AuthorGreg Chaney

A Father’s (in-law) Influence

3 Min read

20130616-145408.jpg

I’m blessed with a father who is a life-long influence to me. Every day the influence of my father is evident in my mannerisms, my life view, and my drive for excellence. Without him the very essence of who I am would not be and the success I’ve achieved only a hope. The influence I receive has been extended to my wife’s father since our marriage. I am blessed with two Christian men, both elders in the church, on which I rely on for wise counsel and example.

The reality of my blessings remind me of a moment in Moses life during which he was struggling with the burden of leading the Israelites, a burden he took solely on his own. It was during an exchange recorded in Exodus 18 between Moses and his father-in-law Jethro that the power of a father’s influence is realized. An influence that ultimately enabled Moses to endure the hardships of leading God’s people as they journeyed to the promised land. Jethro instructed Moses in some of the most profound leadership principles we use today, span of control and delegation. The salient verse in the exchange reads this way:

So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. (Exodus 18:24 NASB)

During this exchange Moses greets Jethro with great reverence, Jethro in turn praises Moses accomplishments, through God, before offering his counsel. Jethro’s advice was built on a relationship of mutual respect and honor without which the advice would likely have been disregarded.

Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. (Exodus 18:7 NASB)

You will notice as you read through the Biblical account that Moses’ father is never mentioned beyond his heritage from the Tribe of Levi. Rabbinical literature indicates his father was Amram who was “one of the long-lived saints whose life extended over many generations of Jews.” Maybe because Moses was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter he doesn’t seem to have been around for Moses. Modern cultures are creating families without fathers. I’m fortunate to not be included in that population but if you are be like Moses and seek advice from the one with whom you have that fatherly relationship. If you don’t have someone, seek them.

Fathers and children alike should consider the relationship between Moses and Jethro as a strong model:

1. Build a relationship of honor mutual respect before counsel is required
2. Fathers, do not hesitate to guide your children, even if they are adult leaders of thousands
3. Children, listen to your fathers and do what they say
4. Fatherly wisdom doesn’t always come from biological fathers.
5. Glorify God together for the blessings he provides

So Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.” (Exodus 18:10, 11 NASB)

 

Happy Father’s Day Dad and Lou David. You are a blessing to my life.

Read later

Guard against the lack of vision

1 Min read

Thomas_J_Watson_Sr“You must guard constantly against those who lack vision.  You must guard against the reactionary mind.  Always cultivate and associate with persons of vision and with persons who believe that things are going to be better.  When you do this, you take on the kind of vision, backed by the right kind of inspiration that you need if you are going to grow . . . .” Thomas Watson, Sr., 1874-1956, chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM)

Read later

Sleep to be an Effective Leader

3 Min read

20130117-200134.jpgI’m writing in the Washington National Airport early in the morning after a routine pre-flight night of restless sleep (about 2 hours worth). I’m tired and not very interested in doing much of anything. The culture in which I work places an informal value on early mornings, long work days, and late nights. It a badge of honor to say you’ve been awake for numbers of hours. My formal leadership training taught me to believe that a leader only needs four hours of sleep to be effective, a mantra I use to motivate myself late at night. Turns out, that’s all wrong.

Nicholas Hughes’ Good piece on How I Made Sleep a Priority – and Got More Productive opened my eyes (sorry for the pun) to what I had suspected was true, sleep matters…a lot. Its especially important to manage sleep as we age and deep sleep becomes more difficult. Hughes’ article as well as the 2006 Harvard Business Review article he references left me with some points to consider for my personal and corporate sleep management:

1. Sufficient, effective sleep makes helps you be more productive.

2. Insufficient sleep is hazardous to your health. The tragedies associated with driving while sleep impaired are well known. But we tend to thing we aren’t the ones at risk. However, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities anyway. Not only may the effects of sleep deprivation be irreversible, but chronic deprivation may lead to long-term health issues:

Many people gain weight as they age, too. Interestingly, chronic sleep restriction increases levels of appetite and stress hormones; it also reduces one’s ability to metabolize glucose and increases the production of the hormone ghrelin, which makes people crave carbohydrates and sugars, so they get heavier, which in turn raises the risk of sleep apnea, creating a vicious cycle. Harvard Business Review

3. Personal sleep management is deliberate. Instead of a catch-as-catch-can sleep plan, leaders should adhere to a strict sleep plan that is compatible with your work schedule and personal preferences. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the National Sleep Foundation recommend these tips on hacking effective sleep:
– maintain a regular sleep schedule
– establish a pre-sleep routine that prepares you for deep sleep
– create an environment that is comfortable and conducive to sleep
– exercise regularly but avoid vigorous exercise within a few hours of bedtime.

4. Corporate sleep management is deliberate. HBR recommends that companies formalize the importance of sleep and make productive sleep a part of the culture. Leaders can implement (and enforce) policies that contribute to the culture:
– limit hours worked to 12 per day and 60 per week. Only exceptionally allow 16 hour days
– require one day off per week, two is better
– avoid extreme flight schedules such as red-eye flights, single day trips, or complicated connections.
– allow a day of rest after an international flight

Sleep well!

