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Archive for February, 2015

Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of February 23rd

February 23, 2015 | No Comments »

Behind and Ahead

When reflecting on leadership development I realize we are all in a constant state of moving back-and-forth between behind and ahead. Early in life we are admittedly behind; lacking experience, short on wisdom, deficient in self mastery. As we progress, and if we transform ourselves, we begin to transition to being ahead, not in terms of winning or losing, but in terms of self mastery. We need to gain self-control, self-regulation, self-and discipline to move ahead of our former limitations. Being behind is neither bad nor unnatural; it is simply a reality we all face. Moreover, this interplay between behind and ahead plays out daily in all organizations and teams. Think of it: Most groups are made up of older people whose lives are now mostly behind them, coupled with younger people whose lives are mostly ahead of them. Some see this generational divide as a form of tension; I prefer to see it as a healthy opportunity for those further ahead on the journey to aide the ascent of those slightly behind. Behind and ahead are constants for us all.

The Call to Lead

When I was a young boy, the Catholic Mass was still conducted in Latin. Can’t say I recall much of it, but one word resonating with me even today is vocare, which means “to call.” At the heart of any great pursuit must be a calling, and so it is true with heroic leadership: One must be open to the call to lead. Our modern word vocation is derived from the Latin vocare; this is why we think of a vocation as a calling. Leadership, understood correctly, is a vocation. In our modern world we often mistakenly think of leadership as a tactic or function, which explains the modern mania of trying to reduce leadership to simplistic menus and lists. Ugh! Leadership, properly seen as a life-long journey and as a component of one’s character, is a calling to excellence. The question is, are we open to this calling? If we are open to the call to lead, then I believe we are set on a course distinguished by these two timeless truths: (1) You will do what you most need to do, and (2) you will do what the world most needs done.

Saying Yes to Leading

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do;

Yes, there is something you have to do.

Time

Time is something we all need to mature and grow as leaders. But the reality is, we are all given the same amount of time in a day to use. So, what distinguishes great leadership with respect to time? How we think of it! In Greek, the word chronos means time but in a purely quantitative sense; seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. Chronological time. For many leaders, chronos is the only way they think of time, and hence, they focus on time management. Good, but not great. The Greeks, in their classic wisdom, knew there was another and more important aspect of time, which they called Kairos. Kairos meant time but in a qualitative sense. Kairos describes what one could do in time, an aspect not able to be measured by a watch. To be great leaders, we must shift our focus from chronos to kairos; we must stop focusing on what we do with time and start focusing on what we do in time. Or said another way: It is time to think differently about time.

Formulistic Leadership

When reading leadership articles posted on line, I see many resorting to formulistic leadership. You’ve probably seen the like, where leadership is presented like an algebra problem: x + y = z. If you know the value of x you can solve some of the problem. If you know the value of two components, bingo! You can solve the entire problem. The deficiency with formulistic leadership is threefold: One, it views leadership as a tactic instead of an art; two, it wrongly reduces leadership to a set of quantifiable techniques capable of fitting into neat formulas; and three, it fails to address whether the person trying to solve the problem actually understands the components in a meaningful way. Leadership, as a master craft, defies a formulistic solution. What’s a better approach? Leaders must take the x and y and flesh them out in terms of human experience, human dynamics, and mostly—their own personal experience. We can’t simply repeat formulas as if in a playbook. Only when the x and y of leadership become foundational components of our character and our self mastery will true leadership emerge.

Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!

Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of February 16th

February 17, 2015 | No Comments »

Things That Matter

I am intrigued by what sets champions and dynasties apart from the rest. And though there is no simple answer, at present I cannot find a better way of explaining my conclusion than this way: Great Leaders distinguish between what matters now and what matters always. What matters now tends to be considerations of tactics and techniques. This tighter lens of “now” involves considerations of execution, course correction, and adaptation. Important, yes; however, I believe what really enables long-term excellence and the sustainment of a championship culture is a leader’s ability to focus on what matters always. What matters always transcends time, place, circumstance, conditions, budgets, and political whim. What matters always constitutes our non-negotiable core, our true north, and our foundational cornerstone. This is the realm of ethos, meaning, and purpose. So yes; all things matter, both big and small. However, to move into the realm of champions, leaders must focus on what matters always.

