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Common sense for the art of leading!

Month: November 2016

To lead or not to lead!

November 26, 2016 /

There are few things discussed more in our working lives than leadership.  Have we made leadership so complicated it seems unattainable?  It can become so daunting a concept people can become discouraged & avoid it altogether to instead focus on other aspects of our lives/careers we seem to able to control.  Why?  Isn’t it worth it?  Of course, it’s my feeling that it is & the decision to serve others has the power to transform your life journey!

“Leaders are made not born.”  -Vince Lombardi

What did he mean?   Can you really make a great leader?   My feeling is that he meant to inspire each of us to find what we’re good at, strive to be the best & remain optimistic that success will follow.  With self-reflection & intense desire to consistently dedicate efforts in this area you’ll grow.  You own your translation of what he meant & these findings can help you discover your authentic leadership “brand”.  This foothold will give you the confidence needed for the work ahead.

When asked about the topic of leadership, Colin Powell describes what it means to him (and who taught him) in this short video.

Colin Powell on Leadership

MENTORSHIP

Remember, only you have the power to choose your mentors & we can learn something from everyone if we choose.  Just because someone has a position of responsibility above you doesn’t mean they are automatically a mentor.  Likewise, those who you lead may not see YOU as a mentor.  Becoming comfortable with this fact (for real) can be very freeing.  Give them your best & time will determine the value you provided!

LEADERS ARE PEOPLE TOO

We all make mistakes; modeling the boss you wish you had will keep you genuine & humble.  In this Harvard Business Review video, they outline some of the top focus areas for all of us to use for self-reflection.

Mistakes Leaders Make

LEADERS LEARN

Today we have the luxury of so many great resources available at our fingertips anytime, anywhere.   Finding the people we relate to will consistently feed our curiosity, creativity & growth.  Here are a few of my trusted go-to thinkers & doers.  Is your list serving your needs in leadership development?

Peter Drucker, Marshall Goldsmith, Simon Sinek, Gary Hamel, Robert Townsend, Dick Winters, Bill Walsh, Colin Powell, Vince Lombardi, John Maxwell, Ken Blanchard, Steven Covey, John Wooden, Dale Carnegie, Bill Parcells.

Strive to learn something new every day to get 1% better than yesterday & your journey will be impactful in service to others.  There’s no better time than now to live the life you can imagine.  Learn all you can & give it away to inspire others to do the same!

All the best,

Karl
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Healthy Questioning

November 16, 2016 /

My Great Uncle gave me a small plaque when I was in Junior High with a powerful quote.  It hung in every place I lived until passing it along to a young man I coached many years later.

albert-einstein

“The important thing is not to stop questioning!”  -Albert Einstein

Being a “why” guy often frustrated my teachers but what my Great Uncle encouraged was a healthy curiosity.  His wisdom has been & remains valuable to me to this day.  In this spirit, lets discover how one question has led to just the right “thing” when it was needed most!

“What would have happened if we didn’t do what we did?”

Early in my career a mentor asked me to ponder & attempt to answer this question.  The answers seem to function in diverse ways but here are three that appear regularly.

ADVOCACY

We all like to feel as if our achievements are valued by the organization that employs us. Therefore, having a vehicle to display the value of what you do, how much you’ve done & the potential for increasing achievement for your profession is vitally important.  The overall impression of this data will lead to support your efforts.  Your “good” can be maximized through two means, people or stuff.  Show them & tie it back to “why” with creativity in your chosen medium to show you & your teams return on investment and awesome impact!

Unless you work for yourself, the answers won’t always yield something you want the board or boss to know.  It will, however, identify effectiveness shortcomings inside functions.  My wife always reminds me to be careful what we look for because we might not find it or maybe we will but then, so what?  In dissection, you’re bound to find both good & bad so the key is to search for aspects that will provide balance & growth. Ask the hard questions & use the rule of 3’s; find what the team does well, what needs work & what isn’t their/your fault.  In addressing the last portion, Zig Ziglar reminds us mistakes are part of life.  Framing issues with this in mind keeps everyone “team” focused.  When we encourage a making mistakes faster culture, learning happens quicker consistently.  What gets measured gets done and it’s always shifting so keep an open & curious mind!

zig-ziglar-quote

DECISIONS

Most of our decisions we make on a daily/hourly basis will be wrong but indecision is paralysis; weigh the risks/benefits & move.  Leadership is always situational & your style won’t necessarily fit everything you’ve been asked to do.  Work inside your strengths & delegate your weaknesses.  Staff through the strengths of your people so they have opportunities to grow.  Robert Townsend in “Up the Organization” gives us the 50% rule for making assignments; if someone has 50% of what is required to do a job just give it to them with the right resources & in 6 months they will probably have figured it out.  If not, oh well, they still learned & so did you.  Don’t treat every problem like an anomaly and after all, regulations guide most aspects.  Figure out what problems are truly unique & spend time on those.  His book is a great no-nonsense resource that holds value to this day!

up-the-organization

PURPOSE

W.I.N. = What’s Important Now

Take care of your people & they’ll take care of the job.  If you instill a positive organizational culture that encourages everyone to focus on W.I.N. everything will move in the right direction.  Figure out the 1 or 2 things you can contribute & stay in your power position.  Your example encourages others to find theirs as well.  To know yourself is to become more effective with your talents toward any enterprise.  The legendary Hall of Fame NFL Coach, George Allen, kept this quote on his desk during his tenure as a reminder to remain steadfast toward purposeful effort.

“Is what I am doing or about to do getting us closer to our objective?   Winning!”

If what you/others are doing moves the enterprise toward its goals then you’ve collectively focused on the opportunities of tomorrow instead of the problems of yesterday.  Remember, our success depends on how effective we are at creating an environment for others to be successful.  Encourage, inspire & stay engaged; people will surprise you every time!

