“don’t be short-changed by choosing personality over character”

From the “You’re Not the Boss of Me” blog   Article

Personality vs Character in Leadership

“Personality refers to our basic nature.  For instance, some of us are extraverted and some introverted.  Some of us are even-tempered, some hotheaded, and so on.  In short, personality mainly consists of those things we inherit genetically.  It dictates our personal preferences and choices. And, it drives our social interaction with others.

Character refers to how we choose to use our inheritance to make our way in the world.  Character is built over time. It comes from living, learning and making mistakes.  It shows up in the decisions we make and the risks we take.  Character measures and tests the strength of our will, our beliefs and our sense of justice.  And it is often a hard taskmaster.

It was W. Somerset Maugham who once said, “ When you choose your friends, don’t be short-changed by choosing personality over character”

I think the same could be said of leaders.  Sometimes, of course we don’t get to choose our leaders. And sometimes we don’t get the leaders we choose. However, we do get to choose the kind of leaders we are going to be. Will we ride on the coat tails of personality, going where the wind blows us?   Or, will we rely on the deep-seated beliefs that form our character to guide us, even if that road is harder… and even if it makes us unpopular?

To many people, the answer will seem obvious.  But, character can be difficult to discern.  It can go for a long time without being publically tested or uncovered and can often be eclipsed by the strength and easy attraction of a winning personality.”

“all running backs and no defensive tackles”

The Innovation Generation | Josh Linkner in Inc.   Article

5 Personalities Your Company Needs

“Typically, leaders think to build teams based on job title: CTO, CMO, VP of Engineering, Director of Sales. … slotting talented people into an org chart will never unlock your company’s fullest potential. … make sure your organization has each of these personality types:

The Visionary
… Growth won’t happen by protecting old ideas. You must employ a champion to push the organization forward into uncharted waters.

The Executor
… Countless great visions crashed and burned because there was no one owning the role of disciplined follow-through until completion.

The Customer Advocate
Someone has to live and breathe for your customers. …

The Street Fighter
Academic, manicured approaches rarely work in fast-growing companies. Irrespective of job title, someone needs to be the voice of grit and determination. …

The Promoter
… Unless a team member is foaming at the mouth to shout your story from the mountain tops, you’ll be lost in the nonstop noise. …

In the same way that a football team loses if it has all running backs and no defensive tackles, your organization is at risk if it’s missing key personality attributes. It is possible that some individuals may possess multiple traits; just make sure each characteristic is represented with strength around the leadership table.”

“see themselves better than they are”

By Michael Josephson in the Business Ethics and Leadership Blog   Source

“Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are.” — Jim Rohn

“you have absolutely nothing to offer any customer”

By Geoffrey James in Inc.   Article

7 Things Customers Want Most From You

“1. Independent Thinking  Customers want to know that you’ll represent their interests, even it’s not in your own financial interest–and particularly when the proverbial chips are down. …

2. Courage  … They expect you to tell them if buying what you’re selling is a mistake, or not truly in their interests.  That takes real guts.

3. Pride  The best customers don’t want you to truckle and beg. … they want to work with proud, successful people who can handle even the most difficult tasks.

4. Creativity  Customers don’t have the time to sit and listen to cookie-cutter sales presentations.  … they always have time for somebody who can redefine problems and devise workable solutions.

5. Confidence  … They both need and expect you to exude the kind of confidence that assures them you’ll do what it takes to make them happy.

6. Empathy  Customers … want you to understand where they are, how their business works, and the challenges that they face–not just intellectually, but in your gut.

7. Honesty  Above all, customers want you to be honest with them.  In fact, the previous six values are built upon a foundation of honesty.  Without honesty, you have absolutely nothing to offer any customer.”

Fire Two-Thirds of Your Employees

By Jamie Notter in Get Me Jamie Notter Blog   Source

“You might as well. Because according to the research report put out by Towers Watson, only about one third of employees (globally) are highly engaged in their jobs. They surveyed 32,000 people to come to that conclusion, so these data are nothing to sneeze at.

