Leadership Ramblings

Ramblings about various leadership topics and aspects. However, may even blog about other topics as well.

[leadershiprambling]

The Art of Listening

The other day I came across a tidbit that made me run down the rabbit hole of thoughts concerning listening.  That tidbit of information was that the average person listens only 17 seconds before interrupting.  Then my thought compounded with another hidden gem on the same topic from years past, which was from Stephen Covey.  He stated, “We often listen to respond, not to understand.” 

The art of listening is simple but difficult at first.  It was enforced by my 1st Sergeant when he coached his NCOs (non-commissioned officers) and even a few wet behind the ear’s new lieutenants. “Keep your trap shut and your eyes and ears open.” That’s the overall goal but overtime there is some finesse behind it.

First, maintain eye contact. Maintaining eye contact keeps your mind from wandering and clearly shows the other person they have your full undivided attention.  This means no looking at watches, phones, computer screens, or out the window etc.  If you are someone who is not comfortable with eye contact, try staring at the bridge of the other person’s nose or between the other person’s eyebrows. Just ensure your focus is toward the person speaking.

Second, don’t do other tasks while you are listening.  Multitasking is a myth.  Give the person your undivided attention.  I’ve caught myself in two scenarios with this one.  One scenario is a person starts talking to me while I am doing something else, like typing on my computer.  In the middle of the conversation I realize I missed something important.  I stop and look directly at them and usually say, “I’m sorry, I missed something, you have my full attention, would you mind starting over.”  Scenario two is I preempt the person, “give me a minute to send this” or “give me one second to finish this”, then I turn directly toward them and have the conversation.  If I need to make a note either on my phone or send myself an email based on what they are saying, I say something along the lines of, “I’m listening but I’m sending myself a note to follow-up on what you are saying.”

Third, DON’T INTERRUPT. Let them talk.  Susan Scott who wrote, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life One Conversation at a Time is emphatic about this point. 

Finally, to show you are “Actively Listening” repeat back what you understood them as saying.  Ensure that your understanding is correct, then, if correct, you can ask clarifying questions.  If you missed the point per the person, you are having the conversation with, start over.

As leaders, the art of listening and the conversations are a very important part of team success. It is the basis of not only good communication, but the essence of developing trust and rapport.

“The conversation is not about the relationship. The conversation is the relationship.” – Susan Scott

Till next week, LISTEN UP and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Don't Lose Your Marbles

The other day while sitting in a waiting room, I decided to catch up on video interviews from Diary of a CEO.  Here is a snippet concerning Marble Jar of Trust Theory from Brene Brown,  please watch this 2 ½ minute segment (video link here).

Once I watched it, I realized trust is fragile and requires long term commitment and is an investment to any relationship (personal and professional). Like most things that are built, trust requires a strong foundation of pillars to hold it up.

The first pillar being empathy & care, which is demonstrating genuine concern for and interest in others.

Pillar two is Integrity, which is not only acting honestly and demonstrating a strong moral compass, but also ensuring actions/deeds match with what you believe and speak.

Pillar three is competence, this means demonstrating and exhibiting the necessary skills, knowledge, and the ability to fulfill your responsibilities.  Those you lead need to know you can deliver on what you say.

Final and fourth pillar consistency & reliability to all the aforementioned. If you are reliable and consistent, this demonstrates predictable behaviors. As my father always told me, past performance is a sign of future performance.

As you work on each of these pillars, and with each person, you are indeed putting a marble in your jar of trust.  The worst thing you can do is pull a marble from the jar instead putting one in it.

Till next week, Don’t Lose Your Marbles and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

The Road Not Taken

My first “real” job I was getting dressed in the proper attire.  By “real job” I mean the government was waiting with their hand out to pull from my check. By proper attire I mean dress slacks, shirt, and tie. This was instead of shorts or jeans and t-shirts from other jobs for cash such as cutting lawns, painting houses, and sheds for people in my neighborhood, as well as delivering papers. I checked my tie in the mirror and went to let my mom and grandparents (who were visiting for the summer) know I was leaving for my first day of work.  My grandfather walked up to me and yanked on my tie, which quickly came off. It was a clip-on.  “No good Sport.” he said. “That’s doesn’t set the tone for your first day. You must wear a proper tie.” Clip-ons were much easier and I didn’t really know how to tie a tie. My grandfather had planned on this moment (unknown to me at the time). He had spoken to my dad the day before and asked if it was okay as my dad was traveling for work.  My grandfather pulled a real “proper” tie out, from where I don’t know. He followed me to the bathroom and in less than 3 minutes showed me how to tie a tie.  Before I could thank him or ask for any words of advice about work, he said, “never be late to work, and do the things no one else wants to do.  That will show you have value and a team player.” He then ushered me out the front door with a pat on the back.

