# Presentation: 937558

## Leadership Training

- Shift Leader Workshop                          Anchorage
- June 24-26, 2008

## Part I

- General Leadership Principles

## Qualities of a Leader

- Ten Qualities of a Leader...
- 	Have a vision, make decisions, take risks, motivate others,
- 	build teams, possess self-knowledge, display integrity,
- 	pursue lifelong learning, communicate effectively,
- 	help others succeed

## Role of the Shift Leader

- Role model
- Team player
- Scientist (technical expert)
- Communicator

- Lead by example
- Staff members look up to you for direction
- Respect is earned...never given
- 	*Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. **George S. Patton*

## Operations

- You are the key operational “belly button” in your office
- During a weather event, you are the person who “calls the shots”
- You may assign duties to folks (e.g. weather coordinator, answer public phone calls, have folks conduct briefings, or issue special products)

## Chain of Command in Alaska RegionOperations

- MIC / HIC / Director *
- WCM or SOO, DOH, TWSO *
- Senior Forecaster/Watchstander *
- * WCATWC

- WCM/SOO/DOH/TWSO

- SENIOR FORECASTER/ HYDROLOGIST/
- WATCHSTANDER

- MIC/HIC/ DIRECTOR

## Shift operations

- Begin with a quick “5 minute” huddle
- Discuss problem(s) of the day – roles and responsibilities of the forecasters – assignment of X shift to operations (or heads up that it may be necessary during the shift)
- Redistribute work if necessary based on the situation of the day

## Quickly identify...

- Physical processes and patterns (pattern recognition)
- Define the problem(s) of the day
- Maintain situational awareness
- Anticipate potential situations (e.g. upcoming winter storm, begin thinking about specialized briefings to customers, increased staffing, etc.)

## Part II

- Your Role as a Leader in the Organization

## Interpersonal Relations

- Take the time to build rapport with co-workers
- Treat each other with respect as individuals
- Work together to achieve the common goal

## “Effectiveness Foundations”

- #1	Build Relationship of Rapport (ROR)
- #2  Clarify Expectations
- #3  Awareness Guides Actions

## #1 Build Relationship of Rapport (ROR)

- Rapport: the experience of compatibility, affinity (its hard to work with strangers)
- Rapport means that people admire you, see the best of themselves in you, perceive in who they want to be
*The root of ****50%**** of organizational problems: poor relationships*
- Continually develop comfortable working relationships with others

## Nail Puzzle

- Take a 16P nail in pound it into a 1 inch x 1 inch cube of wood to create Nail Tower 1.
- Do this again with a second cube to create Nail Tower 2.
- Place these blocks 7-10 inches apart.
- Place 20 or more nails in the space between the cubes.
- The goal is to create a “nail bridge” using the materials provided so that the bridge nails only touch the heads of the two nail towers and not the wooden cubes or the table surface.

## Building Unity, Community,                     and Connection

- The answer:  move the nail towers closer together and use only 1 nail to bridge
- Teachable moment:  It takes less materials and less time to create a connection between the two “groups” when the first thing you do is bring the groups closer together.

## #2 Clarify Expectations

- Expectations drive our perception and our behavior
- What people expect is what they get
*The root of ****30%**** of organizational problems: unclear, unmet, unexpressed expectations*
- Clarify your expectations to others; understand and meet others positive expectations; explain organizational expectations to others; create positive expectations

## #3 Awareness Guides Actions

*Lead the Way Every Day**: *Requires heightened awareness
- Know your strengths, weaknesses and assumptions
- Be “self-referred” – refer back to your level of consciousness; how are you processing information
- What more do you need to know, do, believe to be effective? Over what time frame?

## Natural Laws of Leadership

- Leaders set the vision
- Define the goal
- Make the final decision
- A leader is a person who gains willing followers; managers direct subordinates, make the final goal
***Anyone who gains followers is leading.***

## Who Do You Consider a Leader?

- Place your picture here

## Respect

## Trust

## Conflict

- Conflict arises when you want something and another person wants something else
- Conflict occurs due to differences in perception and interdependence in the work place
- Conflict is inevitable and MUST be resolved!

