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...

The Sky Is Not Falling

Today is October 31, 2012: I am in the newspaper business. I love the newspaper business and have every intention of staying in the very financially-healthy newspaper business. 

One fine day at Rotary, I was explaining to one of my fellow Rotarians what, exactly, I do for a living.  He is in banking and I found it interesting that he responded to me; “Boy that must be a tough business these days.” (As if the banking business has not had its share of self-inflicted wounds) My response was to aggressively and factually defend our business model. I told him that the sky was not falling and that we, as an industry, have a very bright outlook for the immediate and distant future.

We as an industry are embracing change and adopting new and glitzier ways of delivering relevant information, but we are not in panic mode.  What I find, especially at papers with the same model as ours, is that we still provide considerable value to the local reader and advertiser. Our pages are filled with information that is highly sought after and our Circulation Verification Council  audits factually support that position.  We have aggressively loyal readers and that bodes well for the advertisers that utilize our print and electronic products. Consumers, especially they with money, read, with interest and commitment, our products.

Yes we are in the change mode (as is every business) and, if we continue to operate wisely, we will continue to change positively, incorporate and adopt new and better/faster ways of getting the relevant information to the highly desirable consumers. But we must not forget how we got where we are. Print works and our sky is not falling.

Essential Employees

For a while in my career, I lived in Falls Church, Virginia. During my stay in that beautiful and historic part of the country, I was literally surrounded by people that worked for the US government. Many were neighbors, and most were really fine people.

Early one morning, during a really hard snowfall, while I was driving to the office, and while listening to the radio, I heard an announcement that all Non-Essential government personnel, need not report to work today due to the challenging and hazardous driving conditions. My astonishment was astonishing. Never before had I been privy to an openly broadcasted normal operating procedure of a "business" that simply told people, that by their own admission, they didn't need them on a good weather day, not to report in on a bad weather day. Until that day, non essential to me meant that your position was not needed. To these government folks it was optional.

In business the only way to remain valuable, is to remain relevantly valuable. Of course there are times when big businesses make decisions that negatively impact both good and bad employees. However, you must focus on what it is you control. What is completely within your control is if you are progressing at getting better every day. You cannot expect to dramatically change your skill-set or knowledge base in one or two days. But you can, and you should, expect to gain more relevant information and improve your skill-set on an incremental basis. Learn a little more and get a little better every day.

You must reach a status as that of "one of the essential team members" because no business can, for any length of time, carry non-essential people on the payroll. Essential means that you are a very valuable part of the team and that you preform your duties at an every increasing level of quality that ensures that the entire organization moves forward. Non essential means, in the private sector, that you cannot stay and it is just a matter of time.

Insure or Ensure

Insure: To arrange for compensation in case of loss. 
Ensure: To make certain that something shall occur. 

They are only words, right? The misuse of insure for ensure is a very common mistake. On the surface they seem to mean practically the same thing, but they are not and there is a very specific reason for that. Words mean something and in this case, they mean something very specific. Far too often we will say things that may make sense to us but to the people we are talking to they may not make any sense at all. They are only words, right? Communicating clearly and concisely takes a calculated effort. The calculation behind the effort may come in the form of years of experience or by delving into the subject so we can employ the right words to clearly deliver our message. You either know what you are taking about because you have have been there or because you have looked into it. 

A great vocabulary is very effective in helping craft your message so that it is clearly received. I remember what my director at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas said one day during reversals for Edward Albee's; Everything in the Garden, when I asked the meaning of cognizant, he said; "Look it up." That direction had a profound and lasting impact on me. Not only did I need to take the initiative to find out what the meaning of a word is, I had to take the initiative and own it. From that moment on when I did not know the meaning (and the occurrences were many) of a word, I would "look it up!" When reading, I kept a dictionary close. Word and their specific use to deliver a clear and concise message took on a new level of importance. What I said began to matter to me more because the words used did make a difference in the quality of the message.

There are some that take this to extremes and talk at such a high level that no one, including themselves really get the message. It is not that impressive if no one understands what you are saying, no matter how many BIG words you use.

Endeavor to expand your vocabulary so words and their specific meanings will help to ensure that you are being clearly understood.

Cognizant: Having knowledge or being aware of.