Today is February 1st—one month in to 2011. January is gone and it wasn’t a great start to the year. My list of things undone is longer than I would like.
Thirty-one days ago, January was the most important month of 2011. But now it’s February. Why? Because February is NOW—it is what I have to work with. I can’t do anything about the misses in January and waiting until March will only make things worse. So now, my whole year hinges on what I do in February.
I have a choice to make. I can throw in the towel for the year, lower my goals for the year, or restart with renewed determination to finish well anyway. What will it be? I have to decide today. If I wait until tomorrow, another day is lost.
Leaders face this kind of choice regularly. And everyone in the organization is watching. Whatever the reason for the misses in January, the leader will set the pace for February. And remember, February is now the most important month of the year.
What will you do? My suggestion: don’t lose a day!
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Organizations are like Humpty Dumpty: sooner or later they are at risk of a great fall. GM took a great fall when Toyota and Honda came along. They are trying, but it is too soon to tell if they can put GM together again. Blockbuster has taken a great fall—pushed off the wall by Netflix—and probably won’t be able to put the pieces together. Sometimes companies jump off the wall (Lehman Brothers—risk and Enron—dishonesty) and sometimes they slowly slide down the wall to the bottom (newspapers and telephones). All the king’s horses and men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again, and if you wait until it’s too late, you may not be able to put your pieces together again.
Conventional wisdom has been “if it’s not broke, don’t mess with it.” But reality is “if it’s not broke, it will be.” Wise leaders—while working the plan in 2011—are also looking ahead to 2015. Technology will be different. Customer preferences will be different. Demographics will be different. Competition will be different. The question is: Will your organization be different or will you take a great fall? If you are going to be different, now would be a good time to get started.
[By the way, great falls can also happen in your personal health, finances and relationships. Get started in those areas as well!]
As you start 2011, I’m sure you have a lot of goals for your organization. There are opportunities to seize and problems to fix; good things you want to make great and mediocre things you want to make good (or get rid of). But a big question for you is: do your associates have the same goals? Are they really plugged in—engaged—ready to give their all to make it happen? Or are they sitting on the sidelines watching, and waiting for you to tell them what to do?
Getting your employees to plug in to organizational aspirations is essential if you want to actually achieve your goals. Engaged employees perform at a much higher level. (There are mounds of supporting data, plus in your heart you know it’s true because you know how your own performance excels when you are plugged in.)
How to get your associates actively and positively engaged is a multi-faceted subject—too broad for a one page blog posting. But start with this:
“People today demand personal relationships with their leaders
before they will give themselves fully to their jobs.”
Bill George
True North
Your employees will engage with you when you engage with them—not before. Why don’t you get started today?
There are only 11 days left in 2010—less than 2 weeks. So what can you do in these last 11 days that will make a difference in 2011? Let me suggest a variation of Stephen Covey’s Habit #2 (Begin With The End In Mind from The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People):
End 2010 With The End Of 2011 In Mind
What are three things you want to be different—in your personal life, in your family, in your organization—by the end of 2011? Three things that if accomplished will make 2011 not just a good year, but a great year! Take your time. Don’t be too quick to choose. You have 11 days before 2011 is here, so give some serious thought to this. Take these steps:
Enjoy the holidays! Celebrate the birth of Christ! Spend time with friends and family! But also, take some time to End With The End In Mind. This time next year you’ll be glad you did.
Wise men still follow Him. Merry Christmas!
Driving home from Indiana a few days ago (cruising along at about 75mph on I65), I was passed by a Toyota Prius running about 80mph. A Prius is a gasoline-electric hybrid that is known more for its gas mileage (50mph) than for its power (1.8L, 98hp) and speed.
However, this Prius was different—it had a rear spoiler—just like Jimmie Johnson’s #48 NASCAR Chevrolet. Even though it passed me, I’m sure it couldn’t pass Jimmie Johnson because a Prius—with or without a spoiler—is still just a Prius and is not ready for NASCAR.
A spoiler may make a Prius look racy, but it doesn’t make it a race car. It is what’s under the hood that counts.
In the same way, a title doesn’t make you a leader. A position and big office doesn’t make you a leader. Being the owner, or CEO, or Lead Pastor doesn’t make you a leader. Dressing like a leader; talking like a leader; acting like a leader; none of these make you a leader.
