Leadership

A Perspective on the Need for Leaders Today
PERSONAL LEADERSHIP
17th Annual National Child Support Enforcement
Training Conference

What do these five people have in common?

• Brittney Spears
• Margot Bean
• Franklin Graham
• Tiger Woods
• Any Child Support Professional in this Room

That's right!

• They are all persons of influence!
• And this means you, too! What you do, what you say, how you lead, and how you follow makes a difference. You can have a positive impact on those you influence. You are here today because you have a role in the future of the child support program. We need you to help keep this program on the right track. We want to see you use your influence in a positive, productive way. YOU are important!

So where have all the leaders gone?

• Is there a leadership void today?
• There is a great need for people who are willing to step up to the plate, see a job through to the end, and then accept responsibility for the finished product.
• We have many committees and few true leaders.

So, Be There!

• Be at the right place..........
• At the right time..........
• With the right attitude!

"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"
Benjamin Franklin

Believe in Yourself!

• Work constantly on your attitude.
• Stretch yourself.
• Be open to criticism and open to change.
• Don't give up!

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."
Conrad Hilton

Be Ready!

• Personal preparation is crucial.
• Take advantage of all educational opportunities.
• Experience is a great teacher!
• Learning is a lifelong experience.

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
John Wooden

Be Responsible!

• Don't focus on your rights - focus on your responsibilities!
• Do what it takes to get the job done.
• Go the second mile, then the third, fourth, and keep on going until you cross the finish line!

"It is priceless to find a person who will take responsibility, who will finish and follow through to the final detail - to know when someone has accepted an assignment that it will be effectively, conscientiously completed."
Richard L. Evans

Be accountable for outcomes!

• And where does the buck stop? RIGHT HERE!
• Win, Lose, or Draw : Evaluate the outcome and get back in the game - smarter, more experienced, and more determined!
• Grow from your experiences.

"The bull won't care what I did last week."
Tuff Hedeman

We Need Leaders Like YOU!

• You are a person of influence.
• The child support program needs leaders who are in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. We need leaders who believe in themselves and who are ready to lead. We need leaders who are responsible for the processes and who are accountable for the outcomes.
• We need YOU!

Robbie Endris, Executive Director
Support Enforcement Services
P O Box 94065
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9065
rendris@dss.state.la.us

Developing Leadership

Overview

• Climate for Succession Planning & Leadership Development
• Iowa's Leadership Academy
  • Structure
  • Results
• What can individuals do?
• What can organizational leadership do?

Background: Leadership Development

National Employment Trends

• Declining & aging workforce
• Lack of skilled employees
• Competitive job market

Iowa Trends

• Exporter of people
• Increase in agency customers

Leadership Development

Iowa Child Support

• 50-100% mgmt retirement in next 3 years
• 28.88% of CSRU tenure is held at management level
• 10 out of 412 at management level
• 2.4 % of people hold 22.88 % of the tenure
• Remaining employees have an average of only 8 years of tenure

Leadership Development

Past

• Hiring more staff
• Increased automation
• Stable leadership

Leadership Development

Future

• Key Leaders retire
• Available workforce shrinks
• Caseloads continue to grow
• Stiff competition for governmental funds

Leadership Development

What we can do internally?

• Make the customer a partner in our work
• Improve information exchange with customers
• Provide opportunities to practice & develop leadership skills

Leadership Academy

• Identify high potential staff
• Prepare staff for senior management positions
• Transfer knowledge from key managers to potential successors

Leadership Academy

Areas of Focus

• Performance measures/incentives
• Budgeting
• Legislative process
• Public Policy
• Resource Allocation
• Leadership Skills

Leadership Academy

The Roll-Out

• Statewide conference
• All division supervisors attended
• Topics included: Workforce Planning, Succession Planning, and Leadership Development

Implementation of the Academy

Application Process

• Competitive process
• Application
• Updated Resume
• Most recent Performance Evaluation
• Supervisor Evaluation form
• Any supporting materials

