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Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of April 20th

April 20, 2015 | No Comments »

One Four Zero

At the heart of expert leadership is the ability to provide vision and compelling end states to those we lead. However, in presenting vision many leaders use overly complex descriptions and mind-numbing bureaucratic language. We often do this because we believe more words, and more complex words at that, are more valuable in terms of reaching our audience. Actually, the opposite is true. When conveying vision and strategy the best filter leaders can employ is clarity. I like to call this The Law of One Four Zero: Like a tweet, if a leader cannot succinctly convey his message in 140 characters, then he/she doesn’t understand it well enough and should therefore go back to the drawing board. The Law of One Four Zero forces leaders to seek message clarity by asking, and then answering, this key question: What is the one big thing I am trying to convey, and therefore, the one big thing I want people to understand? The Law of One Four Zero is based on the proven leadership maxim that, in winning hearts and minds, less is often more.

Origin Story

I write often about the power of ethos in creating and sustaining organizational excellence. I have publically stated my firm believe that, if one had to distill lasting greatness down to a single distinguishing quality, ethos would be the one indispensable ingredient. I like to think of the power of ethos like the origin story of all great heroes. Whether mythic or comic book, all great heroes have their own big-bang tale describing the crucible of development calling forth their greatness. Similarly, magnificent organizations have similar origin stories. These stories may be partially mythic but these big bang stories nonetheless provide powerful insight into the perennial knowledge forming the heart and soul of the group. Leaders at every type of company, team, or firm would be well served to study, master, and bring to life the origin stories of their group. These origin stories should be told early and often as a way to reinforce camaraderie, esprit, élan, shared intentionality, and resilience. All great pursuits are fueled by heroic ambition, and all great companies are made of companions forged by heroic purpose.

Give Away Your Gold

“Behind Every Successful Young Leader Is A Mentor Who Sees The Protégé’s Success as His Success; The Protégé’s Failure As His Failure. Great Leaders Gain Mastery, Then Give It Away.”

– Paul Callan

White Hot Memories

Sam Young. That is the name of my senior Drill Instructor at Marine Officer Candidate School over 30 years ago. I can tell you with certainty; I will never forget Sam Young. Why? Because he has formed what I call  white-hot memories in my mind. When we have novel experiences, events impacting all our senses, we register those memories in a specific part of our brain and those memories get chemically coded for heightened recall. This is why most of us can recall exactly where we were on 9/11 yet we can barely recall what we had for breakfast yesterday. So, how is this important to leadership? If we want people to remember key messages, things like our ethos and our purpose, then leaders need to find novel ways to tell those stories. We need to create emotionally charged events, through creative use of symbols, ceremonies, traditions, and rites, to imbue white hot memories in the minds of those we lead. White hot memories help us remember key information, but more so, they help us care, and connect, more deeply.

In Repair

The more I reflect on leadership excellence the more I’m convinced we’re always in a state of repair. Though we grow and mature, there’s always a nagging sense we aren’t quite there yet. Know the feeling? This is why I believe great leadership, and equally, building great teams, is more a matter of renovation than creation. Much about excellence is known, but often, this knowing atrophies and becomes neglected and forgotten. The ability to hold oneself within this tension, between knowing yet not yet fully knowing, is extremely hard. It takes great moral courage to stay on the path to excellence when confronted by the inevitable twists and turns of winning and losing. It takes great conviction to keep one eye on the distant high ground when the other eye sees only the daunting barrier in the foreground. So yes; aspiring leaders are always in repair and our groups in need of constant renovation. Though sobering, this insight nonetheless reveals the fidelity required to keep striving; to trust these acts of renovation are necessary steps in a purposeful life and key components to heroic ambition.

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 April 13th

April 13, 2015 | No Comments »

Is There Time?

Is there time?

…to lead.

   …to follow.

      …to mentor.

         …to learn.

            …to celebrate.

               …to mourn.

                  …to act.

                     …to dream.

Is there time?

There is.

The Role of Legend and Lore

As a Marine, much of my deep appreciation for the term “Marine” was conveyed to me via legend and lore.  I like to think of legend and lore as the vitally necessary mythology of all great organizations. To fully understand the perennial knowledge, foundational ethos, and unifying symbols of our organizations, we need epic stories to move us out of our heads and into our hearts. We need legend and lore to point us to broader patterns of living to help produce coherence and meaning beyond the limiting lens of the moment.  There are three essential qualities legend and lore help bring to organizations: They illustrate truth; they illuminate meaning, and they elevate ambition. Leaders everywhere should tap into the heroes of their organizations, and find every opportunity to tell, and retell, stories of legend and lore. Moreover, these stories help bind different generations through the common reference points found in these tales, a sort of rallying call toward shared intentionality.

