November 2017 – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Winning With People

Posted November 27, 2017
by dougdickerson

A boss has the title. A leader has the people. – Simon Sinek

Writing in The Book of Business Anecdotes, Peter Hay recounts the following story:

In the 1950s, marketing whiz Stanley Arnold was working at Young & Rubicam, where he was asked to come up with a marketing campaign for Remington Rand. The company was among the most conservative in America. Its chairman at the time was retired, General Douglas MacArthur. Intimidated at first by a company that was so much a part of America, Arnold also found in that phrase the first inspiration for a campaign. After thinking about it, he went to the New York offices of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Beane, and placed the ultimate odd-lot order:

“I want to purchase,” he told the broker, “one share of every single stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange.” After a vice president tried to talk him out of it, the order was finally placed. It came to more than $42,000 for one share in each of the 1098 companies listed on the Big Board at the time. Arnold now took his diversified portfolio into a meeting of Remington Rand’s board of directors, where he argued passionately for a sweepstakes campaign with the top prize called A Share in America. The conservative old gentlemen shifted around in their seats and discussed the idea for a while. “But Mr. Arnold,” said one, “we are not in the securities business.” Said another, “We are in the shaver business.”

“I agree that you are not in the securities business,” said Arnold, “but I think you also ought to realize that you are not in the shaver business either. You are in the people business.” The company bought the idea.

People business. It’s one of the most complex challenges you will face in leadership. And it’s one you’ve got to conquer if you are going to succeed. Unfortunately, you don’t always get to choose those people. In fact, you might at times feel like the person who said, “Sometimes I wish I was an octopus so I can slap eight people at once”.

Since slapping people is out of the equation as a leader, we must reconcile the fact that as leaders we are in the people business. This is our greatest challenge and it’s our greatest reward. Here are a few reminders on how as a leader you can win with people.

You win by winning their hearts

Too often this is where many a leader drops the ball. This is a leadership principle I learned from John Maxwell almost twenty years ago. Maxwell said, “Always touch a person’s heart before you ask him for a hand.”

A good leader will invest relationally with his or her people before asking for their hand. It’s when you’ve made this connection first you open the door to other possibilities and opportunities. But first, win their heart.

You win by investing in your people

When your people know that you are invested in them they will go to great lengths to perform. This investment is not just monetary although it’s included. Winning with your people happens as you empower and equip them to not only meet their expectations but to exceed them.

“Whatever we expect with confidence,” said Brian Tracy, “becomes our self-fulfilling prophecy”. You win with your people when you raise their level of confidence and remind them of their potential and abilities on a regular basis.

You win with people by conceding the spotlight

I’ve said it many times and it’s worth repeating here now. Expressions of servant leadership are found when you concede being in the spotlight by putting someone else in it. And this is how you win with people.

Billy Hornsby said, “It’s okay to let those you lead outshine you, for if they shine brightly enough, they reflect positively on you”. You can only win with people as a leader on this level if you’re secure enough to drop your ego and quit worrying about who gets the credit for what. You win with people when you celebrate your people and their successes.

You win with people when you listen to your people

You win with your people when you learn how to listen. Some of the best ideas in any organization will not flow out of the corner offices, but into them. As a leader you must do as Howard Behar suggests in his book. It’s Not About The Coffee, and “put the time into listening, even to what’s not said…You’ll know what your customers want, you’ll know why the passion is missing from your organization, and you’ll learn solutions to problems that have been sitting there waiting to be picked.”

Winning with people happens when you are more concerned with what they have to say than you are in what you have to say. Your leadership hinges at times on your ability to be quiet and listen.

You win with people when you commit to developing leaders

Your success as a leader doesn’t come when you gain more followers but when you develop more leaders. Simply put, multiplication is the math of leadership. You win with your people by multiplying the number of leaders in your organization.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists,” said Lao Tzu, “when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves”. And this is the ultimate goal of your leadership and the definitive mark of winning with your people. It’s as you raise them up as leaders and empower them that you win.

