Marcia's Leadership Q and A's: 4 tips for your team retreat

Thank you for submitting your leadership questions to md@mdaszko.com.

Q. As our team emerges from remote work and we re-enter the office setting, I think we will have new and different issues. To prepare, I’d like the executive team to meet for a management off-site or executive retreat. Is this a good approach and of value to re-energize our team?

A. Executive’s plans to schedule an offsite retreat in the next quarter, has catapulted 900% in the past month. Leaders anticipate a stronger need to meet and strategize. This will be followed by more team retreats to gather and revive their collaboration and focus.

I’ve facilitated thousands of leadership meetings, board retreats, strategic planning sessions and management offsite meetings for over 25 years. I believe they are of value, beyond comparison, with one caveat: they must be facilitated well (outside thinking and questions are imperative.) Address the aim early: why are you having the meeting with the team. There are many team meetings that are held; people feel good and experience a workshop-high, but there’s little progress or improvement back at work. If you want to learn, work, and strategize together to make a difference, it’s hard work. That’s the work of leadership!

I’ve surveyed executives and managers who have participated in offsite meetings and management retreats. Here are the key benefits they describe (there are many more): participants are able to open up, share, contribute, collaborate, build relationships, listen deeply, create more understanding and empathy, address not only problems but the root causes to long-term problems, and explore options, strategies, and plans; there’s a renewed focus and prioritizing on what’s important and will make a difference; new learning and ideas that are introduced (usually through experiential exercises and a variety of education techniques) are processed  with different perspectives; data and trends are studied to optimize your organization; there’s room to test ideas and discuss future opportunities and the bold impact you can have.

The team develops a new lens and are more resilient as they elevate to a new level of leadership. The results of an effective offsite are:

• an ability to address and focus on deeper issues and accelerate decisions;

• breaking down barriers between people and departments and creating a healthier workplace of trust and support;

• linking the current business to the future direction; and

• beginning to transform beliefs, plans, structure, and management style into innovative leadership and bold results.

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BIO:

Marcia Daszko works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to guide their leadership transformation to accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. She is a provocative keynote, breakout, and digital speaker for conferences and corporate events. She has been a strategic business advisor and management consultant based on Dr. Deming’s philosophy of leadership for 25+ years. An executive retreat facilitator and MBA professor, she is also the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.”  Contact Marcia Daszko for her help at md@mdaszko.com    www.mdaszko.com  

Marcia's Leadership Q and A's: How to Grow Your Business!

Thank you for submitting your leadership questions to md@mdaszko.com.

Q. What are the best tips for having or improving our competitive edge?

A. There are some easy answers, but few are implemented well. First, answer the phone! Second, if people are on hold, minimize the time; cut it in half—again and again, until the hold time is zero. Third, regularly call your number and understand what your customer experiences; then improve it. Fourth, if you interact in other ways with your customers, improve the efficiency and response time by email or text. Make it easy for your customers to interact with you, ask questions and get help and feel like you are committed to serving them.

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Q. How do we create an engine of growth for our company coming out of COVID or any crisis?

A. Answer what you want to accomplish with your organization (beyond being profitable—of course; you need to stay in business.) Your business grows when you have great ideas developed by your people who are excited to share their products and services with their customers. You achieve that when you invest in your people. How can you emotionally, physically, mentally support them? Ask them! What do they need to work together in the best ways and wow their customers and create new markets? Give them room to explore ideas, implement them, fail or accomplish more and move forward. Always stay future-focused.

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BIO:

Marcia Daszko works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to guide their leadership transformation to accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. She is a provocative keynote, breakout, and digital speaker for conferences and corporate events. She has been a strategic business advisor and management consultant based on Dr. Deming’s philosophy of leadership for 25+ years. An executive retreat facilitator and MBA professor, she is also the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.”  Contact Marcia Daszko for her help at md@mdaszko.com    www.mdaszko.com  

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Quickly Assess: Are My Managers A Team?

Q. As a new company president of a struggling company with 500 employees, the Board’s first recommendation is to assess all of my managers and evaluate if they are capable of working a turn-around. What should I look for in my team?

A. Assessing and understanding the whole organization is step number one. Talk individually to all of your senior managers and then as a team. Second, listen to as many employees as you can, in small groups and in a few Town Hall meetings. As you create your direction and vision for the company, circle back to your individual executives.

