Regardless of how you feel about Tiger today, don’t forget that just a few months ago, he was at the height of his professional game — posting top results in most of the ways the world keeps score.  Sure, he had a temper and was rude at times, but doesn’t that come with the territory of being Number One?

While he didn’t use the term himself, it’s reasonable to conclude Tiger’s therapy is for sex addiction.  I’ve known some bona fide sex addicts in my day, most of them now sober, and they, like all recovering addicts, will tell you this:

The addiction, as disgusting as it might be, is not the root problem.  The addiction is a surface symptom of a deeper problem.  The addiction is born out of seeking escape from the real problem.  To move towards sobriety, an addict must first uncover and address the pain that was the catalyst for the addiction in the first place.

I am not trained as a psychologist, but I’ve learned enough about these things to suggest that Tiger’s immense talent and his secret life are two sides of the same page.  The drive for each can be traced back to a common root, probably a pain he was seeking to escape.

To me, Tiger’s most telling statement was this one:

“My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before.”

And this is where Tiger’s dilemma provides a learning opportunity for Leaders.

A Leader’s greatest accomplishments are “the other side” of their greatest vulnerabilities.  Guess what?  Leaders show their accomplishments and hide their vulnerabilities.

Here’s how this plays out.  In the early years of the (future) Leader, a variety of impressions — be they authority figures, family environments, the values and norms of society — come together to shape or “stamp” their inner life.  Call these impressions “voices” — “Always do this — never do that — Keep away from me — You are good when . . . .”  The developing Leader responds to these voices by developing certain beliefs — “I will be liked if I . . . , I will be successful when I . . . , I will get my way when I . . . .”  Further, they learn strategies to avoid punishment or consequences, and they build defense mechanisms to protect themselves from screwing up.

From these inner beliefs, two sides emerge for the young Leader: 1) an outward (exposed) expression of leadership greatness; 2) an inward (hidden) reservoir of beliefs tied to fear, guilt, shame.

Here’s the tricky part for Leaders — after years of building the layers of an outward reputation as strong and smart (and being duly rewarded with more power and money), they get better and better at covering over the ugly, immature parts of themselves.  They can get so good at this that they themselves grow blind to the vulnerabilities that are still very much alive within them.  In doing this, they deceive themselves.  Before Tiger deceived his wife, he deceived himself.

So you say, “Rob, I’m no addict.”  And I take you at your word.  But an addiction is simply the most extreme display of this hidden side of a Leader.  Most of us are somewhere along the continuum. And all of us are at risk of self-sabotage.

Consider these real-life examples:

• A CEO has fantastic presence in public, but struggles with self-confidence in private.
• A CEO is great at developing committed teams, but frustrates her followers when she can’t make decisions unless there is complete harmony.
• A CEO is praised for his boldness and risk-taking, but comes off as aloof and arrogant to those around him.

Like Tiger, we never want to look at the shadow side of ourselves.  And while few Leaders may experience the spectacular implosion that Tiger has, negative results are still inevitably commonplace.

For Leaders, they range from the really bad:

They get fired suddenly.  They go to prison for fraud.  Their marriage ends.  They are estranged from their kids . . .

to the merely disappointing:

Their company is good but not great.  They are successful but not significant.  They leave an inheritance but not a legacy.

I believe Tiger first read his remarks to his counselor and his therapy group BEFORE he read them to his family, friends and everyone watching on TV.  He’s obviously in the middle of addressing some deep issues, and hopefully, for his sake and his family’s, he’ll find healing and restoration.  Perhaps he’ll learn his self-worth is not tied to being at the top of the Leader Board.

So if you are a Leader who feels you’re at the top of your game,  pause and do a self-check.  Get with someone you trust to be brutally honest with you.  Ask them about your “blind sides.”  Take a hard look at the factors that have led to your success thus far.  Then turn them over.  What are they covering up?  What has made them such a driving force in your life?  Is there something there that needs to be dealt with in a healthy, pro-active way . . . before it puts you in the news . . . for all the wrong reasons?

FORWARD THIS TO A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LEADER.

The CEO is the Chief Talent Officer of the company.

Yesterday, a CEO I work with shared how he has been managing talent at his company.  He had two stories.

