Innovate or evaporate

I recently weaned off years of corporate a provided Blackberry to a personal smart phone.  What a fantastic product and a true lesson of innovation.  The smart phone does so much and is so user friendly.  The geeks get the credit.

Products seem to get all the focus when it comes to innovation.  Sure, leaders must have the insight to provide the funding and vision to allow the geeks to take off with their ideas, but what about leadership innovation at its basic level.  What should leaders be looking for in assessing their team’s innovation?  There are a plenty!  Leadership innovation includes process improvements, recruiting successes, team maturity accomplishments, virtual skill development, and business model overhauls.  Innovation should be assessed in all we do and of those around us.  In fact, leaders need to be careful to not set a tone of technical innovation being more important than business innovation.  They work hand-in-hand.

What have you done lately to encourage business model innovation? 

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Have a FULL Day

Not surprisingly, Bill reached out to me in the mist of the NCAA basketball tournament. While we were working colleagues for a long time, basketball was a shared passion.  We are both focused on achievements outside the traditional workplace at this time, but Bill sent me a great reminder. 

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special^."  (JimmyValvano’s 1993 ESPY Speech)

 If Jim Valvano can give a speech with this strong positive message in the middle of a failing cancer fight, think what you can accomplish.  Reach out to someone you have not touched in a while.  Give someone a second chance.  Help someone.  Lead by example.

Have you laughed, thought and cried today?  How do you keep your days special and assist those around you to do the same?

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Work with MEANING !!!

Shelby decided it was time!  She was only 22 weeks into gestation.  Unfortunately, she was nowhere near a hospital and there were no emergency crews immediately available for transportation.  Many miles away, a Sikorsky program manager was in the process of working with a customer for final acceptance of a special medivac helicopter.  The request for assistance arrived.  Everyone involved worked together to allow the aircraft to be used for this emergency situation and Shelby is a happy ten year old today.

Working in aerospace for over 32 years, you can begin to think “making metal fly” is an exciting, technically challenging and important undertaking.  Then you are reminded what amazing things the products do.  These stories and accomplishments are what make the job rewarding in the end.  We’ve all heard the story of the mason laying bricks versus the one building the cathedral.  One is doing a job and the other is contributing to mankind.  It is the leader’s responsibility to keep the true mission of the organization visible to the team. When I saw the items in the photo on Mike’s shelf, it was a wonderful reminder of this important leadership communication role.

How do you keep your team engaged in the bigger mission?  What challenging jobs have you had to figure out the mission of?

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Exit with Grace - repeat

In 2009, I was presented the challenge of establishing multiple international manufacturing operations for Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.  Four years later, major operations have been established and are delivering helicopter hardware from India, China, Poland and the Czech Republic, and the S-92 global partners in Taiwan, China, Brazil, Spain and Mexico have met the production ramp-up.  I was given the opportunity to prove international operations can be established using a robust program management orientation,  on-demand domain expertise, virtual leadership, cultural awareness and strict progress gate criteria and metrics.  It is now time to return to our Huntington Beach, CA home, enjoy life and see what new challenge presents arises.

When I left Boeing in 2009, I posted a LiaV blog on how to leave a company titled “Exit with Grace.”  It was an exploration of the best way to leave a company and I concluded that we should all leave gracefully and truthfully. I get to take my own advice again. That post got 49 comments that varied greatly.

What do you believe is the general rule of advice for an exit?

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Democratizing Quality

Once upon a time there was a talented carpenter worked for the King. He had constructed many beautiful palaces and monuments for the king. He had grown old and wanted to retire from service. So one day he went to the king and requested to be relived from service. The King was sad and asked him to do one final project. The carpenter was given the task of constructing a house before he retired. The carpenter was upset. The King gave another task even though he wanted to retire. He decided to finish off the house at the earliest, with least possible effort. To speed up the work he decided on a low involvement design, shallow high speed foundation, low cost material and fast, poor quality workmanship. He was focused on completing the house and retiring forever from the service. He rarely found time for site supervision. Soon the house project was completed. The carpenter called the King, to hand over the house. The King took the Keys, but handed over the keys back to the carpenter. The King said “You have served me faithfully my friend. This is my Farewell Gift to you, my loyal one”. The carpenter was left dumbstruck – Only if I had known the house was meant for me.