All the best,

Karl
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What does freedom mean to you?

November 12, 2016 /

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share the story of a man I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this year.  Although our meeting was brief, his story is a powerful one that enters my thoughts often.  Growing up with several kids whose parents served in the Vietnam war, this is another example of the selfless sacrifice our men & women in uniform have endured over our nation’s history.  His experiences struck me so profoundly, I chose it as the subject of a speech I gave soon after our meeting.  As a tribute to all our Veterans here are some of the details of his heroic journey.

Serving as a helicopter Crew Chief in the US Air Force, then Airman First Class Bill Robinson was shot down & captured on September 20, 1965, in North Vietnam.  He was a resident of several prison camps from 1965-1973.  He is the longest enlisted prisoner of war in American military history, surviving an astounding 2,703 days.

bill-robinson

When he first arrived he was subjected to a mock execution by firing squad.  They fired 6 times….all blanks.  After that, he knew he would survive because it would have been easy to kill him but he was spared.  He gave others hope when he emerged from daily torture with a smile on his face.  This simple act had a deep & lasting impact on the relationship he had with other POWs.  For the first 3 ½ years he was listed as Missing In Action, further worrying his family regarding his status.

Only 1 out of every 5 aircrew members shot down survived during the war.  Bill Robinson kept himself going with this mantra; “yesterday was when I was captured, today is now & tomorrow I’m going home”.  This optimism helped him deal with the animosity he felt toward his captures.

Below are just a few of the milestones the longest enlisted POW in American history missed.  What would you have missed if you were absent for over 7 years?

In 1965 the “Sound of Music” premiered; the “Big Bang” theory won the Nobel Prize

In 1966 “Star Trek” premiered; “The Pill” was released; Walt Disney died

In 1967 PBS created; racial violence in Detroit, MI

In 1968 “60 Minutes” debuted; MLK was assassinated

In 1969 Neil Armstrong & Buz Aldrin landed on the moon; “Woodstock”

In 1970 the Beatles broke up; Monday Night Football debuted; the floppy disc came out

In 1971 M.A.S.H. debuted; racial desegregation passed the Supreme Court

In 1972 the CAT scan was developed; HBO debuted; Title IX came out

In 1973 the MRI was developed; Watergate scandal; Roe v. Wade decision

Years after being released, he was invited back to Vietnam to reconcile with his captures.  He accepted gifts from the female guard featured on the postage stamp below & who he stated was just “doing her job”.  On the trip, he refused to shake hands with the male guard who “enjoyed” his job of torture & killing.  This was one of the ways he dealt with his resentment by putting pressure on the guard to reconcile his own actions.

bill-robinson-stamps

Awareness of his story of courage can help us as leaders in helping others get through personal & professional difficulties.  To avoid living a life full of resentment we must address events & frame them properly to move on effectively.

It’s obvious to everyone who meets him that his resentment has faded to disappointment…..and that, it seems, he has learned to live with.  He was asked what freedom meant to him, he simply replied; “Doors with knobs on the inside.”

So, on this Veteran’s Day, thanks to all the brave men & women who have risked so much in service to our nation.  It’s my hope we all find time to reflect on what the gift of freedom means to each of us.  Thanks, Captain (retired) Bill Robinson for your example of endurance in the face of so much adversity!

All the best,

Karl

*I encourage you to read his amazing story in the book “The Longest Rescue: The Life and Legacy of Vietnam POW William A. Robinson”
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What’s the best thing you’ve shared recently?

November 2, 2016 /

In trying to get some inspiration for this new venture I decided to turn to my son.  I simply asked him: “What’s the best thing I’ve ever shared with you?”  After some time had passed, we both moved on to other things & frankly I thought he’d forgotten.  He eventually came over to me & said the best thing I’d shared with him was………time!

Well, needless to say, this blew me away.  We all search for things in which to be proud of our kids but this simple answer struck me as profound for a teenager.

The only thing we all have in common is time.  Several months ago I was speaking with a great friend about this subject & he said this is how he explains it to his university students.  “Time is like having to spend all your money every day, it’s a precious commodity, use it wisely!”  -Dr. Joe Spaniola  A profound analogy for sure.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count!”  -Muhammad Ali

Love this quote, we lost a great one recently for sure.  His ability to connect with people through his larger than life personality & gracious spirit was invaluable.  Above all, he gave them the most precious gift he had…his time.

On your very best day at work; the day you came home & think you have the best job in the world; what did you do that day?

I’m sure you’ve seen this in some form before.  In answering this question we connect our passion inside our chosen profession & discover our effortless intangible qualities!

Should we focus on how we use the time we devote to people/projects?  Is there another approach?  A few years ago I stumbled on an article in Harvard Business Review that proposed “energy” instead of time management.  How & when we use our mental, physical, emotional & spiritual energies can be just the switch needed to feel great about our choices.  Here it is for reference.

manage-your-energy-not-your-time

Activity vs. Achievement

Coach John Wooden speaks to this very eloquently, just check out his great TED Talk here for his awesome insights.  Are we being compensated for the stuff we do or are we valued instead for our ideas, creativity, mentorship & development contributions?  As technology advances the jobs humans do will get increasingly more demanding in the “soft-skill” areas.  Work in these aspects will help bring the “beautiful” nature of our talents to the forefront!

Busy is a choice!

We always find time for the things that are important to us.  This is the bottom line.  Try to spend less time on the less important stuff.  Although these are sometimes essential to the enterprise, getting back to the aspects only we as unique individuals contribute leads to accomplishing the right things.  Keeping our motivation & engagement high will consistently build trust!

Thanks for the inspiration son!

All the best,

Karl

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