors that have been downloaded, streamed or purchased by millions of people, yet this continues to be one of the biggest obstacles I have seen in organizations. You can’t scroll through LinkedIn without seeing posts about what Leadership is, or the difference between a Boss\Manager and a Leader that has hundreds of comments and interactions. The fact is, too many people have no idea what it means to be a leader or how to do it.

 I started my career in the military and spent over 10 years on Active Duty. During that time, I had four different permanent duty stations, two deployments and several official training environments. In that span, I had a total of 10 different supervisors plus five senior enlisted leaders and even a few Squadron Commanders that I had personal interactions with. The Squadron Commanders that I got to know personally were legitimate leaders. They got to know the folks in their charge. They interacted with us, they supported us, they took a vested interest in our development and success. I can say the exact same for all but one of the senior enlisted leaders that I had the pleasure of working with and learning from. At the direct supervisor level, there were more inconsistencies. Of the 10 that I had, only three were what I would consider leaders.

 With that background, I can say that the military did a far better job of developing leaders than what I have seen in the civilian sector. Most of the military supervisors that struggled were because they were young and had not had the opportunity or experience to really develop their skills. I was in that group myself after making the rank of Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) after four years in service and being placed in a remote squadron immediately following my promotion; instantly given four troops before the last stitch was finished on my new rank. Fortunately, my supervisor and I both realized that I needed more development than what the six weeks in leadership school was able to provide. We worked on my development together through mentoring sessions, reading material and scenario-based Q/A sessions.

 One of my deployments was to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. In that role I was fortunate to work with several other young and newly promoted NCO’s that were from different branches of the service and in different roles (think jobs, but depending on the branch it would be MOS, ASFC etc). What I witnessed there was incredible. Anyone who knows me has heard me say this before, but it is incredibly true. I witnessed 21- to 25-year-olds in the service with more leadership capability than most of the “Senior Leaders” I have worked with in my 14 years since separating. Not even close. Most of these folks had little to no college, some had GED but little else. Still, they successfully led their unit or section and accomplished their objectives. They kept their teams focused, successful and together in far more stressful situations than any corporate job in America will ever comprehend.

 I have been out of the service for a little over 14 years now. During this time, I have worked for Defense Contractors in the Intelligence Community, a large multi-national insurance company, a large technology consulting company, have been an individual consultant and worked at a small auto finance and collections agency. In each case I was in various leadership roles including C-level executive responsibilities. I have worked with, for, or in direct support of hundreds of people in leadership roles. They all had the titles, they had the resumes, they had the compensation packages; but not too many had the characteristics or skills to be a real leader.

 The most common trait many of these folks had, easily 50-60%, was that they were in the role they were in because of who they knew, not what they could do. That usually results in leadership by position\title only, a Level 1 Leader according to John Maxwell. These folks are only able to influence folks because of their title. Many of the leaders I have seen never make it out of this level.

 Another common characteristic I have seen is they do not have the confidence to speak up when necessary, or to be questioned themselves. They operate in a fake veil of power, and they know it, rendering them incapable of accomplishing anything significant.

 Weak leaders often struggle to build relationships with peers and leaders in other departments because they fear being exposed. Instead of focusing on their team and objectives they are intent on retaining power and control. This instead creates division and prevents success.

 Leaders, or those that wish to become one, need to look inward first. Understand that you do not have to have all the answers or be the smartest person in every situation. You must know yourself, meaning your strengths and weaknesses, and surround yourself with others that you trust and that are strong in areas that you are not. A leader must know how to find the answers. This helps both of you grow. Do not be afraid to seek help and advice from others, even your team. Operate with integrity by being honest and transparent. Focus on helping develop your team, improve their leadership capabilities and expand their responsibilities. As they grow and develop the entire organization gets stronger, much faster than you could do on your own.

 In my last role I was asked to take over all servicing operations, originations and loan administration; that was in addition to IT that I was already responsible for. I originally started with the company as VP of IT and my background to that point, even within this organization, was strictly IT. I had been with the company for about 18 months, so I did have some exposure to the business based on building technology solutions to align to business functions and needs, but I did not KNOW the industry. I knew I did not have the background to take on all of this myself. I identified strong, responsible, trustworthy and confident people to manage each department. I deferred to each of them when necessary. I learned more about their department and in exchange I helped them learn more about corporate functions, managing a department budget, staff development and developing their own leadership skills. I always knew they would do the right things and they always knew I would support them and their teams. Collectively, we accomplished far more than even we thought we could. To be successful in leadership, focus on the following:

1.      Leave your ego at the door

2.      Focus your efforts and concerns on your staff and objectives

3.      Be honest and transparent

4.      Celebrate the teams and organizations successes

5.      Inspire collaboration

6.      Listen to others' ideas and concerns