Leverage

My Dad was a full-time pipe fitter and part-time everything else. He taught me many things about how to build and repair things. One of the things that my Father was particularly good at was carpentry. He could build almost anything with wood and I always loved to watch him use the circular saw because he was precise with it and even though it was violently loud, the smell of the fresh cut wood was wonderful. One of his favorite stories he used to tell me, ad nauseam, was about one of his fellow carpentry workers who while using a hammer would grasp the hammer in the middle of the handle. The foreman would constantly correct him by explaining that the best use of the tool was to grasp it at the bottom of the handle, thereby utilizing the leverage created and making the hammer much more effective. By using the hammer in this correct manner it would require far less effort to drive a nail into the wood and that would result in a more productive worker. The worker did not heed the advice so the foreman arrived early one day and cut the handle of the hammer in half, then handed it to the worker to use without the benefit of the leverage he should have taken advantage of.

Leverage can come in many forms: professional relationships, experience, knowledge, support, inquisitiveness, friends, research, failures and success to name a few. This valuable resource of leverage is readily available and yet we often do not take time to consider the numerous leverages that will help to serve our current and future needs.

Here are two examples of what using our leverage might look like:

One of the first leveraging questions we should ask when considering pursuing a new path is; "Who else is or has done this thing we are considering and what were the outcomes?" By simply leveraging our inquisitiveness and asking theses types of questions, we can better equip ourselves to make a calculated decision. When we do ask these leverage questions we may conclude from the answers, that this is the best course of action or it is not. We may come to the conclusion that the person we are asking did not do what was required, based on our current level of knowledge, in order to achieve the outcome we desire. Either way we have used our leverage to help us make a decision that we have a foundation to support.

We all have professional relationships that constitute a vast amount of collective knowledge. People really do what to help and the most effective method to engage others in your evaluation process is to simply ask. The leveraged conversation might start like this; "I have a great deal of respect for you and what you have accomplished and I need your help. May I ask your opinion of something that I am considering?"

Before you take the next step, consider leveraging your resources. Never take advantage but always leverage.

To Be or Not To Be

"To be or not to be, that is the question." William Shakespeare wrote this very famous line in his well known play, Hamlet. Hamlet was questioning whether to live or to die. In this soliloquy he is wondering if it is nobler to bear his grief or to take action.

We are faced with questions, big and small,  daily regarding our chosen path. Our current professional station in life is more often than not the sum of our decisions. Our decisions lead to actions or inaction and those choices lead to a result that we either initiated or accepted. We are successful because we decided to be successful or by default, we are not successful because we decided not to be. We either did something at sufficient levels when given the opportunity or we simply did not. To be really good at anything requires a commitment to stay the course that has been strategically set and continue making incremental progress.

Many times we hear of circumstances, beyond control that caused a less than desirable outcome and thus the people involved could not have succeeded no matter which course they chose to take.  These circumstances often take the form of excuses rather than actual circumstances beyond control. Lt. Colonel Harold Moore, the famed character in the movie: We Were Soldiers and US Army officer in command during the first big battle of the Vietnam War was quoted as saying; "Three strikes and you are not out. There is always something else you can do." His decisions lead to putting soldiers in harms-way and he was simply not willing to give up no matter how overwhelming the odds.

If we are going to be great and separate ourselves from the competition, we must decide; To Be! Otherwise the result is: Not to be!

What or Who

People get confused.

People that work hard, accomplish objectives, contribute to the team's growth and make considerable professional growth regarding individual performance, should be considered for positions of greater responsibility. The problem is, that sometimes they are considered and then selected to move up the organizational ladder only to experience a metamorphosis almost overnight. Dr Jekyll meet Mr. Hyde.

One day they are great team-players and exceptional producers, the next day they are unreasonable, harsh, abrasive, rude and offensive monsters now in a position of greater authority. They become reckless and tyrannical. They turn into a "hammer" and in this new existence everything looks like a nail! Once the promotion sets-in, they begin to believe they are now defined by WHAT they are and totally forgot WHO they are. Their character suddenly took a nose dive into the abyss of; "I'm in over my head and I fully plan to blame everyone but me if things don't go well; I am no longer Mr. Nice Guy."

Instead of relying on their successes that put them in the spotlight of consideration for greater things, they begin to think they have reached a position that somehow separates them from the very people that helped to make them successful in the first place. They get so enamored with a new title on the door of their new office (literal or figurative office) that they forget that it was outside that new office where they fought the battles and won. They were not fighting alone but now that they have the title, they rush to separate themselves by modifying their demeanor and behavior for the worse. Relationships that were recently highly valued are now compromised to justify the "new-authority" and make their mark. They are surely enough making a mark, but it is often the kind that leaves permanent scars.

This is so very wrong. People that become dazed by the bright lights of assigned greater authority are living a lie.  Confusion sets in and the outcomes of their actions become tragically uncertain.

The transformation from one level of authority to a higher level should be rather uneventful and should absolutely not change anyone from WHO they are into WHAT they are. People that are promoted are not suddenly more important than everyone else, they simply have a different assignment. Leadership is a privilege and should be treasured as such. All leaders are only only as good as the people they surround themselves with. Treat your employees right and they will treat your customers right and you win along with everyone else. If you are fortunate enough to be promoted, don't forget how you got there and the many people that helped to make it possible. After all it is WHO you are that they treasure most, not WHAT you are.

The Next Tree

One of my friends is a a graduate of West Point and a Captain in the US Army. He had a desire to attend Army Ranger School and was accepted. The course is sixty one days (make that sixty one of the toughest days of your life).  On the first day of Ranger School there were over three hundred fellow class members. On the last day there were just over seventy. The Ranger school is said to be the most physically and mentally demanding leadership schools anywhere. The graduates of this school are some of the most determined, tough and dedicated members in the armed services.

While talking about his Ranger school experience my friend was sharing the extremely challenging feats they were faced with on a constant basis. The pressure of surviving and moving ahead never let up. The trial was so difficult that his progressive thinking slowly went from getting through the course, to making it another week, to making it another hour, to making it another few minutes to just making it to the next tree which was only fifty yards away. He graduated with the seventy or so others and said he was much better for the experience. Because of this accomplishment he felt he was better prepared to lead. Because of the victory he experienced by reaching the next tree, he is now one of the select few Army Rangers!

In business we often think in terms of years or months down the road and while future thinking is indeed critical it can cause us to miss the next tree.  The challenges we face are simply not great enough to make us think with a greater sense of urgency, so we miss the small accomplishments that serve as a vital piece of the big stuff. While operating with this visionary focus is important it is not what is going to get us to the next tree. To get to the next tree we must do something every day and appreciate that those small victories will all add up to the larger gain. Taking one calculated step at a time, especially when it benefits the team, is not only critical to the mission, it is something we can look back on at the end of the day and know we got something worthwhile done. The future can be so far in front that it is not clear where we should head, but the next tree is more often than not, clearly within our field of vision. Move to the next tree, take a breath and move to the next tree...