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BlogPersonal

People Will Remember You

by Ron Potter February 23, 2023

There was a chart on LinkedIn the other day that caught my interest.  I’m sorry I couldn’t find the original author.

Categories

By the time you’re my age, you’ve put most people in one or more of the following categories, just because you’ve seen about every type:

  • When you think of a person, will you think about the salary they earned?
  • How about those who believed being busy all their life was a measure of success?
  • What about those who were the first in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night?
  • Maybe being successful meant the number of Gucci bags (or other luxury items) they owned.

Traits

And then think about yourself.  It’s almost always easier to see these traits in others than in yourself.  But be honest.  (You’re by yourself and just quietly thinking.  No one else will know what you’re thinking.)

  • Have you made one of the highest salaries in your profession?  Is that what you’ll be remembered for?
  • Have you never stopped to relax?  Will being busy with your projects be what people remember the most?
  • Were you the first in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night?  Is that what people will remember?  Will they even remember it as a positive trait?
  • How about the possessions you own?  Just think of the ads on TV.  Is it that car, that suit, that Gucci bag, or the top-of-the-line golf clubs?

Are these the things that people will remember you for?  Not likely!

Now think about others and yourself in very different terms.  People will remember…

1. How You Made Them Feel

Have you stopped to tell that other person how well they’re doing?  How about your own child or grandchild?  How would you react to that statement?  It’s powerful.  That’s the person they’ll remember.  The one who made them feel good.   The one who gave them the courage to try something.  The one who gave them the confidence to take on difficult tasks, to take on the “world.”

2. The Time You Spent With Them

One of my earliest experiences with a grandchild is sitting on the floor with them as they played with Lego and made up stories to fit what they were making.  It struck me that I was comfortable just sitting there on the floor with them.  But then I began to think about my own children.  While I may have spent some time with them on the floor, it never lasted very long.  I had work to do.  I had the chores around the house that needed doing.  It struck me that while I was enjoying all the time I needed with the grandchild, I never could have spent that amount of time with my own children.   The grandchildren loved that time together.

Both of my girls have lived around the world as their kids were growing up.  I believe it gave my grandchildren a better understanding of people and cultures.  But that often meant that I would see my grandkids once or twice a year and how much I missed that time with them.  If you have the opportunity, make sure you spend as much time as you can with your own children and grandchildren.

3. If You Kept Your Word

It’s easy to think about this one in the short term.  But the statement is, you’ll be remembered for keeping your word.  No time frame attached.

I’m embarrassed by my behavior recently relating to a particular issue.  A friend of mine has kept one part of my digital world going for many years.  A couple of years ago it was becoming time in his life to let that go and turn the responsibility back to me.  I said I would take it over.  But I haven’t!  About once a month I would get a notice from the internet provider that would remind me that I had committed to taking the responsibility back.  However, it seemed like the notice from the provider came at the beginning of the weekend or right in the middle of something else going on in my life.  I would always find myself thinking, “I’ll get to that on Monday.”  But Monday would come and go and I wouldn’t think about it again until the next notification (always on a weekend or during some other issue).  Once again, I would forget about it, all the time leaving my friend with the responsibility.  I gave my word but I had not kept my word.  That was horrible behavior and not fair to my friend at all.  I’m sure it diminished my value in my friend’s opinion.  It sure decreased my own valuation of myself.

4. If They Could Count On You

I really just hit this issue in the topic before.  Giving your word is one thing (and must be counted on) but making sure you follow through on that word is just as important.  Think about the people in your own life that you know you can count on.  Where do you put that person on the list of valued people?  Now, think about yourself.  Can people count on you?  If so, you’ll be high on their list.  If not, you’ll drop down that list pretty quickly.  Probably to a spot lower than you would care to be.

In last week’s blog, I ended with, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”  The biblical versions (Matthew 5:37) go on to say that anything beyond this is of evil origin.  If you don’t keep your word and people can’t count on you,  it’s not just a bad thing, it moves into the area of evil origin.

What Will You Be Remembered For?

Think of the issues on the list that people will remember.  If you know a person high on all of the categories you’ll probably think of them as being some of the most outstanding people you know.  Don’t you want to be one of those people?

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BlogCulturePersonal

Physical Therapy

by Ron Potter May 19, 2022

I’ve been in Physical Therapy (PT) for the last several weeks.  It’s a concept that can strike terror into your heart.

Pain

There is no shortage of pain or suffering while you’re at PT.  In fact, I’ve accused them of updating machines from the torture of evil dungeons.

The staff at PT doesn’t let up on the pain and suffering caused by their work.  In fact, they won’t let up until I get it right or I get enough repetitions to produce some gain from the effort.  They’re relentless in causing pain and suffering in order to gain ground on my ailment.

