The Four Dimensions of Successful Leadership
Henry Beeland
Leadership has become one of those terms that takes on various meanings. To one it means the ability to motivate people, to another it represents the ability to have profound insight and vision for an organization, and to still another it means that a person is capable of organizing efforts of a team for consistent results. None of these meanings is wrong. They are, in fact, exactly right – all of them. Leadership is not an action, a skill, or merely a position; it is much more visceral than that. Leadership, at its core, is a way of thinking, a way of responding, a way of believing, and a way of being.
True leadership cannot be defined in a simple form or a one-dimensional narrow view. Leadership, when practiced fully, is four-dimensional. That is, it encompasses several areas of a person’s life, their thought patterns, and their influence with others. When someone raises to the level of a four-dimensional leader they no longer view leadership as a function of any particular area of their life – such as work. They, instead, see leadership as an extension of who they are. They seek opportunities to lead others in all areas of their life – home, social, professional, and personal. In doing so, the four-dimensional leader develops a keen sense of service to others, an astute sense of personal responsibility, and a drive for greater discipline and vision in his or her life.
Leadership for this person becomes the “what” that they do. Their job, for example, is no longer defined by the function of their position, but by the end result of their influence as a leader in the organization. By assuming this philosophical stance, the leader accepts certain obligations and commitments within his or her group. This is the essence of Four-Dimensional Leadership – leaders practicing with consistency obligatory service and fulfilling commitments within their groups, their teams and their organization. They practice engaging, successful leadership in each of the four dimensions –people, places, processes, and performance as regularly as they practice the routine tasks their job position requires. Their leadership actions become habitual until they move to the ultimate display of leadership - that is they walk the walk and begin to lead with fifth dimension purpose.
Four-dimensional leadership creates an evolving leadership process. Often, we think of leadership as some goal or objective that we have reached. The best leaders, however, understand that leadership, for both the leader and the team, is constantly evolving. It is a learning processing scattered with feeling, doing, thinking, and seeing – and the dynamics of these characteristics are always changing and evolving. Thus, true leadership – four-dimensional leadership – could never be a destination that one reaches. It is merely a journey one pursues.
The Four Dimensions
The concept of Four-Dimensional Leadership creates an on-going connection between organizational leaders, the people within the organization, and the people or partners supporting the organization. We often think of tasks and procedures as functional roles within the organizational structure, and then assign these roles to the people responsible for carrying out performance. Four-Dimensional Leadership creates a service-based mentality for leadership. The leader’s role in this model is to assist an organization’s people and partners in understanding the philosophy of the company, its vision for the future, and the mutual efforts and attitudes needed to create, sustain, and transfer this philosophy to others.
The model could also be referred to as Connected Leadership since the leader accesses all areas of the philosophy – people, places, processes, and performance from a central viewpoint that creates greater visibility and participation.
In this paradigm the leader consistently demonstrates a core understanding of the relationship between the leadership mentality, corporate philosophy, individual and group participation and the expected outcomes of the initiative.
To accomplish this, the leader will consistently engage the team from four views: Growth, Order, Strategy, and Vision.
PEOPLE - Growing People and Partners
The primary function of any leader is to grow other leaders in the organization. Individual and group growth is equally important.
To do this, leaders have a core need to understand two primary avenues of personal growth among team members: Motivation and Empowerment.
Motivation is the underlying current that causes individuals, groups, and organizations to develop a consistent desire to move proactively to change. It is not, in and of itself, a simple method of rewarding individuals with financial gains or material wealth. Instead it is the development of attitudinal stances that create a philosophical shift causing individuals to care about each other’s successes in regards to the team’s goals. The leader is the catalyst for this transformation.
Empowerment involves developing among the team three elements of engaging progress: Attitude, Aptitude, and Available Resources. In this way, people are empowered to follow strategic plans and methods for consistent performance and processes, while constantly “thinking” about what they are “doing”.
PLACES - Creating Organization and Flow
It is estimated that the average employee wastes 30 – 40% of their “productivity time” because work areas, meeting facilities, meeting agendas, virtual work areas, and workplace flow is disorganized, chaotic, or ill-planned. As Four-Dimensional Leaders our goal is to create a highly visual workplace where anomalies are immediately recognized. Tools, materials, and equipment are easily accessible and are close to the task for which they are needed. Greater ergonomics is created by arranging work cells to eliminate or greatly decrease unnecessary bending, reaching, or stooping. Wasted motion is also eliminated as team members are not constantly “looking” for the resources they need to accomplish their goals or objectives.
When we meet, we focus on real information for real decisions. We avoid the three evils of meetings and develop more productive time with our teams that lead to greater solutions for our problems. The flow of work has a greater efficiency to it, so that our actual “productivity time” increases.
