A Dealer In Hope

This is such an interesting time of year. Most of us will be are spending time with family, friends and colleagues during the holidays. It is a time when we reflect positively and negatively on the past year and contemplate what the coming year will hold. This season is rich with the opportunity for a leader to dispense hope.

Napoleon said that "a leader is a dealer in hope" and that may be most fitting as we consider the many dealers we encounter during the holidays. Some dealers are peddling merchandise (retailers) while others are peddling doom and despair (media). Some are dealing in knowledge (educators) while other dealers are peddling solutions (consultants). However the most powerful dealers of all are the leaders who are dispensing hope.

Don't get me wrong there is plenty to be concerned about in our world and I am not advocating that leaders blindly look aside from real challenges. I am saying that leaders who deal in hope will sincerely and convincinly articualte a bright future, especially when the immediate circustances are bleak. Dealing hope is a responsibility of all leaders and this is the time of year to deal most heavily in this potent motivator.

So as the holidays hit their peak over the next few weeks I want to encourage you to be a dealer in hope.

Too Big To Fail?

I heard a phase once that really captured my attention. A speaker who was making a point about the ability of people to learn said, “you can either listen and learn, or you can live and learn.” I like well-turned phrase and so it stuck with me. I used it with my boys as they were growing up and I have used with clients as a way to quickly point out that they were on a path of learning that was going to be harder than necessary. It is one of those phrases that work in many settings, because it is true.

When I think of the Character of Leadership element of wisdom this phrase comes to mind. In particular, it comes to mind as I consider from a distance the challenges now facing Tiger Woods. He has certainly torn a page from the “live and learn” book and one can only hope that he, his family, colleagues and those of watching from a distance will “listen and learn” to the painful lessons he is learning about leadership and the ramifications of a leader’s personal behavior..

In the recent financial crisis we have seen the re-emergence of an oft debated doctrine called “too big to fail.” The idea is that some businesses are simply so large and so entangled in the economy that their failure would cause more destruction than any set of artificial supports could cause. For instance, it was determined that AIG, despite its failures, was so integral to the rest of the U.S. financial markets that it needed to be propped up by the government. Its failure was too expense to allow it to fail.

For leaders “too big to fail” does not apply. This is not to say that all leaders must be perfect. No such leaders exist. It does mean that no matter how far above the rules of scrutiny leaders believes they are, they are never too big to fail. We all need to observe the precipitous fall of Tiger Woods to “listen and learn” the lesson he is teaching.

The Cost of Character

Last week I gave my first keynote address based on the Character of Leadership. During my preparation for that speech to WTS it occured that I needed to begin to talk about the need for character in leadership development by discussing the cost of character.

To make that connection I shared the facts related to a financial system collapse that cost the U.S. taxpayers $150 billion and saw the demise of 557 institutions. At its core, the collapse had the following causes:

• Deteriorating market conditions
• Over investment in single family residential mortgages
• Weak regulatory environment
• Increased lending powers

This collapse took place in 1987 and we are now paying billions more to learn the same lessons again. From my perspective the causes of the previous collapse and the one we now find ourselves in relate more closely with the character of leaders than with economic cycles. What examples do you have, large or small, public or private, that reflect the cost of character?

The Character of The Blind Side

I am a pushover for a good story and I found one this week in the movie, The Blind Side. It is the story of Michael Oher and his journey to become a first round draft choice for the Baltimore Ravens. However, it is not a football story. It is about character. The character of the Tuohy family and their willingness to see someone in need and then to offer to help Michael fulfill his potential.

Looking at the Tuohy's through the Character of Leadership lens it is easy to see Justice demonstrated by the Tuohy's in their provision for Michael’s needs, his education and his future. Love is apparent in the way they nurture Michael and the way he cares for and protects them. The most evident element however is Courage. The Tuohys demonstrate the Courage to push against the prejudices of their friends and Michael’s Courage to leave behind his tragic past and push into the light of success. Michael's courage was particularly interesting to me. We often think that when someone is afforded an opportunity to escape the brutality of their current circumstances that they will naturally choose the better opportunity. However, it takes real courage to leave behind the only world you know (even if it is dysfunctional one) and reach for success. It takes courage to succeed. All of these character elements are wrapped in Hope.

