Sponsorship involves 4 actions:

1. Encourage.  Express your belief in his ability to succeed, both passionately and frequently.
2. Support.  Look for all the ways you can help her get where she wants to go.
3. Authorize.  Create a culture of “yes” so he can explore what is possible.
4. Introduce.   Make sure you’re not the only one who knows who she is, sees her potential,  and recognizes her results.

When I was 23, I had a sponsor.  She made sure I was involved, connected, visible and responsible for just a little more than what was in my job description.  I loved it.  I felt engaged and I truly believed I could succeed.  I credit her with getting me a leg-up in a great 10 year career with that company.  Her faith in me and commitment to my success made me want to work harder, be more accountable, and get better results.  That’s typically what happens when someone is sponsored – they are driven to live up to the faith that is placed in them.  That’s one reason sponsorship is a powerful leadership strategy.  Another reason is that sponsorship begets sponsorship.  When you reach out and lift someone up, it increases the likelihood that she will do the same and the resulting culture is one where people help others and share in their successes.

A March 2005 HBR article that I recently came across helped me crystallize my thinking about the challenges of this particular team, and for that matter, most any team seeking to improve collaboration.  Instead of taking action to boost communications, enhance teamwork, and cross-pollinate, try looking for conflicts that make collaboration difficult or impossible.  (I don’t have to point out that I still think there’s value in communications, teamwork and cross-pollination, right?)  As leaders, we need to think about what we can do to smooth the way for our team.  Sometimes, that means “clearing” the way.  And conflict can be a huge obstacle.  So, where to begin?

1. Be willing to look at conflict as constructive.  As Patrick Lencioni argues in his great teamwork tome The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, conflict is nothing more than a difference of opinion.  Generally speaking, conflict gets a bad rap.  We tend to believe that all conflict is bad, when the way people deal with the conflict is more likely what’s “bad”.  Conflict can highlight alternative perspectives, reveal underlying flaws, and create a catalyst for change.  It can be a good thing and needs to be recognized accordingly.
2. Accept that there is conflict in your organization.  This is hard for a lot of leaders to do.  Not many people like to admit that there is conflict.  (See item #1 for the reason why.)  But, where there are people and relationships, there is conflict.  So, instead of fighting it or insisting it doesn’t exist, go with the flow (so to speak) and let there be a place for conflict.
3. Create a “safe zone” for conflict.  Outside of just acknowledging that conflict exists, you need to create a culture where conflict is allowed and where individuals have the tools and time to sort things through.  What does your team see when you are faced with conflict.  Do they see you react, avoid or blame?  Or, do they see you listen, acknowledge different opionions, and seek to find common ground?  Your role modeling is the first step in creating culture.  Beyond that, you’d be well served to develop some ground rules (or “norms” as Lencioni calls them) for how to deal with conflict.
4. Invite your team to participate.  When you do create conflict ground rules or norms, invite your team to weigh in on how they’d like the environment to look or feel when conflict arises.  They’ll be more likely to practice the norms if they’re a part of developing them.  At the very least, when conflict arises, invite the team (or key stakeholders) into the resolution process.  Managing conflict takes practice, and naturally, can be a little messy.  The more your team participates in it, the better equipped they’lll be to handle it.

I think most individuals want to collaborate with others and understand the value of collaboration toward achieving great results.  But, as human beings, we all tend to let conflict get in the way of our best intentions.  So, help your team out by cultivating an environment where conflict is not a bad thing and giving them the tools to deal with it when it does arise.

Accountability starts with a point of view that you do, in fact, have the power to make a difference.  People with a point of view of personal accountability tend to look for improvement opportunities and problems that need to be solved.  These are the people who ask themselves:

• What’s my role in this circumstance?
• What can I do differently to influence a positive outcome?
• What clues did I miss?
• What risks did I avoid to take that might have improved the results?
• What practices or habits of mine get in the way of achieving the best possible results?

It takes a lot of courage to be accountable, and accountability can be a lonely country.  That’s why it’s important for leaders to create a culture where accountability is valued and rewarded.  In this type of culture, people are encouraged to ask the tough questions and are rewarded for discovering new approaches to old problems.  To create more accountability in the workplace:

1. Take a pulse check on the levels of accountability.  Is yours a “just do it” environment where people make things happen?  Or, is it more common for people to point fingers and blame others?  Depending on how accountable your culture is, start taking actions to ratchet things up – either from bad to good, or from good to great.
2. Be a role model.  Your actions speak volumes and show people the way to be accountable.  Do people see you being accountable or do they see a victim of circumstance?
3. Cultivate accountability.  Look around and see what you can do to clear obstacles that keep people from being accountable.  Eliminate policies, practices or belief systems that don’t support accountability at all levels.
4. Empower others.  Make sure people have the authority and tools to make decisions (and act upon them) that are in the best interest of the organization.

Accountability can make a big difference, even when taken in baby steps.  Give it a try and see what happens.  Here’s a closing thought from someone with bigger chops on the subject than mine:  “Make every decision as if you owned the whole company.”  Robert M. Townsend,  American Economist and Professor at MIT.

