~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. January 2005 - Volume 8, Issue 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – What Are You Committed To? * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review – Graceful Self-Promotion * Quick Quotes – Seize the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHAT ARE YOU COMMITTED TO? By Dr. John C. Maxwell What do you think of when you hear the word commitment? Perhaps you picture a loving husband caring for his invalid wife. Maybe you envision a business owner who puts her resources and reputation on the line to lead her company through a crisis. Perhaps you see a dedicated teacher who spends hours of his own time tutoring underprivileged children. Or maybe the scene that comes to mind is one of a group of soldiers who willingly enters harm's way to protect their countrymen. These are all wonderful examples of commitment. But have you considered the fact that individuals who act in less admirable ways also are committed? People who watch the clock at work are committed to making it through the day so they can go home. People who spend most of their free time in front of the television are committed to taking life easy. People who cheat on their income taxes are committed to beating the system. Do you understand what I'm saying? When it comes to living a life of significance, the vital question isn't, "Am I committed?" It's, "What am I committed to?" Over the years, I've had the opportunity to observe many remarkable individuals who I refer to as "make-a-difference people"—the kind of folks you want on your team and in your life because they're constantly making positive things happen. As I wrote in the last issue of "Leadership Wired," "make-a- difference" people stand out from everyone else because they are connected—to a great leader, to a powerful vision and to other people who want to make a difference. Another critical factor that sets "make-a-difference people" apart is their deep level of commitment in four key areas: 1. Make-a-difference people are committed to excellence. Conforming to someone else's standard of excellence isn't an option; they set their own bar, and they set it high. If you want to be a difference-maker, your bar of excellence should be higher than anyone else's. In other words, you should expect more out of yourself than anyone else expects out of you. 2. Make-a-difference people are committed to service. George Burns once said, "When you stop giving and offering something to the rest of the world, it's time to turn out the lights." That is so true. Anyone can call himself a servant- leader, but that description is meaningless unless it's accompanied by action. True servanthood manifests itself in the following four ways: + It puts others ahead of an individual agenda. True servants aren't in it for themselves; they're committed to the growth and well-being of the people they're serving. + It begins with security. Service often takes us out of our comfort zone, and in order to function effectively in such unfamiliar territory, confidence is a necessity. + It initiates service to others. It doesn't wait to be served. It doesn't wait to be asked to serve. It goes first. + It is not position-conscious. You show me a person who serves, and I'll show you someone who cares little about titles. 3. Make-a-difference people are committed to growth. I have found that there are three types of people on earth: the unlearned, the learned and the learning. If you want to make a positive contribution with your life, never stop stretching and growing. Make a concerted effort to learn today what will help you do better tomorrow. If you grow in the right areas today, you'll reap the right rewards tomorrow. 4. Make-a-difference people are committed to giving. The reason for this is simple: Giving is the highest level of living. Here are four ways to develop a giving spirit in your life: + Be grateful for whatever you have. It's hard to be generous when you always want more for yourself. + Put people first. The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him, but the number of people whom he serves. + Don't allow the desire for possessions to control you. This is so critical. Do you control your money, or does your money control you? + Develop the habit of giving. Author Richard Foster made a profound statement about this: "Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure does something within us," he said. "It destroys the demon greed." Now that I've described the characteristics that set make-a- difference people apart, it's time to get personal. Do you want to make a difference in your business, your community, your family or any other area of life that is important you? If your answer is yes, I have one more question for you. Are you making a difference—wherever you are, whatever you're doing? I certainly hope so. But if not, don't get discouraged. Instead, as I said last time, get busy. There's no time like the present to become a make-a-difference person. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE QUEST The head of one of the nation's largest credit card issuers learned many lessons in a previous career as a management consultant that he now has the opportunity to apply in his own company. Richard Fairbank, the chairman, president and CEO of Capital One Financial, shared some of these principles at a recent talk at the Wharton School (of the University of Pennsylvania). Knowledge@Wharton, the b-school's bi-weekly online resource, provided the following highlights in an article titled "When Leadership Becomes a Quest." + People are your business's most important asset. "You can't find anybody in corporate America who doesn't agree with this, but their actions are inconsistent with that statement," Fairbank told his audience. An important part of a CEO's job—as well as that of any other leader—is recruiting and motivating employees. + Cast a compelling vision, but don't allow your desire to overshadow your humanity. People are more likely to work hard for and cooperate with leaders who are authentic. Fairbank says this involves "being vulnerable, being honest and showing your