Encouraging

However, during the effort that is painful and exhausting, I find the staff to be very encouraging and motivating.  What causes this seeming dilemma?  On the wall, they have posted their dozen rules to live by.

Dozen Rules to Live By

  1. Live God-Centered
  2. Love People and Build Relationships
  3. Create Remarkable Experiences Through Exceptional Service
  4. Promote Growth and Embrace Change
  5. Be Generous
  6. Pursue Excellence
  7. Be Efficient
  8. Act with Honesty and Integrity
  9. Stay Humble
  10. Utilize Strengths and Passions
  11. Encourage Autonomy, Innovation, and Clarity
  12. Be Transparent

Let me expand on a few of these.

Live God-Centered

God doesn’t promise a pain-free life.  Be he does promise to love us and will always be with us.  That’s what the people at physical therapy do.  They are always with us through the entire exercise set and they make us feel cared for and appreciated when they’re administrating pain (in an effort to make us better).

Love People and Build Relationships

As people approach the end of their life, their minds turn to relationships.  I hope I have many years left but I do find my mind and memories turning to relationships.

I received a text message from a friend I first knew forty years ago.  I was so glad to get that message that I immediately called him back.  He had coded the first computer program I ever developed.  We spent many hours going through the code and becoming great friends along the journey.

Promote Growth and Embrace Change

Change is the part of life that people seem to resist the most.  Although things are constantly changing, there seems to be a desire to ignore or deny that things are changing.  Things constantly change.  Embrace it.

Act with Honesty and Integrity

Honesty and Integrity are the elements that people remember about us.  You can be generous, excellent, and efficient (numbers 5, 6, and 7) above, but honesty and integrity are what people will remember about you.

Be Humble and Transparent

Humility and transparency (numbers 9 and 12) are the two other aspects that will be long remembered.  People with these traits seem to be fully trusted and are long remembered.  When you’re administering pain (in PT) people must feel your humbleness and transparency or they won’t come back.

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BlogIn-Depth Book Reviews

Anyway

by Ron Potter May 12, 2022

Anyway by Kent Keith is a small quick read book.  But, in spite of its small size, it is packed full of wisdom.

I’ll list all of the 10 Paradoxical Commandments here so that you can see all of them but then touch on a few that I believe are very powerful.

  1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
    Love Them Anyway
  2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
    Do Good Anyway
  3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
    Succeed Anyway
  4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
    Do Good Anyway
  5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
    Be Honest and Frank Anyway
  6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest ideas.
    Think Big Anyway
  7. People favor underdogs but follow only the top dogs.
    Fight for a Few Undergood Anyway
  8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
    Build Anyway
  9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
    Help People Anyway
  10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
    Give the World the Best You Have anyway

Love them, do good, succeed, be honest and grand, think big, fight for a few underdogs, build, help, give your best, ANYWAY!

So few of us do it anyway.  There always seem to be obstacles in the way.  I think some of the worst are personal fear and worrying about what others think.  I’ve often heard “what will others think?”  People who are driven by what others think never achieve their own satisfaction, desires, and goals.  As the book says, people always look for ways of stopping you and criticizing you.  Somehow it makes them feel better about themself or superior by stopping your goals and ideas even though they have either non or very small goals themselves.

Let’s take a look at a few of these that I believe have a major impact.

Do Good Anyway

The profound statement in this section is “People who act on their own selfish interior motives commonly accuse others of doing the same thing.”

I can’t say that I’m totally clear of selfish motives.  But I accomplish enough things without ulterior motives that I’m always surprised that other people think I’m only doing things for selfish reasons.

My first reaction is one of total confusion and amazement.  It seems the other person believes I’m doing something entirely for personal reasons when I feel that I’m doing something for the good of the whole or the benefit of another person.  I’m totally confused and taken back.  Then as I think about it, I realize that the person who thinks I’m doing something for selfish reasons runs their whole life on accomplishing things for totally selfish reasons.  Because of this, they assume that everyone does things for selfish reasons and can’t even comprehend when someone is not driven by selfish reasons.

There is no way for them to understand doing something for the good of others because they would never think that way.  Unfortunately, there are too many people in the world who think that way.  It’s good for us to understand who they are, realize that they would never understand our motives, and do good anyway.

Think Big Anyway

Only a few people seem to think big.  One of the reasons is that people don’t think of themselves as being “qualified.”  I’ve gone through three different careers and have never felt qualified.  Even though I had an engineering degree, it mostly taught me about the mathematics of engineering.  I never felt “qualified” to walk structural steel 160 feet in the air.

My second career was developing a software company at the beginning of the microcomputer industry.  I never felt qualified.

