Leading with Trust
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It’s Not That Complicated – 7 Simple Truths For Leadership Success

ComplicatedWe tend to over-complicate things in life, and when it comes to defining what successful leadership looks like, we really, really, over-complicate it. Much of what constitutes leadership success comes down to common sense, but unfortunately it’s not common practice.

Searching the shelves of your local bookstore (do those still exist?) or doing a search on Amazon.com would lead you to believe that in order to be a successful leader you’ll need to find some keys, take the right steps, follow the proper laws, figure out the dysfunctions, embrace the challenge, ascend the levels, look within yourself, look outside yourself, form a tribe, develop the right habits, know the rules, break the rules, be obsessed, learn the new science, or discover the ancient wisdom. Did I say we like to over-complicate things?

I don’t think leadership should be that complicated. If you’re looking for leadership success, consider these seven simple truths (argh…I did it myself!):

1. There aren’t any shortcuts – Leadership is hard work and most of it is on the job training. Formal education and ongoing development are essential parts of developing your leadership competency, but don’t think you can transform yourself into a great leader by reading a certain book or taking a particular training course. Great leaders are built by being in the game, not by standing on the sidelines or sitting in the classroom.

2. Great leaders started by being great followers – Most successful leaders were successful followers at some point. They learned how to be part of a team, put the needs of others ahead of their own, and work toward a goal bigger than themselves. In our hero-worshiping culture we tend to place the spotlight on the individual achievements of leaders and not pay much attention to how they cultivated those winning ways earlier in their career. Learn to be a good follower and you’ll learn what it takes to be a good leader.

3. There’s no mysterious secret to leadership – Contrary to the titles of popular leadership books, there is no single, mysterious secret to unlocking leadership success (see truth #1). All those books that I lovingly needled offer valuable insights about various aspects of leadership, but most of them tell you what you already know to be true…which brings me to the next point.

4. You already know what it takes to be a good leader – Not to plagiarise Robert Fulghum, but you probably learned in kindergarten most of what it takes to be a good leader. Be nice. Play well with others. Say please and thank you. Do what you can to help others. Of course you have to mature and apply those fundamentals in adult ways like being transparent and authentic with others, challenging them to strive for their goals, holding people accountable, and having difficult conversations when needed.

5. The difference between management and leadership is overrated – Tons of books and blogs have been written debating the differences between these two concepts. Yes, each has its own unique characteristics, and yes, each of them overlap significantly in the practice of leadership and management. Leaders have to manage and managers have to lead. Learn to do them both well because they are much more similar than they are different.

6. Leaders aren’t special – We’re all bozos on the same bus. Leaders aren’t any more special than individual contributors and everyone is needed to have a successful team. If you view leadership as service, which I happen to do, you should consider your team members more important than yourself. Get your ego out of the way and you’ll be on your way to success.

7. Leadership is much more about who you are than what you do – This is probably the most important truth I’ve learned about leadership over my career. I view leadership as a calling, not a job. As a calling, leadership is about who I am—my values, beliefs, attitudes—and my actions are the visible manifestation of those inner ideals. If you want to be a successful leader, your primary focus should be on the inner work that is required, not on behavioral tricks or techniques.

So there you go, those are my seven simple truths. What do you think? What would you add, delete, or change? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. Just don’t make it too complicated.

 92 Comments

 Posted on August 18, 2013 by

 Leadership, Management, Servant Leadership, Success

Riding Against The Wind – 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Lead Alone

Bicycle DraftingThe wind was against me and I was struggling to make headway.

A stronger rider passed on my left and I figured I would try to draft behind him to see if I could take advantage of him cutting through the wind ahead of me. It worked. My ride was noticeably easier.

After a short distance he noticed what I was doing, motioned for me to ride up alongside him, and suggested that we take turns drafting. Over the next 5 miles we took turns leading and drafting, sharing the work of riding against the wind and reaping the benefit of drafting in each other’s wake.

As a leader, have you ever felt like you were the only one riding into the wind? It seems like you’re always the one in front absorbing the full impact of everything the workplace throws against you and your team. You wish you had someone to cut the wind ahead of you, but you don’t, and it leaves you feeling battered, demoralized, and exhausted.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

My recent bike ride reminded me that leadership, just like biking, doesn’t have to be an individual sport and often works better in a shared context. Here’s five reasons why you shouldn’t lead alone:

1. Share the burden – Sharing leadership can be more efficient and productive than leading alone. By drafting with the other rider, I increased my speed and lowered my time around the 5 mile course. You don’t have to be the only one in charge of everything, so leverage the skills and abilities of those around you to make your job a little bit easier. Many hands make the burden light.

