TradeTools

Folks who work in the trades have many kinds of tools at their disposal. Some of the tools are quite pointy and/or extremely sharp. Scalpels used by surgeons and picks used by jewelers come to mind. On the other hand, some tools have wide reach and are, by design, not all that sharp. The blade of a grader tractor or that of a "mudder" who works sealing sheetrock are examples, designed fill rather than dice.

Similar tools are available to those of us who ply our trade in the arena of social interaction. Sometimes our words and actions require precision and sharpness. At other times, they call for us to be smoothing rather than cutting or whittling.

Just as artisans in the physical trades, those in the professions of human interaction are wise to have all kinds of tools in our tool chest.

Even more important is knowing when to use those varying kinds of tools for optimal outcomes and peak performance.

TuffTalks

The most effective leaders I know are adept at having honest but tough conversations. They talk skillfully about difficult issues with team members and stakeholders, but manage to do so without alienating, demeaning, or disparaging the other.

As I watch these exceptional leaders communicate around challenging issues, here are some of the things I hear and see from them:

• They forecast thoroughly how the exchange might flow ahead of time, so that they are prepared to flex, respond, and steer the conversation as needed.
• They refuse to let the tough conversations become personal. The discourse remains constantly on the problem at hand, not the people dealing with it.
• They strive mightily to keep anger at bay, temperatures low, blood pressure down, knowing that all three marginalize the prospects for rational thought and productive solutions.
• They rarely, if ever, use the word "BUT," tending always toward the use of "AND" instead.
• They continually keep conversations forward focused, refusing to descend into blaming and recrimination. The future is their interest, not the past.
• They keep doors open, insist on transparency, and strive always to build bridges instead of walls.
• They use questions instead of demands/directives in marshaling the direction of difficult conversations. 

We can learn much from these folks..............about crafting better futures through effective dialogue.

HardCorners

The hard corners we see in life are almost always the constructions of man. The 90 degree angles of a square or rectangle, the sharp lines of skyscrapers, the surveyed boundaries of lots/acres/sections, and the rigid laws/rules we craft seem owned solely by the hand of humans.

God and Nature, however, prefer chiseling off the sharp corners. In nature on the Earth and in the universe beyond we see mostly rounded edges, scant straight lines, and precious few hard angles.

We might be wise to consider softening our corners -- in buildings, in boundaries, in relationships. Especially so if we put it into the context that God and Nature were here before we arrived, and they'll be here long after we've left.

LeaningInto

Leaning into betterness requires introspection and reflection. Both of those processes are facilitated by asking some questions that need substantive answers from us:

What am I doing?

Why am I doing it?

Should I keep dedicating time/effort/resources to doing it?

If so, how might I do it better?

Works for our improvement as individuals. Works for our improvement as organizations.

BUT, only if we do it with fidelity, and a commitment to make any changes that our answers compel.

DEpowered

Team members work most energetically when they feel empowered. Oddly, some folks in leadership end up squelching that energy and enthusiasm (often not intentionally, but it occurs nonetheless).

How do leaders sometimes throw cold water on the vibrant and robust performance of a team?

• TALK, TAlk, Talk, talk, talk, talk, ...
• Exclude team members from conversations/decisions that have direct bearing on them.
• Make team members feel devalued.
• "Hide" from the team, by sequestering in the office, by being "too busy to talk," per a too cluttered calendar.

Leadership is a relational endeavor. Team member empowerment is directly related to our relational skills as leaders.

We can get better at it. Every day. On purpose.

LEARN UP!

DisapprovalSquelching

Disapproval of new ideas/approaches/products comes in all sorts of packaging:

•  "It cost too much."
• "We don't do it that way."
• "It's not in our strategic plan."
• Someone's job might be imperiled.
• "It's too risky."
• "That's not our wheelhouse."
• Workload or workflow might need to be changed.

We can either fold to the naysayers OR quietly and methodically build consensus among those willing to think differently. 

