Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

Sooner or later, the world tends to force us into a choice of one or the other. You may vacillate between them depending on circumstance or age but it is difficult to serve both masters because even though they sound similar, they are diametrically opposed.

Do good seems to imply that you are doing the right thing for the general public, human nature, public safety, often considered the right thing or the greater good. Think Mother Theresa good here. It isn’t about material things, it’s about having a positive impact on lives.

Do well seems to imply that you are doing something to support your personal agenda. You are promoting yourself above others. Rather than investing in the system with faith that you will get your just deserts, whatever that might be… you take a short cut, because you are impatient or, worse yet, greedy.

There are many in leadership positions who do very well for themselves. For instance, yesterday’s news came out that the Viacom CEO was removed from the board. He’s made hundreds of millions of dollars but if he is removed from his CEO post, his contract says he will receive 3x his annual salary in a severance. I’m not sure he’s done good but I am certain he’s done well for himself.

To add to the confusion, it is proper english to indicate you are doing well when someone asks “how are you doing?” suggesting “how are you?” or “what is the status of your well being?”, but most people will say, “I’m good” almost unknowingly conveying arrogance.

Then, I received a response today in an email where I wished someone well and they responded with, “I am doing fine but could be doing better”…

What does an optimal leader do? They pursue doing good and they have faith that they will be doing well.

Have a blessed weekend!

Remember your Father.

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I’m spending time reflecting and projecting this week.
•I was invited to our 10th annual awards celebration last weekend in Manhattan. My first response was to decline the RSVP. I opened it and couldn’t find a way to say no thank you so I ignored it. Oops. Then I received a plea from my division president’s administrative assistant to which I said no thank you (again). Double oops. Finally, I was invited out to NY for two modestly significant meetings the day before the awards celebration to which I finally said OK, I get it now. No subtlety here…
The event was GREAT! Taking the time to celebrate what my colleagues do both at and outside of work, the event had an “Oscar” flavor without the Hollywood celebs. Excellent setting, food, drink, ambiance at the Harvard club but the real treat was the value the people brought to our industry. I got goosebumps more than once and just about popped buttons on my new shirt when my chest was swelling…and I’m still getting to know this group.

Then,

•I joined my executive group in Duluth for a quick retreat where we discussed a variety of topics including faith, operational excellence and future financial considerations for retirement.
•Will you have enough money to retire? •What should you be thinking about?
•How do you prepare?
•What will you do?
•How much does that cost?
•How long will you live?
•Will there be any social security?

By the time I got home and ready for the next work week, I was pooped. I just finished looking backwards in a grand manner surrounded by significant national and international company executives. I also just finished looking forward with anticipation and anxiety joined by a dozen local executive colleagues imparting wisdom to be a better version of myself. Then I had to look to tomorrow, literally, and decide what am I going to wear, what am I going to do and will it be significant enough to celebrate next year or will it even be enough to contribute to our retirement fund.

Was it going to be worth my time to get out of bed?

I did … but I won’t know right away. True worth cannot always be measured on the day we expend the effort. Not all projects begin and end in the same day. Most efforts require vision, commitment, strategy, tenacity (there’s that word again), patience and faith that you are doing things approximately right and will have impact, whether now or eventually.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

Perspective is an honor and an expectation of leadership. You receive a certain amount of data and information from your core areas of concern like financial, legal, information technology, human resources, sales, marketing and communications and, of course, operations.
In addition to what you know of your organization, you work hard to gain access to valid external information like the political and economic environment, industry trends, and client feedback.
Finally, you must decide which information will demand your attention, which to monitor and what you can (or should) ignore. Now you’ve assembled your perspective.

The internally generated information should be readily available-I would argue to the entire company (i.e. open book) , easy to understand and have some range of acceptable operating parameter that ties to the business philosophy of the organization. One of the many dangers here is the “loudest voice in the room” where an issue in an area may be important but not critical yet the manager of that particular area has succumb to the tyranny of the urgent and will contend it is actionable and immediate in nature.

