Kim Box Inspires » Trust

The Leader vs. The Business: A perspective on the conscience and the bottom line

Kim Box — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:36:35 +0000

I had a very interesting lunch this past week with Garry Tabor, a fellow board member who is the President of a distribution company, Heico Distribution Group, LLC. In the course of our discussion he made a statement that really resonated with me regarding the “conscience” of a company. We were discussing the hard decisions leaders of a company have to make along with how the company and its leaders are held accountable. The statement Garry made was, “Business has no conscience, leaders have a conscience.” He then elaborated that ‘business’ is strictly about the numbers, metrics, and results. The ‘leaders’ of a business are about integrity and doing the right thing for employees and shareholders.
There are several ways to measure the health of a business, but the bottom line is the business needs to meet its ‘numbers’. In very simple terms, if the company does not gain enough revenue to pay its employees and expense obligations, it will eventually go out of business. While you may see some companies temporarily rally by asking their employees to make sacrifices; however, in the end the bills have to be paid. It is a very analytical discussion on the viability of the company – did you make payroll? Can you pay on your contractual obligations? These are outcomes of how the business of the company is performing. It does not discriminate, it simply reports on the state of affairs. Difficult decisions need to be made when the numbers are showing that the business is going in the wrong direction.
On the other side of the coin, the leader holds the conscience of the company. Their actions and character are the essence of the company or business at hand of an organization. They need to own the state of the business and the decisions that need to be made to ensure the viability of the company. This is an important distinction in the big picture of running a business. When the performance of the business is not going well as indicated by the key metrics, it is up to the leaders to analyze what is going on and what to do to get it moving in the right direction. In essence, the leaders are the brains and the conscience of the company as they steer to the desired destination. When the leader acts ethically and responsibly they are acting with good conscience for the success of their business.
You may be thinking, so what? To me it boils down to understanding that the business is about numbers and the leaders are about ethics and responsibility to manage the business to success. Of course we all know that leaders can be unethical and drive a successful business, but usually in the end it catches up with them. I’ll address that issue in a future blog.
What type of conscience do you want to have as you run your business? How will your conscience as a leader effect the outcome of what you are striving to achieve? Each of us has to answer that question. But in the end the ‘business’ will tell you in no uncertain terms the performance. And the leader will need to evaluate and take action to keep the viability of the business going in the right direction.

Building Trust: Allow your team to take risks and make mistakes while creating innovative solutions.

Kim Box — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:02:08 +0000

Booker T. Washington, the famous civil rights leader, understood the importance of earning and giving trust. He was the son of a slave woman and a white man and was 8 years old when slaves were legally emancipated. He collaboratively worked with some of the wealthiest white Northerners and the founders of the African-American movement to fund schools for African-Americans looking for their place in a new, free, but segregated world. How did he inspire confidence in a nation torn about the right thing to do? He inspired trust through his words and his actions. He worked to unite a torn country by bringing people together with a common cause.
Sometimes that meant respecting the different approaches of fellow civil rights leaders to achieve the common goal of eventual equality. He took a lot of criticism at times for his approach, but he never wavered in his dedication.
Washington’s ability to help people coalesce around an idea was described in this famous quote: “Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.”
That ability to challenge individuals and support their work, regardless of the outcome, is as true for a social leader as a business leader. Employees tasked with pioneering new methods have to be given the freedom to make — and learn from — mistakes with the full backing of their superiors. As my son, Martin Nivinski, once put it, “We don’t learn from our mistakes by simply making them; but understanding them is where the lesson exists.”
At times it is the very act of making a “mistake” that leads us to the innovation we are striving to achieve. Part of building trust is to support team members while they are “learning from their mistakes.” This will encourage them to continue to strive hard and also teach them to course-correct when plans lead to an undesirable outcome.
Obviously you need to protect the organization’s interest from impending disaster; I am not implying that you throw all caution to the wind. But there needs to be some leeway to allow your team to take risks. I always appreciated working in an environment where I could take calculated risks. There would be certain expectations that had to be met, but there were also areas in which we could be innovative. At times, we would have to quickly course-correct if a plan proved to be inadequate. However, it is important to have the ability to test-market, prototype or pilot an idea for proof of concept.
By setting up clear boundaries of what is acceptable and what is required, and then giving the team the freedom to find their own way within those boundaries, you empower them to come up with solutions and be creative. Particularly, when you are leading an organization where the people are dispersed over a wide geographic area, micromanaging doesn’t work. Only by focusing on goals and giving guidelines and the tools to make it happen can everyone in the organization be successful.
Team members must understand your expectations and how you will hold them accountable. They also have to be able to count on your word that you will be there to support them no matter what the outcome. This is how a leader can build a strong, effective team that can move fast and be successful.

The New Leadership Imperative: Top ten things you must build into your leadership toolkit to thrive in the next decade

Kim Box — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:43:21 +0000

The world is evolving at a rate that is challenging everyone to keep up! As leaders we must evolve with these changes in order to be successful. There are many dynamics that come into play in the business environment, and life in general. We have globalization of our economy which translates into many cultures coming together in organizations and throughout your customer base. We have competition evolving with technology at an exponential speed and innovation. There is also a generation gap between the baby boomers who are facing retirement followed by the X and Y generations stepping up in the workforce. We are also faced with pervasive information literally anytime, anywhere. All of these challenges, and many more, call for robust leadership both with our organizations and with ourselves.

