Dave Anderson's Blog, page 6

Fear and the Micromanager

“She’s a micromanager! Fifteen years and she is still looking over my shoulder checking up on me. She still doesn’t trust me!”

Micromanaging? Some say this is a trust issue. That may be what it looks like from the outside. But, inside the micromanager the issue is often plain old-fashioned fear.

The Root – Fear of Failure

Many micromanagers are scared of failure. The idea of something going wrong on their watch prevents them from letting go of the details. They spend all their time in mistake prevention mode instead of proactively leading.

Fear prevents most of us from reaching our potential. A leader who is scared of failure will not only fall short of her own potential, but she will also stifle the potential of everyone on her team.

The micromanager believes that if she knows everything that goes on, she can make sure nothing bad happens. If she can prevent bad things from happening, she believes she is doing her job.

The problem is she is rarely doing her job. She is usually doing other people’s jobs.

The Courage To Let Go

Most leaders know how people should do a job because they did it in the past. It can be very easy in this case to stay involved in the part of the business the leader did well before being promoted.

We must have the Courage to step away and spend time focused on areas where we have not already proven our expertise. We already proved we could do that job.  Fear of failing in the other areas can keep us too involved in the areas we know best. We must let go and stop doing the job we were promoted out of.

The Courage To Delegate

When we delegate, we hand over control to others. The idea of other people doing something we believe we can do will turn many of us into micromanagers. The downside of delegating is that someone may accomplish the task in a different way than we would have. What they do might not be wrong, it is just different.  We should not act like they are wrong.

When we delegate, we need to have the Courage to let others do it their way. It may not be our way. It may not be the most efficient way the first time they do it either. But, instead of stepping in front of them and taking over, we need to let them gain the experience and coach them so they can learn and grow.

The Courage To Let Others Grow

If we never let my people do things without our help, they will never grow. They will become dependent on us. When we delegate, we are actually doing the job of a leader – developing others.

It may be more efficient for us to do it ourselves in the short term, but in the long term if they never learn, we become the bottleneck that is slowing down our team. If every task or decision needs to be filtered through us, then ou fear is bogging us all down.

The Bottom Line:

A micromanager is someone who has allowed her fears to take over. The micromanager becomes more concerned about the processes being done the way she wants them to be done than she is about the growth of the people she is responsible for leading.

It is interesting that we call her a micromanager and not a microleader. Maybe that is because a real leader is not more worried about processes than she is about her people. Maybe it is because a real leader will not allow her fear of failure prevent her from giving others the opportunity to grow.

Maybe it is as simple as a real leader is not controlled by her fears.

Question:

What other character weaknesses create micromanagers?

The post Fear and the Micromanager appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Three Leadership Lessons From 24 Years of Marriage

Twenty four years ago, I thought I had it all figured out. I believed I understood leadership, and I understood marriage. Boy was I naive! I look back now and see how many leadership lessons marriage has taught me.

On my wedding day, October 10, 1993, my dad, General Jim Anderson shared with me his secret to a successful marriage.

The General:  “Buddy, before your mom and I got married we decided that I would make all the big decisions and she would make all the small decisions.”

Me:  “I really like the sound of that!” I said through a grin.

The General: “And in 30 years of marriage there hasn’t been a big decision yet.”

I have learned a lot about life, love, and leadership from being married to Elizabeth.  Not all of the lessons were easy to learn.  But, they have made me a better leader not just at home, but at work as well.

Leadership Lesson 1:  Someone Has To Make A Decision

The story my dad told was funny but accurate.  Someone has to be ultimately responsible for making the decisions in a marriage. Some readers may get angry with this thought, but it has worked for us.

For years we spent hours upon hours debating decisions. What school should our kids attend, what house should we buy, where should we go on vacation….  But if we ever got to an impasse where we could not come to a decision together, we decided I would make the final decision.

The key to this strategy has always been that we both had ample opportunity to share our opinions and both felt not just heard, but also understood. If at that juncture, we were still stuck, then I would decide.

In business, someone has to decide. Consensus on a leadership team would be nice, but it is often a dream. I have been involved in committees where the leader wanted consensus. On those committees nothing happened or what did happen was humorous.  After all, a camel is horse put together by committee!

