Cats, Beware!

I’ve always been disturbed by the saying,

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

I don’t even really like cats – but still.

Though the visual is a bit messier than I prefer, the concept is one that every leader must be both aware of and comfortable with in order to lead a group with varying personalities and methodologies. I recognize that in leadership, we are responsible for skinning many cats on a given day – even though we may not be the ones doing all the messy work. Keeping our hands dirty on the ground level of our organizations is key to staying in touch with how things are really functioning but, if we are doing things correctly, we will have many more cats than we have time to take care of. This means that inevitably, cats will be skinned in ways that you didn’t see coming, wouldn’t do yourself, or are generally just foreign to the way you think. Take a deep breath. And let’s do a little, high level history lesson together…

Almost a century ago, Henry Ford transformed the auto industry by introducing the concept of an assembly line. He made a lot of cars quite cost effectively and started a trend of process standardization that would revolutionize how business operations would run for the next 100 years. Process standardization (every cat getting skinned the exact same way) raises quality of production, increases output quantity and allows for a large measure of what every manager desperately craves – CONTROL OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION PROCESS.

Every accountant, engineer and manager loves Henry Ford because he gave us the ability to control basically everything.

Here’s the problem…process standardization is so 1900’s.

Electricity, automation, robotics, and computers make process standardization a given. We don’t even need people for that anymore. The leaders of this century must get over our craving for control. Here’s why…our greatest resource is not in getting every process to look the same. It’s in leveraging HUMAN INTELLIGENCE CAPITAL to think differently. We can either spend our energies trying to get everyone to do things the same way or we can spend our energies releasing people to get to the desired result in the way they excel. Less control; exponentially higher potential.

The last ten years of leadership research screams at us, “Let people work from their strengths and your business will explode!” And here we are, still clinging to Henry and his standardization because we love the way it makes us feel. We have robots to pacify our need for control. Let’s take a few risks and invest in our people power, our human intelligence capital that can do what the robots can’t – come up with new ways to skin cats. 

Every person thinks differently. This is such a huge opportunity for those willing to loosen their grip on the metrics just a bit and watch their teams really come alive with innovation and discovery. Don’t worry accountants, engineers and managers…there are plenty of people whose strengths are in your “safe and quantifiable zone”. It won’t devolve into complete chaos.

As leaders, let’s follow Henry’s example and be willing to do things differently than ever before. Who knows, we might end up with 100 years of history to tell our success story, too.

Lean Forward,

Bekka

Books, Covers and Tomatoes

Have you ever been surprised by someone in your organization? Someone who communicates to you excitement and vigor about working hard and achieving success but then quickly fades out? Many who seem to be full of potential and “sure fire” winners just...aren’t. If we as leaders aren’t careful, we can pile our eggs in these unproven baskets, create expectations around rookie excitement, and end up both disappointed in those people for not walking the walk and in ourselves for jumping on a train that hasn’t yet left the station.

On the other hand, have you ever been surprised by someone in your organization? Someone who communicates a conservative, cautious or even unwilling approach to the business but ends up shining as a star on your team? Many who appear easily counted out or unreliable can take us off guard and really flourish into high-powered contributors to our business’ bottom line. If we as leaders aren’t careful, we can overlook these hidden gems, discount their interest in contributing to the team, and end up missing an opportunity to support and grow those late bloomers.

I love to garden. I am marginal at it but improving. I have a good friend who starts heirloom tomatoes in her house in February and delivers some them to me by the beginning of April. I always ask her for a few more than I intend to plant because…I’m marginal at it. When I put them into the ground last month, I had high hopes for three of them, one was a Hail Mary, and the last one was all but dead but I had already dug the hole. As of yesterday, those last two are the biggest ones in the garden. I put them all in the same soil – and I knew the soil was good.

As leaders, it’s our job to focus on being awesome soil. Some of our leaders start big and stay big. Some start with big intentions and falter off. And some are all but dead when we get them and they end up surprising us by running head to head with the big ones. Our job is to focus on being support and giving them all the tools they need to grow. Let’s not get caught up in potential based on talk or appearance. Let’s get caught up in being awesome soil. Here are a few questions for the week…

What do your leaders need currently that you aren’t providing?

How can you tailor your approach to each of your leaders in order to support them best?

Are you allowing yourself to be hijacked by unmet expectations on unproven “baskets”?

With whom are you hesitating because they seem like a Hail Mary?