Your leadership rises and falls on your ability to win with people. Make it a priority and you will go far.

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Know When To Let Go

Posted November 20, 2017
by dougdickerson

When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him go. – Abraham Lincoln

A well-known story in some sectors of coastal communities such as where I live is that of the crab mentality. It is used to describe selfish or shortsighted people whose thinking bends toward the notion of, “If I can’t have it, neither can you”.

The crab basket mentality says that if you have a pot of crabs and one is climbing out in an effort to escape, then the others will pull him back down rather than allow it to go free. The other crabs had rather share the same doomed fate than allow another among its ranks to climb out.

As a leader, you may find yourself in a crab basket with others who have the same intentions for you. You get the raise or promotion and inevitably someone is jealous and you feel that subtle tug. You landed that coveted new account and strangely now begin to feel the claws of others around you. Every time you make an effort to move up and better yourself you have to resist the tug of those who would like to pull you down and hold you back. But you have to learn to let them go. Here are three things to consider as you climb out of the crab basket.

Let go of your past. Before anyone in your present can restrict you in a negative way you must lighten your load and let go of negative things from your past. So long as you hold on to past defeats, mistakes, or bad attitudes you will never climb to the heights you desire.

Your climb to the top of the basket begins when you make peace with your past and place yourself in a position to climb unencumbered toward your goals and dreams. When you let go of the past you can create your future. Your climb up begins here. You may have to forgive others; you may have to forgive yourself. But you will not move up so long as you allow your past to hold you down.

Let go of bad people. This is perhaps one of the hardest things to learn as a leader. But if you are ever going to climb your way to the top of the basket and live above the level of mediocrity you will have to separate yourself from those who want to hold you down.

It may be hard because up until now you may have seen these crabs as your friends. They have been colleagues; you have enjoyed happy hour together and thought of them as allies. But keep this in mind – good people do not try to sabotage your success they celebrate it. Good people do not try attempt to pull you down and but had rather climb up with you. As a leader, you have to wise up and recognize that not everyone in the pot with you wants to see you succeed. Be strong enough to acknowledge it and have the courage when necessary to climb alone.

Let go of small dreams. In the bottom of the crab basket, there is not much room for growth and the view is always the same. The way out is up. It’s when you fix your eyes on larger dreams and possibilities that you begin to realize that life in the basket is never going to change. The road to your improvement begins with the choice to climb out.

It’s been asked many times and I will share it again here: What would you attempt to do if you knew that you could not fail? What are your dreams? I don’t know what’s in your heart but I do know this to be true – until you let go of your past, and let go of bad people, you will always have small dreams. It’s time to let go of every bad attitude, toxic relationship, and negative influence that would attempt to pull you down.

Your way out begins with by taking the first step. Let go and start climbing!

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Four Ways to Lead Through Conflict

Posted November 13, 2017
by dougdickerson

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. – William E. Channing

French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas once had a heated quarrel with a rising young politician. The argument became so intense that a duel was inevitable. Since both men were superb shots they decided to draw lots, the loser agreeing to shoot himself. Dumas lost.

Pistol in hand, he withdrew in silent dignity to another room, closing the door behind him. The rest of the company waited in gloomy suspense for the shot that would end his career. It rang out at last. His friends ran to the door, opened it, and found Dumas, smoking revolver in hand. “Gentlemen, a most regrettable thing has happened,” he announced, “I missed.”

While the way we deal with conflicts has improved, there is still no shortage of conflict. Workplace conflict can be a strong source of stress and your leadership during these times takes skill.

It’s widely known that workplace conflict leads to increased staff turnover and absenteeism. One survey I read stated that 81% of HR professionals had seen employees resign as a result of conflict, and 77% have noticed increased absenteeism, resulting in increased business cost.

What do you think are the leading contributors to workplace conflict? According to a study, the top five causes of workplace conflict were; warring egos and personality clashes, poor leadership, lack of honesty, stress, and clashing values. While conflict in the workplace may be inevitable, ignoring it is not an option. So what is a leader to do? Here are four suggestions for consideration.

