Click This Link For More Information and To Register

The Core of Extraordinary Leadership = Your Power

• An Outcome-Creative Orientation ¹.  All great leaders have this orientation which focuses on the results (vision, mission, goals, etc.) the leader is aiming to create and involves following a particular process grounded in vision and where actions are inspired by passion.
• Alignment of PERSONAL Purpose, Passion and Vision.  This is aligned but distinct from the orientation noted above because it is has to do with the leader taking the time to chose the personal purpose that is behind their leadership.  In other words, why are they showing up each day, what are they trying to move forward personally and ultimately what is their desired impact on the organizations and those that report to them.   When a leader turns this purpose over and it becomes the driver of all of their actions it generates an aligned passion.  From this place the leader can articulate a clear and compelling personal vision for their legacy.
• Empowered Presence which in short is experienced when the leader is both fully present in the moment, embodied in their purpose and extending their power into the space they are in.  This is one of those – you know it when you experience this presence in someone.  Yet, while a person might have natural presence – it is also something one can develop with desire, purpose and passion.

The key to all of this is to realize that if you are a leader and are not tapping into developing your power as described above  – you.. may be effective and a decent leader but there is no way you can become a great one.  It’s that simple.   And if you do not have this foundation then you will short change yourself in your ability to influence others as well as limit your level of achievement – personally and organizationally.

Yes, to consciously develop this power takes some effort personally.  My take is that leaders do not develop this for a couple reasons:

1. They do not understand this is the foundation of their leadership or do not think it is as important as it is.
2. They think they have been given their “portion of power” and try to use what they have as best as possible
3. They may sense that they could be more powerful but either don’t know how or it does not reach a high level on their priority list.  In short, what these leaders are saying is – me spending time on growing my power is of lower priority than proceeding with what I know – even though I know not paying attention to growing my power results in – at best – leads to me lowering my standards and – at its worst – leads to mediocrity or worse case – total failure to lead.

Finally, I will say it again and again.  Strengthening leadership in yourself and your organization pays HUGE DIVIDENDS.  Growing such leadership does take effort to develop just as any technical skill does.  The question is as a leader are you willing to do the internal work necessary to become the change you want to see in your company, your industry and the world?

What is “Development” About Anyway?

I do not like the word development because it implies there is something missing in us.  Which is not the case really.  This term comes from an old outdated therapy model that examines our failings rather than our greatness.   “Empowerment”  is really what leadership development is all about because true leaders understand who they are and why they are leading.  To engage in a “development” or empowerment path you must answer the following questions:

• What do I most desire to create in terms of my results, success, impact, achievement, etc.?
• What are my greatest strengths and how do I build upon these to accomplish this?
• What habits do I have that do not support my vision?
• What kind of person must I  become to achieve my vision, priorities, etc.?
• What, if I learned it, would help me quickly close the gap between my current reality and the vision?

The answers to these questions set the stage for your development or rather empowerment.

Why Should I Empower Myself Anyway?

The short answer is because it will lead to a far better experience in your life and your work.  You will feel more alive and you will be more successful.  Again, you may already be successful financially yet are you successful in every area at the level YOU DESIRE?  The follow up reason is that you have not even come close to tapping into your capacity – human beings are the most creative force on this planet yet we tend to underestimate our power and greatness.  The “evening news” tends to highlight our bad side yet if you look at those out there making a difference in others lives – it is incredible what we are capable of when we embrace our humanity and stretch to be all we can be.

What Keeps Us From Enthusiastically Embracing The Empowerment Pathway?

If most people are failing to leverage their full power – why is this?  The question is why do they leave all of that power on the table?  There are a few major answers to this.  First, many people do not know what they do not know.  In other words, they do not realize what is possible for them so they do not understand the value of engaging in the empowerment pathway.  Second, most people do not answer the fundamental questions noted above.  The third reason is – COMFORT.  Comfort has always been the enemy of greater success and fulfillment.  Yet today we live in a society where we don’t even have to walk out our door to experience most things.  We can call in food, we can be entertained, we can work remotely, we can even express our sexuality.   When ever you feel comfortable for too long you stop taking action towards your desires.  How do you get out of this cycle?

