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Now is not the time

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Good Friday!!

Pandemic ramifications don’t have to include silence.
I changed my cadence at the beginning of the year for a variety of reasons but over the past few weeks, I’ve struggled with whether I should stick to the once a month leadership descriptors or if I should jump into the fray of an unprecedented virus reaction and the ensuing humanity.
Is this a conspiracy started by [name your favorite enemy]?
Is this divine intervention?
Is this politically motivated?
Is it good?
Is it bad?
Frankly, who cares?!
Will you spend your limited energy trying to understand why this happened…or will you focus on how you are going to adapt and adjust to the spread of a virus that has ravaged our way of life?
I am guilty of watching 3 or more hours of news between early morning and late at night when I am not working remotely.  Beyond building awareness and reminding me several times a day to wash my hands and to stop touching my face…it just makes me sad for all of the unemployed, the sick, the anxious, the scared and the angry.
Now is not the time to…
•Complain
•Give in
•Give up
Here are two examples of what leadership looks like during this pandemic:

National Institute of Health Director of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci

 

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson

They speak the truth with candor and vulnerability, vision and an unwavering determination to be part of the solution.  There are countless more examples to be found if you know where to look.  I’m going to suggest you start this morning by looking in your mirror.
Have a very blessed Easter weekend.  Stay healthy, be safe, adapt and adjust to your new surroundings and be the leader you were designed to be.

Teacher

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Good afternoon, Team!  It’s Saturday!   I know, I know…breaking stride as I navigate the once a month, end of the month, COVID-19 and everything else.
As I explore the “what roles describe a leader” series, it is only fitting that we interrupt the norm during this pandemic as everyone’s world has shifted and (I will predict we are not half way there).
I saw a sign at a service station in White Bear Lake, MN the other day that said “Will change oil for TP”
By now, we all know that teachers have been asked to work remotely and become proficient in e-learning.  My 8 year old grandson and his adoration for the iPad sees little shift as he goes from YouTube for recreation to YouTube for education.  Perhaps we should take a page from his book as he seems ready to adapt.  The need for education, regardless of venue, is obvious.  The need to provide continuity, whether educational, nutritional, or social, is also an imperative and we are, as a nation, figuring that out.
Do we think that need disappears when we reach the age of 18 or 22 or 26 … and graduate?  While we might be ready for something new like on-the-job training or learning in a different manner, the need to learn and the need for teachers is a life-long endeavor.  Enter the leader who understands this and makes it part of their responsibility.
Can you imagine if it was assumed by leadership that a new employee comes fully equipped with everything they need to be successful and no time, energy or resources were committed to their continued development?  The wise leader/teacher recognizes he has the beginnings of what could be a future company asset.
A level five leader recognizes that they have  both the opportunity and the obligation to help said new employee as well as the five, ten, twenty and thirty year veterans…reach their full potential.  In so many arenas; software, hardware, fiscal, social, physical, political…identifying where they are, where you need them to be and where they ultimately want to be.
Teachers are a bit like farmers.  The student is the soil and developing into fertile ground, a willingness to accept the nurturing, maybe breaking through hard pan, maybe irrigating dry patches, maybe fertilizing deficient soil, maybe planting seeds multiple times and weeding out thoughts and ideas that don’t serve the needs of the organization you’re developing them for.  The picture in my head of a farmer is someone who dutifully plugs along each day performing the chores necessary to work with the seasons, having faith in the weather and the one who controls it, to prep and plant and prevent and harvest and store and bring the fruits of their labor to market.  Then start the process all over again, and again, and again.
Every single one of us has memories of teachers in our lives.  Each teacher committed to make our lives better that we can be prepared, we can understand more, we can develop into teachers and leaders ourselves.
Embrace the reality that as leaders, we teach by simply modeling the way and if you aren’t modeling what you expect out of your students, adjust immediately.  They are watching, they are learning and they are looking for you to chart the course or they will be looking for someone who can.
Have a blessed month ahead!  There will be extraordinary challenges and you will need to adapt to simply survive.  Make good, thoughtful choices and invest your time wisely.

Captain

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

…the last Friday of the month and the second in my new series at a different cadence.

What is a leader?  What names do we assign and how does it make us feel when we hear it? When it’s directed at us or someone else?

The label I chose for this month is Captain.  Who wouldn’t think of a ship, at the helm, traditional wooden steering wheel or the seat with a large window/screen where James T Kirk sat?

