Snowboarding is one sport that I picked up easily, though not without a few bruises along the way. I’m not a natural sportsman but one piece of advice from a friend on my first day snowboarding made a huge difference. As I twisted my body around and tried hard to force the board to go where I wanted my friend said to me “Look where you want to go, and the rest will follow”. Now there was still much to learn, but that simple advice – to look where I wanted to go – helped me learn a more natural flow than the tense, contrived, controlling style that designated me a novice.

As 2008 winds up and you prepare for a new year are you looking where you WANT to go? With new drama on the news about the world economy every other day, it’s all too easy to have your eyes on what you DON’T want, instead of what you do want. The trouble is that your unconscious mind doesn’t deal with negatives. For instance if I say to you “don’t think of a blue car”, your mind immediately thinks of a blue car. We so easily clutter up our minds with all the images of things we don’t want… unemployment, relationship breakdowns, disappointment, and failure, whatever it is for you. But what would it be like if your mind was full to the brim instead with what you DO want?

I didn’t always end up in the right place snowboarding but things definitely went badly anytime I got fearful and tense, as I told myself “don’t hit the tree, don’t hit the tree!”. I was coaching a client recently who mentioned a strategy to me for managing one of her team. On the surface she was just being conservative and hedging her bets a little, but what was really driving her at that moment was fear and a focus on what could go wrong. Suddenly she realised that she wasn’t playing to win, she was playing to “not lose”. And there’s a world of difference.

This is about more than just “thinking happy thoughts” or ignoring the real challenges we face. It’s about choosing our focus. It’s about framing our future in positive terms. It’s about being proactive rather than reactive.

So before the year is done…
•    Are your goals for 09 defined by avoiding what you don’t want, or by gaining what you do want?
•    Which of your plans fall into the “playing to not lose” category?
•    And how much focused time have you given to drawing the blueprint for the year you truly want?

Whether you lead a small team, a large department or a huge corporation you can promote yourself to CEO. Today. Ok, maybe not Chief Executive Officer, but certainly a different kind of ‘CEO’ to remind you of three essential things you MUST bring to those you lead.

I believe every leader should be three people, all rolled into one. The new ‘you’, the CEO, is a Catalyst, an Entrepreneur and an Organiser. Three roles you must play. All for one, and one for all!

CATALYST
I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of a Catalyst. In essence a Catalyst is an agent of change. In chemistry it might represent just a small ingredient introduced into a larger mix, yet the Catalyst creates a reaction that far exceeds its size. In fact its presence precipitates change at a greater rate than would otherwise be possible and yet the Catalyst itself is not altered in the process. That’s a definition of potent leadership!
•    CEO Test – Do you create change and accelerate energy in the environment around you without being consumed in the process?

ENTREPRENEUR
Every team needs the Entrepreneur to flourish… visionary, risk-taking, bottom-line driven. While the Catalyst brings change, the Entrepreneur never loses perspective on where the team is heading and what defines ‘success’ for them. While others drown in the details or take off on tangents, to quote Michael Gerber’s ‘E Myth Revisted’ the Entrepreneur ‘works on the business not just in the business’. This is not the sole domain of Richard Branson types, the spirit of a pioneering adventurer needs to be found near the core of every leader who hopes to build something great rather than settle for more of the same.
•    CEO Test – How much time have you personally spent in the last two weeks thinking in a deliberate way about where you are leading your team and how you’ll get there?

ORGANISER
It’s not sexy, is it? I almost left it out… trying to convince myself that organising is somehow the domain of ‘details people’ not leaders. And yet you can’t have the word ‘organisation’ without ‘organise’ can you? To truly organise you have to have a picture of how things should be when you’re finished, a master plan. Too many leaders are all ideas, no follow through. The fact is that teams are reassured when the people they follow have a plan not just creativity and charisma. At some point the changes of the Catalyst and the ideas of the Entrepreneur must be grounded in something that gives people an action plan and creates the accountability to see it through.
•    CEO Test – How much of your communication as a leader is How, Who & When? Or is it all hype and headlines… What & Why?

So here’s a final thought. Schedule time in your diary for all three hats to be worn this week. Be the CEO. And in the chemistry (and even conflict) of those three roles is a truly valuable thing. Untapped potential.