futurefactory.org | Steve Fleckenstein's online manufacturings

You Have What It Takes to be a "Small-L" Leader

2012-01-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

Recently I stumbled across an HBR article from last summer (via @johnmaeda) titled Three Traits Every CEO Needs. The author, Justin Menkes, writes that:

...to perform their best in today's turbulent atmosphere, leaders must possess this highly unusual set of three traits that often run counter to natural human behavior. These attributes are catalysts for the mastery displayed by the world's best CEOs— and, together, they add up to a new definition of leadership...

He then goes on to describe the three traits (realistic optimism, subservience to purpose, finding order in chaos). His descriptions resonated— I've seen these characteristics in most of the best C-level execs I worked with in my consulting days and also in a lot of the partners at the consulting firms where I hung my hat.

Of course, not everyone wants to be a CEO or a very senior-level exec. I'd go as far as to say that most people don't want to be a CEO or other big wig. They don't want to be "big-L" Leaders because they don't identify with an attribute like subservience to purpose (remember, Menkes mentioned that those traits often run counter to natural human behavior).

But most people do want to lead in some way— whether on a project or as the manager of a team or simply as the organizer of a meeting. Fortunately, this same article mentions 3 traits that us ordinary mortals can summon to "small-l" lead. It's in the comments, in a story shared by one Bill Hartman:

Fittingly, a talk last year at the US Naval Academy's Stockdale Leadership Center to graduating Midshipmen stressed three keys to successful leadership (being a CEO?):

Competence--either have it, or commit to getting there

Courage— integrity/courage to do what is right

Compassion/love for your team— care about the team as much as yourself.

Any manager, leader, person, CEO can go a long way with these few points.

Most people— including many kids— have the capacity to exhibit or develop those traits. Competence, courage and compassion take the idea of leadership out of the boardroom and put it into cubicles, classrooms, playing fields, homes— anywhere a person can exhibit those traits. That's a really powerful thought, because the word leader has such powerful connotations. Can you imagine what would happen in our workplaces and schools and communities if we could convince everyone we meet that they are (or can become) leaders if they exhibit these traits? Can you imagine the boost to people's self-esteem when they realize they are leaders?

Another thing that's great about these traits is that they help us very quickly assess people who are "leaders" by virtue of the title on their business cards (CEO, Senior VP, Team Lead, etc.) to see if they are true leaders. We've all run across leaders-on-paper who fall short on one or more of those traits. If you work for somebody like this, you'll need to understand how that person's particular shortcoming will affect you and then compensate accordingly. And when determining whether you want to work for or with somebody who is in a leadership role, make sure they exhibit competence, courage, and compassion.

Finally, the three traits can help you develop as a leader. Whether you're leading a team at work, a committee on a volunteer board, a group of 5-year-olds on a t-ball team— or even your own family— you can determine how to develop the competence, courage, and compassion to be a small-l leader.

Let's Do a Pilot

2011-08-11T20:13:00.000-04:00

If you find yourself saying those words, pause for a minute to think about what you really mean.

Are you saying that you don't really have a business case for this, but it's the latest thing and my boss wants me to so it so let's see what sticks?

Or do you have a good idea — backed by research and some thoughts about what outcomes you want to achieve — and need to try it out at a smaller scale to work out the kinks?

If it's the former, there's a high likelihood you'll end up doing something with a low (or unknown) return on investment. With no concrete goals in place, anything will look like a success.

If it's the latter, carry on. Collect good data on outcomes for a set period of time, and then take further action based on your results.

Social Media vs. SEO

2011-07-28T06:23:00.001-04:00

There's an interesting article on AdAge by Bob Knorpp that made me think differently about how I look at social media. He points out that a lot of social media is really SEO, designed not to engage but to entice people to come to our sites.

I've always looked at this "broadcast" social media as lame, as not what social media is all about. I've never thought about its value as part of an overall SEO strategy. Sure, it's still better to use social media for engagement, but if you can't or won't (and there are lots of reasons why that might be the case) then why not think of it in this way? It's instructive to list out the ways your company is using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and then label each item as engagement or SEO. You can then look at the SEO items to determine how they fit into the rest of your SEO strategy and make adjustments as needed.

