The messages of  brilliant subject matter experts that get they need to become great leaders are simple, easy to understand, practical, results focused, supportive and inspire us to follow the example set in and across our own spheres of influence.

The “how” we lead – is as important if not more so than the “why” we lead or the “what” are leadership calls for.

This is a transaxial slice of the brain of a 56 year old patient (male) taken with positron emission tomography (PET). The injected dose have been 282 MBq of 18F-FDG and the image was generated from a 20 minutes measurement with an ECAT Exact HR+ PET Scanner. Red areas show more accumulated tracer substance (18F-FDG) and blue areas are regions where low to no tracer have been accumulated. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Great leaders embody the art and spirit of supportive and cooperative leadership.

Inspired leadership calls on us to ask relevant discovery questions. To ask and discover more than direct and tell. One approach manages up, unlockingnatural genius and potential. The other surpressing intiative, chokes intelligence and throws a heavy wet wool blanket on the fires of engagement.

The Visibility of Thought (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Only through radial intelligence we can draw on the collective untapped intelligence around us. Practically speaking this is where great ideas are born and innovations come from.

Creating atmospheres and transparent cultures that practice and express radial intelligence are rich in communication, performance and response.

Radial intelligent is a critically needed insurance policy protecting us as leaders against – operating from our limiting self beliefs, biases and blind spots.

Biased thinking widens blind spots. Blind spots cloud judgement. Clunded judgement often becomes emotional. Emotions distort clarity. Clarity affect decisions. Decisions impact outcomes. This domino chain of cause and effect creates momentum. Its why we as leaders deed the inurance policy of practicing and prommoting radial intelligence.

English: PET scan of a normal human brain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Orgs are complex neural matrixes. The most intelligent ones, brains and Orgs alike, are those that adapt most flexibly to change, to survive and thrive in uncertainty and instability by leveraging their collective intelligence repeatedly and continually. Such behavior is an organic necessity for growth and vitality. Without it decay sets in. And in business as in life, everything . . . we included either expand and grow or atrophy and decay.

The more we lead in in and through the radial intelligence of those around us - the more growth flourishes and revitalizes itself organically – across the Orgs, divisions, teams, families and climates we exist and nurture and grow in ourselves; as a result.

Lately I’m hearing, seamingly from all sides, jargon like; “Am tired of playing small.” “Want to go big.” “I’m all about delivering massive value.” “I gotta bring it.”

Where is this “Go Big” hype coming from? And why are we as talent contributors buying into it? Is this new self-help, consumer feeding frenzy, sales-hype now turning us into . . . not only gotta-have-more’s but rather forget what I do . . . I-NEED-YOU-to-see-me-bigger-than-big?

Whatever happened to “small is beautful?” What ever happened to pride of workmanship and work product. Maybe “doing well” should be the new “beautiful.”

Are we not selling ourselves out when we start trading becoming better for becoming bigger? Swaping out BIGGER appearance for better contribution?

SUPERMARKET (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is contributing focused precision jaw-dropping-wow client value is no longer enough. Are we as talent products commoditizing ourselves and in the process trivializing those we’re serving? Is the pursuit of personal and professional BIG-ness not earily  following in the same evolutionary footsteps of the once tiny corner market dedicated to the particular special customer needs of those that live on the block and now moving up and fast past individualized customer service quality into mass magnet super markets and stampeding on to becoming mega markets of volume savings.

Here are 9 questions I’d love to ask those who feel compelled to go BIG and deliver MASSIVE value at all costs;

1. What’s driving this need? Better service, Enhanced quality? Increased customer engagement? Pride of quality Or self pride?
2. Are you doing what you’re doing, really well?
3. Or are you like most of American Idol wannabes that we laugh at who are convinced they’re it, when they’re clearly not.
4. Are you sure you’re not sacrificing doing really well for doing a lot of it so-so mediocre?
5. What are you doing to polish and shine your craft?
   

   The American Idol Experience (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

6. Are you creating emand? Or hype?
7. What exactly is the precise value of your contribution as quantifably different from your descriptive promises?
8. Is the value quality of your contribution in direct proportion to your efforts to stand out?
9. Or are you upside down because of your big head?

