There is no better example of “walking the walk” of leadership than Jesus himself. Therefore, I have distilled the leadership lessons that Jesus lived from the gospel of Luke. Some of them, He talked about explicitly, others I have inferred from what he did. In either case, I have cited the passages from Luke that were the basis for my understanding of the lessons I found, so the reader can investigate the gospel on his/her own. Perhaps because we share a similar educational background in medical settings, I find Luke’s gospel story, with it’s emphasis on healing, easy for me to read and understand.
These lessons are being compiled into a book, complete with interviews and stories from leaders in a variety of arenas, from business to education, and from politics and government to the church. For now though, here's the first lesson from the gospel of Luke (excerpts are taken from the Message by Eugene Petersen):
1. Leaders have a vision before they start (Luke 4: 16-21)
He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
God's Spirit is on me;
he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to
the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, "This is God's year to act!"
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
This event is the first event after Jesus returns from his 40 day retreat in the desert, following his Baptism by John in the River Jordan. I find the sequence of these events to be illuminating for leaders, too, since Jesus made his public announcement of his vision and his mission after spending a considerable length of time away his normal daily routine.
The vision itself is personal yet breath-takingly global, simple and, at the same time, impossible to grasp, immediate and eternal. Following this public announcement to the religious establishment, Jesus immediately begins to actually do what he said he would do.
The leadership lessons is clear: do whatever it takes to arrive at a clear, personal, action-oriented vision that is focused on meeting the critical, personal, needs of others before you do anything else. Then, lead from the front.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Delivering Bad News--with integrity and hope
I happened to catch Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's news conference to announce the Treasury Department's "recovery" plan on CNN the other day. I was so distracted by his delivery that I barely got the message that he was struggling to deliver. A sadly pathetic performance for a national leader and incredibly poor timing for such a performance on such a critical national, even global, issue. Only President Bush was more ineffective in providing both information and hope.
A lot of leaders (and financial professionals) are faced with the unenviable task of delivering bad news these days. We all know the bad news is coming--it is not going to be surprise to most of us. What we want from our leaders though, is hope and reassurance, and some indication that they have a larger perspective than we do and are working on a solution, even it they don't have one right now.
Television is a tough medium to master, and I am sympathetic to people with a range of public speaking challenges and skill deficits combined with the wide-spread fear of speaking in public who are thrust into the glare of the spotlight. These situations must give them nightmares. Nonetheless, there are concrete things that leaders can do that will convey that message of hope and reassurance without denying the challenges that must be faced.
First, whether in a meeting in a conference room or in a press conference, good leaders make eye contact with their audience. That means looking at the people in the room while you talk or into the TV camera--NOT reading a press release. Since most people judge credibility by the speaker's ability to maintain good eye contact, the failure to make eye contact undermines the message from the start. So either make good eye contact, so send someone who can.
Second, just talk. Have two or three points to make, on a note card, if necessary, and talk about them. If you are afraid of saying something stupid, then practice as much as necessary to reach a level of confidence. Save the details for the written press release, we all can read.
Third, focus on the factors that you can control and have a plan. While we would like to know who is to blame and how they might be punished, in truth, that won't help us much. So tell us about what you can actually do to get us all out of this mess, if you can, or if you can't, what we can do to make it better.
All the research on successful coping is summarized by the rule of the 3 C's--control, challenge, and commitment. That is, focus on the things you can actually control and control them. Second, intentionally see the crisis as a challenge to be overcome, and work to meet that challenge. Third, maintain your commitments to the things in your life that you value--faith, family, community, charity--and continue to keep those commitments as the foundation for living through the crisis.
Fourth, once you deliver the bad news, give the audience a chance to ask questions. Listen carefully to make sure that they heard your message. People under stress tend to distort what they hear, so expect miscommunication and correct those mis-perceptions as you answer the questions. Keep your answers, brief, clear, and direct--this is NOT like a Presidential debate where you can revert to "talking points" instead of answering a question. Be willing to say "I don't know, but I will find out and get back to you", then do it.
Finally, provide an honest, hopeful summary. No matter how challenging the crisis may be, nearly all problems can be solved and most challenges can be met. Markets are cyclical, disasters are short-lived, crises are resolved. Remind us of the big picture and of our ability to overcome--it is what we need from our leaders. Lead.
A lot of leaders (and financial professionals) are faced with the unenviable task of delivering bad news these days. We all know the bad news is coming--it is not going to be surprise to most of us. What we want from our leaders though, is hope and reassurance, and some indication that they have a larger perspective than we do and are working on a solution, even it they don't have one right now.
Television is a tough medium to master, and I am sympathetic to people with a range of public speaking challenges and skill deficits combined with the wide-spread fear of speaking in public who are thrust into the glare of the spotlight. These situations must give them nightmares. Nonetheless, there are concrete things that leaders can do that will convey that message of hope and reassurance without denying the challenges that must be faced.
First, whether in a meeting in a conference room or in a press conference, good leaders make eye contact with their audience. That means looking at the people in the room while you talk or into the TV camera--NOT reading a press release. Since most people judge credibility by the speaker's ability to maintain good eye contact, the failure to make eye contact undermines the message from the start. So either make good eye contact, so send someone who can.
