From the Global Leadership Summit:
5 Critical Challenge Questions for Leaders (Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church)
1. What is your current challenge level at work?
All people fall into one of the three categories above. The under challenged do not have enough interesting work to keep them engaged. They are not provided with enough work to do. The under challenged usually leave organizations for a more challenging position. The appropriately challenged usually have just the right amount of work and task to accomplish. However, they are not being stretched and are only maintaining, not creating. The dangerously over-challenged are working themselves to death, often at a high cost to themselves and those around them.
Most employees fall into the upper under challenged/lower appropriately challenged area (see yellow box). People's best work is accomplished when they are working/functioning in the lower third of the dangerously over-challenged level (see red box).
As leaders - are those who work under you being challenged enough? What can you do to bring them up (or down) to the appropriate challenge level?
As employees - what are you doing for yourself? It is your responsibility to get yourself to the appropriate challenge level. If under challenged, create something new, start an initiative, launch a new venture, etc. If over-challenged, get help.
2. What is your plan for dealing with challenging people?
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| The Line Exercise |
As a leader, how long do you tolerate bad attitudes?
As a leader, how long do you tolerate poor performance?
As a leader, how do you tolerate a good/loyal/hardworking employee when the organization outgrows the employees capacity?
Your organization should have a plan, and the plan should be followed, in order to effectively deal with these challenging people.
3. Are you naming, facing, and resolving problems in the organization?
When issues and problems arise, are you identifying them as such, or are you calling them something else besides problems? Call the issue/problem what it is, do not try to run or hide from it, face the problem and resolve it.
4. When was the last time you re-examined the core of your organizations purpose?
Do you remember why you do the work you do? Do you know what your organization exists for?
List five things that your organization is about (without using terms associated with your industry). Working through this exercise, will help bring you back to the core purpose of your organization.
5. When was the last time your leadership bell was rung?
What was the last book you read, or conference that you attended, or interaction with other leaders that you had that made you see something new, or gain a new view of your leadership? If your leadership is lagging, perhaps it is time to seek out a "bell ringing" opportunity.
As fire service professionals we should constantly be striving to increase our leadership effectiveness. Leadership, in its simplest form, is influence. If we are ever to be successful in our pursuits of fire/life safety we must hold the power of influence. G5 Leadership can take you there. G5 Leadership is web based leadership training organization which offers video training for leaders, as well as, live web events. You get unlimited access to this content for a low yearly membership fee. I strongly encourage any one desiring to lead to check it out.
So... What Does "G5" Mean Anyway?
G5 is short for "Fifth Gear." Over the last decade, our research of over 6,493 people on 487 teams in 1,938 companies showed that people work in one of 5 different "gears:"
First Gear: The Value Suckers (2%)
Traits: Me-mentality, disconnected from the team, make things worse just by coming to work. When they call in sick, productivity and morale go up.
Second Gear: The Job-Holders (25%)
Traits: Me-mentality, one or two people they connect with, fight for the status-quo. Been to the DMV? Yes, that's them.
Third Gear: The Isolators (49%)
Traits: Me-first mentality, personal project-centered. Team is for coordination/logistics, not collaboration. You vs. Me. Think "The Apprentice."
Fourth Gear: The Turf-Protectors (24%)
Traits: Team-centered, functional mentality, good team performance, but don't have the bigger company picture in mind. Us vs. Them. Think Sales vs. Marketing, not Sales and Marketing.
Fifth Gear: The Difference-Makers (2%)
Traits: Enterprise/market-first mentality. Think like connected, focused entrepreneurs. No turf wars, just killer production. Have you seen a Pixar movie lately? Those movies are brought to you by Difference-Makers.
Any of these gears sound familiar? Just remember most people don't start driving their car in top gear. It takes time and energy to get up to speed.
What "gear" are you currently in? What "gear" would you like to be in?
First Gear: The Value-Suckers (2%)
