Day 123 | Teaches Only...

My friend, Art Grecko, reminded me recently of an old Aldous Huxley quote that I encourage you to consider as you complete this week:

Experience only teaches the teachable.

Dear Leaders, how many times have we repeated an error because we were not teachable at an earlier moment when someone else caused a problem or we made a mistake?  The honest answer is too many.

And by the way, look in the mirror on this one rather than think of others who do this.  You only have full control over yourself.

BUT (there's that big "but" making excuses again) you were too busy...  You procrastinated (for years)...  You blamed someone else instead of learning from the experience...  You moved too quickly to think about it, or thought a lot about it, yet did not take action...

As you head into the weekend, consider how well you are doing on your annual goals and confirm you achieved your 3Strands for the week.  Then consider the events of the past week.  Identify one thing that happened where you can be more teachable, consider how you can apply what you learned, commit to change, and implement a new habit or system that improves your life and positively affect the lives of others.

It is only one thing.  You can do this.

Why You Are A Super Hero

I was driving my adopted son, Izaiah, home from school last week.  He loves Spiderman.  He said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be Spiderman."

I said, "That's great.  Go for it!"

He quickly replied, "Who's your favorite superhero?"

I thought for a moment and answered, "Captain America."

"Oooh..." came the reply.  "Is that who you want to be when you grow up?"

At 57 years old, I couldn't stop myself from laughing, but I agreed, "Yep.  That's who I want to be when I grow up."

Who do you want to be when you grow up? Is it the same leader you are today?

You and the leaders of your company have some things in common with superheroes.  At times you are:

• Expected to do things no one else can do
• Taken for granted
• Too quickly judged negatively
• Appreciated solely based on your performance
• Doing your best to work in your world yet think like you are from a different world

If you could...  would you like to be a superhero boss when you grow up?

Does that mean you feel like you have some "Bad Boss" attributes today?

If so, then maybe it's time to grow up.  Leadership requires us to be superheroes at times, so why not develop our superpowers now?

To start, our LEADERSHIP Essentials and All-In programs can help.

Meeting Ideas

The topic of superheroes can be a very fun meeting agenda.  Here are some ideas on how to challenge your people to become the leaders they were designed to be:

1. Favorites:  Ask everyone to confidentially bring a printed image of their favorite superhero - the person they might want to be when they grow up someday.  Remind them to not reveal the identity of their favorite superhero.
2. Guess:  Everyone sits with the image of their superhero face down on the table.  Go around the table and have others guess each person's favorite superhero.  The identity can be revealed when guessed or if people give up.
3. Similarities:  Discuss the similarities between superheroes and leaders.  Go beyond my list above.
4. Pros and Cons:  Ask everyone to participate in an exercise that lists the positives and negatives about each individual's superhero.  Make the point that even imaginary superheroes are not perfect.
5. Grow Up:  Have an open discussion of what it might be like in your company, or for each individual in the meeting, to focus their first efforts each workday on becoming a better leader.  Other priorities could be done afterwards.

Great leaders are mature and experienced, and behave like it.

Why postpone becoming an "adult" in our leadership skills when acting like a child is comparably so unproductive?

Fire All of Them

Let me build on something you have heard before, but have not recently taken the time to fully consider over a cup of hot chocolate, coffee, tea or a healthy smoothie...

Here is what you need:

1. A list of all your employees
2. Their written 2014 goals
3. Your answer to this question:  If I fired every one of my employees, who would I be excited to hire back?

Then you have to ask yourself two additional questions:

1. How much is it costing me monthly to keep the people I would NOT hire back enthusiastically?
2. Is the problem the employee(s), or me, or both?

Take 30-60 minutes to do this exercise today or over the weekend.  You will be glad you did.  If you need help confirming letting someone go is the right decision, how to put them on a performance improvement plan, or creating a better environment that hires superstars and motivates people to perform their best...  contact us.  We can help.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How did you do on your 3Strands this week?
2. At the end of today or at least before 9:00 a.m. Monday take Sanctuary time and hold yourself accountable to this week's 3Strands and define your 3Strands for next week?