Talent Downer. In the first story, he told me about “Dave,” a senior analyst who has been with the company for two years.  Dave  comes in around 11 most mornings (and leaves with the others at 6), has a reputation as a bit of  a prima donna, and turns out average quality work. His boss sees Dave as a negative influence in his work-group.  Despite counseling and feedback, there has been no change in Dave’s behavior.   My CEO friend relayed that, after hearing of the problems with Dave yet again, he had finally given Dave’s boss an ultimatum — “either you have the conversation (to terminate him), or I will.”

Talent Upper. Then he told me the story of “Sarah,” a PhD he recently hired to fill a  key senior position.  My client has been “blown away by the quality of work and fresh perspective Sarah has brought to her role — she has exceeded my expectations, which were high to begin with.”  On top of that, everyone has noticed a complete shift in a veteran employee who has been reporting to her.  They notice he is focused and turning out excellent work himself.  Together, the two are developing a completely new product offering for the company.  Sarah has raised the bar and influenced others around her to do the same.

This CEO relayed these stories to me because for the last nine to twelve months he has been very focused on the talent in his organization — insisting that everyone must be “raising their game” — learning, improving, growing.  He, along with most other companies, has had to make some recession-era cuts, but he has been pressing hard to position his company to exit the economic downturn as a leader in their industry.  And he knows this will be achieved through people — thus his focus on talent — terminating those that are a mismatch, growing the rest, and hiring the best he can find.  Interestingly, his company posted a significant increase in sales in November.

In Execution, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan reinforce this notion, writing that

. . . the right people have to be in the right jobs.  Yet so often they aren’t.  What accounts for the mismatches you see every day . . . [boils down to] one absolutely fundamental shortcoming:  The leaders aren’t personally committed to the people process and deeply engaged in it.

Leaders are accountable for the caliber of people working under them.

So how can you start today to be more engaged in developing and managing top talent in your company?

A starting point is to take a hard look at someone you know is “on the bubble.”  The test I like to use is the one put forth by James Collins in Good to Great.  Ask these two questions:

1. Knowing what you know now about this person, would you hire them again?  AND
2. If this person came to tell you that he or she was leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, would you feel terribly disappointed or secretly relieved?

Based on your answers to these two questions, what do you need to do . . . today?  (I’m not advocating terminating someone during the holidays!  But what do you need to put in motion today so this individual can move towards a position that is a better match for them — inside your company or out?)

Next, how do you go about identifying great people that will add significantly to your talent pool?   Top-notch talent is out there — eager to work.  So once you’ve sifted through the candidates and brought them in for an interview, I strongly recommend using “Experiential Interviewing” techniques (see footnote) to get past the typical beauty pageant veneer of canned job interviews.  Any candidate can have a slick resume and great answers to typical interview questions.  Get past all that!  Probe to uncover these three attributes:

1. Ability. What are they really good at?  I like to use the “95% criteria” — is this person better than 95% of the others out there doing the same thing?
2. Attitude. Do they possess a “whatever it takes” attitude?
3. Accomplishment. Does this individual have a track record of “getting things done?”
4. Passion. Do they love what they do?

In my experience of hiring a lot of talent, if you get these four ingredients in a person, they will be virtually unstoppable.  They’re the best at what they do, they exercise that ability to accomplish great things, and the whole time they have a big grin on their face because they’re getting to do what they love.  And guess what, they want to keep getting better!

What activities on your calendar this week are devoted to your role as Chief Talent Officer?

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Note: If you’re not familiar with Experiential Interviewing, call me and I’ll walk you through it, helping you grow your talent at hiring top talent — free!

FORWARD THIS TO A LEADER.

I’ve heard several stories recently of CEOs dealing with one of their senior leaders whose behavior is detrimental to the organization.

In one company, a CEO told me he has learned his President berates and tears down his direct reports, rarely advocates on their behalf and has little interest in ideas that are not his own. By contrast, this CEO is trying to build a culture that develops people and shares best thinking throughout the organization.

In another, a CEO has received reports that one of his SVPs is not carrying her weight on the executive team.  Other members are growing frustrated at having to do the work she should be doing.

At the least, senior leaders like these two are “prickly” – everybody moves gingerly around them, trying to avoid getting stung.  At worst, they are “radioactive,” melting down everyone and everything they come in contact with.

