Great leaders have long understood the power of stories. A well-told story can achieve what operations manuals, mission statements, KPI’s and staff meetings rarely do.

Renowned business author and speaker Tom Peters, in his book Leadership, said “A key – perhaps THE key – to leadership is the effective communication of a story”. That’s a big statement, and yet as I continually study great leaders past and present I see the use of stories as one of their primary weapons of choice.

Perhaps you don’t consider yourself a “storyteller”, a “speaker” or a “motivator”. And yet it seems people are hard wired to respond to stories. The evidence is all around us – but unfortunately some of us reserve our stories for parties and BBQ conversations and neglect their power to focus and energise those we lead in the workplace.

Stories that can be retold
Perhaps the real power of stories is that they can be shared again and again. Stories get wings. They go viral. Since moving to New York City I’ve been captivated by the work of charity: water and I’m amazed by their ability to tell stories. Like the story of the Bayaka people whose way of life and means of support have been devastated by the destruction of their environment. With a few minutes of video I’m reminded that I can make a real and lasting difference to a people I may never personally meet. Stories compel action.

Stories that convey the essence of your vision
I was coaching a client recently who was nervous about an upcoming networking event where she would have three minutes to talk about her business. She’d done it once before and was disappointed with the results, after cramming all her “USP’s”, services and packages into a well-honed spiel. As we the conversation changed direction she told me the moving story of one of her clients that she had recently helped to overcome real adversity. All I did was help her to join the dots- that single true story conveyed the essence of her business better than any spiel could.

Stories that leave room for imagination
Please, don’t fill in every blank in your story. Let it breathe. Allow mystery. Nothing takes the fun out of a story (or makes me feel like I’m back in school) more than turning a story into a lesson by finishing with “and the moral of the story is…” We unconsciously push back on the conclusions you draw for us, but we unconsciously accept whatever conclusions we draw for ourselves. Stories can engage the heart and animate the imagination.

Stories that lift and inspire
I’ve been deeply challenged and inspired these last few weeks by the true story of a brother who quite literally gave his life to save his brother. Chad’s life was threatened by an incurable liver condition, so his brother Ryan gave part of his liver in a transplant that tragically resulted in Ryan’s death a few days later. He’s a modern day hero. The story was told on US news channels and has quickly spread around the world. I’m inspired by the whole family’s deep love and personal faith. I’m challenged to be a better husband, a better brother, a better dad, a better man.

So, leaders, what’s the story?

I’d love to hear your comments and feel free to use the links below to share this article with others

Also, click here to find out more about booking Paul Andrew to speak at your event or organisation

Related posts:

1. Low G.I. Living
2. Label Maker
3. The Trust Experiment

I was at a new cafe with a friend recently and we were devouring our meal with great passion (and if you know me, you know I can be seriously passionate about my food). This meal could do no wrong. We embarrassed ourselves with adjectives, superlatives and groans of joy. But then, out of nowhere, something terrible happened. He took one more bite.

I saw it in his face. Groans of joy became a sickly sigh. He pushed back a little from the table as the smile drained from his face. And then he uttered the fateful phrase… “That was the Threshold Bite”. When I pressed him for an explanation I discovered he’d labeled a mistake I think we’ve all made (some of us very regularly) which is too have one bite too many. It’s incredible how that one extra bite can turn a meal from pleasant to unpleasant.

As we talked about the Threshold Bite our conversation turned to the fact that there is a Threshold Bite for just about anything that is good. Too much spare time. Too many ideas. Too much flattery. Too much excitement. Too much work.

When we take good things to an unhealthy extreme there comes an invisible line we cross, and what was once good for us becomes the very thing that begins to hurt us.

Leaders do that all the time…
• The latest management fad implemented “110%” to the detriment of team culture and momentum
• Pushing for results and “work ethic” at the expense of long-term sustainability
• Working so hard at creating unity that we squash innovation and diversity
• Believing our own publicity, until our authenticity is replaced by an airbrushed replica of who we are

Management. Results. Unity. Reputation. They’re all good things in balance yet you can hurt your team and yourself in the pursuit of them without moderation.

Perhaps my Nanna was right with her approach to life that was simply, “all good things in moderation”.

• Do I recognise when I’m approaching the point where it’s too much of a good thing?
• As a leader do I practice delayed gratification or do I only preach it?
• Will I exercise the self-discipline to stop while a good thing is still a good thing?

