Tag Archives: Leadership

Acutely Aware of My Ignorance and Incompetence

Posted on by
2

In my last post I listed a number of my draft posts and asked if anyone wanted me to finish and publish any one of them.  David @ Lead.Learn.Live voted for the second item on the list: Acutely Aware of My Ignorance and Incompetence.

So here we go … Nice title, huh.  Yea, it is about me.  It is about you too.

As leaders we all have those moments when we are not sure what to do.  We do not understand what is going on around us.  We struggle to decide on a next step.  Leaders deal with the known, but also the unknown.

We question ourselves and our ability.  Far from a bad thing, I find this enduring for a leader.

2995795570_8550467dbaWhen I speak of my ignorance and incompetence, it is an awareness that I do not have all the answers.  For a leader this can be a powerful statement.  It speaks to an important trait of a leader … to remain humble.

From this humble state we seek answers.  We remain students and focus on learning.  We understand the need to include others who have the experience and knowledge that we lack.  My ignorance, my incompetence, is a leadership strength.

Knowledge is not a possession; it is a process.  Our capacity to learn is limitless.

Weak leaders have arrived.  Strong leaders continue the journey.   With each step I leave ignorance and incompetence behind.  Only to turn a corner and journey forth anew.

Hello Silence My Old Friend

Posted on by
1

silence

Yes, I continue to think about silence.  My environment is my classroom and I am listening.

Silence is an important tool for leaders.  For introverts such as myself, silence comes more naturally.  For extroverts silence can be even more powerful as it can be perceived as unexpected.

An old school teacher trick … if children are speaking out of turn in the classroom, move to the center of the room, stand still and remain silent.  The children generally will notice and stop speaking. 

This works in the workplace too – while remaining attentive, stand in the meeting and remain silent as the team talks over each other.  It helps to have an open center as I wrote in this blog entry, Step into the Circle (read here). Count to 10 (in your head of course) and silence will return.  

The opposite works too.  The meeting room is quiet.  You ask the team a question.  The room remains quiet.  You are tempted to speak up and answer your own question.  Stop.  Do not speak.  Silence is your best tool.  It is an old workshop trainer trick of mine … someone will speak. 

silence-speaksSilence, in a way of thinking, is standing still.  All the better to sense movement around you. Only by standing still and remaining silent do you gauge the movement, verbal and otherwise, around you.  Choose your time to speak … to energize, and move things forward.
 
Silence both fascinates and is uncomfortable for People.   A leader knows how to use silence, an old friend indeed.
 

To read more on silence for the leader, see this very good article, The Leadership Gifts of Keeping Your Mouth Shut. 

Gravel Roads that Stretch Forever

Posted on by
8

SONY DSCGone are the voices.  For a while I heard echoes, but these faint voices are now gone.  My workplace is now quiet.  There are depths of quiet that I now know.  Each week the quiet grows louder and louder.

Odd that this is the time of my greatest leadership challenge.

I have written of my workplace … let’s call it “transition” before.  The good news is that a rebirth lies ahead.  The bad is today we few left live with a profound silence in the office.  We talk of the quiet.  We now recognize that each week it gets quieter.

How does a leader react to this situation?  I remember the “Days of Blue”. Where I was challenged to complete my daily work, attend to my team, assure solid production, and participate in all the meetings which appeared as blue on my calendar.  There were countless days of blue where each meeting touched another and the full day turned blue.

No more days of blue.  Along with the quiet comes a loss of color.

My fellow leaders and I move forward searching to add color to the workplace and end the quiet.  We recognize our unique situation and are adapting.

Now it is less about the team and more about each person.  Before there was a workplace buzz with a full and vibrant team at work.  Now I hear each voice and it is to each voice I must attend.

I watched a great video this morning shared at Lead.Learn.Live.  Very inspiring stuff.  There was one line that struck me, “gravel roads that stretch forever”.  That is my leadership mission … to help others find the road with no end.  To create a new path if necessary.

So we start walking down that gravel road.  At first the only sound is the gravel crunching under our feet, but that is okay.  There will be more sound and even echoes ahead along this road.  Also there will be color, blue again and all.

We can not wait for it does not come to us.  I now know we must walk to it.  I am a leader and I step forward crunching gravel at my feet.  Walk with me.

WeMoveTogether

end of path

A Thousand Fibers Connect Us

Posted on by
Reply

I am thinking a lot about connections these days.  How we establish meaningful connections with each other.  How we maintain these connections.  How fragile these connections can be in times of stress. 

We cannot live only for ourselves.  A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects. - Herman Melville

As leaders we are responsible for our own connections and we set the groundwork for a healthy organizational ecology where healthy connections thrive.  This is how we grow and prosper. 

The best leaders can “see” the thousand fibers that connect us.  They act with purpose and understand every act, big or small, works to strengthen our bonds or weaken them. 

Act with purpose.  Recognize the fibers that connect us all.   

waterRipples

It is a Long Season

Posted on by
Reply

baseballislifeBaseball is back.  As a lifelong fan of baseball this is a time of renewal each year and expectation for a good season for my team and for baseball in general.  A year ago I wrote about this renewal (read here) and this year I have the urge to write again about baseball. 