BE(come)

We often focus on what we want/need to get done. Personal and organizational strategies perseverate on the things we aspire to do, to accomplish -- goals, action steps, operational rules, etc. 

The wisest people and best organizations I study, however, focus instead on what they want to BE. Their ontological intent -- their aspiration for ways of being -- drives their subsequent steps/actions/strategies. Not the other way around. 

There are a lot of worthy ways of BEing: 

    Kind

        Generous

            Forgiving

                Intentional

                    Service-oriented

                        Trusting,... 

We can pick from a long and healthy list.

First, however, we must choose... Thereafter, growing ourselves toward that BEingness is the excellent and noble work of a worthy life. 

StaticStatus

Change is inevitable. We may think we can deny, ignore, or stop the evolutionary process, but....

The misperception of being in a stable and non-fluid environment is similar to feeling like we are "still" when sitting in our recliner. It might feel like we not moving, but that is most certainly NOT the case:

• We reside on a planet that is spinning at over 1,000 miles per hour.
• We live on Mother Earth which circles the sun at a rate of 67,000 miles per hour.
• We exist in a solar system that is ripping through the universe at 483,000 miles per hour.

Even when we think we're in a static state, we aren't. And never will be. 

Not a bad idea to learn to be adaptive to the change(s) coming our way.

HighMileage

"High mileage" is a description often applied to automobiles. From that phrase we can infer a number of possibilities:

• It's covered a lot of country, could be mostly in one county, but perhaps all over the continent.
• Might have a few dings in it, or some unattractive idiosyncrasies.
• Hard to discern the maintenance and care schedule; buy at your own risk.
• Maybe one caretaker, maybe driven by a bunch of folks.
• The "inside" -- engine and systems -- may have been carefully maintained, or not. 
• The "outside" -- exterior -- may have been protected and cared for meticulously, or painted over repeatedly, or completely ignored.

Some folks these days squeeze 200K or 300K from a well cared for vehicle. I know a couple folks who have gotten north of 500K miles out of their trucks. Impressive! 

A similar mindset applies to the way we treat our bodies, minds, and souls. The care and attention we invest makes a huge difference, in both performance and longevity.

We get to choose... (and do, daily).

NegativeGravity

Negativity has a strange and powerful gravitational pull about it. 

Rumors, criticism, zero-sum thinking, oneupmanship, competitive chicanery all contribute to an environment of negativity. When we live/work in a culture of negativity, it's like we're in a space ship orbiting that "planet" of disharmony, slowing being pulled closer and closer to its destructive center.

Just as with a space ship, it takes a lot of intentional energy and cognitive commitment to break out of that orbit. There's a pretty cool universe of possibilities awaiting us once we get beyond the gravitational pull of negativity.

Rocketeers Unite!

Compassion

Lao Tzu provides powerful guidance to us: "I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures."

In our busy lives of commitments, deadlines, supervision, data inundation, cluttered calendars, it is easy "drop" any or all three of those mindsets that Lao Tau proposes. 

While "simplicity, patience, compassion" are critical elements for our general health and wellbeing, Compassion is the one that has the most impact on those around us, the folks we love, care for, live and work with.

Compassion delivers several reciprocative benefits to us: Kindness, Connection, Caring, Forgiveness, Encouragement. Each one we confer becomes a force multiplier for both the giver and the receiver.

An added BONUS: To show Compassion costs us nothing.

But, oh, the benefits!!!

DifferentlyAlike

Just take a look. When you're at a ballgame or in the grocery store or at your house of faith.

Observe how different the noses are on each of the faces. Or, the differences in the shape of the ears. Or, the varying heights of the folks in attendance. The differences are vast, beyond enumeration.

Yet, they're all people. We recognize them as such. Why? Despite the incalculable differences, we are more alike than we are not.

Organizations have the same alike vs different dynamic.

Efforts at improvement (whether with individual people or in organizations) yield the best results when customized and personalized. Otherwise, they fall flat. Fad diets are a case in point. 

A deep commitment to continuous improvement is, however, a pervasive commonality (alikeness) of high performing people and organizations. Duly noted.