When mass media and global enterprise consumer brands and service providers get the power of micro messaging and are changing our approach and relationship to their audiences – shouldn’t we?

BIG today, when you take away it’s waxy shine, is only as good as doing anything we do -really, really, well.

Serving who we’re in front of really well puts the cart behind the horse where it belongs. Positioning us as the solution rather than the quality we’re providing those we serve – puts that cart in front of the horse and makes us look in the end like that horses’ ass.

Audiences are getting smarter. More intelligent.

Intelligent audiences want quality.  Not taken for a ride of in a cart of empty promises.

Doing what we do, really, really, really well . . . is the new really, really, BIG.

Where’s the focus on people? We’re hidden somewhere. Sure, we’re not easy to spot inside organizational stats. We’re not like big formulas, all wearing red and white striped pullovers and beanie hats with nerdy glasses. But that can’t explain the problem away. Why is BIGDATA not finding us real people? Why does it appear not even to be looking? How come? It may because the stat people maybe overly focused on analytical insights over uniqueness of perspective. And for me, that’s precisely the problem.

With all the BigHoopla around BigData – process can become more important than people. Can? Correction. Has become.

When process, programs, platforms and profits are valued over people, company cultures change.  Consumers get that. They turn away. And eventually so does market share, profit margin and brand equity.

How we prioritize shows us not only our values but also how we value, value. People serve process. Or process serves people. BigDifference. What and which was made for what and which? How your org makes that determination effects outcome.

For example if we’re marching in the rewarding engagement parade shouldn’t a BigPart of pageantry include looking at how articulately a rewards program is extracting what the right rewards are for your people? In a rush to build dashboards are they capturing the personal motivators of your people? Or is that attempt seen as just ta cupcake next to BigBeefy key performance drivers determined by decision makers twice removed from direct touch knowledge as to what really rewards the position and person. Are your reward programs astigmaticaly blinded by looking only at factors relevant to upticks in productivity performance effectiveness?

Another revealing organizational question is, is the quest for greater engagement just found behind your exisiting talent bench? Or is it in front, coaching those onboard and directed to onboarding talent through diagnostic benchmarking and job-to-talent and talent-to-job fitting? Certainly hiring only for skills and not taking into account competencies, acumens, behaviors and motivators is going to increase the chances of driving churn rates and up engagement rates down.

English: West Point cadets on the Champs-Élysées during the Bastille Day 2002 parade (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In all pageantry and parading of BigData’s glory, I see numbers not people. Stats carefully analyzed. Not critical behaviors and motivators paid attention to and considered.

I’m not saying throw BigData under the parade float. All I am saying is just give people a chance.

Does the chorus line there sound a tab bit familiar with Lennon and Yoko top notes? Here’s Lennon.

English: John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Everybody’s talking about

Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m.
Everybody’s talking about Ministers,

Sinisters, Banisters and canisters
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes,
And bye bye, bye byes.

All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

Here’s my version with respect to finding a focal and priority balance between BigData and developing people.

Everybody’s talking about
BigData, SmallData, Crunchdata, Whatta-shatter, Whatta-matter,

This a-numba, that-a-numba, what-a-bumma, DataSamba.

Everybody’s talking about Dashboards,
DataLords, Brainy Goards and Stat Whores
Platforms, Old Forms, Smash Forms and New Forms  . . .

All people are saying is give us a chance!

The hazard symbol for toxic/highly toxic substances according to directive 67/548/EWG by the European Chemicals Bureau. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It starts innocuously enough. A kind word. A perfumed scent. A look. A thought.

Thrill follows. Temptation begins.

The effect courses through our blood stream. Races like a wildfire across our nervous system. Heart pumps hard. Breathing is heavy. Mind moves miles ahead. Imagination unleashed.

Whatever the temptation is, be it physical, mental or emotional it’s poison starts unexpectedly and innocuously. And it acts like toxin acts on our system. It stimulates, accelerates, arouses, kindles, provokes, arises, hastens, quickens, rushes and then fatigues, tires, exhausts and in the end twists up inside and out and weakens us.