Interestingly, CEO’s, the ones with the most position and power to do something about these types, can find it difficult to do so.  Often-times, a CEO is blind to the negative behavior — the senior leader is on their best behavior for the CEO, while they rain down negativity on everyone else below them.  Other times, the CEO sees what others see, but, if the problem leader is “getting results,” the CEO is willing to excuse the behavior — the ends justify the means.  Finally, some Chief Executives see the behavior, find in inexcusable, but don’t know how to address it.

CEO’s must possess the skill to confront conflict in their ranks.  Otherwise, it festers, creating winners and losers.  The problem leader may be the winner for a season.  And so long as they are “the winner” the  performance of those around them gets degraded and marginalized.  The company can end up being the ultimate “loser” because teamwork breaks down and the company fails to get the best from its collective talent.

In their book, Why CEOs Fail, David Dotlich and Peter Cairo identify three types of leaders that may fail to take action with a difficult (or dangerous!) subordinate:

1. The Overly Cautious Executive. For these leaders, any significant action (like confronting or even firing a subordinate) entails major risk.  This type of leader may come up with all sorts of excuses for not letting someone go — he’s been with the company for years, her pluses outweigh her minuses, he has too much potential — but it’s obvious to everyone this employee is a bad fit.
2. The Eager-to-Please Executive. Many CEOs are extremely eager to please and in fact they have reached their capstone position precisely because they are skilled at anticipating and meeting expectations.  But the strength becomes weakness when these leaders refuse to face tough people decisions.
3. The Aloof Executive. Conflict is emotionally difficult, and aloof leaders have a hard time dealing with strong feelings.  They rationalize that the highly paid executives who work for them should be able to resolve their differences.  In the worst cases, [aloof] leaders may not even be aware that conflict exists.  They unconsciously screen out all conflict because they don’t want to confront it.

I agree with Dotlich and Cairo’s summary:

The inability to act decisively on under-performing but loyal subordinates is a key predictor of CEO failure.

Here, then, are some beginning ideas that I use with CEOs who acknowledge they could do better in this area:

• Don’t delay. Decide NOW to confront inappropriate behavior in your subordinate.  Challenge comes with the role of Leader.  Step up to this challenge, and lead!
• Identify what specific behavior, or action, needs to change. You may not be able to change the subordinate’s unseen thinking or feeling on the matter, but you absolutely can insist on different behavior they manifest outwardly with others.
• Address the conflict constructively and directly. Focus on the issue — the behavior — not the person. If the tone begins to get personal, return the conversation to the specific behavior that needs to change.
• Set clear expectations for a change in behavior. And make it clear you will be following up to hold the subordinate accountable.

Of course, if the senior leader wants to change, but is finding it difficult to do so, this is an ideal scenario to engage a qualified leadership coach to help the executive for a specific time period.

If the senior leader is unwilling or unable to make the appropriate changes, the CEO should strongly consider showing him or her the door.  Don’t become a leader with a reputation for “carrying” subordinates.  This only alienates your other star leaders.  Given enough time, you will be leading an organization dominated by under-performers, as the really good leaders hit the exits themselves.

FORWARD THIS TO A LEADER.

What is your vision for how you will change or grow as a Leader between now and December 31st?

Pause to think about your answer before reading further . . . .

Labor Day is upon us.  A change of seasons.  With it, daily indications that the worst of the economy’s downturn is behind us.  Some leaders have been stuck in neutral with their companies — trying every trick in the book but unable to grow sales.  Others have continued to (painfully) cut employees and close stores — trying to stay afloat and ahead of the lenders.  And some have been weathering things well, but have shifted themselves into neutral for summertime.

Well, it’s time to get to work — opportunity awaits!  What is your vision for where you want to be 120 days from now?

One of my favorite depictions of a Leader challenging his troops to embrace a compelling and personal vision is found in the opening scene of the movie Gladiator, where Russell Crowe, as General Maximus, commander of Caesar’s armies, gives his Roman soldiers a pep talk just before a final and gruesome battle with the Germans.  The soldiers are primed for battle, heavy with armor, their horses chomping at the bit, the Germans across the way taunting them, ready to kill.

“Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops.  Imagine where you will be, and it will be so.  Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead! . . . Brothers . . . what we do in life . . . echoes in eternity!“

Where do you imagine you will be in four months?  What will you be doing that will make you more effective as a Leader?

