Marc Pitman: Welcome to the Concord Leaders Podcast. I’m Marc Pitman, the CEO of the Concord Leadership Group, where we’re helping leaders keep focus during these trying times. Today, our guest is Francisco Fernández. He’s the President of Comunidar, a community foundation, and the Associate VP for Development at Tec de Monterrey. Francisco, it is so good to have you here.

Francisco Fernández: Thank you, Marc, for the invitation. It’s an honor.

Marc Pitman: Definitely a mutual honor for sure. So, you’ve served in different leadership positions, you’ve been in different countries even — what is it that you like about leading?

Francisco Fernández: I think that the idea of developing teams and constructing teams, and developing people within those teams, is the best thing about leading. I used to play basketball, and the position I used to play was point guard. What I love about that position is making things happen, not necessarily shooting the baskets — I feel very comfortable making the pass for somebody else, maybe making the shot. So that’s what I’m passionate about. I really believe in identifying the strengths of people and making complementary teams. In my career — which is not necessarily only in fundraising, I would say it’s really around transformation in organizations — it’s really making organizations be what they are capable and have the potential to be, and transforming them into that. And that implies transforming teams and people. And I’ve found myself, through different methodologies in my career, learning how to do that in a more effective way.

Marc Pitman: I have so many questions around that. Leading from what you just said — what are some of the things you’ve found that help you make complementary teams? Because often we tend to hang out with people like us, but that doesn’t make the best team.

Francisco Fernández: That’s right. It was like an aha moment for me when I found, especially, one of the methodologies — it’s a small consulting firm based in Santa Barbara, California, its name is Adizes, the Adizes Institute. And I also, in some way, follow Patrick Lencioni. They all talk about the importance of not necessarily being superheroes or supermen, but really identifying complementary teams. There are different tools you can use to identify those strengths, and also the positions in our organizations have the need for those strengths. So you can match the strengths of your team to the areas that specific position needs. And that’s where you have fulfilled team members — really seeing that their strengths are put in place, and that they feel, like a fish in water, that they’re in the position they need to be. First of all, I truly believe, like Collins says in Good to Great, that you need the correct people on the bus, but also identifying the right people in the right seat on the bus is very important.

Marc Pitman: Well, I don’t know if this is a fair question, but have you found it easier to identify the strengths needed for the positions, or is it easier to know who’s on the bus and figure out positions to complement their strengths?

Francisco Fernández: That’s a good question. Sometimes — in my case, I normally arrive at organizations which already have the people on the bus. So my role has been to identify those strengths, and first of all, align the structure and design an org chart, an organizational structure that’s focused on the strategies and priorities of the organization, and then accommodate the talent into those positions. Normally you have the possibility, because diversity is normal within a team, but normally you don’t have everything you need, and you have to bring talent from the outside as well. So that’s really what I’d be doing. Which one would be easier? I think that identifying people and accommodating them to the positions is something very, very relevant in order for things to happen.

Marc Pitman: Nice, very cool. Well, as many of the people I interview in this series have told me, sometimes there are times when you’re leading and it doesn’t work out — it just kind of falls apart completely. Have you had an experience like that?

Francisco Fernández: Definitely, definitely, we have lots of them. More so in the process of transforming organizations. And I think one that was a great learning experience for me was identifying and changing the structure of an organization in an environment where there wasn’t necessarily mutual trust and respect within the team players. Changing the organization is, at the end, changing everything — changing the strategy, changing the financial compensation incentives, etc. And even though we normally — and maybe I could classify myself as that inside consultant transforming the organization — we identify the need for those changes in organizational alignment, and we just implement them, but not necessarily with the correct environment in which people see and understand and are aligned to what you’re doing. In this case in particular, it was a time when I wasn’t even there physically — I was coming in and out of that organization, like an inside CEO of that organization, besides also taking care of other organizations at the same time. So I didn’t have that environment of mutual trust and respect. So things at the end happened, but the price was very high. And I learned that first you need to develop that environment of mutual trust and respect, align the expectations and the team to that strategy, and then you’ll have the support of that team. And even if those changes, in some way, impact their situation, when we have a common goal, we can in some way align ourselves to that common goal, because that common goal is what gives us that mutual trust and respect in our team.