2. Tame the ego – Power has an intoxicating influence that can easily ruin your integrity as a leader. All you have to do is examine the news headlines to see this happening everyday. Sharing the power and responsibility of leadership builds an accountability structure around you that keeps your ego in check and your leadership on course.

3. Better leadership – Sharing leadership can allow you to maximize complementary skill sets among people that leads to more effective leadership overall for your team, department, or organization. Some organizations intentionally pursue a Co-CEO model for this very reason. In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business climate, combining the efforts of leaders can result in powerful gains for the organization.

4. Camaraderie and support – I was alone and struggling on my bike ride, but when I started working together with a fellow rider, I immediately felt the camaraderie and support that encouraged me to keep going. Leadership can be a lonely trek, but sharing the journey with others allows for mutual support and encouragement that keeps everyone’s spirit and morale high.

5. Keep pace – Partnering with the other rider allowed me to maintain a faster pace than riding alone. When he was in the lead I fed off the challenge of keeping up with him so I could reap the benefits of riding in his slipstream. When it was my turn to lead, I didn’t want to disappoint him by slowing down the pace so I worked even harder than I would have if riding on my own. Sharing leadership can help everyone up their game and perform at higher levels than they would individually.

Before you string me up as a leadership heretic, let me say I’m talking more about the process of leadership rather than the actual position. In most situations there needs to be someone with the final responsibility to make the “go/no-go” decision, but the process – the way in which leadership is manifested in an organization – often works better when it’s shared among individuals.

What are your thoughts? Do you have experience with shared leadership models? Feel free to leave a comment.

 17 Comments

 Posted on August 4, 2013 by

 Leadership, Power, Relationships, Responsibility, Servant Leadership, Sports, Success

What’s Your ROT – Return on Trust?

W Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming

As leaders and managers we are programmed through education and experience to constantly measure and manage the results of our activities. Want to make a new capital investment? You better perform a cost/benefit analysis. Need to assess the effectiveness of a particular business strategy? Figure out the ROI – Return on Investment. If it’s important to our business then we have to be able to measure it. That’s our motto.

But what about trust? How do you measure the impact of trust, positively or negatively, on your business? What’s your ROT – Return on Trust?

Most leaders I speak with agree that trust is important but they often think it’s just another one of those “soft” people issues like engagement, empowerment, well-being, or morale. They think trust “just happens,” as if through some sort of relationship osmosis, and they certainly don’t think you can measure it.

They’re wrong. You can measure trust, but you have to know where to look and understand how it shows up in organizations.

What Trust Looks Like in Organizations

  • People keep their commitments and are consistent in their behavior
  • Risk taking is encouraged and rewarded
  • People feel safe in sharing their ideas and opinions
  • Team members have a shared sense of responsibility and commitment to the organization
  • People are treated equitably and ethically, regardless of their position or rank
  • The culture promotes and rewards honesty and ethical behavior
  • Senior leadership communicates transparently and authentically
  • Mistakes are viewed as “learning opportunities” rather than mortal failures
  • People feel valued and are engaged in their work
  • Productivity and creativity flourishes

Return on Trust

Interpersonal trust is developed through the use of very specific behaviors that demonstrate your competence, integrity, value for relationships, and dependability. Organizational trust is developed through the use of sound, common-sense business practices that align with the organization’s values, prioritize the value of human worth in the workplace, foster transparency and accountability, and emphasize customer loyalty and retention.

Return on TrustYou can measure ROT by using common sense, as an executive of one of the world’s largest home improvement retailers shared with me. He said that in his 22 year experience with the company, the teams and stores that had the highest levels of trust consistently recorded the lowest people costs around turnover, accidents, and inventory shrink. They also achieved the highest revenues, profits, and employee engagement and customer satisfaction scores.

You can also measure ROT by examining the financial performance of high-trust organizations. Research by the Great Places to Work Institute, publisher of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, has shown that between 1997-2011, high trust companies outperformed the Russell 3000 and S&P 500, posting annualized returns of 10.32% versus 4.02% and 3.71%, respectively. Additionally, those best companies provide 4 times the returns than market average for comparative low-trust companies and typically experience a 50% lower turnover rate.

Whether you see the everyday, common sense results of high levels of trust, or you evaluate the financial metrics of high-performing/high-trust companies, Return on Trust is something every leader should measure.

