When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision. Don’t keep putting off decisions. ~Dale Carnegie

Donation dumping. I volunteer at a thrift store so the news story on donation dumping caught my attention. At one of the large Salvation Army thrift stores in Chicago someone had broken the steel gate in order to get in and leave their unwanted COVID-19 spring cleaning items. Yes, they actually broke in, in order to leave (not take) items. That’s one of the many pandemic paradoxes.

Decision Dumping

Another paradox that I’ve noticed is the number of leaders who are also “spring cleaning.” They aren’t donation dumping but they are decision dumping.

The number of people who have been thrust into the ranks of the unemployed is staggering. I recognize that many of these decisions were gut-wrenchingly difficult, yet necessary given that there were literally no revenues to make payroll. The pain caused by all of this should not be taken lightly. But I’m talking about something different in this paradox.

I’m referencing people in leadership positions whose performance has been lackluster for some time. There likely should have been consequences for their lack of performance or maybe simply lack of a good fit for the role or the organization. And now, suddenly, they are being let go.

It’s hard to deal with leaders who just aren’t working out. But it seems that leaders find it especially hard to deal with issues on their own leadership team.

However, as the crisis began to escalate and stay at home orders were being put in place leaving organizations with only days to prepare, something started to happen. Bold decisions were being made that were not only to pivot due to the pandemic, but were also decisions that had been procrastinated for some time to let leadership team members go. I’m guessing leaders found it less difficult to make those decisions because now they are one of many other decisions amidst the COVID chaos.  

At what cost?

My next question for this has been “At what cost is this to their organization?” In other words, had this problem been acted on sooner, would the organization have been better prepared to maneuver through the current crisis?

So why is this a paradox? Well, as Jim Collins says, one of the key roles of a great leader is to get the right people on the bus and in the right seats. If that’s a key role, then why does it take something extreme like a crisis for the leader to take action on what is critical to leading the organization?

My intention is not to encourage leaders to suddenly let their leadership team go. My intention is to encourage leaders to stop delaying difficult conversations. Be bold: name what’s not working. With grace: give people a chance (and support) to self-correct. Don’t wait for something as catastrophic and rare as a pandemic to make decisions that should be part of the leader’s role, day-in and day-out.

Don’t wait for a pandemic to start “decision dumping.” Make decisions, even difficult ones, and lead with bold grace.

The problem with communication…is the illusion that it has been accomplished. ~George Bernard Shaw

Are you judging people based on expectations you’ve never communicated? Most of us would quickly respond with “no!” to that question. But, maybe we should all take a step back and consider our actual actions and thoughts before we assume our innocence too hastily.

Dr. Sunnie Giles recently surveyed nearly 200 leaders, worldwide, and asked what they believe are the most critical leadership competencies. One of the top three competencies was communicate clear expectations. I paused and thought about that for a minute. Contemplating what keeps us from communicating clear expectations since that seems fairly straightforward. Examples soon began to flood my mind.

Don’t Hold People Accountable to Expectations You’ve Not Communicated

I recall a nonprofit leader I once worked with who let someone go because they didn’t meet their expectation for dollars raised. Interestingly, the person who was let go exceeded the approved fundraising goal. But the leader had never communicated his real expectation. Why not? Good question. He wasn’t sure they could reach the goal he had in mind and only wanted to approve goals he was confident people could reach. In the end, who did this benefit? Absolutely no one.

Don’t Assume Your Subtleties Communicate Expectations

Another leader came to mind who wanted someone he supervised to change their behavior. He said that he was “subtle” about his expectation but believed (or likely assumed) the person understood. He feared coming across harsh or commanding. What happened? The behavior did not change and eventually the employee resigned. Again, the lack of communicating clear expectations benefited no one.

Don’t Let the Relationship Hinder Clear Expectations

For good measure, here’s one more example that I’ve seen a number of times. Even people who are more commanding by nature will sometimes hold back and not fully state their expectations. In this case, I’ve found the reason to be because they have a more personal relationship with the individual – a trusted confidant or even a relative. From a distance, what I frequently see is a person longing for clarity and knowing the real expectation from the leader. Because there is more of a relationship, I think the leader believes that stating their real expectation might cause the person to feel vulnerable. And typically, people who are more commanding by nature fear vulnerability. So, you guessed it, again, this benefits no one.