“Power and importance act similarly. Innocuously. Innocently.”

Power and importance act similarly. Innocuously. Innocently. But its affect is anything but innocent.

The other day, a trusted associate asked me how a business trip went. When I said it was an important one, he gave me a compliment. Told me I was important. I shrugged it off. He came back with this little innocuous ditty, “importance is as importance does.”

While I had no real idea what that limerick meant, or what he was intending to say, I knew I wanted to own it on one of those dumb t-shirts or a bumper stickers we see.

24 aout 2008 244 (Photo credit: danieldanyels)

The ditty lingered though. Its implication, haunting me. Its insidiousness catching my attention like a shiny ball of tinfoil catches a cat’s eye as it wobbles, rolls and slides across a smooth floor after being tossed.

Important Questions About Self-Importance

“Importance is . . . as importance does.” Really? Here’s 10 questions I’ve been asking myself since that seemly innocent comment was made to me;

1. Is it what we do that makes up our importance?
2. Or is our importance due to what is done through us?
3. Is our importance the result of our actions?
4. Or is our importance a reflection of our values?
5. Is our importance because of what we are? Or is it because of we stand for?
6. Are we important because of what we make visible or because of our choices to be invisible and let others shine?
7. Is our importance and sense of self worth based on our self-trumpeted affirmations or the professional personal quality we inspire?
8. Is our importance the result of what we bring or what others take away?
9. Is importance defined by how we show up or how others decide to commit as a result?
10. Is our importance communicated by what we do or by how unattached our doing is?

In an “importance is as importance does,” modeled world, I invite and challenge all of us to be more mindful of temptation, to exercise vigilance and practice will power sufficient to resist the poisonous temptation of seeking importance – because in the end self inflation is a powerful venom. It’s exciting sure. But in the end it will wear you down and cut you down.

“…blame cannot make us any worse and praise cannot make us any better…”

A life long mentor of mine always reminds me that blame cannot make us any worse and praise cannot make us any better. It’s a more balanced perspective in a world infected with self-importance.

Whacked! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not getting job and environment fit right, rots and demoralizes health just as much.

Here’s how to make sure that rot stops, doesn’t take hold of your health and start to break you down. Look beyond skills and competencies to these four critical areas of problems, people, pacing and procedures.

How the work environment and your boss, operate across those are important. How you’ll be expected to operate across those will be critical. Here’s a some fast critical questions to help you break down if right fit is right for you.

Problems & Challenges.

1. Will you have to turn up or down your assertiveness and competitiveness.
2. How aggressive or not will you have to negotiate to get to your goals and gain the resources you” need to succeed.
3. Will you have to be straight-forward, direct and demanding or more cooperative and collaborating.
4. Does your boss have a short or long fuse to anger. And if short can you handle that?
5. Are you more forward and future thinking or analytical and rear view focused?

People & Contacts

Simple emoticons of the five temperaments: Sanguine (top right), Choleric (bottom right), Melancholy (bottom left), and Phlegmatic (centre), with the new temperament Supine (top left) and Phlegmatic blends in between. (Photo credit: Wikipedia

1. Are you an introvert that needs to compensate in an hyper-extraverted environment. Or the other way around?
2. Will you need strong social and verbal skills or more fact based and analytical ones.
3. Is the overal environment positive and optimisitc or more jaded and skeptic.
4. Will you have to get your results through people or be more of an independent contributor? And which fits best for you.

Pacing & Consistency

1. Do you bring urgency or a slower deliberatness to your work.
2. Are you at eas with multi-tasking under pressure or prefer to move from one task after the last one is finished.
3. Are you someone who keeps alot of different tasks going or perfers to focus on one at a time.
4. Are you change forward to change resistant?
5. Do you want the world to speed up or slow down?
6. Are you at your best and step up under time pressure or not?
7. Do you work best in climates of predictability or certainly?
8. Do you prefer traditional ways of doing things with procedures that are reliable or fresh approaches as needed.

Procedures and Constraints?

