3. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Leading Up NOT Kissing Up!
I worked with a client recently who told me that whilst
he was enjoying all this ‘leadership stuff’ he had a
problem: He had no-one to lead. And he wanted to
know ‘where do I start?’. And the answer is “with
yourself”
Start leading you!
If you wouldn’t follow yourself. Why should anyone else
follow you?
4. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
From Today Matters: Decision making is OVERRATED. We
overate what happens when we make a decision. Oh,
made that decision and life’s changed. Sometimes yes,
sometimes no.
But decision managing is underrated. How we manage
the decision we make is going to determine the success
of that decision. You need the discipline to follow
through DAILY on the decisions you make.
Let me share an example. Many people make a decision
to diet to lose weight. Great… decision made. But the
decision is just the start… it needs follow through and
the daily discipline to make it work.
1. Manage your emotions.
Good leaders know when to display emotions
and when to delay them.
Whether you display or delay your emotions
should not be based on “what will make me feel
better?” rather, it should be based on “what does
the team need?”
Have you ever tip toed around someone? Poking
your nose around the door to your bosses office
and thinking, no not today.
1. Manage your time.
1. Actually you cannot manage time. Time
ticks on by whether you manage it or not.
What you can do is manage your
priorities:
2. Manage your priorities
5. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
80% of your time and work in your strengths
15% of your time and work where you are
learning
5% of your time and work in those other
necessary areas
Manage your energy.
Beware the ABCs of Energy Drain
Activity without direction - Doing things
that do not seem to matter.
Burden without action -Not being able to
do things that really matter.
Conflict without resolution - Not being
able to deal with what’s the matter.
5. Manage your personal life.
Success is having those closest to me, love and
respect me the most.
If you are struggling to lead others, check how well you
lead yourself.
Have you ever tried to herd cats? It’s not got a lot to
recommend it either. But that’s what it can feel like
when you’re trying to lead yourself.
6. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
The Elevator Principle
Some people bring you up
Other people bring you down.
Everyone has someone in their lives who, when you see
them, they just drain all your energy and enthusiasm for
life. They are the energy VAMPIRES. The moment you
spot them, you go ‘oh crikey, not them, what are they
going to take this time?’ Duck or run, but if they spot you
already…
How many of you have someone in your life that when
you spot them you know they are just going to suck life
right our of you?
How many of you are sat next to that person right now
?
If you are going to be a lead from the middle of the pack
and influence people above you, you are going to have
to be a load lifter.
How often you lift that load is going to determine the
response form the leader above you.
7. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
1. Do your own job first.
1. I had a staff once who was really
enthusiastic and always asking “How can I
help you?” It was great at first and I
thought how keen he was. Then later I
realized that he wasn’t getting his own
job done. So when he would come and
ask me “How can I help you?” I
responded, “You can help me by getting
your own job done”. He didn’t really want
to help me, he just wanted to be a pal, To
be around me and learn. Well that’s
great, but get your own job done first,
OK?
2. When you find a problem, provide a solution.
1. Finding problems is not very impressive.
It’s easy to find problems. Impress me,
identify a problem and they have given
some thought to it and propose a
solution.
2. I had a boss in Saudi Arabia, another
John, and his refrain to me as a young
middle leader was “bring me solutions
not problems”. And I learned to do just
that. Whatever the problem I found, I
would think of at least 3 solutions. And I
went from suggesting the solutions to
identifying which of the 3 was the best
solution to saying here are some possible
8. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
solutions, but this one is the best AND
Can I do this? Now I was lifting the load.
3. Tell leaders what the need to hear, not what they
want to hear.
1. This is not ‘venting’ what you want to say.
Nor is it ‘kissing up’.
2. If you know something, it’s your duty to
tell your leader.
3. It’s no use saying after the event. You
know John I just knew that was the
dumbest thing to do.
4. Stand up for your leader whenever you can.
1. Colin Powell – When we are debating an
issue, loyalty means giving me your
honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like
it or not. Once a decision has been made,
the debate ends, loyalty now means
executing the decision as if it were your
own.
