Escape Excellence: How to Have Sustainable Peak Performance and Lower Costs

Posted on by Bill Wilkie

Ever since the highly influential book, In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, was published nearly thirty years ago, leaders have been, well, in search of excellence, seeking to drive excellent performance into their organizations through this and subsequent waves of business and organizational movements such TQM, Six Sigma, reengineering, moving from good to great, applying emotional intelligence and more.

But as we’ll see, excellence itself should be considered a trap that actually undermines the very performance it seeks to accomplish. It can even leave us fallen at the 15 yard line with a season-ending injury, a shell of our former selves, never tasting ultimate victory. The problem with excellence is that it is unsustainable, and this limitation lies in its very core.

More than that, it’s self-undermining. As we’ll see, excellence is something we go through, not a final resting place. In the end, settling for excellence actually prevents us from performing at the highest levels and wondering what went wrong.

It makes us good, but holds us back from great. The good news is that we’ve diagnosed this excellence trap and its accompanying malaise closely, analyzing its drivers and costs, and created a way forward to enduring success.

The Excellence Trap

Here’s how excellence traps us and undermines us: on the one hand, in order to be good, or very good, or excellent at something, we have to bring five things to the task: Effort, Proficiency, Expertise, Commitment, and Acumen. I call these the drivers, or even the virtues, of excellence. There’s no way around them, and they are powerful and necessary qualities to have and to maximize on our road to achievement. Excellent performers in every walk of life, from CEO’s to trumpet players to plumbers, achieve their aims as a result of applying these five drivers.

So far, so good. But the problem starts when we experience how each of these drivers are in fact finite. They are in limited supply. They are not self-sustaining or renewable. They deplete. As a result, excellence is merely a stage we must pass through. Every master performer, from sports to the arts and beyond, knows this. Consider:

1. EFFORT Effort is work – pure calories in action. It’s required to achieve anything; no pain, no gain. Without effort, we remain dreamers. But effort is confined to our finite, physical capacities, so it is not self- sustaining and therefore can’t endure endlessly. Eventually, without rest, we tire and sustain injury.

2. PROFICIENCY Proficiency is an acquired capability, a specific technique or skill required to do a task well. We develop and hone these skills in order to become excellent. But, while proficiency tells us what we need to do, as a cost of entry to excellence, it neither identifies nor leverages what we uniquely can do. Proficiency lacks direction, purpose and voice.

3. EXPERTISE Expertise is specialized, accrued knowledge and know-how. It can differentiate us, but it doesn’t see to the heart or to the horizon of things. Expertise has no vision.

4. COMMITMENT Commitment is willpower, and the readiness to sacrifice in order to reach a desired outcome. Commitment stays the course, but it can become rigid and inflexible. Often it is the mental partner of effort, failing to see itself wearing out and becoming frayed and stiff, especially as circumstances change.

5. ACUMEN Acumen is the strategic ability to make good choices in a complex, changing and competitive environment. But it does not tell us which goals to pursue or why they are important. Acumen is merely tactical.

The Costs of Excellence

Unfortunately, and ironically, when we experience these five drivers which make us excellent in the first place starting to flag, it is extremely common to push harder on them, demanding more of them. But if they are depleting, then we will injure ourselves. We are using them past their ability to help us, beyond their areas of effectiveness.

When we do this, we pass the point of diminishing returns and actually start to do damage and incur costs. And then this puts downward pressure on us that can lead to mediocrity, pain, joylessness, burn out and losing our edge. When the excellence drivers run out, a sickness is released. This hard use after a sell-by date is the largest hidden cost in business, for individuals and teams, and therefore for the business itself.

In the world of athletics or the arts, it is responsible for things like injury, choking, stunning defeats, writers block, and loss of ideas and inspiration. In business, we see it in tired people, infrequent or small  innovation, dead wood, turf wars, incrementalism, misalignment, poor morale, increased sick time, increased attrition, and a general malaise that hurts the bottom line – and all for reasons few understand. But once we are armed with this knowledge, if we look closely at individuals and teams, or entire organizations that appear off their mark, even for all their talent, good intentions and hard work, it doesn’t take long to diagnose the effects of the excellence trap.

After all, everyone is working as hard as they can to be excellent. Ironically, the medicine usually prescribed (to be more excellent or to do more of what made us excellent) – the rush for more energy, proficiency, expertise, commitment and acumen, after they have depleted or outlived their usefulness – is just to invite more of what is hurting us. This is like flushing out the system with water when the water itself is stagnant, funky, and germ infested.

