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This month, in The Platform Builders Mastermind group, we are working our way through Simon Sinek’s recently released “Leaders Eat Last – Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t.”
Sinek, the author of Start With Why, provides a deep look into what creates the most effective teams and more importantly, what keeps them working together, even during the most difficult of times.
This is one of those books that will take you a little bit longer to read because so many thoughts require you to take another look, just to make sure you understood the power behind them. A phenomenal effort by Sinek, Leaders Eat Last not only looks at the dynamic of the team but of the individuals that make up that team.
What really sets this book apart is Sinek’s unique look at why some people make good leaders and others don’t and the “why” behind the results they get. In this post, the final of four, I will attempt to capture the basic thoughts of the eight parts of the book.
PART 7: A SOCIETY OF ADDICTS
AT THE CENTER OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS IS US – A very enlightening chapter that explains a lot about some of the cultural problems we are facing and how they translate into the way we lead. Our desire for immediate gratification has taken many of us off our A-game.
Sinek makes a great observation when he says, “Leadership is about taking responsibility for lives and not numbers. Managers look after our numbers and our results and leaders look after us.” Seems like we currently have a shortage of leaders.
AT ANY EXPENSE – The demand for results, and achieving them now, has thrown us completely out of balance. Dopamine is a good thing when taken in moderation. Unfortunately, the recognition for achievement had created an addiction that is as contagious as the plague.
I have to go back to one of the statements I made in an earlier post. We have moved from a collaborative to a competitive culture and the desire, and demand, to keep up with the Jones’ has resulted in a somewhat overlooked epidemic of dopamine addiction.
THE ABSTRACT GENERATION – This chapter really hit home for me. I have often described Generation Y as the entitlement generation. I don’t know that I would go back on that statement entirely, but I do have a very different perspective after listening to what “Simon says.”
Our culture of immediate gratification has created a generation that expects things to happen now – so why wouldn’t they expect that? The difference is that I understand more of the why behind their actions and attitude and realize that success will not come from changing them, but from embracing them and using the strengths they do bring to the table.
PART 8: BECOMING A LEADER
STEP 12 – An interesting comparison the the alcoholics anonymous 12 step approach to recovery. The great point made by Sinek here is that service is the key to breaking the dopamine addictions in our organizations. Serving puts the real focus back on the people and not on the numbers and the interesting thing is that focusing on the people has actually shown to produce the numbers.
SHARED STRUGGLE – This was a great chapter! The idea is that we ultimately perform our best when we are backed into a corner and have no other choice than to depend on those around us to get through the current challenge. The power of working collectively as a team, sharing in the struggle, has a special way of bringing out the best in us. Oxytocin anyone?
WE NEED MORE LEADERS – How about this gem from Sinek: “Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more.” We have lots of “leaders” in our lives, unfortunately not all of them are leading.
Sinek continues to finish strong, suggesting that leadership is about “committing to the well-being of those in our care and having the willingness to make sacrifices to see their interests advanced so that they may carry our banner long after we are gone.” And then closes the book with what I consider a very powerful “call to action” for all of us …
LET US ALL BE THE LEADERS WE WISH WE HAD
– Simon Sinek (TWEET THIS)
We were honored to have Simon join The Platform Builders on a call this week as we wrapped up our mastermind study on the book. All I can say is WOW! He added so much value to our tribe in just a short while. One golden pearl of wisdom and inspiration after another. There will several takeaways but I will leave you today with this one, “True fulfillment comes from serving those that serve others.” (Tweet This)
That statement came along with the story of his trip home from Afghanistan on a Military flight in which he shared the back end of the plane for nine hours accompanied by only the flag draped casket of a fallen soldier. His reflection … “You want to talk about a life impacting experience that puts things in perspective!” We still have much to hear from Mr. Sinek and I for one, can’t wait!
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As a coach, speaker, trainer and author, I strive to get results for my clients. My biggest challenge – it’s not up to me to get them. It’s not up to me to choose the goals or achieve them. It’s not what I want, it’s what the client wants.
My role is to provide a path to get there. In other words, I bring the tool box and we collaboratively figure out which tools to use and how to use them. Any project will require tools to complete. So which tools do we need?
