~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. July 2006 - Volume 9, Issue 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – The Crucible * Leadership@Large – Employee Appreciation, Respect * Book Review – "Moral Intelligence" * Quick Quotes – Rest and Relaxation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE CRUCIBLE By John C. Maxwell Growing up, future United States President Harry Truman never thought of himself as a leader—nor did anyone else. With “eyeglasses thick as the bottom of a Coke bottle,” historian David McCullough writes that Truman couldn’t try out for school sports and mostly stayed home, working the farm, reading, or playing the piano. But the course of his life changed forever when, as a young man, he signed up for the Army to fight in World War I. He was shipped off to France as the head of an artillery battery, and for the first time in his life he was forced to lead men through moments of mortal danger. His initial test came on a rainy night in the mountains. The Germans had dropped an artillery barrage close by, and his troops panicked and broke ranks. In the frenzy, Truman’s horse fell over on him, and he was nearly crushed. McCullough writes: “Out from under (the horse), seeing the others running, he just stood there, locked in place. He called them back, screaming as loudly as he could…shaming his men back to do what they were supposed to do.” The men regrouped, got through the night, and many of them returned home safely. Throughout the rest of their lives, those men were loyal to Harry Truman, their leader, who refused to back down in the face of his own fear. According to McCullough, Truman discovered two vitally important things about himself that night. First, that he had plain physical courage; and second, that he was good at leading people. He learned that if the leader shows courage, it’s contagious. In his conclusion on Truman’s life, McCullough writes: “And war was the crucible.” A crucible is an opportunity, test, or emergency that summons the very best from a person and reveals their finest inner qualities. Once a potential leader experiences a crucible, they are transformed forever. The crucible is a challenge or crisis that proves the leadership capacity lying within a person and becomes a defining moment in their leadership journey. Qualities of the Crucible They Happen To Every Emerging Leader. Leadership has to be tested and proven; and the only way this happens is through the crucible. First of all, the crucible is a necessary test for leaders to find courage. Secondly, the crucible shows the leader’s followers whether or not they can place their trust in the leader. Under heavy artillery fire, it was necessary for Harry Truman to find out he had enough courage to hold his ground. While important for him, the crucible was equally important for the soldiers in his platoon, because, after that moment, they knew they could respect him as their leader. They Reveal The Hidden Potential Inside a Person. Crucibles are like tea in hot water. They bring out the true colors inside. Crucibles don’t make the man or woman; they simply reveal the character within. What a person does in the crucible will make or break their future as a leader. The crucible will either show their hidden potential or their hidden problems. Either way, the crucible never leaves us the same. They Bring Great Difficulties and Stress. Crucibles are often accompanied by suffering, at least temporarily. For some leaders the crucible experience has been imprisonment, war, or sickness. For others, it was being overlooked for a promotion, losing a client, or being laid off. Maturity and experience with crucibles will not lessen the difficulty, but they will lessen the stress. When we have experience, we understand what is happening, and we can take confidence in having persevered in the past. They Purify Motives and Shape Ambitions. Crucibles are cleansing and purifying because they help a leader sort through priorities. Ambitions are brought to light, as the crucible helps leaders get past the trivial and the mundane. J. R. Morgan said it best, “A man always has two reasons for doing anything—a good reason and the real reason.” The crucible has a way of pressing out the real reason. They Teach Lessons That Help Leaders Transcend Themselves. Crucibles push us to go places we normally wouldn’t venture. I vividly remember a conversation with my friend, Dr. John Bright Cage, a heart surgeon. In his concern for my fitness, he scolded me for not leading a healthy life. I recall arguing with him over and over that my health was fine while ignoring his warnings about being overweight. I kept arguing, denying, and justifying until the day I finally had a heart attack. Talk about a crucible experience! It had a wonderful way of awakening me to examine my lifestyle. They Either Become an Obstacle or an Opportunity to Fulfill One’s Purpose. Crucibles make us or break us. They help us or hurt us. They’re an asset or a liability. Crucibles almost always leave a memory we look back on as a defining