I was a y oung and energetic college graduate prematurely promoted to run a large sales office in the New York City area.  Our product was copiers, our competition Xerox and Kodak (yeah, I know, sorry Rochester!), and we were on a roll.  Our copiers were less expensive to operate than our competitors, at least so we believed, (or so we "helped" others to believe), with lower toner and drums costs.  One of our top selling copiers had manufacturer specifications stating each drum would provide 30,000 copies.  After reaching 30,000 copies the owner should expect to replace that drum at no small cost.  Fact: 30,000 copies to a drum with high replacement costs!  In the New York City market I soon found we had competitors with the same machines we were selling, operating as unauthorized dealers, giving the copiers away at cost while misrepresenting the drum life as providing 40,000 copies!  Apparently they had a competitive edge!  

This is the part of the story when you review the first ten (10) words of the beginning of this story.  I did not have a well defined moral compass, my ethical edge was dull, and my head full of craze to build my office to gain personal fame within the company.  I and my team quickly made the marketing adjustment to represent our copier drums as having 40,000 copy life spans.  Easy to justify, right?  I reasoned in my mind that we would get run out of business if we accurately represented the manufacturer's drum specifications.  I reasoned in my mind that by staying competitive we were providing jobs to our people and income to their families.  Yet in all my reasoning I struggled at night during pillow time with a conscience that was screaming: "liar!"  My star was rising while at the same time my soul was sinking!  Fortunately, by the grace of God and feedback from leaders who loved me, I was able to take a hard look at my moral compromises, the damage I was doing to my company as well as to my soul, and make a hard turn to right my way.

"The creed of our democracy is that liberty is acquired and kept by men and women who are strong and self-reliant, and possessed of such wisdom as God gives mankind--men and women who are just, and understanding, and generous to others--men and women who are capable of disciplining themselves.  For they are the rulers and must rule themselves."  --Franklin D Roosevelt

Leader to Leader Questions:

1. How would your #1 customer rate your commitment to total honesty?  Poor, Fair, Good, Exemplerary?

2. Are there any areas of your business conduct in which you are compromising on the truth?  Expense reports, product performance, service commitments, other?

3. Who are the trusted and loving leaders who are committed to your commitment to total integrity?  When was the last time one of them challenged you in a character or moral area?

http://leadersinspire.net

http://feedbackedge.com

OK, I confess, the blog title I have chosen is somewhat confusing and I am still wrestling with the practical workplace applications of the big idea.  We know that by nature leaders are independent; they do not seek validation of themselves or their ideas from others, nor are they waiting around for others to initiate the next course of action and to make decisions.  You may have heard of the leader's general MO: "it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission."  Leaders are doers, leaders take charge, leaders make things happen, leaders have an independent point of view, leaders are courageous, and leaders are willing to walk alone if necessary to fulfill their purposes.

While all of this is quite true about leaders, at least the classical definition of a "leader", we also know that leaders can get in a world of trouble in no time due to the sheer magnitude and power of their gifting.  When excessive ego is added to both talent and capacity, trouble will soon follow.  Therefore, the wise leader knows s(he) needs others to observe them and reflect back the real picture of their leadership and its impact on others.  Without these human mirrors, others who love us the most and fear us the least, we are prone to blind spots with resulting damage to our relationships and organizations.

"Two are better than one for they have a good return for their work...Woe to the one who falls when there is not another around to lift him up."   --Ecclesiastes 4:9,10 select

I wished I had understood this principle and practice earlier in my career.  I thought I needed to have within myself the entire vision, plan, skills, and decisions for my entire organization.  I therefore was less than honoring with the many gifted and bright leaders around me and their potential contributions to make us better.  I also was less than safe and credible as a leader for fear, pride, and arrogance were very much a part of my pathology and practice.  This pride led to the loss of a number of gifted leaders and, decision making that lacked the wisdom and benefits of a fully collaborative process. 

Six years ago I left the independent leader game, turned in my Superman uniform, to learn what it means to be independently interdependent.  I needed to continue to think and initiate as leaders are wired to do, but to also build a team of advisers to make me wiser and better.  In the past two years I recruited a band of older men and women to serve as my Personal Board of Advisers (PBOA).  Quarterly we meet over a conference call to review my life purpose, discuss the decisions in front of me, and make recommendations to my professional and personal life.  The wisdom that has come from these wise and able mentors to my very specific and sometimes complex life and career situations has been of tremendous benefit to me.  Specifically, just last Fall I was contemplating a heavy capital investment in a start up business when my advisers unanimously challenged the idea offering alternative business models.  When the call ended, I felt discouraged, for my energies were already moving forward with the investment and start up.  However, with six months behind me, I can see the wisdom and reason from my advisers as well as the real upside of the alternate model we are focused on.  It is good that I am learning to be independently Interdependent!  It is a very good thing!

So, leader, who leads you?  Who are your mentors, your wise sage-like advisers, your Yodas?  Can you recall decisions in your past that were not well informed, lacked the wisdom that comes from others with more experience, more life miles logged?  Have you experienced the wisdom and peace that comes with leading within the context of a mentoring community?

"A mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight." 

Your friend,

Chip

Happy New Year!

Resolution: a written motion adopted by a deliberative body.  New Year's Resolutions: a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous.

Success rate:  Recent research shows that while 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system where small measurable goals are used (lose a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

Personally, I have not trafficked with the masses that make annual New Year's resolutions for a few reasons.  Primarily, I believe that commitments ought to serve and align with a clearly defined set of personal values and life purpose, not be the byproduct of an emotional spurt of longing for change that accompanies the clock's strike of midnight on December 31. In fact, it is the defining of one's purpose and values that energizes and sustains these critical commitments.

Secondly, true commitments that follow and serve our values and purpose are in focus and acted upon throughout the year.  They become common routine, part of our everyday lives. 

OK, so here are the difficult but necessary questions: what is your life purpose, that ONE thing your life is all about?  What are your core values, those deeply held uncompromising beliefs and practices?

I suggest today is a good day to get alone, go for a walk, pray and reflect, journal, and further define your purpose and values.  New Year's resolutions without the solid support and energizing power of a purpose and values will soon realize failure.  Here are some questions to help you with the process:

My Purpose:
1. Why do I exist?  What is my ONE thing I must accomplish?
2. How am I made?  What are my core strengths and competencies?
3. What am I passionate about?  What gets my blood flowing, brings me excitement and joy?
4. What do I want to be remembered for?  When the family and friends gather around my picture, what legacy will they speak of for my life?

My Values:
1. What are my top five (5) belief practices?
2. How have I demonstrated true commitment and sacrifice for my five belief practices?
3. What belief practices will I hold to even if it may mean losing friends and career?

You will be amazed at the energy that flows out of a clearly defined purpose and values set and into your commitments and resolutions.

May 2010 be for us all a purposeful and values driven year!

"For I know the plans that I have for you", declares the Lord, "Plans for your well being and not for disaster, to give to you a future and a hope." 
--Jeremiah (Israel's prophet)

Note: "Activating Your Ambition" (author Mike Hawkins), a great supportive read for defining goals that support one's purpose