I encourage you to get a solid picture in your mind before you return to work next Tuesday.  As always, here are some thoughts to get you started:

• Check your emotions. That’s right, check in with your emotions because they have such an impact on your actions.  Do they tilt positive or negative right now?  When it comes to vision, positive emotions create a content state of mind that is open to all ideas — negative ones tend to close down creativity, leading to “tunnel vision.”  A positive outlook also enables more complex and flexible thinking.  If you’ve been fighting the funk, figure a way out.  When I am struggling with negative emotions, I will often turn to a longtime, trusted friend for an up-lifting conversation.

• Connect with your purpose. Why are you here?  Why are you essential?  Who is counting on you?  To do what?  The business challenges of the past year have forced many of us to drift from our core purpose as a Leader and its time to get re-centered.  It has been 120+ days since I last wrote a Leadership Learning blog post.  During a vacation two weeks ago I realized I had drifted over the summer from my primary business purpose to “coach, speak and write to Leaders.”  Returning to write this post represents my attempt to re-connect with my purpose.

• Clear the clutter. Inventory your last few days.  What activities did you spend time on that were a distraction from your primary leadership role?  Why are you doing them?  Do they consume 20 percent of your time? 50 percent?  Is there someone else that should be doing them?  Isolate the admin and “busy-work” that others could do and get it off your plate.  I’ve taken the step of hiring a new assistant who will begin to take over my travel arrangements, scheduling, finances, research and certain administrative tasks involving clients.  My goal is to reduce my involvement in such activities from 40 percent of my time down to 10 percent or less by December.

Louis Nizer was a noted Jewish-American trial lawyer who, among other achievements, wrote a New York Times best-selling book,  authored the forward to the Warren Commission report that investigated JFK’s murder, and helped create the motion picture ratings system as general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America.  Nizer had this great thought on vision –

“A man’s life is colored by the dye of his imagination.”

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Note to Friends: If you (or someone you know) have ever wondered whether Leadership Coaching is right for you, “Who Needs an Executive Coach?” at Forbes.com is a short, to-the-point article that could help you decide.  At no charge or obligation, I always offer a one-hour initial coaching conversation that gives a Leader a better idea of what coaching is and how it can make a difference.  Call or email me if you want to know more!

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FORWARD THIS TO A LEADER.

This from a CEO in one of our initial conversations a few weeks ago.  Perhaps it’s a mantra for many Leaders right now.  Revenues don’t come as easily these days.  Everyone is hustling to survive or be out front when the economy rebounds.  And, with record layoffs, there are fewer people to do the work.

I ask this Leader, “how, exactly, are you spending your time?”  “Well, I’m doing this and this and this . . .” he rattles off the list of meetings (that’s always a big culprit!), phone calls, studying of reports, returning emails, etc. that occupy every leader’s day.  The “activity” list comes easily.

When I sense he’s starting to wind down, I ask “what are the most important things you need to be doing right now?  What are the key results you need to achieve today . . . this week?”

This brings a pause, hesitation.

Isn’t this a great challenge for all of us?  Maintaining a clear understanding of what results we need to be focused on — from our vantage point as Leader of the organization?  The blizzard of ACTIVITY white’s out our perspective on RESULTS.

A popular and helpful book on time management right now is David Allen’s Getting Things Done.  It’s been near the top of the best-seller lists for the last year or so.  Unfortunately, most of the Leaders I work with don’t have the TIME to read this 250+ page book.

Leaders need a shorter book entitled Getting the Right Things Done.  This probably would have been Peter Drucker’s title if he had written a book on time management.  Drucker did produce a related book about 40 years ago — The Effective Executive — from which his takeaway quote would be:

Instead of an emphasis on doing things right, the effective Leader concentrates on doing right things.

Effectiveness over efficiency.

Results over activity.

What are the top results, the “right things,” you’re focused on today?

I’ll share a method I’ve developed over the years to keep myself on track.  Perhaps it will be helpful to a few of you.

Every morning, I print out my day’s calendar from Outlook.  Generally, it is already full of “activity” — scheduled meetings, phone calls, administrative to-do’s down the left-hand side.  Then, on the right-hand side of the page I write the words “BIG THREE.”  Under this title, I list up to three items, which, if I accomplish them, will represent a successful day in terms of doing the right things. Right things for today that are in line with my right things for the week, the month, the quarter. They are pivotal things that are key to moving my business forward. I will have a lot of “activities” in my day, but this list of results will determine whether or not the day is a success.

