Tag Archives: attitude

Learning from our Mistakes

“There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage.”

[Chan Master Fuchan Yuan]

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying… that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”

[Alexander Pope, in Swift, Miscellanies}

I searched a bit to find the quotes for this Leadership Thought, as I wanted to highlight the importance of humility, honesty, and the courage to recognize when one makes a mistake.  And as is often the case, this week’s quote has a story behind it.  One that involves my daughter and the mistakes we sometimes make as parents.

Last week was finals at my daughter’s school.  My daughter, Amanda, is like any other child, and finding an excuse for procrastinating is an art form for her.  In this particular case, Amanda had managed to go through the whole weekend without studying, and now the night before it was time for a crash study session.  It was getting late in the evening, and Amanda still had quite a bit of material to cover.  Instead of going to the study to review the material, she insisted on sitting in the living room with us with a constant pester of, “Help me study…”

Being an “old school” father, I took the position that to study means you must go into solitude and review the material over and over.  This led to a bit of an argument.  “Dad, that’s not how I study,” replied Amanda.  I countered, “Well, that’s how you need to study…now go in the other room and start reviewing your material.”  Back and forth this went, with my wife jumping in periodically to defend Amanda’s position.  Eventually the debate elevated to the point where all of us were frustrated, and in my infinite wisdom I ‘sent’ Amanda to the study to ‘figure it out’.

Later that night I sat in bed struggling with the earlier discussion.  “Pam?” I whispered to my wife…”do you think I was a little rough on Amanda?”  Pam replied, “Yes, you were a bit stubborn, and you may not be looking at things through her eyes.  They teach children to study differently now, and one of the techniques they use is flash cards.  All Amanda wanted to do was to have us review the flash cards, as it helps her to have us ‘quiz’ her on them…”  You could have hit me with a baseball bat and it wouldn’t have jolted me more than those words did.  I was wrong.  Flat out wrong.  And if I was going to teach my daughter any real values and leadership principles, I knew exactly what I had to do.

The next morning my wife and I got up early to help Amanda study for the test.  All three of us sat in the kitchen and ‘quizzed’ on flash cards for a good hour before school started.  But you know what was more important than that?  It was the words I said to Amanda before we began studying:  “Amanda, I made a mistake last night…and I am sorry.  Parents make mistakes sometimes, and it’s important that when we do, we are willing to admit those mistakes and correct them.”

Isn’t it so true how leadership often follows that same logic (or at least SHOULD follow that logic)?  Take the quote from Chan Master Fuchan Yuan – “There are three essentials to leadership:  Humility, clarity, and courage”.  Humility to recognize that you do make mistakes as a leader.  Clarity to see it.  And courage to admit it.    We are going to make mistakes.  It’s what you do after which defines your leadership.

Challenging the Status Quo

“Group and organizational dynamics tend to pull organizations toward average or below average performance.  Psychological inertia tends to make innovation unlikely.”

“The status quo tends to defeat meaningful change because people are constrained by their basic nature and the “rules” of the environment they work in – Said another way, people don’t like change because it upsets their world and causes chaos.  Every system strives hard to maintain itself and resist change.”

[Chaun Mikuleza]

This past week I was in Milwaukee for a series of senior leadership meetings.  A key topic of our meetings was around the continued transformation of the business to one that can operate as a “fast and agile company”.  This week’s quotes are from a presentation one of my colleagues gave in those meetings around the importance of developing a “culture of change”.  They struck me as worth sharing with you, as I have always embraced the concept of change.

Change is never an easy thing.  And yes, there must be a balance to how much change you push.  But in truth, change is necessary.  Innovation cannot occur without change…without challenging the status quo.  Without it, organizations are doomed to gravitate toward mediocrity.

I can recall past resistance to change in many of the organizations I’ve worked for and with – be it technology, new processes, or simply changes to the organizational structure.  “Stop changing things and let us catch our breath”, and “why would we need to do that…we already have a good process” were two of the many responses I recall.  But looking back, there is no question those changes were beneficial to those organizations.

If an organization is to truly become a market leader in its industry, it must evolve.  It must change.  And it must create a “culture of change.”

From Ideas Come Answers

“From perspective comes clarity.  From clarity comes clear thinking.  From clear thinking come ideas.  And from ideas come answers.”

[Andy Andrews]

By now you are beginning to see a theme emerge around innovation as an “institutionalized” process for organizational success.  I’ve been saving this leadership quote for a few months now because I believe it speaks to the concept of innovation, particularly the importance of perspective when driving innovation.  What I love about this quote is how it chains the importance of starting with perspective if you hope to end with answers.  So let’s speak to the concept of perspective.

What is perspective?  Webster’s dictionary had two definitions I thought relevant in this case:

  • The capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance
  • The interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed (point of view)

So what does perspective have to do with innovation, solving problems, or gaining answers?  The answer is: everything.  Relevance.  Relationship.  Priority.  Point of View.  Before you can even begin to develop ideas that lead to answers, you have to gain perspective and clarity on the issue.