The movie has all the standard Hollywood emotional plays and it breaks down in the recruiting sequences when coaches are playing themselves but the basic story is sound. Justice, Love, Courage and Hope are powerful components of character; when they are positively mixed, the result is improved lives.

Go On!

The last chapter of the Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age challenges leaders to think about the legacy they are developing as they engage in leadership. The goal of that chapter is to get leaders to consciously establish a vision for the legacy they want to create.

Yesterday the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation announced a $20 million campaign to encourage Idaho high school students to Go On in pursuit of post secondary education. This generous contribution is loaded with legacy implications.

Yesterday's announcement is just one more in a long line of legacy investments made by the foundation funded by the revered founders of the Albertsons grocery store chain. Their legacy of giving continues even after they have long passed. There is hardly a place that a citizen of Idaho can turn that does not have some connection to the generosity of the Albertson family. Now their foundation is giving to the children of this great state, the education and economic future that has escaped so many.

As if that were not enough, history will be witness to the legacy these young leaders leave as they learn and then lead organizations around the world. Their lives (and ours) will be forever changed by the leadership legacy of a family whose generosity is a testament to their character.

Go On!

To Maximize or Optimize

Do you ever have a recurring thought and wonder where it comes from? I have been processing (in my head) for the last week the concept of stewardship. According to Webster's Dictionary stewardship is "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care." I first heard the notion of a leader as a steward during my ethics class at banking school. Dr. Kirk Hart shared the idea that leaders actions should focus on caring for the assets entrusted to them as though their value was generational rather than tied to a business cycle. This week I caught just a small clip of the PBS series on the National Parks and the idea of stewardship reasserted itself.

The idea of stewardship is also resonating with me because of our work on the character of leadership. It is not too far fetched to say that a leader who is serious about the character from which they lead will naturally contemplate the long term implications of such leadership and end up considering whether the highest use of their talent is to maximize shareholder wealth in the short run or to optimize shareholder wealth over the long term.

If you are interested in the implications of leaders as stewards let's talk!

Character and Systems

An airplane is a great place to reflect about things. I used to dread flights because they seemed such a waste of time. Now I look forward to the opportunity to think without interruption (if you don't count the service cart hitting you in the shoulder and the armrest struggles with our seat mate). Yesterday as I was flying to Denver I read the November Harvard Business Review and its reflection on the work of Peter Drucker. Several articles profiled the contribution of this prolific thinker but what caught my attention was the article by Rosabeth Moss Kanter about how Drucker predicted that shifts in management practices made twenty years ago would lead to the excesses of today.

Drucker did not predict the future in a psychic way but what he did do is share his view that if you shift the reward mechanisms substantially in favor of managers that they will be motivated to take more risk in order to reach those incentives. We have all certainly seen the effects of that risk taking in the financial sector.

Drucker's view was focused on the systems that reward managers and create undo risk. Drucker would have advocated to change the system to protect the organization. A systemic perspective is legitimate but my view is that if organizations would develop the character of their leaders the system could would not have been out of balance in the first place. Great character is the fuel for great leadership and since leaders build the organizational systems let's focus on character first.

Tip of the Iceberg

Yesterday was a great day for the Character of Leadership model. I met with two different groups that were keenly interested in the model and its implications for personal and professional leadership. The first group was a leadership team that had read through the book and then set aside two hours for discussion of how, faith, justice, temperance, hope, wisdom, love and courage relate to the leadership they provide their teams. It was encouraging to see the seriousness with which they evaluated their leadership and sincerity with which they set some goals for themselves.

The second group consisted of several people who were interested in but had not necessarily read the book beforehand. Again, they were inquisitive about the book's origins and the were quick to apply the elements of the model directly to their own leadership.

Both groups were energized, challenged and encouraged by their application of the model. During the conversation there were several comments that energized me because these were the first people to review the book in my presence since its release. Here is a paraphrase of what they said:

• The book was more personal than other leadership books they had read.
• The chapters on faith and love were favorites and different than other leadership books
• Our discussions just touched the "tip of the iceberg" of leadership

Our goal with this model is for it to reach 100,000 people in 1 year and yesterday represented 14 more people connected to the Character of Leadership; the tip of the iceberg.

