December 14, 2009

5 Common Leadership Errors that Ruin the Holidays

Vannoy and Ross

Think you’re ready for the Holidays? Your travel plans are ready; the gifts are nearly purchased and wrapped; the house is cleaned and decorated; and you’ve been starving yourself so you can eat as much of your mother’s cookies as you want.

Yet, even with all the preparation, if we’re not ready to lead ourselves – lead our focus and behaviors – the Holidays can be a complete flop. As so many Pathways to Leadership graduates know, it’s vital that your leadership increases as you go home. This holds especially true during this important time of the year.

Here are the five most common errors of personal leadership during the Holidays – and what you can do to create greater results.

 1. Insist on getting everything done on your “to-do” list during your “time off.” Instead: Identify the kind of experiences you want to have during this time and act in a way that creates those experiences.

2. Prior to visiting your relatives, articulate all the things you can’t stand about them. Instead: Identify the top three things you  most appreciate about your relatives - and relentlessly focus on those elements.

3. Focus on all the places you’re overeating. Instead: Celebrate every ounce of discipline you demonstrate.

4. Lament all the things you didn’t achieve in 2009. Instead: Celebrate what you and your family have done in the last year.

 5. Discuss how bad the unemployment rate, the economy, and your boss will be in 2010. Instead: Determine the behaviors and mindset (both of which are in your control) that you will live by in the months ahead to ensure the direction you go is productive.

Rest, joy, gratitude, and abundance… the things you crave for the Holidays - are always available to you.

Uh-Oh: Is It Too Late To Be Good?

Kids everywhere are chewing their fingernails and looking over their shoulders. If it’s true, they wonder, that Santa is “making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who’s naughty or nice,” then – given all my sins of the past year – do I have any chance of getting that present I wish for?

It’s the same for adults, of course. Have you noticed those around you who are limping to 2009’s finish line? They’ve bagged the year. They’ve given up on others – and themselves. “I’m done,” is spoken everywhere.

And why not give up on 2009? After all, it’s too difficult too care – to be good – anymore, isn’t it? With the shape the economy is in, with “we-have-to-do-more-with-less” bosses everywhere, and a body that’s rounder and softer than 12 months ago, there probably won’t be the wished-for present under the tree for you this year, will there.

It’s Not Too Late!

Don’t believe the illusion for a second. It’s not too late. Santa doesn’t care about what you did and didn’t do in the past – he cares about right now. What happens if Santa is as forward-focused as you want to be? Because he’s in your corner, all he cares about is you picking yourself up, dusting off the crumbs of 2009, and preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow.

Sound like rhetoric to you? Perhaps, but we should remind ourselves that momentum is an invaluable resource. Therefore, what happens if your success in 2010 depends on your finish to 2009?

Besides, the only difference between 2009 and 2010 is the tick of a clock – the same sort of tick that’s been ticking, well, your entire life.

It’s not too late to be good. In fact, now’s the perfect time.

Beware: Radical Thanksgiving Idea (It Could Change Everything)

Vannoy and Ross

Thanksgiving is almost here. This U.S. holiday provides an opportunity to pause and give thanks for the abundance in your life.

As most people know, operating in a state of gratitude is a powerful tool that moves you forward. And, focusing on what you have (such as what’s working, where you have momentum, etc.) significantly increases the chances that you’ll deliver more of the same – because you go toward your focus.

But is it possible too many people are cheating themselves? What happens if “giving thanks” for only the obvious blessings in your life…means you’re only doing the easy part – and denying yourself untapped momentum and energy?

Here’s a radical Thanksgiving idea: This year give thanks to those people and events that are currently making your life difficult. This is not a joke. And, it’s not for the faint of heart; superior living and leading often is the result of being willing and able to do what most others can’t or won’t.

Those gifted leaders reading this know that challenges (also known as problems, issues, etc.) are temporary locks on future growth – and it’s your job to break the code so you can move forward. Consider the possibility that the most important step in breaking the code to going to a new level of living and leading is giving thanks for what’s not working in your life.

Yes, this is a radical idea. (Is it really?)

But if it is true that if you want to change things, you have to change how you do things - then such an unusual twist to your Thanksgiving could change everything moving forward - not because it will immediately change the people and events around you; rather, it will change how you feel about everything “wrong” in your life.

Here’s to feeling different this Thanksgiving – and creating greater results moving forward.

Create Greater Confidence, Momentum and Focus – Right Now

Vannoy and Ross

My five-year-old daughter recently announced, “I know how to spell my friend’s name. We call him RJ.”

“How do you spell that, honey?”

With a big smile she lifted her chin and said, “R – J.”

You have to admire that sort of mastery. And we did! With cheers we celebrated her achievement. And do you know what happened next? She spent the rest of the day attempting to spell nearly every word she encountered.

Which provides us with an important reminder: Somewhere along the way most people begin expecting success – and therefore, they quit celebrating the wins. Thus, quite subtly, confidence begins to wane. Momentum begins to erode. And focus shifts more consistently to what’s not working, which ultimately results in one thing: fewer wins.

