BLT #26: Will People Remember You . . . Like John Wooden?

The stories of John Wooden's basketball coaching prowess and the cumulative success are legendary.  Read the following string of accomplishments:

• 40 + Years of Coaching - 1 losing season
• 4 undefeated seasons at UCLA
• 10 national championships - 7 of these came in successive seasons!!!
• More all-americans than you can count - what (or, who) attracted them?

Now, spend a little time on Google looking for coaches with a more jaw-dropping resume'.  As the philosoper Katt Williams says, "Go ahead, I'll wait." . . . . Right, you can't find any.  These accomplishments are so astounding - heck, very few stay in one place long enough to have some of his records.  Yes, his place in basketball history is secure.

But an interesting thing happens when you read stories about John Wooden.  As you're reading about basketball and coaching philosophy, something else overruns the story.  You don't realize it until you get to the end and find yourself considering much more than basketball.  You look at the pictures of him and wonder what it must have been like to spend time with such a person. 

Then you see it.  Even for a person as decorated professionally has he was, it turns out the personal impact of  the man was far more pronounced than the basketball impact of the coach.  With his resume' that is saying something!  The people who talk and write about him cannot help but discuss the person and how profound a difference he made in their full lives - not just on the basketball court.

So, What About Us?
What will people say about you and I?  Will they remember the sales goals you made, or the businesses we've successfully run?  How about the number of days you went without being absent or the vacation days you gave back to the company because you were just 'too busy to take time off.'  What about all the years you met your operating goals and stayed within budget?  No?  No.  10 years after you are gone - who am I kidding, maybe 5 - no one will talk about those things.

Those accomplishments are meaningful but mostly in the right now.  The difference we'll make in people's lives isn't there in what we do, but in the person we are while we're doing them and the investment we make in helping others.  As I look in back on my career I do not see figures, goals accomplished:  I see people's faces that I have worked with and for as well as those I have tried to help along the way.  What do you see?

Decide to be Remembered for You.
Whether you manage others or wish to impact people through your leadership, here are three habits (See. Think. Act.) you can begin building that will help you down the path.  This is a decision that must be made for the right reason.  Don't do them because someone thinks you should, but rather because they match with who you want to be. 

1.  See! - Listen and Pay Attention To People.  If you get really good at observing others and listening to them you will pick up all kinds of things you can help them with.  Little self-deceptions about why X didn't go so well or how Y is stuck with the IT folks (isn't everything IT's fault :).  You can help people see their own limitations - or how they are limiting themselves - often come from inside themselves and the poor self-talk they've learned from too many managers only talking to them about their faults.  Help them talk to themselves - and others - differently.

2.  Think! - Develop a Plan.  Once you've got a full picture of the person, what they're trying to accomplish and how they're going about it you are in a great position to offer developmental guidance.  A special assignment in another department, improved speaking skills, leadership presence and in-job skills development are all examples of development you can offer.  You might say, rightly, that you have all these things in place in your organization and people are free go to the classes or seminars at anytime.  Key Insight:  Without your help, people may assume they are fine or work on the wrong things.

3. Act! - Challenge People.  It is the cowardly and selfish person, interested only in their own comfort who fails to push others to their best.  This challenging ought not be out of anger or in rash response to a single event.  What I am talking about is done thoughtfully and with genuine caring for the betterment of the other person.  When you invest time challenging people - whether in their work habits, their communications or their performance - you are telling them that you have faith in them.  After all, who urges someone on in something they know cannot be accomplished?  It is the difference between saying "Get it done, or else..." and "I need you to do this and I know you can" and the gap is HUGE!!

John Wooden is known for many wise sayings, but one of my favorites is a call to action:  "Make today your masterpiece."  I've got nothing to add to that.

BLT #21: You Want To Succeed? . . . Get Me Some Tea

It had just begun, the way many valuable things begin, in a way that I could never have guessed.  I was in the first minute of the first class in my first year of graduate studies at The Ohio State University.  I had been working for just about 8 years after completing my undergraduate work.  At the insistence of my wife, Anne, I took the GMAT scoring in the top 5% (maybe it was 8%?) and felt strongly that I had something meaningful to offer this very serious undertaking.  This was no messin' around.  I was going to get an MBA, so I was ready to dig into some serious mountain-top thinking.  After all, wasn't that how one got ahead in this world?

