Leader's Compass 32 - Patience - THE Essential Leadership Ingredient

When I was a young boy my mother would use any opportunity she could to teach me the importance of patience. Waiting in the doctors office, sitting in church, driving the 2 hour drive to grandma's house; the message was the same -" it'll teach you patience"

All of those times paid off. I learned that patience was a virtue to be coveted and practiced regularly. In fact, I've observed that patience in leadership is probably the most crucial ingredient to the recipie. A wise person once said that when it comes to people "slow is fast." This means that if you want someone to grow quickly be patient and slow down. People, unlike objects thrive in nurturing, patient relationships. The wise leader uses patience as the powerful tool to help breed a culture of support and growth.

Over the years I've had the pleasure of watching young managers become true leaders by learning and practicing patience. "Do it now, because I said so!" becomes replaced with patient nurturing and passionate teaching that respects the natural growth process. Patient leaders tend not to get as frustrated because they understand that patience is a more powerful tool than pushy persuasion. 

The patient leader tends to follow the mature decision making process when making decisions. They ask:

1 - How does this decision affect my team member?

2 - How does this decision affect my team?

3 - How does this decision affect our customer? And finally 

4 - How does this decision affect our company?

By patiently pausing and then choosing action after filtering the decision through the above process the patient leader is more likely to make a savvy, more seductive decision luring his or her followers toward wanting to do what the leader asks. 

Like physical strength movements patience is developed and strengthened through consistent practice. How is your patience practice coming along? Don't forget to pause and be patient. Lead on.

Leader's Compass 31 - Running Lean - How Managers Can Creatively Cut The Fat WithoutCompromising Quality

All too often we think more is better. Recently I've read about how some retailers are finding thier revenues down and are needing to "trim the fat" through better expense management. Although most companies and many people personally have had to cut back on spending when times are tough tightening the belt a bit can be a helpful reminder of what is important. Below are a few helpful tips.

1. Always invest in training and development. It's been said that a great leader knows more about his assets than his liabilities. This does not mean that the leader is a fool that ignores expenses, but that they look for, see and understand the depth of the assets in his possession. Spending time with and training the team you work with can have a massive effect on your overall cost savings. 

Better trained, more developed people are able to easily do more without becoming burned out and overwhelmed. 

2. Maximize individual strengths. A solid manager will take pause and look from both a long term strategic and short term tactical perspective what strengths in her individuals are best utilized where. People that are maximizing strengths in thier day to day are happier, more productive and more effective as well. Putting the right person, with the right talent and skill in the right job is the first step toward success.

3. Don't forget the fine toothed comb. Doing a thourough search for company fat - programs that are not producing, projects that are unproductive will always be found through a detailed approach to the financial statements.

4. Commit to killing sacred cows when necessary. Every company has no shortage of sacred cows. Perhaps it's the idea that the CEO loves and everyone has followed despite its eventual ineffectiveness. Maybe it's the cultural shift made by the entire corporation in an effort to improve an area but instead created more redundancy in the business. 

When cutting costs effectively it's important to go into the process with the commitment to kill any sacred cow that is no longer serving the company needs.

5. Finally - never sacrifice the customer experience. Experience is what keeps us coming back to a retailer, a restaurant, hotel, health club, or any other service business. Sure, competitive pricing is great, but if history has taught us anything about business the experience consumers have is paramount to the company's long term success.

See from the customer point of view and never forget that intelligent consumers can see when you are trying to save a buck at thier expense. Don't fool yourself into thinking you are fooling them if one of your cost cutting measures puts customers needs on the back burner.

In the end lean times can create better efficiency and effectivity if done properly. Cost cutting is a sharp sword that if done too aggressively and without the velvet hammer approach can alienate employees and customers alike. Done well however it can be a great lesson in leadership, team building and loyalty creation. Plan well and lead on.

Leader's Compass 30 - One of These Things is Not Like The Other

"Life is hard, and so am I"

- Mark Everett, The Eels

In school I got sent to the principal's office for not conforming to the standard regularly. Times have changed but I haven't. Ultimately, at the heart of it I'm what you would call a contrarian. I do things contrary to what is popular. I'm not particularly interested in the most popular way of doing something because I've never gotten much satisfaction from being a lemming.

When I was younger being a contrarian, someone who marched to the beat of a different drummer didn't seem so cool. I struggled with the fact that my inner voice would not only be able to cut through the bullshit of what "authority" figures said, but that I couldn't just go with the conventional flow. Call it my artistic expression, my strong willed stubbornness or my analytical passion. Whatever it is I was born hard wired to not conform. 

