~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. August 2005 - Volume 8, Issue 15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Placement Matters * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review – Who You Know * Quick Quotes – The Quest for Excellence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLACEMENT MATTERS By Dr. John C. Maxwell Back in my basketball-playing days, I learned a valuable lesson about employee placement from an early season experiment my coach conducted with our team. He began by telling the first team, of which I was a member, that he wanted us to scrimmage the second team. There was nothing unusual about that, except that all the starters were to play out of position. "I'm going to show you why it's important to understand your place, your niche and your position on the team," the coach explained. I had to play center, guarded by a six-foot-seven-inch guy named Doug Roth. Needless to say, every time I shot the ball, it came back at me rather quickly. I don't think I even got the ball to the goal one time, and I know for sure I didn't get any rebounds. Doug got all the rebounds, and the first team—well, we just got slaughtered. Mercifully, the coach stopped the scrimmage after 20 minutes. "Are you getting the point, players?" he asked. Of the two groups of players, the first team had more athleticism and better skills, he told us. But the second team was victorious because they stayed in position, while the members of the first team were completely out of place. "Remember this," he cautioned. "Talent will never overcome being in the wrong position." He was absolutely right. Whether you're talking about basketball players, gymnasts, marketing experts or software developers, one huge factor that separates a winning team from a losing team is how the team's good players are placed. Look at it this way: • The wrong person in the wrong place equal regression. • The wrong person in the right place equal frustration. • The right person in the wrong place equals confusion. • The right person in the right place equals progression. • The right people in the right places equals multiplication. This reminds me of what I call the Law of the Niche, which says all players have a place where they add the most value. But having the right individuals in the right places leads to a winning record only if those people know the value of preparation and have a strong work ethic. Let me illustrate this with another story from one of my favorite leaders, former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. During practice sessions, he'd sometimes see one of his players slacking off. When that happened, he'd put his arm around the young man and say, "Now you do understand that if you're not giving 100 percent today, you can't make it up tomorrow." Although that sounds quite simple, it's a very powerful truth. "Think about it, John," Wooden said as he shared this story with me. "If you're giving 50 percent today, you can't give 150 percent tomorrow. What you don't do today is never retrievable or recoverable." In other words, every day counts, and the best way to have success tomorrow is to take care of today. Or, to quote Wooden again, "Make every day your masterpiece." What does all this mean to you as a leader? It means that if you want to be successful, you must have the right players in the right places on your team. And when you're determining who the "right" players are, don't just look at their skills or resume. They should be highly competent, of course, but they also need to be team players who possess solid values, a strong work ethic and a good attitude. As Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOUNCING BACK In the last eight years, Nicholas Hall has been involved with six different companies, including a hard-cider beverage firm and an online business networking engine. Some of this self-described serial entrepreneur's endeavors have succeeded; some have failed. In fact, according to a recent issue of "Business Week", his best-known venture—a community web site called Startupfailures.com—was born out of failure. Based on his own experiences and observations, Hall doesn't believe it's possible to have success without failure. "You can have success day in and day out, but I've found that to sustain the energy and enthusiasm that's going to get your farther, you have to deal with more no's than yes's," he told "BusinessWeek" Online reporter Stacy Perman. "You need both, there's no question. But plenty of people [experiencing] startup failures understand that failure is a part of the process—they just hope they can skip it. It's not like you can go out and say, 'I'll have two failures and then have success.' " The most important lesson Hall has learned from his failures is "how costly it is to take yourself out of the game." "It's like what they say about the stock market—that you don't know when the gains will come, but you get luckier often if you stay in the game vs. trying to figure out when to get in the game," he said. "If you fail, you have to bounce back." For more information, see: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2005/sb20050622_9223_sb013.htm _________________________________________________________________ TRIGGERING CONFLICT In the workplace, when a seemingly minor incident sets off major conflict, there's a good possibility that social identity—the combination of elements such as age, ethnicity, religion, gender, socio-economic status, etc., that mark people as part of various social groups—is involved somehow, according to the Center for Creative Leadership. Given the increasingly diverse nature of today's workforce, leaders need to be aware of the