~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. August 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Starting Early, Part 2 * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Interview – Stay the Course * Quick Quotes – The Best Medicine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STARTING EARLY, PART 2 By Dr. John C. Maxwell On January 14, 2003, Pat Summitt reached a milestone few basketball coaches—male or female—could ever hope to achieve: She won the 800th game of her coaching career. At the time, the celebrated leader of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols was 50 years old. Coach Summitt's success can be attributed to many factors—her knowledge of the game, her outstanding leadership skills, her competitive spirit, her ability to motivate her players and so on. But the fact that she reached the 800-win mark at a relatively young age is directly linked to one thing: She took over the reins of the Lady Volunteers basketball program when she was only 22 years old. In other words, she started early. Few people have the opportunity to attain the kind of public recognition that Coach Summitt has garnered during her illustrious career. But the starting-early principle we began discussing in the previous issue of "Leadership Wired" applies to everyone, from aspiring head coaches to would-be corporate executives and everyone in between. Last time, I began outlining a list of 10 practical things every young leader should do early in life—at least by the time he or she turns 40. We've covered five so far: * Develop your philosophy of life. * Know your strengths and weaknesses. * Settle your family life. * Determine your priorities. * Get physically fit. Those five items are enough to keep even the most diligent leader busy for quite awhile, but we're not done yet. Here is the rest of the list: 6. Learn your trade. Gain competence and confidence now; it's much easier to recover from mistakes and failures when you're young. Plus, the more skilled you are at what you do, the more opportunities you will have to grow in your career, influence other people, and pass what you've learned. 7. Pay the price. There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice, it's because someone else who went before you paid the price. If you sacrifice and don't see success, then you can be sure someone who follows behind you will reap success. 8. Develop solid relationships. You can't have a rich life alone; the most rewarding experiences happen with other people. Don't put so much energy into work that you have nothing left for friends and family. 9. Prepare for the future. As I often say, options are one of your most precious commodities. There are no 100-percent guarantees, of course, but making wise financial choices now when it comes to spending, saving, and investing greatly increases the likelihood that you will have options later in life. 10. Find purpose for your life. In my book, "Your Roadmap for Success," I define success as "knowing my purpose in life, growing to my maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others." It's difficult to do the second and third parts of that equation if you don't have the first one settled, which is why it's so important to start looking for your life's purpose as early in your career as possible. Working on these things—plus the five issues we talked about in the last issue—early in life improves your chances of success because it gives you a head start. Others may be smarter or more gifted, but if you begin sooner, you have an advantage. On top of that, as Pat Summitt's coaching career shows, starting early allows you to compound your success in much the same way you compound your money when you begin investing at a young age. But what if you've already passed the 40-year milestone? What if your 40th birthday was so long ago you can hardly remember it? Does the starting-early principle apply to you? Absolutely. Take it from Dianne Osbourne, who began selling Mary Kay cosmetics when she was 60 years old. After hearing me speak about starting early, she sent me a note that said, "I start early in the month, early in the week, early in the day, because I see the end in view and it's chasing me." She was making up for lost time, and so can you. If you haven't settled the 10 issues I described above, don't waste another day. I don't care if you're 45 or 65—it's not too late to start. As one of my favorite quotes about people who don't get started early puts it, "Though you cannot go back and make a brand new start, my friend, anybody can start from now and make a brand new end!