 15 Comments

 Posted on July 14, 2013 by

 Leadership, Success, Trust

Two Things Your Boss Should Never Have to Talk to You About

Tyler RoyA few weeks ago I was watching my son compete at a high school track meet when I ran into Tyler, a young man whom I had the pleasure of coaching in baseball a few years back. Tyler was there to cheer on his sister, a member of the opposing squad, and we caught up on how his baseball season was going. Tyler plays on his high school’s varsity team but isn’t getting quite as much playing time as he’d like.

I see Tyler fairly regularly, and since he still calls me “Coach,” I couldn’t help but offer some on-the-spot coaching to help encourage him. I said “Tyler, when I coached you I always appreciated that I never had to say anything to you about your effort and attitude. You always worked hard in practices and games, gave your best effort, and always displayed an excellent attitude with coaches and teammates. Effort and attitude are two things that you completely control. You can’t control how much playing time you get, but you have 100% control over the amount of effort you give and the attitude you choose to have. Keep working hard, have a great attitude, and your time will come.”

Your boss should never have to ask you to give a better effort or improve your attitude.

There are a lot of things about work we can’t control – angry customers, heavy workloads, annoying co-workers, bad bosses, or dysfunctional teams, just to name a few. But your personal effort and attitude? Totally under your control.

Here’s some coaching tips that may help you improve in these areas:

Effort

  • Be organized. Plan your work. Work your plan.
  • Prioritize. Balance the urgent and important tasks. Don’t just work hard, work smart.
  • Don’t multi-task. It’s a myth, it’s stupid, and it doesn’t work. Start a task and finish it.
  • Stay focused by working in 20-30 minute phases and then take a 3-5 minute break. It helps you maintain your attention and energy levels.
  • Identify the high performers in your role. Watch how they work. Do what they do.
  • Keep learning, growing, and improving your skills.

Attitude

  • Focus on the positive elements of your job, not the negative.
  • Follow Mom’s advice. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
  • Assume best intentions. Most people aren’t trying to intentionally ruin your day.
  • Get a coach or mentor. Having someone to help you see the bigger picture keeps things in perspective.
  • Exercise. Eat healthy. Pick up a hobby. It’s important to take care of yourself and find ways to relieve stress.
  • Prayer, meditation, solitude, and other spiritual practices help keep you balanced.

Effort and attitude, two things always under your control. Will you control them?

 14 Comments

 Posted on April 21, 2013 by

 Attitude, Coaching, Commitment, Motivation, Sports, Success

Lost in the Crowd? Three Steps to Help You Stand Out!

stand-out-from-the-crowdWhat is one thing you do better than anyone else? For some people, that may be easier to answer than others. If I asked LeBron James that question, I’m pretty sure he’d say that he can play basketball better than anyone on the planet. For most of us though, the question would prove to be quite a stumper. Try answering it for yourself. It’s not so easy, is it?

Granted, out of 7 billion people in the world, the odds of you being the absolute best at a particular something or other is pretty remote. But the point of the question is more general. What is it that you do really well? Probably better than most people you know? Knowing the answer to that question can help unlock levels of job satisfaction and engagement that you didn’t know existed.

Here are three steps you can take to understand the unique value you bring to your work and how you can stand out from the crowd.

1. Identify your strengths. Sounds pretty basic, huh? Well, it is pretty basic, but believe it or not, many people don’t have a good understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, or personality traits that help or hinder their success. Assessments such as the DISC, MBTI, Strengths Finder, or Marcus Buckingham’s newest StandOut survey can give you insight into what motivates you or how your personality preferences shape the way you perceive work experiences and “show up” to other people.

2. Understand the type of work or circumstances that best leverage your strengths and personality traits. One of my first “real” jobs was working for a popular Southern California fast food chain. I lasted one shift. The reason? My supervisor drilled into me the importance of following all the rules to the letter and corrected me whenever I deviated from them, yet he would go into the back of the kitchen and smoke a cigarette whenever he wanted (clearly in violation of the rules). I knew that I would never be happy working for a boss who didn’t display integrity in his actions. For me to be at my best, I need to be surrounded by people who have honorable values and strive to live up to those values.

One way to identify situations where you’ll thrive is to make a list of all the times where you’ve felt “in the flow” – those instances where you’ve been so absorbed in your work that you’ve lost track of time. What are the commonalities among those experiences? It might take a little digging and analysis, but you can probably find some themes running through those experiences. Perhaps it’s the type of people you worked with. Or maybe there was an element of problem-solving involved. Maybe it was the opportunity for you to use certain skills, like writing, teaching, or public speaking. Whatever the theme may be, it’s a clue to what really engages you and prepares you to take step #3 below.