triggers that can spark such conflict, the CCL states in its July 2005 "Leading Effectively" e-newsletter. These triggers include: • Insults: While not always intentional, "offensive comments, insults and slurs can quickly set a social identity conflict into motion," the CCL says. This can include attempts at humor that are not at all funny to the people on the receiving end. • Values clashes: "A sense of moral violation or ideological conflict occurs when an organization expects an individual or group to do something that they feel contradicts their fundamental beliefs," the CCL explains. • Favoritism: This can be shown through performance appraisals, hiring, promotions or "simply giving members of one group more say in decisions than members of another group. … The perception of unfair advantage to one group stimulates a conflict." Taking action quickly is one way leaders can mitigate trouble when these triggers are tripped, says Marian Ruderman, the CCL's group director of global leadership and diversity. "Problems started by social identity conflicts seem a lot worse when they are ignored," she explains. "Actions taken early help to quell some of the disruptive outcomes. What specific action to take depends very much on the country and cultural situation, but allowing a situation to continue without intervention is an invitation for greater trouble." For more information, see: http://www.ccl.org/CCLCommerce/news/newsletters/enewsletter/2005/JULtriggers.aspx?CatalogID=News&CategoryID=Enewsletter(Newsletters) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHO YOU KNOW "Never Eat Alone … and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time" By Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz (Currency Doubleday, 2005) It has often been said that, when it comes to getting ahead in life, it's not what you know, but who you know that really matters. That can be rather disheartening, especially for people who excel in their work but would rather have a root canal than voluntarily attend a business conference meet-and-greet. Even individuals who are usually at ease in social situations often struggle to figure out how to make career-enhancing connections without coming across as overly ambitious or insincere. In "Never Eat Alone", Keith Ferrazzi offers a step-by- step strategy for building genuine relationships—the kind that will help you succeed in business and in life—without resorting to the desperate glad-handing usually associated with "networking." Ferrazzi, the son of a small-town steelworker who grew up to become the youngest partner in the history of Deloitte Consulting and the youngest chief marketing officer of a Fortune 500 company, believes that the people who find success in today's hyper-connected world are those who are both willing to help others with no strings attached and able to accept what others can do for them. Naturally, the giving and receiving of such success-inducing help doesn't just happen on its own. The first step, according to Ferrazzi, is to take stock of your life, identify your passions and set goals for yourself. Then, all you have to do is to identify the people who can help you accomplish those goals, meet them and build trusting relationships with them. That's not as easy as it sounds, of course. But Ferrazzi insists it can be achieved—even by people who tend to be introverted or shy—with a good deal of commitment and sweat equity. Now the head of his own marketing and sales consulting company, Ferrazzi fills the pages of "Never Eat Alone" with detailed advice and colorful personal anecdotes about everything from how and when to make follow-up telephone calls, hosting dinner parties and mastering the art of small talk to developing relationships with business journalists, getting past gatekeepers and becoming a "conference commando." Co-authored by Tahl Raz, an editor at "Fortune Small Business", "Never Eat Alone" is well-written and entertaining. But although there is much useful information to be gleaned from the book, there are times when Ferrazzi's approach to building relationships seems to border on manipulation. While the process makes sense on paper, the idea of setting goals and then developing strategies to become friends with the people who can help you reach those goals may strike some readers as a bit disingenuous. The author's frequent name-dropping and tendency toward self-promotion also get a little tiresome, but these annoyances are tempered by his willingness to recount his networking failures and missteps as well as his many successes. That said, "Never Eat Alone" is a worthwhile read for leaders who want to increase their spheres of influence and become better at connecting with the people around them. The goal isn't to become just like Keith Ferrazzi, with more than 5,000 people on your Palm Pilot who will answer the phone when you call. Rather, it's all about learning how to get what you want, and making sure that the people who are important to you get what they want too. As Ferrazzi states, "Never keep score. There's no need to ponder whether it's their lunch or yours. Generosity is the key to success." -- Review by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE "Excellence is an art won by training and habitation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit." — Aristotle "We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects." — Alexis de Tocqueville "Always seek to excel yourself. Put yourself in competition with yourself each day. Each morning look back upon your work of yesterday and then try to beat it." — Charles M. Sheldon _________________________________________________________________ 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.