Stay on track.

Time to Confront

One of my weekly prayers is:  

There is a time to be nice and a time to confront.  Please give me the wisdom to know the truth and the courage to do what is right.

As we wrap-up the first quarter this is an important consideration.  There are areas of our lives and our leadership where we are procrastinating about positive change.  This delay is negatively affecting our lives, the lives of others, and the profits that fuel our growth.

Where do we need to be nicer, and what areas of business need hard decisions?

SUGGESTION:  If you struggle to be more appreciative and positive with others, or more systematically holding people accountable, then use the old "good cop - bad cop" negotiating approach to overcome your hesitation to act.

Start with "what is true" and make that the bad cop.  We have to do what is true because that is the only path to doing what is right or best for the business.

For instance, you have an employee who could be performing better and you have not addressed it effectively.

What is true?  The person's performance must improve.

How?  Need to define clear, measurable performance objectives, behavioral expectations, possibly test for natural strengths and motivators (Talent Assessment), AND follow-up regularly for 90 days. 

When?  Now.  Assess the daily cost.  Multiply by your number of work days or hours.  The cost is too high to continue your procrastination AND you are hurting the employee.

See the meeting ideas for an outline of additional ideas.

Meeting Ideas

Here are some ideas to more fully explore the challenge of being nicer or confronting an issue.

1. Nice
   • How consistently do you recognize others?
   • Do you know your employee's preferred rewards?
   • What is each employee's definition of meaningful work?
   • Do you believe your employees should be more thankful for what you do for them?  (Then we should talk...)  START HERE before working with others to be nicer.
2. Confrontation
   • Yourself:  Your hiring system is weak or non-existent
   • Yourself:  You do not manage others consistently
   • Yourself:  START HERE...  Confront yourself to make certain you are meeting or exceeding your standards.  Then being nice or confronting others is much easier.
3. Confrontation: Confronting someone can be empathetic and positive, or angry and aggressive.  If you are too confrontational, or not enough, get some help to be systematic in confrontation.  Learn to use the truth as the "bad cop" to help the other person engage in a solution more easily.

Day 119 | Chronic Inconsistency

Do some of your people suffer from chronic inconsistency?

Most leaders would agree, but if asked whether they suffer from the same bad habit, they would either deny it or downplay it as less frustrating than their employees demonstrating the same problem.

Chronic inconsistency...  isn't that a great description of a HUGE PROBLEM?

It reminds me of the old proverb:

He that leads when no one follows is out for a walk.

Have you been spending too much time on that walk?  Our LEADERSHIP Essentials systems develop the habits of 3Strands LEADERS which are just the opposite:  You demonstrate a chronic consistency.  You are reliable.  People trust you.  People like you.  Work is more FUN.

WHY GO TO BEDFORD?:  I said this to a Client this week and want to pass it along.  The primary reason you should attend our LEADERSHIP Essentials Academy in Bedford, New Hampshire on June 5-6 is because the event occurs at Mainstay Technologies.  Ryan Barton, the visionary CEO of Mainstay is someone you need to meet if you want to see how a 3Strands LEADER extends his passions throughout his organization.

Space is limited.  We slashed the price of our LEADERSHIP Essentials Academy to just $295 monthly per company for online content, and only $295 per person for two days of in-person LEADERSHIP Essentials training.

1. Join our Academy here (includes access to Dave's Charm School for I.T. Geeks soft skills training)
2. Confirm your seat here for our June 5-6 Academy in Belmont, New Hampshire.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How did you do on your 3Strands this week?
2. At the end of today or at least before 9:00 a.m. Monday take Sanctuary time and hold yourself accountable to this week's 3Strands and define your 3Strands for next week?

Stay on track.

Is It Fair?

Do you live on the East Coast?  Don't miss our LEADERSHIP Essentials Academy at Mainstay Technologies in Belmont, New Hampshire on June 5-6.  Our workshop will be a great learning experience for you, and the Mainstay folks are an example of a best-in-class firm.