I’d love to hear your comments and feel free to use the links below to share this article with others

Related posts:

1. Airbrushes, Avatars and Authenticity
2. You Lost Me At Hello
3. Frank Is Your Friend

When I was getting ready to move from Sydney to New York recently I discovered a collection of keys in my desk drawer. At some point in time I had used these keys. I vaguely remembered some of them from houses or cars I had long since left behind. Others were a complete mystery to me. Then there were the ones still on my keyring that I had needed one day then not the next, as we packed our bags to move overseas.

I’ve come to realise that my leadership strategies are like that too. Like keys, I have developed methods, philosophies, habits, values, priorities and mindsets along my journey that at some time opened doors for me. They solved problems. They unlocked potential. They gave me breakthroughs. They were keys at a time when I needed them.

There is also a relationship between the pace of change in your life and the shelf life of your leadership keys. When little changes around you, keys work for longer. When your world is changing rapidly, keys come and go rapidly. The test is not the age of the key, but its usefulness.

Did I notice them becoming redundant? Rarely.

• So I wonder how many of your leadership “keys” have outlived their usefulness to you and your future?
• What are you carrying around with you that has become a dead weight?
• Are you keeping keys for years, telling yourself that you might remember one day what they were good for?
• How can we make sure we hold onto what is useful and let go of the rest?

Perhaps it’s time to make more room on your keyring.

Related posts:

1. Fast Lane Frustrations
2. Simplify
3. Spring Clean Your Leadership

What if one person, one department, or one process was seriously limiting the impact of your whole organisation? What if growth wasn’t so much about turning up the water, as it was about getting the kink out of the hose? What if the pressure you felt was largely created by the significant difference between the levels of energy your team is bringing (input) and the results they are creating (output)?

In other words, what if you had a bottleneck?

You know you’ve got a bottleneck when every decision goes back to the “Bottleneck” (insert a name, department, or committee here). Team members hesitate to innovate, initiate or make any commitments without Bottleneck’s blessing. So Bottleneck is usually busier than everyone else. Bottleneck tends to have a love/hate relationship with their predicament – reveling in the power and prestige one day, and retreating from the pressure and politics the next.

There are many reasons why teams end up with these choke points in their organisational flow. It can be the result of controlling individuals in leadership roles who are reluctant to empower others for whatever reason. Sometimes it’s the result of a good intention to prevent catastrophe of some sort by ensuring “everything gets checked”. Poorly designed workflows can funnel everything through an under-resourced part of the organisation. In fact even talent can cause it – so the “numbers guy” or the “creative genius” can’t keep up with all the things they’re supposed to stay across.

Search and destroy. If you want big results from small changes then hunt down your bottlenecks. This is not a witch-hunt though and it’s not a blame game… it’s a ruthless analysis of where your choke points are and then eliminating them.

Change a workflow. Push decision-making power down the line. Add team members to a pivotal department to increase flow. Remove hoops to jump through or steps in the process. Make action more important than perfection in your culture (suggestion: read that again). Strip job roles back to what is core. Identify and abandon 20% of your current projects or products that create the least results. Simplify.

Would you allow me to be your leadership coach for a moment? If you were my client and we just had this conversation about bottlenecks I’d probably suggest you had some work to do before we talked again in two weeks. I might recommend you get away from the busyness of business for an hour or two and systematically think through your organisation to identify the bottlenecks. Then you’d develop specific solutions for getting each kink out of the hose and commit yourself to immediate action.

Sound like a huge return for a few hours spent. So, why don’t you?

Let me know what you discover, and add your comments below

Related posts:

1. What Every Leader Wants (And Why Most Don’t Get It)
2. Promote Yourself To CEO
3. Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast

I read some very disturbing scientific research recently that you might have read too. The conclusion of the widely publicised project was that 90% of the species we fish for today will be wiped out by 2048 until fishing practices change.

With an eightfold increase in commercial demand for fish since 1950 the report found that our generation is “over-fishing” the oceans to such an extent that we’re crippling the ability of entire species to replenish their numbers. In effect we are eating our children’s fish too and emptying their oceans.

