It happens to the best of us. Mistakes, errors, mucking it up, screwing the pooch, what have you, are bound to happen to us all. Mistakes are so prevalent in the business world it's probably better to look at it as 'it’s not if it will happen, but when’!
The best of the best out there know and live one thing that many people struggle with…it’s having the ability to admit when you’re wrong or have made a mistake. People make mistakes. It’s a fact of life. I’ve made plenty of them in my time and gather I’ll make some more before the day is over. It’s what we do when a mistake is made that makes all the difference. I recently learned of a story which had a great impact on me as the person in question was and is undoubtedly a mega-giant to success. Case in point, his children, represent #8, #9, #11 and #12 of the wealthiest people in the world based on the 2015 Billionaires list put out by Forbes. (note - I chose to highlight this individual not because I agree or disagree with his business and their practices but because he overcame a costly mistake and succeeded greatly as a result. This piece is not intended to support or criticize the Walton's or Walmart) Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, made an error early on that could have cost him his entire career. After being in business for a rough first five years, Sam started to finally see some incredible success for his single location general store located in Newport, Arkansas. His sales quadruped that year. He was a pillar of the community, involved in a variety of social and political groups, giving and putting everything he had into trying to make his business work in the 7,000 person community of Newport. What he didn’t realize initially but knew all too well when the time came was that his store, his only store, was not available for renewal as the lease expired. The owner was handing the store over to his son and Walton was on the short end of the stick. In this day and age we might not think that’s a big deal as you can always go find another place to set up shop, however back in the late 40’s when Walton came face to face with this mistake he had made, he said it was one of the worst mistakes he’d made in business. Not only could he not renew the lease on the only store he had, but there were no other options in town for him to choose from. His entire business revolved around that town and now he was forced to seek a new birth elsewhere. What happened from there? Walton took ownership of the situation without allowing his blunder to spoil what would eventually become one of the largest retailer chains, if not the largest, in the world. So Walton drove across Arkansas and found a new store, bought it outright this time and uprooted his entire family for the big move. The rest of the story results in the Walton’s basically turning into a real life Scrooge McDucks basically swimming in wealth; I’m sure as a result of some very hard work along the way. Remarkable as that story may be given what we all know of Wal-Mart in current day, Walton’s decisions and actions in the moment are what truly separate him and other ‘greats’ from the rest of the pack. He admitted his mistake without placing blame on others, owned it, learned from it and moved on without allowing the mistake to crush his business and dreams. When we face our mistakes head on we show courage and an ability to be trusted. Since no one is perfect, those who can admit their mistakes openly seem to be trusted more than those that project themselves to be incapable of making errors. When we admit our mistakes we are taking ownership of the situation; once ownership is established the best of the best use those mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve from moving forward. Mistakes also have a nasty ability at times to knock us off our pedestal, dampening our confidence. When we admit to our shortcomings what often happens is those around us respond with support which helps level set our mindset back to the passion fueled great people we are. Next time you find yourself in a situation where a mistake is made and you might be the culprit, take a leap of faith and ‘lean in’ as Sheryl Sandburg says. What happens next may surprise you in a great way.
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Leaders aren't born, they're created! While some people have natural traits and characteristics that aid in their ability to work with others, leading successfully is a skill that can only come with experience and training.
Leadership, an art form in itself, is incredibly difficult to master, even after years upon years of experience. Good news! There is a way to speed up your leadership learning curve and do so successfully. With all the training, seminars, books, coaches/ mentors and leadership philosophies – where the heck do you even begin? The best advice I’ve been given is to keep it simple. Actually, what was really shared with me was an incredible scientific methodology called KISS, ‘keep it simple stupid’. Keeping it simple means you’re much more likely to successfully understand, implement and retain the things you learn. As it relates to leadership, SQR1 developed a philosophy and way of leading, called STEP Leadership, which focuses on keeping things simple while removing all the scientific data and tough to understand language which often plagues leadership development, philosophies and training. Focusing on the things you can control, STEP Leadership teaches leaders how to successfully lead any team or company through four easy to understand areas of focus: Self Health Team Focus Engaged Priority Driven For the full article click here... Your Boss VS a Star Wars JEDI5/20/2016 Could your boss stand up to a Jedi from the movie Star Wars? Before you go dismissing it as if there’s no way in hell your boss could go toe to toe with a Jedi, let’s take a moment to see how GREAT leaders stand up to the defenders of the galaxy and beyond.