As you explore their thinking, you will hear some talk about the past and problems and barriers. Others will talk about opportunities, customers, possible new markets and products/services, and the future. Some may be stuck in the past; others are craving to create a new future. Your job is to inspire them to move forward together toward a new Aim. What is the purpose they have together? Articulate it. Do they see how they contribute toward it and lead others toward it?

Since this is a turn-around situation, you need your team to move fast. Mutual trust is essential. If you can trust and develop them quickly, move forward. If any will hold you back, express your concerns to him/her and what you need from them immediately. If they cannot deliver, it’s best to either find them a coach to help them transform, or respectfully remove them from the company.

There are leaders who can take action quickly and get the job done, often referred to as sprinters. They are visionary, full of creative ideas and anxious to implement them. For a turn-around you need sprinters (as well as in start-ups.) But to sustain and develop systems and processes that will continually be improved with data-driven decision-making in context, you need teams of people committed for the long term. These are marathoners. At different times, in different industries and organizations, you may need more of one group than another.

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Q. I’ve been promoted to my first management position with very supportive team members. My observation is that we work well together, but make decisions too slowly. How can we accelerate?

A. There are questions to consider when making decisions, especially rapidly. You want to make effective decisions, not reactive ones. Let’s consider the essential dots that go into making wise decisions. First, the Aim: what are you trying to accomplish or solve? Who are you serving with this decision? What do you currently know about the issue/process? Often decisions are made by opinions, off the cuff, with any qualitative or quantitative data. Look at data you have (or gather it) and look for stability, variation, or trends Over Time. What do you learn? What is the timeline or deadline for making a decision? Plan what you’re going to do and who will do what, make your decision based on the data in context, implement the decision, and then follow through. Study what worked, what didn’t. Learn together, adjust, fine tune, and modify. Decision-making is a process. Some can be continually improved. Think of all of the medical and technological research and breakthroughs. Others decisions are made immediately with the best information and thinking at the moment. These decisions are responses during a crisis situation. Determine how to quickly make good decisions and continually improve the steps. Practice helps.

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Send your leadership questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com. She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, and executive retreat facilitator, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com Call for her help today!

Marcia's Leadership Q&As: New Leaders, What Are Your 1st Actions?

Q. As a new leader entering a company, what should my first action items be?

A. Number one: don’t make any changes! If the company is doing well, let it roll. If it is in dire straits, let it roll. To go in and immediately make changes will be first, instilling fear.

People don’t know you and cannot trust you, especially if you start changing how they work. Second, you’ll be guessing at what the improvements could be because you will not deeply understand the culture and the informal system (the way things really work.)  Your first action is to take no decisive action for abrupt changes.

Instead, your first action is to move across your entire organization (inside and outside) and listen! In the first few weeks (depending on size of your business), schedule meetings (1-1, face to face, small groups, and Town Halls) with your senior managers, supervisors, front line workers. Then meet with customers. Then meet with vendors. Listen, listen, listen until you deeply understand what their experiences are working in or with the company. Your workers will tell you. Your vendors and especially your customers will tell you what they love and what they hate. They will tell you when you’re stellar and when they are ready to leave and go to a competitor.

With all of this information and looking at the key company data over time (trends, sales, profits, critical success factors--like how long is a customer on hold), you are ready to have the deep, yet rapid discussions with your leadership team.  Your strategy session (which great leaders have monthly) includes: direction, aim, strategic initiatives, communication/engagement plans, focus, and implementation plan with deadlines and budget guidance. At this point together you can make new decisions and involve your teams with effective communication (share what aim you want them to accomplish.)

Very important: share with everyone what you learned through your deep dive into the company. People want to know if you “got it.” The most powerful tool you have is your ability to communicate in multiple channels: in person, via Zoom, video messages, email, Intranet—whatever is at your disposal. Use it all. Continually make time to have conversations with people all over the company, not just the same senior team.  And also, great leaders are in touch with their customers. They intimately understand the experiences they are having—good and bad.

Marcia's Leadership Q&As: 3 Essential Skills That Connect Your Customers to Your Bottom Line

Q. What are the most important skills my managers should teach our new hires?

A. New hires are generally eager to learn, contribute, and make a difference. In the onboarding process, make sure you ask questions about what makes a difference for them and what do they want to contribute; what are they passionate about? The leadership team should be involved in the onboarding education.  It may be talking to new hires for an hour welcome and share the values you want to see and expect. It may be a day of education given by the CEO/President. The messages are important and relevant if delivered from the leaders.

