~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. January 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment I - ADDING VALUE, PART ONE * Leadership@Large - LEADERS ON MENTORS * Interview – Leadership Evolution * Quick Quotes - Above and Beyond ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADDING VALUE, PART ONE By Dr. John C. Maxwell In 2000, Atlanta Braves star pitcher John Smoltz suffered a blow that could have ended his illustrious career. After battling various injuries for several seasons, he underwent ligament replacement surgery on the elbow of his throwing arm and missed the entire season. Smoltz, who won the Cy Young award in 1996, returned the following year, but only started a few games before his arm began to bother him again. At that point, his coaches made a key decision. Seeing that his arm felt fine until the fifth or sixth inning, they decided to convert him to relief work, where he would only have to pitch one or two innings per game. Although Smoltz resisted the change initially, the coaches’ plan worked. In his role as a closer in 2002, Smoltz set a National League record with 55 saves. In an interview with Baseball Digest, Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone attributed Smoltz’s successful transformation to his pitching skills and his ability to “maintain his starter’s mentality as a closer.” But it goes deeper than that. Had the Braves coaching staff not recognized that Smoltz had the potential to become a great relief pitcher in the first place, he may have continued struggle in a starting role until his arm was too damaged to pitch at all. Instead, they encouraged him to try a new role, and their whole organization reaped the rewards. That’s what great coaches--and great leaders--do. They add value to the lives of their players and employees, individually and collectively. They’re not just concerned about winning. They’re also interested in helping their people become all that they can be--whether they make their living pitching baseballs, fixing computers, selling insurance or waiting tables. How are they able to do this? Let’s explore three key factors. 1. Great leaders possess the ability to see ability in others. They can look at employees who have not yet shown tremendous potential in a particular area and envision what they could become with a little guidance. As a result, they are willing to invest time and resources to help these employees develop. On the other hand, average leaders lack the ability to see ability in others. They see their people only as they are--they can’t see what they could become. So they miss out on many great opportunities to enhance their employees’ lives and careers. 2. Great leaders have the ability to help others discover their ability. It’s not enough to spot ability in others. You also have to convince them--either overtly or covertly--that they possess whatever talent you think you see. Such persuasion is an art, not a science. It’s not always easy to get people to broaden their horizons and think beyond their obvious skills and competencies. For example, when you look at your employees' untapped ability, you see great possibilities for growth and development. But their fear of failure might interfere with their willingness to try something new. Your job as a leader, then, is to give him safe opportunities to discover those gifts and talents they might not realize they have. You don't have to tell them this is what you’re doing; just give them assignments involving the ability you wish to highlight. Then, when they do well, point out the specific attribute that helped them succeed and encourage them to nurture it. 3. Great leaders have the ability to help others develop their ability. Years ago, I had a mentor named Les Stovey who was instrumental in my development as a writer. He could see I had a passion for writing, but he also recognized I had much room for improvement. He explained to me that, although I was a natural speaker, I wasn’t very good at communicating in writing. If I wanted to excel as a writer, he said, I had to keep the following question in mind at all times: “Will the reader turn the page? “People won’t walk out on you when you’re speaking because they would be embarrassed,” he said. “But if your book’s not any good, they’ll read 10 pages and put it aside. And not only will they not pick up your book again, they won’t buy your next one.” For the next few years, Les Stovey coached me in my writing. He’d read what I’d written and then tell me why it didn’t work. But he didn’t stop there. He also helped me see what I could to improve--he showed me how to make my writing more compelling and effective. He added value to my life and my career because he had the ability to help me develop my ability. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of coaching. In the next issue of Leadership Wired, we’ll talk about you can use your head, heart and hands to add value to the lives of the people you lead. In the meantime, look around and see if there’s someone in your sphere of influence who has an untapped ability that needs to be nurtured. You might be just the person to help him or her convert from being a winning starter in his or her profession to an even more successful relief pitcher. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERS ON MENTORS Fast Company recently surveyed a few high-profile leaders about mentoring. Some talked of their experiences as a mentor; others discussed how mentors had helped shape their lives. For example, renowned leadership expert Warren Bennis found a mentor in the president of the college he attended. “He pulled qualities from me that I didn’t know were present,” Bennis recalls. “He not only recognized my potential, but he also gave me confidence. And he made it clear to people that I was a guy to watch.” Being mentored isn’t a passive game, Bennis says. “It’s nothing less than the ability to spot the handful of people who can make all the difference in your life.” When it comes to mentoring others, a leader must ensure that “the conversation around continuous development is inspiring, not intimidating,” says AT&T President Betsy Bernard. “A great leader truly believes that personal development is a never-ending journey. If you can help people embrace and love continuous development, then you are really making a difference in their lives and careers.” Not all the leaders Fast Company interviewed were overly enthusiastic about mentoring, however. “Mentoring as a whole is little more than one of those management popularities so beloved by consultants,” says Dee Hock, founder and CEO emeritus of Visa International. “From the perspective of the mentees, there is something demeaning about hitching their boat to an elegant cabin cruiser and being towed along in its wake,” he explains. “From the perspective of the mentor, there is a slight stench of injustice and hypocrisy in selecting a chosen few and lavishing time and attention on them. Any leader worthy of the name makes sure that all the people for whom they have responsibility have open and equitable opportunity to develop their abilities to the maximum.” For more information, see http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/75/fasttalk.html _________________________________________________________________ If you ask 10 leaders to define “the good life,” you’ll likely get 10 different answers. Certain themes might recur, but what one person values in terms of quality of life might mean far less to someone else. Inc. magazine recently enlisted several entrepreneurs to describe what the good life means to them. Their answers, recorded in the publication’s October issue, covered everything from freedom and options to media rooms and tree houses. Danny O’Neill, the president of a specialty coffee-roasting company in Kansas City, Mo., says the good life includes balance, as well as the freedom to relax. “It doesn’t make any difference how much you have if you can’t feel relaxed when you do have time,” he says. “If you have a castle but you can’t relax in it, that’s not freedom.” For Monique Greenwood, the CEO of a Brooklyn-based firm that owns bed-and-breakfast inns and rental properties, the good life involves fulfilling her passion of empowering African-American people. “A lot of my businesses are within the black community, where I can employ people who haven’t had the opportunity to work in businesses that service people who are like them,” she says. “I can’t [have] a good life unless the people I care about are having a good life, too.” The good life also means having options, Greenwood says. “It’s subjective, and I celebrate that because what rocks in my world doesn’t rock in another’s,” she explains. “It’s critical that everyone define success on their own terms. When you’re younger, you think of it as the corner office and a fine car. Those things are important, but it’s also important to have great family and friends, and time to stall.” For more information, see http://www.inc.com/magazine/20031001/thegoodlife1.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ELIMINATING ENTITLEMENT During one phase of his career, Dave Anderson led some of the most successful automotive dealerships in the country, including one dealer group with annual sales of more than $300 million. These days, Anderson spends his time writing and speaking to audiences around the world about sales and leadership development. Anderson is president of Dave Anderson's LearnToLead, an international sales and management training organization. He has written several books, including his latest, "Up Your Business! 7 Steps to Fix, Build, or Stretch Your Organization", which was recently released by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. We talked with him recently about political correctness in the workplace and why it's so detrimental to leaders. Leadership Wired: When you talk about political correctness at work, what exactly do you mean? Dave Anderson: What I really mean by that is failing to see it and say it like it is. Sugarcoating. Trivializing. Rationalizing rather than caring enough to confront. Politically incorrect leaders care enough about their people to confront them when they're off track. They don't worry about offending them. They're much more concerned that they're going to stay on the wrong track. Politically incorrect leaders know that they have a duty to hold their people accountable, that pretending like poor performance isn't happening when it is does everyone a disservice. Another