Over time I came to observe that leaders were those that, like me were a bit off the beaten path. They didn't listen to the masses. In my home office I have a quote from the great Henry Ford that says "If I would have asked them (the public) what they wanted they would have told me [they wanted] a faster horse." Instead of listening to the masses Ford created the automobile and revolutionized our world transportation.

Managers and leaders are cut from different cloth. A great leader can also be a great manager. A good manager however has a difficult time becoming a great leader. Managers listen to the status quo, develop systems to maintain that status quo and follow the mantra "create efficiency and don't rock the boat." Leaders rock the boat...regularly. Leaders are rarely "appropriate." 

When asked about his general who "drank too much and cursed too much" Abraham Lincoln, a great leader in his own right responded that that general was getting results and that he wished he had several more "drunk generals." That "drunk general" by the way ended up winning the war for Lincoln and the country.

Being a leader means you are driven by passion and a love for the people you lead. Sometimes, those people, because of their own weakness look to you as the "fault." Their personal self esteem issuers cause them to betray themselves and ultimately you. Does that mean the leader is in the wrong? Not necessarily. The great contrarian Winston Churchill said that if you are have no enimies then you have never taken a stand or made a bold action.

Being a contrarian is risky, and all risks come with upsides and downsides. Great leaders weigh the risks and act anyway knowing that at the end of the day they (unlike their manager counterparts believe) cannot control every outcome.

Contrarians are leaders. They are those that stop, observe, act out of what they belive is right and not out of what "the rules" say. A great contrarian, therefore must become a great appoligizer. Contrarian leaders don't mean to offend and are often misunderstood because they do not follow the status quo. Apologies for misunderstandings and unintend offenses are had regularly.

Ultimately we all have at least a small contrarian inside of us. Some have a stronger voice than others, perhaps because they have learned to listen to it more often over the years. Regardless, feed that contrarian. Be the guy, be the girl that is, as Sesame Street taught us "is not like the other" 

Live well. Lead on.

Leader's Compass 29 - Two Crucial Leadership Skills

In his book Creativity - The Perfect Crime, Philippe Petit describes that the first step in his creative process is to start with chaos. "The word chaos is Greek and means 'that which gapes wide open. It's a beautiful world. I see a wide-open mouth hungry to swallow the worlds knowledge."

The art of parkour began in France. The French called this explosive running style "faire un parcour." Parkour, or playfull acrobatic running is running is a mix of running combined with gymnastic-type moves in an obstacle course, in city streets or throughout nature. At the heart of this style of movement is the ability to adapt ones movements to ones surroundings and environment.

Relationships are inherently either creative or destructive in nature depending on the way we approach them. A true leader and coach approaches the relationships in her life with the intent to create, build and develop. Like any other creative pursuit this requires stepping into the unknown, facing the chaos and opening up another person in a way that develops and creates.

One of the difficulties in navigating relationships is having the ability to perform gymnastic-like moves when communicating with others in order to stay on track. Flexibility is crucial in communication and relationship growth. Like the skilled parkour runner the skilled leader may need to leap over criticism, dodge anger and cartwheel past the initial challenges of tough conversations.

Two important tools in any leader's tool belt are coaching and feedback. Coaching is something a leader does when the foundations of trust, honesty and respect are present in the relationship. The process of coaching is fairly simple. When a problem or concern arises in a relationship the leader approaches the other person and in a non-attacking way tells them how they see a situation. Following their perspective they say "how do you see it?" Finally, the leader encourages the other person to create a plan to fix the problem, improve the situation and/or ensure the concern doesn't continue.

Coaching, like its brother feedback is fact based. Opinions, judgements and threats are not part of true coaching. Feedback, also a fact based tool in the leaders tool belt is a tool to be used with high and low performers to reinforce positive behaviors. "I really appreciate how thorough you were in your financial report. You really drilled down to the details and showed a strong grasp of your business. Thank you for the time and attention to detail you put in." 

This type of specific feedback shows the person exactly what you appreciated and what you thought they did well. The feedback approach builds confidence in a specific area and eliminates "the halo effect" we throw around when we say things like "you are awesome." Specific feedback drives more specific performance. Telling someone they are awesome, no matter how well intentioned only makes them feel good temporarily and does not give them anything to continue doing well.

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the majority of workers prefer getting positive feedback. Reading that may make you think "well duh"! Who loves receiving negative feedback? Not many. Therefore they ability to deliver coaching, rather than just negative feedback is crucial. Stepping into the wide expanse, opening up to the chaos is the first step in the creative process. Practice the skills of coaching and feedback and, like a great parkour artist you will be able to navigate your relationships well while making others feel great. Be a true professional - practice until you don't get it wrong. Lead on.