The concept of sustainable fishing practices should challenge us about leadership too. I’ve witnessed many unsustainable leadership practices in my time, as I’m sure you have. Part of the difficulty in identifying unsustainable leadership is that at the time it often seems “productive”, “results-oriented” and even “effective”. It’s not until later that you discover that this type of leadership has left the team utterly dry and depleted. Pity the next leader who inherits the team that has been “fished” to the point of collapse.

In search of solutions, marine scientists are attempting to determine the “maximum sustainable yield” for fishing stocks. Do you know what that maximum yield is for those you lead? Sure, you can get 80 hours a week out of some people for while, but not forever. You can churn through team members with a demanding and controlling approach to leadership and achieve big things for a while, but not forever.

I believe it’s the responsibility of true leaders to understand not only what they can extract from their people but also what those people need in order to replenish themselves for the long haul.

I had dinner with a leader in New York this week who heads up a large and growing non-profit organisation. He was leaving for five weeks of summer vacation, an annual tradition for his family that he defends from all the noise and busyness of leadership because he knows how to replenish their personal reserves. I can imagine the pressures he’d face to shorten that trip, especially since he leads an organisation with a cause. But I’ll wager he’ll still be leading in twenty years.

In the end, sustainability is about prioritising long-term returns over short-term gains.

So how sustainable is your leadership?
• What strategies have you built into your personal work habits to keep you from burning out?
• Is downtime the luxury of a few senior leaders or the mandate of every individual?
• Will your team still have anything left to give in ten years if they keep on giving their time and energy at this level?
• Have you created a culture where it’s a priority for every team member to refresh and replenish themselves?

I’d love to hear your comments, especially on what you’ve discovered about keeping leadership sustainable

Related posts:

1. What’s Your Leadership Footprint?
2. Spring Clean Your Leadership
3. Health Check For The Trusted Advisor

When Alexander the Great arrived on the shores of Persia his army was overwhelmingly outnumbered. Yet he gave the orders to his men to burn the boats. As their only means of retreat went up in flames, legend has it that Alexander turned to his men and said, “We go home in Persian ships, or we die”. Not quite the stirring Braveheart speech, but certainly motivational in it’s own way! What followed was an astounding victory over an army that was in many ways superior. Win or die. Simple.

I’m more comfortable being the “options guy”. I like knowing Plan B (and maybe C too). I want to have contingencies for the worst case scenario. I get some security from having an exit plan. And history is littered with examples of times when just such a retreat plan would have been wise.

But…

There’s nothing like burning your boats to focus your mind on one thing, and one thing only- success. It’s extraordinary what we as leaders are capable of when we are in a corner, with no other option but to give our absolute best (and even beyond that).

I write this edition of The Leadership Coach from New York City. We moved here last week with our three kids under the age of 5. We’ve taken The Leadership Coach global (now with offices in New York and Sydney). Plus we’re launching our own not-for-profit, in the most expensive city in America during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In other words we burned out boats. In poker terms we “went all in on the short stack”.

• How about you?
• What risks are you taking in your leadership that have put you and your team “all in”?
• Are your troops fighting with one eye on the battle, but the other on retreat?
• Is your desire for exit plans resulting in mediocre commitment?

Perhaps burning your boats is most important when the odds are already against you. There’s no “test and see” when you are outnumbered 5-to-1, you’ll waste what precious little resource you have. The only legitimate plan is to garner everything you have, and pit it against your competition in a way that circumvents their strength and leverages yours.

That requires 100% commitment. Really trying won’t do it. Giving it a shot won’t either. 100%.

“There is nothing impossible to him who will try”, Alexander the Great (circa 348 BC)

I’d love to hear your comments and feel free to use the links below to pass this article on

Related posts:

1. Promote Yourself To CEO
2. Loan Car Syndrome
3. Being Adaptable Is Over-Rated

The label maker is a versatile device. Saviour of kids’ belongings that would otherwise disappear at school. Stalwart of office filing systems. It can categorise, declare ownership, explain purpose, give instructions for use, even declare value. The label is a powerful thing.

But I’ve noticed that labels switch from helpful to harmful when we use them on people instead of things. I was a youth worker for some years and I often saw the crippling toll that a label could take. Like being described by your parents as their “accident”.

I once trained a group of school principals on how to be coaches. We were discussing the power of “limiting beliefs” – which coaches define as “any belief which doesn’t support or challenge you towards reaching your goals”. I asked them to share from their own experience what might happen to a hypothetical 9 year old student who failed an exam and was labeled “stupid” as a result.