Self-employed (Photo credits: www.myhardhatstickers.com)

1. Do you feel more comfortable follow rules or feel restricted when you have to?
2. Are you more concerned with accuracy or prefer to rely on others to insure that?
3. Do you care more about the results than how you got them or the other way around?
4. Is getting it right first time out most important or can you revise if you have to?
5. Are you high or low risk?
6. Are you driven by fear of getting it wrong or does possibility and speculation freak you out.

All climates have their stamp. As to the leaders who lead them.

Anyone can adapt if needed – but for how long? How good or not are you at versatility, flexibility and adapting.

Getting right job and work environment fit right isn’t just about skills match. Behaviors, motivations & operating pace have to fit too.

“North America” Conference Rooms (Photo credit: ~dgies

Understanding what and where you’re entering into before you’re knee deep in it keeps risk down and healthy growth up in any job and cultural fit.

Looking for a platform? Coaching’s not your thing.

What to make a contribution? Find a charity. Looking to lead? Learn to tango.

Got mad skills, find a talent agent. Dying to help people, join the Peace Corp.

Coaching isn’t about us. We ain’t the subject. We ain’t Elvis. The person we’re in front of is.

What to be a coach? None of what you bring matters.

If you want to make a difference, you’ll fail as a coach. If you want to heal, you’ll fail as a coach. If clarifying and explaining a lot of things is what you’re good at – you’ll fail as a coach.

True coaching ain’t about what you bring it’s about what your subjects discover.

True coaching isn’t about what we can add. It’s about what we can uncover.

True coaching is about our knowledge it’s about what our subjects know.

True coaching is about what you have to teach, it’s about what our subject can learn from themselves.

Got what it takes to be a great coach?

Theory. Sound advice. Industry specific knowledge. Business acumen. Management competencies. Conceptual thinking. Analytics. Planning. Organization. Problem solving ability. Negotiation skills. Decision making expertise. Goal achievement. Presenting skills. Leadership. Analysis of data. Competitiveness. Urgency.

None of that matters.

What’s of value is keen insight, practical and common sense thinking, empathy, creativity, listening skills, curiosity, dynamically positive attitude, self-awareness, self-acceptance,

Coaching is for those of us who’ve learned to value our own values and don’t need any longer to push or promote them onto anyone else.

If what you’re doing as a coach is focused more on you than your subject you’ll never be a great coach. You may have slobbering dependent clients that need you more and more but you’ll never make it as a real coach.

Great coaching is us getting out of the way. Coaching is listening. Its empowering. Sound shallow. Reads like a bumper sticker. But it’s true.

Coaching is a relationship based on the trust that comes as the result of listening.  There are only two things to listen to. Your subject. And your intent.

The more you listen to and recognizing your intent the better you’ll be as a coach. The more you listen to your subject the better you’ll become as a coach.

Recognizing our intent, keeps us honest. Continually questioning our intent brings us back to our neutrality. Our neutrality impacts how we are with others.  The more neutral we are the more effective we can become. The more effective we become the less we become the focus and the more others get to be.

The more we grow our in our practice of neutrality the more our subjects grow.  The more their style, their approach, their ability, their confidence, their insights . . . grow. Its organic.

A practice I recommend for those want to be great coaches is to exercise the practice of  “Neti, Neti.” “Neti, Neti” means “Not this, Not that.” It’s an ancient practice stemming from Yogic and Vendantic wisdom.

Practicing “Neti, Neti” while looking around us, especially when tempted to throw ourselves and what we know into a coaching situation can help us remove ourselves and our biases from the picture – so our subject can see their picture more clearly for themselves.

What does success in this practice look like? It looks exactly like what success as a coach looks like. Our subjects become free from their dependence on us and others and more independently capable contributors on their own.

Cover of Elvis Presley

For those of us with mad skills and insane crazy experience with strong drives to make something happen, and be great along the way – be a teacher, start a start-up, become a healer, or a Guru, or both, be a master magician, go on Dancing With The Stars.

Just, please do yourself and all of us a favor . . . don’t be a coach! 

Emotional Relationship Symbols in a Genogram (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How we are in biz is more often than not exactly how we are personally.