Saddle up...

GenFlex

I never expected to be the oldest dude in the room. Yet, I'm finding that to be the case more and more these days. That reality has caused me much reflection about some of the strongest teams I've worked on (and observed) over the last 40 years. 

The very best, most functional, and highest performing of those work teams had a beautiful mix of generations. Yes, their ages differed. Yes, their experiences varied widely. Yes, their strategic positions often rubbed  against one another. Yes, their desired speed of progress was all over the board. 

YET, those multi-generational teams produced extraordinary outcomes because....

• They chose to be respectful of each other (even in the heat of debate).
• They actively listened to one another in the interest of fully understanding.
• They intentionally and persistently LEARNED as a Team. 
• They stay focused on the big picture, which on those teams was to produce optimal learning outcomes for EVERY learner over which we were the designated stewards.

Not always easy, but always focused on noble and worthy outcomes. Fun teams to work on. 

MatterMost

High functioning organizational teams are the result of many variables. Here are some of the important elements that  go into that complex melting pot:

• Purpose
• Clarity of Vision
• Autonomy in work deployment
• Alignment of skills to assignment
• Fair compensation
• Trust
• Relationships
• Balance

Getting it right is tricky business, to say the least. 

The wisest leaders I know put at the very top of the list RESPECTFULNESS. They understand that environments that permeate respectfulness (modeled from leadership first and pervasively) are the ones that stand the best chance of cohesiveness and optimal performance (as individuals and as a team).

A lot of stuff matters when we're doing important work. Respectfulness may matter the most.

Concretized

Closed minds are like concrete -- well mixed and permanently set.

The world changes, circumstances change, the team changes, laws change, WE change. To wish for some permanent, unchanging state futile.

How might we avoid the perils of the closed mind?

• Observe carefully the contexts in which we live and work.
• LEARN about those changes and, more importantly, the genesis of those changes.
• Engage with a broad array of other thinkers, both the early adopters of change and the resistors. Listen and probe deeply.
• Flex to changing contexts, in a judicious manner and pace.

Adapting to a changing world is tricky business. Being concretized is really not an option. 

ChallengeTest

The people I admire most live in a constant state of challenge. They challenge themselves daily to get better at both the things they already do well and those areas where they still "need a little work." 

These folks make a habit of getting better, every day, on purpose.

The best teams and organizations I know behave in the same way. Today's successes are celebrated. Tomorrow, they turn their attention and effort to doing better work or providing more exemplary service. 

These folks make a habit of getting better, every day, on purpose.

Complacency is an insidious disease. It slowly diminishes individuals, teams, and organizations. But it does so only when we choose to quit challenging ourselves. 

BestSelfies

Our best selves are not here yet. Right now, we're only as good as we've become, to date.

Our current selves are the result of....

• Age
• Maturity
• Learning
• Reflection
• Experience
• Corrective action

The best version of ourselves is still out there ahead of us somewhere. We only approach our best selves when we make a point of getting better, every day, on purpose.

We can...but it takes some intentional effort.

DitchDodging

How often do we feel like we run off into the ditch in organizational work. More often than not, our getting into the ditch has to do with the complexities with which we are dealing. As one of my mentors is fond of saying, "There's a whole lot of ways to get it wrong, and very few to get it right." The more complex the issue, the more "wrong ways" there are to deal with it.

As leaders, we are wise to keep our effort/attention on the BIG PICTURE, the worthy outcomes we pursue. We also own the responsibility for managing the attention/effort of the entire team in that regard.

How can we effectively deal with the inevitable complexities (and stay out of the ditch)?

1. Clarify and condense the Vision so that it is easily understandable and communicate-able. 
2. Communicate that Vision in many ways, loudly, across a wide array of platforms. No one should have any confusion about what it is we're trying to accomplish.
3. When dealing with complex dilemmas, gain the perspective and insight of a wide array of stakeholders. In each engagement, embed communication of the Vision.

Sometimes we take the interstate. 

    Sometimes we take the state highway. 

