Chasing our Greatness

“I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it was possible to go.”  Captain James Cook

Depending on my state when I read this quote, I am either inspired or reminded of how far short my aspirations fall on a consistent basis.  What keeps us from aspiring to the lofty goals of such explorers as Captain Cook?

Several things come to mind.  Our need for certainty and security holds some of us back.  We begin asking questions like:  What if I’m not good enough?  What if I fail myself?  What if I fail others?  What if it doesn’t work?  What if I spontaneously combust?

Sometimes we may suffer from a lack of imagination.  Our innate ability to color outside the lines as kids, worn away by a conformist education and play-by-the-rules, fit in or else society.

At times we feel like we are being lazy but maybe we only have impotent goals, as Tony Robbins once said.

As we think about going as far as we can, we may be overwhelmed by the scope and scale of the journey.  How in the world can we do the big thing with all of the weight of impossibility in our path?

I am reminded of a Celine Dion song (or one covered by the cast of Glee – yeah, I admit it.  Big fan.)  “But what do you say to taking chances?  What do you say to jumping off the edge?  Never knowing if there’s solid ground below or a hand to hold or hell to pay.  What do you say?  What do you say?”

In many instances we simply say “No.”

There is an important distinction to be made about the reasons that we do not take the leap off of the edge.  All of the reasons lie within us.  All of them lie between our ears.  All of the reasons why not are made up… by us.

So too all of the reasons why we can go as far as it is possible to go.

A few necessary ingredients include:  A big enough “Why?”  A burning passion and desire to accomplish the goal.  The support of a mastermind alliance of like-minded people to support you along the way.  A view that failure only occurs when we quit, while learning occurs when we do not.  The abiding faith that failing to try is more painful than trying and falling short.  An understanding that, in going as far as it is possible to go, you will go farther than you ever dared before, even if you fall short of the ultimate destination.

There is greatness in all of us that can’t wait to get out and play.  Let it.

What Matters Now

Because Seth Godin rocks!  What Matters Now! Download it.  Absorb it. Embrace it.  Disagree with it.  But, whatever you do, don’t miss this chance to think (differently) about what matters now.

Dreamers, Realists and Critics

When we are forming teams, we consider a number of factors including the knowledge, skills and abilities of each member, the character of the work that needs to be done, and, indeed, who is available to do the work.

While there are numerous characteristics to look for, there are three types of people that need to be on a team to make it successful: dreamers, realists and critics.

The dreamers may be executive sponsors or team members, but they are most important as visionaries, for defining the city on the hill that the team aspires to create or reach.  They see Cinderella’s castle in the orange groves and swamps of 1960’s Central Florida.  They see Google as a verb.  They see the working light bulb at the end of 10,000 experiments.

The realists take the ideas of the dreamers and turn them into reality. They are the planners and the doers.  They create the processes for getting the work done, test the process and measure the outcomes.  They are the “who” that helps define the “how” and the “where” of a project or mission.  They are the bulk of the resources on any successful team.

The critics assist in the testing of the plan, they look for problems and issues and search for unintended consequences.  They also are charged with bringing alternatives to the table.  They are not merely observers criticizing the leadership or team progress.  They are there to engage and contribute but with a different lens in place.

This is certainly not the only way to evaluate team make-up but it can be a helpful tool in order to set up a team for success and to evaluate why an existing team is falling short of expectations.

Poster Child for Lost Causes

At various points in my career, my teammates and peers have referred to me as the poster boy for lost causes.  This first arose when I was leading a business transformation effort but has followed me as I have fought for whatever I thought was right for the company and its people.

What are the job requirements to be a poster boy/poster girl for lost causes?

1. The ability and desire to take a committed stand for what you believe is important – no matter the audience.
2. The drive to be an authentic leader.  No masks.  No pretense.  Simply an honest assessment of current reality.
3. A resounding faith that, whatever happens along the way, the team will prevail.
4. The patience to listen to diverse opinions but then to make the required decision.
5. The ability to synthesize disparate pieces of information into a coherent whole in order to tell a consistent story about your cause.
6. The willingness to be a loud noise and to shine a bright light when required.
7. Strong inclination to be a truth teller – no matter the consequences.
8. The motive to leave the people and place better than you find them.