My third career was running a consulting business.  I called it TLC (Team Leaders Culture).  I never felt qualified to dispense wisdom in those three areas until a CEO client of mine told me one evening that I was good at all three (building teams by teaching leadership and transferring it down through the culture). But my real value was simply talking with him during our evening chats.  I now felt qualified to simply talk with the client about any topic.

Living the Paradoxical Life

Living the paradoxical life finds great personal meaning in loving and helping others find meaning in their lives.

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BlogCulture

Loosing the Forest for the Tree

by Ron Potter December 23, 2021

You’ve seen me turn to Shane Parrish many times.  I think he is one of the best “thinkers” around today which makes him my favorite blogger.

Einstein Essentials

In this article, Shane talks about how Albert Einstein sorts the essential from the non-essential.

I can also go back to one of my favorite Aristotle quotes that I use for great teamwork: Truth, Love, Beauty, Unity.  Beauty is what Shane and Einstein are talking about here.

In Aristotle’s terms, he is talking about the simplest, most direct, most essential information.  Sorting out the essential from the non-essential is the key to great success but it’s getting harder every day.  Social media has filled our lives with more and more non-essential information.  Years ago I decided that the daily news was not about the news but about entertainment and sensationalism in an attempt to gain larger marketing numbers.  I stopped watching the evening news nearly twenty years ago because I found it irrelevant.  It was not about wisdom.  It was non-essential!

Einstein’s greatest gift

In Shanes’s observation of Einstein, he notes that a great mathematical mind was not his greatest gift.  It was not.  His greatest gift was the ability to sift the essential from the inessential, to grasp simplicity when everyone else was lost in the clutter.  Too many people today are considered experts on a particular topic and work hard at making it more complicated.  Real genius works hard at simplification.  In Einstein’s biography, it points out that it wasn’t that Einstein understood more about complicated things that made him impressive.  It was that he understood the value of simplicity.

In working with several corporate leadership teams through the years I would often observe those leaders who always wanted more information before they could or would make a decision.  My reaction was they didn’t understand the problem or issue and therefore they wanted more information in an effort to understand.  It seemed to me that the best leaders, investors, and advisors always simplified the situation to a few essentials that would make the decision clear and understandable.

We were talking with our own financial advisor recently.  It seemed to me that the market had been in a wild gyration over the last few weeks with the Dow going up and down several hundred points per day.  When I asked how they dealt with such volatility his answer was “It’s just noise.”  To him, it was non-essential information.

Filtering Skills

Shane closes his article by listing the skills to better filter and process:

  • Focus on understanding basic, timeless, general principles of the world and use them to help filter people, ideas, and projects.  The italics are mine.  The news is not timeless, it’s daily.  Timeless principles are the ones that last and ones we should be focused on.
  • Take time to think about what we’re trying to achieve and the two or three variables that will most help us get there.  Three variables lead to six options.  Four variables lead to 24 options.  The human brain can only deal with about seven options at a time.  Keep your variables to three or less.  Otherwise, the brain cannot process it.
  • Remove the inessential clutter from our lives.  This can be the things we think about, the number of balls we try to keep in the air, and even stuff.  The stuff you collect over time only creates clutter in the long run.  Sort it out.  Get rid of the inessential.
  • Think backward about what we want to avoid.  Start with the end in mind.
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BlogCulture

Enjoy the Journey

by Ron Potter October 21, 2021

Shane Parrish, my favorite blogger, offered the following quote—

“Become addicted to the process and results will follow. “

I believe many of us who are used to charging ahead and getting things done have a hard time coming to grips with this quote.  It just seems like we should be focused on the outcome and the results more than the process.

Simone Biles

Simone is considered the best gymnast of all time.  She has had four gymnastics elements named after her — one on beam, one on vault, two on floor.  She seems to be able to locate herself in space, regardless of what her logical brain is trying to tell her.  When she is high in space over that beam, her mind is able to locate herself and her body in relationship with the beam or the floor.  There is nothing quite like her ability to do so.

So when she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, everyone was baffled.  Why would she do such a thing?  One of her own explanations likened it to being blind all of a sudden but with everyone expecting you to continue to perform your regular job.  But I was blind!

Her quote that caught my attention was “The outpouring of love and support I’ve received has made me realize that I’m more than my accomplishments in gymnastics which I never truly believed before.”  Italics are mine.

The point is she never realized that her self-worth was more than what she could and had accomplished as a gymnast!

More Than Your Accomplishments

This is the heart of the issue that most high achievers deal with.  They (we) assume that our self-worth is dependent on a high level of accomplishment. 

This is a dangerous tightrope.

Just like Simone, her original feeling of not being able to compete at that high level equaled failure.  Her quote above about being more than her accomplishments shows that she was dealing well with what originally felt like a failure.

What Keeps You Up At Night?

