Orchestrating Success

The head and heart cannot function without a unifying principle. That principle is to be found at the crossroads through which each element must pass. That crossroad stands at—and is—the center.—James Conlon in the Foreword to Toward Center, p. xv

Centering, which I discuss in this book, is a severe and thrilling discipline, often acutely unpleasant. In my own efforts, I become weak, discouraged, exhausted, angry, frustrated, unhappy, and confused. But someone within me is resolute, and I try again. Within us lives a merciful being who helps us to our feet however many times we fall. — M. C. Richards in Centering

Being centered means managing self. The Transformational Leader creates high functioning, high performing cultures by influence. Being centered is essential to the tone and mood of that influence. Transformational Leaders get results by personal influence, not by power of position.

In his book, The Musician’s Soul, James Jordan points out that the conductor must be centered on the podium to be effective. Being centered means physical, mental, and spiritual grounding. Being fully present as one’s self is the beginning of influence. The same paradigm is true for leaders in any field.

In his eight leadership concepts, Murray Bowen defines one concept as “Differentiation of Self.” Under this concept come many items including managing self, which includes managing one’s own anxiety. Anxiety is a form of influence, and it is not a desired form of influence.

Anxiety breeds anxiety: Just like when a cow in a herd of cows gets anxious when hitting the electric fence, and spreads that anxiety to the rest of the herd, anxious leaders create anxiety within any group emotional culture. Anxiety spreads even when the leader attempts to hide it.

Anxiety clouds rational thinking: When we move our being into an emotional state, the brain gets flooded with emotion and pushes aside rational thinking. The effective leader manages emotions and retains rational thinking.

Anxiety creates doubt: Clouded thinking and anxious thinking are the downfall of effective group process. The anxious leader appears to be unsure and transmits that sense of doubt to the others in the group. When not knowing what to do or what is happening, it’s best to pause and observe, asking good questions and listening to the answers, and observing what is happening with the team. Pausing and observing allows for clarity of intent to manifest in the team. Learning when to manage process and when to allow the team to struggle with finding their answer is a mature leadership skill and only comes with trusted relationships and experience.

Centered means confidence knowing that you don’t need to have all the answers or solve all problems. Being centered is being fully present. The leader always ensures that the team is implementing the vision of the organization and reserves veto power for any decisions. Success comes with not having to use that veto power due to effective and clear principles and strategies. It’s the integration of strategy and performance that builds the DNA of high functioning in teams.

Musicians learn to be centered by managing their nerves. Being nervous paralyzes the inexperienced performer, whether musician, actor, speaker, etc., while the experienced performer learns to utilize the adrenaline that comes with the nervousness, providing a greater presence and enhanced sensitivities. This success comes with much experience and intentional rehearsal – perfect practice makes for perfect performance.

Centered is being balanced:

• Balance is managing multiple priorities
• Balance is not overfunctioning
• Balance is managing self
• Balance is knowing and connecting with inner self
• Balance has nothing to do with equal
• Balance is setting and managing reasonable expectations

Here’s what Richard Rohr wrote in his daily meditation on December 30, 2015: Say to yourself: “I don’t know anything.” Imagine you are an erased blackboard, ready to be written on, a tabula rasa. For by and large, what blocks spiritual learning is the assumption that we already know, or that we don’t need to know. We have to pray for the immense guidance that is offered us in the beginner’s mind. We need to say with the blind man, “Lord, I want to see.”

This is true of leadership. If we assume we know, then we block our learning. Centering begins with emptying one’s self and becoming aware.

Leadership is continuing to learn, continuing to grow, and continuing to expand awareness.

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Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. – James Allen

Studying Leadership

Being or becoming an effective leader means being a serious student of leadership, and not being a leadership expert. A plan for constant reflection, evaluation, study, and planning is common among great leaders. Let’s reflect on our own skills today.

Look at the list and ask yourself, “Is there a pattern here?” Then ask, “Am I willing to do something about it?”

