Reflections on Leadership

The Joneses are getting a bad rap. They’re just doing their thing.  Little by little they are accomplishing their great goals. A little everyday; a lot over time. Meanwhile, you’re sitting out on the stoop taking your last drag of an expensively taxed cigarette that you know you shouldn’t be smoking because you can’t afford them now and you probably won’t be able to afford the medical costs later.

Or maybe it’s the end of a long day and you’re pulling into the driveway in your jalopy that you curse every morning and bless every night because it got you where you wanted to go without breaking down.

No matter, some people manage to always blame the Joneses.  It’s not their fault.  They’re working hard on the things that are important to them. All you’re seeing is the results of their efforts.

Look closer. Get to know them. It’s been said we’re the average of the five people we spend the majority of our time with.  Maybe you need to up the average. Spend a little less time with the people who are agreeing with you that yes the economy is bad, and government is bad, and the weather is bad and things aren’t like they used to be.  Maybe you should spend some time with the people who may or may not agree with the current conditions but are working within the constraints of them; and instead are focused on the possibilities of life.

When you play a game, be it sports, or chess or hot dog eating with someone who isn’t as good as you it’s great for your ego because you win and you get to brag and rub their face in it. But honestly that gets old, and if you aren’t challenging yourself you’re getting old too, and faster than you think. Conversely, if you play against people who are better than you, you’ll probably lose. If you reflect and “study the films” you’ll learn something. And if you keep playing against those type of people you will continually learn and progressively improve. Eventually you will beat them and that will be better, because that win is based on effort, growth and skill, not by picking on the little guy. Not by bullying.

Back to the Joneses. We all have them, that person, family, or group we equally admire and despise. It’s not fair that we despise them. We just do because their success reminds us of our failure. There’s a cure for that. Stop acting like a failure. Get off your rump and start working on your great goals. As you start achieving them you’ll notice people coming to you for advice on how you did it and can you help them. You can and you will, because that thrill is a helluva lot more satisfying then repeatedly beating some pimp squeak.

Soon, you and the Joneses will be helping each other get better. Some people look at it as friendly competition. If that helps you for now, go for it. Unfortunately that’s still a win-lose mentality. Real success comes when you realize you’re bettering not only each other, but those around you. That’s acting with a sense of responsibility and stewardship. Learning not only for the benefit of your own goals but also, eventually even more so, for the benefit of others.

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Have you ever noticed that the people who come to you with bad news often say, “Don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger” or “don’t shoot the messenger”? Creating an environment where people feel safe to share opinions, ideas or air disagreements is crucial for any leader. It’s seldom we ever move forward without some debate on important issues. That’s partly how we know they’re important in the first place.

When someone immediately slips into defensive mode of “don’t blame me” one of two things are happening.

One, you may have a reputation of ruling with an iron fist and that receiving bad news is not welcome. This is not a long term winning strategy by they way.

Or more often, the person sharing the “news” is being a busy body or worse, completely abdicating their responsibility.

Don’t let them get away with it.  No one is assigning blame.  Be professional.  This isn’t a whoever smelt it dealt it scenario. It can be enormously frustrating to work with these non-leaders, but as a leader yourself this becomes a teachable moment.

Don’t let them slink away without asking them for their ideas, suggestions or feelings on the matter. In the event they just are a busy body this with trap them in the realization that they are guilty of having no original thought which will cause them to fluster and quickly and leave.  Good riddance.

If they are merely shy or lack confidence, your prompts will provide a safe environment for them to potentially reveal some useful information that you didn’t previously have access too.  Thank them for their contributions and move on.

When you have the chance to lead, lead.

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“If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

My friends, one year ago I cited the words above from Henry David Thoreau to proudly announce the founding of my independent consultancy, Karl Bimshas Consulting.  Can you think of a better time to start a new firm than in the midst of one of the most difficult economies since the great depression?  Recessions are easier to weather when you consciously choose not to participate in them.  One year later, 25% of the businesses that started at the same time have failed.  Not this one!  Karl Bimshas Consulting is celebrating the inspiring results my inaugural clients achieved in year one.  A sample of what they’ve accomplished:

Businesses

• Set and maintained internal and external email marketing campaigns.
• Engaged latent clients through relevant communication campaigns.
• Developed simplified Performance Dashboards.
• Improved Sales process, correspondence and simplified proposal writing.
• Received Executive Level Overviews of Social Media Trends, Project Management, Time Management, and Change Management.
• Improved internal and external corporate communication with employee and client satisfaction surveys and Response Management Improvements.

Individuals

• Started new businesses.
• Received sought after job promotions.
• Gained clarity on career direction.
• Earned sought after degrees and certifications.
• Improved relationships with supervisors and direct reports.
• Achieved targeted work/life balance.
• Pursued meaningful charitable contributions.

