Leadership on Speed

success is not forever and failure isn't fatal

2009-10-06T14:53:00-04:00

We've all heard the adage "You win some. You lose some." but how often do we allow wins and losses in business to define us? You have a big sale or close a big deal and you're the office hero. You lose a big client or blow a deal, you're the office schmuck, right? In business (and in life) it often seems that the highs can be really high and the lows, really low.

If this resonates for you then take heed from football coaching great Don Shula when he says:

"Success is not forever and failure isn't fatal."

Coach Shula had a great rule which I think can serve anyone well. It was called "the 24-hour rule". He allowed himself, his coaches and his players a maximum of twenty four hours after a football game to celebrate a victory or bemoan a defeat. That's it. During that time they were encouraged to experience the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat as deeply as possible but once the twenty-four hours passed, they put it behind them and focused their energies on prepping for the next opponent.

Now that's a principal well worth noting AND applying.

Don't waste time getting a big head when you win or getting too down in the dumps when you lose. Keep things in perspective. What's done is done. Focus instead on applying the strategies, tactics and/or principals that will either give you the "win" the next time or keep the winning streak going.

Remember success is not forever and failure isn't fatal.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

modeling character and competence

2009-09-22T14:54:00-04:00

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army or in an office.
-Dwight David Eisenhower

Several weeks back, I wrote a post on integrity (The Integrity Test). I wanted to follow it up with some observations taken from Stephen Covey's The 8th Habit which gave me additional perspective that I wanted to share with you.

I think it's safe to say that we all desire to work with people of integrity. It is also safe to say that 60-70% of the workforce who has been employed for at least five years can identify at least one situation they have witnessed in the workplace in which someone (probably a manager or leader) has not demonstrated integrity and for which there was no repercussion. It is worth noting that in a survey of over 54,000 people asked to identify the essential qualities of a leader, integrity was by far, the number one response.

I realized in reading The 8th Habit that this issue of integrity (or lack of it) really boils down to a failure of character. And, according to Stephen Covey, 90 percent of all leadership failures are character failures.

Where leaders lack character, trust cannot grow and trust is the key ingredient to all relationships be they business or personal. So if you want to make a difference as a leader in your organization and in your life, practice integrity. Keep your word. Only make promises you can keep. Don't do anything in private that you wouldn't want made public. If you make a mistake, come clean.

One man cannot do right in one department of
life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any
other department. Life is one indivisible whole.
- Mahatma Gandhi

We are all human beings and sometimes life gets in the way of who we want to be. Begin with yourself and notice the domino affect it has on those around you. It isn't about being perfect, it's about being the best you can be.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

the dog ate my homework

2009-09-01T13:15:00-04:00

This post was inspired by my recent frustrations over getting some marketing work done. I wanted to brand and rebrand some of my programs and I had a great marketing guy referred to me. Great at least when it comes to design work, not so great when it comes to getting his deliverables out on time....

Once John was hired (and yes, the names have been changed to protect the innocent) and we were in the middle of branding, I would email or call him about a certain aspect of the project and it would literally take him 4 or 5 DAYS (yes, D-A-Y-S) to get back to me. BUT here's the rub: He would always have what he thought was a good story about why it took him so long.

Don't get it twisted...

A good story does NOT equal getting something done.

It's like the joke about the dog eating my homework. We always laugh at it because we know that as ludicrous and unrealistic as the story sounds, the deliverer (the student) THINKS it's a great story that EQUALS getting the homework done and thereby lets them off the hook. And as much as we smile or laugh, WE DO THE EQUIVALENT EVERYDAY.

I know I promised to call you back but my boss called me in the office.
I know I promised to take you to the mall but I had a busy week and I'm really tired.

I know I promised to ________________ BUT __________________. (fill in the blanks with your favorite story).

So everytime you want to back out of something or it becomes inconvenient to meet your deadline because the dog ate your homework, remember that a good story does not equal getting something done.