Between “As Is” and “To Be”

Leaders are in a constant flux between states of  “as is” and “to be.” Each state is a reality of leadership, and moreover, being between each state creates tension. Why? Because most of the time things are not the way we want them to be; it is just the way they are. Leaders must develop the self control to lead in the tension of moving towards where we want to be, and on the other hand, dealing with the way things are. Both states represent a form of reality for our organizations. Leaders best deal with issues of “to be” through a compelling vision, effective strategy, creating unity of effort, and agile course corrections. Conversely, leaders best deal with issues of “as is” through facing the brutal truths and communicating those hard realities to our people. The truth is, we cannot achieve “to be” without dealing with “as is,” and equally, we cannot correct “as is” without a compelling vision of “to be.” The ability to master both helps us appreciate what we have always known yet sometimes forget about leadership, which is this: It  is more art than science.

Standing On The Shore

I like being at the ocean, body surfing and swimming against the strong waves. I am still able to fully engage  in this experience but I know a time is approaching when I will only be able to stand on the shore and watch. I think this is a great metaphor for living and leading, as it reminds us of the criticality of time and of coming thresholds. It reminds me I must be very careful with the time I am given, and very intentional with my life. What we do now, every day, and especially while we still can, matters enormously for ourselves and those we lead. Like most people, I easily fall victim to thinking I have all the time in the world. But this truer reality keeps coming back to me: I only have one life and one shot at creating a leadership legacy. Each of us must make the choice to get into the day, especially now when we can, and fully engage in our life and our development. Yes–there really is a point of no return; a threshold beyond which we no longer have the energy, vitality, and time to go back to zero and start over again. The day will soon come where all we can do is stand on the shore and watch.

Reverberate

Leadership, like any art, is hard to precisely measure in terms of effect. Therefore, I like to think of great leadership like sound reverberating. We may emit leadership in small, isolated doses, maybe limited to just one person at a time and one day at a time; however, similar to sound, we have no real way of knowing how far, and how deeply, that effect might bounce. The person you touch today with your leadership, whether positively or negatively, will soon touch another, and they in turn, another. One’s leadership, like a musical chord reverberating in a sound studio, often cascades and expands far beyond the initial contact. In truth, who knows for sure where the reverberation ends? If we understand leadership this way, as a form of reverberation, we’ll place far more intentionality in our daily actions. Moreover, this reverberation  magnifies the importance of mentorship as a cornerstone element in leading. The one person we touch today with our leadership will, depending on the quality of our stewardship, touch others. Who can say where the impact ends?

The End Game

Why lead? Many of us could technically complete our jobs, quite sufficiently well, and never really lead. I see many fine people carry out their functional responsibilities, often at a high level of competence, but never intentionally engage another person in real leadership. So again, why lead? Let me answer this using a fictional character, Joe. Joe works hard at his job. He arrives early each day, arranges his ledgers and spreadsheets, and barely breaks free from his desk for the eight hours he logs daily. Joe does this day after day, week after week, month after month. Joe lives his life through this basic lens: The more I get, the more I have. More money, more suits, more cars, more toys. Mathematically understood, Joe is correct: He surely acquires more things and, in some thin way, he is  successful. But in all this getting, Joe is missing a far greater wisdom about life and leading, which is this: The more you give away, the more you are. So why lead? To give away our best, which in turn brings out the best in others. This is the true end game.

Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!

Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of February 9th

February 9, 2015 | No Comments »

The Album of Your Life

There are many times I receive subtle prompts from my past: a phone call from a dear old friend; a memory rekindled by a rediscovered photo; a moving letter buried at the bottom of my desk drawer. These prompts take me back to times and people from my past, seen now in a different light, allowing me to see how each added real texture and value to my life and to my leadership. Such is the album of your life. When we flip through it and search for the people and places shaping who we are now, we see how clearly each was in some way a handmaiden of our destiny. When these people and places entered our lives at the time, we saw them as simply static events with no real purpose. In retrospect, their value as teachers, mentors, and guides becomes more clear and more pronounced. However dimly these past experiences may appear now, there is no denying how vitally they influenced our path and the quality of our journey. This insight helps me remember that all moments are in fact key moments, and all encounters with people are rare opportunities to give and receive.

