Message from the Director
Fall 2009
Leading in Lean Times
Here are six action steps that you, too, might find useful when leading in lean times.
1) Develop employees as problem solvers. Make time for others and listen to what they have to say. Most successful leaders have more than an open door policy. They have an open ear policy and encourage the thoughts and ideas of staff, key stake holders and constituents. They recognize that they as leaders don’t always have the best answers. This shift from a command and control style of leadership to a leadership style that is fact based and flexible can keep an organization on track during lean times. It can also shift the very culture of how the organization thinks and conducts its business on a daily basis.
2) Double your visibility and be approachable as well as visible. People need to feel like the vision is still intact. Faith in the stability of the organization may depend on the perception that you as the leader remain committed to the vision. Being visible and approachable and talking to staff and stake holders is very important to reinforcing the message that, in spite of tough times, we will continue to move forward on our vision.
3) Use the time to develop, update and close gaps in operational policy and procedures and to engage in strategic planning. Rather than moping around or whining about doing the same or more with less, bring positive energy to the table. Focusing on policy costs little, but has the potential to yield significant gains in operational consistency and efficiency. Similarly, strategic planning gathers information about the present, acknowledges what is working, what needs improvement and sets out a strategy to embrace what could be in the future. Planning during these rough times signals a willingness to explore new ways of doing business with a sense of optimism rather than gloom.
4) Maximize your available revenue sources and look for grant opportunities or fiscal partnerships. We’re not always limited to the general fund resources that the legislature gives us. When you build your budgets, make sure you fully utilize every possible funding stream. We’ve collaborated across agencies, with the departments of Health, Family Services, Employment, Workforce Services, and Education, to insure when we are serving the same person or the same person’s family we are doing it in a seamless wrap around approach that involves all the involved agencies. We’ve also laid out all possible sources of revenue as a means of exploring state resources with federal funds. For instance, in Wyoming, we surrendered general funds for substance abuse programming, but maximized the use of tobacco settlement dollars from the Department of Health as a way to fund those needs. We’ve also maximized the use of grant funds.
5) Be creative and look for ways to eliminate waste and improve productivity. Turbulent times provide ample opportunity for success, if we approach things with the right frame of mind. Wise correctional leaders recognize that the current economic tsunami offers insights and even opportunities that can help them position their institutions for stronger health after the storm clouds clear. Just as a ship at sea cannot afford to stop its engines when it encounters a storm, we have to find ways to move ahead through these difficult times. That requires hard decisions. But, it also helps us clarify what is essential and central to our missions. Like Thomas Edison once said, “There is a better way for everything. Find it.”
We entered 2009 with budget realities that ranged from manageable to painful. State after state has announced wave after wave of budget cuts. The operative words going into the 2009 fiscal year were “cost containment.”
So, we reached for the low hanging fruit like limiting training and staff development; paring expenditures by approving only the most pressing equipment requests; saving on utility costs by changing thermostat ranges or reducing lighting levels; combing vendor contracts for potential savings; reconfiguring institutional schedules to save energy and personnel costs; postponing capital construction projects; and deferring deferred maintenance.
Sometimes that was enough. But, the possibility also exists that you would have to curtail personnel costs by trimming positions and benefits, or reduce or eliminate programming. Doing so will require you to decide what to prioritize and what to sacrifice.
6) Tie your vision to your strategic plan and your strategic plan to your budget; then justify what you are asking for with outcome data. During times of fiscal restraint, having outcome data to support what you are doing becomes increasingly important. Being able to defend the current practices with data, being willing to evaluate what is or isn’t working and prioritizing those findings within your budget request is increasingly important.
To my way of thinking, these six action steps constitute visionary leadership and leading in lean times. The operative word being “lead.”
(excerpts from a Keynote Speech given to the West Central Wardens & Superintendents annual conference, held in Saratoga, Wyoming, in September 2009)
-- Bob Lampert, Director