Okay, I don’t ACTUALLY recommend you get rid of the other two-thirds of your employees, but I wanted to draw attention to how utterly ridiculous it is that only one out of three people in our offices, on average, is actually highly engaged. People who would “go the extra mile,” feel that they have the resources they need to get the job done, and are energized and supported in the workplace. That’s their definition of highly engaged: engaged (like the work), enabled (have the resources), and energized (supported). Why are we not outraged at how few of us identify as highly engaged? Gary Hamel was right when he said, “We’re not angry enough.”

The study says this is a wake up call. That organizations

“are running 21st-century businesses with 20th-century workplace practices and programs. And the cracks in the foundation are starting to show in both small and large ways.”

Now it’s starting to sound a little like Humanize. They continue to argue that the world of work is changing, but management is not adapting fast enough ….”

“grow up”

By Ron Edmondson in RE RonEdmondson Blog   Article

“Here are 7 things I’ve seen force someone to grow up quickly:

• Failure
• A first child
• Sudden authority
• Tragedy
• Losing a parent
• Having to make it on your own
• Betrayal

You can mature naturally. You can grow up over time. But, in my experience, you grow up faster when life experience grows you up. You don’t have to grow in these experiences. Some don’t. You either own up to the challenge, or you don’t. But, when you do, you grow up faster. At least, that’s been my observation.

(By the way, that’s why I believe in giving young leaders experience where they can grow. You can read a post about that HERE.)”

“… invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself”

“If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.” – Dee Hock

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Charlatan – Martyr – Hustler

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How Managers Get in the Way

By Dan Rockwell in Leadership Freak   Source

“Meddling – Managers that roadblock work stay too close and talk too much. Your people want you to let them work. Stop by to encourage and ask questions, briefly. Express interest, give direction, and get out of the way. Stay close enough to monitor progress.

Meetings – Too many meetings that include too many people that share too much detail. Meetings are expensive. A one hour meeting with 8 people in attendance costs their combined salaries plus lost productivity. Remember, you don’t get anything done in a meeting. Things get done after meetings. Send a memo.

Butt covering reports – Requesting too many reports that include too much irrelevant detail that takes up too much space in file cabinets and on networks. One reason you ask for all the detail is to cover your butt. It’s a business culture issue. Fear based cultures lack vitality, freedom, and performance.

Projects rather than people – It’s instinctive to focus on projects and deliverables. However, it’s more effective and efficient to give clear direction, encouragement, and motivation to your people than it is to get directly involved in long-term projects. People deliver projects, not meeting or reports.”

“… paradox to be a teacher and guide”

From The Heart of Innovation   Article

“”Now that we have met with paradox, we have some hope of making progress.” - Nobel Prize winner, Niels Boh

“Innovation is full of it — paradox, that is. On one hand, organizations want structures, maps, models, guidelines, and systems. On the other hand, that’s all too often the stuff that squelches innovation, driving it underground or out the door.

The noble search for a so-called “innovation process” can easily become a seduction, addiction, or distraction whereby innovation is marginalized, deferred, over-engineered, and worn like a badge.

True innovation is about allowing room enough for paradox to be a teacher and guide — and to accept, at least for a little longer than usual, ambiguity, dissonance, and discomfort — the age-old precursors to breakthrough.

Remember, there’s a big difference between Six Sigma and Innovation.”

Urgent To Unsustainable To Insane

By Howard Rich in Investor’s Business Daily   Article

Federal Debt: Urgent To Unsustainable To Insane

“We are no longer looking at an exercise in unsustainability — what we are witnessing is pure insanity. …

In the most recent fiscal year Medicare paid out $564 billion in benefits — but only took in $274 billion in taxes and premiums. That’s a shortfall of $290 billion. Social Security is also currently paying out more than it is taking in — with its annual deficit projected to reach $623 billion over the next two decades. Driving this escalation is the fact that the program’s ratio of workers-to-beneficiaries is set to drop from 2.8 to 1.9 by 2035 as the number of Americans collecting checks soars from 56 million to 91 million. …

Government’s entitlement programs don’t need to be “retooled,” they need to be either privatized (like Medicare and Social Security) or eliminated altogether (like ObamaCare and the 2003 prescription drug benefit). And these reforms don’t need to happen this year — our entitlement mess should have been addressed decades ago.