Nix the Quick Fix

Some things in life clearly deserve quick fixes: Long lines at the DMV; a fire in a packed theater; a stuck elevator in a high rise. We are right in demanding instant gratification in these cases. How about becoming great leaders; should we expect a quick fix? I don’t think so. It’s not that we can’t contrive ways to dumb down leadership into tidy list and menus; many people do this every day in blogs. But when we make this mistake; when we demand instant gratification on things like leadership that, by their very nature defy quick fixes, we simply create illusions and false promises. More worrisome, we degrade things that are meant to be majestic and we denigrate them into mindless tactics. Leadership is a master craft, no less awesome, and, yes, no less mysterious, than great art, poetry, or music. Imagine walking up to a great artist like Rembrandt and asking him to teach you to become a master painter in “3 easy steps.”  Why then do we approach leadership as if we could teach someone that way? So, let’s nix the quick fix. Is this harsh medicine? Perhaps. But it is the only path to excellence and the only way to produce masterful leaders.

Rapport

Rapport is a term we should always closely associate with great leadership, yet I find hardly a mention of it in modern leadership speech. Rapport is genuine empathy existing between people fused in common purpose and meaning. Rapport is deep emotional relating; an almost DNA-level trust shared by groups galvanized in the crucible of common sacrifice and collaborative pursuit. I find I can walk into a group of co-workers and, within minutes, discern whether rapport exists within the group. When rapport is present in a group, a kind of esprit and élan naturally exudes. The group is animated by confidence, respect, mutual affection, and resiliency. Conversely, when rapport is absent, the group exists in a wasteland environment, barren of vitality and low on optimism, and the most telling characteristics tend to be divisiveness, pettiness, and tribal allegiances. But here’s the key point for us to remember: Rapport is cultivated by intentional leaders. Rapport is not automatic; it is manufactured purposefully, act-by-act, day-by-day, year-after-year. You want to be a champion? Build and sustain rapport in your group.

Too Many Choices, Too Little Time

On a recent business trip to Asia I again saw the raw power and pervasiveness of technology in our world.  From the airport, to the taxi, to the hotel and all the other virtual realities in between, we truly live on a tech-centered globe. Amazing stuff. But in spite of this I was equally struck by how harried, detached, and episodic many of us are becoming. Too many choices, too little time. And what does this observation have to do with leading? A lot. Leading requires occasional solitude, presence in the moment, awareness, and the ability to regularly reflect on broad arcs of time and broad patterns of living. The vortex of social media, if not self-controlled, can pull leaders out of awareness, ensnaring them in increasingly transitory impulses. And here’s what we know from history: Nothing great comes from a limited, harried, and episodic lens. Too many choices, coupled with too little time, produces too many burned out souls.

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 April 6th

April 6, 2015 | No Comments »

Breaking The Bonds That Limit Us

Unfortunately for many, work is just a slog; a mind numbing, soul crushing sameness. But it doesn’t need be. If leaders can somehow tap into meaning and purpose, then bonds can be breached and new heights reached. It is a leader’s cardinal obligation to find in the work, even in the labor, a higher aim and a deeper calling, and then to explain these things to people to inspire them to reach beyond the banalities of work. Here’s what I have found in my life: When I am bound up in some great enterprise, or great purpose, even a truly extraordinary undertaking, my aspirations break their former bonds and my heart soars. This is precisely what happened to me during my nearly 30-year journey as a US Marine. One moment, before OCS, I was stuck in a slog. Once I endured the crucible of a place called Quantico and touched deep meaning, my soul was freed to transcend limitations, embrace peak experiences, and celebrate the timeless virtues of excellence. Great leaders and great organizations, through uplifting vision and deep meaning, help us break the bonds that once limited us and take us to places our souls want to go.

Hardwired

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that we are simply hardwired for certain things. Here are a few. First, we are hardwired for camaraderie. I don’t care how technologically advanced we get, we will always crave, in the deepest reservoirs of our being, the kind of soulful bonding that comes from brothers and sisters who strive, shoulder-to-shoulder, in common purpose. Second, I believe we are hardwired for empathy. Empathy is the intuitive understanding of “the other,” or of the group. Empathy is like mortar holding individual bricks together in a sturdy wall. Many believe modern society is ridding us of this sense of, and value for, empathy. I say nonsense. Leaders simply must create the conditions, and cultivate the opportunities, for our natural empathetic senses to be activated. Finally, I believe we are hardwired for teamwork. Yes, we can fall prey to selfishness and self interest, but I believe we have a deeper desire for group achievement and unity of effort. Contemplate this question: What feels more deeply satisfying, climbing a steep mountain alone or climbing it with a group of friends? If we are honest, it is the latter.

Passion

Passion is a term often linked to excellence. So, what is passion? And is it really crucial to great leadership? Passion is a feeling; a deep wellspring of almost primal enthusiasm for something. Once felt, passion becomes something deeply foundational to one’s core. So a leader must ask: What am I passionate about? When we feel passionate about excellence, and passionate about leading, the pursuit of these things becomes something we cannot not do. We are compelled to pursuit. So why is passion a vital precursor to great leadership? Because passion leads to self mastery. As I’ve noted before: A leader cannot inspire others unless, and until, they themselves are inspired. Moreover, passion is contagious. A leader imbued with great vitality energizes those whom he leads. If one wants to be a great leader, then one must first see leading as something intensely meaningful and truly core to one’s identity. Leadership must be profoundly meaningful to you, not simply a passing fancy or an occasional tactic. So, does leadership and excellence make your soul sing? Then you have a passion for life and leading.

