When Leaders Don't Lead

Throughout my many years in business, the most common complaint that I repeatedly hear from people in the workplace is that their leaders simply don’t provide appropriate leadership.

Admittedly, there are those workers who simply want to find something to gripe about rather than take responsibility for their own careers, lives and daily performance.

However, there is very real evidence to support the fact that all too many leaders don’t in fact provide appropriate leadership. First and foremost, your daily news resources are riddled with an endless stream of leadership gone wrong at the national, state and local levels.

Secondarily, you might consider the national survey that was conducted on “National Boss Day” in 2012. The study was conducted across workers of all generations who stated that their bosses left them feeling unappreciated and uninspired.

I feel certain that you’ve heard the expression “Put your money where your mouth is” more than once in your life. Well, that’s exactly what the workers from all across the U.S. did in that 65% of the workers emphatically stated that they would choose a new boss rather than receive a pay raise.

The workplace message simply doesn’t get any more powerful than that. Some of the other points that the surveyed workers shared included:

42% of the workers said that their bosses didn’t work very hard.

20% of the workers stated that their boss lacked integrity.

60% of the workers said that they would do a better job if they had a better relationship with their boss.

47% of workers cited that when stress levels rose at work that their bosses failed to stay calm and in control of themselves.

When leaders don’t lead it is a very real sign that they are uncertain about what to do next or how to lead their direct reports with the challenge that the organization is facing. This is often referred to as “The Peter Principle” (from the book of the same name) when people have exceeded their capabilities and concurrently exceeded their personal level of competence.

The result of this scenario is that when employees are most concerned for their job security, frustrated due to organizational challenges or economic downturns, their leaders seem to vaporize right in front of them rather than stepping to the forefront to take charge, lead by example and reassure organizational staff of their collective capability to meet the challenge at hand.

Employees full well realize that their leaders don’t always have all of the answers. However, it remains the responsibility of leaders to appropriately inform their direct reports of what they do know, where they stand and what they are thinking. Leaders need to be prepared to engage in effective two way communication while responding to the questions and concerns of their people.

When leaders don’t lead… They are invariably failing to appropriately respond to the situation that is before them. And leadership is always “situational”.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank | All Rights Reserved.

What's Impeding Your Progress?

When it comes to defining what is impeding your organization’s progress and holding back your people from realizing all that they are capable of achieving, Ralph Waldo Emerson summed it up as well as anyone ever has.

His observation was that “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”

As human beings, you and your people have the innate ability to simply get in your own way. All too often, the biggest obstacle that is holding back your people in their life and work are their own self imposed limitations.

As a leader it is your direct responsibility to bring out the best in your people. In like fashion, you are also charged with the additional responsibility of improving performance, productivity and efficiency.

Yet, just like your people… You as well struggle to keep up with the demands of the day and allow your own self imposed limitations and bad habits to impede your personal performance.

A few years ago in his popular comic strip Pogo, cartoonist Walt Kelly poked fun at this aspect of life while at the same time addressing the matter head-on when Pogo said to his troops “We have met the enemy… And he is us!”

The continued forward progress of your organization is dependent on two primary prerequisites; leadership that can engage and people that are capable of achieving peak performance.

People only achieve success when there is someone to show them how to succeed and subsequently provide them with the support and encouragement that they need in order to succeed.

Concurrently, your people need superiors who lead by example, for it is by the specific example of demonstrating the organization’s standards for excellence that will provide your people with their most powerful source of influence to do the same.

Albert Einstein aptly addressed this process when he stated “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.”

While your organization has great potential, it will never get to the next level until such time as its leadership addresses the obstacles that are currently impeding the organization’s progress.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank | All Rights Reserved.

One Chance To Get It Right

The recent difficulties associated with the flawed roll-out of the Affordable Healthcare Act should serve as a stern reminder that your organization or business has both a responsibility and an obligation to the customers whom you are privileged to serve to get it right… the first time.

Regardless of the products that you may sell or the services that you may render, your organization’s #1 job is to render them with excellence. As they say in the cookie business… You can’t allow your work to go out “half baked”.

As you know only too well, it’s tough out there in the New Economy. And just as important is the fact that it is more competitive out there than ever. Your organization simply can’t afford to take a cavalier attitude about anything thing that it does.   

When was the last time that your organization really took the time to identify exactly how many ways there are for your potential customers to have some form of contact with your business operation? Believe me when I tell you, that there are far more points of connection than you may realize. The same thing holds true for your organization as it does when you personally meet someone new, as there is only one opportunity to make a first impression.

It’s important to realize that you’re never going to make the sale at the time of your first contact. In fact, the latest research states that on average it takes nine contacts with a prospect before he or she makes the decision to do or not do business with your organization.

While you won’t have the opportunity to earn your prospect’s business at the time of your all important first impression, you will definitely have the opportunity to lose their business in those first few seconds of your initial contact. It may be as simply as a broken link on your website or a staff member who doesn’t have their game face on that particular morning.

