To view the Color version of this e-Newsletter, visit http://www.INJOY.com/LeadershipWired ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. February 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Nothing captures the heart of an audience more than a personal story.” --Dr. John C. Maxwell In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Express Yourself: John talks about why every leader should master the art of public speaking. * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape: Cults vs. Culture and CEO Snapshot * Interview – Counteracting the New Normal—A Q&A with Dr. Richard Swenson. * Quick Quotes – The Pitfalls of Pride: Arnold Glasow, Henry A. Courtney, Samuel Butler. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXPRESS YOURSELF By Dr. John C. Maxwell What comes to mind when you think of a great speech? Maybe it’s Abraham Lincoln’s brief-yet-powerful Gettysburg Address. Perhaps it’s Winston Churchill’s memorable admonition to “never, never, never, never give up.” Or maybe it’s Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” discourse. Whatever the case, the words stick in your mind, not only because they were spoken by great leaders at pivotal points in history, but also because they concisely convey great vision, passion and conviction. Not every leader possesses the oratorical skills of, say, a Martin Luther King, Jr. But whether you lead a cultural movement, a Fortune 500 company, a small non-profit organization, or a tiny department within a larger corporation, you must be able to express your thoughts publicly in a way that gets through to your intended audience. This is easy for some leaders and extremely difficult for others. Due to experience, training, or personality, some people are comfortable behind a microphone, while others break out in a cold sweat just thinking about addressing a group of more than three or four people. I can sympathize with the people who fall into the latter category. Nonetheless, I still believe that every leader should master the art of public speaking. Why? Here are five simple reasons. 1.To articulate, reinforce, and intensify the values and beliefs of your organization. Your company’s values and beliefs may be incredibly solid, but you make a big mistake if you assume everyone knows what they are and why they are important. 2.To educate, persuade, and sell people on new ideas. As agents of change, leaders must continually introduce new concepts and ideas, and encourage people to embrace them. 3.To inform the people you lead about the actions you are taking. This is particularly crucial during periods of great change or turmoil. Keeping people informed in good times as well as bad, is also a good way to model consistency. 4.To build support and enthusiasm. It’s much easier to get excited about new projects or necessary adjustments when you hear about them in person instead of reading about them in a memo or report. Your spoken words set the tone for how people respond to whatever is going on in your organization. 5.To inspire people to take action. This is the bottom line when it comes to the role of a leader. If you’re not inspiring people to do something—keep up the good work, increase productivity, improve their attitudes, find new ways of doing things, embrace a new strategy, etc.—you’re not really leading them. These five points explain why it’s critical for leaders to master the art of public speaking. Now let me offer a few tips about how you can communicate your vision and make your presentations more effective. 1.Speak in simple and common language. I use often use the phrase, “Put the cookies on the lower shelf so that everyone can have some.” Don’t try to impress people with flowery phrases and five-syllable words. Just say what you need to say using terminology they can understand. 2.Repeat words until they became themes. In King’s great “I Have a Dream” speech, he used the words, “Let freedom ring” nearly a dozen times. Repeating meaningful phrases like that, whether they have to do with corporate values, sales goals, or significant challenges your company is facing, helps your message stick in the minds of your listeners. It also helps them see that you are truly passionate about what you’re saying. 3.Tell personal stories. Facts, figures, charts and graphs are important and often necessary. But if you use compelling anecdotes about yourself to illustrate key points in your speeches, that’s what people will remember. Nothing captures the heart of an audience more than a personal story. By incorporating these elements into your speaking, you’ll be much more likely to connect with your audience emotionally, as well as intellectually. Then, and only then, can you get on with the business of educating, informing, persuading and inspiring. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CULTS VS. CULTURE A paradox of leadership is that a leader must add value to his or her organization, but must not take it away when he or she leaves. According to a recent issue of Leader to Leader magazine, effective leaders achieve this by developing a culture of leadership that covers the entire organization. Unfortunately, some charismatic leaders fail to create such a culture, choosing instead to foster a personal leadership cult. “A cult is a rudimentary, incomplete, inherently ephemeral phenomenon that fades away when the personality that creates it departs,” write Anne Deering, Robert Dilts and Julian Russell. “A culture is much more durable and robust than a cult, because its survival and power do not depend on the presence and personality of a single individual.” The authors say that companies with leadership cultures perform better than those with leadership cults in three key ways. 1.Anticipating. By promoting honest communication throughout the organization and being open to new ways of doing things that might go against the status quo, leaders are able to “pick up signals that give clues of coming opportunities and hints about emerging threats,” write Deering, Dilts and Russell. In a cult situation, however, “leaders don’t listen, and people are afraid to speak openly about what they think.” As a result, important information about up-and-coming trends and threats is not passed on. 2.Aligning. “In a culture of leadership, the success of the organization is based on the combined energy and efforts of many people aligned toward a common vision,” the authors write. In a cult, the leader is the primary source of the company’s vision, mission and values, and the “organization succeeds almost entirely because of the leader’s energy and charisma.” 