You are doing too much and your team is accomplishing too little
You set goals that don’t happen and you constantly revise the due dates
Your vision is inspiring to you, but no one else gets it
You can’t get your to-dos finished on most days
You are giving up days off and holidays
Believe it or not, these are very, very common problems with leaders in many types of organizations. When I ask if they are willing to do something about it, I get a wide variety of answers, including the following:

I don’t have time to do anything more…
My team just isn’t up to par…
It will cost too much to work on it…
I’m doing everything possible and nothing works…
And…It doesn’t matter, the situation is hopeless and nobody will change…
These answers are what I classify as denial. I define it as denial because the leader has a lack of self-awareness and is not thinking about the consequences of his or her actions or lack of actions. The leader typically is not willing to change his or her patterns due to this denial.

Here’s the first question to ask yourself: “Am I willing to change myself and to begin a journey of personal growth and self-discovery to achieve my vision?” Next ask, “Am I willing to do what it takes to improve myself in order to improve my results?”

I’d like to hear your answers. Please comment below, then let’s schedule a time to talk about your revelations or lack thereof.

I learn something from every person I meet. How about you?

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Managing our use of time
* Keeping yourself organized
* Writing things down
* Time wasters
* Sharing your goals

Keeping within the plan…intuitively knowing what not to do

Practice managing self wishing the allowed time

FOCUS

Journaling: review your day at the end of the day and note were the time went

Share goals and have an accountability parter

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We give energy to what we think about. – Anonymous

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. – James Allen

Negative Thoughts

Managing our thoughts is the only thing we truly have control over, and our thoughts control our results. Managing ourselves creates a reciprocal response in others in any group emotional situation. We, as leaders, as humans, as professionals, are primarily people of influence.

Just as the musical conductor influences the performance, the leader inspires and motivates the team in sometimes very subtle ways. What we are holding in our innermost thoughts comes out in ways that we least expect. People feel what we are thinking, even when we attempt to hide our thoughts – fears, doubts, insecurities, angers, etc. Our presence is impacted by our inner voice.

Negative scripts bring negative results. Thinking about debt, debt, debt, gives validity and energy to debt. Thinking about prosperity opens doors. The Law of Attraction, defined by Napoleon Hill, is just that. We attract what we are, as stated by James Allen as well. Managing ourselves is the core of successful leadership.

This is easy to write about and talk about, however it’s not so easy to accomplish.

Another discovery made by Hill, while he was interviewing the most successful business people of his time, was that the mind cannot hold a negative and positive thought at the same time. These successful people had an image of what they wanted to accomplish and used that image to replace doubt or fear. It obviously worked. This is not denial. It’s important to pay attention to the market and determine if there are changes needed. That’s effective leadership. Changing at the first sign of a problem is not effective. Learning the difference is key.

The Law of Attraction is not about greed, as presented in the popular video, “The Secret.” It’s about hard work and intentionality. It’s about giving value and attracting the same. It’s ultimately about influence and integrity.

How can a leader influence others when not being able manage self?

Check out my program http://leaderunbound.com

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Balance…or Not!

I’m writing a new book. I’m thinking of calling it Adrenaline as a Way of Life. Or maybe I’ll try Time: There Will Never be Enough of It, So Squander What You’ve Got. Here’s a sneak peak at my chapter outline.

Chapter One: E-mergency

Answer all emails at once. Do not delay. Stop whatever you are doing and answer that baby.

Chapter Two: Adrenaline is My Motivator

Save tasks that are “due today” until the last hour, better yet, the last half hour of your workday so you will have the added energy boost of adrenaline to help you complete your tasks.

Chapter Three: Be a Hog

Hog the copier. Put off using office machines until the last possible minute, never mind if your colleagues need them.

Chapter Four: Under-prepare for Meetings/Rehearsals

That way you’ll find out what you’re really made of. Can you fly by the seat of your pants? Are you great at improvisation? Can you fake it in front of a group?

Chapter Five: Don’t Bother Planning Ahead, Wait Until the Last Minute

Careful planning is over rated! Panic provides lots of energy for a task. It’s contagious too, so if you can get other people panicked about a mutual project, just think of all the energy!