The professor for our first course, Organizational Behavior, strode into the lecture about 5 minutes late.  I do not recall his name, but he was originally from Korea - I forget which side of the border - and I liked him immediately.  He smiled and asked, "Who in this room wants to receive a grade of 'A' in this course?'  I sheepishly raised my hand, along with many others, knowing there was a second half to that question. 

We put our hands down and he gave us the formula.  You know, the formula that so many people look for in life, work and relationships that shoot us to the front of the class, that lock in the love of the person we desire and that gets the adulation and promotion we seek professionally.  You know....the formula!

But he didn't say what I expected, which wasn't a specific guess on my part but rather a general idea that it would be something meaningful; deeply felt.  He said . . . wait for it, "If you want an A in this course you will bring tea to me at each lecture on Tuesday and Thursday with a lemon in it."  Silence.  Staring.

Success - with your boss, your spouse or your customers - is often not about the base 'product'.  It's really about something else altogether.  Don't get me wrong, you must do the core things properly and at a high level of quality and maybe a good dash of panache.  But this is something else.  It requires understanding people and the things important to them.  My wife, who is far more attractive than I can justify being with, knew what I looked like.  She understood what I was about and what level of intelligence I had/didn't have.  However, with all that in my, um, favor, she told me years later that she fell in love with me because of one act:  a Fribble.

I was picking her up late from work one night - she worked the night shift at Children's Hospital - and remembered like a bolt of lightning that she told me how much she loved these strawberry milkshakes.  I left my apartment early enough so I could drop by Friendly's Ice Cream and get her one on the way down.  No big plan, no ulterior motives, just doing something she'd like.  When she got in the car and saw the shake - remember it's 11 PM and she's just worked 10 hours - she lit up.   And I instantly transformed from regular guy into a superhero.

There are of course, no formulas for success at much of anything but I do offer these thoughts from my experience:

1.  You have to know what matters to people.  The job you are doing for them is a given.  If you don't get that done all the Fribbles in the world won't save you.  Oh yeah and by the way, people won't always tell you exactly what they need or like.  You'll have to work at finding out.  When you do . . .

2.  Do it for them.  The first part of this is the action the second part is the motivation.  Once you know what matters to people and what will wow them, you have to take action.  Something memorable.  Something personal.  Something that very clearly says "I've paid attention and I have done this specifically for you."  Finally, you must expect nothing in return.  You do it for the sheer joy and fulfillment of doing something meaningful for another.  Don't assume that 33% of the people you do this for will buy another XX widgets.  You appreciate them and just want to do it for them - not you.

3. Smile the whole time knowing you're doing something that matters.  There is one little selfish thing you can do for yourself and that is this:  when you know you are doing something kind and meaningful for someone else you feel good and that is just fine.  And when you feel good you smile and walk a little more upright and briskly.  And when you smile people want to know what's up with you.  And you tell them.  And it spreads. 

The professor didn't really give A's for tea - but he did get some tea out of the deal.  And I felt great about it!!

First Hand Inspection . . . Breaking The Grip of Comfort

My son Wade and I have been visiting universities during the past month or so as he is just about to enter his senior year of high school.  He, like his brother and sister, is a good deal brighter than his father - we are all thankful for their mother's participation in their overall genetic makeup - as evidenced by (1) the rigor of his academic pursuit and (2) his very high performance in it.  Something curious has happened during our visits, most of them to out-of-town universities. 

The day before we left he shared with me that he thought all of this visitation was a waste of time.  He knew where he wanted to go - the hometown school with every course of study and major imaginable and that is just down the road.  He loves the sports, the facilities, the reputation and the closeness to home.  He was blown away by the visit there.  So, to his thinking, why spend the time and money exploring these other opportunities?

Suffice to say that his attitude has changed.  A week ago he wanted no part of this exercise and now both of the schools we just visited are on his short list of places to attend.  What happened?  Why the change of heart?  You see, he's had a realization that I hope I can give to you today and that is this: when important decisions are on the line, close personal inspection is key to breaking through our assumptions and out of our comfort zones. 

