~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. March 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, and the realist adjusts the sails.” -William Arthur Ward In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Get Real: John describes his evolution toward more realistic thinking. * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape: Combating Rust-out, Creative Recognition * Interview – Fostering High Performance—A Q&A with author Thomas K. Connellan. * Quick Quotes – Set an Example: Tyron Edwards, Lee Iacocca, Albert Schweitzer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GET REAL By Dr. John C. Maxwell “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” This statement by Max DePree leaves little room for ambiguity. Depending on your personality, however, it can also be very difficult to practice. I’ve always been a dreamer. I’ve always tried to look on the positive side. I always have great hope, whatever the situation. These traits are admirable in certain circumstances, but at times they have definitely interfered with my ability to define reality. My lack of realism is a weakness that I’ve only begun to tackle in recent years. In this process, I’ve been guided by some advice from Jack Welch, the CEO’s CEO. Because his six rules for successful leadership have helped me so much, I want to share them with you. 1. Control your destiny, or someone else will. 2. Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it were. 3. Be candid with everyone. 4. Don’t manage; lead. 5. Change before you have to. 6. If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete. These points grabbed me when I first read them. All of a sudden, I realized I needed to face reality as it was—not as I wanted it to be or as I thought it should be. Realism was the solid ground I needed to stand on. What is your natural bent? Is it toward optimism or realism? Let me describe what I’ve gone through in my evolution toward being a more realistic thinker. As you read, think about which statement best describes where you are. 1. I do not engage in realistic thinking. 2. I do not like realistic thinking. 3. I will let someone else do realistic thinking. 4. I will do realistic thinking only after I am in trouble. (I worked in that mode for several years.) 5. I will do realistic thinking before I am in trouble. 6. I will continually make realistic thinking a part of my life. 7. I will encourage my key leaders to do the same. 8. I will make realistic thinking the foundation of our business. (This is where I am now) 9. I derive certainty and security from realistic thinking. 10. I rely heavily on facts and often make judgments according to the worst-case scenario. As you can see, I haven’t reached the final level yet, but I’m working on it. Your journey toward more realistic thinking might not look exactly the same as mine, but we do have one thing in common. If you and I want to be successful—as leaders and in every other part of our lives—we absolutely must make realism a priority. I’m not saying we have to throw away our hopes, dreams, and optimism entirely. After all, our dreams are what allow us to soar to new levels. But before we can soar, we must have our feet planted on a firm foundation. And that foundation is realism. William Arthur Ward once said, “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, and the realist adjusts the sails.” Are you ready to get real? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMBATING RUST-OUT Most leaders are aware of the dangers of burnout, but there’s another equally hazardous condition that could very well be affecting your people—perhaps even you—these days. That condition is known as “rust-out,” and, according to a recent issue of Fast Company magazine, it is used to describe employees who “waste away, unchallenged and uninspired, at their desks.” First identified in the 1980’s, rust-out is rampant today among “middle managers who have run out of gas,” as well as “young, over-qualified workers stuck at first base in undemanding jobs.” Symptoms include depression and apathy. What can leaders do about this rust-out epidemic? Here are a few tips: * Put the right people in the right jobs. “It’s poor job fit that saps satisfaction and productivity,” Fast Company’s Ian Wylie writes. * Keep tabs on your organization’s stress level. “The art of leadership is keeping the tension between too little and too much stress,” says Richard Leider, founding partner of the Inventure Group. * Look for signs that you might be coming down with rust-out yourself. “If you sense the beginnings of apathy or cynicism, ask for help,” Wylie advises. * Reevaluate your purpose at work, as well as your definition of success. You may discover that it’s time to move into a new role. Or you may just need to try some new techniques, work with some new people or start taking risks again. For more information, see http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/78/5things.html _________________________________________________________________ CREATIVE RECOGNITION Good leaders desire to make their people feel valuable and appreciated. But when budgets are tight and schedules are packed, it can be difficult to find quick, cost-effective ways to get that message across. Rhonda Abrams, a small-business columnist and author of The Successful Business Organizer, has come up with a some creative perks that help keep employees motivated without breaking the bank. Here are a few, as outlined in an article from Inc. magazine’s website, Inc.com. * Recognize people on their birthdays. “You don’t have to make a big fuss, and don’t ask other employees to bring gifts or chip in money for gifts,” Abrams writes, “but a birthday card and a balloon or flower might be nice.” * Honor exceptional work with light-hearted awards. This doesn’t have to be a formal thing. When someone does a something particularly well, simply send an e-mail to the whole department or team naming that person “Employee of the Week.” To make this award even more meaningful, encourage your people to nominate their peers. * Don’t forget the power of food. “You don’t have to provide free food regularly, but when anything special has happened, an easy, inexpensive way to celebrate is to bring in food or take the staff to lunch,” Abrams writes. * Just say thank you. This is the least expensive thing you can do to make your people feel valued. Whether it’s done in a card, an e-mail, or in person, it can have the most profound effect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTERVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOSTERING HIGH PERFORMANCE At one time or another, every leader has to deal with people who aren’t living up to their full potential. This can be quite frustrating, especially when the underperformers are obviously talented. Thomas K. Connellan found a solution to this common problem by studying the traits of high achievers. A former faculty member at the Michigan Business School and guest lecturer on leadership at the Air Force Academy, Connellan has written eight books, including Inside the Magic Kingdom and his 2003 bestseller, Bringing Out the Best in Others. We spoke with him recently about what leaders can do to help underperformers improve and to motivate productive employees to do even better. Leadership Wired: You speak about three keys that leaders can use to tap the full potential of their people. What are those keys? Thomas K. Connellan: Believe in them, hold them accountable and give them a supportive environment. People