~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. September 2005 - Volume 8, Issue 17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – The Difference * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review – Growth Handbook * Quick Quotes – Cooperative Spirit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE DIFFERENCE By Dr. John C. Maxwell Football season is barely underway, but it's never too soon to start speculating about which NFL team is going to win the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy next February. Will the New England Patriots continue their domination of the big game and win their third Super Bowl in a row? Or, come January, will some wildcard team that has received little recognition surge to the front of the pack and surprise everyone with a Super Bowl victory? In the NFL, you just never know. That's because when it comes to parity, no other professional sport is as equal as pro football. On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team. And although the Patriots have dominated recently, the fact that eight different teams have played in the last five Super Bowls is another indication that the better teams in the league are on fairly equal footing when it comes to talent. So what sets one talented team apart from another equally gifted team? In a word, leadership. All other things being equal, the team with the best leaders will always win. Or, as one of my 17 Laws of Teamwork states, the difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. It's the Law of the Edge, and it's an incredibly powerful concept. Whether the team is made up of professional football players, military personnel or business people, everything rises and falls on leadership. We've spent the last several issues of "Leadership Wired" talking about various aspects of teamwork— putting the right players in the right places, what a good team does for a leader, how to transfer a vision to your team, the necessity of a strong set of values, etc. As you reflect on these issues and think about how you can lead your team better, here are some practical suggestions that will help pave your way—and your team's way—to success. 1. Make a decision to build a team. Teams just don't build themselves. If you want to see your dream come to fruition, dedicate yourself to team building. Take care of the team, and it will take care of the dream. 2. Gather the best players possible. The better the players on the team, the greater the team's potential for success. The bigger the dream, the better the team you need. Start well, and the rest of the process is much easier. 3. Pay the price to develop the team. Team building has a price— it costs energy, money and time. And when you build a team, you pay with your life. But if you do, in return you receive a better life. 4. Do things together as a team. Good team leaders know that you touch a heart before you ask for a hand. That's the Law of Connection. And the way you create that connection is by doing things together. 5. Empower team members with responsibility and authority. A team can achieve only when its individual members are vested with responsibility and authority. Responsibility gives them the desire; authority gives them the means. Empowered team members accomplish more and help the team to continually improve. 6. Give credit for success to the team. Too many leaders steal their team's ego food. If you want your team to keep fighting for the dream, remember that nothing motivates a team like recognition. Put the credit where it belongs—with the people who get the job done. 7. Watch to see that the investment in the team is paying off. As a leader, you can never afford to stop investing in your people. Everyone doesn't naturally grow on his or her own. Activity does not always mean accomplishment, however. You need to measure your investment. Be sure that you're doing the right things to help your people. You can do that by paying attention to what's paying off. 8. Stop investing in players who do not grow. It's sad to say, but not every investment in people pays off. When that happens, you must stop giving your best attention to those who aren't growing. Life is short, and for every person who won't—or can't— grow, there is someone else who would love to benefit from what you have to give. 9. Create new opportunities for the team. One of the roles of team members is to help the team succeed. That means finding new opportunities for the team. No matter how long your team has been together or how successful you've been in the past, never let a day go by that you're not looking for ways to help your team keep moving forward. 10. Finally, give the team the best possible chance to succeed. In the end, the team fails or succeeds together, and the best way to serve the individuals on the team is to see that the whole team wins. Do that, and dreams can come true for everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TELLTALE SIGNS Chances are, you know when you are being micromanaged—and you probably don't like it any more than the next person. Having someone looking over your shoulder all the time isn't just annoying; it's also extremely de-motivating. Unfortunately, when it comes to identifying micromanaging tendencies, it's much easier to spot them in someone else, as opposed to noticing them in yourself. Dave Anderson, a leadership development expert and author of "Up Your Business: 7 Steps to Fix, Build or Stretch Your Organization", helps leaders take the blinders off with an article titled "You Might be a Micromanager if …" This checklist, which appeared recently on Anderson's website, www.learntolead.com, includes the following telltale signs: You might be a micromanager if … • When you take a day off, your people call you for answers to simple issues they should be able to handle on their own. • You find yourself making more, rather than fewer, decisions the longer you are in