Have trouble with that? Starting to feel biases make your skin itch?

Try it the other way around. Our adaptive behaviors at work for the most part still echo our natural behaviors. Yeah . . . they do. Here are two cases.

First case. Low profit relationship models. Most people chase bad relationships. High cost, to low yield emotionally.

Their linking models models are broken. Same for business. Most chase biz at any cost. Then lower price. And margin. And miscalculate the time, resource and cost associated with serving and fulfilling on the account.

No Director of Client Services would accept that high cost to low yield deal. If they did they wouldn’t have a job. Stresses resources out. Profits. People. Processes.

Process and people get stretch. Systems can stressed. Profits disappear.

United States penny, obverse, 2002 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Same for our personal relationships. You know the stupid dumb expression, “if I only had a penny, for the blah, blah, blah times that happened I be rich.” Hate that expression . . . but, if I  . . . for all the times I’ve heard or seen people stay in high cost to low yield relationship over low emotional cost to high emotional satisfaction profit . . . I’d be rich.

No matter how wealth we are, regardless of cash flow our stage of company and personal relationship growth bad yield is bad yield. There has to be an acceptable ROI. Whatever that has to be for each of us.

Second case. Blitzkrieg tactical relationship operational models. You know the type. Emotionally. Organizational. Management. Sales. These types are highly mobile. Extreme speed. Fast invasion. Establish ground. Engage. Leave.

Blitzkrieg game cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Extreme Blitzkrieg tactical relationship operational models don’t just leave. They vaporize. Then leave. Nothing lives. It’s a warfare signature. On the battlefield. And off. At work. In relationships.

Blitzkrieg tactical relationship operational models never consult before deciding. They want high inclusion. They return none.

If sales people operated this way, accounts wouldn’t grow. If politicians operated this way negotiations would break down. Treaties and alliances would remain unsigned. Cooperation and collaboration across teams wouldn’t happen long term.

Blitzkrieg tactical relationship operational models are toxic. Fear based. Dysfunctional. We know it. But for some reason in and out of the work place we accept it.

Blitzkrieg tactical relationship operational models, like low profit to high yield relationship models have a high cost associated with them. They exact a high toll on all involved. Yield little beyond pain. Require massive clean up.

And for all that we know about these yield models being wrong and counter intuitive to our personal sense of value and professional growth – we still invest in them – though they strip us of our inner wealth and professional richness.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA/MARKETING/ADVERTISING COO/PRESIDENT/ MONK  COACH

RECEIVES CERTIFICATION AS GROWTH CURVE STRATEGIST 

EEOC and OFCCP-compliant assessment company distinguishes

Jay Steven Levin
with Growth Curve Certification & EQ Certification

Scottsdale, AZ – February, 2013 – TTI Performance Systems, the world’s leading source for research-based, validated assessments has designated Jay Steven Levin of WinThinking JSL a Certified Professional Growth Curve Strategist on January, 19, 2013

With this certification, Jay is qualified to perform an X-Ray to determine a company’s current stage of growth; critically assess a company’s past, present and future to get CEOs focused on the right things at the right time; and identify the hidden agents – defined as 27 Challenges – that are impacting the company’s ability to grow, and develop a plan to solve those issues.

From a forest monastery to corporate boardrooms Jay has worked worldwide to overcome personal, executive and organizational dysfunctions to accelerate measureable performance ROI.

He has personally coached over 15,000 professionals worldwide.

As President, COO, VP, Jay run a leading affiliate ad Network, has worked with some of the most powerful media, consumer, technology and logistics brands on the planet. AOL, Clear Channel, Cox Communications, FOX. Buckley Broadcasting represents the media portion of his portfolio.

Jay is certified to work with a battery of simple but sophisticated diagnostic assessments that clarify those precise personal and workplace competencies, acumens, behaviors and performance drivers needed by any person or a position to achieve continued superior performance.

Jay is a Master EQ Trainer . He has also added to his over 20 years of mediation and emotional intelligence coaching, TTI Performance Systems’ EQ, CPEQA certification on January 23, 2013.

