Real Heroes Wear Helmets

I had spent the year interning with a Fortune 500 company and visited my grandfather in Maine for a week before returning to Penn State. My priorities were not right yet. Money, fame and fortune were still the front of my mind. I dreamed of being the next Bill Gates or Donald Trump. So, as we sat on his front porch one cool summer evening, I casually made reference to a prominent executive at my employer as being, “my hero”.

“Nah! That’s no hero, Ben.” My grandfather cut me off, mid-sentence, in a thick Maine accent. He was not angry, but very serious. The conversation quickly turned from a casual chat to a very somber conversation. I had made a mistake and he needed to correct me. “Let me tell you what a real hero is…”

“… it was 1951 and I was in the 4.2 Mortar group of the 45th Division of the Oklahoma National Guard in Korea. We were firing mortars when we came under attack. As we heard the incoming rounds fly past us, I dove to the ground and my helmet went flying off. Let me tell you Ben, you never feel more naked than when you have bullets flying past you and you do not have a helmet on.”

“That’s when Visloski,  who was from Pennsylvania, saw I’d lost my helmet. He jumped on top of my head, shielding it with his body, reached out and pulled my helmet back to me. That is a hero.”

Lesson learned. The whole conversation took about 5 minutes, but I’ve never used the term “hero” in business since. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve referred to anyone, other than my grandfather, as a hero of mine since. So the next time you think anyone in business is your hero, think again. Let’s save that term for the people who really deserve it - our men and woman in military service, policemen and firefighters. All the real heroes are those who risk their lives for us, while the rest of us lead our happily sheltered lives thanks to their efforts and sacrifices.

Question: Who is your real hero? How do you avoid hero-worship in business?

“To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”
- Benjamin Franklin

Rock Concert or Business Conference?

The scene resembled a large rock concert. There was a massive stage, huge projection screens, a booming sound system, laser lights and special effects that would make Broadway jealous. To say there was a great deal of excitement and anticipation for the presenter would be a major understatement. His name was announced, the music boomed and onto stage strode the classic image of a powerful, confident executive. Navy suit with pin stripes, tall, slender, salt-and-peppered hair, power tie and polished shoes. The audience’s applause roared. He walked to the podium, the music faded, applause stopped and the stadium settled to perfect silence in anticipation…

Narcissism Defined

“How’s everybody doing today?!” The keynote speaker began, with excitement in his voice. “Wow, what a year it’s been!  Since last year’s conference, a lot has changed. For example, I reorganized our division and product lines into….” he continued into details of how he, apparently personally, completed some organizational and product line restructuring. Then he continued, “in addition I introduced 12 new products, including some of the hottest new items on the market, such as…” he described a number of top selling products. “And what about services? Well, I introduced the following new service lines…”. Then, he launched into series a corporate acquisitions, “I purchased….”, “I merged…”, I… I… I…

BUZZ KILL.

Within the first 5 minutes of his presentation, all the excitement turned into disbelief at the narcissism displayed by this executive. Really?! Did they really just send that massive of an ego-maniac onto the stage?! This guy specifically said he did all these things – not once did I hear him mention the contributions of another individual or his team.

If you were a member of his organization, how would you have felt? I am sure his team put in a lot of hard work and many late nights. Without these contributions, many of “his” successes would never have come to fruition. If I worked for him, I think my resume would have hit the job boards the next day.

MORALE KILL.

His Narcissism, Our Lesson

Confronted with his narcissism, the executive would likely brush it off as an oversight on his part. He would likely reassure anyone inquiring, “of course I meant the team did all this” and follow up with a commitment to be more clear in the future. But how many stadium-sized opportunities does one get? These platforms are rare. The damage was done.

I hope your narcissism does not compare. Still, if we’re not careful, our own oversight can turn into narcissism. At the very least, oversight can easily kill the morale of our own teams. So how can leaders avoid narcissism and keep their team’s morale alive? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Thank someone every day: If not one, then two, three or twenty. Always be sure you reflect your gratitude.

2. Thank publicly: Most people appreciate public recognition. Given the opportunity, share your platform.

3. Document Credit: When creating communications, especially those for distribution, credit those that contributed.

4. Accountable, not Responsible: Toxic leaders tend to confuse accountability for responsibility. Remember, just because you’re accountable does not mean you are responsible for the success.

5. Serve First: Remember your role as a leader is to serve the team first, not for the team to serve you.

Question: What other ways do you or your leaders avoid narcissism and maintain humility?

Passion

Whenever it occurs, passion reflects an individual’s commitment, strong opinions and dedication to their position. In other words, passion may be described as a person’s unwillingness to maintain their composure. With a particularly strong belief in the matter at hand, passion is often the byproduct of someone deeply engaged in serving their organization. Therefore, I believe passion is a great characteristic to have in your team members.

Emotion

In contrast, emotion often stems from a person’s inability to maintain their composure. This is not necessarily a bad thing, depending upon the circumstances. For example, someone receiving negative feedback in a performance review may reveal their disappointment in tears. In addition, frustration from an inability to effectively influence others often results in anger – too often in public settings. While unfortunate, the former emotional scenario is somewhat understandable and, particularly given the confidential nature, generally acceptable. In contrast, losing one’s temper as a result of their own ineffectiveness is not acceptable. Either way, because emotion is generally perceived as a reflections of one’s inability to control their reactions to given situations, emotion is generally considered negative characteristic.

Call me crazy (or passionate), but I want people on my team that believe deeply in those they serve and therefore may reflect their passion through strong words and actions. Yes, I want people on my team who have the ability to maintain their composure.  However, if someone is passionate enough about their commitment to serving a person or group and therefore not willing to maintain their composure all the time, I’m okay with that. Provided, of course, they know when those right times are.

Question: Have you seen passion confused for emotion? Do you like having passionate people on your team?

Source: Wikipedia

The Fourth of July in the United States of America is celebrated as the nation’s birthday – our Independence Day.  It was on the 4th of July, 1776 that the Continental Congress adopted our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The creation of this document, the adoption of it’s authority by our congress and the freedom of our nation that it represented would not have been possible without the great service of many leaders in our young nation’s history. Created, read and adopted in Philadelphia, the document set forth many servant leadership ideals. Included among these statements is one of the most famous in the English language, which would eventually be used by Abraham Lincoln in the emancipation of slaves and the creation of Emancipation Proclamation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Although most of the original text is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, every American associated with this document’s creation and adoption displayed great service to their fellow American. For every man that signed the document understood fully the risk they accepted willingly – the risk of execution by Great Britain for treason to the founding country. Beyond this great personal risk, each man supporting the document and its aims also risked their livelihood and even their family’s well being. As a result, it is clear these individuals were all willing to invest great personal risk in their devotion to serving the constituents of these United States of America.