3. Intentionally seek your “sweet spot.” Your “sweet spot” is that place where you find fulfillment in your work. You have two basic choices when it comes to identifying your sweet spot. The first is to leave it up to chance. You can hope that you stumble upon the type of job that is a good match for your personality and skills. Not a good option. The second choice is to actively look for situations that are a good match for what you bring to the table. Take what you’ve learned in steps 1 and 2 and apply it to your current situation. If you’re in a job that’s a complete mismatch for your personality and strengths, begin to put a plan together for how you can transition to something more in alignment with your natural gifts. If you’re in a job you like, but need a little more pizzazz in your work, map out new projects, tasks, or areas of responsibility that could benefit from the application of your strengths.

Discovering your strengths and learning how to use them in combination with your personality traits is an evolutionary journey. It doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes there is a lot of trial and error involved. However, taking a purposeful and introspective look into yourself and following these three steps can put you on the path toward finding a higher level of fulfillment and success in your work.

 12 Comments

 Posted on February 17, 2013 by

 Brand, Career Growth, Success

Do You Have an Image Problem? Four Steps to Develop Your Personal Brand

Brand Me...PleaseWhether you realize it or not, you have a brand image at work, and if you don’t take charge of it, someone else will.

Your brand image is not only how people perceive you (your reputation), but also what differentiates you from everyone else in your company. When your colleagues think of you, what is it that comes to their minds? If you can’t answer that question, then you have a problem. A brand image problem.

Tom Peters, the guru of personal branding, says, “If you are going to be a brand, you’ve got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, what you’re proud of, and most important, what you can shamelessly take credit for.” Now, I’m not into shamelessly bragging about personal accomplishments, but I do think it’s important, and possible, to tactfully and appropriately share your successes. It’s part of what it takes to succeed in today’s workplace.

Forget your job title. What is it about your performance that makes you memorable, distinct, or unique? What’s the “buzz” on you? Forget about your job description too. What accomplishments are you most proud of? How have you gone above, beyond, or outside the scope of your job description to add value to your organization? Those are the elements that make up your brand.

If you’re not quite sure what your personal brand is, or how to go about creating a brand, here are four steps to get you started.

1. Identify your core values – Your values guide your beliefs and actions. A brand is a trusted promise which requires clarity on what motivates you from the core of your being. Consider popular brands like Apple or Nike. Apple’s brand conveys the values of being creative, passionate, and visionary. Nike’s brand of “Just do it” reflects the values of excellence and dedication. What values reflect the way you “show up” in the workplace? Mine are trust, authenticity, and respect.

2. Identify your strengths/personal attributes – A personal brand combines what you value with what you do well. What is it that you’re really good at? What unique personal attributes do you bring to the table? Maybe it’s courage, decisiveness, enthusiasm, patience, perseverance, or trustworthiness, just to name a few. There are a number of surveys you can take to help you identify your character strengths and attributes.

3. Assess your current brand image – One of the best ways to understand your current brand is to ask those you work with to describe your brand image. In addition to asking others, you can use the following sentence starters to help you analyze your brand:

          • Inside the company I am known for…
          • Three things I’m really good at are…
          • Something about myself that I feel proud about is…
          • Some “WOW” projects I’ve worked on are…

4. Develop your brand – What if there weren’t career ladders, only great projects? What if you were your own brand manager? How could your career growth be different if the leaders you worked with were brand loyalists that backed you no matter what? What if you approached your performance review as a “portfolio” review where you highlighted your project accomplishments over the past year? If you viewed your job performance through these lenses, you would need to change the way you go about things. Set the following goals to develop your brand image:

By this time next year…

          • I plan to be known for these projects…
          • I plan to be known for these skills…
          • I plan to have added these contacts to my network…

And…

          • My principal resume-enhancing activity over the next three months is…
          • My public visibility program is…

Gaining clarity on who you are, what you love, and what strengths you bring to the table will help you understand your brand identity, while continuing to master your craft and assembling a portfolio of successes will fulfill the promise of you being a trusted brand that others can rely upon.

 16 Comments

 Posted on February 10, 2013 by

 Brand, Career Growth, Leadership, Success

Five Keys to Being a Super Bowl-Caliber Leader

Jim and John HarbaughOne of the intriguing factors in the matchup of today’s Super Bowl XLVII is that the coaches of each team are brothers. John Harbaugh coaches the Baltimore Ravens and his younger brother, Jim, is coach of the San Francisco 49ers. It’s the first time in Super Bowl history that siblings have coached against each other. The chances are slim that a coach will reach the Super Bowl during his career, and it’s even crazier that in this case we have two brothers achieving this career goal simultaneously.