What Can I Do to Overcome My Addiction to Comfort?

Be bold enough, dig deep and ask yourself – what do you really care about in your life, your work, for your organization?  Once you answer this question – ask yourself if you could have impact in this – what would you like to shift, change, improve?  Next turn this into a clear purpose and do what you must to turn this purpose into a burning desire.  Once that transformation occurs you will naturally rise above your own discomfort to realize that desire.  This one step is critical to anyone’s or any organization’s long term success.

The other 3 segments will be added over the next couple weeks and will focus on specific aspects of leadership.

Accelerating Achievement

There are a number of approaches we can take in business to recapture time lost in our day.  Yet incorporating these approaches will require a major shift in habits – as individuals and in our organizational cultures.  One of the areas to transform is our entire approach to achievement and how we get things done.  One antidote for overwhelm will come from tapping into the creative power that goes largely unused in the day to day business world.  One of my favorite quotes about our innate creative powers comes from the famous line spoken by Napoleon Hill in his seminal book Think & Grow Rich: “What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”

Recent new understandings about the mind that have come out of biology, neurobiology and quantum physics is proving this true.  Science is barring out that our very thoughts do generate reality and that what we think literally creates concrete experiences.  Athletes and artists have known this for years as has the great visionaries and innovators of our times.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

From the Poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley

(this poem was the constant companion for Nelson Mandela during is 27 years in prison)

So what does all of this mean for business and how it can be more effective during this era of acceleration?  First, we need to start taking charge of our thinking more and use this power to reduce stress and achieve more!  And yes that sounds simple but that does not mean it is easy. You see there is an direct link between what you believe and how you behave – this link is wholly human!  Most of our actions are generated from unconscious beliefs and habits we have formed over the years.  In most of us these go completely unexamined to the point we feel what we think is “real”.  Habits are those things we no longer question.  Yet, here is the fly in the ointment – if your underlying beliefs that are below the radar of the conscious mind are not aligned with what you want to create – your actions will not consistently support you to succeed.  And in fact, your thoughts might be leading you astray.   A simple example of this is our experience of New Years Resolutions.  When was the last time you kept one for longer than a month or two?  If you have congratulations – not many people do.

Now you don’t have to take my word for it – you can examine your own experience to show the power of this.   If you are curious do this experiment.  For one day keep track of everything you think.  Carry a notebook with you and jot down your general thoughts and your reactions to others and events.  If you do it for a week even better because after a week you will begin to notice patterns of thinking and underlying beliefs that are driving your behaviors.

Once you have done this – assess how your day or week went.  Rank it on a scale from 1 to 10 – 10 being it was a perfect day/week and everything flowed and where 1 is the worst day/week ever!   Now look at what you thought all day or week – do you see anything that would indicate why you have the score you do?   It would be hard to imagine you would not find alignment.  I have never known anyone who was not surprised by the outcome of this experiment.  Once you get the lesson you will start realizing how important it is to remain vigilant and in charge of your thoughts.

So now the question becomes – did my day go the way it did because of what I thought or because of the circumstances I faced?  Well if you think it was the circumstances then I would talking to a couple co-workers and ask how they interpreted those circumstances.  I would be surprised if their experience was the same as yours.  If it is different the question becomes which interpretation is right?  Well really none and all of them at the same time.  When you realize that it is your interpretation of your consequences not the actual events that dictations your reality  – you have the answer to your question.  Which is – It is you who dictates your experience – not someone else, not the organization, not your boss, not the circumstances. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone realized this?  Powerful!

So if we dictate our experience the question becomes what are we doing about that?  Even if all is good with the world – it might be useful to see what we think so we can further empower that thinking and learn how to get better at taking charge of our experience.  If we are not thinking thoughts that are in alignment with what we want then we need to start the process of re-framing our view of the world.  While it takes effort – it takes far less effort to do this then to think we can change circumstances through brute force.  Without the companionship of aligned thoughts and passion – we will have little influence over what goes on around us.   It is an illusion if you believe you do.