Leader's Compass 28 - A&I - A Lethal Combination

"I'm pretty much the best artist I know."

- Napolean Dynamite

We all know "that guy." You know, the guy who is never wrong, the guy who "always" knows, the guy who knew before you did..."that guy"....the legend in his own mind.

From rap stars songs revolving around themselves to the ever present "selfy" revolution we have transformed ourselves into a nation of hubris loving, self aggrandizing "that guys" or "that girls" that value arrogance over humility and ignorance over intelilligence.

Basic chemistry teaches us that certain compounds alone may not be as harmful as they are when combined with other chemicals. Mix the wrong two chemicals and you have and explosion. Psychology and relationships are the same. A&I, or arrogance and ignorance mixed together create an especially lethal compund for any leader. 

We can all remember that guy, or that girl who had a particular mastery of both qualities. Can't remember? Maybe that guy or that girl is you? Outside of just not showering, smelling bad and being consistently "the smelly kid" I can't think of a compound more repulsive to anyone in a leadership position. A&I drive others away, discourage growth and offend the masses. The legend becomes legendary in their hubris, their self aggrandizement, their constant need for self promotion. Sorry Mr. Important, but beyond your overly inflated ego no one cares how uber awesome you think you are.

Like a poison slowly spreading in the bloodstream of a leaders relationships the A&I compound has a tempering antidote. This tempering antidote is not an opposite, not an alternative but a vitamin, a medicine of sorts to lesson the negative affects. The curative compound L&R works as an appropriate antidote. L&R is not easy, however it can be both a quick fix and a long term deposit into the emotional bank account of any relationship.

L&R, or listening and restating go beyond mere passive listening, pretend listening (categorized by the "bullshit nod" and the classic "mmmhmm...'I'm not really listening but want you to think I am' grunt") and the ultimate "listening just to respond". L&R require you to be active with your ears and your body. Your body's language speaks to an inclination not only to hear, but to clarify and understand. L&R requires cognition, thought about what the other person is saying. L&R means that you may even be open emotionally to another person while you set your ego aside. 

  

If you ever find yourself pontificating on how awesome you are because you spent "like three hours shading the upper lip" of the drawing of your life remind yourself that A&I make you look about as cool as Napolean Dynamite in his stellar moon boots and rockin' Preston High gym class shirt. Take a dose of L&R and become truly legendary. Live well, be well and lead on.

Training and Development - Why Many Employees Fail

If you are a manager you have, at some point made a crucial mistake when it came to training your employees; you trained a subordinate and then expected them to display a certain amount of mastery in the task , project or skill you just trained them in almost immediately afterward. When the results were less than perfect you got frustrated and, like most inexperienced managers wondered what was wrong with that person who seemed like such a shining star when you hired her.

Recently while conducting a day long leadership training I had a manager who is also an experienced yoga instructor come to the front of the room and show a yoga series called a sun salutation. Explaining each step as she went she beautifully and elegantly trained the group how to perform this series of moves. Afterward I thanked her and asked her to return to her seat while I invited another manager to the front. "Show us how to do a sun salutation" I asked. Although he had a solid effort the result fell far short of the skilled instructor. Why?

Following the demonstrations I asked the yoga teacher to explain in detail her development process. "I started by going to classes at least 1-2 times a week for two years. After that I took a weekend certification and started teaching. Eventually I did an even deeper training and received my 500 hour certification. I still take classes at least weekly and when I travel I go to classes from any instructor I can to learn more." 

So what is the difference? Why was one persons fluidity of movement so flawless, seemingly effortless and far more beautiful and elegant that the other's? The difference lies in development. Although the second manager in the room was trained by the first he lacked the time, practice and ultimately development that the first had.

Training can take a short period of time, or extend out depending on the complexity of the task, skill or project being trained on. Development however takes much much longer. Development of skill, development of habits allowing for fluidity, beauty and grace in executing ones job takes time, repetition and practice. An art instructor I had in college said that "art is the process of correction through recognition." Life is much the same. Life, development is a process of correction through recognition.

To develop in an area a manager needs to put on the leadership perspective spectacles to see the development path ahead of the person they are working with. The leader must drill the team member until they develop mastery of the skills, the tasks, the projects that lead to success. The leader becomes the drill seargent, the drill coach driving the concepts further into the vernacular and habit of the growing employee.

