REPOST: A Modern Parable On Leadership

I was preparing a speech for my Leadership Training and I came across this story that I believe carries with it a powerful message especially for new managers. Read on :)

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A business owner once asked a wise man for help in improving an unprofitable business.  The wise man wrote a charm on a piece of paper and sealed it in a box which he gave to the business owner.  "Take this box to every worker in your business every day for a year," he told him.

The business owner did so.  In the morning he carried it into the store and asked the Stores Supervisor about the level of Quality Control on Inwards Goods.  Later, when he carried it into the production area he saw that the Production Manager was in his office reading the newspaper.  They discussed the need to be visible on the factory floor.  During the afternoon he carried it into the Engineering Shop and found the Engineering Supervisor trying to balance his budget.  He helped him by showing an easier way.  Every day, as he took the box around his business, he found things to discuss with the staff and help them to improve their performance.

At the end of the year he returned to the wise man.  "Let me keep the magic charm for another year," he begged.  "My business has been a hundred times more profitable this year than ever before because my people are happy."

The wise man smiled and he took the box. "I'll give you the charm itself," he said.

He broke the seal, lifted out the piece of paper and handed it to the business owner.  On it was written:

"You cannot be a leader by being invisible  Your results are obtained through your People.  By coaching your People, you are treating them with respect and allowing them to grow and develop.  Constant personal communication with your People will help them to develop."

Peter Mitchell

Collaboration is Key to Great Leadership

There's a Swahili proverb that goes: “A boat doesn't go forward if each one is rowing their own way.”

I've spent 13 years of my career working with numerous cultures and my job entailed collaborating virtually and managing project teams on the ground. Collaboration is a major factor in ensuring success in every project and allow me to share with you key points that helped me through my journey.

1) Listen and seek to understand. Sometimes, our minds work faster than our lips and we tend to over think and say a lot of things especially when our emotions are high. We tend to be defensive and we neglect what is being said to us. So, Listen and seek to understand is very important especially in a virtual environment, where 55% of body language is not visible anymore. You tend to judge based on how you interpret the voice, the pitch, the tone. What more an email message? so another 25% is lost to interpretation of how you read it and how you will say it. But if you listen and try to understand, or check back your understanding of what was being said, it is easy to figure out the core of the message. Life would have been more simpler without judgement and biases, right?

2) Appreciate Diversity. They say, everyone has tapes. What are tapes? Any guess? Tapes are referred to as what we've been accustomed to, or the cultural background that each person may have. So in a global environment, you must learn to appreciate that reasonable people can and do differ from each other. And this is where RESPECT comes in. The need to understand why people react that way, or need to analyze where they're coming from during a discussion, what is their purpose or intent. You should not ignore the differences among team members, business partners, stakeholders or colleagues. This also comes with the opportunity that you can learn as much as you can from others. When the discussion goes haywire, this is also where you should focus on attacking the ISSUE/PROBLEM, not the person. Not the differences between the 2 of you.

3) Trust Each Other. In everything that we do here in the company, always keep in mind that there is good intent in what is being done. Being in a company where DOING THE RIGHT THING is a key value, you should always have that assurance that everyone you're working with has the best of intentions. Even if it seems that at first it may go against the original purpose/goal/objective. That is why seeking to understand is very important plus Trust. Don't keep it under the rug if you don't feel comfortable and there are apparent conflicts of interests. Trust your teammates- being a leader, you should be the first one to do so. Do not wait for them to give their trust first because they are just following your lead.

4) Lead by Example. When people see you are effective in collaborating with colleagues, business partners or what have you, they will emulate and look up to you as their motivation to practice this skill. If you need to get your hands dirty in solving an issue, you yourself need to exhibit the characteristics of being a good collaborator. You will be the go to person for them in times when they have difficulties dealing with business partners or colleagues. And it translates to a WIN - WIN solution for both of you.

5) Reward and Recognize. Being team leaders, you should be able to ensure you have time to recognize and reward the efforts of your team members who have shown collaboration- this would result to sustaining the good practice of collaboration. Praise individual effort and allow this motivate the whole team. After all who doesn't want to be recognized?
As a fitting end, a collaborative environment is essential for the team's success. This is very essential in bringing together the team and allowing them to feel that it is very motivating to work in your team because they see that collaboration is not just a simple leadership attribute that's being measured or considered every year in their development plan . It is something tangible, something that they can bring and leverage as they go and build their careers. With that, I leave you with another quote from Vince Lombardi : Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

Putting On Your Pants One Leg at a Time

I read this in an ad of a book which had this title (Put on Your Pants One Leg at a Time) and it was a book related to stress management. I thought long and hard about my 10 years in P&G--- I did have a lot of experiences when I tried "putting on my pants in one go" and ended up "having no pants at all" or in short, burnt out. :D So I began to trace back my life from now back to when I started- year 2000...and what are the lessons I learned. Here it goes...

1) Be thankful of everything that you already have. Sometimes, we focus on what we WANT that we don't appreciate anymore the things that are in front of us. Many times, we take for granted the blessings that He has given us.

2) There's always someone who can help you. Pride sometimes gets in the way...but there will always come a time that you will need to seek help from someone. Maybe via a form of coaching, or knowledge sharing, etc. It's not a sign of weakness if you reach out for help.

3) One day at a time. I used to think I can rush through the calendar to get to where I want to be...but it isn't so. Sometimes, you really need to stop from all the stress, take a step back, and unwind. Worrying won't get you anywhere but back to the problem. 

4) Never take everything personally. When you're angry or feeling down, you won't be able to see the BIGGER PICTURE. What is the Bigger Picture? Is this a myth? No-- it isn't an excuse for you not to feel bad. If you need to feel that way, give yourself a day to wallow in that awful state, cry out, shout, rant. But after that day, move on. Because this is just one piece in that big web that God is weaving in your life. After all the pain, and you've moved on and attained your goals, when you look back, you'd laugh at why you even cried in the first place. It was a stepping stone to success. It made your success feel a lot MORE fulfilling because you felt the pain, and you felt S-U-C-C-E-S-S in every sense of the word. 

5) If everything else fails, pray. I always felt God gives us challenges because He wants to give us a reminder that He is there. That you have forgotten to pray and ask for His help.

6) Love yourself. I used to "abuse" myself by pushing myself too much, wanting to do everything that comes my way. In the process, I forgot I am only human. That I needed rest, that there's a limit to what I should be doing. Loving yourself can include giving yourself a break by exercising, or learning new skills, etc. 

These are just some points at the top of my head as of the moment...I would love to have a part 2 but for now, I'll definitely take time putting on my pants ONE LEG AT A TIME.