The figure I want to focus on today is Ernest Shackleton.  He was a famous explorer who participated in three expeditions but led his last one to Antarctica.  His ship froze in the sea of ice and could have resulted in tragedy.  Instead, Shackleton, like any great leader, focused on the people.  In the face of adversity, anxiety, horrific weather and the fear of impending death, he kept his calm, brought with him and kept close the most caustic personalities to keep them in check and returned to his stranded men to return all safely home.

I don’t know whether he controlled the rudder of his ship at all times, but I know he was the Captain of that expedition.

How do you see yourself as a leader?  Are you focused on the competition or the competitors within your organization?  Is your responsibility to influence your people and develop other leaders eclipsed by your personal desire to win at all costs?

Shackleton wasn’t always heralded for his achievements.  On the surface he looked like a failure.  Fortunately, leadership scholars took a closer look at what he did accomplish.  Today, in an evolved way of thinking, we no longer tolerate the aspirations of a few to drive behavior at any cost.  We expect leadership to prioritize safety first, people second, the mission of the organization and serving clients next and to generate a market-leading profit margin as well.

These are all achievable.  Its easy to get the order mixed up if you allow it.  Stay focused.

Have a blessed month!

Keep your eyes on the horizon.

 

 

Coach

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Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!!

Before I start, I promised something different in 2020. This is what I’m offering:

•A different cadence – once, monthly

•A keen focus on leadership

•A renewed commitment to share lessons revealed and learned

Now,

Over the past month, I’ve paid particular attention to interactions with multiple examples of the leadership role titled Coach.

I typically spend a day and an hour with my executive coach, had a beer with my old presentation coach, and was asked to be a career development coach by a colleague.

I had breakfast with a long time friend and spiritual coach who started a church (after denying his technical career aspirations). I’m welcomed to a men’s bible study when my schedule allows and the spirit moves me to be coached by a group.

I’ve seen a number of sports related coaches interviewed recently as we mourn the loss of a premier athlete and prepare to celebrate the football extravaganza this weekend. It is their job to help promising and professional athletes reach their athletic potential.

During the last month, I spoke with a wide array of individuals who could benefit from a coaching relationship, if they were aware … and willing to seek their potential and impact the quality of their life.

There are numerous types of coaches, depending on what you seek. It is critical to recognize that we all need one, at least one. In my case, many. Friend, mentor, brother…pastor, chair, supervisor…father, servant, teacher.

They require trust to create a relationship.

They require vulnerability to assess your appetite.

They require cooperation to develop momentum.

They require commitment to dig deep and not quit when it gets hard, and it will.

They require communication as they are not mind readers.

They require active listening on your part to take guidance to heart.

There is not one coach in my life as you can see. I’ve leaned on several brilliant, persistent, and caring people on my journey. We all need the trusted advisor to get us through tough situations that allow us to grow and heal and learn…and eventually teach.

A few guidance statements that I’ve heard, processed and conveyed include:

•Inquiry versus advocacy

•Assume noble intent

•What we don’t transform, we transmit

Find your coaches. Mine the nuggets of wisdom. Practice until permanent then go model the way.

Have a blessed month!

Homecoming

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
Wearing the nicest pair of work boots I’ve ever owned, I show up like the kid whose parents took him shopping for the first day of school the night before; stark white tennis shoes, fold creases in the shirt and pants, and the tag still hanging off of the new backpack.
I’m still at home in the dirt with a bunch of calloused handed, hairy faced, dirty jacket, ball cap wearing, field tested folks.  The environment has changed from what I recall, in a good way.  Safety is paramount, respect for clients and coworkers is obvious and deliberate, language is clean, desire to do well is shared by all.  This is an impressive culture!
To be clear, I’m an office guy who hasn’t been in the field … for a very long time.  My new hard hat is pristine white (and might be forever).  I’m not turning wrenches or operating equipment and I’m not a foreman, manager or director.  I have been hired as a leader to get things done through others … which isn’t simple or easy and garners little respect from many who do use their hands to earn their pay.  My gray beard, bald head, and clean shirt give me a head start but the legitimacy starts when I open my mouth and … seek to understand and support … instead of barking about things I may lack undeniable expertise in.
It always helps to understand how you and your Team and their actions influence others within and outside of an organization.  What is our part in the product and service delivery to our customers?  Sometimes you have to see it, immerse yourself in it and recognize how things really work.
I feel blessed to be where I am.  I’ve been trusted to optimize critical internal functions for a company building renewable energy generation.  It’s a worthwhile effort impacting hundreds of millions of people.  I have purpose and peace.
Have a blessed weekend!
Note to readers:  I’m taking some time off of the weekly cadence.
I wish each of you the best of the holiday season ahead.  God bless you!

