Never Forget Who You Are

You frequently hear reports of leaders who for a time “forget who they really were” and who lost touch with reality amidst the trappings of success and their station in life. Many a state governor, congressman and business executive have fallen prey to this fall from prominence and public grace.

 

Several recent events reminded me of the story about a former United States Under Secretary of Defense who was delivering a corporate speech to a gathering of over one thousand business executives several years ago.

 

During his presentation, he paused for a moment to take a sip of coffee from the Styrofoam cup which he was holding. As he briefly gazed at the cup in his hand, he interrupted his presentation to then say…

“When I spoke last year at this same venue for this very same event, I was at the time the Acting Under Secretary of Defense. I was flown to this event business class. When I arrived, there was a car and driver waiting to take me from the airport to the hotel where someone had already checked me in. I was then taken directly up to my room.

The next morning we I came downstairs, there was someone waiting in the lobby who then took me to this very same venue where I was taken to the back entrance and then escorted directly to the green room… At which point I was served a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic mug.

It is now a year later… and I am no longer the acting under secretary. This year I flew coach and then took a taxi to the hotel where I checked myself in. This morning, I took another taxi to this same venue… walked in the front door… and found my way back stage on my own. At which point I had to ask… Do you have any coffee? After which someone simply pointed to the coffee machine over in the corner. I then poured myself a cup of coffee in this Styrofoam cup.

The object lesson is this… the ceramic mug of coffee was never meant for me. It was meant for the position that I held. What I ‘deserved’… was a Styrofoam cup.

As you become more successful… As you do well in life… You will be rewarded with many advantages. People will refer to you as ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’… They will carry your luggage… They will hold doors open for you… They will bring you a cup of coffee or tea without you even asking for it. But it’s not meant for you, it’s meant for the position that you hold… And when you move on… they will give all of those things to your successor.

Never… ever… forget who you are… and that what you ‘deserve’ is a Styrofoam cup.”

I can personally relate to the former Under Secretary’s message, as I have had a somewhat similar experience a few years back myself. After boarding my U.S. Airways flight from Dulles International to the Denver International Airport in Colorado, I soon found myself along with the rest of the passengers and crew grounded on the tarmac for over three hours due to several mechanical difficulties with the aircraft.

After finally disembarking from the disabled aircraft, we boarded another plane for the flight to Denver. Unfortunately, by the time that the plane finally took off, it was more than apparent that I would miss my connecting flight out of Denver to Helena, MT. Moreover, the 10:20 PM, flight was the last flight out for the night. Therefore, I was destined to be stranded in Denver later that night.

Prior to the delayed take off from Dulles, I placed a cell call to my client contact in Montana to inform them of the unexpected delays and that I would miss my connecting flight in Denver. I was advised to just relax and enjoy the flight and to call them once I had landed at Denver International.

Upon touch down in Denver at 12:30 AM, I immediately called my contact who instructed me to proceed to a specific gate at the airport where a car and driver would be waiting for me. They reassured me that I would not be spending the night stranded in Denver and that the driver would explain things more fully from there.

As I proceeded through the airport terminal, I saw extensive lines of my fellow co-passengers waiting to deal with a customer service representative about their unanticipated circumstance and how the rest of their night would unfold. Then too, I didn’t exactly know how mine was going to unfold either.

When I got to the specified gate, I was met by a very polished chauffeur who whisked me away in his limousine and then informed me that we were going to the commercial side of the airport where a private jet was awaiting me. My first thoughts were… are you kidding me? Are you talking to me?

A few minutes later we arrived on the commercial side of the airfield which was completely dark with the exception of one brightly lit facility which belonged to a corporate charter company. As I entered the facility, the gentleman at the front desk inquired… are you Mr. Swank? To which I replied yes. He (the owner) replied… I don’t know who the heck you are… but you must be someone who is pretty darn important to get me and a top notch private pilot out of bed in the middle of the night!    

He then introduced to me to my pilot who escorted me to our corporate charter. Moments later, I found myself viewing a gorgeous western night sky while aboard what I equated to be my “Pretty Woman” flight (hope you grasp the movie reference). A little over three hours later at 3:40 AM, we quietly and discreetly touched down in Helena, MT where my contact was patiently awaiting my arrival.

For many people, this event may have seemed very surreal. After all, it was potentially a once in a life time experience. While my ego could have soared for a moment, it never did. For I realized that it was entirely about the agenda for the next business day… it wasn’t about “me”.

In closing I, like the former Under Secretary urge you to keep your head about you and to realize the perks which you enjoy are for the position you hold or will one day hold and are not for you. The top CEO’s of America’s Fortune 500 companies typically only have an average tenure of about three and one half years.

So, never ever forget who you are and where you came from. Your deserve a Styrofoam cup… just as I deserved coach and a night stranded in Denver.

The Leadership Academy… Learn more. Do more. Become more.

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

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.

What Condition Is Your Condition In?

Have you ever had one of those times in life when something all of a sudden keeps popping up that you haven’t heard or thought of in years?

Of course, we all have at one time or another. Sometimes it’s a fond remembrance, while at other times it may be about one of the low lights in your life. Then, there are other times when something resurfaces that begs a question of us.

Such was the case in point this past week. The prerequisite thing that you should know is that I stopped listening to the “oldies” a long time ago for a number of reasons. Mostly because I firmly believe that my best days are still ahead of me… Not somewhere back there in yester-year. No “Old Time” lemonade for this dude.

Last Saturday evening due to a lack of televised boxing and not being quite ready to put my head on the pillow for the night, I found myself channel surfing of all things. I clicked on the movie The Big Lebowski and quickly found myself listening to the back ground lyrics of Kenny Rogers singing “I just checked in to see what condition my condition was in…” I instantly thought to myself, wow… that’s one I haven’t heard for a long time. Then I proceeded to surf on.

I next encountered a listing for a movie entitled “Fast” with Billie Bob Thornton and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) which I had never watched before. When I clicked on the movie, I suddenly found myself again listening to Kenny Rogers singing “I just checked in to see what condition my condition was in…”

You should also know that I’m not one who is inclined to believe in coincidences, so when I heard Kenny Rogers for the second time it clearly got my attention… and it got me thinking about the state of condition that my life is in. From a general perspective I could say that “life is good” and I know that I have been very blessed. However, the longer that I contemplated what condition my condition was in, the more I became aware of things that needed to change in my life, as well as other things that needed to improve going forward.

At this juncture, my question for you my valued reader is… “What condition is your condition in?” What is the current state of your life? While I know that your life is hectic (and whose isn’t?) and that you probably stay quite busy being busy, when was the last time that you actually took the time to take a long hard look at yourself and at your life?

If you’ve ever been in a twelve step program of any kind or know someone that has, one of the primary steps centers around taking a fierce moral inventory of yourself. While it not a comfortable thing to do, it is the honest thing to do. So, I would ask you to be brutally honest with yourself… about yourself, by honestly answering the following questions:

What is it that you are procrastinating in doing? Why?

What is it that you are avoiding at all cost? Why?

What is the one thing that absolutely has to change in your life?

Why hasn’t it?

What are the consequences if it doesn’t?

Do you simply want to get through life any old which way that you can? Or do you really want to enjoy your life and the journey through life that you are already on?

If you want something more for your life, then you really do need to answer the question “What condition is your condition in”? And then you will also need to ask yourself one more question, which is… What condition to do you want your condition to be in?

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