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Look alive 35!

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“Look alive 35!”

That was a lot to process as the lady ran past me on mile 5 of the triathlon. First, I just got passed by a lady… again (which I am getting very accustomed to as there are many amazing female athletes that are putting me in my place). Second, her pace was amazing and it alone inspired me to push beyond what I thought I had left in reserve. Third, she just read my age and produced a quippy little rhyme under the pressure of time, fatigue and mental strain… I can’t rhyme on a very good day with all conditions being ideal.

More than anything though, her attitude inspired me. It cost her absolutely NOTHING to be the most standout athlete that I encountered over the course of almost 3 hours of competition. I wish I had the wherewithal to keep up with her through the finish and get her name OR even be able to just recognize her again if I saw her. Her simple words, tone and approach brought out of me something more than what I was giving before she came along. In fact, it was so inspiring that it didn’t even bother me that she just passed me and was definitely going to finish in front of me. I kicked it up to the finish line. How could I not?

Every day it costs me absolutely $0 to put forth a great attitude and exceptional energy. The only thing I need fight are my lazy tendencies to act & respond as I desire or as I feel. As a leader and as a person I want to be the caliber of individual that brings out the best in others at all moments. So… here’s to looking alive and bringing an attitude to the table that inspires, encourages, motivates and lifts up. Here’s to being the most uplifting and memorable person in the meeting, difficult situation and at the dinner table.

Yes, Sir.

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“Yes, Sir.”

For the sake of personal growth, go on and say it out loud.

Does it feel awkward? 

Often these are the two hardest words for us to say as young leaders and old alike.

We have devolved leadership to an ‘art’ only on many . Something to aspire to but not something to follow respectfully. I fear that all leaders are required to have conversation now at every turn with every level of employee on just about every subject and decision. In fact, going one step further, most young people don’t want to consider themselves employees at all but rather see themselves as co-equal partners whose insights, thoughts and ‘fresh’ perspectives ought to be weighed and balanced equally with those who have sacrificed much, accomplished far more and learned many more lessons in through the fires of experience. Here is a tried method worth the practice:

“Earn the right to be heard”.

Hold on to your visions. Dream about your future. Work to create the culture you desire to have provided for you by first living it out in arenas that are within your leadership. Prove your concepts out through production and accomplishment. Be a follower that is invested so much, accomplished so much and is so respected by others in your environment that when you are given opportunities to speak, you will be heard. Above all else, get your job and responsibilities done………. really, really well.

resume tales

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The tale of 2 resumes & their associated references:

I was hiring for an open position. 2 candidates came as technically qualified per their resumes for the job. 
Candidate #1 - Sent 3 references, with multiple points of contact along with the resume. 

Candidate #2 - Sent no references, but since I had time & a little interest, I requested the information from the C2, to which I received back what I needed – names, #’s, context for employment (in a timely fashion).

Called on C2 references first. First call amounted to leaving a voicemail. Called the second reference, again left a voicemail. Called third reference on the list, no voicemail even available. Put resume down and moved on with biz and life. After 3-5 days, I email C2, detailed my attempts to contact references and recommended C2 have them call me, which I even facilitated with my personal cell #. I never heard from ANY of the references for C2. 

Started calling on C1 references. Dialed first call… it got picked up immediately. Stated my reason for calling and the reference wanted to call me immediately back from a line where she could hear better. The phone conversation that followed literally floored me. Suffice it to say I have NEVER heard a more positive reference about an interview candidate. The reference used was positive, energetic, effusive with praise AND C1 was still working at her place of employment doing stand out work. The reference did NOT want to lose her current employee BUT she desired for the employee to keep moving on towards their dreams & career aspirations. REMARKABLE! To make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I called reference #2 on the list. Dialed, Answered…. same EXACT experience in the second conversation but different employer, different company, different type of job. C2 no longer worked their but the reference wished they did. This reference was only the second best reference I have ever heard because I just got off the phone with the best reference I had ever heard. 

