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It All Begins
With Vision/Mission!
By: Ed Yager
I placed Ken Shelton right on the top of my list of
must interviews. I was anxious to hear how he has translated his breadth
of knowledge into a personal leadership practice. For one as obsessed
with reading on leadership and organization performance as I, my introduction
into the Center for Excellence in Provo nearly blew me away. It is the
latest endeavor for Ken Shelton , Chairman and Executive Editor of Executive
Excellence Publishing, in this case addressing Ken's idea that to simply
read a book is not enough. Instead he invites leaders and executives,
to drop in and interact, browse the shelves of hundreds of titles, purchase
the most relevant, search the computer based courses and files, and join
in regular afternoon discussion groups. "I believe you must have
interaction. You create meaning by dealing with others. Without this interaction
I think the obsession with electronic networks will collapse like a house
of cards. I don't think there is any way to avoid the need people have
for getting together. People are crying for meaningful relationships."
Ken has written over 500 hundred books and articles including Real Success
and Beyond Counterfeit Leadership. Another exciting new venture is the
Personal Excellence Plan, a process based on moving individuals beyond
passive reading into a dynamic process of personal growth. Q: What is
the state of leadership today? "I think the dramatic changes we are
seeing throughout the world are not so much caused by social and political
changes as they are economic. I think the strong message in the breeze
is saying that if you can get your act together you can make alot more
money and benefit alot more people than you are currently doing. That
idea is sweeping the world. What matters is performance. This philosophy
is what drives Executive Excellence and that is one of the characteristics
of all truly great leaders." Q: What is your own view or philosophy
of leadership? In the past the success literature was based on the idea
that with powerful ideas, self motivation, and self discipline you could
do anything. In today's culture that is almost written off - that people
can do anything on their own. If I have a coach, a mentor, a support group,
colleagues, and if I am in a motivating environment and in a team, I can
do something. I'm caught in the transition of that old school and the
new. I still believe that one person with good ideas can do alot. I also
recognize that a supportive coach and a supportive team can get much more
out of you. So what we do is to try and cater to that trend. We supply
the best stuff we can, but we do it with some mild intervention and with
a plan to get the process rolling." "In the organizational/political
realm it is highly prized to be a facilitator, a compromiser, a communicator,
or an arbitrator - always looking for a middle ground. As a result many
'leaders' are not leaders at all. They are simply working well in the
system. That isn't what I am about. It isn't what most leaders are about."
Q: Much of what we read is about the brutality of business, right- sizing,
downsizing, merging, reinvention and all. What is going on? "It is
part of what the market requires of effective leaders. If the organization
is out of shape, unresponsive, overweight, irresponsible, or inflexible,
it will not survive. This is what a leaders must do to compete successfully.
But it doesn't mean you have to destroy people along the way. Results
and relationships are not mutually exclusive. You can have both. It is
simply about making people accountable for their performance with tough
minded criteria, and that is not counter productive nor is it people negative.
We value our people but we are a performance company. We try to make it
as easy as possible to perform well. You have to come with your spikes
on and be ready to play four quarters. Everybody here knows that and I
don't apologize for that. The way work is depicted on TV works against
rea l leadership. It seems that work is primarily about social interaction.
You never see people do real work." Q: Have you had to change your
own personal behavior in order to become a leader? "Absolutely! I
am primarily a writer, an editor, a publisher, a peak performer who can
work in a closet . I'm primarily a talent, and I had to learn how to lead
a rapidly growing company along with alot of independent affiliates where
you have no hope of controlling - only leading. I have learned to let
go, to trust, to stop trying to control even things in my talent area.
I don't apologize for making people work to get the job done." Q:
You talk about a performance environment. How do you accomplish this?
"This is as basic as it gets, and yet when you require it of people
they say wo-- that might require me to make some change or do something
new or become more effective. Once they get over that hurdle and begin
to feed on positive changes I can step away, I don't have to be around
because it is self generati ng, self motivating, that is what leaders
do!" Q: How do you keep track of what is going on? In my experience
with hundreds of performance improvement assignments, Ken's response here
is right on target. Peter Drucker titled the first chapter of one of his
earliest books, Management By Objectives - Not Control; yet even today
objectives and goals are sadly underused and control is the style of the
day. Ken says, "Keep the measures simple and relevant to the task
the person is doing. Usually there are just three. Then track it, reward
it, and incent it. I have incentives everywhere I can. There is always
an incentive for improving performance." Q: Do you have other motivational
activities - events for example? "There are other things you can
do, but I discount these alot because they don't mean anything to me personally.
I'm a one-on-one kind of guy. For me the secret is step up and get the
job done, do it right, and you will be well rewarded." Q: What about
the vision thing? "It has to be . Vision Mission! It all starts with
that. Ours evolved out of what we do. I'm not high on 3 day conferences
to get a mission statement. It is the meaning that is so important. Ours
is simple. To help you find a wiser, better way to live your life and
lead the organization. Perhaps this is Ken's real secret. It is not personality
or style, it is the depth of the conviction and passion and the frequency
and sincerity of its mention. "You know", he said, "to
sum this up it all comes down to meaningful results in a real world application.
Keep people focused, and work with teams so people actually enjoy being
pushed beyond what they originally resented. When people know how much
better they must be they will run just that much harder. They can taste
it, they can feel it."
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Seminars