Mental Toxins

When I work out each day, sweating and churning through my routine, I can almost feel the bodily toxins leaving my system. Which made me think: what about mental toxins; do they build up in our mind and should we find ways to eradicate them from our leadership lens? Mental toxins, things like anger, jealousy, bitterness, and pettiness, surely do accumulate during the course of time. These toxins slowly corrode our attitude, stifle our optimism, and lessen our vitality. Over time, mental toxins destroy our ability to resonate with others and generate positive affect. So, yes; the accumulation of mental toxins can destroy a leader and can deteriorate a leader’s affect. Therefore, we must find ways to rid ourselves of these mental toxins. And the first step? Becoming self-aware of their existence within us, and more so, their control over us. Once self aware, we must then find mechanisms to regulate and flush them from our minds. Great leadership, in my view, ultimately is more about letting go then getting more. And one of the key things great leaders learn to let go of, are, mental toxins.

The Final Frontier

When we come to the end of our journey as leaders, what is the purpose of our travels? What is final frontier? I think the promised land of leadership is wisdom. I like to think of wisdom as a state of being in which we are still animated with great passion and determination for life, but now, we are stripped of all the former ego-baggage once limiting us. But there is a gate leaders must pass through to get to wisdom, and over this gate is written the word, humility. Some will pass through this gate, many will not. The wisest leaders I have met, those with a true trans-partisan view and a generative spirit, seem to me to be people of great humility and fully open to grace. Wise leaders seem to know this about life: Everything belongs, and everything matters. Some people I know rise to great rank or status, yet they never become wise. They simply can’t push down their egos enough to fit through humility’s narrow gate. A wise leader can laugh at himself, his failures and foibles, and still resonate excellence. An ego-based leader cannot let go of his ego, and therefore, exudes mostly toxins. One passed through the gate, the other turned away.

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 March 30th

March 30, 2015 | No Comments »

Regrets? I’ve Had a Few

Now standing mid-point between youth and older age, I find my gaze equally inward, backward, and forward. And with greater perspective I am reminded that, in the end, I’ll more deeply regret those things I didn’t do than the mistakes I made. Most of the mistakes I’ve made, seen in retrospect, are now like dear friends; they taught me lessons I needed to learn as a man and as a leader. Didn’t want those lessons; but I needed them. Yet when I think of past opportunities I failed to grasp, out of fear, I see those with a deeper sense of regret. Risks, I think, are simply masks to unexpected opportunities and unimagined experiences. Risk is just a sense we are on unfamiliar terrain. Risk feels dangerous because it presents to us a very steep learning curve. But think of it; have you ever felt more alive or more motivated than when you were on a steep learning curve? Steep is good; it is the vitality of living and leading we should seek. The worst thing that can happen to a leader is to die inside at age 35, yet live to be 85.

Inner Compass

All great leaders develop an inner compass, but it takes time. Early in life, often until middle age, we gauge our worth and our value via external comparison. We measure ourselves against the Joneses; am I better than Joe? Am I smarter than John? Is my salary larger than Bill’s? As long as we remain other focused, we’ll remain mostly ineffective as leaders. Why? Because great leadership is built on self leadership. We simply cannot effectively resonate with others until we have mastered ourselves. A rich inner life, founded on inner authority, must come before influence of others. If we focus on self mastery, we become the masters of our own destiny. If we fail self mastery, then we hand our destiny to others. An inner compass is a personal code of conduct, bearing, and behavior. Armed with this inner compass, one will find a corresponding increase in positive influence with others. Life is never as good or bad as it seems; nor are we. But we should do everything we can, with regard to self mastery, to be the navigator of our own ship.

The Wrong Path

Much is written about the role of failure in leadership. I often reflect on failure as a truthful, though generally unwanted, element to growth. It is impossible to find any past great leader who wasn’t a failure at times. This observation teaches us that failure is a precursor to greater success. We must endure the crucible to burn away the limiting elements of our lesser self to then enable the emergence of our better self. In this way, failures are signposts on our journey. Failures avail to us, often with searing discomfort, exactly when we are on the wrong path. And once we realize we’re on the wrong path, the next step is to determine why. This takes honest self reflection. Why is the most important knowledge in getting us off the wrong path and onto a new path. In my life, my biggest breakthroughs came when I felt most stuck and most frustrated, because it was during these wasteland experiences that I was forced to look inward, and then to think differently. We must first think outside the box before we can live outside the box and grow.

A Toast to Camaraderie

My life has been enriched by camaraderie. The lads from my childhood neighborhood; sports teammates from the gridirons and hard courts; the soulful bonds of always faithful Marines. Each of these experiences where made special, were in fact peak experiences, because of bone-deep feelings of companionship. Camaraderie is a magical elixir, an extremely rare and precious commodity, which separates great from good, and elevates groups from average to champions. Camaraderie is not bestowed; it is earned, it is shared, and it is felt as a by-product of common purpose, deep meaning, and group sacrifice. These reminiscences remind me, and reconfirm to me, two key truths. First, camaraderie must be cultivated by intentional leaders. It won’t happen by chance. Second, camaraderie is an expression of the inner quality of the group. Camaraderie reveals we are only as good as the company we make, and the company we keep. Great companions make individuals better, and those better individuals make the group excel. So here’s a toast to camaraderie!

