Author: k

One Of Us

A Chinese born buddy of mine
transferred departments
in a Fortune 500 company.
His new boss was also Chinese born.

He thought he’d be promoted faster
as there wouldn’t be any
‘descrimination.’

He thought wrong.

The new boss was tougher on him
than he was on any of my buddy’s
non-Chinese born co-workers.

Because everyone’s expectations
were the same as my buddy’s,
the manager over corrected
and ended up descriminating against my buddy.

Don’t assume
just because the manager is
the same sex/race/religion,
you’ll receive fair treatment.

Humility And Leadership

In
High Altitude Leadership,
a rather gory business book,
the authors,
Chris Warner and Don Schmincke,
talk about how humility is necessary for leadership.

One way to stay humble?

“Problem solving also helps keep arrogance at bay.
A good example is a manager at the Toyota Georgetown plant.
He used his time in management meetings
to demostrate his good performance on projects
until the plant manager, Fujio Cho
(who later became the chairman of Toyota worldwide),
said to him,
‘We all know you are a good manager;
otherwise we would not have hired you.
But please talk to us about your problems
so we can all work on them together.'”

Another way to stay humble?
Take on stretch projects.

Auto Rejections

When publishing houses or agents
close their doors to submissions,
they often set up auto responses for queries.

A good response is the truth.
‘We are currently closed to submissions.”

A bad response is
“Upon careful consideration,
your work does not meet our needs
at this time.”

Delivered, of course, the instant
the email query is received.

In the internet age,
it becomes more and more difficult to lie.
Don’t bother.

And check your auto response message.

Poppy Power

From November 1st to November 11th,
Canadians wear poppies on their lapels
to commemorate Remembrance Day
(Veterans Day in the U.S.).

This bright red visual prompt
wore by everyone
from school children
to media personalities
to Prime Ministers
is extremely effective.
It tells a story.
It invokes emotion.
It delivers a message.
All without saying a word.

Look at your logo.
Is it as powerful?

Deliberate Practice

I’m wrapping up a successful systems implementation.
When I was first hired on,
I didn’t know the software
we were implementing.

This was a stretch project.
I hustled to get up to speed.
I pushed myself to become an overnight expert.
All while facing a high possibility of failure.

I engaged in what researchers call
deliberate practice.

Geoff Colvin gives another example

“Tiger Woods –
intensely applying this principle,
which is no secret among pro golfers –
has been seen to drop golf balls
into a sand trap and step on them,
then practice shots from that near-impossible lie.”

Have you challenged yourself recently?
Have you set stretch goals?

Too Many Commercials

I was a big fan of a certain blog.
I’ve linked to it many times.
Now,
I don’t even read it.

Why?

Because every post is now a pitch for something,
often disguised as a new ‘tool.’

Viewers expect commercials.
They know that is the price of content.
But they also expect the content.
Make them wait too long for that
and they’ll change the channel.

Ensure that you balance the two
or even better,
lean towards more content.

In Case You Didn’t Know

I’m all for self promotion.
I think most people don’t do enough of it.

However…

If you win saleswoman of the year
at your local car dealership,
you don’t need to tell the other salespeople
you won.

If you are number one
on your publisher’s best seller’s list,
there is no need to send an email
to the publisher’s loop
letting the other authors know.

They know
and pointing out that they lost
(what they hear when you say you won)
makes you look like an immature jacka$$.

Put your energy into
telling people who DON’T know.

How To Spot Future Leaders

Ram Charan in
Know-How
outlines how to spot future leaders.

One way?

“They come to the point succinctly,
are clear thinkers,
and have the courage to
state a point-of-view
even though listeners may react adversely.”

Talking a lot does not a future leader make.
Also, the future leader has to have the balls
to put her job or reputation on the line.
She makes the best decisions,
not the most popular.

The Integrity Dividend And Leadership

When I’m working with a new project member,
I first give the person ‘test’ tasks.
I ask them if they can do this by a certain date.
They agree.

And then I wait.

If they accomplish that task on time,
I give them responsibilities.
If they don’t,
I know I can’t depend on them
and assign them ‘busy’ tasks.

As Tony Simons says
in
The Integrity Dividend
“…any leader’s word is his or her most potent tool,
and an effective leader devotes much attention
to developing and preserving the power of that word.
It is not about being nice.
It is not about being ethical.
It is about being more effective by
developing and preserving your credibility.”

Guard your word closely.
It is your most important asset.

Letting Things Go

My auto mechanic uncle
uses the oil spray
WD-40
for his arthritis.
He swears it works.

Is that what it is designed for?
No.
Will it do him any harm to use WD-40 that way?
No.

Not everyone will use your product
the ‘right way.’
Not everyone will interpret your words
the way you want them to.
Not everyone will agree with you.

You can spend your time
correcting them
or trying to convince them

OR

if the answer to
“Does this matter?” is no,
you can simply let it go.

Fight the battles that matter.
Let the petty skirmishes go.