        Sometimes the county road. 

            Sometimes the footpath through the woods. 

                Sometimes we hack a new path through the jungle. 

In each, knowing where it is we're trying to do -- the Vision -- is essential.

OutcomePacing

A wise and valued mentor of mine (aka ED) drew my attention to one of the biggest challenges we face in attempting to accomplish important things. ED helped me understand that in most cases, the executive team and the mid-management leadership all share the same vision for the outcomes they espouse. He posited that almost always the differences of opinion spring from each level's expectation around the appropriate pace of the action steps to be deployed in pursuing the vision.

ED shared that wisdom with me 30 years ago. My work and observations since have only underscored the astuteness of his guidance.

Thus, one of the trickiest pieces for us as leaders (regardless of level) is to build teams and systems that can and will move at the pace we need in order to chase that worthy and noble vision (producing the outcomes that provide evidence of our success). 

Let's get to it! (Sooner than later.)

Defensiveness(Less)

Being defensive is not a good look. Especially so for those in leadership roles. Unfortunately, we see defensiveness rear its ugly head from leaders occasionally. 

Some of triggers for defensiveness:

• A little too much ME and not enough WE.
• Feeling like the smartest person in the room, and feeling everyone else should know it.
• Assuming we have a grasp of the full picture, when we don't.
• Lacking experience in high-pressure, high-expectation circumstances.
• When difficult situations pivot to focus on personality rather than facts and contexts.

We've all probably either been the defensive one, or on the receiving end of the ire of the defensive one. Neither is a pretty place to be.

Either way, environments of defensiveness rarely produce positive outcomes or portend strong collaborative relationships. Dialing down the temp is always a good first step. And it can be initiated from either side of the table.

FailForward

"Failing forward" is a phrase we hear with some frequency. And, it makes sense.

IF we are bold... 

     IF we take risks to achieve ambitious and important things... 

          IF we step out of our comfort zone... 

There will inevitably be some fails. 

But, then what? What do we do with that failure? It can make us less, or it can make us more. The choice is ours. A good recovery recipe for when it didn't go like we planned:

• Assess critically and objectively what went wrong. It often helps to have a valued, wise, and nonjudgmental other to assist in this process.
• Accept responsibility for the failure. Own it. Don't play the blame game, the only-if game, the poor-me game. 
• LEARN from the failure. Be intentionally reflective about how the unpleasant experience is gonna make us better.

Then........................tee it up again!

UbiquiVision

The best leaders I know keep us all pointed in the right direction. They make sure we all know where we're headed and why we're headed there. 

They relentlessly communicate the Vision by...

• Making the Vision synonymous with the brand.
• Hiring people who share the Vision.
• Articulating the Vision across a plethora of communication portals.
• Incentivizing progress toward the Vision.
• Building the Vision into the systems.

Even if the contexts are changing (and they always are) and the next steps a bit uncertain (and they often are), those wise leaders keep us all focused on where we are headed. They make the Vision ubiquitous. 

But.......what happens if there is no Vision? Or, if the leader can't/won't enact the strategies listed above? The organization languishes listlessly. (Not hard to predict how that story ends.)

DeathTrajectory

Most often, humans and organizations die from within. As individual humans and as organizations, lack of attention to our "health" accelerates the trajectory toward death. Some argue quite convincingly that healthspan is really more important than lifespan.  

Some things we can focus on in our organizational lives that foster both healthspan and lifespan...

• Purpose - Are we living with fidelity to our "calling," the reason we exist?
• Nutrition - Are we paying close attention to the "stuff we put in" to our lives (Food? Learning? Resources?).
• Peace - Are we taking time daily to notice the good stuff and be thankful for the blessings?
• Holisticness - Are we regularly acknowledging and honoring the contributions of each of the parts and people that make up the whole?
• Accounting - Are we honestly looking in the mirror and at our work with an eye of "ownership" rather than victimhood?
• Improvement - Reflecting on all the above, are we taking small but intentional steps each day to get better? 