The more we rely upon what made us excellent after reaching the falling point, the more effort becomes entropy, proficiency becomes technocracy, expertise becomes rigidity, commitment becomes fixation, and acumen becomes cunning. And that’s not pretty. It’s costly and painful.

Yet paradoxically, without help, it is often the best people and companies that will suffer from the excellence trap the most, because they are the first to deplete, to empty the storehouse of what made them excellent in the first place. But a company full of cunning, rigid, egoistic, tired, risk averse, turf conscious people hellbent on outcomes is no fun, and extraordinarily inefficient.

So something new is needed, something beyond excellence, and something truly sustainable in relation to performance. Fortunately areas like athletics, the arts, and others have always known a better way. Let’s learn from them.

The Mastery Solution

Let’s call the thing beyond excellence Mastery. It is what great athletes, performers, improv comics, martial artists, composers, visionaries, sages, and the greatest leaders have been steeped and coached in, but it has remained all but unknown to business. It promises self-sustaining peak performance, with greater outcomes and lower costs.

There are two things that are crucial to know about this kind of mastery right away. The first is that mastery is qualitatively different from excellence; it is not a higher level of excellence, the most excellent excellence – it is different in kind, not in degree. Here I differ emphatically with Malcolm Gladwell’s dubious claim that mastery is a function of, on average, 10,000 hours of effort.

Nonsense. 10,000 hours work only gets you mere proficiency, even if it is very advanced proficiency. Every master knows this. (Think of the vapid virtuoso, the stunning technician with no taste, voice or vision, and nothing to say). And second, mastery requires that we replace the five drivers of excellence with five new specific drivers of mastery, making five shifts to attain this. (Note: as we transition to mastery we’re leaving talk of achievement behind, and replacing it with attainment.)

ENERGY

Energy is the stuff of life itself. It’s dynamic and self-sustaining. As physics tells us, you can transform energy, but you can’t destroy it. It never goes away. Energy is also the capacity for work. And it is fundamentally generative, so it demands to be expressed in action. Energy can’t be suppressed; it can’t sit still. Important: we don’t create it, we simply leverage it. We don’t spend it, we release it. We tap into it. Masters know this. That’s why they are fundamentally relaxed and at peace, never choking, even when the heat is on and they are pushed to the limit.

EXPRESSION

Expression, specifically self-expression, is energy in action. It is the state of real un-inhibition that has the ability to drive change. Expression doesn’t require self-motivation or have concern for outcomes; it simply puts it out there.

PERSPECTIVE Perspective provides an authoritative interpretation of the here and now, as well as what is to come. It sees deeply into the nature of people and circumstances with honesty, integrity, insight, and fearlessness. It knows the score, the real story. Perspective makes us truly visionary. Many people in excellence try to have a vision and lead from it. But a vision without perspective is merely an ego-fantasy. It does more harm than good. Masters have perspective.

INTENTION Intention has the power to make vision real. It is what happens when we get free from distraction and decide to come from our core. Intention says “yes,” with confidence and purity of purpose. True intention is different from will. Will is about ego and power, and it’s prevalent in the Excellence Trap. Not so with Intention. True intention is rare, so it both inspires people and attracts the necessary resources to make vision real.

WISDOM Wisdom is the sum of our Energy, Expression, Perspective, and Intention. It’s all about knowing what is true, right, or lasting based upon experience and understanding, discernment and insight. Wisdom is self-validating: it evolves us from being merely correct to being right. Wisdom is also directly linked to our legacy: it lives beyond us and abides in everyone and everything that we touch. Wisdom inspires loyalty and is the ultimate source of authority.

The Failed Alternatives

Before moving on to the how-to of mastery, let’s look at five strategies that are deployed in failed attempts to deal with the costs of excellence. Rather than fix the problem, these only dig the hole deeper and increase costs. Sadly, most people will use one or more of them eventually in an attempt to climb out of the excellence trap. See if they look familiar and ring true. They are:

DENIAL Denial says “tune out.” It ignores the solid reality of the limits, corruptions, and costs incurred inside the excellence trap and and seeks merely to tread water. This is the strategy of the weak.

BRAVADO Bravado says “tough it out.” It lives with the problem rather than decisively solving it. Unlike Denial, it accepts the reality of the challenge; it just ignores its real impact. This is the strategy of the brutally foolish.

RESIGNATION Resignation sees “no way out.” It accepts defeat and diverts attention away from tangible results to focus instead on future fantasies and exit strategies. This is the strategy of the defeated dreamer.

ESCAPISM Escapism wants to “drop out.” It leaves the game rather than working to change it. This is the strategy of the quitter.