What decisions are you facing today, in your job, your department or your business?  If you take a deep look at the way you are thinking through those decisions, one of the key processes you use is the manner in which you will gather information that will help you.  How much personal inspection are you taking in?  Or are you depending on reports, statuses and a consultant's PowerPoint deck? 

I'd like to suggest a better way - personal inspection.  Talk to customers.  Talk to your associates.  Form your own  fact-based perceptions based on personal inspection.  If you don't have the time to do this - please listen to this - you may not be the best person to be making this decision.  If it  matters, you need to spend the time.   Here are three reasons that your decision to set aside time for personal inspection of the situation is so critical:

1.  "It's important."  A team of managers and analysts were convening a lazy weekly meeting to provide updates on an effort to clear up errored accounts.  2 inch thick copies of the green bar computer paper - the list of each errored account and the value of the error and the type of transaction were listed there - were piled up neatly in front of each person while the group reviewed a separate status report.  The executive over the operation made an impromptu stop into the meeting and pulled up a chair, asking to see a set of the green bar reports and the status report.

2.  It affects customers.  Rather than working from a status report, the executive I mentioned asked everyone who was working on the items noted "on page 143 of this report".   You never saw 12 people flip to page 143 so fast in your life.  No one in the room seemed to have yet taken this group of errors on.  The executive then reminded everyone that every name on the report represented a real, paying customer whose account was not correct and that every day that went by without action meant we weren't doing our job for them.  The status report of their perceived progress wasn't relevant - it was every name of every customer  that deserved better.

3.  You learn more about your business and its culture.  What that executive learned on that particular day wasn't that he had a lot of accounts that needed repair.  He learned that the culture of the operation was about status reports, ratios and having a regularly scheduled meeting.  His goal in attending the meeting wasn't to speed up everybody's pace, it was to help them see that what mattered were their customers, and that they deserved everyone's very best attention and effort.

Prior to that meeting about 25% of the errors had been cleared in a 2 month time.  Within the next 6 weeks, the remaining 75% of the work was completed, with new controls in place to avoid these types of buildups in the future.   Leaders get involved and help their teams see the bigger picture and commit to something bigger than the job at hand.

Don't let status reports  and PowerPoint presentations simply tell you what's going on - find out why?  Your perspective will improve and you be given an opportunity to help others do the same - isn't that what leaders do?

It's Not A Black Swan . . . It Really Isn't

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has unwittingly provided 21st century management - and maybe you - with the slickest silicon coating they could ever have asked for.  Having read the book that carries this escape clause, I know Mr. Taleb would tell the misusers of his creation they should be ashamed of themselves.  You've seen it - maybe even done it.  It has become fashionable of late for people today to lay their issues and poor performance fully at the feet of a nefarious bird - The Black Swan.  I have heard it used to explain the circumstances leading to the most recent bursting financial bubble as well as leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  In my simple words, Taleb's Black Swan events occur and could not have been predicted based on what was known at the time.  Any way, this is not the same as failing to consider downstream impacts of your decisions - in multiple (including catastrophic) scenarios.

Let's de-construct the sub-prime mortgage mess to clarify what is and isn't an unpredictable event - in wild shorthand.  First let's level set that for most of us this looked like an overnight failure and wondered how in the world it could happen so fast.  Well, it didn't happen that fast.  Investment grade bond yields were falling for years so investors were clamoring for places to earn better returns.  Armies of really smart people set to  designing a way to generate higher yields.  The process began with banks (loosely used term) lending money for homes to people who should never have had them (o.k., gross generalization).  These loans are sold upstream to investment banks who further packaged them into, well, essentially AAA rated securities with seemingly no downside risk with better yields than, uh, normal bonds.   Oh, and the people who rate the riskiness of the securities are paid by the people who want to sell them.  Go back and read that last sentence again before you move on.