Today we have an abundance of external information readily available for little or no cost beyond the time it takes to consume and digest it. What and who to listen to as well as what information you can trust is becoming the new focus; facts versus opinions, old data, new data, market research or trusted advisor.
All leaders need to elevate their thinking, the way they process data and information to reach assessments that guide an organization forward. If we allow ourselves to be pulled into the muck, who’s steering the ship? Who is there to pull others out of the muck?
Do we tend to feel, as leaders, we must get our hands dirty to demonstrate our relevance?
Let’s not mistake our prerogative to dig into an issue as an excuse to soil our hands and prove our worth in a tangible and widely recognizable manner. If so, you are depriving someone else in the organization the opportunity to earn their own wings.

A leader immediately gets issued a megaphone and a spotlight that follows them around. Each word measured, each facial expression questioned whether it is consistent with the words spoken and the barrage of questioning why something was decided upon, specifically if it creates negative impacts, even though the data and information used by the leader to make decisions is often not obvious.  There is a delicate balance between some necessary short term wins to pacify the masses and making the harder, long term investment type decisions that sustain the company for the long term.

What you do with information is what differentiates a great leader from an average one…and everyone will have an opinion about the conclusions you’ve reached and the actions taken. The sad irony that follows leadership in this immediate gratification world we live in is that you may not be present to witness the resultant of all the critical decisions made.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders!  It’s Friday!

I know an emergency physician who, by his own admission, had a good life working 9 nights out of 30 at a prominent hospital in the Twin Cities. He encountered a veteran who was suffering from intractable pain due to a horrendous war wound (bullet through the back) and growing increasingly dependent on opioids. The veteran confessed that smoking a joint overseas took away all his pain but once back in the states, no marijuana use due to its illegality prevented him from removing pain from his life. This coupled with the reality that marijuana is not addictive and you cannot overdose on it convinced my well to do doctor friend that he must commit his professional life to reducing pain that doesn’t create addicts and doesn’t cause potential overdoses.
Inspiring.

I know an engineer who has seen many, many sides of the electric utility business. He’s sold products, he’s managed large construction projects, he’s run engineering and operations crews in union settings, he’s performed system studies, and educated technical people on business-related portions of the business. But his passion in outage management systems (OMS) came during a snow storm in South Dakota on his way home from the eastern part of the state when he was stranded in Wall, SD by highway patrol and the hotel had no power. Being familiar with the local utility, he made his way down to help the singular line manager in the office who was dispatching, taking outage calls, troubleshooting from his desk in a humble, deliberate and committed manner. My friend was moved by his personal involvement in getting the lights back on knowing how the customers pain from the cold and the dark had been relieved. That long “day”, that ended about 3 the following morning, convinced him to dedicate his life to resolving outages and build reliable outage management systems for as many utilities as he could affect.
Infectious.

I know an executive who started with nothing more than a dream of being “successful”. Not knowing what that really meant, he had blind aspirations, driven by material accumulation (often viewed as security) until this one day…after years of chasing, volunteering for every possible challenge to prove himself, educating himself, putting theory to practice, critiquing performance, seeking opinions from experts, analyzing, adjusting, adapting and answering questions like
•what good was and what it took to be considered good by most?
•what influence was and where to exert it?
•what paying it forward meant and how to make it sustainable?

…he had to admit his pursuits had been somewhat hollow. Beyond helping his spouse raise children; providing a roof, shoes, food, a spiritual environment, a guarantee of a higher education and the gristle in the gut to finish whatever you started, the rest seemed to evaporate. What positive impact stems from a bigger TV, a fancier emblem on your motor vehicle or 800 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets?

After recognizing that the plan he was following wasn’t really his … only after the hand of God reached down and smacked him (with affection) as if to say, “Son, I didn’t bless you with these gifts so you could look in the mirror and admire yourself…get your butt back out there and make a difference!
Lead my people, educate the studious, put your shoulder into it and save some souls, uplift, empathize, and inspire! Make my world better.”
Inevitable.

Readers, have you had your “one day” but chose not to take action?
My challenge for you is to reflect back on your life to this point and if you haven’t had it, be aware. If you have had but ignored it, dust off the life lesson and apply yourself. It’s not too late. Tomorrow is the perfect day to start.