“Urgent doesn’t begin to describe it,” Social Security Trustee Chuck Blahous said recently. “We’re somewhere between critical and too late to deal with it.” Indeed. Which is why continuing to delay the inevitable — i.e. the “bipartisan solution” — only adds additional destructive force to the fiscal reckoning that’s coming.”

In China We (Don’t) Trust

By Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times   Article

“One of the standard lines about China’s economy is that the Chinese are good at copying, but they could never invent a Hula-Hoop. It’s not in their DNA, we are told, and their rote education system reinforces that tendency. I’m wondering about that: How is it that a people who invented papermaking, gunpowder, fireworks and the magnetic compass suddenly only became capable of assembling iPods? I’m wondering if what’s missing in China today is not a culture of innovation but something more basic: trust.

When there is trust in society, sustainable innovation happens because people feel safe and enabled to take risks and make the long-term commitments needed to innovate. When there is trust, people are willing to share their ideas and collaborate on each other’s inventions without fear of having their creations stolen. The biggest thing preventing modern China from becoming an innovation society, which is imperative if it hopes to keep raising incomes, is that it remains a very low-trust society. …

China is caught in a gap between its old social structure of villages and families, which created its own form of trust, and a new system based on the rule of law and an independent judiciary. The Communist Party destroyed the first but has yet to build the second because it would mean ceding the party’s arbitrary powers. So China has a huge trust deficit.”

“If you must be without one”

By Michael Josephson in Business Ethics and Leadership   Article

“Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.” — H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Army General

Sadly

By Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer in Harvard Business Review   Article

What Makes Work Worth Doing?

“Sadly, too many people seem to find the work they do unfulfilling. As a result, they are disengaged and less productive than they might be. If you are a leader, you can help change that by doing two things. First, make sure that the work you give employees actually serves a purpose for someone or something they value. Second, make sure that employees understand how their own everyday actions contribute to that goal.

Adam Grant, of the Wharton School, studied workers at a call center raising money for student scholarships. This work can be particularly frustrating because only a small minority of calls lead to contributions. Grant assigned the workers to three experimental groups. In one, the workers heard a student speak about how the scholarship money had helped him. A second group simply received letters of thanks from students, while the third group had no contact with the students who benefited from the fundraising. The results were astonishing. After one month, call center workers who had heard the student speak more than doubled the calls they were making and tripled the amount of money they raised. In contrast, there was no change in the other two groups. Making a personal connection with a real person who benefited from their work allowed the call center workers to feel the true worth of their efforts; that contact put a real face to the fruits of their labor.

If you are a leader, be creative in considering ways to help your employees see the impact of their work on others.”

“A tiny manager made of copper”

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“turning down a management position”

By Lindsay Olson in US New Money

Are You Cut Out to Be a Manager?

“Management is about … understanding how others work and inspiring them to do their best. It means working out schedules, tracking progress, and handling personality conflicts. It means finding out what motivates people on your team and what sets them back. If the idea of standing in front of your team and giving direction gives you the heebie-jeebies, management may not be a good fit. …

We’ve all had the overbearing bosses. The leave-you-alone ones. The ones that stand over your shoulder while you work. What type of manager would you be? Look at the characteristics of different types of managers, and think about how that management style would be received by your team. …

A manager is a people’s person. She cares about the well-being and professional development of each of her staff, and does whatever it takes to help them succeed. If that doesn’t describe you, consider how you would feel being in a role that so many people turn to, and decide whether you would be comfortable taking on that responsibility.

Don’t beat yourself up about turning down a management position. It’s not for everyone. Consider whether it’s a role you’d enjoy taking on before making the call.”

“The not-so-lean answer is ‘hell no’”

By Lonnie Wilson  in Manufacturing Leadership Excellence   Article

How to Design a Lean Implementation So Failure is Guaranteed

“Someone from the C-suite, like the CEO, makes a visit to a nearby facility that claims it is “lean by every measure.”  … And he is sold, absolutely, totally sold on this “lean thing.”

