Bill Treasurer's Blog, page 34

Engaging Leadership

Employee engagement is one of those hot topic leadership areas. The evidence is overwhelming that when employees are highly engaged at work profits and performance dramatically increase. When employers genuinely care about their employees, and their employees genuinely care about furthering the goals of the organization, work is more enjoyable and workers are more productive.

The fact that leaders should make employee engagement a top priority is self-evident. The business case doesn’t need to be endlessly re-argued. It is very simple to understand. Employee engagement good, disengagement bad. The business case has been decidedly won. We get it.

Yet despite being convinced of its importance, many leaders (and the organizations they serve) are still challenged with how to “do” employee engagement.

It may surprise you to know that one of the best examples of a fully engaged workforce comes from a government entity. It is an agency with intense political and public scrutiny. It’s an agency that has suffered through a declining budget for over 25 years. The agency is involved in extremely dangerous work that often involves coordinating the work of thousands of employees and outside contractors. The costs of failure often involve lost lives and billions of dollars. Despite all of these challenges, and maybe because of all these challenges, the workforce is highly engaged. Since its inception, this agency has always been a recruiting magnet, and always had high employee retention. Moreover, out of over 280 agencies within the federal government, this organization ranks #1 in employee engagement.

Can you guess which government agency it is?

NASA. So what explains their wild success at getting employee engagement right? More importantly, what practices can you leverage to inspire more engagement in your own workforce? Here’s how they do it (and how you can too):

Have an Inspiring Mission: Since its inception, NASA has been a mission-led organization. Its current mission is to ‘pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research’. Employees don’t see themselves as cogs in some impersonal machine, they see themselves as contributing to important exploration that will benefit all of humankind.
Provide Challenging Work: From landing a man on the moon, to the Hubble telescope exploring the universe, to landing a rover on Mars, the work is hard, fraught with challenge, and takes tremendous courage. John F. Kennedy famously said, we do such things “not because they are easy, but because they are hard…because the challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
Build on the Past to Create the Future: NASA has a rich and hard-earned history, full of glorious triumph and heartbreaking tragedy. People who join NASA know they are getting to become part of a legacy of exploration. It is not uncommon for NASA retirees to return to work on a volunteer basis just so they can continue being part of NASA’s pioneering history.
Be Confident Enough to Make and Learn from Mistakes: The work of NASA is supremely risky. While mitigating risks is a top priority of all NASA missions, mistakes happen and tragedies occur. When they do, NASA never shies away from assessing itself soberly and courageously. It refuses not to learn from its mistakes. It also refuses not to innovate, which requires experimentation and mistake-making.
Have Leaders Worthy of Admiration: The head of NASA is Charlie Bolden, an astronaut who flew four space shuttle missions. He is also an Annapolis graduate, Marine, and Viet Nam vet. But Charlie isn’t just admired for his stellar background. He’s beloved for being a courageous, but down-to-earth human being who genuinely cares about the workforce.

Employee engagement matters. Getting it right may not be easy, but if a bureaucratic government agency with over 20,000 employees can get it right, so can your organization. And when you get employee engagement right, performance will be out of this world.

 

Bill Treasurer is the author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, an international bestselling book that introduces the concept of courage-building. He is also the author of Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations can use to build workplace courage. Bill’s first book, Right Risk, draws on his experiences as a professional high diver. Bill has led courage-building workshops for, among others, NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more, contact info@giantleapconsulting.com.

 

Image Credit:  NASA Goddard Space Flight

The post Engaging Leadership appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

You Don’t Need Evidence for Courage

Photo Source

Over the years I’ve worked with a lot of leaders who prefer that all consequential decisions be “evidence-based.” Such leaders place a premium on data and measurability. But there is a point at which measurability gets in the way. When an organization structures its reward system exclusively on measurable outcomes, for example, it often runs the risk of reinforcing the wrong behavior. In such a system, a wretch of an executive, but one who makes big sales, can get away with being a miserable jerk in the office because sales are more quantifiable than jerky behavior.