As you may know by now, Star Wars is back! Han Solo, along with Chewy, R2D2, and a whole list of other great supporting characters, reunited for a movie that is sure to break all sorts of box office records, sending fans screaming for more. Growing up in a generation where Star Wars was basically the second coming, I found myself oddly intrigued with the concept of the Jedi and that little green guy named Yoda. With the new movie coming out in December I’ve spent some time reading up on what it’s all about and in the process I’ve stumbled upon an interesting parallel between the Jedi and present day business leadership. (Good leadership, that is) Weird as that may seem, it’s striking the similarities when you put them side by side one another. Before we get into those similarities, it would be good to provide a little overview of who the Jedi are in the event you’ve been living under a rock for the past 40 some odd years and aren’t familiar with them. The Jedi are the protectors of ‘good’ and vanquishers of ‘evil’ in the movie saga, Star Wars, which was originally released in 1977 by George Lucas. Jedi live their lives to serve others and have an insatiable drive and focus on honing their craft, which is the search for knowledge and the development of the use of the ‘Force’. Now that we have a basic understanding of our Jedi compadres, let’s take a look at their characteristics: serving others, patience, humility, discipline, honesty, loyalty, responsibility, teaching others, listening, observing, preparedness, positive mindset, defending others Now, think about your boss. Hopefully doing that doesn’t make you spasm with angst. Go back through the list of Jedi characteristics and see how many of them your boss possesses. If you’re part of the growing number of Americans in the work force which have underperforming leaders you may find that your current boss would get their rear end handed to them in a battle royale against a Jedi. We’re at a (good) leadership deficit in the States, and the gap only seems to be widening. That said, you may need to compare the characteristics of the Jedi to the best leader you know; in doing so, things start to balance out. It won’t be perfect but what you’ll see is the similarities between being a great leader in business and being a Jedi in Star Wars are one in the same. It all starts with mindset. To be a Jedi, you have to master your mindset first, then you can move onto the incredibly difficult, life consuming task of training. If you are a Jedi you know firsthand it is impossible to be perfect therefore rigorous training and continuous development are essential. Being a great leader is exactly the same. To be a great leader one must have a positive mindset which then becomes the foundation for who they are, WHY they do what they do and what they stand for. Only then can a leader in todays’ business world successfully start to lead others. It doesn’t stop with our mindset, it also has to do with our outlook on people. Both Jedi and great leaders serve others, viewing leadership as a servant role rather than a perch which one can dictate from. When we focus on serving others we find that we are more patient, humble about who we are and what our part is in the grand scheme of things and ready to take blame while defending others when need be. Great leaders spread the wealth and give praise to those around them rather than taking the kudos themselves. Their team is first, as they are a servant and only as good as those who make up the team. Good leadership, like being a Jedi, can only be accomplished when we are sound of mind. Our self-health is a prime indicator to our success rate in leadership. When leaders focus on having an open positive mindset, are continuously developing themselves and lead by example, they are building the cornerstone for a present day Jedi, one which others will follow willingly not because they are told too, but because they believe in them. Like being a Jedi, being a leader is a commitment often times larger than life itself and to be great you must CHOOSE to do so. One cannot just say “I’m going to be a great leader”, it’s your actions, not just words that make the difference. Once you develop the correct mindset, you will find your inner Jedi emerges, helping you lead successfully while serving those who are the most important – your team. Millennials have a tendency to get a bad rap as a collective group. There’s a lot of people who write articles on the Millennial generation, often times I find the information within those articles to be a bit brash, at times lacking hands on experience, as the information comes from a survey or a study. It seems as though there are a fair amount of people who came before the Millennial generation who have a hard time understanding and interacting with Millennials in general.