A missionary wrote to Dr. David Livingstone (Scottish Explorer and Missionary), “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.”  Livingstone’s response, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.”

All of this came to mind while reading several books in a compressed time recently.  Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed, as well as his work entitled Bounce,  and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Both authors are former athletes and mentioned several things like above.  One spoke with a coach who mentioned that great athletes (translate that into worker, or employees) do the really boring things consistently. The other mentioned a coach that stated simply, “the great athletes do the things no one else wants or likes to do”. Meaning repetitive basic skill drills consistently, extra laps, stretches,  even cleaning the locker room, etc.  and they are not afraid to do the hard things, which help them grow and develop. 

Reflecting on all the above, I now realize why my grandfather’s favorite poem and author was Robert Frost and why he gave me a book of his collected poems for my high school graduation:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.” -Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken

Till next week, Take the Road Not Taken and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

What's the Commitment Level?

Over the last few months, I’ve had conversations where the topic of commitment came up several times.  Whether it was sports, business and industry, military, or personal relationships, commitment seems to be within top ten of traits towards excellence.  Some of the conversations were with coaches (little league to high school) for various sports, businessmen from owners to middle management on up, teachers, clergy (from several denominations), former colleagues and fellow veterans of the military.  They all alluded to the same things as for how to tell how committed someone is to the “team”, “goal”, or “process”.  They can be summarized in five points:

What time they arrive -whether its work, school, formation, or practice this shows the level of commitment the individual has to the team.

The attitude they bring with them. -Attitude (not cockiness) towards the job and team speaks volumes about their commitment.

Their openness to feedback. Remember there are average, good, and great players/workers.  The greats crave being coached to improve. That’s commitment!

The questions they ask. -An inquisitive mind not only shows interest to the process, but commitment to understand and improve.

The extra work they’re willing to put in.- Not only the extra work but also balance and prioritizing is what adds value. If they are putting in the extra work to better themselves and become a better asset to their craft and/or skill or even relationships this counts. Extra work can also be helping others, or just offering to help sends the message that commitment is present.

The previous points are items that can be observed and quantified. They can also be the internal checklist you use to assess your team’s commitment or even your own.  Remember, when it comes to success and excellence, it’s about consistency and commitment. As one famous winning coach puts it, “How bad do you want it?”

“Commitment is an act, not a word.” -Jean-Paul Sartre

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” – Abraham Lincoln

Till next week, answer and ask the question -How Committed Are You/They? and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Out Of This World Leadership

I remember as a small child in the early 70’s watching astronauts walk on the moon.  I wanted to be an astronaut so bad.  My mom, who was heavy in encouragement supported me, she sat and watched every space related show broadcast on television with me. Made an astronaut backpack using a paper grocery bag and added a coat hanger for the antenna (covered in tin foil). We would drink Tang orange juice, eat moon pies, and anything else associated with space, NASA, and astronauts, or just space exploration in general.  A few years later, I switched and wanted to be police officer, then a doctor, then a medic, then a solider, etc. My mom would do whatever she could to never dissuade me (such is a parent’s love). She would also simply counsel and say it’s too soon to worry about being this or being that but always reminded me I could do anything I set my mind to. My mother also enlisted others to help me with aspirations and interests. She reached out to my uncle who worked in government in Washington DC and arranged for me to visit the Smithsonian’s aerospace gallery, and surprise meeting with Pete Conrad who had recently walked on the moon with Apollo 12. I refused to wash my hand used to shake his for a week after (against my mother’s chagrin).

I went down this trip on memory lane (always do) every time a new space mission pops up.   Recently, the Artemis Mission was completed successfully. As is usually the case, I watch and read every interview of the astronauts involved in space missions.  No mission is ever without some problem or issue that must be resolved/solved. There have been several occasions disaster struck past missions, from which failure is analyzed and lessons learned, as well as brave souls lost and honored.  When you watch or read the interviews, books, or any information from or about these astronauts, it becomes very evident that they are strong leaders and team players. They have amazing coping and problem-solving skills, tenacity, intelligence, and are courageous. They must be, for the environment they are entering and exploring is unforgiving.  Here are a few nuggets of wisdom from those with “The Right Stuff”.