Now that you've seen some of the parts of this little party let me ask you this: if you knew it in advance what would you have said?  I know you wouldn't say it made perfect sense and was a riskless money machine.  The risks are obvious.  Lending $500,000 to a guy that can't make payments on $10,000 - it happened.  "Banks" selling every loan they make and having very little in the game - huh?  Ratings agencies being paid by the people they have to review and rate products for.  By the way, someone did see it coming and made a lot of money waiting for it to blow up.  So, it was predictable and therefore not a Black Swan.

And neither are the things that go south in your department, desk, company or with your clients.  One of the greatest worries I have over all this finger pointing at black birds is this - it tells me people aren't learning from their mistakes.  Are you?  Are you helping your business, peers, team and yourself improve by facing into things that you could have?  Here are three keys to stopping the spread of 'black swans' and improving performance in your organization:

1. Acknowledged the failure and own it.  It's critical that leaders name the failure and refuse to lay blame on a confluence of uncontrollable events. It tells everyone in the organization that we must do better and that improvement begins now.
2. Asked harder questions and get to the core issue.  Most of us stop at the point that we get a plausible explanation for what happened.  I've had to say, more than once to very intelligent people, "I know WHAT happened, we have to answer WHY?"  You see, it's 'why?' that gives us insight into other things we might be overlooking.  You may find it's as a missing control, or more difficult strategic capabilities gaps.  Here's what you know - the same organization that put the process in place that is failing put a bunch of other stuff in place.  The core issue can point to additional pain points.
3. Apply what you learn to your overall operating environment and customer-facing processes.  This is where performance improvement and customer satisfaction can make big gains.  I've seen a single insight - phone calls take too long - lead to additional improvements to other areas of an operation which end up reducing costs and improving performance well upstream from the customer phone call.  Every business needs that kind of improvement.

There are not that many black swans and they aren't likely walking around wreaking havoc in your business.  The moment you stop arguing they are is the same moment you will free the power of you, your department and your business to succeed.

BLT #1 - Do What Needs Doing

We don't know each other yet, so here's a story that will change your day. I hope it brings you back again.

When I received my first job offer many/some/several years ago, it was the most thrilling moment of my life to that point. My pay was doubling from my 'pay rent while your in college living with three other guys' job and I would be working for a real honest to goodness company that people had actually heard of. So, naturally I decided to play hardball with the HR director and waited all the way until my ability to breathe had returned to practically yell "YES!!!" into the phone. Now I had to tell someone. The first person I called was my dad. He's a serious, well read man who thinks about everything he says and he stuck to the script on this call. When I told him the news he thought for a moment then offered me the following: "Son, I am proud of you and happy for you. I want you to remember that no matter your title or job description, always be ready to do what needs doing."

I've shared that story many times and, turns out, have lived by it my entire professional life. But I didn't realize until well into it that there are two parts to '...do what needs doing'.

First, you have to be ready to jump in and help out when asked, regardless of who is asking. Boss, colleague, neighbor, friend, spouse. But let me ask you: are you really willing to help when asked? Does your response say 'you betcha' or 'well, I guess so'? Make it your business that people are glad to ask you to help them.

The second part of '...do what needs doing' didn't come to me until I realized that people don't readily ask for help. My dad was also telling me that you actually have to go and look for what needs to be done - it often won't come find you.

You've got a day that's about to get started, or are right in the middle of and I want you to do 3 things today before you put your head on the pillow tonight:

1 - Find something that needs to be done that no one has asked you to do and do it. Take out the trash, deliver faxes to the lady who never picks hers up, fill the flippin' stapler at the copy machine, make the report better by adding your insights (yes, you've got some and you know it), write up that recommendation for a new training class.

2 - Look at your own job and make it better - right now. There have to be 5 things on your desk that you're just doing that way because that's how Madge showed you to do it. Improvements can be made so go ahead. Make it better, snazz it up, make it cool, have fun with it. (warning: if you work in a highly regulated business, don't just stop/change doing stuff on a lark - it might be the law).

3 - Go ask someone what else you can do to help them. After they pick themselves up off the floor and steady themselves back into their chair, they will be glad you asked and may even take you up on it. Oh yeah, and you might have to stay later today because you asked, but that's price of helping someone else - and it's worth it.

I need a refill - have a great day.