You’ve heard me say this before and I’m going to say it again… because it’s important. What ever business you think that you are in, you’re not. Your organization is first and foremost in the people business. Secondarily, you are in the relationship business. You need customers who are more than merely satisfied. You need customers who are going to be genuinely “loyal” through the years. And that can only occur if you and your people are willing to invest in the process of building long term mutually beneficial relationships that stand the test of time, service and competition.

Otherwise, prospects and customers will continually come and then go. The result outcome will be that your organization will ultimately plateau and then fail to grow any further due to customer migration.

Several years ago, one of the national accounting and consulting firms performed a research study on customer satisfaction. What they were surprised to discover was that 88% of all “satisfied” customers were willing to switch to another company for just about any reason. While the issue of price was not the prevailing quantifier, 80% of satisfied customers indicated that they would do business elsewhere next time for a lower price.

If your organization is going to truly capitalize on its opportunities to develop meaningful customer relationships, then you must first define “who” your ideal customers are, “what” it is that they want, what their “needs” are and exactly what it is that they “expect” from you. When your organization and your people learn how to appropriately respond to the wants, needs and expectations of your ideal prospects and customers -- You will stand a far greater chance of building customer loyalty and solid relationships that can stand the test of time.

In the event that you’re not convinced of just how critical this issue is in the New Economy, then consider the following fact:

On average, U.S companies currently lose 50% of their customers every 5 years.

Secondarily, your organization would also be wise to consider the observation of the Gallup Organization of nearly ten years ago, which stated that “Regardless of how high a company’s satisfaction levels may appear to be, satisfying customers without creating an emotional connection with them has no real value.”

The only way your organization will ever make an emotional connection with its prospects and customers is the day that the organization commits to creating customer relationships that are based upon “value”.

Until then, your prospects and customers will have no other way of quantifying their relationship with you except to default to the age old measurement of “price”.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Embracing Change

The single most important role of leadership is determining the future direction of your organization.

In such capacity, your responsibility as a leader demands that you properly align organizational structures, people and processes. The ever present challenge that most often impedes this essential leadership function is the lack of clarity about the leadership skills that are required to actually effect organizational alignment.

There is a very distinct difference in the leadership skills that are necessary to develop a sound strategic plan for the organization and those which are required to actually build organizational culture and manage change.

As market conditions, economic conditions and trends change… The functionality and direction of your organization remains in a constant state of flux. Resultantly, the objectives and goals of your organization will as well constantly be evolving.

In that the wants and needs of citizens, businesses, vacationers and consumers are constantly changing, it is incumbent upon your organization to be positioned to respond appropriately. This continual change will ultimately impact your organization’s functionality, direction and organizational alignment.

When leadership is immersed in the day to day operational challenges of the organization, it becomes every so easy to fall behind the curve of change. There are countless numbers of organizations that were once well regarded household names that are no longer part of the business landscape because the failed to keep abreast of change.

Regardless of what is happening inside of your organization on a day to day basis, whether at the end of next quarter or the end of next year -- Your leadership and the organization are going to wind up “somewhere”.

Your organization’s leadership needs to comprehend that the organization is not only traversing market conditions, it is also traveling in time. Consider this concept from the following perspective… Your organization has places that it wants to go in the future.

For example, business organizations want to go to a place where they have increased sales, lower operating costs, new markets, better workers, new products and better equipment.

In like fashion, municipal organizations want to go to a place where they have more visitors, more diversity of attractions, activities and entertainment, lower crime rates, better public safety, better ratings and rankings, a cleaner more attractive city and more convention business.

All of these places that organizations want to go can readily be viewed as goals and objectives. They can also be viewed as critical components of the organization’s mission and vision.

Your organization’s ability to successfully reach these future destinations is entirely dependent on your leadership preparedness to embrace change and maintain proper organizational alignment.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

The Performance Gap

There is an ever widening gap in the work place between job proficiency and job productivity.

During the time of America’s industrial revolution in the early 20^th century there was a clear standard the existed with regard to the wages to be earned and the work to be performed.

There was a profound performance protocol that linked job proficiency with job productivity that made them virtually inseparable. The accepted standard for compensation in America’s burgeoning industrial organizations was known as “piecework”. 

Wage incentives in the form of piecework were intended to successfully boost worker efficiency, effectiveness and output. In turn, industrial workers were self motivated to increase their personal competency, skill proficiency and productivity. The end result was a win-win scenario for both the organization and the worker.

The piecework concept was straight forward and simple. Moreover, it provided a clear and resounding answer to the worker’s #1 concern when it came to their job -- The proverbial W.I.I.F.M question… “What’s In It For Me?”

As we fast forward to present time, the 21^st century post industrial period offers little in the way of wage incentives. Even in the once lucrative sales business, most sales people find that their supposed sales bonuses and awards are always just beyond their performance reach. Their incentives are more theoretical than reality, because the organization itself is the one that is creating the set points for the bonuses and awards which are based on the organization’s revenue requirements as opposed to the respective capabilities of their sales force.