BALANCE Balance is a “cop out.” Balance is the mother of all failed strategies, but it remains very popular. If you are “seeking balance,” stop now! You have been sold a bill of goods. Balance juggles everything and accomplishes nothing. It seeks to manage the situation rather than change the game. This is the strategy of the duped. There is a way out, but these are not it.

The How-To Paradox

The only way forward is to change the game, to leave behind excellence and what brought us to it, replacing excellence with mastery and a new set of drivers. However, there is a paradox. Consider: if we attempt to shift from excellence to mastery using the methods we know, specifically those of excellence, we won’t get there. Because, again, they are different in kind. We’ll fail, grow frustrated, add insult and injury, and give up.

And we would be perfectly rational to do so. So not only do we need new drivers to achieve mastery, we need a new way to make the shifts to what drives mastery in the first place! Not to worry, there is a way, also known to the great masters and top performers outside of business. The paradox is that in order to make these shifts, we must set the shifts themselves aside; we don’t work on them directly.

Instead, we work on something else and find that the shifts then occur of their own accord, as an outcome. We find our way to our ultimate destination via an indirect path. This is confusing to excellence, but crystal clear to mastery.

The Indirect Path

Put simply, we experience the five shifts to mastery when we get out of our own way, acting with self knowledge, spontaneity, confidence, fearlessness, and integrity. We do this by identifying and working from our core, or what we call our Dynamic Essence (essence because it is distilled; dynamic because it always wants to be in action). It changes everything, bringing us to mastery. While it is the topic for a much longer piece, in our work we work to discover and release this dynamic essence through a structured inquiry that is applied to leaders, teams, entire cultures, and, with a few modifications, even brands. This inquiry is built around six core drivers that together add up to the whole: the entire person, team, organization, culture or the brand. These drivers are:

STORY Story reveals the narrative we tell ourselves and others, the interpretive frame that we live inside.

VALUE Value reveals what we give priority and precedence to, what is vitally important to us and at stake for us, both ethically and economically.

FLOW Flow reveals when time stands still and we operate effortlessly and joyfully.

PEAK Peak reveals what has been best and highest for us.

PURPOSE Purpose reveals what our passion, work, and attention have all been for.

CONNECTION Connection reveals how we relate to ourselves, others and the world around us.   With insights into each of these, we identify and release our dynamic essence, our strongest asset. Then we live from it, at first consciously, but increasingly unconsciously; at first with trepidation, but increasingly fearlessly. And when that happens, lo and behold, we leave the depleted drivers of excellence behind, with all their hidden yet painful costs, and make the five shifts to mastery.

The good news is that it is not an either-or game; every degree of change yields rewards. We can do it a bit at a time, until we can be called masterful. We have now applied in business, and in our personal lives, what the great masters have always known: how to perform at the heights, consistently, safely, and sustainably. This is mastery, reached by the unique mastery path. And it changes everything.  

Benefits and Rewards

As we saw, excellence only takes us so far, and eventually turns and bites us. Not so mastery. Masterful people and organizations don’t burn out, they don’t choke, they don’t suffer avoidable injury, they don’t incur hidden costs, they are not the victims of circumstance, they don’t peak, they don’t panic or sweat. Instead, they stay in peak performance mode, with joy, integrity, and grace. They operate with lower costs. They deliver and keep delivering, and in new ways.

They attract the best people, they make their own luck, they have self-sustaining capacity, they read the currents and ride the wave. They are often inexplicable to others trapped in excellence. They win deep admiration and trust, becoming the go-to person in a crisis. They never become irrelevant. They smile a lot, as if they know a secret or the joke. They deepen. They lead. They win. They contribute. They leave a legacy.

And like a pure vibrating musical note in absence of friction to slow it down, they resonate broadly, they sustain. They neither stop nor are stopped, until their own good end. And they get there only by leaving excellence behind.

 

What’s Your Promise?

Posted on by Will Marre

When I was in eight grade, I read 25 biographies of great leaders. They ranged from Alexander the Great to Benjamin Franklin. One thing I noticed even at that age is that they all had one thing in common. They accomplished something significant, in some cases, world changing, because they had the will to do it.

The other surprising truth was that they almost all operated on vision, rather than a specific plan. What this means is that they all seemed to have an inspiring idea of what they wanted to accomplish, but developed their strategies by paying close attention to developing circumstances as they happened.

As I got older and began to work with business leaders, I was disappointed to discover that few of them had a big inspiring idea… at least not one that emerged from their soul. In fact, most of them have been controlled by their boards or financial analysts whose expectations are almost solely focused on growth and profits rather than creating value. This reduces most leaders into managers struggling to compete in a “me too” world.

