~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. September 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Looking Ahead * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Interview – Creating a New Future * Quick Quotes – What Good Leaders Do ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LOOKING AHEAD By Dr. John C. Maxwell "Begin with the end in mind." For fans of Stephen R. Covey, this short, insightful phrase is known as the second habit of highly effective people. For "Leadership Wired" readers, it also dovetails nicely with what I've been talking about for the last several issues: the incredible value of starting. If nothing else, I hope you have gotten the message that a good start is absolutely critical for success in life. I've already talked about starting with yourself, starting early, and starting small. Now I want to address an issue that often gets overlooked when you're engaged in all those activities—starting with the end in view. Although you need to pay attention to what you're doing at the moment—learning your trade, developing solid relationships, outlining immediate goals, planning your next steps—you also need to gaze far into the future to what you ultimately hope to achieve. Would you hop in your car and start driving without having some idea of where you were going? Of course not. And yet, I'm amazed at the number of people who run their lives that way. They spend more time putting together their grocery list than designing their future. And then they wonder why they never fulfill their dreams. I'll tell you why. People who live their dreams succeed because they plan accurately, generate new ideas and take action. Individuals who fail to get past the dream stage do none of those things. Dream achievers start with the end in view; the others don't start at all. Starting with the end in view requires both energy and direction. Neither comes automatically, however. Energy stems from passion, and direction is the result of planning. In other words, the passion in your life will pull you forward toward your desired destination, and proper planning will keep you on the right path. Here are three key reasons why it's so critical to start with the end in view. 1. It gets you started right. You may have heard the phrase, "All's well that ends well." I'd like to offer a variation on that theme: All's well that begins well. How do you begin well? By first determining where you want to go. That might sound rather obvious, but it's an integral—albeit sometimes very difficult—part of the process. If you're not sure where you want to go in life, start by identifying your passions and your gifts. Next, find someone who has been successful in areas that interest you. Watch how they do life. Listen to them. Absorb all you can from them. Then use what you've learned to pinpoint your destination or goal. 2. It keeps you going right. When you start with the end in view, you don't waste your energy shooting at unnecessary targets. Because you have a clear picture of where you're going, you can focus more of your energy, time and resources on getting there. Watching your desired "end" get closer also can motivate you to keep going—and we all need that type of encouragement as the excitement of starting turns into the sometimes-exhausting business of daily life and work. 3. It gets you where you need to go. As I've said many times, what gets measured, gets done. Abraham Lincoln said, "I will get ready and perhaps my chance will come." Soren Kierkegaard stated, "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." Legendary basketball coach John Wooden asserted, "It's too late to prepare when opportunity comes." These three leaders understood the value of getting ready for today with an eye fixed firmly on the future. So take it from a great U.S. President, a Danish philosopher and a legendary basketball coach: If you want to increase your chances of success, start with the end in view. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERFUL WOMEN Forbes magazine recently published its first-ever list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, a fascinating collection of leaders that includes politicians, queens, presidential advisors, television anchors, CEOs and a bestselling children's author (you guessed it—J.K. Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" series, ranked No. 85). Who does Forbes consider to be the most powerful woman in the world? That would be National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, one of President Bush's most trusted counselors. Although Rice grew up with racial segregation in Birmingham, AL, she didn't let that prevent her from pursuing her career goals. "[My] parents had me absolutely convinced that, well, you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth's but you can be President of the United States," she said. Interestingly, the top 10 list includes only one representative from the business world—Hewlett Packard Chairman and Chief Executive Carleton Fiorina at No. 10. Two U.S. first ladies made the top tier—Laura Bush at No. 4 followed by Hillary Rodham Clinton at No. 5—as did two U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Sandra Day O'Conner and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (No. 6 and 7, respectively). The top 10 list also includes an impressive array of international politicians, from the vice premier of China (Wu Yi, at No. 2) and the president of India's Congress Party (Sonia Gandhi, at No. 3) to the presidents of Indonesia (Megawati Sukarnoputri, No. 8) and Philippines (Gloria Arroyo, No. 9). Forbes' descriptions of the 10 most powerful women confirm that when it comes to personality and leadership style, it takes all kinds to run the world. For example, Condoleeza