simongterry

Posted on 10/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Leadership

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Theodore Roosevelt

Posted on 09/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Life & Career

Happiness is internal. Success is external. Confuse these at your peril.

11 Career lessons: reflecting on my career

Posted on 08/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Life & Career

This week I was asked to share my career story in a presentation to some colleagues. Take time out to write the presentation I had an opportunity to reflect on how I came to my role today. That reflection helped me to bring out a few highlights to share as I told the story.

Here were the 11 key lessons of my career story:

Titles don’t determine your contribution: contribute something of value in every interaction and always look for an action you can take to add value
What you want to do more is a clue to your passions: Do more of what you enjoy doing. Understand why you enjoy some challenges over others. That is the way to your passions
Ask for all that you want: Don’t negotiate with yourself first. Put your whole ask on the table. Be prepared to fight for it. This includes negotiating roles and responsibilities.
Discomfort is a sign of learning & growth: If you don’t feel uncomfortable at some point every day, ask if you are stretching yourself enough
If it looks like a duck: If it looks too good to be true, it is. If you have doubts before you start, they will become issues when you do. Make sure you do your due diligence.
Take your opportunities: If an opportunity opens that will contribute to your goals, build capability or lead towards your passions, take it.
Persist: If you know what you want, persist and overcome the inevitable setbacks. Setbacks are not a judgement on you. Setbacks are part of life and an opportunity to learn more
People skills are best learned early: Learn to lead, influence, communicate, manage performance and develop people. You don’t have to be a people leader to do this.
Diverse experiences and perspectives create valuable options: Show interest in things beyond your realm. Learn and study widely. Learn to work in different kinds of businesses at different stages of growth. Learn a broad set of skills. New experiences means new learning and capabilities
Be the solution to a problem: Every role exists to solve a problem. Understand that and you will get the role and succeed.
Stay positive and have fun: It’s better that way.

The One Characteristic of Great Leaders

Posted on 05/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Leadership

One characteristic makes great leaders stand out. The characteristic is not their performance. All leaders, good and bad can drive performance.

So what defines a great leader?

Great leaders make you better than you are. Great leaders make you better than you think you can be. They connect people with purpose, provide context and grow capabilities. They lift people up and help them realise potential.

The best leaders in my career helped me understand the context, challenged me to live my purpose and the organisation’s purpose, coached continuously and shared their experience, wisdom and lessons. They were also the most ruthless in providing feedback and setting stretching targets. They expected more and trusted you to deliver.

If you are a leader, don’t put up the drawbridge, drop down a ladder. Focus on how your people can stretch and grow. Build a strong pipeline of successors. Become an engine of talent for the business.

If you aren’t yet a leader, look out for the leaders who develop their people and grow their opportunities. Who you work for can be more important than the role in advancing your career. Ask yourself if you can begin to develop others in what you do now.

The easiest answer

Posted on 03/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Leadership

Some people think the easiest answer is always:

It shifts the accountability. It avoids work. It reduces complications. Most important at all it is seen by many as risk free. Who can be held accountable when they said no?

No is simple. No is safe. No is permanent. No is easy.

And that is exactly why the answer is:

YES

Nothing in life is simple, safe, permanent or easy. We live in complex, changing and difficult times that call for Yes. Yes means more work and it means change. Yes is harder and it will be riskier. Yes will require you to innovate and be at your best.

Take accountability to be part of this challenging future. Yes is your pathway to change and owning something of which you can be proud.

So next time you feel like saying ‘No’, ask yourself

‘how do I make it a yes?’

PS: Perhaps a voice is telling you “but it can’t always be yes”. Challenge that voice for a little: What if things were done differently? What risks or issues would you need to mitigate to make yes possible? Push that voice hard before you succumb to it.

Posted on 02/05/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Life & Career

But I shall let the little I know or have learnt go forth into the day in order that someone better than I may guess the truth, and in his work may prove and rebuke my error. At this I shall rejoice that I was yet the means whereby this truth has come to light.

Albrecht Durer

Via http://shauncoffey.blogspot.ca/2013/05/give-up-your-ideas-to-give-them-real.html

Trust is a design choice

Posted on 26/04/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in future of work, Leadership

A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts – Harold Macmillan

At the beginning of any organisation, whether you realise it or not, you are faced with a design choice:

Do I trust my people?

The answer to that question and the culture that grows around that answer determines how so many processes, conversations and other interactions will occur across the organisation.

If you don’t trust your people

Should you be going ahead with your organisation? Seriously. Think about it. They are going to have to act on their own at some point. Nobody can or should remove every independent decision from another person.

Can you build their capability to earn your trust? It is worth investing some money in recruitment and development to avoid the costs ahead in an organisational design without trust.

If you still want to go ahead, prepare yourself for lots of controls, hierarchy, and monitoring processes and people. A lot of value will be invested in controlling people, managing the lack of trust out of your business so that you can function. You will also be more likely to have silos of power and information separating haves and have nots. These processes will all impede the agility, engagement, flexibility & potential of your people. Remember you don’t trust them so that’s what you chose.

Of course, trust may only extend so far. If they are not trusted in one process, do you trust them in others? Can you explain why the processes differ. You will need to or the lack of trust will be corrosive to an overall culture of trust. We all have heard examples of the refrain “I can discuss a $1m deal with a client, but I can’t post a comment on the intranet without approval.” If there is a reason then you need to be able to explain it.

Often you hear the excuse “but the consequences of failure are catastrophic, we cannot afford to trust”. If the consequences of failure are extreme, you need trust more but you might want to think about how you genuinely engage your people in mitigating the risks. Taking the risks out of their control may be no improvement at all if the result is apathy or lack of responsibility for the risks.

If you trust your people

If you trust your people, focus on the culture of personal accountability in your organisation. Work to build your people’s capability to that they are better able to exercise that trust. Give people real meaty challenges to enable them to show your potential. Ask yourself if you can have a flatter organisation, fewer approvals and put more upon your people. They might just revel in the challenge and surprise you.

A word about ‘Trust but Verify’

‘Trust but verify’ is a commonly discussed way to enable organisations to loosen the shackles and create a higher trust environment. In many cases, some verification will be mandated by regulatory or other requirements. People need follow-up and follow-through to see the reinforcement of their responsibility and to understand that there are consequences of breaches of trust.

However make sure you have the order right. If your process turns out to be ‘Verify, then Trust’, you have no trust at all. If someone can’t act on their own and wear the consequences, then you don’t have ‘Trust but Verify’.