What I’ve come to believe is that if you really want to do something significant you have to stand for something, believe in something, be driven by something that is bigger than just making money or even success as others define it. 

Over time, I’ve come to describe this drive as your “promise.” Your promise is bigger than a vision. It is a specific commitment to make a difference… a difference that drives you. It turns out that to be driven by a personal promise is not impractical or foolish. In fact, virtually all business leaders who we truly admire are up to something bigger than simply making money.

They are driven to create unique value… value that matters to human beings. This is true regardless of whether these leaders are creating robust and elegant computers or inventing new life-changing devices or inventing micro finance to help lift the desperately poor to self-sufficiency. What these few business leaders have in common is that they understand that business is a powerful vehicle for both self-expression and moral ambition.

The other distinctive quality of these leaders is that they oppose conventional thinking. They ignore benchmarks. They over-invest in a few things that really matter and strip away everything that doesn’t. They rarely pay attention to the stock price of their company and often tell investors who may not like what they’re doing to invest elsewhere. I find these leaders to be frequently envied but rarely copied. Perhaps the reason for this is that you can’t copy someone else’s promise. It doesn’t work that way.

Leaders who have a promise to keep always face moments of truth when their bankers, investors and boards question them. During these moments of siege leaders will fold if they don’t display the confidence that only comes from an intrinsic commitment to an ideal that is bigger than themselves. They would simply remain dreamers – people with bright imaginations but low resolve. One thing I’ve learned from leaders driven by an inner promise is that they’re more effective, more successful and more inspiring then ordinary leaders. It’s not because they’re smarter, but because they are relentless in finding solutions to the problems that stand in their way.

After coaching leaders for over 30 years, I’m convinced that the source of our promise comes from the deepest intrinsic part of our essential being. Discovering our promise takes more than self-awareness. It requires soul-awareness. So how about you?

If you could change anything and it would work… what would it be? There are six great needs in the world today; six great causes that are at the core of vital human need. These are:

1. Ending ignorance through education

2. Ending poverty though self-sufficiency

3. Conquering disease and improving total health

4. Ending violence and creating peace

5. Ending oppression and promoting human rights

6. Preserving our natural environment and creating sustainable abundance

Do any of these causes inspire you? I’m not suggesting you start a nonprofit. It seems we have enough of those. What I am asking is how might you, with your talent, skills and experience, turn your career or your business into a means of creating value that addresses the real needs of our time? In helping many leaders find their promise let me assure you – this does not require taking a vow of poverty only a vow of purpose.

So…

If you could state your promise… the “give” that you could give to the world, what would it be?

 

What’s Your Promise?

Posted on by Real Leaders Inc.

When I was in eight grade, I read 25 biographies of great leaders. They ranged from Alexander the Great to Benjamin Franklin. One thing I noticed even at that age is that they all had one thing in common. They accomplished something significant, in some cases, world changing, because they had the will to do it.

The other surprising truth was that they almost all operated on vision, rather than a specific plan. What this means is that they all seemed to have an inspiring idea of what they wanted to accomplish, but developed their strategies by paying close attention to developing circumstances as they happened.

As I got older and began to work with business leaders, I was disappointed to discover that few of them had a big inspiring idea… at least not one that emerged from their soul. In fact, most of them have been controlled by their boards or financial analysts whose expectations are almost solely focused on growth and profits rather than creating value. This reduces most leaders into managers struggling to compete in a “me too” world.

What I’ve come to believe is that if you really want to do something significant you have to stand for something, believe in something, be driven by something that is bigger than just making money or even success as others define it. 

Over time, I’ve come to describe this drive as your “promise.” Your promise is bigger than a vision. It is a specific commitment to make a difference… a difference that drives you. It turns out that to be driven by a personal promise is not impractical or foolish. In fact, virtually all business leaders who we truly admire are up to something bigger than simply making money.

They are driven to create unique value… value that matters to human beings. This is true regardless of whether these leaders are creating robust and elegant computers or inventing new life-changing devices or inventing micro finance to help lift the desperately poor to self-sufficiency. What these few business leaders have in common is that they understand that business is a powerful vehicle for both self-expression and moral ambition.

The other distinctive quality of these leaders is that they oppose conventional thinking. They ignore benchmarks. They over-invest in a few things that really matter and strip away everything that doesn’t. They rarely pay attention to the stock price of their company and often tell investors who may not like what they’re doing to invest elsewhere. I find these leaders to be frequently envied but rarely copied. Perhaps the reason for this is that you can’t copy someone else’s promise. It doesn’t work that way.

