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In this month's newsletter, I'm proud to share the leadership philosophy of my good friend, Mike Poston. Mike had a very successful career as a senior leader in the insurance and financial services industry. I have always respected his style of leadership, as he's an experienced practitioner with a gift of developing deep relationships that result in high performing people and teams. After reading Mike's insights on leadership, you'll understand why we're excited to welcome him to the True Growth Associates' team as our newest executive coach. My Philosophy on Leadership Mike Poston  Leadership. A simple word with tremendous complexity associated with its interpretation and implementation. A word that is repeated daily, maybe even hourly in every organization throughout our country. A word that text books are dedicated to and individuals spend their entire careers trying to better understand and perfect. A word when demonstrated skillfully is powerful with many, many positive outcomes.
For me to discuss leadership, I need to talk about individuals because it is individuals that provide the leadership that influence organizations and their people. Think of some of the better leaders with which you have been associated. Really, take time and think. I retired January 1st, 2010, following a 36 year career with three different companies, the last 25 with a major insurance company where I held many different leadership positions. My leadership philosophy was shaped greatly by this experience, as we worked with independent contractors. Leadership is about influence and the ability to influence independent contractors, a true volunteer Army, required the ultimate form of leadership - the ability to influence without authority. Think about the characteristics of the great leaders you know. What do they have in common? How would you describe their feelings about you? How would you describe your feelings about them? Did they have to ask you to do more or did you do everything possible to not disappoint them? My intent is to keep this discussion simple. I believe simplicity is critical and plays an important role in the arsenal of all good leaders. Your business may be extremely complicated and technical in nature, but I would offer that you are really in the people business. Leaders lead people. One thing that became clear to me during my career is that (good) leadership is never about the leader. Let me say that again. Good leadership is never about the leader. How can that be? The leader is always the one upfront leading, so you may think it's always about the leader. In the physical sense it is correct because the leader needs to be front and center. The beauty is that you can be front and center without everything being about you. Your message and how it's received is critical. How do you feel when you think the entire purpose and intent coming from the podium is to benefit the leader? How do you feel when your leader asks you to do more, work harder, be more creative - all for the benefit of the leader? I would suggest you are not very energized, and not eager to go out and conquer the world. I asked you earlier to think about the great leaders you know. Let's compare notes - first and foremost they care about you and your success. They are fair, have the courage to make the tough decisions, and are always willing to communicate the 'why' around those decisions. Communication is critical because we all know that fairness is a relative term. I believe communication is an overused word that sometimes loses its true meaning. To emphasize that, one phrase I used often was, "communication is easy, effective communication is difficult". It's easy to send an email and we must use that as a means of communication; however, is that effective communication? You need to assure that dialogue is occurring with the different layers of leadership within your team. Are you having that dialogue with your direct reports? I believe two-way communication is critical to establishing and keeping a high level of trust within an organization. How are you doing? Effective leaders demonstrate a high level of integrity which leads to a high level of trust. Trust is the glue that holds organizations together. Lose that and you've lost it all. Interestingly enough, my experience tells me that good leaders have a tremendous work ethic and would not ask you to do anything they hadn't or wouldn't do. Another belief and phrase I used throughout my career was "Diversity in Counsel, Unity in Command". All of us are a lot smarter than any one of us and the more diversity of thought that goes into a decision, the better the decision. This process results in commitment and ownership from followers, and this powerful energy produces high performing teams. Clarity of message is also extremely important and my experience tells me it reinforces and strengthens understanding. All of the above are connected and interrelated. Nothing we have talked about is difficult. Effective leaders master simplicity. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not simple. Our daily world sometimes unravels and the important thing is that we not unravel with it. We cannot become 'hijacked' in how we spend our time and energy. Good leaders are able to focus on the task at hand and stay committed to the fundamentals. And yes, the leader's job is to improve performance. Good leaders demand more and they get more. When you answered my questions about the characteristics of the great leaders you know, I'm confident that one of the main reasons you respect those leaders is because they truly care or cared about you. When someone truly cares about you, the last thing you want is to disappoint them and you always strive to go above and beyond their expectations. In conclusion, good leaders are consistent, keep it simple, lead with humility and raise the bar for all. Mike Poston | |
Read excerpts of what leaders have to say about their True Growth Academy experience. View Testimonials. September and November 2010 sessions sold out. Enroll now for the 2011 sessions. One day portable program now available click here for details.
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