Life & Leadership

Baby Bear Wins Again

2010-03-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Flying a kite is exhilirating. Running to get the kite to catch the wind, letting out the string inch by inch so that colorful apparatus can soar high above, we marvel at our own cleverness for getting this simple machine to take flight. We are seemingly unaware of the relentless tug that it applies to us - taking us in a direction of its own choosing and we, all the while, look upward with glee at the simple pleasure of controlling the flight.

Kites have the ability to catch the wind and soar, but only if it has an earthly anchor ensuring that the wind is harnessed. It is symbiotic.

All organizations need a kite and a rock. The kite is the person who soars with new ideas, pulls the organization along into new and exciting directions. You can always identify the kites because they seem to have dry/erase pens genetically attached to their hands, they are always talking about what is possible and sketching that possiblity on anything (particularly white boards, but cocktail napkins will do) that they can get their hands on. They are always, inexhaustively tugging the minds of their team into accepting changes in direction. Pulling the organization forward.

However, unanchored, kites can fly, then drift, then fall to the ground without achieving the glory of which they are capable. Rocks are anchors - ensuring that kites get grounded so that the soaring can continue. The rocks in an organization maintain balance. They take those ideas and and make them concrete, credible action plans. The rocks in an organization are easy to spot as well. They are sitting in meetings, with furrowed brows asking question after question - driving for clarity, identifying obstacles and communicating how it can actually get done.

Neither the kite or the rock can be mutually exclusive. They require each other's presence in order to reach their respective potential. No matter what you are, recognize that you have to have someone to balance the scale in order to move forward. And forward you should move - not too fast (like the kite would have it) and not too slow (like the rock would have it) - but Just Right - like Baby Bear would have it.

Dream, Dare, Do

2009-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

In today's uncertain economic times survival isn't enough. Not nearly enough. Success comes from finding opportunity even in the most dire of circumstances and capitalizing on it. Today more than ever, those that hesitate are lost. Salvation can only be found in imagination, innovation and execution.

It is tempting to dabble in the notion of being risk averse, evaluating every pro and con, maintaining the status quo and riding it out, getting into analysis paralysis. However, dreaming of new ways to do things, keeping your edge sharp, your brain rattling, your eyes open is the way to creating doors of opportunity. Imagine. John Lennon inscribed that notion on our brains so many years ago - but the message has resonance. Imagination is the cornerstone, the soul of innovation; of change. And change is what is needed to stay new and fresh. Today it is a necessary component of survival.

In business we often value the stark logic, the raw mathematics of making decisions. But it is the creative spark of imagination that makes it possible to follow the bouncing ball of logic. From the idea comes the impetus for innovation.

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
George Bernard Shaw

Innovation takes the imaginative idea and formulates it into a workable solution. Innovators are both creative and logical. They understand the imaginative idea, their brains can wrap around the possibilities and then go through the many permutations of how to take that idea and make it a reality.

And then there is execution. An idea that isn't written down is a day dream. A written idea is a wish list without a project plan (and due dates). Execution is all about taking the imagination and innovation and making it happen.

The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.
Dale Carnegie

Wage War and Win leveraging leadership & management skills

2009-02-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

According to Merriam-Webster, the denotiation of the transitive verb to lead is:

1 a : to guide on a way especially by going in advance b : to direct on a course or in a direction

And the definition of the verb to manage is"

1 : to handle or direct with a degree of skill: as a : to make and keep
compliant

These words and their derivatives are often interchanged. The word manager is implied to be synonymous with the word leader. However, when dissecting the definitions carefully - forensically - it is clear that they are different. Management is about skill. It is about organization and deployment of resources. While leadership is about guidance, stewardship and direction. So why belabor this nuanced, subtle difference in denotation?

High performing organizations need both and they need them in the right roles. So often, because it is thought they are synonymous, people find themselves in roles in which they are not suited.

Simply put, you lead people and you manage processes.

Leadership is about inspiration, passion and engendering a spirit of comraderie so that a group can tackle any feat. It is about influence - influencing behaviors and thoughts in order to create the inertia, energy and excitement to get things done.

Management is about ensuring tactical task execution of that vision. You need good managers, but their presence is superfluous without good leadership. If there is no goal or destination around which people can galvanize their efforts, the act of managing process becomes maintaining status quo.

It is wholly ineffective to try to manage people. People are driven by feelings. They want to feel that their efforts are valued and important as well as to be a part of something larger. When attempts are made to "manage" people - they feel micro-managed, devalued and not trusted. Task & process oriented folks - the folks that make sure time cards are turned in, that compliance is maintained, that resources are ordered and deployed on time, that errors are minimized, that things happen as they should are managers. They are good managers if they can improve the quality of those processes. They are great managers if they have the ability to tether their priorities to the leaders in their organizations - ensuring that the prioritized processes are those which will enable the team to achieve the ultimate vision.

Leaders are people oriented and inspire BELIEF IN THE DIRECTION AND CONVICTION THAT THE JOURNEY IS ONE OF GOOD PURPOSE. They can rally the troops by being not only exceptional communicators, but also crafty storytellers. They communicate often, listen to their teams more often and then communicate some more. They have vision for the future that can be articulated and shared in a way that makes others wish to follow them. Good leaders leverage their managers to ensure tasks are completed. Great leaders include managers in the process and ensure that these tactitians BELIEVE in the goals laid out.