Leaders who have a promise to keep always face moments of truth when their bankers, investors and boards question them. During these moments of siege leaders will fold if they don’t display the confidence that only comes from an intrinsic commitment to an ideal that is bigger than themselves. They would simply remain dreamers – people with bright imaginations but low resolve. One thing I’ve learned from leaders driven by an inner promise is that they’re more effective, more successful and more inspiring then ordinary leaders. It’s not because they’re smarter, but because they are relentless in finding solutions to the problems that stand in their way.

After coaching leaders for over 30 years, I’m convinced that the source of our promise comes from the deepest intrinsic part of our essential being. Discovering our promise takes more than self-awareness. It requires soul-awareness. So how about you?

If you could change anything and it would work… what would it be? There are six great needs in the world today; six great causes that are at the core of vital human need. These are:

1. Ending ignorance through education

2. Ending poverty though self-sufficiency

3. Conquering disease and improving total health

4. Ending violence and creating peace

5. Ending oppression and promoting human rights

6. Preserving our natural environment and creating sustainable abundance

Do any of these causes inspire you? I’m not suggesting you start a nonprofit. It seems we have enough of those. What I am asking is how might you, with your talent, skills and experience, turn your career or your business into a means of creating value that addresses the real needs of our time? In helping many leaders find their promise let me assure you – this does not require taking a vow of poverty only a vow of purpose.

So…

If you could state your promise… the “give” that you could give to the world, what would it be?

 

5 Ways To Make An Impact

Posted on by Ashoka

The recent Ashoka Change Week saw two hot topics being debated: social enterprise and how to create a “triple bottom line.”

The emerging movement of social enterprise around the world has compelled a growing number of businesses to consider their social impact. Both traditional businesses and citizen sector organisations are increasingly taking on the mantra of making money while making the world a better place.

The creation of the “triple-bottom line” – that of people, planet and profit – is becoming more and more part of the traditional business model. Central to understanding the triple bottom line is the desire to create impact. But how do social enterprises ensure impact? Here are our top five ways:

1. Communicate clearly You influence your contacts through the stories you tell. “It’s all about the snowball effect,” says Navroze Mehta, Ashoka Support Network Member. “Be clear about what you do, how you do it, and what you want. Repeat it over and over, so you don’t even have to think about it.”

By being confident in your own story, it lets others experience your impact for themselves. So don’t be vague about your vision. Engage listeners by using vivid examples to activate as many senses as you can. Show and tell people about your journey and invite them to join.

2. Stay on target As entrepreneurs, what you start with and what you end with are rarely the same. Throw out the notion of complex business plans and five-year budget projections. Stay focused on your vision and the impact you want to create, even as your business model changes. Have clear goals and work together with your mentors and advisors to constantly make them a reality.

3. Create a shared vision with your partners “It’s a two-way street. If there’s a disconnect, the magic doesn’t happen,” says Kovin Naidoo, Ashoka Fellow. What ever you are working on, you will be working with other people. Especially in social enterprise, collaboration is key. Create your vision with your partners and mentors not in spite of them. You are all partners together in creating impact.

4. Rewire the empathetic feelings If you want to make an impact, keep empathy at the forefront of your mind. The real people you are working for are not investors but beneficiaries. Never forget why you started and who you are helping. Empathy is the fuel that will keep you and your team motivated in the hard times.

5. Stop doing everything, start doing something Don’t fall into the trap of being a superhero and trying to do everything yourself. This will ultimately results in you being mediocre at everything. Use your supporters and team to help you focus on the big picture. Stop working in the business and start working on the business.

Words by Jonah Brotman

We are all the Same

Posted on by Keith Merron

Last year, an aspiring artist, Jonathan Harris, visited Bhutan to learn about why this country is so imbued with happiness. Bhutan, is noted for measuring its Gross Happiness Product, rather than what we do in western cultures, which is to measure our Gross National Product. This model cares more about social and spiritual well-being than financial well-being. Jonathan’s project, Balloons for Bhutan documents his effort in capturing “a portrait of happiness in the last Himalayan kingdom.”

As part of this project, Jonathan asked 117 people of all different shapes, ages, and occupations five simple questions related to happiness: What makes them happy; what is their happiest memory; what is their favorite joke; what is their happiness level on a scale of 1 to 10 and if they could make one wish, what would it be. He then gave each person a certain quantity of balloons, that related to their level of happiness.