Be SMART When Communicating Expectations

Expectations typically fall into two broad categories: task-related/quantitative expectations and interpersonal/behavioral expectations. Both are critical to organizational success. How do you know if you are communicating clear expectations? Use the acronym many times used to establish goals: SMART.

S – SPECIFIC. Are you being really specific with what you expect? It’s not fair to be critical of someone (or even think critically of them) if you haven’t been as specific with your communication as what you truly expect.

M – MEASURABLE. Will the person know when they have succeeded (either quantitatively or behaviorally)? Have you painted a clear picture of success?

A – ACHIEVABLE. Have you communicated expectations that are both challenging and achievable?

R – RELEVANT. Have you communicated the why or the relevancy of your expectation? What is the outcome or result?

T – TIME. If you expect something completed or behavior changed, have you communicated within what timeframe? Did you communicate the timeframe in such a way that it sounds flexible or firm?

Communicating your true expectation is bold. Communicating your expectation clearly requires grace. Keep leading with bold grace.  

Crises are most often over-managed and under-led.  ~ Eric McNulty & Leonard Marcus

I mentioned in previous posts that I moved to a new home a few weeks ago, during the pandemic stay-at-home order. As the order extends into May, I frequently think about something my movers did when we arrived at my new home. It’s a metaphor for the challenge leaders face in the COVID crisis. The movers assumed that if something was in a specific room at my previous home that it would go in that same room in my new home. That was not always the case.

I used the opportunity of everything I own being loaded in a truck into an uncertain and chaotic state, to reimagine how it could function even better in a completely new state once it arrived at my new home.

Take Advantage of the COVID Opportunity

That’s how I see effective leaders manage through the crisis of COVID-19. They aren’t looking for ways to return to “normal” (i.e., put everything back in the same room from which it came). They are taking advantage of the opportunity (albeit a forced opportunity) to reimagine how their organizations could be even better when the metaphorical moving truck finally arrives at their new home.

Eric McNulty and Leonard Marcus in HBR recently said, “For nearly two decades, we’ve researched and observed public and private-sector executives in high-stakes, high-pressure situations. What we’ve learned is that crises are most often over-managed and under-led.” “Leading involves guiding people to the best possible eventual outcome over this arc of time. The focus needs to be on what is likely to come next and readying to meet it. That means seeing beyond the immediate to anticipate the next three, four, or five obstacles.”

I’ve also seen another perspective that McNulty and Marcus highlight. Leaders who are jumping in to help with an all-hands-on-deck mindset and are being seduced by the adrenaline of managing in a crisis. Personally, I think it can build morale for leaders to roll up their sleeves and join those on the frontline, but, only for a time. A critical part of leadership is preparing the organization for the future and leaders simply can’t do that if they are sucked into day-to-day crisis response, especially over time.

Leaders Straddle the Fence

This is where leaders really have to straddle the fence. Demonstrating that they are empathetic regarding the current day-to-day challenges (show grace), while at same time, planning and preparing for the future (being bold).

I’ll admit, this is far easier said than done. Here’s one way to straddle the fence.

• Start small. At the end of every day, write down one thing you did to plan or prepare for the future.
• If you need more accountability, ask someone to check-in with you and ask what you are doing to prepare your organization for the future.
• Then, strive for more than half of your time being spent on planning long-term and preparing for the future.

Straddle the fence and lead with bold grace.

It’s easy to forget about socio-emotional [interactions] — and that’s where we really need to be focusing now as we adapt to radically different circumstances. ~ Annie Peshkam and Gianpiero Petriglieri

There are two types of learning and we need both, especially in a crisis. I failed at doing this effectively last week.