The coaching profession provides many wonderful examples of what it takes to be a successful leader in the workplace. If there was a “leadership” Super Bowl, what would it take for a leader to make it to that game? What characteristics, traits, or behaviors would transform an average leader into a Super Bowl-caliber leader? I thought of five important keys:

1. Integrity – Success starts on the inside by being a leader of integrity. We’ve seen numerous examples of people who have cheated their way to temporary fame, but lasting success comes from living according to a set of honorable values. Integrity displays itself when you make ethical decisions, follow through on commitments, treat people with respect, and are honest and trustworthy in your dealings with people.

2. A commitment to help others achieve their goals – The most successful leaders understand that their personal goals get fulfilled when they help their people achieve their goals. People don’t want to follow self-serving leaders. They want to follow leaders who empower them to achieve their own goals and the goals of the team. As one of my favorite coaches, Bo Schembechler said, it’s all about “the team, the team, the team.”

3. Communicate effectively – You can be an intellectually brilliant leader, but if you can’t communicate effectively with your team, your success will be limited. Great leaders share information about themselves and the organization on a frequent basis. They share information broadly and expect people to handle it responsibly, whereas insecure leaders hoard information in an effort to retain control.

4. Smart and disciplined – Super Bowl-caliber leaders are smart – they’re good at what they do. They constantly work to improve their craft and they take a disciplined, focus approach to applying their knowledge to their work (that’s wisdom – applied knowledge). You can’t reach the Super Bowl being content to rest on your laurels. You have to keep learning, adapting, and striving to be your best.

5. Rally people around a common goal – You’ve probably heard the saying that if you think you’re leading but no one is following, then you’re simply out for a walk. At its core, leading is about getting a group of people to move in a common direction to achieve a goal. It doesn’t really matter what the goal is – winning a football game, providing excellent customer service, or manufacturing cars on an assembly line – leaders have to channel the collective talents and energy of their team members into a common purpose.

Those are my five keys to being a Super Bowl-caliber leader. I’m sure there are many more that could be added to the list. What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment with you suggestions.

Enjoy the game!

 10 Comments

 Posted on February 3, 2013 by

 Coaching, Communication, Integrity, Leadership, Relationships, Sports, Success, Teamwork

So You Want to be a Manager? Six Things to Consider Before Taking the Plunge

Early in my career I didn’t set out to be a manager. Like most people, I considered moving into a supervisory or managerial position the natural next step in being able to earn more money, gain responsibility, and add valuable experience to my resume. Obviously I knew there was a difference between being a manager and an individual contributor, but I didn’t fully understand and appreciate the difference in the type of work I would be doing day in and day out.

Boy, I wish I had known.

Not that it would have changed the arc of my career path, but I would have performed better and developed faster as a leader if I had better understood the nature of managerial work. There is a big difference between managing people and managing tasks, activities, or projects. Drawing from Henry Mintzberg’s The Nature of Managerial Work, here’s six characteristics of the life of a manager. If you’re considering the pursuit of a leadership position, or even if you’re a newly promoted manager, understanding these characteristics will help you form the right mindset and approach to what it means to be a manager.

1. Managers work hard, often at an unrelenting pace – A manager’s work never seems to be done. They often arrive early, leave late, and even lunch seems to be used for meetings and the opportunity to connect with others. Working across global time zones and the pervasiveness of technology in our lives means it’s easy for managers to always be “on” and connected to work.

2. The work is characterized by brevity, variety, and fragmentation – There’s no pattern to a manager’s work. It can be discontinuous and random, and the significance of the activities in a single day can range from serious (disciplining or terminating someone) to trivial (scheduling the next office potluck). Research has shown that most manager’s activities are completed in less than 9 minutes and only 10% of the activities take more than an hour. Meetings, emails, voicemails, reports, performance management, coaching, making decisions…the list goes on and on.

No matter what managers are doing,
they are plagued by what they might do
and what they must do.

3. Work can be an activity trap – Managers often become expert firefighters, always reacting to the latest emergency or hot topic. They work in a stimulus-response environment that encourages them to prefer live action rather than quiet reflection. This causes managers to become adaptive information manipulators rather than reflective, future-oriented planners, an essential skill to master in order to lead teams, other managers, and the organization.

4. Meeting, meetings, and more meetings – Like it or not, managers spend an enormous amount of time in meetings for a variety of purposes. Meetings are used for ceremony, strategy making, and negotiation. They are often necessary for coordinating activities, people, and resources, and are often the primary way for getting work done through other people. Even more important than the formal meetings are the “hallway meetings” that managers conduct to negotiate, lobby, and align opinions of other colleagues.