On one balloon, he wrote each person’s wish and then strung it up on a sacred mountain pass. What strikes me about this particular story is the artist’s ingenuity. He combines artistry with humanity in a way that teaches us something meaningful and helps to connect us all. He also shares his lessons freely on Youtube.

You can see his Tedtalk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_harris_collects_stories.html

Even more striking is his underlying message. This particular project, and countless others like it popping up all over the world, are showing us all how the world has changed in a meaningful way over the last 10 years. Through the ingenuity and courage of people like Jonathan, we can now source stories that demonstrate how we are all connected.

The stories that Jonathan heard and shares with us could have been told in any country in the world and when we hear them we are reminded of our shared humanity. They help cultivate a global consciousness – the awareness that we are all one and must contribute positively to our commonly shared planet. Leaders within business with a global consciousness tend to do a number of things:

  1. Reach out to others with kindness
  2. Search for common ground in conflict
  3. Assume the positive intentions of others and therefore rarely react – instead they respond thoughtfully
  4. Seed win-win solutions
  5. Focus on the needs of the whole system

This is the wave of future leadership and it’s growing as we speak. I teach at Hult International School of Business. In any given year, we have over 2,000 masters level students spread over five different campuses across the globe. Our student body represents 100 different countries. The students come to our particular school, among other things, to learn how to become business leaders in a growing international climate.

They are truly excited to work with people from different nationalities and discover during the course of their work that, while on the surface we all appear different, deep down we all share so much in common. They discover that they all have a desire to make the world a better place, want to do right by their families, hunger for challenges that will help them grow and they want to strive for excellence.

These qualities bind them together in a tapestry of brilliant color and texture. They reach out across boundaries and find delight in discovering themselves, others and the world. The efforts at our school, and similar institutions across the world, give me hope that eventually we will heal the dissonance on our planet.

It may not happen in my lifetime, but I’m hopeful it will happen in my grandchildren’s lifetime, or perhaps seven generations down the road.

 

Where You Place the ‘a’ Matters: Are You “Just a Leader” or a “Just Leader”?

Posted on by Real Leaders Inc.

It’s just a trivial part of speech, just a the letter ‘a,’ no big deal. But it is! How often do we combine the words justice and leadership, especially in the for-profit sector? Obviously it’s a big deal in social enterprises; they focus on ‘social justice.’ But justice has a huge impact on any organization’s ethos and culture. Justice comes from the old French justitia meaning righteousness and equality as well as the Latin justus meaning upright. So how can we apply this virtue in a practical, applicable way as leaders? There are three ways I can think of, and I bet if you try, you can think of more.

I’ll address two: Fair versus Equal  and I versus You. The third, Triple Bottom Line/Corporate Social Responsibility, is better known and discussed, so we’ll leave that for later.

Fair versus Equal. Many of us have been through end of the year or are preparing for mid-year performance management. This is usually not a fun time to be a leader – not all the news is good, requiring honest, forthright discussion that rarely happen. For many of our people, it’s all about that raise or bonus, not ways to grow professionally. That’s why many companies treat their people equally – it’s easier!

We don’t need those hard, open, straightforward discussions about real performance and contribution. We just pay everyone at this level and move on. It’s more objective and clear – just like everyone getting a medal for showing up. Being a leader requires taking the right road, not the easy road. Treating our people fairly requires judgement, subjectivity, and clear communication of expectations and goals on an ongoing basis since the world around us changes all the time.

When we treat our people equally but not fairly, we tell people it’s okay to underperform and under contribute undermining the morale of our dedicated and passionate people and are then surprised when we get mediocre output and outcomes. What if we modify the culture to recognize people fairly, based on their work, effort, passion and results – as individuals and teams? We will be surprised to see the positive difference it will make.

I versus You. The current economic crisis may have exacerbated an extant corporate behavior, climbing the corporate lader and competing for promotions. But what have we really accomplished? We may have the wonderful corner office, but at whose expense and with what impact on results? I often as my corporate colleagues if focusing on ‘I,’ on themselves, has really gotten them the career satisfaction they sought.

As leaders, we need to help our people focus on the ‘You’ – the customer, the recipient of our services and products and you the employee. If we honestly ask ourselves who matters more, ‘I,’ ourselves, our ‘You’ our customer and people, what is our answer? A true leader is a servant who leads. So, is the business about our needs or the needs of ‘others?’

As we really focused on delighting our customers (to quote my friend Steve Denning), which means we will delight our people because they are working on meaningful, purposeful solutions to real needs (outcomes) that result revenues and profits (outputs) that can be reinvested in the delighting our customers?