It's only $295 per person for our Academy members.  Join here.

Is it fair that I start my newsletter with that reminder?

As leaders we have to be careful how we behave.  That last word you spoke or action you took, was it fair? Most people would respond, "Yes," without thinking... but are they correct?

According to the book, Your Brain At Work, fairness is a need of our brains.  If we start to focus on fairness, then we judge it everywhere.  Fairness can often be more important than money to our brains, and therefore is a big motivator.

BUT...  but we rarely hold ourselves to the same standard.

Many people, especially our employees when we are not fully engaging them, can be upset because they assume they are being treated unfairly or there is a threat to their status.

For instance, employees might incorrectly believe they are...

• Underpaid
• Overworked
• Not appreciated
• Given less benefits than other firms provide
• Managed too strictly

Intentional 3Strands leaders are consistent in helping employees understand how they are doing meaningful work and that they are appreciated.  These leaders are also transparent.

Employees with 3Strands Leaders typically feel their management practices and company policies overall are very fair.  They are happy and thankful to work there.

What do you think that does to their self-motivation and productivity? And how do your employees feel?

HINT:  An employee's opinion may not be fair, but it is a true feeling.  One of your responsibilities as a leader is to consider what is true and then make a decision about what is "the right thing to do."

I suggest the place to start is with what your employees are thinking, even if you believe they are wrong.  Next, you have to figure out what to do about it because if your employees feel you are not fair, then you are losing tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Meeting Idea

Here are some ideas to consider how your people feel about you and/or your company.

1. Ask:  They will probably not give you a complete answer, if an honest answer at all.
2. Confidential Survey:  We can do this for you.  It is similar to a best workplace survey.
3. You Already Know:  You already know they think you are not fair.  Then the question is what to do about it.  Procrastination is too expensive, these issues need to be dealt with.  Contact us if you need to talk through some ideas or get advice.

Day 117 | Bring or Give?

Robert Morris did a guest talk at Willow Creek on March 2 that gave me a new perspective and renewed dedication in an area of my life that has been reasonably strong...  but could be stronger.

Apply this test to your leadership:  One point that he made was that you never "give" a tithe, but rather you "bring" a tithe because you cannot give something that does not belong to you.

Where is your ego a bit too strong because you feel you are giving something to your employees, whereas in reality you are simply bringing the basic requirements that are mandatory for owners and leaders?

For instance, you want:

To be the leader, but you do not want to invest time managing, developing, and retaining certain employees;

Employees to achieve more, but you do not help them define clear, measurable goals and achieve them; or

To maximize profits, but customer loyalty is less than it could be because you are not fully engaging your employees.

Maybe you need to stop getting frustrated because you feel you are giving so much, and start focusing on really bringing your best game.  Email me if you want help on focus and improving your Systematic Leadership.

To remind you, we slashed the price of our LEADERSHIP Essentials Academy to just $295 monthly per company for online content, and only $295 per person for two days of in-person LEADERSHIP Essentials training. Click here to join our Academy (includes access to Dave's Charm School for I.T. Geeks soft skills training)

And confirm your seat here for our June 5-6 Academy in Belmont, New Hampshire!

It is Friday. ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!

1. How did you do on your 3Strands this week?
2. At the end of today or at least before 9:00 a.m. Monday take Sanctuary time and hold yourself accountable to this week's 3Strands and define your 3Strands for next week?

Stay on track. 

Make History

Bill Johnson says in one of his books (page 180),

Making history is a two-step process:

First, we "make history" by the learning and decisions we make when no one is looking, however...

Second, the history "we make" through others is always dependent on the habits, experiences and integrity we develop on our own and in-private with our mentors.

You are "making history" whether you like it or not.

Many of your employees never forget the positive or negative way you inspired them.  Many of the people working at your clients are positively or negatively affected by your interactions and services.  Your peers, community, and others are often influenced by your behaviors.

