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!
Showing posts with label perspective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perspective. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
HERE IS ONE TO CHEW ON...
Everyone needs to stop being so sensitive...AND...Everyone needs to start being a lot more sensitive.
It's all about perspective!
It's all about perspective!
Friday, March 27, 2009
CAROL BURNETT...THOUGHT LEADER
Well, maybe not. However, her character on a recent episode of Law and Order (yes that is definitely casting against type!) had something to really chew on....
"Nobody said life was going to be fair...just eventful."
How true!
"Nobody said life was going to be fair...just eventful."
How true!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND...OR NOT...
"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
That’s some very famous advice given by an author who has some truly brilliant tenets in his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People…Steven Covey. However, to what level do you need to understand your people?
Stick with me here….When I say level of understanding, I mean do you need to get to where you truly understand in great detail to the point of fully assimilating a reason for a person’s needs? For instance, referencing yesterday's "Cable Bill" post, what if I had not heard the undertone comment...yet the group still insisted that the $40 change was important. Would I have been flexible if I didn't understand the driver?
Sometimes, leaders have to understand that the driver is what their people want...period...even if they don't understand the why behind it, and it may even conflict with their own logic. That doesn't mean applying no analytics or senior-level judgment to a decision, or giving everyone everything all the time. It means making your "understanding" of something perhaps a bit more uncomfortable and nebulous to your own frame of reference!
That’s some very famous advice given by an author who has some truly brilliant tenets in his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People…Steven Covey. However, to what level do you need to understand your people?
Stick with me here….When I say level of understanding, I mean do you need to get to where you truly understand in great detail to the point of fully assimilating a reason for a person’s needs? For instance, referencing yesterday's "Cable Bill" post, what if I had not heard the undertone comment...yet the group still insisted that the $40 change was important. Would I have been flexible if I didn't understand the driver?
Sometimes, leaders have to understand that the driver is what their people want...period...even if they don't understand the why behind it, and it may even conflict with their own logic. That doesn't mean applying no analytics or senior-level judgment to a decision, or giving everyone everything all the time. It means making your "understanding" of something perhaps a bit more uncomfortable and nebulous to your own frame of reference!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
CAN A CABLE BILL CHANGE THE UNIVERSE?
Well, it changed mine...perhaps not how you'd expect. One of my favorite activities is having round tables with the front line employees in my organization. I don't get to do it nearly as often as I'd like, but it is incredibly valuable.
In one such exercise, I was sitting with around 12 folks discussing compensation issues, and the possibility of changes to comp plans. This particular group was composed of salespeople, darn good ones too, by and large. If there is anything near and dear to the hearts of commissioned sellers...it's their comp.
Appreciating that fact, I had put a lot of thought (I thought!) into an approach that focused on the big picture. One change that had been considered (but discounted) was a change that would have raised base comp by a mere $40 a month. Being the enlightened big thinker I thought I was, I made an offhanded remark about how that kind of change isn't what these folks would be interested in. Well, so softly she thought I didn't hear, one of my folks said under her breath to nobody in particular...."That would pay my cable bill."
Thunder struck, universe changed.
A trap that is so easy to fall into as a leader is thinking that you know what your people need without asking them...even when you sincerely have their best interests at heart. Are you setting up structures that let you hear their voices...even when they are talking to themselves?
In one such exercise, I was sitting with around 12 folks discussing compensation issues, and the possibility of changes to comp plans. This particular group was composed of salespeople, darn good ones too, by and large. If there is anything near and dear to the hearts of commissioned sellers...it's their comp.
Appreciating that fact, I had put a lot of thought (I thought!) into an approach that focused on the big picture. One change that had been considered (but discounted) was a change that would have raised base comp by a mere $40 a month. Being the enlightened big thinker I thought I was, I made an offhanded remark about how that kind of change isn't what these folks would be interested in. Well, so softly she thought I didn't hear, one of my folks said under her breath to nobody in particular...."That would pay my cable bill."
Thunder struck, universe changed.
A trap that is so easy to fall into as a leader is thinking that you know what your people need without asking them...even when you sincerely have their best interests at heart. Are you setting up structures that let you hear their voices...even when they are talking to themselves?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
WE AREN'T CURING CANCER HERE (OR ARE WE?)
Since MarketStar is a sales outsourcing company, and not a medical or pharmaceutical organization, some of my fellow executives sometimes put the trials and travails of our business into perspective during tough times with the familiar missive: “We’re not curing cancer here…” That may be the case…directly. However, I just got some incredible news this weekend that a member of my organization got a clean bill of health after a battle with this insidious disease. This person had an incredible story of overcoming obstacles even before they were diagnosed with this latest challenge…but they are as private as they are tough, so I cannot share details.
That being said, moments like this and news like this make me reflect on the responsibility that we as leaders have to our organizations. My leadership team and I have built an organization here that supports people through their difficult times, showing flexibility for their needs while they do their jobs.
But more basically, if leaders in any organization do not manage business aggressively, ethically and professionally, they cannot provide the business opportunities that lead to the jobs that lead to the insurance coverage that lead to the treatment options….that lead to curing cancer.
So, maybe your job description doesn’t involve saving the world. But, what impact will the solid decisions you make today have on your people…and their families? Leadership can be a lonely and frustrating thing, particularly in challenging times when you feel you may not be in control of everything you used to be. But remember, the impact you have can be bigger than you sometimes stop to realize.
That being said, moments like this and news like this make me reflect on the responsibility that we as leaders have to our organizations. My leadership team and I have built an organization here that supports people through their difficult times, showing flexibility for their needs while they do their jobs.
But more basically, if leaders in any organization do not manage business aggressively, ethically and professionally, they cannot provide the business opportunities that lead to the jobs that lead to the insurance coverage that lead to the treatment options….that lead to curing cancer.
So, maybe your job description doesn’t involve saving the world. But, what impact will the solid decisions you make today have on your people…and their families? Leadership can be a lonely and frustrating thing, particularly in challenging times when you feel you may not be in control of everything you used to be. But remember, the impact you have can be bigger than you sometimes stop to realize.
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