weaknesses as well as your bold dream." + Success isn't about an impressive title or large paycheck. Rather, "It's about having a dream, a quest," Fairbank said. "[My father] used to say that, 'It doesn't matter how big the quest is. What matters is how pure the quest is. You can own your own success by virtue of defining it as a quest.'" To read more, see: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1091 _________________________________________________________________ TAMING THE SAVAGE E-MAIL BEAST If making e-mail work for you instead of against you is a goal for 2005, you won't want to miss Stever Robbins' article, "Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload," in a recent issue of Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge e-zine. Robbins, a leadership consultant and author of "It Takes a Lot More than Attitude to Lead a Stellar Organization," says that "taming e-mail means training the senders to put the burden of quality back on themselves." He recommends a two-pronged approach: lead by example by sending better e-mail yourself (by making your e-mails one page or less, editing forwarded messages, making action requests clear, providing full context at the beginning of each message, etc.), and then explicitly training others to make their online communications more productive. When it comes to teaching others, Robbins offers the following suggestions: + Only check your e-mail at certain times each day. Let your people know that if they need to reach you immediately, "e-mail isn't the way," he writes. + "Charge people for sending you messages." One CEO Robbins has worked with charges employees five dollars from their budget for each e-mail she gets. "Amazingly, her overload has gone way down, the relevance of e-mails has gone up, and the senders are happy, too, because the added thought often results in them solving more problems on their own," he writes. + Keep your responses short. Responding to three-page e-mails with three-word answers lets people know not to expect long responses from you, "and then you can proceed to answer at your leisure in whatever format works best for you," Robbins says. For other e-mail taming tips, see: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/tools/print_item.jhtml?id=4438&t=leadership ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GRACEFUL SELF-PROMOTION BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It By Peggy Klaus (Warner Business Books, 2003) If the thought of bragging about yourself puts a bad taste in your mouth—or conjures up the image of a disapproving look from your grandmother—you're not alone. Many talented, hard-working leaders were brought up to believe that a job well done speaks for itself, that they don't have to point out their accomplishments because other people will do it for them, and that humility will get them noticed. Those beliefs appear noble on the surface, but they're all "bragging myths" that communication expert/business coach Peggy Klaus sets out to dispel in "BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It." Her basic premise is this: In today's cutthroat business world, staying quiet about your achievements only leads to being underappreciated and overlooked. So if you want to succeed—at any level—you must learn to self-promote. Klaus, who taught herself to toot her own horn when she was trying land a job in Hollywood, is not referring to prideful, obnoxious boasts designed to make you appear superior to the people around you. Rather, she uses the word brag to describe "an artful way of communicating and turning the spotlight on yourself that will not only feel natural and comfortable to you, but to those on the receiving end as well." Think of "BRAG!" as a practical, straightforward and entertaining manual on how to tell relevant stories about yourself and your achievements. These stories—Klaus calls them "bragologues"—are thought out ahead of time and customized for use in job interviews, performance reviews, social functions and even short elevator rides with people who could make a difference in your career (your boss's boss or the CEO of your company, for example). The goal, of course, is to convey information about yourself in a way that's "memorable and elicits interest, excitement and/or admiration," Klaus writes. Effective bragging begins with a keen awareness of who you are and an honest assessment of what you have accomplished in life (which is usually much more than you think). To help readers engage in this necessary introspection, Klaus provides a "Take 12" Self-Evaluation questionnaire that covers everything from how you ended up doing what you do for a living to how you spend your time outside of work. "Your combined personal and professional information acts as the foundation for your bragging campaign," she writes. "It encapsulates what will most powerfully underscore your best self and what you would like other people to know about you." Klaus doesn't just tell readers how to practice her techniques. She shows them how by providing numerous before-and-after examples of people who were struggling to achieve their goals —a promotion, a new job, landing a new client, etc.—until they learned to brag effectively. Becoming a good self-promoter is like mastering a musical instrument—it takes the right kind of training and lots of practice. If you'd like the applause—career and otherwise—that can come when you toot your own horn gracefully, "BRAG!" is a good place to start. - Review by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor Editor's Note: To learn more, watch for an interview with Peggy Klaus in an upcoming issue of "Leadership Wired." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEIZE THE DAY "One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon—instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." - Dale Carnegie "It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis." - Margaret Bonnano "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present." - Babatunde Olatunji _________________________________________________________________ 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) 2005, INJOY, Inc.