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Entitled Anger

by Ron Potter

“What we know is that entitlement is correlated with anger, meaning the more entitled you are the angrier you get,” said Ryan Martin, the author of Why We Get Mad: How to Use Your Anger for Positive Change.

Entitled

What does it mean to be entitled?  A dictionary definition is:

believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment
Italics are mine.

Believing oneself!  Yes, it can come from your position in the pecking order but the definition says that you believe you’re entitled and deserve special treatment.

Leadership and Entitlement

I’ll remind my readers that the number one attitude of a great leader is humbleness.  I would say that being humble is the opposite of feeling entitled.

We’ve all run into the entitled leader.  Actually, they are not leaders, they’ve simply obtained a position of leadership.  But they believe that because they have become a VP or general manager, they’re entitled to special treatment and feel no hesitancy to use a command and control style.

Anger

Anger can be real and justified at times.  Even Jesus displayed anger at the money changers that were taking advantage of the poor.

The money changers were taking advantage of those who visited the temple.  This made Jesus angry and he said “My house shall be called the house of prayer”.

Anger can be justified but be very, very careful of your motives.

On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors

Patrick J. Wright is the author of On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors, an account of John De Lorean’s departure from General Motors. (The account is written without De Lorean’s cooperation.)

De Lorean left General Motors to start his own company, Delorean Motor Company (DMC).  If you’re a fan of “Back to the Future” you’ll remember the DMC used by “Doc” to go back in time.

There was one very telling section in that book that described the destructive nature of entitlement.

GM executives arrived at work each morning and their company valet service would pick up their car, take it to the shop, fix any squeaks, rattles, or other issues.  The car was then washed and cleaned inside and out and returned to the executive for their drive home.

Based on these executives’ experience, GM was making some of the finest cars in the world.  But the general public had a different experience.  To them, GM was producing some of the worst cars in the industry.  The executives didn’t understand.  Sometimes they even got angry at the public for thinking that way.  Their anger was based on entitlement!

Do you feel entitled?

That feeling or belief will get you nowhere.  In fact, it will be destructive to you and others.

It can be difficult to see our own entitlement.  You must develop good friends that are not afraid to tell you if you are acting that way.  You must develop a great team that can talk about anything, even your behavior, without fear of reprisal.  Entitlement will destroy you!  Do whatever you can to keep it from creeping into your life.

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BlogLeadership

Leaders Don’t Lack Curiosity

by Ron Potter

“Journalists were once marked by their curiosity. Now the only thing that’s curious about many of them is their lack of curiosity when a story doesn’t fit their priors.”

That is an interesting statement by Gerard Baker in the Wall Street Journal

Change in Journalistic Standards

I once read that there was a change in our journalistic schools during the Watergate Break-in when Woodward and Bernstein worked with their secretive informant that became known as Deep Throat.   Their reporting eventually led to Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency.

The change at the journalism schools was described as a move from reporting the news to making the news.  The students now felt they could become the newsmakers rather than just reporters.  I believe this eventually led to Mr. Baker’s statement in the WSJ that journalists were no longer curious if the story didn’t fit their priors.

The definition in Webster’s dictionary for the word prior is: taking precedence (as in importance).  This means that a journalist’s prior belief of what is right or wrong or if it is the right agenda takes precedence over being curious.

Being curious used to be what was important to report the news.

Leadership Priors

Leaders have priors.  There are things they believe about leadership, their corporate mission, the marketplace, and many other spaces.  However, knowing that you have those beliefs and still keeping an open mind, curious about what others think or believe is the hallmark of great leadership.

Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”   Leaders should possess first-rate intelligence.  That means that opposing thoughts may both be valid.

I believe the best leaders and leadership teams should constantly be dealing with the dilemmas they face.  As Fitzgerald says, that first-rate mind still retains the ability to function.

With dilemmas, there are no right and wrong answers.  That’s what managers are dealing with.  Leaders should be dealing with dilemmas where both answers are equally good or bad, right or wrong.  “Being on the horns of a dilemma” means that you’re going to get gored either way.  You’re just picking the horn that will or won’t gore you.

Leaders retain the ability to function even when faced with dilemmas!

Beliefs and Convictions

Our current society tries to lump us together in certain categories.  While some of us may have very similar backgrounds, we each have a different set of beliefs and convictions.

I often ran an exercise with the teams I was working with that I called “Human Beings, not Human Doings.”  At work, we’re often thought of by what we do.  But if we leave our understanding strictly on what they do, not who they are, it leads to many of the conflicts and bad feelings that can happen in the workplace.

One of the topics I’ll use in the exercise is to ask “what person and/or event has shaped who you are today?”