## Conflict?

## More on conflict...

- Conflict is not necessarily bad
- Reasonable amounts of conflict are needed to ensure that decisions are reached
- No conflict = no one cares
- Conflict is constructive or destructive depending on how it is handled!

## Types of Conflict

- Pure 	Win – Win  (this is what we strive for)
- Competitive 	Win-Lose
- Tragedies a.k.a. “The death dance”     Lose-Lose
- Beware of the death dance.  The attitude here is “I don’t care if I die, as long as I take you with me”.

## Strategies to Manage Conflict

- Force : Win – Lose
- Accommodate: Lose – Win
- Avoid: Lose – Lose
- Compromise: Lose-Lose
- Collaborate: Win-Win
- NOTE:  Every strategy can be appropriate

## Perception

- The ways in which we perceive a situation help to dictate how we will approach and deal with it
- Past experiences and our individual upbringing, values, etc. will play a big role as well

*Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their jobs done.      - Peter Drucker*

## Perception

**Size contrast illusion:** The two central, medium-sized disks in this image are physically identical in size. Yet the one surrounded by the large disks looks smaller than the one surrounded by the little ones. When a normal person reaches out to grab the central disk, his/her fingers move exactly the same distance apart for either of them -- even though they look different in size.

## How is this picture possible?

## Count the black dots!

## Slide 31

## Move your head around while looking at this picture

## Face or liar?

## Collaboration

**What does it take to collaborate?**
- Adopt 2 basic beliefs:
- You need the other person and they need you to get what they want
- There is a win-win result available if you search for it: It may be a bumpy ride

## Building Consensus in the Team

- Building relationships is key
- Understanding and respecting where “other people are coming from”
- Ability to see things from a different perspective
- This brings a sense of trust and respect amongst team members

## Communication

- FACT:
- People communicate through: Tone 38%
- 	Body Language 55%
- 	Words 7%
- 	Face to face meetings are always best, however may not always be practical!

## Failure to Communicate...

## Ineffective Communication

## Milling Exercise

- There is NO TALKING allowed during this exercise!  Instructions to follow...

**Notes:**
Make blue triangles, orange stars, red squares (also make 1-3 of something else purple hexagon, green line, pink dot).  Start the folks in a circle and paste the drawings to their backs (be sure that 1-3 people have something else.  Tell them to start milling around...but there is no talking.  Let this happen for about 10 minutes.  Have the folks return to their seats and encourage discussion.  Ask the following questions:  How did it feel to be hardly given any rules to follow?  What kinds of ways did you communicate without talking?  For those who didn’t have any figures like the others, did you feel left out?  If so, did you find yourselves joining other milling participants that seemed left out?  

## Slide 40

## Slide 41

## Slide 42

## Slide 43

## Slide 44

## Slide 45

## Sources of Motivation

- Two types –
- Internal – based on the person
- External – driven by the organization

## Slide 47

## Building Teams

- Forecast teams
- Project teams

- Most common teams include:

- These are very different – choice vs. no choice

## Forecast Team

- As the shift lead, you are responsible to facilitate your teams activities
- You are the team lead
- Your staff looks to you for guidance and direction
- You call the shots in work delegation for your particular shift

## Project Teams

- Large projects are often more efficiently completed by “teams”
- Be sure to get the right “mix” of people on your team (e.g. need someone who sees the big picture of where you are going and someone who is good with the details)
- Every project does not require a “team”...too many teams is not good either

## Slide 51

## Total Quality Management (TQM)

*Definition: (from Wikipedia)*
- TQM Total Quality Management is the organization wide management of quality. We know that management consists of planning, organizing, directing, control, and assurance. Then, one has to define "total quality". Total quality is called **total** because it consists of 3 qualities: **Quality** of return to satisfy the needs of the shareholders, **Quality** of products

## TQM (Total Quality Management)

- Management strategy aimed at embedding the awareness of quality in all organizational processes

- "TQM is a management approach for an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society.“

## Slide 54

## Additional Slides

## A Leadership Primer

- 		          General Colin Powell 			  Chairman (Ret), Joint Chiefs of Staff

## Lesson #1

-   “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off”
-           Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions.  It’s inevitable, if you’re honorable.  Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity; you’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid the people that need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset.  Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally “nicely” regardless of their contributions, you’ll simply ensure that the only people you’ll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.