A conversation I had recently with a client pushed me to take a look at the toolbox I carry with me and figure out which tools are required for any effort. A few thoughts crossed my mind. Do I have the right tools? Do I have too many tools? Am I offering the right tools for the project?
After reflecting on this idea for a while, I came to the conclusion that there are 3 tools needed to achieve success in any project we take on. I am certainly not suggesting that these are the only tools you will need but these 3 tools are the ones you better take out of the toolbox before you even look at the blueprint.
You Can Only Get Here From There!
TOOL 1 – AWARENESS
When I speak to people and ask them about their goals, I get all kinds of responses. Some are simply the “one-liner conceptual type” and others are full of detail and very specific. I love to follow this up with a question. Where did you come up with that idea? This is where it get’s interesting. “I don’t know, I just think that would be real nice to achieve that.” Or, “Well I want more than what I have now and that is more.”
Most people set their goals upon only that which they know. They never even consider that there might be options that they have not even thought about. That conversation I had allowed that person to enter into the awareness of possibility she had never thought about before. All it took was a few curious questions she had never asked herself.
Stepping To The Line Of Intention Is Only The Beginning
TOOL 2 – INTENTIONALITY
Nothing happens without setting the intention for it. Sure, life happens but I’m not talking about life happening to you, I’m talking about “intentionally” happening to life. Peter Drucker said; “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
Drucker is spot on. If you want to achieve anything of significance in life, you need to be intentional about it. Do you think the Seattle Seahawk defense figured because they were the #1 rated defense this year, they could just show up to the Super Bowl and perform? Not hardly. I know enough about the game of football to know they were very intentional about everything that happened on the field in New Jersey on Sunday.
Who Are You When Someone Else “Is Watching?”
TOOL 3 – ACCOUNTABILITY
You need the awareness and you need to set the intention but without the tool of accountability you are simply rolling the dice on whether or not you will be successful. I am not saying you can’t accomplish great things on your own but let’s be real. If you could do it on your own, it would already be done and it wouldn’t be on your list anymore. Make sense?
The simple fact is we perform better when someone else is watching. If they are going to watch, they might as well call us out when we need it. Quit fooling yourself by saying “this time will be different.” The only way it will be different is if you make it different.
So I have a little different type of challenge for you today. Think about these 3 tools and then think about someone that you know that carries these with them. Go talk to that person and ask them how they use those tools to find success in their endeavors. You never know, they just might make a pretty good accountability partner as well!
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If you are like most people, there are one or two things that you put on your list of goals every year and every year you fall short.
I have spent much of the past two or three years studying what separates those who succeed from those that don’t. I have come to the conclusion that it comes down to not what they are trying to do, but why they are trying to doing it.
Back to my opening statement. For me, that lingering item has been my health. I have never been able to figure it out. My wife Michelle sets a great example for me. She eats good, sleeps 8+ hours a night and runs five days a week. Beyond that, I want to be in good health. Even though I am 48, I feel like I am younger than that but at the same time, feel time catching up – if you know what I mean!
A couple of friends of mine, Chemae and Eric, are Take Shape For Life coaches and after years of listening to stories about success they have been having with their clients, I decided to put some of the health principles that they teach to the test.
About six months ago, I started eating smaller meals and cut way back on sugar and carbs. Boom! Instant results. By early November I had hit my first benchmark. I had dropped twenty pounds and thought I had this health thing all figured out. After all, I am a professional coach. Should be easy, right? Maybe not.
A month later and no more progress. So I did what I should have done to begin with. Reached back to Eric and Chemae and said “Help!” Three words made a huge difference. Here they are and why they are so important.
STOP
When things are not going the way you want. When you just aren’t getting the results you are looking for – STOP! I didn’t say quit, I said stop. I know you have heard the saying “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.” So if this is the case – stop and take a minute to figure out why things are not working out. How do you do this? Simple …
CHALLENGE
If you are not getting the results you were looking for, challenge the thought process that you have been using to get them. Challenge your why. Most of all, challenge what you know about what you want and why you want it. (Tweet This / Share on Facebook / Post to LinkedIn) Knowledge is power and sometimes even when our why is the right one – we don’t understand it enough to make it strong enough to provide the strength to succeed. OK, then what?
