Adversity Is Better Than Comfort

Tuesday, 08. June 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

“We are not meant, in the grand scheme of life, to be happy and comfortable. Rather we are meant to forge our characters on the anvil of adversity…

Most of us experience monumental periods of adversity — to burn away our self-deception. These devastating setbacks propel us in our quest to become fully and creatively human.

Sometimes we get stuck, so stuck, in fact, that only great pain will impel us to move. It’s then that the power of adversity is revealed. But to see it requires a new way of looking at the world, a radical shifting of perspective.

The walls of your adversity might seem too high to scale. Never mind. Don’t look up and don’t look down. Look straight ahead, find that first foothold, and climb. Soon that wall will become merely a stepping stone to the next phase of your life — and (surprise!) your next adversity. At that time recall the concept of sweat equity and realize that when you leverage your learning from adversity past and present there is no failure and no wasted time.”

— Al Weatherhead and Fred Feldman, The Power of Adversity

What Motivates?

Friday, 04. June 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

“Classic economic theory, based as it is on an inadequate theory of human motivation, could be revolutionized by accepting the reality of higher human needs, including the impulse to self actualization and the love for the highest values.” - Abraham Maslow quotes

This video by Dan Pink provides an insightful overview as to what truly motivates people. This is a critical consideration, for unless a leader can inspire and motivate individuals to embrace and passionately pursue the vision of the organization – their leadership fails. Take time to watch the following video clip:

On The Way Down

Monday, 31. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

We have all observed companies who experienced high levels of success, only to be followed by an extended time of decline, or even failure.  Examples include IBM, General Motors, K-mart, United Airlines, the United Nations, Michael Jackson, and businesses and churches in your own city or town.

In assessing why premier organizations start to experience decline or failure – the following themes stand out:

• Products or services are priced higher relative to the competition, yet do not offer a significant level of added value.

• Innovative and aggressive competition is not acknowledged, nor respected.

• There is a low sense of urgency. The organization has become reactive, verses proactive in its posture.

• The quality of service is declining or faltering – and excuses are being made as to why this is happening – allowing the trend to continue.

• There is a high level of staff (or member) turnover and/or disengaged staff – and organizational leaders are ignoring the underlying reasons for this trend.

• (Related to the point above…) The organization keeps, and even protects, marginally competent staff, managers, and leaders. The organization takes the easier road of keeping a marginally competent person, verses making needed changes regarding the level of competency.

• There is a history of poor recoveries with customers when inadequate service has been provided.

• The leaders in the organization are are primarily focused on internal factors – on internal processes, operations, staff, measurements, and policies.

• The organization is slower and slower to innovate.  Innovation only occurs when it is forced upon them.

Finally, the death of an organization is imminent when its leaders lack an understanding (or remain in denial) regarding why these factors are occurring.  Instead, they make excuses and transfer the blame for the decline to something outside their control. 

Which issues mentioned above is your organization prone toward?  What are you doing about it?

Twain

Thursday, 27. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

I recently read a “Leadership Now” blog which gave Mark Twain’s insight on various aspects of Leadership. I pass them on below…

On Management:
* In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue, but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners… Firsthand knowledge is a competitive advantage.
* A statesman gains little by the arbitrary exercise of ironclad authority, for this wounds the just pride of his subordinates, and thus tends to undermine his strength. A little concession, now and then, where it can do no harm is the wiser policy.

On Encouragement:
* I can live for two months on a good compliment.

On Success:
* Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
* Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires constant effort, vigilance and re-evaluation.
* The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.
* Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.

On Courage:
* Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave.
* It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.
* The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their perseverance - under the promptings of a brave, determined spirit.

On Vision:
* You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
* Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
* The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

On Execution:
* The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
* Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

On Ethics:
* Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
* I am different from [George] Washington; I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won’t.

On Communication:
* The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
* It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
* If you have nothing to say, say nothing.

Twain was not a successful businessman. After emerging from bankruptcy in 1901, Twain advised, “To succeed in business, avoid my example.” He was however, a witty and shrewd moralist and critic of human nature.

Good Ninja - Bad Ninja

Saturday, 22. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

History is full of good and bad leaders - and both types of leaders have provided their own kind of lasting impact. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill all made positive contributions through their leadership.  Others had profound negative effects – Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler each consigned millions of people to their deaths.

** So who has more impact… those who deliver poor leadership, or those who deliver exemplary leadership?

The evidence suggests that the poor/bad leaders “win.”  Researchers routinely find “that 60 to 75 percent of the employees in any organization – no matter what occupational group was involved – report that the worst, or most stressful, aspect of their job is their immediate supervisor.” (American Psychologist)

In addition, research shows that poor leaders drive skilled and motivated people out of their organizations and into the arms of competitors, or perhaps even worse, cause employees to withhold their best efforts while remaining in their current job. For example, a senior Executive was so demoralized by his boss’s stubbornness and poor decisions that he gave up trying to argue, and instead carefully implemented every decision exactly as his controlling and detail-oriented superior instructed.  This Executive learned to take pleasure in how badly things turned out – he called it “engaging in malicious compliance.”