Rice is noted for her "silver-tongued diplomacy and steely nerve, while China's Wu Yi is described as "proud, elegant, and intelligent." Laura Bush is said to have a "calm, commanding, and reassuring demeanor," while Carleton Fiorina—"the most powerful businesswoman in the world"—is called "a polished, sleek, and highly visible tech luminary." To read more, see http://www.forbes.com/2004/08/18/04powomland.html?partner=weekly_newsletter _________________________________________________________________ GETTING THE JOB DONE When a leader has the opportunity to serve on a team in a non- leading role, the experience can be challenging, to say the least. After all, when you're used to being in charge, it can be difficult to sit back and let someone else run the show. But leading and following are not mutually exclusive, according to Stever Robbins, a leadership consultant and columnist for Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge e-newsletter. "A leader's job is to ensure the success of the organization—no matter who reports to whom in any given group," he writes in a recent issue. "At every moment she should be asking, 'Is what I'm doing helping the group to succeed?' Sometimes we think we are helping, but we are just raising the group's blood pressure with our behavior." A key skill leaders can bring to a team is support, Robbins says. "When work is getting done, the leader is the least important team member," he asserts. "Your job is to make it easy for everyone else to get their jobs done. If that means taking out the trash and picking up low-fat, low-carb, organic pizza for the team so they can work straight through, then so be it. Is taking out the trash leading or following? It doesn’t matter. It's getting the job done." If you're having a hard time letting someone else be in control, Robbins has this bit of advice: Get over it. "When you're in a team, don't ask whether or not you're leading it; ask whether or not you're contributing to its success," he writes. "Stop being dazzled by your own brilliance. Spend your time helping people know where they are going, link their actions to the goals and support them as they get there. The team will succeed, the business will succeed, and you can say, 'I helped.'" To read more, see http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4270&t=srobbins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CREATING A NEW FUTURE James Belasco loves watching people grow. In fact, if you ask the bestselling author and retired business professor to describe what he does for a living, his response is simple: "I help others develop their talents so that they can achieve their goals." Belasco, who founded San Diego State University's Management Development Center in 1972, is the author of "Teaching the Elephant to Dance" and co-author of "Soaring with the Phoenix" and "Flight of the Buffalo." In his speaking and consulting, he challenges organizations and individual leaders to redefine management and constantly create environments that foster learning, growth and success. We recently spoke with him about the leadership concepts he teaches and the principles he espouses. Leadership Wired: The books you have written are very different from each other, but they share a similar philosophical approach. What is that? James Belasco: That the leader's basic challenge is to do two things. One is to envision the future and to enroll people in making that future become reality, and secondly is to engage people in the business of the business so that they see the organization's success as the platform for their success. LW: We'll delve into that more later. First, though, what is the toughest leadership challenge you've ever faced personally? Belasco: To help an organization see a future that is radically different from their present or their past. The easy-to-say-and- very-hard-to-do is you need to engage people in the actual experience of that tomorrow, or at least a taste of that tomorrow. People who have never tasted lobster can't understand why anybody would eat that spiny little critter—it doesn't look very appealing at all. And yet, when you get past what it is and you taste it, then you want to have it again. So you have to give people a taste of the lobster that you're trying to create. LW: What do you find most rewarding about your work? Belasco: I think the most rewarding experience for me is to watch other people grow. To watch other people get this kind of a-ha experience-"I didn’t know that" or, "Gosh, I didn’t think I could do that"—where they see capabilities in themselves that they never knew that existed. It's amazing when you open people's minds—when you expose them, you engage them in the process of looking and seeing and tasting and feeling—that they learn, they grow, they say, "We can do this" and, "We can do that." They've achieved things that I would never have even dreamed of. They have—and that's part of the joy for me—out learned the teacher. LW: Speaking of learning, you encourage leaders to create environments that help employees learn, grow and succeed. What does such an environment look like? What are some things a leader can do to create one? Belasco: The hallmark of that kind of environment is threefold. No. 1, it's an organization that is extraordinarily focused on customers—the people they serve. And it's the customers throughout the entire chain. If you're a manufacturer, it's being incredibly focused on the distributors and helping them to succeed, it's being incredibly focused on the users, it's really being customer focused. It's asking the question, "What is great performance for us from the customer's point of view?" The second thing, it's an incredibly open organization—it's transparent. It shares information. It shares