Read later

The Commanders Role in Mission Command

2 Min read

The military is tasked with conducting highly complex operations in a life and death environment. Lessons learned since 1775 have evolved the way the military conducts mission command, an evolution that no amount of civilian theory can replicate. When reading military doctrine substitute military lexicon such as commander, mission, and warfighter with the civilian equivalent of your culture (chief executive officer, senior pastor, president; sales, spiritual growth, operations).

The commander is the central figure in mission command. To the commander comes the mission for the unit; in the commander resides the authority and responsibility to act and to lead so that the mission may be accomplished. In mission command, the commander must blend the art of command and the science of control, as he, supported by the staff, integrates all joint war fighting functions. (General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mission Command White Paper April 2012)

To be effective, from the outset of every mission the commander must:
1. Understand the problem
2. Envision the end state
3. Visualize the nature and design of the operations
4. Describe time, space, resources and purpose for the mission
5. Understand the intent of the mission
6. Clearly translate the intent to subordinates
7. Understand subordinate capabilities and trust (but verify) them to do it

Read later

Army Leadership Definition

1 Min read

Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.

An Army leader is anyone who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people to accomplish organizational goals. Army leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization.

As defined in Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22, Army Leadership August 2012

Read later

The Commander’s (Leader’s) Intent

5 Min read

HesburghVisionWithout a clear understanding of what the boss wants, organizations will inevitably fail to achieve it. Without the gift of mind reading, success depends on the boss clearly communicating what he wants. This holds true regardless of the nature of the organizations, its size or purpose. Church leaders, business executives, managers, and heads of families could take a lesson from an enterprise that literally depends on communicating intent to save lives.

The military understands that the absence of a clear understanding of the commander’s intent, for any given operation, could result in the unnecessary death of people. The U.S. Army’s manual on the operations process emphasizes this by connecting the commander’s intent to everything about an operation including how the staff plans operations, the disciplined initiative of subordinate commanders when the plan changes, and the level of risk that is appropriate to achieve the ends state.

The commander’s intent is a clear and concise expression of the purpose of the operation and the desired military end state that supports mission command, provides focus to the staff, and helps subordinate and supporting commanders act to achieve the commander’s desired results without further orders, even when the operation does not unfold as planned (ARDP 5-0, Pg 1-5 )

Several principles govern the creation of intent:

  1. Commanders (substitute any leader as necessary) must have a vision (end state)
  2. Commanders must create and communicate intent by describing the components of their vision on their own. I have been in too many planning meetings where the boss asks the staff to come up with the intent; this is a responsibility that cannot be delegated.
  3. The intent must be concise and easy to remember, the shorter the better.
  4. The intent should be understood two levels below the commander. In Army terms, a brigade commander will frame intent so that a company commander understands it.
  5. Intent will provide the framework for action, shared understanding and focus until the end state is achieved

“The very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”— Theodore Hesburgh

With these principles in place, a commander can frame their intent using three components: Expanded purpose statement, list of key tasks, and statement of end state

  1. Expanded Purpose. The Army communicates purpose, or why an action is taken, in the mission statement of an operation order. The expanded purpose gives the context beyond why an action is planned by addressing the strategic implications to success and how it affects other parts of the organization.
  2. Key tasks. A brief list of activities required to achieve the desired end state. Staffs use the key task list to ensure the development of suitable and acceptable plans. When situations changes and significant opportunities present themselves, subordinates use the key tasks to focus their efforts to take initiative and achieve the end state.
  3. End state. Similar to a vision statement, the end state statement in more descriptive in describing the conditions that will exist when the organization has successfully met the commander’s intent. Write the description of end state in present tense as if everything has been actualized and the organization has achieved the best possible outcome.

    (more…)

Read later

The Drop-in and Catch-up Synergy

2 Min read

Every office has a ritual that is as important to the health of the organization as the business meeting…the ritual of dropping in on and catching up with co-workers and bosses following a lengthy holiday. I was reminded of this today as I returned to work following a week off for Christmas and the New Year celebrations. My goals were to finalize my calendar for the coming weeks and clear my desk of the administrative tasks before meetings began again. What happened was a stream of unscheduled visitors leading with the question, “How was your Christmas?” Virtually none of my goals for the day were accomplished.

Because my personality is to focus on my goals the interruptions were not welcome. Mid-morning I realized that leaders don’t manage with processes and goals, they manage with people. The post-holiday ritual is necessary to reestablish the bonds and thinking that create synergistic teams.

Synergy — the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously. Mark Twain

The take away, schedule at least a half-day following a holiday for social protocols. Perhaps a deliberate social event (such as a team breakfast) would fulfill the social cues that human nature demands in a more efficient manner while enabling the team of reestablish the synergy required for an organizational to excel.

Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people. Stephen Covey

Read later

Calendar

January 2025
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031