~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. March 2005 - Volume 8, Issue 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Avoiding 'Mental Flabbiness' * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review – A Call to Action * Quick Quotes – True Greatness ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AVOIDING 'MENTAL FLABBINESS' By Dr. John C. Maxwell I have a designated "thinking chair" in my office. I don't sit in it when someone drops by to talk. I don't take power naps in it. I use it only for thinking. This chair doesn't think for me, but it does speak to me every now and then. If I've gone a few days without sitting in it, its presence subtly reminds me that I'm not devoting enough time to the all-important task of thinking. When we fail to make thinking a priority, we develop what author Gordon MacDonald calls "mental flabbiness." This may not sound like a life-threatening condition, but some ways, it can be quite dangerous. Here's how MacDonald explains it: "In our pressurized society, people who are out of shape mentally usually fall victim to ideas and systems that are destructive to the human spirit and to the human relationship," he writes. "They are victimized because they have not taught themselves how to think, nor have they set themselves to the lifelong pursuit of growth of the mind. Not having the faculty of a strong mind, they grow dependent upon the thoughts and opinions of others. Rather than deal with ideas and issues, they reduce themselves to lives full of rules, regulations, and programs." You can't be an effective leader with a mindset like that—it's just not possible. Fortunately, there is an antidote to mental flabbiness: making time to think. I realize this can be a daunting assignment for people whose schedules are already bursting at the seams. And yet, when we don't make thinking a priority, we're actually sabotaging our own creativity and success. Think about it. One of the highest commodities in a person's life is a great idea. A great idea has transforming power. It can take you places you may never have dreamed of going. But great ideas don't come out of nowhere. They begin as thoughts. So it stands to reason that the more time we spend thinking, the more great ideas we'll have. The good news is that it doesn't take hours of thinking each day to generate ideas and stay in good mental shape. You can accomplish a great deal in a few moments of concentrated, intentional thought. Let me give you two examples of how this works in my life. Every morning, I devote three minutes to what I call "big-picture thinking." I look at my schedule for the day and ask myself one simple question: What's the main event? Of all the things I'm going to do, of all the people I'm going to see, of all the experiences that I'm going to encounter, what's the main event? You can't prioritize your day if you don't see everything in your day. That's why I practice big-picture thinking in the morning. I have to pick out my main event early, because whatever it is, that's where I had better be at my best. I'm human, and I don't always hit the ball out of the park. Sometimes I don't hit the ball at all. But at the main event, I had better hit a homerun. Big-picture thinking helps me achieve that goal. At the end of the day, I spend another five to 10 minutes doing what I refer to as "reflective thinking." I go to my thinking chair and spend time reviewing my whole day. I ask myself questions such as, "Who did I see today? How did I add value to those people? What lessons did I learn?" Reflective thinking doesn't take long, but it's an incredibly valuable exercise because it turns experience into insight. Can you imagine what would happen in your life if you practiced big-picture and reflective thinking? You would stop wasting time on things that don't really matter, which would give you more energy for the really important activities. You would be more organized and efficient. You would experience less stress. Most importantly, you would also take more away from each day that would enable you to lead better the next day. The best way to start this process is to designate a specific place to think. It doesn't matter if your "thinking chair" is in your den at home or your office at work. It just has to be a spot where you can do nothing but think for a few moments twice a day. The bottom line is this: If you find a place to think your thoughts, you'll have more thoughts. If you find a place to shape your thoughts, you will have better thoughts. And if you find a place to stretch your thoughts, you will have bigger thoughts. All this, from just three minutes in the morning and five to ten minutes at night. As you can see, the results far outweigh the time investment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BUILDING TOMORROW'S LEADERS No matter how successful an organization is today, it must never overlook the necessity of developing the people who will lead tomorrow. But what can today's leaders do to get their eventual replacements ready for more challenging roles? Quite a lot, actually. In a recent e-newsletter, the Center for Creative Leadership outlined several specific things leaders can do to build a strong bench now and keep those players happy until starting spots open for them. • Give credit where credit is due. "If you are the boss, it isn't likely that you did it all yourself," the CCL writes. "So be sure to give recognition to the people behind the scenes." • "Don't mistake age for experience." Instead, "Go on how employees perform—not how many years they've been doing it," the e-newsletter states. And don't tell more youthful individuals to "wait your turn—that's just going to make them more likely to look for another job where they can put their skills to use now." • Don't