DON'T CONFUSE ACTIVITY WITH RESULTS...

The above is a "go-to" saying of a key client of mine who has responsibility over a very large global organization. A couple of key learnings here.

One, the people in that org are very familiar with that saying and it guides thought process at multiple layers in the org. It is extremely key to have a Teachable Point Of View such as this, and to monitor whether your teams are reflecting it back to you. (For more on TPOV, see the following... http://www.nsdc.org/PDK/LFRchapter11.pdf)

Two, as the economic and business climates have worsened results, is it possible that volume of activities are taking far too high an importance in your org? Make sure that your people keep their clear focus on the results, and that their activities are strategically aligned in service of those results...not in service of themselves to appear occupied and engaged.

Expecting results and having clear expectations will be competitive advantages...not busy work.

SURGERY VS. BRUTALITY

Ever wondered about how to be honest with someone...or how honest to be?

A conversation with a business associate a couple of years ago stands out in my mind. This guy is one of the smartest, most engaging, and quite frankly, caring, people I know in business.

So it struck me when as somewhat incongruous when he mentioned his desire to be brutally honest with people he works with and is attempting to help. Now, I believe strongly in Authentic Leadership (for more on this see http://www.truenorthleaders.com/), so am convinced everyone needs to stay true to their own unique style as a leader.

However, let me ask you this. If someone described your manner of working as exhibiting brutality, would that be something you aspire to? Well, in order to be brutally honest, by definition, you need to start by being a brute don't you?

Maybe there's a different way. Surgically honest perhaps?

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME...

From CNN... (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/27/low.flying.plane/index.html)

"A White House official apologized Monday after a low-flying Boeing 747 spotted above the Manhattan skyline frightened workers and residents into evacuating buildings. Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty. The huge aircraft, which functions as Air Force One when the president is aboard, was taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot, the Federal Aviation Administration said."


I am a native New Yorker, and I have been to New York numerous times since 9/11, during which I lost two relatives bravely serving in the FDNY. Even today the sight from Midtown of jets at 4000 feet on approach to LaGuardia or Kennedy give a little bit of a shiver over 7 years after the fact. So, how scary must this have been?

Funny thing of course, is that everyone involved in this dimwit scenario followed all the exact right processes and procedures. Except the procedure for a sanity check against what would be an incredibly stupid move.

Do you have a process for that in your business once all the operational hurdles are cleared? Remember, common sense is not nearly so common as the term implies...

GONE? GOOD?

Just tried to post an entry and got an error message. When I hit the "BACK" button...it was gone.

Funny thing, I was wondering if that post was any good. Maybe blogspot decided it wasn't and saved me!

ROD WAS GREAT

One of the unique benefits senior executives with the Omnicom Group of companies have is the opportunity to attend Omnicom University. This is no slouch of an internal corporate training. In fact, it is the only corporate training program in the world which has an exclusive contract with Harvard Business School to provide all of the instructors. After an intense six days with the likes of world-class professors from HBS like Frances Frei, Nancy Koehn, Jim Heskett, and Tom DeLong, one really appreciates why HBS is such a renowned institution.

The administration from Omnicom Group of such an incredible program comes from Dean Tom Watson, former Vice Chair of Omnicom, and Associate Dean Rod Wright, the Chief Development Officer of TBWA Worldwide. (Rod is on the lower left in the picture above from our class photo last year, with Tom directly below me. Classmates Kevin Bell and Lucy Jameson are pictured with us as well.)

This isn't an advertisement for Omnicom or for HBS though, far from it. Craig Elston of TBWA in Denver (http://craigelston.blogspot.com/), another fellow classmate from last year, sent me a note on Wednesday that was the worst one I had seen in a while. Rod Wright had suffered a stroke and had passed away. I had only known Rod for less than a week, but his gentle nature, incredibly sharp wit, and especially the way he generally seemed to care about people made an impact on me.

TBWA Worldwide Chairman Jean-Marie Dru made some interesting comments in AdWeek after Rod's incredibly untimely passing at the young age of 51. "He taught us to be brave and smart and love the business...The best thing we can do to honor his memory is to try and do something great every day." I have a bit of a different perspective.

As I mentioned, in my prior post, this was a week filled with difficult moments and was stressful as could be. However, ever since I received this news, Rod's face popped up in my mind, and reminded me that I shouldn't be stressing so much over business.

I am no doctor, but by trying to "love...business" and do "great" things every day, how many of you are taking your health to a place it shouldn't be? Perhaps the focus should be on much smaller things every day...and that would be great for a whole different reason.

SPARK TRUMPS

I was meeting with a new team to my org this morning. After doing roundtables with the entire team of 20+ people, it never ceases to amaze me how when people are passionate about their business, they can overcome nearly anything.

When you hire people...find people with a spark.

TALK ABOUT YOUR NOSE...

Sitting on a Northwest flight today from Seattle to Detroit, the pilot used a term that in hundreds of thousands of miles of flying around the world I have never heard before. Interestingly, it was during the little beginning-of-flight pilot speech I’ve heard hundreds of times before. It was just a quick phrase on where we were headed.

“Right now, I’ve got the nose pointed at Billings, Montana.”

May not seem like a big deal, but almost exclusively, pilots give the shpiel on flight paths with “Our flight path today takes us…” “We’ll be headed over Bismark, ND.” Much more passive approaches those. However, today’s captain called out an undeniable fact: Where the Captain points the nose…that’s where you are headed.

Also, to get from Seattle to Detroit, there are plenty of places to point the nose as a intermediate point. Same with your business, there are lots of different ways to get wherever you are going. Once you have picked a “route”, as a leader, its important that your team actually knows where you have the nose headed. This is true whether you are a CEO or a front-line Team Lead. It’s OK to be assertive with the way you address it as well.

