ELEPHANT ALERT!

Grab some antacids.

According to USA Today, Harvard recently released its National Leadership Index. It should have come with the label: “Warning: contents likely to cause heartburn.”

In the U.S., 80% of the public sees the country in a leadership crisis. That’s an increase of 3% over last year, and a whopping 15% from 2005. And worldwide it’s not much better. Globally, confidence in business leaders is the lowest in a decade (Development Dimensions International).

Who’s at fault? Fingers are often pointed at those in leadership positions. After all, they’re getting the bad grades, right?

Many people miss the accomplice.

Here’s the elephant in the office: Most organizations perpetuate a culture where everyone stands around waiting for those in leadership to lead, to make decisions, to motivate, to hold people accountable…to get things done. And when things don’t get done, these same people become “victims.”

Results never lie. One of the primary reasons there is a leadership crisis is because of the approach that so many bring to leadership. Instead of empowering the many, the majority acquiesce to the few. Not much work gets done this way.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

The strongest performing organizations have cultures that separate themselves from their competitors. They perpetuate the understanding that everyone is a leader – and therefore, everyone is response-able. A lot more gets done in these organizations.

You can take a greater leadership role today just through your actions, by making the shift from:

• Demanding others are held accountable…to developing an accountability mindset around you.
• Blaming others for errors…to modeling what you want to see.
• Telling others what to do…to asking questions that create thinkers around you.

We are not helpless. The choice to lead is ours.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Who wrecked the economy? There’s a lot of finger pointing: lending practices, consumer debt, executive greed…the list goes on. In the end, the crisis can be traced to poor judgment and ill-advised human behaviors. 

Aliens didn’t descend from outer space and plant this problem. We created this mess. 

Here’s the elephant in the office: “You can’t blame me. I’m only a small piece of the system,” some might say. And they’d be right on two counts: This isn’t about blame, and they are a part of a system – the system of “us.” We – you and me – are responsible for the culture in which we operate. How we function – our culture – determines our results.

It is shocking how few people own this responsibility. Those who do take responsibility choose not to be victims – and become tomorrow’s leaders. 

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

We’re talking about accountability. And there’s good news: Businesses are the perfect and primary vehicle to create greater responsibility and a culture of accountability, for business is the grandest forum with which our society interacts. 

Countless people will spend time on blame and focusing on what went wrong; and while the causes for this malaise must be understood and consequences delivered, the only way we can move forward is if we lead ourselves forward.

Today, discuss these questions with your team:

1. In our environment, what’s the difference between “holding someone accountable” and “ensuring accountability”?
2. To what extent does our team reinforce and reward accountability?
3. What are the actions that build accountability in others?

The future belongs to those who choose to stand up again. Ensure your organization leads the way and makes a culture of accountability a greater reality today.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Different leadership styles are necessary for different times. When your team is ahead in the game, the tone, approach, and techniques necessary to ensure victory are different than when you’re behind.

It’s stunning to observe some bosses blow it.

Here’s the elephant in the office: As stress increases, have you witnessed some bosses who move to a default setting of “command and control”? They make decisions behind closed doors; they assume they know the motivations of others; and they resort to the illogical “I’m-going-to-make-you-feel-bad-so-you-can-start-to-do-good” method of execution.

Consequently, the tough times are exacerbated as these bosses make bad results worse.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

When times are tough decisive leadership action is a must. Regardless of the style that is needed, there are some elements of quality leadership that are consistent no matter what the situation.

• Fear is a motivator, but only for short bursts. Now more than ever, people are starving for confidence. A focus on what is working creates this needed element.
• Cultures of inclusion always out-perform cultures of exclusion. You might not always be able to include people’s ideas in WHAT needs to be done, but when you exclude them from HOW they need to get things done, you’re guaranteeing you’ll see bigger problems.
• Success is relative. Leaders who are beating their teams up for not delivering the same results they achieved under different market conditions are sowing the seeds of cancer within their team. The market is different, so success is different. Create a “we will persevere” mentality by celebrating the successes of today.

Are you adapting how you lead? And are you remaining consistent in the important ways that will allow your team to win?

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

A lot of people are sweating right now. (And it’s not because they’re exercising more.) Things are crazy in the world. IRAs have taken a hit; house values are down; unemployment is up; and fewer people are buying what your company is selling.

What’s a person to do?