Is it a task or accomplishment?  Are you thinking about everything that has to be done but you haven’t accomplished?  Is it thinking about what you have to “do” first thing in the morning (Saturday and Sunday included)?  Does it feel like you have to instantly respond to emails or texts 24/7 because something might need to be done?  Have tasks and the need to accomplish them taken over your life?

When I was first going into the consulting world 30+ years ago, I had an interview with the head of the Detroit office of one of the large consulting firms.  As I talked with the general manager he asked me, “If I need you and I call you to immediately come to the office, but you’re at your son’s birthday party, will you be will to leave and come to the office?”

I was so blown away by the question I didn’t even know what to say.  I asked the manager “How did you handle those situations?”  His answer was, “I got remarried!”

He was willing to sacrifice his family in order to get the job done.  His wife divorced him and he eventually remarried with no kids.  That ended my interview.  I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my family (and life) and he wasn’t willing to hire me if I wouldn’t make that sacrifice.

He seemed happy.  He had the corner office high in Detroit office tower, an entire section of the company working for him; he was well paid, etc.  But he may have been the saddest person I ever met.

Become Addicted To The Process

As Shane says, become addicted to the process and results will follow.

What’s process?  If you’ve been a reader of this blog, none of this will be news but your process should include:

  • Being Humble.  We all want to stand out and be seen as the best.  But what people remember about you will be your humility, not your arrogance.
  • Build Team.  There is an abundance of research and experience that indicated teams outperform individuals.  However, that’s only true if the team is functioning as a unit rather than just a group of people.  Especially a group of people who are there simply to do what the arrogant boss tells them to do.
  • Build relationships.  People want to know that you care for them and know them as human beings, not just about what they can accomplish.  People are motivated to work hard and be innovative if they believe their teammates and their boss know them and care about them as human beings.
  • There are many other processes that you can be focused on but start with these three.  The results will follow.

Meaningless Photo

This is a photo that really has nothing to do with the blog but when I saw this photo of Simone and Shaquille O’Neal together I couldn’t resist including it.  Enjoy!

 

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BlogLeadership

Honored and Humbled

by Ron Potter August 19, 2021

This blog is personal.

Alumni of the year

I was recently honored as the Alumni of the year from my high school.  I was very honored and humbled.  The upbringing I had as a child doesn’t seem to be available to many people anymore.  I was raised in a small rural Michigan town that was very stable.  Many of my friends I knew all the way from kindergarten to high school graduation.  Some of them I knew even before we started school.

One of those friends and I have occasionally wondered about what was it about our environment and upbringing that allowed us to work comfortably all over the country and world.  This award forced me to get my thoughts down on paper as an answer to that question

God, Family, Friends, Mentors

As I began to collect and record my thoughts, I focused on these four elements that had made difference for me that carried me through a lifetime.

God

One summer I was attending a Christian Camp run by Bill Glass.  At the time, Bill Glass was the defensive end for the Cleveland Browns.  He was big and powerful, a man’s man, and had everything he needed to be a self-reliant individual.  However, that week he spoke often about his total dependence on Christ being his Lord and Savior and that he would be nothing without him.  His message began to sink in with me and by the end of the week, I had also accepted Christ as Savior.

On the last night of the camp, there was a great deal of singing and asking people to come forward to either declare their decisions or acknowledge that they needed to make a decision.  I was in a row of about a dozen guys, standing third from the isle.

I knew I had to go forward to declare my decision but as a 14-year-old boy was struggling with the issue.  Pretty soon the two guys closest to the aisle went down front.  The guy to my right began nudging me saying that I needed to go down front.  I kept saying that I knew I did but just needed a minute.

Finally, after one more nudge, I turned to him to tell him I knew that I did but when I turned to face him, the entire row was empty.  I was the only one in the aisle!  I knew right then that it wasn’t a human that was nudging me and I immediately went down front.  After that my local church began to nurture me, learning more about the Lord as I grew.

Family

At the banquet were all of my siblings, one of my daughters from Tunisia (the other one was at a wedding in Colorado), and many nieces and nephews.  As I looked and talked with each of them it was amazing that they all knew the Lord and were growing in him.  I know that many families have difficulties and we have our share as well, but because we all know the Lord, we stay close and appreciate each other.

Friends

As I said earlier, many of my friends from high school have been my friends for my entire life.  We remain amazingly close and although jobs and family took us in different directions, we still get together as often as we can.  I cherish those moments and feel very blessed and loved by them.  It gives me great strength.

Mentors

This one was difficult because there were so many.  However, I narrowed it down to two because of time.  The first one I identified was my father.  I’m not sure he would have considered himself a mentor but he was to me.  He had lost a leg in WWII that made his life very difficult but he never let it stop him.  He started his own business that required a lot of physical effort, built his (and our) home, and raised a great family.  And never once did I hear him complain!

