Leadership » Nonsense At Work

#562: Keep your shoes on

Feb 132012

We keep hearing ridiculous statements from so-called leaders about how they feel our pain. And that they know where we’ve gone wrong and how we should now behave.

Nice of them, to be sure. And annoying because they don’t really know, do they? So we’re tempted to say, please don’t judge others until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. That’s what we think is a good way to develop empathy, to gain a different insight – walk a mile in their shoes.

Well, it’s not that simple. What exactly would you feel if you put your feet into someone else’s shoes? You would be so distracted by the alien shoes, so uncomfortable, that you would not spare a thought for the owner, only for your poor feet. And forget about walking that mile.

So my advice to wannabe leaders is this. You don’t understand my pain. Please keep your advice and stay in your own shoes.

Listen to the radio version of Keep your shoes on (10 most recent radio files)

#559: Get yourself new people

Leadership, Power No Responses »

Feb 012012

Here’s a lesson for any limping leader, one from a Mister Vladimir Lenin. That’s the one, the guy who led the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Oh, come on, people! I know he was a Marxist and a communist, but a good lesson is a worthy lesson. Don’t discriminate your learning. That’s taking political correctness too far.

Here’s the lesson. At the start of the Big Revolution that was supposed to propel him into real power, Mister Lenin realized that his Communist Party was not going to win. The people had lost confidence in him and the party. So what did Mister Lenin suggest? In his own words, sort of: “It will be necessary to get a new people.”

Hang on, I’ve just realized something. Our capitalist business leaders have been doing this for ages – finding themselves new people when the old ones don’t work well any more. And now our politicians are doing it.

Oh, boy!

Listen on the CNO’s website to the radio version of Get yourself new people (10 most recent radio files)

#556: Tell yourself where to go

Goals, Leadership No Responses »

Jan 232012

Consider this truism: If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will take you there. Well, our modern reliance on GPS and other internet mapping resources have highlighted something that should be equally obvious. If you don’t know where you are, then it is impossible to map a path to somewhere specific.

Think about it. No on-line map can give you directions unless you know where you are. We understand this, don’t we? Then why do so many of us plan our future and our goals without first being clear on where we are today?

Maybe because we have no easy way to describe where we are. Try this – tell your story.

Here’s why it works. To tell it, you must organize your thoughts. In telling it, you will remember what you have already achieved. Best of all, you will realize that you are still writing it, that you are creating your destination today.

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Listen to the radio version of Tell yourself where to go (10 most recent radio files)

#555: Weave with purpose

Goals, Leadership No Responses »

Jan 192012

Have you ever watched a drunk staggering home?

Well, I once watched something similar – a guy with a metal detector combing an early morning beach. I was standing on a balcony which gave me a bird’s eye view of his progress. As I watched I realized something interesting.

Have you ever watched a guy working a metal detector? And have you watched a drunk working a side-walk? Did you notice something interesting? Correct! Both weave, but one zigzags all over the place, while the other one weaves with purpose.

That’s exactly the strategy you should adopt this year – weave with purpose.

Many organizations are punch drunk, zigzagging and stumbling about. The risk is that they will seek stability by developing rigid plans with inflexible strategies. But things are simply too uncertain for that to work.

Better for you to be clear on the outcome you want . . . and then to weave with purpose.

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Listen to the radio version of Weave with purpose (10 most recent radio files)

#548: The power to decide lunch

Effectiveness, Efficiency, Leadership, Organization, Team Work/Building No Responses »

Dec 272011

Why do people work in groups? Because we humans realized a long time ago that often two can do more than one. This worked pretty well until a management guru decided to make it sound impressive. Now we must explain our team work efforts in terms of productivity benefits and economies of scale.

And so it has become necessary, when two or more people work together, to formally divide the labor, to co-ordinate the activities and to measure the outcomes.

In the modern organization, this does not happen automatically. It is achieved by layering the tasks and responsibilities according to a formal hierarchy of decision-making.

However, to get the big ball rolling, someone must have the power to decide what is worth doing in the first place. In this house, that power rests with me, which is why I hereby decide on a nice holiday lunch.

Kids, get to the kitchen and help your mother!

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Listen to the radio version of The power to decide lunch (10 most recent radio files)

#534: Some animals are revolting

Leadership, Motivation No Responses »

Nov 072011

Once upon a time there was a movie called ‘Start the Revolution Without Me’. The narrator of the movie explains that “longstanding grievances between aristocrat and peasant were about to boil over.” And now it seems that the peasants are revolting. Again.