The room was charged as principal after principal told the imaginary tale, sadly because they’d seen it happen in real life all too many times. The child believes the label. Then they look for other evidence to prove they are “stupid”. They stop noticing all the times they do well, or dismiss them as a fluke. They stop trying as hard on tests because they believe they’ll fail anyway. That provides more evidence. They form friendships with other students who are struggling at school. They choose easier subjects. And on it goes.

The Catholic principals called it a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. The power of a label.

So what can a leader do?

1. Be label conscious
Notice the labels people bear, and don’t blindly accept them to be true. Even when the facts agree I’ve yet to see how it helps a person to be labeled as a “single Mum” or a “divorcee”. Or an “addict” or “unemployed” for that matter. Be conscious of the labels on those around you and stay vigilant to their impact.

2. Be a label changer
Wherever you find those labels that limit people, dare to challenge and change them. Be the leader that helps people redefine themselves for good. Maybe the “rebel” is a “natural leader”. Perhaps the “dreamer” is an “innovator”.

3. Remember your influence
For better or worse, when leaders label people they tend to be much stickier. Of course that can be positive when you’re helping a person change for the good. But one of the key challenges of leadership is getting comfortable with the fact that you’re leading all the time, not just when you want to. Hard but true. In a moment of frustration, tiredness or moodiness a leader can do years of damage with a careless label.

So then, if I’m to be a label maker, let my legacy be people whose lives were enlarged and improved by their contact with me. Let my labels lift people, not limit them.

Related posts:

1. The Spare Time Test
2. Think Like Your Successor Would
3. What’s The Story?

In more recent years we’ve become aware that every person, every company, leaves a mark on our natural environment. Increasingly we’re being forced to consider issues like our “carbon footprint” which are very tangible ways of measuring the extent to which we damage the earth as we go about life and business.

That footprint was always there but many of us never really considered it until it was measured. With that knowledge comes responsibility. Now billions of dollars are spent every year on carbon offsets and emissions trading to compensate for the damage we cause and the fund the development of a more sustainable future.

But what about your Leadership Footprint?

What if we were to use a system that measured in black and white the impact you have on your personal environment as a leader? What would the results of your Leadership Footprint show? For example-
• Does your leadership take more from your environment than it gives back?
• What pollution do those around you have to suffer?
• How aware are you of the real impact you have and whether or not that is a sustainable leadership model?
• After you’re gone, what will the legacy of your leadership really be?

How would you measure that impact? I’d love to know what tests you would use to measure someone’s Leadership Footprint, but first here are few of my ideas:

1. The “Atmospheric Pressure” Test
Many leaders don’t realise that they change the atmosphere of a room when they walk in, and they can change it for better or for worse. What if we measured how you leave people feeling after they’ve had an interaction with you? Do you leave people stressed, encouraged, inspired, deflated, negative, relaxed? You carry an atmosphere with you and every leader needs to understand that they are a thermostat not just a thermometer.

2. The “Multiplication” Test
Insecure leaders often cause others to hold back, secure leaders raise up and release other leaders – they multiply themselves. So can you look around your organisation and point out the effective leaders that you’ve played a central role in raising up?

3. The “Silent Killer” Test
I’ve observed a deadly poison that many teams tolerate – the negative, divisive and undermining style of “leader” who quietly sabotages the organisation. Their negative words and bitter agendas often pollute a team for many years, the impact still seen long after the person is gone. People around them are quietly poisoned by what they leave.

4. The “Legacy” Test
How will you be remembered by your team, your customers, your organisation long after you’re gone? The problem with this test is that it’s an autopsy, because the results don’t come back until it’s too late to do anything differently. But all the same it’s a valuable exercise for leaders to ask themselves, “What will be different around here five years after I’m gone?”.

5. The “Mirror Mirror” Test
Not unlike our carbon footprint, I think real awareness of your impact on others as a leader is the beginning of being able to change for the better. Too many leaders are like the old tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” – surrounded by attendants who tell them how great they look, when the truth is that they are naked. I need to have trusted advisors around me who act as a mirror for self-awareness.