As a result they label an entire generation as ‘difficult to manage’, ‘entitled’, ‘impatient’ and ‘socially incompetent if it wasn’t for their smart phones’. Ouch! Back in the day them be fighting words. I may not be a Millennial but I do believe there’s a lot more to this group of people than meets the eye. By the by, older generations have been throwing haymakers at younger generations for decades, so perhaps the Millennials getting a bad rap is nothing new. Each time a new generation becomes of adult age and starts entering the workforce, the generations that have to deal with them always have the same song and dance. Perfect example is what happened with The Beatles. When The Beatles hit the US for the first time in 1964 the Silent Generation (parents at this time) almost keeled over thinking their kids (Baby Boomer generation) were going off the deep end. Why? Because the kids of that day were listening to the musical sounds of long haired, sex-centric, young men who wore weird flashy military clothes and sang of love and peace. Last time I checked The Beatles are about as bad for you as the broccoli I reluctantly ate last night. I have a different outtake on our Millennial cohorts. After the better part of a decade of leading and working side by side with them, I believe, and have experienced firsthand, that the Millennial generation stands to make one of the biggest positive contributions to society we’ve seen in several generations. Big words, I know, but allow me to share with you why I believe this. #1 Fearlessness Millennial are fearless. They grew up in a world where dear ole Mom and Dad told their young techies that they could do and accomplish anything. They were born winners. (regardless if that was true or not) As a result, the Millennial are fearless and act accordingly in the workplace. They would rather up and leave a stale job to start something new, even if that meant completely starting over. They’re built to be entrepreneurs. Perhaps some of that can lead to entitlement, but I believe it gives them an edge that allows them to overcome barriers to entry that would otherwise keep out those of us that are less optimistic or daring. There are some great case studies out there right now which highlight the fearlessness within the Millennial generation. Learn about anyone of these people and you’ll see what I’m talking about: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Evan Spiegel/ Bobby Murphy (Snap Chat), Palmer Luckey (VR Oculus), Adam D’Angelo (Quora) and John & Patrick Collison (Stripe). #2 Expectations of Grandeur Unlike delusions of grandeur, Millennials are used to things working well and improving consistently. Back in the day people settled for mediocre technology and products, because well that’s all we had. Millennials are quite different. They expect companies to produce great results. When they don’t, the companies hear about it before the products even hit the shelves through a barrage of tech talks, social media outpouring, etc. This cause and effect keeps companies, especially consumer electronics manufacturers on their feet, which is good for everyone. Millennials are also used to change, even expect it. Unlike The Silent generation who would be with the same company for their entire career, Millennials don’t have a problem switching things up if they don’t like something. Again, this causes employers and managers to have to be on their toes providing quality places to work. If they don’t, Millennials just won’t work there, or for long. Change is part of life, some deal with it well, others not so much. Millennials embrace it and encourage it. There are three things in life that are certain…death, taxes and change. Millennials have at least a leg up on us on the third one. #3 Technology Whizzes This number tends to be all over the place, however most signs point to a Millennial being someone who was born between 1983 – 2004. It’s the technology generation. Internet not only changed the world at large but it changed this generation. By the time Millennials where in high school they had internet access to assist with research papers, fact finding, even websites providing information on their teachers sharing who was worthy and who not. (I would have loved information like that when I was in school as I felt like some of my teachers were Mrs. Krabappel from the Simpsons) Obviously the internet has made a huge impact on society at large. So too has the iPod with music, the personal computer, social media and gaming, to name a few. All of these have revolutionized the way we live and interact with others, yet these things are second nature to those in the Millennial generation. They were born with a joystick in their hand or a TV on in the background and it’s become a central part of their life. As a result their ability to use and create technology often surpasses other generations. Lastly, they enjoy having technology at the forefront of their daily life, which definitely isn’t the same with other generations. Call it a dependency, call it whatever you want, however the outcome is that Millennials are superior as it relates to their understanding and use of technology which in turn gives them an edge for the future when we’ll all be living like the Jetsons. #4 Creative Expression More and more Millennials are venturing outside the norm and creating their own path as it relates to the workplace and social interactions. Why is this? Well, because they have too. In a world where so much has already been done, the Millennial generation has to be creative in order to compete. Millennials also make up for the largest group of people in the world who write blogs, build websites and upload audio & video files for information sharing. They also have a keen eye for design and art as they were born and brought up with products where form & fit was just as important as function. Don’t believe me? The proof is in the pudding with the fact that websites like Deviant Art are in the top 50 most trafficked sites on the net. By now my hope is that some of you reading this have given some new thought to the Millennial generation. Sure, there may be some bad apples out there that rep the Millennial generation, as there are with all generations, but the larger number of people have a lot to offer. When you take the attributes of the Millennial generation and place them side by side one another (fearless, high expectations, technology experts, creative) you’ve got a recipe for a group of people who can and WILL do great things in their lifetime. They have all the ingredients necessary to lead us into the next frontier. It just might take some time as they’ve barely been in the workplace a full decade. So let’s be patient and see what happens. As a token of my appreciation to the Millennials I’ve had the chance to partner with, learn from and lead, I am forever thankful to you for the opportunity to work side-by-side with you all. Your fearlessness has become my driving force in all I do. What if Peter Drucker himself had an opportunity to review your leadership work, what do you think he would say? Would he say you're an effective leader?