I know life happens and occasionally, there really are extenuating circumstances (but not every day). Here's a tip: If you KNOW that you won't meet your commitment then simply renegotiate the deadline up front. Much of my angst would have been alleviated if John had given me the story on the front end and rescheduled his deadline as opposed to missing the deadline and disappearing. THAT is not a good strategy in work or in life.

And John? Well, he is now my EX-marketing guy. We finished the project for which he was hired and I LOVE the result BUT I would never refer him out. His inconsistencies overshadowed his design brilliance.

It's a sad thing really....

By the way, how do YOU show up?

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

better leaders do produce better results

2009-08-18T14:14:00-04:00

As a leadership consultant, I speak to companies every day about the impact strong leadership has on the bottom-line of the organization. We sort of know that great leaders produce great results, but why?

To answer this, I want to share some research conducted by ZengerFolkman which demonstrated that:

Good leaders create more economic value than poor leaders and extraordinary leaders create significantly more economic value than the rest.

While we intuitively know that this makes sense, how do strong leaders achieve such results?

Ultimately it boils down to their affect on the bottom line - things such as retention, turnover, employee commitment and morale, customer satisfaction and ultimately, productivity.

In fact, their research shows that if the "people costs" to a company are 50%, a productivity improvement of only 5% can result in a 50% increase in pre-tax profit!! In that same scenario, a 10% increase in productivity increases pre-tax profit by 100%!!! And on and on and on.

The bottom line: Leaders who inspire people to perform at higher levels increase organizational productivity and thereby increase (substantially) pre-tax profit.

Now, can you imagine the organizational impact if you had a building full of inspiring leaders and not just the one's with titles?

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

the integrity test

2009-08-11T15:12:00-04:00

1. How often do you keep your word to others in business?

2. How often do you keep your word to friends and family?

3. How often do you show up on time for meetings or get-togethers?

4. Now, how often do you keep your word to yourself?

When I ask leaders these four questions, invariably I get a response to questions one, two and three. To question #4, 95% of the time I get a chuckle.

Why? Because when it comes to integrity, we tend to focus on what others can see but integrity, at a deeper level, is about one's ability to keep the promises that no one else knows about. You know the ones. Things like:

I'm going to wake up and exercise at 5:30am tomorrow
- The integrity challenge: It's 5:15am. The alarm clock rings. You slowly open your eyes, close them and roll over thinking - tomorrow, I'll start tomorrow.... After all, you're the only one who knew you were going to exercise today so it's no big deal right?
I'm going to work on that project for my boss that I've been putting off
- The integrity challenge: The day is passing you by while you do "stuff" all the while looking at the folder that contains "the thing" you don't really want to do. After all, it's not actually due for two more weeks. You just don't FEEL like it today even though you promised yourself you would work on it today...

What examples come to mind for you?

The challenge is this - with every private broken promise, we chip away at our core being. We chip away at the person we "want" to be and we begin to develop this sense of false-ness. It ultimately weakens our power because we know we are not being the person others may think we are.

If this resonates for you then try finding an accountability partner that is going to hold you to your intentions and your action plan. The trick is to find someone who isn't going to sell out on you and who will really hold you to your goals even when it's uncomfortable. In other words, if you make a decision to exercise today and your accountability partner phones you at 2pm only to find out that you slept in, you want someone who is going to say, "OK, so when will you exercise today?" instead of "Well ok. I know it must be hard to wake up at 5am so try again tomorrow." ESPECIALLY when it comes to goals that require new habits, we may need someone that is going to push us until the new habit kicks in.

There is power in keeping your word - not just to others but more importantly to yourself.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

the procrastinating perfectionist

2009-08-04T15:24:00-04:00

I'm currently in the question about pursuing my PhD and to that end, I was on an informational call with one of the universities I am considering. At some point, the question was asked about how long it takes to complete the program. The response was that the average student completed the program in four years, but some students went as long as six.

SIX years? Wow. Can you tell us why that would be?

The school representatively graciously explained to us that there are those students who are affectionately referred to as "procrastinating perfectionist". Ah-ha! I immediately got it and it made perfect sense...

Procrastinating perfectionists are everywhere....