5. Managers are “boundary” people – Managers are responsible for building relationships with not only their team, but also other levels of management, other groups in the company, and outsiders. They have to manage a complex set of relationships and sometimes spend as much as 30%-50% of their time with outsiders, 30%-50% with team members and other groups in the company dealing with requests, information exchanges, and making strategy, and often less than 10% with their own manager.

6. Managers often have little control over the use of their time – Managers have less autonomy than they think they have. Some studies have shown that managers spend as much as 50% of their time in a reactive mode, and in my experience, there have been days where it felt like 100%! Some days it feels like you are a slave to your schedule. Yet managers do have a lot of control when you consider it is often their decisions that define how their time, and the time of others, will be committed, and that they can use obligatory activities in their workday for more than one purpose (e.g. scheduled meetings can be used for negotiation, gathering information, coaching, giving feedback, etc.).

I’m not trying to scare anyone away from being a leader, but it’s wise to count the cost before you jump into a supervisory or managerial role. Being a manager requires a different skill set than what it takes to be an expert, high-performer in your role as an individual contributor. But if you do decide to take the plunge, there can be a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction in helping other people achieve goals and higher levels of performance than they would have achieved without your help.

So, do you really want to be a manager?

 23 Comments

 Posted on January 6, 2013 by

 Career Growth, Leadership, Management, Success

Five Leadership Lessons From The Life of Neil Armstrong

Yesterday we lost a true American hero. Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, passed away at the age of 82. Armstrong’s life story read like pages from an adventure novel: earned his pilot license at age 15, flew 78 missions in the Korean War as a Navy fighter pilot, test piloted experimental rocket planes that flew to the edge of space at altitudes of over 200,000 feet, and commanded the Apollo 11 space mission and became the first man to walk on the moon.

Despite his many accomplishments, Neil Armstrong was a humble, private man who didn’t seek to turn his achievements into fortune and fame. After retiring from NASA in 1971, Armstrong taught engineering at Purdue University and served on the boards of several businesses. His reserved, low-key approach to leading his life is strikingly at odds with today’s “look at me” reality TV infused culture. In An Audience with Neil Armstrong, the famous astronaut discusses his life and the experience of traveling to the moon. The interview is a treasure-trove of leadership wisdom, but there were five lessons that struck me as important for leaders of all generations.

1. Humility – Virtually every written account of Armstrong’s life, as well as descriptions from those who knew him best, describe him as a man of extreme humility. He resisted bringing attention to himself and always viewed his accomplishments as simply the result of “doing his job.” Humility is a key characteristic of Jim Collins’ profile of successful Level 5 leaders and it is a key component to establishing high-trust relationships. It’s hard to trust the intentions of self-absorbed leaders whereas humble leaders create an environment and culture that breeds openness and trust.

2. Recognize and value the contributions of others – Armstrong readily acknowledged the invaluable contributions of the Apollo 1-10 missions as laying the building blocks for his crew’s moon landing. Each Apollo mission had specific goals that were milestones to the ultimate mission of landing on the moon. Armstrong’s Apollo 11 crew got the nod for the moon landing and he recognized that his efforts were just the next link in the entire chain of the Apollo space program. Today’s leaders would be wise to honor and respect those who have laid the groundwork ahead of them and not act like the success they’re enjoying today is solely a result of their efforts.

3. Stay vigilant because problems occur when you least expect them – On the descent to the moon, the Lunar Module’s navigation system was targeting a landing spot that would be on the edge of a slight hill. Armstrong had to take manual control of the spacecraft for the last 2 minutes and fly it to a safe landing site. Successful leaders are always scanning the environment so they can react to changing conditions. Flying on auto-pilot is best when conditions are stable, but in today’s world where daily change is the norm, using auto-pilot for too long can have disastrous consequences.

4. The power of focus – Shortly after stepping onto the surface of the moon, Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin placed a memorial on the lunar surface honoring the deceased astronauts, both Russian and American, who had preceded them in attempts to reach the moon. Armstrong describes it as being a tender moment, yet a very quick one because there was a checklist of many tasks awaiting their attention. Armstrong took a focused, methodical approach to his work that shows the power of concentrated attention. It’s easy for leaders to have their focused diffused among all the demands competing for their attention, yet the most successful leaders have learned to block out the distractions and focus on those activities that produce the most results.