If by chance you are new to the philosophies, teachings and writings of Peter Drucker I highly suggest taking some time to familiarize yourself with him. Short and sweet – Drucker is the Godfather of Business Leadership (let’s just go by GBL moving forward) and is responsible for much of what we know today in how effective leaders work and operate. What makes for an effective leader? I just finished reading a fantastic, classic leadership book by GBL himself, ‘The Effective Executive’, originally published in 1967. As noted on the front cover of the book, ‘The Effective Executive’ provides a straight forward, simplistic guide to “getting the right things done” for people in a leadership capacity. What I found amazing about this book is how relevant and simplistic Drucker’s advice is, even for todays’ purposes in a business world that is far different from when these thoughts were put to paper some 48 years ago. So, what is it then that makes for an effective executive [leader]? All too often I find people enjoy making the topic of leadership how-to’s overly complicated. Maybe they do that to sell more books, or justify their new and insightful leadership methodology. For me, I’ve found that the more simplistic something is the better chance I have in understanding it, implementing it and continuing to act on it as a new habit. Watch Out Now – just because something is simple doesn’t necessarily mean it is easy to do, or consistently for that matter. Drucker’s approach to leadership success and effectiveness is simplicity at its best. He identifies the following five core competencies successful leaders should have as a part of the fabric that guides them through their daily work:
“Intelligence, imagination and knowledge are essential resources [for a leader], but only effectiveness converts them into results.” - Peter DruckerWhile this list may seem incredibly simple, I can tell you from personal experience it’s anything but that. Often times the most simplistic things in life can be the most difficult to master. Why? Because it takes discipline. Though these concepts may be easy to understand, the difficultly comes in the form of holding oneself accountable to doing it above all other things. That’s the tough part! Being disciplined to doing the right thing at the right time is certainly easier said than done. So much so that Drucker identifies that "the number one reason for leadership failure is the inability or willingness to change with the demands and expectations of the new job".So therein lies the secret! Thank you, GBL! The leaders’ who are willing to change and adapt while being disciplined to doing the right things at the right time are the ones that will be the most effective. Zip It Up & Become an Exceptional Leader5/20/2016 Zip it up! Not the fly on your knickers. (then again, if your fly is down please do zip it up)
Zip it, your mouth that is! Our mouths enjoy writing checks our bodies can’t cash and it’s going to catch up with us in a hurry, if it already hasn’t. Are you getting a bit agitated that someone would tell you to close your mouth and listen? Don’t worry, I struggle with this as well, along with the large majority of leaders in business, politics, sports…you name it. I’m writing this with a bit of tongue-in-cheek on purpose, but I promise my brazen efforts are only to share with you a great truth about leadership. That truth is the art of listening. As in, not speaking and allowing others to talk, a foreign concept for many of us. Why is listening an important habit to develop to be a good leader? Those who possess the ability to listen earnestly experience deeper relationships, advanced awareness of how they show up and how others are impacted by them (EQ), are genuine in their care for others and are touted as being “leaders people would run through a wall for”. To become an exceptional leader, you must develop your ability to listen. You may be thinking, “Well, that’s not very profound. I listen all the time.” But, do you really listen? Let’s see how good of a listener you are. If you’ve done one of the following in the last week you’ll want to continue reading this article:
Why is it we don’t listen? Short answer – our egos get in the way of allowing someone else the stage to talk. The long answer – Perhaps you’re the exception as your listening skills are top notch. For everyone else out there, which I’ll gladly throw myself into this boat, as leaders we struggle with listening. We tell ourselves that others are wrong; only we know the truth; “I don’t have time for this”; I can multi-task while we’re talking; my point makes more sense; they’re idiots; they must not see the big picture (love that one); they have to hear my side before we can move on, etc. With so much going on in the world today it’s easy to fall into the trap that you don’t have time to have a conversation, especially if that conversation isn’t of grave importance. Leaders – read closely here. The success of your job depends on your ability to listen. Forbes writer Glenn Llopis says that when “leaders judge, they expose their immaturity and inability to embrace differences.” Did you know that your act of not listening actually sent such a strong communication to the person on the other end? Imagine how it made them feel! How can we fix this? Short answer – zip it (our mouths that is) and focus on the person in front of you. Long answer – put away your phone, your work at hand, close your computer screen or turn it off, close your door for that matter and stop mulling over that rerun episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians you watched for the sixth time last night. Do whatever you need to in order to give the person on the other side of the table your complete and undivided attention. WHY should we focus on being better listeners? If you haven’t come to the conclusion by now, we may need to get some backup in here asap. Let me get to the point then. Your job and career as a leader depends on it. People follow and support leaders who live a servants’ mentality which means when their people have an idea, a question, a problem, or a wild haired suggestion, they listen as if listening is going out of style. Being a servant doesn’t mean a leader is weak, it means their people and company come first, before themselves. Conversation is the gateway to a persons’ mind, body and soul. Its best we listen or we’ll run the chance of missing out on some truly incredible moments. “Leadership is easy!” said no one ever.