In the end, after the leader has heard the arguments and is sure he understands opinions of the key players, a decision must be made.  The key is the other people being sure they were heard and understood. 

As Patrick Lencioni says,  “Most people do not need to get their way, they just need to know their way was heard and given consideration.” 

Leadership Lesson 2:  Listen Longer Than You Want To

I was not a good listener when I married Elizabeth. Most of our early arguments can be boiled down to my unwillingness to listen longer than I wanted to listen. 

At a certain point, I was ready to talk, solve her problems, or end the conversation.  Needless to say those were rough discussions.

I learned through the years to “Listen until it hurts.” as my friend and leadership expert Steve Wiley likes to say.  By disciplining myself to listen until it hurts, I have been able to avoid more misunderstandings, make my wife feel valued and find resolution to our conflicts much sooner.

As a leader I learned I could avoid misunderstandings by listening better as well.  Therefore I made my team feel valued and resolved conflicts more efficiently.  My life as a leader got easier as a result. The same discipline I learned to employ at home made be a better leader at work.

Leadership Lesson 3:  It’s OK To Be Wrong

Pride is an ugly thing in a marriage.  If either person (usually both people) are so prideful they are unwilling to entertain the other person’s ideas, then that relationship is bound for trouble.

We were in trouble because I was so sure of myself. Plus, since I was so sure I was always right, it also meant that I was sure she was always wrong. That attitude diminished her as a person and kept her from trusting my judgment even more.  After all, no one can be right all the time. She knew that!

The first time I said “I am wrong. You are right.” was not easy. It caught in my throat.  But, when I finally began to entertain her ideas and act upon them, an amazing thing happened. Her trust in my judgment grew. Our arguments became less volatile and we came up with better solutions.

As a leader, if I can lead my team to come up with better solutions because I accept the idea that I can be wrong, then why wouldn’t I?  The only answer is pride.  A leader who believes his role is to always be right is not only arrogant, but delusional as well.

A leader who is open to the possibility that he is fallible will engender trust from his team.  Because he is open to their solutions, better solutions will be found and each individual will have buy in as well.

The Bottom Line:

If a marriage is the most significant relationship a person is going to enter into voluntarily, it makes sense that the lessons learned in that relationship would translate into the relationships leaders have at work.

It’s been over 24 years since we made our commitment to each other in front of God, family and friends. Just like becoming a leader, a successful marriage is journey not a destination. 

We celebrate our anniversary today. I think we are just starting to get the hang of it!  I may be just hitting my stride as a leader as well!

Question:

What other marriage lessons can help us become better leaders?

The post Three Leadership Lessons From 24 Years of Marriage appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Choosing Selflessness in a Tragedy

What makes some people run towards a tragedy to help and others run away? Las Vegas law enforcement and regular civilians both gave us heroic examples of Selflessness during and after the shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort.

What makes people do that? Will any of us follow their example if, God forbid, we find ourselves in the same situation?

These questions may be going through the minds of a lot of people these days. None of us can be sure what we will do in the heat of the moment. But there are things we can all do to prepare ourselves when we are challenged to choose between selflessly serving or turning the other way.

This is not an attempt to judge the motives of anyone. It is an attempt to help us all prepare to be the person most of us would want to be in trying circumstances. In fact the majority of this post was written before the events in Las Vegas.

The circumstances most of us face will never come close to what happened in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernardino, or what our military and law enforcement face daily. But, we will all have the opportunity in our lives to exercise Selflessness at an important moment. Hoping that we would do the right thing is not enough. If we are prepared for those situations, our actions will be easier to predict.

Predicting Our Behaviors

Most of us predict the behaviors of others based on their past behaviors. It is not that difficult. The more someone chooses selfish behaviors, they are more likely to act selfishly in the future. Conversely, the more that person chooses to act selflessly, they are more likely to choose Selflessness when challenged in the future. 

This is not rocket science. This predictable pattern works for each of us as well.

The Selfish Cycle

We can all fall into The Selfish Cycle of behavior. Wherever we enter the cycle, it often leads us to other selfish behaviors. The longer we choose one of these behaviors, the easier it is to choose the other behaviors as well.