Does everybody have to be a poster child for lost causes?  No.  Does having one or more on your team serve your team and organization?  Absolutely.  Should the team at the top have a disproportionate amount of this type of leader?  In my view it should but most do not.  It seems like one loud noise is often sufficient.

In a world growing increasingly cynical by the day, this type of leader brings a fresh perspective to your team.  They may be cynical but not about their projects, teams or company.  They believe in something much bigger than them and in their ability to help change the face of your company for the better.  They are on the cutting edge of making your company great.  Find them.  Encourage them.  Let them influence others toward greatness.  Do it now before they vote with their feet.

Leadership Footprints

While reading an article in the Wall Street Journal last week titled, “Why Changing the CEO May Not Change the Company,” I started thinking about the impact leadership has on company cultures and company performance.  The article concluded that performance of any business has a tendency toward the mean and that a new CEO only represents about a 10-point difference over a coin flip.

It got me thinking about companies where I have worked and leaders that have left the company and whether they left anything else behind – like leadership footprints.

I have observed that, even for the most influential leaders who have left, the buzz about them lasts a few days and then the employees rapidly reach the realization that there are jobs to do, families to feed and stuff to get done.  So I will stipulate that people rapidly move on with their lives and that, for those departing leaders that want a statue built in their honor in front of a building, a better approach would be to donate money for a hospital wing.

But what about the ongoing influence that leader has on the people and the company?  In my experience, that footprint tends to last much longer.  This especially seems to be the case for leaders that lead by the established values of the company.  Those with whom employees share a common bond and purpose.  Those that lead teams with heart during a tumultuous time for the company and help people breathe a bit easier because they were there.  Those that know when to step back and follow and not always be out front.  Those that ask questions and seek understanding before telling people what to do and how to do it.

In many cases the person who leaves the leadership footprint doesn’t know that they left one.  This type of leader is interested in helping the people around her become stronger leaders themselves.  She is interested in delivering great results, but thinks about how those results can be delivered as well as what results are required to move the organization forward and deliver on its promise.  She may be introverted or extroverted, but cares deeply about supporting the mission and vision of the company and the values it espouses.  When faced with a tough decision, she asks for help and looks at the values as a compass.  Her consistent approach in the face of pressure helps define the company culture now and in the future.

It is a rare leader indeed who has statues erected in his honor.  But make no mistake, the decisions we make and, indeed, how we make those decisions, have an indelible impact on the people and places we leave behind.  Leadership is about influence.  Influence happens during conversations.  Our conversations and our actions leave footprints.  Leadership footprints.  And they become our legacy to the people and organizations we visit.  Tread well.

Chasing Excellence

Flying at 37,000 feet over Middle America and my thoughts turn to chasing excellence.  I have written in this space about the power of small things to create significant change.  I spent the day working with some great people in the Midwest who are embarking on an excellence journey and who helped me make several distinctions that I am compelled to share.

First, the start of this work in an organization is filled with equal parts hope, excitement, trepidation and fear (shaken, not stirred).  The hope, in part, comes from the desire to make whatever we are doing and wherever we are working better than it is today.  The excitement driven by the knowledge that we are not unconsciously competent at what we are about to do and that growth will be a byproduct of our efforts.  The trepidation and fear from past efforts that sort of felt like this one but lost the passion of the team at the top or collapsed under its own weight as the process became the ends rather than the means to reach our vision.

Second, becoming an excellent organization has righteousness on its side.  It feels like the right thing to do for ourselves, our team, our customers and our communities.  Repeating an earlier mantra – in leadership, motive matters.  A corollary is that excellence cannot occur without the motive serving a greater need and the greater good.  What looks like excellent results can be achieved but the victories are hollow without a greater purpose that serves others.

Third, becoming excellent does not have an end point.  There is no city on the hill at which we can stop and rest.  Excellence is always on the move, changing its course and remaining elusive.  And it is in this chase that the power of the journey resides.  The chase forces us to communicate, to grow, to cry, to laugh, to embrace diversity, to embrace confusion, to be okay with imperfection, to take massive action, to ask for help, to let go, to take a winding path, to back up before advancing.