5. Never let a good problem go to waste – The Apollo 1 crew suffered a terrible tragedy in 1967 when during a pre-flight test a cabin fire in the control module killed the crew of Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chafee. The Apollo space flights were put on nearly a two-year hold while the accident was investigated. NASA only had four years to fulfill President Kennedy’s challenge to reach the moon by the end of the decade, but rather than letting the delay prevent them from achieving their goal, they used those two years to refine the design of the control module and to keep training for the moon landing. Armstrong and his colleagues demonstrated ingenuity and perseverance in dealing with this setback and it’s a lesson for all leaders about how to make the most of the problems thrown their way.

I think his family described it best when they said yesterday, “While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.”

 25 Comments

 Posted on August 26, 2012 by

 Commitment, Integrity, Leadership, Professionalism, Success

Six Tips for Success From Restaurant Impossible’s Robert Irvine

The Food Network is a popular TV channel in my house. One of our favorite shows is Restaurant Impossible, where chef Robert Irvine has two days and $10,000 to help turnaround a failing restaurant. It’s amazing to see the commonalities shared by these struggling businesses and the strategies Irvine uses to address their ills. I’ve gleaned several tips from Irvine that can apply to just about any business turnaround or general leadership situation.

  1. Know what your customers want — A common situation that Irvine encounters is a restaurant that has lost sight of what their customers want. I remember one example of an aging Italian eatery that looked like a retirement home cafeteria even though it was located smack dab in the middle of a college town occupied by thousands of young adults. They clearly had lost sight of what their customers wanted, and as soon as Irvine helped them retool their business into a hip, upscale place attractive to the twenty-something crowd, they began to flourish.
  2. Clarify roles & responsibilities — In virtually every failing restaurant there is a lack of effective leadership. Over time the leaders have become burned-out, stopped caring, or tried to make up for deficiencies in other team members’ skills and end up spending too much time in the wrong areas. One restaurant owner was not only the head chef, but he also ordered all the food and supplies, managed the books, and came in at 4:30 a.m. to clean tables! It’s critical for any successful business to be clear on the roles and responsibilities of its team members so that everyone can be focused on their specific area of expertise and the sum of the whole will be greater than its individual parts.
  3. Master the basics of your business — Irvine will ask “So what are your food costs?” and it’s mind-boggling to see how many restaurant owners have no clue as to how much they’re spending on food. Many of them seem to have no grasp of the basics of their business: determining the right pricing of dishes based on food costs and profit margin, understanding the need to quickly turn tables to serve more customers, or how to run an efficient kitchen. It’s critical for any successful leader to master the basics of his/her business. You may have all the talent and potential in the world, but if you can’t master the fundamentals then you won’t go very far.
  4. Less is more — Another common ailment of struggling restaurants that Irvine encounters is having too many menu items. On a recent show he had an owner read the menu out loud and it took nearly 15 minutes! So much for quickly turning tables. Irvine frequently encourages the business owners to pare down their menu to one page of items they can produce excellently, rather than being mediocre at producing a lot of things. Successful leaders understand the importance of focusing their energies on the few critical items that will result in the most gain.
  5. The importance of having skilled people — It’s dumbfounding to see how many restaurant owners entrust their kitchen to cooks who don’t have much experience or training. The bottom-line reason people come back to a restaurant is the quality of the food. The decor and service can be great, but if the food stinks you’re not going to be very successful. Irvine has to help the owners make tough decisions about getting skilled people to work in the kitchen which often means letting go of long-term employees who just aren’t qualified for the job.
  6. A few key changes could bring dramatic results — Anyone who has tried sprucing up their home knows the value of a fresh coat of paint. Sometimes there are a few key changes that can result in dramatic gains. Irvine brings a fresh, outside perspective to restaurant owners who have gotten locked into their own way of viewing their business. By focusing on a few important areas such as menu selection, kitchen operations, and decor of the restaurant, Irvine helps the owners focus on the key areas that will give them the most bang for their buck.

These struggling restaurant owners didn’t find themselves in their situation overnight. It was the result of small decisions made over the course of time that landed them in their current plight. Sometimes that’s the case with us as leaders, too. We start out with the best intentions and then slowly lose steam as the months and years go by. These lessons from Restaurant Impossible’s Robert Irvine can get us back on track to being the successful leaders we started out to be.

 5 Comments

 Posted on August 19, 2012 by

 Leadership, Success

Are You a Good Boss or a Bad Boss? 8 Ways to Tell

“Are you a good boss or a bad boss?” That question reminds me of the scene from the Wizard of Oz when Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, first encounters Dorothy in Munchkinland. Glinda asks Dorothy “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” Dorothy replies that she’s not a witch at all, and besides, witches are old and ugly. After being informed that the beautiful, young Glinda is a witch, Dorothy says “You are! I beg your pardon! But I’ve never heard of a beautiful witch before.” Glinda responds, “Only bad witches are ugly.”