Self-focused: If we spend an inordinate amount of time focused on what we want, or our personal agendas, we are self-focused. Being self-focused makes us feel like the world owes us more and thus makes us negative about our situation.

Entitled: If we have allowed our desire for more to become a belief that we deserve more, we are entitled. That entitlement mentality makes us consistently dissatisfied with our circumstances and creates a self-focused and negative mindset.

Negative: If we consistently choose to see the dark side of every situation instead of looking for the opportunities, we are negative.  That negativity feeds our tendency to be self-focused and believe we deserve something better out of life.

The common denominator is the overwhelming focus on self. No one is immune from this cycle of selfishness. But, we all can make choices that will help us take another path. Until we get out of The Selfish Cycle, our behaviors when larger tests come will be predictably selfish.

The Selfless Cycle

The preparation for bigger tests depends on how we behave in lesser tests. The tests we face daily and our response to those tests will predict how we react when the stakes are higher.

Other-Focused:  If we place the needs and desires of others before our own, we are other-focused. People who consistently serve others always seem thankful for their own situations and postive about the future. They are rarely in a bad mood!

Thankful:  If we take the time to count the blessings in our lives, we become thankful people. When we focus on all the things that are good in our lives, we begin to see and react to the needs of others and walk through our days with a positive attitude.

Positive:  If we choose to see opportunities before we focus on problems, we are positive people. Being positive creates a thankful spirit and creates a desire to have a positive impact on others. Positive people always seem more interested in others and more willing to serve others as well.

When we put away the tendency to focus on ourselves, we see the needs of others. We are thankful for what we have. And, we begin to be a positive light in the lives of others. When we begin to act unselfishly in our daily lives, it easier to predict that we will choose Selflessness when things get difficult.

The Bottom Line:

We can never fully prepare for the tests we will have in life. All that we can be sure of is – Those tests are coming. The question is what do our past behaviors predict our future behaviors will be?

The good news is, anyone in The Selfish Cycle can make new choices daily and begin acting selflessly. Our selfless actions today will predict our selfless actions tomorrow. If we behave selflessly in our day to day life, we increase the likelihood, we will be there for others when they truly need us.

Question:  

What other selfless actions are part of The Selfless Cycle?

PS.  Pray for the people affected in Las Vegas and those affected by other tragedies both man made and natural. That is a selfless moment we can use to focus on others and show we care.

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Choosing Selflessness in a Tragedy appeared first on Dave Anderson.

A Mentor Attitude

Looking back, the eye rolling was inevitable.  Everyone on the leadership team knew the idea was unlikely to work.

Our boss had sparked the doubts. “We need to initiate a mentoring program.  The Human Resources department can work on developing a program we can roll out in the fourth quarter.”

We were all thinking one thing:  “Oh no. Another program.”

Mentor Attitude

“Another well intentioned but way too detailed program run out of headquarters.  More things to track.  More reports to fill out.  More things on my to-do list that will fade away when the next program “de jour” comes along.”

We all knew something more needed to be done to grow our bench strength.  We had new people wanting to grow and get promoted, and we had experienced people who wanted to grow and stay where they were.  But, a mentoring program was not going to be received well by the leadership team or the prospective mentors.

The Downside of Mentoring Programs

Too many great ideas get watered down and fade away when they are institutionalized.  The desire for the people who are furthest away from the action to have too detailed a role in the mentoring process would cause the bureaucracy that every frontline leader hates.

Programs run from afar usually include the tracking and documenting of activities for reporting up the chain of command.  As a result, the good intentions usually create exasperated leaders who enforce a program instead of instilling an attitude.

A Mentor Attitude

The true character of any team is displayed through its demonstrated values.  Instead of developing a mentoring program, what about developing a culture where mentoring was part of everyone’s attitude?

It’s easy to say that people need to have a mentor attitude but what does that look like?  How do we train that?  How do we make sure it is actually happening?  Be careful asking those questions or you may end up with another program to deal with!