CHOOSE
Now you are a little bit smarter. Now choose a new path. The destination might still be the same but now you can make the needed course corrections and get back after it. Life is about choices and usually, the better informed we are, the better choices we make. Clarity also makes the decision making process much easier. Eliminate the things that didn’t or won’t work and then you have less to choose from.
So does this work? Well, one week into following the Take Shape For Life program and I was down 5 more pounds and getting more sleep. In reality, the process impressed me so much that it struck me that this would be a great addition to be able to provide the same support and resources to my own clients. Most of them have health related issues on their list anyway so why not add a plan that actually works into the services I provide.
So I have added health coach to my resume. I joined the Take Shape For Life team earlier this month and am looking forward to sharing a path to Optimal Health with my network of clients and colleagues. If you are interested in finding out more about the TSFL program I would encourage to visit my TSFL page by clicking here and contact me if you think it makes sense for you and I will help you get started.
There is also a great opportunity that you can sign up for through March 1st. If you are interested in finding your own path to Optimal Health, join along with thousands of others and sign up for the STOP CHALLENGE CHOOSE (sound familiar) 12 Week Health Transformation. No cost. No strings. Simply an email a day full of great content and tools that can really make a difference for you in your journey to getting healthier.
Just click here and you will be redirected to the Stop Challenge Choose webpage. Click on the I Know / Have a Coach button and put in my name “Barry Smith” and that’s it. Starting on the next Monday, you will receive a daily email full of great value related to improving your health. If you have any questions along the way, just let me know.
A question today that you may have never asked yourself before – What does Optimal Health look like to you?
You might have already guessed my challenge – Sign up for the STOP CHALLENGE CHOOSE 12 Week Health Transformation and find out what Optimal Health might look like for you.
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It’s the beginning of the year and as we are accustomed to, blogs fill our inbox everyday giving the “right” way to achieve our goals. I get it – new year, new plan, new outcome – right? Well sometimes.
One of the great things about being a coach is that you get to collaborate with other coaches and mentors on a regular basis. Honestly, I think having a coach or mentor – someone to hold you accountable – is the best way to achieve any goal. Speaking from personal experience I can say that my results increase dramatically when I have someone holding me accountable to doing what I say I am going to do.
One of my mentors, Kary Oberbrunner, recently posted this on his Day Job to Dream Job blog:
I think I heard something like this before but it clearly did not stick. This time it did. I get this now. It makes so much sense. It’s really no different for goals. When the goal is the goal, the focus is on the destination. When the goal is about changing who you are, the goal becomes the bi-product of the transformation you go through.
I Don’t Want To Be What I Used To Be!
Maybe it’s the transformation that I have gone through over the past few years in my own life that has brought clarity to this concept. But now that I understand it, everything I do has more meaning. And not just to me, but to those around me as well.
In Guatemala last June, John Maxwell told me that; “Once you get a taste of significance, you will never settle for success.” (Tweet This / Share on Facebook / Post to LinkedIn) Think about that one for a minute!
OK, so why does any of this matter? If you remember from an earlier post, I mentioned that today in National Quit Day. The average day that most people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions. Do you possibly think that the reason they give up is because they are focused on the destination and let’s be honest, how much change can possibly take place in ten days?
I Want To Be Who I Am Going To Be!
OK – Problem identified. Now let’s get to the solution. Here is my advice. The next time you set a goal, use the one you set ten days ago if you want, spend some additional time writing down (YES, I SAID WRITING DOWN) the person you hope to become in achieving that goal.
We are ten days into 2014 and I will go out on a limb here and assume that most of you have made some type of list of the things you want to achieve this year. My guess is very few of you have written down who you would like to become this year.
I Can’t Find The Easy Button
Are you going to measure the success of this year by how well you achieve your goals? What if you fail? What if life happens and you simply can’t attain your goals because of your circumstances?
Here is the good news about focusing on the journey instead of the destination. Setting out to change yourself does not really have much to do with achieving the goal. We can learn through adversity and we can change during the difficult times. We can grow every day in any situation. It doesn’t matter what life throws at us.
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche may give the best goal setting advice there is. The problem is that most people don’t get stronger. They give up or simply change direction because “it makes more sense.”
As far as I am concerned, this may be the most important question I ask this year. “Who do you want to become?” How about a bonus question to celebrate National Quit Day? “What will you do to become that person?”
