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Archive for November, 2014
Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of November 24th
November 24, 2014 | No Comments »
Accidental or Intentional?
In a most basic sense, there are really only two leadership end states: Accidental or Intentional. And the same can be said for things like organizational ethos, virtues, standards, and behaviors–they will become either accidental or intentional. Think of this distinction analogous to how a vacuum gets filled: Any void will be consumed one way or another, either accidentally (bad) or intentionally (good) with a very mindful design. So what is the lesson for all leaders? We must be very mindful and intentional with those highly-discretionary elements of our leadership; things like vision, ethos, virtues, values, performance standards, and core behavioral expectations. If we constantly refresh these elements, they become intentional qualities filling the sails of our organizations like a positive and prevailing wind. Conversely, if we fail to intentionally strengthen these things we will hit a wind hole and our sails will become slack, and our ship will become adrift. Great leaders are highly intentional helmsmen who remain always mindful to fill their sails with a positive wind.
Hands or Hearts?
I am surely not the first to say this, but the most toxic, and ultimately destructive, leader-follower relationship is a transactional one. A transactional leader is one who sees people as subordinates and as assets, and thus interacts with them in a purely transactional way. I give you a dollar in pay, you give me back a dollar’s-worth of effort. Sit at your desk, do you work, go home. Repeat again the next day. A person working in this kind of wasteland experience will give to their boss, and to their company, at best only their hands. They will do just the technical and functional things asked of them, no more. Alternatively, a heroic leader, operating out of a heroic paradigm, creates transformational relationships based on common purpose, meaning, service, and a passion for excellence. Heroic leaders touch hearts before they ask for hands, for as they rightly know, it is in hearts and souls where championship performance, and greatness, reside.
What Do You Value?
Leaders must regularly ask themselves this direct question: What do I value? The places we’ll likely see the answer to this question are where, and to what ends, we invest our time and resources. Where we spend our time reveals what matters most to us. This is true of our personal and organizational values. If we value money and profit, we’ll see the preponderance of our time allocated to a bottom-line focus. If we value personal prestige, we’ll see the majority of our time and resources devoted to self-aggrandizement. I have come to believe the highest leadership value, and therefore, the greatest allocation of time and resources, should be on developing other leaders. I call this the lens of “leaders cultivating leaders.” There is no greater strategic imperative than allocating most of our time to the development and succession of emerging leaders. In such an environment, intentional acts like mentoring, coaching, succession development, and knowledge transfer become the coin of the realm. So, what do you value? Look at where, and to what ends, you allocate your time.
High, Clear, Firm
An important question for leaders to contemplate is, “What drives high performance in our people and teams?” I have come to answer this using the following model: High Expectations; Clear Goals; and Firm Accountability. First, leaders must create high expectations for leadership, performance, and behavior. With high expectations, leaders set and then constantly drive towards championship standards and elevated definitions of excellence. High expectations pull people out of their heads and into their hearts, the source of all great achievement. Second, leaders must set clear goals focusing on these cardinal points: Where are we going, and why are we going there? Clear goals allow people to focus their attention, galvanize around common purpose, and harmonize in unity of effort. This shared intentionality is the hallmark of great teams. Finally, leaders must cultivate firm accountability in their people and their organization. We must be accountable to ourselves, our teams, our ethos, and to our standards. Teams anchored on this High-Clear-Firm model will out-perform teams that are not and will flourish across time.
Reignite & Reinvent
Two essential qualities of heroic leadership are the ability to consistently reignite and reinvent. We must reignite our inner motivation, passion, and commitment for self-leadership. Over time, if we are not aware of our inner world, we become fatigued and the fire once burning brightly begins to dim. To combat this atrophy, leaders must re-stoke the flames of expert leadership through any and all measures that bring vitality, energy, optimism, and conviction. Similarly, leaders must consistently reinvent themselves and their organizations to meet ever-changing conditions. Interestingly, to effectively reinvent we must simultaneously stand firm on those non-negotiable elements (character, virtues, ethos) while agilely modifying those elements meant to be negotiable (tactics, techniques, procedures, policies). Furthermore, to reignite and reinvent, leaders must have a “beginner’s mind”—a willingness to constantly learn, explore, and question the status quo. Reignited and reinvented leaders confidently pull themselves and those they lead towards the bright headlands of a better future.
Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!
Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of November 17th
November 17, 2014 | No Comments »
Experience It, Own It, Teach It
What is the best way to learn leadership? Experience it, own it, and then teach it. It may sound counterintuitive, but I must admit this fact: I have learned nothing of significance about leadership from studying a list of traits or a checklist of do’s and don’ts. I have, however, learned the most important leadership lessons through reflection and experience. To really learn leadership, we must solve its mysteries ourselves. These lessons cannot be handed to us; they most be discovered. And once discovered, then and only then can they be personally owned. There simply is no other way. If you doubt this, ask master craftsmen from other vocations how they learned their craft—a painter, a pianist, a dancer, a wood worker—and I am sure they will tell you the same truth of self-discovery and self-mastery. And once we’ve come to own leadership truths, the next best way to keep learning is to teach what you have learned to others. We learn best by teaching–by giving away our gold.
A Culture of Leadership
When one looks at successful organizations, it’s tempting to look at bottom-line measures of accomplishment–revenue, profit, and market share. I prefer to look at a top line measure: a culture of leadership. I look for organizations where leaders lead leaders, are dedicated to succession development and mentoring, and genuinely commit to developing one leader at a time. A culture of leadership is a talent mindset seeking to attract the best and brightest, cultivate champions, and create a life-cycle of heroic leadership. Why is a culture of leadership so essential to enduring success? Because well-honed talent, turned into self-motivated champions, truly drives a company’s success across time. It is not the bottom line, it is this top line that endures. Understood correctly, a culture of leadership should be the cornerstone of an organization’s strategy. We don’t alter or sacrifice our strategy to do this; it is our strategy! Leaders must therefore change their gaze from looking downward toward the bottom line and gaze upward to the top line by creating a culture of leadership.
Wall Art
Walk the corridors of most companies and you’ll likely find a neatly framed corporate mission statement. Most will be professionally printed, prominently displayed, and written in soaring language. The problem is, this style of mission statement is really meaningful only to the person who wrote it. For the rest it simply becomes wall art; passed by frequently as one moves up and down the corridor, but seldom read and probably never a catalyst for personal motivation. Why? Because a company’s mission only becomes motivating when it becomes personal! Leaders must therefore find creative ways to facilitate this conversion; find ways to make an abstract mission statement a personal mission. Leaders can lead this conversion by explaining the meaning of the mission to people directly, and then, create actual experiences for people to “feel” the mission. People must experience the mission to truly know and then own it. Leaders must transform their mission statements from wall art to living levers of personal motivation.
The Day After Talent
We are all born with native talents, whether we catalogue them as left-brain or right-brain, IQ, or any other intelligence category. However, as many scientific studies have confirmed, our native talent will take us only so far in leadership and life. Which begs this question: What happens the day after talent? What do leaders tap once their native talent plateaus? I believe the answer is grit. Grit is a uniquely American word born from our resilient frontier mentality that shaped the American ethos. Grit is a deep determination to not simply set challenging goals, but to see them through no matter the odds. Grit is a bone-deep toughness and tenacity—a kind of pluck—providing the backbone to remain resolute despite long odds. And let’s face it; leadership is full of long odds and daunting challenges. Grit is what we are left with once our talent has been maximized. Grit is what lets us move beyond the inevitable limitations of our talent set point. And when all else is equalized in terms of talent, it is grit that sets apart those who thrive from those who stall. Great leaders develop grit to handle the day after talent.
Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!
Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of November 10th
November 10, 2014 | No Comments »
An Integrated Life
One of the critical flaws with modern leadership teaching is presenting leadership as a situational tactic, where one merely reaches into a hat to pick out a trick for the moment. What a wrong and diminished view of leading, as it turns leadership into a menu-driven tactic that can somehow be reduced to simple gimmicks. As we’ve so often reflected here, leadership is a way of life. Choosing to lead means we commit to attaining an integrated life, where who we are, how we live, and how we see, are fully aligned with how we lead. We may have many virtues and many qualities, but we should have one integrated life. As I say in many of my classes: Whom we see in the mirror when we look at ourselves should be the same person others see when they look at us. A truly authentic leader, one whom has gained self-mastery, self-awareness, and self-control, has integrity. An authentic leader is recognizable to self and to others as the same person….no schisms, no situational personas, no gimmicks. Leadership has no grab bags; leadership is a way of life.
One Stone at a Time
On a recent trip back home to Boston, I was reminded of the many stone walls adorning the area. These stone walls, though serving a functional purpose, are also great reflections of craftsmanship, built with great care, one stone at a time. And what a great metaphor for heroic leadership and team building, because leaders are much like master wall builders. First, we must master ourselves and our craft. The quality of the wall will be determined, in its purest sense, by the mastery of the wall builder. The same is true of leadership; our affect will be most determined by our inner mastery—the richness of our interior life and the integrity of our inner world. Moreover, to build a truly enduring wall, each stone must be placed precisely, with consideration to itself and the other stones around it. And so it is with developing other leaders and cultivating our groups: One student at a time; one lesson at a time; one year at a time; one generation at a time. Great walls are built one stone at a time until they emerge as great structures. Likewise, great teams are built one person at a time, until they emerge as unified champions.
Heroic Ambition
In our modern world, ambition often carries a negative connotation. Why? Because too often one’s ambition is aimed only at personal gain. However, there is a positive interpretation, what I call heroic ambition, that is a prized virtue and also necessary to reach peak achievement. By heroic ambition I mean elevating desire; a purposeful intention and passionate commitment to something greater than self, something true and right, and something uplifting. The magnitude of ambition is not the defining issue; it is the quality of ambition that is crucial. Heroic ambition forces us to move out of our heads and into our hearts, the source of all great transformation and vitality. Likewise, heroic ambition aligns us, and those we lead, with deep wellsprings of meaning and purpose. When we know the “why” in any endeavor, as the saying goes, we can withstand any what. Leaders, when anchored in heroic ambition, become beacons for those they lead. This is why there is really no greater question to ask oneself than this: To what do I devote my full measure?
Leadership Potential
Nature or nurture? This question arises constantly as people seek an answer to possibly the oldest and most vexing question about personal leadership: Are leaders born or made and can everyone be a great leader? The quaint and politically correct answer is yes, we are all born leaders and we can all be great. The truthful answer is no, not everyone is born to be a great leader. But here’s the important point: We all have leadership potential than can be cultivated and improved. In my view, whether or not we become “great” misses the point. What is far more important is that we teach everyone to see themselves as a leader, and learn to see the world, and act in the world, as a leader does. Everyone has leadership potential. The acme of heroic leadership is to see and then release potential in others. The correct prism of development we must always retain is this: one leader at a time, one day at a time, leader after leader, day after day. There simply is no other way. The ultimate test of a leader and committed mentor is to unlock the latent potential in others.
The Turn
A hard truth all leaders must accept is, initially, people have not yet decided to willingly follow you. Yes, you may carry certain authority and power related to your rank or position, but these external trappings alone will not entice followers to willingly give their best. All followers begin in terms of psychological disposition as subordinates. Their psychological posture is akin to backs turned to the leader—facing away. They are waiting for the leader to resonate and do so in a way that naturally invites them to turn around, face the leader, and then give their full measure. Leaders must “lead the turn.” And how can we best do this? By seeing people not as subordinates, but as leaders! We must embrace a culture of “leaders leading leaders”—to generate this psychological turn and move people along a development continuum that begins as subordinates but then moves to follower, member, and then leader. If we lower our gaze to leaders leading subordinates, we get mediocrity. When we elevate our gaze to a paradigm of leaders leading leaders, we release excellence and discover the realm of champions.
Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!
Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of November 3rd
November 3, 2014 | No Comments »
It’s Personal
I often here the phrase “it isn’t personal” when listening to people talk about work, projects, goals, or company missions. Though I appreciate these comments trying to distinguish work and individual impulses, I think we are missing a key fact of leading and following, which is this: Nothing is motivating until it is deeply personal. There are many beautifully written mission statements adorning the walls of corporate headquarters everywhere, but I doubt a single one of them, in itself, inspired individuals to wholeheartedly give their best. It is not until the company’s mission becomes a personal mission that this conversion occurs. It is not until the ethos and purpose of the company becomes a personal conviction that motivation, passion, and real ambition are released. Leaders must cultivate this conversion by enabling the general mission to become a personal mission. I believe this conversion takes place slowly, built on painstakingly-laid foundations of trust, meaning, high purpose, and high standards. So yes; leading, and the choice to be a champion, is very personal.
Restlessness
Though leaders seek to gain balance in their lives, the reality is, great leadership requires times of restlessness and imbalance. Why so? Because great leadership demands unquenchable curiosity driving us always to do something more. This restlessness is not only healthy, but necessary for elevating leadership and organizational excellence. Restlessness is what keeps leaders attuned to change, but equally, always pointed towards the future. Great leaders have a natural questioning in which they constantly test the status quo and consistently challenge dogma and ideology. They value truth over ego, and excellence over the bottom line. I like to think of great leaders assuming the posture of an Olympic sprinter in the starting blocks awaiting the starter’s gun. They touch the ground with their hands to remind them of the non-negotiable center of their character and ethos, but simultaneously, they are poised like a catapult to move into action and engage an uncertain future. This restlessness keeps them coiled like a spring—pointed toward the future–always dedicated to above-and-beyond excellence.
A Daily Choice
Part of the reason I pen these reflections is to remind myself that leadership is a daily choice. Yes, we must develop an enduring leadership paradigm to guide us over the long term. But the more pressing reality is we wake each day with a choice to make; to lead or not lead. And more importantly—we choose the quality of our leadership response to even the smallest of things. Yes–leadership is a choice. We must start each day with a kind of personal huddle; a brief pit stop before we rush into each day, where we can center ourselves and remind ourselves of our capacity for heroic leadership that day. Great leadership is not just one’s capacity to respond to a momentous occasion; rather, it is an intentional choice to live our life heroically, in even the smallest opportunity provided. Heroic leadership is a mindset—a conscious approach to life. The important thing in leading is not the magnitude of the opportunity, but rather, the quality and consistency of our response. Every day, we face this choice. Every day, we must answer. In the end, this daily choice makes all the difference.
Creative Tension
Contemplate innovation for a moment. Do you believe great creativity comes mostly from thinking outside the box? I did too, until I reflected more deeply on the nature of explosive change and further examined the alchemy behind ingenuity. What I now believe is this: Innovation occurs best in a place of creative tension, where leaders can accommodate both a non-negotiable core and radical change. It seems to me any great revolution or breakthrough comes when leaders can, on the one hand, stand firm on the non-changing core of their organization (ethos) while simultaneously embracing an openness to change (tactics or techniques). We have to stand firm on perennially significant elements like ethos while accepting a kind of indifference to those things that must, and can, change. The more I study how great leaders navigate the roiling waters of change, the more I am certain the ability to hold oneself in creative tension between non-negotiables and negotiables is the key to innovation. Peak performance and true ingenuity break forth only when the two are combined.
Surviving Versus Thriving
I believe all organizations—companies, teams, militaries, non-profits—exist on a continuum ranging from surviving to thriving. At any time, an organization can move left or right on that continuum. There is no guarantee a currently thriving organization will stay at peak performance. Similarly, there is no reason a merely surviving organization cannot, through revitalized leadership, re-emerge as a thriving enterprise. In my study of history, and in my personal experience, I believe bad things happen when we start to confuse leadership with surviving. The slippery slope to a survival mindset begins when leaders get comfortable with the status quo, embrace self interest, and worship stale dogmas, static ideologies, and group think. When leaders embrace a survival mindset, heroic impulses die and heroic leadership vanishes. When organizations focus on surviving, elevating purposes get replaced by personal greed and covering one’s backside. Great leaders never confuse leadership with surviving, and thus, they keep themselves and their people thriving.
Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!