He promptly gathers the rest of the C-suite and with conviction and passion declares that this “lean thing” is “exactly what we need.” With animation like he has never displayed, the CEO relays all of the wonderful things he has just seen. Soon he is surrounded by a group of impassioned followers. Quickly they devise a plan by appointing Juan as the lean leader. He is a midlevel manager who is proficient in many of these techniques and has been a vocal advocate of lean for years. Next they appoint three others to work with Juan — the lean implementation team — and announce that Juan will unveil the lean implementation plan in 30 days. The team, on schedule, publishes the implementation plan. They want to get everyone involved so their year-one objectives are to implement 5S and standard work across the entire corporation. Juan and his team teach all the facilities and spend a great deal of time traveling to each facility. Juan and his team not only introduce the initiative but also teach the tools. They then are required to follow up and assist the various locations as those workers implement the lean tools.

Does this sound good to you? Well . . . don’t be fooled. This is the perfect formula for failure. So what’s wrong? We have a jazzed-up top management. We have dedicated expert resources to train and support. We have a published plan. Everyone appears to be on board. Excitement and anticipation are high. Doesn’t it sound like success is right around the corner? Well, the lean answer is “no.” The not-so-lean answer is “hell no.”"

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind”

Published in Knowledge@Australian School of Business   Article

The Rise of the Compassionate Leader: Should You Be Cruel to Be Kind?

“The single greatest influence on profitability and productivity within an organisation, according to the research project – which to date has taken in data from more than 5600 people in 77 organisations – is the ability of leaders to spend more time and effort developing and recognising their people, welcoming feedback, including criticism, and fostering co-operation among staff.

Out of all of the various elements in a business, the ability of a leader to be compassionate – that is, “to understand people’s motivators, hopes and difficulties and to create the right support mechanism to allow people to be as good as they can be” – has the greatest correlation with profitability and productivity …

Compassion vs. Kindness

… One example is the common dilemma when a manager is reluctant to tell a subordinate that they are not performing because that person is perceived to be fragile – “they may come from a minority group or be difficult to deal with” …. But for a manager faced with this situation, to stick his or her head in the sand is counter-productive …. “Whether the reluctance to address the performance issue is due to kindness (or fear), failure to address the real issue actually blocks the under-performing person’s growth and the system is damaged.”

… “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind” …. “Getting people where they want to go will sometimes involve hard conversations. Many managers don’t like having these conversations but to be compassionate – effective as a manager and leader – they must have them.”

What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day

By Kevin Purdy in FastCompany   Article

“How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list. …

Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Stop That. …

Do the Big, Shoulder-Sagging Stuff First

Brian Tracy’s classic time-management book Eat That Frog gets its title from a Mark Twain saying that, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ve got it behind you for the rest of the day, and nothing else looks so bad. Gina Trapani explained it well in a video for her Work Smart series). Combine that with the concept of getting one thing done before you wade into email, and you’ve got a day-to-day system in place. Here’s how to force yourself to stick to it:

Choose Your Frog …

“Customer Service” (or Your Own Equivalent) …

Your own version of customer service might be keeping in touch with contacts from year-ago projects, checking in with coworkers you don’t regularly interact with, asking questions of mentors, and just generally handling the human side of work that quickly gets lost between task list items. But do your customer service on the regular, and you’ll have a more reliable roster of helpers when the time comes.”

Awesome

5 types of social media strategies

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5 Common Words That Create Failure

By Geoffrey James in Inc.   Article

“Your level of success is predetermined by the words you use every day. Avoid these five “failure” words.

1. Luck

… Believing in luck focuses your thoughts on an imaginary construct that neither you nor anybody else can change or affect. What’s worse, luck is an excuse that explains away failure (“It was just bad luck”) and devalues your successes (“It was just good luck”).

2. Enemy

… Enemies are opponents in warfare, when people are killing one another. Business is about making things better, not killing people. The moment you demonize competitors by calling them enemies, you close off your business options. Today’s competitors are often tomorrow’s partners.

3. Rejection

Wouldn’t it be nice if people always said yes to your ideas? Well, sometimes people aren’t going to like your ideas, or even you personally, for that matter. … Rather than using a word that automatically makes you miserable, concentrate on changing your approach or approaching somebody else.

4. Hate

I cringe every time I hear somebody use this word in casual conversation. At work, it’s usually something like: “I hate my boss” or “I hate my job.” Hate is a sick word, and it creates sickness in your body. Every time you use that word, you might as well be sticking a cancer cell in your body. Seriously. …

5. But

I’m sure you know somebody who can’t say anything about any idea, plan, or activity without crutching the sentence with the word but. … There’s a substitute for but that actually creates momentum: the word and. Try it next time a but is about to emerge from your mouth.”