Where you are

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
My new role has required me to be away from home … again.  Besides the strange bed, feather pillows (I’m allergic to), dry air, strange noises, questionable breakfast meat and powdered eggs in the breakfast buffet, I am finding ways to focus on work, communicate with loved ones, exercise again and be present with less support and daily reinforcement than I’ve grown accustom to.
One of my new responsibility leaders shared some of his stories about sacrifices made on the home front as he switched from one job to the next.  Married for two months then off to South Africa … for two years!
Another leader in my group has relocated to a region far enough away that being in the office is nowhere near as frequent as it has been.  His spouse had an opportunity that required she be in the city they now live and our company is progressive enough that he was allowed to relocate.
Leading where you are still requires the fundamental communication, collaboration, encouraging the heart, completing the tasks necessary and accomplishing things through others.  The distance away from the office or the distance away from loved ones makes it more challenging but certainly not impossible.
The business environment is changing.  The workforce majority is made up of sharp, progressive, motivated, enthusiastic and talented people who fully intend for themselves and their respective organizations to be successful.
•This requires flexibility, to the point of being fluid.
•This requires honesty with ourselves and the organization of what is expected, what is critical and what is optional.
•This requires leveraging technology to communicate whenever, wherever, however to meet the needs of both work and home.
How does this translate?
Let’s take the smart phone.  I used to walk by someone who was on their phone at work and assume they were slacking.  Maybe texting a friend about grabbing a drink or sharing some cat-themed meme about a current event.  Now, I walk on by because it might as easily be someone in a meeting 20 feet away who doesn’t want to disturb the presenter but needs something from their coworker.
Assume noble intent behind your Teams actions.  Judge based on results without trying to prescribe means and methods.  Stay nimble when it comes to how we get work done today.  Lead from where you are, not the way you grew up but the way you wish you had been treated.
Have a blessed weekend!

Crushing ice

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
New leadership opportunity, new approach to building trust quickly.

Getting to know someone beyond name, rank, serial number usually takes time.  But what if you don’t have time?

One of the business units I’ve been asked to help solidify has grown from two guys and a trailer twelve years ago to a twenty person Team, with seven of them either new or new to the group this week!
We decided to undergo an ice breaking exercise compounded with “speed dating” where senior leadership was part of round one and managers were part of round two and the rest of the group sat at tables while management circulated.  It was a very successful exercise with personalities coming out, humor to speed things along and a palpable feeling of camaraderie by the time we finished.
One of the facts that came out that just about made all of us “ugly face” cry was of the family who has been foster parents for two infants, one girl, one boy for two years when the biological mother of the little boy decided she wanted him back.  While heartbreaking in itself, the little girl and her situational awareness was the clincher.  The mother and son were reunited so the foster parents, hoping to become the adopted parents of the little girl were overjoyed to tears when they learned they would be the little girl’s parents.  Hearing the play by play, the anxiety and eventual joy from the big man with a bigger heart, the inflection in his voice as he shared this fabric-of-his-family story … was a gift.  He dove into the vulnerability exercise and melted all of our hearts a little more that day.
There are three core Team members with adopted children.  Each story gave insight that may have taken months or years to find out otherwise.  What incredible insight gained because we took the time to listen.
Lessons applied:
•People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
•As my old pastor Jerry Carlson used to say as he wrapped up his sermon, “As you go out into the world this week, remember, everyone is fighting a battle of some kind… so be gentle.”
Have a blessed weekend!

Thankful for adversity

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

It was 30 years ago today, the day after Thanksgiving, 1989 that I started a job I thought would be my last career move.  Today, it would be challenging to find a place that would start you on a Friday, especially the day after Thanksgiving.

 

My attitude of gratitude post today is not about all of the awesome things I’ve been blessed with, up to and including; beautiful family, good health, great friends, and rewarding jobs.  Instead, I’d like to share the inflections in my life that I didn’t expect, at the time felt I didn’t “deserve” and where I am today.  I’ll stick to the big ones.

 

Job:  After 25+ years in a company I gave heart and soul to, the Board representatives said they “wanted to go a different direction”.  It has taken me years to forgive them and myself for the change in my career trajectory.  I’m in a better place today and truly thankful for the interesting journey I would not have experienced otherwise.  I’ve been given the opportunity to meet hundreds of new people and influence Boards, Divisions and Market Sectors as I expanded my view of the world.

 

Marriage:  After 33+ years with the mother of my children, we reached a point where we couldn’t see eye-to-eye … on much of anything.  We tried and tried and tried but couldn’t make it work.  It was (and still is) painful and we will be healing for quite some time to come.  It was a wake up call for me to what matters most in life.  We all deserve to experience joy.  We all deserve to be loved.