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Alright, I will admit it, the idea and implementation of discipline have never been one of my strengths. Those of you that have known me for a while are probably laughing right now because you know how true that statement is.
I have had my share of challenges just like everyone else, but for the most part, things have worked out for me and I never had to discipline myself to achieve some major goal or overcome a significant challenge. To be honest, I think this has hurt me more than help me. I think a lot can be learned from being disciplined to do something consistently and once completed, I think it empowers you to achieve even more.
The last few years I have had high expectations of myself and have set many goals. Many I achieved and some I did not. Why did I fail in some areas? I think I can point to one common theme – Discipline.
Now I’m a pretty smart guy (most of the time) and it didn’t take me too long to realize that if I am going to accomplish the goals I set for myself, I need discipline. So I did the smart thing – I asked for some help. I now have a few people holding me accountable to be disciplined. End of story – mission accomplished – right?
Well sort of. This is where I think I have been messed up in my thinking. I know other people that are disciplined. They run so many miles a week. They go to the gym so many days a week and so on. We all know these people. They seem to accomplish whatever they set out to do. What makes the difference? How come they get it done consistently?
Well here is what I think. They get it done consistently because they START consistently. Starting is the key to finishing. Here are some helpful ways to get you started.
STORY – If you are attempting to be disciplined, there is a story behind why you are doing it. What is your story? Are you clear on the reasons you are attempting to start, stop, do more or do less of something? A strong story will provide the strength to succeed.
TELL SOMEONE – I mentioned it earlier, have someone hold you accountable. Make sure they know exactly what it is that you are trying to accomplish. No one can do as much by themselves as they can with the help of others.
ACTION – Actually doing the work is what will accomplish the goal. Starting is the first step to finishing and starting takes action. Wanting to do something is great, but that intention, by itself will accomplish nothing.
RISK – Let’s spin it a little bit. We usually look at doing something new based on what it will add to our lives. How often do you evaluate the risk of not doing something? Sometimes the real risk is in deciding to do nothing at all.
TIME MANAGEMENT – What is the best way to start something? Get it on your calendar. This has been the best tool I have found to help me reach my goals. My calendar does half the work for me.
So back to the question posed in the title of this post. Is discipline the hard part or the easy part? In my opinion, it is the hard part. Doing the work is really pretty easy once you start. When was the last time you gt in your car to go to the gym and turned around half way to go back home? When was the last time you went for a walk and turned around at the end of your driveway?
A month from now, everyone will be talking about New Year’s Resolutions. My challenge for you today – START NOW! Unless of course, you can tell me why January 1st is a better day than today to start doing something you need to do now.
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Today’s post is one I never really envisioned myself writing but I have come to understand, and appreciate that our physical health had a tremendous amount to do with the way we do just about everything.
I had lots of goals for 2013, and to be honest, some of them won’t be met. The good thing is that in almost everyone of them that I will fall short in, I know why. It may be due to being unrealistic to begin with, maybe it was lack of commitment on my part or maybe just the fact that some of my priorities have changed throughout the year. But at least I can learn from these failures.
A few months ago, my mentor Kary gave a group teaching on having a solid core so you could show up with all your energy available to best serve your family, your clients or simply anyone that came across your path. I really felt convicted by his words as I knew that my fitness goals were some that I was way behind on.
Most of you know I am always looking for the next “great” book to read and about the same time as I was trying to figure out how to reverse the downward trend in my efforts to improve my eating, exercise routine, and sleeping habits, a book comes out called EAT MOVE SLEEP by Tom Rath. Now some of you may recognize Rath as the author of StrengthsFinder 2.0 and I found this title surprising given his previous efforts – that was until I found out the rest of the story.
As it turns out, Rath has been dealing with a very serious illness for more than 20 years and refusing to just accept his fate, he set out to find out how he could do for himself what his body would not. For more than 2o years Rath has been studying how the food we eat, the exercise we do, and the sleep we get influence our body’s ability to function and take care of itself.
I am not really going to break down the book, but I would like to share what I have learned in each of these three areas.