National Geographic Family aired Victor Glover’s response to a question of “What’s your advice for a student who wants to go to Mars one day?”:

“Three things. One, be resilient – resilience is not just about going through challenges but growing through them. Getting better because of those challenges. Number two, being a lifelong learner. In the classroom, outside of the classroom, on the job, at church, in your clubs and extracurricular activities, everything is an opportunity to learn and grow and get better. And number three, be a good teammate. Whether you like or agree with people, all people deserve to have their human dignity respected. And being a good teammate is a reminder that the people on our left and right matter, and we need to be respectful of one another.”

Jonny Kim’s former US Navy SEAL, Emergency Medicine Physician and Flight Surgeon, as well as astronaut speaks to leadership and success:

Success - “Success to me means serving a higher calling than yourself that improves the lives of everyone.”

Goal setting –“I’m a fan of making big goals, dividing those goals into concrete steps, and understanding that you won’t always succeed.”

Humility –“Living with humility and serving with humility is one of the most important things.”

Integrity and Courage – “You need to do the right thing, regardless of who you’re standing up against.”

Soichi Noguchi’s tips on Teamwork (extrapolated from numerous articles & interviews):

Make sure goals are aligned

Respect expertise and know how to follow.

Learn to cooperate and trust your team.

Forget 100% perfection but remember your ultimate goal.

Collaboration keeps everyone safe.

All astronauts say the above in their own way. However, I also have a favorite when it comes to risk and safety.  This one comes from astronaut Chris Hadfield:

“No astronaut launches to space with their fingers crossed. That’s not how we deal with risk.”

Till next week, Work With The Right Stuff and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Control You!

A few years back one of my wife’s friends sang back up for a tribute band to Ray Charles.  She and the band were playing locally and because they hadn’t seen each other for some time, she invited us to attend the concert followed by a dinner. Willie Nash (who performs as the late Ray Charles and spot on by the way) said something over dinner after the performance. It resonated strongly with me (still does).   A member in his group was complaining about a past event during dinner.  Willie told them, and everyone else at the table, “L.I.G. -LET IT GO!” To be clear, Willie Nash is also blind, but he can see things all so clearly.  You cannot control the past or the future. You can learn from past mistakes and implement them in today’s practice, but the future is yet to occur or be seen. 

I’ve learned long ago (and sometimes I must be reminded) that the anti-dote to mental burnout, and stress is to CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL. Which is the art of letting it go and specifically, letting go of external factors and outcomes. Time and energy are better spent on focusing my energy and effort on what’s in my domain and purview that are affected by and require my actions.

You cannot control other people. You can guide, coach, and advise them (all parts of leadership), but ultimately their actions are theirs.

Now, what you can control, that was summarized by Pat Summit. In a speech she concisely stated the four things you can control.

Attitude -the question for leaders should always be, “Could you work for you?”. You decide how to show up to a situation. “Attitude is a choice”

Work Ethic – Talent is not enough; you must commit to hard work and self-discipline to make great habits second nature.

How you treat others – Respecting those around you is a prerequisite for your own success.

How you take care of and treat yourself – to include balance, health, think time, reading, exercise, etc.

“You certainly can’t control the length of your life – but you can control its width and depth. You can’t control the contour of your face – but you can control its expression. You can’t control the weather – but you can control the atmosphere of your mind. Why worry about things you can’t control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?” – John Maxwell

“What you can control, as always, is how you respond. What matters is not what other people are doing or have done, but what you do.” – Daily Stoic

Till next week, Control You, and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Mind the Gap!

Google photos recently sent me an e-mail that I was running out of storage etc.  Instead of opting for the monthly fee to increase space, I began scrolling through and deleting duplicate pictures and came across one from a trip in the United Kingdom.  When you are exiting or entering a carriage in the tube (subway), there is a warning (if you are watching where you step) that says in bold yellow lettering, “MIND THE GAP”.  Simple phrase but a great reminder for leaders towards ownership.   Leadership by example includes integrity. As a reminder, integrity means words and actions match.  A major part of this is ensuring we don’t have a gap between our actions and words. Meaning we need to “Mind the Ownership Gap!”

Ownership includes: “No Excuses”. Pat Riley (coach and later manager for the Miami Heat) had daily standards required of himself and players, which included “No more excuses! Excuses are a disease. Winners avoid them.”

