LeaderLine

Finding the Opportunities!

Albert Einstein had a way of making wisdom simple: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

All eyes are on Washington and Wall Street as we follow the "As the Financial World Turns" soap opera unfolding before our very eyes. Learned helplessness is described as the "giving up" response that comes from the belief that there's nothing one can do to influence one's outcome--we wait powerless hoping for experts to fix the problem or tell us what to do!

Inaction and powerlessness produce predictable results--nothing good! Invest your worry time in looking for opportunities that surface in the midst of difficult times.

Do something! Adjust your response as needed, but keep moving. What customers do well in poor economies? How can I add value to their efforts?

If you have available team members with time on their hands, challenge them to invest their time in accelerating progress in developing your next wave of innovation. When the economy turns, you'll be ready to lead the way.

Not only will such a strategy produce sustained results; you’ll help rally the morale of others by helping them stay focused on making a difference.

(Source: Albert Einstein in Carolyn Masters, Masters of Motivation card pack, Masters Resource Group, 602-297-6674)

As Simple as Possible But No Simpler

Albert Einstein shared an important truth: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

To be truly meaningful, finding simplicity is hard work. The pursuit of wisdom requires a simple premise worth addressing, the discipline to look deeply to understand the complexity involved, and the gift to return from study with a simple statement that is accurate, memorable and clear.

As a columnist, the struggle to get from 1,000 words to 750 is always a challenge. What can be left out? What succinctly communicates your point? What examples or quotes provide needed windows to understanding?

As a speaker, talking for a couple of hours is easier than 45 minutes. The more experience you have the easier it is to be distracted by tangents. The older I get the more everything I say can remind me of something else. But it is focus, simplicity and clarity that matter most.

Einstein's challenge to be as simple as possible but no more, should challenge all of us. Make good use of your words, your meetings and your time. Bring discipline to your thinking and communicating and watch it make a difference.

What do you think?

(Source: Albert Einstein, http://www.heartquotes.net/Einstein.html)

Pulling the Right Levers in Tough Economic Times

Jeffrey Immelt, CEO GE, has said, "Every company has to grapple with a slower-growth world. They have to figure out which levers to pull to drive growth in a way that's value-added, so you're not just doing it through price reductions. I put R&D at the top of the list."

You can't just cut your prices and expect to survive in today's uncertain economy. The answer is not in competing on price or waiting for direction. Change leaders invest available time in positioning for new opportunities.

In recent years, GE has more than doubled its investment, to $1.5 billion by 2010, in technologies that include cleaner coal-fired power plants, a diesel-and-electric hybrid locomotive and agricultural silicon that cuts the amount of water and pesticide used in spraying fields.

Don't bemoan what isn't selling today; get busy finding the aspirin for today's economic headache! They are working to tap the growth market in resource-efficient products.

What do change agents do when they are worried? They invest their worry time in constructive actions to help invent the future.

If demand is down in your organization, what are you doing to position yourself for opportunities that are growing?

(Source: Jeffrey Immelt, CEO GE, USA Today & Wall Street Journal)

The Rocky Change Agent Journey!

Mahatma Gandhi summarized the journey for transformational change agents: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

"Ignore him; he'll go away!" gives way to: "Can you believe crazy Mahatma is at it again!" The laughter subsides and the agenda shifts--"How can we stop this?" Finally, when you can't lick them, join them--"What an icon! I can't wait for Hollywood to do the movie!"   

Change agents must have the fortitude, the vision and the courage to weather the onslaught significant change can generate. Don't expect approval; expect resistance. Learn to listen through the criticism to take insights worth using to invent the future. Trust that a vision-centered change that takes seriously your mission is your best strategy for ensuring eventual success.

Do you have some crazy ideas that people might laugh at now? You may not be on the verge of Hollywood making a movie of your life, but you may have what it takes to become a legendary story of what it takes to create the "new good old days" for your organization.

Where do you need to make some waves that could make a big difference?

Visions without Maps

Col. Steven David, a military defense lawyer, when asked for details on the capital case against six Guantánamo detainees, said something that every change leader can relate to: "You’re asking me to tell you how we’re going to get to a place we’ve never been, with a map I don’t have."

We ask our leaders for their vision, but a journey into an engaging but uncertain future is more of a Safari than a comfortable cruise with destination tours. In a time of global competition, constant change and economic uncertainty, inventing the future, if nothing else, is a true adventure. If you have a leader that speaks with total clarity about the future, it’s probably not radical enough to excite anyone. A vision worth having doesn’t come with MapQuest directions. It does require a leader willing to paint a picture of a destination worth reaching.

If you’ve seen your people overcome obstacles on their way to past successes, have confidence in their ability to help you invent the future. If you know the limitations of where you are now and have a story to tell about what you hope the future holds for you and those you serve, let your team turn your novel into a non-fiction documentary of excellence in action. Create a stretch goal that can’t be done by just improving. Believe in their ability to innovate before they believe in themselves. Then, let them free to find their own way!

During these uncertain economic times, by turning their anxiety into constructive action, you may very well build the next platform for growth your company can use to soar to new heights. 