Great leaders take charge of their thinking.  This is what vision is all about!  Extraordinary leaders keep the vision foremost in their mind and let it set the context for their thinking.  They focus on what they want and steer away from negative thinking.  This is not to say they bury their heads in the sand.  No!  What great  leaders do is look at everything through the lens of the vision and deal with what ever they are in that moment to move that vision forward.  They accept there will be obstacles and realize that a natural part of turning a vision into reality is facing, overcoming or moving around those things that seem to be obstacles to achievement.  Such leaders realize they can only:

• Control themselves and their thoughts – not people, places and things outside themselves.
• Influence others – not dictate
• Take their best shot at moving things forward – not control the outcomes
• Learn from failure rather than reacting too strongly to a failure or shifting blame.  True leaders realize the later is a waste of both time and energy.

The creative path of leadership is truly a cycle that involves:

• Choosing the future you want to take the lead in creating.
• Staying connected to the vision and turning the vision over and over in your imagination – seeing it unfold in detail.
• Living in the moment and look for every opportunity to influence momentum forward.
• Talking to others about the vision – doing what is necessary to create shared ownership of it.
• Staying in integrity and be a model for what you expect from others
• Preparing for and expecting opportunities to emerge – not over planning your day (and by the way – how many times does our plan work anyway?)!
• Remaining vigilant and focused on what you think – making sure you keep your thoughts aligned with what you want and coach others to do the same.
• Expecting success and being open to learning approaches that you yourself have not thought of.  It is my experience and the experience that many of my clients have had – that sometimes the unexpected is far better than what you planned.

If you begin to leverage this philosophy – it will bear fruit and in a very short time you will find far fewer things to worry about and far more things to be excited about!  I promise!

The Business Needs Should Drive Leadership Development Needs

The question then becomes, If leadership is so critical to an organization’s success (and research is bearing this out through a number of studies) then the question becomes why are not more organizations taking the bull by the horn?   Bottom line, it is the legacy experience most organizations have had with leadership development “programs.”   They have far from lived up to their promise.

The reason for the failure of the “Leadership Development Program Model” is because such programs are not linked to the business.  After all exceptional leaders always have better results than nominal leaders because they are leading the business!  Given that why do we separate development from moving forward business objectives?   We have done this for years and then when you need to cut costs – we cut development.  Why because there is no clear connection between leadership development programs and important outcomes of a business.

So how do we fix this?   In short we fix it by starting by looking at the state of the business and examine the gaps between where we are are and where we want to be.  Then we look at leadership as one of the parameters for closing that gap.  The top team must then look at who it has to be individually and collectively in order to close the gap and then we must fuse the desired business outcomes with the leadership development process we engage.  If that is done we don’t have a “program” but rather an initiative to support greater business success.

The reason why executive coaching has been so successful and has seen such a strong return on investment is that most executive coaches worth their weight engage the leader at the level of desired results and design their executive coaching around improving those results.  Along the way guess what?  Developmental gaps show up through the coaching experience that must be addressed in order to achieve the desired outcomes.  The outcome -  you get better business results as well as a leader who has greater impact.  It has a multiplying effect.  Yet, as much as executive coaching is a useful process – it works at the individual level – rarely at the collective level.   We need to take this understanding to a strategic level for an organization and build approaches that focus on the business results first while also supporting transforming leadership.

Therefore, if someone comes to your organization promoting “programs” be leery!  Ask them how is this going to improve my outcomes?  If they can’t show you how that will occur do not consider hiring them!

Bringing Balance to Leadership

In an earlier entry “The Rising Power of the Feminine in Executive Leadership” – I highlighted solid research showing that companies with women in top leadership positions have stronger relationships with customers and shareholders and a more diverse and profitable business ¹.

