FAST leadership is an excellent method to use to inspire teams! We know what kind of results an inspired team creates and it all starts with the leadership. There really is no magic about it but a key ingredient is the goal setting process. Here is how I help myself and my teams exhibit FAST leadership.

FOCUS

I am a person that can easily be distracted. Throw a Bass Pro catalog in front of me while I am working on a project and it would be easy for me to get lost in a dream about being on a pristine lake in my 17’ Alumacraft and bringing in that trophy Bass! Time management is crucial to my focus in that it helps me eliminate distractions. Back in the 1970’s, Alan Lakein authored the book “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life” and it has been a building block for many managers and leaders since. The key question that I ask myself that Lakein preached in the book is; what is the best use of my time right now? More often than not, it is working on a project and moving things forward, not drooling on the Bass Pro catalog and placing an impulsive order for $400 worth of fishing gear!
Time management techniques are also used to carry me through the logistics of every project as well. Things such as creating a to-do list and prioritizing actions and plans. It is easy to begin to spin your wheels on a project and not make progress. I often find the causes of getting stuck to be focusing on the wrong action items or spending too much time on them. I tell my team to ask themselves when it happens to them; is this activity moving you closer to the desired end result? If not, move on to something else. That is not to say we don’t complete important action steps in a plan but it is saying we need to eliminate superfluous activities that really do not result in productivity.
I also have a tendency to bite off too much. To help me with this so I can keep both my team and myself focused, I ensure that I know the skills and motivations of each team member, what their strengths and weaknesses are and how committed they are to the team and the organization. I may even have an open discussion with them before I commit the team to additional work to gain their insight. I don’t know everything in spite of what I sometimes think and it is these unknowns that will bite me in the hindquarters when I don’t want it to.
Lastly, and here is where that goal setting thing comes in to play, I set goals. Not nebulous goals but goals that are meaningful and that provide clarity. What is a clear and meaningful goal you ask? A well written goal (note I said the word “written”) is one that is specific, measurable, realistic AND challenging and time phased. Every component of that process is important. Then, once I have clear direction in a goal, I formulate the action necessary to get to the goal including anticipated roadblocks that may throw me off track and I prioritize the steps in importance. When you think about it, actions are just shorter little goals designed to move you toward the larger overall goal! So those actions need to be specific, measurable, realistic AND challenging and time phased as well. And what is the purpose of writing the goals? I could write a separate response for that alone but, in a nutshell, it drives commitment and provides a way to track progress.

ACCOUNTABLE

Having clear, well formulated goals is a big helper for not only holding others accountable but for holding myself accountable. On those occasions when I fail at a particular task or activity and the result has a negative impact on the team or the organization, it is important to take responsibility so that morale stays up, productivity can get back on track and we continue to move closer to our objectives.
Communication is key to accountability. We talk. Often. Not just during useless meetings but whenever the situation demands. If on the production floor is where a meeting needs to take place, then we do it then and there. This way, everyone is normally involved and responsibilities and tasks are detailed and communicated. I remember a time when I failed to consider a critical marketing factor when we were launching a new product a while ago. As a result, initial sales were far from expectation. The fault was mine and had I done a better job at planning that specific element, we would not have wasted money and time in the launching of the new product. I made it clear to everyone that the fault was mine and together, we developed a plan going forward. I think it put everyone at ease during a time when tension was quickly mounting due to lackluster sales. By holding myself accountable, it made it easier for people to invest their commitment to the project and to the organization and to take the risks necessary for growth!

SIMPLE

Goal setting, again, helps keep the complexity and confusion down to a minimum. Keeping things simple is part of the process and having it written, published, posted and talked about keeps everyone working toward the same objective. I find it easier to keep it simple by teaching my team to manage their time wisely, asking what the best use of their time right now is. By tracking progress against the written objectives (it may just be a simple to-do list or a comprehensive action plan), it becomes easy to determine whether or not a team is behind, ahead or on schedule. I use a calendar in my email system that has a task manager section. It allows me to document what, when, where, who and how. Sharing this plan using the digital technology we have keeps everyone abreast as to where we all are as a whole. It also lets everyone see where they fit in to the overall picture of the project. Often times, this vision that people now have cuts down on redundancy, repetition and general waste.
Another technique I find helpful in keeping things simple is to make decisions quickly. All too often, I have seen leaders drag a decision out because they felt they didn’t have all the facts or information needed. “Let’s schedule a meeting tomorrow to discuss this issue”, is a common response that I have often heard. My credo is “let’s walk and talk” meaning lets go out to the place where the issue exists right now and resolve it now. At times it is necessary to schedule a meeting but for the most part, I find making a decision now as opposed to later, results in simplicity, greater performance and, oh yes, higher morale.
Delegation and empowerment also go a long way to keeping things simple. I find that most of the talent in the shop knows how to do the job, in many cases better than I. It is those people that I unleash on making a project successful! They normally have the know-how to get a job done using the least amount of resources, safely and on time.

TRANSPARENCY

When I was a kid, I spent many years as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout. We had a scout law that we recited at every meeting; a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Those were excellent principles to guide one’s behavior then, and they still are today.
I consider myself to be a Servant Leader. I am just as interested in developing and lifting to success the folks that work in my organization as I am seeing the organization as a whole succeed. As far as I am concerned, that is one of my primary jobs as a leader. I know that some will go on to bigger and better things and will leave my organization but that’s okay. I know some will remain and will be incredible at what they do. I feel great about that. If people know that you are not just about dollars and cents and are just as in tune to their needs, they will return that loyalty tenfold. That may be where many businesses have fell off the wagon in the past twenty years. Too much emphasis on profits and loss and not an equal amount of caring about the peeps. Part of caring about them is to keep them in the loop as to what is happening. That builds trust and of all the characteristics in the Boy Scout law, I think trust is most important. If my people don’t trust me, then I am nowhere. To be transparent is to let them in on those things that have a direct effect on them and their ability to do their job. A good friend of mine who retired from a very high position with Caterpillar, taught me the value of leading from the heart. People are real. We all put our pants on one leg at a time, we all have to deal with stress, pressure, anxiety and failure as well as the fruits of success. I try to be authentic, genuine and sincere in the way I interact with employees and customers. They know who I am and what they see is what they get. They know I am human and they know I have a vulnerable side. That is my transparency.

Am I successful every day at FAST leadership? Far from it. I struggle and fall on my sword quite often. I try new things and am rewarded with either being the flavor-of-the-day or the most wanted man in the county. But at the end of that day, if I have helped my team to become better than they were at the beginning of it, I am a happy camper. If I fail, I just pull out the sword, dust myself off, learn and go back at it the next day. Touché.