If I hear the following phrases, I know ownership has a big gap: “Not my fault”, “I just work here”, or “Others are worse.”  Yes, I catch myself saying these sometimes and if I do catch myself saying them, I immediately correct myself.  I also listen for blaming circumstance over crediting preparation (or lack thereof), saying sorry but repeats mistakes versus “what can we learn from this?” and ensuring moving forward corrective actions are followed up or followed through with.

The phrases I work on using and listen for to identify leadership are: “That’s on me”, “Got it”, “I will take care of it”, or “What can I do to help”. Because leaders must recognize and acknowledge they don’t have all the answers, I like “Let’s figure it out together”.  Even the acknowledgement of saying, “I was wrong on that” is a strong leadership phrase that minds the gap.   That is ownership!

However, words alone do not a leader make. Joseph Conrad said, “To have gift of words is no such great matter. A man furnished with a long-range weapon does not become a hunter or a warrior by mere possession of a firearm; many other qualities of character and temperament are necessary to make him either one or the other.” To me that means actions need to match words, which (once again) is integrity. 

At the end of the day, leaders must hold themselves accountable and are responsible for everything in their domain, including all failures, which is what Jocko Willink refers to as Extreme Ownership.

Till next week, Mind the Ownership Gap and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Culture Club (Guidelines for Establishing Culture)

If you want to change anything, whether it is quality, safety, business, organizations, etc.  It Starts with the culture.  The culture drives the process to help achieve excellence.  Culture establishes a sense of belonging by establishing a shared personality of the team/organization which parlays into security and unified belonging. It gives unspoken rules of how to react and interact, communicate, and solve problems in everyday life. By providing societal stability through shared morals and ideology it unifies large groups to work together to protect and strengthen the community/organization they are in.

Bill Walsh (a former American professional and college football coach) had guidelines for establishing culture.  Which to me are the foundations of not only establishing culture but effecting real and valuable change and worthy of reviewing.  I was reminded of them when I came across a meme that listed the six elements needed.

Alignment which is simply setting the standard. You have to establish what behaviors are expected to include attitudes.  This establishes clarity to unify as a team behind and focus on.

Communication -The aforementioned clarity when communicated will create consistency. By maintaining consistency and staying true to the standards, people perform better and maintain consistency.

Ownership which Bill simply says as “Own your Role” Everyone needs to understand what their responsibilities are and what they are working on mastering. This allows organizations to become more capable and dependable.

Vision and Values meaning “The Why”. This strengthens when people understand the beliefs behind the standard.

Connection. Bill truly believed Relationships Matter. Culture is human in nature. If you show respect and care, people feel seen and heard, as well as supported and valued.

Accountability. I used to think accountability and ownership was the same thing, but I was wrong. Accountability is part of Ownership. Simply put, Hold The Line.  Which means don’t break or fall below the line which is the standard. Standards only hold when they are reinforced. “Measure the behaviors that matter, correct what slips, and make the standard real every day.”

“The culture precedes positive results. It doesn’t get tacked on as an afterthought on your way to the victory stand.” -Bill Walsh

Till next week, Start a Culture Club, and LEAD On!

[leadershiprambling]

Feeling Froggy and Jumping to Conclusions

One of my grandmother’s favorite Game Shows was Wheel of Fortune.  At least once a week, a contestant would attempt to solve a puzzle which looked obvious and would inevitably be wrong. My grandfather sitting in his chair while reading the newspaper, smoking his pipe, would huff and utter to the television, “Feeling froggy, weren’t yah?”.  Sometimes it was directed at the television but meant for my grandmother who sometimes yelled out as well. Then my grandfather would mumble the correct answer before someone else solved the puzzle or the host revealed during the final puzzle. I realize now, the simple phrase, “feeling froggy” was his way of identifying “jumping to conclusions” and the resulting mistakes.

There is a specific bias known as “Illusion of Causality”. This occurs when we erroneously perceive a cause-and-effect relationship between at least two events.  Assessing evidence requires cognitive effort (hard thinking), so the human brain seeks mental shortcuts to expedite the process. It’s not laziness, it’s for two purposes. One it was part of the human survival process during pre-historic times, if one thought too long to decide a threat was indeed a threat, could and would result in significant risk.  The other reason is biologic in nature, in which this cognitive load/effort requires massive energy, so it is part of a process to save energy (I know, it still sounds like laziness but there is biological science backing this part up).  However, this bias labeled “Illusion of Causality” leads us to make hasty decisions and draw quick conclusions to infer a causal connection when there isn’t one.  If I learned nothing else from Freakonomics, it’s that correlation does not equal causation.