I grew up in a very small, homogenous, rural community in southern Michigan.  On the surface, it looks like all of my classmates came from the same mold.  But we have each been shaped by different people and events.

For instance, I grew up with a father that had lost a leg during WWII.  Of all my classmates, I was the only one with a father who only had one leg.  His hard work, entrepreneurial spirit, and no complaining attitude shaped me.  I had much less patience for consulting clients who tended to whine and complain and shift the blame for their own behavior.

Because of my father, my belief was that you worked hard, did your best, and took responsibility.  I had a different experience than all my “homogenous” classmates.  And they had different experiences than I did.  We must get to know the human being, behind what they do for a living.

We are Each Unique

It’s been said that no two snowflakes are alike.  I believe that about humans as well.  As my brother and sisters and I have talked during our adult years, it’s obvious that each of them is unique and different from each other.  And yet we grew up in the same house in the same small town with exactly the same two parents.

Get to know the human beings on your team.  It will add a great deal of understanding and closeness that is needed to build great teams.

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BlogLeadership

7% Increase in Shareholder Returns

by Ron Potter

Did that title capture your attention?   What company today wouldn’t like to provide that kind of increase to their shareholders?

185 CEO’s

A research paper looked at 185 CEO’s and the performance of their companies in the S&P 500 between 2000 and 2013.  The conclusion was that the more humble leaders produced 7% higher value to their shareholders.  The paper used modesty, fairness, and sincerity to measure their “humbleness”  Let’s take a look at these three characteristics.

Modesty

A dictionary definition says “the quality of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one’s abilities.”

Unassuming.  There are several areas where a person can be unassuming or assuming.  Any of them can be good or bad.  One statement I like comes from Jordan Peterson in his book, 12 Rules of Life.  Rule number 9 says “Assume That The Person You Are Listening To Might Know Something You Don’t.”  That’s a good thing to assume and it makes you unassuming.  When leaders make this assumption about their team, it’s inspiring and leads to great conversations about the business.

Moderate about one’s abilities.  I think the word moderate is key.  Not too high, not too low.  It’s interesting to me that team members often prefer to work for a boss that they consider above average or even higher.  It only becomes an issue if the boss starts believing her own press and assuming she knows more than everybody else on the team.  Remember Jordan Petersons rule number 9.  As long as the leader remains unassuming, the team loves a strong, knowledgeable leader.

Trust Me

In my book, Trust Me: Developing a Leadership Style that People Will Follow, the number one characteristic is Humility.  The word has lost its original definition over time.  The early definition was “tremendous strength under complete control.”  As I mentioned earlier, people like leaders who have great strength and ability but are modest or humble at the same time.  That’s the winning combination.

Many leaders exhibit power and strength in their roles.  They may get things done but they don’t build great teams and they don’t develop shareholder value.

Be a humble leader.  The rewards are high and the relationships you develop will be tremendously valuable over time.

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BlogLeadership

The World’s Top Executive Coach?

by Ron Potter

I spent much of my career being an executive coach, so I was very interested to see who the Wall Street Journal had named the World’s Top Executive Coach.

So who did the Wall Street Journal identify?  Queen Elizabeth!

My wife and I have been big fans of the TV drama The Crown.  Several times in the series The Queen met with the then-current Prime Minister.   Her very first such meeting was with Winston Churchill in 1952 when she was 26 years old.  That sounds like a pretty intimating start to me!

Giving Orders

British law forbids the queen from giving orders or publicly taking sides on matters of state. Her only constitutional right is to be kept informed.  However, she is free to ask questions and offer her point of view.  It’s amazing how powerful genuine questions can be.

As Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth views herself as an impartial advocate for the people. But her primary motive, it seems, is to be helpful. She often ministers to her ministers.

Broader Perspective

The article says that “One of her greatest assets is an unrivaled wealth of historical perspective.  I have found this broader perspective to be useful in many settings.  Sometimes I will hear my grandchildren (becoming young adults now) say things because they’ve heard some of our misguided public officials say so.  I’m sure I sound like an old man to them much of the time but I simply try to help them see a subject from a much broader perspective.  Even if I restrict that perspective to my own lifetime, it covers over 50 years more than theirs.  I watched socialism form, turn to dictatorships, and collapse.  They have none of that experience when they seem to talk fondly of a more socialistic government.

Safe and Secure Place to Talk

The article talks about how The Queen gives the prime ministers a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

I used to meet with one CEO an afternoon every month.  I would show up after lunch and we would talk about anything on his mind sometimes running well past the 5:00 quitting time.  Leaving the meeting late one evening his personal assistant asked me (a little too seriously I might add) if I was selling drugs.  My response was of course not but why would she ask me such a thing.  She said that the CEO never gave anyone more than an hour of his calendar.  I would show up and we would spend several hours talking and laughing.