And the way you have changed their behaviors then extends out through these people to thousands of others, which then extends out to....

You are "making history" whether you like it or not.  So please consider the three aspects of making history that Bill Johnson suggests are foundational to our outcomes in the MEETING IDEAS below. 

Why make less money because you have leadership tendencies instead of GREAT leadership skills, systems and focus?

Your employees "make history" that reflects your leadership.

Meeting Idea

Here are some ideas to discuss with your leadership team and/or company as a whole to improve your ability to leave a legacy that is consistent with your good intentions.  

Habits:  I just finished the book The Power of Habit (see below).  I strongly recommend it.  Our habits control how we spend our time.  Bad habits never go away, they're just overpowered by stronger habits that we develop.  

I suggest that you evaluate your work habits in three areas:

1. Leadership systems:  Systems provide consistency, improve performance, and develop trust.  If you are not systematic in your leadership then you are costing your firm thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, and negatively impacting others too often.
2. Time management:  The discipline of managing your time  affects your ability to achieve your key career objectives.  We spent too much time at work not to regularly evaluate and improve the way we manage our schedules.
3. Company culture:  Your company culture exists whether you focus on it or not.  It can be a weed that grows uncontrollably and fools some into thinking it is a flower as it invades and overpowers good parts of your garden.  Or it can start as the seed about beautiful flower or strong tree that is intentionally planted, fed, watered, pruned, and encouraged to bring lasting beauty and positive impact to your garden. Your habits determine whether you are growing weeds, or stunning flowers and an awesome forest.

Experiences:  Your work as a leader is full of choices.  The longer your career and more successful you are, the more choices you have.  Choose wisely how you spend your time and who you associate with so that what you learn through your experiences enables your history to more positively impact the lives of people.

Integrity:  I suggest integrity is taken for granted too often.  Too many people assume they have integrity rather than demonstrate it consistently.

Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) that reminds me of how many people assume their integrity is perfect when it is flawed:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed:  'God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'..."

If you truly want to be a person of integrity then it is a journey of holding yourself to a standard far above what you demand from others.  It is a road of realized mistakes, apologies, redirecting yourself back onto your path, tenacity, and undying hope.

Why?  Because making history, maximizing profits, and becoming the best you can be is hard, long work.

MAKE HISTORY!

I look forward to hearing about the wonderful things you are achieving.

True or Right Thing To do?

It is only February 19, but this may be the most important lesson I share with you in 2014.

This past Valentine's Day I got hit across the forehead with a 2 x 4 of wisdom.  It stopped me in my tracks.  Let me know if this also rocks your world.

I was meeting with Donna Kramer, "Mama Donna" to some, a friend to me.  We were about to wrap-up after close to two hours of conversation at a local Starbucks.  She loosely quoted something from a friend, David Williams, regarding his approach to discerning wisdom and making decisions.  She simply said (not her exact words):

People often get themselves in trouble when they first try to make decisions based on what is right, rather than what is true.

The reason is the definition of "what is right" is very subjective.

WOW!  The vast majority of my poor decisions were based on trying to "do what was right" rather than the facts / truth.  (This is because I am a High Traditional in our Talent Assessments.)

Starting my decision-making process and staying primarily focused on sincerely trying to "do what was right" left me tempted by personal bias, emotions, and wounds.

It is sad to think how many decisions I would have made differently if I had STARTED with what is true. This would have focused me on objective data and concrete elements as I worked to resolve my problems.  The END RESULT would have more consistently been "what was right."

Too often I have unfortunately started with conclusions that were based on good intent rather than reality.  Ouch.

Unfortunately, there is no going back.  We cannot change the past.  We live in the present and we live to achieve our full potential in the future.

The good news is over the past five years I have already started on a journey to develop a new habit of making decisions based on truth FIRST.  Donna's wisdom has helped me take a big step forward.  Her advice gives me tremendous clarity, and I am very thankful.