I think only bad bosses are ugly.

How do you know if you’re a good boss or a bad boss? Just over a year ago, Google’s People Operations group unveiled the results of their two-year study into what separates bad bosses from good bosses in their own company. They performed extensive data analysis on performance reviews, feedback surveys, and nominations for top-manager awards. What they came up with was 8 behaviors that distinguished the best bosses at Google. How do you stack up against this list?

1. Be a good coach

    • Provide specific, constructive feedback, balancing the negative and the positive.
    • Have regular one-on-ones, presenting solutions to problems tailored to your employees’ specific strengths

2. Empower your team and don’t micromanage

    • Balance giving freedom to your employees, while still being available for advice. Make “stretch” assignments to help the team tackle big problems.

3. Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being

    • Get to know your employees as people, with lives outside of work.
    • Make new members of your team feel welcome and help ease their transition.

4. Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented

    • Focus on what employees want the team to achieve and how they can help achieve it.
    • Help the team prioritize work and use seniority to remove roadblocks.

5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team

    • Communication is two-way: you both listen and share information.
    • Hold all-hands meetings and be straightforward about the messages and goals of the team. Help the team connect the dots.
    • Encourage open dialogue and listen to the issues and concerns of your employees.

6. Help your employees with career development

7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team

    • Even in the midst of turmoil, keep the team focused on goals and strategy
    • Involve the team in setting and evolving the team’s vision and making progress toward it.

8. Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team

    • Roll up your sleeves and conduct work side by side with the team, when needed.
    • Understand the specific challenges of the work.

Kind of a no-brainer list, huh? It reinforces the idea that leaders can make tremendous strides by simply following the basics: Be interested in your folks, help them achieve their goals, provide the resources and support they need and get out of their way, communicate and share information, and have a vision for where the team needs to go.

Hopefully you’re a good boss and these behaviors are already part of your repertoire. If they aren’t, don’t worry. They’re all things that are very much under your control and you can incorporate them into your leadership practices. After all, you don’t want to be a bad boss. Bad bosses are ugly.

 12 Comments

 Posted on July 29, 2012 by

 Leadership, Relationships, Success

ONE B1G THING by Phil Cooke

Have you discovered what you were born to do? Do you believe that you have a unique destiny that you were put on Earth to fulfill? In his latest book, One Big Thing – Discovering What You Were Born to Do, Phil Cooke offers numerous insights and encouragements on how you can stop being average at so many things in your life and start becoming extraordinary at one big thing.

Cooke suggests that discovering your one big thing comes at the intersection of two questions: (1) What am I supposed to do with my life?, and (2) In a hyper-competitive, cluttered, and distracted world, how do I get noticed?

To help you discover what you’re supposed to do with your life, Cooke encourages you to engage in an honest self-evaluation by answering these four questions:

  1. What comes easy for you? We often discount our natural strengths when looking for our one big thing, when many times our greatest skills and passions are right under our own nose.
  2. What do you love? You’re probably familiar with the old saying, “Find a job you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Cooke subscribes to the same line of thinking and encourages you to determine what you’re passionate about doing and then find a way to get someone to pay you to do it.
  3. What drives you crazy? This could be something that’s broken that you want to fix, something that’s working that you want to improve, or it could be something that breaks your heart and compels you to action. Sometimes the things that make us the most crazy is also what ignites our passions.
  4. What do you want to leave behind? All of us will leave a legacy. The question is, what kind of legacy will you leave? How do you want to be remembered? Answering this question can help you determine the answer of how you want to live your life.

Once discovering your life’s purpose, Cooke believes you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd in order to get noticed. Not surprisingly, given his expertise in media production and branding, Cooke advocates that living your one big thing is your personal brand. He makes a solid case for having an authentic personal brand when he says, “Too many people think that developing or influencing their own brand is about becoming something they aren’t, when it’s really about discovering what they truly are.” Keeping in line with his belief in the value of self-awareness, Cooke writes, “Ultimately, a significant part of being different is being honest about who you are and how you’re perceived.”

I don’t think Cooke breaks any significant new ground in the One Big Thing, but I think he offers wise counsel and helpful guidance for seekers on the journey of discovering their life’s purpose, particularly the four questions listed above. My biggest take-away from the book was the affirmation that for the vast majority of us, discovering our one big thing is a life-long journey that usually finds its fulfillment in living our lives in authentic harmony with our most important and treasured values.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 4 Comments

 Posted on July 22, 2012 by

 Book Reviews, Learning, Motivation, Purpose, Success, Values

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