A few essential skills that will help an organization rise above the noise and chaos of uncertainty in current work environments are: the focus on quality, being adaptable in supporting each other and serving customers, and continual improvement and innovation (two different processes.)

First, the focus on quality was paramount 20 to 30 years ago with the Quality movement. Sadly, that focus has waned, yet when leaders focus their organization on delivering quality in work, quality in communication, and quality in information, people can work together better to deliver what matters!  Second, in today’s environment, the more people can adapt and pivot and remove barriers to serve each other and customers, the better the impact of relationships—and the bottom line! Third, working together to continually improve (this means meeting and discussing, what can be better from the customers’ perspective?) and innovate with better and different response times, services, products is imperative.

My question to you: How are you doing? If you draw a direct line from what you do and what the customer experiences, do you have your resources focused in the right place? For example, if you have a service (phone service or airlines), how long is your customer on hold to get a question answered or to buy from you? Do calls get dropped? Are customers on hold for 2 minutes or 20 minutes, or two hours? If you are a leader (organization or team), what are you doing to directly allow your customer to connect and buy from you? Or do you have so many barriers you drive them away, in a limousine to your nearest competitor?

Marcia's Leadership Q&AS

Q. The work ethic and follow-through in our employees in the past year has taken a nose dive. I’m concerned for our customers and the business. What do you suggest?

A. This is a concern that I’ve heard more from business owners and managers also in the past year. There are a variety of causes. I don’t like making Covid an easy excuse for everything, but it has had an impact on some people’s dedication to work, their job, their company. For other people they were never taught how to be responsible workers and follow through. They didn’t have parents who were role models, or they didn’t have excellent job training, so how could they know what’s expected of them? 

Effective onboarding, continual education/training, and two-way communication are all helpful to set the expectations about the work quality you want and the quality of service you want the customers to receive.  It’s important to train people, especially if they are new to the job market. Observe them, role play if necessary, ask them for their ideas, and ask them how they think the work can be improved. More and more communication often make a difference! 

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Q. I’ve been invited to join a cohort of executives to meet regularly and discuss our challenges in our businesses. I’m open to sharing and learning from others. We’re from different industries. Are there any downsides to joining a group besides the time commitment?

A. First, think about your purposes for joining a group of colleagues. Is it a learning group, a time to share or vent your issues and have a sympathetic ear, a social focus, or a time to deeply challenge where you are and explore how you can gather ideas for development and business growth? It may be some or all of these. But define what it really your purpose and what is important.

Second, will you first have a conversation with the other members to determine if this group is a good fit for you. Will they both challenge and support you? Some share old management fads, opinions, and “best practices” that don’t add any value to their learning; people stay in the status quo with little development. Other executive groups make a lot of progress. 

It’s important to think about what you want to accomplish and then over a few months, assess if people are just sharing opinions or substantial management concepts, tools, and relevant applications. You should feel intense learning!

Marcia’s Leadership Q&A

Q. Our organization has grown, and now there are more people available to do the day-to-day work that managers used to have to deal with. But many managers still have a strong tendency to take on the tasks. How do we break the “I’ll take care of it” reflex?

A. Great question, and I’m smiling! One of my mentors told me over 20 years ago, “a great leader is a lazy leader.” That’s a pretty surprising yet memorable comment, isn’t it? It’s also powerful. A leader doesn’t do the tasks that can be delegated unless it’s a time when all hands need to work together to get the job done. As people move from a more detailed and sometimes analytic role (like a sales person or an engineer) into management and leadership, it means the mindset and the role of the person also must change. Leaders need to think strategically, create and work ON the systems that the people work IN, anticipate and pursue opportunities, and develop the people. They delegate the work and create the environment where people contribute ideas and are self-motivated to contribute.

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Q. It’s easy to get caught up in everyday work. How do you get off the hamster wheel to make time to plan and do something big or meaningful for the company?

A. Whether an executive, a manager, or a team member, it’s important to have a tentative plan for your day and week. Then adapt as needed. If you know what to need to accomplish, you can focus and prioritize. Look at how you spend your time. If you’re in back-to-back meetings, when do you read and respond to emails ,customers’ requests, think and plan, and do your work? Planning, communicating, reflecting on lessons learned, are part of the job. Schedule time for those essential tasks, too. You might need to schedule 30 or 60 minutes at the beginning and end of the day to keep information flowing. If you don’t Plan, you will be in Do-Do-Do mode all day long, just reacting and feeling drained and stressed by the end of the day. Schedule quiet time to think, plan and focus on the priorities. Use the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, a tool to continually improve. You work short term, but think longer term to contribute doing more meaningful and innovative work in the company and for the customers.

