{"id":342,"date":"2018-05-28T21:32:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/?p=342"},"modified":"2020-07-13T17:40:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T17:40:53","slug":"innovative-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/innovative-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Heroes: The Seven Habits ( Innovative Leadership Practices) of Top NW Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been over a year since I started my Local Heroes project: conversations with people leading engaged, interesting organizations in greater Puget Sound, Washington. My interview subjects came to me from a variety of sources. Some, like <\/em>Joe LeRoy at HopeSparks<\/em><\/a> in Tacoma, were winners of the Business Examiner\u2019s Top Places to Work annual event. Others, such as <\/em>Jill Jean, Director, Kitsap Regional Library<\/em><\/a>, in Bremerton were referred to me with by someone in my network. The referrals always sounded something like this, \u201cYou really need to talk to _______, she\u2019s doing some amazing things over at _______.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaders I sought out were not at Microsoft or Amazon, but rather smaller, closely-held companies and non-profit organizations. As a business coach, I believe that some of the most innovative leadership practices are happening on the front lines of these types of organizations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal was to identify what these leaders do to create and sustain cultures that allow their organizations to thrive and the individuals working in them to do their very best work, and to share these best practices with my readers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the Seven Habits of Top Northwest Leaders:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #1 They Own Their Company\u2019s Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these leaders took their role as their company\u2019s chief cultural officer very seriously. Richard Brown, President of The Boxmaker in Kent<\/a>, realized this responsibility along with his new leadership role as company president. \u201cIn 2007, I became the day-to-day leader of the company. So here I was in 2011 bemoaning the culture. And there was a reckoning that I own the culture, I am the culture. I could complain all I want, but the reality is, it\u2019s mine. I\u2019m responsible for the things that are going well with the culture and the things that aren\u2019t, and I really need to take a much more active role and ownership of co-worker culture.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Questions: How would you describe your company\u2019s culture? What are you doing to strengthen and support it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #2 They Champion Their Company\u2019s Values<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Perry Shea, President of SCJ Alliance<\/a> in Lacey said, \u201cJean, Bob (Perry\u2019s partners) and I, within the first six months of starting the company, went through an exercise to determine our core values and those are the guiding principles of our firm. We give a copy to all our employees when they start. Then we talk about how you use them. It\u2019s one thing to say what they are but the question is, how do you apply them in your daily work?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Questions: What are your company’s values? How do you share them with team members and keep them relevant?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #3 They Are Their Company\u2019s CTO, Chief Talent Officer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every one of those interviewed take the finding, hiring and development of people very seriously. They\u2019re always on the lookout for new talent. SCJ\u2019s Perry Shea says, \u201cWe\u2019re always out recruiting, sensing, and at the right time we have a conversation that goes, \u201cWe think you can do some wonderful things here that could look like this. It usually takes a couple of something I call \u201ctouches\u201d and then, you know, suddenly you get a new colleague.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re also deliberate about who they hire and their interview process. It\u2019s usually a team effort. \u201cIt\u2019s become a kind of mantra with us that if we aren\u2019t doing backflips over candidates, we do not hire them. We have a team approach that can be anywhere from two people to a cast of thousands. I think the most we\u2019ve ever had in the room were six but that\u2019s because we had six interested individuals. I\u2019m involved in a lot of the hiring. If I\u2019m not directly involved, I want managers or director level people to justify their hires to me. I absolutely believe in hiring the best human resource person to make sure that we are following all procedures,<\/em>\u201d says Jill Jean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Randy Foster, partner at Artisans Group <\/a>in Olympia, Washington, \u201cWe\u2019re patient in the hiring process. For example, we might find a person who could get us out of a jam that we\u2019re in for the next 30 days but on day 31 we\u2019re going to be wishing we\u2019d hired somebody else.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re more about the team doing the heavy lifting on the interviewing. We try to have the person under scrutiny several different ways by several different people. They can\u2019t just come in and have a good interview and get hired. At the end of the day, by the time somebody is hired, they probably impressed more than one person more than one time in more than one media type.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph\nLeRoy<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe never hire anybody after one interview, ever. It\u2019s a rule in our organization. A lot of the program directors didn\u2019t initially buy into that rule and I was one of them. But I\u2019ve come to really find the value of that; it\u2019s so different from one interview to the next. And then for high level positions, after a second interview, a third interview usually involves a lunch or a coffee,<\/em>\u201d said Joe LeRoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once they make the hiring decision, they get to know the new hire as an individual. And, they help the new hires get to know them as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen a new employee comes in, part of the orientation is a half-hour to 45 minutes set aside that I have with each employee, and were often joined by other members of our senior leadership team. The reason is to have this conversation where we\u2019re giving permission, regardless of the title or position we have in the company, that we\u2019re all here to work together, we\u2019re all here to help, and we\u2019re all approachable, our doors are open. We invite and solicit input and we want that from everybody in the company,\u201d<\/em> said Perry Shea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe LeRoy said, \u201cThe CEO orientation, when someone comes on board, is important. I tell them about me: who I am, where I came from, my background, my life and my family. Then we go around the table and everybody just shares. I\u2019m always blown away by what people share. You learn so much. From that point forward, you have a personal connection with the new team members. I know their names, I know the names of their kids, I can ask about them and it\u2019s real. You have to be approachable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Question: What are you personally doing to ensure you are finding and hiring the best people possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #4 They Are a Strong CCO, or Chief Communication Officer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard\nBrown<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