Decisions with implications for the people in the workplace are particularly troublesome. For example, many organizations shy away from rewarding attributes associated with having a positive attitude because such things are, due to their subjectivity, notoriously difficult to quantify and measure. How do you quantify, for example, whether someone is “positive” or “friendly” at work? Yet who would argue that such characteristics don’t matter at work? Do we really need evidence to tell us that smiling or saying thank you is a good thing?

Just because outcomes are easier to measure than subjective behaviors and attitudes doesn’t mean that those things shouldn’t be rewarded. In my work as a courage-builder, for example, I often emphasize the importance of rewarding courageous acts regardless of whether those acts result in a successful outcome. As a means to greater organizational performance, courageous behavior will increase the likelihood of better outcomes over time. A successful outcome, though, shouldn’t be required before you confer “courage status” on someone. That would only squelch people’s willingness to try.

What defines workers as being courageous is taking action despite being afraid or uncomfortable, not whether they attain a successful outcome.

Being courageous, by definition, means to take on challenges despite the potential for failure. Courageous workers do, in fact, fail. But failure is an outcome and courage is a means. Just because someone fails on the back end doesn’t mean he wasn’t courageous on the front end.

What are the indicators that a person should be rewarded for her courage? Look for these signs:

Did the person take action on a problem that others had avoided but that the organization wanted solved?
Was the action a dramatic departure from the person’s comfort zone?
Did the action stretch the person’s skills? As a result of being courageous, is the person prepared to take on bigger challenges for the organization going forward?

While having evidence in the form of indisputable data certainly strengthens decision-making, perfect data rarely exists. More often leaders are called upon to make tough decisions in the face of ambiguity and shifting circumstances. And making tough decisions in the face of ambiguity takes courage, not data.

 

Bill Treasurer is the author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, an international bestselling book that introduces the concept of courage-building. He is also the author of Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations can use to build workplace courage. Bill’s first book, Right Risk, draws on his experiences as a professional high diver. Bill has led courage-building workshops for, among others, NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more, contact info@giantleapconsulting.com.

 

The post You Don’t Need Evidence for Courage appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

5 Signs that Your Organization Needs Courage Building

Fear is bad for business. It lowers morale, engagement, and ultimately performance. Consider these striking facts:

Photo Source

According to Human Resource Executive magazine, one-third of U.S. workers waste at least twenty hours of time each month complaining about their bosses.
According to a Gallup poll, lost productivity from U.S. workers who are dissatisfied with their bosses results in losses of $360 billion yearly.
A study detailed in Orthopedic Nursing found that ninety-one percent of the 461 nurses surveyed reported being victims of verbal abuse and mistreatment. Physicians were identified as the most frequent source of the nastiness.
A study presented in the Journal of Managerial Psychology found that people experiencing job mistreatment were twice as likely to suffer a depressed mood at work. They also reported exhaustion levels that were 33 percent higher than the rest of the workforce and had 33 percent more sleep disorders. All of these factors are associated with declines in productivity.
A UK study on workplace bullying found that 25 percent of all bullied victims and about 20 percent of those who witness someone being bullied quit their jobs. The cost of replacing these workers is substantial.

Despite the overwhelming evidence about fear’s debilitating impacts on performance, many leaders still resort to stoking people’s fears to get work done. Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science, says, “Fear has become the primary motivator at work.”

Given how damaging fear is in the workplace, it is useful to know whether the organization you work for might be in need of more courage. In my courage-building facilitator guide, Courageous Leadership, I offer these five telltale signs that you can use to assess whether your organization is working under fear’s grip.

CYA Rules the Day: Workers spend an inordinate amount of time covering their tails and generating “proof” that they are doing their jobs. CYA often shows up in how many people are cc’d on email exchanges, when even mundane emails include a long list of cc’d recipients.

The Emperors Are Naked: Leaders are insulated from employee feedback and dangerously blind to themselves. Often the higher you go up the organizational food chain, the less performance feedback is given. Feedback almost always flows downward, keeping leaders blithely and dangerously oblivious.