Happy Birthday Ella

2011-04-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

(via swissmiss)

Fundamental Richness

2010-10-25T08:26:00.000-04:00

Reading a few passages from The Pocket Pema Chödrön is one of the best ways to start your day. Enjoy this excerpt:

Fundamental richness is available in each moment. The key is to relax: relax to a cloud in the sky, relax to a tiny bird with gray wings, relax to the sound of the telephone ringing. We can see the simplicity in things as they are. We can smell things, taste things, feel emotions, and have memories. When we are able to be there without saying, "I certainly agree with this," or "I definitely don't agree with that," but just be here very directly, then we find fundamental richness everywhere. It is not ours or theirs but is available always to everyone. In rain drops, in blood drops, in heartache and delight, this wealth is the nature of everything. It is like the sun in that it shines one everyone without discrimination.

Isn't that awesome? I also enjoy the @PemaQuotes twitter account. This puts me in a good frame of mind to enjoy whatever life brings my way. Try it!

Yes! No. Yes?

2010-08-04T10:30:00.000-04:00

Just finished reading a great article by Whitney Hess over on A List Apart. In the article she talks about the importance of saying “no” when necessary to help people make good decisions about user experience.

In her How to no section she describes an approach championed by William Ury that could be shorthanded as Yes! No. Yes?. I’ve used this approach and it really works--here’s an example from a past discussion with a client:

(Yes!) "Finding ways to encourage others to forward/share your content makes a lot of sense and I’m glad you’re thinking that way."

(No.) "But buying an email list, spamming it, and asking users to forward the email will only bring you trouble--and it’s against your own policies."

(Yes?) "Let’s sit down and brainstorm about how you can make better use of your current partner networks to encourage content sharing."

The article provides more detail on how to use this approach effectively. Good stuff!

Thanks also, Whitney, for admonishing me:

If you don’t know anything that no one else on your team knows, then it’s probably time to walk away. But if you do, it is your duty to assert that capability and share your knowledge for the betterment of the final product.

and

As people who create stuff with the hope that other people will use it, it is outright cowardly for us to protect ourselves before defending the needs of our users.

I need to be reminded of that on occasion.

Anti-social Social Media

2010-06-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

While digging through my backlog on Instapaper (my absolute favorite iPhone app) I came across a wonderful article by Joanne McNeill: Caring for Your Online Introvert. Read it now if you're an introvert-- it'll banish any feelings of inadequacy for your neglected Facebook account or your failure to use the appropriate Twitter hashtags.

My favorite line:

This doesn’t mean i don’t see the value of social media. I just use it my own way.

That's exactly how I feel. I'm an INFP in Meyer-Briggs parlance. An introvert. It doesn't mean I don't love being around people. It just means that for me, being social uses up a lot of energy (compared to extroverts, who gain energy from being social). I use up a lot of energy in work interactions and prefer to focus my remaining energy on my wonderful family, a great group of friends, and the extremely nice neighbors I run into at the local swimming pool or the Safeway up the street.

I tend to use social media as an information gathering tool, occasionally interacting with others. I deleted my Facebook account simply because I didn't have the energy to get much value from it-- or contribute much to it. (Ok, yeah, I'm appalled at the privacy issues and think Zuckerberg comes across as a bit of an ass, but that's another story.)

As a web professional I need to stay on top of what's happening in the social media space, even if I don't really feel like doing so. Khoi Vinh mused on this issue and summarized my feelings pretty well when he said:

Keeping up with these networks is getting incrementally more entertaining, but it still very much feels like something I have to do, rather than something I want to do.

It's likely that I'll become more active on twitter, and I'll probably set up a new Facebook account under a pseudonym just so I can keep on top of it. But most of my social interactions will continue to happen face-to-face, via text messages, by phone, and by email.

The introvert in me likes it that way.

Because I know you've been wondering about this...

2010-06-13T19:22:00.000-04:00

Thoughts from the gov2.0 Expo

2010-06-04T06:05:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed last week’s gov2.0 Expo. We hear a lot of talk these days about open data, government transparency, and cloud computing; the three days I spent at the Washington Convention Center helped me understand just how many things are actually happening, right now.

