Author: Eric

Prepared to Lead?

Where would we be without the media (Internet, paper, your organization, your boss, etc.)?  Constant messaging about what's important-usually relating to their own selfish motivations.  Wasn't it Hearst who said his organization was in the business of selling newspapers, not reporting the news?  Regardless, you're hearing it everyday.

I mention the above to gage if any of the information we absorb is preparing us to lead.  By now, I would think we know how important leadership is.  Everyone would agree that quality leadership is vital in good times and in the crisis times.  See the U.S. Congress for a great example of how some leaders never get this. 

The problem lies in our reluctance to experience the upfront pain of growing and changing.  For some this happens immediately, for others a little after the event or show is over.

Why do we give up and give in?

Here are some reasons to consider:

  • The microwave oven.  Take your growth and heat for three minutes, on high, and voila instant change.
  • Success.  We think our success says something more than it does.
  • Busy lives.  We say yes to everything and never learn the art of saying the leader's most important word; no.
  • The media has convinced us that by becoming leadership voyeurs, we have all we need.
  • We look for leadership love in all the wrong places.

Making Urgency Real

 

I received an email today from a publicist at Harvard Business Press wanting to connect about John Kott'er's newest book A Sense of Urgency.  It didn't take me very long to respond, with excitement, about reviewing a copy.  After reading, I will post my thoughts on this blog.

John Kotter is brilliant and thoughtful.  He truly has impacted my thinking over many years. 

The above video provides some clues to how urgency connects to change.

Dream, Believe

The following is a quote from a card given to me some months ago:

    "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream.  Not only plan, but also believe."

    -Anatole France

Ready to Die, Ready to Live

In a speech yesterday I told a group of businesswomen that you're not ready to live until you're ready to die.  Easy for me to say, right?  Well…no.  Seal (see the clip above) has some poetic thoughts on the matter of dying.  But I don't want to stray to far from the meaning of this story.

It wasn't until I got serious about the things I couldn't see (love of family and love of people), that I starting confronting the urgency of this limited time offer call life.  I apply the idea to work too.

The businesswomen yesterday got my meaning.  Those truly passionate about what they do carry a sense of the ending.  People like this believe that the story titled our life has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  It clarifies and refines how we approach everything.

If we get close to this idea we might get the following:

  • No more playing around with destructive words and behaviors.
  • No need for the next generation of DVD technology.
  • Dinner with the entire family every night.
  • No more preoccupation with fame and fortune.
  • Embracng the moment with all you connect with.
  • Taking care of our bodies like the gift they are.
  • Seeing people as more valuable than material goods.
  • Taking responsibility for our lives.

Are You Passionate About Your Product or Service?

Giving a speech next week about the death of sales.  I'm looking forward to illustrating the importance of connection and community, over selling.  No more going through the motions, but saying with subtle force "this what I was born to do."

One of the key ways to measure your level of connection and community is your passion level.  Specifically, are you passionate about what you offer the world?  Are you someone who sees the dollars as a byproduct of what makes you come alive?  I find it sad that many organizations start with profit or create a product/service and then think passion is a given.

By the way crises are refiners and purifiers.  The question is whether you are willing to let it play out.

Here some clues to measure your passion:

  • What are you willing to do for free?
  • What are you willing to die (you're not ready to live, until you're ready to die) for?
  • What has shaped your perspective, pain or pleasure?
  • Who follows your lead?
  • Is what your doing worth reproducing?

Take a look at this video to see someone who is very passionate about their craft.

The Meaning of Vision and Goals

Mountain range photo

 

Conducted a workshop this weekend for a company around vision and goals.  It was a great group to work with.  I was truly honored to leave my imprint on their management team.

I got to thinking this morning about why vision is a necessary part of goal setting.  The formula goes something like this:

Vision is the why and what, while goals are the how.

It’salso important to rememberber that vision develops over time (Thank you, Rick and Terry).  The old Polaroid camera can be a great object lesson here.

The Toll Road of Reinvention

Spoke to a friend last week who told me about a man of fifty-seven.  A typical tale for a corporate soldier in America today.  He's tired, bored and wonders where the time went.

The financial crisis happening here and around the world is taking a toll on investment accounts, retirement accounts and faith (if we still have that) in how our governments work.  But what about the man, or woman, of fifty-seven who sees only few options left (no, the answer is not held in the mind of Obama or McCain)?

I have written before about the toll that ten, twenty or thirty years of poor leadership can have on followers.  Now we're beginning to see the shift economically, which usually is the first crisis before the other shift can happen.  That shift is where people have to discover/rediscover who they really are, and it doesn't happen without a crisis.

The way up is the way down.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I don't get as bent out of shape by crisis.  He wrote the story, I live it out.  A beautiful, tragic, happy, fluid, exciting epic with my name on it.  After forty-two years, I've seen and experienced so many crises that I now see them as part of the plot.

Regardless of your age, you will face a crossroads where reinvention beckons.  You can ignore it, but just know that more of who you are and what you do will become gray.  If you accept the reinvention invitation you might find that the next chapter is ready to be played out.

Chaos, Clarity and Courage

Churchill

My friend Terry gave me the following lesson a couple of week's ago:    

    Chaos can produce clarity, which then will challenge you to take courage.  If you take courage, you can speak clarity into the chaos.  Then you will have calm and a clear view of what must be done.

Obviously, a very difficult art, but a fine example of leadership.