~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. March 2003 - Volume 6, Issue 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we employ to hide them." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment - Getting Over Today's Success * Leadership@Large - Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Interview - Management by Encouragement * Quick Quotes - Why Worry? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GETTING OVER TODAY'S SUCCESS By Dr. John C. Maxwell In my office, I have a sign that says, "Yesterday ended last night." It's a great sign because it helps me keep our company's success in perspective. When I want to celebrate because the previous day was a good day, I look at the sign and say, "Okay John, that was yesterday. The party's over. Go home, go to bed and get ready for another day." Life is not a snapshot. It would be wonderful if, at the pinnacle of your success, you could take a picture of it and assume nothing will ever change. But it will change, and if you don't change with it, what got you there yesterday won't keep you there in the future. Yesterday ended last night, remember? And--even more importantly--today's success won't sustain you tomorrow. This can be tough to digest because when your business or job is going really well, the tendency is to sit back and say, "This is it. We've found the recipe for success--this is how it's going to be from here on out." Unfortunately, that kind of attitude doesn't lead to growth; it only fosters stagnation. As tempting as it is to rest on your laurels, you have to keep reinventing yourself and you have to keep reinventing your organization. Ninety percent of INJOY's profit margin today comes from work we were not doing six years ago. And when we look at our game plan for the next five years and the growth that we're planning to have in our company, nothing in the next five years is determined on what we're doing right now. Let me put it this way: If what you did five years ago still satisfies you, you're not doing anything worthwhile today. I look at material I produced five years ago and I want to apologize for it. You see, a sign of growth in your life is when what you did yesterday no longer thrills you; not because you're bored, but because you're growing. In light of that, here are five ways to make sure today's success doesn't impede future accomplishment in your life. 1. Keep growing personally. Growth equals change. When you grow, you change. Notice that I did not say change equals growth. You can change without growing, but you cannot grow without changing. 2. Continually ask, "Is there a better way?" When someone asks this question, the answer is always yes. There's always a better way, a more efficient method, a more effective approach. You're in deep trouble if you think you have the best way because there's no such thing. There's always a better way; and your search to be a little bit better or a little bit different will keep you in a continual growth spurt. 3. Pay for outside consulting. I learned a long time ago that if you really want to grow, you need to have a fresh set of eyes examining your business from time to time. So hire an outside consultant who knows your business well to check out your organization and see what you're too close to see. 4. Don't protect the past. We all have a tendency to protect our past--the decisions we've made and the people we've hired. It's easy to look at an employee who's not performing well and think, "I really believe they're about to get on track," when in reality, they haven't improved in seven years. The real effort comes when you have to say, "I made a bad decision in hiring them, and it's time for them to go." 5. Build on your success--don't sit on it. When your company applauds you, take a tape recorder and record it. Every now and then when you're alone, turn it on and say, "There was a time..." Then turn the tape off and start growing. Start improving. Start disciplining yourself to get better. And keep people around you who are not impressed with you. The worst thing that happens with leaders is that they surround themselves with fans instead of building productive teams. You don't need people to admire you. You need people to say, "I don't think that was a good idea; we should have done this." Those are the kind of people who will push you to grow. They won't just let you sit there basking in the warmth of today's success." Once you've gotten into the habit of doing these five things go ahead and celebrate the success you had today. Feel good about it. Enjoy it. But when tomorrow comes, get over it. Let it go. Don't let today's achievements stand in the way of future growth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHAKING UP THE BOARDROOM Recent high-profile corporate scandals are prompting companies of all sizes to rethink corporate governance issues such as board makeup and director selection methods. "The gold standard [for top board prospects] used to be sitting CEOs," writes Inc. magazine's Tahl Raz, "but with financial expertise at a premium, CFOs are becoming a much hotter ticket." Business owners are no longer trying to find first-rate directors themselves. Large corporations are paying professional recruiters $60,000 or more per search, while smaller companies are relying on employee committees to select board candidates. Companies also have upped the ante on background checks of prospective directors, which, Raz says, is "hardly surprising, given the recent slew of criminal allegations at the director level." For the complete article visit: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20030301/25194.html _________________________________________________________________ ANNOYING EQUALS POWERFUL? Self-criticisms are the "in" thing for people who want to make a stronger power statement. At least that's the opinion of Sam Christensen, a former Hollywood casting director who now teaches celebrities and businesspeople how to look and act like leading ladies or leading men. "When you say something self-critical about yourself, others think, 'It's easier to be with this person because they know themselves,'" Christensen said in an interview with Fast Company's Harriet Rubin. Naturally, Christensen has a list of the top five negative characteristics--he calls them "annoyances"--that a person can claim as his own in order to come across as more powerful. First on the list is witchiness. (He actually refers to it as something else, but we'll stick with witchiness in this family- friendly e-newsletter.) That's followed by ditziness, then ambitiousness, then passivity, and finally, "know-it-all-ness." Now there's certainly a place for self-deprecating humor, and it's always refreshing to find powerful people who don't take themselves too seriously. But perhaps leaders would be better served if they worked on trying to improve in these negative areas, rather than spending their time strategizing about ways to capitalize on their shortcomings in order to make a power statement. To read more of Christensen's ideas visit: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/68/hrubin.