So I’d really like to hear what tests you would suggest to measure our Leadership Footprint, so please add to the discussion by commenting below…

Related posts:

1. Promote Yourself To CEO
2. Seven Signs Of Signing Off
3. Spring Clean Your Leadership

Productivity has a cousin you don’t want to spend too much time with. At a glance productivity and busyness seem to be close relatives, but don’t settle for the counterfeit. Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely believe in having a strong work ethic. But when you don’t understand the difference between being busy and being productive, your life and leadership are heading for peril.

Some years ago I was having dinner with my parents. We were talking about the projects I had on at work. I was stressed and over-tired, but I brushed it off by saying, “It’s just a busy season at the moment”. Their response floored me. Without a hint of ill-will they said, “Oh Paul, you always say it’s just a busy season”. They were right. The truth was that I had allowed busyness to become a badge of honour.

Perhaps it’s a “Sydney thing” but if you ask people, “How are you?” it’s incredible how often their immediate reply is, “I’ve been busy”. Busyness is a drug. Slowly but surely you find that what used to seem “busy” is the new “normal”. You need to be busy to feel alive. Even on holidays you’re busy. If you’re not busy, you start to feel guilty. But most insidious of all is that if you maintain that addiction long enough, eventually it becomes part of your identity. In fact you tell yourself that the more activity you’re involved in, the more important you must be.

But being “busy” can block some of the best things in life:
1. Productivity
Ever since Stephen Covey developed the four quadrants model in “7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” we’ve been urged to recognise that “urgent” and “important” are not the same thing. Very often it’s the truly important things that are squeezed out of my schedule when busyness starts running the show.

2. Opportunities
Ironically while we run around frantically trying to make it all happen, we’re often blind to the best opportunities that are right under our nose. There’s little time for reflection, objectivity, creative thinking or experimentation – the incubators of great ideas. And other people don’t want to bother you with great opportunities because they can see you’re already running at maximum capacity.

3. Celebration
When we become addicted to activity it gets very difficult to stop and celebrate our successes. Life becomes a destination we have to get to (fast!)… rather than a journey we can experience and enjoy.

4. Spontaneity
The reality is that leaders cannot operate at their full potential without some margin in their life. I need some wiggle room in my schedule, my priorities and my head-space. Without that room to breathe I feel more and more trapped in my to do list, less and less free to seize the day when life opens a door for a moment.

5. Relationships
In the long run perhaps nothing is damaged by this cycle more than our relationships. Whether it’s our team, clients or family, those who do life with an “activity addict” often long for a deeper relationship with them. Or for conversations that aren’t about work. To know the real “them”… underneath all those pressing priorities.

So as leaders, let’s take responsibility for asking ourselves the hard questions in this area. I know it’s a challenge but I’d rather make a conscious decision to shift the way I work and lead, than to wake up one day wondering if the price of being eternally busy was worth it in the end.

I’d love to hear your comments and feel free to use the links below to pass this article on

Related posts:

1. The Spare Time Test
2. More Transactions Might Ruin Your Business
3. Bottleneck

Airbrushes
Have you ever seen how much editing is done to the photos of models before they appear on the cover of a magazine? The contrast between the before and after shots is astonishing. In the hands of a graphic designer just about every imperfection can be fixed. Got wrinkles? Nothing a little Photoshop airbrushing won’t fix. Looking a bit pale? No problem, there’s a filter for that. Teeth slightly off-colour? Not when we’re done editing.

Sadly, many leaders today are airbrushed too. Whether it’s driven by pride, or pressure or the pursuit of perfection it takes a heavy toll on the individual and on those they lead. The airbrushed leader and those who edit their image are ruthless with every imperfection. They crop and edit, filter and retouch, copy and paste, mask and delete. Perfection is the elusive standard, but in real life it’s a constant struggle to live up to the standard of the unblemished hero.

For many years I was an A-grade people pleaser. It’s an exhausting life, and in many ways an unfulfilling one too. When you lead that way it isn’t about being yourself, it’s about how people will perceive you. The airbrushed leader gets nervous about taking risks, saying sorry, empowering their team, or resting when all their ducks aren’t in a row.

Avatars
The rise of “avatars” began long before James Cameron’s epic blockbuster film by that name. In internet and gaming circles an avatar is a character or icon that represents you. You might be a 12 year old kid in real life, but your avatar can be a 6ft burly assassin called LoneWolf. 18 million users have avatars in the hugely popular online game Second Life where they say, “The only limit is your imagination. Who do you want to be?”. In James Cameron’s movie the lead character is confined to a wheelchair, but not when he lives through his Avatar.

