“Working with Eric was a pleasure. We developed a good rapport and established a level of honesty and trust. I valued his counsel and recommendations. I find Eric to be very competent in a variety of disciplines. He is able to correctly diagnose organizational problems and suggest solutions that are on point. I found Eric to be a professional with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior. I would not hesitate to engage his services again in the future.”
Kathy Lueckert,
former Corporate Services Director,
Department of Planning and Development,
City of Seattle
(Kathy is now Director of Planning and Finance for Advocacy and Communications at World Vision.)
“I've worked closely with Eric on developing and presenting the Leadership Eastside community leadership program. He has that rare blend of extensive real-world experience along with a very strong background in theory and research. He moves easily between big picture strategy and the tactical details. Eric brings a superb ability to plan, execute and follow-through, both as a behind-the-scenes planner and as an upfront instructor and facilitator.”
Annalee Luhman,
founding board member,
Leadership Eastside
Conflict and change: The blog
22 February 2010
Ambiguity kills
When I suggest to leaders that they need to be clear with their people about their goals and wishes for the organization, I often hear back that these leaders want to hear from their people. You might interpret this as a noble gesture to involve people in the discussion, but I see it as an abdication of their duties as the leader.
How many times have you been in a meeting that was set up to “talk about X”? You get to the meeting on X and quickly find out that no one has any idea what the purpose of the meeting is, why X is important or what their supposed to do about X. I can almost guarantee that you and your colleagues will get frustrated and wander out of the meeting room mumbling something about what a waste of time it was.
The leader’s job is to set the goal and sideboards for a group. This cannot be delegated. Sure, in many cases, you can ask for input, but the goals and sideboards have to be the right ones. And, if they’re really good, they will make team members a little uncomfortable, because they’ll be challenged by them.
A goal has to be specific, “easy to see” and yet intrinsically motivating. (They can see it in their mind and feel it in their gut!) Once you’ve stated the goal (and sideboards), you can let your group loose on developing ideas for getting there.
But don’t bother calling the meeting if you can’t tell them why X is important and what they’re supposed to do about it.
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