Therefore, whether on the 4th of July or anytime throughout the year, we should remember the debt of gratitude we owe to these great servant leaders and founding fathers of our nation.

The servant leaders that signed of the Declaration of Independence included:

1. John Hancock

2. Josiah Bartlett

3. William Whipple

4. Matthew Thornton

5. Samuel Adams

6. John Adams

7. Robert Treat Paine

8. Elbridge Gerry

9. Stephen Hopkins

10. William Ellery

11. Roger Sherman

12. Samuel Huntington

13. William Williams

14. Oliver Wolcott

15. William Floyd

16. Philip Livingston

17. Francis Lewis

18. Lewis Morris

19. Richard Stockton

20. John Witherspoon

21. Francis Hopkinson

22. John Hart

23. Abraham Clark

24. Robert Morris

25. Benjamin Rush

26. Benjamin Franklin

27. John Morton

28. George Clymer

29. James Smith

30. George Taylor

31. James Wilson

32. George Ross

33. George Read

34. Caesar Rodney

35. Thomas McKean

36. Samuel Chase

37. William Paca

38. Thomas Stone

39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton

40. George Wythe

41. Richard Henry Lee

42. Thomas Jefferson

43. Benjamin Harrison

44. Thomas Nelson, Jr.

45. Francis Lightfoot Lee

46. Carter Braxton

47. William Hooper

48. Joseph Hewes

49. John Penn

50. Edward Rutledge

51. Thomas Heyward, Jr.

52. Thomas Lynch, Jr.

53. Arthur Middleton

54. Button Gwinnett

55. Lyman Hall

56. George Walton

Question: What Servant Leaders have helped you?

1. Evaluate Competitor Products: Within your company and beyond, what are the most admired leaders offering as a part of their “product”? Look at the managers within your organization with the best 360 feedback scores. Also, look at some of the greatest leaders outside your company – those highlighted from Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For or similar studies. The leadership products offered from these competitors are ones you should consider adopting features from for your own leadership product offering.

2. Conduct a Market Study: When was the last time you conducted a survey of your team’s reflection on the quality of your leadership product? 360 Feedback is great, but consider going beyond the standard HR processes and policies. One of the greatest tools I’ve seen is an anonymous Q&A session. In this process, employees on the team submit their questions to a human resources representative. The HR representative filters the questions, rephrases them into their own words to ensure anonymity, then asks the leader these questions live, in an open dialog with the team. Why not conduct your own, similar, marketing study?

3. Invest in Research & Development: Over time, the best products evolve through investments in R&D. Your leadership product should be no different. To maintain the interest and support of your team, you should continuously improve your leadership skills. Invest time with mentors and perhaps even a professional coach. Devote time to personal development and reading the latest leadership books and industry periodicals. If you fail to evolve your leadership product over time, your competitors will become more attractive while your product remains stagnant.

Your leadership is a product purchased by your followers. The team invests time, effort and creativity into your organization, at least in part due to your leadership. Therefore, as you serve the organization, it’s employees, customers, investors and other stake holders, you owe it to them to develop your leadership product. Failure to continuously develop this product could be more costly than failures in your organization’s end product and services.

Questions: What other ways do you invest in your leadership Product? How does your leadership develop their product?

There are so many “models” for servant leadership that I fear we may be creating confusion. For example, there is the Spears model of 10 attributes, the Frick and Sipe model of 7 pillars and of course, there is the “father” of servant leadership – Robert Greenleaf. Furthermore, there are countless religious references and philosophers that date back to 2000 BC. We need to simplify. We need a short, basic description that gets to the heart of the matter. It’s time for a Servant Leadership strip down – my proposed simplification of Servant Leadership.

At the heart of the matter, servant leadership is simply this: putting your stake holders before yourself and leading them through service to their needs. When in doubt if an action is servant led or not, simply ask this question: “How will this action impact all relevant stake holders?*” If it is not helping them, it is not serving them. If you’re not serving others, you’re not leading, you are self-serving.

And that, in my humble opinion, is servant leadership, stripped down to it’s most basic, fundamental principle. Still confused? Don’t worry, I’ll come up with yet another model to add to the complexity. Seriously though, for more information, you can review the Servant Leadership overview on this site.

* Yes, I realize this is similar to Greenleaf’s question that begins, “”The best test and difficult to administer, is…” I’m not trying to take credit for the idea – just supporting a simplification.

Note: This post is the sixth and last in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

You know you’re in for a good presentation when the speaker starts off with a disclaimer that it is not his “intention to offend anyone, but if he does, too bad.” Ben Carson’s amazing story of success from meager beginnings to professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins is truly amazing. In fact, Carson received the prestigious presidential Medal of Freedom and there is even a movie about his life. Perhaps most inspiring of all, is that his legacy will not be one of fame and fortune, but one of serving others. His scholarship program now seeks to ensure that all 4^th, 5^th and 6^th graders realize they can achieve just as much notoriety for academic success, as for a wicked jump shot. Highlights from Ben Carson’s presentation at the 2010 Chick-Fil-A Leadercast follow:

Ben Carson’s Background Comments

• “One of the nice things about medicine is that people turn their lives over to you and you can turn it back to them much better.”
• On Political Correctness: “It is not my intention to offend anyone this evening and if anyone is offended, too bad… I do not believe in political correctness.”
  • “Many people came to this country to escape others telling them what they should say or think and here we are reintroducing this through the backdoor.”
• He was glad his mother never developed the victims mentality, even though she only had a 3rd grade education
• Ben Carson was the worst student in the 5^th grade
  • Brother was doing poorly too
  • Mother prayed and felt God tell her to turn off the TV and have the boys read two books and give a book report of each, weekly
  • In 1.5 years, Carson went from bottom of class, to the top of the class
  • He reflected that he had the same brain, just a very different opinion of himself

On the State of Our Country & Education

• He believes the U.S. is headed for a fall, but we can turn it around
• Likened U.S. to Rome and other great civilizations… they all became enamored with themselves, lots of sports as priorities, materialism, lost their morals and these mighty civilizations fell
• The question, he felt, was can we (the United States) become the first pinnacle nation to foresee us about to fall and take corrective action?
  • Yes, there’s something different about us
• Look at our founding fathers. They were men of great faith
  • Many people today are trying to dilute faith or throw it out.
  • The whole world was about to come under tyrannical rule in World War II, were it not for the intervention of the U.S.
• As he speaks with colleagues in the medical profession from other countries, they reflect that it seems we are moving toward their medical system structure
  • This seems to disappoint them, because they looked to us to be the innovators, so we if we are settling into their programs rather than innovating something new, it leaves less hope for the future.
• “No knowledge is irrelevant, because you never know what opportunity will come.”
• “Success is…using the talent God gave you to elevate others.”
• “It’s okay to live by Godly principles.”
• “Not only can we still be a pinnacle nation, but we can be one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

On Peer Criticism

• P.E.E.R.S. in Peer Criticism stands for:
  • People
  • Encouraging
  • Errors
  • Rudeness and
  • Stupidity

For More from Ben Carson:

• The Carson Scholars Fund
• Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (Movie)

Note: This post is the fifth in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

John Maxwell has an amazing ability to connect with you – whether you are one member of an audience of 65,000+ (as we were this day) or one-on-one. This is appropriate, given that his latest book is entitled, “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect.” This was the main topic of his presentation – Connecting with Others. The best leaders serve their organizations in many ways, but one critical attribute is through their ability to connect. Highlights of Maxwell’s comments on serving and connecting follow:

• “Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.”
• Definition of “Connecting: the ability to identify with and relate to people in such a way that it increases our ability to influence them.”
• “Some of my best thinking is done by others.”