In our current age of information technology the relationship between “proficiency” and “productivity has become virtually nonexistent. 100 years ago piecework ruled the roost and salaried positions were few and far between. Today, the vast majority of job positions are either fixed salary or a flat hourly wage with little or no option for overtime -- As a high percentage of employers have adopted a stringent no overtime policy as a result of the Great Recession.

With rare exception, other than a few remaining trades, the piecework model has become an antiquated dinosaur. True productivity has become severely impaired as a direct result of the lack of achievable wage incentives and worker motivation.

As adolescents, your workers received scholastic based proficiency testing to determine what they had learned (what they know). In contrast, as adults the real world focus shifted to what can they “do”?

The reality is that adult workers in mass are not fully utilizing the skills that they have already acquired. This is attributable to a variety of contributing causes that include a lack of personal motivation, work ethic, incentives and the inadequacy of their leadership to engage them.

Authentic leadership bears the responsibility of bringing out the best in people by helping the organization and its people to use their talents, abilities, skills, education and professional training more often, more effectively and more successfully. This will ultimately enhance worker proficiency while increasing organizational productivity.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Knowledge Is Not Power

For the record, I’m quite serious about the above ascertain. Like myself, you most likely hear people saying that “Knowledge is power” on a regular basis. But, have you ever stopped to really question this statement? If knowledge really is power, how is it that so many well educated people are performing in such a mediocre fashion?

How is it that technology companies that employ scads of IT Consultants have internal technology issues and then wind up engaging the services of an outside IT Consulting firm to come in and assess their problem? The last thing that their company or any company truly needs is another “expert”.

This exact same scenario occurs with engineering firms who like wise turn to an outside engineering consultant to fix their engineering problem. In fact this is an accepted practice in virtually every field of business and industry.

If mere knowledge was power… Then these companies wouldn’t need to consult with external sources of expertise in their own field. Simply take a moment to consider that these employers recruited and hired their IT people and engineers based on their education, training and experience in the first place. There is an abundance of talent already on board with these employers. If there is one thing that these organizations are not lacking… it’s people with plenty of “smarts”.

In her book “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits”, author Verne Harnish recalls a story about Charles Schwab the CEO of Bethlehem Steel Company in the early 1900’s. CEO Schwab was conversing with a management consultant who inferred that Schwab’s people gain more knowledge around managing.

Charles Schwab responded with the now famous statement “What we need around here is not more knowing, but more doing! If you will help us to do the things we already know we ought to do, I’ll gladly pay you anything you ask!”

Like any bright consultant would do, he took CEO Schwab up on his challenge and then asserted “In 20 minutes, I’ll show you how to get your organization to do at least 50% more.” The advice which then provided to Charles Schwab was to:

● Write down and prioritize your 5 most important tasks to complete in the next business day.

● Put the list in your pocket until tomorrow when you will take it out and start working on number one.

● Look at that item every 15 minutes until it’s done.

● Then move on to the next and then the next.

● Don’t be concerned if you only finish two or three or even one because you will be working on the most important things. 

Charles Schwab who was compensated in the amount of a million dollars a year by Andrew Carnegie for his leadership abilities and expertise stated that “this was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned.” What exactly was this valuable lesson you ask? It was this:

The organization whether small or large that understands and executes on the power of focusing on priorities will progress and succeed.

CEO Schwab paid the consultant $25,000 for this sterling advice, which in the early 1900’s was a huge sum of money. Especially when you consider that it was for just a few short minutes.

I completely concur with Charles Schwab that knowing is void of value unless there is real doing… For knowledge only has power when it is applied and subsequently implemented.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Build A Better Business

Throughout the annals of history there have been countless times when the hallowed halls of Ivy League institutions of higher learning and the walleyed investors of Wall Street simply didn’t get it right.

Given the continuing economic uncertainty… This may be such a time.

As a business executive, entrepreneur or public servant you need to shift your focus from what isn’t working and make every attempt to refocus your attention on who and what is in fact working in these tumultuous times.

For there is a very specific group of business organizations that comprise virtually every segment of business and industry that are doing extraordinarily well… even in the New Economy. These unique organizations encompass supermarkets, engineering, construction, photography, staffing, holding companies, industrial components, manufacturing, architecture, electrical equipment, environmental services, dairy, retail, sporting goods, motel management, technology and more.

The common component that all of these companies regardless of size, stature or business classification share is that they are all “employee owned”.

Some of the household names of employee owned organizations that you are undoubtedly familiar with include Publix Supermarkets, Piggly Wiggly, W.L. Gore, Davey Tree Experts, Kinney Drugs and Graybar Electric.

Unlike traditional business organizations that employ a “top down” approach to their operations, employee owned organizations hold to a “bottom up” business philosophy that accommodates each employee’s status as an owner.

Publix Super Markets is currently the largest employee owned company in the United States with revenues of over $24 billion and more than 140,000 employees. Publix has the esteemed distinction of being one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America”. Publix stock which is tightly held by its employee owners, has (since the company first launched) grown twice as fast the S&P 500 index at a rate of more than 19% percent per year.