In the context of the PhD program, these are the students who work on a paper, turn it in for review, try to "perfect it" based on the feedback, turn it in for review again, try to "perfect it" again based on new feedback and on and on and on. Why does this happen? Because for the most part, these future scholars want to reduce any likelihood of ridicule on their published work. They want to create absolute perfection in their theory and their execution so that no one can find a flaw in their approach... Meanwhile, they're racking up thousands of extra dollars in school bills simply because they find that less painful than the idea of not being perfect!

Sound crazy? Sound familiar?

Intellectually, we all know that there is no such thing as perfection but when it comes to going out on the skinny branches; to being "seen" or heard by more than our most intimate family and friends, we retreat into a space of fear and uncertainty. We don't want to risk saying the wrong thing in front of our boss or our colleagues so we say nothing at all.

Here's what you need to know: When you choose to take a stand on anything, there will always be those with you and those "agin" you and that's OK because, as the saying goes "If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything."

What do you stand for? What beliefs are taking you out to the skinny branches?

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

yes, your money can make money no matter how much (or little) you think you make

2009-07-28T14:45:00-04:00

I am here to tell you that my husband and I have recently finished reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and I could hardly wait to share this post. (and YES, I know it has been around forever but I can't read everything at once!). Ok? --- so back to Rich Dad, Poor Dad..

If you haven't read it, move it to the top of your list.

If you have read it, but haven't applied it - read it again.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a "make sense" book that offers excellent insight to the idea of leveraging yourself.

It will create a shift in thinking and I'm here to tell you that after reading that book, I realized that my insight on leveraging didn't go deep enough. It is easy to think about leveraging your assets when you own a business - you hire more employees and you create systems but how do you leverage assets if you have a job?

THAT is the question that author Robert Kiyosaki so eloquently answers. Interestingly enough, I consider myself fairly financially literate and had already subscribed to many of the principals he lays out in the book but what was missing for me was the clarity of WHY. I was fortunate enough to stumble on some things by accident but I am also very clear that had I operated with the financial intentionality of these principals even ten years ago, my family would definitely be completely living off of our investments by now....

Rather than risk getting too complex here, just do yourself a favor and buy this book! You should definitely read this book:

Whether you make $20,000 a year or $200,000
If you think you have NO "extra" money to invest
If you would like to run your own life someday
If you like dealing with finances but aren't sure where to start

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

words to live by

2009-07-21T14:16:00-04:00

"To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." - From The Alchemist

That's it for today. 'Nuff said.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

thriving in incompetence

2009-07-14T14:34:00-04:00

I had the privilege recently of listening to a keynote given by Julio Olalla, founder of the Newfield Network (a coaching institute) and well known in coaching circles. He was magnificent. He spoke about many things but something that resonated with me was this statement "When we declare a dream, the first thing we realize is that we are incompetent to get there, so many of us declare nothing at all."

WOW! Talk about a lightbulb moment!! I thought to myself, "How true is that?" It resonated with me because I have done hundreds of consults in which the potential client declares a dream and then quickly discusses all the reason why they "can't" make it happen. I have also been there at various times in my own life! I remember when I was a "young" drug rep. I didn't have much industry experience but I had come to the industry with five years of leadership experience from another organization. My goal at the time was to get back into management as quickly as possible but when I had the first opportunity to put my hat in the ring, I didn't go for it. Why? I believed at the time that I still didn't have enough "industry" experience and rather than go for it and fail (or even scarier - succeed), I chose not to play.

How often have you declared a goal and decided that you didn't have what it took to get there or be successful?

The beauty (and comfort) of Mr. Olalla's statement was the realization that on some level, we are all incompetent! As long as you are growing and stretching, you will always find yourself in unfamiliar territory which translates into having some degree of incompetence. Don't fear it - welcome it! Our ego's tell us that we should know it all - what a bunch of hogwash! Whether it's a job or starting a company, you take the first step and then you learn what you need to learn to be successful in getting to the next.