5. Ask your leader how you can lift their load.
2. Be willing to do what others won’t
Few things gain the appreciation of a top leader more
quickly than an employee with a ‘whatever it takes’
attitude
Take the tough jobs.
The ability to accomplish difficult tasks earns
others’ respect quickly.
Succeed with difficult people.
9. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Put themselves on the line
Do more than expected
Typically, expectations are high at the top, low at
the bottom and mixed in the middle.
One of the ways we teach leadership is through the
game of golf. One of the reasons we use golf is because
in the game of golf, it’s you and physics. Anything
another player does has no impact on your game. It’s
delightful, because, for many who join our golf
advantage workshops, this is the first time that they will
perform in front of everyone and be completely unable
to blame anyone else.
One of the games we play is called red ball. At the
beginning of the challenge, my golf pro’s give a red golf
ball to a player in a foursome group, the person with the
least golf experience. They don’t know why. But on the
very last hole of the challenge, they learn that whatever
everyone else has done during the round, now it’s only
their score that counts.
Their group could have a brilliant scratch player or even
three of them. But now the outcome for the team comes
down to the person with the least experience.
Some red ball players relish the idea. Others just want to
run away. This is truly about this idea.
The job is tough – there’s a lot of pressure and for this
inexperienced player, it is tough period.
Their group mates might be helpful or difficult. Some
might encourage and coach, others get exasperated and
even angry when this inexperienced player fluffs a shot.
The red ball player is truly on the line. No-one can help
now.
Those that relish it and have learned how to manage
their mindset during the workshop… they do much more
than even they expect.
Those that just want to run away… well this is their true
character. They will never make good 360 leaders
because they give in too easily.
10. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
There’s been a debate about leadership versus
management for, well for ever really. So let’s get some
clarity.
People more than projects
Movement more than maintenance
Art more than science
Intuition more than formula
Vision more than procedure
Risk more than caution
Action more than reaction
Relationships more than rules
Who you are more than what you do
11. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Leaders think longer-term
Most people in organizations have a short range
plan and a long range plan. Their short range
plan is to stay afloat long enough to start working
on their long range plan.
See the wood for the trees.
Leaders see within the larger context.
Most people evaluate events in their lives
according to how they will be affected. Leaders
think within the broader context. They start by
asking, How will this affect my people?
Leaders push boundaries.
Some people ask questions – followers
Some people ask questions and have answers –
smart followers
Some people ask questions, have answers and
take responsibility – managers
Some people ask questions, have answers, take
responsibility and influence others to follow –
360° Leaders.
Leaders invest in others
12. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
The ONLY way to influence those above you is by
connecting with them. Relationship skills define 360
leaders and separate them from other leaders.
Remember, people won’t go along with you if they can’t
get along with you.
1. Listen to your leader’s heartbeat.
1. Passion
2. Repetition
3. Mission
4. Request
5. Support your leader’s vision.
6. Promote your leaders dream and your leader
will promote you.
7. Every time another person in the organization
embraces the vision and passes it on, it’s like
giving the vision “fresh legs”.
2. Earn your leader’s trust.
1. Trust is the foundation for every relationship
2. Remove trust for the relationship and that
relationship is in trouble.
3. Learn to work with your leader’s weaknesses.
1. You cannot make someone feel important if
you secretly feel he’s a nobody.
2. Whatever you believe and perceive about a
person will be communicated.
3. In the same way, you cannot build a positive
relationship with your boss if you disrespect
them because of their weaknesses. Everyone
has weak areas or blind spots, why not learn
how to work with them?
13. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
You show value when you value your leader’s time.
Invest 10X the time you want to spend with your leader.
So if you have a 10 minute meeting, that’s 100
minutes preparing.
It’s a rule of thumb that works well. In fact invest
10X the time for every moment you take of
another’s time.
Teachers, trainers and coaches, we work on this
basis. Or at least the better ones do. For every
hour of workshop time, I invest 10 hours of
preparation. The slight advantage for teachers
and trainers is that we often repeat the same
material several times.
Don’t make your boss think for you.
How leaders think when they are asked questions from
leaders in the middle:
If they ask questions because they can’t think –
then we’re in trouble
If they ask questions because they are lazy – then
they are in trouble
If they ask questions so that everyone can move
faster – then we’re headed in the right direction
Bring something to the table.