## Lesson #2

-    “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them.  They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care.  Either case is a failure in leadership.”
-         If this were a litmus test, the majority of CEOs would fail.  One, they build so many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone lower in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous.  Two, the corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as weaknesses or failure, so people cover up their gaps, and the organization suffers accordingly.  Real leaders make themselves accessible and available.  They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings, even as they demand high standards.  Accordingly, they are more likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces blame.

## Lesson #3

-    “Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites.  Experts often possess more data than judgment.  Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world”

- Small companies and start-ups don’t have the time for analytically detached experts.  They don’t have the money to subsidize lofty elites, either.  The president answers the phone and drives the truck when necessary; everyone on the payroll visibly produces and contributes to bottom-line results or they’re history.  But as companies get bigger, they often forget who “brought them to the dance”: things like all-hands involvement, egalitarianism, informality, market intimacy, daring, risk, speed, agility.  Policies that emanate from ivory towers often have an adverse impact on the people out in the field who are fighting the wars or bringing in the revenues.  Real leaders are vigilant, and combative, in the face of these trends.

## Lesson #4

-    “Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard”
-         Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and partners.  But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their learning and skills.  Sometimes even the pros can become complacent and lazy.  Leadership does not emerge from blind obedience to anyone.  Xerox’s Barry Rand was right on target when he warned his people that if you have a “yes-man”  working for you, one of you is redundant.  Good leadership encourages everyone’s evolution.

## Lesson #5

-     “Never neglect details.  When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.”
-         Strategy equals execution.  All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can’t be implemented rapidly and efficiently.  Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day.  Bad ones, even those who fancy themselves as progressive “visionaries”, think they are somehow “above” operational details.  Paradoxically, good leaders understand something else; an obsessive routine in carrying out the details begets conformity and complacency, which in turn dulls everyone’s mind.  That is why even as they pay attention to details, they continually encourage people to challenge the process.  They implicitly understand the sentiment of CEO leaders like Quad Graphic’s Harry Quadracchi, Oticon’s Lars Kolind and the late Bill McGowan of MCI, who all independently asserted that the job of a leader is not to be the chief organizer, but the chief dis-organizer.

## Lesson #6

-    “You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.”
-         You know the expression, “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.”  Well, it’s true.  Good leaders don’t wait for official blessing to try things out.  They’re prudent, not reckless.  But they also realize a fact of life in most organizations: if you ask enough people for permission, you’ll inevitably come up against someone who believes his job is to say “no”.  So the moral is, don’t ask.  Less effective middle managers endorsed the sentiment.  “If I haven’t explicitly been told ‘yes’, I can do it”, whereas the good ones believed, “If I haven’t explicitly been told ‘no’, I can”.  There’s a world of difference between these two points of view.

## Lesson #7

-    “Keep looking below surface appearances.  Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find”
-        “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the slogan of the complacent , the arrogant or the scared.  It’s an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms.  It’s a mind-set that assumes (or hopes) that today’s realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion.  Pure fantasy.  In this sort of culture, you won’t find people who pro-actively take steps to solve problems as they emerge.  Here’s a little tip: don’t invest in these companies.

## Lesson #8

- 	“Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything.  Plans don’t accomplish anything, either.  Theories of management don’t matter much.  Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.  Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”
- 	In a brain-based economy, you best assets are people.  We’ve heard this expression so often that it’s become trite.  But how many leaders really “walk the talk” with this stuff?  Too often, people are assumed to be empty chess pieces to be moved around by grand viziers, which may explain why so many top managers immerse their calendar time in deal making, restructuring, and the latest management fad.  How many immerse themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the best, the brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained, and, most importantly, unleashed?

