Under my wing

 One of my direct reports recently made manager… and he’s enrolled in a Front Line Leader course.  One of the assignment he has is to solicit comments from his team and peers.  Then process and digest the comments and create some sort of action plan.  I remember doing something like this when I first made Sr. Manager… and it was so natural for me to build a presentation that walked my boss through everything.  Was I wrong in expecting him to do the same? Not only did he not do the same… he was completely unprepared.  Was opening files left and right… pulling up empty PDF’s… moving files from one screen to another.  10 minutes into his presentation… I did what I’ve never done before.  I stopped his presentation.  I flat out told him… this is out of character.  He’s unprepared and this is not professional.  He’s wasting my time and wasting his own time.  After pulling a rug out from him.. I threw him a life jacket and said, “Run it back and we can do this again.” 

 He must’ve felt like crap the rest of the day.  That night, a Friday night mind you, he even texted me and apologized.  I decided to ignore it for one night… and let him stew on it a bit more.  The next morning, I replied, “It was a good meeting!  We shared... we talked... we learned.  I think it revealed some things in both our styles / approaches.  We'll both get better.” 

 I hate having that power trip… but with this power, also comes responsibility.  I’ve been entrusted with this young man to shape and mentor.  And that’s what I will do.

Legacy

At the Leadership Offsite this week....

• A newer leader whom I've never met in person comes up to me and says, "I just wanted to say... I so appreciate your humor.  You are so funny."
• During a discussion on "Speak Up Culture", I encouraged all leaders to not hesitate to ask the dumb question.  You may know the answer... but someone else might not.  Another newer leader whom I've never met commented, "I've seen you do that.  And it helps.  Thanks."
• While sharing some person struggles to change, a leader was pouring his heart out on the uncertainty when coming to his new job.  I shared the same thing.. but I found a confidant to confide with.  He quipped... "You're always so uppidty-up. I would've never thought you were having problems."  And one of my direct report says, "Hank has a lot of energy."

All that being said...  I am who I am, not cuz what I want to create a persona. But people are watching and observing.  That's my the legacy or better yet... it's my Hank-gacy. 

Non-conformity

COVID19 - School Closure - Day 157  School Reopens - Day 196

We had to create a Life Mural for this Executive Leadership class I'm part of and the instructions said... "be creative."  And the point was to talk about our Upbringing, our Motivation, things we do outside of work and hope for future.  There was a sample mural - which was cool - but it just didn't feel right. It wasn't "me."  So I put a little creative flare into it.  Why not???? 

At today's presentation...the organizer said she was pulling up all the class member's murals at random.  One after another... they all looked just like the sample.  After about the 5th or 6th one... I asked the organizer... Did everyone follow the sample?  She said "Yes."  CRAP!!!!  

So was it a good thing or bad thing... that out of these 10 high pot, hot shots... I chose to go rogue and went the path of non-conformity???  What was also weird... a majority of the other folks spoke about sports, refurbishing old cars, boats, hunting... and they were peppered with questions after questions.  

After I was done sharing my faith... one VP asked, "Uh... how old are your kids?" Heh.... 

Haiku
My life at a glance
To become fisher of men
I'm not of this world

The Art of Delegation

I'm in my position for a reason... it's because I've earned the right to manage a team.  A team that will go through thick and thin with me.  Case in point... this weekend, I was given a 9-1-1 assignment which I waited till Sunday night to delegate.  Part of it was.... I needed time to strategize.  But the bigger part was... I wanted my team to have a weekend to rest.  And I was admonished by one of my team members, to which she said, "You should have pinged us over the weekend.  We would've dropped our personal lives to help you with this.  This is our job.  We're here for you."

I was so touched when I heard/read that.  I guess I truly did win my team over.  Or at the very least...these guys uphold their personal quality of profession, where when they see a crisis, they will react accordingly.

Unfortunately... the flip side is... when someone asks me to do something, they expect one thing. I overshoot and try to overachieve, so I make my team jump through fiery hoops.  To which they take my direction and try to overachieve.. and jump through fiery hoops.  In the end.. all our effort boils down to an email with 3 bullets.  That's it.

I need to do a better job of throttling my team to be more efficient. But it feels oh so good that they're willing and able to do whatever it takes... to answer their boss. I'm deeply humbled.

Mood: humbled

問誰領豐收

Had a chance to go 1 on 1 with a colleague who just became a manager.  He use to work for me when I first became a technical lead about 10 years ago. I didn't know what the meeting was about so when he point blank asked for some advice, I was at a lost for words. I started rambling until I pulled out my Sunday School lessons on Leadership - "問誰領豐收".  I went over the importance of leading with a vision... the art of decision making... not being afraid of making mistakes... and because it was a Sunday School lesson... I even slipped in, "Leaders need to PRAY" and "Leaders need to LOVE."  Not something you normally get to share in a work environment.  Praise God for the opportunity.

Then as we were about to end... he says, "I do have one more question... Back when I came onto your team... I remember that you were very energetic, funny and humorous.  Are you still the same way?  How has that worked out for you?"

I was a little shocked... that something I so long ago still has a lasting impact.  So I answered, "Yes... I'm still the same way." To which I wrapped up my entire schipel to two points of advice...

1) You have to be yourself
2) Be consistent

Whether you're funny, serious, slow to praise, quick to correct... and whatever you do... be CONSISTENT.  Be it for work, for home, for parenting.. wherever you go in life.

(Hmm... I might start creating a little series here on "Leadership.")

Mood: elevated