And although he only had a high school education, he was a non-stop reader and learner.  I would come home from Engineering School with a new concept I had just learned and couldn’t wait to share with him.  But as soon as I did I would find out that he had been reading about the same concept and knew more about it than I did.  I never could get ahead of him.  The most cherished possession that I inherited was his dictionary.  It is 8 x 10 in size and 8 inches thick.  8 inches thick!  A dictionary.

The other mentor that came to mind for me was my high school physics teacher.  There were many times when I thought he was picking on me.  He would say “Potter, what’s the answer?” or “Potter, come to the board and show us how to solve this.”  It just didn’t seem fair to me.  Then one day I ran into him in a back hallway of our school and felt emboldened to confront him.  When I asked why he seemed to be picking on me his answer was “Because you’re worth it!”  He was the only high school teacher I went to visit after graduating from Engineer School.

God, Family, Friend, Mentors

As much as you might like to be, you will never be God.

Other than spouses, you can’t pick who your family will be.

That leaves friends and mentors.  Cultivate friends that will tell you the truth no matter how painful that will be.  Be that kind of friend to them.

Seek out mentors who will help you grow and develop.  And be one yourself.  Maybe it’s a friend you can mentor.  Maybe it’s someone who you believe has great potential that could use your experience and care.  Maybe it’s a grandchild.  They look up to their grandparents whether they express it or not. Let someone else know they’re worth it!

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BlogLeadership

Three Time Frames

by Ron Potter March 4, 2021

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

Oxygen – Part I

by Ron Potter October 15, 2020

Have you ever been near drowning?  When I was a kid I don’t know how “near” I was but I was afraid that I was drowning.  Swimming at our local swimming hole I got stuck under the 55 gal drum that we had used to create a raft.  There was a point when I thought I was done for but eventually broke free and surfaced to suck and gulp oxygen into my lungs.  That oxygen gave me my life back!

Project Aristotle

in 2012 Google set out on the task of figuring out which teams performed the best and why.  They called it Project Aristotle.  The main researcher at the time was Abeer Dubey.  He said, “At Google, we’re good at finding patterns.”  The problem was that they didn’t find any solid patterns.

Then they looked at the work of Amy Edmondson at the Harvard Business School.  Amy and her team found something they called Psychological Safety.  Psychological Safety meant that team members felt safe for interpersonal risk-taking.  Team members felt confident that they would not

  • Be embarrassed
  • Rejected or
  • Punished for speaking up

They were safe within the team!

This type of team climate is characterized by

  • Interpersonal Trust
  • Mutual Respect

Work Rules

Now comes a book titled Work Rules by Laszlo Bock.   Laszlo leads Google’s People Operations.  Laszlo does a good job of summarizing the findings during that time of searching for what makes the best teams.

Oxygen

So what does this have to do with Oxygen?  In my 30+ years as a coach and consultant to leadership teams, I saw too many people who were going through their days feeling like I did when I was underwater and running out of oxygen.  I experienced this first during one of my summer jobs during college.  It was in a factory and I would watch the employees go through the shift like they were short of oxygen.  Then as soon as the whistle blew, it was like sucking in that oxygen when my head first broke the surface of the water.  They had new life.  They were energized.  They couldn’t wait to get going on whatever it was that gave them oxygen.

Project Oxygen Finding

Laszlo breaks the results into eight “Project Oxygen Findings”

  1. A good coach.
  2. Empowers the team and does not micromanage.
  3. Expresses interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being.
  4. Is productive and results-oriented.
  5. Is a good communicator – listens and shares information.
  6. Helps with career development.
  7. Has a clear vision and strategy for the team.
  8. Has key technical skills that help him/her advise the team.

I’m going to ask forgiveness from Laszlo at this point but as I categorize these elements into my mental model (Team Leadership Culture) I see many of them fitting into the Leadership category more than the pure Team category.

This is not to say they are incorrect, it’s just a different mental model.

A Good Coach

Future posts will cover each of the eight findings but I’ll close today’s blog with the number one finding – A Good Coach.

Why is a good coach necessary?  Can’t teams just get better on their own?  Do they really need that outside source to figure this out?

The answer to these (and other Team questions) is yes, but!  As good as teams get, sometimes it’s valuable just to have an outside observer and someone who has no fear of voicing opinions.  Good coaches can do that.

One of the projects that I’ve talked with you about in the past is our GPS4Leaders app.  It has been our opinion right from the start that an app will never replace the need for a good coach but can go a long way toward bringing a team closer to the Trust and Respect levels that is required for strong teams.

Project Oxygen Finding

Over the next few weeks, I’ll unpack each of the findings from Project Oxygen.  Stay tuned.