A ranking of the Top 100 companies by Fortune Magazine in 2009 revealed that 14% of the companies listed were in fact employee owned. Moreover, this trend and its underlying business model are on the grow globally. The John Lewis Partnership is a 81,000 employee owned corporation that owns the largest department store chain in England, the Waitrose Supermarket chain and other brands. Over the course of the past decade, JLP grew faster than Macy’s and in 2011eclipsed 13.7 billion dollars in revenue.

One of the organizational attributes that contributes to the success of employee owned companies is that the organization’s accountability is to the employees themselves and not a group of external investors or shareholders.

In like fashion, employee owned organizations take their mission and “value” proposition earnestly to heart. It’s no longer a meaningless platitude, rather it is a set of basic principles that everyone can believe in, take pride in and govern their individual actions by.

Employee owned organizations typically have excellent communications that flow freely throughout the organization while promoting ideas, creativity and innovation. As well, employee owned organizations generally have a unique perspective with regard to organizational alignment of talent, skills, experience and expertise. This occurs through the process of having those employees with the greatest levels of expertise in a given area of operation making or recommending the decisions for that portion of the organization’s operation.

As for the benefits of an employee owned organization, you need only consider the research performed by Harvard and Rutgers which confirmed that employee ownership fosters high performance, lower employee turnover, increased trust, greater shareholder value and long term sustainability.

Clearly, there is much to be learned from employee owned organizations that can be applied to your organization regardless of size or industry that will help you to build a better business.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Are You Asking The Right Questions?

One of the hallmark qualities of a great leader is their ability to ask the "right" questions. In your role as an executive leader or business owner, your ability to effectively lead your organization and people formally is rooted in your ability to first provide personal leadership of "self".

While many of your daily self questions are routine, such as “What’s the weather like this morning? “What should I wear today?” or “What do I want for lunch?” At your performance level, the significance of your questions changes dramatically as they will ultimately affect your professional result outcomes… “How can we better serve our customers?” or “What can we do to further engage our employees on a daily basis?”

So, when you take inventory of the 50,000+ thoughts and 30,000 decisions that you make on a daily basis, exactly what kind of questions are you actually asking yourself? More importantly, are you even paying attention to how you are answering yourself? Following are some of the top questions that successful people pose to themselves on a regular basis:

How can I make the world a better place in the time I’m privileged to be here? Consider how you would want others to remember you after you are gone. Even if it’s just one thing, what is the legacy that you want to leave behind to benefit others? What is most important to you? Does the life that you are living reflect those priorities?

Where and how am I wrong? This is one of the most powerful questions that you can ask of yourself or your people. Everyone including you makes mistakes and bad decisions. When people make the shift from defending that they didn’t do anything wrong to forthrightly considering where and how they went wrong -- Everyone will get to the truth much quicker and then begin the process of investing their time and efforts to actually become better and achieve more.

Why am I so tense and serious? Learn to lighten up. Not only will you feel better, it will help the others that are around you. Adults laugh about 15 times a day, however that includes nervous, put-on and sarcastic laughter. Children on the other hand laugh 400+ times a day, because they allow it to be natural. Laughter is infectious… Pass it on… and by the way, it’s a “win-win”.

How much of this stuff do I really need? Devote more time to learning something new every day than acquiring something new every day. How much of your stuff do you really and truly need? How much of it are you actually using on a daily basis? Honestly, you’ve got thoughts, possessions, habits and even people in your life that you would be better off without. Too many meetings, too many nonproductive social media messages, too many TV programs and not enough quality time to think clearly. Decide what has to go and then be courageous enough to follow through with it.

Am I facing my fears? If there is one thing that is going to hold you back it’s fear. This question requires brutal self honesty, as most people want to appear strong and in control. Are you afraid that others might see your vulnerabilities? The greatest fear that people have overall is the fear of public speaking and everyone ultimately fears something. Whether you stuck your foot in your mouth, spilled a glass of wine or embarrassed yourself in some other way… You are not alone. No one is perfect, so get over yourself and in the process understand that you can only go as far as your greatest fear.

What has to change? In all candor, there are probably a number of things that you know that you need to change in your life. The reality however is that you either feel overwhelmed or have attempted to tackle too many things at one time and then threw in the towel. Change is always big, at least in your mind. So treat it like the elephant analogy and eat it one bite at a time. Identify the one thing that absolutely has to change. Now ask yourself the following two questions… What are the consequences that you are already living with as a result of your inaction? What is the “cost” if you don’t change it now?

Learning to ask the “right” questions of yourself and others will re-frame important thought processes while leading to better problem solving and decision making. It is also an important step forward in creating a life, a career and an organization by design.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

The #1 Way To Win At Leadership

Don Shula is the Winningest Coach in the history of the National Football League. Coach Shula had a singular perspective for being a winner and a leader both on and off the field, which was embodied in the following standard... "I don't know any other way to lead... but by example."

Today’s business marketplace and economy are in a constant state of flux. What used to work years ago isn’t working well anymore and it many instances doesn’t work at all. The age old act of “bossing” people around no longer generates acceptable results.