The Queen also provides prime ministers with something few world leaders ever get— a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

Queen Elizabeth’s role isn’t vastly different from that of a traditional executive coach. Most business leaders who employ coaches tend to swear by them. One recent study found that 71% believed coaching improved the performance of their companies, while 69% reported making better decisions.

Truly great coaches are a rare breed. It’s hard to find someone who possesses both vast experience and a keen sense of the present. But Queen Elizabeth’s approach to the job suggests that great coaches need something else, too— a deep reservoir of restraint.

Most great mentors will often have a better grasp on a tricky situation than the person they’re advising. But they’ll resist the urge to be a helicopter coach. The only way to help leaders learn and grow is to allow them to make their own mistakes.
The only responsible method is to let them speak openly, guard their secrets and, once in a while, try to redirect their thinking incrementally. Doing that requires humility—and lots of practice.

Good at powerful questions

This is something everyone should understand.  If you look at that heading again you’ll notice that coaches (I suggest this applies to everyone though) are good at using powerful questions.  If said another way, good questions are powerful!

One source you can turn to is the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger.  The subtitle is “The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.”  In his book, Berger refers to a recent research study of thousands of top business executives which found that the most creative, successful business leaders have tended to be expert questioners.

Berger is a source I’ve mentioned many times in this blog.  Listen with the intent to understand, don’t listen with the intent to respond.  Also in his book, Berger says “throughout his life Einstein saw curiosity as something holy.  To see curiosity as holy, you must ask questions with the intent to understand.  Be Curious!

Leaders and Coaches

I don’t care if you’re a leader, a team member, or a coach.  Being good at any role requires—

  • A broad perspective
  • The integrity required to make conversations safe and secure
  • The curiosity to listen and learn.

 

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BlogLeadership

Is it a Wonderful Life?

by Ron Potter

From the movie “It’s a wonderful life” George Bailey and his angel, Clarence.

Clarence was a wonderful gift for George.  Unlike us, Clarence was able to show George what life would have been like if he had never been born.

What did George learn from that experience?

Background

Let’s take a minute to remember the overall storyline.  Many of us have seen the movie at Christmas time through the years.

In the movie, George has a great yearning to travel and see the world.  Right after he is married and on his way for their first adventure with his new wife, the stock market crashes.  George worked for his father’s local building-and-loan business.  When it was obvious that something was wrong, George abandoned his trip and went into the building-and-loan to help with the chaos.  Pretty soon, George found himself stuck in the life he wanted to get away from.

Something Just Crashed and Went Wrong

Not only are we facing the changing world of Covid, as I wrote about last week, but the United States suffered the weakest growth for the ten years following the 2008 crash and recession.  It seemed that we were being told by our own government “get used to it, this is the new normal”.  I found myself getting depressed and worried over that attitude.

I also find myself even more worried today as I watch my grandchildren (ages 13-20) face this very scary new norm.  One article I read said, “many young people have lost hope seeing their labor produce so little reward”.  I consider myself very blessed in that all of my grandchildren have a good work ethic.  I even mentioned to one granddaughter that I lose track that she’s only a junior (now senior) in high school because she works so hard.   She seems all grown up going to school and working most afternoons and evenings.

And yet I hear her and some of her cousins speaking fondly of socialism.  But as one article said, “when the rewards for working and sweating end, prosperity withers and freedom dies”.

The Gift of Clarence

In the movie, George is actually able to meet his angel …it’s a movie.  It doesn’t fit with my Christian beliefs 😉 and this pays off in a wonderful reward.  George is thinking he would be better off if he had never been born.  Clarence allows George to see the world as if he had never existed.  George sees a very dismal world because he was not in it working hard, caring, helping, and loving.

Be a Clarence

Be a friend.  Be a mentor.  Be a parent.  Be a grandparent.  Help others —young people, children, and grandchildren see and experience A Wonderful Life.  It may not seem like they’re listening at the time but you would be amazed how much it sticks with them.  I remember mentors from decades ago.  I still remember their words, the circumstances of the situation, and the fact that they cared enough to share with me.  I may not have told them how much it meant but their words still stick with me today.

Be a mentor.  Share with someone.  Take time to talk with someone.  You may not be immediately rewarded but the lessons and wisdom you pass on will pay rewards for years to come

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BlogLeadership

Elements of Trust

by Ron Potter

In the Harvard Business Review was the following article:

The 3 Elements of Trust by Jack Zengar and Joseph Folkman.