Here’s the elephant in the office: You can see it everywhere: People are filling their heads with A) things they can’t control; B) events that haven’t happened or may never happen; and C) all the mistakes they’ve made in the past.

There’s an old saying: Stress and worry are like rocking in a rocking chair; it’s a lot of work, but you don’t go anywhere.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Ironically, it is during moments like this when you need to perform at your best. Consider that with so many people around you taking themselves out of the game – and resigning themselves to rocking in a chair – that this is when you can shine.

It all comes down to this: Can you function even more on a roll? This doesn’t mean you have to be happy about what’s happening. It does mean that despite increasingly difficult times you become more productive and effective. And this is only achieved when you successfully control you.

Today ask these questions to stay on a roll:

1. What is in my control at this moment?
2. Rather than being attached to a certain outcome, how can I live more in acceptance of what is happening?
3. As events unfold, how will I live out of my values even more?
4. How can I move forward in a productive way?

Feeling the stress? The choice is yours: rock or roll?

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

(If you know it all, then this isn’t for you.)

Curiously, this blog deals with something everyone knows. Yet, astonishingly, just because humans have the capacity to know something, it doesn’t mean we have the ability to do it.

As you become more knowledgeable can you prove that you’re becoming more effective as a leader?

Here’s the elephant in the office: Too often we hear:  “My boss can’t keep his mouth shut. He has to interject everywhere.” Perhaps there’s a “code of conduct for leaders” that states the boss has the final say in meetings and should be involved in every step of every initiative.

Because such an approach shuts down other people, the know-it-all boss then must become the do-it-all boss.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

After a keynote in Ohio a man named Steve approached us. “The power of understanding that everyone wants to be great is amazing. When the company decided to spin off our division, I had a problem: I didn’t know any more than the team did!”

“Rather than make something up, I asked a question: ‘Whether you stay with the company or go, what are three things you’re going to do to make the new company more successful than ever?”

“I was stunned. Their ideas were light years ahead of anything I could come up with,” Steve reports. “Moving forward, they executed flawlessly.”

Steve reminds us that great leadership doesn’t mean you’re the smartest person in the room – and that your job is to leverage the talent around you, not dominate it.

A challenge: This week ask questions 10% more – and keep your mouth closed 10% more. You really don’t know it all – which means you don’t have to do it all.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Recently, a top leader told hundreds in the audience, “We need to correct course. I made a decision on a strategy last year – and it has alienated some of you. That wasn’t my intention. I take full responsibility and apologize.”

The person sitting next me inspired the title of this blog when he said, “That bailout was nicely done.” 

The US government has confessed that the economy is screwed up. Time is so short, that rather than take the typical route of finding blame and scapegoats, they agree that a corrective course of action is needed immediately.

Here’s the elephant in the office: Do you work with someone who has made a mistake, but refuses to accept responsibility for it? Consequently, they carry around a “fog of disillusionment” that repels even innocent bystanders. It takes a gas mask to have a meeting with such people!

Remarkably, it takes one simple act to clear the air – and get back to work.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Making an apology – taking responsibility – is a powerful leadership act. And while it’s easy to identify those people we work with who have the “fog of disillusionment” around them, consider that you, too, have such a challenge.

Are you ready to conduct your own bailout? With whom do you have a troubled relationship? It may be time to say, “I apologize. I take responsibility.” (If your ego has a grip on you, you can add, “I apologize for my part.”) And of course, it’s illegal to add “…but you need to take responsibility too.”

Bailouts save sinking ships. And they immediately put relationships on a course to greater productivity.

Bailouts are in vogue. Why not conduct your own?

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

We just left Vail, CO after completing a “flight school” for a special finance company. As you know, the finance world is one big storm now. Yet, every person left this session understanding that THEY can determine the altitude at which their organization flies. Each employee understands that they can choose to be a passenger – or a pilot.

Passengers wait for others to lead; the pilots in this organization choose to lead.

So much in the finance world is out of an employee’s control. Therefore, their focus on how to live the attributes of quality leadership is becoming stronger. And because leadership is something they can control, they are experiencing success.

Here’s the elephant in the office: Most companies have a focus that takes their teams directly into the storm. “It’s scary right now,” many people are saying. “The economy, the pressures in the market, the attitudes…it’s tough to concentrate.”

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

What can you control? Do you know people who are allowing the variables outside of their control to distract them? You can see these “passengers” in life – the stress and worry corrupts their focus. And their results plummet.