Have a blessed Memorial Day Weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

As my colleagues and mentors start to retire, it becomes more clear than ever that they aren’t counting their money as they exit their last paying role, they’re counting the number of people they touched and they’re reflecting on the influence they’ve had on the industry they worked in.

I received a special invitation from an old buddy (who has bravely been fighting progressively worsening symptoms of Parkinson’s disease) to attend an industry meeting I first came to know more than twenty years ago. I questioned if I wanted to return because I’ve passed on this baton twice to others who have made their own mark at the conference but I was pleased to come back to see the progress, rub elbows with old friends, make new ones and catch up on the latest topics covered at this sixty year old conference.

My buddy shared stories of his exploits, his intern program, his direct involvement on multiple industry panels and scholarship programs, his discussions with thick headed board members, crotchety lineman who quantified their mistakes by an assigned number (representing how far the subject’s head was up their ass that day). He introduced me to one of his four talented, intelligent and motivated problem solving children, and in a quiet moment with the cane by his side, he shared how ready he was to hang up his spurs. He has led an incredibly interesting and fulfilling life and has an enormous amount to reflect on and be proud of!

Another leader at this meeting is also retiring who led his consulting firm to prominence, sparred at a legal level as an expert witness, wrote standards and passed on his latest roles to three managers who he’d been grooming for decades. He successfully helped define and defend the electric utility industry and continues to impart wisdom as a board member, national code committee member and industry scholarship supporter.

Yet another friend and leader prominent at this conference stepped back from the company he founded to focus on the thing he loves, clients. It is fairly rare to see a technically prone individual embrace business acumen and capitalize on the nexus. Even more rare is to have that same leader let go of well-earned titles and be so self-aware to focus on what he loves. I’m confident his bank account is substantial…but you’d never guess it by talking to him. Today, he counts his success by the number of grandchildren he has and the quantity of 8″ brook trout he catches.

In Patrick Lencioni’s latest fable released last month, “The Ideal Team Player”, he focuses on the cultural quality of teamwork. Great leaders build teams. Great leaders possess many positive qualities; they are hungry, humble and smart and those qualities manifest in behaviors like:
•Trust-a willingness to be vulnerable
•Conflict-a preference to face it realizing there is a solution once faced and dealt with respectfully
•Commitment-to the Team you are working on
•Accountability-to do what you said you would without expecting someone else to hold your feet to the fire
•Results-effort without accomplishment is rarely rewarded. Business respects results and if you expect to be competitive, you can’t go to your customer or client and say “sorry, we tried” and expect to stay in business.

I’m confident that although the three colleagues I cited left a legacy because they were great leaders, I believe they accomplished what they did because they were great Team builders and great Team members.

Remember,
It’s not what you get out of it…it’s what you contributed.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

While in Bismarck, ND this week I took in a succession planning conference led by one of my favorite presenters on the planet, Geordie Aitken. His humor, genuine and engaged demeanor, quick wit and sticky wicket, hipster style are magnetic.

We spent time on the “cauldron of change” topic but people experience it more than once in their life. Most will see substantial change at marriage, birth of children, and career advancement as well as retirement.

Geordie talked about two cycles in the change process: one of resistance and another of suffering. Both have trigger events and consequences but I think the most important point he made is we must realize the tension between work and home…career and family…personal purpose and professional purpose. Note: He was talking to a room full of engineers/problem solvers/company leaders and emerging leaders who typically say “yes” too much, thereby creating substantial tension between the office and the house.

The phrase “some tension allowed” not only recognizes there is and will be tension but it gives permission to live with it…at least some. Too much tension creates problems and forces us to make difficult and painful choices. As my old friend Raj says, Any one of us could get a new job but could you find another person you’d want to share the rest of your life with?

When you go through a major life change, your purpose changes. Having a sense of purpose is the best way to navigate through uncertainty. If you resist and deny, the suffering cycle is prolonged. Geordie quietly suggested we learn fast and suffer less.

At a major change point, the learning is paired up with letting go. Making a substantial shift in life involves 50% letting go and 50% learning new things. As Nelson Mandela said, “I never lose, I either win or I learn.”