Climbing the Ladder

A common phrase describing career growth is “climbing the corporate ladder.” As a metaphor this works fine if one believes leadership growth is rung-by-rung. I don’t. Here’s why. First, leadership growth does not fit well into a lineal, rung-by-rung construct. Leadership growth is far more organic and circular; more like a labyrinth. Second, “Am I climbing the ladder?” is not a valid question for leaders to ask. Better questions to ask are: Why am I climbing and where am I heading? The only climb a leader should undertake is towards self mastery, self-discipline, and personal accountability. And the place where leaders should be moving is towards wisdom, significance, and succession. Ultimately, great leaders come to realize and embrace this truth: It is far better to be at the bottom of a labyrinth you need, than to be at the top of a ladder you don’t. The leadership labyrinth makes you, the corporate ladder breaks you.

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 March 23rd

March 23, 2015 | No Comments »

The Busyness Illusion

Go on a walk-about in your office and pay particular attention to peoples’ work modes. Many are in a perpetual state of busyness; hammering out spreadsheets, completing timesheets, posting to account ledgers, running from meeting to meeting, or most worrisome: slinging out endless emails. These are well-intentioned people, some of whom even see themselves as leaders. But the problem is they correlate busyness with effectiveness. Their theory goes like this: If you are busy you must be getting a lot done. Ah….., not really.  We need to make two vital distinctions here. First, leadership is the art of human influence, measured in affect and effect, not activity. Second, real significance does not stem from activity; it comes from purposeful focus and mindful intention. Many of the busiest people I know are some of the least effective in terms of output. Yes, they move a lot of paper but they move few large stones of influence and they touch few hearts and minds. Output and effectiveness, not activity, are the true measures of leadership.

Watching Gandhi

The movie Gandhi aired on TV recently, and because I’ve long admired the man, I watched it again. Though I’d never try to distill someone as significant as Gandhi into a tidy list of take-aways, I do find myself constantly coming back to this question when I reflect on his life: What made him unique as a man and leader? I believe it was his willingness to answer his call and his courage to will this one thing: to be a great-souled person. More simply, he lived by a more demanding code than most. Let’s be honest; we all have the ability to live by a higher code and a more rigorous set of standards, but most of us lack the willingness to go down that path. Why? Because it is hard. A higher code of living requires enormous self-discipline and constant sacrifice. For most of us, heck…its just easier being average. But if we can learn to identify the tenets of exemplary character and guide our thoughts and actions by classic virtues, then we too can gradually break free from mediocrity. And if we do, we, like Gandhi, can begin to answer honor’s call.

Sustainable Leadership

Listening to a recent news roundtable, the term sustainable was bandied about describing a system designed to endure across a broad arc of time. Which got me thinking; isn’t this exactly what we seek to do in developing a leadership culture in our groups? We are seeking sustainable leadership, are we not? Most organizations, I fear, neither see leadership this way nor do they possess a paradigm in which leadership is fundamental to their ethos. As a result, they wrongly approach leadership as a bolt-on tactic: a workshop over here, a guest lecture over there. Hit or miss, once and done. What futility! To build sustainable leadership, which I define as a culture where leaders cultivate and produce other leaders, we must start by creating an organizational ethos whose cornerstone is, leadership. Leadership must not be seen as a bolt on, but as a bedrock. Leadership must not be viewed as an afterthought, but as a forethought. To create deep reservoirs of leadership talent we must create organizations built on, and animated by, leadership.

The Higher You Go, The Less You Know

Once upon a time there was a King who ascended to the crown early in life. During these nascent years,  when inexperienced, he sought regular counsel and diverse perspective. He needed these contrarian voices to flesh out his blind spots, and he welcomed them. As time went by and as his Kingdom grew, he became increasingly isolated from contrarian perspectives. His counsel gradually shrank to a small cadre of like-minded people, whose favorite refrain was “Yes, Sir” and whose only objective was to tell the King what he wanted to hear. It was only the court jester, through parable and story, who could pass to the King candid messages contrary to his world view. What the King had to finally admit, as must all who climb the ladder of power, was this: The higher you go, the less you know. So one day, tired of all the group think, the King formed a new cadre, a round table of courageous knights, centered on this core virtue: Embrace the truth. Truth, the King learned, not only sets you free, but truth is also the path to effective leadership.  But he kept the jester, just to keep things light!

Want to Have a Great Day?