There are ten items that you must pay attention to and strengthen in order to thrive in this fast paced world that we live in.

The New Leadership Imperative pyramid represents four key areas of focus; Take care of yourself and those important to you, develop your leadership skills, focus your intentions which then lead to becoming an authentic and successful leader. The base ‘Self Care’ is extremely important. It has always been important but not always highly prioritized; if you don’t have your health and your loved ones taken care of then it will be difficult to truly achieve anything else in your life. You may be able to work hard but it will come at a cost. The next level on the pyramid is about developing your leadership skills. Leadership takes focus and skill. It is important to intentionally look at where you are as a leader and seek opportunities to grow your skills to be effective including getting feedback from those you lead. The third layer of the pyramid is around focusing your intentions. Are you leading an effort that you are passionate about? Are you building a network to support you professionally and personally in the endeavors that matter most to you? Being purposeful with your intentions is very powerful. And lastly, the top of the pyramid is about authenticity. If you are taking care of yourself, growing solid leadership skills and focusing your intentions it will lead to Authenticity. Being an authentic leader is about being yourself – leading with genuine passion about your mission along with strong leadership skills to be effective. This is a powerful combination because not only is it aligned with what you want to do and how you want to be but it will be very apparent to those you lead. Authentic leaders are magnets for top talent. They have enthusiasm that is contagious and energizing to their organization. If you think about the times you enjoyed your work the most, I’m certain that you had an authentic leader that had tremendous passion for your organization and where it was heading. I challenge you to look at this leadership imperative and see where you are on the pyramid and how you can learn and grow to be prepared to thrive in the next decade!

Leading Change: Make Sure you Listen to Dissention to Stay Grounded

Kim Box — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:00:31 +0000

Leading an organization during change is challenging, you need to be open and inclusive to get creative ideas and solutions from those closest to the business at hand. While leading large transformation projects during my career in the IT Industry I would want to understand all the angles and barriers we would face in execution. Yet, it is not enough to encourage divergent opinions from various team members, you have to listen to them, even when what they are saying is difficult to hear or is offered in a negative way. In my experience, sometimes the cynics were the most valuable voices at a meeting. Over time I have learned to listen to the “squeaky wheel” because it often has a story to tell, a problem to be fixed, or an observation that no one else wants to bring up for fear of retribution. As a leader, if you can encourage productive dissention, you will have a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges within and around your organization.

As a leader managing change that affected many complex aspects of the operation, I needed to know the obstacles that would prevent a successful outcome. Many times I made time to meet with outspoken critics of the change. I would try to understand the cynic’s frame of reference. Was this person’s perspective limited or shared by the rest of the team? Was the comment valid? Who needed to be empowered to address the situation? I also found that when I took the time to meet one-on-one, I could listen, learn and eventually earn this person’s trust. Bringing a cynic over as an ally is a very powerful tactic. Former adversaries can help to bridge the gap with other dissenters. I would often call key team members just to ask how it was going. This would be an open dialogue so that I could keep a finger on the pulse of the widespread operation and pick up creative ideas to propel us forward. I did my best to be approachable. I often told my team the only feedback I feared was that which I did not get. Certain people kept me aware of what was going on. I made it a point to call on them to give me feedback on morale and what could be done to improve the organization. It was often harsh criticism, but I always thanked them for keeping me grounded.

Woven Leadership – The Power of Diversity to Transform your Organization for Success

Kim Box — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:22:06 +0000

Today’s fast-paced business cycle demands a new approach to solving problems and moving forward. In a global world, you need employees who understand your customers and the competition. By including people of all races, ages, genders, skill sets and approaches, you multiply the resources available for any given project. However, in this inclusive new workplace you have to empower your diverse team with the candid information, support and permission to bring their authentic selves to the table in order to make the most of your collective creative energy. That is Woven Leadership and when embraced fully it is a powerful force to help any organization be successful today and tomorrow.

Woven Leadership has just been released to on-line distribution via Amazon and all eBook formats. Kim Box has spent 3 decades in the high-tech industry leading and transforming large scale organizations. As a global executive, she has led the transformation of complex operations across more than 100 locations around the world. She has experienced first-hand the dynamic of bringing people of all types of experiences, cultures, races, preferences and many more difference. This led her to write Woven Leadership and share her experience and perspective on the power of diverse organizations.

Through her personal experiences, experiences of colleagues and leaders in the community and other known leaders, along with relevant studies, she builds the case that there is strength in differences. Box points out ‘Managing diversity is a strategic weapon. When used effectively it can be a powerful force in reaching your objectives.’ Read Woven Leadership to gain more of this powerful insight and join the conversation here on www.kimboxinspires.com!

Leadership Inspiration – Unleashing the True Power of Diversity

Kim Box — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:37:09 +0000

Welcome to Kim Box Inspires blog. I am passionate about the power of diversity and its role in a thriving organization. It’s time to start recognizing that leadership comes in all shapes and sizes, demographics and life experiences. We must see diversity as a secret weapon to be exploited in order to build the most successful organization. And we must also acknowledge that acting based on our own authenticity is imperative to weaving together the strength of the very fabric of the organization. Join me while we explore why diversity and authenticity are now requirements for any organization that wants to succeed.