Category: Leadership

I’m positive these things are true:

> The earth isn’t flat

> We have to pay taxes on April 15

> Health care workers are heroes

I’m pretty sure these things are true:

> All dogs go to heaven 

> No one can predict the weather

> They’ll never be another Tom Brady

I’m doubtful these things are true:

> Columbus discovered America

> Will Rogers never met a man he didn’t like

> Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy

Someone said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

One of a leader’s biggest challenges is setting aside their own ideas and being open to the team’s points of view, suggestions and approaches. Too often, they get stuck on ‘my belief’ or ‘how I’d do it’ and miss the opportunity for alternative perspectives that might lead to better results.

(Ironically, while that quote is oft attributed to Mark Twain, there is no actual record of who said it. We don’t know for sure.)

One of the creative gifts of humankind is crafting stories that paint vivid pictures in order to assign meaning to the world. Moses and 40 years wandering the desert. King Arthur and searching for the Holy Grail. Jay Gatsby and obsessing for Daisy.

Our minds quickly connect stories onto what we experience. Someone cuts me off in traffic: ‘What an idiot!’ Or, he might be really smart, just an unsafe driver. Someone crosses their arms during a conversation: ‘She must be upset with what I said.’ Or, she might be fully engaged, just cold. Someone on the side of the road holds up a sign asking for money: ‘He’s probably a lazy bum.’ Or, he might have mental illness, addiction or lost a child and doesn’t have the support for recovery.

Yesterday, I immediately judged someone after my swim. He was taking forever to finish his shower… delaying me from rinsing off, so I could be on my way. I mean he was ‘fully’ showering! Waiting several minutes 10 feet away – within his clear line of vision – made me angry. I told myself the story that he was inconsiderate, clueless and purposely doing it.

Then I caught myself and thought… or: maybe he’s a new member and no one told him the shower by the pool is just for rinsing; maybe he’s here as the guest of a friend who’s upstairs lifting weights, taking too long, and he’s going to be late for work; maybe the plumbing at his apartment is busted and this is his only option.

In my initial and revised reactions, I created the story without any facts… just my judgment about what I was seeing. The first ones – all negative – frustrated me. The second versions – all positive – didn’t raise any emotions. When I gave up, toweled off and left, I was in a much better place having thought of him in the better light. 

Succession Planning is an integral part of leadership. It’s important to grow and develop your replacement, if only to keep you from getting stuck in a role – and miss out on a deserved promotion – because you’re too valuable to replace. (This happened to a client of mine, who was passed over twice before he asked why and learned a lesson.)

Last week at least one – and perhaps two – future Hall of Fame quarterbacks retired from the NFL. The Steelers benefitted from 18 seasons of Big Ben and have two more Super Bowl trophies on the shelf. The Bucs may have had TB12 for two seasons… yet rode his exceptional win-or-go-home attitude to a Championship in year one. Neither team has a replacement on deck, so it’s time to trade, sign a free agent or hope for a Draft hit.

Those strategies sometimes work quickly. The Rams will play in the Super Bowl in two weeks after trading their starting quarterback, two first round picks, and a third, to unleash Matthew Stafford from the dismal Lions. The Bengals went from worst to first in two seasons by landing the number one pick the year Joe Burrow just happened to reveal a generational talent.

The Patriots let Brady leave… and drafted Matt Jones – after four other quarterbacks were selected last spring. All he did was make the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

Other times it leads to a never-ending rotation of the wrong answer. (See: Jets, Giants, Broncos, Panthers, Jaguars, Vikings, Eagles, Dolphins, WFT, Texans)

The business lesson here is as simple as ABC: Always Be ‘Cruiting.

If you haven’t identified successors for your most important leaders, start thinking who on your team – or in your organization – are potential candidates. If those folks aren’t onboard, the next time you’re interviewing for an opening, ask questions that might reveal if the person in front of you has the potential to grow into a leader you need.

If you’re a sports fan and hear the names ‘Walton’ and ‘Watson’, you might think of a hyperbolic NBA analyst and a golfer who won eight majors beginning in 1975 (or a more recent two-time Masters champion named Bubba). If you’re a fan of business leaders, you might think of a legendary founder and a long-ago CEO.

Sam Walton took his single Rogers, Arkansas store and grew it into the mega-retailer that today employees more than 2.3 million. Thomas J. Watson, Sr., worked his way up from a salesman at National Cash Register, to GM of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording company, which he renamed IBM and became chairman.

Both ranked among the leading business icon’s – and wordsmiths – of their eras… and have many inspirational stories attributed to them.

In his book, Made in America, Walton explained: “The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign: ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed.’ They’re still up there, and they have made all the difference.” 

This one might be true… or perhaps anecdotal. When asked by a reporter how he became successful, Walton allegedly said, “I’ve made a lot of good decisions.” When the reporter followed up with how he learned to make good decisions, Walton responded, “By making a lot of bad decisions.”

Walton even wrote about Watson: “He decided they would never have more than four layers from the chairman of the board to the lowest level of the company. That may have been the greatest single reason why IBM was successful.”

Then there’s Watson’s legendary lesson: “Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?”

Of course, in 1943, he said: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Hey, nobody’s perfect.

In the early days of this coaching business, I gave a lot of talks: Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce, good friend’s buddy’s nephew’s classmate’s daughter’s company. Crafting that skill led to opportunities to speak for pay. After each of those the hiring organization sent out surveys to attendees – and my scores were always at the higher end of the scale.

At one event, I spoke to more than 300 people… and 78 turned in their comments. (That was a good response rate in the pre-Survey Monkey era.) The average score was 4.8 out of 5, which the person who hired me said was their best in at least five years. 

Reading through them, I saw a lot of nice platitudes that suggested I had an impact on the audience. Then I came to that one person who gave me a 1… the lowest possible score. Their comments were brutal: “irrelevant topic”… “not related to our business”… “too much sports”… “need to hire professional speakers.” Ouch!

Rather than celebrate all the kind words, I spent at least a month dwelling on this one person’s critique… and I mean dwelling – like taking up residence in the down in the dumps, embarrassed, I’m totally inept hotel. Finally, Kathy said: “You need to let it go. That’s one opinion. Think about all the others who liked you. Move on.”

Feedback is a gift. When you ask for views about your performance, it’s important to receive it openly – without judgment – and, especially, to avoid attempting to counter the other person’s perspective.

While I’m much more mature now than 15 years ago when that one person got under my skin, it still stings to think I’m not always 100 percent a 5. Why just this week, someone shared a comment that made me lean forward and say, “Well, actually…” before catching myself, nodding, and saying: “Thank you.”