Three Questions For Individuals and Teams

I believe an individual and a team can develop a mentor attitude by asking three simple questions:

1.  Is that person better off now, after they spent time with me?

Individual:  If I begin to look at every interaction as a chance to serve others, I am more likely to act that way.  When I act that way over time, then I will be in the habit of serving through mentoring.
Team:  Imagine a team of people who were in the habit of acting this way!

2.  Who did I make better today?

Individual:  If I strive to make someone better each day, then I have a mentor attitude.  When I look back on my day ask myself, “Who did I help grow today?”
Team:  Imagine a team where one component of a successful day was based upon who everyone helped grow that day!

3.  Who’s growth did I invest in this year?

Individual:  I invest time when I mentor.  If I pick one person to intentionally invest in throughout the year, I am more likely to be a mentor as opposed to being someone who just talks about mentoring.  Mentoring rarely takes a formal plan.  The plan usually emerges when I decide to invest my time first.
Team:  Imagine a team where each person chose one other person to invest in for twelve months!

Mentoring Accountability

Accountability for mentoring should be kept at the lowest level possible.  Bureaucracy believes accountability means generating reports. Accountability does not take reports, but it does take reinforcement.

This reinforcement is especially important if mentoring is a new attitude within the team or an attitude that is being renewed.  The old saying, “Inspect what you expect.” is key.

Again, this is not a reporting process. This is a coaching opportunity that can revolve around the same three questions.

1.  Is that person better off now, after they spent time with you?

Coaching:  This is a great question to ask someone after I witness a conversation between two teammates.

2.  Who did you make better today?

Coaching:  This is a great question to ask someone before they leave my office or at the end of a phone call to reinforce the importance of daily mentoring.

3.  Who’s growth did you invest in this year?

Coaching:  This is a critical question to be sure mentoring is part of each individual’s personal plan for growth.  It also allows me to document progress in this area during performance reviews.

The Bottom Line:

A leader would be foolish not to want every person on her team to be invested in the growth and success of others on the team.  A team with a mentor attitude will take responsibility for it’s own growth.

By creating a culture that includes a mentor attitude, the leader has actually developed something that will have more impact and last longer than any well – designed program could.

People invest in people much more readily than they invest in programs.  It is up to the leader to create the environment where the mentor attitude will thrive.

Question:

Who did you invest in this past year?  Who will you invest in this year?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post A Mentor Attitude appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Two Habits of Wise Decision Makers

There is a reason a teenager’s car insurance payment is double that of older drivers! We don’t come out of the womb as wise decision makers. 

Let’s face it.  We are where we are in life because of the decisions we make. Some people have lives and careers full of regrets. Yet some people seem to gain wisdom and become better at making decisions. Why them and not us? What have those wise decision makers learned that the rest of us have missed?  

Two Habits of Character of Wise Decision Makers

Everyone makes decisions that we later regret. They could be decisions that were personal, in relationships, or at work. But, as I read and study the biographies of great leaders, and I observe great parents, great spouses, and great business leaders, I see a pattern develop in their lives.

These wise decision makers exercise Humility and Courage more consistently than the rest of us. As a result of consistently exercising Humility and Courage, these leaders have fewer regrets and more success than other people.

Exercising Humility – Get Counsel

The interesting thing about wise decision makers is they don’t act like they believe they are wise.  They consistently ask other for advice or solicit opinions from others. They ask more questions and make fewer statements.

But one of their keys to success is they are selective in their advisors. A person who solicits advice from everyone, will be more confused and may never make a decision. The wise decision maker finds a handful of wise people to be their inner circle of advisors. 

These advisors have the character to speak the truth even if the decision maker may not like the answer. They will speak with candor because they care about the success of the decision maker.

These advisors also have the experience to speak from a position of wisdom and not just from speculation. The best advisors are people who have already walked the path the decision maker is on. If they are on the same path, or have never walked the path, we shouldn’t expect them to know what is around the next corner.

Exercising Courage – Make a Decision

A wise decision maker does not become a wise decision maker without having the Courage to actually make a decision. Too many people, will seek perfect solutions before they commit to making a decision. This is why so many meetings and organizations are stuck in “paralysis through analysis”.

