~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. May 2003 - Volume 6, Issue 9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment - Let Growth be Your Promoter * Leadership@Large - Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review - See, Feel, Change * Quick Quotes - Touting Teachability ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LET GROWTH BE YOUR PROMOTER By Dr. John C. Maxwell My greatest passion is not leadership. That may sound odd, considering that so much of what I do involves various aspects of leadership, but it's true. My greatest passion isn't leadership; it's growth. It always has been, and it always will be. The only way to stay ahead of the pack is to keep growing. The moment you let up--the second you give in to the temptation to rest on your laurels--people who are more committed to continual growth catch up with you and eventually leave you in their dust. I'm not saying that everyone who ever receives a promotion earns it by displaying great growth and development, of course. Some people are promoted because they're married to the CEO's daughter, or because they're best friends with the company president, or for some other equally inadequate reason. Sometimes these people rise to the occasion and do a good job, but more often than not, they never get past being completely in over their heads. Read this carefully: It's okay to be in over your head because you grew into the next level. It's not okay to be in over your head because you were given the next level. In the first scenario, you're in over your head temporarily. You grow into your new position because growth is part of your lifestyle. You seek mentors and answers, and in doing so, you just might learn enough to move to an even higher level. When you're handed a promotion on a silver platter, however, you likely will be in over your head permanently. You continue to lean on past experiences and luck to pull you through, and you avoid mentors who could help you grow into your new role. As a result, you just stay at that level unless--God forbid--a friend or relative gives you another undeserved promotion. I call this second situation "advancing in position but not in personal growth." This is a terrible state of affairs--and not just for the individual involved. This scenario also is bad for everyone else in the company, and--if the nonqualified person has a very visible position--it could even have a detrimental effect on the organization's reputation among its clients or customers. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the tendency to advance in position but not in personal growth. Here are just a few. 1. Grow now, where you are. Don't say, "When I get to that next level, then I'm going to grow." Do it now. Look actively for ways to expand your competencies, improve your interpersonal skills and broaden your influence--right where you are. 2. Grow those around you. Many times, they'll take you with them; other times you'll take them with you. But you can't go together if you don't keep growing together. 3. Grow your area of responsibility. Be a producer. Develop new ways to increase your output, improve your efficiency, and get things done. And don't be afraid to take on tough assignments that no one else wants to tackle. They might be just what you need to widen your scope of responsibility. 4. Let growth be your promoter. If you don't remember anything else I've written in this newsletter, remember this. It is so important, I can't emphasize it enough. Don't rely on office politics, family connections, personal friendships or sheer luck to move you to the next level--let growth be your champion and your ultimate promoter. If you were to ask me whether or not I'm going to start another company, or how many books I plan to write, or what I'm going to do after I equip a million leaders internationally, do you know what I'd say? My answer to any of those questions would be simple: I don't know, but I'm still growing. You see, the ace that I hold in my hand isn't what I've done, where I am, who I am or the position I hold. It's growth. If I keep growing, I will be able to build any company I need to build, write any book I need to write and do anything else I need to do. I don't need a list of career goals to keep me moving forward; I just need to keep growing. That's because my goals do not insure my future--my growth does. And the same is true for you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PATTERNS OF EXTRAORDINARY CAREERS Why do some people rise and flourish in their careers while others of equal talent flounder and never fulfill their dreams? James M. Citrin, an executive recruiter and--until recently-- Business 2.0's "Talent Monger" columnist, has a few answers to this intriguing question. The factors he and his partner uncovered in researching career success make up the basis for a new book, "The Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers," to be released by Crown Business in August. Using data from more than 2,000 in-depth survey responses and 300-plus personal interviews, Citrin and coauthor Richard A. Smith discovered five distinct patterns that repeatedly show up in the careers of the most successful executives. As Citrin explained recently in his final "Talent Monger" column, these people: 1. "Understand the value of you." They realize how value is created at work and turn that knowledge into action, growing their personal value during each step of their careers. 2. "Practice benevolent leadership." These people don't claw their way up the career ladder; "they are carried there." 3. "Overcome the permission paradox." They conquer the catch-22 that says, "You can't get the job without the experience, and you can't get the experience without the job." 4. "Differentiate using the 20/80 principle of performance." They do their assigned jobs very well, but they also "storm past predetermined objectives to create breakthrough ideas and deliver unexpected impact." 