Rationalization

I just finished reading my October, Harvard Business Review. I always enjoy that publication for its strong intellectual quality and its practical application. This month’s issue contained several insightful articles on managing risk. One of the articles is a panel interview with risk management experts and it was in that article that a word caught my attention; rationalization.

Robert Simons commented that three things were necessary for the current financial crisis to occur. The first was innovation in financial products and markets. The second was short-term focused performance incentives and the third was rationalization. As Simons puts it: “The belief that a particular behavior is economically and morally justifiable.” For example, “The shareholder value principle-that social welfare is somehow best served if managers focus exclusively on delivering maximum value to shareholder.” Such rationalization required the managers modify or override what they knew was right in order to justify their actions.

All of us can rationalize behavior when we really want to do or achieve something. This ability to override our character is precisely why organizations need to build leadership development programs with character model at its core.

100,000 People In 1 Year!

Two weeks ago I met the marketing director of a new client organization. She came to Vancouver BC to pick me up and deliver me to their company headquarters in Northern Washington. During the short drive, the subject of my book came up. After I described the book and its basic premises she asked me a simple question that I was not prepared for. "What is your goal with this project." were her words. It was not that we had not considered a goal for the Character of Leadership model but rather, in the process of getting the book to market I had forgotten our goal; to put the character of leadership model in the hands of 100,000 people in 1 year!

There are several ways we will measure our progress toward this goal. First will be through book distribution. In addition we will track how many people take the character of leadership assessment and how many people we present the model to in our public and private presentations. Every month we will keep our fans informed about our progress so look for the first update at the end of October.

As with every goal there is a potential that we won't succeed. That however, is a small risk because we believe the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership. Consequently, we are devoted to encourage individuals and organizations alike to inject a character component into their leadership. Join us!

Columbus, Apollo and You

Today is Columbus Day in the United States and although much as been said that is both positive and negative about Christopher Columbus, he was a leader. Like most leaders he had strengths that served him well and weaknesses that caused he and others problems; he was still a leader. One of his strengths was courage. The courage to push past the obstacles that threatened his voyages before they ever left port. The courage to sail across uncharted waters in search of riches. The courage to return home to the cheers and jeers. Leaders need to cultivate courage in themselves in order to power their teams to success.

In preparing for the first public presentation of my new book this week I went looking for a story to illustrate the courage of character that leaders need. I am using the short audio clip from the lunar landing of Apollo 11 as a way of describing the boldness, valor and firmness that courageous leaders possess. If you have not heard this clip I encourage you to listen to it by clicking on the NASA link http://tinyurl.com/nzuzd3 It is amazing to think that in July of 1969 three men and a breathless ground crew would make history for mankind and do it with only a few seconds of fuel left in the Eagle landing craft. Even though I have heard it many times I still get a chill when the radio crackles with Neal Armstrong's voice, "Houston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed."

Most of us won't be called on to explore new worlds whether earthly or celestial but it still takes courage to push past the obstacles of every day leadership challenges. Lead on with courage!

The Curse of Or Thinking

It’s too simple to say that leaders fit into one of two categories but the more I work with leaders the more I see them trapped by their own temperament. Leaders are either relational; they see every situation from a people perspective or they are rational; seeing every situation as a formula. This past week I had occasion to see each of these leaders at work. The relational leader was stuck in an unenviable situation by being too people focused. The rational leader was frustrated trying to hone a process in order to overcome the human factors that keep disrupting his achievement.

I could see the pain in these situations and realized as I listened that each is trapped in an environment constrained by their individual, innate temperaments (see the DISC assessment at http://characterofleadership.com/assessments.aspx )The hard truth is that leaders have to rise above (www.characterofleadership.com) their temperament in order to lead effectively.

We learn in school and through experience to see situations as choices between the ends of a spectrum. Our temperament perpetuates the myth that there are only resources enough to build predictable formulas to run my organization or to have engaged employees, not both. However, the most effective leaders refuse to be limited by “or” thinking. Instead, they make choices the embrace the best of both relational and rational thinking. These leaders take the harder course; choosing both predictable formulas and fully engaged motivated people.

Are you trapped by "or" thinking?