Authentic leaders realize that their leadership team at all levels of the organization must develop the necessary skill sets that are required to truly motivate its people to meaningful action. The practice of ordering employees on what to do has been supplanted by the more effectual process of assisting people in setting appropriate goals for their department or team and helping them to successfully achieve them in the interest of the organization, the team and the individuals.

The organization’s ability to lead its people to share a common point of view about the work and related goals to be accomplished is the most effective demonstration of executive leadership “buy-in” that all levels of the organization are working together for a common purpose, common goal and the common good of all involved.

21^st Century leadership has transcended from a dictatorial profile to one of inspiration and collaboration. The leadership paradigm has shifted from being under the microscope of criticism as the boss to the contemporary observance of leadership that is worthy of following.

In the arena of adult learning, people learn best by observing other people that they have determined to be believable, trustworthy and authentic. Your organization’s employees have the capacity to clearly distinguish right from wrong and are continually in the process of observing the organization’s leadership based on their personal desire to do the right thing.

When your organization generates this breed of leadership, not only will it live out the example that your people long to follow, it will be destined to achieve great things over the long term.

The Leadership Academy... Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

 

Leadership: For Better Or Worse

While you are undoubtedly familiar with that portion of the traditional wedding vow that pertains to your commitment to your spouse for “better or worse”, does the leadership of your organization uphold the same level of commitment to their leadership roles?

Legendary football coach Lou Holtz who led his teams to many championships is widely known for his practice of constantly reminding his team that “You’re either getting better or getting worse. Nothing stays the same.”

The concept of where your organization or yourself as an individual “stand today” lies entirely in the context of what direction you are moving. Your organization, its leadership and yourself are all progressively day by day either moving forward toward mission and goal achievement (better) or are moving backward and losing ground to both performance and goal achievement (worse).

As I so often remind the leaders whom I’m privileged to work with…”Neither time nor the marketplace will afford you the opportunity to remain where you are.”

Your organization exists in a rapidly changing business and economic environment. The very moment that you pause or become complacent in your daily efforts, you begin the move backward. If your organization is simply maintaining the same level of productivity and results, then you are in essence still moving backward, because your competition is in turn is going to zoom right past you.

Another municipality will gladly garner your tourism dollars and attract visitors to their town. If you are a for-profit business, then one of your competitors will be glad to take away your customer and make the sale.

The ability of your organization and its leadership to continually move forward rests solely on the organization’s commitment for “better or worse”. If you are truly committed to a process for the ongoing develop of your leadership at all levels of your organization, your organization will find itself better prepared to sustain its forward progress.

Martin Luther King said that “The time is always right to do what is right.” The fall training season will soon be here and now is the right time to schedule your organization’s fall edition of The Leadership Academy.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC |  All Rights Reserved.

What Manner Of Great Do You Want To Be?

The following question was recently posed to me by one of my Leadership Academy Program participants. And what a great question it is!

“What distinguishes a great supervisor from a great leader?”

If you’re going to be a great supervisor or a great leader then you’re not willing to be just “average” or allow those people who may be placed in your charge to be average either. You will possess the desire to perform at your personal best and be committed to helping your organization, its people and yourself in achieving optimal success.

As for what makes a great supervisor and a great leader, the answer could be highly interpretive depending on who is providing the answer. From my perspective in any arena of life and business, I like to employ Earl Nightingale’s “KISS” philosophy… Keep It Simple & Straightforward.

So let’s break it down… what does it really take to be “great” at anything?

Is it superior intellect? (High IQ, formal education, lots of degrees and letters after your name) Especially in this day and age, there are a great number of SME’s (Subject Matter Experts) who have a fountain of intellectual knowledge, yet are unable to apply it to the specific work at hand. This result in termed as a functional implementation problem or failure to implement.

Is it natural ability? There have been plenty of “can’t miss” prospects, phenoms and Heishman Trophy winners that never made it BIG. In music they refer to them as “One Hit Wonders”.

Is it work ethic? Does the classic axiom that “An honest days work is worth an honest days pay” still hold water today?

If you’re going to travel the road that leads to greatness, then these are the three ways to potentially get there. As you can clearly see, there isn’t one right answer. There are many highly successful people that have traveled each of these roads to greatness.

To clarify this, let’s use an analogy that is easy to follow. If I’m managing a professional sports team, then I need to know, weigh and then correctly play the odds that will provide me with the best opportunity to attain the result I want. For me personally, in considering these three types of candidates I would almost always take the person with the strong work ethic. Here’s my reasoning… Charlie Hustle will always out work and out perform the smarter or naturally gifted person because they want it more and are willing to work harder to get where they want to go.

This is exactly why Joe Namath, Cal Ripken, Michael Jordan, Chi-Chi Rodriguez, Lee Trevino and many others are in the Hall of Fame. Everyone said that they were too small, not talented enough or couldn’t play the position. While he’s not in the HOF, one of all time the best examples of Charlie Hustle was Pete Rose.