Three Elements of Trust

I think Zenger and Folkman are right on when they identify

Positive Relationships
    • Stay in touch on the issues and concerns of others
    • Balance results with concern for others.
    • Generate cooperation between others.
    • Resolve conflict with others.
    • Give honest feedback in a helpful way.
Good Judgement/Expertise
    • They use good judgment when making decisions.
    • Others trust their ideas and opinions.
    • They can anticipate and respond quickly to problems.
Consistency
    • Are a role model and set a good example.
    • Walk the talk.
    • Honor commitments and keep promises.
    • Follow through on commitments.
    • Are willing to go above and beyond what needs to be done.

Let’s unpack each one of those.

Positive Relationships

Of the five points that Zenger and Folkman make, the three I would pick as the most powerful would include, concern for others, resolving conflict, and giving honest feedback.

Concern for Others

Human beings have an amazing ability to determine if someone really cares for them or is just using them to accomplish a task.  Don’t kid yourself, you can’t fake this one.  If you don’t truly care for the other person, they will do what they are told because of your position but nothing more.  To build winning teams, you need more.  You need people’s energy, creativity, and cooperation.

Resolving Conflict

Resolving conflict relies on good listening.  I identify this skill as

Listening with the intent to respond vs Listening with the intent to understand

It takes a great deal of energy to listen with the intent to understand.  First, you must suspend what you “know”.  People know when you’re just lining up your points to make as soon as you see an opening in the conversation.  It’s even worse if you create that opening by interrupting with your points to counter their points.  They know you’re not trying to understand them.

There is a great deal of talk about diversity these days.  Listening with the intent to understand and teaching others to do the same, actually takes advantage of the diversity.  It’s not about our origins, race, gender, or whatever is being thrown into that diversity bucket these days, it’s about understanding.  The diversity identities being tossed around today don’t mean anything if we’re not listening to understand.  Individuals will have very different belief systems, even if they’re part of the same category of people.

Good Judgement/Expertise

The biggest issue to watch out for in this category is what Robert Quinn in his book “Deep Change” identifies as the “Tyranny of Competence”.  Some of my more difficult consulting and coaching times occurred when I had to convince and then help leaders dismiss people who fell into this category.  The first word in this title is “tyranny”.  People who fall into this category are incredibly competent and knowledgeable in their subject matter.  However, they use that competence as an excuse for not developing good relationships.  Every time the person who lives by the Tyranny of Competence is asked to leave, I’ve observed teams blossom into highly effective teams based on trust.

Zenger and Folkman put three elements in this category: Good judgment, trust of others, and they respond quickly.  I believe the middle point of the three —”Others trust their ideas and opinions”—is the hinge that makes the other two work.  One reason that the trusts exist is that there has been listening with the intent to understand.  I can’t emphasize enough how much this element builds trust.  Because good leaders have listened well and built trust, they tend to have good judgment and can respond quickly to threats.

Consistency

I believe consistency requires Integrity.  Integrity comes from the Latin word “integer”— meaning whole or complete.  Integrity means that you are the same person regardless of the circumstances or the people present.  It has a foundation of honesty and character.  Are you a person of integrity?  Are you always the same person?  When you have integrity and are consistent, it builds trust.

Elements of Trust

Evaluate yourself.  Get feedback from others.

  • Do you develop positive relationships?
  • Do you exhibit sound judgment?
  • Are you consistent and would people say you are a person of integrity?

Regardless of the environment, be it leader, team member, family member, or citizen, nothing will carry you farther than developing trust.

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BlogLeadership

PREgret

by Ron Potter

Years ago I was thinking about the regrets in my life.  I was asking myself if there were things I should have or could have done to eliminate or reduce the number of regrets.  As I was thinking about the topic, I notice a familiar pain in my sternum.  I began to realize that I had a physical manifestation when I regretted something I had said or done.  I began to ask people I knew where their regret pain manifested itself.

Where is the pain?

Everyone seemed to have a different answer.  I heard locations like:

  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Forehead
  • The base of the skull
  • Forearms
  • etc.

The answers were many and varied, but the pain was a given.  No one questioned the pain itself, they just had different answers of where it was located.

“Listen” to the pain

If the pain always shows up somewhere,  become familiar with it.  The pain can and will become very familiar.  If the pain is present and identifiable, you will “know” you are in one of those moments that will result in regret.  Here’s the key, “will result in regret”.

Regret Pre-Indicator

Through experience, I began to learn that the pain was a precursor of regretful actions.  I eventually read some science about how these neurotransmitters work and indeed, there is an early warning system.  That means that the pain you become familiar with is actually a precursor to the thing you’re about to do or say will cause regret— PREgret!

I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing but I have become so aware of my “regret pain” that it often triggers a debate in my head:

You’re about to say something that you’re going to regret.

I know, but I think it needs to be said.

But you will regret it!  Maybe you should just back off a minute.