 

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BlogCulture

Growth Mindset

by Ron Potter September 17, 2020

Fritz Seyferth is a great friend of mine and a wonderful executive coach and counselor.  He promotes Growth Mindset as the first requirement of great leadership.

I recently read a short article by Andrew Cole titled “Adopting a Growth Mindset”  on Linkedin.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Andrew talks of a Growth Mindset with a quote: “Failure is an opportunity to grow,” and a Fixed Mindset as “Failure is the limit of my abilities.”  I think these are excellent summaries of each mindset.

Andrew also does a great job of using short statements to help you understand each mindset type.

Growth Mindset

  • I can learn to do anything I want
  • Challenges help me to grow
  • My effort and attitude determine my abilities
  • Feedback is constructive
  • I am inspired by the success of others
  • I like to try new things

Before I list the points of a Fixed Mindset, review each one of these in a silent moment of reflection.  Do you fully believe one, some, or all of them?  Are there elements of each that you don’t believe you possess or could accomplish?

Think about them for a minute.  Think about them over time.  Write down your thoughts and answers. (There’s something about writing that solidifies ideas and brings your thoughts to life).

Can you really learn anything you want?  As I thought about that one I felt there were things I couldn’t learn.  As I thought about them more, I began to realize they were things I didn’t want to learn.  Why not?

  • Was I afraid I couldn’t learn them?
  • Did I really see no use for them in my life?
  • If I was able to learn them, would that enhance my life or open new doors for me?

As I began to think about the answers to these questions, I realized that I had to be very clear about what I did want to learn in my life and why.  Where was I headed?  Was I stuck?  How would I rate my happiness level?  Am I spending my time working on things that are meaningful to me now or will be in the future?  All of that from examining one simple statement.  That’s what a Growth Mindset can do for you.

Fixed Mindset

  • I’m either good at it or I’m not
  • My abilities are unchanging
  • I don’t like to be challenged
  • I can either do it or I can’t
  • My potential is predetermined
  • When I’m frustrated I give up
  • Feedback and criticism are personal
  • I stick to what I know

It was fascinating that as I wrote each one of these statements the name of another person came to mind.  I could quickly and easily see the Fixed Mindset attributes in others.  As with many things, it’s easy to see things in others and difficult to see them in ourselves.

But don’t just skip over these Fixed Mindset Attributes.  Just like the Growth Mindset, examine yourself.  It’s likely you’ll learn more than you did when you questioned the Growth Mindset attributes.

Learning About Yourself

One of the statements that Andrew Cole makes in his article says,

In adopting a growth mindset, my worries about my perceived intelligence or abilities have dramatically dissipated.  I no longer value my ‘self-validation’ in the world.

I’ve realized how to ask better questions.  Questions framed to generate conversation as a means of establishing trust with others.  (italics are mine)

The subtitle on Fritz’s home page says

FS/A elevates leaders and connects individuals and teams to their purpose to positively alter the trajectory of organizations.

Growth Mindset

Do you have a growth mindset?  Do you need a growth mindset? Only if you want to be happy. 😉

  • Examine yourself
  • Check out the LinkedIn article and what else Andrew Cole might have to say.
  • Contact Fritz at FS/A to get you and your team on a Growth Mindset trajectory.
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BlogLeadership

Success

by Ron Potter August 6, 2020

From the time we were little, we became aware of IQ.  I first remember becoming aware of it in about the sixth grade.  That means I was ten or eleven.

And right from the start, it became a competition.  If I had a higher IQ than you did, I was headed for greater success in my life.

IQ and Success

However, no correlation has ever been found between IQ and success.  Some with high IQ’s experience no success.  Others with moderate or even below average IQ’s experience high levels of success.  No correlation has ever been found!

So why do we place so much emphasis on IQ?

  • Because there’s a test!
  • It’s easy to measure.
  • It’s easy to demonstrate.
  • It’s easy for others to spot.

All of these can point toward high IQ.  None of them will guarantee success.

EQ

On the other hand, EQ (Emotional Quotient) has been demonstrated as being completely correlated with success.

So if there is so much correlation with EQ and none with IQ, why don’t we hear more about EQ?

  • It’s the “soft” skill.
  • It’s difficult or even impossible to measure.
  • It’s easy to demonstrate.
  • It’s easy for others to spot.

Notice that the last two are the same as IQ.  They’re both easy to demonstrate and spot.

EQ is hard to measure but it’s easy to spot.  The question is, how does it look different than IQ?

Let’s take a look at what are considered the elements of EQ.

One of the early books was written by Daniel Goleman titled Emotional Intelligence.  Since that initial book, written in 2009, something approaching thirty books have been written on the subject.

Let’s take a quick look at the elements identified in that initial book.

  • Self Awareness
  • Self-Regulation
  • Motivation
  • Empathy
  • Social Skills

Self Awareness

The ability to know one’s emotions: strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and goals and recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions.