When you’re spending time with your leader,
bring your idea or your thinking with you.
Give a return on your leader’s investment.
In my mentoring workshops for mentee’s I suggest that
they prepare fully for every meeting with their mentor
(who may or may not be their line manager, but usually
is) And I suggest that they approach it like this:
14. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Here’s what you said last time we met
Here’s what I learned
Here’s what I did
Did I do right?
Can I ask you more questions?
Know when to push and when to back off.
This is part of conflict agility.
When do you push forward?
When to push:
Do I know something my boss doesn’t, but needs to
know.
This comes back to telling your boss what they
need to hear rather than what they want to hear.
Is time running out.
The broken glass on the ground is from the
window of opportunity that was slammed shut
Are my responsibilities at risk?
If you have been entrusted with a responsibility
and are having difficulty, it is better that your
boss knows about it and has the opportunity to
help you rather than fail miserably alone.
When to back off
Am I promoting my own agenda?
If you’re promoting your own agenda. Doing your
own thing. If you’ve said it a couple of times and
they don’t seem to catch on… they probably
don’t want to catch on…. Back off.
Have I already made my point?
15. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
“You do not lead people by hitting them over the
head – that’s assault not leadership.” – Dwight
Eisenhower
Does my request exceed my relationship?
I was working with a Malaysian company and the
Chairman’s son and daughter were in the ‘high-
potential’ group I was coaching. And as is quite
common when such situations occur, they had an
air of superiority because of their relationship
with the big boss. Quite often they would both
step beyond normal boundaries in their
relationship with their direct bosses, which was
inappropriate. Not only is it inappropriate in that
they were trying to abuse a family relationship,
but by stepping beyond the relationship level
with their direct boss, they were actually
antagonizing their own direct bosses who would
often respond by deliberately undermining their
power whenever they could. They were not
making friends and influencing people, rather
they were building a culture of nepotistic favour
and would become reliant on positional power in
the future.
Now I pushed the matter with them both and the
chairman (their father)… why, because my
responsibilities were at risk. This time they
listened, but on other occasions in similar
situations in Malaysia, in Indonesia and even in
Singapore, after stating the case I backed off
without the right result. Why? because I had
already made my point and to push more would
have been MY agenda (I don’t like nepotism… I
didn’t get where I am today because my father
paved the way and neither should anyone else.)
16. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Go-to players produce when the pressure is on
There are many different kinds of people in the
workplace, and you can measure them according to
what they do for the organization:
Never deliver – Detrimental (on the payroll but
waste oxygen)
Sometimes deliver – Average (they delivered
yesterday, great, today, nah… they’re average)
Always deliver when in their comfort zone –
valuable
Always deliver regardless of the situation -
Invaluable
Go-to players produce when the resources are few.
Go-to players produce when the momentum is low.
3 kinds of people when it comes to momentum.
Momentum Breakers – they can STOP it. Hey things are
going well here, let me see if I can crash it.
Momentum Takers – they don’t stop momentum, they
just suck all momentum out of the air.
Momentum Makers – and go-to players are momentum
makers.
17. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
Goal oriented people might achieve their goals.
Growth oriented people achieve more than their goals.
The better you are, the greater your value today
If you’re looking back on yesterday and still
thinking what a great job that was, then you
aren’t adding much value today.
The better you are, the greater your potential for
tomorrow.
I’m often asked by leaders who take our GAPPS3
assessment about their potential. Since we have
a potentiality index, which we know is
remarkably accurate. And especially if it’s a little
18. 360 Leader - Leading Up
360 Leader
Leading Up
low, or they’ve already reached it. And I ask
them, what have you done today that makes you
better than yesterday. Those with little more
potential always say nothing, those with great
potential can tell me the often many things they
are doing better today than yesterday, and also
they share what their plans are for tomorrow
too.
The better you are, the greater the potential of others
for tomorrow.
Before you are a leader, success is all about
growing yourself. When you are a leader, success
is all about growing others. And the time to start
that is today. Jack Welch
Which of these practices are you going to put into
practice tomorrow?