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHAT LEADERS MUST DO When General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt speaks to aspiring leaders at the company's management development center, his message is straightforward, yet profound. Immelt, who replaced the legendary Jack Welch as head of one of the world's most powerful corporations, simply explains the 10 activities he believes are essential for good leadership—a list he calls "Things Leaders Do." He recently shared this list with Fast Company's editor-in-chief, John A. Byrne. Here are a few highlights. * Simplify constantly. "Every leader needs to clearly explain the top three things the organization is working on," Immelt says. "If you can't, then you're not leading well." * Stay true to your own style. "Leadership is an intense journey into yourself," he says. "You can use your own style to get anything done. It's about being self-aware. Every morning, I look in the mirror and say, 'I could have done three things better yesterday.'" * Leave a few things unsaid. "I may know an answer, but I'll often let the team find its own way," Immelt explains. "Sometimes, being an active listener is much more effective than ending a meeting with me enumerating 17 actions." * Stay disciplined and detailed. "Good leaders are never afraid to intervene personally on things that are important," he says. To read more, see http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/81/ immelt.html _________________________________________________________________ CHARACTER PLUS COMPETENCE The collapse of Enron is a prime example of how corporate fraud is often preceded by gross incompetence, according to a Harvard Business School professor who is writing a book about the company's fall. "Enron is a case about how a team of executives, led by Ken Lay, created an extreme performance-oriented culture that both institutionalized and tolerated deviant behavior," said Malcolm S. Salter, who specializes in corporate strategy and corporate governance. "It's a story about a group of executives who created a world they could not understand and therefore could not control." Speaking recently to a group of HBS alumni, Salter said that Enron's incompetence stemmed from "inexperience, naiveté, an ends-justify-the-means attitude toward life...and most importantly, an inability to face reality when painful problems arise." The importance of humility and accurate self-assessment are among the lessons Salter encouraged his audience to learn from the Enron debacle, according to an article about the alumni event published in HBS's Working Knowledge e-zine. He also stressed that, when it comes to ethics, a company can't just have strong values. It also must have the competence to implement those values. "You need both character and competence," Salter said. "If you don't have the competence, you're going to get yourself in real deep trouble." To read more, see http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4253&t =organizations&nl=y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STAY THE COURSE Until a few months ago, Coleman Peterson held a position that might boggle the mind of even the most enterprising young leader —he served as the chief human resource officer for the world's largest private employer. As Executive Vice-President of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s People Division, Peterson oversaw employee recruitment, retention, and development for a $256 billion company with 1.5 million "associates" worldwide. During his 10 years with Wal-Mart, he helped the company diversify its workforce to represent the communities it serves. The retailer is now the country's top employer of African-Americans and Hispanics, and it ranks No. 1 on Fortune magazine's list of the most admired companies in America. Peterson retired from Wal-Mart in April and now serves as President and CEO of Hollis Enterprises LLC, a new firm that specializes in human resource and leadership development consulting. We spoke with him recently about his own leadership journey, as well as what it takes for leaders to stay focused and grounded. LW: How would you describe your personal leadership style? Coleman Peterson: I would describe it as an open, delegating type of style. LW: How does that play out in a work setting? Peterson: The key to leadership from the outset is just ensuring that you surround yourself with very talented people. If you have, then the process of leadership is simply to agree on goals and objectives at the beginning of the process—reaching agreement on what success looks like. The balance of the interaction is really all about follow-up and determining how the leader can support those that are executing to achieve the desired result. That's what I mean by open and delegating. Once you've selected your team, then the role of the leader is to paint the vision and to then allow people to do their work. LW: Has your leadership style changed at all over the years? Peterson: I think it has. Obviously, as one moves up the corporate ladder or you move up the ladder in any organization, generally the experience level and the talent level of the people with whom you work also increases. I would say that I've moved from early on in my career, a very task-oriented style in terms of being very directive and focused on the task to one today that is more strategic and more consultative. As Stephen Covey would say, beginning with the end in mind and then working backwards from that in terms of how do we get from where we are to where we want to go. LW: Do you have a leadership role model? Peterson: I don't think I have a single leadership role model. Interestingly enough, in my experience, I have learned leadership style, not only from those who did things well, but also from those who did not do things well, where I found myself going away saying, "If I ever have a chance to have a leadership role at that level, this is what I would be sure not to do." Candidly, I think I've learned from both ends. I've had some great coaches in my lifetime that began with a gentleman by