Leadership is not virtual reality but it’s easy to forget that when people start feeding your ego. Perhaps my avatar could have the business leadership of Richard Branson, deliver speeches like Barack Obama and have the hair of Donald Trump (ok, maybe not). I hope you hear my point though… it’s a dangerous and hollow game to live through an identity that isn’t really you. I truly want to be inspired by great leaders but without forgetting who I am or becoming detached from the reality of the things I need to work on in my own leadership.

Authenticity
What a release it is when we live with authenticity. To be the genuine article, or “Fair dinkum” as we say in Australia.

Interestingly I’ve found my friendships richer since I dumped the airbrush. It also turns out that people are only more willing to follow you when you’re not pretending you’re bulletproof because you wear your undies on the outside.

These might just be the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned.

No make up, no make believe. Just the daily choice to be yourself and the best “you” you can be.

I’d love to hear your comments and feel free to use the links below to pass this article on

Related posts:

1. The Threshold Bite
2. Fast Lane Frustrations
3. Low G.I. Living

We moved homes this week and became acutely aware of the amount of stuff we have accumulated as a family over the years. We’re not hoarders. In fact we’re not even especially sentimental. Yet quietly, in boxes and cupboards, in drawers and dark corners of the garage, “stuff” had been slowly multiplying. Not quite rubbish but not quite valuable either. Just “stuff”. So last weekend we had the mother of all garage sales. It was hard work yet strangely liberating and surprisingly profitable. It might be autumn in Sydney but it was time for a spring clean anyway.

When did you last spring clean your organisation? I’m not necessarily talking about an office clean up… what I really mean is when did you last stop everything and assess what is really of value and what is merely “stuff”?

I believe that every leader should take stock on a regular basis. Without it what we experience is mental clutter, diffused focus, ambiguous priorities, and a subtle drag that is created by all the excess baggage we’re carrying on the journey.

Three ways you could spring clean your leadership:
1. Strategies
You can’t afford for any strategy to become a sacred cow. Just because it worked once (or even saved your business) doesn’t mean that it’s the right strategy for the landscape you face today. Just ask the Allied armies that used “tried and tested” trench warfare strategies against an entirely new offense known as “blitzkreig” in World War II. Even the best strategies have a shelf life. And in modern business often your “best practice” breakthrough today is “common practice” for your competition tomorrow.

2. Policies
Most policies in organisations are created with purpose in mind at the beginning but most of them outlive the reason they were created. I wonder what policies and procedures, rules and regulations, are lurking throughout your team that no longer serve their best interests? Over time they layer on top of each other creating a thick web of bureaucracy that creates a sort of subtle inertia – resistance to change and innovation. And the more irrelevant and complex they become over time the more poisonous they are to your team.

3. Products & Services
One of the great challenges of leadership is working out when “less is more”. It’s the tension between doing more and getting better at what we already do. If the Pareto Principle is right, you probably get 80% of your results from just 20% of your products or services. If you ruthlessly culled from that 80% that produces only 20% of your results, what improvements could you bring to the best things you do? What if you had the chance to be world class in a few things, but at the cost of dabbling in many things? As I heard a speaker say once “The gap between where you are and where you want to be is largely determined by the price you’re unwilling to pay”.

Often in leadership we are so busy moving forward that we put off any activity that requires us to stop. But every gardener knows that pruning is short term pain for long term gain. Sure, pruning takes some time and actually cuts away foliage that is fruitful, but pruning triggers new growth and actually results in much more fruit longer term. Are you avoiding pruning away some things that have been fruitful for a season? What if that is costing you true long-term fruitfulness?

It’s time for a spring clean.

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback
Plus click “ShareThis” below to post this article to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and more…

Related posts:

1. Simplify
2. Leading Without Emptying The Ocean
3. Think Like Your Successor Would

For years I’ve sung the virtues of being adaptable and to be fair adaptability does have real value in certain situations. But I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just not enough. Being adaptable is over-rated.

By definition, leadership is bringing change to the world around you rather than simply conforming to what already exists. If I am changed by the prevailing culture around me instead of that environment being changed by me, then in reality I am a more of a follower than a leader. It happens all the time in big organisations where valuable individuals morph slowly into cookie-cutter clones.