A recent article in Forbes shows that most US Corporations are still not realizing the power that women bring.  The article highlights some sobering statistics as follows:

• Research done between 2004-2010 indicates that over 33% of women are leaving the workforce each year for various reasons.  For example in 2009 74% left for child care reasons, 16% left because their careers were stalled and a whopping 89% left because no executive in the organization was sponsoring their journey to success ².
• While 89% planned to resume their careers after a hiatus – only 40% of the women looking to reenter the work force after only 2 years found full time employment ³.
• Women who return to full-time work face a lower job title, a decrease in management and overall responsibilities and a striking financial penalty. Women who off-ramped for two years faced a 14% salary gap. The penalty tripled to 46% for those that left for three or more years ⁴.

This is just another symptom of organizations cutting their nose of despite their face.  Then there is the other side of the coin where an organization takes a talented woman leader and instead of leveraging her strengths and interests – they try to force her into a leadership position that does not fit because they want to show the world they are supporting the promotion of women.  While this shows some thoughtfulness – it is also misguided.

Those organizations who continue down this path just might find that this decision comes back to haunt them.  Why do I say this? Because another statistic shows that the majority of small businesses rising today are lead by women.  If your organization takes no action to change its trajectory – you might just find a fierce yet compassionate competitor lead by a woman eating your lunch.

Whether everyone sees it or not we are facing a major transformation in the way business is conducted worldwide.  If we do not take advantage of the lessons this difficult time has taught us – we will miss a huge opportunity.  To fully leverage this opportunity we need leadership and true leadership integrates a results focus along with a collaborative orientation (among other things).  We do not have enough male leaders who embody both sides of this equation and thus this is why there is a deep need for strong women leaders who for the most part have the capacity to embody both.   Men reading this might react negatively yet this is not about male bashing.  It is about finding balance and having leaders who can model the full power of leadership for everyone.  The question is will enough large organizations recognize the importance of such balance?  If not, there will be a revolution and for those who do not join – you will miss huge opportunities now and the pain of not joining will be greater down the road for you and your organization.

Leaders Are 100% Accountable

Taking 100% responsibility or placing everything on your shoulders and taking on all the stress around the success or failure of the business is not the point.   The point owning the vision and holding the expectancy it will unfold.  If a leader has developed a compelling vision and has done a great job of instilling this vision into their people – while mistakes will happen – in the end the vision will become reality.  Yet, if the leader begins to complain about how the market place is behaving, the problems with the economy, or begins to blame low performers for all the woos in the business – they are missing the point of being a leader as well as the power of vision.

If the market is not responding – a true leader does not blame the market.  They collect the best minds and ask what do we have to do to engage the market more effectively so people get who we are and want to do business with us?   If the economy is tanking and business is off – the true leader takes responsibility by examining with his top people the model they are using to develop business and will shift their approach to succeed or do better than they have in the tough economy.  If there is an issue with low performance – a true leader coaches the boss of that direct report to get to the bottom of it or they themselves explore what the issue is.   If there is not a fit – they let the person go.  If it is a coaching issue they work towards a new commitment with that employee to engage at a higher level and make sure that there will be rewards if they do and consequences if they do not.

The fundamental key here is making sure your people are enrolled in the vision and know their part in fulfilling it.  If the vision has come alive – the true leader knows with certainty it is only a matter of time before things line up.  They embrace the responsibility for creating an environment that is brutally honest about what the challenges are while also inspiring others to reach further to fulfill the mission and key priorities.

True leaders also expect their best people to take on their responsibility for their part of the vision and to be accountable for their results.  If they can not do this and not aligned with the organization’s mission and vision then they are in the wrong place and it is best to move on.  Yet, if the leader begins to complain about their performance with out proper feedback and coaching – then it is as much or more the leader’s limitations that are the reason for less than acceptable outcomes. Ultimately, the leader declares the destination, sets the course and is very clear about their expectations.  They want their people to take risks and failure is an option as long as everyone is learning and leveraging lessons learned to achieve the results and improve performance.