How can you redirect your energies and attention to improving yourself as nourishing soil?

Lean Forward,

Bekka

Congruence

I struggle with something I call “Neutral Default Angry Face Syndrome”. Others have their own names for it but the basic rundown is this:

When I’m not thinking about what my face is “saying”, it tells everyone that I’m angry and unapproachable.

I am rarely angry and I would like to think I never intend to deter others from approaching me but it never fails, when I’m not thinking about what my face is saying, it says “Stay away because I hate life”.

How others feel when they look at your face is important in general, but it’s REALLY important when you’re a leader. I’m not talking about perfect hair and makeup if you’re a lady; I’m not talking about the perfect shave and the right spike-angle in your hair if you’re a gentleman. I’m talking about your countenance, your eyes, your smile. I’m talking about the things, the looks, the postures that tell people you are open or that you are closed. This is hard for me because my default facial expression communicates the opposite of my demeanor 95% of the time. It takes my INTENTION. In my musings on leadership, I come back to this word over and over and over again. Intention.

This means being aware of your surroundings. It means being aware of the messages you are sending. It means listening, tuning in, being present. It means letting your exterior be an accurate representation of your interior. There is nothing like the frustration that comes from miscommunication. For me, that frustration is at another level when miscommunication happens simply because I wasn’t intentional about the messages I sent with my face. When people perceive a closed posture, they reciprocate in that closed attitude, they shield their real thoughts, and they protect themselves and hesitate to be vulnerable because they believe you are doing the same. This does not foster an environment of teamwork or authenticity – both of which are vital to our collective success.

What is your face saying? What are your eyes saying? Are you being intentional about the messages you send? Are those messages congruent with your internal attitude? Take a few minutes to think about these questions. Take a minute to tune in and close the gap between your face and your thoughts if needed. It makes a big difference. 

Lean forward, 

Bekka

Eyes open

To whom can you be kind today?

That's all.

Lean forward,

Bekka

Afraid of Heights

People look up to leaders. People want to emulate leaders and be like them. Does this reality energize and inspire you or does it turn you off? Are you threatened and scared of being put on a pedestal or do you accept that as part of the gig and intentionally mitigate it in a productive and positive way?

Knowing that you are an example and acting in a way that honors that role is so important in leadership. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect – no one is. Holding yourself to a standard of perfection is dangerous on so many levels. We complicate this issue and bring confusion and fracture to our organizations when we don’t handle the pedestal we’re put on well. Leaders get elevated – it’s a fact. We are just people like everyone else. We fail like everyone else. We disappoint like everyone else. But the moment you take the step forward from the crowd, you become a focal point of attention whether you like it or not. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can create good pressure for us – healthy pressure that pushes us to new levels of performance and in turn, pushes those we lead to new levels as well. Of course, this all depends on how we manage expectations and how vulnerable we choose to be while we’re on the pedestal…and how often we intentionally climb down. Here are some keys to remember:

1.) Expecting perfection from yourself teaches others to do the same

This sword slices many ways. In expecting impossible perfection from ourselves, we give others permission to expect this impossibility from us as well. It also teaches them to expect perfection from themselves. This is neither healthy nor realistic. Let yourself off the hook. Expect your best from yourself. Expect the best from those you lead. Leave perfection in the back alley. It has no constructive place in our lives and it just sets EVERYONE up for a nasty crash.

2.) Transparency empowers everyone

Be real. Let those you lead into your process in healthy ways. Be a leader in trying and in failing. Then be a leader in getting up again and trying it differently. It is impossible to teach others how to succeed if we don’t teach them how to fail well. Let’s stop making a tragedy out of failure. This has been so destructive in our society over the last few decades. We publicize the big wins and we publicize big failures – but not in a way that helps people learn from them and move on. When we make failure a spectacle to be gawked at and distanced from, we breed a culture of terror that drives us to hide with anything but a finished, perfect product. Failure is part of the process. Until we can get comfortable with that fact, we will be slow to success. When we know failure is inevitable we can prepare for it. When we are realistic about the unavoidable, we can calibrate expectations to align better with reality as well. And we can teach people who have just failed what to do NEXT. Let’s demystify success. When we show others how we got there – and continue to get there – there’s a lot more success happening all around.