Today, the #1 item in my BIG THREE was writing this post — which some of you may have noticed I have not done in a while.  Writing this post today aligns with my broader goal of writing on leadership in a way that will be helpful to a few people.  The practice that comes from writing blog posts aligns with my broader goal of writing a first book.  Small results that support bigger results.

Are you struggling with “time management?”

How clear are you on which are the “right things” for today?

I’d like to hear your answers, but, please excuse me, I need to get on to my other two items for the day . . . .

Send them to me in an email!

FORWARD THIS TO A LEADER.

Many of us are looking backwards and lamenting.  We grieve what has been taken away, either from us personally, or someone we know:

• our retirement account
• our job
• our house
• our club membership
• our assumptions about the way life works
• our confidence that we know what we are doing

We tend to place our security in these things.  And now they have been stripped away and we stand naked, embarrassed, vulnerable.  Lamenters find themselves in one of the five stages of grief:  Denial – Anger – Bargaining – Depression – Acceptance.

If you’ve been able to reach Acceptance, then you are pretty close to the bridge that takes you forward toward invention.  Inventors have stepped out of paralysis with the past and are engaging the future.

The ‘rising tide that lifted all boats’ over the past years has now receded and grown choppy at the same time.  And it’s been choppy not just for you, but for for EVERYONE — your competitors, your employees, your customers.  This presents opportunity for Leaders to exploit.  The game is shifting.  Leaders and their companies can move boldly to lead the shift, or they can stand still and try to survive as one of the shifted.

As we observed in a previous post, effective Leaders are always leading the shift — by innovating, developing, keeping their eyes on the horizon.

To one degree or another, we’ve all been lamenting over the past few months.  And on any given day right now, we probably find ourselves bouncing between lamenting and inventing.  The Leadership question then, is,

How can we spend more of our day inventing?

Here are some thoughts to help you move forward:

• Get fearlessly oriented to the future. It’s coming, whether you are ready or not.  It will be different. But instead of being scared because it’s unknown, embrace that difference for the opportunity it presents.

• Recognize that experience can be a liability. Dartmouth Professor Vijay Govindarajan has been studying leadership experience for the past 25 years.  In a recent  Wall Street Journal article, he remarked that companies “overestimate the value of experience.  Experience becomes a liability in times of change.”  I remind my Leaders frequently — What got you HERE won’t get you THERE.

• Identify all your long-standing assumptions. Assumptions, which drive our behavior, generally remain unspoken, hidden from sight.  Get all your assumptions out in plain sight — how you make money, how your competitors compare to you, why customers buy your products.

• Question those assumptions. Do they still stand up to scrutiny?  Do they help you?  What are some new assumptions you need to add to the mix?

• Gather as much intelligence as you can. Top Leaders are getting out of their office and talking with customers, employees, industry analysts and others to expand their perspective on the changing business environment.

• Develop your plan. Recognize anything you do right now — using old methods, developing new ones — carries risk.  Realistically assess the risk and move forward accordingly.

• Hustle. The Leaders I know who are bullish on their future are very active right now.  I think tee times will be easier to come by this summer.

Years ago, the Roman Leader Cicero summarized the choice between lamenting and inventing this way:

“Let us not go over the old ground, let us rather prepare for what is to come.”

Where do you find yourself right now — lamenting or inventing?  How is this impacting your Leadership today?

FORWARD THIS TO A LEADER.

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How Staying Positive Is Good for Business

Geoff Ramsey—CEO, Co-Founder, eMarketer

We’re bombarded by it every day of the week. The news media is shoveling a constant stream of bad news to us in the form of economic reports, surveys of plummeting consumer confidence levels, company layoffs, negative earnings announcements and decimated marketing budgets.

This drip, drip, drip creates a tremendous imbalance in our perspective. And since the news is fueled by a very real economic crisis, many of us are prone to see the glass as not just half empty, but 98% empty. But that’s not a recipe for success, or even survival.

The answer lies in seeking a balance—anchoring yourself to reality while focusing on every glimmer of hope and opportunity you can find.

Here are few practical things you can do to achieve this balance, for your sanity and your business.

