New Year’s Resolution Time!

December 31, 2011 in Expectations, Goals, Honesty, Life | by | 1 comment

It’s time again to think about New Year’s resolutions. I like to picture myself sitting here one year from today, looking back on 2012 and smiling because I’ve accomplished two or three things that I wanted to accomplish over the year. I’m patting myself on the back! 

So what would you like to do between now and then?  Now you’re going to obviously have some goals in terms of your job and your organization, but what about you personally?  What about your weight?  Your exercise?  Your health?  What about learning a new language, like Spanish or Chinese?  What about improving your organizational skills?  What about writing something that you’ve wanted to write for a long time?  What would really make you feel good if you accomplished it by the end of next year? 

It’s great to write out your resolutions as SMART goals.  Be Specific on what you want so that it’s observable and measurable.  M stands for motivational—make sure it’s something that excites you. Is it Attainable?  Don’t set some unrealistic goal that there’s no chance you’ll accomplish.  Make sure your goal is Relevant and important to you.  And have a goal that is Trackable, which means you can chart it over time so you can catch yourself doing things approximately right and see yourself making progress. 

I have found that I do best on New Year’s Resolutions if I share them with my wife Margie and people at work, and anybody else who is around me, so they can help and support me. We all need an accountability group to help set ourselves up for success. 

So in the next few days I’ll be thinking more about what I would like to accomplish that’s going to make me feel good.  What would you like to do?  How do you want 2012 to go for you?  Let’s see if we can help each other keep our commitment to our commitment.  So often New Year’s Resolutions are just announcements.  Don’t just announce it; really make it happen!  And good on you for 2012!

Lastly, I’ve posted a few of my resolutions for 2012… take a read, and let everyone know a few of your own! http://howwelead.org/resolutions/

Take Care of Each Other During the Holidays

December 17, 2011 in Happiness, Life, Love | by | 1 comment

This coming week is the week people can really get stressed out if they work on it.  We’re rapidly approaching the heart of the holiday season. Hanukkah begins on December 21st and runs through the 28th, Christmas is coming up next Sunday the 25th, and then Kwanzaa begins on the 26th.  It can be a busy and stressful time, with all of the celebrations, traveling and gift-giving attached to the holidays.  We all need to keep a sense of humor and laugh and enjoy this time of year. Don’t knock somebody down trying to get into a parking space.  Remember, this is the time to feel the spirit of love and appreciation and thankfulness.  Keep things in perspective as you go along—even if you don’t get all of the shopping done that you expected to.  It’s a special and meaningful time. Reach out and give somebody a hug and tell them that you love them—that’s probably the most important gift.  

I came across a wonderful quote by Henri Nouwen.  He was a Catholic Priest from Canada who spent much of his life ministering to the less fortunate and he has written some great things over the years.  Just listen to this as a way to think of this holiday season:

“More and more the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, sit up on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them.  It is a privilege to have time to practice the simple ministry of presence.  Still, it is not as simple as it seems.  My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, and to be a part of some impressive project is so strong, that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets.  It is difficult not to have plans; not to organize people around an urgent cause; not to feel that you are working directly with social progress—but I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and to tell your own.  To let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them but you really love them.” 

Isn’t that wonderful?  I think that we get busy with work, busy with shopping, and aren’t practicing the whole wonderful ministry of presence—simply being present with people we care about.  So today and throughout the holidays, consider the idea of just being present with each other.  Maybe what you ought to be doing first is to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own.  Let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, you truly love them. I think that’s what the holiday season is all about. Take care.

Leaders Don’t Need Charisma

December 10, 2011 in Honesty, Leadership | by | 2 comments

A lot of people wonder if they can be a leader if they don’t have charisma.  I’m not sure I really even know what charisma is.

I think what you need to do as a leader is be who you are. I think sincerity and caring are the qualities people look for in a leader—not some dashing person with charisma. Don’t feel you have to play some sort of a role and try to be something you’re not. On the other hand, if you’re a person who does have that extroverted style, don’t hold back. Be who you are, because that’s who people want to get to know.

Leadership is about being authentic. And it’s about reaching out to people in a way that says, “I think you’re important. And I’d like to help you be the best you can be.” People don’t care if you have charisma. They just want to know that you care about them.

Leadership is Not About You

December 3, 2011 in Leadership, Management, Values, Workplace Culture | by | 3 comments

As a leader, you should never start thinking that leadership is all about you. When things go well, a great leader doesn’t look in the mirror and pound himself or herself on the chest and say, “Aren’t I fabulous?”  A great leader looks out the window and gives other people the credit. Get your ego out of the way and remember that leadership is about people who work with you, not for you.  People want a leader who cares about them and wants to help them achieve their goals so they can be magnificent.  So don’t get overimpressed by yourself as a leader. The fact of the matter is this: You are nothing without your people.