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Q. I’m going to step down from the President position for personal reasons. I’m concerned I may miss it, regret my decision, or not agree with some of the decisions my predecessors make, though I’ve been grooming them for months. What do I do if I regret leaving?

A. It will be natural to miss the leadership you’ve had, the people you interact with, the challenges and routines, etc. Your work and position has been a big part of your life. It’s time to consider your transition. Reflect on your contributions, what you learned and the progress you made, your legacy, and the reality of the emotions (the good and the bad.) You may want to take a break for a few weeks or months before moving on to your new life or encore career. You may feel a loss of what you miss; it’s natural. Grieve what you miss, so you can move forward. Look forward to new opportunities, new routines, new experiences. An important step is to Let Go. Don’t look back or stay involved in the decisions (unless you’re called for advice.). Give the new leader space to lead, to explore, and to make mistakes, too. Most people have a transition time; take that time to adapt, and have some plans so you don’t go from working full-time to having nothing on your calendar. Give your new life space and an opportunity to be very self-satisfying. It has happened, but rarely that leaders are called back into a company to deal with a special project, to save it or turn it around (like Steve Jobs at Apple.). If that happens, assess the situation and consider giving yourself a timeline to make it a temporary time and not permanent. Think about the why before re-entering. Every situation is different, so there is not one answer, but keep in mind why you left and your life goals and stay true to those.

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Send your leadership and team questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com. She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com

Marcia's Leadership Q&A

Q. I’ve cleared my In Box and finished my calls at the end of my day. I’ve got 10 or 30 free minutes. What are the best things I can do?

A. This answer will be different for each individual. Time every day (even 10 or 30 minutes) for self-care is rejuvenating. I’ll share a few ideas, and see what resonates for you.

Over time, you might try different ideas. Be quiet, close your eyes, reflect on your days: did you accomplish what you planned; did you help someone; did you refer someone; what did you learn; what mistakes did you make; what will you improve tomorrow; what’s your plan for tomorrow?

Other options are to listen to a podcast or in Clubhouse; read an article; write a thank you card, a letter, a poem, or write in your journal. Do some physical activity, a video exercise class. Do something that you enjoy for yourself. Or do something special for someone else: send flowers and surprise someone

Think about the people who make a difference in your life, often times those closest to you and thank them and give them recognition, both children and adults.

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Q. Sometimes it feels like work is all-consuming. How can I create more distance between my work and personal life?

A. Over the past year, people have experienced such different situations. Some have had to work less hours or leave the workforce due to family obligations. Some have worked less hours but improved their efficiency and productivity. Others have gotten consumed with work and Zoom meetings.

Part of work becoming all-consuming may be the habits you’ve created. If they’re not healthy, it’s time to break the bad habits and create new ones. When you think about your Wheel of Life, what are the parts that make up your life? Family, hobbies, friends, career, fitness and sports, health, finances, spiritual, school, romance? Are you dedicating your time and energy (not just your words) to the parts of your life that are important to you?

Schedule time to dedicate to the parts important to you. Put healthy limits on the parts that are consuming you. Schedule your work hours. Set up consistent habits so you feel a division of work and home life. Create some routine at the beginning and end of your day so that you prepare for your day.

Then change your venue to begin your work day. Take breaks and get a change of scenery; take a walk or a drive for 10 or 30 minutes. Interact with different people. Then go back to work. Finish your day and shift your venue again.

Do something for yourself, with family or friends to take the mental break. Both routine and some creative outlets and variety will be refreshing and healthy. Keep trying new things and see what helps you feel better.

Marcia’s Leadership Q&A

Q. What traits do you think most great leaders have?

A. There are hundreds of traits that great leaders may have. But the essential focus for leadership is not really about attributes. Thinking about leadership traits is a static approach. Instead, think about people continually developing their leadership as a robust and dynamic process. Leaders are creative, questioning, and continually improving their thinking and their actions.

Define some characteristics of leadership and look at how those can be improved over time. Great leaders have a confidante, a trusted advisor that continually teaches, challenges, and encourages them in a safe environment, yet beyond their comfort zone.