By practicing this dimension, leaders are more capable of creating improved morale, increased safety awareness, higher performance standards with fewer quality defects, and sustained improvements that lead to greater job satisfaction and team pride.
PROCESSES - Process Improvement Strategies
Many leaders seek to give their teams the answers to their problems, the changes to their methods, or the improvements to their processes. The Four-Dimensional Leader works with the people involved in the process to create methodology improvements by empowering individuals to develop creative solutions to problems as soon as they are made visible.
Since many teams have operated in the dependent mode with their leadership, a cultural shift is sometimes needed. To accomplish this, Leaders encourage creative and innovative thinking, as well as active participation on all levels, throughout the organization.
We might use tools, concepts, and most importantly proactive change philosophy to encourage total team participation in the improvement of processes and reduction of waste. At its core, it is solution-based thinking that drives greater efficiencies in our processes producing increased productivity and higher performance standards.
The leadership role in this model is to guide the team through problem solving for solutions instead of merely providing answers. By doing this, leaders are more capable of developing the fourth goal of Four-Dimensional Leadership: improved and sustainable quality performance.
PERFORMANCE - Vision for Performance
Once leaders have motivated and empowered the people to action, our work areas and meeting areas are organized for increase productivity and more efficient flow, and teams begin to actively improve processes through creative and innovative involvement, the final goal of Four-Dimensional Leadership is to create the vision of the future performance desired.
People will need a clear path to the target that is set. The leadership goal is to create that path, and then guide the team to complete the goal.
This is accomplished by understanding our metrics for improvement from three aspects: historical, current, and future goals. The leader’s role is to coach and mentor his/her team so that metrics match our vision, and process improvements match our metrics.
From this, we can then establish Baselines, Benchmarks, and Best Practices. In this way, we can, through the accumulation of data, consistent measurements, and ongoing review and analysis, determine that we have established standardization of our processes so that duplication of effort is consistently achieved.
PURPOSE – The Fifth Dimension
People, places, processes and performance – four words taken independently that represent high characteristic obligations within any organization; when combined as a competent leadership philosophy, these words create sustainable successful organizations driven by dynamic people who thrive regardless of the situation, the economy, obstacles, or changes.
Nothing will assist a company more during these uncertain times than developing people in their organizations who lead with purpose. Simply put we need…
…Leaders who understand the value of motivating and empowering their people for greater growth.
…Leaders who recognize the need for increased organization and more efficient flow in all of our work places.
…Leaders constantly striving to develop creative and innovative teams using solution-based thinking to continuously improve our processes.
…Leaders with a concrete vision of high quality performance with definable metrics enabling us to create and meet our benchmarks, baselines, and best practices.
Four-Dimensional Leadership provides our leaders a well-rounded way to understand, practice, and sustain all of these areas to ensure we are always leading with purpose.
Henry Beeland is Founder and CEO of Evergreen Team Concepts and author of Four-Dimensional Leadership Corporate Training Program.
For more information on Four-Dimensional Leadership Corporate Training Program and the many customized programs deliverable to your team, contact:
Evergreen Team Concepts
3600 Meridian Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone - (360) 647-6922
Email - info@etcwa.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
This Place is a Zoo!
This Place is a Zoo!
Henry Beeland
It’s true. Sometimes our work places seem more like the zoo than an efficient office or organization. It can seem like everyone is speaking different languages, operating with different agendas, and working in completely different directions. The “give me results now” lions may be running rampant and frustrating the “we need more data” owls; the “where’s the safety and security” lambs may be aggravating the “big picture” weasels; and the “I can please everyone” dog is driving the “we need to get more done” ant absolutely nuts!
At times this overactive zoo can really frustrate us and cause us to question the motivations, determination, and even the abilities of our team members. There is a deeper truth to what we sometimes see on the surface. All of these “animals” as well as the other animals in our zoo, such as the dolphin, chameleon, and fox are really looking for the same thing: effective communications and team success. We all have this idea of where we need to be collectively, but we may not understand the path we need to take to arrive at our goals or objectives. We might mean to communicate and we might honestly believe that understanding exists, even though others are wondering why we are not communicating with THEM at all.
We need to develop a few Dr. Doolittle traits. We need to understand the value each of the animals brings to the zoo, and we need to develop a thorough understanding of the language each animal speaks, and therefore hears. By doing this, we are more capable of establishing effective communications that lead to greater results and increased performance. Additionally, we can allow team members to thrive where they are best suited for maximum productivity and personal as well as team motivation.
Imagine that – productivity and performance increases because we learn to talk to the animals! It really is that simple. Here are a few examples of the communication styles and motivators for the animals in our zoo.