1. Understand Your Locus of Control

To paraphrase feel-good guru Dr. Wayne Dyer:

“There’s no sense worrying about the things you can’t control, because you can’t control them. There’s also no sense worrying about the things you can control, because you can control them.”You could put the economy in the first bucket. Very few of us can do anything to directly remedy the global downturn. As for the second bucket—the things that fall directly under your control—realize that worrying about them won’t actually make things any better. In fact, worrying will likely keep you immobilized. Instead, just get on with what needs doing. Eyes on the task.

2. Tighten the Spigot

To alleviate the imbalance, make a practice of limiting your reading of business and economic news, particularly the negative kind, to only that which promises to edify, inspire or instruct you in ways that can enhance your business, or at least keep you in a positive, forward-moving frame of mind. Does it really help your situation to dwell on the detailed misfortunes of other companies or leaders, whether in your industry or not? Choose to read the article about Amazon’s remarkable 18% rise in revenues during the past quarter, and how they did it. Skip the one about Home Depot laying off thousands (unless you’re Lowe’s).

3. Focus on the Opportunities

Use all that time you’ve freed up by not reading doomsday articles to explore opportunities amid the obvious problems. In fact, for every challenge you’re facing, there is probably a corresponding opportunity or two lurking beneath the surface.

If your marketing budget is slashed, for example, how can you use this as an opportunity to eliminate or reduce programs, vendors or even people, a move that in flusher times would be harder to justify? Now is the time to eradicate the marginal and double-down on the core. It’s time to answer the question, “Which are my best bets for sustaining revenues and achieving return on investment?”

OfficeMax’s holiday season Elf Yourself campaign came from the need to creatively promote the business supply store, when Bob Thacker, SVP of advertising and marketing, knew he couldn’t match the spending of bigger rivals Staples and Office Depot. Now among the most famous viral campaigns, Elf Yourself was one of a dozen quirky experimental Websites Mr. Thacker set up to engage consumers. The sites cost about the same as producing one 30-second TV spot. And Elf Yourself is such a hit that for three years running, millions of Americans have been putting their face on an animated elf’s body and creating a viral sensation.

The campaign was inspired by research showing that consumers saw the business supply category as “lifeless” and undifferentiated. Mr. Thacker sought to differentiate his business in ways that engaged consumers in an intimate and fun experience.

4. Leverage Data to Construct Opportunistic Experiments

You can generate more opportunities for your business by immersing yourself in data. Relentlessly mining data nuggets can lead to powerful insights, and eventually (if acted upon) successful programs.

Direct your staff to pore through primary internal research, especially customer and Web analytics data, as well as secondary market research and trend data, with the goal of identifying potential opportunities, both large and small. Use the data to build hypotheses that can be tested inexpensively, often online. Through relentless iteration, and of course careful measurement, you will discover new ways to move the needle.

Interestingly, 39% of marketing professionals in a Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) survey in January 2009 expected to increase their use of market research this year. The same number expected to hold market research steady, and 22% were looking at cuts.

In a separate study, by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), only 24% of marketers defined their firms as digitally savvy.

Tellingly, the No. 1 reason given for being behind the digital eight ball was lack of experience, cited by 59% of respondents. But we all know the best way to gain experience is to go out there and do something.

5. Invest in the Future

The tendency in crisis times like these is to hunker down and focus all attention on the here and now. Prudence, however, would suggest spending a little time each week planning for the future—for when the economy picks up (and yes, it will, eventually).

There are two benefits to this tactic. First, it will help keep you focused on the positive, even if it’s in anticipation of future success. Second, you and your company will be in a much stronger position to take action at the first signs of an uptick. While others, including your competitors, are scrambling, you will be two steps ahead and ready to take advantage as the economic momentum shifts.

The five steps above can help you stay balanced, positive and open to opportunities as they arise. Don’t let yourself succumb to the pervasive negativity, which can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In this economy, your business’s or brand’s market share may—or may not—go up. But you will assure yourself of the latter result if you do nothing but wallow in the mire of ugly headlines.

“I don’t care how hard this period is. You have to have the combination of believing that you will prevail, that you will get out of this, but also not be the Pollyanna who ignores the brutal facts. You have to say that we will be in this for a long time and we will turn it into a defining event, a big catalyst to make ourselves a much stronger enterprise.”
—Jim Collins, management guru, as quoted in Fortune, February 2, 2009

Marathon runners and Tour de France racers know it is on the steepest hill, when the challenge is most difficult, that leadership changes hands. Such is our opportunity now.