Impact References: (Yes, we do check, as should ALL people worth working for.) 
  • Don’t make me ask for the references (translation to me = they don’t know you are using them AND/OR your current employer doesn’t know you are looking to move on)
    • + Make sure that are easy to get a hold of!
  • Choose people who are:
    • interested and ready to give a reference about you
    • desire for you to still work there even if you are moving on
    • positive about YOU!
    • can detail your strengths
    • endorse your work ethic
    • identified that you worked hard to learn your job
    • honest about your areas for needed growth
C2, whose references came through, finally decided to send me an email follow-up which I have included here, in its’ entirety, for your enjoyment:
     “I don’t think it’s very professional to contact my references, then never contact me about the      position. Or even follow up with an email informing me on any decision you had made.” – C2

Are you wondering why C2 is unemployed?

start competing

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Most days I posses an irrepressible competitive nature. So much so, that for the better part of a decade I ceased to compete in athletic endeavors, finding meaningless victories shallow compared with the carnage I left in my wake getting there. Along the way in life, I have found some great outlets for my driving nature, not the least of which have been efforts to improve the lives of others around me. To this very day, I struggle to understand the nature of those who just ‘show up’ for athletic activities, work or life rather than giving it their all. Through the wonderful temperance of my wife and the counsel of trusted friends, I have come to appreciate that I need to slow down, savor life and relax at key times. But I still maintain that in many environments there is a profound need to compete rather than just participate. To aim to finish in the top tier, not just finish. To do things very well, not being satisfied with just doing them.

Think about this for a moment. Why would anyone want to marry you if you stated at the alter, 

“I [fill in your sorry name] pledge to show up most days, but by-in-large I am not really going to give this relationship more than the minimal effort. If it becomes to much of a drain, I am going to hop out the first chance I get. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. I won’t be the best mate out there, but hey, at least I am here and around.”

Sounds really lame… So why doesn’t it sound lame to some of you when this is how you literally are treating your family, your jobs, your dreams, and your giving to the non-profit whose mission you say you believe in? Hmm… I am not sure why it doesn’t register for you but I can tell you this much, you aren’t leading if you’re not competing. To compete, your DO NOT have to “win” at everything and prove to everyone that you are better.

By competing, what I mean for you to understand is, you need to be  leading, living, loving like these things REALLY matter to you. STOP just participating.

Jason Shafer

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So here’s the deal. I haven’t ever posted an explicitly positive reference on one of my blogs for an individual —- until now. I realize that by doing so, some of you will wonder why I haven’t done this for you. Call me, we can talk. Chances are it probably had more to do with your current situation or my lack of thinking than it was a personalized statement. PLUS, I am growing and trying new things.

But on with it already…

I want to recommend Jason Shafer to those of you who are hiring for a worship leader.

Hands down, it has been cool to get to know Jason for the last year and a half as a mountain biker, friend, worship leader and follower of Christ. Jason has some kick-butt talent in music and worship. He is definitely growing in his relationship with Christ, his relationship with his wife and in his spiritual accountability. I have never ‘worked’ with Jason, but I would if I had a job to offer. Don’t just take my word for it. Read his resume. Watch his stuff. Call him and talk to him yourself. Do your own interview… the Church needs to take risks and develop more young guys & gals who have talent (but I will save those thoughts for another post).

This is Jason… I don’t care if  some of you like the hippy from American Idol version more, this is just sweet!

value added

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Every environment is in need of players who bring ADDED VALUE. When an employer hires a person they begin with the expectation that an individual will integrate into the environment, learn how to work well on the team, do their job at or above a ‘B’ average. But, spoken or unspoken, what they are hoping for is a leader. What they are hoping for is someone who will bring additional value to the team & context. What they are searching for are the ‘Intangibles’ that will ultimately make you irreplaceable. Right now, EVERY average employee is replaceable. So we are faced with answering the question, “what make us IRREPLACEABLE?”

The answer = ADDED VALUE.

Benefit beyond your sticker price; that is the true definition of value.

So, what do you do for free? What will set you apart from everyone else?  Will it be your optimistic attitude? Your eye for excellence? Your nature to serve the leadership? Your ‘can-do’ approach? Can you come up with new or better or more cost effective solutions? Are you a problem solver? Do you develop and lead others?

Link: another look at the same concept.

time suckers

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I have heard just about EVERY young leader at one time or another complain that their job requires more of them than they have time to give (myself included). A few years ago, while reading Getting Things Done, I started to pay attention to “time suckers” – things that take time away from productivity in my day. Here are a few of them; my hunch is that they are affecting your work world too! My point is that you will find a TON of time inside of every day where you can be more productive, not so that you can add more work to your hours but so that you can add more hours to your life. (I don’t want to work all of the time!)

EMAIL - every single person I know if guilty of checking their email too much and then being drawn into ‘urgent’ items that they find awaiting them in the in-box rather than staying focused on items that are at hand right now or that are due sometime very soon. TURN OFF your email and block out some planned for work time. I promise that the email will still be there when you come back to it. EMAIL is not IM and it is not the phone, so stop treating it like such.