Improving causal evaluation requires a few things: recognizing an issue, identifying the true problem, gathering facts, and piecing them together.  Then look for gaps and counterevidence to any conclusions.  However, in my mind, gaps and counterevidence need to be addressed throughout the process, to include defining the problem that created the issue or even the issue.  On several occasions I started going down one road and realized I was addressing the wrong issue or the true problem. I’ve now learned to trust the process: gather evidence and facts, review, identify gaps, seek answers to fill the gaps, and review and evaluate again.  The driver always being not to be right but to get it right for the team. Sometimes it takes an exorbitant amount of time, which is often not readily available. However, over time the use of the process becomes engrained and second nature and improves in both speed and efficiency the more it’s performed. The review process is just six simple questions:

-What do you know?

-How do you know it?

-What do you not know?

-How do you find out?

-What do you think?

-Why do you think it?

Till next week, Don’t Jump to Conclusions, and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

What's Important Now (W.I.N.)

I like to listen to speeches or watch videos of interviews and speeches.  All have a small nitch or cover an aspect of leadership, teamwork, personal growth, etc.  One of my top picks is Lou Holz’s WIN speech, which was his challenge to his team.  WIN stands for “What’s Important Now?” He challenged his team players to ask themselves that question at least “35 times a day”.  However, what does it look like in action? How does one institute this in their process?

I had the opportunity to become a plank owner to an educational academy for a need that wasn’t being addressed many years ago.  The vice president it fell under knew the company had a lot riding on its success, but there were other stakeholders as well.  The federal and state government gave grant money because the trade to be trained had a big gap.  The public needed more medics and the medics already in practice needed to up their skills and competence.  So, the public at large had a stake in this and not just their tax money.  They needed people to respond to their emergency needs.  The state itself (at the time) was only producing or supporting upwards of 8 new paramedics a year, the retirement rate alone was somewhere around 40 paramedics a year, not to include those leaving the state for other companies, agencies, and / or careers.  I think you see the gap.

Once a week, and on a larger scale once a quarter, we had what I referred to as WIN meetings.  The Vice President would have all of us in a meeting using the video-conference technology we used daily to open opportunities across the state to have more classes. He would simply ask us through the video screen: What’s Important Now?  We each would go up to the universal board and write three things we each thought were important at that present moment for our company/department.  The list was visible and collaborated real time between sites. Once the list was up, we each were given three votes. We could either elect to use all three on one item, or we could spread one vote each to three items on the list.  After that, the top three picks were the area of focus to work together and develop a plan, then implement, which magnified excellence (meaning progress over perfection) on priorities.

Sometimes the questions to drive the WIN were items such as: “What is the most important thing we should be talking about?” or “What is the one area that, if it improved, would make the greatest difference for the good of the organizations we support?”, and my personal favorite, “If you were a consultant and hired by me, what would you advise me to do?”.  This drove collaborative and hive mind teamwork by the people on the ground seeing the issues and correcting them before issues grew.  Issues such as learning disabilities to address, potential cheating scandals, change in how a topic was delivered to students/learners.  How to improve study habits for the students and their test taking skills.  How to engage students through a video-conference system with a “talking head” was addressed to improve attention and retention of knowledge.  We identified and worked to address the competency gaps between certification and real-world execution in the field.  The question to establish the WIN were changed to challenge thought processes from different angles and allow ideas and thoughts to emerge.  One week we were challenged with, “What are we doing that we shouldn’t be doing?”, then the next week the script was flipped to gain better insight with, “What are we not doing that we should be doing?”.  Ultimately, they all established What’s Important Now!

“Everyone wants to win on Saturday afternoon when the game is played. It’s what you do the other six days that decides the outcome.” -Lou Holz

Till next week, Challenge yourself, team, or organization with “What’s Important Now!” and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Coaching G.R.O.W.T.H.

Coaching isn’t about giving advice; it is about unlocking POTENTIAL! 

Like many things, the best way to learn or to help someone learn is about asking the right questions.  Being that some answers are subjective, it helps the one being coached to recognize the answer is within their knowledge and understanding. Which in turn helps the individual being coached learn and GROW, that means when they succeed, the team SUCCEEDS!  Sir John Whitmore’s GROWTH (Goal, Reality, Options, Will, Tactics, Habits) model is used to help personnel or team members become their best selves and strive to achieve their potential:

Goal - What is the goal? or What goals are you looking to achieve to succeed on this?

Reality - What is your current reality in relation to your goal? Or What’s going on with this issue so far?

