For the Leaders – Do You Put Good First and Let Stress Go?

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As promised, the next few weeks will focus on exploring specific leadership topics. Now I’m not sure where I read this – and to be honest, I don’t remember who said it – but reflect on the following thought, “Placing the good of the enterprise ahead of your own desires – that’s true leadership.” I think the best leaders realize that, although they may have pet projects they favor, at the end of the day what is best for the company and the employees must always come first. 

In recent times the business community has witnessed greed and over-spending by some CEOs that has led to the downfall of certain organizations. Companies that are surviving and thriving have leaders that did not succumb to greed or an unsustainable quest for short-term profits. I maintain the position that those individuals are still leading quality organizations because they were able to see the long-term value in doing the right thing. So why, you may ask, did certain leaders put the greater good ahead of greed? I would say that perhaps the answer is found in the way those particular leaders react to stress.

In light of the business climate today, I put this question out to all leaders – how do you carry your stress?  Does it show to your employees? Do you carry it home to your personal life? Consider this eye-opening narrative on stress that I often share:

A lecturer raises a glass of water to a packed audience and asks “How heavy is this glass of water?” After a few guesses from the audience, the lecturer replies, “The weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute then it is not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, however, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case – it is the same weight – but the longer I hold it the heavier it becomes.”

I like this story because it illustrates that the way stress is managed can contribute, or even change, the way it is perceived. As we bear our burdens they grow heavier with time until it is impossible to carry on.  Sometimes you just have to remember that when everything is coming at you head on, you just might be in the wrong lane! Step aside – take some time to relax – and readjust your perception of things. And if nothing else works, recall the famous words of heroine Scarlett O’Hara – “Tomorrow is another day.” 

What is Leadership Anyway? Musings on a Definition

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It is a timeless — and timely — question: What is leadership? Underpinning this philosophical exercise are events that make the debate timelier than ever. From the BP oil spill — now in day 87 of disaster — to the iPhone 4 antenna glitch, people worldwide are confused, frightened and upset. Many feel disillusioned with institutions they trusted to safeguard their livelihood. This is why my next few blog postings will focus on exploring specific leadership topics such as the definition of leadership, the importance of making the right hire, and the use of feedback in the leadership tool kit.

Current events beg exploration of the nature and definition of leadership. I think a great leader is one who gets people to see opportunities together – to define success together – and to find the dream they can dream together.  A great leader opens peoples’ eyes to bigger possibilities.  When they understand what success is, and what role they can play to drive to that success, they will make better decisions and will focus with enthusiasm on achieving success. 

Jack Welch – the penultimate leadership guru - has identified from five essential traits great leaders exhibit. These are paraphrased here from his Web site The Welch Way:

(1) Positive Energy – have the capacity to go-go-go with an upbeat attitude through good times and bad;

(2) Energize Others – the ability to release or inspire positive energy in others;

(3) Edge – the ability to make tough calls, to say yes or no, not maybe;

(4) Execution – very simply, the art of getting things done;

(5) Passion – leaders care deeply, they sweat, they believe.

Please join me in the weeks that follow as we do a deep dive into leadership theory.

Suggested Reading:

Jack Welch and the 4 E's of Leadership: How to Put GE's Leadership Formula to Work in Your Organization 

The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era

The Difference Between Try and Triumph Is a Little Umph

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Welcome back readers. I hope you enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday and found time to celebrate America’s birthday with fireworks and barbecue. For some people, the return to work after holiday vacation is met with about as much anticipation as a root canal.However, while companies know R & R is critical to employee happiness and productivity, the payback is an engaged and contributing workforce that returns to the office.

Over the holiday weekend I was fortunate to spend some time with my brother. He is older than I by nearly 12 years and an accomplished business man. To this day I clearly recall a piece of advice he gave me when I began my career. He said to watch out for the employee that will cost you the most: he is the one who comes to work every day, but does nothing.

Last week we examined the author Ivanka Trump and she penned a passage that dovetails nicely with my brother’s advice. In her book, The Trump Card, she says about contributing, “Time served doesn’t automatically qualify you for a raise.  If you’re making the same contributions to the company in year five as you made in year one, you don’t deserve a raise. You should be happy you have a job.”

One company that deals well with the issue of contribution at work is Netflix. For example in their HR manual – cleverly titled “Reference Guide on Our Freedom & Responsibility Culture” – workplace efficiency is dealt with directly. Their document emphasizes effectiveness over effort and seeks to reward people that perform work well in less time, rather than employees that stay late and do less. Their culture also encourages letting someone go if they’re not doing their job. The idea is that if someone just wants to do mediocre work, that’s fine, but the end result is a severance package.  

