Years ago my father consulted to a mining company that was in financial meltdown. Unable to prevent the inevitable, his project wrapped up and the business had no cash left to pay his fees. As a token of their appreciation they gave him half a dozen ‘semi-precious’ stones mined from the site. Fast-forward several years and my Dad rediscovers the stones in his desk drawer, alongside a graveyard of stationery relics. Too small to make a useful paperweight they had been relegated to collect dust… brown, green and frankly unimpressive in appearance. Or at least they were to the untrained eye.

It occurred to him to have the stones valued and I well remember his shock when the call came from the valuer. These unimpressive, uncut stones were worth over $60,000 in their raw form alone. In the hands of a master craftsman their value would multiply further. You can probably guess what happened next. Suddenly the stones went from the unlocked desk drawer to the safe. They were added to the insurance policy. They were even eyed off by my Mum for jewellery pieces.

I wonder who is in your drawer?

Experience has taught me that in the drawers of almost every organisation lie people with extraordinary, but as yet unrecognised potential. Brown and green. Gathering dust. There for the taking. Over the years I’ve hired several individuals that other leaders had in the drawer. A few of those leaders even warned me that I was wasting my time. Today those same individuals have become truly world-class leaders in their own right and are ‘paying it forward’ as they help others realise their potential.

One of the most valuable skills you can hone is the ability to spot real possibility in people. Anyone can identify a leader when they’ve already been crafted. The mastery is in identifying, investing in and maturing that potential. It reminds me of Michelangelo who carved the famous statue of David from the very same slab of limestone that several other sculptors had already rejected as being too shallow and weak. He said later that when he looked at that slab he could already “see David in the stone”.

So perhaps it’s time for you to look again?
•    Take stock of your team. Consciously disregard appearances, position and market value. Ask yourself “What are they truly capable of?”
•    Find a valuer. Is there someone in your world with an eye for potential that could give you a professional opinion?
•    Multiply their value. One of the greatest gifts you can give your team is to not settle for raw potential. Be the leader they can trust to cut through the exterior and bring out their ‘wow’.

“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I love Twitter… ever present on my iPhone, my Twitter page keeps me connected. To some it’s a communication tool, to others a gossip aggregator, and to others a beloved time-waster. But I believe that the way in which Twitter works should remind leaders of some truths about effective leadership. Thankfully, in many places, the old command and control style of leadership is pushing up the daisies. As Sony puts it “we live in exponential times” and I believe these times call for a serious rethink of our leadership models.

So what can we as leaders learn from Twitter?

People follow you by choice (and can opt out any time)
There’s nothing I can do to make people follow me on Twitter. They choose. In fact anyone can choose to follow me whether I know them or not. And most importantly, they can silently opt out of following me at any time. Today’s effective leaders realise that people are following only because they choose to. Gen Y get a lot of bad press for being less loyal to their employers, but all too often they are simply leaving leaders who appear to think that they can force people to follow them.

You’re being watched
Common sense says “watch what you tweet”. It amuses me when people are shocked that some employee gets fired for Twittering that they’re at the beach after telling their boss that they’re sick. I believe true leaders understand that accountability isn’t just a fact of life; it’s something they signed up for when they accepted the role of leader. Instead of fighting that reality I want the realisation that I’m being watched to cause me to lift my life and leadership to a higher level.

Say it in sound bites
Twitter forces you to distil your ideas down to their essence – 140 characters. That’s a good discipline for leaders. As a speaker I use the one sentence test… don’t speak for one hour until you can explain your point in one sentence. In a day of overwhelming access to content, only the well-crafted sound bite has a fighting chance of being remembered… let alone acted upon.

People retweet what you say
I always think of it as a compliment when people retweet what I say on Twitter. In that moment my words are exposed to an audience with whom I hadn’t had direct contact. Of course even my misguided ideas, spelling mistakes and general ignorance can be broadcast too (think: Hugh Jackman’s tweet about the “Sydney Opera Centre”). Leaders must remember that everything they say has an audience beyond the immediate. So craft what you say with retweeting in mind.

Leaders follow others as well as being followed
My favourite people to follow on Twitter follow other interesting people themselves. By contrast we can sometimes subscribe to the stereotype of the leader that follows no-one. They don’t care what others think; the only thoughts that matter are their own. Yet the best leaders have heroes too. There may be thousands following you, and just a handful that you follow, but all the more reason why those influencers should be well chosen because…

Who you follow says something about you
I can’t choose who follows me but I can choose who I follow. Something I seem to do by impulse whenever I look at a person’s profile is to see who they are following. On some instinctive level I believe that I can tell a lot about a person by looking at who they choose to follow. So do the people you follow represent you well?

I write this edition from the Middle East where I’ve been training leaders in Qatar. Last week I was working with Catholic school principals to assist them in becoming coaches to their staff. Both of these diverse groups expressed the same challenge to acting on their priorities (one that I believe is common to leaders in most industries and cultures)… that there always seems to be more to do than time to get it done.