** So what does this mean? All this suggests that avoiding the hiring, or promotion, of a bad leader may be a much more critical/important goal than finding a great leader to head your organization or department. Of course, great leaders offer substantial value – but hiring a bad leader can (and even innocently so) severely damage an organization to such a point that the cost of repairing the damage will be quite extensive – and hard to accomplish – after many of your most effective employees (volunteers, members…) have long since left, or lost their motivation to contribute.

Therefore, choose wisely… 

This One Goes To Eleven!

Tuesday, 18. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

In January 2010, C.K. Prahalad published a column in The Harvard Business Review entitled “The Responsible Manager.” In the article he lists 11 lessons he has taught students for the past 33 years regarding how to become a responsible manager. This is an excellent list of practical truths:

  1. Understand the importance of nonconformity. Leadership is about change, hope, and looking into the future. Leaders have to boldly venture into uncharted and uncommon territory.”

  2. Display a commitment to learning and developing yourself. Leaders must invest in themselves. “If you aren’t educated, you can’t help the uneducated; if you are sick, you can’t minister to the sick; if you are poor, you can’t help the poor.”

  3. Develop the ability to put personal performance in perspective. Over a long career, you will experience both success and failure. Humility in success and courage in failure are hallmarks of a good leader

  4. Be quick to invest in developing other people. Be generous in helping your colleagues realize their full potential.

  5. Learn to relate to those who are less fortunate. Good leaders are inclusive, even when it isn’t easy. Most societies deal with differences by avoiding or eliminating them; few people are willing to assimilate with those who are not like themselves.

  6. Be concerned about due process. People seek fairness – not favors. They want to be heard. People often do not mind if decisions don’t go their way - as long as the process is fair and transparent.

  7. Realize the importance of loyalty to organization, profession, community, society, and above all, family. Most of our achievements would be impossible without the support of our families and others.

  8. Assume responsibility for outcomes - as well as for the process and people you work with. How you achieve results will shape the kind of person you become.

  9. Remember that you are part of a privileged few. That’s your strength, but it’s also a cross you carry. Balance achievement with compassion, and learning with understanding.

  10. Expect to be judged by what you do and how well you do it – not by what you say. (In the same way, even your own bias toward action must be balanced by empathy and caring for other people.)

  11. Be conscious of the part you play. Be concerned about the problems of the poor and disabled, accept human weaknesses, laugh at yourself – and avoid the temptation to play God. Leadership is about self-awareness, recognizing your failings, and developing modesty, humility, and humanity.

Going Nowhere

Thursday, 13. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

You Know You Are Not A Leader When:

  1. You’re waiting on more staff and more money to accomplish your vision.
  2. You think you need to use your authority to influence others into action.
  3. You’re content.
  4. You tend to foster division instead of consensus.
  5. You’re more concerned about voicing your opinion than listening to the opinion of others.
  6. You enjoy “voicing your opinion.”
  7. You find it easier to blame others for your circumstance than to take personal responsibility for finding a solution.
  8. It’s been some time since you have said, “I messed up” or “I am sorry.”
  9. You’re driven by tasks, instead of relationships and a vision.
  10. Your dreams are so small, people think they can be achieved.
  11. Few people are choosing, or excited, to follow you.

Looking Like You Are In Control

Sunday, 09. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

Leadership certainly matters.  BUT the belief a leader has significant influence over an organization’s performance is only somewhat true.

Years ago, Dr. Gerald Salancik conducted a simple experiment: A person was asked to control a model train as it traveled around a track. An observer watched the person who controlled the train. Unbeknownst to both individuals, the experimenter kept changing the power going to the train - making it speed up and slow down unexpectedly - causing it to derail.

The person running the train soon recognized they had little control over the train. But the observer perceived something different. The observer did not know the fluctuations of the train were outside the control of the person running the train, but instead concluded the person was simply not competent to keep the train on the track. Because the person running the train was visible, the observer attributed the train’s performance to that person – not to the invisible factor that actually caused the train to derail.

In the same way, when we look at organizations, we see the leaders who are in charge – yet fail to see (or understand) the real constraints that affect the company’s performance.

