Tag Archives: Leadership

Complacency

Complacency – Unconcerned by things that should concern them, and they may neglect their duties. Satisfied with the current situation and unconcerned with changing it, often to the point of smugness.

It is so easy to get relaxed and into the groove of doing the same thing every day and expecting improvement.

When was the last time you were complacent about wearing seatbelts? When did you just stop paying attention to them because they didn’t seem that important or you were distracted by other things? The answer is probably never. You either have formed the habit of using seatbelts or you have not. If you have formed the habit, you automatically buckle the belt, regardless of your complacency, sense of vulnerability or other distractions or priorities. If you have not formed the habit, you may buckle up only when you are concentrating on the need for such precautions (or not at all).

Windshield or Rear View Mirror

When you are setting out for a drive, how often do you only look at the rear view mirror to get to your destination? Not too often I am guessing. The results may not be favourable. So why do we look backward at events in our life, yes it is good to learn and adapt but let’s look forward.

30k+ Rear View Mirror Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

The Upward Spiral

There has been quite a bit of negative news recently that has contributed to a downward spiral of negativity. A downward spiral occurs when we choose to pile negative news upon negative news. I prefer the upward spiral and placing positive news upon positive news and there is plenty of positive news to share. Be thankful for the small things in life. It comes to the “Power Of One” – each and every one of us has the ability to contribute positively vs negatively.

Only You Determine Your Definition of Success

Music Monday: A Song for Our Times – Put Your Hands Up – Borden's Blather

Hands up if you hate peer reviews….I thought so!! Whether it’s a great athlete or a great comedian, the truth is the same. The better they get, the less they care about results. That’s not to say they don’t care about winning, or about success—of course they do—it’s that the longer you do something, the closer you get to mastery, the less external results matter in terms of measuring progress.
The comedian Dave Chappelle has talked about how he hardly even cares about the crowd anymore, and definitely not the money. What matters to him is doing the thing, at getting closer to perfecting his craft—even if it’s in ways that the audience can’t even notice.
Early on in a career, because we don’t know much about it or ourselves, we use proxies to measure ourselves. We care about the critics or we care about stats or we care about getting this honor or that one. But the better we get, the more it becomes clear to us how little control we have over those things. The more experience we get, the more it is evident how little our best work actually correlates with getting those external achievements.
As Marcus Aurelius writes, “Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do. Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you.” But real success, real mastery, real sanity? That, he says, comes only by “tying it to your own actions.”
The better you get, the more you are able to tie your identity to the only thing that matters according to the Stoics: your own choices, your own work, your own judgement. Everything else? The better you get, the less it matters.

BE CONFIDENT IN WHO YOU ARE!

Life Is A Journey (So Treat It Like One)

A number of years ago our family went on a hike, 100 miles through the Highlands of Scotland. Being a trail hike (on a trail that we hoped was well marked), we had some planning to do. The five rules we set out for ourself were:
#1 – Pick a destination and have a direction.
#2 – Learn the terrain and prepare for the weather.
#3 – Find some good travelling companions.
#4 – Be ready to course correct and innovate along the way
#5 – Pause along the way because there may be nothing at the end of the road.

#1) Pick a destination and have a direction – it is very easy to get lost on the journey. Take some time to map out your path and have a goal in mind. We all have different goals in life – some personal, some professional but what do you want to accomplish? Draw a map if you need to, identifying stops along the way.

The Journey – A Start and an Ending

#2) Learn the terrain and prepare for the weather – sure, Scotland is known for it’s challenging climate but not every day is like that. And just like life, there will be ups and downs – be prepared for it all. All storms will pass.

Good Days and Bad Days

#3) Find some good travelling companions – Make sure you are surrounded by people that will lift you up instead of tear you down. Did you know that your values and ability to enjoy life are most affected by the five closest people around you?

Travelling Companions

#4) Be ready to course correct and innovate along the way – you never know what challenges will come your way. It may be something simple like blisters, but if you don’t take care of them and prepare, your journey will be ruined.

Be Prepared to Adapt

#5 – Pause along the way because there may be nothing at the end of the road. Too often we set our goal and race to the finish, missing all the sites along the way. Take some time to pause and enjoy the stops along the way.

Along the West Highland Way
The End

Servant Leadership

We quite often hear the term Servant Leadership. Servant leadership can be defined as a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership where the leader’s main focus is the thriving of their company or organization.

In order to be a true Servant Leader you need to focus on each individual on the team. In John Wooden’s book on Leadership, John introduces the concept of having a plan for each person. Everyone is different and has different needs. John explains the you don’t have to treat everyone alike or the same – give each individual the treatment and focus that he or she deserves.

Take time to understand each person, their current circumstance, where they desire to be in the future and develop a plan. By focusing on the areas below you can become a very successful Servant Leader.

Bring Me Solutions, Not Problems

One of the biggest let downs I hear from leaders at times is when they tell team members – Bring Me Solutions, Not Problems! You are in a leadership role for a reason, to help others reach their full potential and to learn. While you may feel you are empowering others by giving them the directive to bring a solution, more often than not, you may put someone in a position where they don’t have a solution and will continue to languish away not wanting to appear to be a failure.