First, the two types of learning. Cognitive learning, which is what we likely think of most often when we think about learning. In this case, we “absorb, process, and use information to complete tasks. Cognitive learning has us focusing on information and skills.” The second way we learn is socio-emotional. “We learn how we—and others—feel and think about the new situation we are in, and how to manage those thoughts and feelings. This type of learning has us focusing on people and requires that we inquire about our own and others’ experiences.” (Annie Peshkam and Gianpiero Petriglieri, HBR, April 10, 2020)

How I Failed

I was on a Zoom call with a client working through something we started BC (before Coronavirus). In my attempt to be considerate of their time, I moved the discussion quickly to focusing on information so we could complete the task. However, in my head I was thinking, “I should have everyone check-in, just to see where they are at.” At the close of the call my instinct went to the same thing, “I should ask everyone to close-out with how they are feeling right now.” But, I didn’t. I let time and the task become a higher priority than managing thoughts and feelings.

At the close of the call I was left with sort of a sinking feeling, like the interaction didn’t help move the project forward in a way that was helpful. By not managing thoughts and feelings the call was not as effective as it could have been. Even though I ended the call on time, I wasn’t considerate of how well I had used their time.

Why My Bungle Matters

Authors Peshkam and Petriglieri describe why my bungle matters. “A focus on socio-emotional learning allows us to move away from the burden of delivering a product to the practice of a shared and holistic learning process. That is the kind of learning that lets us process crises and bring about change. It keeps work human and continues the learning we care most about: transforming our organizations and ourselves.”

This doesn’t mean that we sacrifice all cognitive interaction for socio-emotional interaction. It means that we intentionally manage the balance between the two forms of learning. Putting socio-emotional interaction before, and after, the cognitive interaction can help acknowledge reality and provide the framework and tone for more effective outcomes.

This is one more example of the tension that leaders must manage: cognitive interaction and socio-emotional interaction. Leading with bold grace.

We may know where we want to be, but we will seldom know the actual steps we must take to get there. We must trust in ourselves to learn the way, to build the bridge as we walk on it. ~Robert E. Quinn

I reference Robert Quinn frequently, especially his book Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within. The title of the first chapter is “Walking Naked into the Land of Uncertainty.” As we’ve all been collectively thrust into uncertainty by Covid-19, I’ve thought about this book frequently.

The Land of Uncertainty

As an example, one of my personal challenges has been quite evident while unpacking in my new home. I wanted to find the right spot for everything, right from the start. To say the least, unpacking was moving along at a very slow pace. I finally had to let myself accept the fact that I just needed to get things put away and I would probably rearrange and revise my unpacking several times until it finally felt right.

I am also realizing the same thing is true in my work, and maybe yours too. I need to just start experimenting with new approaches, new ideas, new formats, and revise as I go – be more agile – not be so concerned about finding the right direction immediately.

Another chapter title from Deep Change is “Build the Bridge as We Walk On It,” something with which we may not all be comfortable. In this chapter, Quinn provides the following example with my paraphrase.

Get Lost With Confidence

“In World War II a military unit was operating under difficult circumstances in the Alps. The commanding officer sent out a squad to scout the area. A day passed, and the squad had not returned. It was feared that they were lost. Three days later, to everyone’s relief, the squad returned. They had become lost and very discouraged. Then one of the men remembered that he had a map in his pack. This discovery brought a surge of hope and renewed energy. The leader took the map and led the squad safely back. The commanding officer summoned the leader to his tent and commended him for his fine work. It was not until later that the commanding officer noticed the map and realized that it was not a map of the Alps but of the Pyrenees.”

 A good outcome can result from a flawed map. The map served as a symbol of hope and energy. It allowed the squad leader to organize his men and get them to believe in a common strategy of action. The fact that the squad was again moving allowed the men to begin to calculate and think about where they were going. The process of acting and calculating allowed them to learn and resolve their problem. Quinn calls this getting lost with confidence.

So, if in the chaos of Covid-19 you have been paralyzed and uncertain about what direction to go, just start acting and calculating, begin to “Build the Bridge as We Walk On It.” Lead with bold grace and get lost with confidence.