What the Chameleon Teaches Us about Leadership

Leaders today face a myriad of issues on a minute-by-minute basis.  Each of these situations calls for the same person to react completely differently to each in order to come to a reasonable solution and ultimately resolution of the problem.  As such unless a Leader is willing to adapt and re-organize, their efforts will be futile and they will ultimately fail.

Adaptive Leadership is the name given to the style of leadership that adjusts as needed to meet the challenge at hand.  It is an evolutionary process undertaken to ensure the success of an organization.  In order to succeed a Leader needs to pattern their leadership style to become like a chameleon. 

Like chameleons, Leaders need to be able to focus on two items simultaneously and independently.  This allows Leaders to be aware of situations happening in several locations at the same time, which allows them to be proactive in dismantling potential conflicts and other unwanted situations.  When Leaders are able to lead proactively rather than re-actively, organizations are able to function at full potential.

When a chameleon eats, their tongue, which is their primary method used to secure food for survival, can exceed the length of the chameleon’s body by double and deploy at speeds in excess of 41 G’s.  When you think about it that is tremendously fast.  Leaders have to act fast to ensure the survival of the organization.  They cannot mope around expecting things to work themselves out or waiting for “inspiration”.  They have to be immediate in their actions and confident in the outcome.

Most species of chameleons can change color and adapt to their surroundings.  Leaders need to be able to adapt their style and approach to the situation and individual or group that they are dealing with.  This is most difficult with larger organizations where the Leader has to interact with large numbers, but just because something is difficult, that does not make it impossible.  Nevertheless, good Leaders are able to quickly analyze the individual need of their subordinates, adapt to the situation, and employ a style of leadership that best meets the needs of the individual with whom they are interacting.  Those Leaders who refuse to adapt to the situation are often stuck in a rut and will find themselves consistently moving towards a less practical style of leadership when dealing with individuals.  You cannot effectively use a one-size fits all mentality when you are dealing with individuals that come from all types of backgrounds and personal situations.

Real Leaders are those Leaders who, despite of the challenges and difficulties that they face can adapt their approach to the circumstance that surrounds them and move forward with an effective style that meets the needs of their subordinates.  This is true in the work place, on a team, or in the home. 

There are countless books and seminars available to teach Leaders how to be more effective Adaptive Leaders—these books have been written by very smart people who have dedicated their lives to developing Leaders that are effective and successful. Nevertheless, you can read every book ever written and attend every seminar and convention on leadership available, and never be an effective leader unless you put into practice what you learn.  Stop to ask yourself some important questions about your personal leadership style.  Start with these two and make a list that focuses on yourself rather than on how you perceive how others perceive you.

Does my approach to leadership help my team to succeed?

As you approach this question, you have to be willing to evaluate yourself and listen to constructive feedback from your team members.  They know whether you help them, and they will tell you— and tell you what you need to hear. 

Do I care about the members of my team enough to figure out what they need from me?

If you do not care about the members of your team to determine what they need from you as a Leader, then maybe you should reevaluate your style to include the needs of your members in order to ensure the success of the organization.

These two questions will help you as you pivot towards a more adaptive style of leadership.  As you employ more personal leadership inventories on a regular basis, you will begin to see your effectiveness increase and the success of your organization as a whole.

Why Hire a Business Consultant/Coach

As a business consultant for over 10 years I've come across many different types of businesses and more importantly a very diverse selection of business owners.  I love working with business owners, there is something about entrepreneurs that is intriguing.  It takes a special kind of person to start a business because most businesses fail within the first few years.  What is even more intriguing is that many of these people do it over and over again until they make it, if ever.

Real Business Owners understand that in order to succeed they need to surround themselves with high quality individuals to help them work their business.  Even then it is virtually impossible for people to be able to do everything or see everything.  Business owners are very emotionally intertwined with their business and they typically don't like to admit that something is wrong.  That is where a consultant or coach comes in.  A consultant will review the business operations, financials, records, documentation, etc to see where any deficiencies  are and work to create a plan to fix them and get things running more smoothly so that the business owners and their staff can focus on the business at hand.  As the consultant takes a objective look at the business they are able to provide real solutions to those problems that plague most businesses.