But it needs to be said.  I’m going to say it anyway.

REGRET

Where does it hurt?

Become familiar with your “regret” pain.  If you tune into it, you’ll have a lot fewer regrets in life.

 

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BlogLeadership

Are You the Person You Mean To Be?

by Ron Potter

I have worked with hundreds of leaders through the years.  My experience and belief is that none of them had bad intentions.

360 Feedback

I’ve used several well-regarded instruments for collecting and analyzing feedback from the people they work with.  Typically the assessments include surveys of:

  • Self
  • Direct Reports
  • Peers
  • Boss

This gives us a full “360” view of their style.

Self Assessment

Each of the four assessments can be categorized into three general areas:

  • Very high overall assessment
  • Neutral or “middle of the road” assessment
  • Very low or undervalued assessment
High self-assessment

When the self-assessment is very high, I find that it is driven by ego and lack of self-awareness.  Large egos are often driven by fear of failure, low self-assessment, or very low self-awareness.  I have found that this low self-awareness happens because they believe their intentions and actions are at the highest level.  They only want the best for others, the project, or the team.

Neutral self-assessment

This “middle of the road” assessment is often driven by a belief that they have very good intentions but they aren’t the “smartest person in the room” and they are very open to others’ ideas and constantly striving for unity based on respect.

Low self-assessment

This one may actually concern me the most.  It is often driven by low self-respect and low self-esteem and is the toughest issue to deal with.  It is often driven by long-standing, historical issues of neglect, abuse, and lack of self-worth.  These are psychological issues that I believe are beyond a business consultant.

Direct Report Assessments

Direct Reports can also fall into the three general areas of high, neutral, and low.  While the self-assessment is driven mostly by intentions, the Direct Reports often assess actions.  The comparison of self- and direct reports will often be the clearest indicator of Intentions vs Actions.

Peer Assessments

While most leaders will work hard at being a good leader to their team (either intentionally or in action) they don’t feel the same need to be a good team member.  They can believe that peers should know their job and do their job.  It’s not their job as a team member to help and direct them but only to praise or criticize.

Boss Assessment

Often people are described as “managing up well.”  This means they will always attempt to look good in front of the boss and always do what is being asked.  Sometimes they’re referred to as “yes men”.  Having a good score from the boss is not a bad thing.  In fact, it’s a good thing.  But only if there are also good scores from peers and direct reports.

Feedback

The point of these exercises is to know if our actions are matching our intentions.  I said at the beginning of this blog that I don’t believe leaders have bad intentions.  However, even with good intentions, I’ve worked with several leaders who have bad actions that don’t align with those good intentions.

Work hard at getting accurate feedback.  This can be done with formal assessments like we just discussed.  Or better yet, if the people around you feel comfortable giving you straight feedback.  You’ll become a better leader and team member if you respect and appreciate the feedback you’re getting.

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BlogLeadership

Know or Didn’t Know

by Ron Potter

In an earlier blog, I was wondering about why we didn’t have the philosophers today like the ones who were around thousands of years ago.  Then I came to the conclusion that many of today’s philosophers were songwriters and singers.  I zeroed in on Billy Joel in particular as a philosopher of our day.

Modern Day Philosophers

Two songwriters/singers caught my attention the other day because they seemed to be thinking about and signing about an idea from entirely different directions.

One was Rod Stewart and the group, Faces. The song is “Ooh La La”:

I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger

The other was Bob Seger in his song, “Against the Wind”:

Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then

I don’t know if they are on opposite ends of the same scale or just asking different questions.  But if you think about these lyrics, it can create some deep thoughts.

Knew More?

Do you wish that you knew more in your youth? (When I was younger, I wished that I knew what I know now.)

On the one hand, I would say no, I don’t wish that.  I believe the sense of curiosity and adventure is formed and honed when you’re young.  If you were fortunate enough to have mentors that encouraged those traits, they likely served you well and created a lifelong habit of wanting to know and understand things as well as a desire to try things.  When I meet people who are lacking one or both of those traits, it seems to me that they are falling short of living their life to the fullest.

On the other hand, knowing more may have helped you understand people and circumstances better.  As I age, there are often times when my thoughts say, “Boy, I didn’t see that coming!”

But in general, I think that knowing more when you are younger probably feeds your ego more than your curiosity and that’s not a good thing.

Didn’t Know

Seger talks about being as naive and innocent now as when he was younger.

Again, on the one hand, it might be easier to be living the kind of life that you were when you were younger.  I grew up in what I considered almost an idyllic setting.  We had a small piece of property that had a stream running through it.  Every time I would leave the house my mother would say “don’t get wet.”  I, of course, “fell” into the stream every day.  Even during Michigan winters.  I also lived in a rural area and it was a three-mile bike ride to town.  My biggest worry during those days was a flat tire on my bike.