Bean-Counters Rule: Financial acumen is valued more than creativity or innovation, causing decisions to be driven solely by “the numbers” versus what is in the long-term best interests of the organization. In fear-based organizations, the educational backgrounds of senior executives often disproportionately favor accounting or finance, often causing the organization to be hyper-analytical, rationalistic, and risk-averse.

People Are Hung for Making Smart Mistakes: Mistakes are punished swiftly and harshly, creating a “play it safe at all costs” environment. Workers end up hiding mistakes or, worse, blaming others for their own mistakes. When mistakes are made, the first question isn’t “How did this happen?” but “Who caused this to happen?”

Everything Is Perpetually Urgent: The work environment in fear-based organizations is fraught with urgency and anxiety. In such places, regardless of their roles, everyone seems to have the same job: firefighter! With no relative sense of prioritization, the organization loses focus and performance suffers.

Fortunately, fear, for all its badness, does have one redeeming quality. Fear is an invitation to courage. As such, fear, or more precisely the courage that fear often prompts, can help you encounter your better self. I once attended a talk given by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. During the talk, Giuliani reflected on the lessons that his father had taught him about courage and how those lessons helped him in the weeks after 9/11. Giuliani described the interwoven relationship that fear and courage have well when he said, “If you don’t have a fear, you’d better go get one. Dealing with fear is how you find your courage.”

 

Bill Treasurer is the author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, an international bestselling book that introduces the concept of courage-building. He is also the author of Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations can use to build workplace courage. Bill’s first book, Right Risk, draws on his experiences as a professional high diver. Bill has led courage-building workshops for, among others, NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more, contact info@giantleapconsulting.com

.

The post 5 Signs that Your Organization Needs Courage Building appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

Getting Beyond Pros and Cons

In my last post I talked about the importance of risk-taking to career and organizational success. This post extends that idea by offering five specific criteria for evaluating whether a risk is right or wrong for you.

When considering a risky move, most people resort to simple math, asking “What will I get and what do I stand to lose?” But big moves need to consider more than just gains or loses. It takes more than simple math to judge whether to take a risk. As explained in the last post, a Right Risk is one that is congruent with your deepest held values. It’s a risk that should help close the gap between who you are and who you aim to be. What matters most isn’t how much you stand to gain from the risk. What matters most is the risk true for you. Risk should be about more than compensation. It should be about destination. Not, “What will this risk get me,” but “where will this risk take me.”

Here are five criteria that you can use that will help you assess your risk at a much deeper level than just jotting down a pros and cons list. Using the “5 P’s” won’t guarantee that your risk won’t be a wipeout, but they will increase the probability of success.

Passion: A Right Risk is something we care about intensely. Right risks are often ordeals, and ordeals involve suffering. The word “passion” comes from the Latin verb pati, literally translated as “to suffer.” By arousing the strongest, most untamed parts of our nature, and stirring up the wild mustangs in our soul, our passion gives us the raw energy and wherewithal to suffer through the anguishing moments that often accompany right risk. Ask, “What about this risk energizes me?”

 Purpose: A Right Risk is taken out of a deep sense of purpose. Purpose serves to harness our passions and give them direction. Right Risks are rich with meaning. They stand for something beyond sensory or ego gratification. Ask, “How will this risk make me a more complete person? How will this risk further my life’s purpose? How will it help me get to where I want to go?”

Principle: Right Risks are governed by a set of values that are both essential and virtuous. As mentioned, risks are essentially decisions, and when facing a decision of consequences, principles form a set of criteria against which the risk can be judged. The principles that right-risk takers often use as the basis of their decision-making include truth, justice, independence, freedom, mercy, compassion and responsibility. Ask, “By taking this risk, which of my deepest held values or ideals will I be upholding?”

 Preogative: Right-risk taking involves the exercise of choice. Right-risk takers view the power to choose as a privilege, and then honor it as such. By consistently making choices at a conscious level, they are better able to make superior judgment calls at an instinctual level — in fast-moving situations. After all of the input of naysayers and yea-sayers are considered, the Right-risk taker makes the final judgment as to whether the risk is right for him or her. Ultimately, a Right Risk is an exercise of free will. Ask, “Am I taking this risk because I have to, or because I choose to?”