One of the hard truths we must come to grips is this: Everything comes out of nothing. The moment you awake and make your way to the office, everything that will occur during that day comes out of nothing. Meaning: You can’t predict it or fully control it. So you might think; why even try to prepare; just show up and wing it. Here’s another way to think of it. Do you want to have a great day? Then start with a great mindset! Your mindset is one thing you can control. The greatest tool in a leader’s arsenal is his mindset, attitude, and paradigm. If we can develop the self-discipline to rise each day, carve out sacred time to center ourselves and get into the right mindset, then we arm ourselves with the best antidote for chaos and challenge. I like to think of this early morning centering as the leader’s golden hour; the crucial time to put ourselves into the right state of mind to positively and purposefully engage the day. If we wait until the workday has begun, the golden hour is lost and we’ll become prisoner to frenzy. So, you want to have a great day? Start with a great mindset!

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 March 16th

March 16, 2015 | No Comments »

A Journey I Didn’t Even Know I Was Taking

Throughout my life I’ve left home a lot. Home, understood as our comfort zone, can be a comfortable place even if it limits us. In small, often subtle ways, we are all called to leave home, often aided by trusted friends, mentors, or just a good kick in the rear end. These mentors see our potential, and so they urge us to move, leave our comfort zones, and get onto the path of growth. For me, these times occurred when I had to leave the “glory days” of High School; the comfort of College and campus life; separate myself from friends every three years from military postings; and recently, saying farewell to a transformational 3-decade crucible as a US Marine. When I look back across this expanse of experience I see so many people, places, and events that were in fact mile markers on my path, and signposts crucial to a journey I didn’t even know I was taking. And the point of this reflection? Everything belongs, even the smallest things. Sometimes we have to leave home, to come home, to our better selves.

The Moral of the Story

I recently re-read Homer’s The Odyssey. Like re-heated stew, sometimes the second reading of epic stories reveals deeper insights after some simmering time. So I thought: What is the moral of the story? When I first read the book years ago I though the points of the story were the imbedded morals; quotes I could somehow condense, commit to a 3 X 5 card, and place on my desk. But now I realize the moral of the story is, well, the story itself. Think of it; what is the point of The Odyssey, or Hamlet, or The Iliad? Is the point to pluck some truth and then slip it into our pocket for future reference to guide our moral decisions? Don’t think so. The story itself is the point of the story. The point of epic stories like The Odyssey, understood correctly, is that they actually point to truths about ourselves. We are both the one being called to the slippery slope by the Sirens and the one lashing ourselves to the mast to protect our honor. As leaders, mythic Ithaca may be our destination, but the journey is our destiny.

Inside-Out

In pursuit of heroic leadership I constantly remind myself that attaining excellence, for the most part, is an inside-out affair. To cultivate external influence, we first need to develop a rich inner life, and equally, inner authority. We must first move inward before we can influence outward. And if we try to break this immutable law of self-mastery (for example, by trying superficial self-help gimmicks), true excellence will remain illusive. The hard truth is, we must first go inside the labyrinth, to its very center, and learn to navigate the maze ourselves. But if we remain true to this Hero path; if we accept the labyrinth as a necessary element of our growth and transformation, then we find ourselves breaking through barriers and moving across growth thresholds. We have to trust that crucibles of growth, though daunting, when endured with tenacity, are the necessary handmaidens of our destiny. And what do we gain when we accept this heroic paradigm? A new way of understanding leadership, and a new way of living it.

The Courage to Lead

Let’s be honest; it is easier to go through life not leading than leading. And like it or not; not everyone is called to be a great leader. Why? Because everyone is not equally endowed with the same basic building blocks of leadership. We do a disservice to ourselves when we make it appear as fact that, with a little study and a bit of application, yes—everyone can be a great leader. Not true. Here’s the real truth: Great leadership requires really, really rare and unusual qualities. Which means: great leaders are very rare. Yes, potential is dormant in all of us; the issue is whether or not we’ll heed the call to lead and whether or not we’ll harness the incredible conviction to tap our potential. Most do not, because great leadership requires a wholehearted commitment of heart and soul; an investment most find prohibitive. This is why I believe  courage is the cardinal virtue, because courage enables all other leadership virtues. Without the courage to live and lead by a higher code, we simply won’t have the fortitude to reach the high ground.  But if we do, oh my! This is when magic happens.

Put Yourself on Trial

Each day I do an hour of exercise. I use this time of exertion not simply to engage my body, but more so, to release my mind from the busyness of the day. During these times of solitude I find my mind wandering into playback mode; a time to recount my thoughts, actions, and behaviors from the past day. I like to think of this as a time of purposeful self-indictment where I put myself on trial. I force myself to look at my inner motives, intentions, and moods and work to bring fresh insight to my leadership lens. This is no feel-good gimmick; rather, this is hard, brutally honest reflection which, I would argue, is the necessary precursor to growth as a leader. I don’t always like what I see, but I find the more courageous I am in this endeavor, the more authentic I become as a man and the more resonant I become as a leader. So I commend this action to all: Put yourself on trial and avail yourself to regular sessions of purposeful self-indictment. For as classic wisdom teaches us, this is the only true path to “Know Thyself.”