Geoff Ramsey is CEO and co-founder of eMarketer. He will next be speaking at the iMedia Brand Summit taking place February 8–11 in Coconut Point, Fla.

I’ll never forget those words, barked at me by the Captain evaluating me on a dusty, hot morning at Fort Knox, Kentucky, early in my officer training.  I was leading a six-man team of fellow officers through a series of Leadership Simulation Exercises — the Army’s version of leadership training scenarios like you might encounter in an Outward Bound-type setting.  We had a problem, in this case, getting our entire team to the other side of a “room” laced with tripwires and “explosives,” that we had to solve in a limited amount of time.  Rapid-fire assessment, delegation, direction-setting, monitoring and action were demanded in a pressure-filled, time-limited environment.  The grade would be either Mission Accomplished or Mission Failure — no in-between.

Sound like one of your days at the office?

I recall teetering at a weird angle on one foot trying to avoid a tripwire when our evaluator simulated my death.  At that moment, most of the rest of my teammates were standing behind me, where they had been offering ideas and waiting for direction.  As the remaining minutes ticked down, the “survivors” struggled in confusion to reorganize, designate a new Leader and make a fresh attempt at crossing the room.  They failed to complete the mission.  I failed as a leader.

I learned an important lesson that morning, a lesson that resonates today as I work with Leaders trying to survive and thrive amidst the chaos and challenge of our current business environment.  I was out front, trying to solve the problem myself.  I was caught up in the doing.  I was not leading.  You might say I was managing.  It’s a lesson I refer to as “Understanding The Leader’s Place”  — knowing the place that only the Leader can stand in.

In this Place, the Leader has a unique perspective on the challenges at hand.  The Leader is able to see what others cannot; able to deploy the best talent instead of being the best talent; able to think about what’s next instead of being consumed with what’s present.  He or she is in the fight but not necessarily at the front of it.

So here is the great temptation that tugs at Leaders everywhere right now.  Sales are down.  Renewals are struggling.  Old ways of doing things are not working.  Customers are demanding new service and product offerings . . . at lower prices.  The temptation is for Leaders to vacate their leadership place and step into the thick of things as a manager.  CEOs who came up through the sales ranks return to being the company’s lead salesman, instead of leading the whole company.  CEOs who created the company’s core technology return to tinkering with the technology, at the expense of leading the company.  Leaders revert to being great managers instead of . . . leading the company.

Much has been written over the years about the distinction between leaders and managers*.  But let me borrow from a list developed by Warren Bennis in his leadership classic, On Becoming a Leader, to provide you a checklist for assessing which place you stand in today.  CAUTION: some of these require more than a moment of thought . . .

The manager administers; the Leader innovates.

The manager is a copy; the Leader is an original.

The manager maintains; the Leader develops.

The manager focuses on systems and structure; the Leader focuses on people.

The manager relies on control; the Leader inspires trust.

The manager has a short-term view; the Leader has a long-range perspective.

The manager asks how and when; the Leader asks what and why.

The manager has his eye always on the bottom line; the Leader has his eye on the horizon.

The manager imitates; the Leader originates.

The manager accepts the status quo; the Leader challenges it.

The manager is a classic good soldier; the Leader is his own person.

The manager does things right; the Leader does the right things.

Have you done more managing or leading today?  If the answer is “managing,” then who’s in the Leader’s Place?  What steps do you need to take to spend more time in The Leader’s Place?

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I’d be interested to hear your observations on leading and managing;  leave your Comments on the blog for others to learn here.  And if you think this could be helpful . . .

Forward this to a Leader.

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* ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  One of my earliest readings that continues to be relevant was John Kotter’s HBR Classic: “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?“  Though geared toward entrepreneurs, Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited captures this distinction in story form.  More recently, The Leader Within, co-authored by Ken Blanchard and three others, devotes a section (see Chart 6.1 on page 172) that synthesizes the past two to three decades of literature on this topic.  It is a helpful summary and one Leaders should be familiar with as they lead themselves and their managers. Let’s be clear, an organization needs both Leaders AND managers!