Profit: A Right Risk should come with a real potential for gain. Risks are, well, risky. And in exchange for assuming the potential risk of hardship, you are entitled to some real and unequivocal upside gains. Notice, however, that Profit is the fifth “P”. It’s the criteria that should be assessed last, otherwise you’ll be in danger of getting to enamored with the pot at the end of the rainbow, which can distort your decision-making. Ask, “What gains do I hope to reap from this risk?” and “How enduring are the gains likely to be?”

Photo Source

 

Bill Treasurer is the author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, an international bestselling book that introduces the concept of courage-building. He is also the author of Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations can use to build workplace courage. Bill’s first book, Right Risk, draws on his experiences as a professional high diver. Bill has led courage-building workshops for, among others, NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more, contact info@giantleapconsulting.com.

 

The post Getting Beyond Pros and Cons appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

A Passionate Plea for Leadership Passion

John Smith lost it!  And, of all places, he lost it in the big-deal executive meeting.  He went over the edge in his plea for some issue around a customer. No, he didn’t cry, although he did wipe his eyes before his cheeks got streaked. No, he didn’t pound the table, although he did demonstrate a gestures that would be the envy of any aspiring thespian.

But, what John did do in his “out of control” passion clearly crossed all normal bounds of rationality and routine boardroom decorum.  And yet, he engaged the hearts and commitment of every single person in that meeting.  People were truly moved.  And, it did make a difference. Stuff happened.

The “John loses his cool” incident led me to reflect on the true meaning of leadership.  I thought about how much being “in charge” contained artifacts of control, rationality and “keeping your cool.”  I thought about how little these artifacts had anything to do with spirit, passion and joy in any other context of our lives… except for the corporate world.

People do not brag about their rational marriage, their reasonable hobby or their sensible vacation.  There is rarely “in control” behavior when Junior is seen rounding third base.  But, somehow all that unbridled spirit is an unwelcomed distraction after the time clock is passed.  And, the closer one gets to mahogany row, the less tolerance there seems to be for “sounds of the heart.”

We live in an era that requires innovation for survival, not just for competitiveness.  We cannot incrementally improve our way to greatness.  Inventive products, creative processes and innovative service are the only tickets the customer will buy to come to our show.  Innovation is itself a departure from patterns and a willingness to defer control.  And, that means leaders who are courageous, committed and tenacious—not exactly characteristics associated with logic and order.  We know John.  And, John is not an irrational, illogical person.  Yet, somehow that day in the meeting, we trusted his passion more than his reason.

We have missed the boat on what it means to be leader.  The truth is that rationality already oozes from the seams of every business encounter.  Leaders do not have to bring order, sanity, rationality or logic.  Leaders who open doors call up in each of us a visit with the raggedy edge of brilliance and the out-of-the-way corner of genius.

When we feel inspired, incensed, or ennobled, we have visited that magical realm of passion.  And, we typically return from that realm renewed, revitalized…and slightly frightened.  Philosopher Hegel wrote, “Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.”

 

Chip R. Bell is a customer loyalty consultant and the author of several bestselling books.  His newest book is The 9½ Principles of Innovative Service.  The book can be purchased at www.simpletruths.com; Chip can be reached at www.chipbell.com.

The post A Passionate Plea for Leadership Passion appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

The Right Side of Risk

Time sure does fly. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been over ten years since my first book, Right Risk, was published. At the time, risk-taking was very much on my mind. I was restless and overly content in a six-figure job with Accenture, one of the world’s largest management consulting companies. Though I had learned a lot as an executive in Accenture’s change management practice, I felt like my spirit had outgrown the job. Much of the last chapter of Right Risk chronicles my decision to take a giant leap from the company in order to strike out on my own.

The truth is, had I stayed safely nestled in my comfortable job, my life would have started to shrink. Safety can start to become dangerous over time. To reinvigorate my passion for work, making the hugely risky move of starting my own company made sense. Besides, what better way to live my book’s message than to take a risk that was “right” for me.