Let this Fourth of July holiday remind you that summer time – often seen as slack time – is a wonderful opportunity to reaffirm the values professed by our founding fathers. Underpinning our great culture are many ideas central to American life. These concepts – freedom, justice, equality of opportunity, and hard work – are as American as apple pie. Take a look this week at your level of contribution and remember the difference between try and triumph is a little umph.

Be Memorable: On Putting Things in Writing, Lessons from Ivanka Trump

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Two weeks ago I posted a blog Coach John Wooden & Building the Unstoppable Team - about helping others achieve their own greatness. In response to that posting a reader left this comment:

“I agree whole heartedly. The Chairman of our organization emailed me the evening after my first real estate closing with a congratulations and a thank you. Made me feel like a million bucks and made me want to deliver more!” - Posted @ Saturday, June 19, 2010 9:57 AM by Jody Wise.


Coincidentally I was thumbing through Ivanka Trump’s book The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life and was struck by a particular passage on putting things in writing. In chapter ten, Trump highlights the handwritten note as a fantastic method for being memorable. She describes diligently taking note of people as they made moves relevant to her business or conducting themselves in ways she found inspiring or illuminating. To those she believes are shaking things up in an admirable way, she sends a brief, handwritten note expressing admiration or extending congratulations.

I have always believed in this method. Although email notes are expeditious and texts are quick, there is nothing like a handwritten note on embossed note paper – or a beautiful card – to express thoughts. While you can't be certain how someone will respond, if you send your message in a genuine way and it comes from a positive place in your heart, the price is a few minutes of your time and a stamp. Call it antiquated or old-fashioned but I believe it has an even bigger place in today’s world because a handwritten note makes you truly memorable. So make the extra effort – write the note – chances are the sentiment will linger long after in the mind of the reader.

The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Lifeby Ivanka Trump

Life is a Cocktail Party: Are You Building Genuine Relationships?

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At the tender age of 24, Tony Hsieh sold his company to Microsoft for $265 million. He went on to helm the mast at Zappos.com as CEO and led them through a 1.2 billion acquisition by Amazon in 2009. This month his first book hit stores and quickly shot to the number one spot on The New York Times bestseller list. So what is the young man's secret to success?

As it turns out, his secret is pretty simple. Tony believes in building genuine relationships with customers and colleagues. In past years, he has gone on record saying he dislikes networking events because, for most people, they are just an empty exercise in exchanging business cards. To paraphrase, he believes that if you are truly interested in someone you meet, whether a business person or not, and have the goal of building up a friendship - instead of trying to "get something" out of them - then it is comical how often you and your business will benefit.

Certainly the benefit of getting to know someone on a more personal level is something I've subscribed to all my adult life.  I see life as a great big cocktail party attended by a whole lot of people I have yet to meet.  And for me, oftentimes it is two or three years after I start to build a personal relationship that something commences on the business side. I believe that you should try to build up the depth of friendship itself and let that be the reward.  If something comes about that is business related - and that helps you in your business - well, that's just the icing on the cake.  If you have diverse friendships you will derive amazing benefits and life will be that much richer for the endeavor. 

Suggested Reading:

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

Coach John Wooden & Building the Unstoppable Team

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I recall reading once a great lesson gleaned from the battlefield: people don’t fight for abstract causes, they fight for the person in the foxhole next to them. For me the concept of fighting for the person to your side is exactly why teams work, from the battlefield to the board room. John Wooden knew this lesson too and lived it every day as a coach who instilled in his teams a focus on group effort over individual heroics.

A large portion of a leader’s job is to be the energizer for the organization. Picture if you will being a battery that can jump-start people and ultimately get - not just individuals - but also teams -  moving in the right direction. Being an energetic coach, and cheer-leading the team members to become their best selves, will encourage them to reach higher goals as they propel their performance forward.

John Wooden said many memorable things about being a coach, but this may be my favorite passage from his most recent book on leadership:

"What occurred in the practices is what gave me joy and satisfaction – teaching others how to bring forth the best of which they are capable.  Ultimately, I believe that’s what leadership is all about:  Helping others to achieve their own greatness by helping the organization to succeed.  Competitive Greatness is being at your best when your best is needed.  To me that is the most exciting part of being a leader: the journey to become the best of which you and your team are capable."