Then, there is another rare breed of people who are great at what they do in life because they embody more than just one of these aspects. Tiger Woods was the perfect example of this for most of his youth and early professional career. He intellectually knew everything and every nuance about the game of golf and how to intellectually “manage” his mental game around the golf course as well as his will to win. While Tiger had great natural ability, he also learned as John Maxwell wrote that “Talent Is Never Enough”. So, not only did he proceed to learn and master even more skills… He used a masterful work ethic to polish them, sharpen them and engrain them.

So my question for you is this… What manner of “great” do you want to be?

Coming soon, the sequel article “Distinguishing Great Supervisors From Great Leaders”.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Your Brick Wall Is There For A Reason

Do you recall what it was like having to struggle in order to get something you wanted? Time and time again throughout your life, you have encountered an endless number of obstacles, roadblocks and brick walls.

How well did you deal with them? How well did you understand them? Did you have any measure of appreciation for them?

In many instances you may have become frustrated or irritated. After all, you were in a hurry to get where you wanted to go and to accomplish what you had intended to accomplish. Right? Take a moment to recall the time that you were in a hurry to get to a morning meeting, but failed to purchase gas for your car the night before. Perhaps you caught all of the red lights that morning. Maybe you walked out your front door to discover that you had a flat tire or a dead battery.

While these everyday life events seemed like anything but fun at the time, the may actually have been life savers. I would imagine like most people, you have learned later on about a tragic accident that occurred at an intersection that you normally frequent or along the road that you usually take. The fact that you had to switch roles with your spouse that morning and take your child to school, caused you to take a different rout to work and ultimately kept you from being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The acute awareness that there was a fatal car wreck at the time and place where you normally are and the fact that you were some how spared from being involved is a sobering experience that can give your life new perspective. So, let’s take a few moments to put some of these events into a proper perspective:

Obstacles. First off, obstacles are not a setback at all. An obstacle is simply not going to keep you from achieving what it is that you have set out to do. Regardless of your undertaking, it’s a given that you want to get from Point A to Point B in the shortest amount of time. In track and field they are the runners who run the 100 yard dash. For the rest of us along the road of life, it’s more like running the 100 yard hurdles. No matter what you set out to do, you’re going to inevitably encounter a few hurdles along the way. While they’re not ideally wanted, they are readily overcome and are not going to keep you from achieving your goals.

The other thing about obstacles that you need to comprehend is that most of the obstacles in any endeavor are actually “predictable”. The act of becoming a good goal planner includes identifying potential obstacles during the planning stage. By identifying them upfront, you can have ready made solutions in place for dealing with them should they actually arise.

Roadblocks. Contrary to your probable reaction to one, a roadblock isn’t a setback either. Imagine that you are driving to a conference in a nearby city and about halfway there the highway crosses over a river. However when you get there, you find that the road is blocked off, there are flashing lights and a sign that says Bridge Out.

In one regard you have come to the end of your road. But just because a flash flood from the previous night’s storm may have washed the bridge out, it’s not really the end of the road for you. It’s just a “detour”. There are other roads and different routes that will still get you to the conference. Even if you happen to get there a bit later than planned, it’s not a big deal. While you might miss the welcoming cocktail party -- that’s not the real purpose of the conference is it?

Roadblocks are a clear signal that there is a flaw in your plan and that you are going to have to make a course correction. In the end, you will still achieve your goals and objectives.

Brick Walls. In the words of Professor and Disney Imag-ineer Randy Pausch “The brick walls are there for a reason.” When you encounter a brick wall in your life, its purpose is not to block your path to success or to prevent you from achieving what you set out to do.

Rather, it is there to present you with the important question… How bad do you really want what it is that you are after? Are you absolutely certain that you are ready to handle it when you get it? Brick walls are there to separate those individuals who don’t want it bad enough, from those who will not let anything get in the way of achieving their goals -- Not even a seemingly insurmountable brick wall. Those that possess the all out determination and the ingenuity to find a way to get over, under or around their brick wall, will ultimately have learned to respect their achievement and manage their new found success appropriately.

Your ability to scale your brick walls, will keep taking you to new heights of achievement.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Leadership In Decline

A recent Washington Post headline read “Federal leadership on the decline, report says” which was referring to the newly issued report by the Office of Personnel Management for the year 2012.

 

Based on a 100 point scale, the overall leadership score for federal government agencies fell 3.82% (2.1 points) from 2011 to 52.8 points. Max Stier, President and Chief Executive of the Partnership for Public Service stated “it is definitely significant and consequential”.

 

I would heartily concur with Mr. Stier, as this report provides further confirmation of the growing global leadership crisis and the shortage of qualified leaders in our government, business and civic arenas. 52.8 out of a 100 is a failing grade score by any measure.

 

The report also cited that federal employees “feel less empowered to do their jobs and are less satisfied with the way senior leaders are handling their agencies”.

 

Additionally, “Given the current environment, sustained attention to improving leadership is not a luxury, but a necessity.”