I don’t mind being busy up to a point if all that activity is in line with my priorities. The problem with our busyness though is that too often we use it as a smokescreen, a distraction from the real issue. The problem is not that we’re busy, it’s that we’re not focusing on what’s really important.

It’s very tempting to point to the aspects of my workload that I can’t control in order to let myself of the hook. People say things like, “Everything around here is urgent, it’s only a question of how urgent” or “My job involves lots of surprises and problems that I have to respond to straight away”. And that’s legitimate for many people. But it can also become an alibi for ineffectiveness – I blame those areas where I have little choice so I can draw attention away from what I do with the rest of my week. Are you ready to get honest with yourself?

Show me what you do with your discretionary time at work and I’ll show you what your real focus is. For all of our well-meaning explanations about how busyness is keeping us from being effective the truth is that nothing gives a clearer picture of your true priorities than what you do with those windows of time where you have a choice. How do you invest those opportunities? Is it something mindless or menial? Or do you pounce on those moments and invest them in what really matters?

For the next week why don’t you put yourself to the “Spare Time Test”?

• Where does your time go when it’s up to you?
• How much of your week is lost to the mindless and the menial?
• Has being busy become an alibi for being ineffective?
• What could you do to keep your priorities in sight when opportunity knocks?

Have a great week!

In an executive coaching session with a very successful business leader last week I hit on an idea for overcoming a challenge we all face once we’ve been in a leadership role for a while. No matter how well we start, sooner or later there comes a point when we realise we’ve lost perspective on the changes we wanted to make and the opportunities we saw so clearly when we first stepped into our role.

Inertia begins to take its toll. Things we intended to fix now just blend into the landscape. We get busy and lose perspective. Our momentum and energy fade as maintenance mode takes over. As the old cliché goes we start to realise we ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’ anymore.

My client had turned around his business when he first took over the leadership a few years ago, but now what? Grow stale? Incremental improvement? Look for a challenge somewhere else? No, the answer was simple. “Imagine you’ve been fired, and the person replacing you… is you.”

Think like your successor would. Wipe the slate clean. No assumptions. No limits. No baggage. No weariness. No excuses.

If you’ve been in your role more than six months, ask yourself these questions-

• If you were starting in this job today, what would your high priority agenda be?
• What would you being unwilling to tolerate that has been accepted until now?
• What audacious goals and strategies would you set that the ‘old leader’ didn’t think were possible?
• What limitations would you challenge that the ‘last team’ had chosen to believe?
• What would you ruthlessly get rid of that’s unproductive/ outdated/ mediocre?
• What opportunities would you be excited to capitalise on that the ‘previous team’ had squandered?

Go on. Steal your own job. You’ll do a better job than the old leader did anyway.

Conflict is a fact of life when you lead teams. It can be addressed in a way that minimises the pain that conflict creates for people, leaving the team intact and the focus on the future. On the other hand we’ve probably all experienced the devastating damage that teams are plagued by when they handle issues between them poorly.

Without what I sometimes call “The Rules of Engagement” a simple misunderstanding or a minor disagreement can quickly spiral downwards into heated and bitter arguments, spawning gossip and innuendo, becoming excessively personal, embroiling a whole team in the mess, and ultimately making the workplace a really unpleasant place to be.

One simple solution that I’ve witnessed begin the healing process in some wounded teams is a formula I use called “Get It Right”. When teams Get It Right they keep each other responsible for communicating in a way that’s healthier for the team. If we have an issue with another member of the team here’s a way to Get It Right…
1.    Right Time
2.    Right Place
3.    Right Heart

Right Time – Before I launch into my response, I stop to consider if this is the right time. For instance is the other person so busy or emotional right now that they’re unlikely to be receptive? Does this need to be addressed right now or is there a better time? There’s a lot of truth in the saying that ‘timing is everything’ and many disagreements would be resolved sooner if people considered timing instead of simply reacting.

Right Place – If it’s the right time, where is the right place to take this on? The right place has to start with the person I have a disagreement with. Not gossiping with other members of the team, or bypassing the person to complain to their boss. I’d also consider the best location for the conversation. It’s almost always going to be somewhere that others won’t overhear it. Immature teams just ‘have it out’ in front of everybody, dragging others into the damage.

Right Heart – Lastly if it’s the right time and place, is my heart right? Do I need to address my own motives or emotional baggage here? We tend to believe that the other person is simply wrong, but often conflict really says more about ourselves that we’d like to admit. Do I just need to be a bigger person? Would this discussion be better after I’ve given myself a day to cool down and get a little perspective back? That’s a mark of maturity. When we argue with someone and our own heart is not right, all too often they dismiss the truth in what we say because it comes loaded with our personal agenda.

Imagine what it would be like to build that sort of culture in your team. Molehills wouldn’t become mountains. Disagreements wouldn’t destroy teams.  Instead we’d remind each other to Get It Right for the sake of the group. That sounds like a great team to work with.

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.