Options - What are the options available to achieve this goal? What resources or tools do you think you will need? If they struggle to decide how to achieve or resolve the issue working on, ask them if they have had similar situations before.

Will (actions for Commitment) - Why do you want this to happen? What’s your motivation?

Tactics – What actions do you need or feel need to be done to make this happen? And to narrow it down -What actions are most important to take? & What is the first action you will take to get started?

Habits – How are you going to sustain it going forward?

When meeting with team members don’t forget to establish check-ins to monitor progress and establish how measurement toward the goal should be discussed and established as well (read The One Minute Meets the Monkey for help with this part) . Remember the responsibility of a coach (leader) is to help the team member discover their potential, assist in clarifying thoughts & plans, provide CONSISTENT support throughout their journey, and ensure alignment with desired outcomes. It is NOT to direct but to guide individuals in finding solutions and building confidence and eventual competence to their improvement.

“A coaching culture is one where everyone is committed to each other’s success.” -Brian Underhill

Till next week Coach Growth with your team and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Power Up People

Watching a recent video on social media where Coach Brenda Frese recently was caught on the sidelines telling a player. “I need you to lock in and stop being distracted! I believe in you! But you’ve got to want this most! This isn’t my story…”  I was reminded of when I was in physically and mentally taxing courses in the military, and I really didn’t think I had another step, push-up, or strength of any kind to perform the task I was given, a voice would loudly go off in my head saying, “One More” or “Keep Going”.  Amazingly, what I thought I couldn’t accomplish became possible. Might not have been perfect or fast, but things got accomplished. Sometimes the voice was my own, but the most impactful words of encouragement came from other members of the team I was with and didn’t want to let down, especially those above me in rank or command.  Great leaders get the best out of their followers by helping them achieve things they didn’t think were possible. 

Psychologist Henry H. Goddard performed a study using an instrument he developed that would measure reactions in humans towards encouraging words.  Although the device was crude per today’s technology, it did show the effects words have on people.  Especially words of encouragement.  When his “test subjects” were tired and worn out and encouraging words were given to them, their energy levels showed improvement.  When discouragement and criticism was rained down upon them, their energy levels dropped. 

Leaders and coaches usually discover this intuitively over time, or at least the good and great ones do.  Think about a time when you were really struggling or maybe waivered in your confidence and that one person came by and uttered, “Good Job” or “Well Done!".  Didn’t you feel a little bit better or even encouraged?  That is the energy & power given through meaningful and authentic encouragement.  Meaning don’t just throw it out there that someone is doing a good job but tell them and mean it.  To prove you mean it, tell them something specific about what they are doing a good job with.  Even a simple, “Thank you” powers up people.

Ultimately, we all need encouragement daily.  Start with giving it to yourself, then transfer that to someone else by offering praise, and encouragement to others. Leaders energize others so they can level up. Remember WORDS HAVE POWER!

“There are people who take the heart out of you and there are people who put it back.” – Elizabeth David

“For a leader, there is no trivial comment.” -Susan Scott

Till next week, Power Up Other People, and Lead On.

[leadershiprambling]

Rickover's Principles

Recently, I had the opportunity to re-visit Charleston, SC.  One of my obligatory stops is Patriot’s Point Cold War Submarine Memorial, in nearby Mount Pleasant.  Although not a navy guy, I am a U.S. military veteran and I feel it’s my duty to always pay my respects.  While reading over the numerous names, I was reminded of Admiral Rickover and a famous question, “Why not the best?” whenever he was challenged or challenged someone.  Such an impactful question.  Like most leaders, he had values, and a code.  He was also a man of principles. Here are the 15-point principles known to have helped him not only become an admiral, and Father of the Nuclear Navy (above and below the water), but also established an unbeatable safety record when it came to the U.S. Nuclear Naval Fleet standards:

Defense in Depth

Face Facts Brutally

Formal Documentation and Communication

Strong Central Technical Control

Selection, Training, and Qualification of the Best People, Dedicated to Excellence

Verbatim Compliance with Approved Technical Procedure

Frequent, Thorough, and Detailed Inspections and Audits

Striving for Excellence

The Devil is in the Details

Not “Living With” Deficiencies

Thorough Involvement and Review by Senior Personnel

If You Can’t Write It Down, You Don’t Understand It

Conservatism in Design and Operations

Attention to Detail

Enforcement of Standards

Is there no wonder, this man not only achieved great things, but his organization (the U.S. Nuclear Navy) did as well.