respond to the belief they have in themselves, and that comes about as a result of the belief that we have in them. Henry Ford Sr. said “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” So part of our job as a leader is to help people see that they can—to instill in them the belief that they can carry out this task or succeed at that project. They respond to our expectations. If they perceive that we believe in them, they’ll perform better. I may believe in you, but if I’m not communicating that to you, then you’ll think I don’t believe in you, and you’ll respond accordingly. So it’s important not only for you to believe in people, but for them to understand that you believe in them. Second, holding them accountable. A lack of accountability simply paves the way to mediocrity. I’m not referring here to, “I’ve got you by the arm and I’m just never going to let you go.” I’m addressing the issue of each of us being accountable for our own individual actions, our own individual performance, and results that come from that. Whether I’m a sales rep, an elder in the church, or a person who is working on a production line, I need to be accountable to myself and to other people. The third is the supportive environment—giving people feedback on how they’re doing and letting them know that they’re making progress, and that you appreciate that progress. LW: How did you come up with these ideas? Connellan: I’d like to tell you it was a stroke of genius, but it was pure blind luck because I backed into it. I’ve had a fascination with excellence my whole life, and while looking around, I said, “OK, what are the conditions that lead to high performance?” While researching high performance, I uncovered, I thought, a pretty amazing pattern. If you look at the people listed in Who’s Who, you find that most of them are firstborn, either the eldest or the only child in the family. If you look at the astronauts, you’ll find 21of the 23 first astronauts are firstborn. Forty-nine percent of female world leaders between 1960 and 1999 are firstborn. Over half our presidents are firstborn. As a firstborn myself, this naturally and initially confirmed all my biases. But if somebody’s not firstborn, they don’t need to worry or get upset, and here’s why. I found that there are three things that parents do differently in raising their firstborn. It turns out that parents are unconsciously brilliant in raising their firstborn. These three factors create a slightly different environment for firstborns, and it’s these three things that explain the performance difference. Being firstborn doesn’t matter, much to my personal dismay. What matters is the different environment created by the presence of the three factors. Once you understand those factors, and how to reproduce the three elements, you can boost your own achievement level and or the achievement level of those around you. The three ways that parents treat the firstborn differently is, they you tend to have higher expectations for the firstborn—they’re going to be president of the senior class or captain of the tennis team. Number two is they give them more responsibility, particularly at an early age. And third is they take more pictures of the firstborn. So that’s where it translates into believe in them, hold them accountable and give them a supportive environment. LW: Of those three, which is the most difficult for a leader to use? Connellan: I guess I’d have to say it’s the balance around accountability. Holding someone else accountable without beating them up. Holding them responsible for their actions without pounding them into the ground or letting them slide. It’s that delicate balance that is partway between pounding somebody all the time and just letting them slack off with no responsibility. LW: If a leader begins to use the three keys, is there a trickle-down effect? Will his colleagues and employees start using these things in their interactions with the people around them too? Connellan: Sure. The fastest way to get the trickle down jump-started is to take the leadership team aside and get them ingrained in everybody at the same time. What that does is allow you to reach a critical mass that much more quickly. Then you’re 18 or 24 months ahead of where you would have been. But certainly it works with a trickle-down effect. If I’m treated a certain way, then I’ll treat the people who work for me a certain way, and they’ll treat their people that way, and we’ll treat the customers that way. We end up treating customers the same way we treat each other. So it trickles down and it trickles out into the customer chain. LW: What difference can this make in the life of a leader—and her followers? Connellan: First of all, for leaders, it makes life much easier. They’re not always fighting a rearguard action against low performance. Most leaders spend an undue amount of time on the low performers and not enough time on the high performers and good, solid performers. It frees up some of their time. The other thing it does is it stops a lot of worrying. Because we spend most of our time with the low performers, we spend a lot of time worrying about those folks, being concerned about them. If a leader has somebody who’s a low performer, they usually spend a lot of time working up to dealing with the issue, they finally get around to dealing with the issue, and they spend another six months sort of working it out. And if you’ve got some things that work and you know they work and the person’s not responding to them, then you have the fiduciary responsibility to yourself, to the organization, and to that person to say, “I’m very sorry, it’s just not working out here. We’re going to have to ask you to go somewhere else.” So you can reach that point much more quickly. Using those keys is not, “Oh, let’s all be friends and sit around and sing.” We’ve got certain levels of performance we need. And if everybody is performing, than my job is a lot easier and the people that we work with enjoy working with us—up, down, and back and forth in the organization. LW: Are there people that these three keys just don’t work with? You just try and try and it doesn’t work? Connellan: Yes. LW: And what do you do with them? Connellan: Fire them. Make them available to the marketplace. I would argue from a theoretical point of view, and I’ve proven it a number of times, if you spend the time and the energy, you can use these three things to rescue any slumping performer. But as somebody in a leadership position, I can’t afford to spend 100 percent of my time helping someone get up to average performance. So at some point in time, I have to make the decision to fish or cut bait. And that’s when I might have to make you available to the marketplace. So theoretically, yes, they would work. From a very practical point of view, no. Sometimes, with some people, you’re just better off moving along. Most people, in reality, know they’re not doing well and they’re relieved when the issue is brought to a head. They’ll go to another organization and be very productive. -- Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SET AN EXAMPLE “People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves.” --Tyron Edwards “The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.” --Lee Iacocca “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” --Albert Schweitzer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED www.INJOY.com/LeadershipWired April 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 7 Copyright (c) 2004, INJOY, Inc.