If you’ve been in leadership for a while, you’ve probably had somebody leave your team that caught you by surprise. In more challenging economic times it’s more important than ever to make sure we’re retaining good people on our teams. Perhaps I’ve watched one too many episode of House or ER but I’ve heard the line “we’re losing them” so many times, as a myriad of machines beeped and a patient lay in critical condition. The machines tracked their vital signs, and well before the patient died there were signs of trouble for the trained eye. If they intervened in time that could be the difference between life and death.

The ‘Seven Signs of Signing Off’ are indicators that I’m losing someone on my team… that might just give me the lead time that I need to intervene, to change course, to have the right conversation. Early warning signs that “we’re losing them”. One sign on it’s own is no big deal, but the more of these indicators I see, the more concerned I am that the end may be near.

1. Broken connections. When key relationships are disconnected, such as a close friend of theirs resigning or being transferred from their department, one reason to stay is lost.
2. Discontentment with aspects of their job or environment which neither of you can control. When a person focuses their frustration on issues that can’t be resolved (like the location of your offices or a global issue like exchange rates) it’s often a sign they’re giving up.
3. Getting awkward. Typically people’s interaction becomes less natural when they’re thinking about moving on. Human nature is to distance yourself, and maybe even get a little worried that somehow ‘people can tell’.
4. Disinterest in goals. If a person is usually goal orientated but they’re not motivated by them as much anymore, it can be a good indication that they don’t think they’ll be around long enough for goals to matter.
5. Contact level is reduced. This can be harder to pick up with low contact people, but since more than 55% of our communication is conveyed through body language, a noticeable drop in friendly touch or eye contact is a subtle but vital sign.
6. Shift to a negative focus. Many times I’ve seen outward negativity as the window to a person’s self-talk. Even unconsciously we begin to express our negativity in order to justify our reasons for leaving.
7. Becoming emotionally neutral. When I’m checking out in my head, strong emotions like celebration and frustration are replaced with a dispassionate middle ground. I used to care, but I don’t any more.

So what does a leader do with all this? Don’t overreact or start checking up on people out of paranoia. They’re just warning lights on the dash. But the more of them I notice together, the more certain I am that something is seriously amiss. It won’t always prevent disaster. But if that awareness saved you one staff member, that’s a big save.

When it comes to building great teams, frank is your friend. Not frank the person, frank the quality. Leaders who create environments where communication stays frank (open, honest & clear) set their teams up to succeed.

I’ve coached and spoken for numerous organisations and so observed many different cultures when it comes to communication. Cultures where you don’t ask questions. Cultures where it’s not polite to say what you really mean. Cultures where you don’t tell the boss bad news. Cultures where gossip reigns and people watch their backs. Cultures where no-one dares challenge the status quo.

And yet I notice highly effective teams are mostly quite the opposite. These teams know that things don’t tend to change until someone is prepared to be honest and say “this isn’t working”. Sometimes the most creative thing you can do is simply stop doing something that isn’t working anyway. The energy and time you’ll save can be better spent finding a solution that actually works.

Great teams understand that relationships don’t tend to improve until someone is courageous enough to ‘go there’. Most days I sit face to face with business leaders as their coach, and very often the solution to their so-called ‘people problem’ is simply this – have the honest conversation. Don’t hint. Don’t wonder. Don’t wish. Don’t manipulate. Don’t gossip. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t replace them. Don’t blame someone else. Don’t delegate it. Have the honest conversation.

So, what’s bothering you today that it’s time to be frank about? Frank doesn’t mean harsh… you can communicate clearly without destroying people, overloading emotions, or constantly mouthing off your opinion. There’s a time and place for frank.

What conversations have you been avoiding having? What price have you paid for avoiding them? The price is probably going up for you, for them and for the whole team the longer you allow it to go unaddressed. Simple advice… do it … this week.

What a dream team you’d have if everyone on your team was a leader. Not just the person ‘in charge’. Everyone. And by ‘leader’ I don’t mean job title, a swanky office, or the where the buck actually stops. I simply mean the sort of team where everyone takes responsibility, works like it’s their own business, stays ahead of the game, and multiplies themselves by taking people with them on the journey.

Almost everyone starts out as a ‘worker’ on a team (and just quietly, most of those who jump straight into leadership roles are really just workers with responsibility). But I’ve noticed people don’t stay workers forever.

Over time, workers become one of three things-

1. Leaders. They blaze a trail. Run with the vision like it’s their own (because it is). Their impact is measured not by personal performance but by a mass of momentum in others.

2. Leasers. Mercenaries in the workplace, they do what they’re paid to do. It’s about money, benefits, maximised comfort and flexibility, minimised challenge and responsibility. The bulk of many corporate teams.

3. Leavers. Rather than step up or step back, they step aside. And when they leave, they do not leave a hole. Except perhaps in the bottom line.

• So who are you building on? Leaders, leasers or leavers.
• Have you got the courage to lead leaders?
• Don’t forget… you get what you focus on (and reward!)