I recently got access to
an old hard drive and have found some wonderful stuff – photos, things I wrote
but had forgotten, etc.
I don’t know when I
wrote this but thought, as we head towards the end of 2016 you might find this
interesting.
Steve
On Leadership
When General
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was he was Commander-in-Chief, United States Central
Command, he was the top person on an organizational chart of 810,000 people! After he retired, I had the opportunity of
being the audience at an industry event where General Schwarzkopf was the keynote
speaker. I don’t know what I expected
but he was as down-to-earth as could be.
I liked him very much and felt fortunate to be there.
I vividly
remember him walking out on the stage – without being announced and starting
like this:
”My wife and I have two dogs. An 80-pound German Shepherd and a 12-pound Dachshund. We’re very proud of our German Shepherd as he
was chosen to be a ‘pin-up’ on next year’s Purina Dog Chow calendar. If I asked you, “Which of our two dogs is the
leader in our household?” I can probably guess what most of you would say. What
my wife Brenda and I observe is this:
When our 80-pound German Shepherd looks out, he sees a 12-pound Dachshund…and
he believes that’s who he is too. When
our 12-pound Dachshund looks out, he sees an 80-pound German Shepherd and
believes that’s who he is. Who’s the
leader? It’s all a matter of perception.”
**
Many of you are leaders and aspiring leaders in your company but can you imagine what the General’s challenges
must have been?
Here are some of my
takeaways from his speech. I thought
you might find something that resonates with you too:
1.
Great
leaders are ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
2.
Perception
is reality:
a.
Think
of yourself as a leader.
b.
Management
is not leadership.
c.
Leaders
lead people. They do not lead
organizations.
3.
The
Challenge of Leadership:
a.
To
get people to willingly do what they ordinarily would not do.
b.
It’s
not always the person who thinks they’re the leader (by title) that is the
leader. It’s the person people turn to in time of crisis.
4.
The
ingredients of leadership:
a.
Competence
b.
Character
5.
In
times of crisis leaders lead by example.
6.
We
all want to be led by someone who is special; someone who is respected by their
organization, someone who makes things happen.
Someone who takes responsibility.
7.
The
true rewards of leadership come from leadership itself…not from fiscal,
physical or tangible rewards.
8.
No
organization will ever get better until leadership is willing to admit that
something is wrong.
9.
Leaders
focus resources on what is broken
10.
Leaders
establish goals for their organization.
But goals are only meaningful if:
a.
Everyone
understands them
b.
Everyone
understands his or her role.
11.
Leaders
stay focused on the one goal they have before them. Goals can always be changed later.
12.
Leaders
focus talent and resources on what’s really important.
13.
Leaders
focus their organization on the goal.
14.
Standards? Set them high. Successful leaders establish
high standards of performance.
15.
Leaders
let people understand what is expected of them.
16.
Everybody
goes to work to succeed. Success is
establishing standards and meeting them.
17.
Failure
is contagious. Success is infectious.
18.
Leaders
reinforce success in their organization.
19.
Leaders
also accept mistakes.
20.
Leaders
establish a ‘latitude to learn’ in their organizations.
21.
Great
leaders don’t tell people how to do their jobs.
They empower people. They give
them the authority and the resources to succeed. They let them use their initiative.
22.
The
General’s Rule #13: When placed in command, take charge; make something happen,
take responsibility.
23.
Washington,
DC is the only place in the world where you can run for 10 miles in a straight
line and still be at the scene of the crime!
24.
The
General’s Rule #14: Do what’s right.
25.
Great
things can happen when you do what’s right.
We all
know people who we look to for leadership.
What are the qualities that we see in them? Do others see those same qualities in
us? How do we know? Have we tried to give people that work with
us a chance to grow their own leadership qualities?