For example, a few years ago I was working with a trucking company in a small town in Utah.  The company was doing quite well with their sales revenues, posting about $1.7 million in sales in their second year of operations, but they were struggling to stay open.  They invited me in to review their Quickbooks set up thinking that they were having a problem with tracking through their software.  Once there I was able to take a look at everything they were doing.  I developed a tracking system to determine where money was being wasted with in house truck repairs compared to outsourcing this service. I developed a tracking for individual employee expenses and developed a collections practices operations manual and standard procedures and policies for collections.  You see they had a good revenue base, but cash flow was suffering due to the fact that they had no standard procedure and policy for collecting.  In all by the end of my second day there I had saved them over $250,000 annually and set them up to be able to collect on about $700,000 of their accounts receivables that was nearing over 160 days past due.  That was almost $1 million in effective direct benefit from bringing in a consultant to help.

Sometimes business owners just need to bounce ideas off of someone who will be open to listening and at the same time be honest, and sometimes brutally honest.  I have a friend who is starting up a business.  When he first came up with the idea he came to me to see if I would assist him.  I agreed to be his coach and now he calls me frequently with ideas and updates on research.  As we talk I bring up all of the "what if" questions, which at times can be frustrating for him, but it makes him think and he comes back with a more solid plan when we speak again.  Playing the "devil's advocate" is sometimes all a coach will do, but the service is invaluable.

So in conclusion, the best reason why I would say that a business owner or entrepreneur would want to hire a consultant or coach is to help their business truly succeed.  Of coarse I am biased here, but even I as a business coach and consultant hire consultants for my businesses.

What is Innovation

Recently I received an award for business innovation.  As I've contemplated this award, I've asked myself what is business innovation.  My motto in business is, Innovation, Solutions, Service, so what is innovation?

It might seem like a simple answer, you can say it means new ideas, or new ways of looking at things.  To me innovation means a lot more.  It means being on the forefront of your industry.  It means researching the industry you are in and then then researching similar or like minded industries and then finding lasting solutions for your business.

A business entity is a living breathing thing.  If organized correctly, it will continue to live long after the founder has gone.  Therefore just like you can't go through life with the same skill set that you used when a baby, you have to grow and evolve as a business.  As you pass through the infancy stage of business you have to start looking at ways to re-energize your base clientele and bring new customers to the door.  Look at most successful businesses and you will see this practiced time and time again.  For example, there was a time when McDonald's would have been satisfied making cheeseburgers and fries and leaving it at that.  But their market analysts saw the writing on the wall and they began offering salads and alternatives to the traditional hamburger.  Carl's Jr. started beating them up in their advertising so they introduced the Angus burger line.  Now they are marketing the McCafe motif and renovating their stores to be more "upscale" with a modern look.  They are no longer the children's restaurant, but the young professional adults.

That is just one example of how a business must incorporate innovation into their business model.  Now, I am not saying that you have to be constantly renewing your business and introducing every fad into your business model.  Fads come and go, you shouldn't bankrupt yourself trying to always be on the cutting edge.  You can research each new trend and determine by your experience and customer demographic whether or not something might work for you.  Things that work in New York City, might not work or be practical in Stockton, Utah, and that's ok.  Your customers will help you sometimes determine if something will work or not.  Also, instead of going all in and making the change and expecting your customers to like it, do a trial run for a limited time and see how it is accepted.  That way your investment in minimal if it doesn't work for your business.

Another aspect of innovation in business is preparing a long-term and short-term plan on how you want to grow your business.  Since you don't want to bankrupt yourself by trying to implement everything overnight, make a plan on what things you can effectively implement now, and in the near future to increase sales and stabilize your business operations.  Then take the things that you want to implement in a year or two years and make a plan on how you are going to do it and what needs to be done prior.  Set measurable benchmarks to ensure that you are moving towards those goals.  And remember don't get discouraged if your one year plan is taking a little longer, because some things are just hard to plan for.  The important thing is that you have a plan in place and that you are constantly reviewing the plan and adjusting as needed, but don't just feel that you can freely adjust and postpone things all the time, you need to challenge yourself to make it and then do it.

In conclusion, I think every business owner should be a master of innovation.  You should always try and set your business in the forefront of your industry.  Be the benchmark that other similar businesses are measured against.  Don't be left behind and become the dinosaur of the industry or worst yet just another business fatality on the highway of success.