Reflections on Leadership

I admit it, I can be as politically correct in my language as the some of the most ardent liberals. To me it can show sensitivity or at least tolerance if not compassion in an increasingly intolerant country.  As a writer, words matter. That’s why I believe we shouldn’t sugarcoat the things that we face as a nation and by extension as individuals.  Let’s not waste time calling things “formidable challenges” when they’re “big problems.  America used to be able to solve big problems.  As a nation we routinely lived our values.

It’s easy to be a bit romantic and forget about how horrible this nation used to be for women before suffrage or African Americans before civil rights.  How poorly we treated our elderly, the mentally ill, and non-land owners. History’s canvas is sometimes painted with a lighter touch. Recall that hangings were common in my beloved city of Boston, the carcasses of criminals left out to publicly rot.  The Son’s of Liberty tarred and feathered other human beings. A blind eye was cast in the slave trade.

We forget we were founded as a violent nation.  We picked off British Regulars while hiding in the woods.  At the time we were thought of as savages. We took pride in it as patriotic and character building. Yet when used against us in quagmires like Iraq and Afghanistan we consider it barbaric.

The American spirit will always be divided between those who look at us being here as a matter of Divine Providence and those who consider it the melting pot.  That our greatest strength is taking the best ideas from everyone.

Winston Churchill once said, “Americans will always do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the alternatives.” It’s in that vein of faith I remain hopeful for America, but today a large portion of our population is apathetic.  They might be angry, but they’re also lazy.  Or they’re active without a sense of purpose.  I’m not so sure Americans are trying everything with the spirit we are expected to.  It can be taxing, but civil debate and disagreement coupled with pragmatism and searching for common ground is what has served this nation well in the past.  The problem today is, our tries seem to be halfhearted, or we save the passion for the detestability of our opponents; political or imagined.

We are not trying hard enough.  We are thinking less, worrying more and outsourcing our leadership to other nations, or corporations. As individuals we are all responsible for the eroding spirt and grit because we are complacently letting it happen.  We celebrate the First Amendment by giving the microphones to crackpots then undermine the gesture by reporting the fear and hate they spout as fact rather than opinion. We are focused on symptoms and finding ways to coat, soothe, and relieve them rather than solving the problems that are making us ill.  We moan and complain.  We spend a lot of energy doing very little and here’s some of our results so far:

• 30% of Americans are obese
• 1 Million American High School students drop out each year
• We carry a $13.5 Trillion Debt
• We are #1 in Oil Consumption, #2 in Coal Consumption and #1 in Cocaine Consumption
• 2.3 Million of our citizens are incarcerated, giving us the largest prison population on the planet

We can do better. We must do better.  We can begin by teaching our children and each other how to dream big, think profoundly, decide pragmatically and lead courageously.

There are no shortages of serious problems yearning to be solved. Pick one.

Below is a system designed to help you begin solving the problems that are in your purview to solve.  If it looks like too much work, have someone help you.  Being defeated from within helps no one. Find a problem that’s within your power to solve and begin solving it.  Here’s how.

1. Write down the problem or challenge that you need to solve.
2. Describe the Desired State that could exist without the problem.
3. Describe WHY it’s desired.
4. Create a S.M.A.R.T. Goal to make your intention specific and real.
5. Set the Criteria on how to find solutions to the problem.
6. Generate a brainstorm list of alternative solutions.
7. Narrow the list and pick the “best few” options.
8. Assess each option’s feasibility and potential risks versus gains.
9. Reach a tentative agreement with stakeholders of the problem.
10. Put some resources on a “fall back” plan.
11. Firm up the final decision and announce it to those affected.
12. Develop an Action Plan to go forward.
13. Implement the Action Plan with confidence and passion.
14. Review, assess and celebrate progress.

Problems are often very complex. Their solutions seldom have to be.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Two friends are walking along a path when they happen across a rattlesnake. One of the men, pompous and careless, severs the snake with an ax, but not before it bites the foolish man on the wrist. The man wails and flails his arm all about in pain while his companion is immobilized with panic. There is a third man, an experienced hiker several hundred feet away who has witnessed the events. Which one is you and what do you do next?

Perhaps you are the foolish man, filled with bravado who acts violently in the face of latent danger and who is paying the painful price of his folly.

Maybe you are the other man, made powerless with indecision and panic, whirling about uselessly.

Or perhaps you are the experienced hiker, equipped with the knowledge that, although painful, snakebites don’t kill people, it’s their venom. Venom that if not removed, courses through the veins, accelerated by the constant movement and shaking of an ignorant and fearful victim.

This scene is repeated in people’s lives nearly everyday. We’ve all experienced painful situations. We may have antagonized someone who then lashes out at us, or we may have come across trouble unexpectedly and been the victim of a painful blow. Our first inclination is to lash back, to bellow accusations of unfairness and to blame our trespassers. If only we recognized that energy would have been better spent by removing the venom and repairing the damage. How often are we the experienced hiker, witnessing these events yet instead choosing to keep walking rather than help those who are angry, confused or hurting? Even though we have the skills or knowledge that could solve the problem, bring about calmness, alleviate pain, or perhaps even save a life, we decide not to get involved.