How to Identify a Future Leader

November 26, 2011 in Respect, Trust | by | 7 comments

I think the best way to identify a potential leader is to ask people: “Who do you enjoy working with?  Who do you respect in the workforce?”  The names you hear in answer to those questions are the kind of people you want to identify as potential leaders and promote. I’ll never forget, in the seventh grade I was elected president of my class. I came home and told my Dad, who was a career navy officer. I said, “Dad, I won the election. I’m president of the class!” And my dad said, “Ken, that’s great!  Now that you have that position—never use it. Great leaders are great because their people trust and respect them, not because they have power.” So think about it: Who do people trust and respect in your workplace? Who do people go to for advice who might not be a leader now?  Those are the ones you want to identify. Those are the ones who have the potential to be leaders, because people are already attracted to them.

How the Leadership-Profit Chain Works

November 19, 2011 in Direction, Profit, Servant Leadership, Vision | by | 2 comments

For years I have said that profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people. My son Scott worked on a project with one of our founding partners, Drea Zigarmi, who heads up our research team, to learn the relationship between leadership, employee passion, customer devotion, and what they call “organizational vitality,” which has to do with profit, performance, reputation and other observable and memorable indicators of organizational success.

            When Scott and Drea looked at leadership, they looked at two aspects of leadership: Strategic leadership, which is all about vision and direction—where your organization is going. When I talk about servant leadership, I say that strategic leadership is the “leadership” part of servant leadership, because leadership is about going somewhere and  if people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t really matter. The second aspect of leadership is operational leadership, which is when you say, “Okay, now we know where we are going—how do we make it happen?”  In talking about servant leadership, I say that’s where you turn the traditional hierarchical pyramid upside down and that’s the “servant” part of servant leadership.

            Scott and Drea found that strategic leadership—which is really important because it starts the whole process—only had an indirect relationship with organizational vitality and success. The biggest impact came from operational leadership. I think that’s because when operational leadership is done well, the hierarchy is turned upside down, leaders are working for their people and empowering and encouraging them to accomplish the vision and the goals that have been set. What happens when you empower and involve your people? They get passionate about what they’re doing because they know you care about them and you think they are important. And what do passionate employees do? They go out of their way to serve your customers. What happens then? Your customers get blown away by the legendary customer service and become raving fans—devoted customers who start telling stories to their friends about you and your people. Then that comes back and remotivates your people.

            Scott and Drea’s research found that this interaction between passionate employees and devoted customers impacts organizational vitality more than anything else. That relationship really drives the bottom line—and that part is driven mainly by operational leadership. I don’t want to diminish the importance of strategic leadership, because that’s what starts the process. But as a leader, once you set that vision and those goals, don’t turn your back and run away. Stay around as a servant leader and support, encourage, and build your people up. Because they’ll be passionate, they’ll blow away your customers with their service, and—I’ll use a phrase we used back in the day—your cash register will go “Ca-ching! Ca-ching! Ca-ching!”

The Firing of Legendary Penn State Coach Joe Paterno: An Ethical Dilemma

November 12, 2011 in Conflict, Ethics, Honesty, Leadership, Making Mistakes, Trust, Values | by | 8 comments

The firing of Joe Paterno as coach of Penn State has dominated the news this week. A legendary coach with the most wins in the history of major college football, Joe was dismissed for not doing more to stop the alleged sexual abuse of children by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The news came as a shock, because in many ways Joe was considered an outstanding human being. Not only had he coached at Penn State for 61 years, he’d also donated more than $3 million to the university and helped raise more than $13 million for its library.

I feel badly about the Paterno firing for two reasons. First, I’m deeply saddened about the impact of the alleged sexual abuse on the victims and their families. Second, I’m saddened for the students at Penn State, who argued that the board of trustees should have allowed Joe at least one more game or let him finish the season. From their point of view, Joe had broken no laws. When he’d learned about the sexual abuse, he’d reported it to the athletic director and to the vice president.

As I thought about it this week, the case of Joe Paterno is a classic example of why it’s so important to do the Ethics Check when making key decisions. In our book The Power of Ethical Management: Integrity Pays! You Don’t Have To Cheat To Win, Norman Vincent Peale and I describe the Ethics Check, which poses a series of questions around three areas: legality, fairness, and self-esteem. The next time you’re faced with a dilemma, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is it legal? Will you be violating either civil law or organizational policy?

In today’s society, people tend to focus on this first aspect of the Ethics Check—the legal question. They think if they can get lawyers to okay the decision, they’re doing the right thing. But just because an action is legal does not make it ethical. To assure that you’re doing the right thing, it’s a good idea to review the second two aspects of the Ethics Check.

2.  Is it balanced? Is it fair to all concerned in the short term as well as the long term? Does it promote win-win relationships?

If Coach Paterno had really thought through the fairness question—if he had fully considered the trauma to the victims and their families—he might have realized that he needed to do more. He’s already made statements that he probably should have done more. The fairness question goes beyond the legal question and looks at the effect your decision will have on others.