What does it look like to make decisions based FIRST on trying to "do what is right?"  Here are some examples:

• Hiring a great actor instead of a top performer
• Retaining an employee who is not performing well
• Not being an effective leader (too many "what if's" here)
• Staying in a relationship that is unhealthy
• Keeping a business or product line going that needs to die

If you need help to make some tough decisions because you professionally want to reach your full potential, or have your company do so, then email me.  Maybe we can help.

I hope you enjoyed this insight.  I am thrilled to be applying it more often in my life today.

Meeting Idea

Unfortunately the process of evaluating how you made poor decisions based on Sincerely trying to "do what is right" rather than what is true can be painful.

You may need to evaluate your past decisions confidentially with someone you trust such as a good friend, mentor, or consultant.

Separately you can also challenge your team to consider your decision-making process and many of your past decisions by the same standard.

1. Meet with your team and ask them to identify the 5-10 most recent significant decisions that you have made as an organization, or they have made individually. NOTE:  You can do a mix of the five most significant decisions your organization has made, and each individual shares the three most major decisions they have made.
2. Explain the insight of making decisions FIRST based on what is true rather than doing "what is right."
3. Candidly and without laying blame on anyone, evaluate the major organizational decisions that have been made.  Consider the alternatives that you would make today if your team had better considered what was true FIRST, and "what was right" later.
4. Again, not with a focus on blaming people for mistakes, explain each of your three major decisions that you have made recently and how those conclusions might have been different if you had focused FIRST on what is true.
5. Now that you have set the example, encourage each member of your team to consider their recent major decisions and their approach.

STAY ENCOURAGING!  Have fun.  Learn.  And move on.

Why David and Goliath?

This past Monday I shared that I recently finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, David and Goliath.  I did not recommend it, but that is because it is not a typical business book.  You may want to buy it anyway.

Here are the key things I got from Gladwell's analysis of "Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants:"

1. (Gladwell)  (1) Much of what we consider valuable in our world is based on the greatness and beauty resulting from overcoming overwhelming odds;  and (2) We consistently misinterpret our weaknesses and strengths as we face our greatest challenges.
2. Underdogs win more than they lose.  How?  They compete by disregarding protocol so they can compete based on their strengths.
3. Underdogs are told they are wrong.  Their courage comes from living through tough times and being belittled, yet they emerge with an intense drive to do what they believe is right.

As a High Traditional in our Talent Assessments, and someone who's been told I am wrong many times, I relate to David.

Therefore the question is (for me and for you):  What am I doing differently that my opponents cannot match?

The parts of this book that I enjoyed helped me clarify that our company is on the right track.  It actually gave me a laser focus that is EXCITING:

1. We gave 50% of the equity and half of the net profits of MANAGEtoWIN to EmancipateME, a nonprofit dedicated to help local nonprofits eliminate the travesty of human trafficking.  No other HR/employee performance management software company will do that.
2. We focus on ConnectWise and Autotask partners.  We have a unique value to provide these organizations because of my 32 years in the industry.  These companies are too small for other HR/employee performance management software companies to pursue, or understand.
3. We have some things that we are going to do with our software and services that are revolutionary because of #1 and #2 above.  Even in a very crowded HR/employee performance management software market, we can battle the giants for reasonable market share...  and more importantly, meaningful work.

The question for you:  How do you break the rules to give your company an advantage that is both unfair, and unexpected?

Meeting Idea

Read Gladwell's book, but focus on the chapters that have the most meaning to you.

This process should give you more clarity.  Most likely you will gain even more clarity by discussing your reaction to the book with others, whether that is your team, mentors, or some nut like me.

The bottom line:  The value of this exercise is to identify how to play by a different set of rules (legally and ethically) so that you have an unfair an unexpected advantage against your competitors.

Day 109 | Are You David or Goliath?

I just read the book, David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.  It was interesting and I will speak to it this week, but I cannot recommend it.  More on Wednesday...

As you start this week, consider whether you are David or Goliath, using part of Gladwell's definition:

David:  Rule breaker who adjusts his battle tactics to take advantage of the weaknesses of his opponents, plays to his strengths, courageous, humble yet confident because of his faith, and totally without fear to do what is right.

