by Mike Ososki, PMP, Communications Committee

The PMI crowd loved it and were held in rapt attention. General David Poythress’ warm and polished delivery seamlessly wove personal storytelling with deep wisdom. If you missed 2015’s opening Dunwoody Dinner, it’s too late for you to attend the live event. But you can still experience a vicarious thrill and share the essential content wisdom via the written word. Please read on...

Much has been written on leadership from a wide variety of perspectives, with no universal definition. David’s approach is decidedly intuitive and experience-based. He subscribes to the “I know it when I see it” school, citing real life examples by observing the effects of leadership. In David’s view, perhaps more than any other one word, “trust” best summarizes its most essential ingredient.

It takes at least 2 to tango: in this case, the leader and his/her team. David breaks it down yet further, into 4 relationships. The first is self-to-self. Does the leader possess a strong conviction of self-trust? This is confidence in your own good judgment (not arrogance). It is typically only in private moments, among close confidantes, that strong leaders exhibit self-doubt. Leading your team, it is not an aspect you want them to sense from you very often or strongly.

Second, as the leader, do you trust your team? If not, the dark side is typically micro-management, the child of your doubt. When you trust your team, you delegate, and that’s how big projects and massive endeavors are accomplished successfully.

Third, does your team trust you? Do not squander their trust. Divisory practices like scapegoating and favoritism erode trust and will squelch creativity and innovation. For big project success, you will always value creative, innovative contribution.

Finally, your team members must trust each other. This is a professional, self-reinforcing structure, built on respect, with unified belief in a common cause to reach the same goal.

So how do you best build an agenda of trust? David proposes 3 essential components.

First and most fundamental is ethical integrity. This may be thought of as what is right to do or not do, and it’s easy: just ask your mother. Organizations tend to take on the characteristics of their leaders, both profound and superficial. Teams often rise to high expectations, and conversely, under-perform from the “soft discrimination of low expectations.” Aim high.

Second (and no surprise) is communication. A first essential subset of this is core values. These are relentlessly expressed, emphasized, and deeply internalized. Think of religious-level beliefs and ritual practices, one of the most extreme examples. The other piece is ongoing operations, wherein various teams smoothly cooperate and care about each other’s part in an overall more complex process. Both are required to sustain long-term trust and achieve consistent success, while reducing paranoia and tunnel vision.

Third, flexibility is vital, especially in our evermore rapidly changing, evolving world. Disruptive technology continues to accelerate the change rate with no end in sight, sometimes posing almost an existential threat. Flexibility and agility to adapt must be 2-pronged: internal and external. Inside the group, the effective leader is proactive, anticipating likely (and unlikely) change and preparing for it. Yet because so much is out of any one person or group’s control, it’s equally critical to react nimbly to outside effects that will impact your mission. Try to have a plan to address every potential contingency, and even be prepared to walk away from a shattered business plan. Solid core values (see above) can help stabilize and guide wise choices as we weather these powerful winds of change.

zodiacs

And the storytelling? Amid intense thunder and lightning, trapped in their military black Zodiac rafts, General Poythress and the Navy Seals could no longer see the Savannah shore. Drifting even further out, the motor would not restart, and they were taking on water fast ... but it all ended well. The leadership and teamwork demonstrated that harrowing day put into action many of the principles described above.