Karl

Hello everyone. It has been quite a bit of time since I last posted something here. Michele and I bought a new home in a wonderful neighborhood. We are so blessed to have met some new friends. I am also blessed to be working on a project to develop leaders and help them grow and develop teams that are inspired and successful. I hope that you will give me some feedback on a few questions that will help when building this new opportunity.

1. 1. What are some key challenges in a typical ‘day in the life’ of a first line leader?

2. What is the role or expectations of first line leaders in supporting strategic growth

3. What is the impact on first line leaders when their company is in growth mode?

4. What are some key challenges in leading and inspiring teams?

As I prepare for mid-year performance reviews I often think back to my time in the Army. The best units I was in were the ones where counseling was done monthly, quarterly, and are finished off with a yearly evaluation. This type of feedback allows for constant feedback. I have been in places that counseling was just glossed over to get it done. This does a disservice to anyone looking to better themselves. Honest and open communication helps to strengthen an employee. While mid-year and end of year performance evaluations are important a leader should not wait until this time to reinforce the good while counseling to avoid bad work habits.

I am a big Zig Ziglar fan. I read his book “See You At The Top” when I was an Army recruiter. I was struggling with my job as I was really wanting to go to a Ranger battalion. Somehow the Army got the “Rs” mixed up. Mr. Ziglar’s book helped me to understand how to win. Winning doesn’t come by itself. It takes planning, execution, and then planning starts all over again. Being responsible for production in any capacity takes a huge amount of planning. To be successful you have do what it takes to win. There are many courses of action that can be taken to be successful. Planning to lead is a step that helps a team be successful. There has always been the argument on whether leaders are born or have learned to lead. I agree with both arguments. Leading does come natural to many but that doesn’t mean you stop learning. I learn everyday from the decisions I make. As this blogs continues to grow I want to share my experiences as I prepare myself and others to lead and win. I have been blessed in my life that I was taught that winning does take planning and leadership experiences along the way have made me who I am.  I saw a quote from Zig Ziglar on Facebook this morning. He said that “you were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win. Today I will be involved in a leadership class at work. Other leaders and I will be able to interact and help ourselves to become better leaders for our company. Preparing to lead will help us as we grow our team of winners.

Leadership lessons come from everywhere. A leader can’t assume he knows it all or always has the right answers. I have been blessed to have so many mentors in my life. They all didn’t know they were mentoring me as they were just doing their job. I just turned 52 and I am still learning. A call from a newly made friend and business leader on Sunday showed me that even the shortest of calls can excite someone (me). My wife is my biggest source of inspiration. We talk a lot of leadership and how it affects people. We bounce ideas off  each other. I learn leadership lessons all the time. My job requires me to be in constant contact with customers and my team. Working with over 300 people throughout the world gives me an opportunity to see and hear a lot.  But while I am lucky enough to interact with others worldwide it is the small group of family, friends, and teammates that surround me that gives me the greatest lesson. Many of you read this blog and I want you to know that I am listening when we talk. The leadership lesson I learned while working for Wal-Mart logistics of “being in the house” is one I will never forget. Learning and listening from others is how I get better as a leader. Having every in the house means we all have a place at the table when it comes to great ideas. We build better teams when we welcome everyone into the house.

Recently I have had many discussions about culture. It has been in the workplace as well as in my personal life. Culture can be defined in words and actions. I tend to believe actions are important when defining a culture. When I was pursing my Master’s Degree at Charleston Southern University I wrote a paper about being a leader. This was an assignment to identify the values needed as a global leader.  We are diverse in so many ways in the world. My current program has over 290 employees who have their own culture and dreams. I see it as my job to provide a culture of respect, learning, teaching, and winning. Seeing others be successful brings a special source of enjoyment for me. The use of several leadership styles based on the situation can really create a culture where employees want to be part of the  team while growing as individuals. I really would like to grow this into a conversation on what living a culture means to others. What makes for a great culture of winning in your organization?

I received many favorable comments about the blog. I am excited with the possibilities that I have with this in the future. My many talks with friends and teammates has given me the drive to take my passion of leadership even further. Please continue to share this others and comment on any ideas that I may be able to write about. Thank you for your support and awesome comments. More to come!!!

I recently read an article by the Chairman of Jet Blue, Joel Peterson. He writes about what is takes to become a CEO and stay there. This led me to deep thinking of where I am on my goals in a leadership capacity. I have been blessed to be part of many teams that gave me the opportunity to grow my skills. Just recently I have been able to reconnect with members of a unit that I was assigned to in Erlangen, Germany. Catching up with them has been a remarkable experience. We were all brought together in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma to become the 3rd MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) battery made for the United States Army. I learned so much from the leaders of C Battery 1/94 FA.  I learned what it takes to be a leader versus a manager. A leader is not afraid to make the tough decisions. A leader knows how to make it about the team and not about himself. Throughout my career in the Army, Wal-Mart logistics, SAIC, and now with BAE I have been given the opportunity to realize my dreams of leading teams that were high performing. I was and am successful because of the teammates around me. One of the skills Mr. Peterson writes about is wisdom.In my daily prayers I ask God for wisdom. It gives me the peace of mind that I will make the right decisions at the right time.  My last question when I am interviewing job applicants is if they could have one super power what would it be. There is not a right or wrong answer but my answer is wisdom. With this superpower I am able to lead others with a servant mentality.