I love this work!  It reminds me of a purpose much greater than myself.  I needed that today.

Do Something

While proper planning prevents poor performance, perfect planning can prevent any performance.  What do I mean?

If we spend the majority of our focus and corresponding time on deciding and planning perfectly, a few things may occur.  First, we get stuck with one or two more elements of information or evidence we need to “complete the plan.”  This leaves us stuck in the moment and keeps us from taking incremental steps toward our goals.  Second, as we dawdle, the chances that other things creep into our lives, take our focus and steal energy away from the idea greatly increase.  The end result is the idea dies before seeing the light of day.

Have you ever had a moment where you turn on the TV or read the news and hear about an idea that somebody came up with and implemented that you formulated in your mind months or years ago?  What’s the difference between them and you?  They did something!

A few thoughts to help get you unstuck and moving toward your goals:

First, do something that allows your idea to see the light of day.  Get the website up.  Start writing and publishing your blog.  Give a speech.  Attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting to connect with others. Read a leadership book that you have on your bookshelf (less than 10% of purchased books are read cover to cover) and write copious notes in the margins to yourself.

Second, establish supportive habits that maintain momentum.  Create a mastermind alliance of 3-5 people that share common interests but who have diverse skills to bring to the conversation.  Start an exercise program that allows you to improve your physical and emotional health.  In a stronger state, you will make better decisions.  Find role models that have done what you want to do and offer to buy them coffee or lunch.  Most people enjoy talking about their accomplishments and helping others get started.

Third, if what you are doing right now isn’t working, simply try something else.  There are likely dozens or hundreds of ways for you to accomplish your goals.  Often, we get discouraged and tell ourselves a story that we have tried everything when we have tried one or two things.  Setbacks are not God’s signal to you that your mission is flawed, but simply a test of your resolve in accomplishing that mission.  Thomas Edison, when questioned about the 10,000 failed experiments around his light bulb, saw the work as a 10,000-step process ending in his successful invention. Our paths are seldom linear and growth only occurs when we overcome obstacles.

Fourth, as you progress toward your goal, don’t forget to celebrate your progress.  We are happiest when we are moving toward something bigger than us.  Enjoy the journey.

Gratitude

I am thankful today for many things:

A healthy, loving family.

The privilege to run.

A debt-free life.

Decisions made by others that have forced me to make better decisions myself.

Interested people.

Better questions.

Colleagues that needed support.

Colleagues that supported my needs.

The ability to dream.

A nation to realize those dreams in.

Connecting with lost friends.

Connecting with new ones.

The gift of words.

You.

Understanding All Sides

My friend Judith Ellis commented on last week’s post regarding leaders who don’t fit in.  She noted, in part: “I absolutely believe that true leaders don’t fit, but wise ones understand their surroundings and lead in a way that will both challenge others and bring them along. Leading in the above regard is not easy, but well worth it. True leaders by their very nature are out front, ahead of others. This can be difficult for the leader and follower. It takes understanding on all sides.”

It has been 20 years since Stephen Covey published his “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and the habits have stood the test of time, including – seek first to understand and then to be understood.

So how do we, as leaders, challenge our people and help them to grow into better leaders?  First, we must take the time to understand their world.  Where do their interests lie?  What is their preferred operating style?  What are some of their idiosyncrasies that lead the way and get in the way?  Do they get energy from other people or from inside?  Did they come from substantial means, no means or somewhere in between?  Were there parents blue-collar workers, white-collar workers or business owners?

Second, we need to understand the unique knowledge, skills and abilities this person brings to us as well as the business need that we are trying to fill.  If the person has a passion for running projects and a desire to influence people, throwing her into a large project to be mentored by a seasoned project manager who can provide the technical framework and training as well as demonstrate the psychology of project work is a sound approach.  A critical element of this phase is to provide stretch assignments to the employee with a corresponding safety net.