When does being adaptable serve a purpose? When it comes to the non-negotiables in life and business adaptability tends to be the higher road. In May I’m relocating to New York City to expand The Leadership Coach to the USA. I’m going to need to adapt to lots of new things like higher rents, US currency, and driving on the right hand side of the road. They’re non-negotiable… unless I want to end up homeless, broke or hospitalised in a car crash.

But what about my Australian accent and spelling, my personal values, leadership strategies or business model for example? If I adapt on these things I become just one of the masses. In fact I might need to register The Cookie-Cutter Coach as my business name instead. I’d be giving up some of the very things that make me distinct and add value to who I am in the marketplace. Standing out is a fundamental aspect of being a leader.

There’s a higher level than adaptability and it’s the space that every leader should occupy most of the time – being culture creators.

Great teams are full of culture creators. They are the lifeblood of true movements. Culture creators replicate themselves in others. They reproduce and amplify the qualities they want to see more of in the world around them. Their influence is infectious and it goes well beyond their job description. You can tell when a culture creator has joined a team because things start to change.

As I asked in a recent post “Are you a thermostat or a thermometer?”. One changes the temperature of the room, the other merely measures it.

So, are you a culture creator?
•    What are the impact of your words, your actions, your beliefs, and your attitudes?
•    What do you reward, what do you tolerate, and what do you punish?
•    What are your priorities, your agendas, and your non-negotiables?

In these ways and more a leader shapes the culture of their team, their business and even their personal world.

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback
Plus click “ShareThis” below to post this article to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and more…

Related posts:

1. Health Check For The Trusted Advisor
2. Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast
3. Unfollow: Twitter’s Reminder To Leaders

Recently a coaching client asked me, “How can I get my team to be more proactive?”. Good question. If you asked just about any leader if they want their team to use more initiative and be on the front foot, they’d say “Yes”… but ask them how they can build the sort of team where being proactive is second nature and most leaders will fumble for an answer.

I believe it’s not just a matter of hiring people with a track record of taking action. Sure, some people seem to be initiators by nature but I’ve seen people like that shine in one company and wilt in another. Rather than focus here on finding proactive people let’s talk about how to create a proactive culture that shapes the people who work in it.

If you want proactive team members, give them a B.R.E.A.K.

Backing
Ask yourself the question, “If things didn’t turn out well when one of my team members used initiative, would I back them anyway?”. Say they responded to your call for cost cutting by ditching a popular project. Other team members are frustrated, and it was probably the wrong call, but they acted when you asked them to act. What now? This is a moment of truth. If you back them publicly (even if you bring a little correction privately) they’ll probably grow from the experience. If you don’t back them, the whole team learns that what you actually want is for people to not make mistakes.

Reward
I’m amazed how often I see a blatant contradiction between what a leader says he or she wants from the team and what they actually reward in those they lead. If you want proactivity then promote those that step up. Don’t reward playing it safe, perfectionism, procrastination or people-pleasing. What you reward and what you punish are potent reminders to those around you of what you really want. It also teaches people what you’re prepared to settle for.

Example
The expression “hypocrite” comes from Ancient Greece and was used to describe the actors in their plays who wore a mask. Wherever hypocrisy creates a gap between what we want from others and what we expect of ourselves the impact of our personal leadership is diminished. If you want others to seize opportunities and challenges with decisive action, then ask yourself the honest question “Am I myself a shining example of what I want?”. If your answer is anything less than a confident yes, then make no mistake- you have lowered the bar for everyone.

Authority
There’s nothing worse than being handed a task for which you have all the responsibility without the authority. Successful leaders deputise others. It’s not enough to simply give a person the title, the brief or marching orders. Are they empowered to act? To make all necessary decisions and changes? To carry out their mission without your constant feedback? To gain the buy-in of other team members because their mandate and authority is clear?

Knowledge
Lastly teams become proactive when they have clear knowledge and understanding of what you want, when, how and why. One of the surest ways to create indecisiveness is to withhold information. Without certainty about their goals, roles and boundaries most team members start to flounder. The more effort I make equip my people with the right knowledge, the more likely they are to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.

So rather than challenge your team again to “be proactive”, maybe it’s time to take another look at the culture you’re creating.

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback

Plus click “ShareThis” below to post this article to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and more…

Related posts:

1. Bottleneck
2. Being Adaptable Is Over-Rated
3. Loan Car Syndrome