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MANAGEMENT BY ENCOURAGEMENT Michael Zigarelli used to be, in his words, a "typical business professor," investing his days in teaching, researching and consulting in mainstream areas of management. After many years of that work, however, he wanted to do something a bit more meaningful with his professional life. So he changed the focus of his research to exploring how the Christian faith applies to work and to business, and he joined the faculty of Regent University Graduate School of Business in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Since then, Zigarelli has written five books, including "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Leaders" (Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2002). He's also the founding editor of the Regent Business Review (www.regent.edu/review), an online magazine with a vision to become "the Harvard Business Review for Christians." We recently talked to him about the importance of encouragement at work, a topic he explores in his book, "Management by Proverbs" (Moody Press, 1999). Leadership Wired: How important is encouragement as a leadership tool? Does it really make that much of a difference in the workplace? Zigarelli: Employee recognition is a practice that clearly comports with contemporary business thinking about human relations. Acclaimed as more than just a nice or ethical thing to do, encouragement and public praise have been touted by many in recent years as vehicles to greater employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. You can consider this effect from the flipside as well. Neglecting to give credit and thanks where it is due can affect both the commitment of the slighted individual as well as your relationship with this individual. We've all been there, having earned something, yet having seen it withheld for no reason other than apparent ingratitude. Few actions hurt more. Whether this occurs in the workplace, in a marriage, in a church or in any other relationship, it's at least frustrating. And, over time, a lack of encouragement and praise engenders resentment, disloyalty, a "do-the-minimum" mindset, and--in some cases, at work or at home--a severing of the relationship. But even beyond the business case for encouragement, there's the biblical case. Throughout Scripture, Christians are called to be encouragers of those around them. (See, for example, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Proverbs 15:23 and Proverbs 31:31). In the context of the workplace, this means that it's the responsibility of the Christian leader to recognize and praise employees for their efforts--to pat them on the back for a job well done, to commend and publicize their successes, and to actively support their continued effort on behalf of the organization. So there are at least two good reasons for leaders to make praise standard operating procedure--one financial and one scriptural. It's a practice that resides squarely in the intersection of serving employees and maximizing performance. LW: Is this all-important practice of encouragement something that comes naturally, or do most people have to make a conscious effort to develop it? Zigarelli: Some people are natural encouragers. They're simply hard-wired that way. Other people, myself included, do not have this gift. For us, affirmation and recognizing others' efforts is a challenge. That's not necessarily because we don't want to encourage others. It's usually because we just don't think about it. We at Regent University offer a free, validated assessment tool to determine whether you have the gift of encouragement. It's available at www.assess-yourself.org. As far as for which leaders this comes naturally, I too was curious about this question. So in a recently study involving more than 300 Christian leaders, one of the questions I asked was: "How often would you say that you deliver some sort of praise to an employee?" Their average response was halfway between "once a week" and "every few days"--call it about every three or four days. Then I looked closer at those who have really made this a habit--those who said they praise employees "daily"--and I found that most encouragers are female. Fifty percent of the women I surveyed as compared to fewer than one-third of the men reported delivering praise daily. So it seems that men may have to work harder at making this a habit. LW: In light of that, what are some practical ways that leaders can incorporate praise and encouragement into their daily interactions with the people around them? Zigarelli: Well, the good news for men is that to make encouragement a habit, they won't need costly surgery to change genders. This is a habit that can, in fact, be cultivated. The best way to do this, I think, is to place four or five coins in your right pocket at the beginning of each day and then move one coin to the left pocket each time you compliment, praise or encourage someone during the work day. Don't leave work until all the coins are in your left pocket. As you get better at this, increase the number of coins you start with each day. And by the way, when you get home, move all the coins back to your right pocket and start over again that evening. Try it. You'll be amazed at the power of praise. It has the potential to transform your relationships. Not a bad ROI for a reward that costs you nothing! -- Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHY WORRY? "A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work." - John Lubbock "There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." - Harold Stephens "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom _________________________________________________________________ Leadership Wired is written by Dr. John C. Maxwell and is available via e-mail on a free subscription basis. You can subscribe at: http://www.INJOY.com/Newsletters. Questions about document transmission or editorial comments? Contact mailto:feedback@INJOY.com. 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