Till next week, Be Principled and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Leadership Ramblings turned 1 today!

[leadershiprambling]

Beware The Four Horsemen

Shortly after the attacks of September 11th, in 2001, I was designated to attend a local region’s emergency drill to represent and coordinate for my emergency agency.  The Emergency Operation Center (EOC) conference room had a sign on the door which read, “Check Your Ego Here”.  The Emergency Manager was a master of collaborative and diverse teams I would soon come to learn and respect during real world “White Powder” calls (anthrax letter scares) where we would be trapped together in the EOC for two weeks straight. It was during this time he would explain his concept to me as the Four Horsemen who prevented good leadership, especially in crisis and to growth. 

The Four Horsemen:

Ego: One thing he imparted quite quickly as illustrated by the sign on his conference room door was “Check Your Ego”. Ego prevents learning. Leaders with ego are usually arrogant and micromanage, which hinders teamwork and efficiency. Usually, egotistical leaders are resistant to feedback and are very prone to blame-shifting. It’s their way or the highway. Which doesn’t help resolve anything.

Anger: Establishes a barrier from clarity.  Colin Powell said it best in his rules of leadership, “Get Mad and Get Over It!” General James Mattis also said, “If you cannot control your emotions in combat or crisis, you cannot lead others through it. Calm is contagious, and so is panic.”

Ignorance: Is a barrier to making good and informed decisions.  My parents and grandparents, as well as teachers and mentors, always said, “If you don’t know, ask, or say you don’t know.”  Of course, the statement I never tire of hearing is, “The only stupid question is the one never asked.” Although self-imposed embarrassment on myself, I’m never fearful to say, “I don’t know” or “I don’t have that answer at this time.”  I’m also never afraid to ask questions or “appear stupid”. It’s better to ask and gain knowledge and clarity. Even if it means asking my team or someone outside of the situation for advice. To me, no one owns all the information or entire truth. No one. However, everyone has a piece of it, a leader needs to get all the pieces out on the table to put the puzzle together. General Martin Dempsey is quoted as saying, “A leader’s job is not to have all the answers, but to create an environment where the best answers can emerge.”

Fear: The fourth horseman, who provides a big barrier to learning, improvement, and personal/professional growth.  Many leaders and coaches stress pushing past your comfort zone. The worst thing that can be done is nothing. American author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying, “Action creates visible progress. Progress becomes visible when you take action. Without action, nothing changes. Movement creates results you can see and measure.” It always starts with that first step forward, and if you learn, even with failure, you fail forward and improve. Sometimes I even quote (get this) Shakespeare’s Henry V to myself while lacing up my boots to tackle the challenge in front me, “ Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…”  Mantras do help. 

In many of crisis situations or during tough decisions, I’m very cognizant of hearing the hooves of these horsemen (okay, it’s the sound of my own heartbeat) but I check my ego, anger, and ask questions to limit ignorance, lace up my shoes, swallow my fear (sometimes pride), and move forward.  If there is time, I usually measure every decision against my values and/or my organizations.  It’s never failed me yet.  During after action reviews, I must fight the four horsemen again to ensure I learn from any errors.  No decision is perfect, but sometimes you can only plan based on information available at the time.  Hindsight bias (Monday Morning Quarterbacking) does and can make you feel incompetent, but I follow Mathis’ rule as pride, fear, and anger are all emotions to keep in check. It’s okay to have them and acknowledge them but don’t let them overwhelm you.  I’ve learned to dissect every moment based on what I knew at the time. I check myself for any bias of thinking errors, etc. during the review process.  However, because I keep the four horsemen at bay or in control, I have learned to ask better questions, or even “The Question” to ask, I didn’t have the experience or knowledge to know to ask before. I file it away in my leadership toolbox in the event I need to know to ask that question in future. Before going into these formal reviews, I also have another ritual.  I have a tin sign in my work shed (I have many tin signs for reference and motivation), but this one is Teddy Roosevelt’s The Man in the Arena. It really helps me to get focused and mentally prepared for the process and most definitely keeps the Horsemen running away while me and my team’s actions are reviewed and questioned. I also realize process over outcome is tantamount to improvement and in striving for excellence.

