Tag: leadership

How to lead Millenials

How to lead millennials

Since I left the military, every organization I’ve worked for has found a way to bag on the millennial generation. It’s moved from fad to requirement.

“Millennials are entitled”

“They need safe-spaces”

“They’re lazy, and don’t know what hard work even is!”

“They expect instant gratification.”

“They expect something for nothing”

“They need constant affirmation”

“This is the generation of participation trophies”

I have to admit, I’ve even gotten caught up in the hype a time or two. Let me take a moment, however, and offer you a different perspective on millennials

That is section 60 in Arlington cemetery. These are the brave men and women that most recently died in service of our nation.  Millennials make up almost 75% of those currently in uniform.  What’s particularly notable about this group is that most of them joined the military knowing that they would be heading off to war.  It wasn’t some far off possibility like many who joined before September 11th, it was a factual certainty when they walked into the recruiter’s office, that within their time in service, they would be heading to combat…and they joined anyway.

That takes some serious bravery and my hat is off to every single one of them.

That being said, I’m certain that every generation has had people like this. Every generation has had warriors and entrepreneurs, rich and poor, entitled and humble, brave and cowardly.  Every generation is made up of people, and people come in all forms.  Pick up a Bible and in it you’ll see even 1st century Jews struggling with these same challenges (the Pharisees were particularly peeved at this new generation of Jews).

I have been in leadership positions for nearly two decades. Consistently my teams perform above expectations and are eager to take on greater challenges.  I have led people born in the 1950’s to people born in the 1990’s, and I have never adjusted my leadership style according to the date that someone was born.  Never.

Managers that want to blame their leadership failures on generational differences are allowing themselves to use this excuse instead of examining their own shortfalls. Great leaders take an internal look and determine how they can best lead individuals in their teams, not generations.  Great leadership transcends generations, personality tests, and even cultures.

There are no shortcuts to great leadership. If you’re struggling with retention, productivity, employee engagement, and remaining competitive in the marketplace, it isn’t because of generational differences, it’s because of poor leadership.  If that makes you angry and defensive, if you’re reading this coming up with a litany of reasons why you and your company are struggling with the aforementioned and none of the reasons is YOU, then I have some bad news…

If instead you’re willing to take a look internally, and you want to learn more about how to become an inspirational and outstanding leader then you need to subscribe. There is much more to come on this subject.

-LJF

 

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Abundant Toxic Leadership

I used to think that the military, with its rigid caste structure and virtually guaranteed promotion rates for officers was particularly suited for the megalomaniacal personality that is germane to toxic leadership.  Now that I’ve had years in the civilian world, I’ve come to find that toxic leadership is actually the norm.

Ask any Soldier, Airman, Seaman or Marine…

Ask anyone who has served in the military if they have ever experienced a toxic leader, then sit down because it’s going to be a while.  My experience was in the Army, and I can tell you that we felt the wrath of self-serving senior leadership so much that it became it’s own joke:  The Big Green Weenie.

The Army has a way of screwing you over that is so powerful and personal, a lesser man would be broken by it, but soldiers are not lesser men.  They manage to find a way to survive through it.  Some are particularly strong willed and make the decision to stay and become a better leader than they received, most just get out.

Recently I spoke with a friend who is getting deployed in a few months.  The Army is changing its command and control structure and their unit is facing an 18 month deployment to Kuwait without combat pay.  Think about how many levels of leadership this decision had to go through, but no one stopped it.  No one spoke up that this was unnecessary and unconscionable.  Bottom line is, they don’t care about the soldier.

I’ve seen toxic leadership first hand when a company commander used an incorrect codeword while our unit was on DRF (2 hour recall) and we all thought we were about to make a jump into some combat environment.  I watched soldiers hugging their children at 4am in the parking lot, then turn in their cell phones, only to find out it was all a drill.  When I confronted the commander about it, as his XO, I was reprimanded.  He didn’t care about the company of men he was leading, he cared that he could add a bullet to his OER.

Identifying Toxic Leadership

As I have slowly matured over the years (very slowly), I have learned to study the toxic leader instead of getting angry, and impart lessons to their peers, subordinates, and leaders in the hopes that behaviors can be eliminated.  Just today I heard about a leader who denied all overtime pay to an employee that only worked 47.5 hours instead of the arbitrarily assigned 48 hour minimum.  There is no company policy that says you must work a minimum of 48 hours to get paid for any of them, so this must be something he has decided to implement.  After I heard the story,I thought about the short-sightedness of this particular leader.  What was more valuable?  Paying this man 7.5 hours of overtime, or saving John Deere the few hundred dollars?  By saving the company a minuscule amount, he totally eradicated any possible clout for this employee (and all others that may hear the story) and the employee is sure to give minimum effort for this boss in the future.  That leader showed he doesn’t care about the individual.

The problem is that the toxic leader is usually unaware that they are a problem.  Many of them have “studied” leadership extensively, and in my own unscientific observation, there is an inverse relationship between the number of John C. Maxwell books on a shelf and the quality of the leader. Here’s an easy test to determine if you are one of those people that is a problem:

  1. What is more valuable to you, a “good job” from your boss or your subordinates?
  2. When a problem occurs, do you think first how to fix it or who to blame?
  3. When you look back at your career, what are you most proud of?  Personal success or your subordinate’s success?
  4. Do you believe fear is a powerful motivator?
  5. Do you take the time to know the people that work for you?  Do you know their families? Their goals?  Their hobbies?

If praise from your boss means more to you, if you always look to assign blame, if your personal success is most important, if you believe fear is a powerful motivator, and you don’t know your subordinates, YOU ARE A TOXIC LEADER.

I’m just going to tell you, because no one else will:  Your subordinates hate you, many would really love their jobs if it wasn’t for you.  People have changed careers, uprooted their families, and took pay cuts because they would rather do all that than work for you.  You are not better than anyone else, in fact, you have been promoted further than you deserve because you like to kiss ass. You should not be in charge of anyone.  You haven’t been passed over for promotion unfairly and you do not deserve any more responsibility.

Is your subordinate Toxic to your organization?

There are some of you that are good leaders, but have subordinate leaders that are toxic and don’t even know it (Let me just say, if you know that a subordinate is a terrible leader and you leave him or her in that position, you are just as at fault for the stress, pain, and cost that the toxic leader causes, and you are a coward).  So i’m going to give you some tips in order to identify these people.

  • You are looking for someone that places the organization above their subordinates.
  • You are looking for someone that has no trouble accepting praise and rarely gives anyone else credit.
  • Ask them what they think of their peers, if they have mostly negative things to say, then you likely have a toxic leader.
  • When something goes wrong, see if they tell you who was at fault or if they focus instead on how to fix the problem.  See how easy it is for them to answer the question about who was at fault.
  • Talk to their subordinates.  If you’re a leader that’s worth a damn, then you should already be doing this.

Someone who doesn’t care about employees who is in a leadership position is like a nuclear bomb to morale.  These people negatively influence not only their own teams, but adjacent units as well.  Their mere presence reduces productivity, and drives away your best leaders.

If you care at all for the people working for you, you will actively hunt down any toxic members and eliminate them from your team.  If you don’t want to do that…well…you’re the problem.

-LJF

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