Why is it that leadership is so difficult and hard to master? Well, for starters it’s a role that is largely trial and error, skill learning in the moment on the job. That means a lot of what we know and learn over time about being a leader comes from mistakes and blunders people have made before us. My career with leadership was no different. At the age of 23 I found myself in my first ‘management’ role and was scared out of my mind. Notice I used the word ‘management’, not leadership. There’s a big difference in the two. The spark of a great leader is someone who acknowledges and accepts they don’t know it all and asks for help. Simple, yet incredibly difficult to put into practice. As the years went by and my leadership prowess developed, I began to grow more and more confidence in my ability to lead others, influence and develop those around me. Though my confidence grew, I found as time went on the challenges I was faced with grew in size and significance. Confidence, or an inflated level of confidence, can be a big black eye for managers as it can cause people to overlook basic ways of leading that should never go unattended. My father has always told me, “You come from the school of hard knocks, it’s in our family, so don’t fight it, just learn from it.” And learn I did… Looking back on my earlier years in leadership there were three incidences I encountered that go down as the biggest mistakes of my career. While they were indeed mistakes on my part, the learning lessons that came of these situations were priceless to my overall learning and education in the art of leadership. Mistake #1 - Hiring the Wrong People I was a couple years into my leadership role overseeing a technical division. We were growing and seeing some good success and needed to hire people to keep the growth curve climbing north. After interviewing a variety of candidates I became inpatient (a lifelong battle of mine) in that I had not found the ideal person to join our mob squad of high performers. Throughout the interview process there was one person, we’ll call him Negative Norm, who had most of the characteristics I was looking for however it was plain as day to see that he had a hug ego and it was all about what Negative Norm was going to get from us, not what he was going to bring to the team. With my lack of leadership experience leading my decision making I hired Negative Norm and did the ole ‘cross your fingers and hope for the best’ routine. Dang it! What a dumb mistake that was. I still cringe about that experience today even though it’s been many moons since it happened. Not only did Negative Norm come in and create all sorts of disruption to the great culture we had worked so hard to develop on the team over the years but he also soured one of my best employees. We end up firing Negative Norm six months into him joining our team, which probably cost our company a boat load of money in tangible and intangible costs, as well as gave me a disenfranchised team and culture. I then had to deal with a declining all-star on our team who had become transfixed with the notion, thanks to Negative Norm, that he was working too hard and didn’t feel like this was the right place for him. Prior to disruptive Negative Norm entering our team this all-star employee was the quintessential idea of what a great employee should be. Lesson #1 as a Result of Mistake #1 – if you can’t find the RIGHT person, don’t make a hiring decision at all. You’re better off waiting and being patient to find the right person rather than settle for someone who could really make a mess of what you’ve worked so hard to build. For the full article click here Leading Beyond The Office5/20/2016 The past 10 years in leadership has taught me many things, mainly that I still have much to learn. As the saying goes, ‘you learn something new every day’, I find this to ring true especially as I dive further into my career. The lessons I’ve taken in over the years, whether it was through the school of hard knocks or via someone who cared enough to help me, have all prepared me for an experience which is coming quickly.
