Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part Two)



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In the first part of this two part article, I talked about the importance of character in leadership. After all, the best leadership involves the people bonding with the leader in deep, human, emotional ways. The passive way of looking at character is that the bonding won't happen if the people are confused about or disdain your character. But there is also an active way of looking at character: You can use aspects of your character to actually promote results. Your best character traits can be turned results-multipliers. Here's how.

By the way, the results I'm talking about don't necessarily have to be organizational results. Many leaders have used my processes in their lives outside their organizations, with teenagers or with their spouses, for example, and not simply as a "leadership" process. Who you are as a leader should be intertwined with who you are as a person. If your leadership is not your life, you diminish both your leadership and your life.

To begin with, select any one of the character traits you identified in Part One. We will focus on ways to use that trait to get increases in results, however you define those results.

For example, the trait "always ready to forgive" can be a results driver, because it enables you to clear the air with the people you need to help you get results. After all, if you're always ready to forgive slights and perceived slights, you avoid blame shifting and finger pointing — both impediments to organizational results.

Epictetus (AD 55–135), another stoic philosopher, said, "Small-minded people habitually reproach each other for their own misfortunes. … Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom understand that the impulse to blame someone or something is foolishness. … The more we examine our attitudes and work on ourselves, the less we are apt to be swept away by stormy emotional reactions in which we seek easy explanations for unbidden events."

Although one's relationships in leadership are predicated on results, the most effective results-producing relationships arise when these relationships ultimately have nothing to do with results, when people respond to you not just as a leader but simply and profoundly as a human being.

Get your values and your character right and the rest of leadership is a matter of details. After all, freedom isn't just in what you make happen, it's also in what you let happen.

Furthermore, have the character trait you are acting on be a solution to your audience's needs.

Put the character/solution into the soup of a results-challenge and then simply observe what cooks up. In other words, in a situation calling for results, act on the character trait you want to emphasize — in this case, being always ready to forgive — and observe the results.

Of course, with this trait, your effort won't work unless there are hard feelings in the air, but finding someone exhibiting such feelings shouldn't be difficult — if you're leading well. If your leadership challenges don't lead to some people feeling overburdened, you're not challenging them enough.

Take action with a group of people or an individual. You might say something like, "I know we've had hard feelings, and if there's blame to be handed out for causing them, you can look to me. But, as the first step in going after the new results, let's start with a fresh slate."

When focusing on this particular character trait, it's important to avoid setting up conditions. Saying, for example, "If I do this, I expect you to do that" depreciates the trait. Character should exist without conditions, in you and for you, regardless of outside influences such as other people's opinions. Otherwise, they wouldn't be lasting character traits, but changeable sensibilities.

When we're dealing with character and results, we can't expect to force the results. Let them grow naturally out of the interaction. It's like putting a seed crystal into a supersaturated solution. Given the proper solution and the right tension, you get an organic eruption of crystals. That's why I emphasize that you should understand and acquire the power of being be an observer.

Focus on putting the trait into action as a solution for the needs of your cause leaders in order to increase results.

Remember, the trait of always being ready to forgive is just one of many you can work on. No matter which trait you're developing, use the process I've just described to manifest it for results.

In the long run, the important thing about leadership is not what we achieve but who we become in our achievements. A focus on our character, not only for the sake of character itself but also for the kinds of results character engenders, will make that becoming a treasure of our lives.

2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com



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This is a guest blog post written by Dave Kawula, a Senior Consultant with 1E. Dave was the guest on our January episode of the AlignIT Manager Tech Talk where we talked about how IT managers can take the risk out of their Windows 7 deployment projects. Below Dave details cost savings that can be claimed by implementing automation and self service as part of your deployment project.

Read Dave’s other guest post on rationalizing your apps prior to a Windows 7 deployment >>

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Imagine that you have finally completed the following phases of your project:

Core Architecture, Gold Image Build and Test, Application Rationalization, Testing, Testing, and more Testing

Now you need to get your images deployed to end users…well this is a problem because most organizations lack the forethought to automate this process.