Having trouble getting people to follow you even though you have the title and the office? Maybe you are relying too much on your rear spoiler instead of what’s under the hood. Ask someone you trust—they’ll tell you.
In his book, Don’t Step On The Rope!, Walter Wright uses lessons from his mountain climbing experiences to share leadership principles. He uses the “rope” between climbers as a metaphor for the connection between leaders and followers: “The rope is the relationship between the leader and follower.”
In mountain climbing, the rope is critical. If it is too tight, one of the climbers is always pulling against the other—neither can move freely. So it needs to have some slack, but not too much slack. If there is too much slack, the following climber can step on the rope causing it to suddenly tighten and pull the lead climber off balance. Either of the climbers off balance is a danger to both since they are connected by the rope. But even worse, since climber’s boots have metal cleats, stepping on the rope can damage it. A frayed rope under tension can quickly unravel putting both climbers in peril.
The parallel to leadership is obvious. The relationship between leaders and followers must have some slack, but not so much that someone can step on the relationship and damage it. And also, the relationship can’t be so tightly held that no one can move freely. The leader and the follower share the responsibility for the condition of the rope—the connection between them. Whichever you are, do your part!
[Don’t Step On The Rope! is a creative and stimulating book that I highly recommend.]
I hate Bermuda grass. Why? It spreads uncontrolled into our mulch and hides the underground nests of fire ants. How many stings did I get? Twenty-six! Did they hurt? Yes! Did I get revenge? Yes! (Using Bonide MAX.) And while I was at it, I poured out my wrath on an underground nest of yellow jackets before they stung me.
Organizations have underground nests that can sting as well—nests that have a different mission…or personal agendas…or are only concerned about their self-interests. As the leader, you cannot let these nests grow and thrive. In fact, you need to pour Bonide MAX on them ASAP or you will get stung and the organization hurt.
First, make sure the underground nest doesn’t exist because of your ineffective leadership. Sometimes nests develop because the workers are simply trying to survive and have no confidence in the leader to actually lead them. So they choose a queen to follow and go underground as a survival mechanism. As in all things, always start with self-examination. Not sure if you’re the problem? Ask someone who will tell you the truth.
Second, you have to get rid of the queen. All fire ant and yellow jacket nests have a queen at the center of everything. Your organizational underground nest will have one too. Whatever you have to do, get rid of the queen! Until you do, the nest will grow in size and continue to buzz around stinging everyone that is not part of the nest.
Third, you need the workers, so try to eradicate the nest without eradicating all the workers. Give them a reason to choose to follow you instead of the queen. Being a leader instead of boss is a good way to start.
Enough fire ants stings can be fatal to small animals. Underground nests in your organization can be fatal too. So ignore them at your and the organization’s peril.
Only 24 days until Raising The Level Of Your Leadership—a Hard Lessons workshop. Sign up today at www.hard-lessons.com.
In last week’s post, I wrote about the five dimensions of passion you need to lead a group of followers on a long and difficult journey of significant change. You need passion for the mission (the journey and destination), passion for change, passion for people, passion for personal excellence, and if you are a person of faith, passion for honoring God.
Today, let me mention a few faux passions that aren’t necessary for leadership and in some cases make it harder or impossible to lead.
Faux Passion #1: Sentiment. When you were a little boy or girl, there was always, “When I grow up I’m going to be a….” My boyhood dream was to be a cowboy. (Duh! I grew up in Oklahoma.) Or a baseball player. (Duh! Mickey Mantle was from Oklahoma.) I have a daughter who wanted to be a missionary or a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader—she’s an actress. Neither one of us have regrets that our childhood dreams were not realized as adults. So in spite of what your therapist may say, childhood dreams are not always the answer to adult fulfillment or passion for leading.
Faux Passion #2: Loving The Task. It is great if you love the product or program, but you don’t have to love it to lead it, and often you won’t. Louis Gerstner, Jr., left RJR Nabisco (cigarettes and Oreos) in 1993 to become CEO of IBM (mainframe computers). Do you think he loved computers more than Oreos? I suspect he didn’t love either one. But he did have passion for leading—for “trying to build organizations that allow for hierarchy but at the same time bring people together for problem solving, regardless of where they are positioned in the organization.” Now that’s passion for the mission and leaders have to have it! (Quote from Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? by Gerstner; a great read for leaders.)
Faux Passion #3: Emotion. I am sick and tired of people rationalizing angry, emotional, people-hurting outbursts with, “I’m just so passionate.” Emotions and passions are not the same thing.