Second, just talk. Have two or three points to make, on a note card, if necessary, and talk about them. If you are afraid of saying something stupid, then practice as much as necessary to reach a level of confidence. Save the details for the written press release, we all can read.
Third, focus on the factors that you can control and have a plan. While we would like to know who is to blame and how they might be punished, in truth, that won't help us much. So tell us about what you can actually do to get us all out of this mess, if you can, or if you can't, what we can do to make it better.
All the research on successful coping is summarized by the rule of the 3 C's--control, challenge, and commitment. That is, focus on the things you can actually control and control them. Second, intentionally see the crisis as a challenge to be overcome, and work to meet that challenge. Third, maintain your commitments to the things in your life that you value--faith, family, community, charity--and continue to keep those commitments as the foundation for living through the crisis.
Fourth, once you deliver the bad news, give the audience a chance to ask questions. Listen carefully to make sure that they heard your message. People under stress tend to distort what they hear, so expect miscommunication and correct those mis-perceptions as you answer the questions. Keep your answers, brief, clear, and direct--this is NOT like a Presidential debate where you can revert to "talking points" instead of answering a question. Be willing to say "I don't know, but I will find out and get back to you", then do it.
Finally, provide an honest, hopeful summary. No matter how challenging the crisis may be, nearly all problems can be solved and most challenges can be met. Markets are cyclical, disasters are short-lived, crises are resolved. Remind us of the big picture and of our ability to overcome--it is what we need from our leaders. Lead.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Values in Action: Nokona baseball gloves
Occasionally, feature articles tell the vision, purpose, values story better than I can. Here's a perfect example from the AP in the Dallas Morning News July 27, 2008. I love the story, so read it here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-nocona_27tex.ART.State.Edition1.4db53b4.html
My favorite quote is by Ben Storey, the owner of Nokona, is at the end of the article. This guy gets it.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-nocona_27tex.ART.State.Edition1.4db53b4.html
My favorite quote is by Ben Storey, the owner of Nokona, is at the end of the article. This guy gets it.
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Person is the Message
The medium is the message.
Marshall McLuhan
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the political silly season ramps up and the pressure on the presidential candidates increases in advance of the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas, some dramatic differences in both the behavior and the messages of the campaigns are emerging. To paraphrase McLuhan, it is becoming apparent: The Person is the Message.
Hilary Clinton, a smart and capable woman with an reputation for being a polarizing figure, has morphed both physically and behaviorally in ways that are both a symptom of and a reaction to her political fortunes. Over the last couple of months we have watched as she gone from warm and fuzzy to scolding and derisive, from empathic to antagonistic, apparently in response her handlers view of what she needs to do to combat Barack Obama's growing popularity. At the same time, her appearance has become another mixed message, with bright colors and a more severe hair style emerging as the visual accompaniment to the changing rhetorical melodies. Ironically, these changes in her appearance and behavior only reinforce the message of her critics, that she will stop at nothing to win the nomination and the election.
Barack Obama, whatever his deficiencies in experience may be, has done a better job of sticking to his message which was highlighted by the title of his book "The Audacity of Hope". He has maintained a calm, even demeanor, his usual business attire, and stayed on message in nearly every way, regardless of the outcome of the latest primary. Both his message and his appearance send the message that he is genuine and firmly grounded. You may not vote for him, but he's hard to hate.
John McCain is apparently a fan of Emerson. As a silver haired and aging war hero with a reputation as a political maverick in the Republican party, his personal and political personas are a paradoxical mixed bag, and he seems perfectly comfortable as an enigma. An avowed fiscal conservative who says he doesn't really "understand economics", a Republican who supports abortion rights, a hawk who supports the decision to invade Iraq but is critical of Pentagon management, McCain appears to be an experienced politician and a decent man who believes that foreign policy issues are more important than domestic policy concerns. His message is pragmatic not inspirational, just like the man, and his appearance supports his message--conservative, appropriate to the setting with accomodation for his age and POW-related physical limitations. McCain's overall message is a collection of contradictions, just like the man himself. These complexities add to the challenge of communication for him and his team, a potential stumbling block in competition with an opponent with a simple message.
Of these three candidates, it is McCain and Obama whose message seems to be most consistent and congruent with who these people really are. Hilary Clinton's marked changes in behavior appear to reflect her own internal uncertainty about who she really is and what she believes. People don't always consciously recognize mixed messages, but they seldom like them.
With the general election still months away, this collection of characters will be under increasing pressure from their handlers to make changes to their appearance and presentation to respond to changes in polls and lobbying by influential constituencies. Messages change to meet the circumstances, as they should. The challenge is to send new messages that are congruent with the both the person and with existing messages.
Only time will tell whose message resonates best with the American people, but if the person is truly the message, our next president won't be a woman.
Marshall McLuhan
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the political silly season ramps up and the pressure on the presidential candidates increases in advance of the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas, some dramatic differences in both the behavior and the messages of the campaigns are emerging. To paraphrase McLuhan, it is becoming apparent: The Person is the Message.