worry about "face time." The number of hours you see someone each day is not an accurate way to determine their productivity. In fact, "An emphasis on face time indicates a supervisor's lack of trust in the employee, a need for control or an inability to manage effectively," the CCL says. • Reward growth. Pay people for acquiring new skills and increasing their worth as an employee. The reason for this is simple, according to the CCL: "If you don't acknowledge the increase in your employees' value through learning, someone else will." For more information, see: http://www.ccl.org/CCLCommerce/news/newsletters/enewsletter/2005/FEBbench.aspx?CatalogID=News&CategoryID=Enewsletter(Newsletters) _________________________________________________________________ LEADING AT YAHOO On its corporate website, Internet giant Yahoo Inc. is described as the "only place anyone needs to go to find anything, communicate with anyone or buy anything." The company overview goes on to explain the basis for this mind-boggling claim, citing all the services and programs Yahoo offers that have made it "the most recognized and valuable Internet brand" in the world. Whether you believe the company's PR or not, one thing is certain. There's never a dull moment for people who lead in such an ever-evolving, lightning-paced environment. One such person is Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig, who has been with Yahoo for three years. "Fast Company" magazine recently interviewed Rosensweig about his "life as a yahoo." Here are a few of his thoughts. • What he loves about his work: "My favorite part of the job is watching great people see their dreams realized. To watch somebody come up with an idea, execute it, and then see [Yahoo] users really get value out of it is just an amazing feeling." • What he wants in an employee: "We look for really smart people who have tremendous passion, great conviction and courage, and a little bit of willingness to go out there and take a risk, because when you're working in an industry that is evolving so rapidly, no one person has the right answer for anything." • An insight about time: "Time is the only luxury left in the world, and I do my best not to waste much." • On what really counts in life: "Do the things that matter the most to you. If you don't love it, it's not worth it." • Looking ahead: "It would be boring to know what you're going to be five years from now." To read more, see: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/91/wikn.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A CALL TO ACTION "The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done" By Peter F. Drucker with Joseph A. Maciariello (Harper Business, 2004) At first glance, ""The Daily Drucker"" looks like something you'd find in the inspirational section of your local bookstore, not on the shelves with the other business books. But while the attractive volume is very similar in format to a collection of daily meditations, there is one distinct difference. Instead of encouraging readers in some area of their spiritual or emotional lives, this book is designed to help them grow in practical ways as leaders and managers. Comprised of 366 short readings culled directly from Peter F. Drucker's lifetime of writings, "The Daily Drucker" provides plenty of food for penetrating thought. But above all, it is—as Drucker writes in the preface—"an action book." Organized by Joseph Maciariello (a management professor and longtime friend of Drucker's), the material in the book covers a wide range of topics, from character, learning and self-renewal to innovation, time management and decision making. Of particular interest to "Leadership Wired" readers will be the readings on "managing oneself," leadership and "picking people." Each day includes a key statement about these and other subjects, a few paragraphs of explanation and an often-probing "action point" designed to help readers apply what they've read to their own lives and work. For example, the action point for the reading titled "Human Factor in Management" says, "Are you a great actor in a terrible play? What are you going to do about it?" And for the reading titled "Picking a Leader," the action point says, "Next time you hire someone, ask yourself whether you would want your son or daughter to work for him or her." Busy leaders will appreciate the fact that most readings take up less than one page. But the white space at the bottom isn't simply a nice graphic element; it has a very specific purpose. "The most important part of this book is the blank spaces at the bottom of its pages," Drucker writes. "They are what the readers will contribute: their actions, decisions and the results of the decisions." Now 95, Drucker is considered by many to be the top management thinker alive today. He has written more than 35 books, and his ideas have had a tremendous impact on shaping the modern corporation. Those ideas are the essence of "The Daily Drucker". But readers will not want to delve into the daily material without first perusing the foreword by Jim Collins, bestselling author of "Good to Great", to get a glimpse of the person behind the ideas. Collins puts a human face on this man of great influence who, even in his twilight years, continues to thirst for knowledge and encourages others to do the same. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRUE GREATNESS "When a man realizes his littleness, his greatness can appear." — H.G. Wells "A great man leaves clean work behind him, and requires no sweeper up of the chips." — Elizabeth Barrett Browning "Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in the little things." — Charles Simmons _________________________________________________________________ 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.