A Leader's Impact

As a leader you are in a unique position to impact people's lives. You alone have the power to elevate the people that work with you and for you to a new level. You are the one that they will turn to tomorrow when it comes time for leadership, guidance, and motivation.

Do not let them down when they come to you for anything. Take the time to pay attention and lead them, it will leave a lasting impact in the lives of your peers, co-workers, and those that look up to you.

Remember, what you do today will have a deep and lasting impact, so do the right thing.



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Setting yourself apart from the crowd

In today's current economy and tight job market words like downsizing, layoffs, rightsizing, and the doing more with less are as common as words like profit sharing, stock options, and bonuses were not too long ago. I'm hard pressed to find any organization has not been touched by the current economic situation.

Having said that organizations are not tolerating anything less than complete employee dedication and commitment to the mission. When individuals find themselves delivering less, they quickly find themselves being escorted out the door, hopefully, under some sort of amicable conditions.

There will always be times when even those that dedicated and committed to the mission will find themselves without a place to go on Monday morning. What can one do to prevent this from happening? To paraphrase Patrick Townsend and Joan Gebhardt, authors of Five-Star Leadership, your organization "cannot settle for a random selection process for its leaders. Waiting for leaders to develop naturally is out of the question when the penalty for error is swift and permanent, as it is in combat...To ensure a continuous supply of leaders, leadership training" must be part of not just your organization but of also you.

The answer is quite obvious set yourself apart from the crowd. By setting yourself apart from the crowd means that you have to be eating the crowd (in the right direction) and not be struggling behind the crowd (the slowest follower).

Taking the queue from my favorite military organization and maker of leaders: the United States Army and it’s Be, Know, Do Leadership principles I offer the following quick list of what you can do now set yourself apart from the crowd:

• Be:
  Be technically proficient. Know your job to the point that you become the recognized leader in doing your job for your organization. Additionally, it is good to know the job of the people 1 to 2 levels below on the process chain and 1 to 2 levels of above your job on the process chain. For example, if you are a computer programmer it does know what the hardware people know and it certainly helps knowing what the Quality Control people are looking for. In most cases, this may mean going back to school. Remember, you are never too old to go back to school.
  
  If it is training you need then take that shot and invest in your future. If that means spending money then always know that money spent on your education is money never wasted. If all it takes is to spend $20.00 on a book that will increase your technical proficiency then that is a wise $20 investment that will yield a sizable return on investment in the long run. Then again it may also cost over $30,000 dollars to get that edge over those that are choosing not to invest in their future. Every situation will be different but then again every situation will call for a different level of commitment to achieve what you need to achieve.
  
  
• Know:
  Know yourself and know your limits. Never be afraid to accept and admit to the fact that you have your limits that cannot be exceeded. Also by knowing yourself you know what you have to work on as far as seeking self-improvement goes. Therefore, you will always seek self-improvement as an example for when it comes to becoming technically proficient.
  
  Know your organization. Know and fully understand your organization's mission and vision. Know where in the organization's big picture you fit in. Lastly, know what it will take to get you to the next level.
  
  
• Do:
  Do become a follower and a leader (sometimes at the same time). It has been said that every great leader begins, as a great follower and I, 100%, believe that. If you've never followed then you have never experienced a good leader or a bad manager.
  
  Do not be afraid to live by your morals, value, and belief system. Living and sticking to your morals, values, and belief system will go a long way towards establishing yourself as an individual and not as someone who sticks to the pack and has a “follow the pack” mentality. It also builds credibility and authenticity. Being credible and authentic are two highly coveted labels that any leader strives to be considered by his peers. A word of caution, while it is difficult to achieve and maintain those labels, it is so very easy to lose them. Be Careful.
  

Certainly, there are other things you can do to ensure you are set apart from the crowd. As a word of advice be sure that as you are setting yourself apart from the crowd you are moving towards the front of the pack into the lead position and not the last person so far behind that the only way to move to the top is to let the leader lap you (and that is not a good thing).



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When To Shoot Out The Glass

Not too long ago, I caught an airing of the 1996 motion picture Eraser on cable TV. This movie featured the then action star Arnold Schwarzenegger and the always lovely Vanessa Williams. If you haven't seen the movie, Arnold plays U.S. Marshal John 'The Eraser' Kruger and he is tasked to protect William's character, Lee Cullen, and ultimately erase her past life after testifying. However, along the way as in most action movies things go awry and that is when the action begins.