To be a truly spectacular leader the manager must remember that training is the gateway to success. Training alone however can also be the gateway to failure. The key to creating strong and passionate people is to focus on and drive development. Train someone and forget them and you are rolling the dice on their success. Train someone and follow up with development and you increase the success odds dramatically. Practice. Correct. Praise. Develop. Be a leader. Develop people. Lead on.

Performance and Failure...And Why I Paint With Watercolor

Over the weekend I met an artist at an art festival who's work truly inspired me. He, like I works primarily in watercolor. His work was bold, colorful, flowing and textural. His subject matter was carefully selected and he painted what he saw - not what was there - the mark of a true artist.

When I was younger I ran both the 100 and the 400 meters in track. To this day I'll never forget the same uncomfortable feeling I would get as my feet pressed my spikes into the blocks, my knees became indented by the course track and my fingers found their way to a spot just before the starting line. "SET!" My knees shot off the ground, my tail in the air, my eyes fixated forward, my fingers and knuckles pressed into the track and my gut, oh my gut...50 Eagle Scouts couldn't have tied it into better knots...every...single time. It didn't matter if I knew, based on past experience that I could beat everyone in my heat or if I was racing against my toughest competition, my gut was always in shambles. BANG! The gun fired. I pushed off the blocks. I ran. My stomach knots magically disappeared. Every, single, time.

What inspired me most about this young artist was not only his work, but the combination of humility and kindness coupled with the bold style he exhibited in his work. "Here is my cell phone number. Find me on Facebook. I will be your friend. This is my name. It's Russian because I am Russian." The combination of subtlety and boldness was manifest in this great artists work. 

When I first started painting I was drawn to watercolor for a few reasons. First - oil painting stunk. I really couldn't stand the smell of the oils. Second - there is a flow and beauty with watercolor that you can't get with other media. And finally - the majority of people I talked to said that it was the hardest to learn, the most unforgiving and because of that the most difficult to master. That last statement alone was enough to convince me that I was going to learn watercolor and learn it well. I wanted to master the media that people told me was the toughest.

One of the things I've learned from practicing watercolor painting over the past 23 years is that there is both a fluidity and unforgiving nature to watercolor that make it both unnerving and exhilarating to use. As I have spent the past 20 or so years in and out of various leadership roles I've found that the same feeling I had when running track, the same knotted stomach I get when I start a painting comes whenever I go into a leadership opportunity. "Why," I've wondered? Why is it that when I take off "manager hat" and put on the "leadership cap" I get the uneasy feeling? I've pondered that over the years and think I've found the answer - performance and failure.

In management you set systems, manage controllables, oversee processes. In leadership you inspire others, mobilize their talents and, like the unforgiving watercolor or short sprint race get immediate feedback in the form of people's movement and speed of movement on your performance. Inspiring others is not easy. It's partially dependent on you and your ability to persuade. It's partially dependent on those around you and the moods they bring. Cold and flu? Upset stomach or headache? Nagging spouse that annoyed the person in front of you prior to you meeting with them? These factors are out of your control. You may give the most powerful, convincing monologue of your life and yet if the person across from you doesn't want it to be a dialogue it won't be.

The fear of the unknown is what tends to tie our gut in knots. We care, otherwise we couldn't be classified as leaders. We could say "it's only business," but then we have taken the leadership hat off and put on the cold, calculating hat of management.

The fear of what happens with the first brush stroke, the fear of what happens before the gun goes off is both natural and necessary in our leadership situations. The leader paints, he runs, she leads, despite the knots in the stomach. He does not stay at the starting line. She does not stare at a blank sheet of paper. He does not avoid the issues at hand. She confronts the issues in spite of the knots and realizes that the knots only mean what they meant way back when I was crouched over, my feet pressing my spikes into the blocks, my knees becoming indented by the course track and my fingers finding their way to a spot just before the starting line. It means performance matters. Leaders perform. That is the nature of leadership. They perform in getting people to follow them. If not, they have no one to lead and they have not performed and thus would not be considered a leader. Leaders find a way. Leaders run hard. Leaders paint boldly. Finally, leaders fail. Leaders lose the race sometimes. They paint a bad painting from time to time. They say something or do something that is taken the wrong way. They unintentionally hurt. Leaders fail, and then they race again, they paint more, they converse more passionately until they win. 

In conclusion I could write "don't be afraid of failure" just like I could write don't ever go to the bathroom anymore. Neither instance would you be able to follow my horrible advice. What advice I can give you is to act. When the gun goes off run your hardest. When a blank paper is in front of you drop some paint on it. When you are called on to lead, lead. When you do I can promise you this: First, you will fail. Second, if you are persistent, develop skills and run MANY races, you will eventually win. Lead on! Run on! Paint boldly!