Let’s start with the definition of “critical thinking”.  After finding a few definitions that I thought were really complex, I landed on this:  purposeful reflective judgment concerning what to believe or what to do.  I liked three words here because I think they are the key to making really great decisions as a result of critical thinking:  purposeful, reflective, and judgment.  First, critical thinking is purposeful.  To me, purposeful means that there is intention to discover, uncover, learn, shift and see things from various viewpoints.  When someone purposefully thinks about a subject, they are, in effect, peeling back layers to reveal something beneath.  Second, critical thinking is reflective.  In my view, reflective means that there is a commitment to ruminating on new discoveries and learning.  Reflecting is taking the time to turn an idea around over and over to look at all its facets.  Third, critical thinking is making a judgment.  Of-course, one must draw a conclusion from the reflection.  But, it’s important to note here that judgment must come AFTER purposefulness and reflection.  Judgment without purpose and reflection is not critical thinking.  It’s plain and simple judging.  Therein lies the problem with lots of decisions I see being made (and sadly, have made myself from time to time.)

Decision making skills are really important in the workplace, particularly for leaders.  Certainly, decisiveness is often valued in the workplace.  But sometimes decisiveness is influenced by short-term agendas when it should be influenced by long-term payoffs.  Granted, sometimes a decision just needs to be made because there’s a burning issue to be extinguished.  But, after the fire, what kind of analysis is conducted to fix the problem that caused the fire in the first place?  And, what if there isn’t anything burning that requires a snap decision?  What can we do to think more critically and ensure that our decisions best serve the organization’s vision and mission?

• Find evidence.  Avoid heresay.  Get to the bottom of things yourself.
• Ask questions.  LOTS of questions.
• Get information from a variety of sources.  Don’t just consult the inner circle and the usual suspects.
• Be willing to recognize a problem.  In other words, call it what it is!
• Table (or toss) information that isn’t relevent to your issue and prioritize what is.
• Notice and recognize unstated assumptions and values.  Is there something people aren’t saying that you should know more about?
• Suspend your own beliefs and assumptions in order to clear the way for new possibilities.

More than anything, I believe critical thinking takes discipline.  All of the actions listed above require discipline, and practice.  Some of them require courage because when you’re in the heat of a problem, it can feel a little uncomfortable to say, “Hold on, we need to ask some questions, prioritize information, and suspend beliefs and assumptions.”  That’s why I believe leadership role modeling and support in the culture is necessary to make critical thinking valued in the workplace.

What do you think?

Building culture starts with identifying an “end game”.  What is your company’s purpose?  What do you want to build and achieve together?  This isn’t just a “touchy-feely” question . . . it’s a strategic and critically important one.  Being part of something bigger than you are is inspiring and can yield great results.  The purpose can be really simple.  At Zappos, their higher purpose is to deliver happiness – to make people happy.  And, it’s turned out to be an incredible business plan.  The important thing for any organization is to have a clear purpose.  What is yours?  And, more important, if everyone in your organization was asked about the purpose, would they know what it is?

Next, building culture continues with identifying core values.  What guides your behaviors and decisions?  Values can help you make sure that your higher purpose is achievable and real.  At Zappos, there are 10 core values.  There is no magic number – you can have 3 or 5 or 12.  How ever many you have, you need to make sure you can live with them and commit to them and have some teeth behind them.  If you have too many, it’s easy to lose focus and ultimately, lose the meaning of the values.  If they are values you can commit to, and make hiring and firing decisions around them, then they are a solid set of values.  The values are the key expression of culture.  When you ask employees and customers to describe culture, it’s the values that they’ll speak to because your values are your culture in action.

Finally, building culture means building the expectation into the organization, through things like job descriptions and performance evaluations, that living up to the core values is everyone’s responsibility.  By living your values, you’ll build and sustain your culture.

I  love doing culture work with clients because it is inspiring and reminds me that there are fantastic possibilities to be explored if we only open our hearts to them.  What possibilities are there out there for you, I wonder?

The scene reminded me of some great leadership development content I learned from the Senn-Delaney Leadership Consulting Group years ago.  I’ve used a lot over the years, and it never gets old.  It’s called “The Shadow of a Leader.”  The idea is that leaders shape their cultures through a powerful combination of message aligned with action.  Through actions, attitudes and messages, they cast a shadow that influences everyone around them.  The shadow a leader casts may be strong and inspiring, or it may be weak and dispiriting, but it always exists.  It is a reflection of everything a leader says and does. 

So, as I watched the FedEx Kinkos team, I noticed they were following their leader, doing as he did, matching his actions and attitude.  Without knowing it, he was setting a powerful example and casting a dispiriting shadow.  It’s that easy to do!  Leaders lead without knowing it.  All they have to do is be themselves, and walk their own talk.  That’s the beauty of leadership, and it’s the burden of leadership.  Your actions speak loudly, and someone is always watching.

Managing your shadow as a leader is a simple matter of awareness and intent.  Here’s a three-step process for better understanding your shadow:

1. Identify your shadow.  How do your actions, attitudes and messages influence the culture?
2. Develop a shadow improvement plan.  Once you’ve identified your current shadow, focus on your strengths and figure out how you can use them to improve your shadow.
3. Share your shadow.  Talk about this concept with your team, and ask them to help keep you on track and casting the shadow that positively influences the work culture.

As Warren Bennis once said, “A leader doesn’t just get the message across, a leader is the message.”

In gratitude for a great lesson learned from my local FedEx Kinkos manager,

Lynae