What would it be worth to you if, right now – today – you could build more confidence, forward momentum and stronger focus around you?

If this appeals, we challenge you to conduct the following experiment. Today, conduct three separate celebrations:

1. Identify one area where you are excelling. What is something you’ve been doing well lately, especially under trying circumstances? Give yourself some credit – and celebrate in your own way.
2. What is something the team around you is doing well? Shock your teammates and enhance the next meeting by pointing out something about the team that amazes or excites you. And then ask others what they believe is contributing to the successes that are evident.
3. Perhaps most importantly, on your drive home, identify one important quality you’re going to highlight with your family tonight – and then enjoy the difference this focus makes.

Life will throw my daughter tougher words to spell than R-J, but her strategy for success should never change.

Halloween is Over, Right? Beware the Lingering Leadership Ghosts

In the U.S., Halloween has come and gone. The masks and witch brooms are back in storage. Fright-night is over, right?

 

Not so fast. There are ghosts still floating wild and haunting teams across the land. Does your business require a ghost buster?

Spend casual time with the average employee…and listen closely…and you may just hear ghost stories. These chilling tales take various forms:

• In some companies, make a mistake, and you’re a villain forever. Like demon spirit, your reputation floats far in front of you and lingers after you’ve left the room. You could have the potential to be the most effective leader in the land…but people will never know it. Your ghost lives on, and your company pays the price: How ironic: We want people to improve, but we tie them to the past.
• Additionally, too many teams routinely tell ghost stories about events of the past. They sound like this: “Do you remember how bad that leader was…” And “One of the worst decisions we ever made was…” And “We never seem to have the time to do things right the first time, but we always have the time to do things twice…” Unwittingly, by retelling (and retelling, and retelling) the same scary stories people ensure that past mistakes continue to cost them countless more dollars far into the future.

Understanding the horrific moments in our past is not a mistake, but allowing leadership ghosts to linger, is costly. Conduct a ghost-busting exercise today by asking these questions:

1. What are the most important lessons we can gain from this experience?
2. How can we further leverage this moment as a resource?
3. If we continue to re-tell this story, how would it hurt progress?
4. Why is it important that we put this experience behind us?

The haunted house is closed. It’s time to move forward.

The Most Important Contribution You Can Make to Your Team

Vannoy and Ross

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? The answer may surprise you.

Our last leadership post received an abundance of attention – and created some confusion. “Shame on you for putting forth an example that voting against ourselves (with the implication we’re voting for others) guarantees a loss,” shared one reader. We love this reader’s passion to do whatever it takes to ensure her team wins!

So let’s clarify: “Voting for yourself” in this context does not mean voting against someone else. It is not designed to imply that you must win…so someone else can lose. And unquestionably, as we review the metaphor imbedded in the last post, we can see how such assumptions can be made. So yes, shame on us for a poor metaphor.

Let’s kick out the metaphor – and leverage the idea.

It’s shocking – staggering, really – how many people want, wish and hope their team will perform better, yet they severely limit their own contributions to others and the team. How does this happen? Ask yourself,

• Am I my own worst critic? Does my self-criticism build my confidence – or destroy it?On a regular basis, am I showing up “off a roll” just hoping to slog through another day – or am I doing my best…so I can be my best…and give my best to others?
• Am I retelling old stories about who’s a jerk and what’s making my life difficult, thus sabotaging any chances of a productive mindset – or am I using every day to create a new script, a new, more productive story?

How can you give anything to someone else if you can’t hold it yourself? Those who lack the awareness demonstrated in the questions above move through their day “voting against themselves.” (Rats! There we go again with the metaphor!) As a result, these people have little to give others and their organization.

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? Take regular steps to be the best you. That’s what your teammates are asking for.

You’re Not Crazy – Right? Cast the Vote that Counts

With November just around the corner, local elections are starting to heat up in the USA. Can you imagine this scenario: You’ve decided to run for election to public office. You campaign tirelessly to win. And then on election day, you step into the booth…and vote against yourself!

That’s crazy, isn’t it? Yet, consider the possibility that countless people are working tirelessly to get ahead – yet, they ultimately vote against themselves! Here’s an example:

At a recent session the simulated “competition” was intense. A participant, Mary, was deciding who amongst her peers had best delivered on the criteria – that would determine who would receive her vote. After much consideration she raised both hands and triumphantly announced her decision: “I vote for myself!”

While the room erupted in laughter, no one missed the important message: Mary was right. She should vote for herself – because she, like the rest of us, is in a world that encourages us to vote against ourselves. And when we do that, we guarantee we lose.

Focus

Due to a detrimental focus, the vast majority of people around you – including entire work teams – spend their day “voting against themselves” with such thoughts as,

• “I’m never going to get this all done.”
• “This is too difficult.”
• “We don’t stand a chance…”
• “Why can’t I get this right?”
• “What are we doing wrong?”