Emotions explode; passion burns steadily.
Emotions are here today, gone tomorrow; passion sticks around.
Emotions can turn and walk away; passion has to do something.
Emotions are about self; passion is about something important apart from self.
Emotions rage; passion reasons.
It may be a convenient excuse to explain bad emotional behavior as passion, but it’s not true and it will hurt your ability to lead—every time.
I would be interested in your ideas on Faux Passions you’ve observed. Also, don’t forget to register for the November 5th Hard Lessons Workshop on the homepage. I look forward to seeing you there!
In his now classic book, Good To Great, Jim Collins identifies what he calls “Level 5” leaders as having the “personal humility” and “fierce resolve” needed to transform their companies from good to great. “Fierce resolve” is another way of describing “passion.” Passion is essential if you want people to follow you on a difficult journey of change. [Read last week’s post: The Leader’s Soul On Fire (#1).]
So when a leader has passion that will attract followers, what does it look like?
First, followers will see passion for the mission—the purpose—of the organization. I’m not talking about passion for profit or for being the biggest. Passion for the mission endures through the ups and downs of the economy. Purpose is more important than profit or the Sunday headcount.
“We try never to forget that medicine is for people. It is not for profits. The profits follow….”
George W. Merck (from The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem)
Do you have passion for the mission of your organization? Or are you just trying to make a buck?
Second, as a leader you must have passion for change. Kouzes & Posner in The Leadership Challenge emphasize that “…the work of leaders is change.” So, if nothing is changing, you aren’t leading. If you by nature don’t like change, you can’t lead because leading is all about change. You can supervise; you can manage; you can contribute; but you can’t lead.
Third, a leader must have passion for people. You don’t lead machines; you don’t lead software; you don’t lead buildings; you lead people. Leading is always about people. I have a friend who once said to me, ”I would love my job if it weren’t for people.” My response was, “You need to get a different job.” (By the way, passion for people doesn’t mean that you are a soft leader who shies away from difficult people problems.) If you don’t really care much about the people you are trying to lead, they’ll know and will only follow you kicking and screaming.
A fourth passion leaders must have is passion for personal excellence. No organization ever rises above the level of its leadership. The leader is the lid—always! So if you want an excellent organization, you have to be an excellent leader. Whatever level you lead at now, you can raise it, and you need to.
Finally, for faith-based leaders, you must have a passion for honoring God in your work whether in business or ministry.
“And whatever you do…in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus….”
Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
Wouldn’t “do it all” include your job?
Are you trying to lead but it seems like a never-ending trek up a steep hill? Ask yourself if you really have passion for leading. Do you have fire in your soul for the mission? For change? For people? For personal excellence? For honoring God? If not, get out your match and light the fire of leadership passion in your soul. Do it today!
[In The Leader’s Soul On Fire (#3), I will discuss faux passions—passions that really aren’t.]
At the 2010 Willow Creek Leadership Summit, one of the sub-themes was, “I will stop using anger as a leadership tool.”
Though I have seldom used anger as a tool in the workplace, I have used it at home. My wife once told me she was tired of walking on egg shells, meaning “I’m tired of your anger.” I’m sure my two daughters have also been on the receiving end. I can’t think of a time when anything good came out of one of my outbursts.
Anger supposedly demonstrates who is in control. What it really reveals is who is out of control.
Anger supposedly will promote change in behavior. What it really promotes is pervasive fear that paralyzes the organization.
Anger supposedly shows strength of position. What it really shows is weakness of character.
Anger supposedly reinforces “I’m right.” What it really reinforces is “I’m proud.”
It is interesting that in scripture, God puts anger in the same list of sins as immorality, idolatry, sorcery, drunkenness.…
Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB95)
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing.…”
That’s enough said about how God feels about it.
Anger rarely if ever accomplishes anything good. It may accomplish what you intend, but only if your purpose is self-centered and intended to inflict humiliation and pain. Anger always has the effect of damaging relationships—at home, in the church, at your workplace. So take to heart the Summit sub-theme. Resolve today that you will stop using anger as a leadership tool. You’ll be a much better leader.
By the way, don’t kid yourself that “forgive me” will erase the effects of repeated outbursts. “Forgive me” only works if it doesn’t happen again.
[There are only two months until the November 5th Hard Lessons Workshop. Sign up today on the home page.]
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