In your endeavor of cultivating teamwork you will find that most leaders know teams form around common objectives. But what they sometimes fail to recognize is that great teams grow and develop around the bond of teammates. When emotions and good spirit join forces the team is unstoppable. 

Life Balance from a "Wooden" Perspective

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Last week the legendary coach John Wooden died at age 99. The Wizard of Westwood - as he was fondly known - is renowned for 10 N.C.A.A. championships in a 12-season stretch at U.C.L.A. and the Bruins' 88-game winning streak. He was named coach of the century by ESPN and was the first person to be elected as both a player and a coach to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Wooden, however, was never about the numbers or the accolades. Instead his leadership style focused on helping his players achieve the best they could through a disciplined balance of life, practice, and playing basketball. According to those that worked with him, the man had an uncanny ability to coach the best out of his players by never placing his ego ahead of his team, or the game.

Lessons the famed coach taught his players so many years ago are still relevant for business leaders today. His ‘pyramid for success' that outlines 15 qualities such as enthusiasm, loyalty, skill, confidence and poise as forming the foundation of excellence, is famous amongst business people. His slogans like - "Be quick, but don't hurry" and "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" - are also quoted often in business settings.

In his book on leadership from 2005, he wrote about a topic that really resonated with me, which is the importance of life balance:

"Balance is crucial in everything we do. Along with love it's among the most important things in life. I strove for balance in my leadership and coaching and taught that balance was necessary for competitive greatness. The body has to be in balance; the mind has to be in balance; emotions must be in balance. Balance is important everywhere and in everything we do."

It is interesting to note that Wooden attributes his success as a coach to this focus on balance. I find it fascinating that at the core of his achievements lays the practice of instilling in his team a focus on group effort over individual heroics. Be sure to join me next week as we continue our look at the wonderful coach and mentor John Wooden.

Suggested Reading:

Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

Be Quick - But Don't Hurry: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime

Looking but Not Truly Seeing: Advice for Current and Future Leaders

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It is that time of year again --- to see young graduates, grinning from ear to ear, throw their mortarboard caps in the air and rush forth to change the world. Ah, commencement day. I was the valedictorian of my high school class and proudly gave the commencement address. The theme I chose was 'Look and See' from the Dick and Jane books.

To add a little context to that - when I was growing up - amongst the first books my generation read was the Dick and Jane series. Within the pages of those books, siblings Dick, Jane, and Sally, and their dog Spot, would seek adventure. The rhetoric of their adventures was always in the same format: "Look and see, Jane, look and see." Even as a small child I questioned the premise, wondering how someone could look at something and not see it.

By the time I prepared to address my high school at graduation, I realized that too many people did indeed spend their lives looking but not truly seeing. Thus I encouraged everyone to truly 'see' everything around them and cultivate an inquisitive mind, which questions, reasons and understands.

As an adult I would still give that advice to future and current leaders. However, one of the best collections of advice for leaders I have recently encountered was put forth by Carl Mays. He highlights in his weekly column a study that researched traits found in successful people, even when they had little or no formal education. The study looked at 450 successful people including Harry Truman, Walt Disney, Henry Ford and Frank Lloyd Wright, none of whom were formally educated beyond high school. I would like to share now with you the top five traits from the Carl Mays column:  

In-depth experience. The people usually worked their way from the bottom up. They immersed themselves in the specific endeavors in which they were involved. Through this experience, they became highly proficient.

Industriousness. Simply put, they worked hard. Not only did they carry their weight but they often stepped in and worked overtime for those who did not carry their own load. They were not lazy.

Perseverance. They experienced failure, rejection, disappointment and discouragement. They learned from their failure and refused to listen to others who dissuaded them. They kept on keeping on when most people would quit.

Self-disciplined study. They learned as much as they could about the work they were doing. They kept on the cutting edge of what was happening in their areas of interest and often sharpened the cutting edge.

Curiosity. They constantly questioned why something would or would not work. They experimented with various ideas and methods. They built on the questions they asked themselves and others.

Excerpt reprinted from http://www.carlmays.com/. Visit the Web site to request his free weekly column.

Four Tools Leaders Use to Drive Team Performance Higher

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This week we continue to explore peak performance and how leaders can transfer their best practices into the lives of those they coach.

Wayne Lukas - one of the most successful thoroughbred horse trainers in the country - profoundly said about performance that, "The speed of the leaders determines the rate of the pack."  Leaders are inherently the pace-setters of the team. In my experience I've witnessed great leaders consistently coach stellar performances out of those they manage by using these four tools: vision, empathy, charisma, and communication.

Vision

Vision tops the chart at number one because it is the most important.