Goliath:  Strong and overpowering when in "single combat," confident based on past victories, courageous, but needs opponents to play by his rules to win.

To grow as a leader you have to play to your strengths with Empirical Creativity, Fanatic Discipline, and Productive Paranoia (Jim Collins' attributes of a 10Xer).  David did this.  Goliath overestimated himself.

The question:  In what ways are you like David and where are you more like Goliath?  

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track and BE a 3STRANDS LEADER.

Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to the people around you.

The Answer Is "No"

Someone who often gives great advice on providing a superb Client Experience is pushing the mantra:

The answer is "Yes," now what is the question?

The question is, "Will you manipulate me?"  The answer is "yes" because you have to manipulate people - or lie - if you teach your people to say "yes" to everything and then work their way out of it.

Typically this Wednesday post is longer, but I just could not wait to remind you that I am in your camp:

You can still provide a near-perfect Client Experience and say "No" to unreasonable requests.

Look to the Meeting Ideas section for one fun game to play to emphasize REALISTIC OPTIMISM rather than "the power of yes" that some people want you to blindly embrace.

If you are saying "yes" too often...

• Allowing poor-performing employees to stay too long
• Not enforcing the rule that techs document work as they go
• Looking the other way when people are chronically late

Then wake up.  These are attributes of a "Bad Boss."  These behaviors are a choice.

If you are sick of the cost of these types of choices, and you want to be a better leader, or would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.  

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Meeting Idea

Have a team meeting. Explain you want to reinforce your company's commitment to be positive, encouraging, and going above and beyond for your Clients.

The game is simple.

1. One person is a tech or a sales person for your company.  The others are your Clients.
2. You will give $100 cash (show at $100 bill) to anyone who can answer "Yes" to 10 questions in a row posed by the group.
3. Start with relatively easy questions.  You do want to reinforce that a "yes" is important when appropriate, even when it means you have to stretch to deliver.
4. The same question cannot be asked twice of one person, or of another person.
5. Encourage positivity, but reinforce REALISTIC OPTIMISM, empathy, and respectful problem solving rather than saying "yes" to services you never agreed to provide.
6. At the end tell everyone they are winners and buy them lunch.

Are You Ready to Play?

Yesterday the Seattle Seahawks came to the Superbowl ready to play - they had energy, intensity, swarming defense...  and the Broncos kind of just showed up and never knew what hit them.

What can you do this week to create an environment where your employees motivate themselves to be their best rather than just show up?

This is a question that is woven deeply into your Sanctuary time activities each week, but now (on Mondays) it is time to apply your plan of action.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had his team fully prepared to win.  Are you doing the same for your team?

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.

Employee Training Idea

Have you ever hired someone, invested thousands of dollars in training the person, and then they quit?

That can be quite expensive, yet it is fairly common in the tech field.  I recently heard of a company within innovative approach to overcoming this problem.

1. They determined the number of months an employee should work for them for their company to receive a decent return on the training investment.
2. They arranged with a local bank to give their employees loans for training expenses.  (NOTE:  The company did not guarantee the loans.)
3. The firm paid the monthly loan payments as long as the employee remained with the company.  If the employee left the company before the loan period was completed then the additional payments were their own responsibility.

I am not recommending this approach, but it is interesting and might be worth a pilot in some companies.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

1. How are you doing on your 3Strands this week?
2. Have you defined your 2014 goals? 
3. If you have defined your 2014 goals, have you looked at them this week?

Stay on track.

Be a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to the people around you.

3 Simple Ways to Retain Top Performers Longer

Total Transformation

Century Rowland Plaza (Cinemark) is the multiplex in town.  Recently my family and I went to see the movie Frozen.

I looked forward to the movie, but not the theater.  It was typically dirty, the employees bored, and I just did not feel appreciated although it costs our family $50-$100 to see a movie.

Whoa, what happened?