They treat their internal communication with Team Members as thoughtfully as they do their external communications with customers and clients. Sometimes, communication takes place in a group format. According to Perry Shea, \u201cOnce a month, we do a really fun thing where we take an hour in which everybody comes together in a company-wide staff meeting via an interactive video conference. There are a few things around the business but what we are doing is sharing what people are doing, both in the community as well as at work. It\u2019s general information that everybody should share, listen to and hear about the company. Everybody can see each other and it\u2019s a fun atmosphere. I tell you, they\u2019re about 95% attended; that might be low. Nobody misses a staff meeting.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it\u2019s more informal in nature. \u201cWe\u2019re kings at the ad hoc meeting. If there\u2019s a problem, we try to get the people that need to talk about it together within the next 24 hours. Now that we are over 10 employees, I\u2019m rarely saying, \u201cOh yeah, thanks for letting me know about that, I will fix that,\u201d<\/em> said Randy Foster. \u201cIt\u2019s more like, \u2018The person you need to talk to is XYZ. Do you want me at the meeting or not?\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others use technology to communicate. Richard Brown started a weekly video series called, \u201cInside the Box,\u201d to share stories about new innovations within The Boxmakers. He said, “We can track who\u2019s watching it, but most importantly, people are writing in, suggesting stories and wanting to know more. Co-workers routinely come up and tell me how much they like Inside the Box. They like knowing what\u2019s going on and they like the fact that we\u2019re very transparent about what the results are.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These leaders are disciplined about conducting one-on-ones with their direct reports and expecting other managers in their companies to do so as well. Jill Jean set a goal to personally meet with everyone in her organization in 2015. She said, \u201cWithout a doubt, it was the best thing I\u2019ve ever done. I allowed people to choose where we met, and pick the time of the day that we met to control the conversation that they wanted. I found out so much about them as individuals and it made me feel so blessed to have the staff that we do.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Question: How would your employees rate the effectiveness of your company\u2019s internal communications?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #5 They Embrace Their Company\u2019s WHY, or Purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rick-MacCornack-CEO-Northwest-Physician-Networks\"

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard\nMacCornack<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe founders of NPN were driven to find better ways to do what\u2019s best for patients. They believed that there was not enough value in the medical care they provided for the patient. They thought that they could do a better job as a coordinated network of providers. That philosophy runs deep. It\u2019s part of the DNA of this place. The company culture that has grown from this \u201cwhy\u201d is very real,<\/em>\u201d Rick MacCornack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They know how important it is to millennials to work for an organization that has a clear \u201cWHY\u201d. According to Richard Brown, \u201cOne thing I see is that with this group of co-workers is that meaning is incredibly important to them. They want to know that what they do and how they spend their time working has meaning. It\u2019s not that other age groups don\u2019t want that, but this group seems to have a significant focus on it, and they would take or leave the job based on its meaning \u2013 more freely than what I\u2019ve seen in the other groups.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Questions: What\u2019s your organization’s \u201cWHY\u201d? How do you share it with your team and stakeholders?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #6 They\u2019ve Learned to Embrace <\/strong>Healthy Conflict<\/strong><\/a> and Directness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jill\nJean<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was reticent about being direct because I was afraid of breaking things,” said Richard.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jill said, \u201cI\u2019m not always perfect because like anybody, I don\u2019t love the drama. My teachers have been writing on my report cards since I was in second grade that I just want to see everybody get aligned. Sometimes I like to avoid the drama and so I may delay a particular talk but I find when I do, I pay a little bit for my transgression.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tessa

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy\nFoster and Tessa Smith<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tessa Smith at the Artisans Group shared how healthy conflict creates a better product for the client: \u201cYou need people on the team who are raising their hand and saying, \u201cNo, let\u2019s do it this way because I passionately believe in what we\u2019re doing. I think Randy does a really good job from his side of things, creating a culture where we have the right to do that,\u201d<\/em> said Tessa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthy conflict is a common theme among all their stakeholder communities. \u201cYou should listen to some of our board meetings! They are like a democratic caucus – very strong feelings, but underneath all of it is deep respect and appreciation for the diversity and for the common mission of what we\u2019re all trying to do together as a virtual community of people caring for people,\u201d<\/em> said Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Questions: What\u2019s your personal conflict comfort level? Is healthy conflict part of your organization\u2019s conversations?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit #7 They Are the Keeper of the Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My final question to each interviewee was always, \u201cWhat does your organization look like in three to five years?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every leader I spoke with shared an articulate, compelling vision<\/a> that made me excited about what the future held for them, their people and their organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaching Question: What does your<\/em> company look like in three to five years?<\/strong> How do your share your long-term vision with your key stakeholders?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Innovative leadership practices Top NW leaders implement to create sustainable organizations and how they lead their teams to do their very best work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centropycoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}