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Effective Leadership: Mastering the Fundamentals Presented to the North Carolina Bar Association Wilmington, NC June 20, 2014 Butch Tate Senior Fellow for Veteran Legal Affairs Justice for Vets. Leadership Theories.
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Effective Leadership: Mastering the FundamentalsPresented to the North Carolina Bar Association Wilmington, NC June 20, 2014Butch TateSenior Fellow for Veteran Legal AffairsJustice for Vets
Leadership Theories “The one quality that can be developed by studious reflection and practice is… leadership….” Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Parameters,” Winter 2010-11 2
“Research shows that leadership and management training of justice system personnel would allow them to be adaptive to the needs of society and better able to effectively, efficiently use scarce resources allocated to the system by the North Carolina Legislature.” Judge James E. Hardin, Jr. Resident Superior Court Judge, 14th Judicial District Leadership and Management in the North Carolina Judicial System: An Examination of Identified Need
“98.2 % of he respondents said leadership skills are important or very important for individuals in the justice system.” • “Public service lawyers and judges consider themselves to be leaders in their districts.” • And, their “leadership challenges revolve around a lack of cooperation, coordination and communication” among those who work in the justice system. Judge James E. Hardin, Jr. Resident Superior Court Judge, 14th Judicial District Leadership and Management in the North Carolina Judicial System: An Examination of Identified Need
Fundamentals • Having a Vision and Mission • Communicating Expectations • Providing Opportunities for Growth • Training and Educating • Coaching, Teaching, Mentoring • Having Leader Values • Providing Information – who else needs to know? • Managing Unmet Expectations
Judge Hardin’s top 3 Training Needs • Developing Teamwork Among Employees • Developing a Positive Culture Creating • Collaborative Working Relationships • Implied in all this…Training and Education
Vision Mission The Fundamentals: Having a Vision and Mission • Organizations must understand their mission (the here and now of the organization) and their vision (the future of the organization). • Organizational missions and visions are achieved through the identification and implementation of organizational objectives (goals). Such goals may focus solely on the organization’s mission or vision but most often will complement both. • Objectives are achieved through various initiatives. Objective Objective Objective Initiatives Initiative Initiative Initiatives Initiative Initiatives
The Fundamentals:Communicating Expectations • Communication is an essential component of leading others: • Share how a task/project (initiative) supports the objective & how the objective supports your mission/organization as a whole • Focus subordinates on what you perceive to be the most important aspects of a given task or project; let them develop the rest • Provide positive reinforcement; reward success • If expectations are not met, are you willing to ask yourself whether others knew what you expected? • Performance Evaluation Counseling Do I matter…?
The Fundamentals: Providing Opportunities for Growth • Provide Challenging Work Assignments focused on developing the “total person” • Empower Your Team - give them a task, provide the tools and the authorityand let them impress you with the result • “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” Lieutenant General George S. Patton • Underwriting Mistakes v. Zero Defect Environment • Effective leaders hold themselves and subordinates to the highest standards while underwriting mistakes. • Honest mistakes happen; they should be expected, managedand overcome. • Train and educate your work force so they are prepared for challenges
The Fundamentals: Training & Educating • “To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away.” Confucius • Institutional Leadership Training – invest in your personnel • Maximize Opportunities: • In House • Web events • Attorneys and Paraprofessionals • Individual/Personal Leader Training • High end—Advanced Degree Opportunities—is there a plan should the funds become available?
The Fundamentals: Coaching, Teaching & Mentoring • A Team Sport: Who is your leadership team? • Provide Positive Reinforcement. Reward Success • Notes, Cards, Calls • Names -- We all have one • The Quiet Professional • Buy-in from your team – seek candid input • Lead, Communicate and Do by example • Foster Collegiality • Inculcate Organizational Values • “A mentor was someone who took the time to guide, counsel, advise, and teach and prepare one for increased responsibility, and thus higher rank.” Edgar Puryear, American Generalship
The Fundamentals:Having Leader Values • Be yourself • Nest Leader Values with Team Values • Do what is right and others will be inspired to do the same • Balance • Change … in due course • Patience • Perform under stress • Focus—you…or others?
The Fundamentals:Providing Information(Who Else Needs to Know?) • Institutionalize Information Flow across Stakeholders: • Vertically • Horizontally • Diagonally • Insist on a Bottom Line • System of Information Flow, e.g.: • Weekly Synchronization Meetings • Division Chiefs/ Senior Leaders Meetings • Newsletter • Website
The Fundamentals: Managing Unmet Expectations • Train, coach & mentor to fix the problem • Sort out what happened and why • Learn from mistakes by using constructive after action reports • When it’s broken and cannot be fixed • Expect mistakes and accept responsibility for them • Coach, Teach, Mentor, Train, Retrain • Make hard calls; how many “second chances?” • Identify and resolve root cause of failure • Leaders do more than fix problems; leaders emplace systems to prevent problems
Closing Thoughts • Immense responsibility • Think before you lead • You either care or you don’t • You aren’t perfect…so why pretend • At some point the real you will shine through • And finally…The Humble Leader • And finally, finally, The Bathsheba Syndrome
Effective Leadership: Mastering the FundamentalsPresented to the North Carolina Bar Association Wilmington, NC June 20, 2014Butch TateSenior Fellow for Veteran Legal AffairsJustice for Vets