It’s Not About Us

• “Connecting is all about others… It’s not about us”
  • “If you help other people get what they want, they’ll help you get what you want.” – Zig Ziglar
  • “You put other people first”

It’s Not Lonely At The Top

• Some people say “it’s lonely at the top” but that’s not true.
• “If you’re up at the top all alone, nobody’s following you.” It’s not lonely at the top.
• What real leaders do, is they get off of “the top”. They go to where the people are.

• Then they bring the people (followers) to the top, with them.

Selfless

• When someone thinks of themselves first, they’re immature. They’re selfish.
  • That’s okay when you’re a small child.
  • However, it’s not okay when you’re 35, 45, 55, and you haven’t figured out that it’s not about you yet!
  • “When you become a leader, you give up your right to think about yourself first. Leadership is always about others first.”

Connecting Requires Intentionality

• “Connectors understand if they’re going to connect, they’re going to have to give it a lot of energy.”
  • “It requires intentionality, it requires energy to connect.”
  • Who is that person you need to expend energy to connect with.
  • Find Common Ground
  • “What makes connectors effective is they are constantly looking for common ground.”
  • Make time. Walk slowly through the crowd. Let people connect with you.
  • “Anybody that’s kept at a distance won’t hurt you, but they won’t help you either.”

More From John C. Maxwell

Website: http://www.johnmaxwell.com/
Latest Book: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect
Free Download:

• Give it Time PDF

The Power of Motivation MP3

Note: This post is the fifth in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

At the 2010 Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, Jim Collins interviewed Ed Bastian, president of Delta Airlines and Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS Institute. Both executives referenced servant leadership principles as key attributes in the success of their companies. As Collins framed it, this also presented an excellent dichotomy, with Delta the large, publicly held airline that went nearly bankrupt and SAS, the smaller, privately held company in the software industry. I found the session particularly interesting as well, given the very different personalities and leadership traits you find in these two individuals, as you will see from many of their comments:

Jim Goodnight

Disclaimer: Jim Goodnight and his efforts at SAS Institute have been the source of much Servant Leadership material for many proponents. As a result, I confess there is a potential for bias in my comments.

• One ways SAS supports its employees is by providing ‘additional income that is not taxed to employees’, such as free coffee, snacks, etc…
  • “It’s much better to keep the money and give it to your employees than send it to Washington – that just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

• “We only have a 35 hour week… have had that since 1976”

• They also have flexible start times, so some people start 7, 8, 9, etc.
• “We’re a knowledge company. Everything we do comes out of the heads of people who work there. “
• Jim Collins asked, how can you maintain a 35 hour work week when your competition in Silicon Valley are famous for 80 or 100 hour work weeks?
  • “The reason they’re working 80 or a 100 hours a week is because everything they did after 5 PM is pretty much mush. So when they come back in the morning, they spend a lot of time fixing that mush.”
  • “So, I feel it’s better to go home and be with your family than stay at the office making a lot of mistakes”
  • SAS Institute made a commitment to no layoffs.
    • “As a private company I don’t have to worry if my profits go up every year. “ He told everyone there would be no layoffs last year, but he told them they weren’t getting raises either. Still they seemed very happy with that.
    • “These are the kinds of times where it’s really important to understand your customer’s problems.”
    • Jim Collins had a great comment in his question build up here: “Some people think business can teach the social sector a lot. I hold a different view and think we can learn a lot from the social sector.”

What social sector issues do you feel passionate about / want to solve?

• “We’ve got to find ways to keep kids in schools longer.”
• “If business wants America to stay strong, we really need to step up and push government to do a better job in education.”
  • So many kids grow up with technology (cell phones, game systems, computers, etc.) and when they get to school they have to leave that at home…as a result they’re bored. I think that’s one reason so many drop out of school.

Any other advice / comments?

• He didn’t like cubicles during his experience working a year on the Apollo project, so we (SAS) only have offices. As a result, there are long hallways and we needed to buy art to fill those hallways.
• I find “the art tends to motivate people.”
• High School Basketball coach was an important mentor to Goodnight:
  • “If we won, it was always our win” the coach recognized it as a team success.
  • “If we lost, he (the basketball coach) said ‘I didn’t have you prepared, it was my fault’.”
  • “That selflessness is something I always tried to pursue.”

Ed Bastian

• Delta literally came within a few days of shutting the doors for good
• “Number one thing we did to comeback was to reconnect with the people of Delta Airlines”
• The Delta airlines founder had a quote: “’If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of the customers’. And we’d forgotten about that.”
  • They had to reignite the spirit of Delta airlines to the employees
• When the company sat on the brink of closure, they approached the employees.  However, they didn’t use Powerpoint presentations, but just spoke with them. They told the employees the facts and said they (leadership) had made mistakes.
• At one point, well into their recovery, there was a takeover attempt by US Air that failed. That was a key moment in the turnaround for him and the leadership. They recognized the people said, “you’re not taking our airline away from us.”
• One of his key pieces of advice to organizations facing tremendous adversity is: “There are more things inside our control than outside…develop a mindset of agility and decide if you’re going to play offense or defense.”
• Other Advice for Leaders in the audience included:
  • “It’s our responsibility, as a corporate citizen of the community, to give back to the community.”
  • “Don’t focus on your career track so much as your own job…and you’ll progress much faster.”
  • As one of his mentors put it, “If you’re going to succeed in life, surround yourself with successful people.”
  • Hire someone smarter than you
  • Hire people that look different than you
  • “Be a perpetual optimist”

Jim Collins closed the panel discussion with a question to the audience:

• Think about who has mentored or coached you.
• Then consider, how do we pay that mentor back?

Mentor the next generation, of course.