To inspire people to follow, you must have a vision that is communicated with charisma and empathy. Throughout coaching your team to their peak performance, be aware that everyone's number one goal is to succeed. Bearing this in mind, create a vision that allows team members to succeed, as well as, stretch their abilities.

Empathy

To be a great leader it helps to establish a positive and creative environment where subordinates support the vision. As a boss, leader and mentor, you need to remember to be a warm human being. Go that extra mile and take a sincere interest in your people. Show empathy in figuring out the way they learn best and delegate assignments that demonstrate how well you know each and every employee's strengths.

This will help raise performance levels because your empathy will show people how much they matter to you and the company.

Charisma

Leaders have a greater influence on team performance than nearly any other individual factor. Sure - paychecks, benefits, and bonuses can stimulate short-term results - but to truly build commitment to your organization's big goal, as a leader you'll need to use old-fashioned charm. It's as simple as this: people like to follow a leader they admire. This means you must go above and beyond the standard "lead by example" mantra, and evolve to leading with panache.

Communication

It is through communication that work roles are established, maintained and transformed. To drive performance higher a leader should dedicate time to exercising those vitally important communication skills. Hold strategic conversations with people so they are clear about expectations and direction. Help people achieve the goals that are important to them and, in turn, the goals that are important to you. Make sure there is open communication, a shared goal, and a specific result from the effort for each of you.

The very best leaders get better every day and in return the people around them become better also. When leaders grow the employees under them grow as well. Work hard to be successful - enjoy it along the way - and don't be surprised how many people follow in your footsteps.

Stay tuned for next week's blog posting!

Cultivating Peak Performance: On the Greens or In the Office

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When I was much younger - high school age in fact - I participated in an oratory class. The class revolved around receiving an assigned topic, writing a speech on that topic, and presenting it. Towards the end of the course, I was assigned this speech topic - "You Can Do Anything." I turned to Amelia Earhart for inspiration and fervently cited her accomplishments in being the first woman to fly around the world, and the first to do so alone. In this situation, it turned out that "I" could do anything. The speech took me to the state oratory competition where I received the highest marks.

In retrospect I now realize that - while the concept is nice for a high school speech class - there are many things I will never be able to do, no matter how I try. I'll never, for instance, be as talented as Jack Nicklaus at the game of golf. No matter the amount of effort I exert trying to best Nicklaus in a game on the greens, there is no way I can match the Golden Bear's record 18 major tournament wins. As we can see from the Jack Nicklaus example, some people are born with traits, attributes and inclinations that destine them to be particularly gifted in a certain endeavor.

Surely you have heard the axiom that success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. This idiom holds true for top athletes, as well as, executives at the top of their game. While Nicklaus is a gifted athlete with inherent qualities that aided his astronomical rise to the top, bear in mind, he did have to work diligently at becoming the best. His success is a result of combining genetic gifts with dedicated practice and cultivating an unparalleled mental toughness.

Recently I thumbed through Marshall Goldsmith's "Mojo" book and came across a an especially relevant passage where he says, "I don't believe that we can become anything that we want just because we choose to do it ... We all have real physical, environmental, or mental limitations that we may never be able to overcome ... On the other hand, I am amazed at what we can change if we do not artificially limit ourselves.  I have seen leaders make massive positive changes, both in the way that they treat others and the way that they see themselves."

Goldsmith is an authority on coaching executive leadership at corporations to reach their peak performance.  It is his premise that on playing field, as in the boardroom, attributes like endurance, speed, flexibility, precision, and coordination can be cultivated. As leaders concerned with our own performance, and the achievement of those we manage, there is much we can learn from experts like Goldsmith about workforce management. Psychologists classically categorize fundamental peak performer proficiencies into five skill sets:

• Awareness of the self behaviorally, affectively, somatically, inter-personally and cognitively;
• Control of effort where the performer learns to master energy and muscle tension levels;
• Visualization for mental practice and feedback purposes;
• Cognitive skills for strategic planning, motivation and attitude control;
• Self-programming for preparation before any situation the peak performer encounters.

As a high performer, you know that being the best requires diligence, hard work and an iron-clad mental fortitude. As a leader you also know that one of the most rewarding pieces of the job is helping employees grow and improve their performance. Next week we'll continue the exploration of peak performance, and turn our focus to transferring the best practices of leaders into the lives of those they coach - be it on the court or in the office.

Suggested Reading:
Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith.

Peak Performance: Aligning the Hearts and Minds of Your Employees, by Jon R. Katzenbach.