This story illustrates the quality dilemma, which many of us face in course of our professional career. We are tempted/prompted to make a trade-offs between quality of work/product versus speed of work/ throughput time/profits / cost of product. At least at some point of time many people are tempted to sacrifice quality for cost or delivery.

How do you deal with the cost/quality tradeoff?  What do you teach you people?

(This LiaV post was provided by Tony Joseph, member of United Technology’s Operations Leadership Program based in India).

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Be a cancelation champion

Neil Young tells an interesting story about the struggles of conducting his sound check for the 2011 Farm Aid concert in Kansas City.  The venue was a large soccer stadium and all the acts were having the same problem. “So the next day at the show, when I was watching everyone play, adjusting their monitors all the time, trying to find a good sound and struggling.  I used nomonitors at all.  I just didn’t bother using any.” (Neil Young, Waging HeavyPeace, 1012).

Think about this simple solution.  As leaders, we solve problems.  This typically means devising a complicated system, training people and developing metrics to ensure proper use.  Maybe the first thing we should do is see if removing something (or everything) from the problem solves it better than adding to it.  A mentor a long time ago told me to try to remove something for everything I added.  He said people that work for you will remember you made their job easier.  I remember an IT director long ago used the “Y2K threat” as the catalyst to cancel over 500 reports her team did not think were used.  In January 2000, only one of the reports were asked for and it was by the person that carries it, not someone that wanted to read it!

What have you canceled lately?  Do you solve with simplification? Are you viewed are the leader who removes as much as she adds?

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Leaders risk being misunderstood

If a “leader” is the one with the vision and must stay in front of the team, can they ever really be understood by their “manager”?  We are at performance review time at many legacy companies and it is a valid question.

I was asked this question in a coaching session the other day.  The logic was that leaders are typically misunderstood because they see a future others cannot.  Often the case, leaders visualize the work being accomplished in ways their peers and bosses cannot comprehend.  If this is true and if their manager bosses are conducting the performance review, isn’t it better to conform to the legacy company norms and reduce risk?

This is probably the biggest risk a leader faces when in a legacy company.  Many years ago I completed my master degree thesis on a very simple hypothesis, “Do managers know the difference between management and leadership and do they promote leaders or people like themselves?” (CSULB 1987)  The statistical significant result of the research was not good news for leaders.  Managers knew the difference and promoted those like themself.  After years of reflection, the great equalizer became superior communication skills.  A leader has to articulate their vision and approach far more than a manager following direction.

Have you seen leaders at risk due to not being understood?  What coaching have you given them?

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2013 Re-Reboot

Over the holidays heading into 2009, I decided to take a step into the unknown leaving a very long, single company career.  I called it my “reboot.”  A reboot is different from retirement.  It is like when your computer is stuck and you hit “Control-Alt-Delete” to start over (hopefully not losing all the work you had done).  After six months having a blast in Southern California, we tried something completely different - I role that allowed me live near family, experience NYC and test my theory on how to successfully start international operations.  Three years later, this reboot has been achieved.

Time for the next one.  What shall it be?  Leaders need to step into the unknown periodically just as we expect of our people.  We ask them to follow us to ne places.  Long and comfortable careers can be a hindrance to imagination if left unchallenged. How would you respond to your boss if she asked you the day you returned “How do you plan to lead more effectively in 2013 than you did in 2012?”  This is a question we should ask ourselves every year at this time.  My answer is easy.  I’m going to re-reboot similar to 2009.

Are you going to change/improve your leadership in 2013?  What will you change? How will you explain the change to your team?   

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Leaders as Passengers

We are all guilty of it, some more often than others.  Leaders must be able to step into the forefront and be good followers. But, sometimes we disengage so much that we actually become passengers.  Those times we are uninvolved participants going for the ride.  I heard this term from Astronaut Mike Mullane on uTube” 

LiaV Top 5 Leaders as Passenger List:

1. Reading your Smartphone during meetings and presentations.
2. Going radio silent on topics to avoid controversy.
3. Not asking clarification questions to gain understanding.
4. Thinking about what you are going to say next when the other person is still talking.
5. Multi-tasking (it is really high speed serial processing).

What would you add to this list?  How do you overcome these challenges?

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Search for dissenters!

A leader is most vulnerable to serious mistake when they are emotionally tied to the topic and surround themselves with people that agree with them.  You know the situation, something has you total engulfed and you absolutely know that you are right.  You share the situation with a loved one and ask their opinion.  They feel your pain and agree with your position 100%.  The problem is they are being supportive not objective!