More From Jim Goodnight

Website: http://www.sas.com/presscenter/bios/jgoodnight.html

More From Ed Bastian

Website: http://www.delta.com/about_delta/corporate_information/corporate_biographies/bastian/

Note: This post is the fourth in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010

Mark Sanborn had many great phrases and memorable leadership quotes. In fact, Mark’s website includes the subheading, “Leadership doesn’t make a difference, it is the difference.” How true that is, at every level of the organization. His presentation focused on leaders as story builders, improvers and tellers. Below are highlights from Mark’s presentation:

Making a Better Story

• “Leaders don’t just tell a better story, they make the story better.”
• “We want leaders who can help us make our stories better than they would have been.”
• “…Consider your life (to be) a non-fiction book on the shelf of the bookstore of the world.”
• “Are you a better person because of your manager?”
  • The above is a question Sanborn asks employees of managers confidentially
  • Are you treating your employees like a WIP or WAC?
    • WIP= Work In Progress – how we often view ourselves
    • WAC=Works Already Completed – how we often look at others.
      • “Why do we treat them (those we meet) as foregone conclusions rather than a future possibility?”
      • “…it’s called Leadership not Controllership”
      • “The antidote to ‘stuck’ is hope.”
      • “You, as a leader, might have to resell people on their own value… You might have to renarrate their story…You might have misinterpreted your own story”
• “Reenergize people by giving them hope… Hope is having something new try and be willing to try.
  • • A future that is different than the one they currently occupy
    • “Refocus people from current struggles to future hopes.”
• “Redefine Failure”
  • “Failure is something that happens to you, not something you are…Failures are indicators you are making progress”
  • “Your resume is current until the day you retire. Your legacy will live beyond you.”
  • “We as leaders need to pay attention to how our stories are affecting others.”

C.R.A.F.T. Model

• Catch
  • Catch the other person’s story
  • Requires slowing down, make space to catch the other person’s story

• Respond
  • Don’t reject the story
  • People have no reason to change until we accept them
• Ask
  • Ask questions
  • What is your greatest hope here (at organization / business)?

• Feel
  • Listen with your heart.
  • A cynic is a passionate person that doesn’t want to be disappointed with you.
• Tell
  • Tell your Story
  • That’s where you find the connectivity
  • The focus is not on you or what you learned – but on how they can be better (their story can be better) because of what you learned in your story

I am grateful to Mark for his participation in the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast and especially enjoyed his CRAFT model. I see great alignment here with servant leadership principles.

More From Mark Sanborn

Website: http://www.marksanborn.com/
Latest Book: The Fred Factor
Free Download:

• Be The One – 13 Strategies for Self-Motivation PDF

Note: This post is the third in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

Mark Sanborn interviewed Tony Dungy in a pre-recorded meeting. Dungy’s story and success in both the NFL and life read like a case-study in Servant Leadership. If you’ve not read them, I highly suggest his books, particularly the first, “Quiet Strength”. Below are some of the highlights from Tony Dungy’s Chick-Fil-A Leadercast interview:

• Q: How do we get people “unstuck”?
  • “Energize them…Show them the potential they have… what they are truly capable of.”
• Q: How do you get others committed to your vision and mission?
  • You need to explain, “It’s about more than us, the big picture, the whole team, the whole community… Even more than teamwork, the ultimate goal that all of us can strive for. That’s what you have to sell.”
• Q: What if they’re struggling before they see progress?
  • “You have to talk about perseverance…Show the examples that may not be obvious. Explain that this is not the time to give up, we’re close… Let them know we’re in it together.”
• Q: You have a Mentor-Leader book coming out in August, can you tell us a bit about it?
  • “The Mentor-leader helps people get where they want to be” (vs. pushing them).
• Q: You have a very different coaching style than the stereotype in the NFL, can you explain why / how?
  • You must “be yourself, you have to lead in your own way, don’t imitate others”
• Q: You’ve flagged players in the NFL as “DNDC” – What does that mean?
  • “Do Not Draft Because of Character…”
  • They had the talent, but something in their makeup would not make them a good addition to the group or team
• Q: Do you think Character is taught or caught?
  • A little of both
  • You need to take people w/ potential and build those character traits in
• Q: How do you avoid the “big head” syndrome after success?
  • His mother taught him “it’s important to understand where your success comes from, and it comes from the Lord.”
  • He also referenced a poem from John Wooden, given to him by Dungy’s High School coach:

Talent is God Given; be thankful

Praise is man given; be humble

Conceit is self-given; be careful

• Q: Sometimes you must mentor and sometimes discipline as a coach, how do you handle this?
  • “All coaching is mentoring and disciplining is part of it”
• Q: How do you ration your time and energy?
  • That’s always the dilemma for him
  • “You want to be the best at what you’re doing…people at work are depending on you…people at home are depending on you… Family has to come first – that’s who’s going to be with you the rest of your life.”
• Q: Any other thoughts you’d like to leave with the audience?
  • “God’s put you where you are for a reason. You are impacting a lot of people, whether you know it or not.”
  • “The biggest thing you’ve gotta have is perseverance”
  • “You can make an impact today, right where you are.”
  • Look inside you, figure out what you can do and you can be the one.”

Again, I highly recommend Dungy’s books as they are packed with Servant-Leadership material. It sounds like his forthcoming book this Summer, The Mentor Leader, will continue down this path. My gratitude to Tony for his continued support and promotion of servant leadership principles.

More From Tony Dungy

Website: http://www.coachdungy.com/
Latest Book: The Mentor-Leader (08.03.2010)

Note: This post is the second in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

At the 2010 Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, Jim Collins’s talk referenced much of his work in the revolutionary books Built to Last and Good to Great. However, most of the discussion centered on his latest work: How the Mighty Fall. I looked forward to this talk, because the Level 5 Leadership model from Good to Great is frequently referenced as really another name for servant leadership. In addition, when studying leadership, we need to focus not only on success, but also comparative failures, such as those reflected in his latest book.  Below are servant leadership highlights from Collins presentation:

How the Mighty Fall

How the Mighty Fall is Collins’ latest book and focuses on how some of the greatest companies failed and defining the stages consistent across these failures. There are five stages that he and the research team identified. He walked us through each. Below are highlights by each stage.

Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success

• They found, in many highly successful companies, cases of outrageous arrogance that inflects damage on innocents
• The issue at stake was not that the failed companies lacked some form of strong leadership, but that… “…the Great companies had a different type of leader”
  • They had Level 5 Leaders (see Good To Great)
  • For the record, many of us in the Servant Leadership proponents corner, believe Level 5 Leadership is really just another term for Servant Leadership. Collins addressed this in GtG by stating something along the lines of not wanting to give the reader the wrong idea by calling it Servant Leadership.
  • “The signature of the greatest executives we studied is their humility.”
• “If you become complacent, you will fall.”

Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More

• Packard’s Law (Cofounder of HP):
  • If you allow growth in scale…. to exceed your ability to have all key seats filled with the right people, you will fall.
  • “It’s not first what, it’s first who.”

Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril

• In this stage, the warning signs begin to accumulate
• People who raise financial weaknesses and other concerns may be perceived as “negative” or not “team players”
• The companies may still look good on the outside
• You must have “the discipline to confront the most brutal facts.”
  • Marry that with the faith that we will prevail – that is the Stockdale paradox
  • You need to be brutally honest with the facts, yet have the courage, determination, will and faith that you will succeed in surmounting the challenges.

Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation

• The company begins to respond to signs of falter by “grasping for salvation”
• This often takes the form of hiring charismatic, external leaders
• 2/3 of the failures studied tried to fix the situation by bringing in “savior” CEOs from the outside
  • Initially, this produces a burst of hope, but it doesn’t have the staying power
  • “Greatness never gets built with a single event, single leader or single program.”
  • Examples of Success to Remember:
    • Sam Walton did not add his second store until 7 years after opening the first
    • Starbucks did not establish their 5^th store until 13 years into their development
    • Most overnight success stories are 20 years in the making
    • If you stay in stage 4 long enough you erode financial capital and cultural capital
      • Cultural capital was a key and often overlooked principle
      • The idea is that these swings up and down, of fleeting moments of success, erode the will and faith of the people that the next upswing will work and you lose energy and momentum as a result.

Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

• As Collins put it, he did not want to spend much time on this, because there’s not much to say – it’s over.
• Key point to remember: Just because we haven’t yet fallen, doesn’t mean we can’t – some of the Good to Great companies fell all the way

Built To Last Comparison to the Fallen Companies

Collins reflected that all 18 companies from the Built to Last study, still remained independent entities 20 years after the study. They had not “fallen”. In fact, the probability of a random sampling of S&P 500 companies being in the same boat, is 5 standard errors – so remote, that it may be considered statistically impossible.  As he put it, you had to understand this contrast – what made them so great? How did they avoid falling when other, seemingly great companies, did not?  His conclusions included:

• You must have a reason to fight, beyond just making money
  • Disney Example:
    • Disney faced a takeover battle at one point
    • The board and management thought that was unthinkable, even though the company was worth more for its assets than the company as a whole
      • Note: “Storming the Magic Kingdom” book has more on this
      • The company determined there was a reason for them to be here and it is not just financial
        • The kids, the families, what would they think? What would be lost if they weren’t here anymore?
        • Every great company can answer this question: “Why would it matter if we disappear?”
        • Every great company is built upon core values that are not open for discussion or for change – that sustain you when you are hit with shock, after shock, after shock.
        • All great companies existed in the middle of depression
          • P&G Example:
            • Was pressured to cheapen quality during depression, the answer was still no
            • “If we lose our values we lose our soul. If we lose our soul, we lose it all… We will not abandon our values.”
            • There is still this paradox: You also have to be flexible to adapt in a changing world
              • This is the genius of the “and”
              • “Preserve the Core and stimulate progress.”…“What is in the core is those values that do not change.”
              • “All great leaders we studied embraced the genius of the ‘and’.”
              • “How do you get people to share the values? You don’t. You select the people who already share the values.”
              • 90% of Good to Great CEOS came from inside the company
              • “In the end what you have to have is core values and BHAGs. You have to have both.”

To Do List

So based on this research, what are the actions we should take? Collins proposed the following list of 10 items “To Do”:

1. Build a pocket of greatness
   1. Take responsibility for making your “minibus” (your realm of responsibility) great
   2. It will grow bigger and bigger
2. Do your diagnostics (JimCollins.com for free examples and diagnostic tools)
3. Before this year is over answer:
   1. What are the key seats on your bus?
   2. What percentage are filled with right people?
   3. What are your plans to get to 100%
4. Build your own personal Board of Directors
   1. Who do you allow to be your mentors?
5. Create pockets of quiet
   1. Block time to zoom out and think
   2. Turn off electronic gadgets
6. What is your questions to statements ratio?
   1. Can you double it in the next year?
7. Get the right people
8. Ask the right questions
   1. Take Disciplined Action
9. Most people have a “To Do List”
   1. You also need a stop doing list too
   2. Great leaders are clear first on what we should stop doing
   3. Experiment with removing titles
   4. The right people realize they do not have a job, they have responsibilities
   5. “Spend more time being interested than being interesting.”
   6. Articulate the Core Values
   7. This will enable you to rebuke the next wave of shocks
10. Set BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)
    1. Marry Values to BHAGs

Before exiting the stage, Collins told a great, personal story. He met the late, great Peter Drucker, who saw in Collins concerns about the future and whether or Collins’ career would be a success. Drucker responded to him, “The question is not how to survive or how to succeed. Why don’t you think about how to be useful.” Collins simply looked at the audience and ended by saying, “Go out and make yourself useful.”

If you have not read all of Collins’ books, you owe it to your teams and your employers to do so. The results of their studies are some of the best business cases for the implementation of Servant Leadership.

More From Jim Collins

Website: http://www.jimcollins.com/
Latest Book: How the Mighty Fall
Free Downloads:

• The 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time PDF
• The Secret of Enduring Greatness PDF

Note: This post is the first in a series of Servant Leadership Lessons from the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast 2010.

At the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, Connie Podesta focused on connecting our personal and professional lives. She also covered a range of topics including some humor (and interesting facts) surrounding the common differences between male and female communication styles. However, the servant leadership themes I took away from Connie included: leaders should align work and personal lives and they must remember that everyone is always leading by example (my words, not hers). As leaders serving your organization, aligning your personal lives with work lives and not attempting to balance the two, is something I wrote about here. It’s also critical for the serving leader to remember they are always on stage – setting the example for others, as their teams are for peers. Below are some highlights from her talk, aligned to these themes:

Work / Life Alignment, Not Balance

• “There is no separating your personal and professional life”
• Leadership is a 24×7 job
• When consulting, clients often suggest there is not enough time to address the employee’s personal lives and interests, but she finds that is the most important part and necessary.
• “When it comes to material possessions we need to focus more on what we need and not so much on what we want.”
• If you think you need your job, you’ll never be happy at work.

Everyone Is Always Leading, By Example

• You’re on stage every single day of your life
• Your kids, clients, family, employees, church congregation, etc. are all in the audience – they are watching you and trying to decide how you are going to influence them
• “There’s not a human being in your life you can make happy”
• Leadership has changed from 20 years ago, employees and children have not.
  • Employees and children have always looked to leaders and parents, taking their cues for how to behave from them
  • “Character is defined not by how you are when life is going good… Leadership comes out when your life is so far from what you had planned, that you can barely breathe.”

Before leaving, she asked the audience if they are happy with the personal choices they’ve made. Then, are they happy with the professional choices they’ve made. She let it hang there, before exiting.