Adolf Merckle, VEM Vermogensverwaltung, Germany, age 74

Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, Access International Advisors, New York, age 65

Alex Widmer, Bank Julius Baer, Zurich, age 52

Kirk Stephenson, Olivant Ltd., London, age 47

Steven Good, Sheldon Good & Co., Chicago, age 52

Scott Coles, Mortgages Ltd., Phoenix, age 48

A leader’s suicide represents the last big decision of their life.  How is it that they make such a poor one?

The surge in suicides seems to parallel the waves of bad news affecting all Leaders in some way right now.  While only a few choose to take their life, many other Leaders are feeling the pressures build and the options fade.  And herein lies more opportunity for bad choices . . .

• choosing to drink to excess, repeatedly
• choosing to lie, cheat or steal to cover up losses
• choosing to vent through verbal or physical abuse of family members
• choosing to run away (or parachute away in one case) and hide

Strong Leaders cultivate habits that drastically reduce the chances they will make a final decision against themselves, even when times get really tough.

• They cultivate a support network of people with whom they can be completely honest.
• They cultivate a humility that isn’t afraid to say, “I’m hurting and I need some help.”
• They cultivate a healthy physical regimen that includes rest, replenishment with the right food and drink, and stress-relieving exercise.
• They cultivate a strong spiritual core, grounded in their faith.
• They cultivate a grateful heart that gives thanks for even the smallest things in and around them.

Which of these areas needs more cultivation for you?

Besides taking care of themselves, great Leaders also look for opportunities to care for others.

So here’s a personal challenge — If you’re doing OK, how can you care for another Leader you know?

I guarantee they are near you. But, and this is especially true for men, they probably won’t let you know.  So figure out a way to ask these questions, some of which don’t come easily for all of us –

“How are your doing?”

“No — how are your REALLY doing?”

“What concerns you most these days?  in your job?  your family?  your finances?”

“How are those concerns affecting you?”

“How can I help?”

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Forward this to a Leader.

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* – Though that ‘wealth and power’ had been threatened recently.

Back in early December, I scribbled down a bullet list of tasks I was going to get done in the “down-time” of Christmas and New Year’s weeks.  As it turned out, the past two weeks ended up busier than I expected, and I hoarded any down time for reading – NOT journaling about 2008, not cleaning out old files, not updating my LinkedIn profile, and NOT setting goals for ’09.

So I come into this fifth day of the new year definitely feeling five days behind.  I think I’ll read some more . . . .

What are your plans for the new year?  How will you be as intentional as possible in defining this year, as opposed to passively letting the year define you?

Here are a few thoughts for you if you’re feeling the nudge to put some stakes in the ground.

Gaps and Bridges. Three key questions:
a)    What is my present reality today?
b)    What is my desired reality tomorrow?
c)    What are the bridges to close the gap between “a” and “b?”

These are the basic blocking and tackling exercises that I use every day with my Leaders . . . but I often forget to apply them to myself.  One aspect of my present reality is that I keep talking about writing a book.  My future desired reality is that I have a finished book that does the talking.  One of the bridges to close the gap is sitting for thirty minutes at the beginning of every day and . . . writing.

Simplicity. I have a lot of gaps I’d like to close in my life.  The reality I have discovered is that I can realistically, whole-heartedly commit to only one or two game-changing gaps at a time.  Less is more.  If I have a long list, I simply rank them by priority and focus on completing #1 and maybe #2 before going on to #’s 3 and 4.

Creativity. Why are some of the items on my ’09 list the same as my ’08 list (I was supposed to have that first book draft finished last September!)?  There can be a lot of reasons for this – my most common, and real, excuse is that I don’t know “how.”  I have the desire and discipline, but I just don’t know how to take the next step.  This year, I have some new insight from a book given to me by one of my Leaders – Peter Block’s The Answer to How is Yes.  It has been a while since a book has engaged me as this one has – evidenced by underlines, scribblings and dog-ears.  Block’s premise is that in attempting something new (i.e. bridging a new gap) we typically ask the question, “but how do I do it?” as if there is a prescribed, proven way that I should do something.  If I am seeking to simply imitate others, or other companies, then okay, I find the answer and copy them.  But in so doing, I stifle my creativity and eliminate the possibility for breakthroughs and game-changers.  Instead of asking “how?” or “what works?” we first need to be asking “what really matters?”  This book defies a short summary.  Read more here and decide if it could be useful to you and your company*.

What really matters to you?  Your company?  How will you change the way the game is played in 2009?

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