Baseball, unlike other sports, has a very long season – 162 regular season games ranging from April to October.   Every team has ups and downs, last inning heroics and gut-wrenching loses.   Indeed the best teams will have more of the highs and victories, but even the best team will suffer, have bottom-out moments, and need to respond the next day. 

Baseball, with this long and challenging season, serves as a metaphor of life itself. 

One of these lessons baseball teaches us as leaders, is to remember the big picture.  Do not let today’s loss lead to tomorrow’s loss.  If today was a bad day (lost the game), let us work harder to win tomorrow.   The victor is the leader and the team that makes it through the season knowing that every hard game, every tough loss, is just a part of the whole.

There is a great baseball quote attributed to Tommy Lasorda.

“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”

Yes, back in the “real world” we strive for daily success – a victory each day is important.  Yet, this mindset is not reasonable.  There will be days where nothing works, a lost day indeed.  There are also days where everything flows, a victory with little effort.

As leaders it is our job to take that middle third of days and do what we can to turn them into victories.  Yes talent and ability are important, but a good leader and team learns from mistakes and get the best out of each person.  Contributes come from many sources and the little things indeed add up.  Go deep and win the season. 

Baseball is back, a grand teacher indeed.

You have to Choose: Extraordinary or Inspiring Leadership

Posted on by
2

Leadership is big business. There are countless books, seminars, tweets and yes, blogs. In the course of my business day I often get emails related to the latest leadership book or upcoming seminar.

A few days ago I had to laugh when I received an email invite to a “Leadership Summit”. I scanned the information to see what jumped out at me. Beyond the great location, something did indeed jump off the page.

In this multi-day summit meeting there are two separate tracks. Participants need to sign up for one or the other. The two choices are: (1) The Extraordinary Leader Workshop or (2) The Inspiring Leader Workshop.

How would one choose? What would I choose? What would you choose? The website does not give more information to help me select one track over another. Do I want to be extraordinary or inspiring?

Inspiring

The forced choice amuses me. If I attended the extraordinary track I would wonder what is happening in the inspiring group next door. You know they would be loud and obviously having a good time.

Of course the seminar … oops, summit is the 4th annual. So I can choose extraordinary this year and hey, inspiring next year. But wait, I see a third option, Advancing the Extraordinary Leader. Well, inspiring may need to wait yet another year.

A little tongue in cheek today. Growth, development, and learning are part of the leader’s journey. Do walk your path, be extraordinary, and be inspiring. Attend seminars … okay, summits at your own risk.

Thursday Thought – Laugh, Think and Cry

Posted on by
Reply

Note: Each Thursday I will post a little something to inspire us to finish the week strong. These Thursday Thoughts will be a quote, piece of music, artwork, or inspirational video.  Congratulations, you made it over the hump and let’s finish the week together.

The college basketball championship tournament is well under way here in the United States.  Today we are down to the so-called “Sweet 16″ ever closer to a champion, for both men and women in a couple of weeks.

jim-valvano-netSport fans are typically keen on history.  They remember the great moments for their favorite teams and great sport moments in general.  In 1983 North Carolina State won the College Championship for men’s basketball.  They upset several top teams to dramatically win the championship in last second style.

Their victory may be the biggest upset in college basketball history.

A team above all. A belief they can accomplish anything.  And a coach who inspired the absolute best from his players.

That coach, Jim Valvano, died of cancer 10 years later.   Just weeks before his death he gave a wonderful speech that celebrated life to its fullest.  As we sit here 30 years later from that improbable victory for Jim and his team, let’s remember Jim’s words.

Each day do the following: Laugh, Think, and Cry.  That is a full day, a heck of a day.

Jim is also famous for how he ended his speech with simple, powerful words:

Don’t give up.  Don’t ever give up.

I invite you to watch a few minutes in memory of this terrific coach and leader, Jim Valvano.

Death to the BHAG

Posted on by
2

Recently I read a post where the author used the term, BHAG.  My stomach turned when I read the post.  I thought of years ago when I attended a big company meeting listening to my senior leaders use that term, BHAG.  They spoke like they invented the term.  The BHAG will lead us to success.  For a period of time BHAG was the word at my organization. 

I admit it. At the time I loved it.  “Bring on the BHAG!”

Now I wish the BHAG to die a quick death.

bhagWhat is a BHAG you ask … Big Hairy Audacious Goal. 

Goal setting is important for leaders.  We know this.  Yet, these days I stop short of the BHAG.  If I never hear the term again, I will be a happy person. 

As I strive to be a better leader, I want to understand why the term bothers me so much these days.  Am I being too harsh on the BHAG?  I do love the word, audacious.  I think not, but let me do a Google Search and see what hits I get for “problem with BHAG”. 

Well, 2,720,000 results for my search - really?!  BHAG has its own Wikipedia site.  I see references to the original authors of the term, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras – the authors of one of my favorite business books, Built to Last.  I see other bloggers writing on the topic of the BHAG.  I do not know if most are yea or nay on the BHAG and I have no time to read the countless sites. 