Academy Plan

• Competency assessment (1 month)
• Individual Development Plan (2 months)
• Mentoring Agreement (3 months)
• A structured meeting (quarterly)
• One special project (1st year)

The First Assignment

• Top 10 customer issues
• Statewide impact
• Changed the mentoring process
• Changed the work plan

Changes

• Interaction with entire management team
• Communication

Academy Outline

• Projects
• Assigned mentors
• Biweekly mentoring meetings
• Attendance at monthly management meetings
• Ongoing trainings

Results of the Academy

Participants

• A larger view of the breadth of the child support program
• Opportunity to learn from senior managers
• Learned from the evolution process

Results of the Academy

Bureau

• Relevant projects
• Increased experience with succession planning
• Increased interest from potential participants for Round #2

What Can Individuals Do ?

• Reflect on how you view your employment
• Identify your organization's priorities and excel at them
• Build a professional reputation
• Don't limit yourself
• Be a fearless leader

What Can Organizational Leadership Do ?

• Build a buzz about your program
• Build a reputation as a place to work
  • How will you know?
• Focus on the future
• Take risks for high returns

If you are a leader, your job is to position your successor for success

Thank You

LEADERSHIP

Nick Young
Director, Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement
Sept. 2007

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is like Ethics.
It's caught, not taught.

Basic Precepts of Leadership

• Leaders do not deceive their followers
• Leaders don't tiptoe through life
• Leaders recognize and promote success
• Success begins with movement toward a worthwhile goal
• Your leadership ability matures with every tough decision
• Mediocrity is a disease anyone can catch

Attitude is Everything

• "Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated." Lou Holtz at the University of Arkansas
• "Show me a good and gracious loser, and I'll show you a failure." Knute Rockne, Notre Dame
• "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it ." Lou Holtz
• You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life." Paul Dietzel, LSU

Attitude Drives Physical and Mental Fitness

• Engagement
• Awareness
• Action and Reaction
• Enthusiasm and Optimism

"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."

General Colin Powell:
"The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist," give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day."

LEADERSHIP

Optimism Drives
Commitment to a Shared Vision

Vision

• Gorbachev critique - Faults 'winner complex'

Vision

• Optimism is a better motivator than cynicism
• Are you able to get others to share your vision?

Persistent Pursuit of Shared Vision Results in Action

• Leaders create winning circumstances - they aren't victimized by circumstance
• Leaders make their own success by seizing every opportunity
• If you throw your heart over the fence, the rest will follow

Persistence and Perseverance

One example:

• at 23 he lost a job and was defeated in a bid for the state legislature
• at 26 his sweetheart died and he experienced severe emotional problems
• at 34 was defeated in Congressional primary
• at 37 was elected to Congress, but lost two years later
• at 45 and 49 he lost races for the Senate

Who was he???

Action is Tempered by Sound Judgment

• Leaders insulate their organization from politics when possible - having the judgment to know what to filter out is key
• Passion is good - but information is also important. Don't be afraid to re-evaluate your course in light of new data.
• But once the data is in and you've decided...

Commitment

• Leaders demonstrate and demand total commitment to the shared vision:

"When he reached the New World, Cortez burned his ships. As a result, is men were well motivated."
Soviet Nuclear Submarine Captain Marko Ramius telling his men that he informed Moscow of their decision to defect to the US in the film "The Hunt for Red October"

Motivation

• Know the magic of pulling together - Old Warwick

Motivation

• Drive-by management - troops see through it.
• One-minute management - it doesn't even take a whole minute!
• Who wants to be a middle manager? (USA Today article)

Who Packed Your Parachute???

Motivation

You can buy a good dog.
You can't buy the wag in it's tail.

The Power of Team

The Power of Team

• Jim Collins' Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer.
• Work your people hard enough so that only those that really want to be on board- only the best & brightest- stay with you.