On the other hand, it would almost require seclusion from the world to avoid the bigger problems of an adult.  We do run into those people who have protected themselves so much from the world.  They assume their experience and life is the only one or certainly, the only right one that exists.  I think of those people as having and knowing a very small world.

Perspective

People with a “large world” perspective see things differently.   Even if their world is physically small, they look at the bigger picture and try to understand what others are thinking from a different perspective than their own.

My father ventured beyond his physical boundaries once when he served in WWII.  After the war that he had spent in North Africa and Italy, he came back to Michigan.  I only remember leaving the state once during the rest of his life, but he seemed to have a big world perspective.  During my college years in the Engineering School of the University of Michigan, I would learn something new about the engineering world and couldn’t wait to share it with my dad.  I assumed that I would finally know something beyond his high school education in the same small town that he raised me.  But it seems that whatever the topic, he would say something like “I’ve been reading a lot about that topic.  What do you think this aspect means?”  Of course, I didn’t know the answer because he knew more about the topic than I did.  He was a very “large world” thinker.  I have one cherished possession left from my father.  Here is a picture of his dictionary.

Living Around the World

All four of my grandchildren have lived in different parts of the world.  But just being physically worldly, doesn’t make you worldly in your thoughts or attitudes.  They all see the world as large, expansive, and varied.  It will serve them well.

Examine Your World View

How large is your world?  Think about it!  You’ll never know it all but expanding your world through curiosity, learning, and gaining understanding will keep you in a “growth mindset” which is essential for great leaders.

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BlogLeadership

Three Time Frames

by Ron Potter

Raymund Chua was a client of mine many years ago.  We built a good relationship and have stayed in touch with each other through the years.  Raymund, living in Singapore, is doing some great work in Southeast Asia.

He posted something on LinkedIn the other day that I found very powerful because it was profound and simple at the same time.

Leadership Story

The chart is titled “The Three Timeframes” as part of a series called, A Leadership Story.

State of the Leaders Focus

Current – Next – Future

I’ve not only seen these states in various leaders, I’m aware that I also get “stuck” in one of the three states.

Possible Symptoms

This list is very interesting in that it shows the possible symptoms of each state.

  • Future Focus –  Full of new ideas.  Often not quite sure how to get there.  Very Start-Up in its nature
  • Next Focus – Great initiatives but really never takes into account where the organization is or what they’re cable of doing.
  • Current State – Focused on doing well today with no thought of the future.

Which State is Best?

OK, trick question.  While there may be moments in time when one state will serve better than the others, long-term all the states must be blended into the leadership thought.  Let’s take a deeper look at each one of them.

Future Focus

This is an extremely valuable focus.  Where is the future headed?  What insights will prepare us for a future that is mostly unknown today?  In the pandemic we’ve been experiencing which has caused tectonic shifts in our culture and way of doing business, this is a valuable focus.

What happens when the majority of people begin working from home?

  • Commercial real estate loses a great deal of its value.
  • Building teams becomes even harder when people are not able to be close to each other, shake hands, or put an arm around someone’s shoulder to offer some comfort.
  • It doesn’t matter where you’re located.  Areas like New York City, Silicon Valley, Boston Rte 128, and others are no longer required living locations to be a contributing member of a high tech team.

I”m sure there are many other aspects of our future that we can’t even see yet.

But having a future focus will tune you into issues and moments that others may miss and could be extremely valuable.

However, being future focused comes with its drawbacks as well.  I mentioned earlier that I get stuck in one of these states.  This is the one that has been my nemesis and has added stress to my life through the years.  Because I tend to be future focused, I look forward to what might be coming or what I may be able to experience in the year ahead.  However, it is usually late February or March when I feel like the year is well underway and I’m bogged down in the ordinary and won’t be able to experience the fabulous future I had imagined.  And by July or August, my sense is that the year is over and I might as well start focusing on the next one.  Unfortunately, I’ve missed many wonderful things that happen “in the moment” because I’m so focused on the future.

You need all three.

Next Focus

I would probably call this “near” focus.  These are the people who are focused on the near term —the next year if they are working in the business world.

They aren’t really thinking about the immediate or today’s problems and issues.  They also are not thinking much beyond the year.  There’s not much of what you would call future vision in their thinking.

There are two issues that these types face but don’t seem to grasp.  One is immediate problems.  They may have the year thought out but seem to be unaware that something is about to blow up or go terribly wrong in the next couple of weeks.  By next month they may be trying to recover from or get on top of an issue that essentially keeps them from accomplishing the year as they envisioned.