3.) Leaders walk ahead – they don’t fly

The easiest way to come down from the pedestals people put you on is to visibly, intentionally be relatable. Don’t present an illusion of mystery about leadership. Be clear. Be real. Be human – IN FRONT OF those who follow you. We are only meant to be a few steps ahead encouraging those behind that they CAN follow. We shouldn’t make it rocket science. We shouldn’t create difficulties for those behind like it’s some sort of monumental accomplishment for them to do what we do. The better we get at remaining close to those we lead without plowing too far ahead, the better we will get at staying off pedestals. It is a natural tendency for those who follow to elevate leadership to a place we don’t belong. That’s why as leaders, we need to be equally intentional to redirect their attention off of the sky and onto the task ahead. That’s where we should be – just ahead – showing the way to go.

Ask yourself

How do you hear best? How do you learn best? What speaks to you? What does success mean to you? Do you thrive on recognition? Power? Money? Relationships?

Do you realize the unique set of answers to each of these questions is different for every person who reads them? Do you realize that understanding the answers to these questions for yourself as a leader is critical to your success? Do you also understand that understanding the answers to each of these questions for those you lead is just as critical?

Do you realize that you must be true to how you operate in order to bring the very best out of yourself?

Do you realize that you will have to lead each person differently in order to bring the very best out of them? Have you considered that you may need to change the way you present information in order to connect most powerfully with different ones you lead? Have you considered that being perceptive of how others hear is just as important as being sure of what you are saying?

Are you investing as much time into knowing yourself as you are into knowing your people?

Are you willing to change your delivery for the sake of the actual receiving of your message?

Did you know how delicate of a balancing act leadership is?

Did you think it was going to be simple?

Did you think I could write an entire blog using only questions?

Lean forward,

Bekka

Tool Talk

I saw an ad this afternoon for an online doctoral program guaranteed to help you “Become A Great Leader!” I laughed.

The internet does not make you a great leader. I’m not against it as a source of knowledge. I’m not even against it as a means to assist in education. 

I am against it being viewed as anything more than a tool. Having the best tools doesn’t make you a master at your craft. I know I thought I could jump higher with my Air Jordan’s but let’s face it – I just looked cooler while jumping the same height as I did rocking the Payless BOGO pair that matched my little brother’s. Tools don’t make you successful. This is such a huge pitfall we dodge as leaders.

There are ALWAYS new tools to try. Many of them work; many of them don’t. But they will all take precious time and attention to learn. I don’t know about you, but my garage is full of tools that I rarely use. Some of them…I don’t even know what they’re for. I don’t want my leadership tool belt to get too heavy. I want to know the few tools I have inside and out – and then I want to use them. THIS is what makes you a master at your craft.

Success is a healthy balance of knowledge, sweat and regret. Here’s what I mean…

1.) Knowledge

We have to hit the books. We have to do the homework. We have to learn the concepts and how they work. We have to read about other people’s success so we can be wise to common mistakes people make on the road to success. We have to accumulate knowledge. But God help us if we stop there. Having copious amounts of knowledge alone just makes us annoying and hollow. It’s important, but it’s just the blueprint. Without it, we can’t build anything. But it’s not enough…no matter how smart you sound.

2.) Sweat

This is where you DO what you KNOW. If it doesn’t actually work in real life, it doesn’t count. There are many brilliant-sounding theories lying on the floor of any successful leader’s cutting room. What sounds good may not execute well. The scripts we write in our heads may hit the brick wall of reality in a painful way. We have to implement the knowledge with real people, in real time, in real life. This never happens without a mess. It never happens without forcing you to think on your feet and make game-time decisions that are conveniently absent from the books. This is where things get built. Success never happens without it.

3.) Regret

You will never do it right every time. You will miss the balance between #1 and #2 often. Failure is a necessary step on the road to success. It happens every few miles. The great leaders find a way to learn from every explosion, every missed opportunity, every difficult conversation and every missed goal. Every. Missed. Goal. There will be many. Unless you learn to use regret as fuel for future opportunity, it will remain empty and without purpose. If you do, regret can be the catalyst toward the goals you don’t miss. In the end, those are the only ones that count.

Successful leaders don’t chase tools. They don’t elevate tools and attribute their success to them - that's called advertising. They just learn them. Then they use them. Try and fail. This is what it means to become a master of your craft. Don’t go to the internet to become a great leader. Find some people to lead toward something you love and care about and then get your sweat on. Be prepared to fail. Success never follows failure. It happens right after that - when you decide to try again.

Lean forward,

Bekka