Chapter Six: Don’t organize your stuff.

That last minute search for materials provides a great panic push just when you need an extra shot of adrenaline.

Chapter Seven: Run

Don’t walk, run. Run to the workroom, to the bathroom, to your car. Run yellow lights. Heck, run red ones. That gets everyone excited!

Chapter Eight: Do One More Thing

Do one more thing before you leave. That will insure being late.

Chapter Nine: Shallow Breathing

Be sure to keep your breath short and rapid. Mimic panic in your breathing at all times. Remember, you don’t have time to take a deep breath.

Chapter Ten: Run Late

Show up at the last minute, or better yet, arrive late. Increase every one’s anxiety level!

Chapter Eleven: Yell

Yell at everyone when you are running late. If there is no one there, yell at the empty house. Yell at other cars, yell under your breath or right out loud at anyone or anything that gets in your way.

Chapter Twelve: Fast

Eat in the car. Even better, don’t eat at all. Being hungry increases your discomfort level and decreases your functioning level which will force your adrenaline to kick in and do it’s magic. When you do eat, gorge on foods that are bad for you.

Chapter Thirteen: Blame

Blame other people, blame your life situation, blame the traffic, blame the stoplights, blame your mother. Blame anything or anyone you can think of for anything and everything.

Chapter Fourteen: Calendar, Schmalandar

Don’t bother double-checking your calendar for appointments. Better yet, don’t write them down in the first place. If they really need you, they’ll call you.

I wrote this as a joke in a particularly busy season in my life and shared it at a staff meeting as a way of apologizing to my colleagues for my hyper-anxious state of being at work. I wish I could say those things are exaggerations, but they are based on the truth of how out of balance my life was at that time.

This winter, as I enter a very busy season once again, I’m attempting to do things differently. Like taking time daily for prayer, exercise, good nutrition, and Sabbath rest. As an experiment, I’m going to take one workday a month out of the office to be still and pray. It’s already making me nervous but I’m determined to do it to break the habits I wrote about in my “book”.

As I attempt to regain balance in my work schedule, I hope you’ll be encouraged to do the same. May God bless us on our journey

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The More the Leader Controls the Group, the Less Effective the Results Become

My friend and colleague, Larry Dill, hired me to develop a world-class music program in Huntsville, Alabama. When he called to invite me to consider the position, I asked him, “Where’s Huntsville?” I was in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time and had very little self-awareness of smaller places.

I went to check out the position and, after much consideration, accepted the job. I did so mostly because of Larry. He showed up as a visionary and passionate leader. He showed up to empower the skilled members of the team he put in place. He showed up to model the results he wanted to see.

I can remember sitting in the conference room on numerous occasions, planning programs six months ahead. During many of these sessions, seemingly insurmountable challenges arose. Larry would ask the team a question, presenting how to solve the problem. He would then sit quietly as the team discussed, debated, and defined ideas to answer his question. At the right moment, Larry would simply and calmly interject his comment: “I’ve heard enough. This what we will do.”

He listened, observed, and processed the information coming forth in the meeting. He had a highly competent team. He did not control the process or the conflation of ideas. He, however, remained very much in charge. He demonstrated a high competence as a leader.

The value in planning ahead is that teams can be more creative and effective. Work is more energized and focused. There is less confusion and less destructive conflict.

The paradox in leadership is that by doing less, Larry got more accomplished and helped the team be more productive and creative.

If you are working too hard, maybe you are doing too much. The first trait of Transformational Leadership is to define what to let go of. If you have too much to do, think about this polarity. Do the opposite.

Hmmm…that’s counterintuitive and goes against the work ethic that many leaders have been taught. Well, if it’s not working, then change it.

Define what is not working. Write it down. Define why it’s not working. Define all the potential solutions. Look for solutions that are similar and can be combined for strength. Develop an action plan based on what you discover in this process. The final solution might not be what you had initially expected.

Remember to think about systems. Transformational Leadership is a system – a thinking system, and not a feeling system.

How will you approach your team next in problem solving?

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An effective leader does not have all the answers, but asks good questions.

