~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. April 2005 - Volume 8, Issue 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Where Growth Happens * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Interview – Growing in the Right Direction * Quick Quotes – Overcoming Obstacles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHERE GROWTH HAPPENS By Dr. John C. Maxwell If I asked you to rank your top five favorite leadership responsibilities, attending meetings probably would not appear on your list. It's not that some meetings aren't enjoyable; it's just that there are plenty of other activities that leaders find more thrilling, fun or productive. That said, there is one kind of meeting that I absolutely love, and that is a creative meeting. For example, I once spent about four hours in a room with 11 people, doing nothing but talking about books. We discussed how to write better books, and we talked about which topics would add value to people's lives. In the process, we challenged each other. We built on each others' thoughts and ideas. We argued. We laughed. Now I realize that to some of you, spending four hours brainstorming about books might sound about as exhilarating as watching paint dry. But for me, it was incredibly exciting. By the time I came out of that room, it was 5 o'clock in the afternoon. After a marathon meeting like that, a guy my age ought to be getting little tired. But I was charged up and ready to spend the evening writing. There's just something about meeting with a group of positive, energetic, creative people that stimulates my thoughts and spurs me to greater growth than I would be capable of on my own. On the other hand, being around negative people—in a meeting, over lunch, at a football game, etc.—just sucks the life right out of me. Talk about a thought buster. Negativity tops the chart when it comes to the forces that can stifle thought, squelch creativity and shut down idea generation. We all know people who regularly use phrases such as "it will never work," "I'm never going to be able to get that done," "it's too hard," and "there's no way we can do it." These people don't build us up or encourage our development; they drag us down with their incessant complaining and constant negativity. If you place a high priority on creative thought, do whatever you can to limit your time with these folks (unless, of course, you're related to one, in which case you'll have to come up with an alternative solution). On a more positive note, another step you can take to increase your thinking power is to put yourself in a growth environment. If negativity is a powerful thought buster, a growth environment is an even stronger thought booster. Here are eight characteristics of a growth environment: 1. Others are ahead of you. It's a sad day when you discover that, in every group you're in, you're at the top of your class. Such superiority might be good for your ego, but it's not healthy for your mental development. 2. You are still challenged. It doesn't matter how young or old you are—if you're bored, you won't grow. 3. Your focus is forward. There's nothing wrong with remembering the past, especially if it increases your confidence or helps you to avoid repeating costly mistakes. But growth is impossible if you think your best days are behind you. 4. The atmosphere is affirming. Think of how you felt the last time someone affirmed you when you were struggling with a difficult assignment or situation. I'm sure you'll agree that encouragement is a powerful motivator, especially in the midst of challenging circumstances. 5. You are out of your comfort zone. It's much easier to stick with what you know, but nobody ever achieved greatness by doing that. This is one of the benefits of working with creative thinkers—they stretch you and force you to look for answers outside your normal frame of reference. 6. Failure is not feared. You may be hesitant to venture out of your comfort zone because you're afraid you'll fall flat on your face if you take a risk. But as Henry Ford once said, "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." 7. Others are growing. Yes, growth can be a group activity. It's often precipitated by less-than-ideal circumstances—increased competition, an economic downturn, the loss of key players, etc. But from a leadership standpoint, few things are more rewarding than watching your team become stronger through adversity. 8. There is a willingness to change. In a growth environment, you'll never hear anyone say, "But we've never done it that way before." Not everyone embraces change with the same level of enthusiasm, but people who are committed to growth don't try to run away from it. If you are not currently working in a growth environment, I encourage you to do what you can to make it one. Take the lead, and others will follow. When it comes to growth, there's definitely a trickle-down effect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOING PLACES On his website, www.madeforsuccess.com, motivational speaker and leadership writer Chris Widener (see interview below) has a list of his top seven leadership books. That in itself isn't particularly unusual; leadership consultants often feature recommended reading lists on their Internet sites. What makes Widener's list a bit different is his final entry. It's not written by Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, Peter Drucker, Patrick Lencioni or any other well-known leadership guru. It's by Theodore Seuss Geisel—better known in literary circles as Dr. Seuss. "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" is a popular graduation gift for students leaving high school or college. That's not surprising— it's full of inspiration for young people on the brink of exciting new challenges. But it's also a worthwhile read for leaders who are stuck in a rut, running low on motivation or simply in need of some encouragement. In a few brightly colored pages, it covers everything from decision-making, risk-taking and success to excellence, potential and perseverance. But what makes this ode to personal fulfillment so compelling—especially for readers who can't even remember their high-school graduations—is that it's also infused with a healthy dose of reality. "Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you'll top all the rest," Seuss