 

The House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul stated that his panel “has routinely found that Department of Homeland Security mismanagement and a lack of real leadership has bred dissatisfaction throughout the ranks…”

 

The Office of Personnel Management report also stated that “The decrease in satisfaction with senior leaders is especially worrisome.” One of the specific issues that the report cited was that “Part of the problem is that leadership doesn’t communicate with staff well enough”.

 

Effective communication is not only a critical leadership issue, it is an essential attribute of an authentic leader. In the words of Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of the National Semiconductor Corporation, “Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it… Then having a message doesn’t even matter.”

 

When you consider the results of a recent Salary.com survey report, there are a lot of messages that apparently don’t matter to the American workforce at large. According to a Salary.com report, 84% of all American workers are either dissatisfied or unhappy with their jobs. Concurrently, 86% of American workers are not fully engaged in their work assignments.

 

On “National Boss Day” in 2012 it was reported on Yahoo! News that “Two-thirds of American’s are unhappy with their jobs to the point that they would rather have a ‘new boss’ than a pay raise.”

 

Good communication is a basic concept and a clear necessity for building mutually beneficial working relationships in business and government. This requires nothing less than a basic comprehension that every human being is unique and that they have genuine “value”. Effective communication and meaningful business relationships are built on the foundational building block of mutual “respect”.

 

People can only take appropriate actions if they are first appropriately informed about both the current situation and the work that needs to be accomplished. Regardless of how brilliant the ideas and plans of leaders may be, if they can not be effectively communicated, little progress will ever be made to achieve or implement them.

 

George Bernard Shaw once observed that “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily work routines, the fatal mistake is that all too many supervisors, managers and executive leaders assume that their people know what they know and consequently “understand” what is at stake as well as the work to be done.

 

One of the primary reasons that leadership is in decline is the failure to comprehend that communication is the language of leadership.

 

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

The Top 5 Signs That You're Stuck

How many times in your life have you heard someone say “I’ve got to get my act together”? Or you may have heard it expressed as “I need to get my priorities straight”.

Be honest now… How many times have you said these statements to yourself? How many times has someone else said them to you? I would imagine that over the years, it’s been quite a few times.

These self professed acknowledgements are sure-fire indicators that something is potentially out of balance in your life or in your work. Perhaps both. While there are numerous potentialities for what may be occurring (or not) in your life, there is a high likelihood that you are stuck in one form or another. Worse yet, you may not even realize it.

Following below are the Top 5 Signs That You’re Stuck:

You’re Floundering. The most common sign of floundering is indecisiveness. This typically takes the form of waffling about making decisions and initiating the actions that you deep down know must be taken. One part of you says that you don’t know what to do or aren’t sure about what to do. Conversely, there is another part of you that instinctively knows what the right thing to do is, yet you can’t seem to pull the trigger.

You’re Disorganized. When your normal state of organization deteriorates into an inefficient state of chaos it’s a sure sign that you are not coping well and that something is affecting your life to a significant degree that is sufficient enough to disrupt your ability to remain organized.

You’re Procrastinating. Putting off your least favorite tasks or chores temporarily while you work your way down to the bottom of your list is reasonably normal. However, when you start putting things off for longer periods of time or even indefinitely this is not normal. The problem with true procrastination is that you disproportionately skew in your mind that which needs to be done. You build the task into a monumental event far beyond the scope of reality, i.e. cleaning out the garage is going to take me all weekend and will cause me to not be able to play golf with my buds on Saturday. Plus I’ll miss out on… (You get the picture).

You’re Avoiding. The act of avoidance differs from simple procrastination in that is not merely circumstantial, rather it’s 100% “intentional”. In variably what you are avoiding has a clear consequence associated with it. Consequences are generally painful, which may not always impact just you. Often times, what you’re avoiding will also cause pain or disappointment to someone else.

You’re Distracted. There are times in life when you will find yourself in a state of “overwhelm”. In such circumstances your state of overwhelm is going to cause you to be easily distracted. When your conscious brain becomes overloaded it enters into search mode looking for a way out of the pickle you find yourself in. Everything then becomes a distraction which only serves to further cloud the issue of what to do next.

In that you are a perpetual work in progress, the reality is that you will never truly “get your act together”. You will however find yourself stuck in a ditch along side the road of life from time to time. While it’s never a pleasant experience to endure, you will in the end get through it.

The correct mindset to adopt when you find yourself in one of these roadside events that will actually make more sense than the aforementioned adage… is “To get your life back on track”. Don’t allow your life to get put on hold for any appreciable length of time. Call a tow truck (get real help), get yourself out of the ditch and get yourself back on the road of life. Then put your foot on the accelerator and get back up to speed.

In the process, you would be wise to heed adage #2 from the intro above and seriously consider what is genuinely “important” and further enhance your recovery process by prioritizing the most important issues and tasks that will get you back on track, back up to speed and back in control of your life.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Hurdling Toward The Crossroad

In light of the tragic events which have now occurred at the Boston Marathon, the United States would be wise to heed the resounding warning of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who in referring to her own nation, keenly observed that “Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot.”