Junctions

When reflecting on our development as leaders, we can mistakenly believe our path is mostly linear. We like the fairy tale telling us, as long as we work hard, our journey will be mostly upward and uninterrupted. Sorry; it hasn’t been that way for me. In my experience, particularly with the benefit of honest reflection, I see how many times my development has been determined at junctions. So many times through my life  I’ve stood at crossroads and faced pivotal threshold moments. Do I move forward or retreat? Go left or right? Speed up or slow down? Or maybe, just sit in the center of the crossroads and do nothing? Junctions represent thresholds we need to understand about ourselves. Often, if we ignore them now, life has a funny way of bringing them back to us again to face the exact same decision. Though I know with certainty I did not always make the wisest decisions at my personal leadership junctions, I know each one existed to teach me something. Moreover, I also know this: We are defined as much by the roads we have not taken as by the roads we have taken.

Pay Day

Why do you get up in the morning and go to work? Do you see yourself in a job or vocation? The answers to those questions reveal much about our true motives as leaders. If we see ourselves in a job, then let’s face it: we get up in the morning basically to make a living. We dutifully put in eight hours a day, five days a week, four weeks a month. Our minds may be fully engaged in our jobs, but probably not our hearts. Vocations, on the other hand, are the opposite; they reflect a deeper calling and have less to do with making a living and more to do with creating a life. The person going to a job does so because he has to. The person engaged in a vocation does so because he is called to do so. Leadership, understood correctly, is a vocation, not a job. If you are only in it for money, at the end of all your toil, money is all you will have. And when you finally retire, you will have to face this haunting question: Was giving all of my life worth the money? Leaders devote themselves to the vocation of leading, which is not measured in money, but in doing something the world needs done. Now that is a real pay day!

Daily Decisions – Lifetime Impact

I often get overly wrapped up in the end game; what will I become at the end of my journey? What will be the end state of our company’s strategy? How will things look over the distant horizon? The truth is, the answers to those questions are being determined now, each day and each moment, by the actions or inactions I take. Will I be brave today or a coward? Maybe not heroic on a grand scale, but at least in small ways, behind the scenes, which can make big differences in people’s lives. Will I be honest today or dishonest? Maybe not a major ethical matter, but just basic honesty in even the smallest things. Will I be a trusted friend today or an petty opponent? Maybe not in a life-saving way, but just authentic acts of  generosity and companionship. Will I set a good example today or devolve to my lesser angels? Maybe not on the big stage, but a noble example nonetheless. What I realize is, some-day is really determined to-day. Whatever we ultimately make of ourselves and our organizations is being determined today through small, often unseen acts. Maybe, they are not so small in the end. Carpe Diem!

Where Your Legs Take You

It is important for leaders to study leadership and wrestle with its essential truths. However, in doing so, we have to be careful not to become too introspective. It is tempting to get pulled into an increasingly academic mindset, where one becomes paralyzed by seeking perfection or some imagined ideal such as: What is the ideal leadership style? What are the most prized leadership traits and principles? If we are not careful, we can spend all our time analyzing and assessing, to the point where all we are left with is an academic philosophy of leadership. If we really want to know who we are as leaders, our true self, simply look to where your legs take you each day. Look to where, and to what, you move. Wherever you are naturally drawn– there is your authentic leadership. So, if you want to know with clarity who you are as a leader, look to where and to what you move. Where ever your legs take you, that is who you are as a leader.

Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!

Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of February 2nd

February 4, 2015 | No Comments »

Footprints

Modern society places too much emphasis on success, and increasingly, a narcissistic type of success pointing more to the individual than the quality of the accomplishment. I have long believed the highest form of mastery in leadership is significance, not success. Let’s be honest; one can become successful today without true inner greatness or lasting virtue. True significance, on the other hand, can only be seen after one has departed, bestowed by others who have seen and benefited from the leader, and cannot be realized without inner mastery. Success simply measures how far you go in this moment of time; significance measures how you go far and is timeless. Great leaders are like way finders; they guide us by  standing shoulder-to-shoulder in pursuit of deep meaning and high purpose. And often, when we need great leaders most, they can seem far away from us, until we realize this truth: They have gone ahead of us leaving trustworthy footprints in the sand for us to follow. Footprints are the telltale signs of significance and reflect in their imprint the leader’s sacred obligation to give back more than he took.

The Dialect of Leadership

I have long believed leadership, like any form of master craft, is more caught than taught. Why so? Because to master leadership one first has to yearn for it, much like a master skipper yearns for the sea. Additionally, each student, armed with an apprentice’s mind, must constantly wrestle with the mysteries of leadership. Each person must appropriate leadership’s truths for themselves. Think of leadership like a language without consonants: its dialect is always somewhat hidden. Leadership is not something we can reduce to a list or formula, memorize, and then recite back. The dialect of leadership is often veiled and subtle, more like a story or parable, and always pointing to a truth beyond just the surface words. To understand and then speak the language of leadership, we must constantly delve into its meaning, plumb its purpose, and fill in the missing consonants ourselves. The language of leadership, and its deeper truths, only become clear to us when we wrestle with it and extract its meaning for ourselves. No one can teach you leadership; you must catch it yourself.

The Language of Leadership: Going Extinct?

Classically, leadership had its own language and lexicon built on solid words and heroic implications. In many ways, this language pointed to realities beyond the mere words and needed no translation; the words were alive and real. Consider for a moment the following words: sacrifice; reverence; responsibility; accountability; judgment; discernment; wisdom; delayed gratification; and optimism. Classically, no one would ever conceive of heroic leadership without speaking of heroism through the prism of these words and this kind of language. Today, I fear this language is becoming threadbare. We either have forgotten the power of this language or, through atrophy, the words have become either meaningless or, worse yet–seen as banal leftovers from a bygone era. So it is wise for leaders to revitalize the language of leadership by constantly speaking about the virtues of sacrifice, responsibility, accountability, and judgment. Why? Because the more we use these words correctly, the more the realities these words represent come to life, and the more they will animate our lives and our leadership.

A Helping Hand

When I reflect on my personality style, I see clearly my tendency to think I can conquer anything alone if only I apply enough determination. I have a tendency to believe I can steel myself against the headwinds of life, and therefore, I can endure and overcome. The problem with this mindset, taken to an extreme, is this: The same inner steel hardening me against life’s tests and trials, if not properly understood and wisely governed, can also steel me from being taught the lessons I need most to learn. We all can fall prey to this lone warrior paradigm; thinking we can survive alone and succeed on our own. But, however far this lone warrior style gets us in the end, it fails in this key regard: We will never become great alone. What we need most, to become truly significant as men and women, and to become heroic in our life’s purpose, can only be had as a gift given by others. When we operate as lone warriors, we lead with a clenched hand. When we lead heroically, we lead with an open hand. A clenched hand cannot accept and collaborate. Only an open hand can accept a helping hand.

Pay Attention

Leadership is more caught than taught. Once we have developed an inner yearning to become heroic leaders we often catch leadership lessons through experiences and the example of others. In this way, leadership is an “ah ha!” vocation. Its lessons, when initially encountered, often get filed away in our unconscious until, often by chance, we encounter something that pulls the lesson into our consciousness and we recognize it. Then–Ah ha! It is because of this nature I constantly remind myself to pay attention. Pay attention to yourself and your impulses, intention, and motives. Pay attention to others and their mood, needs, and fears. Pay attention to your surroundings and the ever-flowing river of change. Pay attention to the learning moments availing themselves daily, often in the smallest things. Today, more than ever, it is far too tempting, and because of technology, too easy, to cruise through the day on auto pilot. But in auto-pilot we become numb and disconnected. Great leaders turn off auto pilot and embrace each day as new. So I remind myself: Pay attention!

Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!