 

Health:  It is nothing short of amazing how stress erodes health.  In one of my last jobs, the CFO of one of the business lines retired and came back to work.  In a conversation over a beer with several of us, Duane shared that he dropped all medicines when he retired the first time and felt great.  Two months back in the saddle and he was back on the meds he was able to drop.  My physical exams would tell a similar story.  I have completed an annual checkup for the last 10 years, many at the Mayo clinic and have some interesting data; cholesterol levels, blood pressure, anxiety were all considerably elevated when I was in a high stress job.  Conversely, during the breaks, my numbers were stellar.  It is entirely possible that I took each of my roles too seriously and might have blown a gasket if I’d stayed in them.  Your life looks a whole lot different when you don’t have good health.

 

Today, I am grateful for all of the adversity I have faced.  It sucked going through it and I am not going to claim that I was well behaved when things didn’t go the way I had planned.  I complained, I gnashed my teeth and I let the world know I didn’t think it was fair.  Bad things happen to good people every single day.  It can be tragic and I wouldn’t wish ill on anyone.  Perhaps, as one close advisor shared, these are tests of faith.  Adversity has lessons to teach us, if we can see beyond ourselves.

 

Have a blessed weekend!

Back in the saddle

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
I struggled to find a relevant topic for today.  After starting a new job and looking to create value quickly, my discretionary time has evaporated.  Conversely, the content to extract inspiration is overwhelming.  Throw in the holiday preparation and decoration, the deliberate effort to enjoy the journey rather than succumb to the tyranny of the urgent and voila! you have one confounded author.
Through a series of events, some at my hand and some out of my control, I took a sabbatical in 2019.  This gave me pause, a chance to reflect, and to untie some knots in my rope.
I spent the first 53 years of my life scouring the landscape for purpose…my one thing.  I wore myself out.  Along the way, I learned a lot, made a living, and was blessed with a wife, three children, one grandson (to date) and a host of memories and experiences.
“There’s nuthin’ like bringin’ in the herd”
I derive great joy out of accomplishment.  Look what I did in an “aren’t you proud of me, Mom and Dad?” sort of way.  We all have those feelings, most of us choose to stuff ‘em deeper when they crawl up our throat.  However, I have continued to struggle with keeping my priorities straight; God, family, work, me, others.  Probably because they are not linear or two dimensional.  Each looks at those priorities differently and complicates them with our own justifications.
I don’t know what your one thing is.  That’s for you to find out, Curly says.  I’m working on mine now.  I’m through with my peek at retirement and I’ve recalibrated to complete my own personal cattle drive.
I hope you take the time to reflect, whether for six months or six hours this weekend or six minutes a day.  Put your phone down, close your eyes, meditate, pray, and take a deep breath before jumping back on your horse.
Have a blessed weekend!

Integrity

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

In recent years it has become more important that companies declare what their values are, what they stand for, in an effort to attract similarly minded and similarly behaved people who make up their culture.  The last four companies I’ve worked with have had integrity listed as a core value.
Is it just a buzz word?
According to Oxford dictionary, the use of the word appears to be at a relative high over the last 150 years or so.
The Webster first definition is: “Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility.”
I prefer a more simple definition, “do what you say you’re going to do.”
It seems to me that this is how you form trust and trust is the basis of any relationship, at least one worth having.
As a leader, trust in the direction you are asking people to go is paramount.  I’d say it might be the difference between having business partners compared to just having people show up each day and collect a paycheck every couple of weeks.
I have a recent example of integrity that surprised me.  Data has become the way we communicate and data brokers are making a handsome fee on managing it for us.  When a company sells you a data package with certain download and upload speeds, you expect that company to have integrity that they’ll do what they say their going to do and that the system supports what they plan to sell you.
During a call last evening, navigating an issue with a pleasant but relatively poor communicator who burned 45 minutes and solved very little beyond scheduling a tech and sending me 10 coupons I will not use, I was directed to a “speed test”.  This allowed me to self-diagnose what I already knew…websites weren’t loading, latency was significant and I couldn’t communicate at the speed my brain wanted to go.  I had no confidence that paying more (a mere $60 more per month) for faster speed was going to happen.  My results were validating and appalling.  Running the test multiple times, instead of 100Mbps, I got 12Mbps! Each time I ran the test it was…worse.
I’m paying a fair amount for data speeds I’m not getting and I have to hold the company accountable because they won’t do it on their own.  That doesn’t sound like integrity to me.
It might be easier to change your internet provider than it is to change a boss but if you are a leader and you want really good business partners, start building trust by doing what you say you will.
Have a blessed weekend!