The 4 Cornerstones of Leadership

A Go Texan Day Do-Over

2010-03-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

Did anyone notice that last Friday (2/26/10) was Go Texan Day here in Houston? The whole town goes crazy when the Houston Rodeo is on fire. Well, it completely blew by me. When I walked into a Business Development Committee meeting at the Partnership last Friday all dressed in my 'official' business attire I felt a bit out of place. Everyone had their jeans, boots and cowboy hats on. SO - I am declaring a Do-Over day and will play catchup this Friday, March 5th !!
Stepping out of your regular routine can be refreshing. Wearing tennis shoes to work when you always wear dress shoes or working from home one-day and actually getting something done. If you need an energy boost, think about changing your routine just enough to give you a productive edge.
Team leaders or department heads, lighten up! Bring an employee a cup of coffee (free from the office coffee pot) in a styrofoam cup that you have drawn a stick man on and written something clever on it. (OK - if you are going GREEN, use one of the office mugs and a sticky note)
See you Friday - if I can find my boots!

The Gift of Thanks

2009-11-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving I reflect on all of those that have contributed to my success. Our supporters come in many forms. From the simple "I think that's a good idea." to the edgier "Are you sure you want to do that?" There are 25 people that I consider advocates for my business and that I listen to. Unfortunately, I do not thank them enough throughout the year. As we finish 2009, my personal goal is to make sure each of those influential people know how much I appreciate their advice, their references, and their recomendations.
We only have 20 working days until Christmas so I better get busy.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Prozac for your busienss !

2009-09-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

Is it possible for our attitude to be UP but our business to be DOWN?

Absolultely NOT !! Your attitude IS your business. I was on a call with my business coach, Mark LeBlanc, yesterday and while I keep plugging along with leadership offerings to my clients, I have to tell ya .... it can get depressing listening to all of those business woe's that folks are experiencing. But, we all need a little antidepressant sometimes for our business attitude, and Mark is Prozac for my business.
So, get out there and find your Prozac, someone that has faith in you and can support your business with result driven guidance. Success can be addicting.

The Old Curmudgeon Syndrome

2009-03-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was captivated by a presentation from my favorite graphic professional, Mike Svat of 360 Design, this morning. He was talking about the impact of social media on a business. One of his bullet points was:

“The old curmudgeon has a son”

For those of you that do not know what a curmudgeon is, think Scrooge. As our group struck up a conversation, it became clear that the curmudgeon character is anyone with a closed mind to listening for new business strategies. The companies I approach about building leadership models usually have a CEO or top executive focusing solely on fiscal stability. Sustainable leadership to support a restructuring is often a second thought after leadership damage is done. A message of poor corporate stewardship spreads like wild fire on a massive social media forum, Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace, Blogs. Those that would be the next generation of leaders “move on” to companies that listen. This reduces the leadership pool of those closed minded organizations that do not at least listen.

The #4 principle of leadership states that “An open mind and the ability to listen is the foundation of trust and respect in a business.” Agreement is not necessarily the goal, but awareness can certainly contribute to a future improved business strategy.

Oh, about the curmudgeons son, he took his inheritance, listened to a business need and established a fiscal and sustainable business model to fill the need his father left unfulfilled.

Who says that social media has no place in business? An astute leader listens.

The Dyson Drive

2009-03-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

James Dyson had an entrepreneurial unrest about him. I don’t think he started out intending to turn the vacuum cleaner into a status symbol but that is ultimately what he accomplished. Dyson had an unusual combination of intentional creativity and the art of sales. In the 1960’s he left a secure job to take his latest invention, a pneumatic ball driven wheel barrow to the market place. Charging three times what other wheel barrows sold for, he quickly cornered the market, a very small market.

Dyson never saw something he couldn’t improve and it was a difficult Hoover that drove Dyson to improve the vacuum cleaner. After 3 ½ years, $80,000 in investment money and 5,127 prototypes, a solution was found. Vacuum cleaner manufacturers wouldn’t talk to him, America turned out to be a legal nightmare but finally Japan licensed the design. The Japanese built the original Dyson in pink and sold it for the equivalent of $2000. Thus a tech-fashion statement, status symbol was born. Dyson always used non-conventional shapes and colors. His marketing was unconventional as well. What other vacuum cleaner has appeared on Friends and been handed out in gift bags at the Oscars ?