3.Acting. In an organization with a leadership culture, people at all levels are “encouraged to be proactive and take leadership, without having to send signals up the chain of command,” say Deering, Dilts and Russell. “Because effective leadership becomes distributed throughout the entire population, leadership cultures are self-sustaining.” For more information, see http://leadertoleader.org/leaderbooks/L2L/spring2003/deering.html _________________________________________________________________ CEO SNAPSHOT When Jim Cantalupo was named CEO of McDonald’s Corp. a year ago, some people sent him condolences instead of congratulations. The company had just posted its first-ever quarterly loss, and prospects for recovery and growth looked bleak. Judging by McDonald’s performance over the last 12 months, however, it seems the naysayers should have held their tongues. As of late December, USA Today reports, the fast-food powerhouse had seen eight consecutive months of comparable-store sales growth in the United States, and total return to shareholders had risen more than 50 percent since Cantalupo took over. Are these results due to Cantalupo’s leadership? Or is he simply benefiting from new product hits that were in the works long before he took over, not to mention an upswing in the economy that is helping the whole restaurant industry? Time will tell. As for Cantalupo, he’s not declaring victory yet. He just continues to guide the company with what USA Today writer Bruce Horovitz calls his “hands-on, back-to-basics” leadership style. And exactly how does this style manifest itself? The “painfully private” Cantalupo is “forever looking for the ketchup stains,” Horovitz writes. “Underneath that wide smile, he scares the bejesus out of marginal McDonald’s store operators with his frankness.” At the same time, people who know him well say Cantalupo has the “nicest way of asking people to do very difficult tasks.” His leadership style also is reflected in his refusal to accept credit for the success McDonald’s achieved in his first year as CEO. “We don’t ring up sales here [at McDonald’s headquarters] in Oak Brook,” he told USA Today. “Not one penny.” To read more, see http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/ 2003-12-23-mcdonalds_x.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTERVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COUNTERACTING THE NEW NORMAL Thanks to workplace stress, the increasingly hectic pace of life in the new millennium and, ironically, the rapid rise of time-saving technological tools such as e-mail and cell phones, millions of people are suffering from a potent new disease known as the “Overload Syndrome.” Dr. Richard Swenson is an expert on this condition. A physician-researcher and futurist, Swenson has written and presented widely, both in the United States and abroad, on the themes of overload, margin, stress, life balance, complexity, and societal change. He is the author of six books, including two bestsellers—Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives and The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live within Your Limits. His latest book, A Minute of Margin, was released in November 2003. We recently visited with Swenson about the dangers of chronic overload and why it is so important for leaders to add margin to their lives. Leadership Wired: Define “overload.” Richard Swenson, M.D.: Overload is when our load exceeds our limits. When our reserves are depleted, yet we continue to make withdrawals. When we spend 120 percent of what we have—whether money, time or energy. Margin, on the other hand, is the opposite of overload. If we have space between our load and our limits, we have margin. Margin is rare; overload is the new norm. It is important to differentiate between short-term overload and long-term overload. Short-term overload is inevitable; long-term overload is unsustainable. Short-term overloading occurs routinely to all of us: tax time for accountants, holy season for clergy, flu season for physicians, book deadlines for authors. Long-term overload, however, is a more serious problem. When a person chronically violates human limits, eventually there is a price to be paid. The definition I use for this more hazardous and unsustainable type of long-term overload is: “A state of chronic overage that leads to dysfunction in at least one important area where life requires a ‘decent minimum’.” LW: What are common symptoms of overloading? RS: For some, the symptoms are emotional: apathy, withdrawal, depression, dread, anger, frustration. For some they are behavioral: moral failure, relational problems, risk-taking behavior, excessive self-medication, irritability with co-workers, hostility, disorganization, mistakes. Still for others, the main symptoms are physical: abnormal sleeping or eating patterns, hyperacidity, irritable bowel, headaches, palpitations, fatigue, exhaustion. I’ve talked with congressmen, millionaires, and even church leaders who admit to having all these symptoms. For each individual, the symptoms of overload are quite reproducible. In other words, the same symptoms erupt with each occurrence of significant overloading. This “symptom complex” can serve as a reliable indicator. Personally, my symptom complex is irritability and migraine headaches. When this happens to me, I always understand what it means and I try to factor in more margin. If left untended, these escalating symptoms can eventually lead to burn out. Burn out is a physiological and psychological phenomenon where something breaks. People simply can’t hang on any longer, and they say “I don’t care who hears me or who sees me, I just want out.” There can still be productivity and passion