Ask almost any self-aware leader, “Do you have as much power, control, or influence over your organization as you really need?” and the answer is almost invariably “No!” - for most honest leaders recognize the limits on their ability to really make things happen in an organization.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, PhD published research which found that although leaders do have some impact on performance, their actions rarely determine more than 10% of the differences in the performance gap between the best and the worst organizations. Studies confirm that the link between leadership and performance is quite modest – that organizational performance is largely determined by factors outside a leaders span of control, for even the most powerful Executive has little influence over macroeconomic trends, the price of international currency, oil, wars, injuries, technology advances, their organization’s history, and even the weather…

** Yet, despite the findings cited above, just about everyone still succumbs to the belief that leaders ARE in ultimate control. So they seek to hire, praise, hold on to, and promote leaders who “seem to be in control” of events.

So what does this mean for a leader? This means you will never get or keep a leadership position if you can’t convince others that you are in control – even when you don’t have much control!  It means that pretending you are in control of your organization’s performance can actually help you gain actual control over at least some aspects of your organization’s performance.

(I know the above sentence is slightly confusing, but think about it for awhile…)

Steps To The Top

Wednesday, 05. May 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

Steps In The Right Direction:

1. Focus And Define Your Life -

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”

Nothing is more critical in your life than focus. Having a clear and defined focus creates energy, efficiency, and peace of mind.

2. Realize That Your Choices Decide Your Destiny -

“It’s not what’s happening to you now - or what has happened in your past - that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your choices you make about what you focus on, and what things you do, that will determine your destiny.”

More than anything else, your decisions decide your future. The decision to further pursue your education, who to marry, to start your dream business, or even the decision to sit around and make excuses - your life is a result of the choices you make each day.

3. Recognize Which Path Leads To Success -

“The truth of the matter is that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish if: (1) You clearly define what you’re committed to achieving, (2) You’re willing to take decisive action, (3) Along the way you take time to notice what’s working or not, and (4) You continue to learn and change your approach until you achieve your dream.”

Anybody can make excuses - and choose not to do what it takes to succeed. Most people prefer to sit on the side-line. Choose instead to take decisive action… again, and again, and again.

4. Raise Your Expectations -

“Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming. If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.”

In life you get what you accept - and what you expect. What do you expect from yourself? Do you expect to be average, to live an average life or to have an average job? What are you accepting? Are you accepting living paycheck to paycheck? Choose to raise your standard - choose to elevate your expectations.

5. Major On Major Things -

“Most people fail in life because they major on minor things.”

Give your time and attention to what matters the most. Dedicate your life to doing big things; leave the little things to someone else. Learn to think big, and act big - and your life will take on a new direction.

6. Do What You Know Needs To Be Done -

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough. - You must take action.”

Chances are you already have enough information to dramatically transform your life from the inside-out; you’re just not putting that information into action. It’s not enough to possess the knowledge - you must act on what you know in-order to achive your destiny.

7. Learn to Follow A Leader -

“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and learn from what they do.”

There’s no sense in re-creating the wheel. Find someone who is succeeding - and do what they do (and have done.) If it is working for them, it will likely work for you.

Asking The Right Question

Friday, 30. April 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

What’s your favorite question?

The ability to ask good questions is the catalyst of innovation and effective leadership. Albert Einstein said, “To raise new questions, new possibilities - to regard old problems from a new angle - requires creative imagination and mark real advances.”

Dr Ralph Gerard, said “Reason can answer questions, but imagination is needed to ask them.”

Good questions stimulate the brain, and organizations…  The more questions we ask, the more creativity and innovation we will experience in our lives and business.  Yet as we age, we tend to disengage from asking questions.  Research as shown that as we grow older, we ask fewer and fewer questions.  Think about it.  Why does the typical 5-year old ask about 65 questions a day, while the typical 40-something asks less than 7 questions a day? ** Some popular answers are:

“Asking a question makes a person look stupid.”
“Asking questions is a sign of weakness.”
“Many people already believe they know the answer.”

It is unfortunate that in many segments of our society, asking questions is seen as a weakness – when in fact it is the opposite.  So how can a leader change this? - How can we build healthy Questioning into their culture and process?

Leaders build it through role modeling the “art and science” of Questions – and training other leaders/managers to do the same. The ability to ask wise and innovative questions is the process by which we develop, improve, and change – thus questions should be used anywhere decisions are being made: When launching a new product or service; when planning an event; when setting sales and marketing strategies, etc.

As a leader, take time to think through the various meetings you will participate in the next few days – then think through a few provocative questions that will help facilitate better decisions and processes.  Questions that clarify a needed decision, goal, problem, or challenge facing for your organization. Your questions can be broadly scoped, such as “What new products should we introduce into our portfolio this year?” or more specifically targeted, such as “What productivity improvements can be made in our recruiting process?”

This small, but powerful, change in your leadership will positively affect the culture, quality of decisions, and leverage intellectual capital in ways that drive innovation to new heights!

One question you can start using right away is:

“What new, or different idea, might improve ____________________?”

And Rudyard Kipling’s quote is always good to keep in mind: “I keep six honest serving-men. They taught me all I know; their names are: What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.”