You would follow a great leader into battle - even if certain death awaited - because you BELIEVE that the battle is worthy. A good manager makes it possible to avoid death altogether.

Proof is in your Feet

2009-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Why do we follow some people and not others? Is it simply a function of confidence in their ability to get us to our destination? Is it a function of personality? Their methods or means of execution? Our expectations? Their ability to communicate?

Yes. To all of it and then some.

Good leadership is not formulaic - it is a cornucopia of ingredients - both internal and external. However, one ingredient that is consistent irrespective of the others is having a clear cut, intractable vision and the ability to passionately communicate that vision. Where are we going and why is that so exciting.

But the verbiage, the story is never really enough. Great public speakers can motivate and inspire, but leadership is about doing more than that. It's about parlaying that passion into action and change.
My mom used to tell me, "proof is in your feet, kid." Action. Action is the only means by which there is demonstration that the words coming out of the mouth are meaningful.

To lead effectively, a person must clearly articulate their vision with passion and intensity - inspiring those around them while simultaneously being at the head of the charge being. Moving their feet and their fleet ever forward.

Lessons from Apollo 13 - Start the evolution

2008-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

The movie Apollo 13 was entertaining. Who can argue that Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise weren't riveting in their performances and that the historical story line wasn't titillating? It is one of those movies that I can watch over and over and still enjoy it - although those around me may not, as I feel compelled to say out loud those lines that I know by heart. Beyond the story and the acting, the movie resonates with me from a life and leadership perspective. Whether it's Ken Mattingly's diligent focus on finding the amps necessary to fire up the LEM or Gene Kranz's absolute steady hand and results focus in mission control or Jim Lovell's organic leadership while stuck in the limbo between Earth and the moon - the movie is replete with what good leadership looks like.

But I am drawn to the more ambiguous metaphor for leadership in the scene that depicts the engineers in a room having to come up with the solution to the rising carbon monoxide levels.

"We need to make this (holding up a filter) fit into this (holding up the part
that holds an entirely different kind of filter) using nothing but this
(indicating a table full of random materials found in the space craft)."

The goal is intractable - they have to lower the carbon monoxide levels or the astronauts will run out of breathable air and die. The starting point and the tools are static - they have the tools and materials that they have - and that's it. The time is finite - they have to get this done without going over the time limit or people will die. They have to be innovative, use the tools and materials they have and get the job done.

Sound familiar? If not, it should. It's more often than not, the conundrum of our lives - professional and personal. We have to get from here to there with the tools in front of us often with a looming time, cost or quality constraint. So why do so many of us get overwhelmed and fail to accomplish our goals? Unlike the engineers in the scene, we tend to fail because we allow our emotions to get the better of us.

We feel irritation, frustration or self pity because it is unfair that we have to deal with something we would prefer not to have to face. We feel that our resources, tools or assets are flawed and inadequate resulting in bitterness or frustration that we don't have what we need in order to accomplish what we need to accomplish. We get angry or frustrated about the constraints on our time or the financial means we have to get something done. We allow these feelings to overwhelm us either completely of partially - and we don't get it done. And we feel sorry for ourselves.

The crew's jerry-rigged device, dubbed the "mail box," for removing carbon dioxide from the module's atmosphere. With help from mission personnel back on Earth, they rigged up this arrangement from the Command Module's lithium hydroxide canisters. From CNN.com/Space

Undoubtedly those NASA engineers were not delighted by the problem they faced. They were probably frustrated by the weight of their responsibility - and the seeming impossibility of their task. The resources on that table were inadequate and I'm sure that they felt angry that there weren't more options. But allowing themselves to fall victim to their feelings would not have allowed for the miraculous solution they provided to the crew of Apollo 13. They took on the task, assembled a solution and saved the lives of those astronauts who would become part of the "successful failure."

How can we translate this into life and leadership?

1. Focus on the goal - where are you trying to go and why? Do you know what you are trying to accomplish?
2. Understand and accept that "it is what it is." No matter how unfair the journey, this is where you are and being upset by it won't change anything. When you are done, you will still be exactly where you were before you're emotional response - only time will have passed and that may be debilitating to achieving your goals.
3. Accept and leverage the resources, tools and assets you have irrespective of their flaws and imperfections. This is what you have to work with - so get on with it and use them the best way you can.

The concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) has been around for quite some time. It is only with high EQ that these guidelines can be consistently applied. Daniel Goleman, author of "Emotional Intelligence" has identified 20 core EQ competencies:

PERSONAL
Self-Awareness
± Emotional Self-Awareness
± Accurate Self-Awareness
± Self Confidence

Self Management
± Emotional Self-Control
± Trustworthiness
± Conscientiousness
± Adaptability
± Achievement Orientation
± Initiative

SOCIAL
Social Awareness
± Empathy
± Organizational Awareness
± Service Awareness

Relationship Management
± Influence
± Inspirational Leadership
± Developing Others
± Building Bonds
± Teamwork and Collaboration
± Conflict Management
± Communication
± Change Catalyst

What do you have to work on to increase your EQ - so that you can more effectively achieve personal and professional goals? Be mission control engineers. Be Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) or Jim Lovell (Hanks) or Ken Mattingly (Sinese) in your pursuit of your goals. Success is about evolving. So start the evolution.