ANIMAL
COMMUNICATION STYLE
MOTIVATOR
Lion
Results driven; Bullet points only
Bottom-line results
Lamb
Security driven; Often and much
Safety and security
Weasel
Results driven; Bullet points mostly
Big picture thinking
Dolphin
Likes the whole story with background
People driven
Owl
Data and facts; More, more, more…
Information
Ant
Need to know info only
Productivity and tasks
Chameleon
Bullet points mostly, but check back later
Adaptability
Fox
Small amounts when necessary
Self accomplishment
Dog
Whatever it takes; all forms accepted
Approval
Learning to communicate with each animal based upon their communication style ensures greater understanding and less conflict. Of course, increased understanding and decreased conflicts helps our organization create improved productivity and performance. By understanding and responding to each animal’s primary motivators we are able to assign responsibilities and tasks that compliment their views about themselves. This ensures happier employees with a higher degree of job satisfaction.
Beware, though, there lurks in practically every zoo a few very negative animals that we need to become conscious of and capable of dealing with. There’s the quick and decisive vulture, the threatening rattlesnake, the battle-scarred triceratops, the disinterested sloth, and the “me-me-me” X-breed. These animals have a great deal of ability to harm the flow of the other animals in the zoo, and if left unchecked, they can utterly destroy any sort of harmony in our group.
Remember, each of these negative animals was at one time one of the previously mentioned positive contributors to our zoo. Over time and under the right circumstances they have become jaded and disillusioned to the point of rust-out or burn-out. By understanding them better we are more capable of helping them return to the positive zoo, and once again enjoy the beauty of all of our “animals”, the value we each possess, and the increased abilities we own as a team when we embrace our differences.
How do we do this? By learning about the ultimate leadership exhibit always featured at our zoo. You already know the two participants in the ultimate leadership exhibit: the eagle and the unicorn.
The eagle is that leader who is inspirational, strong, focused, confident, positive, and caring. We see them soaring above the fray and frustration, tackling stress, dealing with success and failure with the same zest, and always working to care for the others. In short, eagles create high-performing, high-impact teams.
The unicorn, on the other hand, is that mythical perfect leader, often arrogant and aloof, with just the right amount of insecurity that causes both the unicorn and the rest of us frustration and doubt. You’ve seen them right? No? Of course not – that’s the point - you can never find them. You hear about them, but you never really see them. That’s why they often create politically divided teams and workplaces.
Don’t be frustrated by your zoo. Embrace it! Celebrate the unique qualities each of the animals brings to work with them every day, and then work to help them maximize these qualities for the company, the team, and themselves.
Henry Beeland is Founder and CEO of Evergreen Team Concepts and author of This Place is a Zoo! Corporate training program.
For more information on This Place is a Zoo! Corporate training program and the many customized programs deliverable to your team, contact:
Evergreen Team Concepts
3600 Meridian Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone - (360) 647-6922
Email - info@etcwa.com
Henry Beeland
It’s true. Sometimes our work places seem more like the zoo than an efficient office or organization. It can seem like everyone is speaking different languages, operating with different agendas, and working in completely different directions. The “give me results now” lions may be running rampant and frustrating the “we need more data” owls; the “where’s the safety and security” lambs may be aggravating the “big picture” weasels; and the “I can please everyone” dog is driving the “we need to get more done” ant absolutely nuts!
At times this overactive zoo can really frustrate us and cause us to question the motivations, determination, and even the abilities of our team members. There is a deeper truth to what we sometimes see on the surface. All of these “animals” as well as the other animals in our zoo, such as the dolphin, chameleon, and fox are really looking for the same thing: effective communications and team success. We all have this idea of where we need to be collectively, but we may not understand the path we need to take to arrive at our goals or objectives. We might mean to communicate and we might honestly believe that understanding exists, even though others are wondering why we are not communicating with THEM at all.
We need to develop a few Dr. Doolittle traits. We need to understand the value each of the animals brings to the zoo, and we need to develop a thorough understanding of the language each animal speaks, and therefore hears. By doing this, we are more capable of establishing effective communications that lead to greater results and increased performance. Additionally, we can allow team members to thrive where they are best suited for maximum productivity and personal as well as team motivation.
Imagine that – productivity and performance increases because we learn to talk to the animals! It really is that simple. Here are a few examples of the communication styles and motivators for the animals in our zoo.
ANIMAL
COMMUNICATION STYLE
MOTIVATOR
Lion
Results driven; Bullet points only
Bottom-line results
Lamb
Security driven; Often and much
Safety and security
Weasel
Results driven; Bullet points mostly
Big picture thinking
Dolphin
Likes the whole story with background
People driven
Owl
Data and facts; More, more, more…
Information
Ant
Need to know info only
Productivity and tasks
Chameleon
Bullet points mostly, but check back later
Adaptability
Fox
Small amounts when necessary
Self accomplishment
Dog
Whatever it takes; all forms accepted
Approval
Learning to communicate with each animal based upon their communication style ensures greater understanding and less conflict. Of course, increased understanding and decreased conflicts helps our organization create improved productivity and performance. By understanding and responding to each animal’s primary motivators we are able to assign responsibilities and tasks that compliment their views about themselves. This ensures happier employees with a higher degree of job satisfaction.