At a certain point, the decision maker must make a decision – even if she is not sure of the outcome. The wise desision maker asks questions, analyzes potential solutions, and makes a decision. She understands that not making a decision is a decision.

When the decision maker won’t step forward and decide, teams, organizations, and families are all put on hold.  Uncertainty becomes a constant companion. That is when stagnation occurs, anxiety and stress increases, and leaders lose the commitment of the followers.

The Bottom Line:

None of us will be right 100% of the time. To gain wisdom, we have to learn through experience. Unfortunately, most of us would agree that we learned more by making poor decisions than we did when we make the right ones.

It takes Humility to realize there is more wisdom in a select group of advisors than their is within our own heads. It takes Courage to make a decision and then adapt to the results rather than waiting indefinitely for a solution that will provide perfect results. 

The wise decision makers don’t believe they have all the answers inside of themselves.  But they do believe that they are responsible for making the hard decisions with incomplete information. The Humility and the Courage that these leaders display in those moments make them the Leaders of Character companies, work teams, and families want to follow.

Question:

What decision is looming on the horizon for you? Who is your inner circle of wise advisors? When will you make a decision?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Two Habits of Wise Decision Makers appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Wanted: A Coach – Wimps Need Not Apply

I was a wimp for three years.  I was a coach for twelve more after that.  Add it up and I spent fifteen years in sales leadership at a Fortune 50 company.  Not surprisingly, my success as a leader came in those final twelve years.  I realized, with the help of the people I was leading, that they wanted candor not coddling.

Like so many well-intentioned leaders, I believed the counselors and the HR people who seem to have cornered the market on business coaching philosophy.  As a result, I saw good people stagnate and low performers believe their performance was adequate.  In both cases, I was not doing my job as a coach and results suffered.

Most counselors measure success based on how their clients feel.  HR professionals are often more concerned with proper (legal) performance management than results oriented coaching.  Coaches however must focus on the growth of their people and tangible results.

Example of Wimpy Sales Coaching

“We had a good day Bob.  I really liked what I saw with the last two clients.  I could tell you had great rapport with the clients and their staffs.  You were on top of answering their objections with relevant data.  And, you provided them with some solutions they had not considered to date.  Nice job.

One opportunity for growth you may consider is doing more with your largest targets outside of pre-planned sales appointments. I know that has not been your thing in the past, but the rest of the team has implemented this strategy and I would like you to give it a shot.”

Wimpy coaching sounds very nice and very supportive. But when I did it, it was usually about conflict avoidance versus doing what was best for that person.

Three Ways Coaches Become Wimps

1.    Watered Down Feedback

The Theory: Tell them three things they did well before you talk about a weakness.  (See paragraph 1 in example above)

High Performing Professionals: They know where they excel.  They want to hear how to get better.   Otherwise I am wasting their time.
Low Performers:  What they hear is they are doing many things well and one thing needs work, but it is not a big deal.

Solution:  Get to the point! If it is a big enough weakness to discuss, then lead with it.  Be sure you make impact by sharing the positive impact the change will make, and the negative impact of not changing (especially with low performers).

2.    Euphemisms

The Theory:  Use words that convey the meaning without being inflammatory.  (See: “Opportunity for growth”)

Euphemisms by their very nature limit the impact of the message.  As a coach, my primary goal is to make that person better as a result of my time with them. 
If they do not understand the importance of the message I am sending to them because of my wimpy language, that is my fault, not theirs.

Solution:  Call a spade a spade! A weakness is a weakness.  As a coach I find that plain, straight-forward, everyday language communicates my message better and is better received than the counseling and HR driven jargon that is prominent today.

3.    Vagaries:

The Theory:  Approach the issue carefully.  You want to attack the problem not the person. (See:  “I would like you to give it a shot”)

The problem is Bob’s unwillingness to implement the same strategies as the rest of the team.  Just telling him to give it a shot because it has worked for others is another form of conflict avoidance I used in the past.

Solution:  Speak clearly!  By being direct about his lack of progress, asking why, and coaching the issue, I am attacking the problem.  As a coach, I am there to make him better.  Period!  If Bob knows that is always my goal, I can be direct.  I have built that trust and that expectation.