5. "Find the right fit." They make decisions with an eye on the long-term. They also purposefully trek toward roles that fit their strengths and passions. For more information, see: http://www.business2.com/articles/web/0,1653,48252,00.html. _________________________________________________________________ THINKING INSIDE THE BOX When looking to fill a leadership position in a young company, one obvious solution is to sift through a stack of resumes looking for the right person to fill the spot. That might do the job, but one entrepreneur found a better way when he was putting together the executive team for his fledgling enterprise. Vail Horton is the 25-year-old founder and CEO of Keen Mobility Co., a firm that makes wheelchair cushions, crutches, canes and related products. Instead of making a laundry list of executive needs and then trying to find a person to match those needs, he believes it's more productive to examine the strengths of the people around you and recruit to those strengths. "It's hard to go wrong using this approach because your company's needs at this stage are wide open," he wrote in an article that appeared recently on BusinessWeek Online. For example, when working with a marketing consultant, Horton and his team discovered that in a former job, the consultant had "single-handedly outsold a required quota by 900 percent." They had considered hiring this individual for a chief operating position, but once they realized what he was really good at, they recruited him to be Keen Mobility's vice president for sales. "The lesson is to think, not out of the box, but from the outside in," Horton says. "Who out there is good at what it is he or she does, and is that a skill for which you have a need? If so, you've made an executive match." For more information, see: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2003/ sb20030416_5376_PG2.htm. _________________________________________________________________ CONTROLLING TENDENCIES If you've ever wondered whether you could be classified as a control freak, take a look around you. If you've purposefully surrounded yourself with mediocre people, you just might have a problem. Thankfully, it's not an insurmountable problem, as Rich Melman, the founder and chairman of a Chicago-based restaurant chain, can attest. Nearly three decades ago, Melman wanted to expand his business, but, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Online article, he didn't want to stop "pulling all the levers himself." As a result, he hired "weak people" whom he knew wouldn't challenge his control. When this began hurting the company, a partner confronted Melman and told him he was picking inferior people because he didn't really want to give up control. Thanks to therapy and his burning desire to expand, the article reports that Melman became convinced that he needed to "hire smart people--especially ones with talents he lacks--be explicit with them about his expectations and then trust them to do the work." Melman's willingness to loosen his grip on the reins apparently paid off; today, his company operates about 50 restaurants. His advice for his managers who are acting like control freaks is simple: "If you want to have the ultimate control, do a one-man hot dog stand." To see the complete article, visit: http://www.inc.com/articles/growth/entrep_skills/delegation/ 25369.html. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEE, FEEL, CHANGE In his 1996 international bestseller "Leading Change," Harvard Business School professor John P. Kotter presented change-wary leaders with an eight-step plan for enacting large-scale transformation in a tumultuous world. In his latest work, "The Heart of Change," he and coauthor Dan S. Cohen delve into what they say is the fundamental problem leaders face in all eight steps: how to move past simply getting your message out to actually changing behavior. They organize their entire message around one basic premise: "People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings." In other words, if you want to motivate people to alter the way they do things, you can't just rely on numbers, charts and reports to convince them that change is necessary. You have to speak to their emotions. This might sound a bit touchy-feely, but "The Heart of Change" is anything but that. In a highly practical, easy-to-understand way, the authors explain why the "see-feel-change" approach results in successful, lasting change while the "analysis-think- change" method does not. Given the point of their book, it's not surprising that they do this by showing, as opposed to just telling. As part of their research, a team headed by Cohen, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLC, interviewed more than 200 people in 90-plus organizations on several continents. From those interviews, Cohen and Kotter selected 34 stories that most clearly illustrate what is effective and what is not during the eight change steps (which include increasing urgency, building the guiding team, getting the vision right, communicating for buy-in, empowering action, creating short-term wins, not letting up and making change stick). The authors' analysis of these anecdotes is helpful, to be sure, but the stories themselves are what make the book's message so memorable. They cover a broad range of topics: showing a videotape of an angry customer (to increase urgency), getting rid of the executive floor (to communicate for buy-in), and filming manufacturing teams at work (to empower action), to name a few. Some make for more interesting reading than others, but they all offer valuable insight into how to implement lasting change. Kotter and Cohen devote one chapter to each step in the change process. They conclude each chapter with a handy summary that highlights what works and what doesn't work in that particular phase. For example, in step five (empower action), "recognition and reward systems that inspire, promote optimism and build confidence" work, while "ignoring bosses who seriously disempower their subordinates" does not work. Some chapters also include activities called "An Exercise that Might Help," which are designed to guide people as they apply what they've read to their own situations. Change on any scale is never easy. But whether you're trying to modify the way a small department handles one particular job or leading a complete organizational overhaul, "The Heart of Change" will help you help the people you lead enact change that will stick. -- Review by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOUTING TEACHABILITY "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." - Robert Frost "As long as you're green, you're growing. As soon as you're ripe, you start to rot." - Ray Kroc "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." - John Wooden _________________________________________________________________ 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. Visitors may use the information contained in this e-newsletter by placing the following credit line: "This article is used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell's free monthly e-newsletter 'Leadership Wired' available at www.INJOY.com." This information cannot be used for resale in any manner. Copyright (c) 2003, INJOY, Inc.