moment. They propel us on a trajectory, either good or bad, towards our leadership destination. Many of us realize our “life purpose” through the crucible experience. Winston Churchill, the great British leader said: “There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission—a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.” Winston Churchill was exactly right; and that moment almost always comes through the crucible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION Most children have experienced it at least once—the glee of ripping open a Christmas gift turning to horror as the child is confronted by the ugliest sweater in the world. The kind of sweater with reindeer stitched on the front and glitter sprinkled across it—the last sweater on earth a self-respecting kid would ever wear in public. Generally, these dreadful sweaters are gifts from well-meaning grandmothers who intend to make the child happy, but are regrettably not attuned to the child’s wishes and desires. Sadly, employees often receive similarly irrelevant tokens of appreciation from equally out of touch managers. Rather than an honor, many efforts to recognize employees are seen as jokes or embarrassments by the ones receiving them. Fast-food coupons, cheap trophies, and engraved plaques fall miserably short in their goals of encouraging and motivating employees. Andy Holloway examines how to adequately appreciate employees in his article for Canadian Business magazine entitled “In Praise of Praise: Employee Recognition.” As Holloway points out, proper gestures of gratitude enable managers to lift employee satisfaction while reducing turnover. While receiving a hideously unattractive sweater was never fun, at least you knew grandma was thinking about you and expressing her love as best she could. Far worse, imagine a birthday passing by without a single call or gift from family. Few feelings are worse than those of being forgotten or ignored, yet that’s precisely the experience of employees across America. Underappreciation is a pandemic sweeping through workplaces in the United States. Holloway cites a 2004 study by Gallup in which a whopping 65% of American employees report getting no recognition for their accomplishments at work. According to Gallup, poor performance by overlooked or alienated employees translated into a $300 billion dent in the U.S. economy in the year 2000. How can managers pass along praise that is genuine and well-received? Holloway makes some recommendations: Personalize your praise While cash bonuses are good, a round of golf or a day at the spa communicates gratitude personally by recognizing the favorite pastimes and hobbies of an employee. Be specific with your praise. Highlighting specific behaviors or achievements shows more thankfulness than blanket statements and generalized praise. Present praise with care. Think through and intentionalize your delivery of praise. Oftentimes what is said is not as important as how it’s said. For more suggestions to properly praise your people, go to the Canadian Business Online at: www.canadianbusiness.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESPECT Perhaps no people in the world are disrespected as much as the Dalit people of India. The Dalits are regarded by the Hindu religion as dirty or impure from birth, and they are deemed to be less than human, not even categorized within the Hindu caste system. If a high-ranking caste member touches even the shadow of a Dalit, that person must undergo rigorous ceremonies to cleanse themselves of the Dalit “contamination.” Hence, the Dalit people have commonly been known as the Untouchables. Many Dalits perform menial tasks in squalid conditions, cleaning toilets and sewers by hand and removing animal carcasses from the roadways. For all this they are frequently abused, taken advantage of, and publicly humiliated. With virtually no hope of advancement, the Dalits are imprisoned in an inescapable system of shame and poverty. Enter into the bleak slums of the Dalits, a tiny woman barely 5-feet tall, but with a heart the size of an ocean—Mother Teresa. As a nun teaching in Calcutta, India, Mother Teresa witnessed the poorest of the poor, the unwanted Dalits, spending their last days on earth wasting away in isolation and abandoned in the squalor of Calcutta’s dirty streets. Moved by compassion to reach out to the Dalits and others of the poorest Indians, Mother Teresa began shelters or Homes for the Dying, to care for the thousands of Indians terminally ill with disease and sickness. Mother Teresa’s Homes for the Dying offered Dalits, in their final days, the one thing they had been deprived of their entire lives—respect. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “Mother Teresa marked the history of our century with courage. She served all human beings by promoting their dignity and respect, and made those who had been defeated by life feel the tenderness of God.” As a result of the respect she gave to the Dalits, Mother Teresa commanded the respect of entire world. Perhaps no woman in history has been as universally loved and as morally influential as a leader. In an article for EmergingLeader.com, Catharine W. Zust overviews the shared behaviors of a respected leader. They Walk the Talk Before Mother Teresa crusaded the plight of the poor in speeches, she unceasingly served them in some of most inhumane conditions on the planet. They Influence Rather Than Manipulate Mother Teresa was not one to trumpet the goodwill of her Homes for the Dying for personal gain, nor was she a flashy personality who preyed upon the emotions of others. On the contrary, as a humble woman, Mother Teresa donated all of her award money and honorariums to centers for the poor. They Participate Equally After her time in Calcutta, Mother Teresa could have leveraged her reputation to find a comfortable position, leading a life of ease as a figurehead of Catholic charity. However, Mother Teresa never stopped participating with the other Missionaries of Compassion to serve the needy throughout the world. To find out more about the amazing life of Mother Teresa, visit www.ewtn.com/motherteresa. To read more about respect in leadership from Catharine W. Zust, go to www.emergingleader.com/article24.shtml. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance & Leadership Success By Fred Kiel and Doug Lennick (Wharton School Publishing) Trivia question: Name the following company based on its litany of honors… Received six awards in 2000 for being environmentally friendly Fortune - America’s most innovative company for six consecutive years (1996 to 2001) Fortune - America’s #2 company for Quality of Management, 2001 Fortune - America’s 22nd best company to work for in 2000 Fortune - 2nd ranked American company for employee talent in 2000 Financial Times - Energy Company of the Year, 2000 Global Finance - World’s best company in the Energy Sector, 2001 Answer: Enron How could such a great company go so far off base? Granted, suspect accounting made Enron appear more attractive than it was, but for quite some time Enron attracted top talent, had a work environment its employees loved, gave generously to the community and education, was friendly to the environment, and had a list of corporate values admired by the business community. The downfall of Enron was the absence of alignment with moral principles. In running a morally inept corporation, Enron executives built an empire without a soul and are now enduring the financial and legal consequences of their moral bankruptcy. In Moral Intelligence, Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel examine the moral dimension of viable leadership. Interviewing 88 CEO’s and senior executive, the authors intersperse real life moral dilemmas and ethical experiences throughout the book. Early on, Lennick and Kiel do an excellent job of placing morality within the overall context of leadership. They draw out three areas of intelligence that are critical to sustainable leadership: technical intelligence, emotional intelligence, and moral intelligence. Where Enron failed was in crucial leadership component of moral intelligence. Although its Statement of Core Values was an exemplary tribute to integrity, respect, and open communication, Enron lacked the moral competence live out its stated moral purpose. The authors of Moral Intelligence build their book around the assumption of universal principles (pages 7 and 78). Lennick and Kiel assert that morally intelligent leaders embrace universal principles, and align their moral compass (purpose, beliefs, and values) with these principles. Leaders with moral intelligence create goals in harmony with their moral compass and behave in a way which honors those goals. Chapter 3 defines a leader’s moral compass and will allow the leader to trace the main thoughts of the authors. Worksheets in the chapter are simple but effective exercises to help readers identify their guiding principles and values as well as allowing readers to reflect upon their beliefs and purpose. Chapters 9 through 11 look at moral intelligence from a companywide perspective, and lend advice to managers and executives wishing to instill a climate of moral alignment throughout a team or an organization. LW subscribers will want to briefly fill out the Moral Competency Inventory on pages 227-234 and assess the results to gauge how well they are living in alignment with moral values. Overall, Moral Intelligence is valuable book worthy to be included in any leadership library. The book strikes a good balance between theory, actual examples, and practical exercises, and it is a timely response to the corporate immorality plaguing American firms, like Enron, early in the 21st Century. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REST & RELAXATION He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities. ~ Benjamin Franklin There is more to life than increasing its speed. ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. ~ Chinese Proverb Men cannot see their reflection in running water, but only in still water. ~ Chuang Tzu What is without periods of rest will not endure. ~ Ovid