This is what the most vibrant organizations do, day in and day out. Works as a recipe for us as individuals, too.

The death part is inevitable. The path toward it, however, is largely in our control. 

ShelvingTomb

Grand plans and lofty projects are often hatched as result of stakeholder conversations. Most of them look and feel extremely important. Some are.

Far too often they are codified (in a three-ring binder) and put on a shelf, usually somewhere in the Boss's office or on a buried page of the website.

Then..........................they die. 

Why? Some reasons that plans/projects die:

• No one is assigned to lead and be the champion of the project.
• The project "champion" has little or no authority act upon.
• Resistors (there are always resistors) are given too much moxie.
• Insufficient, or no, resources are allocated to the project.
• Forecasting the barriers and challenges never happens.
• The plans (which usually mean significant change of some kind) never get consistently and clearly communicated.
• The plan/project is never, or rarely, monitored after the initial crafting.

There is much wisdom in the old metaphor of "sand castles"....

Execution is a craft (the combo of science + art). A learnable skill, if we wish to learn it. And MUCH harder than the crafting of the plan.

AuthenticLeadership

The best leaders I know emanate an aura of authenticity. They tend to put us at ease -- with them, with ourselves, with the challenges we face together.

Those impactful leaders understand that the team is smarter than the individual and that the team needs the best each individual can offer. 

I often see those authentic leaders tackle complex issues NOT by putting their predetermined solutions on the table, but rather by asking questions like...

"What pieces of the puzzle do we still not have?"

"What are our options for handling this?"

"Who might we consult with that can provide valuable insight before we move forward?"

"How have we handled similar sticky issues in the past, and what did we learn from it?"

Notice that each of those questions strongly implies that the leader is LISTENING to others. 

For those of us who find ourselves in leadership roles, perhaps the foundation of authenticity is the assumption that we have much to learn. The stronger the team, the more we learn.

GrowthMeter

I have long been convinced that the day we stop learning and growing is the day we put our first foot in the grave.

If that is true (or even close to true), then how might we be measuring our growth?

Learning new skills?

Finding a new way to serve others?

Reading in unfamiliar genres?

Experiencing completely novel stuff?

Engaging with people we don't know (especially some who don't look and think like we do)?

Taking classes (even if we already have full transcripts)?

We each get to choose whether or not we're gonna grow, and the metrics of that growth. The scariest option of all is choosing both no growth and no metrics.

Yep, we can start anew today...

Politics

Those of us who are breathing must live with the impact of politics in our lives. (I'm not sure that holds for hermits.) It is especially true for those of us who work in organizations. It matters not the type.

One of my valued mentors provides this admonition: “You'd better understand how the game is played, but know you don’t have to kiss the ring.” The same mentor asserts that "every decision is a political decision." Wise counsel on both fronts.  

Some key strategies we can leverage in navigating tricky political waters include:

• KNOW what we believe and be transparent in sharing those beliefs
• Act on those beliefs dependably
• Resist being openly judgmental/critical of others
• Avoid pettiness 
• Strive always to raise others up
• Assume there are NO SECRETS

A good definition of Integrity is when our actions consistently align with the things we believe/espouse. Folks can then have TRUST in knowing what to expect from us. 

Cascading

The airline industry uses the phrase "cascading effect" to explain airplane crashes. The assertion is that it's rarely just one thing that brings down an aircraft. Rather, it's one small thing that triggers another small failure that results in yet another malfunction until .... the cascading of all those small things becomes too much for the plane to remain airborne.

As individuals, and as organizations, we also witness the cascading impact of the decisions we made and are making on a daily basis. That cascading can be moving us toward failure, or toward success.

Engaging in reflection on the choices made decades ago, years ago, months ago, and minutes ago can be most enlightening with regard to the next decision(s) we make. 

Looking in a clear-eyed and honest way at the results we're currently getting is the first and best step to inform our next decision. There's plenty of data to consider, and not nearly all of it exists in spreadsheet form.

SuccessTwins

TONS have been written and produced in the interest of unlocking the keys to successful leadership. We've all read, seen, and heard the voluminous advice and admonitions. 