The second issue is they are not visionary.  High-performance teams always have a future destination they are excited about and committed to achieving.  Because the next focus leader doesn’t think or have a vision for the future, it’s hard for them to build high-performance.  They can be good at what we might think of as operational teams, ones that are efficient and get the near term tasks completed, but they are not good at having the right team or building the right skills for the future.

Current State Focus

These people are very short-term focused.  They’re good at solving the immediate problem.  In the business world, they are often called “firefighters.”   Firefighters are important.  There can always be a fire to put out and it must be done as quickly as possible.   The problem I began to see over the years was that firefighters were sometimes arsonists.  They either started fires or fanned small fires so they could put their skill set to use solving bigger fires.

They also don’t really do anything to prepare the organization or team for any longevity.  They don’t really think beyond putting out the immediate fire.  They don’t prepare the team for bigger or longer-term issues.  And they certainly don’t offer up a future to work towards.  They’re needed but they’re needed in the moment and not beyond.

There are two other categories that are also important.

No, No, No

The first (top of the chart) one talks about a leader that is neither current state, next, nor future focused.  My apologies to those people who are trying to do a good job and make things better but I often think of government offices when I think of the No, No, No environment.  In the “Unintended Team Culture” apart of the chart, it lists:

Good talents would have left.  What’s left is a culture that is very contented (and at times) protective of the status quo.

In the corporate world, I’ve actually seen a couple of cases where the leadership had decided to no longer be in a part of the business or spend resources on doing a certain piece of the business.  But as I looked around the corporation I would see people showing up for work, getting to their office, and continuing to do the work they had done for years just the way they had always done it.  The CEO would be floored.  He would wonder why they were spending resources on something they had decided to kill off months or maybe even years ago.  It didn’t take much looking to find a No, No, No leader.

Yes, Yes, Yes

This category at the bottom of the chart talks about the leader who is focused on all three states, current, next, and future.  If you read the “Possible Symptoms” and “Unintended Team Cultures”, I hope you resonate positively and want to belong in that atmosphere.

Possible Symptoms: A leader who knows the organization’s current capability, knows precisely what to do next, and has a roadmap to the future.

Unintended Team Culture: a culture that has a crystal clear understanding of their current situation, has a shared vision, and knows what to do to close the gap.  I would actually title this as the Intended Team Culture.

Be a triple yes type of leader.  It’s the only type that builds high-performance teams and has a shot of conquering the uncertain future.

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BlogLeadership

4 Things that a Leader Should Provide

by Ron Potter

At the end of the last blog, I indicated that the star leaders of the future will help their teams feel safe and connected in a virtual world.  There are some critical issues that a leader must provide in order to create a safe and connected atmosphere.

Hope

It doesn’t take much reading or watching documentaries to realize that entire groups of people lose their will to live or even attempt to do so when they have lost all hope.  Leaders and teams will face setbacks and failures, but they must not lose hope.

Among the things that a leader or individual can do to provide hope include:

  • Freedom of choice and free will.  Leaders must be careful even when they are well-intentioned.  They may think that a solid plan and direction for the future will help people through a difficult situation but they also need to be careful not to stifle people’s ability to input their own ideas and goals.
  • The arts and creativity.  We all are inspired by various arts (music, paintings, motion, etc) or creativity and innovation.  Inspiration can lead to or renew hope.
  • Goodness and kindness.  These acts of unselfish behavior on behalf of another person will inspire hope.
  • There are many other things that can inspire or renew hope.  Loss of hope is deadly.

Love

The word love can be greatly misinterpreted.  A more useful word in today’s business world might be respect.  When people feel respected, even when their ideas may be at the opposite end of a scale, great things are possible.  I believe this is one issue that makes our current politics so ineffective.  It should be OK to have very different ideas.  In fact, it’s powerful and useful to have different ideas if there is respect for the person and their ideas.  Unfortunately, different ideas are not accepted or discussed with respect.

Respect is required for great leadership!

Joy

Although there is more to joy than humor, humor is a big part of it.  When we’re able to laugh and enjoy the moment with each other (not at the other’s expense) life is so much better.  A touch of humor or a lot of humor is a powerful ingredient of joy.

Peace

The opposite of peace is fear.  From the dictionary, the opposite of fear can be curiosity, trust, courage, or calmness.  What a great list of words.  Being curious is fun and leads to learning more than almost any other word.  Trust is powerful.  Both to trust and to be trusted.  How great is it to be both courageous and calm in times of difficulty?

Hope, Love, Joy, Peace.  These are the new currency for great leadership in a virtual world (or any world for that matter).

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BlogLeadership

He Makes Good Decisions

by Ron Potter

I happened to come across a National Football League (NFL) scouting report of a young college student who wanted to be drafted into the NFL.  The Scouting reports were not good.