Beware, though, there lurks in practically every zoo a few very negative animals that we need to become conscious of and capable of dealing with. There’s the quick and decisive vulture, the threatening rattlesnake, the battle-scarred triceratops, the disinterested sloth, and the “me-me-me” X-breed. These animals have a great deal of ability to harm the flow of the other animals in the zoo, and if left unchecked, they can utterly destroy any sort of harmony in our group.
Remember, each of these negative animals was at one time one of the previously mentioned positive contributors to our zoo. Over time and under the right circumstances they have become jaded and disillusioned to the point of rust-out or burn-out. By understanding them better we are more capable of helping them return to the positive zoo, and once again enjoy the beauty of all of our “animals”, the value we each possess, and the increased abilities we own as a team when we embrace our differences.
How do we do this? By learning about the ultimate leadership exhibit always featured at our zoo. You already know the two participants in the ultimate leadership exhibit: the eagle and the unicorn.
The eagle is that leader who is inspirational, strong, focused, confident, positive, and caring. We see them soaring above the fray and frustration, tackling stress, dealing with success and failure with the same zest, and always working to care for the others. In short, eagles create high-performing, high-impact teams.
The unicorn, on the other hand, is that mythical perfect leader, often arrogant and aloof, with just the right amount of insecurity that causes both the unicorn and the rest of us frustration and doubt. You’ve seen them right? No? Of course not – that’s the point - you can never find them. You hear about them, but you never really see them. That’s why they often create politically divided teams and workplaces.
Don’t be frustrated by your zoo. Embrace it! Celebrate the unique qualities each of the animals brings to work with them every day, and then work to help them maximize these qualities for the company, the team, and themselves.
Henry Beeland is Founder and CEO of Evergreen Team Concepts and author of This Place is a Zoo! Corporate training program.
For more information on This Place is a Zoo! Corporate training program and the many customized programs deliverable to your team, contact:
Evergreen Team Concepts
3600 Meridian Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone - (360) 647-6922
Email - info@etcwa.com
HAMFLAP donates to Brigid Collins center
HAMFLAP, a company created to bring fun, laughter and their benefits into workplaces, recently donated $6,166 to the Brigid Collins Family Support Center in Bellingham.
HAMFLAP stands for "Have As Much Fun & Laughter As Possible." It offers onsite education and online community involvement. It also designs and distributes games, puzzles, activities and toys to help team building, employee appreciation and fun.
HAMFLAP is a subsidiary of Bellingham-based Evergreen Team Concepts, 3600 Meridian St. For more information, call (360) 647-6922 or go online to www.hamflap.com.
HAMFLAP stands for "Have As Much Fun & Laughter As Possible." It offers onsite education and online community involvement. It also designs and distributes games, puzzles, activities and toys to help team building, employee appreciation and fun.
HAMFLAP is a subsidiary of Bellingham-based Evergreen Team Concepts, 3600 Meridian St. For more information, call (360) 647-6922 or go online to www.hamflap.com.
New Bellingham company aims to bring fun to workplace
HAMFLAP, a Bellingham company created to bring fun, laughter and their benefits into workplaces, will be introduced to the public with a community event Wednesday, Aug. 20 as part of the 2010 Service Initiative networking luncheon.
HAMFLAP, a subsidiary of Evergreen Team Concepts, stands for "Have As Much Fun & Laughter As Possible."
The Aug. 20 luncheon will be from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn's Fox Hall, 3985 Bennett Drive. Presentations will be given by internationally renowned motivational speaker Bonnie Dean, Northwest Business Monthly owner Tony Larson and Henry Beeland, founder and CEO of Evergreen Team Concepts.
The luncheon also features a silent auction that will raise funds for the Brigid Collins Family Support Center in Bellingham, which serves victims of child abuse and supports the development of healthy families.
HAMFLAP and Evergreen Team Concepts are located at 3600 Meridian St. For more information, call 647-6922 or visit www.hamflap.com.
HAMFLAP, a subsidiary of Evergreen Team Concepts, stands for "Have As Much Fun & Laughter As Possible."
The Aug. 20 luncheon will be from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn's Fox Hall, 3985 Bennett Drive. Presentations will be given by internationally renowned motivational speaker Bonnie Dean, Northwest Business Monthly owner Tony Larson and Henry Beeland, founder and CEO of Evergreen Team Concepts.
The luncheon also features a silent auction that will raise funds for the Brigid Collins Family Support Center in Bellingham, which serves victims of child abuse and supports the development of healthy families.
HAMFLAP and Evergreen Team Concepts are located at 3600 Meridian St. For more information, call 647-6922 or visit www.hamflap.com.
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