form of political correctness that devastates a business is trying to be everything to everyone instead of leveraging your strengths. You can only build a great company when you leverage your strengths, not when you're repairing your weakness. We talk about giving your best to the best and leveraging your strengths and caring and nurturing for everyone, but make sure you're investing resources where you're getting a high return. Politically correct leaders are reluctant to do that because they're afraid it might offend some. LW: What effect has this politically correct mindset had on leaders today? Anderson: It's created entitlement. It's rendered many of them irrelevant because their people have stopped stretching. Entitlement devastates a culture. When we don't hold people accountable and when we try to be everything to everyone, we make people entitled. They keep focusing more on what they're owed than what they owe. Whatever you do for them is never enough. They always want to know what else you're going to do. And they're not basing their evaluation of what they should get on performance; very often they base it on experience and tenure. So this political correctness creates entitlement in the workplace where people are doing the bare minimum and asking for the maximum in return. LW: How can a leader overcome that without being accused of being insensitive or intolerant? Anderson: First of all, offending someone has to take a backseat to doing what's best for the good of the team. Every good leader has to understand that the good of the team comes before the good of any one individual because if the organization gets into trouble, then we're all at risk. So we have an obligation to do what's best. Giving your best to the best is a form of discrimination--it discriminates in favor of talent, in favor of work ethic, in favor of results. It discriminates against laziness and complacency and mediocrity. And that type of discrimination isn't illegal. LW: Do you have any words of wisdom for someone who wants to do that but is maybe afraid of what others will think? Anderson: You are not there to make everybody happy. You're there to get people better. Get them better, they tend to get happy. If you've got entitled employees, the only thing that can take them from a culture of entitlement to a culture of merit is pressure to perform. Now too much pressure is detrimental to performance, but so is too little. So the good leader has to find that optimum amount that keeps people alert and engaged and stretching and accountable. It's art; it's not science. But pressure to perform is made up of three simple things: You have to set clear, high expectations; you have to give fast honest feedback on performance; and you have to hold people accountable for results. Those three components make up pressure to perform, and it's the only way you can take an entitled department, an entitled business or an entitled person and move them from being entitled to where they're coming to work to prove themselves again over every day. That's the only thing that gets it done. LW: If you could summarize the most important point from "Up Your Business"--the one thing you hope no reader misses--what would that be? Anderson: Look in the mirror instead of out the window. It is so much easier to look out the window and blame conditions and blame your team and blame the economy or the war or whatever. But nothing gets better until we look in the mirror and really start to look at ourselves. So if you could only take one thing away, it would be to look in the mirror and get yourself better because if you do that, everything else will change. LW: Are there any final words of wisdom or leadership insights that you've been mulling over lately? Anderson: I hold about 150 different training classes every year, so I get to see leaders from all walks. Pretty much we all have the same problems and we all have the same challenges, just different versions of it. But I see a lot of leaders who are interested in getting to the next level, but they're not committed to it. I think managers and leaders really have to look in the mirror and say, "Am I really committed to building a great team and to building a great organization or am I merely interested?" Because if I'm committed, I'm going to have to pay the price and not just when it's convenient. I'm going to pay it day in and day out. I've seen a lot of people who want to get there, a lot of people who want the prize but they're just not paying the price. Anybody can pay it for a week or a month or a day, but just day in and day out, becoming brilliant in the basics and really paying the price. You don't have to do anything extraordinary to be a great leader. You just have to do a lot of the ordinary things extraordinarily well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHOULDERING RESPONSIBILITY “Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know you trust him.” --Booker T. Washington “There are no office hours for leaders.” --Cardinal Gibbons “The price of greatness is responsibility.” --Winston Churchill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED www.INJOY.com/LeadershipWired January 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 01 Copyright (c) 2004, INJOY, Inc.