As long as people have the capacity to think beyond the status quo, there will be problems aching to be solved.  By providing accountability, a fresh perspective and confidence, Karl Bimshas Consulting’s clients are guaranteed to find the a-ha within.

I’m grateful to be among the elite group of first year survivors and I’m going to share my gratitude with you throughout the month of May.  Be on the lookout for free gifts of appreciation, opportunities to save on consulting services, and the announcement of new programs designed to help leaders and artists find, set and get their goals.

On a personal note, if you would like to keep abreast of my creative pursuits, checkout Twitter and Facebook, where I often share my goals and progress on my first novel, poetry and other creative writings as well as opinionated political commentary that may pique your interest or ire, depending on your point of view.

It’s going to be a great month, brimming with celebrations made possible by your ongoing support, thoughtful feedback and continual referrals to other leaders and artists who want to achieve more.

Thank you!

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There’s anger in our nation and there’s plenty to be angry about, however we should stop acting as though this is a new phenomena.  As a nation, we were angry ten years ago and ten years before that.  Take five random people and ask what they’re angry about and at least four will tell you everything that’s wrong with the world.  Of those four, two will agree and two will think the other two are to blame.  Be the fifth person.  It’s okay to get ticked off from time to time yet remain reasonable.

Have you spent time with angry people? They make a lot of noise, even when they pout and give the silent treatment you can hear the doors slamming and feet pounding and music blaring. They may incite some passive aggressive behaviors from you, either because you support them, or you disagree with them. Eventually though, all angry people become boring and boring people ultimately get ignored.

Anger isn’t bad. It’s a clue that something is assaulting our core beliefs and values.  If we don’t respond to the feeling of anger we run the risk of letting our beliefs and values atrophy.  That is our nation’s biggest threat.

When we’re angry we make trigger reactions and are fueled by instinct.  That’s good, it’s a survival mechanism.  A quick vehicle to check our gut. However, it’s not meant to be our primary modus operandi.  At some point if you want to affect change you need to shift from a reactive stance to a position of “respond-ability.”

Ever witness two people quarreling?  When we’re not directly involved in the dispute it’s often times very amusing to watch and listen to the irrational  arguments and assertions they make and huge leaps of logic they take.  You can tell they’re not hearing each other. They just want to be more right than their opponent.

Contrast that to an angry customer pitted against a well trained customer service professional. The professional may mirror the irate customer but they also empathize.  They’re not using the primitive brain to react and counter react, they are responding by being thoughtful and creating a setting where cooler heads can arrive at a mutually satisfying solution.

Anger is fine, but at some point, you need to act responsible and lower your irrational, venomous rhetoric so you can get to work on fixing what’s making you angry to begin with.

If you just stay mad, the adrenaline rush may be fun for you, but you quickly degenerate into a whiner, and no one likes a whiner. Whiners make crappy leaders.  That’s the fundamental problem with the current political climate.  We have a bunch of angry whiners who love to make a lot of noise and get attention because they equate that with leadership.  It’s not, it’s gimmickry.  People can’t resist a freak show, they’ll even spend money on it, but they quickly moved on.

Leaders do things.  Sometimes they make noise, sometimes they make mistakes; but they always do things.  Are you part of the angry mass, upset about something within your control?  Grab a mop and start cleaning up the mess instead of being angry about the size of the mop, or the floor, or the cleaning solution. Offer alternatives and lead people or shut up and get over yourself, you’re boring.

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Here’s a link to a survey I read today:  Americans’ job satisfaction falls to record low

This unfortunately tracks with what we’re seeing in the marketplace.  Satisfaction with bosses have always been a bell wether for overall job satisfaction.

Leaders, the challenge is to make work more interesting and fun so innovation can flourish.  How to do that?  Good teachers do it every day.  Go learn from one.

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When you got up to go to work today were you giddy with excitement to start the year off fresh or were you full of dread?  Were you saddened that the holidays are over and you have to get yourself into a new routine?  Do you miss your family so much that you want to share more time with them?

In the current economy, you might be grateful just to have a job even if you don’t really like it, which begs the question; why are you investing so much time in something you don’t love.  Money?  Duty?  Habit?  Fear?

Each morning you have a choice.  You can get up bleary-eyed and mumble, “Good God, it’s morning.” or awake refreshed and bright-eyed and say, “Good Morning, God.”

Today, appreciate what you have.  Find, create or develop excitement, maybe even inspiration for the year ahead for yourself or better yet, for others.

If you’re not happy where you are, you just found a great goal to work on.  If you’re fortunate enough to actually be happy where you are, good for you, now go help your co-workers get in that same affirming and confident place.

Have a great day.  It’s up to you.