More From Connie Podesta

Website: http://www.conniepodesta.com/
Latest Book: How to Be the Person Successful Companies Fight to Keep
Free Downloads:

• Change Habits PDF
• Be #1 In Leadership PDF

Benefits to Attending Leadership Conferences

I’m about to attend the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, presented by John C. Maxwell and Giant Impact. The event is only one day, but the great lineup of speakers and topics has me anxiously awaiting it. As I reflected on this, a thought occurred to me: most of these great speakers have published plenty of material and lessons, so why do I find it important to attend leadership conferences at all?  I came up with the following short list. Perhaps it will help you convince your boss the next time this event, or a similar opportunity comes around.

1. Education: The obvious. As a leader in the organization, you must continuously develop your leadership skills. Conferences are among the best ways to do this.

2. Networking: Whether you’re an extrovert or not, be sure to reach out to co-participants. Those in attendance are like-minded, particularly if the conference focuses on a particular theme, like Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership conference and you may find them excellent references for bouncing new ideas.

3. Focus: You could spend weeks, even months reading books in small snippets, but you can’t always focus consistently and key topics are often lost in translation. In contrast, by attending all day events and longer conferences, you are able to absorb the information continuously. From my experience, this results in greater retention of the information.

4. Setting an Example: As a leader in your organization, you need to set the example by honing your skills and leadership capabilities. As your team and peers see you make the commitment to be out of the office for these experiences, you lead by example and set expectations for them to follow.

So the next time you contemplate whether you can afford the time away from the office, consider these benefits and more, then commit yourself to, as the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast says, “Be The One”. If you seek suggestions for leadership events, definitely check out the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast and Greenleaf’s Annual conference.

Question: Why do you attend leadership development events?

Servant Leadership Stands Out From the Crowd

Sitting in the CxO’s office, I was stunned. He just asked me to covertly backup another person’s data before he fired them. This was the fourth senior level manager he would fire, less than a year after hiring them. The cycle was now complete for a third time, as his entire department had turned over three times in just under two years. As the technology leader for the organization, one of my unfortunate  responsibilities was supporting these practices. This leadership style, or lack thereof, was in stark contrast to other methods I experienced to achieve success. That moment was the start of a long, winding path leading to the creation of The Modern Servant Leader website.

After experiencing success under many different circumstances and leadership styles, I recognized a key differentiation between leadership styles I supported and those I did not – sustainability. Although I did not yet know the name for it, I recognized servant leaders achieved the greatest success with an ability to sustain that success. In contrast, non-serving leaders used fear and borrowed from the future to obtain success in the short-term, often resulting in low morale, high turnover and limited sustainability.

No longer could I support these practices. No saint myself, I had allowed my skills and expertise to be used in support of leadership practices that offended me and it was time for change. With this background, I committed to researching leadership practices, naming my own beliefs and ultimately promoting the awareness and adoption of these practices. As a result, I was thrilled when I read about servant leadership. I found that servant leadership captured the source of true leadership, delivered sustainable results and aligned with my own values and beliefs.

After years of  studying servant leadership, comparing it to my own experiences – both good and bad, I wanted to share what I learned with others. Thus, The Modern Servant Leader (ModernServantLeader.com) was born. This site is dedicated to spreading the awareness, adoption and support of servant leadership practices with an emphasis on modern trends, challenges and technology. If you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback, please, let me know.

Thank you for visiting the site. I hope you find something here that helps you in the development of leadership practices for yourself and your organization.

Question: How did you first hear about servant leadership?

Are you a Servant Leader? Is your boss or someone else you know? Try this assessment to find out. Use this

free leadership assessment to evaluate yourself or another person, on Servant Leadership attributes.

If evaluating yourself, be honest in your responses.  Don’t respond with how you would like to act, but with how you actually act. Each question includes examples of Servant Leadership in action. After completing the assessment, you will be given your score and the “correct” (Servant Leadership) answers. There are only 18 questions, each with two possible answers. The entire assessment should not take more than 15 minutes to complete.

When finished, you’ll receive a Servant Leadership Grade:

• Servant Leader – Expert
• Servant Leader – Professional
• Servant Leader
• Servant Leader – Novice
• Servant Leader – Amateur
• Servant Leader – Beginner
• Passed – Barely
• Failed

Take The Quiz Now

Note: The quiz is based on Larry Spears‘ 10 Attributes of Servant Leadership. However, the questions are general enough that I believe they apply in any Servant Leader framework.

The Hope College Anchor

Last night, I was honored to participate in a panel on Servant Leadership at Hope College’s Center for Faithful Leadership.  The panel was part of the college’s mentoring program. Below are the questions we covered and my responses (including more content than covered in the session) :

1. What does Servant Leadership mean to you?

For me, Servant Leadership is the only real form of leadership.  After all, if you’re not serving others, you are not leading.  If your primary ambition is self-motivated for personal success, fame and fortune and not for a greater cause, then all you’re really doing is pursuing vain ambitions.

In contrast to the self-serving individual, servant leaders seek to help others become something greater.  They put all stakeholders before themselves in some degree.  Some people think servant leadership means only serving your employees, the poor or any singular constituency, but it’s really about understanding the needs of the broader organization.  So, in business for example, this means yes, serving your employees, but it also means serving your customers, supervisors and investors.

2. Why should we strive to become servant leaders?

Not only is servant leadership the only real form of leadership – it’s also the greatest.  When you think of leaders that motivate you, chances are they’re serving you and others, first.  While it is possible to become successful in business, athletics, academics or other fields by yourself, you can only go so far on your own.  Nobody changed the world by themselves. People, supporters and team members want genuine, authentic leaders with noble motives and intentions.

Fewer people support the leader today who just wants to make a profit.  Instead, people want to follow greater causes.  This is true in every field – not just altruistic causes. In business, people don’t just want to make more money – they want to provide a better lifestyle for their investors, while making their customer’s lives better. So the greedy CEO who is willing to win at any cost will find fewer and less dedicated followers.

3. How does one become a servant leader?

Put the needs of others before your own.  You don’t have to sacrifice everything, but you should strive for the greater good before your own fame, fortune or glory.  From my own experience, I did not start this way.  When I was a college student myself, I had never heard the term servant leadership.  In fact, I was pretty close to the opposite. If someone asked me if I believed in these principles, I am sure I would have agreed, from a theoretical perspective.  However, the reality was quite different.

I wanted to be the next Bill Gates, Donald Trump or any wildly successful technology entrepreneur. I wanted my name in lights. But then something happened. I met my first servant leader in business.

This man was contrary to everything I thought you had to be in business. I thought you had to be cold and heartless. I thought you had to always be looking out for number one.  But this manager was always looking out for others, always had time to hear my concerns, always helped his staff and always framed decisions in how they would impact the broader organization.  Over time I met several other servant leaders and worked for many similar managers.