(Source: Col. Steven David, Quote of the Day, New York Times, e-zine newspaper, Tuesday, February 12, 2008)

Clichés that Work!

George Lucas said, "Don't avoid the clichés. They are clichés because they work."

Change and innovation are both wonderful, but it's equally important to value the wisdom of the past to accelerate our progress today. We resented some of those parental lectures as a youth, but find ourselves repeating them to our children. Why? Because they are laced with timeless truths.

Clichés have power when they become shared wisdom valued by everyone on your organization’s team. They become anchor statements that your organizational culture treasures. They don't have to be explained, just repeated when necessary. Do any of these resonate with you?

"NO" is "ON" spelled backwards--Get back in the game.
Make every day a masterpiece.
Manners are the lubricating oil of relationships.
Care enough to confront.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take!

What are your team's clichés that unlock wisdom you can't afford to forget? This week, take time as a team to explore the timeless wisdom you value the most.      

(Source: George Lucas, in Dan Kennedy, Renegade Millionaire Magazine, Fall/Winter 2007, p. 23)

The Joy of Learning

Albert Einstein said, "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."

There are a lot of things we read and programs we attend because we have to. When was the last time you found joy in your search for knowledge and the creative expression it generated? Such a process of discovery isn't work; it's an adventure! It's times like these that make a career and define a team’s legacy.

There is a reason some work is a chore--we tend to be defending and perfecting the past. The joy is often found in inventing the future. What books do you have trouble putting down? What calls at you from your to-do-list? Not every part of your job will bring you joy; but some of it should, or you’re cheating yourself and your organization. As you start your year, look for the adventure, the doors you want to open, and the difference you want to make.

What could you let go of that would free you and your team to invest where it matters most? Even in tough economic times, don't think about maintaining the status quo; think about the joy you get in leaving a legacy. Make this a special year. Start this week.   

Progress Over Perfection

Arnold Glasgow shares an observation worth repeating as we start the year, "The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we're ready for it."

If you find yourself waiting for the perfect team, the perfect plan and the perfect time to change, you will never change. Or more accurately, you will wait until other people, daring enough to change, force you to catch up to the future they are inventing. Even if the engine is on, you can't drive a car that isn't moving. It's in movement that you advance; you can take advantage of emerging opportunities, make course corrections and enjoy the journey into unexplored territory.

The only place that perfect people exist is in educational movies. Aim for perfection, but keep your focus on consistent progress. As you launch into 2008, position yourself by aligning with your strategic direction, get moving ready for necessary course corrections and be ready to take advantage of emerging opportunities that arise. Position, perform and persist. Make this year worthy of the gifts and vision you've been given. Don't settle; take flight and get ready to soar!

Source: Arnold Glasgow, quoted by Tom Stewart, National Association Realtors Leadership Summit Conference presentation August 18, 2005, Chicago, IL.

Believe in Possibilities

Henry Ford once said, "I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done."

On this day after Christmas, when Christians around the world have celebrated the birth of the Christ child, we are reminded of the importance of believing in the future. Out of a challenging and obscure beginning, that faith now inspires over 2 billion believers. Who would have thought that God might come to earth as a baby, full of potential and yet ready to be nurtured by those he came to save.

As a leader, you too are challenged to believe in a future you are yet to create. All long for people who will share in that dream. Instead of thinking about roadblocks and what is impossible, as you end 2007, you want a team that is committed to achieving progress in inventing a future you can be proud of. Where is the seed of the future reaching out to you and your team to be nurtured?

A leader without an ability to inspire is a contradiction of terms. Leaders inspire! What are you doing to generate hope for your future?  Don't just wait for the New Year to come; get ready to embrace it as a pivotal year for you and yours!

(Source: Henry Ford, "Leaders on Leadership." Executive Travel, May/June 2007, pp. 72.)

Value Peripheral Vision

Anthony Mayo, author of Their Time: The Great Business Leaders of the 20th Century, makes an important observation:: "We discovered that people who were successful over a long period of time were contextually intelligent. They understood the context of their time, how to grow a business, find a new market opportunity and see some possibility others thought was doormat or dying."

It's great to have a destination in mind. After all, isn't a straight line the shortest distance to success? Sometimes that is true. There can be value in having tunnel vision. But when your tunnel collapses or the destination proves unprofitable, do you have a plan B? Even worse, did you fail to see a better opportunity that you missed as you raced by?

Contextual intelligence is all about maintaining curiosity and discipline in mining the environment and emerging trends that are available on the periphery. Have a focus, but don't be blinded by it. Check on what might be gaining on you in the rearview mirror. Look for side streets that might provide new paths worth exploring. The best are looking for new openings not just destinations. 

What trends, advances or changes are opening new market opportunities in the periphery of your world? Ask your team if they are aware of any doors worth opening. Take advantage of a few of them. 

(Source: Anthony Mayo, author of Their Time: The Great Business Leaders of the 20th Century, in Harvard Business School, 2005, quoted in  Brendan Coffey, "Leadership Quotient," Executive Travel, May/June, 2007, pp. 42-48.)