Or, are we doing this for the next perk, the accolades from our peers, the prestige from our postion? I’m not suggesting total altruism (though that’s not a bad idea!), but I am suggesting we ponder why we’re leading and whom we’re leading – is it about ‘I’ or about ‘You?’ Can we really lead if it’s about us? Would we want to be led by someone who was all about himself? Does our leadership truly reflect our why and who? if someone asked one of our people who mattered to us, ‘I’ or ‘You,’ what would they answer?

Ask yourself two questions: do you treat people equally or fairly (or both) and does your leadership, hence your culture, value ‘You’ over ‘I?’ Just asking!

This post originally appeared on SmartBlog on Leadership, on SmartBrief. Deb’s other posts can be found on her website.

 

Where You Place the ‘a’ Matters: Are You “Just a Leader” or a “Just Leader”?

Posted on by Deb Mills-Scofield

It’s just a trivial part of speech, just a the letter ‘a,’ no big deal. But it is! How often do we combine the words justice and leadership, especially in the for-profit sector? Obviously it’s a big deal in social enterprises; they focus on ‘social justice.’ But justice has a huge impact on any organization’s ethos and culture. Justice comes from the old French justitia meaning righteousness and equality as well as the Latin justus meaning upright. So how can we apply this virtue in a practical, applicable way as leaders? There are three ways I can think of, and I bet if you try, you can think of more.

I’ll address two: Fair versus Equal  and I versus You. The third, Triple Bottom Line/Corporate Social Responsibility, is better known and discussed, so we’ll leave that for later.

Fair versus Equal. Many of us have been through end of the year or are preparing for mid-year performance management. This is usually not a fun time to be a leader – not all the news is good, requiring honest, forthright discussion that rarely happen. For many of our people, it’s all about that raise or bonus, not ways to grow professionally. That’s why many companies treat their people equally – it’s easier!

We don’t need those hard, open, straightforward discussions about real performance and contribution. We just pay everyone at this level and move on. It’s more objective and clear – just like everyone getting a medal for showing up. Being a leader requires taking the right road, not the easy road. Treating our people fairly requires judgement, subjectivity, and clear communication of expectations and goals on an ongoing basis since the world around us changes all the time.

When we treat our people equally but not fairly, we tell people it’s okay to underperform and under contribute undermining the morale of our dedicated and passionate people and are then surprised when we get mediocre output and outcomes. What if we modify the culture to recognize people fairly, based on their work, effort, passion and results – as individuals and teams? We will be surprised to see the positive difference it will make.

I versus You. The current economic crisis may have exacerbated an extant corporate behavior, climbing the corporate lader and competing for promotions. But what have we really accomplished? We may have the wonderful corner office, but at whose expense and with what impact on results? I often as my corporate colleagues if focusing on ‘I,’ on themselves, has really gotten them the career satisfaction they sought.

As leaders, we need to help our people focus on the ‘You’ – the customer, the recipient of our services and products and you the employee. If we honestly ask ourselves who matters more, ‘I,’ ourselves, our ‘You’ our customer and people, what is our answer? A true leader is a servant who leads. So, is the business about our needs or the needs of ‘others?’

As we really focused on delighting our customers (to quote my friend Steve Denning), which means we will delight our people because they are working on meaningful, purposeful solutions to real needs (outcomes) that result revenues and profits (outputs) that can be reinvested in the delighting our customers?

Or, are we doing this for the next perk, the accolades from our peers, the prestige from our postion? I’m not suggesting total altruism (though that’s not a bad idea!), but I am suggesting we ponder why we’re leading and whom we’re leading – is it about ‘I’ or about ‘You?’ Can we really lead if it’s about us? Would we want to be led by someone who was all about himself? Does our leadership truly reflect our why and who? if someone asked one of our people who mattered to us, ‘I’ or ‘You,’ what would they answer?

Ask yourself two questions: do you treat people equally or fairly (or both) and does your leadership, hence your culture, value ‘You’ over ‘I?’ Just asking!

This post originally appeared on SmartBlog on Leadership, on SmartBrief. Deb’s other posts can be found on her website.

 

Fail Safe Is A Myth: Fail To Win Is Real

Posted on by Jim Grew

Ford CEO Alan Mulally behaved radically to kick-start Ford’s recovery: At the annual company meeting of the top 500 leaders, he included in the many awards a special, first-of-its kind award: Failure of the Year.

He called out the winner, and invited him to the stage to receive his award… and to underline his commitment to trying radically, especially when it led to failure! Since the quiet buzz in most organizations pushes for success, it pushes for ‘not-fail’ also. ‘Not-fail’ can’t live with ‘innovate radically’: one will eat the other.

