The Courage to Become an Effective CEO/Coach

I read an article this week in Across the Board (Sept/Oct 2005) entitled, “The True Measure of a CEO.”  It was a very convicting article.  The author states that in 400 B.C., Aristotle argued that a leader’s task is to create conditions under which all followers can realize their full human potential.  Thus, leadership is not about the leader’s needs for wealth, power and prestige.  Instead, the leader’s responsibility is to create an environment in which followers can develop the capabilities with which they were born.  Do you believe that?  Do I believe that?  If I believe it, does my walk match my talk? 

The author then brings his argument to modern times by stating that the core ethical issue in corporate leadership today is creating a culture in which the true and basic needs of employees are addressed.  This does not sound like something I would hear a modern CEO say (especially in a publicly held company).   

The following questions tend to “operationalize” the above concept: 

1. To what extent do I consciously make an effort to provide learning opportunities to everyone who works for me?
2. To what extend do I encourage full participation by all my people in the decisions affecting their own work?
3. To what extent do I allow them to lead in order to grow?
4. To what extent do I measure my own performance as a manager or leader both in terms of realizing economic goals and, equally, creating conditions in which my people can fulfill their own potential in the workplace?

These are not easy questions to answer.   

Beverly Carmichael, VP of People at Southwest Airlines, puts it this way: “Our definition of good leadership involves how many of your people you’ve mentored to promotions.” 

So how do we help everyone on our team reach his or her true potential?  Well, we can start by using our power as a leader in our organization for the betterment of others rather than merely for personal gain.   Perhaps we could spend less time being the “BOSS” and more time being a “COACH.” 

The process of coaching involves more than dealing with performance problems.  It involves keeping in touch with your direct reports and providing them with information and resources so that they can achieve higher and higher levels of success. 

Think about this—every interaction you have with a team member is a coaching opportunity.

I recall a system I put in place when I was President of a heat treating company in Ohio.  I met once each month with each of my direct reports.  Oh, I did not look forward to those meetings.  There was a regular agenda that we followed each month, asking the same questions.  Some of the questions dealt with the performance, career aspirations, growth objectives, etc. of the direct report.  Some of the questions (these are the ones I did not care for very much) dealt with my direct reports’ impression of my performance as his/her manager/coach.  Each session lasted only 1 hour, but that hour was time well spent (and highly leveraged). 

I also introduced another routine some years back that I used whenever a new person joined my team.  I asked them to complete a questionnaire that I had developed and then we would schedule a time to sit down and review all of their answers.  This helped me to get to know them quickly and to see what their expectations were of me (and what mine were of them).  

The above meetings helped me become a coach to my direct reports.  The verb “coach” comes from a root word which means “to bring a person from where they are to where they want to be.”  During these meetings, team members came to see that I was just as interested in their career aspirations as I was in their contribution to the overall success of the company. 

The other advantage of the monthly one-on-one with my direct reports involved CONSISTENCY.  Whether I felt like it or not, I had to prepare for each meeting.  I had to understand the current performance of each team member and put together plans for each of them to improve their performance as we worked together to accomplish both their individual and our corporate goals. 

So here is the challenge to those of you reading this Weekly Insight who have people reporting to you.  How much time do you spend thinking about how to help each one of your team members reach their true potential within the marketplace?  How much time do you spend with each of your direct reports helping them improve their current performance and outlining plans that will help them continue to grow as individuals? 

I believe that we, particularly those of us who claim to be Christians, need to pause and meditate every once in awhile on why God has given us our leadership positions.  Surely it must go beyond making money and providing goods and services.  There is a human element in the mix that we can’t forget.   

May each of us develop the courage to be more than a boss—to become a coach. 

Have a great week.   

Keith

www.daystarconsulting.com