The Bottom Line: 

My approach runs counter to the norms of business coaching. But just because something is supported by a lot of well-educated counselors and HR professionals, does not mean it is effective.  The bottom line of coaching is about the growth of my people and the results they deliver.

As I grew from a wimp to a coach, my teams grew as well.  Many told me I was the first leader who had ever been direct with them.  They thanked me and told me not to stop.

Coaches, did you hear that…They thanked me!

Question:

I believe that candor is what people want from their coaches not coddling.  Which type of coach did you grow the most with?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Wanted: A Coach – Wimps Need Not Apply appeared first on Dave Anderson.

Your Choices Make You or Break You

Each time we are faced with a choice, we are either moving closer to the person we want to be or further from it.  

Who we are as a person is determined by the choices we make in life. Courage is a choice. Humility is a choice. Integrity is a choice. Selflessness is a choice. Duty is a choice. Positivity is a choice. Our circumstances may not be in our control, but the choices we make in the midst of those circumstances are. 

Each time we make a choice, it makes it easier to make that same choice again. That is how our habits are formed – one choice at a time. This is true with habits like drinking, smoking or working out. It is also true with our Habits of Character.

What Are My Choices?

The Habits of Character I create or reinforce are the result of my choices. First the good news! If I have a weak Habit of Character, I can begin to change that by making new choices today! Now the bad news. If I am not choosing to exercise character, I am choosing to be something I would never tell my kids to be.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

-Edmund Burke

I choose Courage, or I choose Cowardice

If I do not speak up or act because it might hurt me personally….then I am a coward.
If it is not Courage, then what is it?

I choose Humility, or I choose Arrogance

If I believe I don’t need to grow or won’t admit mistakes…then I am arrogant.
If it is not Humility, then what is it?

I choose Integrity, or I choose Hypocrisy

If I get mad when I am lied to by others and then tell fibs or white lies myself….I am a hypocrite.
If it is not Integrity, then what is it?

I choose Selflessness, or I choose to be Selfish

If I put my needs in front of others….I am selfish.
If it is not Selflessness, then what is it?

I choose Duty, or I choose to be Unreliable

If I only fulfill my commitments when I feel like it….I am unreliable.
If I do not do my Duty, then what am I?

I choose Positivity, or I choose to be a Joy Sucker

If I consistently make people feel worse with my complaining….I am a Joy Sucker.
If it is not Positivity, then what is it?

Who I am is not determined by who I think I am or by whom I wish to be. Who I am is determined by my choices.  Take this free, private, 5 minute Character Assessment to get an snapshot of where your character is today.  Click on this link:

www.MYCHARACTERTEST.com
The Bottom Line:

When it comes to our character we have a choice. Do we move closer to being the person we want to be, or do we move further from that person?

Few of us believe choosing to be cowardly, arrogant, hypocritical, selfish, unreliable and a joy-sucker is appealing to others.  In fact, we all believe in the need for Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity where we work and in our homes. We want our children to display each of these habits.

We can easily point out people around us who need to work on these Habits of Character. It is easy to point out what others need to work on. But what about me?

I have a choice. Do I admit that I need work? Or am going to choose to ignore the cracks in my character (see Arrogance)?

It comes down to a choice. We can choose to start becoming who we want to be and who we want our kids to be. Or we can choose to be moving away from that person and do the thing we tell our kids not to do (see Hypocrite).

It is a choice that will make me or break me.

Question:

Which of these Habits of Character are most critical for you to strengthen?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post Your Choices Make You or Break You appeared first on Dave Anderson.

The Dearth of Moral Courage in Leadership

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”

– Mark Twain

King Solomon once stated, “there is nothing new under the sun.” It seems the lack of moral Courage among leaders was as common in Mark Twain’s day as it is in our day. This is not a political rant. Now it may be a rant, but I am going to focus on waking up CEO’s, middle managers, parents, and any adult outside of politics. Frankly, I am tired of political rants.

Physical Courage is inspiring to watch. Watching the first responders and volunteers in the Houston area during the flooding from Hurricane Harvey gives me chills. The physical Courage soldiers and law enforcement officers show when bullets begin to fly makes young children want to wear a uniform and serve others.