ideas. So you have hotel housekeepers who understand housekeeping costs—how 33 minutes to clean a room is too much and how we should be at 25 minutes—and because they understand the impact of 33 minutes vs. 25 minutes, they commit themselves to find ways to do it excellently in 25 minutes. They take pride and they're on a profit-sharing arrangement whereby part of the money they save goes in their pocket. When you have an incredibly open organization, facts are known, and people use facts to make decisions. Thirdly, it's an organization that is dedicated to the growth and success of their employees. Organizations are not real—they don't exist. They're legal fictions. An organization is nothing more than a collection of individuals who agree to work together and who do so voluntarily—every person who shows up every day is a volunteer in one manner, shape, or form. You buy their body for the wage that you pay them. But you want their commitment, you want their expertise, you want their sweat—and that costs more. The price of more is not more money—it's more dignity and respect and concern for them. Go back to my first comment—that the people need to see that the success of the organization is a platform for their own success. You need to have a dialogue that says, "What is it that you really want to do? What do you want to be in five years, and how can we help you become that?" LW: Is this where being what you call a "re-revolutionary" leader comes into play? Belasco: A re-revolutionary leader continually reinvents the way the organization does business and the way he or she leads. A leader like that is like a chameleon almost—one kind of leader in one setting and a different kind of leader in another setting—one who sees the need to continually reinvent themselves, renew themselves. Organizations and individuals that succeed continually renew themselves, because that which worked yesterday won't work tomorrow. Such a leader understands that. In today's high-speed world where change is happening ever faster, the leader that doesn't reinvent herself or himself and doesn't reinvent her or his organization is not going to be around. LW: By reinventing yourself, you're not talking about the core values that make that person who he or she is, are you? Belasco: That's a good key distinction. It goes back to what are my customers, what is the marketplace, and what are my associates demanding we must be in order to succeed as an organization. It's sort of like a soccer team. When you're tied and you're down to the last 10 minutes and you're getting tired, you play a different game than when you're just starting. The nature of the game changes, and if you don’t renew yourself and reinvent yourself, you lose. That's what I mean by reinventing yourself. LW: You also talk frequently of an employee-led organization. What is that, and what implications does this have for the organization's leaders? Belasco: An employee-led organization is really an empowered organization. I think there's lots of misunderstanding of what the word empowerment means. Empowerment is not the right to do what you please. It's to be pleased to do what's right for the customer, for the people you serve. That's key point No. 1. Key point No. 2 is that empowerment is not free. Empowerment comes with responsibility. To make empowerment work, you need the skills and capabilities to make it work. I am not going to empower you to do open-heart surgery on me. I don't think you're a surgeon, so I'm not giving you a scalpel and I'm not lying down and taking anesthetics. I am not going to empower you to do that because you do not have the skills and capabilities to do that job. So before you can empower someone, you have to be certain that they have the skills, the knowledge and the capability to do the job. Empowerment is not free; it comes with a cost—the cost of preparation. And the third thing is empowerment is not a one- way street. Empowerment means you only get the bouquets if you're also willing to take the bricks. You have to be willing to stand up there and take the kudos as well as take the knocks because that comes with the territory. Nobody wins every game. Nobody makes every decision right. So empowerment comes with the willingness to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong." The empowered person reserves the right to get smarter. All of this says that the leader is to engage people—to see the future, to envision what we must reinvent ourselves to become and then, to empower the people to apply their skills and capabilities to create that future. So in that sense, it's an employee-led organization because it's an empowered organization. I've met lots of people who say, "Since we've now empowered our people, I can just retire." No, you can't retire. Your role is different. Rather than a role of director, your role is that of developer. Rather than directing people, you're now going to develop people—to help them to learn to develop the skills so that they can be empowered. You have to set the structures and systems in place so that the information is shared—that the facts are available so that people can make better decisions. - Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHAT GOOD LEADERS DO "Remember the difference between a boss and a leader: A boss says, 'Go!' — a leader says, 'Let's go!'" - E.M. Kelly "A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says, 'I was beaten,' he does not say, 'My men were beaten.'" - Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." - Theodore Roosevelt _________________________________________________________________ Leadership Wired is written by Dr. John C. Maxwell and is available via e-mail on a free subscription basis. 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