Risk-taking is as essential to life as breathing. It is the oxygen of innovation, entrepreneurialism, leadership, wealth creation, and high adventure. Remove risk and there is no personal growth, career advancement, or spiritual development (faith, after all, is a big risk). Personally and collectively, all progress, advancement, and momentum depend on risk. Like air, it is both nourishing and life sustaining. The most fulfilling times in your life—the times you felt most alive—have undoubtedly been when you surprised yourself by doing something you never imagined you could, something hard, something scary.

Though most of us have enjoyed the accompanying rewards of an intelligently taken risk, most of us have crashed-’n-burned under an ill-considered one as well. Consequently, we spend a lot of time trying to avoid risk by “playing it safe.” Chances are, anytime you have passed up a big opportunity, stayed in an unsatisfying situation, or failed to stick up for yourself, avoiding risk had a lot to do with your behavior.

In a world that continually reminds us about how unsafe it is, it is difficult to maintain a “play it safe” approach. From terrorist threats, to stock market gyrations, to political knife-fights, we are buffeted by the reckless risks of others. In an increasingly compressed and frenetic world, we are like billiard balls being smacked around in somebody else’s poolhall hustle.

So what constitutes a right risk? It’s a risk that is congruent with your deepest held values. It’s a risk that can, potentially, help close the gap between who you are and who you aim to be. And most of all, it’s a risk that is true for you.

In the next blog post, I’ll share five criteria with which to judge whether a risk is right for you. Until then, it might be helpful for you to answer this question: when was the last time you did something for the first time?

Bill Treasurer is the author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, an international bestselling book that introduces the concept of courage-building. He is also the author of Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, an off-the-shelf training toolkit that organizations can use to build workplace courage. Bill’s first book, Right Risk, draws on his experiences as a professional high diver. Bill has led courage-building workshops for, among others, NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn more, contact info@giantleapconsulting.com.

The post The Right Side of Risk appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

Leadership Opportunity Blog Fest

The time has arrived for the Leadership Opportunity Blog Fest!

Leadership is one of life’s most overanalyzed, thoroughly dissected, and utterly confused topics. But it doesn’t have to be. Instead of reading smarty-pants leadership books, or attending esoteric leadership retreats, you can learn much more by studying the leaders who have actually led you.

I decided to host the Leadership Opportunity Blog Fest because the greatest leadership lessons come from everyday leaders who have inspired everyday people like you and I. As you read these stories, I’m sure you’ll be struck by how similar they are to your own experiences working with leaders.

While each story is unique to the contributing blogger, each story is also universal in its appeal. These aren’t just leadership stories from notable bloggers, they are your stories, my stories, and our stories. Collectively, they suggest that leadership isn’t some complex and confusing topic that requires endless explanation by brainiac theorists. Rather, leadership is a simple tradition. It is a set of practices and ideals that are passed along from one person to another, across organizations and generations.

The stories contained in these blog posts remind us that we uphold the tradition of leadership when all of our efforts are directed on opening doors of opportunities for others.

Chip Bell, author of Managers as Mentors, shares on his blog about how the rules of combat can instruct us on great leadership through the legacy of Hugh L. McColl, Jr., a retired chairman and CEO of Bank of America, and ex-marine officer.

Steven Snyder, author of Leadership and the Art of Struggle, shows his appreciation for one of his mentors, Bill Gates, in his blog post.

“If there is a standout quality to Bill Gates, it’s that he is a visionary. When I first began working with him at Microsoft, he was continually looking towards the future, spotting opportunities and avoiding the problems before they occurred.”

Tony Adams, a popular Australian blogger, engages us with wit and humor as he walks down memory lane, flashing back 30 years to share on his blog about Mark Petch and the impact he left on Tony.

Julie Winkle Giulioni, co-author of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, raises an interesting question in her post  highlighting Beverly Marsh, and shares her letter to her open-door leader from a few years ago.