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Q. What kind of duties and responsibilities are best left solely in the hands of a leader and not delegated to a subordinate?

A. Here are a few essential duties of a great leader that they cannot delegate. Leaders are accountable for the system (organization) and they can not hold individuals IN the system accountable for the results of the system. This is a huge differentiator that many leaders don’t get—the difference between accountability and responsibility. Leaders are accountable for the results because only they can change the System. They need to work ON the System to improve or transform it if they don’t like the various outputs and measures. Individuals and teams are responsible to contribute to improving the system (and processes) with management.

Leaders also cannot delegate the organization’s transformation. The CEO/President/Owner leads the transformation and cannot delegate that. CEOs of Ford, GM, Xerox, etc. have owned their own transformation—it’s how they saved and turned around their organizations. Transformation is not easy. The thinking is different and difficult, but also essential and satisfying work. Leaders create the culture through showing their leadership and communicating their values, priorities, and focus. Leaders also create the environment where people are self-motivated; that’s where the power is. Leaders don’t motivate people (sometimes they de-motivate them and let “best practices” and management fads creep into their organization. Those can cause internal competition and dysfunctional workplaces.). Leaders develop and invest in their people and grow the business.

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Q. What’s the best way to cultivate a sense of self-awareness in myself as a leader?

A. As we’ve heard many times, “we don’t know what we don’t know.” It starts with what we believe. Many people believe that when they’ve graduated from high school, trade school, or college, they’ve gotten the diploma and they’re “done” with the bulk of their learning.  But their journey of learning is just beginning. They embark into personal lives and careers—and maybe multiple careers over decades and meet leaders (good and bad) who become mentors. Deep learning begins when people want to explore who they are, what they want, and where they’re going. Leadership develops when they begin to ask more questions.  Ask questions about choices, direction, and how they can contribute. How will they be authentic in words and actions?  

Developing leadership (naturally what each person has within themselves) means continual learning, studying, having meaningful conversations, and most importantly asking questions and challenging the status quo. Great leaders don’t blame, judge, and make excuses. They are creative, search for solving problems with others, and see possibilities and opportunities. People have busy days, productive days, days of struggle, and days to reflect. To become more self-aware, listen more, read more, question more, experiment more, and make more of a difference.  In doing these things, you learn more about yourself—and where you need to push out of your own comfort zone to grow.

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Send your leadership and team questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com.  She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com

Marcia’s Leadership Q&A

Send your leadership and team questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com.  She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com

Q. When should a team prepare for a crisis? Is it too early to plan for the next crisis, especially when we’re still in the middle of this one?

A. Great leaders, at work and at home, anticipate and consider challenges and how they will respond to them. Whether it’s pilots training to deal with a challenge in flight, families preparing for an earthquake or a hurricane, a driver being aware of the traffic, a company preparing for a pandemic or loss of a major client, people do a variety of crisis planning. Some companies had a plan in case they were ever faced with a pandemic. Did your company have a plan? Those that had one had created it with calm rationality and could quickly adapt it. Others had to rapidly pivot, or they struggled.

Thoughtful leaders at home and at work think ahead. They scan their environment for safety. What might they be faced with?  With your team, what do you need to think about, anticipate, discuss, plan and prepare for? It’s never too late to make a plan. That’s what leaders do. When it’s needed, leaders and their rapid action teams adapt and pivot, and respond. If an unforeseen crisis occurs, teams who have a foundation in leadership thinking, will respond rather than react or freeze in fear.

Q. What signs should a leader look out for that signal that they may not be the right leader for the job anymore or should take a different role in the organization and move aside?

A. It is not uncommon for a founder, owner or executive to move aside as an organization grows, needs to scale, or goes through transitions they have no experience in or are uncomfortable with. The enterprise may be moving and growing at a fast pace, building in complexity, or innovating into new areas of expertise. If executives feel overwhelmed, uncomfortable, fearful, or are micro-managing, they need to assess if they are continuing to find joy and satisfaction in their current position.

There are multiple ways to address this situation. Many young founders have a close mentor(s) such as a supportive CEO, Board Director or a professor who guide and advise them as they navigate and develop. Or an executive may have founded an organization and be passionate about product development, but may not have an affinity for running or growing a business. People have natural leadership within them and each person needs to decide where they can best contribute and feel fulfilled.