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 March 9th

March 9, 2015 | No Comments »

Right Now

One of the hardest qualities of leadership to master is the ability to recognize the importance of right now. Today, this very day, is the only day we can truly influence; yesterday is gone, tomorrow has yet to emerge. Right now is our reality but it is also an emergent gift we are given. Think of it this way:  All of your past days have been leading to this very moment, and similarly, all of your future days will proceed from this very moment. Therefore, right now is a vital crossroads; the confluence of all your past actions and all your future aspirations. Moreover, there will never be another day exactly like today. If we correctly lead through this prism of right now we see more clearly the need to seize the day. Great leaders rise each morning, much like Native American Plains Warriors of lore, saying: “Today is a good day to do great things.” We never know with absolute certainty what today’s leadership actions may bring; we just have to trust that real significance is borne by linking many great days in a row like pearls hung on a string. So we must lead with a positive sense of urgency right now because today will be gone before we know it.

From Many, One

Next to my condo is the San Diego Children’s Museum. On Saturday mornings children gather there to create arts and crafts. Recently, a group of children created pin wheels made of multi-colors and hues. As I watched them move the pin wheels through the air, the whirling affect caused the multiple colors to blend into a single color. And I thought: What a great metaphor for leading and creating ethos! When we begin  leading a group, the members are like the static pin wheel; many individual, disparate, and isolated elements. But as we begin to apply positive leadership and create unity, the wheel starts to turn faster and faster and gradually, the once individualized elements blend into one cohesive whole. Similarly, at the beginning, the demographic elements are segmented and isolated; younger versus older, experienced versus inexperienced. Once again, with positive leadership, the wheel starts to turn faster and the same blending affect occurs, where past, present, and future now align into a single arc of common experience.  It’s the leader’s sacred obligation to enable this shared intentionality. From many, one.

The Illusion of Our Times

On many levels, life in modern society is getting easier. Think of how effortless it is today to get instant information like driving directions, music, analytical research, the weather. Literally with a tap of a key a world of instantaneous information is available to anyone, anywhere. That this is a technological marvel is without question; however, viewed from the prism of leadership, which is the domain of effectiveness not efficiency, I grow concerned about our insatiable demand for instant gratification–the illusion of our times. Leadership is a master craft and will always defy instant gratification. We will never evolve technologically to the point were one can download, like a killer app, the secrets of leadership. There are simply no shortcuts to leadership mastery, any more than the ancient Japanese Tea Ceremony could be reduced to a 5 x 8 card, taught in a one day class, and still produce classic tea masters. Sorry, but excellence of any form will always take a lifetime, and even then, we still don’t fully get there.

Predisposition

The most oft-asked question about leadership is, can everyone be a great leader? The truthful answer is, no. However, a more important question is, can everyone become a better leader? Yes, but only if one is predisposed to wanting to. Having a predisposition to lead is akin to seeing oneself as a leader and seeing the world as a leader sees it. This predisposition to lead is a mindset essential to better leadership. Here’s the brutal truth we must face: No amount of teaching will convince a person to lead unless one’s predisposition to be convinced is stronger than one’s predisposition not to be. For anyone not predisposed to leadership, no amount of facts or statistics will convince them of the existence of great leadership. Which leads to this related question: How do we create in people this predisposition for leading? By experiencing leadership! No form of excellence can be fully explained; it can only be experienced. Only when we experience leadership, much like experiencing the joy of travel or the soulfulness of  camaraderie, do we open ourselves to the call and the door finally opens.

Improvement

The life-long path to leadership mastery is strewn with many twists and turns and triumphs and defeats. So, how do we know if, or when, we are improving? How do we know we are getting it, and getting there? I don’t think there’s a precise metric, per se, but here are a few subtle clues. We are improving when:

• We find ourselves being better men and woman than we are;
• We act wiser than we know;
• We summon courage we never knew we had;
• We offer compassion when before we struck a blow;
• We are graceful in the face of adversity;
• We realize the gold we’ve gained is valuable only if given away.

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 March 2nd

March 2, 2015 | No Comments »

Under Your Skin

In the past, I’ve stated–leadership is more caught than taught. I heard this phrase years ago concerning other forms of master craft, and I believe it is especially true about leadership. We only begin to learn leadership when we hear the call to lead, and we open to a life of leading only when we yearn to lead. We catch leadership when we, the student, are open and ready to receive the lesson. In this way, leadership, much like music and poetry, affects us under the surface. Leadership is a subcutaneous art; it has to get under your skin to move you, to resonate deeply, and to pull you forward along a life-long path of development. I believe leadership is mostly felt in the heart and soul, not in the head. Once the call to lead moves under the skin and becomes part of us then, and only then, does it begin to become real to us. Only when its affect becomes subcutaneous does who we are as a people begin to align with what we project as leaders. Leadership must get under your skin.

Once Upon a Time

I teach leadership mostly through stories because stories are the best way to learn deep truths. So, what is the teaching power of stories? First, stories have great capacity to both possess and liberate; they possess us because they are compelling and they liberate us because they uncover a long forgotten insight. Second, a good story engages all our “knowing levels”– psychological, physical, social, emotional, spiritual. Think of any great story you have heard many times before and ask yourself why, after hearing it over and over, you still listen to it to very end, even though you know the outcome. The story’s moral is what captivates us. Third, great stories put the listener in the unique learning posture of having to ask: Are the story’s morals and maxims true? More importantly, are they true to me? A great story reveals this penetrating truth: The story is really about us, and the story points to clues about our own lives. Once upon a time, understood correctly, is actually our time, today.