No, I do not own a Dyson vacuum cleaner because I do not vacuum!! I usually trade that household duty for something else, like dusting. What fascinates me about Dyson is his focus and his drive. How many of us can say that we stuck with something long enough to create 5,127 versions. Edison was able to focus for 2000 trials to invent the incandescent light bulb but doesn't come close to James Dyson.

Thank goodness most of my projects and goals are not that demanding. I do find that a desk timer works for me to focus, even if it is only for 15 min.

The Organizational Cornerstone of Leadership

2009-02-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Of the 4 Cornerstones of Leadership, this one is the most difficult but also the most rewarding.

We have the ability to change our personal leadership habits. As we grow professionally we learn there are principles to being successful. We even begin to practice these principles and serve as a role model to those we influence. Ultimately our decisions and actions will become an integrated part of the organization and we will be held responsible for the impact we have on the business.

The key to this cornerstone is accountability.

If our leadership intention and focus is not aligned with the vision, passion and purpose of the organization it will be difficult for our contribution to lead to business success. Once contributions have been recognized, what kind of leadership examples do they leave behind? Is it a sustainable model that will grow or will it soon self-destruct?

The Relational Cornerstone of Leadership

2009-01-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

It seems to be a sign of achievement to have all of our shelves full of leadership books with crisp bindings and ultimately signed by the author. My shelves are not as impressive. They are full of dog-eared, tattered and scribbled in books. While this may indicate that my learning style requires lots of highlighting and notes it also means that my books are my friends and used often.

It is easy to read and learn what it takes to be a leader but, it is not as easy to do and apply those skills. One of my favorite books (dog-ears and all) is a little known, easy to read, quietly powerful book entitled, Whale Done! written by Ken Blanchard and the lead trainers at SeaWorld in San Diego. The power comes from a simple title used to describe the killer whale that invites and calms a new wild whale in the SeaWorld system. The calming whale is called the Training Whale. He exhibits the characteristics of leadership and the other whales seem to follow.

Who in the workplace would be the Training Whale? Business owners, managers ? Yes, also those just learning to lead. All of those leadership principles we read about don’t do any good unless we begin to live them and become the Training Whale so others will follow.

At this point, sustainable leadership begins.

The Professional Cornerstone of Leadership

2009-01-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

There are 9 key characteristics that make an exceptional leader. We can be successful without all 9 but our leadership effectiveness is not as sustainable. To lead others we must start with a personal vision that can only become reality when it is shared. For a real vision to be fulfilled we must trust that others will see and reach for the same goal. Often times, trust requires patience especially with others that tend to mistrust us. That patience will be driven by the humility it takes to listen. To really listen requires a focus on others that allows us to discover their strength. It will take all of the strength that we have and what we see in others to support our confident decision making skills. These decisions can only be effective when we surround ourselves with supportive relationships. Building those relationships requires the ability to keep ourselves and others motivated to achieve our original vision and purpose.

Within this paragraph lies the 9 principles. These key characteristics are easily spoken but saying the words won’t make it so. Time will determine if our leadership ability is sustainable.

The professional cornerstone is one of character.

The Personal Cornerstone of Leadership

2009-01-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions are the topic of discussion for the first few weeks of January. Only about 3% of us will actually write them down and only about 1% will actually pursue and fulfill the resolution. The rest of us either give up or lose focus. The personal cornerstone of leadership is all about persistance, having the ability to refocus and restart. If we don't experience the challenges of the success process how can we help others through their challenges?
Leading involves relating to the agony of challenge then resolving the agony so others can address the challenge.

Here's to our New Year's Challenges that will guide us to fulfill our New Year's Resolutions.

The Leadership Puzzle

2008-12-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

Are your resolutions made? Are they big enough to be broken?

Resolutions are often so large that we neglect to put the foundation in place to achieve them.

Achieving a goal can be likened to solving a jigsaw puzzle. It always works best when we start with the four corners in place to give us structure and boundaries for success. Becoming a better leader has often been on my resolution list. This is a rather lofty goal and in today’s business world we are often dropped into a leadership role without the advantage of having all the corners of our leadership puzzle in place. The nice thing about the leadership puzzle, you can always go back and put the missing corner in place.

There are 4 corners to leadership success and it starts with being able to lead yourself.