 It all started when I bought my mega-popcorn that has the free refill.  That is the closest thing to a reasonable price for popcorn because we have two adults and five kids gobbling it up.

The very pleasant young lady asked me if I would like my refill immediately rather than go to the trouble of returning to the lobby.  Typically my impression was that management hoped I would not return so they would retain a higher profit margin on my purchase.

Then I asked for seven empty cups to fill with water.  Another smiling young lady gave me the cups and encouraged me to use the water fountain around the corner.

Then the capper:  As I was filling the cups with water I spilled the  popcorn.  Big mess.  Two young men who work for the theater saw me.  One assured me immediately that it was no problem at all.  They would clean it up, and he asked if he could go refill on my popcorn for me.  When I said yes, he asked if I wanted butter on it.

I apologized again for the mess as his associate started to clean up my spilled popcorn.  He assured me that it was no problem at all.  The other guy returned promptly with my newly filled popcorn container.

WHAT HAPPENED:  A new general manager started two months ago.  She or he apparently knows how to hire and train people.  For the first time I left the theater thinking I might hire one of those young people some day.

MY POINT:  It is never too late to start working on improving your company culture.  Your Clients and prospective clients can spend their money with a lot of other companies. Why not stand out from the competition? This is the work we do with our Clients.  If you would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Meeting Idea

I suggest a meeting based on this example is best done as a team.  Ask your team to arrive at the meeting with stories of their best example and worst example of customer service.

Here are some quick ideas for your meeting:

1. Start the meeting by reading your company's mission statement (WHY you are in business), vision statement (WHERE you are going or growing as a business), and values (HOW you do business).
2. Ask your people to identify where the negative stories of customer service violate your mission, vision, and values.  Then ask the first person to share their story, and discuss the violations.  Repeat the process until everyone has shared their negative story and your team has evaluated that situation compared to how your company does business.
3. Now ask your people to identify where the positive stories demonstrate your mission, vision, and values.  Then have the first person to share their story, discuss the similarities to your mission - vision - values, and continue to evaluate each person's story one at a time.
4. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization could do to improve your Client Experience.
5. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization has to do to improve your company culture so that you can improve your Client Experience.
6. Ask your people if they would like to pilot one change in the way you interact with Clients over the next month based on what you've learned through this exercise.
7. If they say "yes," then agree on which process improvement you will pilot for one month - that is, one Client Experience process or interaction, and one action item to improve your company culture.

Test your new system as a 30 day pilot and assess the results.

An Ideal to Strive For

I watched the movie, Man of Steel, over the weekend.  Tom Brindley had encouraged me to enjoy Superman's dilemma of not being of this world, but being in this world.  I was not disappointed.  Read the review link yourself and enjoy it.

In this movie Superman gets to talk with his biological father, Jor-El, by way of a hologram/near-sentient computer program.  Jor-El explains the "S" on Superman's chest is a different letter in Krypton' s language, and it stands for hope.

Does the symbol of your company stand for hope?

Jor-El further encourages his son, Kal-El (Superman), "Give the people of earth an ideal to strive for.  In time you will help them accomplish wonders."

How are you giving your employees, Clients and vendors "an ideal to strive for?"

An organization that does these two things well while managing their finances prudently is unstoppable.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

P.S.  Here is one additional thing to do during your weekly Sanctuary time:  Review your company culture cornerstones (mission, values, and vision) at the start of your quiet time.  How well did you demonstrate them this past week, and do you need to plan ways to incorporate them into your activities this week?

Daily LEADERSHIP Tip / Wisdom From James Dyson

Day 64

TIME Magazine has a one-page, 10 questions interview of James Dyson, inventor and billionaire, that should appeal to every ADD leader...  and others too.

Consider these three whiffs of wisdom that Mr. Dyson shares before they blow by.  You might want to incorporate them into your Systematic Leadership and LEADERSHIP Essentials:

He prefers to hire inexperienced engineers because they are "unsullied" (fresh;  willing to experience on something new...).