after burnout, but the healing is slow. LW: What are the relational implications—at home and at work—of living chronically overloaded lives? RS: Studies reveal that healthy relationships result in healthy lives. Having connections with others translates into less physical illness and better mental health. These relational connections, however, must be given a good climate in which to grow. And in that regard, overloaded lifestyles are toxic to relational well-being. Most relationships today subsist on a chronic diet of leftovers. If we desire better health—personal or professional—it would be wise to budget time and energy for the nurturing of these important relationships. LW: Is there a speed limit to life? What happens when we hurry excessively and chronically? RS: Fast is OK. Many of us enjoy thinking, talking and working at a rapid pace. Faster is also OK. But too fast is not OK. Once we cross the threshold called “hurry,” life begins to backfire. We lose focus, make mistakes and take longer to finish. We become irritable, begin to perspire, and yell at our colleagues. Then, at the end of the day, we wonder what went wrong. Often, it was simply a matter of too much speed. Hardworking, time-pressured individuals tend to have their carburetors set on high and gears stuck in overdrive. Effective leaders need to discover a slower gear as well, throttling down occasionally for recharging, reflection, rest, and relationship. LW: Many management experts advise leaders to maximize their efforts and push things to the limit. The concept of margin, on the other hand, suggests leaving a space, a buffer, a reserve. How can we resolve the tension inherent in these two views? RS: Doing more and more with less and less is a common management strategy. Push the limits, then push again. Maximize everything. Multitask to the max. Business at the speed of light. Faster, smarter, cheaper. And, of course, this push for discipline, efficiency, and productivity is often appropriate and laudatory. But such a strategy only works on the “unsaturated” side of human limits, where we can still be open and expansive. Once on the “saturated” side of the line, however, the rules change. We cannot put something in until we take something out. Doing more and more with less and less instead becomes doing less and less with less and less. It is my own personal and professional belief, as well as the subject of my research for 20 years, that we need a better balance. Sometimes we maximize and multitask, and other times we retreat into margin. Maximizing can help our productivity, but margin can help our sustainability, morale, and caring. We need a good mix of both. LW: Why is it so hard for people—including many leaders—to say no? RS: Saying no is difficult for everybody, but particularly for, hard-driving, hyper-stoical, highly-productive leaders. There are endless counter-incentives: we might miss out, we’ll disappoint others, we’ll underachieve, we won’t get promoted, we’ll think ourselves failures, etc. In short, to say no means to feel horrible. Yet the inexorable flow of progress is in the direction of more and more of everything faster and faster. When the saturation of human limits is reached, saying no becomes a simple mathematical proposition. If we have thirty hours of things to choose from in a 24-hour day, we must learn to say no to six hours’ worth. Any leader needs to become comfortable saying no. When organizations need to focus, saying no often becomes more important than saying yes. Instead of feeling like a personal failure, this ability to say no is a sign of maturity and wisdom. Viewed one way, the need to say no is simply an opportunity to clarify priorities. LW: How can we control technology so that it serves us rather than stresses us? RS: The best thing to remember about time-saving technologies is that they don’t. They compress, consume, and devour time. All the countries with the most time-saving technologies are the most stressed- out countries, an assertion that is very easy to prove. This does not mean we forsake technologies, but it does mean we discern them carefully. When technologies serve our purposes, we use them to our advantage. But when they drive us to the brink, we turn them off. I heard of one CEO who gets 1,800 emails a day. Another man at the Pentagon told me he does 16 hours of email every Saturday from home. Whether being phoned during dinner or beeped during church, healthy boundaries are needed to guard our sanity and sustainability. LW: If you had the opportunity to offer every new leader one nugget of wisdom about margin and overload, what would you say? RS: Go ahead and dream, challenge yourself, and have great vision. But remember: you’re not God. Everyone has limits, and we need to understand where they are and learn to manage them wisely. Stay within an acceptable range of tolerances, sometimes accepting the demands of overload for a season, and other times appreciating the therapeutic benefits of margin for rest and renewal. Find that pace and load where long-term productivity, efficiency, and innovation can be coupled with caring, service, and relational wholeness. -- Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor MUST READS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE PITFALLS OF PRIDE “Conceit is the quicksand of success.” --Arnold Glasow “The bigger a man’s head gets, the easier it is to fill his shoes.” --Henry A. Courtney “There are no mistakes so great as that of being always right.” --Samuel Butler ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contacting Us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For more information on Dr. John C. Maxwell, please visit our web site at http://www.INJOY.com. Leadership Wired is written by Dr. John C. Maxwell and is available via e-mail on a free subscription basis. You can subscribe or unsubscribe at: http://www.INJOY.com/membership/memberprofile.asp. Questions about document transmission or editorial comments? Contact mailto:feedback@INJOY.com. Visitors may use the information contained in this e-newsletter by including 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) 2004, INJOY, Inc.