3.  How will it make you feel about yourself?  Will it make you proud? Would you feel good if your decision was published in the newspapers? Would you feel good if your kids and grandkids knew about it?

Unethical behavior erodes self-esteem. That’s why you feel troubled when you make a decision that goes against your own innate sense of what’s right. As the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.” Thinking through how you’d feel if your actions were published in the newspaper or if your kids found out about them can help you decide the right thing to do. I’m sure that if Paterno knew how this incident would dominate his reputation at the end of his career, he certainly would have done more.

This simple but powerful Ethics Check can help anyone—from world leaders to boards of directors to private citizens—make decisions that stand the test of time and result in the greatest good. When you look at all three aspects of the Ethics Check, you can see that in making their tough decision, the board of trustees at Penn State did the right thing.

Is Conflict at Work Ever a Good Thing?

October 15, 2011 in Conflict, Feedback, Workplace Culture | by | 7 comments

Many people assume that conflict in the workplace is always bad. But I think there are times when conflict is good—because if everybody always has the same opinion about everything, somebody’s not needed around here!

I love to gather a team around me where people have different opinions and feel free to disagree with each other about things. Why?  Because in this way, one plus one can equal about ten, if people share different points of view. One of my favorite phrases is “No one of us is as smart as all of us” and that especially rings true when you have people around you who aren’t afraid to give you their opinion on something. Everyone can work together for the greater good. So it’s healthy to encourage a little conflict or difference of opinion at work, as long as it’s constructive.

If some people on your team have personality conflicts and are just causing trouble and drama, that’s a different story. That’s a problem you may need to deal with as a leader. But generally speaking, if you encourage different opinions, you can learn what everyone is thinking and work out the best decision for the team as a whole. You don’t want a bunch of “yes” people around you or it may lead you down the wrong road.

My father, who was an admiral in the navy, used to tell me, “Ken, if you don’t hear complaining from your people, watch out because it means there’s going to be a mutiny!”  If you aren’t hearing about concerns and conflicts, it may be because your people have cut you off from the channels of communication. You need to know about those things and encourage that kind of sharing. Let your people know that they can have a different opinion and still survive around you, because you are open to hearing their ideas. It will benefit your team and, ultimately, your entire organization.

Why does Leadership Matter?

October 8, 2011 in Goals, Motivation, Vision | by | 5 comments

Even in these hard times, some people still wonder whether or not leadership really matters. Jim Collins did a good job explaining why leadership matters.  He wrote the bestselling book From Good to Great.  In that book, Collins talks about how great leaders have two capabilities:  One is resolve, or determination to accomplish a goal, and the other is humility.  He describes how leaders with resolve and humility can build a good company into a great company.  But one of the best ways to appreciate the value of good leadership is when you see how fast a poor leader can take a good organization down. Collins says it takes a lot of people to move a good organization into greatness, but it can take very little time for just one lousy leader to send a great organization downhill.

Leadership is very important. Leaders have a major role in setting the vision to move toward the organization’s goals, and then creating a motivating environment for people so those goals can be reached. But boy, leaders who don’t know what they’re doing, or have big egos, can take a good company and drive it straight into the ground. So don’t kid yourself.  Leadership does matter.

Keep Focused on Your “Servant Heart”

September 24, 2011 in Listening, Servant Leadership | by | 4 comments

No matter who you are, people can come at you daily with their egos blasting. Some egos come from false pride—where they think more of themselves than they should and want more credit for things. Others come from self-doubt and fear—where they think less of themselves than they should and are protecting themselves. How do you deal with these people?

Try to keep focused on leading with a servant’s heart.  It can be part of your daily habits, such as how you enter your day by reminding yourself of the difference you can make in the world. It’s a matter of making a habit of practicing a helpful attitude when you are interacting with people. The question you want to keep top of mind is, “How can I help?”

For instance, if someone comes to you and says, “I’m sick and tired that nobody seems to notice my contributions around here,” you could say to that person, “What I am hearing from you is that you don’t think your work is appreciated. I think you are doing a wonderful job on …” and then be very specific as to what that person is doing right.  After that, ask, “What can I do to help you get over this feeling of not being important enough? How can I help you through this?”

Or, if someone is coming from fear and saying, “I can’t believe it, I just got another project dumped on me and I don’t have time in my day to work on it,” let that person know you understand by saying something such as, “Wow, I can hear that you’re really overwhelmed right now. Is there a way I can help you with this? Is there anyone I can talk to that might be able to partner with you?”

A phrase I like is lead with your ears.  Really listen to the person you are interacting with and see if you can respond in a caring and heartfelt way. When you ask the question “How can I help?” you’ll be amazed at how quickly it can diffuse the frustration another person is feeling.  It can make an immediate difference to upset or fearful people just to know their concerns are being heard. By leading with your servant’s heart, you will set an example others can use to get away from their egos, move forward, and make a positive difference in someone else’s day.

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