So when it comes to deploying Microsoft’s operating systems there are really two choices that we are normally presented with: Lite Touch and Zero Touch. Let’s take a moment and define both of these:

  • Lite Touch = Some manual intervention from a desktop analyst or from user driven menus.
  • Zero Touch = Fully automated builds when an administrator can choose to deploy operating system upgrades on demand.

Now do either of the above work… the answer is yes absolutely. The issue is that all of this requires Careful coordination and communication to end users. This process normally involves hiring project managers, business analysts, corporation communication specialists, and costly IT Engineering time.

My question is this: We are in a world where we can get applications delivered to all of our phones by simply clicking in a portal and having them magically installed. We can change devices and simply re-deploy these applications from the same portal.

WHAT IF… you could do the same thing for your Windows 7 deployment. Just treat the Windows 7 deployment as nothing more than a complex application. Allowing end users to click on a Windows 7 upgrade icon in a portal. Then have them them schedule their own upgrade for a time that works for them.

Check out this product from 1E Software called yes you guessed it, 1E Shopping:

image

Does this mean death to the manual spreadsheets… well probably not – we always seem to return to what we know and love. I have personally deployed this product and have seen the impact it has on the classical approach to operating system and software delivery. The only requirement for Shopping is that a customer must already own and have configured System Center Configuration Manager.

The best part of this application is that it can be easily be installed and configured in less than five consulting days.

So I want to wrap up this post with a little bit of simple math for everyone:

  • Assume each Windows 7 Upgrade costs an organization $3000 per desktop.
  • Assume that approximately 50 % of deployed software is not used.
  • Assume that each request for Software costs an organization $200 (BTW This is a really safe number) I haven’t seen it much lower than this.
  • Assume it takes over 5 business days to receive the software after a request.

Now…here is a look at the old way!

Deploy 1000 Desktops x $3,000 each = $300,000 in resource costs

  • Assume 25 applications averaging 100 each with 50 % unused and deployed to all workstations. 25 Apps x 1000 Desktops x $100 Average License Cost = 2.5 /mil investment in software. This would work out to having approximately $2500 in software on each desktop – You all know this number is really low!
  • Assume that the organization receives 20 software deployment requests per week for 52 weeks per year. 20 Request x 52 Weeks x $200 average cost = $208,000 in resource costs to deploy software.
  • Assume that it takes 5 business days to receive your software once requested. Well you do the math on this one – quantify the cost of lost productivity for your employees!!!

How about the new way!!! Take the opportunity to incorporate this organizational change into your Windows 7 projects.

From my previous post on application rationalization:

  • Deployment costs reduced by 30 % simply by “Rationalizing” the number of applications that need to be ported to Windows 7 and automating the delivery mechanisms for the images. You could easily save over $90,000 in soft costs out of the gate.
  • Reduce the amount of Software Renewals, Support, Deployment, and licensing costs. Once again we “Rationalize” all of our apps. Assume a 50% savings for your organization what does that return? How about an estimated 1 /mil + savings in hard and soft costs. By the way – now that you have a tool that helps rationalize this – think of the savings the next time the licensing police come visit you.

Add in savings from using automation and self service:

  • Reduce the amount of annual software deployment costs by over 50%. Savings of over $104,000 in soft costs.

Assume your budget for this Windows 7 project was around $500,000. I will leave you pondering those numbers. Now of course remember there is an acquisition cost of new software that would save money. The nice thing about 1E is that all of their software pretty much pays for itself very quickly.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and I welcome any feedback or if you want to share your experiences with your Windows 7 projects thus far.


About Dave Kawula

clip_image002[4]Dave Kawula is an MCSE and CNE with over fifteen years of experience in the IT industry and a senior consultant with IE. His background includes data communications networks within multi-server LAN/WAN environments. He has experience with project management, network strategic planning, network design and integration. He has led the architecture for NT, SMS/SCCM, Exchange and Internet Gateways, including managing migration paths and issues as well as implementation. He has supported a variety of network infrastructures as well as architecting and defining technical standards.

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