Things Not Seen

The longer I live the clearer I see the role of chance, luck, and invisible helping-hands in my life. In my past, as events happened, these elements were mostly unseen. I suppose they were not seen because early in life, with my gaze set sternly towards the horizon and my ego mostly in control, I tended to credit events to, well, myself. We all tend to think we make it on our own through sheer will and determination. And no doubt; willpower is vital. However, as we grow as leaders and become more discerning we begin to see the role of hidden gifts in our lives. When I look back at all the people impacting my life I see clearly the unseen givers who provided gifts of friendship, mentorship, camaraderie, and companionship. These hidden gifts, these things not seen, were fundamental to my growth, maturation, and texture as a man and as a leader.  So I am constantly reminding myself of this truth: Things not seen fully today, or a stroke of blind luck tomorrow, may in the future be the very things that make all the difference.

Whose Business Is It?

In today’s workplace there’s a growing tendency to see leadership, and the actions of devoted leaders, as somehow prying into other people’s lives. I sometimes see people react negatively to genuine acts of mentorship by saying or implying, “stay out of my business.” To which I can only say this: There is no such thing as your own business when it comes to leading. Through whatever sad means, our society has become a fundamentally confused and highly offended lot. We confuse positive engagement with prying; we confuse purposeful stewardship with meddling; we confuse dedicated coaching with violating one’s rights. Have we really become this thin skinned and victimized? Would a devoted parent ever say their child’s life is not their business? Surely not a good parent. Likewise, a great leader should never say the lives of his people are not his business. For heroic leaders, there’s no such thing as your own business.

Are We There Yet?

My sister recently sent me an old photo of our family packed into a 1970’s era station wagon driving from Boston down to Cape Cod. As I looked at the photo I tried to imagine what was being said in that car, but more than likely, it was something like, “Are we there yet?” This reminiscence made me think of our journey as leaders. We start early, pack our bags and leave home, and travel to a distant destination. As we move along the road we experience many sights, sounds, and changing geography. We speed up and slow down, stop for fuel, change the tires maybe. And at each juncture of the journey we ask ourselves: Are we there yet? Though we’ve come a long way, somehow we don’t feel as if we’ve yet arrived. So we re-enter the journey and press on ahead. And the moral of this little story? In the pursuit of excellence, we become keenly aware that the miles we still have to travel are much greater than the miles we’ve already covered.

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 February 23rd

February 23, 2015 | No Comments »

Behind and Ahead

When reflecting on leadership development I realize we are all in a constant state of moving back-and-forth between behind and ahead. Early in life we are admittedly behind; lacking experience, short on wisdom, deficient in self mastery. As we progress, and if we transform ourselves, we begin to transition to being ahead, not in terms of winning or losing, but in terms of self mastery. We need to gain self-control, self-regulation, self-and discipline to move ahead of our former limitations. Being behind is neither bad nor unnatural; it is simply a reality we all face. Moreover, this interplay between behind and ahead plays out daily in all organizations and teams. Think of it: Most groups are made up of older people whose lives are now mostly behind them, coupled with younger people whose lives are mostly ahead of them. Some see this generational divide as a form of tension; I prefer to see it as a healthy opportunity for those further ahead on the journey to aide the ascent of those slightly behind. Behind and ahead are constants for us all.

The Call to Lead

When I was a young boy, the Catholic Mass was still conducted in Latin. Can’t say I recall much of it, but one word resonating with me even today is vocare, which means “to call.” At the heart of any great pursuit must be a calling, and so it is true with heroic leadership: One must be open to the call to lead. Our modern word vocation is derived from the Latin vocare; this is why we think of a vocation as a calling. Leadership, understood correctly, is a vocation. In our modern world we often mistakenly think of leadership as a tactic or function, which explains the modern mania of trying to reduce leadership to simplistic menus and lists. Ugh! Leadership, properly seen as a life-long journey and as a component of one’s character, is a calling to excellence. The question is, are we open to this calling? If we are open to the call to lead, then I believe we are set on a course distinguished by these two timeless truths: (1) You will do what you most need to do, and (2) you will do what the world most needs done.

Saying Yes to Leading

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do.

Time

Time is something we all need to mature and grow as leaders. But the reality is, we are all given the same amount of time in a day to use. So, what distinguishes great leadership with respect to time? How we think of it! In Greek, the word chronos means time but in a purely quantitative sense; seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. Chronological time. For many leaders, chronos is the only way they think of time, and hence, they focus on time management. Good, but not great. The Greeks, in their classic wisdom, knew there was another and more important aspect of time, which they called Kairos. Kairos meant time but in a qualitative sense. Kairos describes what one could do in time, an aspect not able to be measured by a watch. To be great leaders, we must shift our focus from chronos to kairos; we must stop focusing on what we do with time and start focusing on what we do in time. Or said another way: It is time to think differently about time.