You Are Here!

I was scanning through television stations last evening and in the process stopped on a C-SPAN. This is not a network that I regularly watch but the person on the screen caught my attention. It was General David Petraeus; Commander of US Central Command. I have been a fan of General Petraeus since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq when news reports of his economic development strategies in the Northern territory became public. General Petraeus understood at that time that his "military" success with the Kurds would depend on putting the local men to work more than his troop's ability to patrol and control militarily.

Since then, General Petraeus has been promoted several times and is now responsible for all American Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. What caught me during the General's address to the Marine Corp University was his understanding of the importance of context in leadership. His intimate and realistic assessment of each situation in which his troops find themselves is an important factor in his success as a leader.

During the audience questions the General offered a phrase that every leader should keep in the forefront, "trapped by experience." Because we all look for patterns in our past to guide our current and future actions we can quickly become trapped in what we know, ignoring the context in which our leadership is demonstrated. In every leadership situation look for the markers that will tell you the context in which you are operating. Understanding leadership context is much like the maps you encounter as you tour a theme park. Each one of those maps has an ever present and critical point of reference; You Are Here! Knowing and appreciating the context in which your leadership is demonstrated is critical to your success and the success of those you lead.

Leadership At Every Level of Healthcare Reform

Last week I worked with two of our health care clients. Work in this industry segment is always interesting but even more so now in the current climate of debate over health care reform. I was struck by the complexity of our health care system and regardless of any political leanings; reform of this system will be painful and tedious.

It occurred to me after listening to the experts, that the ability of any individual or organization (public or private) to write rules that cover every eventuality in the provision of health care, is impossible. Consequently, leadership will be required at every level of the health care system in order for any change to work. Leaders throughout the system must be empowered to lead their respective areas, solve problems and make decisions based principles not based on rules.

When I teach leadership I always begin with concepts and principles even though most students want step by step detail and a list of specific leadership behaviors. I start with principles and concepts because it is impossible to provide steps for every leadership situation. However if a leader has a conceptual framework to draw on, they can handle virtually any situation even in the absence of detailed instructions. This conceptual approach however requires the articulation of the principles so leaders can act and there in lies the challenge for health care reform.

Will the reformers craft the principles upon which they want reform to take place and then equip the leaders to make the changes those principles dictate? Or alternatively, will the reformers penchant for control devolve health care changes to an endless itemization of dos and don'ts that boggle the mind and cripple the system? Stay tuned.

Leadership is Part of Any Successful Infrastructure

This past week there has been a great deal in the news about the plans to overhaul the financial regulatory system. Certainly the events of the past year punctuated by the anniversary of the Lehman collapse show that there is ample room for improvement in the financial regulatory system.

The thing I found missing from the various speeches and news reports was the subject of leadership. It has long been my belief that the economic collapse was more a leadership problem than a regulatory one. In saying that I don't want to minimize the pressure that leaders experience in the operation of the financial firms and the regulatory system. However something kept these leaders from standing up and calling a halt to the crazed practices that somehow became the norm.

As a former banker my simple but (now appears correct) belief was that the only way to make more money in banking (a mature industry) is to take more risk. That risk has many forms that no regulation or regulator could adequately reign in. All the more reason that organizational leaders (not just banking leaders) need to demonstrate the strength of character necessary bridle averice.

So, it seems only logical that part of the reform we should advocate includes character and leadership development that will equip leaders to "regulate" their own organizations. It will not be possible to provide a system of regulation that will overcome weakness in leadership because at their heart the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

Whew! Mom Likes My Book

I am in Sun Valley, Idaho this weekend with our entire family to celebrate my mother's birthday. The weather is fantastic, cool mountain mornings mixed in the afternoons with a sun losings its summer intensity.

Last night we were just finishing up dinner and I was sitting next to my mom, she leaned over and quietly said, "I really like your book, it is very good."It had not occurred to me how important it was to hear those words from someone I care so much about.

Just like leaders who have great influence over their team members my mom shared and important supporting comment at just the right time. Her simple words of endorsement provided energy to me. Leaders have the same opportunity to provide caring words that instill hope and courage in their team members.