As for me, I’ve experienced substantial change in the past couple of years.  I haven’t always learned fast.  I found myself bargaining with … myself … why I needed to resist the inevitable and it certainly created, compounded and prolonged the pain.  To learn fast is to wise up and to let go is to forgive.

Learn fast, let go and suffer less.

Wise up, forgive, be happy!

Have a blessed weekend.

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

The World loves simple, easy explanations and has traditionally put labels on everything to satisfy its desire for instant comprehension.

I’m reminded of a presentation by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, I heard during a Red River research corridor conference roughly a decade ago. He was discussing the origins of an invention to provide clean water to third world countries. Intelligent inventors and conventional wisdom (The World) said of this concept, “that’s impossible”. After assembling many smart people and giving them time to create a solution, Dean presented it to …the world… who retorted, “that’s obvious”. Mr. Kamen contends that in between those two worldly labels is “genius”.

In the past month, I’ve heard multiple examples of how the world tells us we must choose a single vocation (at a fairly early age) and stick to it … but life doesn’t happen that way. We are multi-faceted, multi-talented complex beings who, by our nature and preference for survival, adapt and adjust to the circumstances we are faced with.

I heard Daniel Pink describe his research findings that the most successful salespeople exhibit a chameleon-like behavior and instead of the assumed extrovert being best, it is the “ambivert” demonstrating introverted and extroverted tendencies depending on the situation, who sells most successfully.

I watched TedX Bend on a flight back from New York last week where Emilie Wapnick described herself and many epitomized examples as a “multipotentialite”.

This past Tuesday, I heard Jared Leto-accomplished musician, award winning actor, and sophisticated tech investor on CNBC. He is highly regarded for multiple reasons. Richly successful, he mused that a CEO on the show at the same time was easily accredited by one label where it took five minutes to describe his background.

Each of these examples demonstrate that we don’t even have words in our vocabulary to aptly describe the phenomena today. A generalist implies that someone might be ok at many things. A specialist is typically good at one thing. How do you label someone who is very accomplished at many, many things?

My contention is that we have all been blessed with multiple gifts and if we pay attention, muster and exhibit confidence and then tak action, you too can defy conventional wisdom in this label prone society and enjoy a multipotentialite-type existence.

Challenge: Are you comfortable with just one vocation? If yes, should you be?
(Don’t let the world squash your genius because it desires to slap on a label and unknowingly stuff your talent in a small box.). Be all that you were designed to be.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

In between the politicians in DC last week, the conference included a keynote by Daniel Pink, author of “Drive!” He was shamelessly plugging his new book [you can look it up] but it may have saved me the time to read it and the cost to buy it…or perhaps it piqued my curiosity.

He has been studying the sales process and broke it down into the ABC’s:

•Attunement
•Buoyancy
•Clarity

Attunement is described as getting out of your head and into others.

I like to remove my shoe (especially the days I’m wearing loafers) but it’s more dramatic when I have to untie and retie a laced shoe. “Put yourself in my shoes” (if even for a moment) I comment. Now ask yourself as the proverbial customer, client or audience of your presentation-What am I concerned about, what do I need, what will make my life easier? Take that information to heart because I don’t care what you’re selling – if I don’t need it or don’t believe I need it, I won’t be buying it.

Buoyancy…Daniel highlighted the Fuller brush salesman, Norman Hall, who he visited in San Francisco and shadowed for some time. Mr. Hall says he faces an “ocean of objection” every day he goes to work and after 40 years, describes in the book how he stays afloat.
From my perspective, drowning in an overwhelming amount of rejection requires Herculean strength to overcome. Ignorance is bliss … but who wants to be ignorant? Self and situational awareness are hallmarks of emotional intelligence. The burden of such intelligence requires that you not let the tidal waves or the undertow catch you off guard- or you should just stay on shore.

Clarity-Pink describes this as curating information. We have made a shift from too little information to too much information. Whether buying a car, a service, a home or any consumer good, we now have tremendous amounts of information at our fingertips. Today, information is the true currency. We now have to sort through, prioritize and leverage the data and information to make the appropriate assessment and act on it.
If we are selling in this tectonic shift in the marketplace, we have to make it easy. Give your customer an off ramp, says Pink.