EAT
If you would have asked me 3 months ago “how well do you eat?” I would have probably said that I don’t eat bad, but I don’t really eat good either. I actually have stayed away from the really bad stuff (except ice cream and pizza of course) for the most part. My big problem was that I skipped breakfast, snacked my way through lunch and ate a big dinner – because I was hungry – Hello! And then had a snack later at night to finish off the day.
Now I get it. Get a good breakfast, snack on healthy “whole” foods and eat a normal dinner. If you are going to have a snack at night, choose something healthy like fruits or nuts. I know everyone is different, but the elimination, for the most part, of all the sugars and carbs I used to eat and a better schedule has allowed me to lose 20 pounds in less than three months and I feel much better.
MOVE
My relative inactivity over the last 12 months has certainly had an impact on me. Losing twenty pounds has helped but simply stated, I need to start moving more. No extremes, but some consistency would be nice. I have some colleagues holding me accountable to this so I intend on making solid, lasting improvements.
If you want to know all the things you didn’t know related to why it’s important to exercise, grab a copy of the book. I learned a lot of new stuff and I thought I knew most of it already.
SLEEP
I find it interesting that Rath just happened to list these three things in the specific order of how well I am doing on them. The bottom line is that you need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. That means my bottom line is at about a minus 3. I have a much better understanding of sleep and what happens to your body when you don’t get enough of it.
So here is the bottom line that I believe will help anyone reading this. It doesn’t matter how much you know about any subject. What matters is how well you implement the needed changes in your life or business. I am headed in the right direction and the reason is that I finally figured out that you can’t do it all at once. You need to take it one step at a time and develop habits. Get one thing out of the way and start the next.
A very important challenge today. First, get a copy of Eat Move Sleep. This book will provide some valuable information that can change your life. Second, choose one of these areas – any one of them, and start doing something different. Set yourself up for success and start today.
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I recently finished reading Boundaries For Leaders – Results, Relationships and Being Ridiculously In Charge by Dr. Henry Cloud. Twenty years after he co-authored “Boundaries – When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life” Dr. Cloud brings a fresh look to how boundaries relate more specifically to leadership.
Dr. Cloud does an incredible job providing insight on why some people get results and others don’t. Simply stated, when we invest time beyond the boundaries “we should have” we reduce the results we achieve along the way.
Dr. Cloud has taken a complex issue and has broken it down into simple terms that every leader should be able to embrace and implement into their leadership and life style.
This will be the final of three posts exploring what it takes to lead teams, companies and cultures defined by high performance and healthy relationships.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS
Dr. Cloud sums up the power of “high” performance teams with this statement; “Nothing drives strong teams like great performance, and what drives strong performance is a commitment to a shared vision and shared goals with behaviors and relationships aligned with reaching those goals.”
Basically he is saying that high performance teams work together on the right things at the right times. This really only comes through focusing on the things that you can control and with the clarity and focus of working on them in a strategic and specific manner. It comes down to having the right plan and working that plan.
TRUST MAKES THE TEAMS ABLE TO PERFORM
Dr. Cloud focuses this chapter on the importance of trust as related to team performance. He provides his five most important components:
Connection through Understanding – Of course it is important that we “get it” – but more important is that the other person understands and believes that we “get it.”
Motivation and Intent – We have all been there – someone offers their help or assistance but you know that their motivation is solely because they want something in return. Trust is build when there is no expectation of anything in return.
Character – There are many attributes that can describe character but in building trust, “who you are” becomes much more important that what you do or what you can provide.
Capacity and Ability – Intentions are great, but follow through is where we build, and lose trust. Part of the trust building process is being able to identify what you can actually deliver – and deliver it.
Track Record – No surprise here; what you have done in the past, in this area, is a predictor of the future. It doesn’t have to be, but that is the way it will be perceived. Perception is Reality anyone!
BOUNDARIES FOR YOURSELF
This is great – Dr. Cloud gives us a Law of Leadership: “The higher you go in leadership. the fewer external forces act upon you and dictate your focus, energy, and direction. Instead you set the terms of engagement and direct your own path, with only the reality of results to push against you.”
Read that again – remember, this book is about boundaries. As leaders, we are the only one responsible in setting our own boundaries. That being said, understanding what those boundaries will, or will not allow in is crucial. I like to think of it like this – boundaries set the perimeter, but we still need to position ourselves so we can “see over the fence” to stay aware of what is going on “outside.”
