Dear Leader,

Jump in my car with me and you will find a NYS Speeding Ticket sitting on my dashboard which serves as a reminder of a recent law violation. I was driving the New York State Thruway doing about 75 mph while also carrying on a significant client conversation via cell phone. As I multi-tasked along I did happen to see from my left side peripheral vision a State Police car parked in the middle median. Soon I pulled over to await the penalty for my breaking of the law. $300 and six points on my license! And that was just the beginning. Within a month New York State sent me a letter requiring another $300 for having six points on my license. They call this an “assessment”. $600 for my law breaking actions. Ouch! And of course there was still my wife Jennifer to report this whole mess and cost to.

I need to be transparent with you about a condition that is not yet right within me. I like to drive fast, I like to multi-task, and I like to pack my schedule in order to maximize productivity each day. Yet there is something going on much deeper that drives such behavior: an inner drive to attach my worth to my work, my personal identity to my productivity. Really, the “speeding thing” had little to do with getting to my appointment on time or initiating a critical conversation with my client that just could not wait. Truly, that day and at that time, I was taking action to satisfy my inner drive for worth.  And I suspect many of you can identify with me in this area.

So, the speeding ticket sits in plain view there in my car. And it serves me in several ways: One, it reminds me that my work (and productivity) will never be a satisfactory basis for my worth. I should and do enjoy my work tremendously but it cannot define who I am. Two, it reminds me that I need to be disciplined in all areas of my life, including driving. I cannot consult and coach others in such areas as integrity or honesty while at the same time willfully breaking the government’s laws. And Three, it reminds me to slow my life down, to live and work with a proper amount of margin such that I become someone who breathes life and refreshment into others.

This weekend Christians all over the earth will celebrate Christmas with its simple and counter cultural message: God comes to love on and hang with driving sinners like me, like you. He assigns us worth apart from our work by imparting a “love of another kind” that becomes the whole basis for our worth, dignity, and purpose in life. In Him, we can finally rest, and work, with great peace and power.

Slow down.  Rest.  Have Joy.  You have worth apart from your work.  Merry Christmas!

Your friend and partner,

Chip

LeadersInspire “To Discover, Develop, and Deploy the Greatness in every Person, every Leader, and every Organization!”

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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?

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I had just finished a three day leadership seminar with about 40 clients in Chicago that included a section on values and the critical need to consistently practice our values with real integrity. Now 4 clients and I spilled out the door to the curbside to await our transportation to Chicago's O Hare (O Hairy!) airport. Another man soon came out the door, standing nearby, and immediately began berating the taxi dispatcher for not having "his" taxi there waiting for him as soon as he came outside. His tone, volume, and words were very damaging to say the least. I felt compassion for the dispatcher. Within a few minutes the limo pulled up, and all six of us climbed in, the four clients, the angry stuffed shirt, and myself.

Once in I asked the man what his business was and what company he worked for. He responded with pride that he was a consultant and worked for (name), a top five US firm. I then asked if his firm had defined a set of values for the organization. "Oh yes", he said, "we have five values!" I pressed, "do any of the values suggest that people matter?" I did notice at this point that the four clients had these strange smiles on their faces; they could smell the kill that was about to happen. "Yes, indeed", the man said, "in fact, our top value is people matter." I questioned, "do all people matter?" "Yes", he retorted. "Everyone!" I asked, "even limo dispatchers?" The man turned red and responded, "not limo dispatchers!" The rest of the drive to O Hare was pretty quiet. Yet I know that my clients and I were fortunate to get a real life lesson on the priority of actually putting real legs on our values.

Jim Collins, author of "Built to Last", states that true values are "the organization's essential and enduring tenets--a small set of timeless guiding principles that require no exernal justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to those inside the organization." Ralph Larson, CEO of Johnson and Johnson, states "the core values embodied in our Credo might become a competive advantage, but that is not why we have them. We have them because they define for us what we stand for, and we would hold them even if they became a competitive disadvantage in certain situations."

Questions: what are your company's values? When was the last time a significant decision was made based on a value? When was the last time senior leadership stepped up to an employee to challenge a value violation? Are the values embedded in the culture, the real practice of your company? Do you have any team members harrassing limo dispatchers at hotel curbsides or trashing a cherished value in the presence of key stakeholders?  Finally, and most important, how well are you living out and embodying your core values?