## Lesson #9

- 	“Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.”
- 	Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a work place that ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you.  If people really followed organization charts, companies would collapse.  In well-run organizations, titles are also pretty meaningless.  At best, they advertise some authority, an official status conferring the ability to give orders and induce obedience.  But titles mean little in terms of real power, which is the capacity to influence and inspire.  Have you ever noticed that people will personally commit to certain individuals who on paper (or on the organizational chart) possess little authority, but instead possess pizzazz, drive, expertise, and genuine caring for teammates and products?  On the flip side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the perks and frills associated with high positions, but they have little influence on others, apart from their ability to extract minimal compliance to minimal standards.

## Lesson #10

- 	“Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”
- 	Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job descriptions.  One reason that even large organizations wither is that managers won’t challenge old, comfortable ways of doing things.

## Lesson #11

- 	“Fit no stereotypes.  Don’t chase the latest management fads.  The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.”
- 	Fitting from fad to fad creates team confusion, reduces the leader’s credibility, and drains organizational coffers.  Blindly following a particular fad generates rigidity in thought and action.  Sometimes speed to market is more important than participatory discussion.  Some situations require the leader to hover closely; others require long, loose leashes.  Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.  They understand that management techniques are not magic mantras but simply tools to be reached for at the right times.

## Lesson #12

- 	“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
- 	The ripple effect of a leader’s enthusiasm and optimism is awesome.  So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism.  Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues.  I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a “what, me worry?” smile.  I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says, “we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best.”  Spare me the grim litany of the “realist”, give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.

## Lesson #13

- 	“Powell’s Rules for Picking People:”
- 	Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners.  Also, look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.
- 	How often do our recruitment and hiring processes tap into these attributes?  More often than not, we ignore them in favor of length of resume, degrees and prior titles.  A string of job descriptions a recruit held yesterday seem to be more important than who one is today, what they can contribute tomorrow, or how well their values mesh with those of the organization.  You can train a bright, willing novice in the fundamentals of your business fairly readily, but it’s a lot harder to train someone to have integrity, judgment, energy, balance, and the drive to get things done.  Good leaders stack the deck in their favor right in the recruitment phase.

## Lesson #14

- 	“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.”
- 	Effective leaders understand the KISS principle.  Keep it Simple, Stupid.  They articulate vivid, overarching goals and values, which they use to drive daily behaviors and choices among competing alternatives.  Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and buzzword-laden.  Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous.  They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint.  The result: clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization.

## Lesson #15

- 	“Part I:  Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired.   				 Part II: Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.”
- 	Don’t take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don’t wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is almost always too late.  Today, excessive delays in the name of information gathering breeds “analysis paralysis”.  Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.

## Lesson #16

- 	“The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.”
- 	Too often, the reverse defines corporate culture.  This is one of the main reasons why leaders like Ken Iverson of Nucor Steel, Percy Barnevik of Asea Brown Boveri, and Richard Branson of Virgin have kept their corporate staffs to bare-bones minimum – how about fewer than 100 central corporate staffers for global $30 billion-plus ABB? Or around 25 and 3 for multi-billion Nucor and Virgin, respectively?  Shift the power and the financial accountability to the folks who are bringing in the beans, not the ones who are counting or analyzing them.

## Lesson #17

- 	“Have fun in your command.  Don’t always run at a breakneck pace.  Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families.  Corollary: surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
- 	Herb Kelleher of Southwest Air and Anita Roddick of The Body Shop would agree: seek people who have some balance in their lives, who are fun to hang out with, who like to laugh (at themselves, too) and who have some non-job priorities which they approach with the same passion that they do their work.  Spare me the grim workaholic or the pompous pretentious “professional”; I’ll help them find jobs with my competitor.

## Lesson #18

- 	“Command is lonely.”
- 	Harry Truman was right.  Whether you’re a CEO or the temporary head of a project team, the buck stops here.  You can encourage participative management and bottom-up employee involvement, but ultimately the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization.  I’ve seen too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility.  Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely.