We recently attended The 2012 Richard Salant Lecture presented by the New Canaan Library and hosted this year by Brian Williams (NBC Nightly News).  One important topic discussed was the fragmentation of the US news media into cable channels with different slants and points of view.  The distinguished guest panel (David Gergen, Peter Goldmark, Jr. and Joe Scarborough) shared their concern that this created a problem in the US where people can listen to the “news” that matched their opinion and it stopped people from hearing things that made them consider alternative ideas.  It seemed like a reasonable hypothesis so I tried it.

This week when I had a strong opinion on something, I continued to share the example with trusted colleagues until I found someone who disagreed with me.  Guess what happened – they were also right and I tailored my view.

Do you search from dissenting opinions? Do you search until you find one?  Once you find one, does it typically sway your opinion?

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LiaV Named Exemplary Leadership Site

I'm proud to inform you that your Leadership is a Verb (LiaV) has been selected for yet another best leadership blog award in 2012. 

This time MastersinLeadership.org  published their 100 Exemplary Sites for Future Leaders list and LiaV was 9th of 100!  Thank you for the ideas, concepts, observations (good an bad) and inspiration.

You make LiaV what it is. Thank you.

John

 

 

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Here’s to the crazy ones

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Source - Apple Inc.

I read this script in an Ashish’s office in Hyderabad, India a week ago. While I had seen the Apple video on a web, the written version had more impact.  My colleague and I like to consider ourselves the “crazy ones.”  It then made us think, do all managers consider themselves a “crazy one?” Has crazy now become baseline self opinion? Would some admit to not being crazy in this context?

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Wind in your sails

This is a replay of a story I heard last week.

Sean was complaining about his boss.  It was one thing after another.  Bottom line, Sean could not find much positive in the situation.  Sean shared this with his mentor and he was told to save his energy.  “You should not try sailing when there is no wind” the mentor told him. 

Sean did not have the power or audience for his concerns.  He was basically campaigning to himself.  If he just waited, the wind would return and others would understand the situation.  As a leader, we must consider the same idea.  Sometimes it is our job to create wind.  We see a need and we must create change.  Other times, we must observe there is no audience for our concern and we should hold the idea for a better time.  It is our job to figure out which is which.

Have you had a great idea at the wrong time?  Did you ever wait for the right time and find more success?

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Hogs get slaughtered!

Alan is a senior at a major state university.  He has ok grades and some related work experience.  He is a talented young man I have mentored over the years.  He emailed me the other day to ask for advice concerning a job offer for received for a management rotation program.  Yes, you heard this right.  A college senior with a job offer in September of their senior year!

The offer was very fair and competitive.  The position was awesome.  The problem was that when Alan asked the people around him (probably other students), they coached him to ask for more money.  He asked my opinion.  I did not beat around the bush.  I knew of the program he was offered and it is an unbelievable career opportunity.  While he might be successful receiving a few more dollars per year in salary, he would be forming the initial opinions of his new leadership.  The situation reminded me of the investment advice I got years ago “Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.”  We all need to know when enough is enough.  I shared my opinion with Alan in clear, straight forward words.  He thanked me and pointed out that he needed someone to point out the obvious.  His friends were thinking too short term. He accepted the offer.

Do you provide clear, concise advice when it is needed?  How do you tell the difference between when a mentee needs general concepts from direction?

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Reduce Your Value Now

The day after I presented a leadership lesson on "Delivering Results" I got this note of appreciation from one of the participants. “Thank you for your leadership lesson.  You successfully reduced your value.” Out of context, you might think this is a very questionable complement. 

On 29 April 2012, I posted a very controversial leadership concept that suggested it is all our responsibility to teach the people we lead everything we know.  By doing this, we would reduce our value in the organization and taken to the extreme, become redundant (0 par value).  It is then the leader’s responsibility to re-tool their skill-set or move on to a new challenge.  This helps explain while large organizations often appear to have a lot of churn.  The complement above was the result of my sharing this concept with the class participants and one student following up with a very witty email.

Do you have the gumption to make yourself redundant?  Do you drive your value down and up at the same time? Would you force your own removal?

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The greatest generation?

This term it refers to the World War II generation born between 1928 and 1945.  What if each generation is great and it is leadership’s job to discover the value of each.