When I began my coaching company, the only thing I had a handle on was coaching! I had to face the reality of all the things I DIDN'T know about running a company, how to market, how to create products, determining WHAT products my audience needed, etc. I could easily have stopped within the first five minutes! We have to recognize that when we choose to take a journey, the ONLY thing we may be clear about is that we want to take the journey - even the destination may be fuzzy! We stop because we "think" we should know the route and because we don't, we decide that we're in over our heads and we quit.

The journey to goal creation is no different than taking a trip from Florida to California. Once I decide to take the trip, there are a ton of options about how to get there. Do I drive? Fly? Walk? Take a train? (yes, walking is an option!) If I drive, what route do I take? Do I want to go straight from Florida to California or are there places or people to visit along the way? If you get overwhelmed in all the possible permutations of getting there, you may change your mind and stay in Florida but you then miss the richness of the experience of trying to get to California!

Not only do we face a myriad of tactical decisions that could stop us, we face the internal dialogue that constantly plagues us:

What if I fail?

What if I succeed?

What if I get "too" big?

What will others think of me?

Will others "get" it?

What if they don't? etc, etc.

As a coach, I am no different than you. I am a human being with frailties and fears. What may distinguish me is that this time, my incompetence didn't stop me. I found my purpose and I chose to honor it. I joyfully live with a certain degree of incompetence because I realize that on some level, it means that I am courageous enough to declare and live my vision! The beauty of fluidity is that my journey has taken me in so many amazing and wonderful directions that are far from what I thought it might look like when I began. Opportunities do show up when we allow our boldness to shine. What I have come to learn is that what I need always shows up when I need it - NOT to be confused with what I WANT but sometimes that shows up too. :-) I'm smart enough (most of the time) to acknowledge what it is I don't know (or that I don't know what I don't know) and try to stay open enough to see and accept the gifts that are offered to me in support of my quest and my dream.

Will you join me? Just for today live in gracious incompetence. Choose power instead of fear. Choose abundance instead of scarcity. Choose gratitude instead of selfishness. Choose joyful living instead of existing...

Are you there? I would love to hear your story!

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

do or do not, there is no try

2009-07-07T15:10:00-04:00

Today I want to challenge your thinking on something that has become so much a part of our nature that we almost do it without thinking.

Think back to the last time someone asked you to do something, attend something, see something and you replied with, "I'll try".

Let me share an uncomfortable reality: Trying is just an excuse for not doing something. We say it to make someone feel better but what we're really saying is "I'll get it done if it's convenient." Think about it. How often do we say things like:

I'll try to get to the store.
I'll try to get that call in.
I'll try to get (fill in the blank) done by Friday (or Monday or Tuesday, etc).

We've become a society of "try-ers" instead of "do-ers".

Let me clarify: When I hear "I'll try", I know that what I'm really being told is, "I'll get to it if it's convenient but I'm not willing to commit to it." It's literally the difference between being committed and not committed.

Come on - you know the deal. When you are committed, you follow through no matter what but "trying" is sort of like just being interested. It really hit me when I was speaking with a friend recently who was hosting an event that required an RSVP. As the RSVP's came in, she noticed that some of the people she expected to be there hadn't yet responded. When she called to follow-up, what she was told was, "I'll definitely try to be there!" There's that word again! What they were really saying is "It sounds interesting and I'll be there unless I'm too tired or unless something more interesting or compelling comes up but I'm not willing to COMMIT to attending." They may not have verbalized it in just that way but when they said "I'll try", it is what they REALLY said.

Think about it this way: An interested exerciser wakes up to morning rain and says, "I think I'll exercise tomorrow." A committed exerciser wakes up to rain and says, "I guess I'll be exercising inside today." When a person is committed to doing something, he or she will finds ways to suppress rationalization. Even when it is inconvenient, such a person will keep their commitment.

Unfortunately, more people reside in the domain of "I'll try" instead of the domain of "I'll get it done" but who do you think provides more value to those around them - those who "try" or those who "do"? Who would you rather be around? Look, I know making promises and giving your word can be scary but the more you actually focus on only making promises you can keep, the more conscious you become not only about the promises you make but also what you're willing to commit to.

As Yoda said to Luke Skywalker in the movie Star Wars, "Do or do not. There is no try."

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!