Moral Courage is another level of Courage. Rarely do acts of moral Courage make the headlines. It is more likely that acts of moral cowardice get highlighted by the media. Most of us will avoid the negative media spotlight in our lifetimes. But some recent examples of moral cowardice include:

The manipulation of fuel efficiency data and the subsequent cover-up by major car companies.
College athletic departments’ attempts to hide player misconduct to include battery and rape.
The prosecutorial misconduct of lawyers and law enforcement in the Steven Avery case in Wisconsin.

Everyday Moral Cowardice

It is easy to look at the examples listed above and point fingers and shake our heads. But let’s be careful. We may not be in the news, but are we always exercising moral Courage?  What about:

Staying silent when someone at work cuts a corner.
Staying silent when the boss asks for feedback.
Avoiding the anger of a spouse by telling a lie.  (FYI. White lies, fibs, and half truths are LIES.)
Not challenging a peer about their behavior or attitude.
Allowing a difficult employee’s attitude or behaviors to hurt the team.
Not correcting a child because of the potential for a tantrum.

Ouch!  I can honestly say I have failed before in all six of the situations above.

Everyday Moral Courage

Few of us are called on regularly to exercise physical Courage.  But we are all challenged to exercise moral Courage each and every day. Courage is a habit. Each time we choose Courage or cowardice it makes it easier to make that same choice again.  That is how habits are formed.

To become a person who has strong moral Courage, we have to choose to exercise moral Courage consistently. We don’t get in shape by reading a fitness magazine or exercising once a month. Nor will we strengthen our moral Courage if we only read about Courage or exercise Courage periodically.

The Bottom Line:

Our society needs leaders of moral Courage. Yes we need them in politics, but we may need them even more in our everyday lives. We can all make choices daily that will strengthen our Courage. 

My rants about politicians seem empty when I stop and compare many of my choices to theirs. The only way they are different is in media coverage.

The point is, if I continue to give in to moral cowardice in my daily choices, the damage to my character is similar to what happens to a politcian’s character. Besides, we have absolutely no control over whether anyone else choose moral cowardice or moral Courage. The only person whose choices we control are our own.

Do we spend as much time analyzing our own choices as we do the choices of others?

Question:

What other challenges to our moral Courage should we all be prepared to face? 

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post The Dearth of Moral Courage in Leadership appeared first on Dave Anderson.

The People vs. The Velocity of Business

“The velocity of business today prevents me from spending time on developing my people.” , admitted the senior leader.  I was leading a table discussion among the senior leadership team of a multi-billion dollar company, and this leader was humble enough to admit the truth. He’s not alone. Almost everyone is being asked to do more with less. Budgets get tighter and time becomes more precious. In this type of environment, when the velocity of business is speeding up, we can all lose track of the people.

Unfortunately this issue is systemic. Development Dimensions International does a Global Leadership Forecast found that amoung 14,000 leaders and HR professionals from over 500 companies, that only 50% of leaders were specifically held accountable for developing people.

A lot of businesses develop new processes and buy new equipment to do more with less and in less time. This may help a company get a step ahead of the competition in the short term.  But when the competitor implements similar processes and technology, the advantage is gone overnight.  

Then everyone is back to asking,  

“How do we do more with less in today’s high speed business environment?”

The answer:  Leadership.

Quality leadership is a competive advantage that will not fade when the competition introduces new processes or technologies.

Getting More Done With Less

As I sat in that boardroom with this worldwide leadership team, everyone was on the same page.  Elite teams need elite leaders at all levels. They all knew focusing on growing their people would make a huge difference. Yet the majority of these leaders humbly admitted that they spent little time deliberately developing others.

Isn’t it ironic that most leaders believe the need to develop the people is huge for the long term success of an organization? But when the rubber meets the road, fixing short term issues take priority over long term, intentional leader development.

The Bottom Line:

While sitting in that board room with this high powered group of leaders, we came to a simple and powerful conclusion.  The leaders in that room needed to make people development their priority.

We realized each could not spend individual time with everyone inside their organizations. Some of them were leading teams of 1,000s that were spread across multiple continents.  But, they could prioritize the people one layer below them.