This element of self-awareness is listed first among the five.  I believe it gets that rank because of it’s dependency on many of the other elements and requires the trait of humility which is listed as the first element of great leadership in my book “Trust Me”.

Strengths and weaknesses are also dependent on feedback from others.  The Johari Window describes this map.  Your strengths and weaknesses usually fall in “The Blind Self” window.  This window contains things you don’t know about yourself but others do know about you.  The only way to “open” that window is to ask for, listen to, and honestly process feedback from others.

Self Regulation

Involves controlling or redirecting one’s disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.

What are the disruptive emotions?  Let’s start with the ancient “Seven Deadly Sins”.  Broadly speaking, the seven deadly sins function as ethical guidelines.  The seven deadly sins include:

Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth

It may be better to think about the counter to each of those words

  • Humility – Pride
  • Kindness – Envy
  • Temperance – Gluttony
  • Chastity – Lust
  • Patience – Anger
  • Charity – Greed
  • Diligence – Sloth

Motivation

Being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement.

Many people make it to the top of the organization because they are hyper-competitive.  Being motivated towards a great goal appeals to people much more than being competitive or beating someone.

I worked with a sales manager that may have been the most competitive person I ever met.  He won everything!  At first, the corporation thought this guy was superman.  But then the clients started to leave and go elsewhere.  When I talked with the clients they said, “This guy has a need to win everything.  We may have just given in to the greatest of demands but that’s not enough for him.  He has to win even the smallest of issues!  We’re going elsewhere.  He has destroyed our relationship.”

Empathy

Considering other people’s feelings especially when making decisions.

There’s a scene in the movie “You’ve got mail” between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  Tom Hanks’s character owns a large bookstore and he’s just put Meg Ryan’s character out of business at her small, neighborhood bookstore.  When Meg finds out who he is, she goes ballistic.  In the middle of the rant, Tom moves back a few steps, puts up his hands, and says “It was only business.”  What he’s saying here is that business is by the numbers only.  It’s never about emotions.  Wrong!

Every time I’ve coached a leadership team to consider the emotions involved in a decision, not just the numbers, they’ve made a better decision.  Empathy is good for business.

Social Skills

Managing relationships to move people in the desired direction.

This is not about manipulation.  The human mind can detect manipulation quickly.  This is about getting buy-in.  This is about people wanting to go to the destination that you’re talking about.  People don’t buy ideas or concepts based on logic.  They buy things based on emotion.  They justify the purchase based on logic.

Years ago we were purchasing a small basic car for my wife for local transportation.  While they were bringing a car to the front for her to look at, the salesperson and I were drooling over a corvette in the showroom.  My wife finally said “I see no logical reason to buy a corvette.  After a few seconds of blank stares, we both said “What’s your point.  NO ONE buys a corvette for logical reasons.  They’re all purchased based on emotions!”

Marketing people learned this a long time ago.   Our purchases are based on emotions, not logic.  Even ideas.  We don’t buy into an idea unless it captures us emotionally.

EQ vs IQ

To improve your IQ, read.  To improve your EQ, build relationships, know who you are, where you’re going, and get people emotionally excited to join you in your journey.

 

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BlogTeam

Overused Teamwork

by Ron Potter July 9, 2020

Team Leadership Culture: Teams first.  I’m a big fan of teamwork.  However, when it creates an overcommitted organization and conflicting priorities it is counterproductive.

The foundation of this post was inspired by a Harvard Business Review article, The OverCommitted Organization, written by Heidi K. Gardner and Mark Mortensen.

The Overcommitted Organization

In the article, they talk about the dysfunction that can happen when people are assigned to too many teams at the same time.  They break it down to the following pros and cons:

PROS: By assigning people to multiple teams at once, organizations make efficient use of time and brainpower. They also do a better job of solving complex problems and sharing knowledge across groups.

CONS: Competing priorities and other conflicts can make it hard for teams with overlapping membership to stay on track. Group cohesion often suffers. And people who belong to many teams at once may experience burnout, which hurts engagement and performance.

Increased Pros or decreased Cons

So now we face the question: Is it worth increasing the PROS at the expense of decreasing the CONS?

My answer is a clear NO!  Look in more detail at the expense of the CONS.

  • Difficult to stay on track.
    We have looked at the cost of distraction many times in this blog.  Our social media and instant communication can and will negatively affect productivity.
    In fact, we can become so distracted on a regular basis that it reduces the brain’s ability to concentrate and think deeply.  These are two features that we need more today than ever!
  • Group cohesion often suffers.
    Without group cohesion, there is no team!  Teams that tell each other the truth with respect and fully commit to team goals (regardless of personal or department goals) is at the core of great organizations.  Group cohesion is essential!
  • Burnout.
    People who experience burnout experience reduced energy, brainpower, commitment, drive, and many other aspects that make them top performers and good team members.  Avoid burnout!