PHONE CALLS – these, along with text messages, also suck tons of high impact time out of your day. Believe it or not, there was an era where people couldn’t be reached or interupted every second of every day.

FACEBOOK, TWITTER & their posse – Mark Cuban has an interesting post on this; I agree with him. While usable networking tools, you have to admit they more often than not are a distraction to your work.

CERTAIN  INDIVIDUALS - you know who they are… when you see them come up on caller ID or walk down the hallway or send you a meeting request for an hour but you know it really means 2. Work hard to put parameters on these certain individuals so that they don’t suck your time.

MEETINGS - I know, they are unavoidable. But, going out on a limb here, I think that 50% of the meetings that exist out there in our worlds are largely ineffective, inefficient or just straight up bogus. Most people leading them haven’t even read a single article let alone a book on how to lead an effective meeting. Way too many meetings involve needless chit-chat. Please, read Death By Meeting and then start giving it out as gifts for Christmas.

less work

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Leadership demands that you grow. Leadership also demands that you grow your organization or business. Don’t be tempted to just ‘go to work’, get the job done, and then go home. Think bigger than that! Think about what COULD BE for the people that are following you. Dream ahead of the current reality. Start charting a course to an alternate future. Quite worrying about how bad things are right now and start believing in you and those around you to lead a way to a better place tomorrow.

Linked here is a post of mine as it relates to leadership in a small business; the content is good in any context.

boxed in

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Here is some transparency: I don’t like to be boxed in.

Think about it for a moment…. do you?

Not everyone thinks they are claustrophobic, but given the right circumstance, just about anyone could snap in confinement. Your leadership situation is no different. Women didn’t make up the concept of the glass ceiling, they just defined it, proclaimed it and still work to eliminate it. African-Americans didn’t want just to be emancipated, they also want to be dignified and respected as the equal human beings that they are.

Where is this leading you ask?

It isn’t just about the BIG issues in our history, but it is about your personal potential, growth and leadership capacity. It is very valid, good and most of the times necessary to start at the bottom and work your way up. BUT (and this is a big but) you must find and stay in situations where your potential is not limited by anything other than your personal ability to grow in the necessary skills of your chosen arena. Your best will not come out when you feel ‘boxed in’. You will not be motivated to bring your best to the table if you all ready know that your at your maximum earning potential, leadership level, and position of influence to the organization.

Look to maximize your current skills & contributions. Look also to your development for the future.

Godin: Communicators

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— unapologetically passing along a great post on Communication form Seth Godin —

The two elements of a great presenter

1. Respect (from the audience) 
2. Love (to the audience)

There are no doubt important evolutionary reasons why this is true, but in my experience, every great presenter earns the respect of the audience (through her appearance, reputation, posture, voice, slides, introduction, etc.) and captures the attention of the audience by sending them love.

Love takes many forms. I love you enough to teach you this. I love you enough to help you. I love you enough to look you in the eye. Or, in the case of rock and roll presentations, I love you enough to want to engage in various acts with you, right now, backstage.

Margaret Thatcher was a great presenter, even though she had none of the glib charisma people expect from someone with that title. That’s because people (even those that disagreed with her) respected her before she started, and they understood at every moment that her motivation was to motivate and improve the lives of those she was presenting to.

In the famous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct (link not included so no one yells at me), Sharon Stone does a brilliant presentation. She instantly earns (a sort of) respect from the cops and their undivided attention at the same time. She replaces love with sex, and it works.

Tony Robbins is considered an astounding presenter for a similar reason. His stage presence and reputation and energy and sheer size earn him respect, and his generosity and complete connection with the audience is received by them as love. The result is a connection far bigger than the content alone would account for.

If you have love but no respect, you’re a lounge singer. Fail.

If you have respect, but no love, you’re like one of the rare self-promotional talks at TED. Fail.

Consider this clip from Patton. In 28 seconds, George C. Scott delivers both.

When you create a presentation, think about what your status will be as you begin the presentation. What can you do to prewire, to earn more respect from the start? How can you be introduced? Lit? Miked? What can you wear? If your reputation doesn’t precede you, how do you earn it?

Don’t apologize at the beginning of the talk. For anything. Don’t hide in the dark. Don’t hide behind a wall of bullet points.

And then, as the talk (pitch/presentation/interview) begins, don’t focus your energy or concern on yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about them. The presenter who loves his audience the most, wins.