Then they could have that layer prioritize one layer below them.  And so on, and so on….

It’s like a pyramid sheme for leader development!

Simplistic? Yes. But what needed to change was the mindset.  Our discussions of a specific development strategy are still in progress.  But the mindset has changed. They believe it is their Duty to develop their next level of leaders.

If something is a priority, we should prioritize it on our calendars. We discussed the concept of Time Blocking.  By blocking out specific and protected times in their schedules, they prioritized meeting with their next level people.

The good intentions of leaders don’t create elite teams, their actions do.  

The leaders in this organization are ready to take action and intentionally grow the people they touch every day.  They are also ready to instill that same attitude in the next level of leaders so people development cascades downward. 

This is how leaders create Elite Teams that can do more with less and keep up with the velocity of business.

Question:

Who have you intentionally been developing?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post The People vs. The Velocity of Business appeared first on Dave Anderson.

General James Mattis on Ethical Standards

On August 4, 2017 General James Mattis, the United States’ Secretary of Defense sent the following memo to every member of the Department of Defense.  Ethical behavior from our military’s leaders is expected by the public and by the military itself. General Mattis makes it clear how each officer, enlisted, and civilian personnel should behave as Leaders of Character (my words not his).

This guidance is true for the business and the family each of us lead as well. Read the following memo and evaluate your own character against this standard.  

I admit, I have fallen short of this standard at times in my life. But I am inspired by the simplicity and the strength of General Mattis’ guidance to those he is responsible to lead.

What It Means to Be a Leader of Character

August 4, 2017

Subject:  Ethical Standards for All Hands

Those entrusted by our nation with carrying out violence, those entrusted with the lives of our troops, and those entrusted with enormous sums of taxpayer money must set an honorable example in all we do.

I expect every member of the Department to play the ethical midfield.  I need you to be aggressive and show initiative without running the ethical sidelines, where one misstep will have you out of bounds.  I want our focus to be on the essence of ethical conduct:  doing what is right at all times, regardless of the circumstances or whether anyone is watching.

To ensure each of us is ready to do what is right, without hesitation, when ethical dilemmas arise, we must train and prepare ourselves and our subordinates.  Our prior reflection and our choice to live by an ethical code will reinforce what we stand for, so remain morally strong especially in the face of adversity.

Through our example and through coaching of all hands, we will ensure ethical standards are maintained.  Never forget, our willingness to take the Oath of Office and to accept the associated responsibilities means that even citizens who have never met us trust us to do the right thing, never abusing our position nor looking the other way when we see something wrong.

I am proud to serve alongside you.

James N. Mattis

General Mattis’ Main Points

This blog has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with becoming Leaders of Character.  General Mattis has laid out a framework for every member of the Department of Defense to follow. 

Being a Leader of Character is not complicated.  But it is hard.

Here are the Secretary of Defense’s main points:

Leaders must set an honorable example.
Leaders must avoid the ethical gray areas. 
Leaders do what is morally right in all circumstances.
Leaders must train their people and prepare them to make these decisions as well.
Leaders accepted the responsibility to lead ethically when they said yes to being a leader.

The Bottom Line:

This is not just a letter to people who work in and around our armed forces.  It is a letter to all of us, and we should all take it to heart. 

Some of you may read this and start pointing fingers at others.  That’s a natural reaction but… 

STOP IT!

Just pause and look in the mirror. We can’t control how others follow these five points.  The only person we can control is ourselves.  When we automatically begin to look at others before examining ourselves, we are running away from our own responsibility to learn and grow as leaders.

Now pause again and look in the mirror.  What do you see?  How have you been doing in following these standards?

Question:

How would the people rate you on each of these five points?

Dave Anderson is coauthor of the Amazon Best-Seller Becoming a Leader of Character – Six Habits that Make or Break a Leader at Work and at Home with his father General James L. Anderson (USA Retired).

You can order Becoming a Leader of Character on Amazon by clicking here:

bit.ly/LOCBook.

You can also find Becoming a Leader of Character at Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other retailers.

The post General James Mattis on Ethical Standards appeared first on Dave Anderson.