Learn more by reading reading, “How to Stay When You Want to Quit; Re-scripting your life from whiner to winner” available on Amazon.com

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Congratulations, you made it.  It’s a new day, month, year, and decade.  The “first of the year” has arrived, so no more feeble excuses.  It’s time to get to work on you.

“But today?  It’s a holiday.”

Well Kid, any day you make progress on your goals is cause for celebration so you might as well get started.  Do something.  Have you written your goals down yet?  Have you shared them with a supportive person?

Most Contributed to Success

In a recent survey 38% of the respondents cited Support from Others as a major contribution to their success last year.  This was second to old-fashioned Discipline and Persistence.

Of those same respondents, 55% were optimistic about accomplishing their goals in 2010.  That’s a good start, although 100% would be better.  Those who aren’t  sure may be pragmatic or they may be a little too reliant on luck.

How Likely to Accomplish 2010 Goal?

For the nearly 20% who are beginning the year with low confidence there are two choices; break your goal into smaller manageable pieces, or find a new worthwhile goal.  If you don’t think you can achieve your goal, how can anyone else?

Working on your goal will not always be easy so begin the habit of asking, “Does this move me closer to or farther from my goal?”  If you listen to your intuition, you will always hear an answer.  Heed what it tells you and choose to do the things that move you a little closer…everyday.  There are 365 days in this year, what you do with them is up to you.

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Was this your best year ever?  Most people would probably say no.  Maybe you lost your job, money is tight, or you unexpectedly lost a loved one.  Maybe the year has been sprinkled with health scares and economic uncertainty.  All of these things are significant events and life is full of them.  However, events are inherently neutral.  Some may feel terrific, some horrible and some may just suck.  That’s life.  It doesn’t matter because the only important factor is our response to those events.

We cannot control events no matter how hard we may try; there are too many outside variables.  The only thing within our control is our response to them.  Do we respond or react?  Reaction takes its cue from forces beyond our control while responding takes deliberative thought.  Both paths influence the outcome of the event.  Wouldn’t you like to have a say?  It’s the difference between shriveling up and choosing to blame the government, big business, family and even God, or straightening up, grabbing a broom, and cleaning up the messes in life.  It’s about taking personal responsibility.

You could wait until next year.  Next year is full of potential.  It’s also full of procrastination.  “Next” is a comforting place to be because you don’t have any of the responsibility of being “it” yet you get to enjoy the feeling of anticipation.

January 1st is an arbitrary date.  You can begin a goal at any hour of any day.  Why wait?  There are things you wanted to accomplish this year.  Get started, there’s still time.

Take the 10 question, 2009 Goal Survey and tell me about your success or failure in finding, setting and getting the goals that are important to you.

If you need help finding, setting or getting your next great goal, give me a shout.  Strengths based Personal Development is what Karl Bimshas Consulting does.

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There’s very little more invigorating than pursuing a worthy goal.  We carry out goals all day long, based on the decisions we make.  Think about the last thing you accomplished.  You did it through clear vision, a desire if not a burning passion, and you took some action to complete it.  It could have been as simple as discovering a new place for lunch or finding a perfect gift for a friend.  The good news is the formula works the same for those “great goals” in life that require you to put in some effort, planning and collaboration with others.  Like starting a business, going back to school or learning another language.

These things don’t happen in an instant, but your decision to pursue them does.  It’s that one magical moment when you know for sure that this is what you want to pursue.  I love that moment.  I’m addicted to that moment.  They don’t even have to be my own goals; I get jazzed learning about other people’s goals.

At the risk of being an enabler, I’d like to learn about your goals.  Take my 10 question, 2009 Goal Survey and tell me about your success or failure in finding, setting and getting the goals that are important to you.

Click here to take survey

Remember, if you need help finding, setting or getting your next great goal, give me a shout.  Strengths based Personal Development is what I do.

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There are 100 days left in the year. How does that make you feel?

Are you thinking, “good riddance”? You can’t wait for the arbitrary turn of the calendar; you know 2010 will be better. Really? Are you going to throw the towel in already? Maybe you’re anxious, with fourth quarter jitters. You could be excited about the holidays or dreading them.

How has the year been for you so far? Have you achieved everything you first set out to do at the beginning of the year? Looking at your resolutions, are you frustrated or recommitted?

Have you made your mark on the year yet? Just 100 days left. What will you do with them?

Don’t give up. Focus on what you want to accomplish. Determine what resources of time, money and/or people you need to help you achieve your goal and then get to work.

In 100 days, you could make a positive contribution to the world, to your health, your outlook on life, or your family. You need to begin and you need to have a deadline.

Today, you commit. 100 days from today, on Thursday December 31, 2009, celebrate your achievement. Time will not wait for you. Either way that date will arrive. Ready or not. Be ready. 100 days. What will you do between now and then? Begin. Today.

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