The experience of being a parent. Leadership doesn’t just exist in the workplace. There are many people around us who view leadership as a constant part of who they are, something they do at work, at home and even when no one is watching. My experiences with leadership have predominantly been focused in the office space up until recent when I got the opportunity to marry an amazing woman in 2014. Thanks to this new experience, I’ve learned much about myself and how I interact with others as a result of the perspective I’ve gained through being married. My leadership insights and abilities have also changed as a result thanks to the caring support my wife has shown me. Fast forward to the start of 2016, my wife and I are now several weeks out from welcoming our first child, a girl, into the world. For those of you who are parents I’m sure you have all sorts of stories, memories and ‘watch out now’ warnings for my soon to be first time experience as a parent. I’m getting a lot of advice right now from those of you who have been there and done that, most of which has been helpful and much appreciated. Some of which has opened my eyes to a lot of things I hadn’t thought about before. My wife and I are excited to welcome our daughter to our family, Miss Ava Rose Smith. Ava’s not even here yet and she’s already taught me so much, I can only imagine what I’ll learn once she’s actually here. Which brings me to the reason I wrote this article. Leadership, in my opinion, isn’t something that is turned on as you drive to work, then turned off once you walk out your office door. Leadership, good leadership for that matter, is a combination of a healthy state of mind, willingness to act and a care for others that goes beyond ourselves. Strange, those very attributes are what I’ve been told are required to be a great parent. I’ve had the better part of the last year to think long and hard about the type of parent I want to be. Similar to being a leader in an office setting, I’ve waxed on for some time now contemplating how I’m going to handle this new experience called parenting. Will I be able to rise to the occasion and help lead our family into the future? I certainly believe I’m fit for the challenge but must admit I’m a bit nervous. Nervous in a good way. Some of the things I’ve found myself tossing and turning on are:
If my soon to be daughter Ava could understand me now, I would tell her this: Sweetheart, as your father my sole purpose in life is to do whatever I can to ensure you grow up with everything you’ll need to live happily, experience the many great things life has to offer and one day become a wild success of your own. When the day comes for you to start thinking about your own career or family I know I will have succeeded as a father if you know these five truths:
As one of the two leaders of our household I hope that by declaring my intentions I’ll be able to hold myself accountable to doing them consistently, even when times may be tough. I know it won’t be perfect but it’s a start. I learned this little trick when I was coming up in a leadership role at work. It’s one thing to write it down on paper but if you openly speak it to an audience, proclaiming your intentions, it has a very different level of accountability and often times results. I look forward to being a parent for all the typical reasons people say they like being parents, but I also look forward to it because I view being a parent as an honor, something I’m humbly thankful to have the experience to do soon. I believe I’ll be a successful parent because interestingly enough, that’s also how I have viewed my leadership opportunities in my career. I didn’t always have this mindset. To give credit where it’s due I owe my parents more than what is possible to offer in this world for helping to instill this in me. I’m forever grateful for these life lessons and have tried my darnedest to implement them in my life, while sharing them with others as often as possible. I’ve been told by many that parenting is a great experience but you must be ready for the inevitable ups and downs, moments of triumph and setbacks, but in the end if you believe in your family you will prevail. This advice has served me well in the professional setting as it’s important to know no one is perfect, mistakes will happen, but in the long run with the right attitude, care and determination we all can and will succeed. As for my ability to parent, only time will tell what the outcome will be. My hope is that parenting is similar to leading professionally where you choose to care first about those you lead then help guide them to where they want to be, no matter the cost. “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents [their leaders].” - Jane D. Hull With the start of 2016 we’re moving into the time of year in which the largest percentage of career changes take place. This also means many of us and our colleagues are faced with tough decisions which can have a significant impact on their careers. Those decisions come in the form of…
taking new jobs, quitting old jobs, and moving into new opportunities, …to name a few. Regardless of what group you may fall into at the beginning of this year making a decision that impacts your career and life is never an easy thing to do. In December we covered a three part mini-series on the 13 easy to implement steps for making a successful transition into leadership and doing so with wild success. If you are considering taking a leap of faith into your first leadership role this year you’ll want to heed these words as it’s crucial to your success to have a well thought out plan which starts you off on the right footing. Let’s imagine you have already made the decision to take that new leadership role. Following these 13 steps for transitioning into leadership will aide you in moving into the job with a clear head, focus and a plan for you future success. You can click on the links below to view each series in further detail. Part 1: Self Discovery
6. Schedule 1:1 (One-on-One) with Your Team 7. Create Performance and Professional Development Plans 8. Develop Time Management Structure 9. Develop Relationships With Other Leadership Part 3: Priorities 10. Create A Department Game Plan 11. Present Game Plan To Your Team 12. Create Systematic Communications & Follow Ups 13. Plan A Team Event It is my belief that anyone CAN be successful in leadership so long as they have the right attitude, mindset and care for others. This is the foundation for which you need to be successful in leadership. Having a leadership game plan along the way merely keeps you on track, increasing your chances for success and happiness, providing you the best opportunity to serve those lead. “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver My Misery Thanks To Poor Leadership5/20/2016 Ever been in a situation where you witnessed something go from bad to worse and all you could do was stand and watch? Maybe it was bad enough where you had to avert your eyes, turn away and pretend like it wasn’t happening. Watching from a far you might have even said to yourself in the moment, “what are they doing?!” followed by a couple choice expletives.