How to ramp up problem-solving to innovation? Make it safe to fail. Reward trying, not results. Watch the performance jump! Look closely at how you and your top leaders react to failure, because all your people are watching.

Here’s a 2-step process that works: 1. Acknowledge the failure. 2. Encourage the effort, not the result. Here’s the language:

1) “That didn’t work like we hoped, did it?”

2) “Nice job of analyzing the problem. Your answer sure made sense. Keep on thinking and trying your best ideas….we’ll make progress that way.” Or:

1) “That one didn’t do so well did it.”

2) “I like how you dug down to see what was really going on. That’s a great approach. I can’t wait to see what you dig up next!”

You’ll be applauding the results, and your people will love it!

Take the Personal Leadership Quiz

Posted on by Will Marre

Whether you run a company, a consulting practice or just your own life, you are a leader. We all are.

The work of leadership consists of three things.

First, you must have a clear direction… a vision of what you want to accomplish. Second, you must be able to engage and motivate others. There are virtually no worthwhile accomplishments that can be attained without influencing others. Third, you must be able to set and achieve goals that are milestones in the pursuit of your vision.

As you can see, whether you run large enterprises, are an artist or focusing at being a parent, you must do all these three things well to be effective. Yet, there is more to life than simply being effective. Fifty years of research on life satisfaction has taken scholars to where it all started… the work of Abraham Maslow.

Maslow is most famous for developing a hierarchy of needs. In his view, people were always motivated by what they didn’t have. His range of motivations started with physical needs, graduated to social connection, and culminated with something he called self-actualization. Self-actualization occurs at the intersection between effectiveness and happiness. His work was considered to be a breakthrough because he was the first prominent psychologist to study very high functioning people.

The connection between Maslow’s research and leadership is profound. I’ve seen this over my 30 years of working with leaders and coaching them in both their professional and personal lives.

Just as Maslow discovered that only 10% of the population was coming to self-actualization, I have also observed that relatively few leaders are consistently both effective and happy. I use the word happy here because its core definition contains both contentment and optimism. Today many clients are resistant to the idea that self-actualization is an attainable goal. They complain that the pressures of business competition or the competing commitments of modern life are so intense that coping is the best they can do. Self-actualization is something to be achieved in retirement when the bonfire of life has settled into embers. That’s missing the point. Self-actualization isn’t the destination… it’s a means to a well-lived life.

It’s the substance of great leadership. The point of our challenges is that they drive us to self-actualization… doing our best and becoming our best. In order to get this point across, I’ve developed a simple quiz based on Maslow’s eight markers of the self-actualizing person. It just takes a minute… and see where you are.

Respond to each statement using the following scale: 1 = almost never true 2 = rarely true 3 = frequently true 4 = almost always true (You may notice this is a four-point scale. There is no middle, ‘sometimes true’ statement. That’s because four point scales have proven to be more accurate because they force people to make a clear choice rather than default to an “I am not sure” response. The result is more actionable data.

1. I experience my life vividly. I feel genuine emotions daily and am fully present at important moments throughout the day. (1-2-3-4)

2. I make choices that pust me out of my comfort zone that foster my personal growth and development. (1-2-3-4)

3. I am attuned to my inner nature and act with integrity with what I value, believe and feel. (1-2-3-4)

4. I am honest with myself and take full responsibility for the consequences of my decisions without excuses. (1-2-3-4)

5. I  have the courage to not manipulate or bully others when I am not getting what I want. (1-2-3-4)

6. In any situation I’m willing to both stand out and fit in based on who I truly am rather than the expectations of others. (1-2-3-4)

7. I have an ongoing process for reaching my potential by constantly learning and doing the work necessary to fulfill my self-vision. (1-2-3-4)

8. I frequently have peak experiences in which I feel authentic closeness to others and being extraordinarily effective in my work. (1-2-3-4)

After you answer each question on the 1 to 4 scale, add up your total. If you score 24 or above… congratulations.

You swim in the pool of high-functioning leaders and individuals. If you score below 24, perhaps it’s a little more clear on what you might work on to get in the pool.

But here is the hard truth…the research on self-knowledge with over 50,000 leaders show that the person who has the most inaccurate view of you is you!

So, to gain deeper insight… after you answer these questions, have someone that knows you well answer these same questions in terms of how they experience you. Do they see you the same way you see yourself? That might give you a clear starting point on what to work on that will both increase your success and your happiness, which is my hope for everyone.