Nearly six decades ago many Americans who were enamored with President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jackie Kennedy, Caroline and John-John -- Affectionately referred to their all too brief tenure in the Whitehouse in the context of “Camelot”.

In the post war era of the mid 50’s and 60’s the every day life of America’s people was safe, secure and prosperous. If something such as Camelot ever existed for the average family, this was the time and this was the place. Wally and Beaver along with the rest of the Baby-Boomer generation grew up experiencing the epitome of personal freedom that today’s young people couldn’t possibly begin to conceive of.

Times have changed… The world has changed… Life as we once knew it has changed. Camelot is no more.

Margaret Thatcher will never pass this way again. She will be sorely missed, as her watch was one of true authentic leadership.

Of all the potential crises that we currently face, the single greatest crisis is the lack of authentic leadership in every arena of our modern society. Simply consider the events of “Leadership Gone Wrong” that have surfaced in just the past week:

Six prominent New York political leaders were arrested for election corruption.

In Cleveland a former Councilwoman and 4 other officials await sentencing on bribery charges.

The U.S. Department of Justice squandered 58 million dollars on extravagant conferences.

The IRS was rebuked for wasting taxpayer dollars on highly questionable video parodies of Gilligan’s Island and Star Trek.

And then… there was the Atlanta public school system "cheating scandal" which resulted in the indictments of 65 school system leaders.

Each one of these events is without question a result of broken leadership. Where there is faulty or inept leadership, companies fail and governments crumble. Simply stated, it’s referred to as “history”. When government officials find themselves incapable of appropriately solving the nation’s problems and in the process fail to adequately protect its citizens… then its leadership has unquestionably failed the people.

At such a juncture, neither an organization nor a country can stand united… it has become fragmented. People summarily fail to agree and consequently fail to act. The inappropriate events and actions listed above are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg. These are the capricious and selfish acts of elected government officials, business executives and civic leaders who abide by a single mantra… Look out for #1.

The United States was forged as a “republic” of the people… by the people… and for the people. The result of leaders who effectively abandon the interest of their citizenry and whose primary focus is the preservation and elevation of self -- Is that the people will ultimately be returned to the state of having to fend for themselves.

It is this writer’s opinion that we are all too fast hurdling toward this crossroad. I encourage you to join with me in praying for our country in accordance with II Chronicles 7:14. May God again bless the U.S.A.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved

How To Deal With Your Mistakes

In the game of golf they are called errant shots, while in business they are referred to as “mistakes”. Given that a considerable amount of business is conducted on the golf course, have you ever wondered why the game of business can’t be as forgiving as the game of golf?

While the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews along with the PGA Tour may provide strict enforcement of the proper rules of golf, there is also the “gentlemanly” game of golf that so many business people and weekend hackers dearly love.

After all, who wouldn’t love a “do-over” at any level of life? For the typical golfer the “Mulligan” is an accepted way of life. Heck, in charitable golf outings they will even sell them to you for $5.00 a pop. The Mulligan is a beautiful thing!

Not only does it raise money for a worthy charity, it gives you the opportunity to screw up your golf shot and still get a free do-over. Now that’s a concept that I can get on board with. Seriously, think about it. What if you could call a Mulligan at work? What would that look like?

Whether your organization is on a calendar or fiscal year, at some point your revenue and sales cycle begin anew. From one perspective you are starting over with a clean slate, in essence a brand new start. Yet, you also have the benefit of all that you have learned and experienced over the course of the past year’s business operations. Gee, how fair is that?

If your organization actually learned something in the process, it might be highly valuable and fair for you and your staff. The valid question is… what have you learned from your successes and mistakes in the course of the past year?

The first thing that you should learn is that every member of your staff, including you, is human and will therefore make mistakes. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of “when”.

The second thing that you need to recognize about mistakes is that they have parameters:

Frequency: How often do you, your organization or people make mistakes?

Magnitude: How significant are these mistakes and how far reaching is their impact?

Recurrence: How repetitive are these mistakes?

As a leader it is your chief responsibility to remove the element of “fear” from your people’s psychic response profile. When people are focused on fear, they will ultimately under-perform due to their fear of making a mistake. Fear will also result in slower reaction times and impaired result outcomes.

Mistakes and the behavioral response to them is a critical factor in the organization’s development and its ability to drive out the fear of making impactful mistakes. The optimum time to address this element of fear is before potential mistakes even occur in the first place.

It is inevitable that mistakes will be made at all levels of your organization. The critical factor is how your organization chooses to handle and address mistakes when they do occur. Your response will directly contribute to your organization’s culture and should be readily considered as a part of your organization’s big picture.

When mistakes occur, discuss what happened with the people involved. Review the potential fallout from the mistake. Develop the appropriate actions to correct it. Then identify the root cause of the mistake and create a resolution to prevent future recurrences.

Lastly, realize that “rework” isn’t a Mulligan… It’s a costly accrual of materials and man hours to re-do the work and it will ultimately kill your profitability and bottom line.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.