I strongly encourage any and every leader to pick up a copy of Boundaries For Leaders. Dr. Cloud provides frameworks throughout the book that can be easily applied to your leadership role.
It has been said that the greatest gap we deal with in life is “The gap between what we know and what we do.” If you want to start applying more of what you know into increasing what you do, you need to have boundaries.
My challenge today: Take a look at what is currently on your plate and make the decision to set some boundaries that will allow you to put more focus and energy into the things that you have to do that have to be done now.
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It has been an honor this week to support my friend and colleague, Bethany Connor, during the launch of her new book “Cherished – One Woman’s Journey to Love and Be Loved.”
OK guys (the male population out there), before you get scared by the pink flower on the cover and title of the book, consider this question … “Would there be any benefit to better understand how a woman’s mind works?”
Sure, this great effort by Bethany is going to resonate with the women more than the men, but the lessons Bethany shares apply to all of us.
A Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Nurse Corp, Bethany tells a very authentic and transparent story her story of transformation. Moving from an identity found in what she did to a purpose driven by who she is, Bethany holds nothing back in describing the deep emotional feelings behind her journey to living the life she was designed to live.
Finding strength through her faith, Bethany paints an incredible picture of how to find joy in who we are. Not because of our accomplishments, but because of who we have been created to be and how there is no failure in falling short, but merely lessons learned in finding our purpose and reaching our potential.
Like I said in the beginning, Bethany is a friend and colleague of mine, but reading her story has let me see “inside” and to better understand her strength and where she draws it from.
The big lesson for me is how much our self image impacts our behavior, and quite honestly, the joy we find in living life. I am not suggesting Bethany had a poor self image of herself, but more along the lines what I can attest to from my own personal story.
So many of us base our life story and personal worth based on what we do. Bethany’s story had added clarity to me that who we are is much more significant than what we do. Getting out of our own way is how we discover that.
Yes, this a Bethany’s story, a story of One Woman’s Journey to Love and Be Loved, but more importantly it is a story that we all share. This is a story on WHY we all suffer from this identity crisis and HOW we can move beyond that crisis and create a legacy that will add value to all those around us.
I am supporting Bethany this week and I hope you will to. I understand that everyone may not connect with the topic or content of this book, but this I know for sure – You know someone that it will.
My challenge to you – stretch outside your comfort zone a little, or a lot like Bethany has, and if you don’t want to add this to your reading list, forward this on to someone you think could benefit from it. You may be the only person that had the opportunity to expose a friend to these thoughts that could change their life. Is that something you want to miss out on? I think not!
- Click her to go to Bethany’s Website
- Click her to support Bethany on Facebook
- Click her to purchase “Cherished” on Amazon
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Barry Smith 9/19/13 photo courtesy of acherishedwoman © Building What Matters 2013
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I recently finished “The Collaboration Economy – How to meet Business, Social, and Environmental Needs and Gain Competitive Advantage” by Eric Lowitt. It focuses on how some of the major global players in business and industry have taken it upon themselves to LEAD the way into more environmentally friendly business practices.
Yes, the environmentally conscientious reader will probably connect on a higher level to the content but there are some significant leadership lessons to be found in this vision focused framework by Lowitt.
He describes the efforts being done on a global level by some of today’s industry leaders such as GE and Coca-Cola, to not only be more responsible in the way we are conducting our business but more importantly, how we can collaborate together to accomplish missions that can’t be achieved on an individual basis. In short, a new world economy based on collaboration.
Lowitt breaks the book down into three sections:
PART 1 – WELCOME TO THE COLLABORATION ECONOMY
Basically setting the stage, Lowitt describes the difference between “The Waste Economy,” where we are now and “The Collaboration Economy,” where we better be headed.
I won’t run you through the statistics, but basically we are on a short ride to running out of the natural resources that sustain us on a daily basis. Although focused on environmental issues, I would not consider this a “tree hugger” (for sake of a better term) book.
The real focus is on the collaboration between world business leaders that can lead to changes that simply could not be done by the individual corporations. This is a clear statement, backed up with logic and fact, that we is better than me.
PART 2 – BRINGING THE COLLABORATION ECONOMY TO LIFE AND SCALE
Part two is a series of chapters focused on specific topics such as energy, water and food, to name a few. Lowitt describes in detail, how industry leaders are partnering with competitors and leveraging suppliers to join the effort to make needed global changes.