Think of how Apple has revolutionized the MP3 player, cell phone, and tablet market.  To be fair, they didn’t invent any of these devices.  The iPod, iPhone and iPad are all variants of technology that existed far before Apple created them.  But what Apple focused on almost entirely was perspective.  The perspective of their user.  How their customers would consume information.  How their customers might use their products.  So they had to put themselves in the shoes of that customer.  They had to start with perspective.  And I think we’ll all agree, Apple products are cool because of “how” you use them. Because of how they interface with you.

This is why it was so important for an organization to institutionalize innovation across the company.  Each of you has a unique perspective.  Many of you work directly with and beside your customers.  And in doing so you gain perspective – the perspective of those customers.  That is so important.  For any business to successfully deliver on the promise of its offerings it must start with that perspective.

Be Part of the Solution

“Why is it that every time a smart person needs help to solve a problem, they look everywhere except their own mind?”

[Quote from a 1957 Manpower operating manual]

This is a particularly telling quote one of my colleagues at ManpowerGroup found and highlighted to me last week.  It’s a particularly telling quote, as it really highlights the responsibility we all have as team members and leaders to contribute to the solution, not the problem.  Note the timeless nature of the quote – from an operations manual back in 1957!

This reminds me of a funny story one of my former colleagues told me that is worth repeating.  He was telling me about a boss he once had [we’ll call her Suzy to protect the innocent] who drove home the message of leadership and responsibility, particularly around offering potential solutions to problems and not relying on others to solve those problems.  The story goes like this:

“I remember when I first started working for Suzy.  The first time I had an issue arise, I called Suzy and said, ‘Suzy, I have this problem, what should I do?’ Suzy then responded, ‘well, what options have you considered?’  ‘None’, I said, ‘that’s why I called you.’  To which Suzy offered two or three solutions.

The next time I brought a problem to Suzy I got the same thing.  ‘Well, what options have you considered?’, said Suzy.  ‘None’, I said again, ‘that’s why I called you.’  To which Suzy sighed and again offered a few solutions.

The third time I brought a problem to Suzy, she again asked, ‘Well, what options have you considered?’, to which I again replied, ‘none, that’s why I called you.’  The phone immediately went dead.  So I called Suzy back and said, ‘we must have been cut off.’  ‘No’, Suzy replied.  ‘I hung up on you’.  ‘Why?’, I asked.  ‘Well, if you aren’t going to bring some options to solve the issues you raise, I don’t need you as a leader.’”.

A bit of a harsh lesson, to be fair.  But the story does highlight an important point.  Leadership isn’t about always having the right answer, but it is about taking the time to explore potential answers and not just highlight problems.

Every day you will be faced with challenges.  Your job in supporting your customers inherently requires you to face such challenges and issues on almost a daily basis.  So ask yourself this simple question – Are you acting as a leader and part of the solution, or looking to everyone else for the answer?

Communication is Critical

“The less people know, the more they yell”    [Seth Godin]

On many occasions, I have referenced quotes on communication as part of my Leadership Thought.  The reason is that communication is so vital to success in business – to culture, to attitude, and to perception (including that of the customer).  This week’s quote helps drive that point home.

To highlight the importance of communication, and in particular this week’s quote, I’d like to share a brief story.  Last week I went to the doctor for a scheduled visit.  After sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, the office staff informed me I would have to reschedule the appointment for later in the week.  At my return visit, I also waited over an hour before seeing my doctor.  Note the difference in my reactions to the two separate appointments:

Despite the wait time on my first visit, I did not leave frustrated.  I was comfortable the office staff had done all they could do.  After the second visit, I left frustrated and disappointed.  I even snapped back at the doctor when he finally showed up.

What was the difference in the two appointments and my differing reactions?  During the first appointment, the receptionist made it a point to communicate to me every 10-15 minutes on the status and reasons for the delay.  During the second appointment, not a single one of the nurses or doctors bothered to explain the delay.  Two separate appointments to the same business, and two dramatically different outcomes.

See what I mean?

Gauge Your Impact

“Isn’t it interesting the effect we have on people, even when we don’t know it.”  – [Bart Starr]

Recently I was in a discussion with one of my leadership team members remarking on how some of our staff were working unreasonable hours trying to keep up with competing priorities.  So I asked the question…”when did I make that a priority”?  His response:  “The team presumes EVERYTHING you ask them to do is top priority, unless you tell them otherwise”.  Wow!  That response literally slapped me in the face!

This week’s quote goes miles to crystalize this dilemma.  It isn’t always in the words we say, but many times it’s in our actions, both past and present, that often impact others.  Are you aware of the effect you have on your team members, your clients, and your suppliers?  Stop and think about it a minute…and make sure the effect you have on others (even when you don’t know it) isn’t creating unintended consequences.