GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.–One of the most difficult issues for any leader to face is the recognition that “control is an illusion,” according to Randy Karnes, CEO of CU*Answers. Instead, leaders must understand control is exercised by other individuals, Karnes says, in this CUToday.info Q&A on leadership, lessons learned, and more.
CUToday.info: What intangible of leadership is most difficult to convey or prepare for?
Karnes: Whether you are working with a client or a new team member, one of the hardest leadership realities is that “control is an illusion.” As students of business we cannot wait to be assigned a leadership role so we can be positioned to “control” situations, solutions, or approaches to problems. Being in control of something is for individual actors, not leaders. Leaders work with people, respond to market forces, and rally resources to solutions. In most cases leaders have to give up a sense of control and embrace a role of negotiation, coordination, and encouraging teams to respond to what they cannot control but need to live with to succeed.
CUToday.info: Are you a fan of a management book or books? If not, why not. If so, which have resonated with you and why?
Karnes: I am not a fan of management books per se, but I am fan of understanding what books are catching the eyes of managers and what that says about the current trends in thinking or problems recognized by the crowd. Maybe it is my short attention span, but I would be more a fan of management pamphlets. It is a sign of the times that once you can identify trending issues it is really easy to participate via new models (social networks and crowd designs) to engage solutions rather than read about them.
CUToday.info: Innovation: four syllables getting all the attention. Deservedly so? If so, can you really drive innovation? Or is it coming at the cost of implementation and delivery?
Karnes: Tough topic—one person’s innovation might be another person’s marginal gain. It can be an eye-of-the-beholder valuation from person to person, team to team, or organization to organization. My formula is to drive our organization to the reality that innovation is not working harder, it is working differently. So I drive for 30+% growth or throughput change to spark responses from our leaders and designers of solutions like “we cannot get that kind of lift and do it the way we do it around here!” And once we come to that shared clarity I know we have identified our constraints or boundaries, and we have a chance for innovation. So, I do believe you certainly drive to always know the difference between working harder or investing to innovate—and never confuse the two.
CUToday.info: If you could go back and talk to You On The First Day On The Job, what advice do you share?
Karnes: Do not count so much on being right, and trust more in the fact that there is more than one right answer; be nimble. There is no way to win in business by limiting solutions to a single response. Build competitive advantages by including super sets of alternatives as the specification for your business offerings. Adapt quickly by counting on the diversity in the perspectives of customers, owners, and peers. Worry less about limiting your options per your agenda, and take a chance to be inclusive of everyone’s agendas and hope for success in building a network. Oh, by the way, build a network, not just a business.
CUToday.info: My Keeps-Me-Up-At-Night concern is? Why? And My-Let’s-Me-Sleep-At-Night optimism is?
Karnes: Keeps me up at night: Trying to understand where I cannot see the other side of an issue when I know that the person I see as competent, smart, and creative disagrees with my approach. What have I not considered when we have chosen another path.
Let’s me sleep at night: Reminding myself to be patient, what you will do tomorrow is more important than what is left undone today! Go to sleep.