In the beginning, people think vulnerability will make you weak, but it does the opposite. It shows you’re strong enough to care. – Victoria Pratt

Lead by ExampleBeing vulnerable is a strength of leadership, not a weakness. We think that being strong means that we are not vulnerable, not transparent, and basically not honest with those whom we lead. In fact, when we are not transparent, people know it and want to prove to us that they know it.

The autocratic leader holds secrets, uses power, and has all the answers – this equates to being the “Boss.”

Rather than being “bossy,” the Transformational Leader builds leadership skills in team members by nurture, engagement, questioning, and any activity that enables team members to use their thinking skills.

A large part of Transformational Leadership, as a style of leadership, is authenticity. Do what you say. Do what you ask others to do. Be genuine. Be ethical.

Transparency is related to, but not the same as, vulnerability. The transparent leader is open, direct, and vulnerable. This includes the authentic statement, “I don’t know.” Pretending to know and providing an answer or solution that is made up, and not authentic and not accurate, is deadly. If teams do not trust the leader, then there is little or no open, honest, and direct communication. In some cases, teams will try to prove the leader to be wrong.

The Transformational Leader empowers, engages, equips, and inspires leaders on teams by open transparent communication based on relationship.

Here are some thoughts from others:

As James Jordan puts it, “And he talked at length about being authentic and vulnerable with your singers, so as to get to the soft, immaculate heart of the music for an emotional, rapturous performance.” (1)

Henri Nouwen says, “Let’s not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular.” (2)

Cal Turner, Jr., former CEO and President of Dollar General, shared with me that he was able to be transparent with his team of managers in telling them that he had the vision for the company, but didn’t have the skills for getting there. That’s where they could fill in with their skills. He pointed out that leadership is basically identifying the gaps and finding people to fill in those gaps. (3)

“After spending the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, shame, and worthiness, I’ve come to believe that leadership has nothing to do with position, salary, or number of direct reports. I believe a leader is anyone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes.” – Brené Brown (4)

The pastor, corporate leader, conductor, and professor all advocate vulnerability from different perspectives.

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We sometimes make a plan (entrepreneurs keep a lot of ideas in their minds and don’t always make a written plan to share), and sometimes we create action items for the plan, and sometimes we connect the plan to implementation.
If we do those things, then we raise the bar substantially on succeeding. That puts us into the top 10% of leadership excellence.
Check my recent podcast 04, Creating Your Plan for Success, to see my thinking on what’s missing for successful organizational leadership.
After completing the planning and action plan activation process, it’s critical to have a plan for continuing improvement and accountability.
Many times I will interview a leader who pulls out a dusty document and admits that the plan has been dormant, or only partially used. The strength of the plan is in the integration with team performance. As the old saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
We succeed because we create intentional followup systems and processes. Here’s my 5-step process for following up on the plan:
1. Create and Share the Plan: Having a written document that is distributed, complete with action items, champions, and deadlines, is the beginning. Next, commit to continually evaluating the plan, the progress, and the implementation.
2. Evaluate: Establish a frequency for evaluating the plan. If you have a 5-year plan and update it every six months, then you always have a 5-year plan. It’s one plan migrated over time. Evaluate what’s working, what needs to be changed (or stopped), and what different things to add. Minor evaluations can be scheduled for the action plans and milestones along the way, however a major evaluation must be put on the calendar with the buy-in from the entire team.
3. Revise: If it’s not working, then change it. This sounds logical, however so many leaders get stuck in a rut and can’t see the way out. Commit to change what’s not working.
4. Recommit: We will most likely have to renegotiate roles and responsibilities along with timelines. We can’t assume that everybody will just roll into the new model. Ask for a commitment to the revisions.
5. Implement: Establish a new action plan to address revised objectives and revise the accountability metrics for staying on track.
This process must happen face-to-face with the planning team. The integration of planning and performance is an intentional framework of the culture.
What happens outside of the details of the planning documents is the most important and overlooked dynamic. We are creating a New Architecture of EngagementTM in the process.
Those who follow up will win!

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