Of course, because we all go towards our focus, our thoughts – our votes – become an incredible predictor of the future.

 

Challenge

Have you been “voting for yourself”? For the rest of this week take this challenge: Whenever it is election time – whenever you find yourself casting judgment on you or the circumstances in your life – choose to vote for yourself. Choose to believe that you have what it takes to succeed and shift to focusing forward.

And then observe what happens at the end of the day when the results of the election come in.

Three Actions to Guarantee Immunity from the Flu

Vannoy and Ross

Are you looking forward to getting the flu this season – or not? There are measures to significantly decreasing your chances of getting the “swine” flu. But what about the other flu that’s spreading through the work place?

Team’s everywhere are suffering high temperatures, congestion, lethargy, and loss of strength due to an illness few people are diagnosing: The Elephant Flu.

Symptoms of the Elephant Flu:

This flu is not unlike its brethren, the swine flu, in that it is infectious; the poor focus, attitudes and behaviors characterized by ‘the elephant in the office’ travel quickly and result in the poor health of an entire organization.

Washing your hands, sneezing into your elbow, taking your vitamins – all of these measures decrease the chances you’ll fall victim to the nasty swine flu. Consider that similar hygienic actions can ensure your team remains immune to the destructive forces of the elephant flu:

1. Wash your hands…ensure your team is focused on what they do want vs. what they don’t want. Nasty germs and viruses thrive in a backward focused culture.
2. Sneeze into your elbow…it’s impossible not to sneeze, so the key is containing the sneeze. Instead of avoiding “tough” issues go after them. AND address those issues in ways that make the people around you, relationships and results stronger.
3. Take your vitamins…focus on what is working, acknowledge those who are leading with the strength and character you admire, and celebrate the successes in the steps you’re making. This sort of consistent, healthy focus builds your team’s immunity, ensuring that the elephant flu won’t find a suitable host where it can begin its destructive ways.

Preventative medicine is the key. Today, host a “cultural health” conversation with your team, and ask, “What focus, attitudes and behaviors can we demonstrate more to further enhance our immunity from the elephant flu?”

How the Universal Healthcare Debate Can Improve Your Leadership

Vannoy and Ross

So are you enjoying the debate over universal health care in the United States? Do you find the dialogue stimulating and refreshing? Each morning do you celebrate the progress the U.S. is making? Are you proud of how people are representing themselves? And do you find yourself full of excitement for the future and enthusiastic about contributing?

Pardon our sarcasm. It is presented here for the purpose of asking this: Go back to the top paragraph and substitute ‘universal health care’ with any topic your company is facing right now. Do the answers to the question change? If they don’t, you’ve got an elephant in the office.

The toxic debate that’s being played out on the national stage is often replicated at the micro level within organizations . Countless companies are paralyzed because this elephant sits on top of their progress.

The Elephant

Somewhere, somehow some people got it in their heads that in order to get ahead, in order to move things forward, it was necessary to 1) Focus on where they don’t agree with their adversary, and 2) make the other team look stupid. It goes against all logic – yet these two approaches pervade much of society.

Consider the most important conversations that take place in any company. These are not the conversations occurring during meetings. On the contrary, it is the dialogue that happens in the one-on-one conversations outside of the meetings. This is where politics are played. And sadly, this is where too many people succumb to discussing strategies about what they don’t agree on and ways they can make the “opposing party” look bad.

You can change this today. And it’s relatively easy. Stomp this destructive elephant by:

1. insisting that all parties start with and focus on where there is agreement. Start on common ground…and build from there. And
2. insist on making everyone look good. Be relentless in your creative pursuit of the solutions that serve everyone.

Then hang on – because your organization will move forward fast.

It’s 4th and Goal: Can You Win the Game?

So you do what most coaches do: You play it safe – and kick.

Guess what? If you had gone for it, research shows you would have measurably increased your chances of winning the game. David Romer of the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed over 700 football games between 1998 and 2000. His work revealed that those teams who go for it on 4th down increase their overall chance of success compared with those teams who don’t.*

So why don’t more coaches “go for it” when they find themselves in such a situation? Perhaps more importantly, why don’t more people in your organization “go for it” when they have an opportunity to take a risk and advance the cause of the organization?

The answer is not that people are afraid of making a mistake; the answer is that people are afraid of the consequences from others when they make a mistake.

Just as the football coach has to face the chorus of boos from the home crowd – and the blistering analysis in the media – when his team fails, so do people like you have to face the judgment of others when you step up and try something…and fail.

It’s easy to consider how we feel our colleagues will respond to the ‘mistakes’ we make. But that’s not the point. The challenge is this: How do you and others respond when someone else takes a risk? Do you boo – or cheer?

In a very real way, the crowd of 70,000 and the media talk shows represent your culture. Does your culture support others when they “go for it” on 4th down? Do your part today to make sure it does.

*(http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~dromer/papers/PAPER_NFL_JULY05_FORWEB_CORRECTED.pdf).