However, I feel that these Occupy Wall Street types are just a little bit late to the revolution. I mean, consider the facts.

According those who know these things, in 1980 your average CEO at your average large company received 42 times more pay than your average worker. In the year 2000, it was 525 times more.

But things are improving! In 2010 the average CEO earned only three hundred and forty three times more than the typical American worker.

Are CEOs finally ready to admit that everybody is equal? I doubt it. Too many are still living according to the Animal Farm Commandment: “Some animals are more equal than others.”

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Listen to the radio version of Some animals are revolting (10 most recent radio files)

#531: Leading on crowded paths

Change, Leadership No Responses »

Oct 212011

Mahatma Ghandi once said, “I must go now, for there go my people and I am their leader.” No doubt, Ghandi was a leader and yet, the so-called wisdom of crowds makes me nervous. Can a crowd really know better than one wise guy?

But then there’s the story that designer Christopher Williams tells about an architect who waited for the people to lead. He had designed and built a cluster of office buildings which the landscaper wanted to connect with sidewalks.

“Not yet,” said the architect. “Plant grass.” Within months there were clear pathways between the buildings. Although not straight, these pathways were the most efficient lines of connection. All the landscaper had to do was to pave where the users had shown their need, their preferred paths.

Indeed, sometimes leaders should simply get out of the way so that the people can show their path. But knowing when this is best is always tricky.

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Listen to the radio version of Leading on crowded paths (10 most recent radio files)

#528: Mum about brave business leaders

Business, Leadership No Responses »

Oct 032011

Why do so many people get fired via email or telephone? The CEO of Yahoo is only the latest visible victim of this unbelievable lack of basic manners and respect for human dignity.

Blame it all on Mum. No, not on your mother. Not even on mine. Blame it on what social psychologists call the MUM effect.

Research has shown that people just don’t like being the bearers of bad news. We tend to either keep quiet about bad news or distort it to make it more palatable. Why? Because we know that negative information triggers negative feelings. And the selfish consideration? The risk that we will be liked less if we pass it on.

Frankly, I think we should be brave enough to admit that the MUM effect at the top is based on old-fashioned cowardice. And that we have a shortage of brave business leaders. There, I’ve said it. I could keep mum no longer.

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Listen to the radio version of Mum about brave business leaders (10 most recent radio files)

#508: Which lead in leadership?

Leadership No Responses »

Jul 212011

Listen carefully. What do the letters “L E A D” spell? Lead as in leader or lead as in heavy?

And the answer is . . . both. And so it is with leadership. Sometimes it means ‘to lead’ and other times it means ‘to weigh down’; sometimes it means “let’s go!” and other times it means “slow down”.

An effective leader makes you want to do something. It is that wanting to, that self-desire, which makes the doing so much lighter. Yet, a really effective leader has the savvy to rein you in, to curb your irrational enthusiasm, to make you pace yourself so that you don’t flame out before time out.

You will be a much more effective leader when you decide in advance which ‘l e a d’ in leadership you should use in any given situation – lead to make lighter or lead to anchor down.

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Listen to the radio version of Which lead in leadership? (10 most recent radio files)

#496: Leadership tricks for a summer holiday

Leadership, Nonsense No Responses »

Jun 022011

Are you one of those executive types who simply cannot shrug off the leadership mantle on your day off? Then try these tricks.

First, aim lower. On a day of rest, don’t set your sights too high. There is no need. I have learned at great personal cost that the world will not end if I lower my standards.

Living up to lower standards makes the next trick a piece of cake. Slow down; find time to procrastinate. If you dilly-dally, someone will run out of patience and do whatever needs doing. You have no idea how much stress I’ve saved myself this way.

After you’ve lowered your standards and taken your time, try this one for fun. Don’t put off until tomorrow what your spouse can do today.

Once you’ve mastered these tricks at home, try them at the office. You’ll find you have much more energy for golf or fishing. Everyday.

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Listen to the radio version of Leadership tricks for a summer holiday (10 most recent radio files)

Older Entries

#562: Keep your shoes on

#559: Get yourself new people

#556: Tell yourself where to go

#555: Weave with purpose

#548: The power to decide lunch

#534: Some animals are revolting

#531: Leading on crowded paths

#528: Mum about brave business leaders

#508: Which lead in leadership?

#496: Leadership tricks for a summer holiday

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