Till next week, While in the Arena, Beware the Four Horsemen, and LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

Leadership Profile Jonny Kim

Jonny Kim is the perfect candidate to profile to help celebrate Asia American & Pacific Islander Heritage month to include leadership. Despite a challenging youth, he joined the United States Navy seeking a better life than in his neighborhood.  He eventually found himself volunteering to become a U.S. Navy SEAL (both corpsman and sniper qualified).  Served with distinction in combat.  From there he applied and was accepted into Harvard and received his Medical Degree and then applied and was accepted to become a NASA astronaut.  His mindset truly makes the difference and teaches lessons in not only leadership, but perseverance, and the importance of serving a mission greater than oneself.  His achievements thus far are a testament to Grit, Purpose, and Relentless Self Improvement.  A true leader.  I happened to watch an interview with him recently and quickly rewound the segment, grabbed a notebook, and went back to make my notes. His interview was that compelling. Here are bullet points followed by quotes I can attribute to him:

Success by Service Not Status – “Success to me means serving a calling higher than yourself that improves the lives of everyone.”

Break Down Big Goals Into Small Wins - “I’m a fan of making big goals, dividing those goals into concrete steps, and understanding that you won’t always succeed.”

Lead With Humility, Not Ego - “Living with humility and serving with humility is one of the most important things.”

Hard Work Wins But Only If Its Sustainable – “Prioritize Quality of Quantity, staying focused on the long game, & knowing when to take a break…”

Courage Is Doing the Right Thing, Even When It’s Hard -“You need to do the right thing, regardless of who you’re standing up against.”

After I watched the interview for the second time, I looked him up and read numerous articles on him. All confirmed the previous bullet points as parts of his “Code” if you will.  Till next week, Be Humble, Sustain to Work Hard, Have Courage, and Remember Service Before Self, and of course LEAD ON!

[leadershiprambling]

St. Thomas Iguanas - A Study in Risk Tolerance

When I was young, every time a new fad would occur, or my friends were doing something, I would want to do it too.  I can still hear my grandparents and parents responding with, “If everybody jumped off a bridge, would you do it?”

My son and his lovely wife went on a vacation recently to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (yes, I’m a bit jealous).  They went to the resort beach and before heading into the ocean looked for a shaded area so they wouldn’t get sunburn between swims etc.  The first thought for them were under the beautiful palm trees.  There were other people already putting towels on beach loungers in this location.  As my son got closer, he noticed movement in the trees and recognized some very large iguanas.  His first instinctive concern he voiced to his wife was, those might fall out of the trees on us, or they might bite us if we fall asleep while they laid out on the loungers.  When he expressed this, his wife pointed out a lot of people are already under the palm trees with iguanas and they didn’t seem to be too concerned.  So, my son proceeded forward and they put their items near the loungers to claim them.  They swam for a bit and then they laid out on the loungers. My son watched a few iguanas chase each other up and down trees and then fell asleep.  He was awoken shortly thereafter by someone yelling and a commotion next to them.  An iguana had fallen out of a tree on to a couple next to them causing quite the ruckus.

Risk tolerance is what an individual or organization is willing to accept, it determines how much risk is taken before action is deemed “too dangerous”.  This often leads to use of shortcuts (dangerous in nature but unrecognized until something “bad” happens). There are two things that resulted in my sons near bad experience and the couple’s next to them incident: herd mentality and bandwagon effect. 

Herd mentality is the tendency for individuals to adopt the behaviors, beliefs, or actions of a larger group, often ignoring their own rational judgment or personal preferences.  The bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias where people adopt beliefs, behaviors, or trends simply because they perceive most others doing so.

People often follow the crowd because they assume the majority possesses superior information, particularly in uncertain situations. Also, conformity (i.e. peer pressure) leads to adopting behaviors to avoid standing out or being ostracized.

All the above illustrates how bad things happen, but also with this knowledge we can use it to make good things happen. For instance, leading by example of the correct ways to do things and correcting people when they are taking shortcuts.  Holding people to standards, even the minute details. We also need to be more open to other people’s concerns and listen.  Everyone sees things differently and from some angles can see things more clearly to identify issues we may have become blind (immune) to. It’s hard to do, herd mentality was an evolutionary shortcut in of itself. Think about, herds of antelope or cattle will stampede because one jumped, which was usually due to predators or threats nearby. If they all didn’t run someone would become a meal. Human herding was and still is the same but, in this case, following the crowd blindly can become dangerous. However, if you remain disciplined and stay consistent with treating each day and situation anew, it becomes the right kind of habit.  Which means overcoming herd mentality and the inherent increased risk tolerance which develops from it. In the end it comes down to the question my elders always asked me before I jumped on a bandwagon: “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it?”

Till next week, Decrease Risk Tolerance and LEAD ON!