Is the Model the Answer or the Question

I have never been confident at math. This may sound strange coming from someone with seventeen years experience in the banking industry. Especially when those years included seven years in loan portfolio risk management. Nonetheless, I have never been confident with math. Perhaps that's the reason I don't like formulas for leadership.

Over the past few years, countless books and articles have appeared espousing formulas for leadership success. There is nothing wrong conceptually with the idea of leadership having certain elements but when those elements are boiled down into equations based on best practice research I become very suspect.

For this reason the character of leadership model and its seven elements (faith, justice, temperance, hope, wisdom, love and courage) is more a question about the connection between character and leadership; rather than the answer. I do believe the model we uncovered is comprehensive enough to encompass all that a leader needs to be, but I also believe it to be flexible enough to be tailored to specific situations.

In a recent discussion in one of my LinkedIn groups someone proposed that the central element of the model should be love, not faith as we proposed. The argument was a good one and for that organization and that individual, a rearrangement of the elements could be in order.

My hope with the book is to engage the leadership community (whatever that is) in the discussion of character and leadership because from my point of view the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

Consulting to Cross-Stitch

I had a marvelous spectrum of reactions to the book this week. In the process of getting the word out about the release of The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age I sent an e-mail to my former bank colleagues. Immediately after sending that note my phone rang and it was one of my former colleagues letting me know how excited he was to see the re-entry of character in leadership discussions. We chatted about our mutual interest and even talked in general terms about consulting engagements.

After finishing that call, the phone rang again and this time the caller was a woman who wanted to acquire the list of character traits I had mentioned during a television interview earlier in the week. I was happy to point her to www.characterofleaderhip.com as a good source for the information she sought. She went on to tell me that she wanted the list so she could put them in a cross-stitch for her grand children.

I was stunned that in less than 15 minutes there was a range of validation for the character model that ran from consulting to cross-stitch. Although it is dangerous to use a sample of two to reach a conclusion, I am heartened that our new book will energize a conversation about character in leadership.

The Root Cause of Our Challenges

On Monday, I appeared on KTVB (Boise's local NBC affiliate) to announce the release of the book and to talk about the root cause of the many challenges we face today. (click here to watch the interview http://www.ktvb.com/news/business/itsyour/ ) My contention is that the challenges we face today are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

In the past few months as I have been sharing this notion with people I have yet to have anyone disagree with me. Of course, if this proposition is true then a significant portion of our organizational and national energy should be flowing into the understanding and development of both character and leadership.

The focus of that energy is why we released The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age. I truly hope that the model spurs contemplation of character and its relationship with leadership and helps organizations grow and prosper.

The Risk of Disagreement

There were times when I wanted to quit and not finish our new book. At first I wanted to quit because the writing was a challenge to me. Then I wanted to quit because I did not have enough time. Then my reason for quitting shifted to the expense of self-publishing. All these are real reasons but the core reason for my hesitancy was that I did not want people to disagree with my views and have that disagreement occur publicly.

I am still a bit nervous about the public aspect of the book but that is a risk I am willing to undertake to get the topic of character inserted into leadership discussions. Becasue leadership is driven from character it is critical that we talk about it in ways that are encouraging not condeming and that are open rather than caustic.

The book will be out tomorrow and I can only hope it will spur a positive dialoge. Join me for that discussion.

Character and Leadership At Work

Who you are as a leader is based in who you are as a person. That may seem self-evident to many but the importance of this simple fact cannot be overlooked. The challenges we face in all sorts of organizations can be traced to the failure to challenge and encourage leaders to focus on building their character.

Because of the intimate and inextricable connection of character and leadership, we went looking for a definition of character in order to help leaders be successful. We uncovered an ancient model of character that includes seven elements. We profile this model in the new book, The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age. (www.characterofleadership.com)

Faith is at the center of one’s personal character and our model.. This element is the core of your belief system, how you view the world, and what motivates your behavior. From this core, the remaining six elements, Justice, Temperance, Hope, Wisdom, Love, and Courage emanate and eventually give rise to the leadership we see displayed on a daily basis no matter your occupation.

I am excited to inject this ancient model back into leadership discussions and look forward to your comments and stories.

How have you seen character and leadership demonstrated? Connect with me via our blog, Facebook or Twitter. I can’t wait to hear your story.