As the action heats up Kruger and Cullen are being chased by Good Guys turned Bad Guys who have one thing on their mind and that is to erase Cullen from this existence as well as Kruger. Naturally, our hero and his charge find themselves in the reptile house of the Bronx Zoo (in New York City).

As always, the situation is grim, outnumbered by the bad guys and Kruger is running short on ammunition. It was something like 9 or 10 bad guys and only two bullets. Kruger is looking for the way out of the building to keep himself and Cullen alive long enough for her to testify.

Realizing that two bullets is not going to be enough to put a dent in the 5 to 1 ratio, you can almost see the "light-bulb" moment when he realizes what he needs to do. He shoots out the glass to the tank that separates numerous alligators from the reptile house visitors. As soon as the first gator hits the ground the attention of the bad guys is shifted from Kruger and Cullen and onto the potential man-eaters that are now scattering about. At that moment of shifting focus Kruger and Cullen make their getaway. Mission Accomplished, the witness has been saved.

While this is a Hollywood motion picture, it is still not bad for a man who suddenly finds himself outnumbered, outgunned, and (almost) out of options. By changing the situation and shifting the focus away from himself, Kruger was able to make a getaway and live to fight another day.

In changing the situation, he also changed the force ratio from 1 good guy/gal for every 5 bad guys to ratio that added one too many man-eaters. He also changed the ability for the bad guys to maintain their undivided attention on a man with a dwindling ammo supply.

He also reduced the time he spent in one location. Had he stayed in the reptile house any longer he would have given the bad guys a greater opportunity to completely surround the building. By changing the parameters of the situation Kruger increased his life expectancy and made it equal to everyone else in the building (except that of the gators).

How does this apply in everyday life? First of all, there will be very few times that you will find yourself charged with protecting Vanessa Williams in a reptile house at a zoo, but if you do you'll know what to do. Seriously, this can be applied to just about anything that we have to deal with in life. When things appear that they have you under their control you can always change the situation by shifting the focus and buying yourself some time.

Use the time that you have just been granted to regain control and get back on top of things. Do not fail to successfully exploit this limited opportunity and it is limited because once Kruger and Cullen left the reptile house there were other bad guys to deal with outside that building (but there were also more witnesses on the outside).

Remember, desperate times call for desperate measures and when it appears that hope has started to fade do what you must do even if it means shooting out the glass that separates the alligators from their food.


image courtesy of Stefano. Used under Creative Commons permission.



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"We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people"

I recently read something that is attributed to General George S. Patton as saying, "We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."

Since the end of World War II (especially since around the time of General Patton's unfortunate passing) there have been many quotes that have been attributed to one of the United States' greatest fighting Generals. Some of these quotes have been outright falsehoods (or a product of Hollywood), some have been twisted to suit other needs, and some have been spot on. However, this quote (We herd sheep...) falls somewhere between spot on and just off the mark.

This quote makes the classic distinction between manager and leader crystal clear. Anyone can drive cattle, with a little training, of course. Heck, Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern did it in "City Slickers" with Curly's help, of course. As for herding sheep, that may be a little more difficult, as a lot of trust is put on the shepherd in that he/she will take the flock where it needs to go. In the end, both the cattle and the sheep will wander around aimlessly and therefore cannot be effectively led. A manager, in this case, in the form of shepherd or trail boss, are certainly not true leaders.

Now when it comes to people (human beings) on the other hand are dynamic and depending on the situation can either do one of following three things: Lead, Follow, or Get out of my way.

Having to pick from one of the three means that it is up to the individual and not the collective (the flock), to determine what path he will take. The individual can either pick up the Staff of Leadership and lead other people to where they need to be or will he pass the baton to someone that will lead him. Then again, the individual can throw his hands up in the air, step aside and watch the parade go down the road and out of sight (without him) while he wanders aimlessly like the cattle that broke away from the herd.

Which one of the three do you like? Just like General Patton, I love being at the front of the parade instead of watching it from the curb hoping that the clowns wave at me.


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