Third, as leaders we must spend more time to understand the “What” than we do the “How.”  There is no way to develop leaders without letting them lead.  I know, after 10, 15 or 20 years, that you can do the thing better than they can.  Guess what?  That doesn’t create leverage.  That only creates disillusion in the team and virtual self-employment within a company for you.  Michael Gerber of “E-Myth” makes the distinction between working on your business and working in your business.  Successful business owners work on their businesses.  Successful leaders working as employees must do the same thing to maximize their resources and their results.  This requires many of us to leave our own comfort zones of doing the things that got us where we are because we are unconsciously competent at them and teaching and then supporting our people as they (clumsily at times) learn how to do it themselves.

Allowing people to learn, stumble, regroup and achieve success are all necessary steps to leadership growth.  If you are unable to trust your people and yourself throughout this process, it may be time to bring in a coach to guide you.  If that doesn’t interest you, then it is time to assess your suitability to lead in a rapidly changing world.  If your people aren’t growing, neither is your business.

I have noted the Lominger competencies in a prior post.  Amongst the top five in importance according to worldwide leadership surveys – developing direct reports.  Consistently ranked last of the 67 competencies in actually doing it – developing direct reports.  What gets scheduled gets done.  If you are not spending a significant portion of your time (and the vast, vast majority of us are not) in developing your people, you are working on the wrong part of your business.

If we focus on understanding leadership development, we begin to build a legacy of capable, passionate leaders ready to tackle whatever comes their way.  Having this bench strength allows your company to accept more work, deliver higher quality products and services, acquire complementary businesses and expand into other industry verticals without the constraint of wondering who will run the businesses.

Our people have a need to grow.  It’s our job to help them.  In so doing, we show ourselves and the world that we are playing to win and increase the likelihood that we will.

Not Fitting In

True leaders don’t fit in.

I read this the other day and it has stuck with me.  As I roll it around in my head, I am struggling to wrap my mind around whether it is true, false or some of both.  The news of the day continues its incessant sucking of the soul, so I will tackle this instead.

In the “true” camp sit the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill and Martha Stewart.  Whatever you think of these people, their success at their life’s work has touched people profoundly.  All of them, if you believe the stories, could have used an extra semester of charm school – especially when their styles under stress showed up.  With that said, I wonder whether they would have been nearly as effective?  It seems to me that all of these people were/are comfortable in their own skin.  They are straight talkers and, in my experience, straight talkers scare the living hell out of people.  There are way too many people in the world that don’t like loud noises and bright lights and the straight talkers bring both to the party.

In the “false” camp sit the quiet leaders who build strong cultures, leave lasting legacies in the form of extraordinary decisions under impossible conditions that change nations, invent products that change lives, build profitable businesses that survive over 100 years, deliver selfless community service and create lasting legacies. As I try to list these people, names like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Andrew Carnegie, and Mahatma Gandhi come to mind.  Then I realize that quiet leaders are no less fierce in their resolve and capacity to take massive action.  I also realize that all of these leaders were, at one time or another, considered unreasonable in their approach.  Shaw said that all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.  Given the accomplishments of these people and the inertia present to keep them from achieving their respective visions, a level of unreasonableness must have been present.  People simply do not like to change.  Unleashing the catalytic power to move people requires leaders to be unreasonable with a motive that serves the greater good.

So what is it that makes a true leader not fit in with the crowd?  I have a few thoughts:  The crowd is happy to be average, the leader has a vision for exceptional.  Leaders are persistent.  They try 10,000 different materials on their way to a light bulb.  They stand outside a burning laboratory with all of their life’s work going up in flames, call their wife to their side and exclaim something to the effect of, “This is fantastic, all of our mistakes are gone.”  Leaders hold onto their vision – not just in the spring and summer but also in the fall and winter.  Their vision pulls them across the deserts, through the swamps and into the oasis.  Leaders take people out of their comfort zones and stay by their sides along the journey.  Leaders use language like “Why not?” instead of “Why?” Leaders are often described with colorful terms like crazy, eccentric, different.

Our challenge in leading our companies is to make sure we embrace crazy.  We welcome eccentric.  We celebrate different.  The people that are willing to go outside their comfort zones are the ones that will help lead your organization to lasting greatness.  Don’t just let them. Help them.