One of the biggest frustrations I see from individual contributors is that they feel like a passenger on a plane who is looking out a airplane window at some nondescript landscape somewhere. They feel the momentum, and they know they’re headed somewhere, but people like to know where they are headed along the way. They want a leader who knows where the nose is pointed at all times and doesn’t keep it to themselves!

TERRIBLE...FANTASTIC

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my mind is definitely on golf with this being Masters week. As much as I tried to not do another "golf wisdom" entry today, I can't help myself. This time, its a golfer I am sure you never heard of, on a course you most likely have never heard of either...

Sunol Valley has two nice little tracks in a pretty canyon area nestled between Pleasanton and San Jose, CA. When I lived in NoCal about 8 years ago, I actually turned into a decent golfer because the weather was so perfect all the time, I played once or twice a week. One day, playing there with my good friend Mat Caldwell (yes, one "t"), I saw the worst putt I have ever seen.

Mat was lying about 15 feet below the hole on the same tier of a two-tiered green where the hole was. It was a straight uphill putt...not easy, but eminently makeable for Mat, who regularly shot in the low 80's. (That's pretty good for those of you who don't golf!) For some reason that I could only attribute to a minor epileptic seizure, Matt hit it 30 feet past the hole, onto the top tier, and way off line to boot. It was the worst putt I had ever seen in my life, and my stomach still gets sore just thinking of how hard I was doubled over laughing at him.

But that's just part of the story. Mat stalked up to his ball, lined it up, followed his routine, let it roll, and about 7 seconds later, I saw maybe the best putt I have ever seen (that wasn't on TV). Making a 30 foot, left-to-right breaking, super speedy, downhill putt onto a lower tier hole is really something to behold.

But here's the thing. If he wouldn't have made the worst putt I've ever seen, he never would have been in position to make the best putt I've ever seen. The next time you blow it, and we all do, think about that putt that Mat made. You can do the same...no matter how hard people are laughing around you.

SICK ALL THE WAY AROUND?

Well, I hope you weren't expecting anything tantalizing based on my title above. It basically refers to the fact that I am physically sick at the moment, and it's telling to observe in myself how that affects mental capacity. (Unfortunately though, I really can't afford much diminishment there!) If you want a fascinating read, check out The Ultramind Solution by Mark Hyman, M.D. It is an amazing work on the interconnectivity between your brain and your body.

In the book, Dr. Hyman posthulates in great scientific detail how ineffective it is to attack mental disorders with medicines aimed at the brain alone, when often the diagnosis is related to something much larger out of balance in the body as a whole.

As you diagnose problems you have to face in your business, how wholistic are you? Do you focus in on a specific issue without regard for perhaps a much larger, hidden, systemic issue that could be stalking your business?

Be wholistic in business...even if you just take a pill for your body...

THERE'S A TRACTOR WAITING FOR YOU TOO...

With The Masters starting in Augusta in less than 36 hours, my thoughts are definitley on golf much of the day lately. That's not to say there aren't some great lessons you can take from that game and apply to business and life. You could write books (as some have) just on that subject.

One is standing out to me right now though. When Arnold Palmer left the family farm to pursue his career on the links, his father had some very simple advice..."When you go, do what you know how to do, and when you need me call me."

Pretty good leadership stuff from a farmer in Latrobe, PA. And then he added something brilliant... "If you listen to everyone's advice, I'll keep the tractor here in Latrobe for you." Arnold took that funny swing of his and his super-aggressive style and became a legend.

I don't know what your "tractor" is, or where your "Latrobe" is. But, if you don't heed the lesson of Arnold's dad, you'll be headed somewhere you don't want to go. Do what you know, call very few people when you need help. Don't listen to everyone.

YOU HAVE TWO BRAINS...SO USE THEM...

My wife runs our small real estate business. (Who would have thought a year ago we'd be happy to have more in real estate than in stocks!?!) We have a renter who texted us late tonight to make sure we received her rent check--which we haven't. She put it in her outgoing mail bin at work---despite a gut feeling saying she shouldn't.

It's not an uncommon problem. In their book Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis lay out a stark insight about leaders they have studied at the highest levels. Most of them make their worst decisions when they don't trust their gut.

There's a good reason for that. Your digestive system encompasses your enteric nervous system...which has actually been called your second brain. If you want see some of the science behind it, you can check out http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/health/23gut.html?pagewanted=all.

If you want to make good decisions without the science, just make sure you listen to what your brain(s) are telling you!

CAREFUL STOMPING THE BUMPER

As I was driving down the freeway recently, I observed a small 2-car fender-bender on the side of the road. There was a State Trooper there with the accident, which was so minor, the traffic on the busy freeway wasn't even slowed by it. The car that took the brunt of the damage had its rear 5-mph-impact bumper mostly hanging off the car. The Trooper was kicking at it to get it all of the way off, so the owner of the car could just drive away and not face a costly tow.

Great idea...except it almost caused a disaster...

When the Trooper stomped it all the way off, one edge hit the ground and somersaulted the whole detached bumper over....right into the freeway-speed traffic! A Honda Accord swerved hard left to avoid it, barely missing me. I had to jam my brakes...and thankfully nobody was close on my tail. So aside, from some seriously puckered adrenal glands, no harm no foul. But it was close!

It made me thing of how fixated we can get on a point problem, have good intentions, work hard to solve it...and in the process, blow up something much bigger.

Don't "Stomp the Bumper" unless you know where it is going to wind up!

IS IT ALL ABOUT "I"?

How many of the paragraphs in your emails start with "I"?

Of course, if you have that many paragraphs in an email, you might need to pick up the phone...