Some highlights (links gov2.0 expo program pages, many of which contain slides &/or videos):

my favorite: an amazing panel discussion on Innovative Tech for Civic Good. I wish they had video for this; visit the links to the presenters’ web sites for more info. The story about Ushahidi in Haiti was incredible.
Tim O’Reilly’s opening keynote. I’ve read a lot of his articles, but seeing him talk about “government as a platform for greatness” was inspiring. (This theme of government as a platform permeated the “open data” presentations. For some good background on this topic, read Chapter 1 of Open Government)
Carl Malamud’s talk on the law as “America’s Operating System” was amazing
danah boyd’s well-researched cautions about the challenges of transparency will make you think more deeply about this topic
Brad Smith of Microsoft talked about the promise and realities of moving to the cloud
First Thing We Do, Let’s Friend All the Lawyers was a very informative presentation by two engaging attorneys (that’s not an oxymoron!)
in-the-trenches stories about enterprise 2.0 implementation at the State Department drove home the point that cultural obstacles can be overcome
Randi Levin, CTO of the City of LA, gave a great presentation on the realities of cloud computing (she’s rolling out Google Apps to 30,000 people)

Congrats to the organizers for a great conference!

Social Media Boom

2010-04-16T18:15:00.003-04:00

While browsing popular bookmarks on delicious I noticed the following entries, one after the other:
5 Ways to Reduce Social Media Distractions and Be More Productive
50+ Ways to Search Twitter

We can try reducing or consolidating the things that compete for our attention. But people keep inventing new things, prompting us to continuously examine an ever increasing number of shiny objects for their utility.

Relatively low cost of entry (e.g., enablers like the Twitter API, relative ease of iTunes app store development) fuel this. And I'm all for it, to the extent that people are creating truly differentiated offerings that really add value. But this reminds me of the quote I read (I think it was from Bill Gurley) at the height of the B2B marketplace frenzy in 2001 about there being 12 different online B2B marketplaces for fresh seafood.

Back then the dot com boom drove people to take the me-too route; start-ups were the lottery tickets to Netscape-like IPO riches. Now I think the Social Media Boom is driven less by potential exit strategies and more by a desire to create something simply because we can.

Nicknames

2010-03-13T09:25:00.001-05:00

A buddy from Pittsburgh runs a block pool for the NCAA tournament, and his number assignment spreadsheet looks like a combination playground/mafia reunion guest list.

He has ordained himself "Reverend Joe Love" and affectionately refers to some of the other participants as Weesie, Rocky Top, Two Dogs, McLovin, The Colonel, Duck, The Wolf, Sky Dog, Flat Foot Sam, Fog City Bob, Smak, Undertaker, The Chairman, Satan, 7 Footer, Uncle Thunder, Prince of Darkness, Angry, The King, Uncle Buck, and (yours truly) Rabbi Fleck.

Reverend Joe, from one clergyman to another: I love you, man!

Really Enjoying Pandora

2010-03-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

I've rediscovered Pandora lately... subscribed to the service (unlimited ad-free listening for only $36!), downloaded the iPhone app, and tweaked the stations I created 2 or 3 years ago.

The recent NYT article is a nice review of Pandora's history and how it's succeeding when so many other online music services (of the streaming/subscription variety) recently had their final curtain calls.

Some argue that Pandora's recommendations (based on songs' musical characteristics) fall flat because people gravitate toward music based on cultural associations (e.g., if you like Pearl Jam you'll like this other grunge music). As with most things there is more than one right approach, and while I understand the appeal of the "cultural algorithm" I personally think Pandora's Music Genome approach wins out. Just because I like one band from a genre doesn't mean I'll like another, and an individual band can put out a great song on a dog of an album.

Somebody like me with extremely diverse musical tastes doesn't really care whether a particular song features Bela Fleck or Pink or Dave Brubeck. We just know when we like what we hear, and so we click the little thumbs up icon on our Pandora music player to hear more of the same.

Two eight-year-old boys explain the universe

2010-03-07T16:25:00.003-05:00

As I drove my son Peter and his bud Tyler back from basketball practice I eavesdropped on their heavy-deep-and-real conversation about the interconnectedness of everything in the universe. (Important note: both boys have 13-year-old brothers.)

Boy 1: I'm touching Saturn because I'm touching a molecule of air and it's touching all the other molecules on the way to Saturn.

Boy 2: Does that mean I can choke my brother from here?