Therein sits one of the differences between a leader and a follower. Leaders get involved. They act. They do not shrug their shoulder and sigh, “Oh, well.” They give of themselves, protect people and remove the venom from the veins of others, and teach others to do the same.

When trouble looms before you, what role will you play?

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Americans are well conditioned on seeing a public figure apologize for their infidelity or crimes.  Its frequency is almost seasonal.  We are an unforgiving lot as you work your way to success; and take a morbid joy in seeing people stumble.  Inevitably, those who have a passion for what they do, brush themselves off and work on atonement, either with self deprecation or extra ambition to “do-good” in the world.  And as a culture, we love a comeback story.

Because we’re experienced in these matters we’ve become a bit more discerning.  For example, we no longer like it when a straying politician has his wife standing next to him in the limelight.  We prefer our tarnished stars take their lumps quickly and alone.

I’ve often felt public figures should hold themselves to slightly higher standards.  They have to manage their image, which is their brand; but they don’t NEED to be role models.  We just like it when they are because it takes the pressure off ourselves.

At some point in our lives, we are all role model for someone.  The question is, are me making a positive or negative difference?  Taking responsibility to be a role model builds in a level of accountability.  There’s that word again.  It’s okay, we know accountability keeps us focused.

Our responsibility pie has three slices, professional, personal and private.  The professional slice is how we pursue our career.  The personal slice contains the things that are unique to us as individuals; our opinions and beliefs.  The private slice is private; the things the world does not have a right nor a need to know.  When you’re a public figure, that slice of you life can get very thin.

Tiger Woods shared his remorse for his professional and personal transgressions during his press statement today.  His privacy, his relationship with his family, his rehabilitation and all that goes along with his own healing and redemption are private matters.  The public does not need to hear about them, and most don’t care.

As a sample of poor crisis and brand management the Tiger Woods matter is exemplary.  Anyone in customer service will tell you when there’s a problem, fix it and fix it fast.  Lay blame later.  Work on quality improvement initiatives on your own time.  Firs, solve the problem.

Some fans are calling Tiger Wood brave for his statement earlier in the day.  There was nothing brave about it.  It was the opening salvo of a rehabilitation campaign too long in coming.  His words may have been nice, and his delivery over coached and we may not know his sincerity for months to come.  We do know, addressing a group of friends, family, fans and the media like a sorrowful politician didn’t do him any favors.  Bravery is a press conference not an address.  Bravery is answering your critiques until you have exhausted their questions.

His words rang of him being selfish and apologizing for that.  Critics note his actions don’t support this.  Choosing this medium on this day to speak was contrived.  Fans say it was the only opening on his schedule.  Selfish people never make room on their scedule.  Tiger Woods did not take the media spotlight today, it was given to him.  Supposed professionals continue to call his event a press conference, even though no questions were asked.  Networks continued to run his remarks in their entirely, “In case you missed it.  Just how important was it?

From a brand perspective, the goal is to get your unflattering stories out of the public light.  Tiger Woods, and those managing the personal and professional slices of his image have continued to keep the story alive.

A brand for a company is a promise.  A brand for an individual is called your reputation.  The reality is you cannot control your reputation, after all it’s noting more than other people’s perception of what you do.  The best you can do is know your values and beliefs and practice them everyday.  If you fail to, you will eventually fail.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

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.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

During a recent weekend getaway with my family, I learned something new from a kid’s show. Early one predawn morning my son figured out the hotel’s television remote control and stealthily tuned into “Sesame Street”, which I was able to spy from the comfort of my bed and through one bleary eye.

For those who have no idea, (and shame on you if you don’t) Sesame Street is the famous educational children’s television series on PBS. Most everyone from Generation X and younger grew up with it and have a favorite character from Kermit the Frog, to Grover, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch, to Elmo. Although the characters and storylines have changed over time, at least one thing has remained constant for the 39 years that it’s been on the air; a letter and a number sponsor each show. The selected letter and number are integrated throughout the episode, just like product placement ads on “American Idol”. Although different, both serve the same purpose, to reinforce a message.

It got me thinking. Who is sponsoring your day? What two or three thoughts, objectives, or ideals are you flashing on and reminding yourself about multiple times during your day? What would you like to reinforce that will help keep you on track toward your goal? Is it joy and humor or hate and discontent? Do you plan on living a day filled with generosity and understanding or will you just go with the flow, rudderless and subject to the winds and tides or someone else’s whim?

Start to consider having your days brought to you by sponsors that move you closer to your goals by living your values. Do you know your values? I’ve posted 425 words for you to browse at karlbimshas.com Each one of them represents a value. Some of the words will be more meaningful for you than others. Checkmark the ones that solicit a response from you. They are clues to your personal values. Each day, pick a couple of the words you checked, and commit to living the idea it represents. When days are tough, make the effort to search for it in all you do. Show it to others. Have those words sponsor your day and soon you will be racing toward your goals faster than you had imagined.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post