Formulistic Leadership

When reading leadership articles posted on line, I see many resorting to formulistic leadership. You’ve probably seen the like, where leadership is presented like an algebra problem: x + y = z. If you know the value of x you can solve some of the problem. If you know the value of two components, bingo! You can solve the entire problem. The deficiency with formulistic leadership is threefold: One, it views leadership as a tactic instead of an art; two, it wrongly reduces leadership to a set of quantifiable techniques capable of fitting into neat formulas; and three, it fails to address whether the person trying to solve the problem actually understands the components in a meaningful way. Leadership, as a master craft, defies a formulistic solution. What’s a better approach? Leaders must take the x and y and flesh them out in terms of human experience, human dynamics, and mostly—their own personal experience. We can’t simply repeat formulas as if in a playbook. Only when the x and y of leadership become foundational components of our character and our self mastery will true leadership emerge.

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 February 16th

February 17, 2015 | No Comments »

Things That Matter

I am intrigued by what sets champions and dynasties apart from the rest. And though there is no simple answer, at present I cannot find a better way of explaining my conclusion than this way: Great Leaders distinguish between what matters now and what matters always. What matters now tends to be considerations of tactics and techniques. This tighter lens of “now” involves considerations of execution, course correction, and adaptation. Important, yes; however, I believe what really enables long-term excellence and the sustainment of a championship culture is a leader’s ability to focus on what matters always. What matters always transcends time, place, circumstance, conditions, budgets, and political whim. What matters always constitutes our non-negotiable core, our true north, and our foundational cornerstone. This is the realm of ethos, meaning, and purpose. So yes; all things matter, both big and small. However, to move into the realm of champions, leaders must focus on what matters always.

Between “As Is” and “To Be”

Leaders are in a constant flux between states of  “as is” and “to be.” Each state is a reality of leadership, and moreover, being between each state creates tension. Why? Because most of the time things are not the way we want them to be; it is just the way they are. Leaders must develop the self control to lead in the tension of moving towards where we want to be, and on the other hand, dealing with the way things are. Both states represent a form of reality for our organizations. Leaders best deal with issues of “to be” through a compelling vision, effective strategy, creating unity of effort, and agile course corrections. Conversely, leaders best deal with issues of “as is” through facing the brutal truths and communicating those hard realities to our people. The truth is, we cannot achieve “to be” without dealing with “as is,” and equally, we cannot correct “as is” without a compelling vision of “to be.” The ability to master both helps us appreciate what we have always known yet sometimes forget about leadership, which is this: It  is more art than science.

Standing On The Shore

I like being at the ocean, body surfing and swimming against the strong waves. I am still able to fully engage  in this experience but I know a time is approaching when I will only be able to stand on the shore and watch. I think this is a great metaphor for living and leading, as it reminds us of the criticality of time and of coming thresholds. It reminds me I must be very careful with the time I am given, and very intentional with my life. What we do now, every day, and especially while we still can, matters enormously for ourselves and those we lead. Like most people, I easily fall victim to thinking I have all the time in the world. But this truer reality keeps coming back to me: I only have one life and one shot at creating a leadership legacy. Each of us must make the choice to get into the day, especially now when we can, and fully engage in our life and our development. Yes–there really is a point of no return; a threshold beyond which we no longer have the energy, vitality, and time to go back to zero and start over again. The day will soon come where all we can do is stand on the shore and watch.

Reverberate

Leadership, like any art, is hard to precisely measure in terms of effect. Therefore, I like to think of great leadership like sound reverberating. We may emit leadership in small, isolated doses, maybe limited to just one person at a time and one day at a time; however, similar to sound, we have no real way of knowing how far, and how deeply, that effect might bounce. The person you touch today with your leadership, whether positively or negatively, will soon touch another, and they in turn, another. One’s leadership, like a musical chord reverberating in a sound studio, often cascades and expands far beyond the initial contact. In truth, who knows for sure where the reverberation ends? If we understand leadership this way, as a form of reverberation, we’ll place far more intentionality in our daily actions. Moreover, this reverberation  magnifies the importance of mentorship as a cornerstone element in leading. The one person we touch today with our leadership will, depending on the quality of our stewardship, touch others. Who can say where the impact ends?

The End Game

Why lead? Many of us could technically complete our jobs, quite sufficiently well, and never really lead. I see many fine people carry out their functional responsibilities, often at a high level of competence, but never intentionally engage another person in real leadership. So again, why lead? Let me answer this using a fictional character, Joe. Joe works hard at his job. He arrives early each day, arranges his ledgers and spreadsheets, and barely breaks free from his desk for the eight hours he logs daily. Joe does this day after day, week after week, month after month. Joe lives his life through this basic lens: The more I get, the more I have. More money, more suits, more cars, more toys. Mathematically understood, Joe is correct: He surely acquires more things and, in some thin way, he is  successful. But in all this getting, Joe is missing a far greater wisdom about life and leading, which is this: The more you give away, the more you are. So why lead? To give away our best, which in turn brings out the best in others. This is the true end game.

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!

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