His other certifications include CPBA (Behaviors), CPMA (Motivators), CPEQA (EQ) and TriMetrix HD. Jay is certified by TTI Performance Systems, the worldwide leader in assessment administration and evaluation.

Jay also holds certification in Project Planning For Learning Professionals from ASTD. He is also a certified mediator as well as certified in conflict resolution having been credentialed by the renowned Monterey Center For Conflict Resolution and Mediation in Monterey, California.

TTI Performance Systems, Ltd. is the world’s leading source for research-based, validated assessment and coaching tools that enable organizations to effectively meet their human capital management needs. With a client base made up of Fortune 500 companies, its assessments and reports are at work in more than 90 countries and in 40 languages. TTI is also a leader in cutting edge research on human behavior, communication and workplace attitudes and performance. TTI develops thought leadership in the realms of entrepreneurism, education and human interaction.

Yardsticks and Levels, Hung (Photo credit: PinkMoose)

We know it’s not the only growth performance KPI metric we’re being evaluated on. So why are we always on that and ignoring other critical yardsticks?

The more we listen to our businessess and stop yelling at them we hear other key growth areas of focus speak up.

All growth is not dependant up money. We know that. Any of the 7 stages of business growth require a intentional priority of profit, people and process.

If you’re only focusing on financials you’re missing other critical issues.

And if your not listening to other critical issues then you’re deaf to emerging challenges. Ignore any of the 27 critical challenges to forward business growth and you’re as good as dead. Nothing new here. Like Adam Sandler says in “Don’t Mess With The Zohan” hilarious movie if you haven’tyet seen it) ” You know this. You’ve seen this. You don’t want this.”

Sure profit drives what business does, every day but not . . . all the time. Growth is also mission critical dependant on two other factors; people and process.

And depending on what stage of growth your companies are in now in its predictable that growing your people or your process needs to be a higher priority – if you want to keep growing.

English: Common hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus syn. Eupagurus bernhardus) in an empty snail shell; at the Natural History Museum in London. Magyar: Remeterák vagy Bernát-rák (Pagurus bernhardus syn. Eupagurus bernhardus) egy üres csigaházban; a londoni Természettudományi Múzeumban. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For stage one start up companies with 1-10 people. Profit rules. Number one priority. No question. Same for Stage two ramp up’s with personnel sizes between 11 and 19 people, the primary focus in again on profit. Both stages are more CEO-centric and lack the employees and processes to scale.

But that changes when companies enter stage three growth and have 20-34 employees. Then its time for delegation and resource development in order to scale. It’s predictable that at this point forward growth is going to bring more activity, greater work footprint and more savvy management skills to work better through others.

Stage four, six, with employees respectively of 35-37 and 96-160 will require a profit focus follow a process and people focus sequentially.

My points this; bringing intentional business growth about requires distinctly different focuses at different times in order to avoid becoming destabilized by the chaos the surround growth surges on the one hand and avoid statis on the other. Growth doesn’t occur in states of status. And if your not growing, your dying. We have far to many current Enterprise failures not to get that primal business evolution point.

My recommendation; listen a little less to Wall Street.  And more to the growth issues and concerns that are right in from of you, your people, your process limitations and your customer demands of your businesses.

Human ear (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Simple stuff really. What’s not always simple is how to drive intentional growth. Or predict the exact things that need doing at the right times, through the right people and processes. That can be complicated, especially the more employees you have and the more steep your growth incline for your companies.

Increasing your acumen for predicting growth and applying the right initiatives to the right challenges can be as important as profit.

choking (Photo credit: Hillarie)

Swallow your assumptions. Don’t choke on a profit only focus. Money “ain’t da” answer for every fix. Focusing on the true needs of your companies . . . is.

Make sense? I’d say so, so do over 3500 CEO’s interviewed on what makes business growth work.

Making sense around the business basics of driving profits, empowering people and  working smart always makes the most growth sense!

Note: Growth stage comments referred to are from TTI Performance Systems, LTD’s 7 Stages of Growth, under licensing agreement with FlashPoint! and the work of James Fischer’s, Navigating the Growth Curve.