In my profession of education we often refer to the "knowing-doing gap." It's that void between the valuable knowledge we've acquired and the actual application of that knowledge in some meaningful way.

Many impactful leaders I've observed over the years implement a plethora of powerful strategies that move the organizations they lead toward the goals they desire. They know the stuff, but applying it effectively seems elusive. 

The MOST effective leaders, however, disproportionately spend their time, effort, and resources on two things (I'll call them the Success Twins). 

What are those Success Twins? 

• Vision - Clarity of direction and intention is communicated relentlessly, in simple terms, across all internal and external stakeholder groups and platforms. Those leaders make persistently clear Why we're doing what we're doing, Where we're going, and How we can tell how well we're doing.
• People - These superb leaders major in knowing and understanding the team members, growing and developing them tirelessly, and placing them in roles that fit them and serve the organization well. No resource in the organization is more potent (or more destructive) than its people. 

Vision & People! 

(Maybe that'd be a good tattoo for leaders to consider adding...)

DummkopfStuff

Dummkopf is a German expression for "blockhead" or "stupid person."

Those of us in leadership roles can appear to be a dummkopf when we:

• Procrastinate.
• Avoid difficult conversations.
• Assume the status quo will stay so.
• Re-deploy plans that failed the first time.
• Think and act from a short-term perspective.
• Fail to mentor new or young players on the team.
• Don't do our homework, and don't hold others accountable for doing theirs.

We are wise to dodge our inner dummkopf.

InfluenceLevers

Most of us want to be able to have some influence. 

Being able to influence others sometimes serves us personally (con men/women are notable and obvious examples). Sometimes being able to influence others serves our team's interests/positions (professional negotiators and many political leaders fit into this category). In notable (too rare) instances, being able to influence others toward a common greater good seems the underlying motivation (exemplary Servant Leaders wear this mantle). 

Observing, listening to, and reading the works from that Servant Leader category reveals some powerful levers they skillfully use when "moving" others:

• They emanate a genuine disposition of CARING. They do care, and aren't afraid to show it.
• They practice active and powerful LISTENING, ensuring that the "other" is heard, and heard well.
• They show EMPATHY in their interactions, both through trying to understand the "other" and expressing it openly.

The use of these Influence Levers is a powerful way for us to invite others into meaningful conversations, subsequent planning, and ultimate action. 

And it energizes all of us for the challenging work that lies ahead.

DecisionPoints

The messiness of life requires us to make decisions. The more people involved, the more complex the decisions to be made. The more risk involved, the more consequential the decision.

Valued mentors over the years have shared with me some solid wisdom in the decision making process:

• Ground all decisions in our deeply held principles. Never forsake those.
• When time affords, seek the counsel of wise others who have faced similar decisions.
• Forecast extensively the then-what-happens? scenarios of the decision options.
• Always factor in the impact of our decision on others.
• Pilot decisions when possible, to "test the waters."
• Be willing to change a decision if it proves untenable.
• Take as much time as is prudent to make the decision. 
• The best decision in the world, made one minute too late.....................is futile.

Happy decisioning!

AnchorsAweigh

Perseverating on past mistakes and fails can become an anchor. 

Failure can mire us in doubt and misgiving and hesitation. Or, it can propel us toward betterness.

Some ways we can use the past as launching pad instead of an anchor...

• Focus on who we want to be, not on what we did or didn't do.
• Assess carefully and articulate clearly what we think caused the fail, rather than focusing on the result of the fail.
• Don't forget to acknowledge the wins and successes.
• Modify our behavior -- resource allocation, engagement strategies, expenditure of time, etc. -- toward achieving the outcomes we desire (which almost always means a "change" in previous practice).
• LEARN from the mistake/fail through examination and LEARN toward the corrective plan of action. Reflective practice, daily and intentionally, is key.

While some circumstances are outside our control, there are a bazillion things we can adjust that are within our span of influence. The habits we adopt and practice are key...

Anchors aweigh!