your position. • You've been in your position for a year or more but still must put in 70-80 hour workweeks for the job to get done. • You find yourself so buried in paperwork (because you fail to delegate or outsource anything) that you have little or no time left for people-work: training, coaching or mentoring them. To complete this test—and determine whether you are, in fact, a micromanager-see: http://www.learntolead.com/insider/insideritem.cfm?id=377 _________________________________________________________________ TRANSFORMATIONAL COMMUNICATION The best business communicators don't just get their listeners to care about what they're saying; they actually change the way their listeners see the world. Although this type of speaker is rare, business presentation coach Carmine Gallo says he met many of them while he was doing research for his new book, "10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators". Personal-finance guru Suze Orman is a good example, he writes in a recent Business Week article. "Before interviewing Orman for "10 Simple Secrets", I had the pleasure of meeting her several times as a TV host," he says. "Her enthusiasm was contagious, and it rubbed off on everyone she met behind the scenes—from the makeup person, who learned how she could get out of debt, to the floor manager, who learned how giving up his pack-a-day smoking habit would help him retire with all the money he needs." Though Orman's time with these individuals was brief, she "gave them advice on transforming their lives," Gallo writes. Gallo says leaders such as Orman—he calls them "Level Three communicators"—may look and sound different, but they share three traits: "They're clear, concise and compelling." Stories, anecdotes and analogies make a message compelling, Gallo adds. "As one client recently suggested, they add 'two shakes of pepper' to their conversations." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GROWTH HANDBOOK "Think Big, Act Small: How America's Best-Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive" By Jason Jennings (Portfolio, 2005) For avid readers of leadership books, the formula is a familiar one. Ask an intriguing question about some aspect of business success. Put together a long list of companies. Using a predetermined set of benchmarks, pare the list down to a handful of outstanding performers. Thoroughly research those organizations by analyzing financial data and interviewing key leaders. Comb through all the information from all the elite companies and determine what they have in common. Write a book based on those findings. The blueprint worked for Jim Collins in "Good to Great", which has sold more than 1.5 million copies since it was published in 2001. It also works for Jason Jennings in "Think Big, Act Small". In his quest to find out how good organizations can achieve enduring greatness, Collins limited his research to publicly traded, Fortune 500 companies—1,435 in all. Jennings, the bestselling author of "Less Is More" and "It's Not the Big That Eat the Small...It's the Fast That Eat the Slow", took a broader— and perhaps more complicated—approach in his quest to "identify the greatest sales organizations on the planet." He included every public firm in the world (20,000 total), as well as about 50,000 of the largest privately held companies in his study, eventually narrowing his focus down to nine organizations that have increased revenues and profits by 10 percent or more for 10 years or longer. The top nine—Cabela's, Dot Foods, Koch Industries, Medline Industries, O'Reilly Automotive, PETCO Animal Supplies, SAS Institute, Sonic Drive-in and Strayer Education—rarely end up on magazine covers, and many operate from cities in America's heartland that aren't exactly known as business meccas (Sidney, Neb., Mount Sterling, Ill., and Mundelein, Ill., to name a few). But, as Jennings and his team discovered, public recognition and media attention aren't necessary for consistent growth. Rather, practices such as fostering a down-to-earth culture, letting go of yesterday's breadwinners, choosing your competition, aggressively growing future leaders and teaching managers to "get their hands dirty" are what enables these companies to succeed over time. In describing his 10 "Building Blocks" of leadership, Jennings doesn't use catchy terms like "Level 5 Leader" or "Hedgehog Concept" that often show up in Collins' writings. But what "Think Big, Act Small" lacks in buzzwords it more than makes up for in fascinating illustrations from companies that have figured out how to combine the strengths of a big organization with the hunger of a start-up. The book ends with an evaluation tool that helps leaders determine how their organizations think and act in relation to each of the building blocks. It's too early to tell if Jennings will achieve the kind of recognition from his latest work that Collins' has garnered from "Good to Great". But one thing is certain: Now matter how many copies it eventually sells, "Think Big, Act Small" is an incredible textbook on how to run a business successfully and, as such, should be required reading for leaders in any size organization. -- Review by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COOPERATIVE SPIRIT "Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds. I may be given credit for having blazed the trail but when I look at the subsequent developments I feel the credit is due to others rather than to myself." — Alexander Graham Bell "No matter how much work a man can do, no matter how engaging his personality may be, he will not advance far in business if he cannot work through others." — John Craig "The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and influence their actions. A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life." — John Hancock _________________________________________________________________ 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.