“In your quest for career success, suppose you had to choose just one of the following: perfectly-honed skills, ideal opportunities, or someone who really believes in you.  Which would you pick?”

Linda Pulley Freeman, author of THRIVE!, recognizes her parents on The THRIVE! Journal. Freeman credits her parents for influencing her to become the person she is today.

Karin Hurt the founder of Let’s Grow Leaders shares in her post  of Dr. Henry Sims, author, mentor, university professor, and the best door opener of her career.

“He stopped what he was doing and we talked for several hours, he practiced everything he had written about. He led me to lead myself. “

Becky Robinson of Weaving Influence  inspires us with her post, sharing how her husband has been the most important door-opener for her.

David Carr of Carrpe Diem shares  about his father, a regional sales representative who was a cornerstone of his significance, introducing him to people who mentored him.

“Every morning as I would be taking a shower, I’d throw-up! I’d begin thinking about the day, the people I’d be calling on, the sales process…presenting features, advantages and benefits…overcoming objections…asking for the order…my stomach would speak for the rest of my body. Yet, my father believed in me.”

Sharon Reed reflects in her Heart Path post on the characteristics and power of personal mentors and role models and their impact on getting through struggles along life’s journey and highlights her friend S. Chris Edmonds.

Chery Gegelman of Giana Consulting shares through her personal experience and that of others that leaders who open doors are treasure hunters.

I hope you enjoyed the Leadership Opportunity Blog Fest.  Giant Leap Consulting appreciates Chip, Steven, Tony, Julie, Linda, Karin, Becky, David, Sharon, and Chery for sharing their open-door leader stories. I urge you to visit their blog posts and share your thoughts.

You: Think about the people who made all the difference in your own life – the people who helped you become a better self. The leaders you most admire are likely those who gave you a shot when no one else did. They are likely the people who believed in you before you believed in yourself. And they are those who held you accountable until you lived up to, and into, your own potential.

So… who has been an open-door leader in your life?

The post Leadership Opportunity Blog Fest appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

On Being a Role Model by Leaping First

Bill during his diving days.

Many years before founding Giant Leap Consulting, I was a member of the U.S. High Diving Team. Every day I would climb to the top of a hundred-foot high-dive ladder (the equivalent of a ten-story building) and stand atop a one-foot-by-one-foot perch. Then, after a quick prayer, I would leap into the air like an eagle taking flight. Except eagles soar upward. I never did. I would always go down, careening at speeds of over fifty miles per hour into a pool that was only ten feet deep. Fifteen hundred high-dives, all done with no parachute, no bungee, and no safety gear. High diving is considered one of the most dangerous sports in the world.

One dive stands out as having provided me with an important lesson in leadership role modeling. The team had been asked to perform during the annual Osmond Family Fourth of July extravaganza at Brigham Young Stadium in Provo, Utah. We were part of a lineup that included Donny and Marie, the rest of the Osmond family, singer Crystal Gayle, and actor Mr. T.

More than fifty thousand spectators were expected to attend the show. In addition to our performing a sensational repertoire of Olympic-style dives, the entire extravaganza was to culminate in a huge fireworks display as a high diver plunged from the top of the ladder while holding two lit flares, one in each hand. The dive was to be performed to “The Flight of the Bumble Bee,” the frenetic musical piece from the opera Tsar Sultan.

But there was a little problem. Unbeknownst to the Osmond family, none of us “big shot” divers wanted to do the spectacular crescendo dive. First of all, the dive would be done in the glare of a blinding spotlight after all the other stadium lights were shut off. Second, diving with two lit flares

would severely limit the diver’s arm movement, something that is critical for performing aerial acrobatics. Finally, having to dive among all the exploding pyrotechnics presented dangers beyond reason. The thought of getting blown up by an errant sky bomb was less than inviting.

After growing annoyed with everyone’s bellyaching, our most seasoned veteran, Hamilton Riddle, volunteered to do it. To appreciate the magnitude of this gesture, you have to know Hamilton. At six-foot-five inches and 240 pounds, Hamilton is a Goliath of a man. Because the diving tank was only ten feet deep, Hamilton wouldn’t have much stopping room. And though he was incredibly fit, “H” (as we called him), at forty-five years old, was the oldest eagle in our flock.