The tremendous benefits and challenges of building successful intergenerational teams has been a consistent aspect of business.  Artisans have taught their crafts to apprentices forever.  Today, the leader and team who best integrates the experience, wisdom and accomplishments of the Baby Boomers with the energy, ideas and technology skills of the Millennials and Generation Z’s will far out perform those who simply allow them to co-exist. Teams that understand this power and capitalize on it will be more satisfied, engaged and have far greater accomplishments.

What are you doing to build the strongest intergenerational teams?  How do you maximize the contributions of each generation?


Generation/Attribute Summary (Source: Australian Institute of Management):

Traditionalists/WWII = 1928-1945

Baby Boomer = 1946-1964

Generation Jones = 1954 and 1965

Gen X = 1965-1980

Gen Y = 1981-1995

Gen Z = 1996 - present

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Leadership Gurukul

I’d like to take credit for the name, but it goes to a colleague in India.  “A gurukul (pronounced guru-cool) is a type of school in India.” The process involves the master interacting with the students in a long term natural setting.

The situation that brought this to my attention were courses I was asked to teach the management teams of two international companies on “Delivering Results” and “Business Excellence.”  I did not feel I met the qualifications of a “guru” in terms of knowledge, experience or age.  Thinking about it afterward, if I didn’t meet the criteria, then who did?  I spent my gurukul time sharing the experiences I’ve learned from over the last 30 years of aircraft building and preparing organizations for Malcolm Baldrige evaluations.  When you compare my experience to that of a student’s (new supervisor in a new industry), I guess I’m the one that should be teaching. Seems to me all great leaders should be gurukuls to others.

Do you know you are a guru in something?  Are you acting like it and sharing everything you know with teammates?

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“How are you?” No, I really mean it – How are you?

Walking down the main shop aisle a week ago, I crossed paths with another company executive.  I just had a very positive experience with one of her employees and I wanted to share the good news.  Leaders tend to get far more bad news than good, so I wanted to be sure I broke the trend.

We stopped for a moment and she asked me, “How are you doing?”  I basically did not answer and started to share the good news I had for her.  She politely interrupted and asked me again, “How are you doing?” I think I said “fine” and continued in my sharing.  A third time she asked me, “So, everything is going ok?”  It occurred to me that she was actually asking me a question and she was interested in my response.  The phrase, “How are you doing?” has somehow turned into a salutation or greeting as compared to a question.  I walked away from the exchange wondering how often I ask an introductory question and don’t listen to the answer. Or equally bad, how often the person answering believes their response is not important so they barely respond.

How do you open your conversations?  Do you “really” care how your team is doing?  How do you show it?

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“Log Out and Live”™

I live in both real and virtual worlds.  My job involves leading a culturally diverse team spread around the globe.  Multiple time zones, languages and environments make the use of technology a must to be efficient and timely.

We all live the real world where we eat, sleep, exercise, and interact socially.  These can often seem distinctly different from our work world of email, text, web meetings and collaboration centers.  I was preparing to run in the Fairfield Half Marathon this morning and ran into a special group of entrepreneurs.  There product is a cause – Log Out and Live™.  It is hard to argue our kids need to get off their computers and go outside and play!  The message of Log Out and Live is equally directed at adults.  It reminds us of the importance of social interaction with actual people.  Yes – they are using technology to spread their message. As a leader, it caused me to step back and consider the team interaction activities I create daily.  Should some of my emails have been phone calls?  Should some of my phone calls have been personal visits? Should some of my office meetings have been walks on the campus green?

Do you make decisions to avoid technology when appropriate?  How do you balance the speed and time zone advantages of technology with the value of personal social interaction?

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Learning does not wait for you to be ready

I was tired, hungry and not in the mood to explore and learn any more.  We had spent the day discovering new and hidden locations in the Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea areas of New York City.  I had walked past this location many times and never visited.  I did not miss it before and would not feel disappointed missing it this time.

The funny thing about knowledge and learning is that it does not happen when you want it.  We climbed the first stairs of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, often referred to as the main branch of the New York Public Library system.  It is a Beaux-Arts landmark structure on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.  The Astor and Mcgraw rotundas were very interesting, but the Rose Reading room on the third floor was absolutely amazing (See photo).  Every visitor to NYC should find the time to see this structure inside and out.  As leaders, we need to be willing to force ourselves to learn even when we are not in the mood.  We must be the role models and demonstrate the value of an open mind.

How often do you turn off your learning sensors because you are not in the mood?  How do you re-energize to allow yourself to open up at these critical times?

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