writes. "Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't." Talk about refreshing. Be all you can be, but remember, sometimes life just doesn't work out the way you want. When that happens, don't give up. Find your way out of your slump and figure out what to do next. Nothing new here as far as motivational rhetoric is concerned. But while other self-help/be-all-you-can-be material is often quickly forgotten, this message sticks—and for good reason. The book is short, it rhymes (except when it doesn't) and it has great pictures. Widener is right. "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" is an excellent leadership book—whether you're flying high, racing down a "long wiggled road at a break-necking pace" or simply stuck in a "most useless" waiting place. _________________________________________________________________ JUST DO IT At a recent talk at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Nike vice president and CFO Don W. Blair compared establishing one's ability to lead in a new situation to riding a horse. "To be effective, a leader must learn how to ride that particular horse and the horse must learn how to be ridden by that particular rider," Blair said. "If one tries to go too far too fast, it's easy to get thrown off. One has to build relationships by understanding what people are trying to accomplish and moving that agenda forward." Blair did this himself when he joined Nike from PepsiCo about six years ago. According to a report in "Knowledge@Wharton", the business school's e-zine, his first task upon being hired was to "do nothing for six months" so he could get acclimated to his new environment. "Leadership is situational," he said. "What works in one company doesn't necessarily work in another." Although Blair was at Wharton to discuss Nike's corporate leadership style, he also shared his own take on the topic. Here's a sampling of his advice to other leaders. • Concentrate on outcomes and don't get lost in the process. "In a large organization, it's easy to be working in an area that is urgent but not important," he said. "Don't get stuck on process and lose focus on the big issues." • Maintain objectivity. "One has to be willing, always, to have the objectivity to see and say that 'the emperor has no clothes,' " Blair said. • Learn from past experience. "Take time for explicit self- education," he said. "Make mistakes, codify them and learn." To read more, see: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1152&specialId=31 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GROWING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Chris Widener's early childhood experiences did not exactly pave the way for a thriving career as a motivational speaker, writer and leadership consultant. When he was four, his father died suddenly. He was sent away to live with relatives when he was nine. By 12, he was involved with drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, at age 17, Widener had life-changing moment when he realized he was going in the wrong direction and needed to get himself straightened out. He went to college, earned a degree in youth/family work and spent 14 years leading non-profit organizations in an affluent small town in Northern New Jersey and a suburb of Seattle. As he observed the lives of the influential business people in his communities and began to apply what he saw to his own life, he started to write articles about leading a successful life. Initially, his audience was limited to readers of his "Made for Success" e-newsletter, but as his readership grew to subscribers in more than 100 countries, he began speaking and consulting about the same topics he was covering on the Internet. Today, 38-year-old Widener is president of Made for Success, a leadership development company that helps individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance. We spoke to him recently about influence and leadership development. Leadership Wired: Leadership is all about influence. What are some ways that leaders can increase both the strength and sphere of their influence? Chris Widener: On both those levels, it's the same exact thing. People judge other people on whether they want to follow them or not—either consciously or subconsciously—based on two primary considerations. There are lots of smaller considerations, but the two primary considerations are your character and your skill: who you are and what you can do. Nearly 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson said, "There's a natural aristocracy among men—the grounds of which is talent and virtue." This is something that has transcended time—this idea that people look at other people and determine whether or not they are worthy of being followed by what kind of virtue they show and what kind of talent or skills they demonstrate. When I speak to groups, I have them give me a list of what they consider the traits of great leaders. And every single time I've ever done it, we've always been able to categorize each and every one of the answers as a character trait or a skill. What's most interesting is that, every time we do this, nearly 90 percent of all the answers are related to character. Influencing other people and having them view you as a leader is much more character based than it is skills based. Leadership isn't saying, "I'm going to go out and be a leader—I'm just going to go do these things and lead people." A mistake people make is they don't realize that the determination of whether or not leadership is going to happen is not the leader's determination; it's the followers' determination. If I had 10 people in a room and I said, "Let's go outside," and I start walking, who determines whether I'm the leader? They do, by whether or not they get up and follow me. So the only thing a leader can do, in my mind, is to work on him or herself—to become the type of person that other people want to follow. The essence of developing yourself as a leader is developing the natural skills of leadership—communication, strategy, goal- setting, those types of things—but then, even more so, working on yourself so that you become the type of person that other people are naturally drawn to, the type of person that people respect. When you work on those things, you increase the depth of your leadership with people. The more they believe