If you’ve experienced this before then you know EXACTLY how I felt this past weekend watching my Cincinnati Bengals lose the first round wildcard playoff game on Saturday against our arch rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bear with me here as I am going to do my best not to drone on and on about the awful showing my team put up the other evening as there’s actually a great learning lesson that came from it which is incredibly applicable to our professional lives. Applicable indeed, especially if you are in a leadership position or hope to be in a leadership role at some point in the near future. Poor leadership impacts everyone around it, everyone being you, me, the company, the customer, in this case the fans, etc. In business this typically shows up in the form of poor communication, discipline issues, bad decision making, people working in silos, losing one’s ‘cool’ and under performing in key situations. As for myself, I’ve done a couple of these in my leadership tenure and learned a lot from it so I can share first hand that these are some of the biggest leadership killers out there. Ironically, those characteristics of poor business leadership I just shared are also the things we witnessed in Saturdays NFL playoff game when the Bengals single handedly gave away their win to the Pittsburgh Steelers. First, let me say that if you’re reading this and you happen to be a Steelers fan…congrats on the win, well played. You all deserve to keep your season alive. Now that I feel better about myself for playing nice and being a good loser I’ll continue my rant on Cincinnati’s poor leadership. Before we move into the meat of things, it’s important I set the stage with some background info in the event you’re not up to date on your Cincinnati Bengals trivia. Heading into Saturdays game against the Steelers, my Bengals came to the table with some stats which certainly point in the direction of this game being incredibly important. Here’s the bottom line on the boys in orange and black:
Needless to say, it’s tough being a fan of Cincinnati at the moment. Regardless of your thoughts and feelings on the NFL, the stats above tell a very clear and frustrating story. It seems as if the executive team and owners of the Bengals franchise overlook these statistics of poor leadership performance, while as a fan looking from the outside in its plain as day to see the issues and how to resolve it. The Cincinnati Bengals (like many businesses we’ve all worked at) struggle to realize that their inability to be successful is a direct result of their leadership. A lack of good leadership makes it difficult for even the best and brightest talent to perform at a high level. Back to Saturday’s game. Cincinnati’s loss will go down in the books as a complete and utter meltdown. Let’s examine the last two minutes of the game so we know what happened and why the Bengals lost:
The last two minutes of that game came down to a team being able to perform under pressure (Steelers) and a team imploding from their own lack of discipline and selfishness. (Bengals) Since the game, commentators have cited the players as the issue as the reason why the Bengals lost. I happen to have a different perspective. When teams win or businesses succeed, the best leaders are always quick to give praise to their team indicating the group effort and high performance as the reason for the success. However when good leaders are faced with unfortunate circumstances rather than cast that blame on the team they shoulder responsibility for themselves. That’s what good leaders do…they give praise for a job well done and take blame when things go bad. When it comes down to it leading is more than just a title and a seat up on top. To be good in leadership you first have to care about those around you, then build a platform for people to be wildly successful. Excuses, mediocrity, bad attitudes, a lack of accountability, what have you, have no place in this world for those who want to be successful. To be great you must think and act for others first, yourself always second. While I never would wish bad things to happen to another individual, such as Marvin Lewis the Head Coach of the Bengals, my hope is that ownership wakes up before the beginning of next season and makes some changes. Without those changes we’ll continue to be a mediocre team falling short of what could be a great program for years to come. As they say, “There’s always next year”. About the AuthorTravis Smith is the founder and managing director of Square-1 Engineering, a medical device consulting firm, providing end to end engineering and compliance services. He successfully served the life sciences marketplace in SoCal for over 15 years and has been recognized as a ‘40 Under 40’ honoree by the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce as a top leader in Orange County, CA. Categories
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