The college student also took part in the NFL Scouting Combine where they test physical attributes.  The results of that were not good either.  The reports said he had poor arm strength and athleticism and his sprint times for the 40-yard dash were terrible.

In his report, one longtime analyst said, “I don’t like him. Smart guy. That’s it.”  The only positive part of another report said that “He makes good decisions.”

In spite of these poor reports, this young college student was drafted in that year.  Of the 200 drafted, he was taken at 199.

He Was Prudent

Prudent is not a word we see anymore.  In fact, it doesn’t really sound very flattering.  But the definition of prudent is: The perfected ability to make right decisions.  That seemed to be the only positive thing in his scouting reports and physical analysis.  He was Prudent.

The Perfected Ability to Make Right Decisions

There are two points that you need to pay attention to in that definition.

  1. Right.  It’s easy to make decisions.  It’s not easy to always make “right” decisions.  “Right” in this case means right for the individual, organization, country, and the world in general.
  2. Perfected.  Perfection comes with practice, patience, and wisdom.  It takes time.  You must work at it.  I’ve spent a lifetime trying to perfect my golf swing.  It’s far from perfect but it is better.  Even the pros who will hit thousands of balls a day are trying to perfect their golf swing.

Practice Makes Perfect

We’ve all heard that old adage.  But it’s not true.  Practice doesn’t make perfect if you not practicing the right things or the parts that need to be practiced.  Back to the golf pros, they not only have coaches but lots of technology to help measure and visualize their practice.  They get almost instantaneous feedback on each practice swing.

Feedback

This is why instantaneous feedback is so necessary.  I heard someone once say, if you swat your dog with a newspaper for something he did wrong yesterday, he’ll have no idea what he’s being punished for.  He will only become afraid of newspapers.  This is one reason why annual assessment sessions with employees are so useless.  There may have been an instance several months ago that needs to be fixed.  But by now each participant has formed a memory in their head that satisfies their own needs and ego.  Memory is powerful.

A college professor once had the students in his class write down everything about the day before when the space shuttle Challenger exploded during take-off.  Ten years later, the professor tracked down as many students from that class that he could find.  He handed them their own written record of that day to read over.  One student who had written 14 pages read it through and then tossed it to the side and said to the professor, “That’s not right.  Let me tell you what really happened!”  Ten years later his memory of the incident was more powerful than his recording of the incident the following day.  Memory is powerful.

Prudent Decision Making

Prudence is a process.  It has well-defined steps that will need to be practiced to reach perfection.  The Prudence process requires Trust, Diverse Points of View, and a Good Process

Trust

In my book, “Trust Me” I list the eight elements of trust.  Those elements are self humility, development of others, commitment to learning, listening and creating unity, focus on the issue, compassion for others, personal integrity, not avoiding constructive disagreement, and finally endurance to stick with it to the end.

Diverse Points of View

We hear the word diversity used a great deal these days.  But diversity by itself is worthless unless there is trust.  Trust must be established first.  Without trusted diversity of thought, there is no perfecting of the decision-making process.

Good Process

Prudent decision making is not haphazard; it is a well-defined process.  It can be simplified into three words: Deliberate, Decide, Do.

Deliberate.  Because “time is critical”, most corporate teams don’t do enough (or any) deliberation.  Other reasons I’ve encountered for not deliberating well include:

    • “We already know the answer.”  This happens because of ‘group think’ and ‘selective attention’.  If we don’t have the trusted diversity of thinking, it’s easy to fall into these traps that make us think we already know the answer.
    • This is only one right answer.  This means that all the other possible answers are wrong.  Leadership teams shouldn’t waste their time on truly right-wrong decisions.  Leadership teams should be spending their time on dilemmas.  This means they are dealing with right vs right decisions.  These are the hard decisions.
    • I believe what I see or I remember.  (See the “Feedback” section above.)

Decide.  One element of good decision making is described in something called Triple Loop Learning (Originally developed by Gregory Bateson and extended by Chris Argyris and Peter Senge).  The first step in triple loop learning is to share openly and honestly your beliefs and assumptions about the topic up for decision.

Do.  Having reached a decision through this process, the do part becomes much easier because all the parts of the team are working together.  There is full commitment from each member of the team.  I cover  “Prudence” in previous blogs–take a look to get more detail than we covered here today.

So who was that young college student that was drafted 199 out of 200 that year?  Tom Brady.

No other quarterback has appeared in more than 5 Super Bowls, let alone claimed over 4 rings.  Tom has played in nine Super Bowls and won six of them.  This weekend he will play in his tenth Super Bowl with the opportunity for his seventh win.

He makes good decisions!

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