Then something changed. I began to experience other leaders and organizations that were much less service focused. Yet in some way, every manager or leader was successful.  The difference I witnessed was in how each leader got their results. The servant leaders had a great degree of sustainability. Their happy staffs had lower turnover, the organizations ran on lower overhead as a result and people enjoyed their jobs. In contrast, the more self-centered, autocratic leaders had higher turnover, lower morale and greater overhead expenses as a result.

This all culminated when I worked for a true narcissist.  This senior executive had a nasty habit of hiring and firing people within a year.  I was responsible for one-half of his team and we’d grown successfully over the course of two years. We had great results to report and the team seemed, overall, fairly happy with their work. In contrast, the other half of his team had turned over three full times in the same 2 years. They faced serious audits and were under great scrutiny both internally and externally. Much of the work in the area had to be outsourced for continuity and stabilization.

I had to find a better way of explaining this better way of leadership I now tried to practice.  And so began my long journey to raise awareness and support of Servant Leadership. So while I still have a long way to go, it is possible for someone not initially servant leader-focused to develop these skills.

4. What is most rewarding about servant leadership?

Seeing others succeed. I’ll never forget the day I heard an employee on one the teams I was responsible for say he wanted to ensure he always tried to practice servant leadership. I introduced the concept to him months earlier and he was so impressed at how it generated broader success and results for all that he’d adopted it as his own philosophy.  When I saw it listed in his career development plan later that year, it was all I could do to keep from shouting with joy.  The concept is infectious and it helps us all win together.

5. What is most challenging about servant leadership?

For me, it’s checking your own pride and ego at the door. I still struggle with this myself and I suspect I’m not the only one. Would I still like to see my name in lights, on that magazine cover or attached to some big award or title?  Sure, at times.  But when I die, I don’t want them to say I won some great awards or was recognized as some great expert. I want them to say I helped build something greater than myself, something others were proud of and that I helped spread that approach.  So you have to be willing and wanting to truly help others. Again, not just your team, but all stakeholders.

Feedback, Q&A

Following the formal panel, I was impressed by the students and their mentors’ questions and comments.  The group recognized a growing trend among “generation Me” to focus on self-promotion and the resulting need for greater servant leadership.  Yet, at the same time, there were great examples they referenced of servant leadership in business, both from direct experience at organizations like Ford (which also had an example of autocratic leadership), Fleetwood and a local restaurant as well as among non-profits and service organizations. The students recognized the greater results and benefits from servant leadership and seemed clearly aligned with these beliefs. As a result, I was encouraged by the session, these student’s perspectives and Hope College’s development of those they serve in this space.

Note: My thanks to Dr. Steve VanderVeen, Marcia Floding, Hope College, Center for Faithful Leadership staff and co-panelist Jinny DeJong for this opportunity to develop greater awareness and support for Servant Leadership principles. You are all great servant leaders. Please continue the great work.

Question: What servant leaders have you known and how have they helped you?

As I rushed outside in the still dark morning, a shuffling of leaves by the door made me pause. I stopped to let my eyes adjust and found myself practically within arms reach of two beautiful deer. One was bracing to sprint, but the other seemed calm and curious. Impressed by the pleasant surprise, I took in the moment. Then, backing away slowly, I loaded the car. In the small magic of that moment, my new friends reminded me to focus on what was important. Had I been “on time” I would have missed that special experience. I then realized I needed to make the time to serve my family by helping them start their day right.  I also needed to serve my colleagues by ensuring my mind was focused on the right topics and preparation for our meeting on my drive in.

I went back inside, more calm now, strolled up to wife and kissed her gently on the forehead. I then smiled at my son, tickled him a little and slowly carried him into his awaiting car seat. My deer friends had gone, but I was content. My morning was set right. I made it to the office just in time and was in the right state of mind to lead the important dialogue that morning.  Afterward, I thought to myself what a difference those few extra minutes made for my family, ultimately my colleagues and how important it was to foresee the need for a moment of pause at work as well. As a result, I compiled a few…

Signs you may need to take a “minute” and pause at work:

1. You are in a constant state of reaction, rather than planning

2. You make decisions to get them off your plate rather than to address the problem

3. You delegate without full guidance and communication of the situation to the recipient

4. You know you could do a better job, “if you only had more time”

5. You find your team questioning your decisions more than normal and you don’t understand why

We’ve all been there before.  While you won’t have the benefit of deer roaming through your office, these signs may remind you to stop and focus on what matters. You owe it to those you serve to make the time to get it right.

Question: When did you find a moment to pause at the office, or at home, helped?

Ask the Right Questions at the Right Time

Great leaders ask the right questions at the right time. While great leaders are better at this than others, there is no magic to asking the right questions. By focusing on serving the organization, one can position themselves to identify the right questions at the right time. Below are some tactics that may help you serve the organization and ask the right questions:

1. Active Listening
It all begins with listening first. The meeting multitasker often misses key concepts and asks the dumb question. The person that actively listens, repeating back what they hear to ensure comprehension, is best positioned to ask the right questions.

2. Speak Your Mind
If you have a burning question and you’ve been actively listening, it’s likely others have the same question. Whether you’re right, wrong or simply asking for clarity, you are where you are for a reason and the team is counting on you to speak your mind.

3. Timely
Asking the right question at the wrong time is useless. If you have a concern or issue to raise, be timely in raising it. Waiting for the perfect moment or every detail to evolve may be too late.

4. Owner
When in doubt, ask yourself, “if I was the sole proprietor of this organization, how would I respond to this investment / topic?” Would you be happy about it? Or would it keep you up at night worrying about an adequate Return On Investment?

5. Independent
Remember all those great questions and ideas you had when you first joined the organization? Go back to that time and clear your head of all the methods in which you’ve “conformed” to your organization’s way of doing things. What would you challenge? Challenge them now.

6. Customer
If you were the customer or end consumer, what would you think of the project or matter at hand? Would it excite you or make you take your business elsewhere?

Of course, I need ways to remember tactics like these. So, if you’re like me, the next time you’re in a meeting and trying to find the right questions, just remember: A STOIC (Active listening, Speak your mind, Timely, Owner, Independent & Customer) individual remains calm and asks those great questions.

Question: When did the right question at the right time, save you, your project or your team from making a big mistake?

We Forgive Because, Together, We Work

It was my last night in Italy on what was was a particularly draining, transatlantic business trip.  The average day included 12+ hours of working sessions, followed by 2 or 3 hour email marathons.  The trip was immensely successful, but I was drained – physically and emotionally.  I plopped down in a leather chair in front of the fireplace.  It was nice to finally appreciate the comfort our Italian villa bed & breakfast intended.

Soon after I sat down, two fellow business travelers struck up a conversation with me.  The British pair were account representatives for another manufacturing firm and were wrapping up “aggressive negotiations” with one of their partners.  As the dialog progressed, I was struck by how well these two balanced each other.