Fortunately the first search result turns out to be the only one I need to read.  It is from one of the best on leadership and business success, Tom Peters.  His post is titled, From BHAG to CCAG. Or From Big Hairy Audacious Goal to Clear and Compelling Audacious Goal. 

Tom keeps the audacious term … marked by originality and verve; daring, bold.  Yea, I do like that word. 

I invite you to read Tom’s post here.  I share Tom’s view as it gets to the heart of my problem with the BHAG.  A stated BHAG is not enough as often the leader is more interested in stating the goal (with much fanfare) than clearly articulating how we will get there. The path is not important, just get me there. 

The bigger, the hairier, with extra audacious sauce … the better the goal. 

This is wrong.  I know it now.  Those I work with and all those who no longer work for my company know it too.  Yes, an organization needs goals.  Goals that indeed stretch and grow the organization.  Yet goals need clarity and involvement.  We must take that big goal and create the path to get there.  That is leadership.

If leaders turn a blind eye to everything but the BHAG then an organization can behave in such a way as to get there under any circumstance … and lose sense of self along the way.  Once one states a BHAG, the most important step is not the last step where one reaches the BHAG.  The most important step is the first one. 

I have learned this lesson the hard way, but ultimately the only way to learn … from life experiences.    I will continue to have goals for myself and my team.  I do dream of returning to a spot where we discuss big goals.  Even audacious goals.  Yet always clear and compelling.   WeMoveTogether. 

goal setting steps

Is it Too Late to Become a Comedian?

Posted on by
5

My first work related leadership lesson happened 25 years ago.  I was fresh out of college working in a corporate office high above San Francisco’s financial district.   Life was good, until one day my boss said to me, “You should quit and become a comedian.”

Well, I got to be me.  I knew I was funny and irreverent at times.  I also knew I was very good at my job and a natural at leading others to perform.  My boss really did not want me to leave. She recognized something about my personality and style that was unique to me and she wanted me to know it.   “Keep it up Michael. You make a difference.”

There is the leadership lesson for the day – be true to self and your unique expression of personality and self-expression.  This authentic nature will serve you well as you connect with others as it has served me over the past 25 years.

This week I reach my 25 year mark with my company.   I know some folks with similar tenure but in general the average company tenure for someone my age is less than 10 years in the United States.  These days people move from job to job and fill up their Resumes with several companies by the time they reach my age.

Not me – on my Resume there is one company.  For the past several years I thought I made a mistake and should have moved on and on to fill up my Resume.  Who stays with one organization that long?  He must not be ambitious.  He can not be an “A” player.

Recently though I came to realize that I will wear this badge of 25 years with one company proudly.  Few people accomplish this and under closer inspection, there is no negative I can not overcome.

Why did I stay?  The people, the culture, the challenges, the learning, and overall making a difference.   I have seen it all and done it all.  I had no reason to leave.  We went public, we grew into new markets, we experienced the highs of business success.  We also experienced the floor falling out below our feet and the mad charge to save our company.  Yes, for a leader it has been a great and challenging place to work.

So 25 years and counting (well, at least a bit longer).   I had two distinct careers with my company.  The first was Human Resources where I grew into my training and OD expertise.   My second career is in Operations where I get to roll up my sleeves and practice real-world HR and OD and produce tangible product.

There is a third career ahead for me.  Do I go back to career one in HR and OD?  My experience in operations will serve me well in that world.  Do I stay with Operations and work with a great team to produce consistent and excellent work product?

Or do I create an entirely new career?  Who knows maybe my first boss was right all along.

stand-up

Start a Meeting with a Poem

Posted on by
Reply

I recently listened to a TED podcast featuring poet Billy Collins former Poet Laureate for the  United States.  The topic was the creative process and during the discussion he made a simple statement:

Start a meeting with a poem.

When we gather together at meetings often we are not centered and focused on the discussion at hand.  Distractions … thoughts of other tasks, what to have for lunch, and just about anything outside of the meeting space fill our minds.  We question the need to meet at all.

Poetry ReadingAn experienced leader knows all this and will typically work to focus the meeting participants at the beginning of the meeting.  As well-intentioned a discussion on meeting objectives and goals, the pattern returns and distractions again creep back.

An experienced and wise leader recognizes the need to go bold at times.  For the right meeting, at the right time … open the meeting with a poem.

The uniqueness of this act alone will gather the attention of the participants.  The wandering mind will find what it seeks right there in the room.

Beyond this uniqueness, every poem is open for interpretation by each who listens.  “What do you think?  How do you feel?  How does this poem relate to our meeting topic here today?”   As the meeting leader, imagine asking these questions.

I believe poets are everywhere, but most are not aware.  By introducing a poem to kick off a meeting, you tap into that undercurrent flowing in each of us and between us.

The goal of meetings is to establish understanding and agreement.  A poem can serve to open the vessel of uncommon thought circling the room.   The wise leader then proceeds to gather the circles in tight and assure a common understanding on the topic at hand.  The meeting is a success.

As a leader can you see yourself beginning a meeting with a poem?  Yes, I can.

Here is a wonderful video interpretation of a Billy Collins poem, Some Days.  And yes, a good poem for the right meeting.