My wife Michele, recently sent me an article written by Oleg Vishnepolsky. He talked about loyalty between employees and their companies. I live in Summerville, South Carolina and we are experiencing a lot of growth in our area. Boeing has come in and made a big splash in the area, along with Daimler building Mercedes Benz vans. Volvo is coming on fast as they open a new plant in Ridgeville. Keeping quality employees is going to be tough. Mr. Vishnepolsky’s article really made me think about our own culture in my program. Am I creating the right culture where our employees want to stay and work with us even though thousands on new jobs are being created around us? A couple of ideas hit me that I think have helped to brand loyalty in our team.

1. Challenge employees to excel- Our program at BAE is ever changing. Our production schedule is tough as we meet our customer expectations. Motivating employees to meet production goals along with safety and quality is our top priority. We have implemented several programs that reward excellence while we push to increase efficiency. Our workforce has responded well to these challenges as our program continues to mature.

2. Ethical Conduct- Employees want to see their leadership doing the right thing. It is an old statement but you must “walk the walk”. Every company has an ethics program but the true grit of a company is whether ethical conduct is expected daily and shown through decision making.

3. Accountability- My career in the Army taught me that there is standard for everything we do. We taught a task, the conditions in which that that task would be accomplished, and stated the standard to which we must accomplish this task. It is hard to hold someone accountable for something if they don’t know what they are supposed to do. Going beyond a standard is how we create an atmosphere where employees want to stay with us. Employees want to be part of a winning team.

4. Team- I talk all the time about being a team. It has been said there is no “I” in team. That is true but there is a “M” and an “E”. There is a “me”. To be a full team everyone must do their part. Being a Cubs fan I think of Tinkers, Evers, and Chance. Each of them had to do their part to make up this great double play combination. “Me” means that I must do my part to make the team successful. Challenge employees to do their part for the team and they will respond.

5. Lastly, be there for your employees. Be a part of their world. The level of leadership doesn’t matter. Know their weaknesses, know their strengths, and just know them as a person. This means know them in a professional and personal way so that you can mentor them to excellence.

There is much more that keeps an employee loyal to a company than I have mentioned here. I would like to start a discussion on your thoughts of loyalty? Let’s go!

When speaking at the SEC Media Day Coach Saban talked about accountability and how lessons are learned.  Saban stated ” It takes a tremendous amount of accountability to be able to execute and sustain the execution for 60 minutes in the game,” He went further to say. “And we played against a really, really good team, which I think when you get in the playoffs, that should be what you expect. And we weren’t able to finish the game like we needed to. And I think there’s a lot of lessons to learn, and hopefully we won’t waste a failure.”

Being an Alabama fan and watching how Mr. Saban motivates his teams every year gives me a lot of information to share with my team. Working in the defense industry is tough. There are many companies that are ready to take your work. Our team works hard but we cannot rest on our successes. we must hold each other accountable to do the right thing every time. This includes production, safety, and a culture of respect. I am proud of what we have accomplished over the past year but we must continue to learn from our successes and our failures. Business is a team sport and I continue to learn how to be a better coach and mentor. Being responsible for a high performing team that must perform consistently is a humbling but rewarding role.

  In 1993, I was honored to become a part of the Sergeant Morales Club while stationed in Germany. There is a similar club stateside called “The Sergeant Audie Murphy Club.” Both are clubs which highlight exceptional NCO (Non Commissioned Officer ) leadership. The Sergeant Morales story is one of a true leader who was always there for his soldiers. His leadership traits exemplify those needed by leaders in any organization. As I was reading his story this morning it made me pause and reflect about what Chronister Leadership means. It means caring about your team.  One part of the story includes the statement “Sergeant Morales counseled his soldiers monthly in personal and job-performance areas. The counseling records reflected complimentary as well as derogatory information. The information from the leader’s notebook, soldier’s job book and counseling was used to guide his soldiers in promotion, proficiency and career development, including their professional and academic education.”  Chronister Leadership is about leading with a passion where the leader wants to see others grow as an individual, which benefits the team. It is about having the tough talks to improve performance while highlighting and glorifying individual and team successes. Chronister Leadership is my idea of sharing leadership ideas with others who want to grow and become the kind of leader like Sergeant Morales.