in you, the more they're going to give you in terms of their following. And the more you develop yourself, the more people are going to be drawn to you. So I think it hits both the depth and the breadth of your leadership when you develop yourself and your character. LW: How do you know if you are having a positive, long-term influence on the people you're leading? Widener: You may never know. But there are a few ways you can set it up to have a better idea. One is to create some sort of objective outer schematic that will help you decide. Are your sales growing? If your sales are growing, then that means you're probably influencing your sales teams. Is efficiency growing? Then you're probably influencing the people who are in charge of managing the efficiency of your company. That's one way. Another thing is what I call a follower's evaluation. It's risky the first time you do it—you've got to have tough skin to do it. But when I was leading a non-profit organization, I would take my five or six staff people, and I'd put them in a room, and I'd sit there with a legal pad. I would say, "I'm going to ask you questions and I want you to feel free to say whatever you want to say, and I will not respond back, except perhaps to ask a clarifying question." I would ask questions such as, "What do you think my strengths are?" "What do you think my weaknesses are?" "What are things that you think I ought to continue to do?" "What are some things you think I ought to stop doing?" "Is there any other thing you'd like to tell me that would help me understand better my leadership role or what's going on here at our organization?" I would simply just write. I would listen to see if themes developed. Any time you give your followers an opportunity to give you brutally honest feedback, and you prove to them that there's not going to be retribution or a reaction, then the second, third and fourth times you do this on a regular basis—once or twice a year— eventually you're going to prove to them that they can speak up and give you honest feedback. And when you get to that place in a relationship with the people who you work with, then it's going to be easier and easier for you to tell whether or not you're making a difference because they'll speak up, both positively and negatively. LW: What is the greatest leadership lesson you've ever learned? How did you learn it? Widener: The greatest leadership lesson I ever learned is one that I call the Maximus principle. I learned it in my own life and then I named it later when I saw the movie "Gladiator". At the very beginning of the movie "Gladiator", they're about to go to war. Maximus, the great leader of one army, is out looking at the other army. He finds that the other army is about to strike, so he needs to strike first. He comes back to his lieutenant and says, "We need to go and start the war." And the lieutenant starts to say, "The casualties will be too great." But he only gets out the words, "The casualties will be …" and Maximus interjects, "acceptable." I remember early on in my leadership career when I was leading an organization, I never wanted to make changes that were going to end up having casualties involved—somebody might lose their job, or somebody might get mad, or somebody might leave the organization or whatever. When you're always afraid that there are going to be casualties, you're not going to make needed changes. So the fact that I learned was that there are always casualties. Somebody's going to decide they don't like the new way you're going and they're going to quit and go find a new job. They're going to get mad because their best friend got a decrease in pay. Somebody's always going to get mad. The leader's job is to determine whether or not the casualties are acceptable for the greater good of the organization. As I've been leadership consulting, I've come back and back and back to that because so many leaders won't make a decision because they're afraid of the ramifications of it. They wait and wait and wait until they can pull it off without any sort of casualties. But there are always going to be casualties. The question is whether or not the casualties will be acceptable to move the organization forward. LW: Is it difficult for a motivational speaker to stay motivated? What or who motivates you? Widener: Even when somebody else is motivating us, it's really us motivating us because we place ourselves in positions. If I buy a ticket to go watch Zig Ziglar or somebody like that, I'm the one who made the decision about whether or not I was going to be motivated that day. I could have just as well chosen to sit at home and watch TV. Ultimately, the motivation in us is based on our own desire to be motivated, to stay geared up and ready to go. In my life, it's driven by my own passion to succeed and to see how much I can become in this life. Jim Rohn, who has been a speaker for about 40 years, has always said, "Why not see how much you can become in life?" That's sort of become a driving question in my life. I've achieved a lot of success. I've got a great wife and family. I've got four beautiful kids, a beautiful home, great friends, a thriving business. But what could I become more if I ask of myself to become more? What greater good could I have on people around me, on the companies that I work with? It's all internal. Ultimately, we all own our own motivation. We all have to decide whether or not we're going to place ourselves in positions where we're going to get and stay motivated. Those are simple daily choices—listening to positive music, positive CDs, reading good books, the choice of friends that we surround ourselves with. They're daily little things that keep us on the right track. -- Interview by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OVERCOMING OBSTACLES "The block of granite which was an obstacle in the path of the weak becomes a steppingstone in the path of the strong." —Thomas Carlyle "If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." —Frank A. Clark "It is interesting to notice how some minds seem almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage and working their solitary but irresistible way through a thousand obstacles." —Washington Irving _________________________________________________________________ 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.