In Adam Grant’s Ted Talk on Givers and Takers he introduces a valuable concept. We want to be disagreeable givers, not volunteering solutions but rather working with the team to develop solutions. Next time you see someone struggling why not say – Think it over and we can discuss potential solutions – let me know when you are ready.

This is how we truly empower the team and work together to develop the best solution.

Knowledge vs Wisdom

Many people believe, that in order to be successful in a leadership position, you must be the smartest person in the room and have all the answers or else you will appear to be weak. They tend to think a leader should have a complete set of skills, characteristics, and abilities to handle any problem, challenge, or opportunity that comes along. No one is an expert in everything and the strongest businesses are built on the contributions of the entire team – not on one person. Leaders do not have to be the smartest person in the room, rather they create an environment where the best ideas can come from anywhere and possess the wisdom and confidence to choose the best action from many to guarantee results. Knowledge can be thought of as possessing information, while wisdom can be thought of possessing experience.  Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around. One can be knowledgeable without being wise. Strong leaders listen to their teams, ask the right questions, and give everyone the chance to contribute. With the right people in place, you can take a step back to focus on your strengths – like leading your team and planning your company’s future. Know how to take the collective knowledge of the organization, and apply the right amount of wisdom to put it to good use.

Visionary Leadership – Innovation and Accountability

Visionary leaders are masters of change. They have the ability to visualize what can be achieved, can communicate the benefits of change along with the ability to lead others.

As a visionary leader your focus needs to be on both Accountability and Innovation. These are two words that don’t always seem to go together. Accountability, on one hand, conjures up thoughts of responsibility, deadlines and the pressure to succeed. Innovation, on the other hand, brings thoughts of experimentation, challenging the status quo, excitement and lack of boundaries. The power is when you combine Accountability and Innovation to achieve even greater results.

Accountability is about keeping promises, overall focus on important business challenges and being held responsible for the results. Innovation involves giving talented people the necessary training, tools and culture required to challenge the status quo. A culture that fosters innovation and embraces accountability provides the foundation for an organization that will survive generations. The challenge is how to combine the best of accountability with the best of innovation to create new systems and processes that will result in even greater achievements. Communicate a clear vision of success, define multiple measures for accountability including the entire team, and develop a data dashboard to drive improvement. What happens if you don’t have innovation in an organization and everyone gets used to the status quo – read about the Five Monkeys experiment below.

Five Monkeys Experiment

Researchers placed five monkeys in a room with a ladder and some bananas at the top of it. It didn’t take long before one of the monkeys saw the bananas and decided to climb the ladder.
As soon as the monkey reached the banana, all five monkeys were showered with cold water.
This frustrated the monkeys, but shortly after the showering ended a second monkey braved climbing the ladder once again.
Again, all five monkeys were showered with cold water. The monkeys were starting to see a pattern. So, the researchers decided to change the scenario. This time they would take out the water and replace one of the monkeys with a new one.
The new monkey comes into the room and notices the banana sitting safely on the ladder. He sees an easy snack and approaches the ladder.
As soon as he starts to climb the other four monkeys attack him. The new monkey doesn’t understand what he did wrong but no longer approaches the ladder.
The researchers continue the new pattern by replacing another monkey. This new monkey sees the banana and does the same thing as the last monkey to enter the room. Upon climbing the ladder, the original three monkeys attack once again, as well as the first new monkey.
A third, fourth, and eventually fifth monkey is replaced. By now all the new monkeys are attacking each new monkey that tries to get the banana. They’ve never been sprayed for attempting to get the banana but choose to attack each monkey that tries anyways.
Still, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs, but no one really knows why. All the original monkeys who experienced being sprayed with water have been replaced. What is left is five monkeys who know that they can’t touch the banana but don’t really know why… because that’s the way it’s been done around here.

Never Waste a Good Crisis

Talking with a friend yesterday and we were discussing the recent pandemic and the lessons we had learned from a business perspective. Too often as leaders we get used to status quo and using past results to drive our strategies. I quite often ask people – Did you drive to work today looking only into the rear view mirror? Wouldn’t be the safest approach and the likelihood of getting into an accident is quite high. On the contrary, not only do we look out the front window, side mirrors and now utilize other technology such as GPS and dynamic maps. My friend told me that he has been telling his team, “Never waste a good crisis”.

When faced with a crisis situation I quite often reflect on The Stockdale Paradox. The Stockdale Paradox was introduced by Jim Collins in his book – Good to Great. For a full explanation refer to Jim Collins’ website (www.jimcollins.com/concepts/Stockdale-Concept.html).

The lesson from the Stockdale Paradox is that when faced with a crisis situation have faith that you will overcome in the end and be brave enough to face the brutal facts.

During the Vietnam War, James Stockdale was the highest ranked prisoner of war. Admiral Stockdale was held captive for over seven years. Over the seven years, Admiral Stockdale was repeatedly tortured and was given no reason to believe he would make it out of captivity alive. When asked why some prisoners survived and others didn’t, Admiral Stockdale explained it was the ability to embrace the brutal facts of the situation balanced with the faith and optimism that he would overcome. The simple advice – prepare for the worst and maintain your optimism for the future.