the name of Joe Jannotta who started me in human resources (many years ago, he was the head of HR for Jewel Companies in Chicago) all the way up to and including a person like Don Soderquist (Wal-Mart's former Senior Vice-Chairman and Chief Operating Officer) who is a highly principled, very people-oriented kind of a leader. LW: How can a leader stay grounded as he or she progresses through the corporate ranks? Peterson: I think my answer would be the classic phrase that my daughter used to have when she was going through high school, which is, "Get a life!" I'm only half kidding, but in sincerity, I think it's important for people to have a life outside of the job in terms of church, family, and community involvement. Those are the things that keep one balanced in terms of who they are. I have seen so many people during the course of my career who the job has begun to define them. When one becomes solely defined by the job, we can run the risk of losing our perspective because decision making is a process of taking everything that one knows into the decision-making process—not just what takes place within the four walls of one's business. LW: Is it more difficult to develop effective leaders today than it was 20 years ago? Peterson: No, I think it's easier. There are so many more great books and resources today that are available around leadership and leadership styles—books, videos, CDs, seminars, training and development classes, and companies. Even if you look at the academic programs within colleges and universities, the study of leadership has almost moved to an art in itself. So I'm very encouraged about that. LW: Not everyone has the opportunity to hold a senior leadership position in a company as big as Wal-Mart, but every leader has an audience of some size or another. What is the best way for a leader to stay focused in the midst of criticism? Peterson: The starting point is to recognize that he or she is not running a popularity contest. No. 2, the science and the art of leadership is—this my term, not anybody else's—but it's centered. If decisions are moral and sound, then one simply stays the course. You can't be swayed by appearing to be unpopular or by receiving criticism. I don't mean that one shouldn't be a good listener. It's important to be a good listener and it's important to have the capacity to change— meaning, don't stick with a decision simply because it's one that you made. But if, upon review, you find that your decisions are legal, well thought through, moral, and sound, then I think one's obligated to stay the course through criticism. LW: When you look at young managers, what qualities give you a clue that a person has the potential to become a great leader? Peterson: You can just really see it in a group of people. If you look at 25 young men and women in a classroom and you look at the ones that are inquisitive, the ones that are enthusiastic, who appear to be open to change, who are willing to take risks, who—when they're given candid feedback—are non-defensive, who seem to work and play well with others—those are all the characteristics. And then, they also find joy in what it is that they're doing. LW: Did you learn anything about leadership during your time at Wal-Mart that made a significant impact on you? Peterson: Maybe the most powerful was just the concept of servant-leadership. In some cultures, that word doesn't even translate, it's very difficult to translate—this concept of servant leadership. Our Wal-Mart associates, first of all, are terrific, and they have a tremendous amount of respect for their leaders. But in exchange for that respect, they have high expectations of you. As a result, it places an even greater obligation on leaders to have the capacity to listen to the people and secondly, to understand the importance of communicating to people everything that we know about the business. I think that any individual or group will always have a greater sense of itself so long as it has the information about how it will be affected. By the way, those are really not my values—those are two of Sam Walton's principles of building a better business. LW: Do you have any concluding thoughts that you'd like to share with "Leadership Wired" readers? Peterson: There's this great dialogue that's gone on for many years about whether leaders are born or made. Are they born or are they developed? In truth, I think both are true. I believe that there are people who, as a function of their environment or their upbringing or their DNA, seem to have "natural" characteristics or behaviors that lend themselves to being good and effective leaders. But I do think, and that's very fortunate for the rest of us, that leaders can be developed. There are so many great resources and so much research has been done around the concept of leadership that everyone has an opportunity to learn and grow and get better at that competency. - Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BEST MEDICINE "Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." — Kurt Vonnegut "Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it, and then move on." — Bob Newhart "Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks." — Henri Bergson _________________________________________________________________ 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) 2004, INJOY, Inc.