## “Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.”

## Reading Assignment

- A pre-requisite before attenting this workshop was to read the book “Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles
- We will talk more about this book

## Kiersey’s Temperment Tool

***Prerequisite:****  *
*	**Everyone needs to go to this site and register.  Read the directions...take the 70 question tool.  Please share your temperament with the group for discussion.*
_*http://kts2.personalityzone.com/user/register.aspx*_

## What Temperment Are You?

- SJ, SP, NF, NT
- Developed by David Kiersey and Marilyn Bates (1978)
- Guardian, Artisan, Idealist, Rationalist

## Slide 79

## Group Dynamics

## This is usually the way...

- Approximately 75% of your “group” will be on board
- Another 10%-20% “ride the fence” – they can be swayed into the above group
- Finally, about 5%-15% of the group will be “rebels”
- Focus on working with the “positive” group...they will work on the fence riders and bring them on board...spend minimal time on the rebels.

## Leadership in Emergency Situations

**Tsunami damage at Kodiak, Alaska, following the 1964 Good Friday earthquake**.

## High Impact Events

- ADHS&EM does not look at the cause of the problem...but rather takes on an “impact based approach”
- Impact based can be either natural or man-made
- Regardless of the “cause”...the impact is the same
- In Alaska, scenarios can be “built” and practiced to help in the response

## Push vs. Pull

- ADHS&EM typically pulls weather information on a routine day to day basis
- Briefing slides are helpful to focus on “potential hazards” of the day/week etc.
- During an emergency situation, ADHS&EM would like to have weather information “pushed” to them
- In other words, don’t wait to hear from them what they want/need, start pushing wx. Info.

## So, what do they need?

- Again, depending on the situation a certain “set” of data is needed
- WCMs need to work with the SECC to predetermine what would be needed and when
- AK has certain issues due to it’s remoteness

## Facts

- In an emergency situation (e.g. large tsunami, large terrorist attack, etc.)
- AK will be “on its own” for several days before help arrives from “outside”
- Critical supply chain infrastructure will be broken (single points of failure) impacting the entire state
- e.g. terrorist attack at the Port of Anchorage will impact supplies (food, materials) for the entire state

## Understanding

- Forecasters need to understand how the flow of goods and services occur across the state
- Container ships, air, train, pipelines, etc.
- Air travel from “hubs” to villages (e.g. Bethel and its surrounding villages)
- Barge travel up river in summer (disruptions due to low water and what impacts that has on the delivery of goods and services)

## Office Operations

- Need to change in various degrees depending on the level of impact
- Major catastrophe requires a radical change in office operations (liaison to State EM) – shifting of responsibilities, calling in forecasters on OT, creation of a warning coordination desk (field phone calls, coordinate information, etc)

## Responsibilities

- As a shift leader...you are expected to “lead” by making critical operational decisions to support the event
- Your office management staff (e.g. MIC) and Regional staff will support you
- You will never be criticized by “doing the right thing”
- You are being paid to exercise your professional judgment and lead in these situations

## Support Staff

- Your office
- Other field offices
- Alaska Region
- Others??  (e.g. NWSH)
***We are all here to help as necessary***

## Your leadership is key to providing the best service possible during a catastrophic event.

## Career Enhancement in the NWS

## “It all falls on you...”

- Take responsibility for your career goals
- Positive attitude (attitude is everything)

## Become engaged with folks at your Regional office

- Understand where the Region/Agency as a whole is going
- Adopt a “mentor” in Region
- Take part in Regional and National teams
- Work with other line offices, agencies

## Exhibit leadership in your office (lead office teams), be a mentor to subordinates

- Be proactive – anticipate problems/changes in advance
- Work with your local management team

## Is it “who” you know... or “what” you know or both?

- With so many folks competing for a limited number of jobs...how do you get “noticed”?
- Need to stand out in the crowd

- Dream Position