Marc Pitman: I have found that too — I love that you say focus on the common goal, because it’s amazing how that can overcome certain amounts of distrust and disrespect. Any tips on finding that common goal, or other ways to build trust? Because I think, at the time of this recording, we’re in the midst of a pandemic, there’s a lot of stress on people, and people don’t know how to handle that stress. So some of that becomes even more focused on their leaders and their teams. So are there ways you’ve found, as a leader who wasn’t even present all the time, that you could build that kind of trust?

Francisco Fernández: Yeah, yeah. And through that learning experience, and through some methodologies I’ve found over the years of transforming organizations, what I’ve learned — I could simplify it maybe in this phrase — is: make the decision-making democratic, and then the decision-taking much more executive, and maybe even dictatorial. What do I mean by that? Normally we do the contrary — normally, as leaders, we decide on our own, and then try to implement, obviously, through our team, because we’re not able to implement things by ourselves. We think that’s more effective, efficient, and timely — much faster to do. But at the end, the implementation, without the conviction and alignment of the whole team, makes it even more difficult and takes more time. So if we do it the other way around — take more time and more involvement of our team players in the decision-making process of what needs to be done, what our goals are as an organization — then the implementation, what has to happen for the strategy to happen, is much faster. So at the end, the whole transformation process is shorter, because the decision-making process was more democratic, involved more people, and you listened to all your team members and, as a whole, constructed that strategy or alignment. So that’s really what I learned, and what I’d do in those transformational processes.

Marc Pitman: Nice. So when you’re talking about the strategies you found from — was it Adizes, what was the name of the group?

Francisco Fernández: Yeah, Adizes, A-D-I-Z-E-S, the Adizes Institute, that’s right.

Marc Pitman: Okay, and then Patrick Lencioni and Jim Collins you mentioned — were there any particular things that helped you with strengths, or is that just something you’ve learned to identify on your own?

Francisco Fernández: No, no, certainly — having those types of consultants, coaches, is very important. I think something I learned, not necessarily at the beginning of my professional career, and would have been very helpful, is to have what you could call your own personal advisory board. It’s very important, as a CEO, as a leader of any organization, to have that — even if sometimes you could have an advisory board, but maybe the organizations you work for wouldn’t necessarily have that group of people officially as an advisory board, you could have one on your own. I normally have one that involves three or four people who hold me accountable to some plans I have. Some of them, out of the three or four people I have, are focused on the job and my professional challenges, but I also always have one focused on my personal, more in-depth challenges — as a person, as a father, as a family member, as a member of society.

Marc Pitman: That’s important. Wow, I think you may be the first person who’s mentioned the importance of having a personal advisory board, but I think that’s really smart. I laughed about how you said you wished you’d known that earlier.

Francisco Fernández: Yeah, yeah, it’s something I also realized — and you know what, millennials have it very clear.

Marc Pitman: Yeah.

Francisco Fernández: Working in a university, you’re close to them, and they have it very clear — even we see our bosses in a very different way than millennials see them. Millennials seek in their bosses — maybe that priority is for them to be a mentor or a coach for me. Something that we, as Gen Xers or baby boomers or whatever, don’t necessarily see as a feature we look for in our bosses.

Marc Pitman: No, nice — I know, as Gen X, we’re just going to do it ourselves, we’re going to figure it out.

Francisco Fernández: Exactly.

Marc Pitman: That’s interesting.

Francisco Fernández: Exactly.

Marc Pitman: Well, thank you so much for sharing your time today, I love the notes here. If there were one thing you’d suggest people do as they leave this episode, what might that be?

Francisco Fernández: I think I would leave you with this — in organizations, in order to transform them and reach their maximum potential, there are no superheroes. There are really complementary teams, and you need to identify the strengths of teams and align them in a way that makes them work at their full potential. So I think that would be the idea I’d end with, as a tip or strategy for other colleagues in our organizations.

Marc Pitman: That is really great. Where can people find you if they want to know more about you and the work you do?

Francisco Fernández: Well, I have my LinkedIn link, which is @franciscofdcg, and through there we can get in contact. And obviously, if I could be of help — because what I left out in what I enjoy about leading is, I’m a true believer in servant leadership. So if I could be of service, that would be something I’d also be very glad to do.

Marc Pitman: That’s wonderful. Great, well thanks so much. I know people are going to want to listen to this episode again and again, and this, and all the episodes of the Concord Leaders Podcast, can be found on your favorite podcatcher. Please rate and review us there to help other people find them, or you can go to concordleadershipgroup.com/podcasts, with an S. Until next time, remember, healthy leaders create healthy organizations. Bye, everyone.