No matter your title, we are ALL in sales. These salient points are good reminders that selling today is different than what it was when Norman Hall started out forty years ago but I’d submit the landscape today has changed dramatically in the last four years with the proliferation of smart phones and Facebook and probably noticeable even in the last four months.

Challenge: What will you do to change your sales pitch now that you’ve been enlightened with some of Pink’s research?

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

I am not a social media wizard but I can navigate most things. I was with a 60+ year old CEO recently who posted his second Facebook picture, ever. (I was advised some time ago to not use Facebook so I never started.) I do blog…and I use LinkedIn where I recently got involved with a few leadership groups.

I’ve copied a link to a recent article in inc.com that refers to things we say that really displays our character.

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/10-phrases-leaders-with-high-moral-character-always-use.html

I am returning from a long week in Washington, DC where I met with the North Dakota Senators and Congressman(‘s aid) as part of the American Council of Engineering Companies North Dakota delegation.

Party positions aside, I like Heidi Heitkamp. She’s knowledgeable, personable and I believe she cares about making a positive difference for North Dakota.
I also enjoy speaking to John Hoeven who is polished, friendly and got to the heart of North Dakota issues.
I’m pleased that virtually each year I’ve attended, we’ve been able to get time with our senators and they’ve made us feel that we and our issues are important.

We were also able to hear from Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska at a fund raising event. She led the charge on the Energy bill and is now pushing to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions so we might enjoy legislation to provide a path to energy security and make sustainability an economic reality.

When it comes to their phrasing, they are champion orators and it would be easy to hide behind political speak but I detected none of that. I heard;
•”We could have done better.” Regarding transportation funding for the next five years.
•”I’ll get back to you.” Regarding amendments on the recently senate passed Energy bill…and they did!
•”I don’t understand” regarding public sentiment on a hot, expensive issue where we’ve been able to move the ball forward to a solution. That’s right, a solution achieved through the political system!
•”Thank you!” Coming from a public servant, that displays humility as well appreciation.

There is plenty of confusion when it comes to our current political system  as exemplified by the presidential race.  I am encouraged that we have senators who have character demonstrated through what they say and how they say it.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

Michael Allosso, actor, director, and coach to CEO’s stopped by to listen in on our monthly leadership conversation for an hour before he led the group in increased awareness training of how we “show up” everyday.
A buzzword for this phenomena is called micro messaging. According to Wikipedia, it’s described as
Micro-inequities are subtle, often unconscious, messages that devalue, discourage and impair workplace performance. They are conveyed through facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, choice of words, nuance and syntax.

Mr. Allosso’s career includes acting in Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin but spends much of his time training (we were his 1331st training engagement) and gave us some insight as to what actors deal with on a daily basis.

Who better than an actor and director to observe, point out and encourage improved performance?

The point he was making with all of his raw feedback was a giant step toward increasing our emotional intelligence through self awareness. Things to be aware of like
•Eye contact
•Demonstrating genuine interest through meaningful questions
•Body language has to be in sync with what you are saying

I don’t know about you, but often times I barrel through my day giving little notice to how I show up as long as I get my mental list done. It isn’t intentional if I walk past people without acknowledging them, I’m in a zone…some might call it the twilight zone.

Michael talked to us about a different zone, as actors, like Daniel Day Lewis, who gets into a part and doesn’t come out of the zone until the project is complete.

He also recommended that we “gather beauty”. Perhaps a play on stop and smell the roses but it sticks for me. A great and simple way to be more aware of our surroundings beyond just showing up as the best version of us.

Interpretation of this random stream of consciousness-
You have to be intentional in how you show up. Awareness is only the first step…you must be deliberate. During the hour of his listening and observing, he heard me talk about my “failed” empathy training. We all got a chuckle but in the end, it wasn’t that I had no empathy, it turned out I didn’t know how to display it. I simply need to work harder in order that my body; my voice, my eyes and my actions reflects my heart.

Leaders make themselves vulnerable to feedback in order to improve.
Einstein said that anyone who claims they’ve never failed never tried anything new.

Try something new today. Make an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Seek out advice. Strengthen the connection between how you feel and how it shows up to others.

Have a blessed weekend!