Acknowledge it. Until management acknowledges that there is a problem there is no correcting it. As a leader, you don’t need to be the last in the room to recognize what everyone else knows and experiences. How many employees must leave, how much revenue must you lose, and how much abuse do you think your employees must endure before you act? When you identify the problem you can begin to work on solutions, but not until then. Poor leadership was cited for a reason. Don’t add to the problem through omission.

Welcome it. Yes, welcome it! Warring egos and personalities among your people, when properly channeled, can be one of the single greatest sources of inspiration you need. General George S. Patton was accurate when he said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” When perceived threats are removed and differences are celebrated rather than attacked it can be the turning point in creating the company culture that you’ve been missing. Don’t squelch diversity; welcome it.

Elevate it. Now that you have acknowledged and welcomed conflict you can elevate it to a higher level. Rather than allowing warring personalities to be labeled as enemies, bring them together as allies to channel their creative energies for something good. Invest in a training program like DISC to discover personality styles and how to create the chemistry your team needs to succeed. It’s when you respectfully have everyone on the same page, when values are clear, and communication is honest, that you can learn to see the value conflict can have. It might sound risky, but consider the consequences of inaction.

Celebrate it. Leading through conflict will not be easy. It will take honesty to face your conflict and courage to change it. But once you do you can position yourself to be the benefactor of conflict and not the victim. When your employees see each other as teammates rather than adversaries it can be celebrated. A diversity of thoughts, ideas, and personalities is one of your greatest assets and it should never be destroyed by poor leadership or out-of-control egos. Your workplace should be a place for the celebration.

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Five Rules Of The Blame Game

Posted November 5, 2017
by dougdickerson

A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit. – Arnold H. Glasow

John Killinger tells a story about the manager of a minor leader baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself.

The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun and it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted, “You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”

The coach in the story reminds us of the type of culture we live in. The blame game is easy to play and in the end, it serves no meaningful purpose. But as a leader, if you want to grow, move your organization forward, and create a culture of excellence it’s going to require a different mindset in order to pull it off. Here are my five rules of the blame game that can help you navigate your way forward.

Begin with yourself

In a “blame others first” culture this is where you are set apart as a leader. The tendency is to find someone to be the “fall guy” when things go south, but the leader steps up and takes responsibility. When you shoulder the responsibility as the leader you demonstrate that you are with and for your team not just in the good times but also when the chips are down. A good leader takes personal responsibility for his organization.

Look for solutions

Once responsibility has been taken it’s the time to move beyond whom to blame and work on solutions. This can be as simple as diagnosing a poor communication problem or perhaps something more complex. The point being; don’t dwell too long on who messed up but rather channel your energies on what to do next.

Attack bad attitudes

In order to coalesce team members around a new culture of excellence and move past a blame game mentality, you must address bad attitudes. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude,” stated Zig Ziglar. Bad attitudes will ground your organization and will be the single greatest challenge to your leadership. The work of your team will be a reflection of their attitudes. Attack bad attitudes, keep yours positive and change your culture.

Manage mistakes wisely

The way you manage mistakes can pay great dividends but it all depends on how you handle it. Rather than demoralizing the offender with a wrong response why not use it the opportunity to do something constructive? As a leader, how you handle the mistakes of others speaks volumes about what’s most important to you. Those who blame belittle. Be a leader who encourages and turns the mistakes into something positive.

Examine motives

Understanding the blame game begins with identifying the motives for blaming others. Possibilities might include professional jealousy, subtle expressions of bullying, the deflection off of one’s own insecurities, etc. By examining the motives of those caught in playing the blame game card you can learn a lot about the inner workings of your organizational dynamics and patterns. As a leader, you need to have a handle on what is taking place in order to correct it.

Playing the blame game is too easy. Leading up is hard. Your leadership will rise when you rise up and do the right thing. If you want a better way forward then stop with the blame game.

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