I have found this true also.  Sometimes you are better off hiring someone who has aptitude and passion rather than experience.

He was attracted to improve vacuum cleaners BECAUSE they are a "pretty tedious commodity product.

The Systematic Leadership challenge question:  How do you transform your services into something interesting and exciting that sparks passion and loyalty...  BEFORE it becomes mundane and uncompetitive?

What gets Dyson the billionaire up in the morning?  The love of "solving the insoluble problem.

If that is not the reason you are doing a "rise and shine" each morning, then maybe we need to talk..

ACCOUNTABILITY:  Are you checking your Weekly 3Strands and/or daily W.I.N. every day to confirm your progress.  And doing the same with your direct reports 3Strands and/or daily W.I.N.?

Let me know if you need help.

Be a Systematic Leader - because inconsistency hurt.

Daily LEADERSHIP Tip / 3 Strands

Last Friday I encouraged you to take a weekend Sanctuary for personal accountability.  Weekly accountability for yourself and your people is critical to success.  Here is a brief introduction to our 3 Strands© process:

SYSTEMATIC LEADER NOTE:  Goals without accountability are a recipe for failure.

A person's 3 Strands are the 1-3 most important milestones or tasks they must complete during the upcoming week to move closer to achieving their annual goals.

1. Never define more than 3 Strands so you stay focused.
2. List your 3 Strands in order of priority.
3. Review them at the start and end of each day.
4. Require your direct reports to submit their 3 Strands to you weekly by Monday at 9:00 a.m.

The inspiration behind calling this "3Strands" is from Ecclesiastes 4:12, which says:

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Individually each week's 3 Strands activities may not seem very important, but collectively they are a "20 Mile Challenge" towards achieving meaningful work each year.  Over time your progress through these three weekly activities also:

1. Protects your people from failure or ongoing mistakes;
2. Systematically builds a fortress of success;  and
3. Strengthen your defenses against competitors and anyone who might question your productivity (stay focused).

The discipline of weekly achieving 3 Strands is a strong climbing "rope" (or cord) to reach your vision of success (whatever you have defined success to be).

They Are Lying To You

Name three activities you do every month, if not every week, to serve others. Here is why:

In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn’t.

It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really.

The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue.

At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That’s what it really admires.

That’s what we talk about in eulogies, because that’s what’s important. We don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe was he was rich!’

We say, if we can … ‘The thing about Joe was he took good care of people.’

This is from two slides that Tom Peters discussed on February 15th of this year at the National Business Growth Summit in Sydney, Australia said. He credited Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the astounding response to the passing of Tim Russert, The Wall Street Journal, June 21-22, 2008. (I changed the formatting for emphasis.)

This is one key reason why we work to have a great company culture. Improving the lives of our coworkers, clients, vendors and community, which in the process positively touches our personal relationships. What are you doing to make certain this is what you and your company are known for?

The commitment to serve others is one of the most important you can make as a leader, whether your responsibilities are that of an executive managing others or an individual team member. 

Here are some ideas for how to apply this wisdom:

1. First “look in the mirror.” How are you doing in this area? Take a break on your own. Tech Out (turn off all technology - let your people/family know in advance where you will be).
   • List the names of the primary 3-10 people you want to positively impact. (If you can serve them effectively, then the habits you develop will help others too.)
   • What specific activities are you doing weekly or monthly to serve these people - consistently and systematically?
   • How are you helping them think better and learn how to make great decisions on their own, rather than just giving them the answers?
   • Are there activities you could be doing that would have more impact than these?
   • How can you schedule time to make certain you are preparing for and doing these activities to the best of your ability and on a consistent basis?
2. Ask your people to do the same thing (#1) on their own.
3. At your next meeting have each person share what they learned and what they are doing. Encourage people to make suggestions to one another on how to improve in these activities, and people to be open to considering their suggestions.
4. Commit to “pilot” a more consistent schedule of actions you will take to improve the lives of others for 30 days. Have a check-in where people share how they are doing. Possibly extend the “pilot for 60 more days.