Through the rose-colored glasses of hindsight, it is tempting to view Hamilton’s volunteering to do the dive as having something to do with his having larger cojones than the rest of us. The more accurate truth is that he had more to lose in not doing the dive. Hamilton was a part owner of the production company that was responsible for staging the high-diving show, and a lot of his own money was at stake. The Osmond’s had forked over a healthy sum for the show, and now it was up to us to deliver. Since everyone else had backed down, what choice did Hamilton have but to step up?

The dramatic moment when the spotlight illuminated Hamilton atop the ladder will always stay with me. There he was, this colossus of a man, arms outstretched to the sides like some mythic aerial savior, fireworks exploding all around him, perched at the top of the world. For a brief moment, Hamilton wasn’t Hamilton. He had morphed into high-diving’s senior-most archangel. His spectacular flare dive was glorious and humbling to behold. The crowd erupted with a huge applause as he surfaced the water, fists raised in triumph. At once he represented all that each diver could have been and all that we had declined to be. Desperate or not, Hamilton had stepped up when we had backed down. He had role modeled what it means to be a leader by Leaping First.

The post On Being a Role Model by Leaping First appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

The Wrong Leadership Question

It is the most overused question in the history of business. I remember first hearing it about a dozen years ago during the recession of 2001, and at the time I knew there was something I didn’t like about it. That sentiment has only grown stronger with each passing CEO presentation or company town hall meeting where, inevitably, the question gets asked. Before, it bothered me because it showcases leadership anxiety, now it just bothers me because the question is stale and unoriginal. So what’s the question?

What keeps you awake at night?

There are so many things wrong with this question that I could write ten blog posts. But at the risk of spiking my blood pressure, I’ll just stick to my bigger beefs. First, if we’ve learned anything about human performance in the last fifteen years, it’s that focusing on one’s strengths has far more impact than obsessing about one’s weaknesses. Yet our silly little question about nocturnal disturbance focuses precisely on what’s wrong, broken, or failing. The question gets a leader to focus not on what’s going right in their business, but on what they fear will go wrong. It’s not a strength-based question; it’s a weaknesses-based question.

Second, the question is fused with anxiety. The question behind the question is really, “What do you worry about a lot?” By answering, the leader gets to showcase – or worse, transmit – his or her fears. There is a subtle insinuation that if everyone in the workforce would just make whatever the leader is worried about their priority, the leader would be able to sleep more soundly at night. In other words, if everyone were woken up by this problem, whatever it may be, then the leader wouldn’t have to worry so much. Doesn’t putting the workforce on a leader’s twenty-four-hour fear cycle seem perverse to you? Seriously, insomnia shouldn’t be a leadership badge of honor.

My final beef with the nightmarish question is that it is completely overused. There is nothing inspired, original, or imaginative about it. In resorting to its use, the questioner exercises none of his or her curiosity, thoughtfulness, or intelligence. Asking the question has the same intellectual heft as asking “How’s the weather?”

So what’s a better question to ask? How about a question that prompts a leader to talk about the opportunities on the horizon? What about a question that gets a leader to clarify where the organization is headed and why that destination is so worthwhile and compelling? What about a question that taps into the leader’s formative lessons and how those lessons shape the leader’s viewpoint? How about a question that showcases the leader’s confidence, optimism, and deep belief in the workforce? How about instead of asking what keeps the leader awake at night we asked:

What gets you up in the morning?

Photo credit: Oberazzi

The post The Wrong Leadership Question appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.

Leaders Are All Around Us

Some of our blog posts stir up more reactions than others. In this post, first posted on the Human Capital Institute’s website, Giant Leap founder Bill Treasurer argues that leadership isn’t about fame, nor is it reserved for a select few. Leadership, Bill argues, is local.