PROS

In my mind and experience, the list of pros is actually cons.

  • Efficient use of time
    It’s been proven that the only people capable of multi-tasking are highly trained fighter pilots.  And even these highly trained individuals are not capable of transferring the multi-tasking beyond the cockpit when their life depends upon it.
  • Brainpower
    It’s also been proven that teams function better when multiple brains are open about a problem or situation.  However, using “one” brain across multiple teams does not increase multiple team’s “brainpower.”
  • Solving Complex Problems
    Complex problems are solved with deep thinking and moving in and out of team subgroups.  Complex problems are not solved by having one brain on many teams.  In fact that leads to burnout and reduces the ability to solve complex problems.

The Overcommitted Organization

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not opposing what Gardner and Mortensen are stating in their article.  In fact, they use experience and solid research to prove their points.  And, they reach the same conclusion that I did.

One paragraph right near the middle of their article says

Launch the team well to establish trust and familiarity. When fully dedicated to one team, people learn about their teammates’ outside lives—family, hobbies, life events, and the like.  More important, it forges strong bonds and interpersonal trust, which team members need in order to seek and offer constructive feedback, introduces one another to valuable network connections, and rely on one another’s technical expertise. (Italics are mine)

This is a powerful conclusion that reinforces everything I have learned and experienced.  Teams that establish trust and have an environment of constructive feedback are the most beneficial.

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Blog

Realistic Optimism

by Ron Potter June 18, 2020

A bit ago, we talked about being a winner or loser vs being lucky or unlucky.  This post continues with that as a backdrop.

Heidi Grant Halvorson has written many worthwhile books.  She says “To be successful, you need to understand that vital difference between believing you will succeed and believing you will succeed easily.”

Succeeding Easily doesn’t happen

It’s a little bit like the unlucky vs losing that we discussed earlier.  Someone was questioning me once about my shifting career choices through the years.  I starting in Engineering, did a software start-up after seeing my first PC, then moved on to my real love which was consulting teams, and leaders.

The person was questioning me for advice about how they could make a similar shift in their life/career.  While I only had my own experience to share I was willing to talk with them about making a shift.   Partway through the conversation, they said, “Yea, but it’s easy for you.”  I was speechless.  I didn’t even know how to respond to that way of thinking.  Inwardly I was thinking, “What about that sounded easy to you?  Every one of these changes has been hard, costly, and took a great deal of sacrifice.”  If you think this is easy, you’re from another planet!

Grit

Heidi Grant Halvorson, in her book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently covers a few things that the lucky/unlucky thinkers don’t get.

Be a realistic optimist is one of her points.  While she applauds optimism, she also says “don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal”  It’s not luck.  It’s not easy.  It’s difficult!

Another of her nine things is grit.  “Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.”  Notice that word difficult again.  None of this is easy.  Be an optimist but don’t think success comes easily.

Optimism

The following comment was made about Warren Buffet, “Your success didn’t create your optimism.  Your optimism led to your success.”  A lot of people will say that it’s easy to be an optimist when you’ve succeeded, reached your goal, made lots of money.  They have it backward.  Success doesn’t lead to optimism.  Optimism leads to success.

Optimism in the face of overwhelming odds

Ray Dalio is a self-made billionaire who heads up his own hedge fund.  While Ray is quick to acknowledge and even morn the devastating human toll of the COVID-19 virus, he also says it represents an exciting turning point in history.  Please understand that Ray is taken back and shaken by the effects of the virus.  But along with that, he expresses optimism about this being a possible turning point in history.

Life is difficult.

Nowhere is it proclaimed that life is easy.  If you believe that life should be easy or is easy for everyone but you, that’s when it gets really difficult.

Do yourself a favor.  Take some time, figure out what will bring you the greatest enjoyment in your work and life, and start making realistic decisions to move in that direction.  If you’re like me, it may take ten years to accomplish the shift.  It’s not easy.  It doesn’t happen without effort and setbacks.  But if you stick with it you’ll be rewarded.

I was often asked the question, “When will you retire?”  Inwardly I really didn’t understand the question.  Outwardly I would say “I retired years ago.”  The person would then point out that I still spent time with clients, reading, preparing, and a list of other things that helped me be of value to my clients.  They assumed that was work.  But it wasn’t work!  It was rewarding.  It was energizing.  It was fun.  I wasn’t working, I was having a great time providing value to my clients.

Figure out what will really make you happy in life (it’s not money).  Make a decision.  Head in that direction.  Keep your optimism in the face of difficulties.  Only then will you be rewarded in a way that is meaningful to you.

I’m pulling for you!

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