Some may read into the specifics of the topic, but what really resonated to me were the leadership skills that were represented in the changes that have begun. Think about it – many of the examples that Lowitt explores requires business leaders to take tremendous risks, to their own reputation and position as well as to the bottom line of the business.
Significant financial investments had to be made in order to be the front-runners in these risky decisions. Many times, I found myself wondering what went through the minds of these leaders as they put the financial stability of their corporations on the line to do the right thing. Some big leadership lessons throughout!
Although I live in Oregon, a progressive state in their recycling and conservation efforts, I have never given much thought to what goes on behind the scenes. Yes we have come a long way in the last 40 years, but there is still a long way to go.
PART 3 – PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER TO MOVE FORWARD
The final section really brings home the leadership concepts required to pull this major endeavor off.
Collaborative Leaders Do The Following:
- Think beyond their tenure
- Focus on collective and not individual success
- Are willing to accept someone else’s idea as better than theirs
- Are willing to make sacrifices for the good of the whole
- Understand their position is a privilege and not a right, and act accordingly
- Commit to a true purpose
- Promote and rely on partnerships
- Act with integrity, while guided by an ethical compass
- Have a “How Can We” mindset
Lowitt wraps up the book with this thought:
“Let’s not seek to sustain our current socioeconomic situation. Instead, let’s work together to create a new era of prosperity that benefits our lives today while enhancing future generations’ ability to meet their needs in perpetuity.”
I realize this is a lot to think about, but the reality is that if our generation doesn’t think about it, time will run out and none of us want our kids or their kids to end up in a world that can’t sustain itself.
My question for you today is this; “Are you willing to give today what is required to preserve tomorrow?” We can all do something – What will you do?
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Barry Smith 8/28/13 photo courtesy of Amazon © Building What Matters 2013
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I am sure sometime during your life you have said “I will be loyal to this cause, person or organization until the day I die.” Do you still feel that way?
Loyalty is a pretty powerful word when you think about it. When I think of being loyal, it is more than simply being committed. Loyalty represents total buy-in. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cause, a person, or an organization, loyalty is a product of trust.
I remember back when I opened my first IRA and had the ability to choose where I could put my money. My father had been a stock broker for a short while and I will never forget the advice that he gave me regarding investing. You need to know the numbers but invest in the people leading the organization.
Good leader – good investment. I think this is true most of the time. I don’t follow the market much anymore but as someone in the leadership field, I often read about what business leaders are doing and how they impact their tribe.
What I find interesting are the articles I read about employee retention and turnover as related to the success of the company and the leadership in place.
What I have observed is that people are more loyal to the people they are working for than the dollar amount on their paycheck. A down year with strong leadership does not necessarily create a mass exodus. On the other hand, when a strong and trusted leader departs the organization, even though times may be good, there is a tendency for the main players to depart as well.
We know that a dog is man’s best friend. Why is that? I think it is because the dog could care less about the bottom line, where we live, what kind of car we drive or where the decimal point is on our paycheck. The dog is not attached to any of that. He simply trusts his master and knows that he cares about him.
So, does loyalty last forever? It depends. I would suggest that loyalty to a school, business or cause will only last as long as loyalty to those in charge exists.
I know my loyalty to men such as Joe Paterno (Penn State), Jim Tressel (Ohio State) and Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints) dropped after their integrity was called into question. I would have considered myself a loyal fan and follower of these men prior to their poor choices becoming public. Their books still sit on my bookshelf but I honestly don’t know how soon I will feel inclined to open them up again.
My point is this – The only way loyalty lasts forever is if the integrity behind the cause, person or organization remains intact. As I said before, loyalty is the product of trust. So I guess as long as there is trust, there can be loyalty. Broken trust eliminates that loyalty.
So the next time you make the statement that you are loyal to something or someone, think about what it is about that thing or person that makes you loyal.
Loyalty is a bond that can provide both motivation and satisfaction. But remember, it will only be as strong as the people behind it. Be careful who you invest in and how much you depend on them, and more importantly, start with yourself.
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Barry Smith 6/21/13 photo by author © Building What Matters 2013
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