Free the People

When there is an issue or problem, managers tend to ADD a step – a checklist, a form to fill out, an officer of something, an approval process, a waiting period, or an inspector.  Any fool can add a step.

The years pass and much red tape has been added by managers long gone.  It chokes out productivity and creativity.

Free the people.  Get rid of rules and bureaucracy.  Break tradition.  Kill sacred cows.

Make the organization nimble and fast-moving.  You’ll have the appreciation and respect of the people you free.

Why I make typos on Think Daily

I am busy.  I am not a perfectionist.  I do not have people with lots of time writing my messages – it’s just me to you.

I have goals.  Lots of goals – all part of bigger goals.  I like to do lots of cool stuff.  I work hard and play hard.  Full out.  No wasted time.  I want to impact as many people as I can.

I have a big team (1885 people on the payroll!).  I can’t stop thinking about ways to train and help and empower them.  I see opportunity.  

I have lots of help, and I delegate and prioritize.  I am not overworked, manic, crazed, or stressed.  I’m in my sweet spot.  My happy place.  Where I like to be – productive, doing what I like and was made for, and living full days.

I write Think Daily – two of them each weekday.  I am concerned with delivering an important idea.  One that with all this experience I know to be mostly true and important.  I do not have the luxury to belabor my posts, and I do not want it.  I want to share, then get up from my chair, and go make history every week.  

Learning, doing something important, and making something to talk about is my priority.

That’s why.

A pinch of insanity

People who are “unreasonable” and do things because they don’t know you can’t or aren’t supposed to can be valuable on your team.  They think differently, and thinking always precedes action.

If you want change, improvement, and to try new things, lay out the problem clearly, and let the team, including the “crazies”, try to figure it out.

Sieze control of the schools

It has been a tactic of radicals and revolutionaries who want change to sieze control of the schools.  If you can control what young people are taught, you make them soldiers for your cause.

Are you doing that in your business?

Do you teach your team what they need to know to get behind your cause?

Leadership is….

I got this from a sign on the wall at one of my partner’s offices and I think it is a great definition.

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making that impact lasts in your absence.”

Are other people more capable, confident, and valuable as a result of your presence?

If you (when you) go away, will your impact last?

A "Love – Change" Culture

Not all changes are improvements, but all improvements are changes.  In order to get better we need to do things differently.  If you have people who are resistant to change, fear it, are suspicious of it, or just don’t want to change their routine, you’ll have trouble making improvements.

True, too much change at once can overstress an organization, and change for change sake is no good either.  Don’t change what is working really well unless you know the change will make it work even better.  (Do some smaller-scale experiments.) 

Celebrate the changes you and your team have made and the better results that have come as a result.  Make change fun.  Make it as easy as it can be.  Admit when it’s not working.  Ask for help from supporters.  Talk to resistors individually, listen, give them a role, and ask for their support.  

Build a team of people who welcome change and are excited to see improvement, and your organization can move faster.

The job of management

The job of management is not to control people, it’s to build great teams who are skilled and motivated to deliver the results that the customer wants.

Is that what you see your job as?

Love is a Leadership Tool

“It is easy to rule through fear, but it takes a rare leader to rule through love.” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, leader of Dubai.

Do you say the things you do to your employees because you want them to fear not complying, or do you say the things you say to your people because you care about them and their success on your team? 

Profit is safety

If you are losing money your company is in danger of going out of business when they run out of money.

If you are breaking even, you are in danger, although less than losing money.

If you are making a very slim profit, you are ok, but very close to losing money, so, close to danger.

If you are making a great profit you have money to invest to grow, and far away from danger when things turn against you.

Are you in danger, or are you safe?  

How safe?

"I will not let you fail here"

Some leaders and managers have been promoted to their position without learning how to lead others.  

They take the attitude of policemen, looking to catch people doing something wrong. 

This does not get the best from the team, but the minimum performance to not get fired instead, with nobody thinking out of the box and taking extra initiative.

Instead, managers and leaders should seek to develop their people and bring out the best in them.  Believe in them – sometimes more than they believe in themselves.  

Take the attitude of “I will not let you fail here”.  Be their advocate, supporter, trainer, and one who cares about their well-being.

When people feel they have a leader like that, they won’t want to let you down and will want to give their best.

How do people at your company feel about you?