In Praise of Power

By Dan Rockwell in Leadership Freak   Article

“Saying, “I’m the boss,” indicates you’ve lost influence and resorted to intimidation. Coercive power offends. But, power isn’t a dirty word, with it you get things done. Without power, nothing gets done. Power is the ability to change things. Power and position often come together; higher position usually equals more power. Using power associated with position is the least desirable and most offensive use of power. …

Power as influence is better than power associated with position. Influence doesn’t require position. Weak, disenfranchised people can have power.

Gain power – influence – by understanding others and advancing their goals.

1. Power that corrupts is about getting.
2. Power that influences is about giving.
3. People in positions of power talk too much and listen too little.
4. People with influence listen.
5. Leaders with positional power want you to understand them.
6. Leaders with influence understand you.

Influence is always given never taken.

Managers using positional power push down, limit, pressure, and coerce. They’ve lost influence so they resort to position. Influencers lift, expand, inspire, and set free. Influencers invigorate. Vitality characterizes organizations led by influencers.”

“enforcing ridiculous rules”

By Al Norval in Lean Pathways   Article

Wisdom vs. Bureaucracy

“There’s an old adage about wisdom that says “A wise man knows when to break the rules”. This wisdom comes from years of experience and is learned slowly over time through solving countless problems.

Bureaucrats on the other hand hide behind rules and blindly enforce them no matter how silly they are and how bad the consequences are. After all, the rules need to be followed. We’ve all had experiences with steely eyed bureaucrats enforcing ridiculous rules. …

In Lean we equate rules with standards. We teach people that standards are there to be followed. Not blindly like bureaucrats but followed and if we can’t follow them, then pull the andon and raise the problem. By raising the problem we give ourselves a chance to problem solve and eliminate the root cause from happening again. In Lean, standards are there to tell us when we can’t follow the standard. They are there to help us identify problems.

Standards then become the basis for all improvement and as Taiichi Ohno said “Without Standards, there can be no improvement””

“Get to the point in one minute”

By Bruce Gabrielle in Slide5hare Years   Article

5 Tips for Presenting to Executives

“1. Get to the point in one minute

… There’s a good chance the exec is itching to interrupt you and barrage you with questions so get to your main point before the presentation is derailed.

2. Talk about problems winning in the marketplace

Executives don’t care about today’s problems. … Executives have their minds focused on the next three years and what it will take to beat competitors, reach new customers, hold onto existing customers and increase margins. So, talk to them about the problems they will have winning in the marketplace, and how your ideas will help them. …

3. Sell a vision before discussing the details

… focus on painting a vision of a better future – hopefully one that maps onto their three-year goals. Once they’re nodding at the vision – and ONLY after they’re nodding at the vision – should you talk about your product’s details. Cost is likely to be less of a concern now.

4. Lead with stories, not data

… Executives … consider customer stories, quotes from their largest channel partners and competitor moves just as valid as data. So use that. Come to executive presentations armed with lots of stories and introduce stories first, then the data to back it up.

5. Don’t be afraid of executives; be afraid FOR them

Because the stakes are high, and executives often shoot presenters for sport, people are naturally nervous presenting to executives. But this fear will only work against you and broadcast your lack of confidence. So, adopt a different mindset: be afraid FOR executives.”

By Ben Lichtenwalner in Modern Servant Leadership Blog   Article

“The leader who serves self-interest leads no one. The leader who serves others leads them.

“He that thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.” ― John C. Maxwell

As Maxwell points out – those with no followers are not leading. The saying can be easily extended to those that are controlled or manipulated followers. For example, if someone is obligated to follow you for compensation, security or other reasons they deem beyond their control, they are not truly following. Instead, those “followers” are merely employees or other form of dependents.

If you desire to be a leader – forget it, you’re not ready.

If instead, you want to serve and believe you can serve most effectively as a leader, then you get it. Lead by serving your stakeholders. That’s the only way to be a real leader – through service. Am I biased? I don’t think so. I think I’m a realist. Servant Leadership is real leadership. Anything else is an excuse for self-interest.”