The original and unedited version of the blog was more forceful than what ended up on the HCI website. HCI published the post under the title, “He’s Great, but Enough About Steve Jobs Already.” Bill’s original title was “Leader Tip: Shut Up About Steve Jobs Already”. What follows is the original unedited article along with the enthusiastic reaction the post garnered from internationally recognized leadership expert, Jim Kouzes, co-author of  The Leadership Challenge. 

Leader Tip: Shut Up About Steve Jobs Already

It happened again yesterday. A friend and I were talking about leadership over lunch when he commented, “What the world needs is more people like Steve Jobs.” I almost gagged up my soup.

It’s a shame that when you ask people to name leaders whom they most admire, they pick people who they have never met and whose lives aren’t even remotely like their own. The answers are often limited to ϋber successful business people, one-of-a-kind innovators, or transformational world-changers. If the only examples of “true” leaders you can provide are famous people everyone else already knows you about, you either lack imagination or leadership experience. Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but you’re not Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, or Sheryl Sandberg. Your also not Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Jesus (who often is picked as an example of servant leadership).

Leadership is an aspirational concept. Aspiring to live into the ideals and example set by others can help strengthen one’s leadership abilities. Having leaders to look up to is a good thing. But fame does not equate with leadership. Fame is fleeting. The famous leader you look up to today may be the leader you look down on when their fame goes away. Al Dunlap, Ivan Boesky, and Jeffrey Skilling were all admired business gods before they were sent to jail for all-to-human failings.

There are two problems with focusing our attention on famous leaders. First, the exceptional circumstances of the famous leader are so unique to that person that it’s unlikely that the lessons can be replicated. Second, if your only references for admirable leaders are those on the world-stage, you’ll miss the leaders in your own families, neighborhoods, and local community. Examples of good leaders are everywhere. You just have to stop looking on the world stage to find them.

When you make your leadership radar more sensitive to local leadership, you can’t help but notice all the leaders around you. Here are a few examples from my hometown, but they just as easily have come from yours.

A 38-year old man starts up a nonprofit that matches his love of rock music with his desire to serve the poor. His aim is to interrupt poverty by organizing food drives with big-name entertainers who come to town. He had done something similar during his twenties when he quit his law job and traveled around the country conducting food drives at Widespread Panic concerts.
A teacher of special needs students refuses to administer standard state education tests that are designed for “normal” kids. He knows that doing so serves no purpose, and will frustrate or demoralize the kids. The kids’ parents, and much of the community, back him up. He gets fired anyway…but leaves with his integrity intact.
The owner of a successful computer repair business that employs 75 people started the business after attending the local community college. Her hardscrabble upbringing – including a drug-addicted mom, and not learning how to read or write until she was 14 – rivals more “famous” leaders. Her business is known for giving generously to local charities.

If you aim to be a better and more influential leader, start looking for similar examples in your own community. For one, you might actually be able to spend time with the local leader. They are much more accessible than world-famous leaders. So do yourself a favor, identify the leaders who are making a difference in your community. Seek them out. Learn from their examples. Be more like them. And shut up about Steve Jobs already!

Comment from Jim Kouzes:

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, for this perspective. Leadership isn’t a private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It’s a set of skills and abilities, that, as you point out so well, are learnable and doable by far more people than common leadership mythology presumes.

And, to your point about role models, in our research Barry Posner and I have found that the #1 leader role model for 46% of people over 30 is a family member. In second place with 23% is a business leader (most commonly an immediate manager), and for 14% it’s a teacher of coach.

  For those under 30, the first spot also goes to family members (40%) second are teachers and coaches (26%) and third are community leaders (11%). For young people business leaders only show up for 7% of respondents.

  No matter how you slice this data, young and old alike find that their most influential leader role models are not famous people from the world of business, politics, sports, or entertainment. They are people in their homes, schools, organizations they work in, or in their communities. We think these findings are inspiring. They show us that leadership is everyone’s business.”

Share with us… Who do you admire as a leader? Someone famous or someone you’ve actually worked with?

Photo credit: Zhrefeh

The post Leaders Are All Around Us appeared first on Giant Leap Consulting.