The more senior gentleman was more reserved and filled the role of the conservative, voice of reason and patience in negotiations.  The younger gentleman was much more tenacious and referred to as occasionally ”unrelenting”.  Throughout the conversation, there were comments from the superior such as, “that’s why I didn’t bring you along on that negotiation – you would have destroyed them!”  Yet the younger gentleman did not mind, responding “of course!  I understood and agree with you – I would not have been a good fit in that trip.”

This trip had been a success for them because, as they confided in their new found friend, “our partner had every right to be angry with us – frankly, we’ve got some issues to work on.  But we were able to leave with what we needed.”  No doubt due, at least in part, to the great balance of these individuals.

Shortly before retiring for the evening, the older gentleman summed it up well:

“I’m not perfect and he’s not perfect.  We both have weaknesses.  However, he forgives bits of me and I forgive bits of him, because together, we work.”

I went to bed pondering that thought and the implications for Servant Leaders.  Serving our organizations includes making the necessary sacrifices to balance our own weaknesses.

As I look back on my greatest success stories, they’ve often been in positions where I had a great partner – someone that balanced me well.  A great partner is not someone who is perfect, but someone that fills your gaps to make both of you, together, better.  It is when we can focus on our strengths and we have someone with strengths in our weaknesses to balance us, that we are most successful.

Question: Who balances you?  Do you forgive bits of that person because, “together you work”?

Leaders Who Cry Wolf May Leave Their Flock to be Eaten

As the story goes a child shepherd, seeking attention, cries false alarms of “Wolf! Wolf!” on several occasions.  Over time, the townspeople and neighbors learn to ignore his cries and soon, stop responding at all.  As a result, when a wolf really does come and the boy shouts for help again, he’s left to fend for himself.  The wolf eats the flock and, in some versions, even eats the boy.  This tale offers wisdom to us in a business context as well.

Have you ever seen someone jump from fire drill to fire drill because their boss believed every issue was a crisis?  Often, this stems from the culture of the organization and the overreaction is simply passed down the chain of command.  Regardless of their source, constant fire drills may:

1. Burnout employees

2. Reduce creativity and innovation

3. Emphasize expedience over quality

So what can you do in response to unending cries of “crisis”?  Here’s a couple ideas that may help:

1. Clarify Priorities – Ask your boss which “emergency” must be addressed first, calling attention to the potential of multiple emergencies you must address.

2. Define Timelines – Be sure to understand by what date / time each emergency must be addressed and the driver fot that time.  By understanding the driver behind timelines, you’ll be better equipped to juggle priorities as you hear more cries of “wolf”.

3. Gauge Others - If you’re not sure something is really a crisis, observe how others, especially your peers and those of your boss are responding to the matter.  Communicate the response to your boss in this framework (for example, “Jason’s boss has given him a longer timeline – are we aligned to deliver on the same date?”).

Certainly, there are plenty of true emergencies in business.  The trick seems to be learning to distinguish between an actual crisis and exaggerated enthusiasm.  With the right response, hopefully we can avoid losing our sheep when the real wolf comes.

Question: Have you had a boss that cried Wolf?  How do you manage expectations in similar  situations?

Crashing Into a Ditch Teaches A (Leadership) Lesson

At 7:15 AM, I was already well on my way down the hour-long commute.  On that morning I drove “the wife’s car”, because my regular vehicle was in the shop.  It was a classic Midwest winter day, with plenty of lake effect snow, but the region was prepared for the conditions.  As such, the roads were fairly clear. Still, occasional sections looked suspiciously like ice.  As a result, I drove under the speed limit, but still passed a few people who “probably shouldn’t be on the road anyway”.

It was during one of those passes that I felt the back end start to slide out.  After several counter-steering attempts, the fishtailing continued and I realized there was no escaping it.  The car crossed from one shoulder to the other, traversing two lanes and back, before crashing into the median.  Thankfully, with the exception of my ego, there was virtually no damage.

I counted my blessings and pulled up the maps on my iPhone.  The GPS located me precisely.  I called AAA, which had me back on the road in an hour.  A quick inspection by my regular mechanic and I was still in the office by noon.

Making the best of an unfortunate situation, I realized there were several leadership lessons in this experience that were worth sharing:

1. Observe Warning Signs – Remember those people that “probably shouldn’t be on the road”?  Their caution was a warning sign.  They had experiences (or lack thereof) which caused them concern.  Don’t ignore the warning signs in your organization.  Nay sayers may not just be pessimists.

2. Manage Change – I drove a less familiar vehicle.  This should have created more caution, especially in poor weather. When have you treated a new environment in business as “the same old situation”?

3. Balance Risk / Reward - As discussed in Project Tailgaters and Brake Checkers, it’s important to understand the risks and rewards or cost / benefit of each decision.  Here, by passing other cars, I could arrive 15 minutes earlier.  I assessed the road and it seemed clear and safe, but was it worth the risk?

4. Monitor Progress - As I sat in the ditch, covered in snow, I had only a vague idea of my location and was not certain how to guide someone to me for the tow.  If your project goes awry, will you know the quickest route to recovery?

5. Have the Right Tools - Thankfully, I had the right technology tool (GPS) to support a quick recovery. Do you have the right technology to support your needs?

6. Have the Right Team - With a AAA membership, the right people were just a phone call away. I also had a trusted mechanic who fit me into his schedule quickly and provided an assessment I trusted. When you get into trouble at the office, do you have a team to do the same?

7. Learn From Mistakes - Hence this post.  If I end up in a ditch again, after sliding on ice, hopefully I can say I learned from these mistakes and it was something new, that caused the crash this time. Will you learn from mistakes at work?

Question: Now the fun part.  After looking at all the things I did wrong, what other lessons can you take away from my mistakes?  Go easy on my ego though, please.  I’m already doomed to months of jokes at the office for my failure to stay on the road.

Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King is among the greatest Servant Leaders this world has ever seen.  His vision, leadership and ultimate sacrifice blazed a path for millions.  There are many great posts, videos and other references that remind us of his vision and social injustices he would fight still today.  Below are some of my favorites:

1. Wikipedia Article – For a brief background and history on the man and his amazing contributions.

2. I Have a Dream Speech – The famous speech, in full length. Link here to YouTube. Video embedded below.

3. Look Here Interview – This is one of my favorite interviews of King.  It is particularly humanizing of the man while displaying his great intellect and the foundation of many of his beliefs.

4. Assassination Report – Walter Cronkite’s coverage on CBS News of King’s assassination. While MLK Day should be a celebration of the man, this video is also a reminder of the tragedy we experienced as a nation that day.

5. The King Center -The King Center is “the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr…”

Question: What are some of your favorite references or quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.?

Embedded Videos

I Have a Dream:

Look Here Interview:

Assassination Report on CBS News:

From Servers to Servant Leadership - Data Center Leadership

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