You can always control your focus…which allows you to control your behaviors…which determines your results. During this turbulent time it’s wise to remember what the flight attendant told us when we boarded: If things get rough an oxygen mask will drop. Place your mask on your face first before helping anyone around you.

In other words, check your focus before trying to lead someone else.

Be a better pilot this week: Determine a question you’ll ask when life becomes turbulent. And then allow a stronger focus to deliver your leadership best.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

What evidence do you have that you’re taking the right action?

Everyone has good intentions. Most organizations claim, “Our people are our greatest asset.” Yet, what investments do they make to leverage their competitive strategic advantage?

Here’s the elephant in the office: No one gets married and then says, “I’m going to let this marriage fall apart.” Still, few couples use effective tools and build into their weekly routine actions that ensure their marriage thrives. The same thing happens in the workplace: Everyone has the intentions of “building trust,” but few take deliberate, weekly actions to ensure they’re getting stronger.

The results don’t lie: The “best of intentions” approach doesn’t work.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Most subscribers to this blog are using a systemic, tool-based approach that consistently builds individuals, teams and results. The culture of engagement created by this approach pays dividends.

When you say “Quality is a priority” you’re not just talking about what is delivered to your customers. You take it a step further than your competitors and make the quality of your leadership and culture a CONSISTENT priority as well.

Because you experience it every day, you probably don’t need more proof that you’re doing the right thing. So here’s more evidence you can share with the nay-sayers who claim the “soft stuff” doesn’t matter: A recent Towers-Perrin global survey (page 4), with over 40 companies participating, revealed those organizations with the highest percentage of engaged employees increased their operating income by 19% and their profit per share by 28% year to year. Those companies with a disengaged workforce? They saw a 33% decline in operating income and a drop of 11% in earnings per share.

You’re rare: You have good intentions AND you lead with an action plan to deliver on those intentions. You’re taking the right action.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Effective leaders know their company must be better than the competition. But how many leaders add this twist: they think they must also be better than the people around them?

Are you putting pressure on yourself to be the best – and a version of “best” that means better than everyone else?

Here’s the elephant in the office: Too many think “leadership” means being better than those around them. They make sure others are good at what they do…but not too good; they claim the credit; they ensure they speak last; and they keep people from running with their greatest strengths, lest those strengths claim too much attention.

This approach incurs many costs, including:

1. whenever the “leader” is out of the room results suffer, and
2. tomorrow’s success is left to chance as eventually the “leader” will depart.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Want to create magic? Over the next fourteen days make a commitment to operate with a rare and effective mindset. Commit to lead in a way that makes everyone around you better than you. Take steps in your communications and actions to ensure that every single time they leave you they are better than when they came to you.

Then observe what happens to the level of trust and respect around you. Watch how people solicit your feedback and guidance. Measure how your influence – and results – grows.

The old adage is true: the more you give, the more you get back. Are you leading so you can be great – or using an approach that focuses on making those around you great first? Your answer determines your success. And only one answer guarantees that tomorrow will be better than today.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Alarming news: “On your next flight your plane will be on target – it will have its nose directly in line with your destination – less than 5% of the time,” a participant recently shared.

Even with a clear vision, strong execution and determination, there will be moments when we are not on target. How leaders respond in such moments determines their results.

Here’s the elephant in the office: Some people spend hours focusing on, ridiculing and criticizing those who are off target. Somehow, these bosses believe that by making people feel bad, stupid or incompetent, that off-target people will respond in a healthy way.

Yet, how excited do you get about changing when you feel like gum on the sole of a shoe? This approach exacerbates errors. Conversely, people change when they feel good about themselves.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Imagine if every time your flight was off course you went to the cockpit and yelled, “Hey pilot, you’re an idiot! We’re off course. You’re not flying this tin can the right way!” This seems ludicrous. Yet, have you observed others who use this approach when giving others feedback?

This doesn’t mean we should tolerate being “off target.” The key is: As a leader, how quickly can you get yourself and others back on target? Two course-correcting steps achieve this:

1. Provide a statement of affirmation that builds confidence. For example, “It’s clear you are passionate about delivering excellence.”
2. Ask a question that allows the pilot to self-correct. “What will be your next steps to ensuring greater quality?” Or, “What does your completed objective look like now?”

We go in the direction of our focus. Today, help two people course correct: another person – and yourself.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?