Hilary Clinton, a smart and capable woman with an reputation for being a polarizing figure, has morphed both physically and behaviorally in ways that are both a symptom of and a reaction to her political fortunes. Over the last couple of months we have watched as she gone from warm and fuzzy to scolding and derisive, from empathic to antagonistic, apparently in response her handlers view of what she needs to do to combat Barack Obama's growing popularity. At the same time, her appearance has become another mixed message, with bright colors and a more severe hair style emerging as the visual accompaniment to the changing rhetorical melodies. Ironically, these changes in her appearance and behavior only reinforce the message of her critics, that she will stop at nothing to win the nomination and the election.
Barack Obama, whatever his deficiencies in experience may be, has done a better job of sticking to his message which was highlighted by the title of his book "The Audacity of Hope". He has maintained a calm, even demeanor, his usual business attire, and stayed on message in nearly every way, regardless of the outcome of the latest primary. Both his message and his appearance send the message that he is genuine and firmly grounded. You may not vote for him, but he's hard to hate.
John McCain is apparently a fan of Emerson. As a silver haired and aging war hero with a reputation as a political maverick in the Republican party, his personal and political personas are a paradoxical mixed bag, and he seems perfectly comfortable as an enigma. An avowed fiscal conservative who says he doesn't really "understand economics", a Republican who supports abortion rights, a hawk who supports the decision to invade Iraq but is critical of Pentagon management, McCain appears to be an experienced politician and a decent man who believes that foreign policy issues are more important than domestic policy concerns. His message is pragmatic not inspirational, just like the man, and his appearance supports his message--conservative, appropriate to the setting with accomodation for his age and POW-related physical limitations. McCain's overall message is a collection of contradictions, just like the man himself. These complexities add to the challenge of communication for him and his team, a potential stumbling block in competition with an opponent with a simple message.
Of these three candidates, it is McCain and Obama whose message seems to be most consistent and congruent with who these people really are. Hilary Clinton's marked changes in behavior appear to reflect her own internal uncertainty about who she really is and what she believes. People don't always consciously recognize mixed messages, but they seldom like them.
With the general election still months away, this collection of characters will be under increasing pressure from their handlers to make changes to their appearance and presentation to respond to changes in polls and lobbying by influential constituencies. Messages change to meet the circumstances, as they should. The challenge is to send new messages that are congruent with the both the person and with existing messages.
Only time will tell whose message resonates best with the American people, but if the person is truly the message, our next president won't be a woman.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Lessons from the Super Bowl--Purpose Matters
The New York Giant's unexpected victory over the NE Patriot's vaunted football machine is just the latest example of a timeless truth for teams and business organizations: If you want peak performance from a group of people, they need a purpose bigger than "the job" or "winning". The Giants had that bigger purpose, and they performed at a level nearly everyone thought impossible.
According to interviews with Giant's players, the turning point in their season, and in their development as a true team, came in the third week of the season when they were introduced to Lt. Col. Greg Gadsden, a double amputee and Iraq war veteran. Gadsden, who had been a college teammate of Giant's coach Mike Sullivan, was treated to a sideline pass and invited to give a talk to the team before that game. Not only did the Giants come back to win that game, but they went on to win the 5th seed in the playoffs and and then 2 road games in the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl. All the players interviewed said that Gadsden had inspired them to be thankful not only for their own health but also for the sacrifice of all the members of the Armed Services. Gadsden says all he did was to encourage them to "fight for your teammates", like his team did when they stopped his bleeding and got him to the hospital after the IED obliterated his HUMVEE and his legs in Iraq.
While Gadsden certainly is NOT the only reason for the Giant's success, it is hard to ignore the power of a greater purpose, beyond winning a football game, even a Super Bowl, to inspire a group of motivated, talented people to perform at a high level. Gadsden gave the Giants a purpose for winning, and the Giants used that purpose to keep them unified and confident of success, even when most people gave them little chance of victory. Purpose does matter.
According to interviews with Giant's players, the turning point in their season, and in their development as a true team, came in the third week of the season when they were introduced to Lt. Col. Greg Gadsden, a double amputee and Iraq war veteran. Gadsden, who had been a college teammate of Giant's coach Mike Sullivan, was treated to a sideline pass and invited to give a talk to the team before that game. Not only did the Giants come back to win that game, but they went on to win the 5th seed in the playoffs and and then 2 road games in the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl. All the players interviewed said that Gadsden had inspired them to be thankful not only for their own health but also for the sacrifice of all the members of the Armed Services. Gadsden says all he did was to encourage them to "fight for your teammates", like his team did when they stopped his bleeding and got him to the hospital after the IED obliterated his HUMVEE and his legs in Iraq.
While Gadsden certainly is NOT the only reason for the Giant's success, it is hard to ignore the power of a greater purpose, beyond winning a football game, even a Super Bowl, to inspire a group of motivated, talented people to perform at a high level. Gadsden gave the Giants a purpose for winning, and the Giants used that purpose to keep them unified and confident of success, even when most people gave them little chance of victory. Purpose does matter.
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